Charcot Vs Amputation Essay

Over time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Adults with diabetes have increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy (nerve damage) in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers, infection and eventual need for limb amputation. Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness, and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. 2.6% of global blindness can be attributed to diabetes, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Amputation which often on the battlefield did save lives, because a crushed foot or arm would always lead to a fatal systemic infection, so it was simpler to cut it off other than to try and save it. Having to work very quickly, a very skilled surgeon would cut through the flesh that was saw completely through the bone and apply a piping red hot iron to fix off the stump’s raw surface and stop the bleeding of the cut. Sometimes the entire operation was performed in less than two minutes. By having a limb amputated the mortality risk was about fifty percent. But even with a fifty-fifty chance of living after this surgery was a better chance that most received, because if the person didn’t receive treatment they would most definitely die. The ability to eliminate pain during surgery was a huge medical breakthrough.

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” (Joseph Campbell). Heroes dedicate their lives to contribute to the general welfare of society. Most of the time, the obstacle seems to big for them to handle, but they overcome it in the end. A hero can be anyone in the world. A neighbor, a child, a firefighter, or a politician. Heroes are determined, they never do anything for personal gain, and they always fight for good.

January 15, 2008. He was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for basic training the following May.

The Civil War was bloody, killing around 620,000 people. Most of these people were killed by disease and sickness, and medicine was important. The Civil War split the country pinning North against South over the issue of slavery. Many things such as the Kansas-Nebraska act and the election of Abraham Lincoln led to the succession of 11 southern states. The war lasted from 1861 to 1865, and eventually the Union (the North) came out victorious under Ulysses S. Grant. Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general was not killed or imprisoned, but the 13th amendment was ratified, ending slavery. During the war, there had to be some way to try and save those mortally wounded. A new era of medicine arose, with all new treatments, procedures, and practices.

“The aim of medicine is to prevent disease and prolong life…” said William James Mayo. During the Civil War there were many advances that helped soldiers live through and after the war. Medical Advances in the Civil War introduced new antiseptic medical practices and medical procedures, modern medical surgeries, and medical knowledge to better serve the public.

The focus of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of task specific gait training compared to standard prosthetic gait training in reducing falls in individuals with a lower extremity amputation. The fall risk for individuals with a lower extremity amputation is comparable to that of individuals with balance impairments. Reported incidences of falls are 20% to 32% during rehabilitation and 52% within the community (). There can be many causes for a lower extremity amputation, the most common being poor circulation due to the damaging or narrowing of the arteries also known as peripheral artery disease. Other causes include trauma, tumors in the muscle or bone, infection and neuroma. The intervention investigated is task specific gait

Phantom limb syndrome is a neurological disorder that affects amputees and is characterized by phantom sensations that appear to emanate from the missing limb (Rugnetta). The phantom sensations can be painful or nonpainful in nature, so that the individual experiences pain, touch sensations, or changes in temperature (Rugnetta), despite missing the peripheral portions of the spinothalamic pathway and other pathways involved in relaying information to associated regions of the brain, and in particular to the somatosensory cortex. The mechanisms involved in phantom limb syndrome are not fully understood. However, it has been noted that following amputation there is a rewiring of parts of the brain associated with sensation (Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick, Hall, LaMantia, & White, 2012), including, “considerable reorganization

The study had three groups. One was the mirror group; patients viewed the reflection of their intact foot on the mirror. The second group was trained in mental visualization; patients with closed eyes imagine the movement of the limb. The last group was the covered-mirror group; patients move their intact foot while the mirror was covered. Both groups had done the therapy for 15 minutes daily for 4 weeks. The duration and number of pain episodes were recorded as well as the intensity with the use of a 100 mm visual-analogue scale. After the 4 week therapy, 100% of the patients from the mirror group reported decrease in pain. On the other hand, only one patient (17%) from the covered-mirror group reported decrease in pain and 50% reported worsening of pain. In the mental visualization group, 2 patients (33%) reported decrease in pain while the 4 (67%) reported worsening of pain (Witt et al, 2007). Mirror box therapy was the most effective in decreasing phantom pain. The results suggest that mirror box therapy may be useful in alleviating phantom pain of an amputated limb (Witt et al,

Some have prosthesis, but others must make do without an arm or a leg. All of them have had to learn to adapt to their situation and find ways to do the daily tasks they used to do. This does not come easily. I recall a conversation with my Aunt Debbie, who lost a leg in a boating accident. As you might expect, it was quite a shock, and she was forced to completely relearn how to live her life twice – once while in a wheel chair, and second after she was fitted for a prosthetic. She told me she is amazed at how advanced the prosthetic was, but at first, she couldn’t do what she loved, playing competitive tennis. Through hard work, practice and time, she was able to adapt to her new appendage, and relearn to balance, sidestep and move at the explosive speed tennis

The media has a reputation to present and exaggerate things that are of little importance; however, in an ironic twist, it seems that the most common inherited peripheral nerve disease in the United States seems to still elude the awareness of many. Charcot Marie Tooth disease, or CMT as it is quite commonly abbreviated, is a serious genetic disease that impairs many in the country. Named for the three scientists that discovered it in the late 1800s, Charcot Marie Tooth disease actually has nothing to do with teeth, but rather a very important part of our body, the Peripheral Nervous System (“Understanding CMT”). Charcot Marie Tooth disease is a common genetic disease which provides many obstacles for those impaired, an

Oscar competed in an international track meet against able-bodied athletes and his astonishing performance prompted a series of tests to be run by German scientists. They concluded that his Flex-Foot Cheetahs gave him an unfair advantage and he was banned from competing in any future events with able-bodied athletes. In an effort to disprove this research and eliminate negativity towards prosthetic athletes, scientists in Massachusetts invited Oscar for extensive studies. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology tested his rate of fatigue first. A common belief of critics is that athletes with prosthetics have significant, unfair stamina levels. Oscar’s rate of fatigue and his oxygen consumption matched those of elite, able-bodied athletes. The results indicated that although his legs

The Primary Care Team (PCT) consists of a range of health care professionals who together make up a multidisciplinary team. The aim of the team is to provide a range of services in a timely manner which is easily accessible to the public (WHO 2008).Public health nurses respond to the requirements of individuals, families and the community, by carrying out a wide variety of nursing services. The nursing service, which spans the life cycle, from the cradle to the grave, includes prevention, treatment and rehabilitation (DoHC 2001). The aim of the public health nurse is to support and empower the client and their family so that they can utilise available resources, services,

The incidence of diabetes mellitus is increasing at an alarming rate both nationally and worldwide. Diabetes is a major health concern and is associated with progressive chronic complications leading to premature mortality and high morbidity (1). Diabetic Neuropathy is the most common chronic complication of diabetes mellitus affecting up to 60 - 70%-of patients, with up to 50% of neuropathic patients experiencing painful symptoms (2). Symptoms range from mild tingling sensations to deep-seated lacinating or severe unremitting pain with night time exacerbations. Epidemiologic studies suggest that the prevalence of diabetic neuropathy

Segmental bone defects can occur due to various etiologies and are complex tiring problem to deal with, for the surgeon, as well as for the patient. Bone defects can occur due to trauma, bone infection, congenital defects, excision of malignant tumors. Due to considerable long term morbidity, historically, amputation was the preferred treatment. Limb salvage has been tried with the use of bone grafts, bone transport and acute limb shortening. Vascularised bone grafting is technically demanding.(1,2) Traditional bone grafting techniques are limited by uncontrollable graft resorption. Ilizarov technique has been associated with adjacent joint stiffness and certain other complications.(3,4) In 1986, French surgeon A.C. Masquelet conceived