Talc is a mineral composed of several elements to make talcum powder. This powder would then absorb moisture and helps with friction like with rashes. Therefore; many companies in the cosmetic fields would use this powder in their products because of the absorptive and non-friction qualities. Baby powder is a product that contains talcum powder. Okay...sounds great, but how does this cause cancer? The thing wrong with talc is that it has asbestos. Asbestos is known to be carcinogenic to humans, meaning cancer causing. The American Cancer society on their website says, "All talcum products used in homes in the United States have been asbestos-free since the 1970s." This statement may be true, but many people are still concerned about the link between talcum powder and cancer especially people using talcum powder on a regular basis such as females applying the powder in their genital region leading to ovarian cancer.
Hello everyone! After a long hiatus I am finally back. Life has been extremely hectic and I have failed to keep up with this blog. I will continue to talk about some health related issues from here on forth.
Carbapenem antibiotics are the strongest type and are used as a last resort. Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is becoming a major concern within the medical community due to their resistance to the strongest antibiotics. This is a problem because drug-resistance bacterias have been a problem for more than a decade with no way to combat them. There recently has been a case of a man having this superbug-like bacteria in Virginia. doctors tried to stop the infection by giving the man different antibiotics and finally the strongest last-resort pill was given and it did nothing. After three months, the man died. The story does not end there, the man is dead, but not the bacteria. The bacteria continues to thrive in the environment and starts infecting other people. This is extremely frightening for people that out there is a bacteria that can not be fought against. Usually the bacteria is in hospitals and nursing homes. Currently hundreds of institutions are being hit. CRE is a general term used to describe the bacteria that have mutated to resist the antibiotics. For example, over the summer, there was a strain of Klebsiella pneimoniae that was a CRE outside of Washington D.C. at a health center. Seven people died after contracting this mutated strain. There are other cases like this showing up throughout the country with worse or better death outcomes. The different bacteria could range from intestinal and urinary tract infections to pneumonia. Death rates for CRE infected are about 40%. CRE is not only gaining popularity and fear, but is growing in strength.
Trichinella is a parasitic roundworm that causes trichinosis, or trichinellosis and belongs to the Nematoda phylum. 1835 was the first recognition of the genus in larval stage. As a larvae, it lives in skeletal muscle tissue and the adult worm lives in the epithelium tissue. As this matures, it turns into a intramulticellular parasite.
Domestic and wild animals and humans will contract this parasite. This parasite is the smallest nematode, but the largest of intracellular parasites. The normal route of infection is normally oral ingestion. When one eats raw or undercooked meat that is infected with the larvae that is how one becomes infected. Usually infection occurs in wild carnivorous or omnivorous animals such as bears, domestic pics, or wild boars. Symptoms vary, but usually the first symptoms would be abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, nausea, and vomiting. Muscle pain, headaches, fevers, and chills would follow after the first sign. Severe cases may lead to one's death. After a few months, for mild to moderate cases, symptoms should subside. If one does ingest infected meat, then prescription drugs should be taken. Worldwide, there is 10,000 estimates cases of trichinellosis that occurs every year. Cook your pork.
Trichinellosis is acquired by ingesting meat containing cysts (encysted larvae) of Trichinella. After exposure to gastric acid and pepsin, the larvae are released from the cysts and invade the small bowel mucosa where they develop into adult worms (female 2.2 mm in length, males 1.2 mm; life span in the small bowel: 4 weeks). After 1 week, the females release larvae that migrate to the striated muscles where they encyst . Trichinella pseudospiralis, however, does not encyst. Encystment is completed in 4 to 5 weeks and the encysted larvae may remain viable for several years. Ingestion of the encysted larvae perpetuates the cycle. Rats and rodents are primarily responsible for maintaining the endemicity of this infection. Carnivorous/omnivorous animals, such as pigs or bears, feed on infected rodents or meat from other animals. Different animal hosts are implicated in the life cycle of the different species ofTrichinella. Humans are accidentally infected when eating improperly processed meat of these carnivorous animals (or eating food contaminated with such meat). http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/biology.html
Lovely cobalt is number 27 on the periodic table and Co is the symbol. Unfortunately pure cobalt does not exist in nature, but rather compounds of cobalt. The main way to get cobalt compounds is through the by-product of copper and nickel mining. Cobalt compounds has been used way back dating to 1400 B.C. There have also been other sources that say cobalt compounds are used earlier. Compounds of cobalt are used in glasses and glazes for its color; blue. Even though cobalt compounds were in use in the past, Georg Brandt, a Swedish chemist was the one to analyze the dark blue pigment in copper ore; therefore; discovering this new element in 1735. Both copper and cobalt are blue, but cobalt is a deeper blue and Brandt showed this. Copper and cobalt were confused for each other in the past. Before George Brandt, cobalt was known as kobold ore, meaning goblin or evil spirit, to miners. Some of the products that use cobalt are glass, pottery, glazes, ceramics, paints, superalloys, and other things.
Unfortunately this compound was given a negative name due to the damages a person will receive when mining for compounds of cobalt and the difficulty obtaining them. When the mineral is being smelted, offensive gas is given off leading to illness. The gas is arsenic trioxide. This element is rather abundant, around 10-30 parts per million. Some common ores of cobalt are chloranthite, linnaeite, and smaltite and the largest suppliers in the world are Zambia, Zaire, Russia, Cuba, and Canada.
Cobalt is found in the human body and plants in minute amounts, meaning that cobalt is a trace mineral. There are consequences if a trace mineral is absent. For example, certain essential enzymes will not be made because cobalt is needed to make those enzymes. Take Vitamin B12 as an example of an essential item that is needed as humans. Vitamin B12 would not be in production if there is a lack of cobalt, and with a lack of vitamin B12, there will not be enough red blood cells produced. Cobalt does not just affect humans, a lack of cobalt in the environment, soil for example, causes sheep to get Coast disease. Health problems will also occur if cobalt is in excess. For the people who handle cobalt are in direct access to cobalt dust. This may cause breathing problems, diarrhea, rashes, and vomiting.
Community garden is a place
where a group of people can cultivate a piece of land that is designated as the garden area. Within the piece of land, there are many different plots that are assigned to individuals or a smaller group of people to take care of. People get their own designated
spot to do with however one pleases. A community garden can be just about anywhere and can have flowers or vegetables. Community gardens have shown up around schools, hospitals, and even neighborhoods. This community garden may be for one's own use to consume or sell as one pleases. The use of a community garden is to improve the quality of one's life, social interactions with other people, nutritious foods and reducing one's consumption budgets are some benefits of having a community garden. There are many different views on community gardens across the world. For many groups of people this is seen as a victory garden, small plots of different vegetables, and for others this is viewed as a large greening project. A project that is helping to preserve nature in areas are how others view a community garden. Many other people grow only flowers to beautify a street or the city.
Rachel Carson born on May 27, 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania. She was a marine biologist that wrote many books. Her writings were credited with advancing global environmental movement. As an aquatic biologist, her bestseller The Sea Around Us won the U.S. National Book Award in 1951. This made her become a recognized gifted writer. Her next couple books were also bestsellers and deals with ocean life. Later in the 50s, she focused more on environmental problems that she thought were caused by synthetic pesticides. Soon Silent Spring came out in 1962. Many chemical companies were upset at this work due to the negative perspective on pesticides and chemicals. A national pesticide policy was reversed due to Carson. DDT and other pesticides was banned nationwide and eventually a grassroots environmental movement created the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Jimmy Carter then awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom after her death in April 14, 1964.
Carson started writing at an early age of 8. Her story was first published at 11 years of age. She had a literature fascination with the natural world in her teen years, especially the ocean. In the year 1936 she was the second women that was hired by the Bureau of Fisheries full-time as a junior aquatic biologist. She was to analyze and report field data on fish populations and write brochures for the public. After tragic events, Carson became the sole moneymaker in the family for her mother and two nieces. Eventually an essay caught the attention of a publishing house and was expanded into a book. Under the Sea Wind in 1941 was the book that received excellent reviews yet poorly sold. While that was going on, her articles were succeeding. Her works appeared in Sun Magazine, Nature, and Collier's.
While trying to leave her job that is transformed into Fish and Wildlife Service, she encountered DDT. This was a new pesticide that was revolutionary. It was currently being tested for ecological and safety effects. This was during mid-1945. Editors did not care too much for Carson's work on DDT at that time. Yet, in 1962 her work on DDT did get published. Carson's work continues to flourish and there was even a documentary on The Sea Around Us, but Carson was not satisfied by the film even though it received Oscar for Best Documentary in 1953. She was upset that it did not capture the truth. Carson accomplished many things in her lifetime and opened people's eyes to the danger of chemicals like DDT and pesticide.
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