...“Dr. Death” Sydney Speight English B Jack Kevorkian originally wanted to be a baseball radio broadcaster, but his Armenian immigrant parents felt that he should have a more promising career. So he became a doctor, specializing in pathology. Kevorkian worked primarily with deceased people, performing autopsies in order to study the essential nature of diseases. Kevorkian was born on May 28, 1928, in Pontiac, Michigan. He was raised in an Armenian, Greek, and Bulgarian neighborhood. Kevorkian attended the University of Michigan medical school and graduated in 1952. Kevorkian initially received his nickname, "Dr. Death," for his pioneering medical experiments in the 1950's. He photographed the eyes of dying patients in order to determine the exact time of death. As Kevorkian witnessed the suffering of terminally ill patients, he became convinced that they had a moral right to end their lives when the pain became unbearable, and that doctors should assist in this process. To that end, he designed and constructed a machine that started a harmless saline intravenous drip into the arm of a person wishing to die. When the patient was ready, he or she would press a button that would stop the flow of the harmless solution and begin a new drip of thiopental. “This chemical would put the patient into a deep sleep, then a coma. After one minute, the timer in the machine would send a lethal dose of potassium chloride into the patient's arm, stopping the heart in minutes...
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...ALS Helpful or Hurtful The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social networks, but is it too successful for its own good? ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) often referred to as “Lou Gehrigs Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord (ALS Association). It’s like Parkinson’s on super-steroids. Now, the challenge aspect was a simple dare. You had 24 hours to drench yourself in a bucket of ice water, and if you didn’t complete the dare in 24 hours you had to donate $100 to the research. To keep the cycle going you had to dare others before completing yours ( ). It all started with a patient named Peter Frates diagnosed with ALS in Boston. Then it totally went viral within weeks from everyday locals, to professional athletes, and then to national and international celebrities. LeBron James, who was previously a Heat player in the NBA at the time accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from the deck of a yacht in Greece (Forbes). Having many celebrities including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Justin Bieber helped raise donations more than $15 million. It took over mainly on the social network of Instagram, an online mobile photo and video social networking service that branch out to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr. I personally participated in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I was nominated by my boyfriend to complete the challenge. I completed the challenge, but I only completed the challenge because...
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...Lou Gehrig was a professional baseball player with the New York Yankees from 1923 to1939 and delivered one of the most unforgettable speeches. On his introductory speech at the Yankee Stadium, he stated, “for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth” (Gehrig). This statement referred to his medical condition as the “bad break”. As a well-admired baseball player with a good standing with his fans, he used the rhetorical device ethos to appeal and persuade the audience that his major accomplishments not to be over shadowed by his minor setback and despite of his health issue, he was well blessed to live a good life. He delivered his speech with feelings and eloquently by convincing the audience that we should not solely focus on the negative side, but on the positive....
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...Conner Dierksen 11-5-13 CHPA Mrs. Ludaul Rough draft period 1 Lou Gehrigs Disease (ALS) The name of my Disease is Lou Gehrigs Disease or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS for short a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis affects the nerve system and causes you to go paralyze and not move. What happens is that the motor neutrons die and you lose all control of your muscles and you cannot move your muscles and then you are paralyze until you die of (ALS).In the next Paragraph I will tell you of the symptoms what you will see if you have (ALS).This is the name of my disease and I hope that this Gave you some information on (ALS). Some of the early sighs of (ALS) are that muscle weakness in one or more of the following: hands, arms, legs or the muscles of speech, swallowing or breathing are some of the early symptoms .Some more of the symptoms are twitching and cramping of muscles; especially those in the hands and feet itch are some more of the symptoms. The most common impairment of the use of the arms and legs, and thick speech and difficulty in projecting the voice. The most advanced symptoms are shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing and swallowing. These are the symptoms of ALS. In the next paragraph I will who discovered this disease And how it was discovered. Jean Marie Charcot noted the first reports of ALS in 1874, and named the fatal...
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...NFL Player Safety and the Effects of Concussions An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these changes of rules in the NFL come from various points of emphasis. Legal actions taken by former NFL athletes have plagued the league and its reputation as of late, prompting this proactive approach to reduce the risk of long term effects on players. With all of the legal actions being performed on the NFL some felt that these changes that needed to happen would solely be kick started because of the legal aspect of it as represented by this quote, “"I don't think it'll be driven by public opinion, but by lawyers and insurance companies," David Meggyesy, who played linebacker for the St. Louis Cardinals in the nineteen-sixties.” (McGrath, 2011). One of the main concerns by the NFL is the long term affects that concussions have been shown to have...
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...Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is often referred to as ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. It is a progressive disease where the motor neurons degenerate and die. This causes the brain to not be able to start or control muscle movement. As the disease progresses, the patient becomes paralyzed. ALS is diagnosed through ruling out other diseases. There is no certain test to diagnose it. A patient might go through multiple testing; such as nerve conduction studies, EMG, labs, spinal tap, MRI, and muscle biopsy. A patient will also undergo a neurological exam based on their symptoms. To also be diagnosed, a patient must have symptoms of both the upper and lower motor neuron damage that can not be caused by something else. When a patient first gets ALS, the symptoms may be barely noticeable but as it gets worse then major symptoms show. One of the major symptoms is muscle weakness in either the hands, arms, legs, speaking, swallowing or breathing. There may be twitching or cramping of muscles. As it progresses, there will be shortness of breath. Most die with respiratory failure because the muscles in the diaphragm and chest wall fail. The prognosis for ALS is not good. Half of all people diagnosed live around 3 year after diagnosis. The average life expectancy is 2-5 years. Twenty percent of ALS patients live 5 years, ten percent will live 10 years. There is some evidence that patients are living longer due to medical management. Although there is...
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...With recent progress in stem cell research, scientist may be approaching an amazing brake though towards the cure. Living an everyday life with such a horrendous disease like ALS is a very tough thing to do, mentally and physically. Embryonic stem cells are being used in order to help reduce the symptoms caused from Lou Gehrig’s disease and hopefully another step forward towards the cure. People in the community, who are against abortion and the use of embryo stem cells, are highly against this and are beginning to protest against the ALS Foundation website. The research I have conducted has taught me about man kind and what we are willing to do once we understand the reality of a subject or disease. We as humans are not always as harsh and rude, when we are faced with death or disaster, we always seem to find a way to come together and help each other in a time of need. Although ALS researchers may not be using the most standard types of research, at least the scientist are still trying. The important thing is that we are coming together, as a community...
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...Most patients with ALS—also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, for the famous baseball player who succumbed to the disease—are diagnosed after the age of 50 and die within five years of their diagnosis. Hawking's condition was first diagnosed when he was 21, and he was not expected to see his 25th birthday.Jan 7, 2012 Last year, British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking hinted at research he and a couple of colleagues were working on that could solve the infamous black hole information paradox, which states that information about matter that gets destroyed by a black hole, according to Einstein's general theory of relativity, is ...Jan 11, 2016 Hawking has a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis...
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...students would have during their years at the university. She made sure to cover her experiences that got her and her career to where it is now. The situation of her speech was to deliver one at a commencement ceremony. The definition of commencement is a ceremony at which academic degrees or diplomas are conferred. (Commencement,2012) Even though Ellen did not attend Tulane University, but was a resident of Louisiana so the university had her deliver the speech. Its purpose was help the graduates look at someone’s path to their success through hard times and trials. It was meant as a motivational way to encourage the students that they can succeed. The second video speech was about Lou Gehrig. There were two speakers in this video one of which was a reporter and the other was a witness that attended Lou Gehrig’s speech. It was a lot shorter than the first video but it covered a shortened history of Gehrig’s career and life....
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...One way, out of several, that I received the news by way of mass media was through the social media web site “Facebook.” From this particular site, I was, like so many other people locally and nationwide, learned about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or as it is commonly known as, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. I saw what has become viral around the nation and world, hundreds upon hundreds of people, ranging from my family, peers, or some type of celebrity, doing what we now refer to as the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.” Although I did see the countless number of individuals getting “called out” by another individual or group and them doing the same, and thereby causing them to dump a bucket of ice on their head to raise awareness for ALS, I also saw a number of people donate to research for the ALS foundation as well. From this stemmed a wide array of information about what ALS actually is other than people dumping ice cold water on their heads. There were several major news stations either posting or reposting on the site as to the amount of money raised for the ALS foundation and these ranged from FOX News, to CNN to The Wall Street Journal and even the spoof articles of The Onion. That being said, I was able to view interviews with those who had ALS or the family members who had been affected by the condition. I could also listen to or view podcasts from radio hosts such as Dave Ramsey. Though I was viewing all of these different news and media information, I was doing so through...
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...Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease) Dustin M. Sumner ITT- Technical Institute of Technology Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. When muscle has no nourishment, it “atrophies” or wastes away. “Lateral” identifies the areas in a person’s spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening (“sclerosis”) in the region. ALS is a disorder that affects the function of nerves and muscles. Based on U.S. population studies, a little over 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. (That’s 15 new cases a day.) It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. According to the ALS Care Database, 60% of the people with ALS in the Database are men and 93% of patients in the Database are Caucasian. Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. However, cases of the disease do occur in persons in their twenties and thirties. Generally though, ALS occurs in greater percentages as men and women grow older. ALS is 20% more common in men than in women. There are several research studies – past and present –investigating possible risk factors that may be associated with ALS. More work is needed to conclusively...
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...When a loved one dies, it may seem like the world is going to end. Although it is emotionally taxing, death never makes that person go away. In Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, Mitch was a popular newscaster who was engulfed in modern society. When Mitch saw his former sociology teacher, Morrie, on a nighttime television talk show, he went to his house to reconnect. He found himself visiting every Tuesday to discuss different life lessons from Morrie. Because Morrie had a terminal illness, ALS, he gained a new appreciation for life, making him wiser and more intoned with what truly matters. A major topic portrayed through out this book is death. During one of the final Tuesdays Morrie muttered these words to Mitch, “Death ends a Life not a relationship”(174) encapsulated Morrie’s teachings. Morrie teaches Mitch that just because someone died, does not mean they are not still present. The idea that life does not end a relationship is exemplified with Mitch’s relationship with his uncle, Morrie’s relationship with his mother, and Mitch’s relationship with Morrie. After Mitch heard his uncle had pancreatic cancer, at the age of forty-four, he was devastated. Mitch heard about his uncle when he was in his mid twenties, trying to pursue his dream of being a famous pianist. Mitch admired his uncle so much and had modeled himself after him. As Mitch watched his uncle die a slow death, he felt helpless. After his uncle passed away, he realized that he could die at any moment and...
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...¬Who is the Iron Horse? & What's his next move. Henry Louis Gehrig is an all American baseball player that’s shine was always under looked due to his teammate Babe Ruth. "Let’s face it. I'm not a headline guy. I always knew that as long as I was following Babe to the plate I could have gone up there and stood on my head. No one would have noticed the difference. When the Babe was through swinging, whether he hit one or fanned, nobody paid any attention to the next hitter. They all were talking about what the Babe had done."-Lou Gehrig Lou was overshadowed by babe because not only was he an unparalleled hitter but he was and outgoing and flamboyant guy unlike Lou who was often quiet, Lou was one of those guys that would just go out and do...
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...Football players more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease, study finds By Nadia Kounang, CNN updated 4:38 PM EDT, Wed September 5, 2012 [pic] (CNN) -- Just hours before the 2012 NFL season kicks off, a new study suggests that professional football players are three times more likely to have neurodegenerative diseases than the general population. When researchers specifically looked at Alzheimer's disease and ALS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- that risk increased to four times greater than the rest of us. The study, published Wednesday in the medical journal Neurology, surveyed nearly 3,500 retired NFL players who were in the league between 1959 and 1988. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the Centers for Disease Control, had been following this group of players since the early '90s, when the NFL asked the institute to evaluate them for their risk of cardiovascular disease. This time, the authors decided to look at the neurological outcomes of the players by specifically evaluating the autopsies of 334 players. "We looked at all the death certificates, and Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and ALS had significant contribution to the death," according to study co-author Elliot Lehman. When tallying those specific diseases, the authors found that among the 334 players, seven had died from Alzheimer's and another seven with ALS. Three players had died with Parkinson's disease, but the authors...
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...Losing A Parent For me losing a parent was probably the most difficult thing I had ever gone through in my entire life. I lost my dad 4 years ago to a paralysis disease called Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). Of course it was devastating. To lose someone you thought was invincible is like finding out that Superman was no longer powerful anymore. Although he got weaker physically, he got stronger mentally. To be a 13 year old kid that just moved to a new city and that had a sick parent was really hard. Everything was new and scary. I was worried about my dad 24/7 and I really couldn’t relax. By going on what I experienced I feel like my dad’s illness and the journey he went through and my whole family went through, was a learning experience. I think we all became a little stronger and our family became closer. Before his illness I didn’t get to see my dad as much. It’s unfortunate that it takes a terrible disease to bring us together but it did. As a person and a daughter I’m just glad I got to be with that one person I looked up to the most, before it was time to say goodbye. Honestly it’s so hard living without him. When Father’s day comes rolling around I feel so sad. I see everyone celebrating this day with their father’s and I don’t get that chance at all. I really hope all of these people who still have their father’s, really appreciate them, Because you never know if you will see that person again. This goes for any loved one. Over the past 4 years I’ve learned to be more...
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