Kawasaki Disease
During the late twentieth century many new diseases have been discovered. Tomisaku Kawasaki discovered one of these diseases, Kawasaki disease, or technically mucocutaneous lymph node disease, in 1961. This particular disease remained undetected for so long because its cause is still unknown. Dr. Kawasaki, a pediatrician, uncovered this disease after studying fifty cases during his practice in Japan. Kawasaki found that in those fifty cases most were characterized by fever, redness of the eyes, diffuse red rash, redness and swelling of the hands and feet, as well as enlarged lymph nodes in the neck. In Kawasaki's studies only those five and under were examined for this disease, however it has been shown to affect a few over that age. The peak age of those affected are eighteen to twenty-four months. Eighty percent of the cases involve children ages four and under. As shown in Figure 1, those affected are children usually age four or less. The graph of Figure 1 clearly shows that there is the greatest percentage of those diagnosed at the age of three or less. Kawasaki disease is very rare over the age of ten and any time that it is diagnosed to a patient above that age it should be interpreted with suspicion. The diagnos
Miller, Steve and Bernard Valman. Children's Medical Guide. New York: DK Publishing, 1997. In a study conducted of fifty-six patients diagnosed with Kawasaki disease they are categorized as to what of the five basic symptoms they exhibited. The symptoms technical name is given and the more common name for it is given below. The graph shows that forty eight percent of those studied exhibited all five symptoms, about thirty four percent show four symptoms, eleven percent show three symptoms, five percent show two symptoms, and finally about two percent only show one symptom. The diagnosis of Kawasaki disease is not always assumed to be correct since it is not provable that they have it only that they show some of its symptoms. The end of the fever, rash, characterizes the second phase and enlarged lymph nodes, but irritability and poor appetite might still exist. The skin around the fingers and toes may start to peel. The beginning of arthritis and heart problems may begin on this stage. The heart problems that may occur are a weakening of the coronary arteries. These weak areas may eventually lead to a heart attack. The second phase usually lasts from day ten to twenty one. is may not be completely accurate because there is still as of yet no definitive way to test for Kawasaki disease, only the doctor's interpretation of the symptoms. In the United States approximately three thousand patients will be hospitalized for Kawasaki disease every year. Even with the amount of cases and the time being spent into investigating and treating the disease there are still many unanswered questions. Kawasaki disease occurs in three phases. The first of which is characterized by a fever, pus in the urine, red eyes, brilliantly red tongue, dry lips, rash, swollen hands and feet, enlarged lymph nodes and abnormal liver tests. However, most patients do not exhibit all the symptoms. The fever is unresponsive to Tylenol or aspirin and their equivalents. The first phase usually lasts for about ten days.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2562
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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