Baker 1

Haley Baker
Mrs. DeBock
English 4 Honors
September 24, 2015
Research question: How does ultrasound affect todays health?
Thesis statement: Ultrasound affects todays health in positive ways.
Refined thesis statement: Ultrasound affects todays health from pregnancy, to early detection, to
treatments, and cures in positive ways.
Annotated Bibliography
Elizabeth Dallas, Mary. "Ultrasound As a Male Contraceptive?." HealthDay Consumer News
Service 30 Jan. 2012:Points of View Reference Center. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
Can ultrasound be used as a male contraceptive? According to the article studies on mice
show that ultrasound equipment used for physical therapy may make men infertile by lowering
sperm count. Rotating ultrasound around male rate testes, warming them to about 98.6 degrees
Fahrenheit, they found two 15-minute ultrasound sessions two days apart were most effective,
resulting in a sperm count of zero. The UNC School of Medicines noninvasive ultrasound
treatment reduced sperm reserves in rats far below levels normally seen in fertile men. But they
do not know if sperm counts would remain low in humans. This article was chosen to show that
ultrasound is a possible solution to male contraceptive.

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Hays, Brooks. "Ultrasound Technology Shows Promise As Alzheimer's Treatment." UPI

Newstrack (Consumer Health) (2015): Points of View Reference Center. Web. 22 Sept.
2015.
Can a blast of sonic waves break up the brain plaques in Alzheimers disease and reverse
memory loss? A series of experiments on mice were performed to try to trigger the brain to clear
the brain of neurotoxic amyloids by using immune cells called microglia. The ultrasound waves
move quickly to activate microglial cells that remove amyloids that destroy the brain synapses.
Several weeks of treatment cleared the plaque buildup in 75 percent of mice, without damage to
the healthy brain tissue. There are 50 million people diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimers is
between 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. By 2050 more than 135 million people will be
diagnosed with dementia, unless this treatment really does reverse memory loss and clean up the
brain. This article shows how close we are to possibly treating an incurable disease.
Rastegari, Esther Csapo, R.N., B.S.N, Ed.M., and Tish Davidson, A.M.. Multiple pregnancy.
Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Jacqueline L. Longe. 5.5th Detroit: Gale, 2015. Nursing
Resource Center. Gale. Discus. 17 Sep. 2015
Ultrasound can detect a multiple pregnancy, which is when there is more than one fetus
developed in the uterus at the same time. Multiple pregnancies occur 1-2 percent of all
pregnancies. Multiple births are more likely to occur in women who become pregnant after the
age of 35, due to hormonal changes. As a woman ages it is more likely for multiple eggs to be
released at one time. A multiple birth has a 57 percent chance of being born prematurely. There
are two different categories of twins monozygotic (identical twins) and dizygotic (fratemal
twins). A multiple pregnancy is determined when the uterus is growing too quickly for the
gestational age, with excessive weight gain, elevated levels of alpha-fetoprotein. Using

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ultrasound they have discovered a condition referred to vanishing twin syndrome, which occurs
in up to 50 percent of twin pregnancies. This is where a twin pregnancy is diagnosed by
ultrasound, but later one of the twins have found to disappear. In a multiple pregnancy to
decrease the risk of very early preterm birth and potential loss of fetal viability, selective
reduction may take place. In selective reproduction, high order multiples are reduced to triplets
or twins, the procedure is usually completed before the third month. This involves a chemical
injection into one or more developing embryos. I chose this article because it shows how
ultrasound can detect a multiple pregnancy which will help the mother and doctors be able to
care for both fetuses.
Thomson, Helen. "Surgery's New Sound." New Scientist 221.2950 (2014): 38. Science Reference
Center. Web. 21 Sept. 2015.
A cap is placed on Phylliss head and with the flick of a switch deep inside her brain
tissues are being burned, while brain cells in surrounding areas are left unharmed. She is free
from a brain disorder that had made her right hand shake violently whenever she tried to use it.
Just as the suns rays can be focused by a magnifying glass to burn a small object, high-intensity
ultrasound waves can be concentrated to burn human tissue and requires no cuts. The
concentration of ultrasound waves can boost the uptake of drugs in specific organs, it can even
prevent serve illness in a fetuses in the womb. Tumors are usually treated with radiotherapy,
which can still cause damage to surrounding nerves, and cannot be repeated if cancer returns due
to risks of DNA damage from radiation. However, surgeons can burn a tumor bit by bit with
ultrasounds. I picked this article as an example of how ultrasound has improved todays way of
treating patients.

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"Ultrasound may stop kidney injury from surgery." Balochistan Express (Quetta, Pakistan) 06
Aug. 2013: Points of View Reference Center. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.
Ultrasound, prevent kidney complications that may appear after major surgeries. AKI is
the sudden loss of kidney function, which can develop easily in any sick person through
infection, also develops after major surgery, such as heart surgery, because kidneys are deprived
of normal blood flow during procedure. An experiment was performed where some mice were
given protection an clinical imaging system 24 hours before disrupting blood supply to
kidneys and the other mice were given sham. They found that the mice that had protection
had healthy kidneys after blood flow was restored. However, the mice who retrieved sham
were found to have significant kidney injury. I chose this article to show how ultrasound can be
helpful in the prevention of kidney complications.
Wedro, Benjamin, MD, FACEP, FAAEM. Ultrasound MedicineNet 2015. 3 June 2015.
Ultrasound produces sound waves that are beamed into the body causing return echoes
that are recorded to visualize structures beneath the skin. The ability to measure different echoes
allows a shadow picture to be constructed. Ultrasonography is a form of body imagining using
sound waves to facilitate making a medical diagnosis. A skilled ultrasound technician can use
ultrasonography to answer questions that may be asked by a medical practitioner. Ultrasound is
not limited to diagnosis, but can also be used in searching for disease and to aid in treatment of
diseases and conditions. Ultrasound can detect blood clots in veins or artery blockage and
dilation. One type of ultrasound is obstetrics diagnose the growths or tumors of the ovary, uterus,
or fallopian tubes. Another type of ultrasound is echocardiography evaluates the heart, the heart
valves motion, and blood flow through them. I chose to use this article because it shows
different types of ultrasound and gives examples of how it can be used.