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| 2014 Student Projects | ||||
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| 2014 Student Projects: Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6 | Group 7 | Group 8 | ||||
| The Group assessment for 2014 will be an online project on Fetal Development of a specific System.
This page is an undergraduate science embryology student and may contain inaccuracies in either description or acknowledgements. | ||||
Integumentary
Introduction
This page concerns the development of the integumentary system in the fetal stage of development, particularly its organs i.e. the skin, glands, hair, teeth, and nails. It explores the mechanism of development as well as the timeline of development. This page also outlines some recent findings on the development of the integumentary system, as well as historic findings. Finally, this page also explores some of the congenital abnormalities of the integumentary system, its mechanism or pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and how they are treated or managed.
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Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia
Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is the most of all ectodermal dysplasias, caused by an abnormality in the development of ectodermal tissues, which inlude skin, hair, teeth, sweat glands, and nails.[2][3] Patients with ectodermal dysplasia often have sparse hair and oligodontia, which is a condition where teeth are missing and are poorly developed.[2][3] Sweating is a very important function in the body in terms of thermoregulation. HED is mainly characterised by hypohidrosis due to the lack of sweat glands in the skin, which could lead to hyperpyrexia and sometimes death. In neonates, the mortality rate of HED reaches up to 30%, with the first year of life having the highest risk. [2] HED is caused by a genetic abnormality of the ectodysplasin A gene (EDA) and passed on by X-linked inheritance. The mutations of this gene results in the poor sweating ability or none at all in a person. The effects of this abnormality is usually more severe in males than in females. [4][3]
There is currently no pharmacological therapies for HED but there are methods applied to prevent the disease from aggravating. Neonates with HED are placed in incubators and monitored to prevent them from overheating. Management of this disease gets easier as the patient ages. Adults with HED can control their thermoregulation by staying in cool environments or drinking cold drinks to lower the body temperature. Currently, there are studies that aim to find a cure for this abnormality, e.g. gene replacement therapy in animal models.[3]
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