The two leading causes of death in the United States, heart disease and cancer, will invariably touch your life in some way if they haven't already.
JUNTOS FOUNDATION
4143 SW 74th Ct. Suite E
Miami, Florida 33155
juntosfoundation@gmail.com
Phone: 305-710-3936
4143 SW 74th Ct. Suite E
Miami, Florida 33155
juntosfoundation@gmail.com
Phone: 305-710-3936
Prevention/Education
Cardiac Disease in Children
Statistics:Thousands of infants born each year have congenital cardiovascular defects. Of those who have these defects,
What is cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes including viral infections.
There are three main types of cardiomyopathy: dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive.
What is dilated (congestive) cardiomyopathy?
This is the most common form. In it, the heart cavity is enlarged. The heart is weakened and the pumping function is compromised leading to heart failure. Abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias, abnormal electrical conduction of the heart can also occur.
A condition known as Barth syndrome, a rare and relatively unknown genetically linked cardiac disease, can cause dilated cardiomyopathy. This syndrome affects male children, usually during their first year of life. It can also be diagnosed later
How is dilated (congestive) cardiomyopathy treated?
A person with cardiomyopathy may initially present with an embolus before any other symptom of cardiomyopathy appears. Anti-clotting (anticoagulant) drug therapy may be needed. Arrhythmias may require antiarrhythmic drugs. Therapy for dilated cardiomyopathy is mostly aimed at treating the underlying cause, however if the disease gets worse, a heart transplant may be considered.
What is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
In this condition, the muscle mass of the left ventricle enlarges or "hypertrophies." There are several forms of the disease. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common inherited heart defect, occurring in one of 500 individuals. This disease is most common in young adults.
The symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include shortness of breath on exertion, dizziness, fainting and angina pectoris. (chest pain or discomfort caused by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle.)
How is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treated?
It is usually treated with a beta blocker (such as propranolol) or a calcium channel blocker. If a person has an arrhythmia, an antiarrhythmic drug may also be used. Surgical treatment of the obstructive form is possible in some cases if the drug treatment fails.
What is restrictive cardiomyopathy?
This is the least common type in the United States. The myocardium (muscle of the heart) of the ventricles becomes excessively "rigid," so it's harder for the ventricles to fill with blood between heartbeats. The symptoms of restrictive cardiomyopathy often complains of being tired, may have swollen hands and feet, and may have difficulty breathing on exertion.
For more information:
http://www.americanheart.org This link is provided for convenience only, and is not an endorsement or assurance of the entity or any product or service.
CANCER IN CHILDHOOD
All growth of the cells in our body is regulated, as well as their interaction with other cells, and even their life span. Cancer occurs when control mechanism has been lost and grows in a way that the body can no longer regulate. Depending on the type of cell involved in that uncontrollable growth is the different kind of cancer and their signs, symptoms, treatments, and outcomes.
All kinds of cancer, including childhood cancer, have a common disease process - cells grow out of control, develop abnormally, destroy neighboring cells, and ultimately can spread (or metastasize) to other organs and tissues.
As cancer cells grow, they demand more and more of the body's nutrition (hypermetabolic). Cancer takes a child's strength, destroys organs and bones, and weakens the body's defenses against other illnesses.
Cancer affects about 14 of every 100,000 children in the United States each year. Among all age groups, the most common childhood cancers are leukemia, lymphoma, and brain cancer. As kids enter the teen years, there is an increase in the incidence of bone cancer (osteosarcoma).
In most cases, however, childhood cancers arise from non-inherited mutations (or changes) in the genes of growing cells. Because these errors occur randomly and unpredictably, there's no effective way to prevent them.
Early symptoms of cancer may at times be missed because they can be very generalized and be attributed to other causes, some of these symptoms (such as fever, swollen glands, frequent infections, anemia, or bruises) are also associated with other infections or conditions that are much more common than cancer. Because of this, both doctors and parents might suspect other childhood illnesses when cancer symptoms first appear.
Once cancer has been diagnosed, it's important for parents to seek help from a medical center that specializes in pediatric oncology (treatment of childhood cancer).
BONE CANCER (Osteosarcoma)
Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer, and the sixth most common type of cancer in children. Osteosarcoma is one of the few that actually begin in bones and sometimes spread (or metastasize) elsewhere, usually to the lungs or other bones. It develops from osteoblasts (the cells involve in growing bone), it most commonly affects teens who are experiencing a growth spurt. Boys are more likely to have osteosarcoma than girls, and most cases of osteosarcoma involve the knee.
Most osteosarcomas arise from random and unpredictable errors in the DNA of growing bone cells during times of intense bone growth. There currently isn't an effective way to prevent this type of cancer. But with the proper diagnosis and treatment, most kids with osteosarcoma do recover.
Risk for Childhood Osteosarcoma
Osteosarcoma is most often seen in teenage boys, and evidence shows that teens that are taller than average have an added risk for developing the disease.
Kids who have inherited one of the rare cancer syndromes also are at higher risk for osteosarcoma. It has been associated with retinoblastoma (a malignant tumor that develops in the retina, usually in children younger than age 2) and Li-Fraumeni syndrome (a kind of inherited genetic mutation). It has also been seen in children with previous exposure to radiation causing another trigger for DNA mutations.
Symptoms of Osteosarcoma
The most common symptoms of osteosarcoma are pain and swelling in a child's leg or arm. It occurs most often in the longer bones of the body - such as above or below the knee or in the upper arm near the shoulder. Pain may be worse during exercise or at night, and a lump or swelling may develop in the affected area up to several weeks after the pain starts. Pain that persistently wakes the child up at night or pain at rest is of particular concern. In osteosarcoma of the leg, the child may also develop an unexplained limp. In some cases, the first sign of the disease is a broken arm or leg, because the cancer has weakened the bone to make it vulnerable to a break.
http://www.cancer.net/patient/Cancer+Types/Childhood+Cancer/?ski = This link is provided for convenience only, and is not an endorsement or assurance of the entity or any product or service.
Statistics:Thousands of infants born each year have congenital cardiovascular defects. Of those who have these defects,
- 4-10 percent have atrioventricular septal defect.
- 8-11 percent have coarctation of the aorta.
- 9-14 percent have tetralogy of Fallot.
- 10-11 percent have transposition of the great arteries.
- 14-16 percent have ventricular septal defects.
- 4-8 percent have hypoplastic left heart syndrome
- Arrhythmias.
- Cardiomyopathies.
- Kawasaki disease.
- Rheumatic fever.
- Familial hypercholesterolemia will affect the future of an unknown but probably large number of children.
What is cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes including viral infections.
There are three main types of cardiomyopathy: dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive.
What is dilated (congestive) cardiomyopathy?
This is the most common form. In it, the heart cavity is enlarged. The heart is weakened and the pumping function is compromised leading to heart failure. Abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias, abnormal electrical conduction of the heart can also occur.
A condition known as Barth syndrome, a rare and relatively unknown genetically linked cardiac disease, can cause dilated cardiomyopathy. This syndrome affects male children, usually during their first year of life. It can also be diagnosed later
How is dilated (congestive) cardiomyopathy treated?
A person with cardiomyopathy may initially present with an embolus before any other symptom of cardiomyopathy appears. Anti-clotting (anticoagulant) drug therapy may be needed. Arrhythmias may require antiarrhythmic drugs. Therapy for dilated cardiomyopathy is mostly aimed at treating the underlying cause, however if the disease gets worse, a heart transplant may be considered.
What is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
In this condition, the muscle mass of the left ventricle enlarges or "hypertrophies." There are several forms of the disease. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common inherited heart defect, occurring in one of 500 individuals. This disease is most common in young adults.
The symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include shortness of breath on exertion, dizziness, fainting and angina pectoris. (chest pain or discomfort caused by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle.)
How is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treated?
It is usually treated with a beta blocker (such as propranolol) or a calcium channel blocker. If a person has an arrhythmia, an antiarrhythmic drug may also be used. Surgical treatment of the obstructive form is possible in some cases if the drug treatment fails.
What is restrictive cardiomyopathy?
This is the least common type in the United States. The myocardium (muscle of the heart) of the ventricles becomes excessively "rigid," so it's harder for the ventricles to fill with blood between heartbeats. The symptoms of restrictive cardiomyopathy often complains of being tired, may have swollen hands and feet, and may have difficulty breathing on exertion.
For more information:
http://www.americanheart.org This link is provided for convenience only, and is not an endorsement or assurance of the entity or any product or service.
CANCER IN CHILDHOOD
All growth of the cells in our body is regulated, as well as their interaction with other cells, and even their life span. Cancer occurs when control mechanism has been lost and grows in a way that the body can no longer regulate. Depending on the type of cell involved in that uncontrollable growth is the different kind of cancer and their signs, symptoms, treatments, and outcomes.
- Neuroblastoma (7.1%), a tumor of immature nerve cells that often starts in the adrenal glands, which are located on top of the kidneys and are part of the body's endocrine (hormonal) system
- Wilms Tumor (5.2%), a type of kidney tumor
- Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (4.3%) and Hodgkin Lymphoma (3.8%), cancers that begin in the lymph system
- Rhabdomyosarcoma (3.3%), a type of tumor that begins in the striated muscle, which are the skeletal voluntary muscles that people can control. Other, rare soft tissue sarcomas also occur.
- Retinoblastoma (2.6%), an eye tumor
- Osteosarcoma (2.5%) and Ewing Family of Tumors (1.6%), tumors that begin in the bone
- Germ Cell Tumors, rare tumors that begin in the testicles in boys and ovaries in girls
- Pleuropulmonary Blastoma, a rare lung cancer that begins in the chest
- Hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma
All kinds of cancer, including childhood cancer, have a common disease process - cells grow out of control, develop abnormally, destroy neighboring cells, and ultimately can spread (or metastasize) to other organs and tissues.
As cancer cells grow, they demand more and more of the body's nutrition (hypermetabolic). Cancer takes a child's strength, destroys organs and bones, and weakens the body's defenses against other illnesses.
Cancer affects about 14 of every 100,000 children in the United States each year. Among all age groups, the most common childhood cancers are leukemia, lymphoma, and brain cancer. As kids enter the teen years, there is an increase in the incidence of bone cancer (osteosarcoma).
In most cases, however, childhood cancers arise from non-inherited mutations (or changes) in the genes of growing cells. Because these errors occur randomly and unpredictably, there's no effective way to prevent them.
Early symptoms of cancer may at times be missed because they can be very generalized and be attributed to other causes, some of these symptoms (such as fever, swollen glands, frequent infections, anemia, or bruises) are also associated with other infections or conditions that are much more common than cancer. Because of this, both doctors and parents might suspect other childhood illnesses when cancer symptoms first appear.
Once cancer has been diagnosed, it's important for parents to seek help from a medical center that specializes in pediatric oncology (treatment of childhood cancer).
BONE CANCER (Osteosarcoma)
Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer, and the sixth most common type of cancer in children. Osteosarcoma is one of the few that actually begin in bones and sometimes spread (or metastasize) elsewhere, usually to the lungs or other bones. It develops from osteoblasts (the cells involve in growing bone), it most commonly affects teens who are experiencing a growth spurt. Boys are more likely to have osteosarcoma than girls, and most cases of osteosarcoma involve the knee.
Most osteosarcomas arise from random and unpredictable errors in the DNA of growing bone cells during times of intense bone growth. There currently isn't an effective way to prevent this type of cancer. But with the proper diagnosis and treatment, most kids with osteosarcoma do recover.
Risk for Childhood Osteosarcoma
Osteosarcoma is most often seen in teenage boys, and evidence shows that teens that are taller than average have an added risk for developing the disease.
Kids who have inherited one of the rare cancer syndromes also are at higher risk for osteosarcoma. It has been associated with retinoblastoma (a malignant tumor that develops in the retina, usually in children younger than age 2) and Li-Fraumeni syndrome (a kind of inherited genetic mutation). It has also been seen in children with previous exposure to radiation causing another trigger for DNA mutations.
Symptoms of Osteosarcoma
The most common symptoms of osteosarcoma are pain and swelling in a child's leg or arm. It occurs most often in the longer bones of the body - such as above or below the knee or in the upper arm near the shoulder. Pain may be worse during exercise or at night, and a lump or swelling may develop in the affected area up to several weeks after the pain starts. Pain that persistently wakes the child up at night or pain at rest is of particular concern. In osteosarcoma of the leg, the child may also develop an unexplained limp. In some cases, the first sign of the disease is a broken arm or leg, because the cancer has weakened the bone to make it vulnerable to a break.
http://www.cancer.net/patient/Cancer+Types/Childhood+Cancer/?ski = This link is provided for convenience only, and is not an endorsement or assurance of the entity or any product or service.
We are a member of the Jackson Memorial Foundation Golden Angel Society.
We pride ourselves on looking for local opportunities to help children/families affected by either cancer or heart disease.
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