User talk:Aud 30

Don’t Stress Out!!

Encephalitis means an inflammation of the brain, but it usually refers to brain inflammation caused by a virus. It may also be called acute viral encephalitis or aseptic encephalitis. There are two different forms that encephalitis is categorized in, primary encephalitis and secondary encephalitis. Primary encephalitis occurs when a virus directly invades your brain and spinal cord. While Secondary encephalitis occurs when a virus first infects another part of your body and then secondly enters your brain. Encephalitis can be caused by many different viruses. One of the most dangerous viruses is herpes simplex virus (HSV). HSV is more commonly present in cold sores around the mouth. But when it enters the blood stream and attacks the brain it may be fatal in as many of half the patients. HSV is the most common cause of sporadic encephalitis. The best part about HSV is that it is very rare in encephalitis. Less commonly, encephalitis can result from a bacterial infection, such as meningitis, or it may be a complication of other infectious diseases like rabies, cytomegalovirus infection, listeriosis, syphilis, or Lyme disease. Certain parasites, like toxoplasmosis, also can cause encephalitis in people with weakened immune systems, like those with HIV/AIDS or cancer. Even prolonged stress can weaken the immune system and cause encephalitis. Recently a good friend of my parents was diagnosed with Sporadic Encephalitis. His condition started with just flu like symptoms, along with diarrhea. His wife took him to the hospital because he got really dehydrated. When he was there the doctors just observed him and then sent him home. While he was at home he began to have a seizure. His wife then immediately called 911 and he was but into the emergency room and placed in ICU. He remained in ICU for 2 weeks. After the swelling of the brain went down and he stabilized he was slowly brought out of the induced comma. The doctors said that the causes behind his encephalitis was that he was over stressed, over worked, drank to much liquor and had weakened his immune system. They also said that only 30% of people survive sporadic encephalitis and that he was really lucky to be alive. His only words about the situation were that if he had been betting on a football game with a 70% chance of losing he wouldn’t have placed the bet. He also said that after experiencing this he has a whole new look on life and that God must actually have a plan for him.:)

Bibliography http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/encephalitis.html http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?objectid=A63631AF-C85E-40BB-A5BD3F9EC09245C7&dsection=3 http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encephalitis.html