Abstract AIDS is the acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, a human viral disease that affects and destroys the immune system. It is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and leaves an infected person vulnerable to opportunistic infections. No cure has as yet been found for AIDS and is invariably fatal once the infection is full blown, although certain treatments can prolong the life spans and improve the quality of life of infected people. This essay describes the disease process, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, etiology and the treatments available. It also briefly discusses how the disease is transmitted and its prevalence in different categories of people, e.g., gays and heterosexuals; men and women; adults and children.
From the Paper "Symptoms alone are not a reliable diagnosis for being HIV positive or even AIDS, since fever, sore throat, headache, skin rash may be the symptoms of many other diseases as well. The only reliable way for diagnosing an HIV positive person (i.e., whether someone has been infected with HIV) is by conducting a combination of an Eliza/Western Blot HIV Antibody Test. This test determines whether antibodies that develop to fight the HIV virus are present in a person's body. If they are present?it means the person is HIV positive. If the anti bodies are not found it may mean that the person is free from HIV. However, it is important to remember that the anti bodies against HIV may not develop for 3 months. (This period, known as the "window period" may in rare cases be of up to 6 months duration). Hence during the "window" period, even an HIV-infected person may test negative."
Abstract The poet W.H. Auden once wrote that ?Where love is strengthened, hope restored,/ In hearts by chemical accord.? For the past 50 years, a growing body of research has been proving Auden's observation, that love has a strong bearing on a person's health and physical well being.
This paper examines the effects of being loved on a person's health. The first part of the paper looks at the relationship of the love and intimacy associated with romance and marriage and a person's longevity and health. The next part of the paper then examines the effects of love in the context of family and a larger community. In conclusion, this paper posits that the growing recognition of the role of love in a person's health signals a shift, from viewing health as a purely physiological concern to a more holistic picture of physical, emotional and spiritual well being.
From the Paper "In his book Love and Survival, noted cardiologist Dean Ornish writes "love and intimacy are at a root of what makes us sick and what makes us well, what causes sadness and what brings happiness, what makes us suffer and what leads to healing" (3). Though he is a medical doctor trained to focus on physical symptoms, Ornish believes that love has a greater impact on a patient's treatment and cardiovascular than other factors such as diet, smoking, genetics or exercise."
Abstract This paper outlines the morality issue behind in vitro fertilization. The paper begins by explaining the concept of IV, so that the reader understands what specifically the method refers to. The paper then goes on to list and explain the various moral issues associated with the IV medical practice, including the biological, ethical and religious significance.
Contents:
Thesis
Introduction
In Vitro fertilization
Literature Review
Fate of the Embryo
Parental Rights
Cryoprecipitation
Human Embryo Research
Genetic Screening
Eugenics
Commercializing Reproduction
Multiple Births
Surrogacy
Religion
The Child
Conclusion
From the Paper "In 1978 with the birth of Louise Brown, the first child conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), man finally realized his power to create, not passively through instinctual processes but consciously and actively. [Daar 1999] The desire to have children is strong in the human heart and infertility is a serious and painful issue. There are however more aspects to having a child than mere desire and the means by which the child is created is amongst the most important. Over the past few decades science has allowed individuals biologically otherwise incapable of reproducing, to make or have children by artificial methods such as in vitro fertilization."
This paper is a review of Keebler-Ross? book on the stages of death, "On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy, and Their Own Families".
650 words (approx. 2.6 pages), 1 source, 2002, $ 26.95
Abstract This paper is on nutrition and staying healthy. A lack of suitable nutrients can cause vitamin deficiencies, lowered immunity responses, weak muscles, osteoporosis, anemia, and slower wound healing, amongst other conditions. While eating the wrong things can lead to overweight, obesity, and raised cholesterol levels, with all the problems that these bring. There is ample information on how to ensure good nutrition.
Abstract This paper provides an overview of the nurse practitioner's authority related to prescribing medications. The extent of NP prescribing authority differs from state to state; reasons for this variation are offered.
Abstract This paper discusses the importance of drug testing in the workplace. In the United States drug use in the workplace is common which leads to decline in employee performance and this is why the "Drug-Free Workplace Act" was passed in 1998.
Abstract This paper focuses on healthcare provision for the elderly. It analyzes the fact that while the current health care changes are restructuring the system they're not focusing on the largest segment of the population-the elderly, which needs the most health care.
Abstract This paper is written about Medicaid. Medicaid, instituted in 1965, is a joint federal-state form of health care coverage, and is funded on both levels as a program designed for low-income and needy people.
Abstract This paper outlines some possible connections between adolescent eating disorders and body image in relation to the portrayal of bodies in the media, including magazines, the press/media and films.
Abstract This paper considers the concepts of Insurance Providing Organizations (IPOs) and managed care and whether they indeed provide health care and save the economy money. It looks at the history of managed health care in America and the current advantages and disadvantages of the system.
From the Paper "Insurance Providing Organizations (IPOs) and managed care have risen in popularity over the past twenty years. Commonly thought to be better for the economy by saving money, many people jumped on the health care bandwagon and joined these insurance-providing agencies. Statistics from the past eleven years show that managed care has reduced national health care costs and the yearly inflation rate from 12% in 1993, to less than 5% in 1996 (Furrow, n/p); but at what cost? The driving factors behind managed care in today's society are becoming ever more skewed. Governmental health care reform in the United States has been so concerned with money that it has compromised the quality and standard of care. In the end, cost constraints are not proving effective because the readmission rate has risen due to care being provided at a lower standard. Quality of care is also being compromised by the constraints put on care to control expenditures by medical facilities."
Abstract This paper examines how one particular factor that makes every employer curious before hiring an individual is whether the applicant is using any drug not prescribed as medication. It looks at how this practice of finding out whether any prospective employee is using or has been using any drug is usually carried out through a urine analysis, also called urinalysis, and how it has now become a prerequisite for hiring applicants in the public sector, as well as private entities. It analyzes how the use of a drug test, such as the urinalysis, prior to hiring of applicants may seem to be a precautionary measure on the part of the employer and how it can be degrading to those employees who are already on the payroll of the organizations.
Outline
Introduction
A Discussion on the Pros and Cons of Drug Testing at the Workplace
Reasons as Presented by Opponents of Drug Testing at the Workplace
Reasons as Presented by Proponents of Drug Testing at the Workplace
Concluding Comments
References
From the Paper "One of the major opponents of any sort of drug testing on the present set of employees is the American Civil Liberties Union, (ACLU), who have a number of reasons and points to prove that the drug-testing the present set of employees is both degrading as well as violative of personal privacy. One such reasoning is that the urinalysis for example cannot detect any impairment on the part of the employee, nor can it ascertain or evaluate job performance of the employee, hence the irrelevancy of the urinalysis. Secondly, even it were to be presumed that the employees are not expected to be drunk, stoned, or even asleep, all of which are the after-effects and implications of drug use, the employer would hardly be expected to retain the services of the employee with any of the said habits."
Abstract The term "euthanasia" has come a long way from its original meaning of "a good death" and evolved into a new meaning for modern times of "mercy death". Even while the actual term itself has evolved in meaning, the human race has further qualified with distinctive types of euthanasia, voluntary and involuntary. Although types of voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia can be very different, this paper shows that they may all be judged based on a set of moral responsibilities that accompany every individual's right to control his own life. In the context of these guidelines, this paper argues that all voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia, as well as physician-assisted suicide, may be morally permissible, or even obligatory, in accordance with these responsibilities.
From the Paper "My argument for the moral permissibility of voluntary euthanasia draws primarily from the belief in an individual's right to control the ultimate conditions of his life, including his death. This right, of course, is not unconditional. As with all rights, this one is accompanied by responsibilities. In other words, a sentient, competent individual has the right to ultimate control of his own life under the condition that the actions exercised by this right are in harmony with the best interests both of the individual and of the people directly influenced by the individual. In a situation where the best interests of the individual and of the people directly influenced by the individual are in conflict, the responsibility is of the individual to choose an action appealing to the greatest utility for all parties involved."
Abstract This paper examines how the incidence of substance abuse among the elderly will continue to grow as the medical community continues to improve the length and quality of life. It looks at how, as the elderly age and begin to lose friends and develop their own health issues, it is important that they have plenty of resources available to them for the purpose of support. Doctors need to be careful about the number and type of prescriptions they are prescribing, and family members who suspect their elderly loved one is developing a substance abuse problem should seek help from professionals.
From the Paper "The senior wants to be numbed to the fact that they are losing their friends, getting closer to death and their quality of life may be reduced because of these factors. Those who drink to eliminate loneliness isolate themselves even further which causes the cycle to continue. Those who live in chronic pain can become addicted to the pain medications they are given and even when the pain subsides they have a craving to feel the numbness or the euphoria that the pills provide."
