Methicillin resistance staphylococcus aureus infection

The recent outburst of a virulent strain of bacetria that resist many antibiotics appears to be killing more people annually than AIDS, empychma, or homicide, according to a study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The death of two teenage high school American Football players in Virgina is a tragic reminder of how Methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus Aeureus (MRSA) can prey on all of us.

Being said as infection mostly gay people, MRSA in fact has been found to be prone to people who are exposed to cut and scrapes, such as children and athelets, people who work in hospitals, have regular contact with health care workers, have recently taken such antibiotics as fluoroquinolones or cephalosporin, homosexual men indeed, military recruiters, and prisoners. MRSA typically spread by skin to skin contact, crowded conditions and the sharing of contaminated personal items.

MRSA infection symptoms is basically skin infection that started as a pimple, resembles boil or spider bite, but quickly worsens into an abscess or pus-filled blister or sore. Patients who have sores that won't heal or are filled with pus should be tested for MRSA infection. They should not try to squeeze or dry the sore since it could spread the infection to other parts of the skun or deeper into the body.

To avoid or lower the risk of MRSA infection, bathing regularly and washing hands before meals is just a start. Use antibacterial sanitizer after being in public places or have touch handrails and other highly trafficked surfaces are highly recommended. wash towels and sheets regularly, leave clothes in the dryer until they are completely dry. Remind kinds and teenager that personal items such as brushes, combs, razors, towels, makeup and cell phones ARE NOT TO BE SHARED.

Some people have posted the videos about MRSA in youtube.com, you could access it and get more information about the symptoms. Keep in mind that the videos are highly graphics.

The safety of safety agent

An agent or device created to prevent conception called condom is very widely known as a consequence of the AIDS and STD outburst during 1960-1970. However, what is considered one of the safest way of having protection might have several backgrounds we should be awaare of. Several facts regarding the safety of condom:

• Condom is made from latex or polyutherine - more common known as plastic condom. This plastic condom is designed as alternative for people allergic to latex. What most people are not aware of, plastic condom offers less quality than latex. The process of producing this plastic condom is considered too fast while the breaking risk is 3 times as high as latex (5% for plastic and 1.5% for latex)
• Based on several conducted studies, condom prevents the spread of AIDS if used consistently and correctly. However, small precentage of infection (0.15%) still occurs. The best things to do are to absence from any sexual activities from HIV+ partners, change partners less frequently, and quickly take antiviral therapy within maximum 72hours after a known exposure to HIV+
• STDs and AIDS could spread via unprotected oral sex via the lining of urethra, vaginal or cervix, anus, or directly via cuts and sores of the body. The risk increases if the person performing has cuts or sores in his/her mouth, and if the recipient ejaculates in the mouth of the performer. Condom reduce the spreading risk by 98%.
• The absence of condom size in the package caused people to make mistakes. Too small or too big condom can cause spillage of semen or slipage, which might increase STDs risks as well as unwanted pregnancies. Several states tried to urge condom manufacturer to put size of condom in term of width and length instead of letter (S,M,L).

Risky behaviours among teenagers

There is a new interesting opinion from a study observing why risky behaviours are so common among teenagers and what might be done to curtail it. The common sense shared by most of our parents are that the teens think they are immortal or invunerable, immune to the hazards, or do not appreciate the risk involved in activities like driving under alcohol influence, having unprotected sex, driving too fast, binge-drinking, or experimenting with drugs. Simply said, we teenagers are short-minded and blind compared to the adults.

Is that really the case? It isn't, apparently, according to the study. The opposite fact turns out to be that actually teenagers are too well-aware of their vulnerability and the risks involved, that they overestimate their risk of obtaining negative effects from events such as unprotected sex. But when we indeed actually weigh the risk and benefit, our mind send a signal to just do and go ahead because the benefits outweigh the risks. As for the perception of vulnerability, another studied conducted a decade ago found that adolescence estimated much higher risks of their dying than the actual risks. Showing us the videos of car crashing may do nothing to reduce future risk-taking. Moreover, showing us the actual risks of those behaviour could backfire, leading us to realize that the actual risks of behaviours like unprotected sex are not as heavy as we thought before.

A new developed strategy offered by the study suggested that the best approach would be based on "gist", an overall sense of what the is the best course of actions. As people getting older and more experienced, their decision would drive towards this so-called gist. This approach allowing adults to reach the bottom line more quickly and, in doing so, reduce their risky behaviour. For example, while an adolescent might consider playing Roussian roulette for $1million payoffs, an adult would be more inclined to think that the amount of money is not worth a one in six chance of dying.

Gist is based on culture, background, and experiences, and experience is what the teens lack. However, there are some ways to create this gist, even based on other people's experiences. For example, after knowing that many young girls getting unwanted pregnancies because of unprotected sex, we should practice the approach of say "no" and not worry about losing our boyfriend. Do feel confident, dont feel stupid, and even if people think you're stupid that's their problem, not ours.

At the same time, the study suggested that older adolescence are better at feeling the cue of possible danger from the environment, as well as learning from consequences than younger adolescence. So for the younger ones, rather than relying on them to make the decision, a better way is to supervise them to protect themselves by removing opportunities for risk taking, such as filling their time with positive activities. Young girls should not be left alone at home with their boyfriend, and omnipresent adults should be present and alcohol absents in teenagers parties.

Taken from NYTIMES

Drinking Danger

Alcoholic beverages are no longer luxurious in the world nowadays. Who doesn't like alcohol? It makes you relax, at ease, and enjoying yourself. However, maybe you should think twice before being a slave to Grolsch or Jupiter because maybe you wouldn't be so happy after reading what's written below.

Those are several consequences of consuming excess alcohol

Alcohol abuse
In majority, the younger the people were when they had their first drink, the more likely they were to abuse alcohol as an adult. Kids who are begin to drink as teenagers are more likely to become seriously intoxicated during routine drinking episode later in life, presumably because they need more alcohol to get high.
Stroke
heavy drinkers are exposed to nearly three times the risk of hemorrhagic strokes, even light drinkers develop two fold risks. Hemorrhagic strokes occur when blood vessel in the brain leaks or ruptures. The effects of alcohol into hemorrhagic stokes was independent of other risks factor of strokes such as age, weight, blood pressure, and smoking.

Lungs
Chronic alcoholics have a high incidence of pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, in which the lungs become inflamed, filled with fluid, and can be quckly fatal. Alcohol interacts with claudin, protein that keeps fluid from entering alveoli. Little leakage is not really a problem, but infection or injury can cause fluid buildup. Beyond that, alcohol disrupts a hormone that maintain immune response in the lungs, so infections are more likely to take holds in heavy drinkers.

Liver
Heavy drinkers exposing the liver into serious danger. Alcohol is rapidly absorbed by upper part of small intestine, travels to liver via veins and capillaries of the digestive tracks, which affects nearly all liver cells. Liver cells is the only organ in the body that can produce enough alcohol dehydrogenase to break down alcohol. However, liver prefer fatty acid as a fuel. When alcohol is present, liver is forced to first metabolize alcohol and letting the fatty acid accumulate. A liver clogged with fat causes liver cells to become less efficient at performing its tasks. The persistent condition of such leads to cirrhosis, where the normal liver cells are damaged and replaced by scar tissues, which is irreversible

In the latest stage of cirrhosis, urine and all bypass metabolism product that should be processed by the liver and discarded along with urine is accumulated in the body because the liver is not able to function properly. It leads to a "pregnant-bellied" prototype, where all grabage is accumulated in mid-section of the body. These bypass product then should be discarded by means of medical treatment.







Brain

Unlike foods, which needs time for digestion, alcohol is quickly absorbed by the body before most of other nutrients. About 20% is absorbed directly accross empty stomach and reach brain within one minutes. As the alcohol reach frontal lobes, you begin to loose control over your emotions. Go to the blood vessel, it makes vessel swelled up and increase pressure, which will give headache. When alcohol affects cerrebellum, you will loose the ability to walk straight. Now get to the serious part, drinking large amount of alcohol will affects medulla, which control body function such as breathing and heartbeat. If you drink large amount slowly, reticular activating system (part which control whether you are asleep or awake) will be affected first and you will pass out. If you binge drink or drink very fast, medulla could be shut down before RAS response, which means you could be put into coma, brain damage, or death. Moreover, alcohol is a depressant which slows the communication between nerve cells. In large amount, alcohol is neurotoxic, can actually kill brain cells.


Head and neck cancer
Pool analysis in head and neck cancer epidemiology showed people who are smoking and consuming alcohol in high amount develop risks of head and neck cancer for almost 50% compared to non-smoker non drinker. The risk is reduced into 24% for non-drinker smokers.


Facts:

Factors affecting alcohol metabolism:

1. The speed of alcohol metabolism depends on stomach condition in time of consuming. The higher dietary fat content, the more time stomach content is emptied into intestine, and the more time alcohol adsorption takes place.


2. Women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently from men. They have higher Blood Alcohol Concentration's (BAC) after consuming the same amount of alcohol as men and are more susceptible to alcoholic liver disease, heart muscle damage, and brain damage. The difference in BAC's between women and men has been attributed to women's smaller amount of body water, likened to dropping the same amount of alcohol into a smaller pail of water. An additional factor contributing to the difference in BAC's may be that women have lower activity of the alcohol metabolizing enzyme ADH in the stomach, causing a larger proportion of the ingested alcohol to reach the blood. The combination of these factors may render women more vulnerable than men to alcohol-induced liver and heart damage.


3. Recommended safe limits of alcohol drinking

• Men should drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week (and no more than four units in any one day).


• Women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week (and no more than three units in any one day).


• Pregnant women. The exact amount that is safe is not known. Therefore, advice from the Department of Health is that pregnant women and women trying to become pregnant should not drink at all. If you do chose to drink when you are pregnant then limit it to one or two units, once or twice a week. And never get drunk.

Alcohol in the right dosage could:

1. Reduce renal cell cancer risks
   Drinking at least one glass alcoholic beverages a day reduce 30% of renal (kidneys) cell cancer, compared to non-alcoholic drinker. However, at the same time it increases risks of cancers of the oral cavity, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, liver, and breast, and probably the colon and rectum.


2. Decreased hypertension risk in young women
   Women between 20 – 40 years of age who are moderate drinkers develop less risks of hypertension. Light drinkers had a decreased risk compared with nondrinkers, but heavier drinkers had an increased risk. However, this advantage do not apply to people over 40 years of age. Mechanism of how alcohol decreased hypertension risk is unknown, but how excessive alcohol interfere with high blood pressure is obvious.