The Pros And Cons Of Histoplasma Capsulatum

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Should people be aware of a tiny little airborne fungus called Histoplasma capsulatum? An evaluated 40 million individuals in the United States are affected with the fungus called H. Capsulatum. Professionals in the field feel that 500,000 new instances happen every year. (Awosika-Olumo, Fallon, Jr., & Trangle, 2005, p. 10). Can we still enjoy simple things like family vacations and enjoying the great outdoors or are we putting ourselves and family at risk of developing ocular histoplasmosis syndrome later on in life? What is ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (OHS)? Histoplasmosis is a disease caused when the tiny spores of the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum getting into the lungs by breathing in the dust in the air. (The National Eye Institute, …show more content…

In nature it takes on a stringy spore like form and at the right body temperature it blooms into yeast. When the Histoplasma capsulatum is breathed in it travels to the lungs and then starts blooming into yeast from growing inside the humid spaces in the alveolar ducts of the lungs. In the lungs the body’s defense system starts to attack and disarm the fungus, the fungus that is not destroyed is then able to turn into the yeast form, where it enters the bloodstream and travels to other areas of the body, including the eyes, liver, central nervous system, skin, or adrenal glands (OSH Answers Fact Sheets). The area affected in the eye by the spores is the choroid, this area is highly vascular. The choroid lays in the back of the eye, it is between the retina and the sclera, its function is to supplies blood and nutrients to the …show more content…

Laser is the most common treatment, the doctor numbs the eye then uses a laser to cauterize the bleeding blood vessels. As far as treatment there are not very many available, and the effectiveness of the treatment is not very good. However a laser can be used to stop the bleeding in the vessels in the eye it is a form of photocoagulation. A small, powerful beam of light destroys the fragile, abnormal blood vessels, as well as a small amount of the overlying retinal tissue (SUNY Downstate Medical Center). Another treatments available for histoplasmosis targets a specific chemical in your body that causes abnormal blood vessels to grow under the retina. This is called vascular endothelial growth factor it is injected into the eye and it target the affected vessles. Several new drug treatments have been developed that can block the leaking blood vessels, lessens the growth of blood vessels, minimizes the outflow, helps to ward off vision loss, and in some cases boost vision (How Is Histoplasmosis

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