Hi everyone!
Around a month ago, I went to chapters and bought the book “The Merck Manual of Medical Information“. It’s a book that contains descriptions, causes, and treatment of many illnesses, a little like a medical library.
At first I bought it because of my science background, I thought having a reference of dieases and general biology/medial information would be a great companion to my science background. However the more I started using it, the more I realized that everyone should have this book! So far it’s been very helpful in diagnosing some of the problems my family and friends had, and it’s been a great resource for general health related knowledge such as stress and exercise!
The fall term is about to start soon, and I know that everyone is either very excited, motivated, or a bit nervous. We’re all very focused on the term ahead and wants to give it our all. That’s great! It’s wonderful to have such motivation, but during this exciting time of growth and opportunity, I would like to remind every to take care of themselves. Particularly since the H1N1 is due for a pretty big rebound in the fall.
I would like to help everyone by offering any knowledge from this book, if you have any questions just ask! But remember I’m not playing doctor here, just looking up information in a book! I will also be writing periodic posts about some information I think is pretty important here, like when you should see a doctor and stress!
I know this is a very important time to our personal and professional development, but don’t forget your health! Your health is like the lenses we see the world through. No matter how good your world is, it means nothing if you can’t see it clearly.
Good luck and take care!
I didn’t want to post this often, especially since this pushes down the KPMG post I made yesterday(it’s right below this post), but I can’t stay silent on this!
Today I was reading the news, and I read that parents are letting their kids go to “Swine Flu Parties” so their kids will get the H1N1 virus now and not later in the fall during flu season! [Source] That is a VERY bad idea! I don’t know how people could make such rash decisions regarding such an unknown virus!
Anyone who ever thought that getting sick and recovering from it makes you stronger, you need to throw that kind of thinking out the window right now! Being exposed to a virus will strengthen your immune system to that strain of virus only, not that disease!
Let me tell you why this is a bad idea and will not work:
- We need to get an flu shot every year because the influenza virus CHANGES every year! It’s not because last year’s shot wore off, it never does. It’s just that your immune system is protected against last year’s virus, not this years.
- The seasonal influenza virus has a very unstable genetic code, and that’s true (or even more so) for the H1N1 virus. The H1N1 virus is a combination of of the genetic code of human, avian (bird), and swine influenza viruses. It’s made from 7-8 different RNA (which is much more unstable than DNA) segments, any changes or exchanges in any part of these segments can change the genetic coding. In other words, the H1N1 virus will MUTATE! And by fall, another strain might be on the loose.
- The H1N1 virus seems to affect the young and healthy people more severely than the seasonal influenza virus [Source], this means that even though most young adults will have mild symptoms, there’s a higher chance that this might actually result in severe illness or even death!
- We know relatively very little about the H1N1 virus right now, making decisions like that is irrational in irresponsible! If there is a proven, safe way to defend against this virus, than a vaccine will come out. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy!
Your health is the most important thing to you, without it, everything else is nothing but a shiny coat on a rotting apple. Please take care of yourself!
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In other news, a HIV Vaccine is being developed! With no side effects on the animals being tested so far, it is close to a human trial! This is a big step forward as HIV has been one of the hardest virus for us to cure or treat. Read more about it here:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1752321
