Wise Blood

Epiphora is an excessive tear production (overflow of tears), usually caused by insufficient drainage of the tear film from the eye. The most common cause of epiphora is blockage of the lacrimal ducts located along the nose. This blockage can be from a variety of causes including membrane inflammation, injury, or tumors. Other causes of excess tearing may be corneal disorders, lower eyelid looseness, weakness of facial muscles as the result of a stroke, and eyelashes rubbing on the cornea. [1]…

The human body has approximately 5 liters of blood in circulation at any given time. Therefore, when a blood vessel is ruptured or damaged, as a result of an injury, it is vital that the loss of blood is minimalized. The process that enables this is called haemostasis. In terms of Rosemary’s ‘quite bad’ cut on her finger, as a result of slicing it with a kitchen knife, her body will react quickly by following all three stages of haemostasis. We can assume this as a result of the bleeding taking…

Atherosclerosis is a disease where arteries thicken as cholesterol builds-up on their walls. A chronic inflammatory response in the arterial wall by the macrophage accumulation, promoted by low-density lipids.5 It is caused by the formation of multiple plaques within the arteries that can lead to stroke and myocardial infarction. Macrophages tend to rupture plaques by releasing lytic???? enzymes that break plaques in the arteries. Biomarkers such as plasma lipid estimation and myeloperoxidase,…

severe pain in the hands, feet, and calves, severe pain in the bones, and a brain frog. The patient also had a purplish discoloration of her toes. She was unable to wear compression stockings ( for her POTs) secondary to the pain in her feet. Her blood pressure was 117/88 mmHg. Her physical examination revealed a ruptured right tonsillar pustule. On 02/16/2017, her ANA test revealed a result of 1:160. On 05/10/2017, it was noted that the patient had a gadolinium count of 16 mg/g (high). A skin…

implanted in the heart of the patient where the damaged heart valve was removed. Artificial heart valves allows for correct blood flow through the heart by opening and closing with each heartbeat (St Jude Medical, n.d.). The Medtronic mechanical heart valve contains two leaflets (Medtronic, 2011). The pressure in the heart causes the leaflets to open and close, allowing blood flow in only one direction (Allen K, 2011). The valve is made of solid pyrolytic carbon and has a titanium strengthening…

There are many risks that arise with catheter ablation and cardioversion. Stroke and death are the main problems with these surgeries. What happens if these procedures don’t work? Is there another option for the patients to receive any treatment? If the heart is shocked three or four times in one cardioversion setting, how will the heart handle this treatment the next time the heart needs to be shocked? Is there a definite cure out there? Since antiarrhythmic drugs are potentially dangerous, is…

Previously I have used both breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation to fall asleep easier and attempt to relieve some stress. Before both attempts of these relaxation exercises, I was at yoga so my body was already very relaxed. Neither of the exercises were difficult for me but I struggle more with concentrating during PMR. In both sessions of the breathing exercises, I was able to get deeply into my headspace and feel free of stress or anything else. It really helped me focus…

Case- Study; Kycie Jai Terry was born on October 11th, 2009. She was happy and healthy. One day on January 30th, 2015, she got sick. Doctors found she had a type¬¬-1 diabetes. The things went from bad to worse. She had severe brain damage called traumatic brain injury and fell into a coma. She spent 111 days in the hospital and struggle hard with frustrated tears. Nurses also never quit and kept trying. Finally, Kycie says goodbyes and went home with her family and friends. She was still working…

of oxygen being supplied to the heart muscle. Hypoxic cell injury is a mechanism where oxygen levels are decreased to the myocardial cells of the heart and results in atherosclerosis. Blood flows through each of the coronary arteries independently. When one of the arteries is blocked, the other still receives blood flow. However, if both coronary arteries are blocked, myocardial hypoxia occurs,…

- The developing fetus does not breath by drawing in air into its lungs like an adult does. Instead, the fetus draws its oxygen from the mother’s blood where the oxygen content is low. The hemoglobin in adults consist of two alpha and two beta subunits. Fetal hemoglobin consists of two alpha and two gamma subunits. This allows hemoglobin to bind oxygen with higher affinity compared to adult hemoglobin, allowing the extraction of oxygen from maternal circulation. It Is important in fetal…