#75 Melanism (English)

            Melanism is the development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin and is considered the opposite of albinism. This normally occurs after sunburn or during pregnancy. Melanin is the primary determinant of the degree of skin pigmentation, protects the body from harmful ultraviolet radiation, and helps our eye function properly (hence why albinos who do not have melanin have eyesight problems).

             Melanism is adaptive. Normally melanism makes species less conspicuous to predators, while others, such as black panthers, use it to say less conspicuous to prey while hunting during the nighttime. Adaptive melanism can also lead to the creation of morphs, one of the most commonly known examples being the peppered moth.

             Industrial melanism is the effect of pollution on different species. When a species is exposed to an environment polluted by dark soot from industrial pollution, the individuals with darker pigmentation are favored by natural selection. One of the most common examples of this is the peppered moth. To camouflage with trees the moths were originally very light colored but as pollution occurred the lichen on the trees began to die, exposing the dark bark of the trees. This made the light colored moths more vulnerable and slowly altered the population as the dark colored moths were able to survive and reproduce easier than the light colored moths.

             One interesting question that comes to mind is how albino people exist but melanistic people do not seem to exist. Technically melanistic people do exist, as melanistic people just have unusually high amounts of melanin. For example, Addison's disease is characterized by a bronze discoloration of the skin due to the inadequate secretion of melanin by the adrenal cortex. Another example is  melasma, a discoloration of the skin normally experienced by pregnant women. However, some may wonder why some people are not born with very dark skin. The difference between albinism and melanism is that there are a lot of possible inhibitors for gene production of melanism while there are far fewer ways for genes to produce excessively large amounts of melanin. There are lots of ways for the melanin gene to not be activated, however there are fewer ways for the melanin gene to be activated to overproduce melanin.

PoS

#74 Dementia (English)

             Dementia is a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Dementia is not a specific disease, it is a term to categorize a wide range of symptoms. Examples include: Alzheimer's disease, Vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, etc. Symptoms of dementia have to include at least the loss of two of the following mental functions: memory, communication and language, ability to focus and pay attention, reasoning and judgment, and visual perception.  Some dementias are reversible with treatment, such as those caused by a reaction to medication, and some are not. Those that are irreversible tend to be progressive, meaning that they worsen over time. Causes of dementia involve the damage of brain cells, however the area of the brain affected has different impacts on each person. This is why there are different symptoms, as different parts of the brain control different things. To diagnose irreversible dementia, testing is often performed by doctors. However, it is harder to determine what type of dementia as the symptoms of different types of dementias can overlap. To diagnose reversible dementia, blood testing and imaging are often done to find the deficiencies of the patient. The stages of dementia are grouped into the mild, moderate, and severe categories. However, there is no way to predict how fast or slow someone's condition will progress, every patient has a different progression of their disease.

             As of right now, treatment for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are limited. There are medications to improve the symptoms of Alzheimer's, but there is no treatment that has been able to completely reverse the process of Alzheimer's disease (However you should check out post #73 to see a tangible solution which may be introduced to the general public to undo the effects of Alzheimers). Currently there is also no way to completely prevent the development of dementia, however there are different activities that may decrease the risk, including: being bilingual, maintaining optimal health, staying physically active, avoiding drugs, preventing head injuries, etc. Dementia will also not directly kill someone, however dementia will weaken a person so their ability to cope with infection and other problems will decrease. In many cases death will be hastened by dementia.

PoS

#73 Perfect Medicine for Alzheimer's Disease (English)

Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German physician. After its first discovery in 1906, Alzheimer's disease has always been an issue that the world attention focused on. According to the Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that gradually gets worse over time and is the most common cause of dementia. Currently, there are nearly 44 million people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Although there has been vast amount of research on Alzheimer's disease, the perfect medicine for it is not yet developed.  However, KIST research team has delivered the news that it developed a new medicine that could completely cure the Alzheimer's disease. It is called EPPS.

The principle of EPPS
The medicine perfectly removes the β-Amyloid from the brain, so the dementia symptoms recovers to the normal level. β-Amyloid is the fundamental protein that causes Alzheimer's disease. β-Amyloid is commonly distributed in brains of normal people, but in case of Alzheimer, it is found in aggregate morphology in the brain. This medicine releases these clumps of β-Amyloid into nontoxic monomers. In fact, it also prevents acute secretion of GABA, which provokes the brain function to decline substantially. The dosing procedure is incredibly simple; the medicine is dosed with water like any ordinary medicine as it is easily integrated into the brain.

Morris water maze

EPPS was injected into a mouse suffering from the Alzheimer's disease and its brain was examined for over 3 months. All the clumps of β-Amyloid, which were present on Hippocampus and Celebral cortex before the injection were successively removed. (Hippocampus and Celebral cortex take in charge of the recognition ability in the brain.) Then, the mouse's memory was tested by several tests such as Y-maze, Fear conditioning, and Morris water maze. The results showed that the mouse's recognition ability recovered to the normal level. After its successive demonstration, KIST is currently waiting for EPPS's clinical demonstration before its appearance in the pharmacy. I hope that the EPPS substantially decreases the fatality rate of Alzheimer's disease.

KSJ

#72 Tooth decay (English)

Tooth decay is decaying of the outer layer of the tooth due to bacteria. Tooth decay is caused by a higher intake of sugary snacks and drinks. Also if we do not brush our teeth these foods are left in the teeth. The bacterium that lives on our plaque reacts with the food and drinks in our teeth to form acids. This acid starts by attacking and eating away at the enamel of our teeth. The hole that is formed in the enamel is known as a cavity. Almost every single person in the world has experienced a hole in their tooth at least once in their life. On average it takes seven years for cavities to be formed so the majority of them go unnoticed. This is mainly due because tooth decay is a slow process that does not happen over night.

A less serious case of tooth decay is where there is not a deep enough hole so the dentist will fill in the hole to stop it from spreading any further.  A more serious case of tooth decay is where the tooth needs to be replaced to reduce further infection of the tooth. 

There are many ways to reduce the possibility of getting cavities/tooth decay. Firstly you can reduce the amount of sugary food and sugary drinks that you consume. Secondly you can brush your teeth thoroughly and floss in between your teeth minimum twice a day (in the morning and in the evening).  The last possibility that you could do to reduce getting tooth decay is by going to go get regular check ups with your dentist. If your teeth are aching go check up with your dentist.

There are not that many actual symptoms of tooth decay (that is why it is very difficult to find out unless going to a dentist). The main symptom you will find out (that you get when you have the infected tooth or dental cavity) is toothache. Toothache is a normal symptom for any damaged teeth. 

In conclusion our teeth are very necessary whether it’s for eating food or posing for that awkward family photo just look after your teeth.

SSP

#71 The effect of abortions on subsequent pregnancies (English)

Did you ever wonder whether abortions increase the risk of difficulties in subsequent pregnancies? Well, scientists claim abortion isn't thought to be directly linked to major fertility issues or complications in following pregnancies. Furthermore, it is argued that factors such as living conditions, poverty, economic state/development and level of hygiene largely impact birth rates thus modifying results.  However, researchers do suggest a certain tendency between abortion and an increased risk of:

Premature birth / Low birth weight:

Indeed, a study published in the medical journal Human Reproduction, found that women who had three or more abortions were up to three times more likely to have a future baby prematurely – even before 28 weeks in the womb – and of a poor weight. Such a phenomenon is extremely dangerous for the infant whom must be given much medical attention to ensure survival.

Cervix damage hence vaginal bleeding during early pregnancy :

There are two types of abortions; a medical and a surgical one. A medical abortion requires the woman to take medication during the early stage of pregnancy in order to abort the fetus whilst a surgical abortion typically involves a vacuum device or a 'curet' (a spoon-shaped instrument with a sharp edge) used to extract the fetus from a woman's uterus. In some cases, surgical abortions are known to weaken and damage the cervix or uterus quite significantly, leading to the potential for the cervix to open prematurely and abnormal bleeding in a subsequent pregnancy. Although these consequences are rare, woman who have had multiple surgical abortions are most likely to endure such outcomes in which serious damage may even demand high level surgery to be corrected.

Researchers are currently turned towards Denmark (who maintains a national registry with information on abortion and subsequent pregnancies) and results have shown the rates of ectopic pregnancy in subsequent pregnancies were 2.4 percent for medical abortion and 2.3 percent for surgical abortion. The rate of miscarriage was 12.2 percent for the medical abortion group and 12.7 percent for the surgical group.

In conclusion, although these statistics reamain relatively low, and focused on short term side-effects of abortion, these negative outcomes do exist and women should know that there are ineed a positive correlation between the number of abortions and the risks of difficulties in subsequent pregnancies.

 
SAG

#70 Deficiencia de la vitamina D y su relacion con la obesidad (Español)

 La obesidad es una enfermedad crónica que se caracteriza por la excesiva acumulación de grasa, la cual puede desencadenar procesos patológicos. Estudios recientes han demostrado que la obesidad es uno de principales factores de riesgo para presentar deficiencia de vitamina D. La vitamina D se clasifica como una vitamina liposoluble, cuya función principal es la regulación del metabolismo de calcio y fosfato.La vitamina D se acumula mayormente en tejido adiposo, es por esto que dicho almacenaje tiene como fin proteger al organismo contra toxicidad por sobredosis de vitamina D . Por lo tanto, se cree que la asociación invertida que existe entre obesidad y vitamina D se da como consecuencia del aumento de la depuración metabólica en el tejido adiposo . Sin embargo, también se ha postulado que los pacientes obesos realizan menos actividad física al aire libre y que además visten de manera más cubierta, lo cual interfiere con exposición al sol y por consiguiente con la síntesis de vitamina D.La síntesis insuficiente de vitamina D puede generar deformidades esqueléticas y discapacidades cognitivas en los niños. En los adultos se encuentra relacionada con osteomalacia y osteoporosis.

 Causas de la deficiencia de vitamina D:

•   La edad es un factor determinante para la deficiencia de la vitamina D, debido a que en edades avanzadas se presenta una disminución en la cantidad de vitamina D que el intestino es capaz de absorber . Se ha probado que las personas mayores producen menos colecalciferol en la piel, por lo que para tener una adecuada producción de vitamina D deben exponerse más a la luz solar que la población más joven

•   La deficiencia de la vitamina D es una condición común en países que presentan todas las estaciones del año. Se ha comprobado que personas con una situación nutricional normal sufren de deficiencia de vitamina D en otoño, invierno, y en primavera, esto debido a la falta de sol en tales estaciones.

•    Se ha probado que la prevalencia de deficiencia de vitamina D es mayor en mujeres que en hombres, y es mayor en personas de piel oscura que en personas de piel clara, tanto en meses de sol como en meses con poca luz solar.

•   Se han hecho estudios que prueban que la contaminación en el aire y la cantidad de nubes cubriendo el cielo pueden contribuir a que dentro de un mismo país hayan variaciones en la cantidad de vitamina D en la población

•   Otro aspecto importante a considerar es la cantidad de tiempo que la población pasa adentro, ya que la luz UVB no atraviesa el vidrio y es por lo tanto incapaz que se logre la síntesis de colecalciferol en la piel. Por lo tanto, aquellos que pasan la mayor parte de su día bajo techo tienen una mayor tendencia a padecer de deficiencia de vitamina D.

AAM

#69 Pimples (English)

Dear Pimples,

If you’re going to live on my face I need to see some rent.

Acne is something that men and women have to deal with the whole of their lives, particularly during adolescence. In order to treat it properly, or to try to avoid it, one must first understand how and why pimples are formed. 

1.    Puberty, stress, sexual stimulation and the consumption of dairy products lead to an increase in the presence of androgenic hormones in our bodies. These hormones are the first ingredients for a zit to form, as they are what make the sebaceous glands produce excessive sebum.

2.    Each of the hair follicles on our bodies is connected to glands, called sebaceous glands, which secrete an oily substance to lubricate our skin and hair. To do that, the substance, known as sebum, needs to move up the hair shaft and out the opening of the follicle.  

3.    However, sometimes the sebum is not able to exit the hair follicle very quickly. The skin cells continue to constantly shed dead cells and the glands continue to produce more sebum, creating the big problem. The sebum sticks to dead cells, and together they form a plug that blocks the follicle shaft.  

4.    Meanwhile, the glands continue to produce more sebum. The growing blockage stimulates bacteria like Propionibacterium Acnes (P. acnes), to reproduce. Under normal conditions, this bacteria wouldn’t cause any trouble, but in the presence of a clogged follicle that is warm, moist, dark, lacks oxygen and there is plenty of sebum to eat, the bacteria set up camp and have a feast with lots of eating and reproductive activities.

5.    The sebum, the dead cells and the bacteria together form the white pus at the top of the pimple.  

6.    Increasing bacteria leads to a response by the immune system. Chemicals are released into the body that the white cells pick up on. They try to kill the bacteria and heal the tissue thus leading to inflammation and redness. 

One of the major factors determining an individual’s likelihood of developing acne is the person’s genetic make up.  Genetics impact the structure of the hair follicle, sebaceous gland activity, hormone levels and the immune response to bacteria. Therefore, PIMPLES CAN NEVER BE FULLY AVOIDED. Nonetheless, several steps can be taken in order to reduce the likelihood of getting pimples:

v  Keep your face and hair clean!

v  Moisturize your skin!

v  Keep your hands off your face!

v  Stay out of direct sunlight!

v  Stay hydrated and eat healthily!

v  Don’t stress!

v  Consume less dairy products!

v  Exercise!

v  If things get serious, consult your doctor.

 One last word of advice, don’t worry, we all go through the same.

 

PSB