Blogging my heart out

B.L.O.G.G.I.N.G

           Learning comes in diverse ways, we can learn by listening, reading, imitating and writing. I’ve been through all this sort of learning and each of them come in different impacts on me. The more effective way of learning for me is by reading. As Will Rogers says, “A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.” Generally I learn by reading books and listening to my class but Edublogging gave me a new impression of learning with the advantage of also imparting knowledge to others who reads my blogs. I never expect getting myself into writing edublogs, but here I am doing one! And of all the subjects it was Clinical Chemistry that gave me this chance.

          Before having been into Edublogging I already have my Tumblr account fattycheek which is for blogging too. I used to post pictures of what I’ve done, places that I’ve been, about my boyfriend and all those cute stuffs I want with little stories in them. I really never thought of writing articles about toxicology or endocrine glands, starting with each edublogs were not really in the field of my interest, sort of fish out of water.  What I mean is how I can make this blogs striking to my co-bloggers and internet users. That was really the challenge.  

            I enjoyed doing edublogs through the simple picking of nice templates, the colors, the pictures and up to the main body of my blogs. This EDUBLOGGING THING that I thought would give me a hard time actually ends up of giving me interest of writing more. I learn at the same time share what I have learned to the people who encounter my blogs especially now that internet is one of the OVERDOING of the billions of people in the world.

            I just have to be patient of waiting ideas pop out my head (That is the hardest part). But after I know what I want to point out I just can’t stop my hands from typing and typing. You must also guarantee that those words came from you. As what Ma’am G says, “Wag naten gayahin si Senator Sotto.” (Hahaha) NO TO PLAGIARISM. Meta-analysis is the right way.

            To sum it up, EDUBLOGGING is an experience that will never be forgotten, thought I’ll be not taking clinical chemistry as a subject (I hope so that I passed) I will still want to continue making blogs.

LEARNING THROUGH EDUBLOG

THANK YOU TO Ma`am Gaces! J

Poison or Antidote

           Paracelsus, sometimes called The Father of Toxicology once said, "All substances are poisons. There is none which is not a poison. The right dosage differentiates a poison & a remedy". As we all know toxicology is the study of adverse effects on humans of prophylactic and therapeutic drugs, food and beverage additives, and industrial chemicals incorporated into  consumer product. Harmful or adverse effect is the damaging to the normal functioning of the body. As what Paracelsus stated, it is in the right dosage where we can develop a poison or antidote. Poison, which is any substance that when engrossed in the body destroys the health. The chemical reaction that caused by poison can lead to disability or death in worst case scenario. Poisoning can be by accident, suicidal or criminal. Most common causes of poisoning:

Death	Disability
Barbiturates	Ethanol
Carbon monoxide	Barbiturates
Phenols; Cresols	Lead
Methanol	Arsenic
Ethanol	Salicylates
Cyanide	Carbon monoxide
Arsenic fluoride	Methanol
Mercury	Antihistamines
Salicylates	Non-barbiturate hypnotics

            Antidote or remedy is a substance which can counteract the noxious effect of a poison. It combines with the poison and activates it. Antidote was derived from a Greek word which means “given against”. A physiologic antidote opposes the actions of the poison.  

Here are some toxins with their corresponding antidotes:

Toxin	Antidote
Iron (hemochromatosis)	Desferrioxamine
Cholinergics  (mushroom poisoning)	Atropine sulfate
Paracetamol/ Acetaminophen	N-acetylcysteine
Narcotics	Naloxone
Methotrexate	Calcium folinate
Benzodiazepines	Flumazenil

            Toxicology is the study of how man-made poisons can cause undesirable effects on us. Toxic agents are detrimental to us that are why we should avoid them. There are classifications of toxic agents. According to http://www.lnt.ch/Toxicology.pdf

A.Heavy Metals

B. Solvents and Vapors

C. Radiation and Radioactive Materials

D. Dioxin/Furans

E. Pesticides

F. Microbial toxins

G. Mushroom toxins

H. Plant Toxins

I. Animal Toxins

J. Subcategories of Toxic Substances

K. General Classifications of Interest to Communities

These are the fields of toxicology or sub-disciplines. 

• Environmental Toxicology

http://cameroon.setac.eu/?contentid=385

The study of chemicals that can contaminate the soil, water, food or atmosphere.

• Occupational or Industrial Toxicology

http://www.safesci.unsw.edu.au/research/occtox.html

It is the adverse effects of agents to workers during the course of their employment.

• Regulatory Toxicology

http://www.spectroniq3d.com/what-are-the-dietary-risks.htm

It is the gathering and evaluating of toxicoligical information in order to make a establish concentration-based standards.

• Food  Toxicology

http://www.spectroniq3d.com/what-are-the-dietary-risks.htm

It involves the different way of edible and safe supply of food. 

• Clinical  Toxicology

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/mtc/research/toxicology/

It is concerned with the different diseases or illnesses that is caused by a short or long exposure to toxic chemicals.

• Descriptive  Toxicology

http://www.saawinternational.org/animalexperimentation.htm

It involves the toxicological information gathering with the help of animal experiments. 

• Forensic  Toxicology

http://forensicfact.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/forensic-toxicology/

It helps to determine the cause and effect of toxic chemicals between the exposure to the toxin and the lethal effects. 

• Analytical  Toxicology

http://www.conseilcoopipe.org/forensic-toxicologist-jobs/

It identifies the toxicant by the analysis of different body fluids like urine, blood and oral fluid. 

• Mechanistic  Toxicology 

http://toxicology.umaryland.edu/Pages/MolecularandMechanisticTrack.aspx

It involves the observation on how the toxic chemicals cause effect. 

          Thereby, i have learned so many things about toxicology and it's different sub types.  

References:

http://www.safesci.unsw.edu.au/research/occtox.html

http://www.lnt.ch/Toxicology.pdf

Endocrinology: The Core of Hormones

            Whenever we encounter the word "Endocrinology" maybe the first thing that comes up our mind is the word hormone. Hormones are stereotypically generalized as an important ingredient for growth, however, there are other purposes where hormones are involved such as maintaining the chemical level in the bloodstream to maintain homeostasis. They are produced by different glands in our body whereby an integrated system succeeded which is the Endocrine System.


              Here is a video of a hormonal imbalance disorder that intrigues me a lot. It is known as hirsutism or virilism which mostly affects us females.

Video Credit:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8HM3KkWj-c

            
               Isn't it difficult for a woman to be unpleasantly looking? Of course it is hard. Every  women wants to be attractive in everybody's eyes. This disorder is the excessive growth of hair in women which can be in the facial area, beard area, neck, chest wall and upper abdomen which makes them look like a man. It involves the overacting work of the androgens to female's hair follicle that causes too much hair growth. In some cases a newborn baby girl can have an external organ that looks like a mixture of a male organ, this is called female pseudohermaphrodism. I can't imagine how hard for females who have this kind of illness survive everyday knowing that they cannot enjoy a normal life.

Image Credit:http://acner.org/alternative-treatments-for-hirsutism/

Image Credit: http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/257353/enlarge

               


              Endocrinology, a branch of medicine and biology which is concerned with the study of the endocrine system, its function, its secretions, and the disorders involved. Robert K. G. Temple, he said that the study of endocrinology first began in China, in which researchers used human urine to isolate pituitary and sex hormones. Some articles in Chinese Medical Books way back in 1110 clarified that saponification was used to extract hormones.

Endocrine System

Image Credit: https://www.google.com.ph/search?hl=fil&q=endocrine%20system&btnK=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=tHqzT-eiLsufiQfH14j1CA&biw=1024&bih=499&sei=vHqzT7eKNKqSiQfs8PjrBg

            The study of endocrinology involves a broad spectrum of its learning, and though every organ system secretes and retorts to hormones endocrinology focuses specifically on endocrine organs. The organs which centers hormone secretions are the endocrine organs such as adrenals, ovaries, pancreas, pituitary, testes, and thyroid. An endocrinologist greatest role is to specialized treating disorders of the endocrine system like hyperthyroidism, Addison’s disease and Cushing's syndrome. Many people suffer from these maladies that are why it is categorically important to know more in this field of science.

Endocrine Organs: Hormones and their functions:

• Adrenal Gland 

 1. Cortisol- known as the stress hormone

• Ovaries

1. Inhibin- regulates FSH
2. Estrogen-(estridiol, estriol, estrone) for growth promotion elasticity of connective tissue and preserve bone mass
3. Progesterone- for the maintenance of endometrium in penetration for pregnancy
4. Testosterone- acts as libido

• Pancreas

1. Insulin - lowers blood sugar level
2. Glucagon- raises blood sugar level

• Pituitary Gland

1. Adenocorticotrophic hormone - for production of corticosol
2. Follicle Stimulating Hormone - stimulates maturation of ovarian follicles
3. Growth Hormone - it acts on various tissues to promote growth
4.  Luteinizing Hormone - it induces ovulation and produces estrogen
5. Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone - it stimulates the tone of the skin
6. Prolactin - for production of milk for lactating females
7. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone - transmits signal to the thyroid gland for the production of thyroxin

• Testis

1. Dihydrotestosterone - important for secondary male characterictics
2. Testosterone- sperm production and libido

• Thyroid

1. Tri- iodothyronine and thyroxine- for the regulation of metabolism, development of reproductive tract and brain.

Book reference: Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods 21st Edition

Web references: http://www2.utmb.edu/otoref/grnds/Endocrinology-991215/Endocrinology-9912.pdf

                                  http://www.emcom.ca/primer/list.shtml

                                  http://health.yahoo.net/galecontent/adrenal-virilism