Finally Learning Something Out of My First Love

Although I learned to draw before I could write, I could say that writing is, in every sense, my first love. When I was a kid, I used to write (and daydream) of made up names of people and places in made up scenarios. Yes, I was quite the weirdo when I was a kid – but that would fill an entire post in an entirely different blog.

Come to think of it, I’m here to write about the bang I get out of blogging.

Okay. A brief history of my soon-to-be-illustrious writing career.

I wrote a novella of some sort when I was in fifth grade (I forgot where I put the “manuscript”). In sixth grade, my teachers pitted me against other elementary school writers in an Editorial Writing Competition. Come high school, I joined the school paper and started out as the Circulations Manager. I ranked up year after year until I became the Editor-in-Chief. During my sojourn in high school, I was the resident competitor for various writing contests and spelling bees – and then there was the Internet.

With my newfound fascination of the cyberspace came the amazing discovery that I could actually publish my own blog. So I went to tumblr (because you know, it was the “in” thing for the writer kids in my batch back then) and published my first (and now-neglected) blog under the alias “weepingstrings”. This first blog contained random musings and thoughts, and as if that wasn’t enough, I went on to publish another blog (still on tumblr) – but this time it’s an art blog.

Anyway, enough of that. As I have written in my “about me”, I am an “I-write-what-I-want” blogger. If I see something that I like, I will most definitely write about it. So it is quite a challenge for me when I learned that I would have to publish a blog on – here it goes – Clinical Chemistry, of all things!

I mean, how would you turn some boring subject into something people would want to read?

If anything, starting this blog (on a platform I am not familiar with) was a challenge. When I was told to write something about Endocrinology, I was like, “how in the world could I make my readers understand endocrinology in a totally non-know-it-all attitude?”

Educational blogging, in my opinion, is a cross between the art of writing and marketing. Why marketing, you say? It’s because as a writer, you have to think of ways to promote an otherwise unfamiliar subject to your readers. You have to make it more palatable, in a sense – and to make it palatable, you have to use the magic of your pen and your brain to rouse the natural inquisitiveness of your prospective readers.

My style of edublogging, then, was to present cases that would catch my readers’ attentions first before delving into the details that I want them to learn. That way, they would be familiar to the topic I am trying to share and at the same time, their curiosity was piqued enough for them to explore further into the subject.

To sum up everything I have written here, edublogging is two things –

Innovation and Imagination.

Signs You've Been in the Laboratory for Too Long

Some piece of school-related typography I did tonight, taken from my new blog.

ERMAHGERD! DERBLE PERSTS!

I recently unearthed my stash of "Choose Your Own Adventure" books (anyone of you familiar with these? I swear they are AWESOME) and so I decided to give you guys a special treat!

no, it's not berks girl

For my Toxicology post, YOU have the option to choose which one to read!

And so to completely satisfy my craving for "choose your own adventure", read on.

You are reading your *favorite* Clinical Chemistry blog when suddenly, a wild post appears! Written in front of you are the words: "I have a real treat for you guys.For the subject of Toxicology, I have written two posts for you! You have a choice to read between a detective story and an article about fashion. So, which one would it be?"

If you want to read the detective story, click here.

If you want to read the fashion article, click here.

ERMAHGERD! CHERSE YER ERN EDVENCHER: Murder Hath Charms

Everybody loves a good mystery from time to time, and, like many others before me, I have been intrigued by the case of Adelaide Bartlett. Hers is one that galvanized the British murder-reading public during the closing years of the Victorian Era. There were several crowd-pleasing features: the accused woman, at thirty, was still young and presentable, born in France, and the widow of a prosperous grocer ten years older than she was.

Murder hath charms, we must confess, for those of us not too closely brushed against it; and how much more so when a lady’s involved – those delicious pouter-pigeon ladies who so closely followed each other into the dock in the latter half of the 19^th century: with their bosoms and their bustles and their tight little waists, all starry-eyed. And when, furthermore, the truth of their innocence or guilt must now be forever in doubt – did she or didn’t she? Adelaide, dear, sweet Adelaide, with her great big brown eyes and her great big brown bottle of chloroform – did she or didn’t she?

We shall never know now.

It was in 1875 when 19 year old Adelaide Blanche de la Tremoille married a grocer in the person of Edwin Bartlett. But Edwin, having a reverential “regard for advanced learning”  of which he himself had very little, sent Adelaide off to boarding school for three years and only then received her into his home.

There she remained, poor young creature, very friendless, occupying herself with needlework, music, and the care of some Newfoundland dogs which Edwin bred for show. Adelaide’s closest companion at the time was her age father-in-law, who, devoted to Edwin, had disapproved of their marriage and henceforward disliked and distrusted her.

Click!

After two years of this she petitioned for a baby of her own; and at last, Edwin relented and “a single act” took place. Adelaide became pregnant and in due course, delivered a child. But the baby was stillborn. She went through a bad time and declared herself unwilling to have more children after that.

Enter Reverend George Dyson – a reverend attached to a Wesleyan chapel – who soon spent more and more time with Bartletts, who both doted on him. Soon, he had undertaken to promote even further the “advanced learning” for which Edwin had so much regard. The lessons took place in the front room at Claverton Street and often lasted all day; not surprising that sometimes Adelaide was so exhausted as to have to take them sitting on the floor, her head resting on Dyson’s knee… (This went on for so long that Dyson actually had to confess that he was becoming “too interested” on Adelaide)

However, Edwin was unperturbed, so he convinced Dyson to continue the lesson, and soon enough, a somewhat queer situation emerged, which certainly was understood and respected by all three – in which it was agreed that Edwin had some obscure condition which gave him not much longer to live and that Adelaide was, more or less, made over to Dyson in advance – to become his wife.

What Edwin's gums looked like

Fast forward to December 1885, the eleventh year of the marriage. Adelaide sent round the corner for the nearest available doctor, who found that Edwin was very low, weak and deeply depressed, suffering from diarrhea and hemorrhage of the bowels. On looking into his mouth, the doctor observed a blue line round the edge of the gums which suggested that at some time, the patient had taken in mercury. It later emerged that as a young man, Edwin decided that dentures were better than the real thing and so submitted himself to the agony of having all his own perfectly good teeth sawn off at the gums. The stumps had now decayed and his entire mouth was in an appalling condition. Within the next twelve days, he had sixteen of these stumps removed, they revealed an underlying fungal growth with resultant sloughing, eroding and sponginess.

Eventually, Edwin got better but on the 23^rd Edwin felt “worms constantly wriggling up and down his throat”. Each time he grew a little stronger, fresh disaster struck. Now, necrosis of the jaw was suggested, at it had a frightening ring to it. On December 31, yet another stump must be pulled out.

In preparation for this event, he ate half a dozen oysters and large helping of jugged hare. On his return from the dentist, he had another half dozen oysters, a quantity of mango chutney, cake and tea; and ordered a large meal for the next morning’s breakfast.

Alas, he was destined never to wake up again.

The next morning, January 1, doctors found a large amount of chloroform in Edwin’s stomach.

But how? Let us go back to the events of the night before.

from here

A bottle of chloroform was within reach. A glass of brandy to hand. He tips a large dose of one into the other. The chloroform hangs in the brandy, suspended in its center like a yolk in the white of an egg. Wrapped within it cocoon, the dose passes without pain or burning, all in one gulp.

Adelaide comes back from the other room. Edwin lies asleep. She settles herself for the night.

In the early hours of morning she awakes; and he is dead.

Adelaide Bartlett is no fool – all along, the horrid father in law has been making overt accusations and now his son is dead, and it she who has, apparently, introduced the fatal dose. What to do? Get rid of the bottle of chloroform, at any rate, just to get rid of it and trust to luck; rinse out the glass, spill some brandy around, BUT GET RID OF THE BOTTLE!

Then send for the doctor – summon up the landlord, give way to genuine grief. And when the Rev. George Dyson comes rushing around in a state about the chloroform (Adelaide had him buy 2 bottles from different chemists), stamp your foot and cry out…

Dyson on the contrary piped up too much and soon enough, found himself standing on the dock beside her, both of them charged with murder.

But although Adelaide was found to have all the motives for getting rid of Edwin – horror of all horrors! The jury acquitted her.

Did she or didn’t she?

That, my friends is something we shall never know.

Before we delve deeper into it, however, let me define for you the word poison. Poisons are defined as substances which cause disturbances to organisms when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by the said organism. However, the fields of medicine and zoology often distinguish a poison form a toxin and from venom.

Socrates was forced to ingest poison derive from hemlock

Toxins are poisons produced via some biological function in nature, and venoms are usually defines as toxins injected by bites or stings to cause their effect, while other poisons are generally defined as substances absorbed through epithelial linings such as the skin or the gut. Throughout history, intentional application of poison has been used as a method of assassination, murder, suicide and execution.

Toxicology is the study of poisons. However, this definition is far too simple to encompass this field. Generally, four major disciplines are classified under toxicology: mechanistic, descriptive, forensic, and clinical toxicology. We shall run down all of these disciplines in very simple terms in the succeeding paragraphs.

Mechanistic Toxicology deals with the cellular and biochemical effects of toxins, thereby producing rational therapy design and the development of tests to assess the degree of exposure of poisoned individuals.

Descriptive Toxicology uses the results from animal experiments (PETA frowns on this) to predict the dose or the level of exposure that would be fatal to humans in a process known as risk assessment. Regulatory toxicologists are responsible for interpreting data so that they may establish standards that define the level of exposure that will not pose risks to the public.

Forensic Toxicology is concerned with the medicolegal consequences of toxin exposure. Forensic toxicologists focus on the establishment and validation of the analytic performance of forensic methods in order to generate evidence in legal situations, including the cause of death.

Clinical Toxicology deals with the interrelationships between toxin exposure and diseases. It specializes both in diagnosis as well as therapy.

Toxicology is usually considered a part of chemistry nowadays, mainly because the methods used to evaluate toxins qualitatively and quantitatively are best suited to this area. However, appropriate diagnosis and management of poisoned victims require equal efforts from all sections of a laboratory.

Bibliography, lovelies:

Wilkes, Roger et al.: The Giant Book of Unsolved Crimes, 1999
Bishop, Michael L. et al.: Clinical Chemistry Techniques, Principles and Correlations, 6th ed., 2010

ERMAHGERD! CHERSE YER ERN EDVENCHER: Mon Dieu! Makeup to Die For

Marie Antoinette, Queen of France

I am a self-confessed history buff – ask anything about history, and I just might have an item or two to tell you about an event. In fact, I am very much in love with the 18th century, the time of sky-high hairdos, feathers, hair powder, glamorous silk gowns in pastel hues, and – oddly so, the guillotine and Robespierre’s Reign of Terror. But my love affair with The Reign of Terror would have to fill another volume (and another blog). For now I would be concentrating on the contents of a lady’s vanity table.

A Frenchwoman at her toilette

The ideal woman of the 18th century had hair that was black, brown, or blond; strong red hair (harlot!) was unfashionable and generally would be dyed a different color, although chestnut and strawberry blond were popular. Her hair was of wavy or curly texture. Her forehead was high, her cheeks plump and rosy, and her skin was white. Fashionable eye colors included black, chestnut, or blue; eyebrows were divided, slightly full, semicircular, and tapered at the ends in a half moon shape. Her lips were small, with a slightly larger bottom lip creating a rosebud effect, soft, and red.

But of course only a few women came by the painted doll look naturally. Even the celebrated beauties of the time, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, had to rely on cosmetics to achieve portrait-worthy complexions. Here are a few favorite recipes of that era:

Belladonna

If you have an aptitude for Italian, you would know that Belladonna translates to “beautiful woman” in English. Women of the day used Belladonna extracts as eye drops as they were thought to add that “twinkle”. Dyes extracted from this plant were also used to redden lips and cheeks. 

Oh, and by the way, I would have you know that Belladonna is also known as Deadly Nightshade – and with good cause. Belladonna contains atropine, which, in large doses, causes delirium, convulsions and coma. Need I say it is poisonous?

Geiko used to put lead on their faces too.

Venetian Ceruse

During those days, a pale white skin was a sign of aristocracy. It means you didn’t have to work outside for a living, not unlike the peasants (oh my!) who work all day under the sun. Women who could afford this usually applied it to their face, neck and bosom. Seems harmless enough, eh?

Actually, Venetian Ceruse, however attractive its name may be, is made of vinegar and white lead. Lead poisoining, which in adults can cause increased blood pressure, digestive problems, kidney damage, nerve disorders, sleep problems, muscle and joint pains and mood changes – and, ironically, turns the skin a sickly gray. The horror of it!

Soliman’s Water

This is actually a sublimate of mercury, and women back then used this to remove spots, freckles, warts and any other undesirable blemish. This, however, polishes off the outer layer of the skin, and also corrodes the skin underneath. It makes teeth fall out prematurely, makes your gums recede, and, eventually, causes insanity (think Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter).

Women have an alternative, however, and it is no less harmful. A mixture of sulfur and borax causes the skin to slough off, causing blisters and facial twitches, and in large amounts, it can induce fever, vomiting, and even coma.

Permanent Red of Fucus

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

This one is made of red mercuric sulfide, so its effects are pretty much the same as that of Soliman’s water. However, this one is used to redden lips and cheeks.

There’s an alternative, however – and this time it is not poisonous (thank heavens!). A mixture of hard boiled egg white, cochineal and gum Arabic was also used to redden lips and cheeks. For once, real value for less! 

Gladly though, owing largely to the fact that the 18th century was considered the “Age of Enlightenment”, Marie Antoinette didn’t get to use much of these stuff – or maybe because it was considered vulgar for women of her social standing to apply too much makeup (until the early 1900’s makeup was worn only by thespians and tarts). She didn’t die of fallen teeth or because she went mad or she went into a coma – everyone knows she lost her head (not because of mercury) to the guillotine.

From this point on, we diverge from a lady’s vanity into a subject considered, in the 18th century, as “manly” – which enlightened minds of the time, such as Antoine Lavoisier, dabbled. 

TOXICOLOGY.

In a broader sense, toxicology is the study of poisons. However, this definition is far too simple to encompass this field. Generally, four major disciplines are classified under toxicology: mechanistic, descriptive, forensic, and clinical toxicology. We shall run down all of these disciplines in very simple terms in the succeeding paragraphs.

Lavoisier and his wife, Paulze

Mechanistic Toxicology deals with the cellular and biochemical effects of toxins, thereby producing rational therapy design and the development of tests to assess the degree of exposure of poisoned individuals.

Descriptive Toxicology uses the results from animal experiments (PETA frowns on this) to predict the dose or the level of exposure that would be fatal to humans in a process known as risk assessment. Regulatory toxicologists are responsible for interpreting data so that they may establish standards that define the level of exposure that will not pose risks to the public. 

Forensic Toxicology is concerned with the medicolegal consequences of toxin exposure. Forensic toxicologists focus on the establishment and validation of the analytic performance of forensic methods in order to generate evidence in legal situations, including the cause of death.

Clinical Toxicology deals with the interrelationships between toxin exposure and diseases. It specializes both in diagnosis as well as therapy.

Toxicology is usually considered a part of chemistry nowadays, mainly because the methods used to evaluate toxins qualitatively and quantitatively are best suited to this area. However, appropriate diagnosis and management of poisoned victims require equal efforts from all sections of a laboratory – something the people of the 18th century did not yet have.

An additional tidbit (which I can’t resist passing to you), there is such a job as a royal food taster – you know, checking for poisons before the king and queen accidentally consumes the food? Yeah. And here is a gratuitous still from Sofia Coppola’s interpretation of Marie Antoinette. Just look at all the cake.

Qu'il mangent de la brioche - that's "Let them eat cake" for you, peasants.

Bibliography:


Bender, A. “Assistants of Beauty:  Cosmetics in the Rococo and Empire Eras.”  La Couturiere Parisienne
Corson, Richard.  Fashions in Makeup, from Ancient to Modern Times.  Chester Springs, PA:  Dufour Editions, 2003.
DeGalan, Aimée Marcereau.  “Lead White or Dead White?  Dangerous Beauty Practices of Eighteenth-Century England.”  Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 76(1/2) 2002:  38-49.
Martin, Morag.  Selling Beauty:  Cosmetics, Commerce, and French Society, 1750-1830.  Baltimore:  Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.

Bishop, Michael L. Clinical Chemistry Techniques, Principles and Correlations. 6th edition, 2010

Totally Off-Topic

Someone's had too much time on her hands!!!

Presenting my first-ever attempt at Serialized Science Fiction [cue drumroll]

The Companion touches on the subjects of human cloning, genetic modification, and the plausible event that we would have to deal with "designer humans" in the future.

So... yeah. I hope you will enjoy.

The :"cover" was designed by me! :)

Introduction to Endocrinology

"All dwarves are bastards in their father's eyes."

-Tyrion Lannister

image courtesy of images4.fanpop.com

One of my favorite characters in the universe of “A Song of Ice and Fire” is Tyrion Lannister. Otherwise known as “The Imp”, “Halfman”, and “The Dwarf”, he was born with a disorder called dwarfism. This condition arises from problems in an individual’s pituitary gland, resulting in the extremely delayed growth and development of a person. 

The pituitary gland is divided into two regions – the anterior pituitary gland and the posterior pituitary gland. When the hypothalamus releases Growth Hormone Stimulating Hormone, the anterior pituitary gland is stimulated, thereby causing it to produce Growth Hormone. This in turn acts on the different organs of the body, such as the liver. GH triggers the production of Insulin-Like Growth Factor, which causes bones to increase in length and muscles to synthesize more protein. However, it should be noted that the process may be affected by any abnormality that may occur in the process itself, which is why pituitary dwarfism may result if a deficiency in any of the hormones involved occurs.

A child suffering from pituitary dwarfism should be diagnosed of the condition immediately, after which he can then receive treatment via the administration of growth hormones. Treatment is administered by endocrinologists before the patient’s bone growth plates have fused. If, in any case, it appears that the patient lacks not only the growth hormone, the endocrinologist must prescribe ways in order to raise the levels of the deficient hormones as well as to try and keep the balance between the other hormones of the body. This makes pituitary dwarfism a difficult type of hormone irregularity to manage – however, with the help of the advances in the field of endocrinology and in medicine itself, diagnosis and the treatment itself are steadily becoming easier and more accessible for many.

What is endocrinology, anyway?

Biology Online defines it as “a branch of medicine dealing with the endocrine glands and their secretions. It is the dedicated study of the endocrine glands, the endocrine system, and the various factors that are involved ”. To fully understand endocrinology, one must familiarize himself with the various glands of the system and how each one of these glands function. Such glands include:

• Hypothalamus and Pituitary Gland – although the pituitary gland is often referred to as “the master gland” in popular literature, it is in fact controlled by the hypothalamus, as can be evidence in the case presented in the previous paragraphs. Together, these glands regulate the function of the other endocrine glands. 
• Pineal Gland – this secretes melatonin, the hormone which affects the body’s Circadian Rhythm, in a way that it secretes more melatonin at night. In addition, it affects reproduction by controlling the activity of the gonads. 
• Thyroid Gland – hormones from this gland help regulate the body’s metabolism, including body temperature and weight. 
• Pancreas – the Islets of Langerhans, located in this organ, secrete insulin and glucagon, two hormones which regulate blood sugar levels. 
• Adrenal Glands – located on top of each kidney, the adrenal cortex secretes corticosteroids – anti-inflammatory hormones – while the adrenal medulla secretes hormones such as adrenaline, and other hormones which respond to stressors. 
• Gonads – female ovaries and male testes, aside from producing gametes, also produce sex hormones. Male gonads produce androgens, such as testosterone, which are responsible for secondary sexual characteristics of their gender. Female gonads, respectively, produce estrogen and progesterone. 

Hormones, the substances secreted by the glands mentioned above, act as the body’s chemical messengers. These affect the body’s functions, such as growth and development, reproduction, metabolism and mood. Hormones act very slowly, and it should be noted that tiny amounts can cause big changes in the body as a whole. This is why even a little amount of excess hormone poses serious threats to an individual’s health. Hormone disorders can be diagnosed by performing various lab tests on body fluids such as blood and urine. Such tests will be discussed and elaborated upon in the course of this blog.

External Links:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/dwarfism/DS01012/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
http://www.lpaonline.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=84634&orgId=lpa
http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Endocrinology
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio105/endocrin.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hormones.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/?term=endocrinology%20AND%20endocrin%5Bbook%5D