Ramachandran's types of experiments

Wow, Dr. Ramachandran looks a lot different than I imagined him.... Anyways, in his famous book, Phantoms of the Brain, he did this really cool experiment based on the mirror agnosia diagnosis. He called it the "Looking Glass Experiment", named after Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, sequel of Alice In Wonderland. He made small notes about many great artists and writers who had obsessions with glasses, which could be a result of affections of the right parietal lobe. I guess that saying of Genius is close to Madness might be true.

So, the experiment went like this; he holds a mirror in front of a patient who's right or left visual field suffered damages. Then, he has a helper hold something behind the person, but is visible in the mirror to the viewer aka the patient. He did it with a pen and the neglect patients could not understand that the object they saw in the mirror was behind them. Instead, the patients tried to attack the mirror, looked to their left and right, said that the object was inside the mirror, and etc.

It was extremely weird, but Ramachandran hypothesized that the reason why the patients behaved as they did because of damages to the parietal lobe of the brain. It could affect spatial ability. It was super interesting. I wonder if they use this test at the hospitals now.

Reproduction

Before we began on the reproduction system, I already knew a pretty fair amount from Health and Safety along with 6th grade health classes. But, I learned a bit more in depth from the class.

We went a lot more in depth with the male reproductive organs. The male menopause phrase made me laugh because men also feel symptoms that women get. I still think its totally unfair for women to bleed for 3-5 days while men don't feel any pain. Okay, maybe they do when our hormones go out of wack and we start throwing chairs at them or something. The idea that every period makes me lose 50-150 mL of blood really made me feel sick. That's a lot of blood! I know some cases from friends where they did not stop bleeding. In fact, one girl's period went on for an entire month. She lost so much blood they had to give her a blood transfusion at the hospital!

Also, pregnancy is super scary especially the fertilized egg in the fallopian tubes! I suppose that's why when one is pregnant, they should immediately go to the doctor for a checkup. Also, the three types of sperm cells were funny: The runner, kamakazi, and the blockers. The runner are the ones that swim real fast to the egg, the kamakazi kills unknown sperm cells, and the blockers surround the egg only letting their own people fertilize the egg. Wow, men are pretty possesive, hahah.

Urine testing's great diagnostics

Peeing in a cup for medical examination is a lot easier than having blood sucked out from our veins, grimacing at our life's liquid flowing into a tiny tube. So, why not use wastes to identify our internal problems?

Introducing (Drumroll) URINE!!

Different colors mean different diagnosis.

If there is a redness, caused by blood, you have BLADDER INFECTION.

Orange or brown indicates Jaundice or Gilbert's syndrome.

Light orange - lack of vitamin B, so go buy bottles and bottles of vit. B pills

A Pinkish tint- possibly from eating too much watermelon. Usually harmless.

Black/really dark colored tint - Melanoma. A BIG indicator!! Black urine is very very dangerous!

Clear Urine - healthy urine

Reddish brown urine - poryphyria

Dark Yellow - dehydration

Fluroescent yellow/ green - too much vitamins.

Who knew urine had THAT many colors?

well, now you know. :D

Pig Dissections are very dirty

I think the title says it all. Although it has revealed several things in its process. First revelation. Henley is a pig molestor. After seeing his face sparkle with fascination over every little thing about the pig such as the fact that a pig has an ANUS (Oh, gosh, and I thought only humans had that!), I propose one should NEVER let Henley near ANY pigs in the near future. Secondly, the pig fetus was pretty large in size. I'm surprised that although the pig doesn't eat, it still has feces inside its body system.

The pig's body was very alike to its human counterpart. It's organs were merely of a smaller size; kidneys, lungs, heart, etc. It's rib cage surrounds and protects the lungs and heart, curving in. For some reason, our nearly full term pig's small intestines were connected by a very thick membrane to the stomach, therefore unable to uncoil. There was also some problem with cutting the kidneys because it was layered over with an extremely thick membrane, super glued to the back of the pig's back.

Cutting open the brain was the hardest part. The skull was extremely hard! My partners and I were extremely scared of crushing the brain along with crumbling the skull. Either ways, the entire dissection process proved to be a very learning process. I learned that I can never look at a pig the same way again or even eat it. Which is a good skill to acquire since the swine flu is spreading and all that jazz.

Digestive Video

I was reading the back of the digestive video cover when I realized that the Dr. Freddie was actually the creator of Body Worlds! That seriously creeped me out even more than I was because I was so sure that the guy with the raspy voice had a serious infatuation with the human body. When he slit open that poor corpse's stomach and poked around his/her small intestines commenting "Just Beautiful", I nearly threw up. I am not kidding.

Gunter von Hagens in the flesh - - - >

He invented plastination which is preserving the body by switching all body fluids for liquid plastic. The plastic then hardens, living organs intacted.

The entire length of the video truly was not for the unsteely stomach which for some things, I am. I don't throw up just by looking at a dissected corpse, but somehow, watching people play around with organs makes me really nauseated. I need to steel my stomach. I admit, I am not going to be a great anatomist in the future of anything, but I still appreciate the human body. Another thing that was really stomach wrenching was when he washed the feces from the human body. That really irks me. Another gross factor was the simple fact that anatomist took a pleasure in opening up the human body. Maybe its just me, but after watching the video, I do not want to donate my body to science. I think I'll like it rotting six feet under just fine.

Protecting self from infectious diseases

First of all, really, common sense, do NOT go near a person you know who HAS that infectious disease. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Follow that up with making sure your body is up to date. Make sure the immune system is in top notch shape and everything will be fine. Don't be too germaphobic because apparently, that makes the immune system weak which is just super weird. I feel real bad for all those neurotic mothers who cover up their children from toe to eyes. Hahaha. When I see them in the park, they're always running around with this little body of antibacterial.

Also, don't engage in random physical intercourse. Apparently, doctors are now advising all the "youth" to have their partners tested for veneral diseases before they start the baby making.

Always update on shots and know the latest bad thing out there.

Digestion

Oh Goshness. Digestion. It's definitely something I can't live without, hahah. And because it's so important, we need to protect, to nurture this beautiful organ.

First of all, don't eat what you KNOW we can't eat. I can not write how many times people have done the DUMBEST things such as trying to eat nails. That is just plain idiotic. If a dog did that, I would totally understand, But, humans are not dog, TEENAGE BOYS are not dogs..okay, maybe they are, meterphorically.

Eat good things for the stomach like yogurt. Never too spicy, sweet, or salty. I like frozen yogurt a lot a lot a lot. If I could, I would eat it morning to night. It's really good to the stomach because supposedly, the bacteria in the yogurt helps the digestive system.

Also, when eating meat or planning to eat it, make sure it's cooked ALL. It's bad to eat raw meat. Even though I LOVE sashimi. Let me tell you all a story about someone i know who ate raw mean. (I feel so old typing that) There was this guy who was very eccentric. He bought raw beef because he was going to make hamburgers. But, then the stove at his house broke down. He was still craving beef so he decided to nuke it in the microwave. For about 15 minutes on high. Then, he ate it. 2 weeks later, his stomach started hurting a lot. His parents took him to the hospital where the doctors did an ultrasound on him. They found....*drumroll please* A TAPEWORM about..an inch or so. So, they cut him up & took out the worm. The moment he woke up from surgery he said..."Can I keep the worm as a pet?"

Yeh, I was all ewww too when I heard it. & that is why you should never eat undercooked or raw meat. Unless you WANT a tapeworm...you don't right?

Infectious Diseases

As Mr. Petralia puts it quite bluntly, "Hospitals DON'T save anymore, they KILL". Common sense shared during USAP rocks, may i say?

But what he says doesn't sound as irrational as it may seem. Hospitals are now hotzones for diseases and viruses, maybe even STD's. It's because the close quarters of so many sick people lets diseases spread and change genetically. They become resisitant to drugs and treatment.

So, because now I have the divvy on all these important knowledge, I'm not going to set one step in a hospital unless I need something extreme, feel extremely charitable, or is considering dying in the most horrific way imaginable. Besides that, I know the importance of listening to a doctor. I mean, c'mon, they spent TWELVE years of Med School just to learn how to save lives; they've got to KNOW something at least. So, LISTEN to you doctor & eat all those delicious pills they give you.
O & a little germaphobi never hurt anybody :D So, eat all your vitamins!!

Allergies

Look at that poor girl. If I wasn't so informed from all I learn in Physiology classes, I would've just say it's a shame she has such large, uncommon nostrils. And that in the future, her parents would probably have to invest in plastic surgery...Just Kidding :D

Anyways, allergies are usually harmless things like dust, pollen from flowers which our overactive immune system sees as dangerous invaders. Then, they start attacking said harmless things, turning our body inside out into a fighting ground. Runny nose, watery eyes, constant sneezing, just about everything that makes you feel really uncomfortable are the effects of this constant warfare.

Everyone has some sort of allergy. For Example, I am very very allergic to running. Seriously. However, don't think allergies are all harmless. Some are extremely lethal like eating peanuts for some people. So, for those who have allergies, go to your doctor & check the severity of your allergy. Then, remember to always have some medicine on hand in case of any surprise attack.

The Coming Plague~

Oh, Gosh, I will never be an epidermologist, etc. It's just...scary and all that. I'm not so sure I want to travel to the middle of god knows where just to save lives. I wish I want to do that, but I just don't have that kind of willpower.

Either way, the movie totally breaks the idea of safe hospitals. NOTHING is safe anymore. In fact, being too safe is a bad thing now. Antibiotics, etc. The medicine is not to blame, rather, I think its the patients who DO NOT listen to their doctors are to blame. If the doctor tells you to take it continually for 3 days, don't nod then take it for 2 day and a half. Sometimes, the Doctor really does know best. Either way, I'm going to try to wash my hands more or something like that. Maybe wash my bed sheets once a week. To be clean = killing environment. T.T

You know what, I'll just expose myself to the scary world outside & just hope my immune system develops a stronger barrier or something. There, I'm saving the environment. :D

O & Donate to Breast Cancer :D

3 ways breathing can change

Isn't this a very cool picture? It teaches you how to breath.. :O Reminds me of one of those blonde jokes, hahah. ANyways, moving on. There are several ways in which breathing can be altered physiologically. One which is common in about 10% of all the people in the world who snore is Sleep Anemia. It is a condition that differs from normal snoring when one accidently chokes because of the fatty tissue in the throat. That's why snoring isn't good for anything including relationships. The only decent thing is that you can wake annoying neighbors with it. :D

Then, a second one is allergies. I think I have an allergy to running because no matter how slow I run or just relaxed running, I always end up wheezing and gasping. Which is why I do not run, ever. Not even for the bus. However, allergies are the result of an overactive immune system. The problem with this is that the air cannont get out. Therefore, the lungs keep squeezing, trying to squeeze the air out, hence the wheezing and gasping.

A third one is ephysema. It's pretty disgusting, in fact it can be caused from smoking. SO, DONT SMOKE. Be smart, don't get a barrel chest. It's the intercoastal muscles that are stretched to the maxim, trying to get oxygen in because the lungs are nearly 100 percent blackened from the tar of the cigarettes. <--another reason not to smoke. Seriously, tar? That's like swallowing gallons of tar which is used ON floors, eeeyyyecke. So, concludes this beautiful eloquent explanation on how breathing can change. & why smoking is bad, obviously.

Why & How my heart is interesting

Hmm..what's so special about my heart other than the fact that I've been studying it for the past 2 months?

There are things about my heart that just can't be found inside medical textbooks. For example, whenever I get REALLY stressed out or mad, my heart starts hurting really bad. This is why I don't bother talking to people who causes me pain.

Okay, medical textbooks & doctors can explain why. Stress & etc. makes my heart pump harder, hence excruciating pain. Also, when I eat too much oily/fats, it also hurts. Which is why I've been staying away from most meats & chips since I was like...7.

Besides that, I think the structure of the heart is pretty amazing. It's an amazing structure. 4 chambers (atrias & atriums) & it doubles as a pump. Every single day it does this without asking for anything. WOW!~ So, I try to do something good for it by eating very very healthy and exercising as much as I can. My exercise? -> walk 3 floors up to 1st period, across the school for 2nd, back to D for 3rd, up one floor for 4th, down one, across school, back, and walk up another 3 floors, and then 3 floors back. O, and since I don't have a car, I walk EVERYWHERE. I think I walk around 2-3 miles every day. I'm such a New Yorker :D

My Health Plan & How it's going so far

So far, I've seen some changes, just not in the places where I want it to be. I've become a bit more flexible and lost some weight. As for the height? I don't see much improvement.

Maybe it's because I need to continue it for 3 months or longer as the sites advises. But still, not even ONE centimeter? It's a very depressing journey so far.

I've been really watching my portions and what I eat. Cutting Starch COMPLETELY out of a diet is pretty hard because bread, potatoes, and all those savory good stuff has always been a centerpart of diets from the beginning of mankind. My house never really has to go food which I always desperately want because everything needs to be cooked & etc.

Chips and all those nice things have been banned from my house LOOOONNNGGG ago, so there's really nothing to snack on.

Anyways, I've become super addicted to oranges aka Orange juice. Not eating certain things makes me crave other things...is this normal? :0