Meditation

Meditation is one of those things that some people feel is strange and they are not really sure if it works or not. It seems that people who actively meditate are firm believers in its effects and denounce those who claim otherwise. On the other hand, people who do not meditate tend to dismiss it as a time waster, a hoax, and unproven. 

While I neither meditate, nor do I have a strong opinion on it, I feel that credit is deserved. It turns out, that a recent study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience has conclusively shown a positive correlation between brain health and meditation. A series of individuals participated in MRI's to look for strengths and weakness in their brains. Of the participants, roughly half were active mediators who had been practicing the craft for 20 years while the other half did not practice meditation. It turns out, that the group of people who meditated had an increased mental activity and a visible strengthening of the brain in those areas of the brain that control emotions, awareness, and self-regulation. What does that all mean? It means they were overall happier and more at peace with their lives. And let's face it, who wants to complain about having a stronger brain?


After all those years debating about the effects of meditation, we now have scientific proof. It also lends to the old saying, "Don't knock it until you try it."


TB


I write, or used to write, to explain to myself situations I couldn't otherwise solve or understand. Meditation comes very naturally to me.
-Anne Stevenson

Painless Vaccinations

Branching off of my prior post dealing with vaccinations, I have found that there is a new method of vaccination in the works. This new method is called a microneedle vaccine patch. 

As can be seen from the picture above, the vaccine patch is very small. Believe it or not, this small little patch can be coated with the vaccine of choice and still be as effective as the traditional "shot" method. This patch is placed on the skin and is kept there for about 5 minutes. Unlike getting a shot, this method is relatively painless and requires very little skill to administer. The production patches will probable look less like a microchip and look more like a Bandaid.

 You can't really see them, but there really are needles in that white square!

While it is probably a few years out, this new method could revolutionize the way we think about vaccination. The common complaint is that people are afraid of needles and this is the reason why they do not get vaccinated. As a result, the rest of us have to suffer with people sniffling and sneezing around us. With this new method, what is there to be afraid of? I predict that this microneedle method will cause a jump in the amount of people vaccinated every year. This means less sniffling, less sneezing, and an overall better environment to live in.

TB

Be able to sneeze without sounding ridiculous. That means neither stifling yourself or spraying your immediate vicinity.

-Marilyn vos Savant

Additional Reading:

Maria del Pilar Martin, William C. Weldon, Vladimir G. Zarnitsyn, Dimitrios G. Koutsonanos, Hamed Akbari, Ioanna Skountzou, Joshy Jacob, Mark R. Prausnitz, and Richard W. Compans. Local Response to Microneedle-Based Influenza Immunization in the Skin. mBio, March/April 2012

Vaccination

There seems to be a controversy regarding the use of vaccines. Believe it or not, there are groups of activists who are firmly against vaccination. They seem to believe that vaccines cause autism, that they cause cancer, that they will anger God, and that there is no need for them. Now, I admit that there have been problems with vaccination and that the system has not always been perfect, but as with any aspect of medicine, it is an evolving science and continues to improve.

Some activists insist that vaccines directly cause autism. This claim has been thoroughly investigated time and time again. Each time this claim is found to be unjustified and false. There is not a scrap of evidence that shows vaccines are even remotely related to autism. The only basis for this accusation is that children who are diagnosed with autism have received vaccines. Think about it, children who are not autistic have also received these same vaccines and are just fine. 

Some other argument against vaccination center around the chemicals that are in vaccines. Activists want these chemicals, such as aluminum, removed. These compounds are called adjuvants. The activists' argument is that these adjuvants cause the body harm and are not necessary. Clearly a basic immunology course was not included in activist training. 

We can all agree that the sole purpose of a vaccine is to protect us against from getting some disease in the future. Vaccines work by giving us a small dose of either the non-infectious form of the disease causing agent, or the dead form. Our immune system, however, will not waste its time on something that is not harming us. So, how are we supposed to build immunity against something when our bodies won't give it the time a day. The answer is simple, adjuvants. These chemicals irritate our bodies just enough so that they send a 'danger single' to our immune systems and cause them to launch a response against the vaccine. This response is what builds up long-term immunity, called memory, and protects us from the diseases in the future. What happens if we listen to the activists and get rid of these chemicals? Simple, we start injecting ourselves with water because it will be just as effective as an adjuvant-free vaccine.

How quickly we forget diseases such as polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, and rubella. Older generations remember these diseases and remember the pain and suffering that victims felt. Younger generations, however, do not know what these diseases are and probably have never seen anyone with them. I can assure you that these diseases did not disappear on their own. Vaccination is what caused the decrease of these diseases and vaccination is what will continue to protect us. 

Unfortunately, as these activists gain strength, the number of parents refusing to vaccinate their children is on the rise. Unfortunately, people are choosing to put their trust in individuals who are uneducated in the sciences. As a result, we are seeing an increase in the number of cases of polio, measles, mumps, and rubella. These activists fail to report that these diseases, if survived, can maim their victims for life. Think carefully when considering vaccination. I strongly suggest you to follow your doctor's recommendation. 

TB

Do not let yourself be tainted with a barren skepticism.
-Louis Pasteur

Some things about leap years are widely known. Everyone knows that leap year comes every four years and that it tacks on an extra day to February. Most people know that the extra day has to do with astronomy and is necessary in order to keep the years aligned with the stars.

Somethings, on the other hand, are not well known. Have you ever wondered how it came about? Well the earth takes 365.2422 days to complete a rotation around the sun. Before leap years, the roman calendar was 355 days long and every 2 years, an extra 22 days were added to make up for lost time. This was a really messy system if you ask me. Apparently Emperor Julius Caesar though so too because he ordered his astronomer to fix the mess. Thus, the leap year system was born. 

Have you ever wondered why February was selected to receive the extra day? February was picked because it is the shortest month with only 28 days in a normal year. The answer is somewhat obvious, but it also poses another question. Why is February abnormally short while all of the other months either have 30 or 31 days? During the reign of Emperor Caesar Augustus, the month of August (named after his highness) actually had 29 days and February had 30. Being an emperor Caesar Augustus ordered two extra days added to August so that it was at least equal with July (a month named after his predecessor Julius). In order to do so, two days had to be stripped from another month. Guess which one lost out? You got it, February.

Another bit of leap year trivia is about when it occurs. While it is assumed leap year happens every 4 years, that is not always the case. Any year divisible by 100, but not divisible by 400 is not a leap year. So, 2000 was a leap year, but 2100 will not be one even though it will be a fourth year. This rule was made because the every 4 years concept wasn't that mathematically exact.

TB

Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.
-Plato

Do your research

Every pre-med student is told that they must do certain activities in order to be considered a competitive candidate for medical school. One of these activities is research. Now, every school has its own requirements and its own rules when it comes to undergraduate research. Some schools may make it very easy for an undergraduate to join a lab. Others, however, may make it difficult. 

Whatever your schools requirements, make sure that you are willing to undertake a research project. Picking up a pipette and transferring some solutions everyday for six months is not really what medical schools are looking for. The schools are really looking for dedicated scientists who are fully engaged in a research laboratory and have their own projects. If you say you have done research, you will be asked about it during your interview and if you cannot provide the finer details about your research, the interviewer is not going to look favorably. 

It is my recommendation that you start thinking about research early in your academic career. The longer you wait to start research, the less you are going to accomplish. Starting early will also allow you to pick the research lab that will interest you the most. Some labs have a hands on focus, while other labs, have a more observational focus. In my case, I picked an immunology lab that was very hands on. 

Make sure you make the most out of your research experience. The more you put in, the more you get out. The more time you dedicate, the greater the chance that you can get published. While not a requirement, medical schools love to see student publications.

Most importantly, remember, research has its ups and downs. One week you will have amazing results and then the next week, all of your cell colonies will be contaminated. Do not get discouraged. The most seasoned researchers have bad weeks and trust me, they are not afraid to let you know about them.

TB

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?
-Albert Einstein

Cancer Fighting Robots

Science fiction has showed us that anything is possible in a novel and that anything can be created on the movie screen. What if the concepts once thought to be unrealistic were actually possible in real life? What if the microscopic nanorobots that appear in Star Trek and other sci-fi plots were a reality. Well now they are. Researchers at Harvard University have created a nanorobot constructed of DNA. That's right, these robots are made from the same material as our genes. Unlike some sci-fi concepts, however, these robots were made to help us. These microscopic beings were designed specifically to fight cancer. 

Now for those of you that don't know, cancer is a group of our own cells that our bodies have lost control of. These cells have lost the ability to keep their own growth in check and essentially replicate out of control, causing major problems for us. Usually, our immune system has no problem keeping cancer at bay. In fact, our immune system destroys cancerous cells every single day. It is when our immune system is weak, or cannot fight a particular type of cell that we end up with what is normally called cancer. 

The nanorobots created at Harvard have been designed to mimic our own immune cells. These robots are essentially mercenaries for our immune system. Each robot is created out of folded DNA and hold antibodies that when released, cause the cancerous cells to essentially commit suicide. The robots are programmed to only release the antibodies when they come in contact with the cancer. This safety measure ensures that the robots do not release the antibodies on the healthy cells in our bodies. 

What are the health hazards your may ask? The researchers state that the robots do cause toxicity in the body, but this toxicity is estimated to be far less than the toxicity seen with chemotherapy and far less invasive than radiation therapy. 

This nanorobot technology is new and exciting. While years away from wide-spread implementation, this could very well be the new era of cancer treatment. Harvard researchers are working on testing these robots in mice and once those tests show promise, they will turn their focus on human studies.    

TB

I take nothing for granted. I now have only good days, or great days. 

-Lance Armstrong

Student in Distress

Stress is the number one killer of college students... 

Well, no, not really, but most students will tell you it is. Stress is a term that is thrown around loosely. Every time we are overworked, overtired, or in any sort of predicament, we say that we are stressed. The word has such a negative connotation that you may be hard pressed to convince anyone (especially the college student) that stress can actually be a good thing. But, in reality, it is a good thing. Stress is the thing that keeps us on time, it is the thing that makes us study for exams, and  it is also the thing that motivates us the most. This type of motivational stress is called eustress.  

This is not to say that stress is never a bad thing. Quite the opposite. While you have your motivational eustress, you can also have your negative stress, or distress. You find yourself in distress when you work yourself up so much that you can't focus, you can't relax, and it feels like you can hardly breathe. When you find yourself distressed, it is time to take a step back from whatever is causing you angst. At this point, it may be wise to shift gears and do something mundane, or something you enjoy. For me, this is exercise. Exercise, in my opinion, is the perfect relief of distress. Not only does is help you stay in shape, but it also causes the release of endorphins in the brain. These chemical signals make you feel happy, they make you feel relaxed, and make you feel in control. 

People have a range of excuses for not exercising. Either they don't have time, they can't get into a routine, or they don't have the money for a gym. I too had these excuses. I am not a fan of weight lifting, and monotonous cardio workouts get boring very quickly. My solution was a video based workout program. The program I use is called Insanity. Now I know what you're thinking, Richard Simmons, but Insanity is nothing like that. This program is a cross-training program that contains an excellent balance of cardio and resistance training. The best part about this program for me is that there are no weights and you don't need anything except yourself and some water. I highly recommend this program for anyone who struggles finding time or finds it hard to get into a routine.     

If you are looking to start a workout routine, make sure you are up to the intensity that each program offers. Choosing a program way above your level can be detrimental. Also remember that nutrition and hydration are important parts too. I recommend taking a daily multivitamin to ensure that you are getting all of the essentials nutrients. Shaklee is a great source to find supplements as well as information. I personally use the workout drink called Performance and the post-work out formula called Physique. 

If you are looking for a workout blog, I also recommend looking at Dig In Dee. This blog contains some good workout advice and provides commentary on other performance products.

TB

Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.
-Hans Selye