Page 172 - 86 human physiology part-2

Development: Birth Through Death

Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF), also called congestive cardiac failure (CCF) or just heart failure, is
a condition that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of
the heart to fill with or pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body. It is not to be confused
with "cessation of heartbeat", which is known as asystole, or with cardiac arrest, which is the cessation
of normal cardiac function in the face of heart disease. Because not all patients have volume overload
at the time of initial or subsequent evaluation, the term "heart failure" is preferred over the older term
"congestive heart failure". Congestive heart failure is often undiagnosed due to a lack of a universally
agreed definition and difficulties in diagnosis, particularly when the condition is considered "mild".

Stroke

A stroke, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is an acute neurologic injury whereby
the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted. Stroke can also be said to be a syndrome of sudden
loss of neuronal function due to disturbance in cerebral perfusion. This disturbance in perfusion is
commonly on the arterial side of the circulation, but can be on the venous side.

The part of the brain with disturbed perfusion can no longer receive adequate oxygen carried by
the blood; brain cells are therefore damaged or die, impairing function from that part of the brain.
Stroke is a medical emergency and can cause permanent neurologic damage or even death if not
promptly diagnosed and treated. It is the third leading cause of death and adult disability in the US and
industrialized European nations. On average, a stroke occurs every 45 seconds and someone dies every
3 minutes. Of every 5 deaths from stroke, 2 occur in men and 3 in women.

Progeria

The term Progeria narrowly refers to Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome, but the term is also
used more generally to describe any of the so-called "accelerated aging diseases". The word progeria is
derived from the Greek for "prematurely old". Because the "accelerated aging" diseases display
different aspects of aging, but never every aspect, they are often called "segmental progerias" by
biogerontologists. Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome is an extremely rare genetic condition which
causes physical changes that resemble greatly accelerated aging in sufferers. The disease affects
between 1 in 4 million (estimated actual) and 1 in 8 million (reported) newborns. Currently, there are
approximately 40-45 known cases in the world. There is no known cure. Most people with progeria die
around 13 years of age. Progeria is of interest to scientists because the disease may reveal clues about
the process of aging. Unlike most other "accelerated aging diseases" (such as Werner's syndrome,
Cockayne's syndrome or xeroderma pigmentosum), progeria is not caused by defective DNA repair. It
is caused by mutations in a LMNA (Lamin A protein) gene on chromosome 1. Nuclear lamina is a
protein scaffold around the edge of the nucleus that helps organize nuclear processes such as RNA and
DNA synthesis.

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