William s Parkinson s Disease And Miguel s Hypoxic...

1. Presentations from two classmates The two presentations I chose were William’s Parkinson’s Disease and Miguel’s Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). The reason I chose the Parkinson’s one was that I presented on Huntington’s disease (HD) and people often compare the two. I was saddened to learn that the cause of Parkinson’s has yet to be discovered since they have discovered the faulty gene associated with HD. Both diseases are still in need of a cure, but I feel that HD is just one step closer at the moment. It also interested me that men are more likely to get Parkinson’s, while men and women have an equal chance of getting HD. Another difference is that a majority of Parkinson’s cases are not inherited, while HD is clearly hereditary. Something else I found intriguing was that HD has a stated life expectancy of 10 to 20 years after onset of symptoms. People with Parkinson’s do not have a set life expectancy and may live as long as somebody without th e disease. However, I do understand that advanced Parkinson’s symptoms could lead to life-threatening complications which could result in death. The reason I chose the HIE presentation is that it was one of the few presentations I had never heard of before. I had no idea that HIE is one of the leading cause of death among infants. It is scary to think that this could happen to your baby even prior to birth. It is yet another thing to be concerned about during pregnancy and the birth process. There is such a difference