Progeria - Hutchinson-Gilford Syndrome Essay -- genetic childhood dis

Progeria, otherwise known as Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome is an extremely rare, genetic childhood disorder with a reported incidence of about one in a million. Hutchinson reported the syndrome in 1886 when he found the first patient with Progeria. In 1904 Gilford described a second case of Progeria, thus creating the term to reflect the syndrome’s senile features. There are only about a hundred reported cases since the disorder has been discovered over a century ago. Currently, there are about thirty to forty known cases worldwide of Progeria. Affected children age up to seven times faster, have â€Å"plucked bird† appearance, many health problems and their lifespan is about thirteen years. There is neither known cause nor cure for this disease. It is usually first diagnosed based only on appearance and treatment is given for other conditions associated with the aging process rather the disease it self.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Effected children usually appear normal at birth. But within the first year of life severe changes come into accordance. These include: baldness and bodily hair loss, including eyebrows and eyelashes; â€Å"skin wrinkling accompanied by pigmented age spots; [†¦] unusually high pitched voice; undeveloped or underdeveloped sexual maturation; bone lesions, often resulting in fractures and hip dislocation† (Livneh, Antonak and Maron, 1995, p.434). Death usually occurs between the age of twelve and thirteen and it is due to â€Å"cardiovascular deterioration and generally includes arthrosclerosis, myocardial infraction and congestive heart failure (Livneh, Antonak and Maron, 1995, p.434).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The cause of Progeria is unknown as of yet. Because of its very rare nature, no definite cause can be pinpointed. However it is determined to be generic. In other words, it is thought that it is due to single mutated gene and each case might represent a single sporadic new mutation, which happens at conception. Therefore, as mentioned above, the diagnosis must be made solely on the appearance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During my Internet research on this subject, I have found a real story of a thirteen-year-old girl, named Ashley. Her story captured my heart and I would like to use Ashley as an example in helping to understand the disease, its progress and how it affects people involved. Ashley was born on May 23, 1991 as what it seemed a normal and healthy baby girl. In July 1991 doctors disco... ...f the disease and death to help cope and adapt properly. General intervention recommendations can focus on; the child’s needs, other family members and the parents. Other intervention can address social issues such as spirituality, emotionality, coping modes and adaptation techniques. It is very hard to say to a parent of a dying child that any of the above might help a broken heart, however, professional help, understanding and loving environment and family might ease the hardships of loosing one’s child, sibling or a friend. Bibliography DeBusk, F.L. (1972). The Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome. Jurnal of Pediatrics, 80, 697-724.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Livneh, Hanoch; Antonak, Richard F.; Maron, Sheldon. (1995). Progeria: Medical aspects, psycholosocial perspectives, and intervention guidelines. Death Studies, Vol .19(5), Sep-Oct 1995. pp. 433-452. Lori and Ashley’s Website. http://www.geocities.com/lori_and_ashley/. Visited on April 23, 2003. Mac Michael, R.A. (1996-2003) Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome Network. http://www.hgps.net/about/. Visited on April 23, 2003. Progeria Research Foundation Inc. (1999) http://www.progeriaresearch.org/. Visited on May 2, 2002.

Boy Band Bash

Remember New Edition? You know you do.. the â€Å"Mr. Telephone Man† song.. Bobby Brown and those kooky guys known as Bell Biv and DeVoe.. I know you remember the late 80's.. 1988, 89. New Kids On The Block were like, the boy band du jour. But alas, the 90's rolled around and heavier grunge music like Nirvana and Soundgarden, as well as a heavier, edgier rap such as Ice Cube and Snoop Doggy Dog took over the music scene.. Thus ends our tale Somewhere along the lines, while rap and R&B maintained their power, rock music lost a bit of theirs, letting pop music creep back into the scene. I suppose that the Spice Girls can carry some blame for that by being the first pop group to get out there, and while there are a couple of Spice Girl clones, they aren't as prevalent as the boy bands that followed. 1998 had unleashed a torrent of boy bands on the US, many of whom spent time in Europe to start a cult following. The following is a run down of the Boy Bands that have left Unless you've been living under a rock, the Orlando based group, Backstreet Boys reigned supreme as the top Boy Band in 1998. With the top selling album in 1998 behind Titanic, the Backstreet Boys have just released a new album and are planning a second world tour. The band enjoyed 4 top 10 singles in 1998, including â€Å"As Long as You Love Me†, â€Å"Everybody (Backstreet's Back)†, â€Å"I'll Never Break You Heart†, and â€Å"Quit Playing Games (With my Heart)†. Their world tour pulled in $10 million. The middle of 1998 brought a lawsuit between the band and Lou Pearlman. While the details of the settlement has not been released, it resulted in the dismissal of their management team, Donna & Johnny Wright, with Lou Pearlman being named a partner with the Backstreet Boys for 1/6 of the action. Pearlman's Trans-Continental Records is still in legal entanglements with the Backstreet Boys's label, Jive/Zomba. This may or may not be one of the reasons why Trans-Continental began promoting ‘N Sync, a replica of the Backstreet Boys, more aggressively For better or for worse, the fans are happy that ‘N Sync, another Orlando based band, left their mark in 1998. With their self titled album the 22nd topselling album of the year (with 4 million albums sold since it's release last March), and Top Ten Christmas album, the group is also enjoying the success of three top ten singles, â€Å"Tearin' Up My Heart†, â€Å"I Want You Back†, and â€Å"(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time On You†. Their current single, â€Å"I Drive Myself Crazy†, is climbing the charts. Their success proves that there's plenty of love (and money) to go around at the top of the music chart. Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync's album have switched positions in the top many times in the last months of 1998. Not to be left out, the original managers for the Spice Girls have formed another group, Five. With top selling singles, â€Å"When The Lights Go Out† and â€Å"Everybody Get Up†, the five lads from England wandered into the U. S. st October. While the reception has been warm, their success in Europe will keep them in the the limelight for an aggressive promotion Breaking away from the pre-packaged format of boy bands, 98 Degrees, like ‘N Sync, packaged themself and went in search of management. The band snuck backstage at a Boyz II Men concert and the result was a manager in the form of Paris D'Jon. With their first album behind them, 1998 had these Ohio native recording â€Å"True to Your Heart† for Disney's Mulan. At the end of 1998, they released their second album, â€Å"98 Degrees and Rising†. The band is now embarking on their summer tour with their Top 10 single, â€Å"Because of You†, leading the way. One of the most popular boy band in the U. K. has barely made a mark in the United States. Despite a million dollar campaign last August, the group has barely touched the U. S. Billboard charts. Boyzone is one of the oldest, both in term of longevity and age of the members, of the boy bands. However, the designation may be a misnomer. All of the guys are all over 26, and one of whom has a son. The fact that they don't quite fit into the cookie cutter mold of a boy and may be the reason they haven't done as well in the U. S. The more likely reason, though, is that the label doesn't quite know how to pigeonhole Boyzone into their carefully constructed While most of the current crop of boy bands have been around for several years (even if U. S. fans haven't heard of them until now), the recording industry is preparing for the future; hoping the trend can sustain itself. The trend has so far been proven successful, Joey McIntyre and Jordon Knight, who previously where a part of New Kids On The Block, have recently became hits. Also, former Mannuedo star, Ricky Martin has rose again with his smash hit, â€Å"Livin La Vida Loca. 1999 will prove to be an interesting year, as the industry watch to see if the Meanwhile fans continue to flock to sold out shows to see their favorite members of the Backstreet Boys or ‘N Sync. Teenagers driven by hormones into their first crush, enjoy collecting pictures of their favorite members. Is this a plan to brainwash teenage girls into buying millions of CD's, created by Lou Pearlman, king of Boy Bands? Just like how many licks it takes to get to the bottom of the Tootsie Pop, â€Å"The World May Never Know. â€Å"

Identifying And Surveying F. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great...

Whilst analysing and surveying F. Scott Fitzgerald s fulfilling and creative way of writing, I present to you today the body of work in the context of the writers time, discussing and paying attention to the social, historical, cultural and political discourses within the text. F.Scott Fitzgerald constructs a variety of truths throughout the novel, the two truths that where clearly noticeable where â€Å"The American dream† and â€Å"Old and New Money† which greatly supported the normalities of the era, these two topics will be discussed later in the piece. But let s start by recapping a brief understanding that is this novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a classic about the desire for love and money and how they both affect†¦show more content†¦During the 1920 s, not only was there a change in the American Dream, but also a change in America itself. There are characters in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby that buys into th e idea of the American Dream of money buys happiness, however their unhappiness reveals the novel’s critique of the shift in the American Dream towards the end of the novel. (Slide 2) The American dream is the American overlook on an ideal happy and successful life, F.Scott Fitzgerald constantly refers to this, in chapter 1 spoken by Nick Caraway. â€Å"He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward, and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.† The green light shown at the end of the dock is a symbol related entirely to a dream, a dream that Gatsby will finally be reunited with his love Daisy, this dream is much like that of the American dream and to attain her would accomplish Gatsby’s ‘American Dream’. The American dream, that a hard working person will always lead one from rags to riches. Gatsby symbolises both the corrupted dream and the original uncorrupted dream. He sees wealth as a solution for all his problems but never seems to look at the big picture, as Daisy is slowly slipping away from him he finally