My name is Jamie and I've started this blog to promote awareness of various chronic diseases in the world. For example, has anyone heard of Xeroderma Pigmentosum (more commonly shortened to XP)? To be completely honest, I had never heard of XP until I saw a character on a TV show that was diagnosed with the disease. I'm a little ashamed that that's the way I learned about the disease, but I'm glad I know about it now. Knowledge of XP is important because if you can recognize the signs early on, you'll be able to prolong the life of its victims. Although it is a rare disease, parents above all should be aware of its symptoms so that they can catch early symptoms. Through future blog posts, I expect to learn the details, controversies, and myths of many chronic diseases. I hope that this blog reaches out to everyone - those who have never heard of such diseases, those who want to learn more about them, and especially those who are familiar with them. Please teach, and guide me on this journey as I delve deeper into this topic.
Let's start with a brief introduction of one chronic disease - what is XP? Xeroderma Pigmentosum is a very rare hereditary disease that causes one to be extremely vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation. Signs of XP are:
- Early freckling
- Sever burns after a short time in the sun, sometimes even in the shade
- Photosensitive eyes (could lead to blindness)
As I have learned in my Kinesiology classes at university, prevention is always preferable to treatment. However, hereditary diseases are impossible to prevent, and sometimes incurable. Therefore, the best one can do is to catch symptoms of XP early on, and avoid exposure to sunlight. That's the main message that I want to put out there. All we can do is increase out knowledge bank of diseases and recognize symptoms when we see them. Life is short, and I want to add that everyone should slow down and enjoy life while it lasts. Don't stress yourself out too much - relax and have fun. Here's a cute photo I found:
On a lighter note, is anyone reminded of something that has recently been brought back to fame by pop culture? (Hint: Avoiding the sun) Yes, that's right - vampires. A mythical, supernatural being that has been recently transformed into sexy, irresistible creatures of the night. Before, they would prey on innocent humans, but now, human innocence intrigues them. And even in some tween teen novels, vampires sparkle in the sunlight! (cough-Twilight-cough) But going back to our topic, I just thought that learning about XP in an era of terrifying romantic vampires, would be interesting.
So that's it for my first blog post! Thanks for reading, and I'll make my next post in a couple weeks.
