Double X Science - It's In Your Genes

Search Results for: label/heart

  • What is a beating embryonic heart?

    It’s pretty much the same in any vertebrate. by Emily Willingham     The governor of North Dakota recently signed a law making abortions illegal if a heartbeat is detectable in the embryo. Perhaps the emphasis on this beating organ isn’t a surprise. The heart carries strong emotional connotations, hence its use in anti-abortion campaigns. It connotes love. It symbolizes compassion, as in “have a heart.” It symbolizes heal…

    Authored by on April 3, 2013

  • Signs of a heart attack and what you can do

    …n essence, you are trying to be the heart for the victim, to imitate what the heart, a powerful, muscular pump, would be doing. So, the current response to a sudden cardiac death is pretty simple: Chest compressions only, 100 times a minute. Count them out loud as you go. It’s a fast clip. Some people recommend doing it to the beat of the Bee Gees’ song, Stayin’ Alive, if you’re familiar with that. For more information…

    Authored by on January 5, 2012

  • For Dad: A guide on strokes, including a glossary of terms

    A scanning electron micrograph of a blood clot.  Image credit: Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library (http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/203271/enlarge#)  On Monday January 1st, I overheard my dad telling my mom how his left arm was numb and that he had no strength in his left hand.  I immediately ran into the medicine cabinet, grabbed two aspirin, practically shoved them down my dad’s throat, and told him to get his coat.  He was go…

    Authored by on January 26, 2012

  • Motherhood Defined: It is in the heart of the beholder

    “Motherhood”: Sculpture at the Catacumba Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Motherhood.  It can mean many things, and our own definition of it is largely defined by our individual experiences.  To one person, motherhood might simply mean the act of raising children; to another, motherhood might be what defines them.   It is not uncommon to generalize the concept of “motherhood” and lump everyone who upholds a singl…

    Authored by on May 11, 2012

  • My bipolar life

    …e, and I knew how to do it without turning back. It was going to be peaceful and in my terms. It was going to be where I could be at peace. I travelled to Big Sur, California on my motorcycle, two years ago today. I am a type 1 diabetic, so I threw out all of my insulin and other medications I had been taking for years before I departed. I knew that I would eventually go into a state of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which would lead into a coma, a…

    Authored by on February 8, 2013

  • Biology Explainer: The big 4 building blocks of life–carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids

    …e X Extra: A triglyceride can have up to three different fatty acids attached to it. Canola oil, for example, consists primarily of oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid, all of which are unsaturated fatty acids with 18 carbons in their chains. Why do we take in fat anyway? Fat is a necessary nutrient for everything from our nervous systems to our circulatory health. It also, under appropriate conditions, is an excellent way to store up…

    Authored by on June 8, 2012

  • McConnell and mental illness

    …te. Judd had already decided not to run, but the discussion ensued anyway. Based on reports, the staff discussed Judd as being “emotionally unbalanced” because she was hospitalized “for 42 days” in the 1990s for a “mental breakdown” and because she’s talked about having depression. Had Judd been hospitalized for 42 days 15 or 20 years ago for a brain tumor or a heart condition, no one would go near those…

    Authored by on April 12, 2013

  • After Newtown missteps, journalists get guidelines

    Protip: Don’t diagnose based on speculation. by Jessica Wright                Attention journalists: If you’ve been calling people “nuts” or “deranged” in your stories, the Associated Press is recommending that it’s time you stopped. This guideline — along with the common-sense assertion that writers shouldn’t diagnose individuals with a mental illness based entirely on speculation — is part of a new recommendation added to the AP styleboo…

    Authored by on March 27, 2013

  • Miscarriage: When a beginning is not a beginning

    …heory, or ladybusiness expert, I have learned a lot about miscarriage. Only it wasn’t miscarriage, it was spontaneous abortion. Except that some didn’t like the term spontaneous abortion and used intrauterine mortality (Wood, 1994). Or fetal loss. Fetal loss is probably the most common. There is also pregnancy loss (Holman and Wood, 2001). You can use that term, too. Oh, or a-conceptions (a for abortion), compared to l-conceptions (l for live bir…

    Authored by on September 5, 2012

  • Why do we feel music?

    …ff this chair and onto the treadmill. References [1] Marin MM, Bhattacharya J.  ”Music induced emotions: Some current issues and crossmodal comparisons.”  In Music Education, edited by J. Hermida, M. Ferrero,  pp. 1-38, Nova Science Publishers. 2010 [2] Krumhansl CL. “An exploratory study of musical emotions and psychophysiology,” Can J Exp Psychol (1997): 336-53. [PDF] [3]  ”Physiological Changes Associated with Emo…

    Authored by on February 26, 2013

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