Retroflexibility & Stroke: A Retrospective Study - Essay Sample

Introduction

Stroke is a critical disease that has been linked to high mortality in the world. It is an illness that studies have found to have high chances of recurrence. Its high rate in recurrence has been linked to increased deaths and has led to many scientific studies to be conducted to ascertain means to contain the illness. A retrospective study was conducted to ascertain the measures of retro flexibility in conjunction with the illness of stroke. The study will look at the retro flexibility of the tongue and statistical analysis of the data collected in the study.

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The Relationship between Ischemic Stroke Patients with and without Retroflex Tongue is a retrospective Study whose primary author was Yung-Sheng Huang a Canadian biochemist and of Chinese nationality. He is a renowned author in the biochemist field whose accolades in research are tremendous. His achievements include six recognitions and patents in Visiting Industrial Fellow National Science and Engineering Research Council Canada between 1987-1988, he is also a recipient for a distinguished Achievements Award Canada Chines Institute Arts and Technology, in 1993. The author was born on 24th January 1945 in Taiwan. He then relocated to the United States in 1969. He is a graduate with a bachelor of Science, in National Taiwan University, masters of Science at the University of Notre Dame and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Fordham. (Huang, Y et al., 2016)

The primary questions of interests in the study are the understanding and connection of the retro flexibility of the tongue in a clinical study. Stroke is a dangerous condition that has been a major threat to the citizens of the world and America in particular. The study aims to examine the causes and the relationship between retro flexibility of the tongue to stroke illness. The selected journal is of great value and in research to create a complementary medical solution to the various problems and issues that face society. The study of the relationship between the retro flexibility of tongues and stroke is essential because it helps analyze and come up with solutions that will best serve as a guiding test towards finding a medical solution.

The methods of selection of the patients to be put under study were selected from the Changhua Christian Hospital. Database of the tongue was collected jointly by the TCM department and the Changhua Christian Church stroke center. In the selection process and activity, their identification, names, and medical reports were confiscated for protection from personal privacy. The IRB Taiwan number was strictly followed to the latter to help in the study and safekeeping of the medical reports of the patients. There was a certain procedure that was applied in the criteria of selecting the patients to participate in the retro flexibility study. The requirement for selection of the participants included the following:

• Only patients diagnosed with Ischemic Stroke were to be selected. They had to be diagnosed by neurologists and be approved by the head of the MRI department.
• The participant should have a period of less than six in their diagnosis of the stroke to tongue examination.
• They were aged twenty years and above.
• There should have been a complete data on tongue diagnosis.
• The participants should be willing to take part in the study.
• The satisfied requirement was considered in the exclusion of some of the participants in the study. The exclusion criteria in the study included the following;
• Patients with hemorrhagic stroke were to be excluded from the study.
• Participants who had a history of Ischemic heart illness that included acute myocardial infarction and related heart diseases were also not allowed in the study.
• Patients suffering from unconsciousness were also not allowed in the study.
• Participants who had jaw dislocation were not to be included in the study.
• Participants with problems in protruding their tongue for image capturing were also not allowed to take part in the study.
• Inability to communicate well among the patients was a factor of exclusion for the study.

The process of autonomic tongue diagnosis was conducted by the application of a professional tongue diagnosis technician who had vast experience in the examination of tongue images for the study. The sampling procedure was through statistical sampling, where a specific criterion, as mentioned earlier, was conducted to examine and collect data on the patients to be put under study. The features of the patient highlighted above give the features of the sample that the study was focusing on in the general study. In the process of data collection also, the age, sex, weight, height, and the period from the diagnosis of the stroke to the examination of the tongue were some of the factors that were highly considered in the sampling process.

The major challenge experienced in the study was the complexity and long time that the process was taking. For instance, in the selection and examination of the participants, this could be solved by having a more detailed and strategic procedural process for the selection that would ensure that less time is taken in the selection of the participants in the study. The other challenge experienced was the assurance of safety for the patients because the process for the study was one that required delicate medical measures and steps and therefore there had to be keen interests in the safety of the patients. The challenge can be solved by having professional and experience medical research officers take part in the hefty process to ensure that the safety of the patient in the study is guaranteed. (Huang, Y et al., 2016)

The data collected were conducted and arranged by use of SPSS statistical software. Chi-square or Fischer's test was applied to analyze nominal variables, while analyses of independent samples were employed for further statistical study. Application of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied in the investigation of the relations between tongue retro-flexibility.

Patients admitted to the Changhua Christian Church and consulted TCM from the first of August to 31st July were recruited for the study. The tongue retro flexibility was used as the exclusion criteria to divide the stroke cases into two groups. They include the RT and RT groups. The parameters used in the study included height, BMI, history of stroke, and other related diseases, including diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. The Ischemic stroke participants who are not able to retroflex their tongues were found to have longer lengths of stay in the study than the RT counterparts.

The essence of TCM of the examination of diseases and prediction of prognosis has created and garnered a lot of attention and recognition over time. The retrospective study highlighted eight items of the study that included age, history of diabetes mellitus, and irritability. The poor outcome could be predicted in 90 days of ischemic stroke diagnosis of patients. The study founded that biting of the tongue can effectively be used for the purpose of distinguishing epileptic seizures from syncope. The research studies indicated that the appearance of the tongue reflects on the abnormality of the body. Diagnosis of the tongue was meant to serve as an efficient and noninvasive method of examination to reduce examination cost and time; it also increases the ability of reliability of prognosis.

As per clinical observation, participants of the study suffering from a stroke showed different levels of ability in retroflex tongues. Barthel index used to assess patient's dependency of life was found to be lower than that of the RT, this was a representation of a higher degree of dependency of life in the ischemic stroke participants who could not roll on their tongues. The receiver of the Operating Characteristic curve was used to derive the maximum cutoff point. In the study analysis, it was found that the corticohypoglossal projections and effects of clinical lessons on them were not cut. The origin of the hypoglossal nerve was found to be from the hypoglossal nucleus that was composed of motor fiber. The nerve stretches from the anterior part of the lateral medulla to the hypoglossal nerves. The hypoglossal nerve controls eight muscles of the movement of the tongue. The tongues include four which are intrinsic and four other which are extrinsic, apart from the palatoglossus muscle which is inverted inwards by the hypoglossal nerve. (Huang, Y et al., 2016)

The muscles responsible for the curling of the tongue include the superior longitudinal muscle and the styloglossus. Besides the genioglossus muscle which extends the tongue is primarily applied in the test of hypoglossal nerves. Immediately the nerves have damaged the tongue then deviates to the affected side. The most sensitive parts to damage by stroke include nuclear or intranuclear locations. Medullary lesson cause 'crossed hemiplegia' with the weakness of the tongue and deviation from the hemiplegic place. Anatomy perceives that the reflex of the tongue and tongue deviation is supposed to be induced by damage of the corticohypoglossal pathway.

Strengths of the Study

The major strength of the study was the presence of professional neurologists and trained technicians who analyzed the participants of the study thoroughly for the study. Professional experts in such a process are very vital because of the nature of the matters under study. Experts and trained technicians are important in the study to accord the subjects their total safety throughout the scanning and experiments conducted to them. It was a major consideration and a source of strength for the entire process because the study was carried out efficiently and most effective. (Huang, Y et al., 2016)

The results of the study are trustworthy because of the presence of enough statistical knowledge to analyze and predict the results of the information collected throughout the study. The data collected was effectively analyzed, and statically studied to reflect on the findings of the study. Having a clear and guided statistical analysis of data in a study is a major strength in any scientific study because it's only then that the information of the study can be accounted for in the findings. Statistical reflection of data and information is vital for the presentation of facts and figures used in a research process to depict the true picture of the hypothesis under study.

Weaknesses of the Study

The major weakness of the study was the unwillingness of some of the patients who had the requirements for the statistical study. Some of the patients felt not safe to be a part of the study. It was a challenging experience because for the intended findings to come to light, there had to be the right subjects with the required features. The research team had to proceed with the study with those that were willing and ready to take part in the practice. It was a significant limitation for the study because the research team felt that if better patients with the required characteristics' required in the process then the results would have been better than before

The other weakness of the study was that the process was time-consuming than expected. The procedural practices from the selection, collection of data, and analysis of the study was very tiring and taking too much time. The process of selection, for instance, took too much time in the identification of the participants with the required features to the analysis of their health conditions. Too much time taken in a study tends to be very tiring in the process, and this was a major weakness and a limitation in the study. (Huang, Y et al., 2016)

Conclusion

The statistica...