Guillain-Barré Syndrome Essay BIO 425 PDF

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Essay: Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Articles from the New York Times.
BMCC BIO 425....

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Professor: Christine Priano BIO-425 111L, 11:00 AM

Guillain-Barré Syndrome

In the daily life, hospitals receive different patients with all kinds of diseases. Every patient tells a story and the job of the doctor is to detect the problem and try to solve it. But sometimes, is really hard to find the most accurate diagnosis, especially in the vast field of medicine that even nowadays still full of mystery. In this article wrote by Lisa Sanders in the New York Times Health Magazine, the 57year-old patient was a man who worked as a carpenter. Every day after work he felt really tired. He shook with shivers even though the day was warm. When he woke up one morning and saw that his body was covered with pale pink dots he immediately decided to go to the hospital. Because his body was covered with pale pink dots and he presented fatigue doctors in the emergency room of the Griffin Hospital suspected that it was an infectious disease caused by bacteria. He was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Likewise, Dr. Howard Quentzel, the infectiousdisease specialist, misinterpreted the symptoms of body aches, weakness and rash. And diagnosed him with West Nile Virus, H.I.V. and E.B.V and even with Zika. But at the end all the results were negative. No one could diagnose and find the disease. No one could cure the carpenter. However, one day the patient fell while taking a bath in the hospital. His muscles were too weak to support his weight. The Dr. James Butler, a neurologist, took the first step toward what appeared to be the problem. Because his muscles were very weak, he did multiple reflex tests. He noted that the patient had not reflexes at his knee or ankle joint. It was clear that the

problem was affecting the nerve fibers in his arms and legs rather than in his brain or spine. The Dr. Butler thought the patient might have Guillain-Barré syndrome (G.B.S.), an autoimmune disease. In this disease cells that encase and protect the nerves in the body are destroyed causing the kind of symptoms this man had: weakness, numbness and tingling. This article can be related to our class because the G.B.S is a nervous system disorder damaging the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The muscle fibers can't contract properly because the nerves that transmit the signals are damaged mostly in the legs and arms. Finally, even if the cause of this autoimmune disorder is unknown. A treatment in this situation is possible, an infusion of antibodies taken from thousands of donor needs to be given once a day for five days to the patient. After a year the carpenter felt better, the patient can walk without assistance and his arms and legs.

Bibliography:

Sanders, M.d Lisa. “Why Were This Man’s Muscles Weak and His Body Covered With Pink Dots?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 May 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/magazine/why-were-this-mans-muscles-weak-and-his-bodycovered-with-pink-dots.html....