Spinal Cord Injury a Health Disorder - Article Example

Spinal Cord Injury A Health Disorder From the case study, I am an individual aged thirty five years, living in Guilford, London and diagnosed with spinal cord injury. This paper therefore is meant to discuss on the spinal cord injury as the health disorder that I have been diagnosed with. The spinal cord is reported be consisting of nerves referred to as the upper motor neurons which has the purpose of taking messages from and to the brain towards the nerves along the tract of the spinal. These nerves therefore are actually networked to other parts of the body normally referred to as the lower motor neurons which communes with particular areas of the body since they are meant to enter and leave at every vertebral level in the body. We also find that the upper motor neurons are specialized in the communication of messages that concerns the sense of feeling from the skin such as aches, pats, joint positions, temperature. The upper motor neurons on the other hand usually send messages from the brain to instigate actions which include muscle movements. (Spungen, Lesser, and Bauman, 1995) Therefore the spinal cord injury is basically known as the damage that is usually caused on the spinal cord whereby its consequence is that it affects the functioning of the spinal cord thus reducing the feeling sense of an individual which occurs as a result of damages caused to the white matter which carries sensations and signals to brain. Research indicates that these damages are usually referred to as lesions which come in two different forms the one that affects the neck section referred to as the quadriplegia and that which affects the thoracic section called paraplegia. The spinal cord injury is said to be caused by many factors and this include; distress that is normally caused by a number of accidents and cancer that usually occur on the spinal cord which this occurs in a number of varieties such as the meningiomas, ependymomas, astrocytomas among other types of cancers. The other causative factor is that of ischemia which is believed to have been caused by the occlusions of the spinal cord blood vessels. The injury may also occur as a result of development disorders these disorders include the spina bifida, polio among others. This paper is to discuss the traumatic spinal cord injury which according to international spinal cord injury classification system is classified into five types as follows. The complete spinal cord injury; this is an injury which occurs in a situation where the functions for both the motor and the sensory is not preserved at the neurological level this means that the sick person is fully paralyzed and those suffering from this complete spinal injury usually recover locomotion. The incomplete spinal injury which is a type of spinal injury under which there is a sensation below the lesion and in most cases the patient is found not paralyzed at all. Usually, there are many different types of incomplete spinal cord injuries but the most amazing thing is the fact that there are no two types that are the identical. Research has proved that people having incomplete type of spinal cord injury are able to recover completely when compared to people having complete spinal injury cord type. (Almenoff, Spungen, Lesser and Bauman, 1995) Parts of the Body Affected By the SCI This disorder leads to the malfunctions of particular body parts such as the sacral region where the functions of the bowel and also that of the bladder are affected. Research indicates that the individuals’ urinary system is assigned three major functions to carry out and this includes; the production of the urine in the kidney, storage of the urine in the bladder and also removing the urine from the body using the urethra. In this case we find that the kidneys usually filter blood with an objective of forming urine which thereafter is stored in the bladder temporarily. Under this, the bladder consists of muscles referred to as sphincters that do stretch in order to hold the existing urine in the bladder and they also relax to let the urine flow out of the bladder. In this research we find that the individuals urinary system works hand in hand with the spinal cord since the systems nerves are usually situated at the end of the cord whereby the cord plays a major role in the controlling of the work of the urinary system, though it has been reported that this does not affect the functioning of the system. It is therefore deduced that this system is normally affected when the body suffers a spinal cord injury, whereby we find that the messaging process between the spine and the sphincter muscle is greatly affected since there are no messages being send to both the brain and the muscles thus the patient cannot have the opportunity of feeling whether the bladder is full and that it needs to be empted. This indicates that it is through the communication of the messages by the spinal cord that makes an individual feel the urge of emptying the bladder. Among the mentioned areas affected it is found that once the spinal cord is affected the whole body of an individual does not function effectively. (Wilmot and Hall, 1993) Treatment for the Patients with Spinal Cord Injuries People who are infected with this condition usually are hospitalized for at least five months as they undergo treatment activities under which they are always advised to have a sense of humor when they are in bad condition. The reason for this is that the patients will be given a chance to create a positive attitude towards their health situation. We also find that the paraplegics and quadriplegics are provided with longer treatment periods so that they may be able to adopt the use of wheel chairs and through which they will learn more about making their daily activities easier and enjoyable. It is therefore found out that these people suffering from the disorder are also provided with a number of paraplegic games and sports that actually makes them to be physically fit. The whole of this process is usually referred to as rehabilitation since it is found to be the process of managing people with disabilities. This method has proved to be effective to both the sick person and the family at large who are thereafter given a chance to muddle through the changes that the members of their family or the society is facing. Many people think that wheel chairs are the best option for those suffering from the spinal cord injuries, but health practitioners prove them wrong, saying that they are only used as mobility tools for the patients especially those suffering from both high and low levels of spinal cord injuries. The wheel chairs are usually found in two forms; the powered wheel chair and the manual wheel chair. The manual wheel chairs are usually preferred since they are always cheap, not heavy and can be rearranged into small pieces thus making it portable as compared to the powered one. (Yarkony, 1993) Most patients are also found to be using braces and crutches for support, these are found to be of a therapeutic importance in the levels which require the standing and walking exercises. This management is usually done by the health care practitioners basing on the following procedures; assessing, planning, and also evaluating the patients conditions. This provides an opportunity for the practitioner to carry out a nursing care plan for the individual suffering from spinal injury; this nursing plan is usually formed by the use of nursing procedures. The first step requires an individual to get information about the subject matter after which he/she organizes the data in an organized pattern which will help the professional to recognize the areas where the person in need is meant to be helped. By doing this, the nurse is reported to be doing a nursing diagnosis where the expected results are stated. In the case of the effect of the SCI on the bladder of the patient we find that various programs that have been implemented by many health care providers that will help one plan on how to empty the bladders in a way that is convenient enough for urinary system thus avoiding the incidences of infections. Here we find that the individuals’ doctor is put in a position of examining how the person’s bladder operates. The doctor also inquires on how the individual handle the emptying process and whether the person can do it for himself or whether that particular person needs assistance during emptying the bladder. In this report we also find that there are methods that can help in the emptying of the bladder since there exist no communication between the spinal cord and the urinary system, this methods include, the Intermittent catheterization, indwelling catheter usually known as the Foley and the condom external catheter used by male patients, under this, the patient is allowed to only choose one of the methods mentioned. Patients with spinal cord injuries are therefore advised not to indulge in the smoking activities, many people may be thinking that smoking does not actually relate to the functioning of the spinal cord. In this case we find that this idea is actually right, since research indicates that the smoking activities usually increases the reduction in the functioning of the lungs that have already come up as resulting effect of the SCI, the reason for this is that, the smoke reduces the amount of oxygen taken in the bloodstream which therefore increases the chances of blood cancer, apart from the blood cancer we also find that the smoke taken in the body increase the productivity of the mucus and other secretions in the individuals lungs that results to chest congestions that is usually taken out through coughing . And for the coughing to take place it will require a number of muscles which are eventually leads to a number of injuries, this including the cervical injuries and also the thoracic injuries. And once the patient is disabled from coughing the congestion piles up and causes a number of health disorders such as pneumonia which is regarded as the most common killing diseases for people who have the spinal cord injuries, therefore the health care providers advice those people with SCI to stop and avoid smoking since it is reported to increase the chances of them not being healed from the injury. Apart from the sick the society is also asked not to indulge in smoking activities, since it will impair the health status. We also find out that, after the nursing diagnosis is done, the professional is therefore required to take another step which is termed as the nursing interventions whose main objective is to help the ill person with spinal cord injury to get well. This step is consequently supposed to be done with a great care by being specific, recognizing how often the care practice should be done and also if the care plan is read and understood easily while following the specified directions. The other step that is utilized in case management is the evaluation process which is done basing on the date that was set. This evaluation is always done with an ambition of ensuring whether the patient was able to meet the goal of the care plan; it is also used by the nursing practitioner to determine whether the care plan is to be sustained or to be ended. (Yarkony, 1993) To get better treatment for the spinal cord injuries the patients and their families at large are therefore supposed to look for a better rehabilitation center that may enable the sick person feel better and have a positive attitude towards their lives. To get this they are therefore asked to do consider the following factors before putting the patient under rehabilitation; They should know whether the centre has patients with similar spinal complication, and also know whether the spinal cord injury program is accredited by organizations dealing with official recognition of rehabilitation centers and programs. After this they should also consider the number of the medical professionals found in the center and the credentials that they carry in their field of specification, find out whether they take their responsibilities accurately and perfectly and for how long do they carryout their services. Social and Environmental Factors Affecting the Patients and Their Families Research indicates that the life expectancy of people leaving with is very low, since many people who are reported to have been infected with the disease die within a duration of three months of their injury the reasons for this that of the malfunctioning of the urinary, respiratory and bedsores this indicates that the patient needs a special care immediately he is diagnosed with the health disorder. There have been three causes of death in those recorded having the spinal cord injury, this include pneumonia, heart diseases and other external factors leading to such deaths this include unintentional injuries, suicides resulting from various social factors such discrimination by the family members and the society, among other factors . Many people who are said to be suffering from the SCI are found to be having no medical attention from the health sectors, since they lack monetary funds to pay for the hospital bills and also they are unable to afford the medications prescribed for them by the respective doctors. In many families where most of its members are suffering from such disorders usually lack community health care services, since they are poor and no one in the family is in a position to help one another. This is seen as an impact of the disabilities in the distribution of health services to these kind of people in a particular in my community where we find that the capacity of the family members to cope with health problems and the economic factors vary, under this, the members of the poor households are vulnerable to ill health including the mental problems such as stresses and depression, and they are seen living in an environment that have high risks of causing such illnesses under which, they experience difficulties in gaining access to and paying for the treatment. (Spungen, Lesser, and Bauman, 1995) Read More