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Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome Research Paper

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The disease I chose to do my first paper on is Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. This was a disease that I actually acquired as a young child and was diagnosed and treated for. The way it is described is a early destruction of red blood cells which affects the Cardiovascular system. It ends up clogging the filter systems of the kidneys and then at some point could lead to kidney failure if not treated correctly. Some symptoms or defining characteristics of this disease are abdominal pain, pale skin tone, bloody bowel movements, even small bruises around the mouth and nose. There are more general symptoms such as vomiting, fever, or confusion but those could be relevant in many other flus or viruses. However I mention them because when added to …show more content…

coli. The fact that you get E. coli, does not mean that you will eventually end up getting HUS, it is just the most common cause. For adults (most of the time being elderly) there are a multitude of other things that can cause them to get HUS including, but not limited to; pregnancy, genes (passed down from parents) or even certain other infections (such as ones have pneumococcal bacteria in them). While these are all possibilities for the causes for adults, the definite cause is usually unknown. Chemically what is occurring is the digestive system is producing toxic substances that destroy red blood cells and eventually lead to the symptoms that were mentioned previously and the overall ending (if not treated) of kidney failure, among other possible health issues. The most common ways for HUS to be diagnosed is from a Urine or Stool test to test for blood or bacteria in those samples from the Digestive and Urinary systems. The other ways, that is more likely to be used, is a Blood test. The things the doctor would be checking for in this test would be a low red blood count, a low platelet count, a higher than normal creatinine level in your blood and also to see if you have any damage to your red blood

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