Wednesdays

I am taking 15 credits this semester which is apparently 3 more than you usually take and I need to average a 3.75 GPA in them.  So painful.  I will post when I can.

The Spleen

Today's Medical Topic:  The spleen.  What does it do?  Why do we have one?  Let's find out.

Off the Top of My Head:  I know it is part of your lymphatic system and your lymphatic system produces all kinds of hormones and proteins.  Your lymphatic system has a lot to do with fluid balancing.  I think the spleen has something to do with your immune system though I don't know what.

That guy.

My Research Today:  Jammed up under the left side of your ribs lies the spleen.  Your lymphatic system helps return lost fluids back into the blood stream, it also helps fight infection by filtering out microbes in lymph nodes.  Which is why lymph nodes can get swollen when you are sick.

The lymph nodes contain a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes that help fight infections.  The spleen houses a large store of lymphocytes as well as the most baller of all white blood cells.  The macrophage.

Macrophage reporting for duty sir!  What do
you want me to eat?

The macrophage is like the Borg in Star Trek.  You will be assimilated.  Resistance is futile.  Macrophages literally swallow bacteria whole and destroy them on a molecular level.  The United States  Navy wishes it had a boat as effective as a macrophage.

The USS Macrophage eating another boat.

Macrophages also eat anything else that isn't supposed to be there.  Random debris, dead tissue, whatever.  Anything in your blood stream that isn't yours or is dead gets eaten by macrophage cells in your spleen.

So now we know why it is so important to have your spleen.  It is possibly the most gangsta of organs.  Have a good night and remember:  All your organs are there for a reason.

Quest to 180:

Activity Today: Meh
Diet today:  Ok


The MAN:
Confidence Level:  Much better.
Social Engineering Tactics:  Young women...  Seem so self conscious these days...

Questions or comments can be submitted to dudaday@gmail.com

Disclaimer:  I am not a health care provider, any information presented in this blog should not be considered advice it is mearly an outlet to slake my curiosity.  You should always consult your primary medical provider for any concerns or illness.  Unlike Tylenol, I am not approved by the FDA or American Medical Association to treat or provide relief for any ailment.

Mondays

I might not be able to blog on Mondays for a while.  I have over 8 hours of class and labs and 2 hours of driving on this day and I am pretty tired when I get home.  So for the moment no blogs on Mondays.  I will get back at it tomorrow.

Silicosis

Today's Medical Topic:  I think I forgot to post yesterday so I guess I will do two today.  So lets see what do we have two of?  Most people have two lungs.  Have we done silicosis?  Let's do that.

Off the Top of My Head:  Silicosis is particles accumulated in your lung like sand that leads to pneumonia and drowning in your own fluids.  I am not sure of the exact mechanics of it.  I know it is similar to black lung that coal miners used to get and I know it was very prevalent in the midwest during the dustbowl.

My Research Today:  Silica is a naturally occurring crystal in many rocks.  It is the main component of sand.  Silicosis is the buildup of fine silica particles inhaled into your lung tissue that create scar tissue and fluid accumulation.  How do you build up these particles?  Sand blasting without a respirator is a good way.  So is working in a glass factory without proper protection.

The hazy stuff is sand.  I think.

Silicosis comes in three flavors.  Simple Chronic Silicosis is the most common and results from over 20 years of silica exposure.  The sand gets jammed in your lungs and creates lymph swelling in the area  which causes chronic difficulty breathing.  I imagine it is similar to CHF or COPD.

Accelerated Silicosis comes from 5 to 15 years of heavier silica exposure.  The symptoms are the same to Simple Chronic Silicosis but occur faster.  Finally Acute Silicosis is can be caused over the course of a few days and results from massive unprotected exposure to silica dust.

I have actually seen Acute Silicosis first hand.  When I used to work in a machine shop we used something called CAB-O-SIL as a filler in fiberglass resins.  CAB-O-SIL is microscopic balloons of silica used to make resin lighter.  One of the guys I worked with ignored the warnings and dumped a bunch of it into resin and started mixing without protection.  Needless to say he inhaled a lot of it.

This stuff.

He ended up with a pretty bad dust pneumonia and permanent lung damage from the scarring.  It seemed pretty damn painful.  He started feeling the symptoms about an hour after mixing the stuff up and was in the hospital the next day.  Sucks to not follow directions I guess.

Anyways, that is good enough for tonight.  Remember, if you have a suggestion, drop me a line.

Quest to 180:

Activity Today: Meh
Diet today:  Not great.


The MAN:
Confidence Level:  Hmm
Social Engineering Tactics:  Feeling anxious.

Questions or comments can be submitted to dudaday@gmail.com

Disclaimer:  I am not a health care provider, any information presented in this blog should not be considered advice it is mearly an outlet to slake my curiosity.  You should always consult your primary medical provider for any concerns or illness.  Unlike Tylenol, I am not approved by the FDA or American Medical Association to treat or provide relief for any ailment.

Why asparagus makes your pee smell bad.

Today's Medical Topic:  Why asparagus makes your pee smell bad.

Off the Top of My Head:  Asparagus has a tendency to make your pee smell bad within 2 hours of consuming it.  Why does that happen?

My Research Today:  Asparagus contains merceptan which is a sulfur compound.  Other things contain this compound including rotten eggs.  When your body metabolizes merceptan.  The result of the enzyme braking down the sulfur compound creates the smell.

Sulfur looks cooler than it is.

After it is broken down your kidneys dump the chemical into your bladder and bobs your uncle, your pee smells like asparagus.

Interestingly enough only a certain percentage of the population have the gene that metabolizes merceptan.  I have seen anywhere from 22 to 45% of people have this gene based on race.  Most estimates state that either half of the population has the enzyme or half of the population can discern the smell.

I guess sometimes the glass really is half full.

Needless to say it really isn't worth millions of dollars to study but somewhere along the line someone figured it out.  So the funky smell is some sort of sulfurous compound broken down by an enzyme in your body.

I hope you all are enlightened and enjoyed this venture into medical science.

Quest to 180:

Activity Today: Meh
Diet today:  Not great.


The MAN:
Confidence Level:  Hmm
Social Engineering Tactics:  Feeling anxious.

Questions or comments can be submitted to dudaday@gmail.com

Disclaimer:  I am not a health care provider, any information presented in this blog should not be considered advice it is mearly an outlet to slake my curiosity.  You should always consult your primary medical provider for any concerns or illness.  Unlike Tylenol, I am not approved by the FDA or American Medical Association to treat or provide relief for any ailment.

Voluntary Rapid Eye Movement

Today's Medical Topic:  I promised you two today so we are doing something about eyes!  Voluntary Rapid Eye Movement.

Off the Top of My Head:  A lot of people know about the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep in which our eyes "twitch" involuntarily.  Did you know that some people can initiate this movement consciously on demand?  I didn't.

My Research Today:  The technical term for this kind of rapid eye movement is called a saccade.  A saccade is defined as the abrupt, rapid, short movements of both eyes simultaneously in changing of the point of fixation.  This is usually involuntary, however there are people that can rapidly twitch their eyes voluntarily.

Get it?  Rapid eye movement?
That's the joke.

The movement is further classified as a version gaze shifting eye movement.  A version eye movement is is an eye movement in which both eyes move in the same direction.  A gaze shifting movement is exactly what it sounds like.

This movement requires the part of your brain called the frontal eye fields which is in the prefrontal cortex.  Electrical stimulation to the frontal eye fields initiate saccadic eye movements.  Your eye has six extraocular muscles that control movement.

I know what you are thinking.  How do you do this?  And I have no idea.  I asked someone that could do it what they did to make it happen voluntarily and they told me they didn't know.  They said they just sort of concentrated on it and it happened.  It looks pretty freaky.  Check out this video:

Have a good night and I will type at you later.

Quest to 180:

Activity Today: Meh
Diet today:  Not great.


The MAN:
Confidence Level:  Hmm
Social Engineering Tactics:  Feeling anxious.

Questions or comments can be submitted to dudaday@gmail.com

Disclaimer:  I am not a health care provider, any information presented in this blog should not be considered advice it is mearly an outlet to slake my curiosity.  You should always consult your primary medical provider for any concerns or illness.  Unlike Tylenol, I am not approved by the FDA or American Medical Association to treat or provide relief for any ailment.

Double Post Tomorrow

I am very tired and will double post tomorrow.  In the mean time feel free to read some archived articles.