Forget the Flu Vaccinations or Flu Forgetfulness?

Forget the Flu Vaccinations or Flu Forgetfulness?

In the midst of the winter season, we are constantly reminded that it’s also flu season and that we need to get the new vaccination. This year, I have felt particularly lazy, and haven’t received my flu vaccination yet. And I don’t feel the need to. However, coming across this article has made me change my mind, and may change your mind as well, if you’re like me and haven’t gotten the vaccination yet.

            A study investigated the effects of three types of influenza A in mice. The three types of influenza A that were being studied were H1N1, H7N7 and H3N2, and these strains were inserted into the mice via the nose. Afterwards, the mice were under observation to see if there will be any memory problems 30, 60 and 120 days after receiving the strain. After 30 days, it was found that all of the mice have gain weight and recovered from the flu, however the mice with H3N2 and H7N7 experienced greater difficulty in performing a memory task. Alarmingly, the H3N2 strain is the current strain of this year’s flu season. H7N7 is a strain that only rarely infects people, and is considered to be very dangerous. The mice with H1N1 were able to complete the task normally, and this strain was the cause of the swine flu outbreak back in 2009.

In addition to the memory task, researchers also looked into the mice’s brain tissue. They found that after 30 days, those infected with H7N7 or H3N2 had fewer dendritic spines on the hippocampus cells, which correlates to the memory task because the hippocampus is involved in memory. After the 120 day period, memory problems were gone. However, 120 days for mice is roughly equivalent to 10 years for humans. Although it’s hard to say to what extent this study can be applied to humans, it does raise concern on the effect of the flu on human memory.

            Everyone’s aware of the typical symptoms of the flu, but this study shines a light on how much we don’t know on the effects of the flu. This study suggests that human memory can be impaired due to the flu. The effects are more severe than I thought. Although getting yearly flu vaccinations may seem like a nuisance, it is definitely worth it. So, if you haven’t gotten the flu yet, definitely remember to get flu vaccination before it’s too late!

Article Referenced: 

S. Hosseini et al. Long-term neuroinflammation induced by influenza A virus infection and the impact on hippocampal neuron morphology and function. Journal of Neuroscience. Published online February 26, 2018. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1740-17.2018.


Posted by: Angelina Weng (3)

A Single Atom

A Single Atom

Atoms are impressively small basic units of matter that congregate into everything in the universe. Countless numbers of various atoms combine to create everything we see; books, cars, laptops, and our bodies all contain atoms. Life itself is influenced by the interactions between these atoms. Yet, these insanely small building blocks are unnoticed and ignored by practically everyone every day. No one sees things as individual atoms. Humans do not look at one another and see an infinite number of individual atoms, instead each person is seen as one, whole being. Does this mean we are incapable of seeing just one atom?

A recent study has put this question to the test by capturing a photograph of a single strontium atom (the small dot in the center of the picture above). David Nadlinger of Oxford University recently captured a photo of strontium using a standard digital camera with the help of quantum lab equipment. The quantum equipment is important for ionizing the atom, which is then held in-place due to the charge by an ion-trap apparatus. Lasers are then used to help illuminate the atom, thus allowing a photo to be taken.

While this impressive study shows that a lab can display a single atom, it is still impossible for humans to see a single atom in nature. Atoms are far too small to be seen with the naked eye, but it is still cool that a standard camera can show us what an atom looks like after manipulation. Further tests could lead to capturing strings of hundreds of ions, as subsequent tests have already captured up to nine ions in a row. Quantum mechanics and like fields will benefit more from further studies in the future, but from a biological perspective the study is still interesting as atoms are the basic units of matter.

Article referenced: https://www.livescience.com/61763-single-atom-ion-trap-photo.html

Posted by Patrick Munley (2)

Scoliosis And My F'd Up Back

Scoliosis And My F'd Up Back

Scoliosis is a genetic or non genetic (in rare cases) defect that causes a curvature in the spine. It is relatively common and can range from being a minor defect to something more serious that may require corrective surgery. In some cases the person with the disease will go most of their life just having a slight curve. It may slightly effect them aesthetically but nothing more. Other times however, it can be severe, causing an extremely noticeable curve that can drastically affect locomotion and general posture. Not to mention, in severe cases it can be linked to other disorders such as abnormalities in the nervous system, Goldenhar's Syndrome and so on. Yours truly happens to suffer from it but me and my Doctor agree that I'm a bit out of the ordinary and I'll show you why.

Scoliois comes in two major forms: Idiopathic and Congenital. Idiopathic scoliosis arises spontaneously and with no clear cause. Congenital is caused by a clear genetic defect that results in a vertebral malformation, more specifically a patterning alteration. These malformations come in the form of hemivertebrae, wedged vertebrae and unsegmented bars.

A: Unsegmented Bar
B: Wedged vertebrae
C: Multiple hemivertabrae

(The key word there is patterning, and I'll get to that a bit later.) Furthermore, for it to be categorized as scoliois, the curve must be 10 degrees or more, or it is just categorized as a general spinal curvature which is pretty normal. As the curve gets more severe is when you see the crazy repercussions come in. Once it approaches something like 40-60 degrees and sometimes as absurd as 80 you will likely see the disease start to cause organ and muscle malformations.

Now here is where I come in, remember I mentioned patterning? Well, the hallmark of  CS is those vertebral malformations but they have to effect the patterning of the vertebrae. Meaning that if you stripped out every last one of that person's vertebrae you could tell exactly which one or which group caused the issue. Where as in IS patients all the bones look and appear regular except a curvature still happened. In my case, I happen to have a fully formed, completely normal, extra vertebrae. That would initially tell you I have CS since clearly, something isn't right. Except for the fact that the patterning isn't any different. You can only really infer that the extra one is causing it, but it is still a malformation. Not to mention, while the extra bone was there the whole time, the actual curvature didn't develop until I was about 7, which is an indicator of IS not CS. Also, in CS the curve occurs at the sight of the malformation where as mine doesn't. Another anomaly is that in most cases of CS, the curve will get noticeably worse in a relatively small period of time and become a major problem in about a decade. Yet, in my case, it barely changed over a similar time period. So giving it a brief look you'd instantly say I had CS yet when diving in deeper it isn't as black and white. Now, this is obviously a semantic as I still have the issue and still needed surgery but I still think it is a bit cool that my Doctor can't technically diagnose me with either of the conditions and to this day we still find my condition very perplexing.

Article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1069035/
*Note that really only the first third of this long article was used as that is what outlines what the disease is and some facts about it. However, a lot of the info I simply knew from talking to my Doctor about it.

Posted by Leon Mamish (2)

Why is Pulmonary Embolism So Sneaky?

Why is Pulmonary Embolism So Sneaky?

Five months ago, on my first day of work at a new location as a CNA, I went to work feeling very excited. For those of you who don’t know, Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) work under the supervision of a nurse to provide the healthcare needs of patients. The scope of practice is very basic as we are not certified in anything remotely complicated. We help with ambulating, feeding, bathing, etc.… Anyway, I was called to assist a rehab patient with a right ankle fracture with transferring into bed. When I walked in she was the picture of health… in good shape, happy and breathing. She did not appear to be in distress, all was well. The task took maybe three minutes after which I took my leave. About five minutes passed when the patient’s husband called me back in stating the patient had difficulty breathing. I went in and immediately confirmed the observation, the patient was gasping for air. I immediately reported this to my supervisor and we started to figure out the prognosis. I took her vitals; her O2 sat was 78% and dropping, her blood pressure was some other absurdly low number, her pulse was about 130, and the most alarming symptoms to me, chest pain and extremely cold clammy skin. By the time we realized the gravity of the situation and called 911, it was too late. When the EMTs arrived, half of her face was blue. A code blue (cardiac arrest) was declared, resuscitation failed, and I went on a guilt trip for a few months. How could I miss it? In hindsight, It’s so obvious!  

            Turns out, one in three pulmonary embolism patients are misdiagnosed, by doctors, trained professionals! Their reason differs from mine in that I had no idea what I was dealing with and it happened so fast while their misdiagnosis stems from the fact that their patients have other conditions with overlapping symptoms. In any case, we need better screening methods for certain conditions in healthcare.

Citation: Henderson, Dietra. "Pulmonary Embolism Misdiagnosed in 1 of 3 ED Patients." Medscape, WebMD LLC, 23 Sept. 2013, https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/812120.

Posted by Sarah Kamukala (2)