When presented with a patient suffering from severe gangrene, how do you react? In many cases, empathy is lost and replaced with personal disgust. Because of its’ gruesome appearance and foul smell, gangrene carries an undeserving social stigma with it. These patients may be staring death in the face, so why are we staring at them?
In this paper I will describe gangrene and the different types, explain the risk factors and causes, discuss the complications, as well as treatment options and outcomes. I will also give details on limb amputation and how it affects the psychological well-being of the patient. By the end of this report I hope to have portrayed a different side of this tragic condition; the patient’s side.
What is gangrene? Is it “green”? The word gangrene comes from the Latin word gangreana and the Greek word gangraina, which both mean "purification of tissues". There is no link to the English word "green". (Nordqvist) Gangrene is localized death of soft tissue, caused by prolonged interruption of the blood supply that may result from injury or infection. Human cells require nutrients and oxygen to survive and they get this from blood. If cell blood supply goes down below a certain level, the cells will become damaged and will eventually die. Organisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi attack tissues and cells. Our white blood cells and the Thymus cells (T-cells) form part of our immune system and fight germs. If the blood supply is cut there, will be no white cells or T-cells to stop the organisms from multiplying and causing an infection. (Nordqvist) Diseases in which gangrene is prone to occur include arteriosclerosis, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, Buerger’s disease, and typhus. It may also occur fro...
... middle of paper ...
...iversity - Hadassah Medical School. "Maggot Therapy for Gangrene and Osteomyelitis." Harefuah 132.5 (1997): 323-5,382.
Encylopaedia Britannica. gangrene. 2013. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. 20 November 2013 .
Lachynsky, Paul. Hospital cases of gangrene have increased dramatically, USA. 9 October 2005. MediLexicon Intl. 20 November 2013 .
Mayo Clinic Staff. Gangrene. 10 August 2011. 21 November 2013 .
Nordqvist, Christian. What Is Gangrene? What Causes Gangrene? 24 July 2009. 10 November 2013 .
Vorvick, Linda, Jatin Vyas and David Zieve. "Gangrene." 24 August 2011. MedLine Plus. 20 November 2013 .
This article is written in the first person's point of view. The style is informal, almost chatty in spite of the morbid topic it deals with. The author uses this style to tell the reader a story, like telling a friend an experience. The author's feelings and thoughts are freely expressed. This helps to put the reader into the author's shoes, to see through her eyes and feel through her heart.
Philip Mortimer BMJ: British Medical Journal , Vol. 321, No. 7269 (Nov. 4, 2000) , p. 1123
Nordqvist, Christian. "What Is Rabies? What Causes Rabies?" Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. .
U.S. National Library of Medicine, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. The Web. The Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
The Cleveland Clinic, 26 Dec. 2007. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. . "
"Side Effects of Steroid Abuse - Steroidabuse.com." Side Effects of Steroid Abuse - Steroidabuse.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2013.
JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association. 14 Nov. 2001: 2322. Academic Search Complete. Web.
Leech therapy aided all of the patients that were case-studied. One of the elderly patients, a 53-year-old with RSD, had oedema reduced from her foot and her pain controlled with medication and fitted orthotics. The 16-year-old patient recovered well from her severe painful hypertrophic scar, after having 10 leeches ‘engorged 3 to 5 cc of blood’ and having 50 percent of the incision faded and 80 percent reduction of pain which allowed her to walk again ‘pain-free’. The third patient, a 52-year-old, had reduced swelling of her feet from severe burning, hyperesthesia and ‘forefoot oedema’ after the application of 12 leeches.
"Mechanism Leading To Life -Threatening Infection Identified by UCSD School of Medicine Researchers" April 2004, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/04318073929.htm
Nordqvist, Christian. “What is serotonin? What does serotonin do?”. Medical News Today. Medicalnewstoday.com, 3 Nov 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Kanungo S, Sah B, Nair G, et al. Cholera in India: an analysis of reports, 1997--2006. Bulin Of The WHO. March 2010;88(3):185-191. Available from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ehost/detail?vid=9&sid=77c95b18-e865-4830-92c0-5c437de5b317%40sessionmgr110&hid=120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=48584940. Accessed April 12, 2014.
"Adenosine - What Is Adenosine?" Adenosine - What Is Adenosine? N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.
Wolf, A. (2011). What is cryonics?. In Institute for Evidence-Based Cryonics. Retrieved December 30, 2013, from http://www.evidencebasedcryonics.org/what-is-cryonics/.
Ed. David Zieve. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. The Web.
Nordqvist, C. (2012, August 22). What is a phobia? What causes a phobia. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/249347.php