Human Behavior Essay

At the beginning of the film, Lorenzo (played by Noah Banks and also Zack OM e truly last(predicate)ey Greenburg) is a bright and vibrant young boy living in the Comoros Islands, as his father Augusto (played by Nick Nolte) works for the World Bank and is stationed there. However, when his parents relocate to the United States, he begins to show neurological problems, such as loss of hearing, tantrums, etc. The boy is diagnosed as having adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), which is fatal within two years. Failing to find a doctor capable of treating their pa bureaus rare indisposition, Augusto and his wife Michaela (Susan Sarandon) slew out on a mission to find a discourse to save their child. In their quest, the Odones clash with doctors, scientists, and support groups, who are skeptical that anything could be done about ALD, much less by lay tidy sum. But they persist, saddle horse up camp in medical libraries, reviewing animal experiments, enlisting the tutelage of Professor Gus Ni kolais (played by Peter Ustinov), badgering researchers, questioning top doctors all told everywhere the world, and even organizing an international symposium about the disease.Despite research dead-ends, the curse of watching their sons health lineage, and being surrounded by skeptics (including the coordinators of the support group they attend), they persist until they finally hit upon a therapy involving adding a certain kind of oil (actually containing two specific tenacious concatenation fatty acids, isolated from rapeseed canola oil and olive oil) to their sons diet. They stir over 100 firms around the world until they find an elderly British chemist (Don Suddaby, who plays himself in a cameo role) working for Croda International who is willing to post on the challenge of di restraineding the proper formula. The oil, erucic acid, proves successful in normalizing the accumulation of the very(prenominal) long arrange fatty acids in the brain that had been causing their sons steady decline, thereby halting the progression of the disease.There is still a great deal of neurological vituperate remaining which could not be reversed unless refreshful treatments could be found to regenerate the medulla oblongata sheath (a lipid insulator) around the nerves. The father is seen taking on the new challenge of organizing biomedical efforts to heal myelin damage in patients (see The myelin Project). The film ends with Lorenzo at the age of 14 showing definite value (he could swallow for himself and answer yes or no questions by blinking) but indicating more than medical research is still needed. The end credits of the film cross out that Lorenzo has also regained his sight and is learning to use a computer.Adrenoleukodystrophy translationAdrenoleukodystrophy is a rare genetic disease characterized by a loss of myelin surrounding nerve cells in the brain and liberalist adrenal gland dysfunction.DescriptionAdrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a member of a g roup of diseases, leukodystrophies, that cause damage to the myelin sheath of nerve cells. Approximately one in 100,000 people is affected by ALD. There are three basic forms of ALD childhood, adult-onset, and neonatal. The childhood form of the disease is the classical form and is the most severe. Childhood ALD is progressive tense and usually leads to total disability or death. It affects only boys because the genetic reproach is sex-linked (carried on the X chromosome). Onset usually occurs between ages quartette and ten and can include many different symptoms, not all of which appear together. The most common symptoms are behavioral problems and poor memory. another(prenominal) symptoms frequently seen are loss of vision, seizures, poorly articulated speech, difficulty swallowing, deafness, problems with yard and coordination, fatigue, increased skin pigmentation, and progressive dementia.The adult-onset form of the disease, also called adrenomyeloneuropathy, is milder, pro gresses slowly, is usually associated with a normal life span, and usually appears between ages 21-35. Symptoms may include progressive stiffness, weakness, or paralysis of the lower limbs and loss of coordination. Brain function impairment may also been seen. Women who are carriers of the disease occasionally experience the uniform symptoms, as well as others, including ataxia, hypertonia (excessive musclebuilder tone), mild encircling(prenominal) neuropathy, and urinary problems. The neonatal form affects both male and female infants and may produce mental retardation, facial abnormalities, seizures, retinal degeneration, poor muscle tone, enlarged liver, and adrenal dysfunction. Neonatal ALD usually progresses rapidly.Causes and symptomsThe genetic defect in ALD causes a decrease in the ability to degrade very long chain fatty acids. These build up in the adrenal glands, brain, plasma, and fibroblasts. The build-up of very long chain fatty acids interferes with the ability of the adrenal gland to convert cholesterol into steroids and causes demyelination of nerves in the white matter of the brain. Demyelinated nerve cells are ineffective to function properly.DiagnosisDiagnosis is made based on discovered symptoms, a biochemical test, and a family history. The biochemical test detects elevated levels of very long chain fatty acids in samples from amniocentesis, chorionic villi, plasma, red daub cells, or fibroblasts. A family history may indicate the likelihood of ALD because the disease is carried on the X-chromosome by the female lineage of families.Biosynthesis (also called biogenesis or anabolism) is an enzyme-catalyzed process in cells of living organisms by which substrates are born-again to more complex products.1 The biosynthesis process often consists of several enzymatic steps in which the product of one step is used as substrate in the following step. Examples for such multi-step biosynthetic pathways are those for the output signal of blood clots,amino acids, fatty acids, and natural products.2 Biosynthesis plays a major role in all cells, and many dedicated metabolic routes combined take a shit general metabolism. Six organelles in the cell are involved in biosynthesis ribosomes, chloroplasts, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, rough endoplasmic reticulum, plastids, and Golgi bodies.3 derangement (taken from Latin, originally meaning rabidity, from de- without + ment, the root of mens mind) is a serious loss of global cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what world power be expected from normal aging. It may be static, the result of a unique global brain injury, or progressive, resulting in long-term decline due to damage or disease in the body. Although dementia is utmost more common in the geriatric population (about 5% of those over 65 are said to be involved),1 it can occur out front the age of 65, in which case it is termed early onset dementia.2 Dementia is not a single disease, bu t a non-specific syndrome (i.e., set of signs and symptoms). stirred cognitive areas can be memory, attention, language, and problem solving. Normally, symptoms must be stage for at least six months to support a diagnosis.3 Cognitive dysfunction of shorter duration is called delirium.Dysphagia is the medical term for the symptom of difficulty in swallowing.123 Although assort under symptoms and signs in ICD-10,4 the term is sometimes used as a condition in its own right.567 Sufferers are sometimes unaware of their dysphagia. Spasticity is a feature of altered skeletal muscle performance in muscle tone involving hypertonia it is also referred to as an unusual tightness, stiffness, or pull of muscles. The word spasm comes from the Greek word (spasmos), meaning drawing, pulling.clinically spasmodicity is defined as velocity dependent resistance to stretch, where a overlook of inhibition results in excessive contraction of the muscles, ultimately leading to hyperflexia (overly fle xed joints). It broadly speaking occurs in disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) affecting the upper labor neuron in the form of a lesion, such as spastic diplegia, but it can also present in various types of two-fold sclerosis, where it occurs as a symptom of the progressively-worsening attacks on myelin sheaths and is thus unrelated to the types of spasticity present in neuromuscular cerebral palsy rooted spasticity disorders. DefinitionA seizure happens when there are certain types of abnormal galvanizing activity in the brain. During a seizure, you may*Lose consciousness* gaze into space* Have convulsions (abnormal jerking of the muscles)* Experience abnormalities of sensation or emotion