So yesterday my vision in my right eye started fading...I took 40 mg of steroids yesterday and another 40 today because I'm just trying to calm it down before it gets really bad again. I'm going to stay in DC until my doctors are back in town (hopefully they will be back monday!) I'm just reeeeeally hoping it gets better and heavy steroids and overnight hospital visits aren't necessary.
I hope everyone is having a good thanksgiving
Friday, November 25, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Brain Psychology
One thing I am especially interested in is the psychology of the brain. The brain is organized into 3 layers: the central core, limbic system, and cerebral cortex, and they all contain structures that regulate everyday life! The central core is where breathing, pulse, arousal, movement, balance, and sleep are regulated. The limbic system is where body temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels are regulated. It mediates motivated behaviors, emotional states, and memory processes. The cerebral cortex is the most interesting. It directs the brain's higher cognitive and emotional functions and is divided into 2 cerebral hemispheres (like 2 halves). Each hemisphere has 4 lobes and this is where we have perception, emotion, thought, and planning, as well as many unconscious processes.
Those are the basic (and pretty boring) facts.
There are some pretty interesting facts though about how the brain affect what we experience. Some of these cool facts are:
1. You can't tickle yourself because your brain distinguishes between unexpected external touch and your own touch.
I always wondered why I couldn't tickle myself...
2. There is a class of people who not only have more taste buds on their tongue, but whose brain is more sensitive to the tastes of foods and drinks. They can even detect some flavors that others can't! These people are titled "supertasters"
I'm not sure if its possible to just "become" a supertaster, but when I was on steroids I definitely felt like a supertaster...
These are two of the more random facts but there are so many others that are even more interesting. Most of the others have to do with memory, dreams and sleep, personality, intelligence, and categories like these. I find all of it so interesting and I think it's important to motivate others to explore the brain.
You can find more interesting facts right here!
Hopefully some other people find this stuff interesting. If so, that person will probably talk about it with another person who may then talk about it with someone else. I believe one of these people will become curious and want to do more research. It is instinctive for humans to want to learn more about something they are interested in. This person could then make a huge contribution to science, either by studying and becoming a scientist, by actively supporting science and helping it grow, or even by more passive support like blogging and spreading awareness.
I am taking the more passive approach right now but next summer I will be interning a Children's Hospital in DC to actively support the advancement of science.
Those are the basic (and pretty boring) facts.
There are some pretty interesting facts though about how the brain affect what we experience. Some of these cool facts are:
1. You can't tickle yourself because your brain distinguishes between unexpected external touch and your own touch.
I always wondered why I couldn't tickle myself...
2. There is a class of people who not only have more taste buds on their tongue, but whose brain is more sensitive to the tastes of foods and drinks. They can even detect some flavors that others can't! These people are titled "supertasters"
I'm not sure if its possible to just "become" a supertaster, but when I was on steroids I definitely felt like a supertaster...
These are two of the more random facts but there are so many others that are even more interesting. Most of the others have to do with memory, dreams and sleep, personality, intelligence, and categories like these. I find all of it so interesting and I think it's important to motivate others to explore the brain.
You can find more interesting facts right here!
Hopefully some other people find this stuff interesting. If so, that person will probably talk about it with another person who may then talk about it with someone else. I believe one of these people will become curious and want to do more research. It is instinctive for humans to want to learn more about something they are interested in. This person could then make a huge contribution to science, either by studying and becoming a scientist, by actively supporting science and helping it grow, or even by more passive support like blogging and spreading awareness.
I am taking the more passive approach right now but next summer I will be interning a Children's Hospital in DC to actively support the advancement of science.
Monday, October 31, 2011
How Do I Tell People I Have an Auto-immune Disease?
Is there any right time to tell someone about your autoimmune disease? This is one of the hardest parts about living with a disease that only flares every so often. It's important that people are aware of what I have, but it's hard to know when exactly to tell someone. I want people to know about it but if I talk about it to someone, I don't want them to think I am trying to get them to pity me for it or something. There's just a comfort in knowing that the people around you are somewhat aware of it.
It was really hard for me to tell people about what was going on with me in 11th grade. People would write on my Facebook wall asking me how I was feeling and when I was coming back to school and I never knew what exactly to reply. I wanted to express how I was feeling in a much deeper way than Facebook would enable me to. I didn't want to post all my health information in public, but I even felt uncomfortable sending private messages. How can anyone ever know what exactly you are trying to say over a message? If I type a message to someone on Facebook and say, "I got a spinal tap today, an IV, and now I'm feeling worse than ever", it may sound like I am feeling bad for myself. It also didn't really help me much when I typed out a response to someone's question about how I was feeling. In order to feel any different after, I needed to actually verbally speak to them. I felt more comfortable doing this, and it actually had positive affects on my mood.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Longevity Project
An interesting study, that has been researched since 1921, was finally published about longevity. Longevity is the length/duration of life and scienticists want to know what it is about the 1500 grade school students that led some to stay well and some to die or get sick. Scientists Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin continue the research that first began in 1921. There are so many findings in their book and it would be difficult to name all of them, but I will talk about a few.
They found that many people who worked the hardest in their lives lived the longest. Most of the people still alive continue to work part-time or are still involved with their hobbies or profession. They found it isnt the "happy-go-lucky" who survive, but it is the people who are persistent and responsible who live the longest. Certain factors were found to increase the risk for cancer and violent deaths. These included stressful home life, lack of exercise in the middle and older years, radiation, and smoking. One really interesting thing they found was that having a strong social network was found to contribute highly to increased longevity. They also found that women are more likely to have a social support system than men and this may be why women tend to live longer. What counts is not how much you feel loved, but how much you feel needed.
The idea that social networking is more about being needed than loved is interesting. I guess they are saying that you could be loves by a few people, but they could die, move away, or just lose their capacity to care for you. When you take care of others though, you are likely to make and keep friendships throughout life. It's not like if you are social and have a facebook you will live a long time. What this study revealed is that social ties are critical and that having a large support network is directly correlated with a longer life. Facebook and blogging are both social networks that allow you to help and care for others. Social networking sites are not there so people can feel loved. They are there so that we, members of the public sphere, can help and care for others.
More and more adolescents are using the internet nowadays, and it would be interesting to see if there is any correlation between this and the length of our lives. After reading this study, it would be easy to think that Facebook and blogging might add years to your life, but I think it could be the opposite. After reading Turkle's "THe Nostalgia of the Young", I know that social networking sites pose problems for adolescents' social connectedness and well-being. Texting and instant messaging cause your attention to be elsewhere, and so the connections you are making with people are not very strong. Many people may be physically close, but mentally they are not, because they are focussed on connecting with others. This leaves the other people feeling excluded and unneeded. It is hard to care for others and form strong connections with them when they are distracted by their devices. To some people, digital life cheats people out of learning how to read a parson's face and how to be authentic. I am no scientist, but it would be interesting to examine the affects of cell phones and the internet on longevity.
They found that many people who worked the hardest in their lives lived the longest. Most of the people still alive continue to work part-time or are still involved with their hobbies or profession. They found it isnt the "happy-go-lucky" who survive, but it is the people who are persistent and responsible who live the longest. Certain factors were found to increase the risk for cancer and violent deaths. These included stressful home life, lack of exercise in the middle and older years, radiation, and smoking. One really interesting thing they found was that having a strong social network was found to contribute highly to increased longevity. They also found that women are more likely to have a social support system than men and this may be why women tend to live longer. What counts is not how much you feel loved, but how much you feel needed.
The idea that social networking is more about being needed than loved is interesting. I guess they are saying that you could be loves by a few people, but they could die, move away, or just lose their capacity to care for you. When you take care of others though, you are likely to make and keep friendships throughout life. It's not like if you are social and have a facebook you will live a long time. What this study revealed is that social ties are critical and that having a large support network is directly correlated with a longer life. Facebook and blogging are both social networks that allow you to help and care for others. Social networking sites are not there so people can feel loved. They are there so that we, members of the public sphere, can help and care for others.
More and more adolescents are using the internet nowadays, and it would be interesting to see if there is any correlation between this and the length of our lives. After reading this study, it would be easy to think that Facebook and blogging might add years to your life, but I think it could be the opposite. After reading Turkle's "THe Nostalgia of the Young", I know that social networking sites pose problems for adolescents' social connectedness and well-being. Texting and instant messaging cause your attention to be elsewhere, and so the connections you are making with people are not very strong. Many people may be physically close, but mentally they are not, because they are focussed on connecting with others. This leaves the other people feeling excluded and unneeded. It is hard to care for others and form strong connections with them when they are distracted by their devices. To some people, digital life cheats people out of learning how to read a parson's face and how to be authentic. I am no scientist, but it would be interesting to examine the affects of cell phones and the internet on longevity.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
What Exactly IS an Autoimmune Disease?
Most people really don't know enough about autoimmune diseases. Actually, I don't even know enough. People ask me what I have everyday and it's too complex to explain. That's one of the hardest parts about living with an autoimmune disease. I can't explain to people what I have because I don't even know what that is. The first 5 times I got sick, all I knew about my condition was that my immune system was so overactive that it shut down. People would ask more about it, and that was literally all I knew. In 11th grade though, people would ask me, and I realized I should probably know more about what I was living with. I read a lot of articles and learned about general autoimmune disorders. I couldn't research what I had, so I started researching as many conditions as I could.
Before I talk about any of the diseases though, I think everyone needs to have a general knowledge of autoimmune disorders. They lie in your DNA, and they occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy tissue in your body because it can't tell the difference between healthy tissue and antigens (bacteria, viruses, toxins, etc.). Scientists haven't discovered yet what causes the immune system to no longer tell the difference between healthy body tissues and antigens. An autoimune disorders may result in destruction of one or more types of tissue, abnormal growth of an organ, changes in organ function. The most common organs and tissues affected are red blood cells, blood vessels, connective tissues, endocrine glands (like the thyroid or pancreas), musclesm, joints, and skin; however, there are more than 80 autoimmune diseases and the symptoms vary.There are many different tests, but the treatment is usually corticosteroids (like predisone) and nonsteroid drugs. I took prednisone and it helped, but I was miserable the entire time I was on them. I was taking 80 mg a day and I got to decrease by 10 mg every monday. At least that caused the week begin well, I guess!
It's okay to not know about the specific auto-immune diseases, but I think everyone needs to know what causes them in general and what happens in the body of someone who has one. There are blogs and discussion groups online filled with people who discuss recent articles about autoimmune diseases, talk about their personal stories, and help others who are living with one of the disorders. These people come together in these blogs and discussion pages to talk about what they don't get to talk about enough. Barlow says that "blogs create a fictional world and activity centers on that world in a way that may prove unlike anything we have seen before"(Barlow, p. 5) These discussions do that too. Living with an autoimmune disease is hard because you want people to know about it but you dont want it to be how they view you, and most people usually don't want to go around telling everyone about it. When I was sick, I never posted anything in the discussion, but just reading it made me feel better. The blogs and posts by others showed me that other people live with similar conditions as I do.
Before I talk about any of the diseases though, I think everyone needs to have a general knowledge of autoimmune disorders. They lie in your DNA, and they occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy tissue in your body because it can't tell the difference between healthy tissue and antigens (bacteria, viruses, toxins, etc.). Scientists haven't discovered yet what causes the immune system to no longer tell the difference between healthy body tissues and antigens. An autoimune disorders may result in destruction of one or more types of tissue, abnormal growth of an organ, changes in organ function. The most common organs and tissues affected are red blood cells, blood vessels, connective tissues, endocrine glands (like the thyroid or pancreas), musclesm, joints, and skin; however, there are more than 80 autoimmune diseases and the symptoms vary.There are many different tests, but the treatment is usually corticosteroids (like predisone) and nonsteroid drugs. I took prednisone and it helped, but I was miserable the entire time I was on them. I was taking 80 mg a day and I got to decrease by 10 mg every monday. At least that caused the week begin well, I guess!
It's okay to not know about the specific auto-immune diseases, but I think everyone needs to know what causes them in general and what happens in the body of someone who has one. There are blogs and discussion groups online filled with people who discuss recent articles about autoimmune diseases, talk about their personal stories, and help others who are living with one of the disorders. These people come together in these blogs and discussion pages to talk about what they don't get to talk about enough. Barlow says that "blogs create a fictional world and activity centers on that world in a way that may prove unlike anything we have seen before"(Barlow, p. 5) These discussions do that too. Living with an autoimmune disease is hard because you want people to know about it but you dont want it to be how they view you, and most people usually don't want to go around telling everyone about it. When I was sick, I never posted anything in the discussion, but just reading it made me feel better. The blogs and posts by others showed me that other people live with similar conditions as I do.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
What is Optic Neuritis?
Just thought a general short video of what optic neuritis (what I was diagnosed with when I was 4) and Neuromyelitis optica (what I was diagnosed with when I was 16) are.
So when I was 4 years old I slept in a room with this alphabet thing hanging on the wall and every morning, instinctually, I would look at the alphabet. One morning, though, I woke up and I could barely see the letters. I was small but I still knew something wasn't right so I tried getting out of bed and realized I literally couldn't walk. Now it was pretty obvious something was wrong so I crawled to my mom and I guess I got taken to the hospital. I really don't remember much since I was so small, and honestly that story could've just been ingrained in my mind from all the things I have heard.
Anyway, I stayed in the hospital for a week and after tons of tests they said I had Optic Neuritis and Encephalomyelitis (it took me ten years to actually remember what I was diagnosed with). I had 5 more almost identical eye episodes after this first one but I was able to walk every time. The doctors were pretty positive their diagnosis of Optic Neuritis was correct until 11th grade when they thought I had the same episode, did tests, and realized something else had happened. I went on heavy meds and ended up having a seizure. The seizure has actually helped me though. Because of this, more tests were done and more has been discovered. They still don't know what I have but they are sure it is auto-immune. I have read so so so many health articles and papers and I have become so interested in these diseases, kind of distracting me from what I have.
There are so many diseases out there that aren't given enough attention but are extremely important. I'm excited for people to learn about these, not so they pity those who have them but just to understand. It would be impossible to know about all the rare diseases, and I'm not saying it's necessary that we learn everything but I think diseases like Lupus, MS, and more that I haven't read about yet need to receive some attention.
Anyway, I stayed in the hospital for a week and after tons of tests they said I had Optic Neuritis and Encephalomyelitis (it took me ten years to actually remember what I was diagnosed with). I had 5 more almost identical eye episodes after this first one but I was able to walk every time. The doctors were pretty positive their diagnosis of Optic Neuritis was correct until 11th grade when they thought I had the same episode, did tests, and realized something else had happened. I went on heavy meds and ended up having a seizure. The seizure has actually helped me though. Because of this, more tests were done and more has been discovered. They still don't know what I have but they are sure it is auto-immune. I have read so so so many health articles and papers and I have become so interested in these diseases, kind of distracting me from what I have.
There are so many diseases out there that aren't given enough attention but are extremely important. I'm excited for people to learn about these, not so they pity those who have them but just to understand. It would be impossible to know about all the rare diseases, and I'm not saying it's necessary that we learn everything but I think diseases like Lupus, MS, and more that I haven't read about yet need to receive some attention.
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