Synthesis Essay

Alyssa Lentini

WRA 110.010

Prof. Sarah Gibbons

17 April 2016

                This blog has taken a lot of time and effort to complete and I have learned a lot over the 10 weeks that I have been writing it for. I’ve learned so much about the medical field and physiology that I never knew before, and this information is so valuable. I’ve encountered useful information for career paths and topics relating to moving forward with my major, and I have also found just interesting articles that everyone can relate to. I have also become a better writer since I have started this blog. I think that writing this blog has given me the opportunity to write from a new perspective for a new audience. I have genuinely enjoyed writing this blog and I hope my readers were satisfied and entertained while reading it.

                The purpose of my blog was to hopefully provide my readers with a lot of helpful, informative content about physiology. I wanted to express the importance of physiology and the medical field to my readers and people of society. There are many reasons why physiology is important that my blog has talked about. I think that everyone should know about physiology because everyone should know their body and how it functions. There are many ways to talk and learn about physiology rather than just reading about organs or things that people don’t like learning about. There are many topics that are physiology related that everyone can find useful and interesting. If you have read my blog posts, then hopefully you have made this connection! There are many ways that physiology can connect to anyone’s daily life even without them realizing it.

                Not everything that I posted about on my blog is just about organs or organ systems. There were a lot of posts that I created that involved current physiological discoveries or studies that could relate to most people that read my blog. I think these posts, such as: “Is exercise Unhealthy for the Heart?”, “Why Water Can Be Considered Unhealthy” and “Which is the Right Way to Exercise?”, are useful and informative for anyone to read, even if they don’t know anything about physiology. Physiology is the study of the human body and its functions, therefore, everyone should know something about it. I think it is important for everyone to know their body and what it can do. I believe that my posts or the articles related to my posts can have useful information that can benefit anyone. They contain information about new scientific or medical discoveries and I found these articles very interesting and I wanted to share this information with my readers.

                My blog can also be helpful to people that are considering going into the medical field. I have written posts about different careers someone can have with a physiology degree and I have written about things that relate to physiology. This blog can be useful for anyone who is looking for information about physiology for career information and for anyone just looking for something interesting to read. Writing this blog has prepared me more for working in this field because now that I have had to look up information and articles about physiology, I know more about it. I have learned about new career paths that I can possibly take and I have also learned about new discoveries in the physiology and medical fields. I think that most of the blog posts were easy to write, except some of the prompted posts. I struggled during writing some of these just because it was a difficult prompt or it was just hard to find new articles to reference and write about.  However, I think that overall I was successful in writing this blog. I believe that I have delivered the information on my blog effectively and I have completed this assignment to its full potential.

Open Post #10: Can Losing Too Many Electrolytes be Deadly?

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I read an interesting article about electrolyte loss and how it affects a person’s physiological function. Anyone can lose electrolytes when exercising heavily, but apparently the results can be more severe than I ever thought. Usually when people play sports like volleyball, football, and basketball, their electrolyte levels are fine because the games aren’t that long. However, people that run marathons or exercise to the point where they lose several liters of sweat are at risk.

 I have learned that if someone loses enough electrolytes, their sodium concentration levels can get dangerously low (under 135 mmol/L) and this could lead to a condition called hyponatraemia. As a result of this condition, someone could lose consciousness, experience hallucinations and go into a coma, experience brain herniation or even death.

It is so important to keep yourself hydrated when exercising or playing sports. Keeping electrolytes in your body is key because it keeps you energized and strong and this can be done by ingesting food or beverages. This article taught me a lot about how to properly keep myself hydrated when I exercise, hopefully it can be helpful to you, too. This was a good source of information and hopefully more people can use it to their advantage.

"UCJC Study Reveals Excessive Electrolyte Loss May Lead to Hyponatraemia." News-Medical.net. News Medical, 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Prompt #10: Recognizing Truth

I have found an article that talks about how the medical field is misrepresented and there were some common mistakes that I found. Most people think that only science majors can get into medical school, you have to be rich to attend medical school, you will be rich if you become a doctor, and that taking a gap year between college and applying to medical school looks bad for admissions committees. These things are all incorrect.

Photo credit:weirdscholarships.net

Doctors and people working the medical field are often misconceived, and this article provides good examples of this. It is common for people thinking of going to medical school to major in something science related, however, that is not always the case. You just need the required classes for medical school and you can major in anything you want.

Also, you don’t have to be rich to go to medical school. There are many ways to get loans for medical school and there are different programs to help medical school students with this. Even if you do have the money to put yourself through medical school, that doesn’t mean that you’ll still be rich after. Becoming a doctor doesn’t automatically mean that you’ll become rich. There are many types of jobs and specialties that different doctors and people in the medical field can choose. Not every job is going to pay the same and it just depends where you’re working in general. There are hospitals and workplaces that are considered better than others, so you may not get paid the same.

 Finally, taking a gap year between college and applying for medical school does not give admissions committees a bad impression. This just shows that you want to take some time for yourself, maybe to work and begin paying off your loans, take more classes that will help with medical school, or do volunteer work. If you spend your gap year doing things related to the medical field and show that you are still interested in that field, then it looks good on a medical school application. If you are taking a year off just because you want a break and you don’t do anything to further your experience with the medical field, this is a different story.

There are so many misrepresentations of the medical field than there should be. People need to have a more open mind about the possibilities of the medical field; not everything is impossible. Having a career in the medical field is a more attainable goal than most people think. Sure, there are some difficulties, but if you set your mind to it, you can make it happen for yourself.

Persson, Ricky. "Common Misconceptions about Medical School and Becoming a Doctor." Gap Medics US. Gap Medics US, 03 Oct. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

Open Post #9: New Strategies for Finding Drug Targets for Cancer

I recently read an article about how scientists are testing new ways of looking for gene mutations that cause cancer. This article was very interesting because I don’t know a lot about cancers and how they work, but this article gave me a little more background. I’ve always been curious about how cancer develops and how we can stop it, and this article talks about scientists’ attempts of doing just that.

I learned that instead of looking for mutations that are all in the same gene, scientists are now looking for mutations that are in protein genes or have common pathways with each other. They are also thinking that instead of just one specific protein, cancer may be caused by groups of genes. I have also learned that sometimes, in cancer, genes may not always be mutated. Scientists don’t know whether the mutations have anything to do with the cancer or not, it could just be a coincidence that they are there. These scientists have done a few experiments to attempt to figure out if the mutations are related to cancer or not.

This article was a good source of information on cancer research and gene mutations. I hope that these scientists figure out if mutations are related to cancer because I would absolutely love to see it cured or at least the world come a step closer. Check out the article below!

Photo credit:knowledgeofhealth.com

Yandell, Kate. "Pulling It All Together." The Scientist. The Scientist, 1 Apr. 2016. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Prompt #9: Recognizing Significance

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Physiology is so important in the medical field because doctors and caregivers are supposed to want to give patients the best care possible. To do this, one must study human physiology and anatomy so that they will be able to give a better, more accurate diagnosis. It is just important for a doctor to know the human body, how could someone get through medical school if they didn’t?

The reason people go to the hospital is because one of their organs or organ systems isn’t functioning correctly, so they look to their doctor or caregiver to help them and find the problem. This is so important because, without physiology and doctors, nurses, caregivers, etc., no one would know how to treat themselves or others to help them get better. In the end, we need doctors and the medical field as a whole to function as a society. Also, knowing physiology and the anatomy of the human body makes any doctor or caregiver much more credible and it is completely necessary to have physiology courses as a requirement for medical degrees, medicals school, etc.

It is important for everyone to know at least something about physiology. Physiology is your body and how it functions, everyone should know where certain parts are and how they function at least somewhat. We need to know ourselves and our bodies, and that is why physiology studies are so helpful. All of this research done by scientists was done to help us be able to learn about our bodies and how they work, and I believe that is very useful knowledge. I am very passionate about physiology and I cannot stress its importance any more than I have.

"Why Is Human Anatomy and Physiology so Important to Your Success in a Health Care Field?" (n.d.): n. pag. College of Lake County. College of Lake County. Web. 1 Apr. 2016.

Prompt #8: Practicing Your Knowledge

I was assigned to find a hands-on experience that relates to my blog topic. The closest thing I could find to a hands-on experience were some anatomy and physiology games online. Even though you’re not actually touching these games, they are helpful when it comes to learning about physiology.

On the website I found, there were many different game options that related to anatomy and physiology. There were matching games, flash cards, interactive review games, and arcade games. These multiple versions of the material are really helpful for studying and learning about physiology because you get the opportunity to view the information in many ways. I think these ways are more effective than just reading over the material or looking at it, I would say most people probably don’t learn as well this way. Below is a screenshot I took of one of the interactive matching games:

Personally, I learned more through these games than I did when just reading the information or just listening to a lecture from one of my professors. Interacting with the information was really helpful for me. Hopefully, if you are interested in learning more about physiology, you take a look and try some of these games!

The website is: http://www.millerplace.k12.ny.us/webpages/lmiller/reviewgames.cfm

Scott, Christina. "Anatomy & Physiology Review Games." Anatomy & Physiology Review Games. Christina Scott, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.

Open Post #8: Can Sleep Decrease Re-balancing of Brain Activity?

It was first thought that sleeping helps better encode memories and information experienced and learned throughout the day. During sleep, there was an opportunity for brain networks to re-balance themselves. However, newer studies have indicated that this may be incorrect.

I read an article titled “Sleep suppresses homeostatic re-balancing of brain activity” and it explains that instead of sleep increasing the re-balancing of brain networks, it decreases it. It is now said that homeostatic brain activity re-balancing happens when people are awake rather than asleep.

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These findings suggest that things like memory consolidation and homeostatic re-balancing have to be temporally separated from each other so they don’t interfere with each other and cause problems. There is more information in the article below, I just wanted to provide a brief summary of the discovery.

This article taught me that some scientific findings can seem true, but everything can be proved wrong. There will always be advances in technology that can lead to advances and changes in scientific discoveries. Things today are always changing and developing and we can’t always believe what was once “right”. New discoveries, especially in science, can prove old theories wrong and things like this can change the world and how we perceive it. This article was a good source of information, I have used this source before. Check out the article below!

"Sleep Suppresses Homeostatic Rebalancing of Brain Activity." News-Medical.net. News Medical, 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

Open Post #7: Careers in Physiology

I read an article about typical careers that someone can have with a physiology degree and it was very helpful. Contrary to popular belief, along with the many careers you can choose involving the medical field, there are also many careers you can choose that aren’t in the medical field. A career in the medical field is the most common, but there are other jobs in science and pharmaceuticals and teaching and education that someone can get with a physiology degree. It is not required of someone with a physiology degree to go medical school or some type of graduate school. Here are some of the options for careers requiring a physiology degree:

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Careers directly related to a physiology degree:

• Biomedical scientist
• Clinical research associate
• Exercise physiologist
• Healthcare scientist, audiology
• Healthcare scientist, physiology
• Pharmacologist
• Research scientist

Careers where a physiology degree would be useful:

• Medical sales representative
• Physiotherapist
• Science writer
• Secondary school teacher
• Therapeutic radiographer

Some typical employers of people with a physiology degree are:

• Research centers
• Academic institutions
• Pharmeseutical and biotechnology companies
• The National Health Service
• Private sector hospitals, healthcare centers and healthcare organizations

Non-science employers include:

• Management consultancies
• Law and accountancy firms
• Banks and financial institutions
• Retail companies

At first, I assumed that most all of careers someone could get with a physiology degree would be in the medical field. After reading this article, I realized that there are any more options. This makes me happy because now I know I have many options and ways to do what I love to do. This article was really helpful with finding jobs requiring a physiology degree, it may be helpful in finding jobs for other degrees, too! Hopefully you check it out!

AGCAS Editors. "What Can I Do with a Physiology Degree? | Prospects.ac.uk." What Can I Do with a Physiology Degree? | Prospects.ac.uk. AGCAS, Sept. 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

Prompt #7: Contemplating Controversy

I have found an article that talks about one of the most popular medical controversies in 2014: does a gluten-free diet really benefit people? This article argues whether or not going on a gluten-free diet actually helps people.

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One side says that a gluten-free diet benefits anyone who does it. Getting rid of all of that sugar from ones diet can always be beneficial. Some people feel better when they eliminate gluten from their diet and it give them more motivation to be healthier and exercise.  

The other side argues how becoming gluten-free only benefits 1% of our population. This is because being gluten-free does not matter unless you are that 1% that is diagnosed with celiac disease. People with celiac disease have small intestines that cannot digest gluten correctly and it affects their digestive system. They say that going gluten free does not provide any health benefits unless you have celiac disease or you are just allergic to gluten. Cutting a whole nutrient out of your diet is not helpful when you are trying to lose weight. They also say that gluten is not harmful and it doesn’t affect your weight at all. Weight loss starts with a healthy diet, not just cutting out gluten.

These arguments are both very convincing, but only one is actually true. The articles I found on this topic both did a good job of arguing from different points.

"Medical Controversies Sparking Debate in 2014." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

"Myth Buster - Does a Gluten-Free Diet Aid In Weight-Loss? - JillianMichaels.com." JillianMichaels.com. Jillian Michaels, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Prompt #6: Evaluating Sources

I have found scholarly article from the journal “Physiology” from the American Physiological Society. It is titled “Why Physiology Matters and Medicine”. In this article, Michael J. Joyner, M.D., Professor of Anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic, argues about how teaching human physiology to medical students is still very important.

As time goes on, physiology courses are being changed to make them medical related rather than keeping the basics of physiology and human anatomy within these courses. He says that students learning about physiology is critical and it cannot be forgotten about. It has been said that medical educators don’t believe that knowing this information is as useful as it used to be and it will not help with new discoveries.

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I agree with Dr. Joyner, taking physiology courses is so important when it comes to the medical field. I don’t understand how anyone could go into the medical field without knowing this information. It is vital to know the human body and its functions, how else would one be able to learn and explain new discoveries? Dr. Joyner has made a valid argument and I hope in the future that he, or others, do something about this. I think physiology is so important to know, especially when someone is trying to become a doctor.

Every medical school student needs to be taught physiology correctly so they can become reliable doctors and caregivers for our society.

""Why Physiology Matters in Medicine"" American Physiological Society. American Physiological Society, 16 May 2011. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.

Open Post #6: The Organ Systems of the Body

In this post, I will be talking about the organ systems of the human body. I read an article about this and I figured since my blog is about physiology, I should share some of the information!

There are 11 organ systems in the body and there are all very important. Even if you’re not a physiology major or someone interested in the medical/health field, you should know about the organ systems!

Photo credit:anatomyandphysiologyi.com

So, here they are:

• The Integumentary system: forms the external body covering and protects deeper tissues from injury. Examples: skin, hair, and nails

• The Muscular system: maintains posture and produces movement (locomotion). This system also produces heat. Examples: skeletal muscles

• The Skeletal system: supports and protects the body’s organs. It also provides a framework for muscles. Examples: bones, joints

• The Endocrine system: glands secrete hormones that regulate many processes like growth, metabolism, and reproduction. Examples: pineal gland, thymus, pancreas

• The Nervous system: the control system of the body that responds to internal and external changes and activates muscles and glands. Examples: brain, spinal cord, nerves

• The Cardiovascular system: the heart pumps blood and blood vessels transport it. Blood carries oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, waste and more through the body. Examples: heart, blood vessels

• The Lymphatic system: houses white blood cells involved in immunity. It also returns leaked fluid from the blood vessels to the bloodstream and disposes debris. Examples: spleen

• The Respiratory system: removes carbon dioxide and continuously supplies blood with oxygen. Gaseous exchanges also occur in the lungs. Examples: nasal cavity, trachea, lungs

• The Digestive system: breaks down food to be absorbed and eliminates waste. Examples: oral cavity, live, stomach, rectum, anus

• The Urinary system: eliminates nitrogenous wasted from the body and regulates acid-base, electrolyte, and water balance of blood. Examples: kidney, bladder, urethra

• The Reproductive system: produces offspring. Sex hormones and sperm are produced by the male testes and ovaries produce female sex hormones and eggs.

From this article, I learned more about the different organ systems of the body and their functions. This is useful information for everyone to know and I think it is really important. Hopefully you learned more while reading this and check out the article below for more details!

"Human Body Organ Systems: An Orientation." Anatomy & Physiology. Anatomy and Physiology, 17 May 2013. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.

Prompt #5: Observing Community

I am in a class called Frontiers in Physiology at MSU and we learn about topics and careers in physiology. I am saying this because this class is similar to a physiology club that could be found on campus. Instead of joining a club, I took this class because we are learning and discussing topics that would be discussed in a club and it is a way to get ahead and learn about career paths and ways to be successful with my major and chosen career path.

I like taking this class because I am with people who have similar goals as I do and we are all aiming for the same kind of career path. I feel as if this class creates a community that makes it easier to relate with people because we all have similar interests. This class represents itself by making it sound like a good starting point for college students looking to go into the medical field.

Photo credit:hourexchangeypsi.org

This class is described as “an introduction to the field of physiology and recent trends in physiological research, including an overview of biomedical careers. Campus and Internet resources to achieve academic success and career goals.” At first, with how the class was displayed, I thought it might be boring or I might not like it. I just wanted to take it because I figured it would give me more information and help me a little more when it came to learning about my career path. I was right for doing this, because it has been really helpful!

The point of this article is: if there is any kind of class or something relating to your major or that can help you with your career in the future, you should take it. Even if it looks like you might not enjoy it at first, you wouldn’t want to pass on taking the class and regret it later. It is important to do anything you can to advance in your career or schooling, even taking classes or joining clubs! Anything you can do to educate yourself even more or make connections is a good place to start.

"MSU RO: Course Descriptions." MSU RO: Course Descriptions. Michigan State University, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Open Post #5: Strength Training or Endurance Exercise: Which is the Right Way to Work Out?

I read an article that talks about whether strength vs. endurance matters during exercise if you are trying to lose weight. According to a study, the most effective way to lose body mass by exercising actually isn’t either strength training or endurance exercise; the type of exercise is less important than scientists once believed.

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A study was done where a group of people was split up into three subgroups. One group was put on a diet and did strength training, another group was put on a diet and did endurance exercise, and another group was put on a diet and did a combination of strength training and endurance exercise. Everyone in these groups followed the same diet plan and exercised for the same amount of time.

It was found that after the interval of time where the subjects dieted and exercised, they all lost an equal amount of weight. Strength training and endurance exercise made no difference in loss of body weight. I learned that, even though I’ve always heard that one is better than the other, you can do both types of exercising and see the same results. This is a good thing because some people don’t like strength training and some don’t like endurance exercise, so they can choose which kind of exercise they want to do without worrying about losing more weight another way.

Working out and exercising has become such a big trend nowadays; it seems like everyone is always at the gym! It is good to know that there are many ways to lose weight, so there is something for everyone if they just put in a little effort.

Check out the article below!

"Strength vs. Endurance: Does Exercise Type Matter in the Fight Against Obesity?" American Physiological Society. American Physiological Society, 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2016. http://www.the-aps.org/mm/hp/Audiences/Public-Press/2015/17.html

Prompt #4: Considering Delivery and Style

I have found a scholarly article and a blog post about blood types and I will be comparing them. The source of the information you find online can be a huge factor in whether an article is trustworthy or not.

The first article I found was a blog post titled "Blood Types". It explains what blood types are used for and what types there are. It also presents a video and some pictures to help explain the concept of blood types. This information was delivered in a way that was easy to understand because there were bullet points of information and pictures that were appealing to to the eye.

The second article I found was a scholarly article called "The Nature of the Principal Type 1 Interferon-Producing Cells in Human Blood". This article was very detailed and used a lot of scientific words. It gave more specific information about blood types and the kinds of sicknesses that can be associated with them. This article was also an article that explained research of a certain hypothesis rather than just displaying information about blood types.

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These two articles are both helpful in discovering information about blood types, but which one can be trusted?

The answer is the scholarly article. The scholarly article is from a more trusted source because the source is an official science journal and the people who wrote it are scientists or researchers that found this information on their own. The blog post cannot be 100 percent trusted because they took that information from somewhere else and they could've changed it however they wanted to. They also did not cite where any of their information came from, so they could've just made the whole thing up. 

It is important to be aware of what kind of articles and sources you are using when researching information, especially for school-related projects. If these sources aren't reliable or trustworthy, they won't be useful to you at all.

Siegal, Frederick P., Norimitsu Kadowaki, Michael Shodell, Patricia A. Fitzgerald-Bocarsly, Kokila Shah, Stephen Ho, Svetlana Antonenko, and Yong-Jun Liu. "The Nature of the Principal Type 1 Interferon-Producing Cells in Human Blood." The Nature of the Principal Type 1 Interferon-Producing Cells in Human Blood. Sciencemag.org, 11 June 1999. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/284/5421/1835

Patton, Kevin. "The A&P Student." : Blood Types. N.p., 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 21 Feb.        2016. http://theapstudent.blogspot.com/2015/01/blood-types.html

Open Post #4: Is the Flu Harder on Men Than It Is on Women?

A study has found that because women have higher levels of estrogen in their bodies, they are better protected against the flu virus. Viruses spread through the body by replicating infected cells; how much these infected cells replicate determines how severe the sickness will be. After doing tests on men and women to see how the cells replicate, it was found that the cells in women don't replicate as much as the cells in men do.

Photo credit: diaryofadreamhome.com

I have learned this information by reading an article (which I will attach at the bottom of this post) titled "Not the Weaker Sex: Estrogen Protects Women Against the Flu, Study Finds". This article caught my attention because I never knew that something such as estrogen could have an effect on the flu virus. After reading this and confirming the fact that it is true that the flu does hit men harder than women, I realized that I have noticed this in my own life. Every time my family gets sick, we usually all get sick at the same time. I would say that most times, my dad and my brother seem to be worse than my mom and I when we're sick. After reading this article, I can say that I am not very surprised that it is true, even though this was an interesting article to read. 


The only questions I have are: Is the level of estrogen in women related to any other sicknesses besides the flu? Or could having higher levels of estrogen be an advantage for anything else that isn't exactly a sickness?

This was a very interesting article and I suggest you read it if you're interested because it has much more detail than I have explained here. Thanks for reading!

"Not the Weaker Sex: Estrogen Protects Women Against the Flu, Study Finds." American Physiological Society. American Physiological Society, 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.

http://www.the-aps.org/mm/hp/Audiences/Public-Press/2016/2.html

Prompt #3: Writing in the Medical Field

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I recently interviewed a family friend that is a nurse and I asked her about what kind of writing she does for her job in the medical field to get an idea of how writing is used in many career paths. Here are the questions that I asked and a summary of what she said when she responded:

• What kinds of things do you normally write for your job? How do you write them?

Things a nurse normally writes are care plans for patients, patient charts, and paperwork for patients and the hospital. She said she writes them usually with pen and as neat as she can so other people can read what the chart says. This is a common rule throughout different hospitals so everyone can read charts and paperwork without any confusion.

• What are your usual daily responsibilities for your job?

Daily responsibilities for nurses are writing the things mentioned above, taking care of patients, give physical exams to patients and ask them about their medical history and prep them for what they need to be prepped for (depending on what they are in the hospital for). The woman I interviewed is specifically a neonatal nurse, so she takes care of newborn babies and give them constant care as they need it after they are born.

• What are some common misconceptions about your job or field? How do you use writing and communication to work around those misconceptions?

Some common misconceptions about nursing are that it is the easy version of a doctor, all nurses do is basic care for patients and they aren't qualified to do much else, it is easy to get a job in the nursing field, and nurses just do paperwork and other things that doctors don't want to do. Nurses can use writing and communication to work around these misconceptions by showing what they know in their writing and speaking up about what they think a diagnoses could be or if they have any clever suggestions for doctors, other nurses, or anyone in a hospital. Also, any nurse could have a blog or some kind of website or posts that voice their opinion about any of these misconceptions. That way, people on the internet can see what it is like from a nurses perspective to be judged in these ways.

• What other ways of communication do you use for your job?

Other types of communication nurses use for their job are cell phones, pagers, talking in person, phones in the hospital to communicate with other nurses/doctors. These types of communication can be used for many jobs nowadays since technology has become so advanced.

I have discovered that there are many different uses of communication in my field. My field isn't nursing, specifically, but nursing is very similar to the profession that I am looking to go into. This means that the methods of communication for any job in the medical field are either very similar or basically the same. These methods of communication are so important because, without them, staff working around a hospital wouldn't know what is going on with patients, other staff, etc. People within a hospital wouldn't be able to communicate with each other as easily and they could really only talk to each other in person if they wanted to because there would be no advanced technology.

In the end, without technology, writing, and communication, a hospital setting wouldn't be as efficient as it is now. We need these types of communication for everything, especially nowadays.

Open Post #3: Reasons Why Water Can Be Considered Unhealthy

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As requested, I researched reasons why water may not be completely healthy for you. At first, I didn’t think it was even possible for water to be unhealthy for you, but there are definitely ways. I found some of these facts to be very interesting, and I also found some of them to be fairly obvious.

Things that can make water unhealthy are:

•  Bisphenol A (BPA): this is a chemical that is sometimes found in plastic water bottles and it can cause health risks for children.

•  Not washing your bottle: if you keep your water in a reusable bottle, you must wash it properly. If you don’t, bacteria can form inside the bottle when it is warm.

• Drinking from the shower head: bacteria can also form on shower heads because of the same reasons, so if you drink it, you are possibly drinking bacteria.

• Crystal Light: people think that they are being healthy when drinking Crystal Light because water is the base of this mixed drink. However, Crystal Light is made with artificial sweeteners and just isn’t healthy for you.

•  Drinking too much: when you drink too much water, sodium levels can drop so low that it could result in seizures or a coma.

• Caffeine: if you drink caffeinated water, it can basically lead to an overdose of caffeine. You could be irritable, sleepless, or restless if you drink too much.

From the article I read, I learned that if you aren’t cautious about your water intake, it could lead to bad results. Even the little things you never even thought of could be harmful to your body. The possibility of these results is very surprising to me, especially because I’ve been told water is the best thing I could drink for my whole life! I drink a lot of water myself, so I guess now I should be more careful about it and you should too. Remember to keep your water bottle out of the sun, wash your reusable bottle, and drink only pure water, not anything that adds any artificial flavors. The link to the article I read is below, please take the time to read it!

Klein, Sarah. "6 Things That Make Water Unhealthy." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/09/water-unhealthy_n_4065853.html

Open Post #2: What is Physiology?

I’m writing this post because I want to be clear on what physiology actually is just for clarification for my readers. You may not know exactly what physiology is, but hopefully you do after reading this!

Physiology is the study of life and the normal functions of living organisms and their parts. Studying physiology is amazing because we get to learn and see how humans function. Basically, we can understand how we live the way we do because of our bodily functions! Physiology is important because it gives us information on life and how our bodies work. We can learn how our organs work together and interact with each other to perform normal, everyday functions that we may not even think about. Physiology also lets us learn how to identify diseases and find ways to treat or cure those diseases. Without physiology, we wouldn’t know how our own bodies work or how we can improve them.

You may be thinking: “So, physiology is basically just anatomy, right?”, however, that is not the case. Anatomy is the STRUCTURE of living things, while physiology looks at these structures and their FUNCTIONS. Anatomy shows what it is and physiology shows what it does. These are very similar and they relate very closely, but they are slightly different.

Below, you see two different pictures. The picture on the top demonstrates anatomy and the picture on the bottom demonstrates physiology. The one on the top demonstrates anatomy because it only shows where each lobe is and what it is called. The one on the bottom, however, shows where each lobe is, what each is called, and it tells you some of the functions and other mechanisms of each lobe in our brain. Physiology goes into a lot more detail about the functions, but I don't want to bore you with lengthy definitions!

Photo credit: www.cancer.ca

Photo credit: www.biomed.brown.edu

Physiologists are always working to find new discoveries about the body. They do lots of research in labs, the field, libraries, space, etc. They are always looking for answers and new information on bodily functions, diseases, cell functions, how humans interact, our environment, and many other subjects. However, studying physiology doesn’t mean you have to become a researcher, there are many other career paths that can be taken with a degree in physiology. I’m not going to talk about career paths in this post because it is not the focus, but keep your eyes open for my post about careers in physiology!

Newman, Tim. "What Is Physiology? Anatomy and Biological Systems." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248791.php

"What Is Physiology?" American Physiological Society. American Physiological Society, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.http://www.the-aps.org/mm/careers/ugrad/what-is-physiology

Prompt #1: Common Misconceptions About Careers in the Medical Field

Photo credit: www.healthtap.com

For an assignment I was required to make a list of preconceptions about my chosen field and to find an introductory textbook that tests those preconceptions. Since my topic is physiology, it was hard to find a textbook that solely focused on careers in physiology. So, instead, I found one that focuses on the health care system as a whole. It is called Introduction to Health Care and Careers by Roxann DeLaet.

Some preconceptions I had about the health care/medical fields are:

• You have to get nearly perfect grades in college to become a doctor, physician’s assistant, or basically any very successful career in the medical field

• You have to go to school for what seems like forever

• If you do choose to go through all of the schooling, you make a very good amount of money

• You have to know unlimited amounts of information that is almost impossible to remember

• It is hard to move up in your career because there are so many things that you could do wrong 

• It is very hard to make it through school because the medical field is becoming very competitive and a lot of people are starting to choose the medical field as their career path

• Doctors have to know everything and not make any mistakes to become great doctors

• Doctors and other people in the medical field have practically no time for their families because of the long hours

After reading through some of the textbook, it was hard to find direct answers to my questions. However, I did find some useful information.

The textbook says that educational requirements for becoming a patient care professional range from 1 to 2 years of specialized training or some careers can even require an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree. These are generally requirements for medical assistants, physician’s assistants, licensed practical nurses, certified nurse’s assistants, registered nurses, and emergency medical technicians. It really depends on what career you are looking to pursue, but if you’re looking to pursue a career in the medical field, you might not have to go to school as long as you may think!

I also learned that people that have careers in the medical field typically have to have certain personality traits. These traits include being enthusiastic, patient, optimistic, honest, cooperative, organized, responsible, sociable, and having high self-esteem. It is also ideal to be flexible with your schedule. The textbook explains these traits in a lot more detail than I’m going to so if you’re curious more information can be found there!

Some other things that are expected of people in the medical field are being dedicated to public service, being motivated by job fulfillment, having a good sense of time management, having good communication skills, being competent and trustworthy, and being able to solve problems with critical thinking.

I could not find some of the answers to my questions while using this textbook, but it does have a lot of useful information in careers in health care if that is something you are curious about or looking to become. This textbook made me realize that becoming a doctor or having a career in the medical field is a very achievable goal and it is not impossible. Overall I think this is a good, useful textbook that relates to my blog topic. Here is a picture of the textbook I used:

Photo credit: www.amazon.com

Even though some of the answers weren’t in the textbook, I did find a website that has myths and facts about the medical field where more of my questions were answered! I thought this website was really insightful and helpful, so here is the link if you’d like to check it out!

Yarber, Mary. "Want to Be a Doctor? Myths and Facts About Medical Education." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 1991. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.

http://articles.latimes.com/1991-02-21/news/we-2239_1_medical-school

Open Post #1: Is Exercise Unhealthy for the Heart?

Photo credit: hercampus.com

I've recently read an article titled "When Exercise Is Unhealthy for the Heart: Researchers Describe How Heart Problems and Sudden Cardiac Death Occur with Endurance Exercise" which follows researcher Jeffrey Towbin's discoveries about the correlation between heavy exercise and heart problems. It is said that enduring too much exercise could possibly lead to cardiac arrest. 

Arrhythmogenic ventricular cardiomyopathy (AVC) is a genetic heart problem that is most commonly recognized after one participates in too much exercise. I’ve learned that AVC can lead to sudden cardiac arrest which can result in death. This is really surprising to me, I never realized that exercise could actually be a bad thing for your body! AVC is such a problem because it causes the walls of your heart to be weaker and less able to hold themselves together. When someone that has AVC is heavily exercising or doing something that increases their heart rate rapidly, it can stretch the walls of their heart to a point that causes them to come apart from each other. 

I’ve also learned that there are ways to find out if you have AVC before you put too much stress on your heart and possibly cause problems by exercising. I just want to know: how exactly can doctors detect this kind of genetic mutation of the heart? And if it is detected, does that mean that someone with AVC can no longer exercise or is there a way to treat AVC? This was a very interesting article to me and I would suggest reading through it!

"Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy." British Heart Foundation. British Heart Foundation, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/conditions/cardiomyopathy/arrhythmogenic-right-ventricular-cardiomyopathy

"When Exercise Is Unhealthy for the Heart: Researchers Describe How Heart Problems and Sudden Cardiac Death Occur with Endurance Exercise." American Physiological Society. American Physiological Society, 24 Nov. 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. http://www.the-aps.org/mm/hp/Audiences/Public-Press/2015/66.html