Archive for category Anatomy
Gastrointestinal Health and Parasites
What’s Bugging You?
Years ago, I took a trip to Mexico City. Along with the souvenirs, I also brought back a horrendous case of Montazuma’s revenge. Of course, I got treated right away and thought I was cured. But parasites aren’t so easily defeated and – after years of battling stomach problems – I was finally diagnosed correctly and able to eradicate the little bugger.
While my parasite came from south of the border, you can pick up one of these critters in your own home town. If you often feel bloated or gassy, if you suffer from frequent diarrhea or constipation, if you’re tired or depressed, you too may be the unsuspecting victim of a parasite.
More Common Than You Think
Parasites are a public health issue that’s rarely talked about. But the truth is millions of Americans are host to more than 130 different kinds of parasites. Diagnosis is also difficult, because the symptoms can mimic so many other health problems.
Another reason we miss parasites is because we assume they are a third-world problem. Yet one of the biggest cases of contamination came from a waterborne outbreak of Cryptosporidium parvum in Milwaukee that affected more then 400,000 people in 1993. Another parasite, Giardia lamblia is also common in the U.S. and can bring on diarrhea that can last for several days – or even several years in some cases. Since chronic giardiasis can be misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome, it’s hard to tell how many people are affected – but the numbers could be astronomical!
Contaminated water is often the culprit, but fish, meat and poultry can also contain parasites. Trichinosis can be transmitted to pigs fed uncooked garbage or rodent-ingested feed. It is then passed on to humans if the meat is undercooked. Rare pork, beef or lamb can also harbor toxoplasmosis – a parasite commonly carried by cats. Ceviche, sashimi, sushi and other raw fish dishes may harbor a variety of parasites like anisakine larvae, eustrongylides, liver and lung flukes, and fish tapeworms. Kind of spoils your appetite, doesn’t it? Read the rest of this entry »
Anatomy and Physiology Study Guide
If you want to earn a living in the medical field, accessing the right anatomy and physiology study guide will make your work easier and more interesting. It’s important to understand the construction of the human body and develop a relevant working vocabulary. An anatomy study guide will assist you in learning medical terminology, including suffixes and prefixes, and figuring out what body parts are close to others.
Anatomy includes study of the skeleton, plus the muscles, nervous system, and all the body’s other tissues, organs, and systems. There are so many small, obscure body parts! For example, you’ve heard of the large, superficial trapezius muscle group. But can you relate it to the rhomboid muscle? How about the three inter-related but not connected bones of the ear? It takes a good anatomy and physiology study guide to teach these minute details!
Just what is physiology? A proper anatomy study guide will provide you with an understanding of how your body’s systems and organs react with one another, all the way down to the cellular level. If you want to understand why a person develops splotches when he’s near the neighbor’s cat, for example, a good study guide will teach you that when your body is allergic to something, biochemical’s that we know as histamines boost our white blood cell-plasmocyte-production. The plasmocytes pool beneath the skin in clear, tiny pockets that we scratch at and call hives.
Maybe you’d like to access a physiology study guide to help you understand the mechanism of the HPA axis. If you’re a nursing or medical student, you might already know that this axis comprises the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal cortices. When a person is beset by stress or panic, these hormonal hangars actually bounce little biochemical distress signals off one another. In fact, research has shown that children who live under conditions of extreme stress often fail to reach full height; the HPA axis is so busy responding to stress that the growth hormones don’t do their jobs. Read the rest of this entry »