So, you had to have your Appendix removed?

During my elementary years in school, some fellow students in my school had their appendix removed. When I heard that one of their organs had be taken out, I thought, "How are they still surviving without an organ?" I thought they were weird, different people for having to have their organ removed. Well now I know that it was because of appendicitis, and it is not an abnormal procedure for people to encounter when they have to remove it.

Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix. Unfortunately, the only way to cure it is to have your appendix removed through the procedure of an appendectomy. The appendix, to this day, has no known function, and we are able to live without it. If an inflammed appendix is left untreated, it will bursts and spread infectious materials into the abdominal cavity causing death. It is important to remove the appendix as soon as possible to avoid the burst.


Appendicitis occurs when the appendix is block by a stool or foreign objects. It is characterized as a sharp pain  near the navel or the upper abdomen, loss of appetite, or painful urination. There is no way to prevent appendicitis from happening, but it is known that diets high in fiber may be a contributing factor to preventing appendicits from happening.

Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/digestive-diseases-appendicitis?page=1

Rodents carry disease

Hantavirus is a group of viruses carried by the deer mice in North America. It is known to spread by thier urine, droppings, and saliva. Make sure whenever you find a rat dropping you treat it as a biohazard because there is no way to distinguish an infected rat droppping carrying the hantavirus compared to a normal dropping without the virus. What makes this virus even scarier is that it can be transmitted through the air by breathing in the dust, or particles, of the droppings.

Picture of a deer mouse

Symptoms over the virus occur about after a month of exposure starting with flu like symptoms, including fever, vomiting and fatigue. If infected, you start experiencing respiratory failure characterized by shortness of breath

Treatment is available if the virus happens to concentrate more on your kidneys. However, if the virus happens to reside in lungs, there is still no treatment/cure for this type of infection.

You can prevent receiving the hantavirus by taking some precautions in your daily life such as setting mouse traps, making sure your house has all cracks sealed where rodents could potentially enter, treat every rat dropping as a biohazard, and drinking disinfected water all to prevent the possibility of encountering this virus.

Sources:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001382.htm
http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehsphl/factsheet/hanta.htm

Staph Infection

Ever heard the coaches and trainers consistentlly tell you how important it was to take a shower after your workout? There was a reason for that. In addition, whenever you got a cut on your skin, would they immediately send you to get taped up. Staphylococcus aureus, AKA Staph infection, is the cause for this strict protection.

Staph Aureus is known to be part of the normal flora of some individuals, but can be harmful to others who don't have it. For instance, take a normal, healthy looking, football player all sweaty from lifting weights. His sweaty arm ends up rubbing against the leg of one of his fellow teammates. The teammate has a cut from practice that has been left unbandaged for the past weeks. The sweaty skin touching the leg of the teammate is enough to transfer Staph auerus and cause health problems.

What does Staph Look Like? 

Gram positive cocci

Under a microscope with a gram stain, they are seen as gram-positve cocci clustered up.
However, since you might not have access to a microscope, there are other physical symptoms to look out for.


Individual with Staph infection

Staph infection can be characterized by a pimple like thing appearing anywhere on your body. It will be a collection of pus, often associated with redness and pain in the affected area as illustrated above.
Treatment of Staph
If left untreated staph infection can be known to cause death. In other words, the longer you wait to treat it, the more health problems you will encounter. Staph is resisitant to penicillin to don't even try any medication with the suffix -cillin. Doctors usually prescribe an ointment to treat staph. In some cases, even surgery is required to remove the infected area. (I know because this happend to two of my friends senior year) Personal hygiene is the best way to prevent staph infection from happening.

Large lizard with deadly saliva

The komodo dragon is the biggest lizard that still roams the earth. Their primary habitat is throughout the islands in Indonesia. Komodo's are fierce creatures that are carnivores. They have even been reported to have attacked humans.What is the most interesting part of the komodo is how they hunt their prey.

Even though they have large size, and can run up to 11 miles per hour, the most deadly thing the komodo possesses is thier saliva. Thier saliva is known to carry various types of harmful bacteria to cause death, or severe infection, such as E.Coli and Staphylococcus sp. etc. A komodo will bite its prey, and depending on how much strength the prey shows, the komodo will back away and literally stalk the pray until the infection from the bite causes the prey to become weak and delirious. An interesting show, Eaten Alive, came out in the National Geographic Channel  demonstrating these actions taken by a komodo, but on a human. Two days, and the bite the victim recieved showed severe infection and spread out throughout the body. The victim was weak and hallucinating, giving the komodo the perfect chance for attack with the least resistance from the victim.

So the next time you see a komodo at the zoo, make sure not to get close to its cage because one bite could result in serious health problems, even death.

An extra Y chromosome in Males (XYY)

In genetics lecture last week, the professor talked on the subject of the possibility in some males of having an extra Y chromosome. He termed these individuals as "super males" due to the addition of another Y chromosome. I had to research the topic more into depth and this is what I found.

"Super males" were first found in a prison setting. Scientists found out that most prisoners carried an extra Y chromosome, thereby giving them more anger and strength than the "normal" male. It was also thought that this extra chromosome brought about homosexuality, tallness and below average intelligence to the individual. All these observations were biased because there were still males that were not in prison, and appeared normal, amongst society. It is hard to figure out which male has an extra Y chromosome because there are no phyical abnormalities, except for the characteristics described earlier.

XXY syndrome can only happen in males exclusively. Instead of the normal 46 chromosomes, the "super male" receives 47 due to the addition of the Y. It is also not an inherited trait, but rather random in 1 to 1,000 newborn males. It is also not known to be a risk for diseases, illnesses, or shorter lifespan.

So the next time someone tells you there is a "super male" that they know, just relax. He probably just has an extra Y chromosome, and may have some of the flaws listed above.

More information can be found on
http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/xyy-syndrome-1

Why did he call me "Bipolar"?

Have you ever been called, or referred to as bipolar? Do you even know what it is, or does?

It basically is when you go through random mood swings, either happy or sad, day by day. One minute you can be happy, without a care in the world. The next thing you know you are telling off everyone and have an uncontrollable anger.

It is sad to say but bipolar disorder is linked to genetics in an individual. If a family member of yours has bipolar, you are 6 times as likely to get it also.Bipolar disorder has been known to give suicidal thoughts to the affected individual, as well as poor performance in schools and jobs. Substance abuse is very common with people who have bipolar disorder, along with anxiety attacks.

Unfortuantely there is no cure for bipolar yet. Mood stabilizing medication such as lithium can prove to be a temporary fix to the problem.

So the next time you are called bipolar, rub it into the person's face that they are. Now that you know some background, tell others about what bipolar is. I have included a link at the bottom if you would like some more information regarading the bipolar disorders.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtmlhttp://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtml

Drink OJ, no flu

Ever since middle school, the myth was passed around to all students that drinking your orange juice everyday would prevent you from getting the flu. I have always been skeptical about this statement, but not until recently did I decide to "Google" the topic.

It turns out that orange juice contains a high percentage of vitamin C, which helps boost your immune system. Therefore, a less chance of catching the flu. Not only can it help reduce the probablity of the flu, but it can help lower cholesterol levels, along with blood pressure. It is also known to help in arthritis, heart disease, and cell production (includes the healing process).

Even though it is beneficial to drink, too much can cause some problems. So it is important to have a moderate consumption of the OJ.

Who would've thought that one simple juice, many drink, could have such diverse beneficial effects on our immune system and total wellness?