Liver & Pancreas Afflictions

Jaundice: common symptom of liver damage. Causes yellowing of skin and eyes due to excess bilirubin (red blood cell breakdown waste product) in the blood. Responsible for the yellowing seen in bruises, yellow color of urine, brown color of feces and jaundice. Spanish: Ictericia

1. Hepatitis (A, B, C, D & E) Severe liver inflammation that compromises its normal functions. Condition can be self-healing or it can progress to cirrhosis. Most cases caused by infections of various hepatitis viruses.

Symptoms vary depending on the type of hepatitis. Common symptoms include fever, muscle & joint pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, jaundice, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss and darkening of urine. Forms of transmission vary depending on the type of hepatitis.

22million cases of Hepatitis B & C are spread due to reuse of syringes or improperly sterilized needles. In many poor communities syringes are reused because local health services cannot afford to buy more (World Health Organization (WHO).

K1 Syringe: First syringe with an over-filling prevention mechanism and a self-disabling mechanism (plunger breaks off) that prevents reuse.

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8 Vaccines available for most types of hepatitis.

2. Cirrhosis Damaged liver tissue is replaced with scar tissue or connective tissue (fibrosis). Damage normally caused by viral infections, fatty diet and excess alcohol intake.

Fatty Liver: too much stored fat can lead to cirrhosis.

11 Chronic hepatitis is a common cause of cirrhosis. Extreme cases can associate with liver cancer.

Liver cancer.

3. Pancreatic Cancer One of the worst types of cancer due to its high mortality rate and low survival rate (1-year survival rate = 25%, 5-year survival rate = 6%, survival past the 5-year mark is extremely rare). “Silent killer” because early pancreatic cancer has no symptoms and tends to go undiagnosed until too late. Late cancer symptoms include abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea & vomiting, weight loss...

John Andraka, 15, winner of the 2012 International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF, awarded $75000) for developing a sensor & detection test that allows detection of early pancreatic cancer using a simple urine analysis. Trial tests for cancer detection resulted in over 90 percent accuracy, with the sensor being 28 times faster and less expensive, and over 100 times more sensitive, than current tests.

PATRICK SWAYZE (August 1952 – September 2009) STEVE JOBS (August 1955 – October 2011)