Double X Science - It's In Your Genes

Search Results for: label/heart failure

  • What is a beating embryonic heart?

    …ation. Some of the cells aggregate to create the inner lining of the heart, while others form the muscular tissues. As the cells collect together, they develop two tubes. In humans, these two are supposed to fuse at about day 21 or 22 in embryonic development, forming a single tube. This fusion triggers the rhythmic beating of the heart as the cells start to communicate. In human development, the embryo at this point is 2 to 3 mm in length, about…

    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

    s though ultrasound, as well as in the heart, using both an electrocardiogram(EKG) and an echocardiogram(ultrasound of the heart).  The patient might also be asked to wear a Holter Monitor, which is a device worn for at least 24 hours and can detect potential heart abnormalities that may not be obvious from short-term observations, like those obtained via an EKG.  If a stroke is due to a hemorrhagic event, an angiogramwould be performed to try an…

    Authored by on January 26, 2012

  • My bipolar life

    …last message, so that no one would be sending out the police. All that was going to happen is one day I would be alive. The next I would be dead. Consequences be damned. Well, the DKA didn’t kill me on day 1. Nor on day 2. What it did do was deplete my blood potassium, which caused a worse problem, an uncontrolled, and very painful heart rate. You see, I didn’t quite think this through as carefully as I should have. Through a strange…

    Authored by on February 8, 2013

  • 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

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

    …molecules themselves break down into a surprisingly small number of building blocks. The proteins that make up all of the living things on this planet and ensure their appropriate structure and smooth function consist of only 20 different kinds of building blocks. Nucleic acids, specifically DNA, are even more basic: only four different kinds of molecules provide the materials to build the countless different genetic codes that translate into all…

    Authored by on June 8, 2012

  • McConnell and mental illness

    …y 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 parts of her history as a way to try to smear her. But mental illness–again–is an open target, a free-for-all for anyone who wants t…

    Authored by on April 12, 2013

  • After Newtown missteps, journalists get guidelines

    …almost twice as likely to say that they don’t want to live or work near a person with mental illness if they read an article about a person with mental illness involved in a mass shooting, according to a study published March 20 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Interestingly, this tendency is the same even if the article avoids any mention of mental illness. This may be because this link between violence and mental illness is deeply engrain…

    Authored by on March 27, 2013

  • Pregnancy 101: Fertilization is another way to come together during sex

    Human ovum (egg). The zona pellucida is a thick clear girdle surrounded by the cells of the corona radiata (radiant crown). Via Wikimedia Commons. It was September of 2006. Due to certain events taking place on a certain evening after a certain bottle (or two) of wine, my body was transformed into a human incubator. While I will not describe the events leading up to that very moment, I will dissect the way in which we propagate our…

    Authored by on December 3, 2011

  • If you try one detox this year, make it this one

    …is 7, values above 7 are basic, and values below are acidic. But our bodies vary from location to location in what the “just-right” pH should be. So what does a “steady pH” even mean? The pH of your stomach, a nice digestive 2? The pH of your muscle and muscle, around 7? The pH of your vagina, at 4? One fruit can’t possibly do all of these things, and it’s doubtful that it even does one of them. What about acai berries and other foods “packed wi…

    Authored by on January 21, 2013

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