Teratogen- Alcohol

We all know that during pregnancy it is very important to take of yourself and your baby.  For example, if you want a healthy baby there are several things you must do like undergo prenatal care and maintain a well balanced diet. Since I've NEVER been pregnant,  I decided to research online to see what exactly one should do to maintain this healthy lifestyle. Articles from Kids Health and March of dimes have listed a variety of ways in which you can do so. But aside from the things you SHOULD do while being pregnant, there are also several things that you AVOID!!!

Teratogen, for example, is a substance or a process that interferes with normal prenatal development. It usually causes some sort of birth defect that can affect a child's life forever. One common teratogen is the effects of alcohol during pregnancy. Im sure you have heard that you shouldn't drink alcohol during pregnancy. Have you ever you wondered why?

What exactly is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and what are the affects?

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a disorder that a child develops due to alcohol drinking of the mother while being pregnant. The outcome causes growth, mental, and physical problems to the child. Basically when a mother drinks the alcohol crosses the placental barrier and which can create many damages to developmental neurons and brain structures. Usually causes many cognitive and functional disabilities.

Below is a video of the story of Iyal, a boy who suffers from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and how his family dealt with his disorder. 

This video is important so we can all understand the effects of alcohol during pregnancy and how much it can later on change the families and individual's life. 

 Attending college and being surrounded by many people who are "barely adults," I felt this is an important message to get across. Many girls get pregnant and for some reason find it okay to continue to party and drink (knowing their pregnant of course). I see it all the time! and its sad because they think that if they drink only a little bit it wont really make a huge difference. Little do they know that sometimes "the amount" is not the determining factor, but the time (term of pregnancy) of when your drinking. There are higher risks during the beginning stages of brain development. I personally feel that you just drink period! Its not worth it. A baby is an innocent human being who shouldn't suffer because of the  dumb choices we all make. And If you feel that you are one who has had issues with being able to control your drinking prior to being pregnant then maybe you should seek some kind of help. 

The Complex Brain- addiction

We all know that our brain is a very complex organ. It controls our emotions, breathing, movements, and even speech among other things.Its hard to imgaine that just one organ can have so much control on our everyday activities (most of which we don't really even think about!). Out of all of brain's function, the one that seemed most fascinating to me is how it can control our behavior and emotions. A lot of it is chemical did you know that!? For example, we have an area in our brain called the Nucleus Accumbens ( located in the frontal lobe) which produces "pleasure."

Here is a picture of its exact location:

Nucleus Accubmens indirectly increase the release dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Dopamine.....? Hmm, im sure you are wondering where you have heard that before? Dopamine is associated with sexual excitement, gambling, and even when playing video games. Its that rush of sudden pleasure, that just keeps you wanting more and more. Some people thrive on it so much that it becomes addictive. Is addiction a good a thing? What exactly causes addiction? The video below explains it more in detail and talks about how the neurotransmitter serotonin also plays a huge role. (Very interesting video BTW)

Although addiction is usually not a good thing, it is interesting to know how addiction comes to play. Just like the video says, we are all different with different genes and different personalities. Some may be more susceptible to addiction than others. No matter what though, remember its all chemical! Dopamine plays a HUGE role. If you have a sensitivity to dopamine and have a low levels of serotonin in your body system than you have a higher chance to become addictive later on in future.

How can you control this?

My advice? If you are going to take something like alcohol, then do so in an adequate proportion. And if its bad for you, then just don't take it. Becoming addicted to ANYTHING eventually leads to something bad. So take care of yourself! both mentally and physically. 

Ofcourse, there are always other factors that you can't control like genetics. Those who have a close family member who suffer from some kind of addiction usually increases your chance of being addicted to something as well. Since your chances increase, you should be extra cautious. If you find yourself being tempted, go seek some kind of help. I wonder how far do the affects of genetics go? if you didnt live in a household where you saw addiction constantly, are you still prone to it?

Multiple Sclerosis

Have you ever stopped to wonder how fortunate you are? You can go about your daily routine without having to depend on others because of a condition you have or having to worry about that a year from now it may get worse. For those of you who feel that this is true, YOU ARE BLESSED! ( and im saying this for myself as well)
I have recently come to know about a deteriorating disease called Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and the spinal cord. More specifically, there is a damage to the myelin sheath of your nervous cells.

For those of you who don't understand what i'm talking about, here is a picture that might clarify it a little bit better.

Once I heard about this disease, I began to surf online and researched on how it might affect a person who is suffering from it.  I came across certain articles like "Living with multiple sclerosis means struggles and triumphs" and found out that about 400,000 americans are suffering from MS right now. 

Even celebrities like Jack Osbourne and Ann Romney, wife of the presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is or have suffered from MS. It was interesting to find out that even though this disease has not been curable there are several drug therapies that can slow down the disease..... Which means there is a way to live with it. Phew! :)

I mean think about, REALLY think about it. Most of us never even think about our daily physical movements. Whether its walking across a room or even lifting a pencil. Imagine NOT being able to even lift a pencil because somewhere along the way the signal from your brain telling your hand to grab  the pencil got lost and never went thru. Its a tough thing to think about.

What would you do if you find out that you have MS?

Adam Gottschalk has been suffering of MS for a couple of years now and has recently learned that there has been is an alternate approach to treat this disorder. He has been taking several drugs to help with it, but its not sufficient because he still cannot do alot of the things he used to do. This other approach is the vein-opening CCSVI surgery. Apparently, a surgeon from italy hypothesized that that the real cause of M.S. was something called chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). Adam came across this idea when he was watching a you tube video of a man who suffered from MS and suddenly walking after undergoing this procedure. 

Apparently it was a huge controversial issue because not everyone agrees this is a smart approach. The article ' A controversial cure for MS' talk about it in more detail.

In my opinion, I believe that everyone is entitled to their own ideas and if you feel that you are willing to try just about anything to have a even just a small chance to get better than you should go ahead and do it. There are many people who argue that without sufficient amount of evidence you should go not go for it. But then think about it.. How else do you get evidence? by having people who are willing to undergo a procedure hoping for that same small chance. Sometimes taking a risk can get you very far!

Is animal testing in research ethical?

We all have mixed feelings of whether or not animals should be used as "guinea pigs" in order to find more information about humans. I hadn't really thought about it until recently, when this past summer I did research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). I personally didn't get the chance to work animals, but i knew of others in my research lab who did. My lab's research focused on the female reproductive system and used mice as a model in finding more information on ovaries and cancer.  My roommate who also worked with mice had the chance to dissect their eyes to investigate more on retinal pigmentation. In addition, there are many different kinds of animals used in the research facility, like mole rats for example, which I recently found out is currently helping researchers figure out what mechanisms play part in slowing down their aging process so we can relate it and implement on humans. Cool right?

Heres a link where Dr. Stephen N. Austad talks about the different animals and why they are used to investigate how they age: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5t0KNqM0Zs

I thought this was particularly interesting because you see how important animals are to our science advancement.

Although people may ask, well what about the ethical issue? From my experience I never saw one researcher take advantage or purposely mistreat any animal. Before they begin to conduct their research on animals they must first read through the animal guidelines and i think even get some sort of training. 

Their job is to investigate and understand why things happen the way they do.  You never know, their findings might even help a person you care about in the future. Like what we read for this week, sometimes you have to sacrifice a few in order to save alot. In my opinion, I believe animal testing is ethical.