APARTMENTS:

Holy Crap!! I am so excited to not live in the dorms again. Yesterday, I got a call from my Aunt Sharon who has a niece looking for a roommate for an apartment near campus.  The dorms weren't bad at the beginning of the semester but now, they are so not great.  I live on the sixth floor of Hubbard right next to the spot where dump trucks and delivery trucks pickup and drop off their loads.  It may not seem so, but it is extremely load and quite annoying.  It makes it hard to concentrate a lot of the time.  My hopes are that when I move into an apartment, it will be peaceful and quiet.  Another problem is the bathroom in the suite style dorms.  I spent an hour and a half cleaning the bathroom shower and didn't even get a simple thank you.  Not only that, but I paid $35 on cleaning supplies and still had to clean it myself.  In an apartment, I will have to do this, but at least it will get done regularly and it will be my own bathroom and bedroom.  It sounds quite nice I think because this whole sharing the space but not the work is somewhat bothersome.

NEWBORN MICE'S HEARTS CAN HEAL THEMSELVES:

"Now researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center report in the current issue of Science that the mammalian newborn heart can fully heal itself."  A cardiologist at the medical center worked with mice and found that if a portion of the heart was removed within the first week of life, the heart grew back completely.  However, after the first seven days, this regeneration is lost.  In, humans, this could last for a few months.  Scientists believe cardiomyocites or stem cells could be aiding in this regeneration.  They are looking for genes that can regulate this process with hopes of finding a way to encourage the heart to regrow.

X-RAYS AND UNSHIELDED INFANTS:

In X-rays, exposure to radiation, though can help diagnose problems, has a bad downside.  Dr. Scalfani runs a department at State University Of New York.  One day, he noticed that an infant had been irradiated from head to toe.  The new pediatric radiologist noticed that the radiation level had been set way too high for infants.  The two doctors had put a stop to doing x-rays on infants and set limitations on when and how radiation can be used on babies.  This article made me extremely angry because these doctors are paid to treat patients.  If we pay as much as we do in healthcare then the doctors MUST know what they're doing.  There is no reason to pay so much for poor quality care.  The physicians must be fully aware of what's going on with all of their patients and the tests they must do.

TO FINISH THE BOOK:

After waiting out the severe storm, the doctor, Ben Payne, packs the makeshift sled and lays the woman, Ashley on it.  They head away from the crashsite hoping to find a town and some help.  On the way, the come across this A-frame house, which is assumed to be used for a boyscout camp.  After spending a few days in the house getting warmed up and fed, they head out again.  On the way, they find a shortcut that would cut ten miles off the trip, however it is an extremely steep decline.  He decides its a good risk.  While climbing down this hill, an avalanche starts.  Ben is separated from the sled and Ashley. He gets buried underneath all the snow, except for his foot, and is unable to move at all.  Ashley is able to dig him out and, after tending to her rebroken femur, he leaves her to go find help.  He walks for about ten miles and can walk no further.  He is too exhausted and injured to go any further.  However, memories of his wife keep him going and he happens to see a smoke stack.  That's about as much as I can say without giving away the ending.  Now that I've finished the book, I really really liked it and may even read it again.  The ending had two parts, one of which is completely unexpected.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes any of the books written by Charles Martin.

TECHNOLOGY HAS ITS CONS:

Even though technology has been great, it certainly has its cons.  Another article I read in the New York Times was called, Behavior - Videos Of Self-Injury Find An Audience.  It's about teenagers and young adults who post videos of themselves on youtube.  In these videos, they are engaging in "non-suicidal" self-injury.  "They depict burning, hitting and biting oneself, picking at one’s skin, disturbing wounds and embedding objects under the skin."  Most of these injuries are inflicted on wrists, arms, and, occasionally, the legs.  The sad part is that these videos are popular among the youtube crowd.  Seven percent of these videos positively portray self-injury.  What I don't understand why people are doing this to themselves.  It makes absolutely no sense to me and quite frankly, it's somewhat irritating.

FOR SOME TROOPS, POWERFUL DRUG COCKTAILS HAVE DEADLY RESULTS:

I read an article in the New York Times about soldiers and their perscriptions.  It states that 101 soldiers died from 2006-2009, accidentally, from the interactions of the multiple drugs in their bodies.  Therefore, the army and navy are offering other forms of treatment that do not include drugs, such as accupuncture and yoga.  This article mentioned thre specific men who died in their sleep from these interactions.  Airman Mena died in his Albuquercue apartment in July 2009, which was five months after he had a medical discharge.  Another soldier, Corporal Endicott, was a marine and saw many of his fellow soldiers die or get seriously injured.  He had suffered from nightmares, flashbacks, and had rarely left his house.  He died in January 2008 in his room at the National Naval Medical Center.  The toxicologist found at least nine perscription drugs in his system.  The third soldier was Sergean Bachus of the Marines.  Bachus suffered from backpain, depression, and anxiety.  In the last few days of his life, Bachus was thought to be delusional but not suicidal.  He was found dead in his on-base quarters in North Carolina.  All three cases had four similarities.  They all had been deployed multiple times, all had five or more medications in their systems when they died, they all had repeatedly switched drugs, and they all died in their sleep.  This is a hint, that the government needs to rely less on drugs and more on alternate treatments, such as therapy, accupucture, or yoga, like the army and navy. 

THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US:

So over the weekend, I had the chance to finally get to the library back home.  I recently, as in, within the past four years, have taken up common library visits.  I'm not really sure why I really like reading now since I never liked to read, but I did.  I'm reading this book written by Charles Martin, entitled "The Mountain Between Us."  This book is about a doctor, who is flying back from a medical conference.  However, his flight is delayed due to bad weather.  While waiting to discover that it has been canceled, he meets a woman who is getting married within the next 48 hours. When he learns that his flight was canceled, he goes to a neighboring charter airplane, owned by a man named Grover.  The pilot agrees to drive the doctor and engaged woman to Denver.  Unfortunately, while in mid-flight, the pilot has a heart attack and crashes.  I haven't finished yet but so far, the doctor has assessed that he has a few broken ribs and the woman has a dislocated shoulder and broken femur. He soon realizes that the bones must be set in place for proper healing.  After a couple days on the mountain, the doctor goes fishing and hunting, and managed to kill a mountain lion that has been stalking the crash site. As of right now, his main goal is to get to lower ground but when he makes an attempt, a severe storm picks up and must turn back.
So far, I really like this book and am anxious to see how it ends.

SCIENTISTS SEE DANGERS IN ENERGY DRINKS:

Researchers found that energy drinks such as red bull, monster, rock star, and full throttle contain highlevels of caffeine and warned that certain susceptible people risk dangerous, even life-threatening, effects on blood pressure, heart rate and brain function.  "The authors noted that “four documented cases of caffeine-associated death have been reported, as well as five separate cases of seizures associated with consumption of energy/power drinks.”  Additional reports include an otherwise healthy 28-year-old man who suffered a cardiac arrest after a day of motocross racing; a healthy 18-year-old man who died playing basketball after drinking two cans of Red Bull; and four cases of mania experienced by individuals known to have bipolar disorder."  Long term affects of energy drinks are a major concern today since it is hard to tell if it will affect the liver, cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and diabetes.  Another major concern about these drinks is not only the sugar but also with young people mixing them with alcohol.  The caffiene in these drinks can mask the perception of inebriation — and that can increase the risk of drunken driving or other dangerous behaviors.  Unfortunately, this proved true for a football player for the Cleveland Browns, who killed a pedestrian after drinking a red bull and multiple shots of tequila

MEDICAL DETECTIVES FIND THEIR FIRST NEW DISEASE:

This article is about a woman who has an excruciatingly painful disease that started when she was 25 and was diagnosed when she was 56.  The pain was in her legs and hands.  The pain was caused from calcium buildup in her blood vessels.  The deposits were so thick that the blood could hardly get through.  “Patients who have rare diseases are often abandoned by the medical community,” Dr. Gahl said. “We don’t know how to treat if we don’t have a diagnosis."  There is no reason for her to be abandoned by the only people who can help her.  However, it was discovered that the disease is caused by a mutation in a gene that prevents calcium from depositing in the blood vessels.   Cells use the gene to make extracellular adenosine, a common compound that, in this case, was needed to suppress calcification.  "Now they are working on treatments. The simplest might be to give a bisphosphonate, an osteoporosis drug. With the gene mutation and decreased levels of adenosine, patients end up with high levels of an enzyme, alkaline phosphatase, needed to make calcium deposits. Bisphosphonates bring down levels of that enzyme."