Farewell

This semester for my College Composition course we had to create a blog and write about one topic for sixteen weeks, instead of the usually six different types of essays and a class reading book. I admit it was a great challenge for me to pick a single topic to talk about for that many weeks but it was an achievable goal. I chose the topic of healthcare because I am an LPN striving to become a RN. I have a great interest in the medical field and this blog allowed me to share and explore parts it with my classmates and the communities I have joined along the way.

I have found a great many resources that I can come back to later on if I have any questions or concerns. Or even if I simply want a new viewpoint of an issue I am dealing with in the medical field. I was shocked that I actually enjoyed writing my blog post after a while because some of the facts I was researching were quite intriguing. Such as the post about the leeches called “Vampire Bugs?”, the post on acupuncture called “Thin Metal Needles Oh My!” and lastly my favorite post “Killer Bite”, which was on the use of snake venom in medicine. I had a lot of fun doing that post because I love snakes and find it amazing how they are used in the medical field at the same time.

This was a new experience for me because I have never been the type of person to blog before. I didn’t understand if you were supposed to talk about one thing or have just a bunch of different random blog post. I thought the people would post entries because of the mood they were in or what happened that day to them. What I have found is that blogs are used to communicate across the world about different events and to find and share your interest with people all around. Blogs make it quite easy to find people who share the same interest as you. I now have a new found respect for blogging and glad I had this experience this semester.

Olive oil is one of nature’s wonders. This natural product is used in a variety of ways in organism’s lives. For example olive oil is used by humans in cooking, as a body moisturizer, as hair moisturizer and in medicine.  Olive oil is fat from the olive on the olive tree. The oil is obtained from the olive by mechanically and chemically grinding the olive.

The source of the health benefits from Olive oil comes from the polyphenols (an antioxidant that protects the cells in your body from damage) in the oil.Health benefits of Olive oil are that it lowers the bodies “bad” cholesterol (LDL), because of this olive oil in turns lowers the risk of heart disease in humans (“Olive”).  It has been shown that olive oil reduces blood pressure in the consumer. Olive oil has a role in preventing and helping people suffering from osteoporosis (decrease in bone mass, which causes a weakness in the bones). It aids in this disease by increasing bone mineralization and calcification (“Olive”).

This oil is soothing on the gastrointestinal tract and contains valuable vitamins nutrients and antioxidants (“Olive”). These antioxidants (a substance such as vitamin C or E that removes potentially damaging oxidizing agents in a living organism) are being studied in the belief that they prevent cancer. The antioxidants also promote a healthy immune system in the consumer. Olive oil is used on the skin to lock in moisture that is otherwise lost during the day. The same goes for using oil in your hair. In your hair the oil softens and detangles your hair while proving you with a relaxing experience and adding a shining coat to your hair. This can also work on the hair of your cats however; you place it in the food of your pet not directly on them (Howard).  

 http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/02/25/health/100000002085482/the-benefits-of-olive-oil.html

Howard, Brian. "8 Surprising Uses for Olive Oil." The Daily Green. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

"Olive Oil Health Benefits and Nutrition." Olive Oil Times. N.p., 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

Killer Bite

Snakes to me are one of the biggest fears that people of this world have.  I am personally quite fond and scared of snakes. I admit one day I would like to own one of the small pet sized python snakes. However, when I am at the zoo or watching the animal channel and see these snakes that are over five feet long (I, myself, am only 5’2) I feel a tad bit uneasy. So I don’t know if I have a true fear of snakes seeing how I’m fascinated with them, but at the same time being scared of them.

It is funny to think that this creature contributes to the world of medicine. To be more specific the venom of this creature contributes to the medical field. How in the world could a snake contribute to the world of medicine? It is hard to think they can when there are snakes that can kill you almost instantly with a single bite such as, the infamous black mamba.

Snake venom in medicine is being studied to treat high blood pressure, strokes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease (“Office”).  What is believed with snake venom is that the same proteins that can cause death and damage in the prey of the snakes can be manipulated to be beneficial to the health of a human being (“Office”). There are two medications that are made from snake venom Eptifibatide (Integrilin) and Tirofiban (Aggrastat).  These medications are used in stroke and heart disease patients to help prevent a heart attack. Snake venom causes a human to bleed out; but by manipulation of this action the venom instead of bleeding out the patient, it prevents and dissolves blood clots in the patient to prevent future heart attacks. The most important property of snake venom is the protein in it.

Though I wrote out hospital prescribed medication above, in other countries such as Bolivia in this video the venom of snakes are put into homeopathic medicines.

http://dalje.com/tv/en/index.php?id=9516q4d42d2f5010

Most companies and researchers get their snake venoms from places like this so they don’t have to directly deal with the snakes as they tried to milk the fangs and at the same time do their research. From this video it is easy to come to the conclusion that even though the use of snake venom in America is sort of a new concept it is not the same for the lands outside of the United States that have been using the venom for a while.

 

 

"Office of Science Education - Animals In Research - Stories of Discovery - Making Medicines from Poisonous Snakes." Office of Science Education - Animals In Research - Stories of Discovery - Making Medicines from Poisonous Snakes. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.