Informative Speech Outline Name: Miranda Palmer General Purpose: Informative Specific Purpose: To inform the audience about cranial aneurysms. Thesis: We need to know about aneurysms because they are not very well studied, dangerous, and there is no real cure. Organizational Pattern: Topical IntroductionAttention Getter: In a office I was working in a lady called and said she would be late; she said her husband wasn’t feeling well. A little while later she called in and said she wouldn’t be in at all, she was going to take him to the hospital. By the afternoon she called in to say that she wouldn’t be in for the rest of the week because he was in a coma. Within four more days she was deciding whether or not to pull the plug on her husband’s life. Before she could even decide he died on his own. Within one week a mid 40 year old man in good health was being buried. What caused this? An Aneurysm (Reality) Psychological Orientation: Now, it may seem this could never happen to you. I didn’t think it could happen to me. Until, of course, I had a brain scan which came back showing an aneurysm. (Proximity) Logical Orientation: By understanding what aneurysms are and their seriousness you can be more informed about your health and your family and freinds health. I. You may have heard the word in passing, but let’s find out what an aneurysm really is. 1. The Brain Aneurysm Report says the word aneurysm is defined from the Latin word "to widen". An aneurysm is the widening of an arterial wall, and sometimes this weak bulging spot can bleed. (Supporting Material). Very much like weak spot in a garden hose that may begin to leak after a time. (Analogy). 2. Aneurysms can occur anywhere in your body. a. Cranial-head/brain b. aortic-heart c. pulmonary-lung d. gastral-stomach 3. There are several types of aneurysms that you can get. e. A "saccular" aneurysm with a narrow neck. f. A “saccular aneurysms with a broad neck. g. "fusiform" type. h. "giant" aneurysm (2.5cm or greater). 4. Barron’s Medical Guide says there are several factors they believe are related to aneurysms. (Supporting Material) a. hypertension b. trauma c. infection d. other unknown factors. So you know what an aneurysm is, why is it so important to know about?
II. Aneurysms are extremely dangerous because of their lack of symptoms. 1. Applied Medical Infomatics says that symptoms do not often occur until bleeding occurs. (Supporting Material) 2. 25% of the cerebral aneruysms that rupture are fatal within 24 hours. Another 25% are fatal within about 3 months. Of the remaining people with ruptured cerebral aneurysm, more than one-half will have some sort of permanent disability. 3. Aneurysm and AVM support page on the world wide web also gave some alarming statistics about the severity of aneurysms. (Supporting Materials ) a. They estimate 1-5% of the general population has either aortic or brain aneurysms, the most deadly. This is 2.7-13.4 million Americans. b. 45.000 people every year experience ruptured brain or aortic aneurysms. c. Aneurysm related deaths equal, or exceed the annual frequency of AIDS associated deaths. (Reality) So you know its dangerous, what are a couple of treatments? III. There a few treatments available for use with aneurysms 1. Surgery. The base of aneurysm closed off with clamps, sutures to prevent blood flow. 2. Restricting activity, sometimes even complete bedrest. 3. Treatment of headaches 4. Prescribing antiseizure medications. Logical Closure: Let’s look at what we have learned. Aneurysms are weaknesses along the walls of your arteries that can occur anywhere on your body. They are usually without symptoms until they bleed, and when they begin to bleed they can be deadly. The treatments are not 100% and they know comparatively little about the causes and cures of aneurysms.
Psychological Closure: Thankfully, my aneurysm turned out to be no more than an anomally in the testing procedure. Unfortunately, throughout the time when they were performing more tests to find this out I was hit with a barrage of information, much of it untrue. I just wanted to provide you with some facts that may help you in the future. Clincher: One last thought, Aneurysms kill about the same number of people each year as AIDS. We don’t know a cure for either deadly disease. The Aneurysms Information project estimates we spend about 1.4 billion dollars on AIDS research, and only about 500,000 dollars on aneurysm research. We know how to stop from getting AIDS, we don’t know how to stop from getting aneurysms.