Statistics- 1 of every 5,000 male births, 30,000 - 33,000 living with it in the US, hemophilia A is about 4 times more common than hemophilia B

Signs and symptoms-  blood in stool, blood in urine, many large or deep bruises, heavy or prolonged periods, nosebleeds, bleeding in mouth or gums, and unexplained bleeding

Cause-  A mutation or change in one of the genes

Prevention- Hemophilia can’t be prevented since it is genetically inherited. If you already have hemophilia you can help prevent excessive bleeding by exercising regularly, avoid pain medications such as Advil and Tylenol, and practice good dental hygiene. 

Diagnosis- To make a diagnosis doctors will perform certain blood tests to see if the blood is clotting properly. If it does not, they will then do clotting factor tests to diagnose the cause of the bleeding disorder.

Complications- Hemophilia complications include damage to joints, which can then lead to arthritis or deconstruction of the joint, deep internal bleeding, lessened ability to breathe, infections, and a negative reaction of the immune system that denies the clotting treatment. 

Treatment options- replacing the missing blood clotting factor so that the blood can clot properly. This is done by a process called prophylaxis. Prophylaxis is done by infusing commercially prepared factor concentrates. People with Hemophilia can learn how to do these infusions themselves so they can stop bleeding episodes.

Prognosis- If unproperly treated most patients don’t make it to adulthood, but with proper treatment the life expectancy is about ten years less than a healthy adult. There is no complete recovery, and for most patients hemophilia is the cause of their death.

Statistics- 20% of people with Crohn’s also have a close family member who has it. Crohn’s disease doesn’t affect one population, and it usually occurs as frequently in men as it does in women. 2 out of 3 crohn’s disease patients will receive a diagnosis before the age of 40.

Signs and symptoms- Some symptoms of crohn’s disease include stomach cramps, diarrhea, 

constipation, blood in your stool, weight loss, and malnutrition. If the disease progresses you may have inability to exercise due to anemia, ulcers in mouth or stomach or even the anus, and inflammation of the joints and skin.

Causes- A big cause of crohn's disease is genetics. However you could also develop crohn's disease if you are immunocompromised, or have environmental triggers. Your age, whether you smoke, and the length of time you've had the disease may affect the severity of your symptoms or disease.

Prevention - Crohn's disease is pretty hard to prevent. You can prevent yourself from developing severe symptoms by trying not to smoke and live a healthy lifestyle, but the disease itself is mostly environmental and genetic. If it runs in your family it is pretty much impossible to prevent yourself from getting it, you just have to hope you won’t.

Diagnosis- No single test is able to diagnose Crohn’s, so they use a variety. They will most likely perform blood tests, a stool test, possibly an endoscopy or colonoscopy, and you may need a CT scan, or MRI which will show more than a typical X-ray. If you have a colonoscopy or endoscopy they will most likely do a biopsy, which is a sample of tissue taken from those regions.

Complications- Some complications of Crohn’s disease include bowel obstruction, ulcers, malnutrition, fistulas, and even colon cancer. Because Crohn’s disease can affect the thickness of the bowel, these complications can build on top of each other, which can make the symptoms worse. 

Treatment options- There are many treatment options for Crohn’s, you just have to find the one that works best for you. There are certain medications like antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, biologic therapy drugs, and immunomodulators which may reduce inflammation in your abdomen. Diet is another easy treatment option. You can lower fat intake, adjust your fiber intake, limit dairy intake, and make sure you are drinking plenty of water. If less invasive changes don’t help or cure your symptoms, surgery is the next option. Some surgeries will remove the damaged parts of your intestinal tracts and connect the healthy ones, other procedures repair the damaged tissues.

Prognosis- Most people with Crohn’s disease have a healthy and active life. Even though there is no definite cure for Crohn’s disease, there are many treatment options and lifestyle changes you can do to reduce the symptoms. Surgery is also an option for people whose symptoms are unmanageable. However, people with Crohn’s disease do have a higher risk of death. 

A myocardial infarction also known as a heart attack is when there is a blockage of blood flow to the heart muscle. In a myocardial infarction there is a homeostatic imbalance that reflects myocardial oxygen insufficiency. Which basically means the heart isn't getting enough oxygen through the bloodstream and is dying.

Heart disease or heart related injury is the leading cause of death in America among men and women and about 659,000 people die from it every year. Overall between 70% and 89% of sudden heart myocardial infarctions occur in men compared to women. About 1.5 million cases of myocardial infarctions occur annually in the United States.

Myocardial infarctions in men and women can look much different. In men heart attacks can show themselves in chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, tightness or pulling in the upper body, jaw neck or back pain,nausea or vomiting. In women some signs are chest pain (but not always), extreme fatigue, fainting, pain or pressure in lower back or upper abdomen, shortness of breath, back or jaw pain.

Most often in myocardial infarctions factors such as diet play a heavy role. Over time in your arteries, a buildup of fatty deposits coat your artery walls making it harder for blood to pass through. These fatty deposits include cholesterol which can be found in unhealthy foods. The limiting of blood passing through your arteries makes your heart have to work harder to pump the blood throughout your body. And eventually your heart can’t do it anymore and that's when you'll have a myocardial infarction.

Exercise is a great way to prevent heart attacks. By building up the strength and muscle in your heart and blood vessels, the heart muscle won’t have to work as hard and will therefore last longer. The way exercise does this is by lowering your blood pressure. You can also lower your risk for a myocardial infarction by eating healthier. By eating healthier we mean eating foods with less saturated fats or foods with high cholesterol like greasy foods. 

A person may have the disease when they show these signs: pressure or tightness in the chest, pain in the chest, back, or jaw, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, feeling like you may faint, and fast heart rate. Tests such as a needle stick for imaging or the insertion of a tube or scope may help show if you did have a heart attack. An EKG (Electrocardiogram) records the electrical activity of the heart showing the timing of electrical phase in your heart beat. This test helps monitor changes in your heart beat, can help determine if a heart attack is developing, and shows if a heart attack has occured. Since fast heart beat is a symptom this could help show if you have had a heart attack or if one is approaching. A chest X-ray may also be used to take a picture of the heart, lungs, and bones of the chest. This is done to see if the heart is enlarged or if fluid is gathering in the lungs which would result if they did have a heart attack. It can show if the heat is damaged since a symptom is chest tightness this affects your heart.

Someone who has had a heart attack may experience mild to life threatening complications due to the severity of the heart attack. Someone may experience arrhythmia which is an abnormal heartbeat. The effects of this complication include dizziness or fainting. Heart failure which is when your heart does not efficiently pump blood around your body which can occur when your heart has been damaged. The effects of heart failure include feeling dizzy and possible swelling. Cardiogenic shock is when your heart has been damaged to the point where it can not pump enough blood to maintain the body's function. The long term effects include possible death and damage to organs like the kidney or liver. Lastly, heart rupture is when the heart muscles split apart. The long term effects include death.

To treat a heart attack you may receive a clot dissolving drug, balloon angioplasty, or surgery. A medication such as an antiplatelet agent is used to make sure platelets are not sticking together which helps prevent clots. Since a heart attack involves clogging of arteries this will help reverse this. A balloon angioplasty is when a special tube is attached to a balloon that is deflated and is threaded up the artery. This procedure helps to open blocked or narrowed arteries so that blood can flow from your heart and help decrease the amount of damage to your heart. It can help with symptoms such as chest pain. A bypass surgery is used to create a new passage for blood to flow to your heart. This will help the efficiency of blood being pumped to your heart.

Having a heart attack can possibly lead to death depending on the severity of it. If you have survived a heart attack your heart will be damaged and can lead to difficulty pumping blood to the rest of your body. The average time it takes someone to recover from a heart attack is about 6-8 months. Depending on the severity of the heart attack and your treatment can depend how long it can take to recover from a heart attack. If a blood clot completely clots the arteries wall and the heart becomes starved for oxygen this can lead to the death of heart muscle cells which can be permanent damage.

-In 2018, asthma accounted for 178,530 discharges from hospital inpatient care and 1.6 million emergency department visits

-An average of 10 Americans die from asthma each day

-Black children are three times as likely to have asthma compared to white children

-Women are more likely to be diagnosed with asthma than men

Some signs of asthma are shortness of breath, chest tightness or pain, and wheezing when exhaling (commonly seen in children). People can also experience frequent respiratory infections, shortness of breath at night, and coughing when exercising. It’s not clear why some people get asthma and others don’t. It is thought to be a combination of environmental and inherited factors. Asthma triggers differ in each person but some are allergies, respiratory infections, exercise, weather, air pollutants, and strong emotions. Ways to prevent asthma are by taking prescribed meditation, avoiding smoking, staying away from allergens, and using controller inhalers. To diagnose asthma, your doctor will discuss your medical history with you and perform a physical exam. You may need a lung function test and maybe other tests, such as a chest or sinus X-ray. Symptoms can interfere with daily life activities like work and sleep, cause missed days from work or school during asthma flare-ups, affect breathing, result in the need to use long term medications. Some treatment options include rescue inhalers, Bronchodilator, Steroid, and Anti-inflammatory medications, quitting smoking, and oxygen therapy depending on the severity. Most people with asthma grow and learn to live with it and control it. Usually only small amounts of regular medication are needed to proceed with normal life activities. 

Graves' disease affects about 1 in 200 people. It occurs more often in women than in men which may be related to hormonal factors. In the rare case of thyroid storm there can be mortality rates as high as 20-50%. Usually this disease is not deadly but it possibly can be. 
 
 Graves' disease is caused by a malfunction in the body's disease-fighting immune system. It's unknown why this happens. the immune system produces an antibody to one part of the cells in the hormone-producing gland in the neck (thyroid gland) There is no way to prevent this illness. 

 

Preventable? Experts still aren’t certain what causes autoimmune diseases like Graves’ disease. Currently, there’s no known way to prevent the illness.  

 

Diagnoses:  A healthcare provider may make a diagnosis based on your symptoms, such as an enlarged thyroid, and family history of thyroid or autoimmune disease. You may also have these tests to confirm a Graves’ disease diagnosis:  

 

blood tests, Thyroid blood tests measure TSI, an antibody that stimulates thyroid hormone production. Blood tests also check amounts of thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSH). A low TSH level indicates that the thyroid gland is producing too much hormone. The overproduction causes the pituitary gland to make less TSH.  

 

Radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU) test: The thyroid collects iodine from blood to make thyroid hormone. With the RAIU test, you swallow a small amount of radioactive iodine. 

 

Thyroid scan: A thyroid scan is an imaging test that utilizes radioactive material to look at how the thyroid is working. It is typically done by injecting a material called technetium before the test, waiting a short period of time and then creating images of the thyroid. During the scan, your provider will see a picture of the gland, as well as being able to see the gland’s uptake pattern. This pattern helps tell your provider how well the gland is working. 

 

Complications: Untreated or poorly managed Graves’ disease increases your risk for these complications: eye disease, heart and skin problems and also a thyroid storm are all possible.  

 

Treatment options:  Graves’ disease is a lifelong condition. However, treatments can keep the thyroid gland in check. Medical care may even make the disease temporarily go away 

 

Prognosis: Keeping thyroid hormones in a healthy range can be tricky when you have Graves’ disease. Treatments are often effective but can have side effects. After treatment, some people start to produce too little thyroid hormone. They then need thyroid hormone replacement therapy for life.