Biology Project

Biology Project

All humans are affected (directly or indirectly) by disease(s) or abnormality(ies). These diseases or abnormalities affect our tissues, organs or organ systems. The impact of diseases and abnormalities on our lives differs, depending on several factors such as diagnosis (timely or not), treatment options, organ/blood donors, lifestyle, vaccines available, research directions, genetics, etc.

Your project is to choose a disease or abnormality from below and research the following aspects about it. One per person.

Disease or Abnormality

· Cancer

· breast

· lung

· leukemia

· oral

· melanoma

· brain

· pancreas

· ovarian

· stomach

· HIV

· Cushing’s Syndrome

· Hepatitis A

· Asthma

· Arthritis

· Diabetes

· Asperger’s Syndrome

· Bell’s Palsy

· Rabies

· Heart Attack

· Congestive Heart Failure

· Hodgkins Disease

· Huntingdon Disease

· Hyperthyroidism

· Mad Cow Disease

· Botulism

· Cauliflower ear (Boxer’s ear)

· Brain Aneurysm

· Pulmonary Edema

· Marfan Syndrome

· Mitochondrial Disease

· Scleroderma

· Rabbit Fever

· Ramsay Hunt Syndrome

· Renal Artery Stenosis

· Reye Syndrome

· Heart Valve Disease

· Hydrocephalus

· Weil’s Syndrome

· Down’s Symdrome

· Kawasaki Disease/Syndrome

· Gaucher Disease

· Keratoconus

· Multiple Sclerosis

· Cystic Fibrosis

· Sleep Apnea

· Paget’s Disease

· Osgood-Schlatter Disease

· Narcolepsy

· Encaphalopathy

· Kidney failure

· Crohn’s Disease

· Epilepsy

· Hamman-Rich Syndrome

*if you can’t find something in this list that appeals to you, find another and ask

Your project needs to include the following information:

a. Description of the disease or abnormality

i. signs and symptoms

ii. age of onset

iii. genetic relationship (i.e. – is there a genetic component to the disease or abnormality or is it random)

iv. who it affects

v. importance of early diagnosis

vi. occurrence in the population (how many people get it)

b. Treatment strategies

i. prognosis (what does the future hold? chances for survival? quality of life?)

ii. steps to take to treat (1st line of attack, 2nd line of attack, etc.)

iii. accessibility to treatment (is treatment only available at certain clinics, hospitals or even countries? etc.)

iv. drugs, chemicals, special tools/equipment used in the treatment

· Type of compound (e.g. chemical formula, acidic, basic, etc.) that the drug is (this is a link back to our chemistry unit)

· How the drug, chemical special tool/equipment works

c. Description of the technologies that are used to treat or diagnose (e.g. ultrasound, x-rays, etc.) and the importance of it (why do they use this method instead of another one)

d. Medical break through(s) related to this disease or abnormality

e. Issues surrounding c & d – is there anything controversial or extraordinary about what is being done with the disease or abnormality

f. Push it beyond the limits – what else can you tell about the disease or abnormality – really take your project over the top with this

g. Bibliography – must include a minimum of 3 references that are from reference material/books

A starting point may be the following website (also linked on the class website):

http://www.medicinenet.com/diseases_and_conditions/article.htm

Format:

Marking Scheme: