Stress

Could stress prolong your life? Good news for medics, I suppose.
Research at the University of California showed:- People that were most hard-working, involved, persistent, achieved most and had the most stress were those who stayed healthier and lived longest. People that take it easy, don't stress and retire early were those who tended to die at a younger age. Quite surprising, considering the general anti-stress advice.
Habits of those under more stress are likely to be healthier: less likely to smoke and drink to excess but also more conscientious people tended to succeed more in their careers. People with a socially responsible life, helping and being involved with others, live longer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21186757

Veggies have a lower heart risk

Vegetarians are 32% less likely to die or need hospital treatment as a result of heart disease- a study of 44 500 people showed. Behind this health boost are thought to be differences in cholesterol levels, body weight and blood pressure.

This story was of greater importance to me, seeing as I, myself, am a vegetarian- and have been since I can remember. 

Heart disease is a major problem, killing more than any other disease in the UK- killing 94 000 people a year, as well as 2.6 million people living with the condition.

Fatty deposits build up in the arteries that provide blood to the heart muscle, blocking the flow; this can cause angina (severe pain in the chest) and can lead to myocardial infarction (destruction of the heart tissue) if the vessels are entirely blocked. 

The vegetarian diet often results in consumption of a lot less saturated fats, cutting out all animal fats. However, it is important to remember that a meat-free diet is not always a healthy/balanced one, so it is important that sufficient vitamins and minerals are included.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21258509

Cancer survival increasing

More people being diagnosed with cancer and yet fewer people dying as a result in the UK (according to figures from the Office of National Statistics).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20624891

Quadruple helix? Cancer cell DNA

Commonly know to exist as as two intertwining DNA strands, the double helix- but also existing as four strands it now appears. 

Quadruple-stranded DNA helices have been identified in human cancer cells after being made previously in the lab; but this is the first evidence of it occurring naturally. These are called G-quadruplexes and are formed by the interaction of for G (guanine) bases that make a square- most abundant when cells are about to divide (transitory structures). They form in telomeres and chromosomes.

Cancer cells divide rapidly, and they commonly have defects in their telomeres (a region at each end of a chromosome, which protects the end from deterioration or from fusion with neighbouring chromosomes) so the quadruple helix may be a feature unique to cancer cells. This difference means that this could be the way forward in treating cancer as they could target only the cancer cells and not harm healthy cells. Could the G-quadruplexes be blocked? Are they present in healthy cells too? Are they present by design?
NewScicentist 26 January 2013

Putting St John's skills into practice

Upon returning home, I was delighted to hear that my father had sprained his thumb- I mean not thrilled by his distressed, but because my assistance was needed.
Fortunately, I am quite a skilled-hand when it comes to bandages: I have been attending St John's Ambulance Cadets for a couple of years now and have taught the younger learners how and when to apply bandages. Also, my practice has definitely stemmed from my various sporting injuries!
. I think that it was a torn ulnar collateral ligament:

A sprain can result from a sudden twist, fall or a blow to the body that forces a joint out of its normal position and stretches or tears the ligament supporting that joint.
Naturally, once I assessed my father's situation, I grabbed my good old friend the elastic support bandage. Practising my bedside manner and coping with the challenge of applying it to the difficult area of the hand, I provided a neat and comfortable result.
Feedback was that it was 'perfect- comfortable and supportive, just what I needed'. Happy day.

Work experience secured!

After a long struggle to find an opportunity, I have arranged work experience at Queen Elizabeth Hospital with a consultant rheumatologist.

Just a day after sending off my CV I received an email confirming 2 weeks in July. Now I just have the paperwork to fill out...But I am able to chose what I can see whilst there- other than the operating theatre etc.  unfortunately. 

Another problem is, that my school only allows time for one week's work experience- no where near enough for medicine, in my opinion! So I will be arguing my case to be excused from school for an extra week to take advantage of this opportunity.

Really looking forward to it and I will be reporting back after to give details of my experience. 

Drug funding decisions by NHS

MPs said a more streamlined, faster system of assessing drug treatments was needed; a Commons committee said NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) should have a more 'rough and ready' approach. NICE was set up to make recommendations to the NHS about which treatments should be made available by assessing their cost-effectiveness. NHS trusts were shown in a report to focus on the expensive treatments rather than cheaper, effective drugs that could be prescribed via GPs.
New treatments are generally only used if they are under £30 000 for each year of good health they provide (QALY)- no scientific basis to the threshold.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7179699.stm
Researchers say that the current method of deciding on which drugs should be funded, is 'flawed'.
Assumptions of the system used by NICE was tested by the a study funded by The European Commission.
NICE uses QALY (Quality-Adjusted Life Years) to assess the value of new drug treatments: this looks at the costs and how much someone's life would be improved and extended. After a questionnaire, the QALY system was criticised for grading different states of health- saying that people varied in their views about the impacts of different illnesses and disabilities as well as their approach to risk. 71% would prefer to live 15 years in a wheelchair than die after 5-10 years in a wheelchair, but the remaining 29% said they would rather die earlier than spending 15 years in a wheelchair.
There was a conclusion that the system failed to reflect varying views on disability and illness. However, NICE opposed the study by calling it limited and ensured that their system was the best.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21170445

Laser to treat AMD

Age- related macular degeneration (AMD) affects millions of people- losing their sight without a way to prevent it. AMD corrodes the macula, leaving people with a gap in their vision; making recognising words and faces difficult/impossible. Most common in older white women, AMD affects about 1 in 15 people at some point in their lives.

Drusen- consisting of proteins and lipids- should normally be cleared by RPE (retinal pigment epithelium) but as they age they become less effective in doing so, resulting in large deposits which litter the retina. 

However, the cause of the affect on vision is not entirely understood. It could be because of: 

1) RPE cells dying off as they become starved of oxygen, and stop providing the photoreceptors with energy- they die too. As the density of photoreceptors is greatest in the macula, vision is worse;

2) The deposits of drusen itself.

In 2010 there was a trial for a laser that indicated the clearing of drusen (in the 70s). 50 people with the disease (with a drusen build up) were treated with a specially designed laser in one eye. The majority saw benefits: reduced drusen and/or improvement in sight. There was indication that the retina had regained some of its function. 

The laser could kill some of the cells and reduce the bonds between tightly bound cells, and so allow new RPE cells to regenerate (of which they could not before). The laser is not a uniform beam , but a 'beam of spikes'.

But some of the participants experienced they effect in both eyes...seemingly something else was triggering a response in both eyes. It is suggested that the immune system may be responsible: when the laser kills the RPE cells it alerts the immune system to the presence of drusen and so triggering a double clean-up of the drusen by immune system as well as the new RPE cells. However, this is not yet proven- just a hypothesis. 

Could this be the future for preventing AMD with people at risk? The laser could effectively work as a vaccination.

 

Why do your fingers wrinkle in water?

They wrinkle after about 5 minutes in water due to constriction of the blood vessels- pulling the skin inward.

In 2011, a study showed that the wrinkles form channels that divert water away from the fingertips. A team in Newcastle thought this might aid grip; they deduced that with wrinkles wet objects were moved 12% faster than with unwrinkled fingers.

It is suggested that our fingers aren't always like this as the wrinkles would affect the sensitivity of the fingertips- due to reduced surface area that touches the object.

Interesting, huh?

Medical student intake cut by 2%?

A government backed report recommends reducing the medical student intake by 2%. This will start in 2013- affecting me.

This is apparently to ensure that there is no money wasted in training more doctors than required by the NHS- not sustainable. Current medical school graduates are faced with medical unemployment due to the lack of junior doctor jobs to the number of qualified doctors leaving medical school.

Models show that demand for GPs would increase, and supply would fall short (supply increase by 29% by 2040) but the demand for hospital doctors will be too low for the increasing supply (supply increase by 64% by 2040)- according to a HENSE (Health and Education National Strategic Exchange) review and model Recent developments may mean all doctors working for two years longer and the aim for a 50:50 ratio of GP:hospital speciality entry level training posts- according to the HENSE model. 

First Injection!

Just gave a subcutaneous injection of insulin to my diabetic father- achievement. 

It was really satisfying and enjoyable...Without sounding too strange I hope...

Hope to use him as a practise subject again in the future.

MEDICAL INTERNSHIP- India

http://www.pulse-asia.com/

Very excited! Just secured 3 weeks of work experience in India for this summer- perfect. 

I will have the opportunity to shadow doctors, help on ward rounds, volunteer in an orphanage and even observe surgery! 

Quite nervous about going to a foreign country alone, but I am looking forward to the challenge it presents. I hope I can get a lot out of this experience, learn more about being a medic and lots to talk about in interview.

Wish me luck!

Non-Fiction>Fiction

According to my parents, I have never enjoyed reading fiction particularly- only really enjoying stories that were told verbally, I don't know why...To a certain extent, this is true to this day, although I have thoroughly enjoyed reading books such as: Dracula, A Brave New World, Frankenstein and the works of PJ Wodehouse.

Weekly visits to the local Library provided me with a fresh set of either anatomy or medical books throughout primary school...I was a bit of a weird child! I set myself challenges like memorising the major bones in the body, names of muscles and how organ systems function- instead of reading about magical worlds like my peers at the time. I suppose I didn't see the point in fiction when there were so many things to learn about, fascinating things that are part of us- the human body.

My enthusiasm to learn about science lead me to collect the 'Horrible Science' books- of which I would recommend to anyone, including adults. As well as diving into such books as 'Why Do Men Have Nipples' and other popular science books, whilst still in primary education. 

Now, as- what I would like to consider- a mature teenager, I read around the subject of medicine whenever there is a pare moment: the bus being a chosen favourite, with in front of the TV being a close second. 

At the age of 14 I subscribed to the NewScientist magazine, and consistently read it- cutting out particularly interesting articles around medical issues. Now I am older, the ethics of medicine has become more appealing  and I have started reading into it more.

Who needs a made-up story when you have a much better story right in front of you? (Life itself).

Book- Elephants On Acid

Re-discovered this old friend- I remember holding hands with my dad going into the book shop in search for some new reading material at the age of about 13 and the playful cover attracted my attention...They say never judge a book by it's cover, but in this case I was right!
I started to relish the challenge of reading above my level, picking up new vocabulary and learning fascinating facts. And of course, I felt the need to share my new information with my closest friends continuously, reading them passages and forcing the book upon them after finishing.

Book- Bad Science

I read this book when I was 12 years old- initially just to show off how grown up I was by quoting insightful comments, but I was captivated by how subjective science can be. 

The satire and humorous tone tickled my pre-teen fancy of popular science books- especially medical related ones.

Book- Medical Ethics

I have just completed this book...For the second time...After my head teacher lent his copy to me after discovering my determination to study medicine. I found this to be an incredibly useful tool to explore my views and challenge them.

At first, it was difficult for me to get my head around the philosophical jargon and unfamiliar concepts, but the clear structure aided this- at first explaining the principles behind the later discussions. 

Relaxing into the challenging reading, I became enthralled by ethics- I wanted to read into it more. Although the book gave me a good overview of medical ethics, I was aware of the obvious biased in the writing- cannot be avoided- but I now seek to find out more.