Encephalitis

Encephalitis

Specific Purpose Statement: At the end of my speech, my audience will be familiar with the disease Encephalitis; an inflammation of the brain usually caused by a viral infection.

Thesis statement: I will tell you about Encephalitis, by defining it, exploring its causes, discussing symptoms and diagnoses, and a few possible treatments.

Introduction:

I. Imagine for a second that you are 5 years old.

A. Your friends call you up to go out and play on Sunday but you can't because you have a fever of 105.9°. When you go to the pediatrician’s office and your fever will not go down using cold compresses, he sends you to the ER.

B. Your admitted to the hospital and the doctors do a spinal tap which comes back negative and you now have quickly developed a rash, that turns out to be scarlet fever.

C. No one knows what’s going on, you begin to have seizures and you’re going in and out of unconsciousness.

D. You’re transported to the CCU (critical care unit) at Yale New Haven Medical Center and on the way you stop breathing but begin again with a fist to chest massage

E. A neurological specialist hooks electrodes up to your head to monitor your brain waves and run 100’s of blood test some that they would never get the results from.

F. You haven’t spoke in 2 days, your motor skills are weak, your incontinent, and your whole family is scared to death; here we are the doctor comes in and tells your family you have Encephalitis and it’s affected the part of your brain that helps you to learn and speak, and has weakened all of your motor skills.

G. For you this might just be another story, but for my sister this is the story of the day that changed her life. She has had Encephalitis of unknown origins for 11 yrs. Although her life has been rough with medications, therapy, and her strength, she has not let this disease get the better of her. She is a sophomore in High School and plans to go to culinary school in 2 yrs.

II. Now, I am going to tell you about Encephalitis, the horrible disease that tried to ruin my sister’s life.

Body:

I. Encephalitis: is defined as an inflammation of the brain

A. This rare disease is a severe and potentially life threatening if prompt treatment isn’t received because the course of this disease is so unpredictable.

B. This illness occurs in two forms.

C. The primary form is more serious, while the secondary is more common.

D. However due to the milder nature of the secondary form; doctors tend to see more of the primary cases.

II. Encephalitis can affect younger children and older adults more severe and there are many ways to catch this disease.

A. According to wikipedia.org, an encyclopedia web site, it explains people usually get sick from a viral infection that results in Encephalitis.

B. Arboviruses are the more frequent encountered agents, which are bugs, such as mosquitoes and ticks, holding dangerous viruses.

C. Other not so common ways of catching Encephalitis are illnesses such as the measles, rabies, mumps, and Herpes Simplex.

D. The most world wide cause of Encephalitis is Herpes Simplex which causes inflammation of the temporal lobe and if not treated can be deadly.

III. People with Encephalitis can suffer from many different symptoms as a result of the brain’s defense mechanism.

A. When the brain attempts to fight off and get rid of the infection, the brain can swell, bleed and even kill cells.

B. Common symptoms are fevers, headaches, vomiting, drowsiness, and photophobia. (fear of light)

C. Less common symptoms are weakness, seizures, stiffness of neck and limbs, slow movement, clumsiness depending on what part of the brain has been affected.

D. Encephalitis, it first has to be discovered before any