Sea Star

Although, sea stars don't seem to be living creatures because of their lack of fast mobility, they are.
Sea stars are part of the group echinoderms which means spiny skin. A sea stars has five arms and it can regenerate itself as long as 1/5 of its body is still in tact. Sea stars feed by the suction in their feet, they wrap for instance a clam and pry it open. Even though it sounds very easy it take quite a while for the sea stars to move. Once it is open, the sea star will spit out its stomach and digest the clams soft body by spitting up enzymes to help it digest. Sea stars also have predators, they are eaten by sea gulls as well as crabs and certain types of fish.

Pet Overpopulation

The number of homeless pets is estimated to be around 6 to 8 million. These homeless animals are given a temporary home by the HSUS (human society) by being placed in an animal shelter. Out of these 6 to 8 million, 3 to 4 million pets are estimated to be euthanized or put down every year. The other half, the lucky half, is adopted. One solution to the problem of overpopulation of pets and animal suffering is the decision to spade or neuter your pet. Spading or neutering your pet seems to be the best and most effective solution. If the animal is unable to have unplanned litters in the first place then there wouldn’t be homeless unwanted animals wondering around.  These surgeries are performed by a veterinarian or you can even go to a clinic specifically for spading or neutering your pet. 

Elephantiasis

A few months ago while I was watching the Discovery Channel I saw a man that appeared to have a enlarged members in his face.  The episode that i was watching was about strange diseases and this man was called the "elephant man".  I'm assuming that he was called the elephant man because he had an enlarged member growing out of his nose which appeared to be some sort of an elephant's trunk.  This disease is called elephantiasis that is caused by worms transmitted by mosquitoes such as Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and B. timori.  The mosquito bite causes inflammation of the lymphatic vessels in the affected area, it is most common in tropical areas of Africa.  A way to cure this disease is chemotherapy  to destory the adult worms and as well as symptomatic treatment to repair the damage of the dead worms in the body. 

Lung Cancer

The most common type of lung cancer is Small Cell Lung Cancer; it is mainly caused by smoking cigarettes.  The cancer starts in the center of the chest in the bronchi; even though the cells are small they grow at a fast speed.  These cells then cause tumors that can also spread from the lungs to the brains or liver.  Some symptoms of this disease are weight loss, coughing, wheezing, chest pain, and loss of appetite. Lung cancer can be one of the most horrible diseases someone can get because it makes a person feel like they are suffocating. Nevertheless, a person can always prevent this from occurring by not smoking.  Lung cancer is rare to those people that have never smoked. 

Gonorrhea

The topic for a research paper in another class I am currently taking is what inspired me to choose to write my blog over sexually transmitted diseases this week. Among many types of std’s out there is gonorrhea. The sexually transmitted disease, gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This bacteria is at home in warm, moist places such as the reproductive track which includes the cervix, uterus and fallopian tubes in women and the urethra in both women and men.  Neisseria gonorrhoeae can also grow in the eyes, mouth, anus, and throat. Gonorrhea is one of the most common std’s around. The CDC(Center for Disease Control and Prevention) estimates 700,000 new cases of gonorrhea are born each year. Gonorrhea is obtained through contact with the penis, vagina, mouth or anus. There women may have no signs or symptoms of gonorrhea however men beginning exhibiting symptoms as shortly as 2 days after the infection. Symptoms of gonorrhea for men can also take up to 30 days to appear. Symptoms of this sexually transmitted disease are burning sensation when urinating, or a white, yellow, or green substance secreted from the penis. Swelling of the testicles is also another symptom exhibited by men with this STD. If gonorrhea is untreated in women this STD can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease. Testing is available and the good news is there are treatments such as antibiotics that can cure this disease unlike some STD’s

Female Circumcision

Female circumcision is mainly practiced in Africa where young girls between the ages of four and eight are circumcised. This process is done mainly by tradition, it is said that she will not be considered a real woman until her genitalia is removed. For many women the thought of that occuring to them is quite frightning but for these girls it's more of a right of passage. Female genital mutalation is not a safe process because a girl will risk the possibilities of an infection, many times the obejects used are not always sterlized nor is there an adequate specialized person to assist in this procedure. Girls can also over bleed and in some cases even die from a so called tradition. The basic process of a female circumcision is the removal of the clitoris and the quite often the removal of the labia major and labia minora. The beliefes of such culutres are that when the clitoris is removed it as well removes the desire to have sex therefore, it will prevent sex outside a marriage and prevent a family from being dishonored. Regardless of such traditions the lives of many girls are being risked each day by this tradition.

Human Instestinal Roundworm

Just the simple idea of thinking that some sort of worm might be inside you is a little creepy. Well that was the same feeling i felt in my previous biology class that I had last semester when we were discussing roundworms. Ascaris lumbricoides is the human intestinal roundworm that is found the digestive tract. This kind of worm in ingested into your digestive tract by eating the eggs of the female worm which are found in warm soil, unclean water, and unwashed raw fruit and vegetables. Once a person has eaten the eggs they pass through the stomach into the duodenum where they hatch and the larvae burrow themselves into the intestinal tissue lining. The larvae stays in the intestinal tissue until it pushes itself out through the blood vessel wall into the blood stream, which is then carried into the liver, heart, and then ends up in the lungs where it continues to grow. From the lungs the larvae can either be coughed out through the mouth or nose but if it's not it can be swallowed back into the stomach and into the small intestine. The larvae may only survive the acidity of the stomach if it is mature enough, once in the small intestine the larvae continues to expand the females can grow up to 45 centimeters and the males are much smaller then the females. These worms thrive in places where water is contaminated and there are poor hygenical methods among people.