TOW #20 "Tuesdays with Morrie" IRB Post

I find myself halfway through yet another book, which has been difficult to find time to read even with the relative shortness of the novel.  And what it lacks in physical length it more then makes up for in tears shed.  Normally I do not like biographies, because I know how it ends.  George Washington becomes the first president of the United States.  Marie Antionette looses her head (haha I'm funny sometimes).  Thomas Edison cuts down competition from Telsa by electricuting an elephant named Topsie to death.  The mystery and magic that comes from fiction very rarely translates over into fiction's stuffy cousin.  However, Tuesdays with Morrie has a different feel to it.  First off, I did not previously know of professor Morrie Schwartz before reading the novel.  I knew Morrie would not survive to the end of the book, butI realized that his survival was not the focus on the novel.  I realized that is was not even really about Morrie, but his legacy passed onto Mitch Albom, who then wrote everything down.

I enjoyed reading the first half of Tuesdays with Morrie for many reasons.  For instance, Morrie was Jewish, a trait shared by both him and myself.  In fact, Morrie comes from the Jewish word meaning "my teacher".  Also, Morrie has ALS.  And even though ALS has not affected my family so far, my family suffers from a variety of mental disorders, which I cannot name to keep privacy for my family.  Knowing just how hard it is to stuggle through life with either physical or mental disorders made me connect to the character.  The fact that Morrie can still function as an incredibly intelligent and functioning member of society gives me hope for my future.  And I believe that was the point of the book, at least so far.  That even though we are told that we won't accomplish our dreams because of how our bodies are broken, we can still touch the lives of others greatly.  And I plan to go out tomorrow and inspire just as Morrie had.

TOW #19 "New Years Resolutions" Visual Post

As the new year of 2015 has gotten off to a less then spectacular start.  But, it's nice to know that some have decided that they need a change.  In this political cartoon, we see all sides of the political spectrum making claims of change in the coming year, along with the voters saying that they will no longer be listening to the politicians.  The humor comes from the fact that the resolutions' date is not specified.  These are the same promises we hear every year from politicians and voters alike. But, along with calling out the lying politicians, the author calls out the voters for believing the lies yet again.  This author calls out everyone in their own lies.

This author uses inductive reasoning to reach the conclusion.  By saying that politicians lie, and that we will start being more selective in what we believe, and still nothing has changed, the author concludes that we are still not as discerning as we previously believed.  Because we want to change and because nothing has, it means that the both the politicians and the voters are lying.  The politicians are not going to be more positive, bipartisan, or truthful. The voters are not going to stop believing the politician's tales.  In order for the problems of politics to be fixed, both the voters and politicians need to open their eyes and stop lying to themselves and each other.

TOW #18 "Fact or Fiction?: The Ebola Virus Will Go Airborne " Article Post

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-the-ebola-virus-will-go-airborne/

In these set of articles, the author, in this instance Dina Fine Maron, health writer for Scientific America, intends to address a rumor or myth circulating the scientific community and question their validity. I this article, Maron discusses a claim made by Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who said that Ebola's transmitttion through the airwas a real possibility. Maron asks other infectious disease experts who all claim that though the neccessary series of mutations to make Ebola airborn is possible, it is extrememly unlikely. Also, Ebola would have to adapt to thriving in the respitory system if it were to become airborn, because Ebola in its current state thrives in blood vessels.

This articles structure was very helpful in terms of following her argument. Maron starts off with an introduction to the issue, mainly asking "Could Ebola go airborne?" Next, she tells an anecdote about Osterholm and his New York Times op-ed peice. Following, she gives a point-counterpoint for the validity of airborn Ebola. Even though she concludes that its very unliekly that Ebola will spread through the air, her counterpoint is that it is possible, although extremely unliekly. Then she cites studies done where Ebola was able to be transmitted through the air, although neither study could replicate their data again. Her conclusion deals with the fact that even though Ebola is unlikely to dpreadthrough the air, it is still an extremely dangerous disease that needs massive humanitarian and medical attention. By showing that Ebola is still dangerous without being airborn, Maron dispells the myth without dispelling the danger. It really helps you remember that sometimes, just because something is not as bad as it could be, things can still be pretty bad.

IRB Intro #3 "Tusdays with Morrie"

Like most books in this world that end up on my shelf, the desire to read them came from my parents.  My mother loves the boo "Tusdays with Morrie", a memior of a college student and his professor with ALS.  I decided to read this for my IRB, since I have not read a memoir for my IRB yet.  Also, with ALS such a hot topic from over the summer, I thought I might get some insight into what it is like to interact with someone who has ALS. I want to see how the author, Mitch Alborn, deals with the idea that his beloved professor is dying before his eyes.  It sounds like a fun and interesting read.

TOW #17 "Atypical Features in Bipolar Disorder" Text Post

As the second semester starts, my schedule placed me in Psychology class.  And since I am very interested in different psychological disorders and I'm trying to expand my knowledge of different scientific articles, I decided to read an article on a disorder.  This article discussed the mood disorder bipolar disorder.  In this article, the author, Shreeya Nanda, who is the head writer of medwire, talks about the large number of people with bipolar disorder with atypical symptoms.  The criteria is a patient showing two or more symptoms not normal to bipolar under the DSM-IV.  The study, done in China, found that 11.8% of people with bipolar show atypical symptoms.  That number jumps up to 33.8% when the patients take antidepressants. Since many people in China with bipolar are treated with antidepressants for their depressive states, they begin to show symptoms.

The article makes the argument that the treatment of bipolar patients in China makes it worse for the patients.  There is no scientific evidence that antidepressants help bipolar patients.  In fact, antidepressants might make the bipolar disorder worse.  According to the article, antidepressants raise the likelihood of a person to develop atypical symptoms.  With the development of atypical symptoms, the patient will no longer be able to be treated under the DSM-IV.  The treatment might actually be hurting the patients.  The argument of the essay is that China needs to start treating their patients better.  Instead of putting the people with bipolar on antidepressants, they need to start using more modern and up-to-date methods of treatment.  The article also claims the need for better education of Chinese physicians on mental disorders like bipolar.  Maybe we as American citizens also need to be better educated on matters of mental disorders too.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150130/Atypical-features-common-in-bipolar-disorder-subtypes-associated-with-therapy.aspx