Adventures of a Neurotic Premed.

Photo

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:17:18 -0500

malformalady: This goldfish, named Einstein, suffers from swim...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:07:22 -0500

This goldfish, named Einstein, suffers from swim bladder disease. The ailment, which is common in aquarium fish and controls their buoyancy, caused him to turn upside down and sink to the bottom of the tank. But now things are looking up, after his owner Leighton Naylor, 32, from Blackpool, made him his very own life jacket so Einstein can maintain buoyancy.

malformalady: There are restaurants in Vietnam that specialized...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:05:24 -0500

malformalady:

There are restaurants in Vietnam that specialized in snake meat offering the ‘10 course snake banquet’. Here you can pick your own snake from a cage. The handler will then bring the snake alive to your table, smack it in the head and slice it open. The blood will be drained into a glass with rice wine and then served to you, along with the heart which will still be pumping and the bile. The rest of the snake will be turned into several snake dishes, like spine soup and snake skin cracklings. Every single bit of the snake is used and it is believed that each part have some health improvement properties, like eating the pumping heart will give strong sexual powers.

Oh, home country. You are too awesome. :)

thisfuturemd: “The important this is not to stop questions....

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:02:13 -0500

thisfuturemd:

“The important this is not to stop questions. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” - Albert Einstein

aspiringdoctors: mynotes4usmle: CARDIAC CYCLE KNOW. ALL. OF....

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:01:27 -0500

aspiringdoctors:

mynotes4usmle:

CARDIAC CYCLE

KNOW. ALL. OF. THIS.

The little things

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:26:28 -0500

Thursday night I went to bed defeated and exhausted by the demands of school and of life. However, I was surprised the next day when I awoke to find a letter taped to my bathroom mirror. It was written by my significant other. Within a few minutes, I felt my heart bloom and rise back up from the depths of my stomach. His words of love and encouragement and his reminder of God being with me in every step of my life gave me such a sense of euphoria and refreshing vigor that I forgot my lack of sleep and my overbearing stress for the rest of the day.

When someone prays for you

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:18:11 -0500

I think prayer is the greatest gift and compassion that a human can bestow upon another human.

My boss reminded me of that today when she asked me when my MCAT was so she could pray for me.

zygoma: The corpus callosum is a band of nerve fibers located...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:01:04 -0500

zygoma:

The corpus callosum is a band of nerve fibers located deep in the brain that connects the two halves (hemispheres) of the brain. It helps the hemispheres share information, but it also contributes to the spread of seizure impulses from one side of the brain to the other. A corpus callosotomy is an operation that severs (cuts) the corpus callosum, interrupting the spread of seizures from hemisphere to hemisphere. Seizures generally do not completely stop after this procedure (they continue on the side of the brain in which they originate). However, the seizures usually become less severe, as they cannot spread to the opposite side of the brain.

A corpus callosotomy, sometimes called split-brain surgery, may be performed in people with the most extreme and uncontrollable forms of epilepsy, when frequent seizures affect both sides of the brain. A serious type of seizure — called a drop attack — often results in the person having sudden falls with a high risk of injury. In addition, people considered for corpus callosotomy do not experience improvement after receiving treatment with anti-seizure medications.

Candidates for corpus callosotomy undergo an extensive pre-surgery evaluation — including seizure monitoring, electroencephalography (EEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). These tests help the doctor pinpoint where the seizures begin and how they spread in the brain. It also helps the doctor determine if a corpus callosotomy is an appropriate treatment.

A corpus callosotomy requires exposing the brain using a procedure called a craniotomy. After the patient is put to sleep with anesthesia, the surgeon makes an incision in the scalp, removes a piece of bone and pulls back a section of the dura, the tough membrane that covers the brain. This creates a “window” in which the surgeon inserts special instruments for disconnecting the corpus callosum. The surgeon gently separates the hemispheres to access the corpus callosum. Surgical microscopes are used to give the surgeon a magnified view of brain structures.

In some cases, a corpus callosotomy is done in two stages. In the first operation, the front two-thirds of the structure is cut, but the back section is preserved. This allows the hemispheres to continue sharing visual information. If this does not control the serious seizures, the remainder of the corpus callosum can be cut in a second operation. After the corpus callosum is cut, the dura and bone are fixed back into place, and the scalp is closed using stitches or staples.

The patient generally stays in the hospital for two to four days. Most people having a corpus callosotomy will be able to return to their normal activities, including work or school, in six to eight weeks after surgery. The hair over the incision will grow back and hide the surgical scar. The person will continue taking anti-seizure drugs. [x]

malformalady: This is Nembrotha cristata, a colourful sea-slug...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 02:59:11 -0500

malformalady:

This is Nembrotha cristata, a colourful sea-slug found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean. They grow to about 50mm in length and have black bodies with a strange luminous green “trim”. Like most nudibranchs, they deliver a painful string. They do not produce the stinging cells themselves but incorporate them into their own tissues from their prey, stinging jellyfish.

malformalady: Coining, or cao gio, is an alternative treatment...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 02:15:00 -0500

malformalady:

Coining, or cao gio, is an alternative treatment for minor ailments such as fever, cough, headache, backache, and other minor illness. This therapy originates in Southeast Asia. The technique is deemed to be effective if the coin rubbing produces a red mark. The ecchymotic areas produced by coining usually persist for a few days.

When I was younger, my mother used to do this to me whenever I was sick. “Cao gio” is Vietnamese and literally translates to “scratch wind”. The belief is that you get relief from your illness by ‘scratching away the bad wind that caused it’. You take a coin, usually a quarter, and apply Eagle brand medicated oil to your neck, back, and shoulders and scrape the coin against the skin covered in oil until it turns red.

Neuroscience: Scientists Identify First Potentially Effective Therapy for Human Prion Disease

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 02:09:41 -0500

Neuroscience: Scientists Identify First Potentially Effective Therapy for Human Prion Disease:

beyondtheoath:

neurosciencestuff:

Human diseases caused by misfolded proteins known as prions are some of most rare yet terrifying on the planet—incurable with disturbing symptoms that include dementia, personality shifts, hallucinations and coordination problems. The most well-known of these is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which…

My grandmother died of CJD back in the 1970s. It makes me very happy to see that there has been progress made in this area of research after all these years.

compoundfractur: Trichotillomania is a commonly discusses...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 02:09:24 -0500

compoundfractur:

Trichotillomania is a commonly discusses impulsive disorder in which a person compulsively pulls out their hair one strand at a time. What isn’t commonly discussed about it is that sometimes these patient also impulsively eat the hair they pull out. This can lead to a gastrointestinal blockage created by a massing hair ball, or trichobezoar, as depicted above. These blockages are surgically removed to prevent further complications.

At first, I thought the xenomorphic aliens were ALIVE… but then…

fuckyeahsurgery: (TIME.com) — Researchers report a breakthrough...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:57:31 -0500

fuckyeahsurgery:

(TIME.com) — Researchers report a breakthrough in generating powerful antibodies that can neutralize HIV.

An HIV infection is really an intensive molecular arms race launched from the minute the virus infects a new host.

AIDS progresses not because the body isn’t capable of fighting off HIV — it is. But the immune defenses eventually succumb to the virus in the final standoff.

Now researchers led by Barton Haynes, director of the Duke University Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University School of Medicine, believe they have found a way to tip the odds in the immune system’s favor.

From the moment of infection, the immune system goes on alert and immediately generates antibodies designed to attach to and destroy HIV. And for the first few weeks, these antibodies are successful, eliminating all but a few viruses that remain hidden away from the body’s surveillance systems.

These viral stalwarts then mutate to escape detection and start to flourish, expanding until new antibodies are generated to dispatch them. That launches another wave of viral destruction that pushes HIV to mutate yet again, prompting another immune attack, and so on, until eventually the body isn’t able to keep up with the virus and pushes out poor, or no more additional antibodies that can neutralize HIV.

TIME.com: A newborn may be cured of HIV. Is the end of AIDS near?

That’s the scenario in about 80% of those who are infected with HIV. But in a fortunate 20%, this arms race is stacked in the host’s favor, with antibodies that are able to neutralize not just the latest, specific mutated version of HIV but a broader range of viral marauders.

Such broadly neutralizing antibodies are the holy grail of AIDS vaccine researchers, who hope to corral these agents in an immunization that can protect against infection.

But most attempts to convince the body to churn out these antibodies haven’t been successful, primarily because the antibodies take on an unusual shape that marks them for destruction by the very immune system that generated them. In addition, these antibodies can bind to and destroy healthy cells as well as HIV-infected ones, making them a potentially useful but unpredictable partner in fighting the virus.

TIME.com: Study explains how the first effective HIV vaccine worked

But by carefully mapping the different mutations that HIV generates, and the resulting antibodies made against them in an African patient who is able to produce broadly neutralizing antibodies, Haynes and his colleagues believe they have come up with a way to drive the immune system to preferentially churn out these HIV-fighting immune cells.

“We followed individuals from the time of HIV infection to the time they generated broadly neutralizing antibodies, and mapped and isolated the virus at every step along the way so we now don’t have to guess any more about what induced those antibodies,” he says. “We have a map on how to recreate the sequential (versions of HIV) that could drive particular antibody lineages.”

The work, which was published in the journal Nature, was possible because Haynes had collected and saved blood samples over the course of about three years from roughly 400 patients, starting within weeks of their infection.

Researchers found that the first round of broadly neutralizing antibodies generally appeared about 14 weeks after infection, and these were better able to bind to portions of HIV that the virus doesn’t change as quickly or as frequently. That makes the antibodies useful weapons in attacking the virus’ Achilles heel, and a potentially powerful target for an effective vaccine.

TIME.com: Treatment as prevention: How the new way to control HIV came to be

“Now we have a picture of how these antibodies developed, so what we are doing is figuring out how to use them to make a vaccine,” says Haynes.

The challenge will be to push the body to pump out these antibodies rather than the more specific ones aimed at the ever-changing portions of HIV. It turns out that most infected people do produce these antibodies, but HIV distracts the immune system into crowding them out with all the subsequent iterations they convince the body to make against the mutating virus.

“We are trying to take an unusual or rare event and make it more common,” says Haynes.

TIME.com: HIV drugs may prevent infection in healthy individuals

Ultimately, he adds, a vaccine will probably need to generate several of these broadly neutralizing antibodies; each person tends to make unique versions that have differing efficacy in stopping HIV.

But there’s precedent for such an approach, since the antiretroviral drugs that now control HIV infections are used in combination to hit the virus at more than one point in its life cycle.

“The hope is that by mapping individual pathways to generating broadly neutralizing antibodies, we can find some commonalities among people even though everyone is different, and that gives us hope for using these pathways in a vaccine,” says Haynes. “It’s a huge effort but it looks like it’s going to pay off.”

The Only Thing That Truly Separates Doctors From Nurses

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:55:58 -0500

The Only Thing That Truly Separates Doctors From Nurses:

cyanide-poisoning:

“I would suggest to my readers that the only thing that truly separates doctors from nurses is ultimate responsibility. The editor of Academic Medicine says in his introductory remarks introducing the question that his daughter was trying to decide between medicine and nursing. This is the decision she must make. Does she want to live with the ultimate responsibility for every patient under her care? Because of our investment of time and money, and presumably because of the economic and social standing granted to us, we doctors bear this ultimate burden. This is not to say that nurses don’t also have a responsibility to their patients and their field, or that they haven’t invested just as much time and money.

I have been both a nurse and a doctor, and am a huge proponent of the expanded role of nurse practitioners. But the law and society have laid the ultimate privilege and burden on the person that people call “doctor”. That’s the difference.” -Shirie Leng, MD

So, I have signed up in a profession that ultimately puts the blame or praise on ME whatever happens to a patient, then?

Sounds unfair to ME.

cyanide poisoning...: What My Father Has Taught Me by Shinji Moon

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:55:23 -0500

cyanide poisoning...: What My Father Has Taught Me by Shinji Moon:

cyanide-poisoning:

“let me teach you about the ottoman
empire, how dynasties have fallen and risen again and
again, how you never appreciate cities until
they have been earth-struck windswept / with
all their secrets blowing at hundreds of miles
an hour, cutting your skin with all the sharpness of corners
and…

compoundfractur: The central and peripheral nervous system

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:49:07 -0500

compoundfractur:

The central and peripheral nervous system

thisfuturemd: 10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Prepare for...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:26:33 -0500

thisfuturemd:

10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Prepare for Medical School Admissions
Guest Post By: Suzanne Miller, M.D.

Will you be applying to medical school this cycle? Even though it’s only April and the AMCAS application (medical school’s primary application) does not open until June, there are many actions you can take right now to ensure timely submission of an outstanding application. (Read More at Future M.D.)

compoundfractur: This is the large intestine of a drug mule...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:26:06 -0500

compoundfractur:

This is the large intestine of a drug mule trying to smuggle cocaine. This person had so much packed up there that their bowel perforated and they died. I can’t imagine the look on the pathologists face during the autopsy, it’s like a bizarre pinata.

medicaljourney: svccubus: My Wife’s Fight With Breast...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:30:26 -0500

medicaljourney:

svccubus:

My Wife’s Fight With Breast Cancer
one of the saddest and most beautiful photo essays I’ve ever seen

chills

From their website:

“The first time I saw Jennifer I knew. I knew she was the one. I knew, just like my dad when he sang to his sisters in the winter of 1951 after meeting my mom for the first time, ‘I found her.’

A month later Jen got a job in Manhattan and left Cleveland. I would go to the city – to see my brother, but really wanting to see Jen. At every visit my heart would scream at my brain, “tell her!!” but I couldn’t work up the courage to tell Jen that I couldn’t live without her. My heart finally prevailed and, like a schoolboy, I told Jen ‘I have a crush on you.’ To the relief of my pounding heart, Jen’s beautiful eyes lit up and she said ‘Me too!’

Six months later I packed up my belongings and flew to New York with an engagement ring burning a hole in my pocket. That night, at our favorite Italian restaurant, I got down on my knee and asked Jen to marry me. Less than a year later we were married in Central Park, surrounded by our family and friends. Later that night, we danced our first dance as husband and wife, serenaded by my dad and his accordion – ♫ ‘I’m in the mood for love…’♫

Five months later Jen was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember the exact moment…Jen’s voice and the numb feeling that enveloped me. That feeling has never left. I’ll also never forget how we looked into each other’s eyes and held each other’s hands. ‘We are together, we’ll be ok.’

With each challenge we grew closer. Words became less important. One night Jen had just been admitted to the hospital, her pain was out of control. She grabbed my arm, her eyes watering, ‘You have to look in my eyes, that’s the only way I can handle this pain.’ We loved each other with every bit of our souls.

Jen taught me to love, to listen, to give and to believe in others and myself. I’ve never been as happy as I was during this time.

Throughout our battle we were fortunate to have a strong support group but we still struggled to get people to understand our day-to-day life and the difficulties we faced. Jen was in chronic pain from the side effects of nearly 4 years of treatment and medications. At 39 Jen began to use a walker and was exhausted from being constantly aware of every bump and bruise. Hospital stays of 10-plus days were not uncommon. Frequent doctor visits led to battles with insurance companies. Fear, anxiety and worries were constant.
Sadly, most people do not want to hear these realities and at certain points we felt our support fading away. Other cancer survivors share this loss. People assume that treatment makes you better, that things become OK, that life goes back to ‘normal.’ However, there is no normal in cancer-land. Cancer survivors have to define a new sense of normal, often daily. And how can others understand what we had to live with everyday?

My photographs show this daily life. They humanize the face of cancer, on the face of my wife. They show the challenge, difficulty, fear, sadness and loneliness that we faced, that Jennifer faced, as she battled this disease. Most important of all, they show our Love. These photographs do not define us, but they are us.

Cancer is in the news daily, and maybe, through these photographs, the next time a cancer patient is asked how he or she is doing, along with listening, the answer will be met with more knowledge, empathy, deeper understanding, sincere caring and heartfelt concern.

‘Love every morsel of the people in your life.’ – Jennifer Merendino”

Source: mywifesfightwithbreastcancer.com/our-story

malformalady: A puffer fish that developed cataracts has...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:27:27 -0500

malformalady:

A puffer fish that developed cataracts has undergone surgery to have its eye removed, in what is thought to be one of the first operations of its kind in Britain. Vets at Bristol Zoo operated on Mini the puffer fish when its right eye became painfully swollen.The fish had to be kept out of the water for the duration of the painstaking hour-long operation, so the team constantly passed medicated water over Mini’s gills to keep its skin wet.