Lorenzo`s oil

.Section 3:
a) Define the following terms: (70 pts)
a. Diagnosis: Medical diagnosis refers both to the process of attempting to determine or identify a possible disease or and to the opinion reached by this process diagnostic opinion.


b. Prognosis: The expected course of a disease.

c. Saturated fat:  A saturated fat is any lipid (fat) whichcontains no c carbon-carbon double bonds

c. Immunosuppressant: An agent that suppresses the body's immune response.

d. Chemotherapy: The treatment of disease, esp. cancer, by the use of chemical substances
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e. Orphan disease:  A disease which has not been "adopted" by the pharmaceutical industry because itprovides little financial incentive for the private sector to make and market new medications to treat or prevent it.

f. Sex-linked trait: A trait associated with a gene that is carried only by the male or female parent.


b) Early in his disease, one of Lorenzo’s doctors thought he might have multiple sclerosis (MS). How is this disease similar to ALD? (10 pts)The diagnosis is established by clinical findings and the detection of serum very long-chain free fatty acid levels. MRI examination reveals white matter abnormalities, and neuro-imaging findings of this disease are somewhat reminiscent of the findings of multiple sclerosis. Genetic testing for the analysis of the defective gene is available in some centers.c) When Lorenzo was first diagnosed, what was his prognosis? (10 pts)
Death within around maximum 3 years


d) Why was Lorenzo put on a diet restricting saturated fats? (10 pts)
The human body needs these fats in order to create cells,... 
and the excess is burned off. That's normally, But in the case of an ALD boy, these saturates can't be brokendown and they build up in the brain. And somehow this build-up strips the myelin covering. by withdrawing the saturated fats from the diet,... prevent them accumulating in the brain. 



e) Why did Michaela Murphy Odone’s family receive genetic counseling?(10 pts)
Because the disease was passed only from the mother, she should tell her sisters.


f) Why did chemotherapycause Lorenzo’s hair to fall out? (10 pts)
Most chemotherapy drugs target fast growing cells. Cancer cells are usually fast growing and are therefore targeted and destroyed by the drugs being administered.
However, these drugs cannot and do not distinguish between healthy and cancerous cells, therefore they also destroy other fast growing cells in your body some of which include hairgrowth, white blood cells etc.. 


g) Draw the structure of a saturated fat (15 pts)


[pic]

.
Section 4:
a) Define the following terms: (60 pts)
a. Mono-unsaturated fat: Monounsaturated fats are typically liquid at room temperature but start to turn solid when chilled.  Olive oil is an example of a type of oil that contains monounsaturated fats.b. Dysphasia: Dysphasia is a partial or complete impairment of the ability to communicate resulting from brain injury.

c. Dementia: Dementia isn't a specific disease. Instead, dementia describes a group of symptoms affecting intellectual and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning. Many causes of dementia symptoms exist. Alzheimer's disease is the mostcommon cause of a progressive dementia.

d. Autistic: Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.


e. Spastic: A condition in which the muscles are rigid, posture may be abnormal, and fine motor control is impaired.

f....