Intersexes

Hermaphrodites. Most of us have heard of this but not many can say they know why some people are born this way. A lot of people simply hear the word and are just judge them. Hermaphrodites are also known as intersexes. An intersex is someone who has a mixture of male and female genitals. According to the Intersex Society of North America, an example of an intersex can be a girl born with a large clitoris but lacking a vaginal opening, or a boy can be a boy born with a very small penis or with a scrotum that is divided so that it forms a labia. This condition isn’t very common though. The numbers of how often people are born this way are 1 in 1500 to 1 in 2000.

There are several different reasons why someone can be born as an intersex. A common reason is people are born as intersexes is because of a genetic condition. Sometimes people are born with an XX chromosome pattern but an SRY gene, others because of an atypical hormone pattern. The most common cause of intersex is congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).

A lot of these people often have trouble finding other like themselves and live an unhappy life. Others have been known to not know that they are classified as an intersex until late in their life and even until they are dead and an autopsy is performed. What I can say is that if we ever know of anyone this way, we should not judge them and treat them the same as anyone else.

 

 

REM Sleep

I find REM sleep to be very interesting. It is astounding to me how our brain works to protect us even in our sleep. REM sleep is deep sleep but also light in some ways. This stage of sleep was named REM when researchers discovered that there were long period of rapid eye movement during this stage. During REM sleep, our brain activity is very high but our body muscles are very relaxed which is why it is deep sleep. REM sleep is the stage of sleep in which we dream. This is why our brain activity is very high during this stage. When dream our body goes into a paralyzed state which is the deep part of REM sleep so that we won’t act out our dreams. Imagine if we acted out every single thing we dreamed. We’d be out there running, screaming, killing, etc. which would be too dangerous.

There are people who suffer from a certain disorder called REM Behavior Disorder. According to the National Sleep Foundation, people with this disorder act out their dreams because their body is not put in the paralyzed mode to keep them from acting out their dreams. They physically move limbs or even get up and engage in activities associated with waking. Some talk, shout, scream, hit, punch, or fly out of bed while sleeping! RBD is usually noticed when it causes danger to the sleeping person, their bed partner, or others they encounter.

For people with this disorder, their brain fails at protecting them during sleep and they can be at risk of great dangers not only for them but for anyone else around them while they are asleep because we all know, our dreams can get pretty crazy and dangerous sometimes!

Here's an example of someone with REM Behavior Disorder so you can see for yourselves what it looks like.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a very severe mental disorder that disrupts a person’s everyday life. In earlier history, those suffering from Schizophrenia were thought to be possessed by demons. People were afraid of them, tormented them, and kept them away from society by locking them up. Just by reading that people used to think that people with Schizophrenia were possessed by demons, it is easy to tell that Schizophrenia is a very severe and serious disorder.

To this day, Schizophrenia affects over 2 million Americans which is about 1% of the U.S. population. People with Schizophrenia can no longer function normally because they are no longer in touch with reality. Schizophrenia makes it difficult to distinguish between what is real and unreal, think clearly, manage emotions, and relate to others. The five main symptoms of Schizophrenia are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and the so-called “negative” symptoms.

The symptoms vary from person to person and may be more severe in some than others. Delusions are very common in this disorder. They occur in about 90% of those affected. They can include delusions such as delusions of persecution where those affected think someone is out to get them, or delusions of grandeur where they think they are a grandiose figure such as God. Hallucinations are also common in people with Schizophrenia. They include hearing and seeing things that are not there. Auditory hallucinations are most common. Disorganized speech is when people say illogical things and speak incoherently. They may shift rapidly from topic to topic, make up words, or repeat the same things over and over. Disorganized behavior includes behaviors that appear bizarre and have no purpose, and inappropriate emotional response. The negative symptoms refers to absence of behaviors that a normal person should have. People with Schizophrenia lack emotional expression and interest in things that used to interest them.

What causes Schizophrenia is not 100% concluded although it has been shown that genes and environmental factors play a role in the cause of Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia strikes without regard to gender, race, social class or culture

 

Major Depressive Disorder

The exact cause for major depressive disorder is not known but according to research, it is believed that it is caused by chemical changes in the brain. It may be because of a problem with certain genes or by stressful events that occur suddenly. Depression also can be triggered in a person if it runs in the family.

Symptoms of Major depressive disorder according to WebMD are, fatigue or loss of energy almost every day, impaired concentration, insomnia or hypersomnia, significant weight loss or gain, and recurring thoughts of death or suicide.

            It has been shown that people who have relatives that have or have had depression have a high probability of having early-onset depression (before age 30).  WebMD also states that almost twice as many women than men have major depression. Hormonal changes for women during puberty, pregnancy, menopause, etc. increase the risk. On the contrary, older men with decreasing levels of the hormone testosterone have an increased risk for major depressive disorder. Studies have also shown that most people with depression have decreased activity in the left hemisphere and increased activity in the right.

            It has to be very hard to live with a disorder such as major depressive disorder. To feel sad and helpless every single day for weeks or months at a time has to be very difficult because people who are going through this feel as if life is worthless and has no meaning. They lose complete interest in what was once interesting and motivating for them.

 

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating form of dementia. I can honestly say that it is a devastating disease. I have seen the effects it causes and they are horrible. It completely takes over a persons’ life. I have seen a close family member not remember people, become delusional, get lost in daily routes, and have trouble doing simple tasks.

          Alzheimer’s is an irreversible and progressive disease that slowly gets worse and worse. It affects a persons’ memory, thinking an behavior. Once it strikes, it gradually progresses into more serious memory loss, confusion, depression, hallucinations, delusions, and loss of appetite.

            According to an article, the causes of Alzheimer’s disease begin in the preclinical stage, where there are no symptoms but toxic changes begin to take place in the brain. A protein called amyloid starts accumulating in the brain and damages axons and dendrites.  These abnormal deposits form amyloid plaques and tau tangles which cause neurons to work less efficiently and with time they die. Soon the damage spreads to the hippocampus, which is important for forming memories. As neurons die, the damaged area begins to shrink and by the final stage the brain tissue has significantly shrunk.

            There are 3 stages in Alzheimer’s disease: mild, moderate, and severe. In the mild stage, symptoms include getting lost, taking longer to complete tasks, forgetting recent events, trouble solving problems, and mood changes. In the moderate stage, symptoms include changes in sleep patterns, delusions, hallucinations, poor judgment, and difficulty doing basic tasks. In the severe stage people with Alzheimer’s disease can no longer understand language, recognize family members, and can no longer care for themselves.

            It is heartbreaking to see how the gradual process of Alzheimer’s disease slowly takes over and destroys people’s lives. To go from a normal functioning person to not recognizing anyone and completely depending on others for their care is very distressing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

We have a hard time dealing with daily stressors such as exams and work and sometimes we feel like it’s too much and we can’t handle it. I know I have felt this way at times. These forms of stress might not be as hard to handle as the stress someone who has PTSD has to deal with. In earlier years, PTSD was referred to as “soldier’s heart” in the American Civil War, “combat fatigue” in World War I, “gross stress reaction” in World War II, “post-Vietnam syndrome” in the Vietnam War, and others such as “battle fatigue or shell shock.” Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that can occur in people who have experienced terrifying unforgettable traumatic events or life threatening events.  Some events that may cause PTSD are war, rape, assault, car accidents, etc. Research has also shown that most PTSD victims have a smaller than average hippocampus. That would make people with a smaller hippocampus more vulnerable to PTSD.  People diagnosed with PTSD have symptoms for at least a month after the traumatic event and it can last up to years. Some of the symptoms according to an article, include reliving the event, avoidance of reminders of the events, and exaggerated arousal to many stimuli. I myself have been in a car accident which left me with some PTSD symptoms for a while. I was fearful of driving and would imagine at many times that cars were going to crash into me or that I would just somehow get into another accident. Although this wasn’t as severe as PTSD I can relate a little to these people and can imagine how hard it must be for them to deal with everyday stress and also deal with this disorder that haunts you everyday.

Wernicke's Aphasia

A bit about the history of Wernicke’s Aphasia: In 1874, Carl Wernicke, a junior assistant in a German hospital, discovered that damage in part of the left temporal cortex produced certain kind of language impairment. Damage in Wernicke's area produces this disorder.  He called this disorder sensory aphasia, which became known as Wernicke's aphasia.

                                               

 Damage in Wernicke’s area produces Wernicke’s aphasia, also known as fluent aphasia. A patient with Wernicke’s Aphasia does not appear to have any difficulty articulating speech, but may be paraphasic. However, comprehension of speech is impaired and sometimes as much as single words are not comprehended.

People with Wernicke’s Aphasia speak fluently but have much trouble finding the names of objects and a lot of times they make up names. When having found the words, they say them in an order which isn’t understandable. Their writing ability can also be illegible. In some cases, people with this disorder don’t understand the spoken language.

This is a video of someone showing symptoms of Wernicke's Aphasia.

 

We can imagine how extremely difficult and frustrating it must be for these people to live this way. They can speak fluently, yet anything they say makes no sense. Also, hearing someone talk to them but not being able to comprehend what they are saying. It is almost as if these people don’t have the ability to talk.

For this disorder, there are no surgical or medical procedures to treat it. The only treatment available for patients with this disorder is speech and language therapy. Some patients happen to recover completely without any forms of treatment.

Prefrontal Lobotomies

It is amazing how far we have come in finding medical breakthroughs. I would hate to live in the years where the new medical breakthrough for treating mental disorders and sometimes chronic pain was performing prefrontal lobotomies. A prefrontal lobotomy is a surgery where the prefrontal cortex is disconnected from the rest of the brain. The surgery was done by drilling a hole on one’s head and damaging the prefrontal cortex by cutting its connections to the rest of the cortex. This was said to make patients tamer without impairing their sensations or coordination.

The first lobotomy performed in the United States was by Walter Freeman, an American Physician in 1936. A few other medical researchers had discovered and performed this process before Walter Freeman, but none to the extent that Walter Freeman soon began doing. After Walter Freeman performed his first lobotomy, he was very satisfied with the results that he soon began performing many more. Freeman suggested this procedure for many mental disorders such as psychosis and depression and even for criminality. Between 1939 and 1951, over 18,000 lobotomies were performed in the US. By the 1950s, people started protesting about these procedures due to the fact that “statistics showed roughly a third of lobotomy patients improved, a third stayed the same, and the last third actually got worse.”

 

An interesting case, was that of Rosemary Kennedy, sister of John F. Kennedy. Some of her family members considered her retarded because she was not as bright as other members. Although she was not as bright as others, Rosemary was a normal, fully functioning person. When Rosemary was 23, her father Joseph Kennedy, was told about prefrontal lobotomies. He was advised that it would calm Rosemary, so he gave permission for the lobotomy to be performed on his daughter. After the surgery, “Rosemary was reduced to an infantile mentality that left her incontinent and staring blankly at walls for hours. Her verbal skills were reduced to unintelligible babble.”

This shows that prefrontal lobotomies weren’t such a good idea. It is shocking to read that it had to take thousands and thousands of lobotomies to be performed so that people would start protesting and put an end to these procedures.

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a big problem in our society today. Alcohol is the most common drug abused because of its easy accessibility and because it is not illegal. Teens seem to abuse it the most. Alcohol is involved in nearly half of all violent deaths involving teens and about 2,000 people die each year in car crashes involving underage drinking. We live in a place where alcohol use is very common. This itself leads to a never ending cycle of alcoholism because genetics influence the likelihood of alcoholism. Therefore, a child who has an alcoholic father has a high chance of becoming an alcoholic also. These people would likely be what is known as Type II or Type B alcoholics. That is they have a more rapid onset usually before age 25 and also usually have close relatives who are alcoholics or have alcohol problems. Studies have shown that sons of alcoholics show less than average intoxication after drinking moderately and that alcohol decreases stress more for sons of alcoholics than for other people. This actually encourages drinking even more for sons of alcoholics which is very bad. Many people believe that alcoholism has no long-term physical or psychological effects but there are quite wrong. In an article I read, it states that there are devastating long term effects on the body such as poor coordination and thiamine deficiency, cardiovascular effects including hypertension, reproductive effects such as impotence and irregular menses, and gastrointestinal problems like pancreatitis. Some of these long-term effects of alcoholism are irreversible and many teens are losing their lives or taking the lives of innocent people because of alcohol related accidents so I believe something should be done to make alcohol less accessible to everyone who abuses it.

Blood-Brain Barrier

It was very interesting to me to learn about the blood-brain barrier. The blood brain barrier is made up of certain cells that form walls on the brain’s blood vessels. This barrier is very important because it is so tightly closed to prevent any unwanted chemicals or viruses from entering the brain. It only allows molecules that are essential for the brain such as water, oxygen, glucose, amino acids, etc, making it almost impossible for anything else to pass. If we think about it, we might say this is a very good thing, but not quite. Although we are protected from many harmful things to our brain, the blood brain barrier prevents many medications to treat life-threatening diseases from reaching the brain. Researchers have for years tried to find a way to get past the blood brain barrier to cure such diseases as brain cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. "The bottom line is, if you can get drugs into the brain, you can cure brain cancer". Researchers have tried different things to get certain drugs in the brain to cure these diseases, such as modifying drugs and using adenosine receptors and haven’t been very successful. As we can see, it is very important to have such a blood brain barrier because it fights to keep us healthy and free of unwanted chemicals but at the same time it is too restricted towards chemicals that it prevents important medicines from entering the brain to cure life-threatening diseases. In my point in life right now, I am glad we have such a barrier because I am healthy due to it but I also think of the people who have brain cancer or Alzheimer’s and would really like further research to finally allow the medicines needed to cure these diseases to go past the blood brain barrier.

Here is a video to explain a little about the blood brain barrier
    

Testing on Animals for Research

This topic was found very interesting to me because of the many different debates as to why animal testing for research should or shouldn't be stopped. I am not against the use of animals for research because of the many benefits for humans and animals that have come from it. Although i am not against it, the different debates make it hard to take a side. In an article i read, i found that not only has animal testing benefited humans, but it has also helped animals. It has helped develop heartworm medicine which has helped many dogs and has also developed several other animal drugs. Without the use of animals in research, vaccines and treatments for life-threatening diseases would have not been developed yet or at all. What i do not agree with, is unethical treatment of animals. Although laws have been developed to prevent animal cruelty, there are scientists who break those laws which is what should be stopped. I read that there are scientists who treat animals with no care at all. They "just jab the needles through their body, keep them in cramped up spaces, with little or no food sometimes." Because of these reasons, it is hard to take a concrete side. I do think it is very important to find cures and treatments for life-threatening diseases which i believe makes it very important for the use of animals in research to continue. What researchers, abolitionists, minimalist, etc, do need to try to stop in my opinion, rather than animal testing, is scientists who practice unethical treatment of animals.