Are Vaccines Worth it?

After the presentation about vaccines, it made me think twice about whether I wanted to get close to another needle ever again. Then, I quickly berated myself for being such a scaredy cat, because life is all about taking risks, hence the annoying term, yolo.
                                         
While it may be true that vaccines can have horrible side effects, that can ultimately lead to severe brain disorders such as autism, ADD, and Parkinson's,the other side of the argument is if a person doesn't get vaccinated, they can die from deadly illness like HPV.
 In a situation like this, where both options seem equally devastating, you have to ask yourself; which one of these two bad options seems more bearable? And the truth is, it depends.

               
If you are living in a town that is sexually active, then the better option for you is to get that vaccine shot. However, if you are in a town where everyone is abstinent, what's the point of getting vaccinated other than to playing Russian Roulette with the chance of getting brain disorders? I guess all I'm trying to say here is to be rational about this. Vaccines are an important, and effective way to prevent illnesses from spreading, and a method for citizens to protect themselves. The chance of getting a brain disorder and other harmful effects is minute, and unfortunately, that's one of the risks you have to take to protect yourself from the disease. We can't always live our lives in a nutshell, as good and pleasant as it sounds at times. If you're afraid of taking risks, then don't even bother stepping outside of your house anymore.

One thing I really disliked about this entire ordeal is the fact that the government had to be so secretive about the risks of a vaccine. I realize that if the citizens were aware of the effects of vaccines, there would be far less people coming for vaccinations, especially since the chances of receiving the effects are so small, but at the same time, the government should never be hiding something as important as this to their people. I understand the communist government hiding issues from their citizens, because they have complete control of their country, and no one is allowed to go against them to say otherwise. Therefore, they can do absolutely anything they want. However, we live in a democratic country, where we should be just as involved in making decisions as the rest of government, especially on an issue regarding our safety. By filtering that out, the government is now seen as someone we can't rely on to keep us safe, someone we question why we support.
We as citizens should have been educated about the side effects of the vaccines, but told the truth of it, that there is only a rare chance of experiencing the side effects, and how important it is for us to be vaccinated at the moment for the disease we could potentially get if we don't vaccinate.
Knowledge is power, afterall.

Parasites.

The entire idea of parasites just gives me goosebumps. I know that a lot of people are scared of big tough animals like sharks, and rhinos, but personally, I would say parasites. Why?  Well, because animals such as sharks and rhinos can be visibly seen from miles away, and thus easily avoidable. Parasites, however, aren't usually noticed with the naked eye, and can sneak up on you when you least expect it, and if you think that just because of their size correlates with the amount of harm they can inflict on a person, you are dead wrong.  Parasites lives off of their hosts, exploiting them for food, water, heat, and pretty much everything else that they need to survive. These nasty little organisms can kill you from the inside, slowly. and painfully.

I apologize for the following comparison. It's completely been stuck in my head ever since I through of "parasites". It's kind of like, comparing that big, huge bully in your school, to a sneaky, conniving, backstabbing classmate. You already know the bully is a threat to you, so you would do anything to avoid making any direct eye contact with them, in hopes that you are not their next target. Even if you are, you know what to expect from them. However, what may be even worse than the bully is an evil classmate, who thrives on the drama, always takes the chance to stir the pot a little but never gets directly involved, so that they are able to live through you. This classmate would usually be a bigger threat because they take you by surprise, when your guard is down, and you get knocked completely off your feet.

Okay, so now that we have established the hazardous level of parasites, we can move onto solutions on how to prevent for parasitic infections!

Ways of getting infected with parasites:
 To be perfectly honest, there are lots of ways you can be infected by parasites, because there are so many different types of parasites, but I'll just list a few of the more common ways:

• Eating food or drinking water that has been contaminated with feces (especially that of contaminated humans or animals)
• Raw meat
• Through insects such as mosquitoes
• Sexually transmitted infections

Don't be afraid though, because there are always signs to tell whether you have parasites living inside you or not:

• Stomach or intestinal infections
• Fatigue and problems with sleep
• Skin Disorders or Allergies
• Mood and anxiety problems
• Weight and appetite problems
• Muscle and joint pain
• Sexual and reproductive problems

*As I learned in biology class, however, you should not always depend on the symptoms to diagnose the disease, so it's always best to get tested as well!

Now, onto methods of prevention:

• Washing your hands (generic, but useful!)
• Disinfecting your drinking water (especially when you travel to places where there is no sources of clean water)
• Thoroughly cooking your food, and be aware of where you are getting your food from!
• Getting yourself, your family, and your household pets checked regularly  

Overall, I've had WAY too much fun writing about parasites, so I really think I should stop here. BUT, while searching for information, I've come across this website, which is interesting, in a disturbing way. If I saw this, you have to see it too. Be careful of parasites, everyone!

http://listverse.com/2010/01/13/top-10-most-horrific-parasite-infections/

Hormone Therapy.

Often times, science is about taking risks. Without taking steps into the unknown, there would be no advancement in science. With that being said, when do we know to take the risks ? Logically, it should be when the pros of the situation outweigh the cons, so that in taking the risk, there is a relatively beneficial result. Given that train of thought, hormone replacement therapy would sit right on the dividing fence between the two sides.

                           

At the moment, hormone replacement therapy is probably most commonly used in women who have experienced menopause, since the decline of estrogen and progesterone in their bodies caused heart diseases and dementia. Since the loss of the sex hormones were responsible for these problems, it was decided that perhaps providing these women with a healthy dose of the sex hormones would resolve the issue. At that time, the pros of replacing the loss of sex hormones seemed to overpower the cons, especially since it was going to help the two most vital organs in our bodies; the heart, and the brain. However, that certainly didn't seem to be the case, as the hormone replacement therapy actually posed more problems than it was set out to cure. Side effects that the women experienced included strokes, blood clots, and breast cancers.

So then, should women use hormone replacement therapy as a solution? It really depends. Even though I put the case as black and white in the beginning, there are tons of grey areas as well. Hormone replacement therapy works great wonders for some women, and the treatment will definitely be worth it for them. However, with other women who have menopause at later ages, and are not in the best health, they should probably avoid hormone replacement therapy and try other options. All in all, hormone replacement therapy is a gamble, as women will not know whether they will receive the side effects until they've went through with the process.

Just whether it's a risk that you should take or not, is really up to the patient themselves. If the pros seem more appealing than the cons, then they should take it, but if they really believe hormone replacement therapy will not be beneficial for them, then they should move on to other treatments. After all, science is constantly advancing, and there will most likely be a better method to treating the diseases that follow menopause.

Personally, I'm also on the fence about the future of hormone replacement therapy, as it can go either way. The risks and side effects of the treatment may increase as time goes on, to the point where there are too few patients actually willing to consider going through with the procedure, thus encouraging scientists and researchers to find better ways to treat the symptoms of menopause. On the other hand, if the kinks and problems of hormone replacement therapy is worked out, then it could be a huge success, and used as treatments for many other diseases linked with hormones, for example, hypothyroidism, or hypoinsulinism.

Psychopaths.

There has always been something creepy about the idea of psychopaths. Perhaps it is in the way that they are portrayed in movies, that makes us so afraid, where they are able to senselessly kill others without a single trace of emotion. Then again, it is always human nature to fear the unknown, and the mind of a psychopath continues to remain somewhat of a mystery to us.

                         

What we realize so that is that psychopaths have absolutely no consciences at all. They are people who have no feelings of guilt, or remorse, or even a slight amount of concern. That means that if they kill someone right now, they can walk away without it affecting them in any way whatsoever. This definitely brings a huge amount of fear and instability into our hearts. However, maybe we can take this as an opportunity to learn instead.

 This may be completely crazy of me to suggest this, but perhaps being a psychopath may not be such a bad thing after all. There are quite a bit of advantages of having no consciences as well. For example, have you ever done something horrible in the past that have stuck with you even until now? Something in your mind that you can never erase? Something that keeps you up in the latest of hours and haunts you even in your dreams? If you were a psychopath, you would no longer be confined trapped in your own personal hell. You would be free from all your nightmares, and even though you would no longer feel the benefits that comes with having a conscience, you wouldn't have to deal with the horrible aspect of it either. This is certainly an efficient way of wiping your slate clean.

What about in the present, when you truly desired something so badly that it absolutely kills you not to have it? We are constantly held back by our moral compasses that we put aside what we really want in life, for what is morally right. Is this a fair trade off?  As a psychopath, you would never even have to begin to consider it. You are never held back from your desires by any guilt or shame, other than potentially being physically restrained in a mental institute, of course. Even then, you are still set free from your moral restraints.

Maybe if we scaled the personality of a psychopath down just a bit, where you are able to become ruthless when the occasion calls for it, not letting your actions come back to haunt you, and carrying out your desires completely and whole heartedly, then these are aspects that can lead to success.

To treat, or not to treat.

The topic of treatment for diseases often becomes very tricky to discuss, as it really depends on the situation that the patient is in, and their own bias on the effectiveness of treatments. Since I have personally never been in a position like that myself, it becomes very difficult to make a decision as to what would be the right thing to do for the patients with Parkinson's.

Parkinson's, as we've all seen, is not an easy disease to deal with. Parkinson's takes over the control of the body's motor skills, and results in tremors, and rigidness in the body. Parkinson's is deadly because, unlike a cancer which will cause a great amount of pain, Parkinson's actually hinders our body's functions on a daily basis. Patients with Parkinson's are unable to properly do the things that they can normally do, such as type, or brush their teeth, or even just drinking a glass of water. In this sense, Parkinson's may even be seen as a disease worse than cancer. Fortunately, there is a treatment for Parksinson's, and if it is successful, then the patients are able to get their lives back almost to the way it was before. However, the treatment also comes with side effects, and risks that may not be worth the success.

                          

Speaking from a person who has had a bit of experience behind the counter of a pharmacy, I can definitely say that drugs are a dangerous thing to deal with. Even though there are drugs that work miracles for patients, and they are able to really help the patients with getting their lives back on track, more times than not, drugs create more problems that they solve. Unfortunately, drugs are only meant as a treatment to the symptoms of certain diseases and illnesses, and doesn't usually cure the problem itself. This then, easily results to patients increasing dosages and the amount of drugs they are getting as their symptoms are increasing and the medication is becoming less effective, as well as an addiction to their medication, or horrible side effects that the medication brings. It turns into a vicious cycle that patients can't escape, as they continue to rely on drugs for the rest of their diseased life. Therefore, being as torn as I am about using treatment for Parkinson's, all I can really do in the end is to support  the patient's decision as to what they choose to due regarding their disease.

If the patient is aware of the side effects that come with their treatment, but are willing to go bear through it in order to get their life back on track because they might have others that rely on them, then I am completely behind them on their decision.
On the other hand, if the patient doesn't want to deal with the side effects that come along with the medication, then there are always other options they can choose to at least make their symptoms a little easier to deal with.

The importance of Homework.

As a student, I know the feeling of aggravation that comes along with doing your homework all too well. Every night, the task of doing homework is constantly on my mind, adding what seems to be a tonne of weight on my shoulders, and because of the stress of that, I tend to procrastinate and leave homework to be the very last thing I do before I go to bed. Unfortunately, homework always takes a lot longer than expected, forcing me to go to sleep later than I usually do, and waking up tired, and groggy the next morning.

                                      

 As we learned from the "While You were Sleeping" seminar, sleeping is crucial to the functioning of our brain, as it allows time for the brain to make connections and catch up to the thoughts that entered our head throughout the day. If students are in a similar state of sleep deprivation, then it gives everyone a clear sign that we're not getting enough sleep. If we are not getting enough sleep, this means that we are not giving enough time for our brain to catch up with us, and thus we rob our brain of its ability to function to its full potential. Therefore, it is obvious that students need more sleep, and the solution should be simple; to assign less homework, right? Wrong.

Even though I may be sleep deprived, it really has little to do in relation to the amount of homework that is assigned, since homework is barely checked by teachers. It has everything to do with my habits, which is the same as most of my fellow sleep deprived classmates. Regardless of whether I have to write an entire essay, or just given a few questions of math homework, I will always begin the task of doing homework just before I go to sleep. What I do before that? I have absolutely no idea. All I know is that I manage to somehow waste my time away until the panic of not completing my homework settles in. Thus, assigning less homework will not help with this problem at all. In fact, when I'm given less homework, I end up staying up later, because I get distracted by some youtube video, and end up losing track of time.

Cutting down the amount of homework may begin to make a little difference at first, as the students will begin to sleep earlier, and they look a little more energetic throughout the day, but in the end, this solution is only temporary, and might actually end up causing more problems, as students will not be as well prepared for their tests as they should be. Same with every problem, this needs to be addressed at its roots. The root of this sleep deprivation problem lies in the students' habits, and their discipline. Perhaps a better solution would be to teach students strategies on not procrastinating, and getting their homework done earlier, so they can go to sleep earlier, and wake up with their brain working at its best.

Stem Cell Research

After reading the article "Fast and Furious", it has been brought to my attention that induced pluripotent cells could really be a significant change for stem cell research. Previously, scientists were still using embryonic stem cells, which created an enormous controversy about whether it was like "killing a baby" or not. The discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells are extremely important because they have the ability to take any cell from the body, reprogram them into an embyronic cell-like state and theoretically have them differentiate into any cell in the body. This then, takes the spotlight away from embryonic stem cells, as iPS cells can do the same job they can, but cause a lot less controversy.

          

Unfortunately, iPS cells have their advantages as well. Even though theoretically, iPS cells could differentiate into any cell in our body, in reality, that is not the case. Certain cells (fibroblast cells from the skin) are easier to differentiate than others, such as a neuron cell. Also, since embryonic stem cells have been studied for quite a long time in the field of stem cell research, the scientists are much more knowledgeable on how they work whereas iPS are still relatively new, and thus, if they have problems in their reprogramming or in their ability to function, it is a lot harder to find a solution. At the end of the day, it's sad to say that embryonic stem cells are the better option for stem cell research, with all ethical issues put aside. There are just too many problems that can occur with the usage of iPS cells, such as the possibility of cancer, because one of the genes used to reprogram the iPS cell, associates with cancer. Which brings up the question of whether using iPS cells is worth it. If you only had a just kidney to replace/repair with iPS cells, and you have the possibility of getting a fatal cancer, would you still go through with it? Or how about your heart? Would you rather die of a heart problem, or take the chance of living you could get with iPS cells?

Maybe in the near future, the problems that iPS cells bring will be solved. Perhaps we'll find a different gene to reprogram iPS cells instead of c-Myc (the one that can cause cancer), or maybe we'll find a way for the cells to be reprogrammed without c-Myc. Perhaps if we went really in-depth with the working of reprogramming iPS cells, we would be able to figure out how to make the iPS cells totipotent, and thus making them preferred over embryonic stem cells.

However, with the success of iPS cells increasing, so does the chance of iPS cells being abused. Perhaps in the near future, we could have the possibility of producing clones with iPS cells, and along with that comes a whole controversy of what these clones will be used for, such as for harvesting organs. This definitely wouldn't be fair to the clones themselves, as they are to be treated as people too.

Even though at the end of the day, people still might prefer to use embryonic stem cells instead of iPS cells, there is no denying the fact that iPS cells opened quite a number of doors for stem cell research, and probably will continue to do so.