{"id":201,"date":"2016-12-01T23:32:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T06:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/?page_id=201"},"modified":"2016-12-01T23:32:30","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T06:32:30","slug":"methemoglobinemia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/best-works\/methemoglobinemia\/","title":{"rendered":"Methemoglobinemia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Definitions<\/span><\/h3>\n

Parenthetical Definition<\/span><\/h4>\n

Methemoglobinemia (a disorder which babies appear blue) is a medical condition on babies who consume contaminated drinking water.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sentence Definition<\/span><\/h4>\n

Methemoglobinemia is a disorder characterized by the presence of a higher than normal level of methemoglobin\u00a0in the blood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Expanded Definition<\/span><\/h4>\n
How can\u00a0a baby develop methemoglobinemia? (Required Conditions & Visuals)<\/span><\/h5>\n

Fertilizers used on farmlands or cow feces spread on the cattle farms for the production of manure contain a high concentration of nitrates.\u00a0 After heavy rainfall or excessive watering on the field, nitrates in the fertilizer or manure can leach into the soil, which eventually contaminate the groundwater (Majumdar, 2003).\u00a0 Households, who depend on groundwater as their drinking water source, can consume water with a high concentration of nitrates. \u00a0Iron ions in\u00a0the hemoglobin, which serves the function of bringing\u00a0oxygen to cells in the body, can be affected by the elevated level of nitrates in the bloodstream. \u00a0As a result, babies or fetuses in mothers\u2019 womb can develop methemoglobinemia and appear blue as shown in Figure 1.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"blue-baby\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Figure 1. Appearance of a baby with \u201cBlue Baby Syndrome\u201d (\u201cBlue Baby Syndrome.\u201d\u00a0Medical Information and Advice<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the health effects? (Examples)<\/span><\/h5>\n

Depend on the amount of nitrates consumed, affected babies can develop various symptoms such as (\u201cMethemoglobinemia.\u201d):<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • shortness of breath<\/span><\/li>\n
  • headache<\/span><\/li>\n
  • fatigue<\/span><\/li>\n
  • exercise intolerance<\/span><\/li>\n
  • dizziness<\/span><\/li>\n
  • seizures<\/span><\/li>\n
  • coma<\/span><\/li>\n
  • death<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    Can we boil the water to remove the nitrates? (Comparison & Contrast)<\/span><\/h5>\n

    Unlike microbiological contamination of drinking water, nitrates in groundwater cannot be eliminated\u00a0even after the water\u00a0is rolling-boiled for a few minutes.\u00a0 People, whose drinking water source is contaminated by nitrates, should consider finding alternative water sources, such as constructing a new well or using bottled water (\u201c<\/em>What\u2019s In Your Well? \u2013 A Guide To Well Water Treatment And Maintenance.\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

    Works cited:<\/span><\/h4>\n

    \u201cBlue Baby Syndrome.\u201d\u00a0Medical Information and Advice<\/em>. N.p., n.d. http:\/\/book-med.info\/syndrome\/62412. Accessed September 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Majumdar, Deepanjan. “The Blue Baby Syndrome Nitrate Poisoning in Humans.” SpringerLink<\/i>. Resonance, Oct. 2003. http:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007%2FBF02840703. 30 Nov. 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

    “Methemoglobinemia.” Methemoglobinemia: Practice Essentials, Background, Pathophysiology<\/i>. http:\/\/emedicine.medscape.com\/article\/204178-overview. \u00a0Accessed September 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201c<\/em>What\u2019s In Your Well? \u2013 A Guide To Well Water Treatment And Maintenance.\u201d\u00a0Health Canada.<\/em>\u00a0Health Canada, 2008. http:\/\/www.hc-sc.gc.ca\/ewh-semt\/pubs\/water-eau\/well-puits-eng.php. \u00a0Accessed September 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Definitions Parenthetical Definition Methemoglobinemia (a disorder which babies appear blue) is a medical condition on babies who consume contaminated drinking water. Sentence Definition Methemoglobinemia is a disorder characterized by the presence of a higher than normal level of methemoglobin\u00a0in the blood. Expanded Definition How can\u00a0a baby develop methemoglobinemia? (Required Conditions & Visuals) Fertilizers used on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43541,"featured_media":0,"parent":134,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-201","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/201\/revisions\/219"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/engl301garytam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}