Category Archives: Uncategorized

Acne is a technically a type of human skin disease. This includes whiteheads, blackheads and inflamed area of skin.

Why do we have acne?

The formation of acne is mainly because the pore of the skin is clogged. Each pore contains a sebaceous gland and this gland makes sebum which is oil that lubricates our hair and skin. A sebaceous gland usually functions normally and produces right amount of sebum in the pore. However, since teenager’s body starts to develop, hormones stimulate the sebaceous gland to make more sebum. When there is too much oil inside the pore, it will be clogged. Bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes can be easily trapped inside the pore. Swelling and redness symbolizes the start of acne.

 I am no longer a teen.

We are not teens but why do we still have acne? Acne is also triggered by hormonal changes due to stress, menstrual periods and pregnancy (Palmer 2010). Acne certainly affects people of all ages.

What should we do if we have acne?

There are three things that we should do. We should clean our skin gently, try not to touch our skin, and see a dermatologist if acne becomes worse. Dermatologists suggest that we should not pop or squeeze acne, although it is very tempting to do (Palmer 2010). Popping acne increases a chance of making it worse (MedlinePlus 2011). This irritation of the skin may cause permanent acne scars which are harder to get rid of (AcneNet 2010).

This video tells us why it is bad to pop acne in detail.

Popping-Pimples.htm

Palmer,A. 2010. Diagosing Acne. http://acne.about.com/od/diagnosisofacne/a/diagnosis.htm (accessed 3/21/2012)

MedlinePlus. 2011. Acne. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/acne.html (accessed 3/21/2012)

AcneNet. 2010. What causes Acne? http://www.skincarephysicians.com/acnenet/acne.html (accessed 3/21/2012)

Wikipedia. 2012. Propionibacterium acnes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propionibacterium_acnes (accessed 3/21/2012)

Wikipedia. 2012. Sebaceous gland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebacious_gland (accessed 3/21/2012)

Video:

http://video.about.com/acne/Popping-Pimples.htm

Picture:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/images/acne.jpg

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/19666.jpg

Our body is governed by our genes. Our genes specify what type of proteins should be produced by our cells, and proteins are responsible for almost everything in our body. Each protein has three dimensional shape; proteins’ shape indicate their job in the body.

DNA has the information to to make proteins, and proteins are responsible for almost everything in our body ( from : http://www.flyfishingdevon.co.uk/salmon/year3/psy339evaluation-evolutionary-psychology/evaluation-evolutionary-psychology.htm )

In this blog I would like to talk about a genetic condition, called Thalassemia which so many  people in the world have it and simply are not aware of it. In people with Thalassemia, the shape of their hemoglobin protein in some of  their red blood cells is different because in their body the genes that have the information for hemoglobin production have been altered. Therefore, since shape of a protein specifies its functionality, hemoglobin becomes inefficient in transferring oxygen.(http://www.cdc.gov/Features/Thalassemia/)

shape some of the red blood cells in people with Thalassemia is oval or sickle shape( from :http://www.islamicboard.com/health-science/134270536-medical-student-review-2.html )

Thalassemia has two version of minor and major. Thalassemia minor in most cases does show significant signs or symptoms, that is why so many people may have it and are not aware of it. However people with major Thalassemia require advanced medical care and mostly they do not live very long.( http://www.medicinenet.com/beta_thalassemia/article.htm )

According to Dr. Greenberg this condition is often mistaken by iron deficiency in the nutrition. The reason is that  hemoglobin in people with Thalassemia is not capable of utilizing enough iron because of its faulty protein structure, as a result, their  blood tests show lower amount of iron compared to normal range. Misdiagnosis of Thalassemia and consumption of iron pills in fact accumulates in the liver because the iron is not being utilized by hemoglobin and causes damage to people who have Thalassemia and not iron deficiency. link to his article is here >>http://www.utoronto.ca/kids/Thalassemia.htm

Epidemiology and History: Thalassemia is common in discrete regions of the world where malaria was prevalent, such as Asia, Africa, middle-east, and parts of Europe. It is interesting to note that people with such condition could survive malaria at a higher rate than people who did not have Thalassemia. Therefore Thalassemia condition caused a selective survival advantage for carriers(Wikipedia :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassemia ).

Hence, if you are from the countries that Thalassemia is common or your background is from countries mentioned above and your family doctor diagnosed you with either iron deficiency or “anemia” make sure you ask for a genetic test and make sure you do not have Thalassemia.

According to Wikipedia “This genetic disorder is autosomal recessive trait, meaning a person needs to inherit two copies of the gene from each parent for the trait to be expressed. Therefore both parents have to be carriers of a recessive trait in order for a child to express that trait. If both parents are carriers, there is a 25% chance with each child to show the recessive trait”. This is important for people who are carriers of Thalassemia and plan to have kids and become pregnant to make sure their partner is not a carrier.

Here is a link which you can share with your friends to make them aware

We have all just experienced the agonizing pain of waking up 1 hour early on a monday morning. According to a recent study, daylight saving time change might not necessarily be beneficial to your health.

It has been found the “Monday and Tuesday after moving the clocks ahead  one hour in March is associated with a 10 percent increase in the risk of having a heart-attack,” says UAB Associate Professior Martin Young, Ph.D., in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease. Furthermore, the risk is decreased in October by 10 percent.

This study also indicated heart-attack tends to peak on Monday when most people get up earlier to go to work. Why this is happening is not exactly known however, Yougn proposes “Sleep deperivation, the body’s circadian clock and immune responses all can come into play when considering reasons that changing the time by an hour can be detrimental to someone’s health.”

How does these three factors affect the risk of  heart-attack?

Sleep deprivation has been a well studied topic, it has been found “individuals who are sleep-deprived weigh more and are at an increased risk of developing diabetes or heart disease,” furthermore sleep depriviation alter infalmmatory response, which can contribute to a heart attack.

According to Young, “every cell in the body has its own clock that allows it to anticipate when someting is going to happen and prepare for it,” but when cell clocks are anticipating another hour to sleep that they won’t get, the negative impact of the stress worses”

Lastly, in the case of immune function, because “immune cells have a clock, and the immune response depends on the time of day, and acute time change can be detrimental to the immunte system response”

This study may sound scary, however our body’s clock eventually synchs with the environment.

But do not worry!

Professor Young have a few tips for this problem!

-waking up 30 minutes earlier on Saturaday and Sunday to prepare for the early start on monday

-do more exercise

References

References

1. Circadian rhythm sleep disorder.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/circadian_rhythm_sleep_disorder.htm (accessed 03/12, 2012).
2. Circadian rhythm. http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/circadian_rhythm.htm  (accessed 03/12, 2012).
3. Jet lag. http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/j/jet_lag.htm (accessed 03/12, 2012).
4. Sleep deprivation. http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/j/jet_lag.htm (accessed 03/12, 2012).