CRE Bacteria: End of Mankind?

Hello,

Take a look at this picture:

It basically shows the process known as conjugation where a plasmid, an independent piece of DNA usually associated with antibiotic resistance, moves from one bacteria to another while making them resistance to antibiotics.

The bacteria, known as Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, are named for their ability to fight off carbapenem antibiotics -- the last line of defense in the medical toolbox. And so far, they've emerged almost exclusively in health care facilities, attacking the weakest of patients. CRE bacteria have the perfect mixture of plasmid DNA to protect them against all of the antibiotics known to man. Could it be argued that it is our own fault that created these super bacterial species? very well so.

Death rates among patients with CRE infections can be about 40%, far worse than other, better-known health care infections such as MRSA or C-Diff, which have plagued hospitals and nursing homes for decades.

In the worst case scenario, this resistance could start spreading to other species of bacteria and creating an entire new class of bacteria and this bacterial infections that would be untreatable by mankind.

CDC proposes intensive screening to try to isolate the infected individual and prevent CRE from spreading. In New York City, where CRE cases are endemic at many facilities, Bronx-based Montefiore Medical Center cut prevalence rates in half across its nine intensive care units with a program that relied heavily on screening.

At this point, we can hope that some drug can be effective against this strain before it turns into an epidemic. 

Thank you,
Parth Patel

Pinworms (Genus - Enterobius)

Pinworms are white, parasitic worms that can live in the large intestine of humans. They are about one-half inch long. While the infected person sleeps, female pinworms leave the intestinal tract and lay their eggs on the skin around the anus. The eggs are laid in a sticky, jelly-like substance that, along with the wriggling of the female pinworm, causes severe itching.

Pinworm is the most common worm infection in the United States. School-age children, followed by preschoolers, have the highest rates of infection. Cases of pinworm infection are seen most often at schools, daycare centers and other institutional settings.

Pinworm infection may cause:

• Itching around the anal area, difficulty sleeping and irritability.
• If it is a severe infection, symptoms may include:
  • nervousness
  • restlessness
  • loss of appetite
  • weight loss
  • girls may experience vaginal itching and irritation (vaginitis), if pinworms are near the vagina.
  Treating pinworms involves either prescription or over-the-counter drugs.

For more information: http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/pinworm/fact_sheet.htm

Thank you for reading and stay clean.
Parth Patel

Number 33 - Arsenic

Hello,

This blog covers certain significant aspects of the metal known as Arsenic. Arsenic is a chemical element with symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is notoriously poisonous to multicellular life, although a few species of bacteria are able to use arsenic compounds as respiratory metabolites.

Origin/Geology: 
Arsenic is a metalloid. It can exist in various allotropes, although only the gray form has important use in industry. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.

Uses: 

The main use of metallic arsenic is for strengthening alloys of copper and especially lead (for example, in car batteries). Arsenic is a common n-type dopant in semiconductor electronic devices, and the optoelectronic compound gallium arsenide is the most common semiconductor in use after doped silicon. Arsenic and its compounds, especially the trioxide, are used in the production of pesticides, treated wood products, herbicides, and insecticides. These applications are declining, however

Movement in the environment:

Arsenic can be found naturally on earth in small concentrations. It occurs in soil and minerals and it may enter air, water and land through wind-blown dust and water run-off. Arsenic in the atmosphere comes from various sources: vulcanoes release about 3000 tonnes per year and microorganisms release volatile methylarsines to the extent of 20.000 tonnes per year, but human activity is responsible for much more: 80.000 tonnes of arsenic per year are released by the burning of fossil fuels.
Despite its notoriety as a deadly poison, arsenic is an essential trace element for some animals, and maybe even for humans, although the necessary intake may be as low as 0.01 mg/day.

Environment Concerns:
Arsenic is a component that is extremely hard to convert to water-soluble or volatile products. The fact that arsenic is naturally a fairly a mobile component, basically means that large concentrations are not likely to appear on one specific site. This is a good thing, but the negative site to it is that arsenic pollution becomes a wider issue because it easily spreads. Arsenic cannot be mobilized easily when it is immobile. Due to human activities, mainly through mining and melting, naturally immobile arsenics have also mobilized and can now be found on many more places than where they existed naturally.


Toxicity - Human Health:
Exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause various health effects, such as irritation of the stomach and intestines, decreased production of red and white blood cells, skin changes and lung irritation. It is suggested that the uptake of significant amounts of inorganic arsenic can intensify the chances of cancer development, especially the chances of development of skin cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer and lymphatic cancer.

A very high exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause infertility and miscarriages with women, and it can cause skin disturbances, declined resistance to infections, heart disruptions and brain damage with both men and women.
Finally, inorganic arsenic can damage DNA.

Although this is not a detailed source for information, more information on Arsenic can be found through many sources on the internet. 

Thank you for reading,

Parth Patel

Community Gardens and their Benefits

Hello,

This blog will shed some light on the benefits of community gardens. Community garden can be simple defined as any piece of land gardened by a group of people. Below are some of the many healthy benefits of community gardens:

• Improves the quality of life for people in the garden
• Provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
• Stimulates Social Interaction
• Encourages Self-Reliance
• Beautifies Neighborhoods
• Produces Nutritious Food
• Reduces Family Food Budgets
• Conserves Resources
• Creates opportunity for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education
• Reduces Crime
• Preserves Green Space
• Creates income opportunities and economic development
• Reduces city heat from streets and parking lots
• Provides opportunities for intergenerational and cross-cultural connections

It is also important to point out that community gardening allows for individuals to recycle and create a compost system and create soil rich in nutrients. 

Thank you,

Parth Patel

For for info visit: http://www.communitygarden.org/learn/

                                                                         Rachel Carson

                                                Source: http://www.rachelcarson.org/

As mankind has evolved towards science and technology and a world that runs on facts facts and facts, we have become increasingly dependent on facts to believe even the smallest things. Rachel Carson, in her book Silent Spring (1962), does an incredible job in providing strong factual information and opening our eyes towards harmful chemical agent use after WWII. Her degrees in science and the amount of knowledge her experience with nature provided gave her a concrete base to increase awareness regarding the slow death of nature and mankind. Throughout her book, Rachel has used multiple examples, scenarios, and scientific evidence to prove her point and to prove that a certain chemical is disastrous. I think this quality alone has made her a significant figure. Another important aspect of the book are the titles. Her titles like "Rivers of death", "Indiscriminately from the Skies" etc. create a strong impression on the reader and directly indicate the seriousness and intensity of the issues. Instead of just providing tables of data and other scientific evidence, Rachel narrates it all to make it easier for the reader rather than proving appendixes of huge data analysis that come might not even understand. In these ways, Rachel Caron's Silent Spring reached even the least educated common man.

Thank you,

Parth Patel

Rapid Glacier Melting

Hello,

In this blog concerning the health of the Earth as a whole, I would like to discuss and point out the possible affects of constant heavy melting of the Arctic glaciers. 

Some of the most beautiful beaches, travel attractions and areas of heavy human civilization are either on islands or on lands mass very close to huge bodies of water. For instance, the island of Manhattan where over 13 trillion dollars circulate daily is an island. It is often referred to as the highest achievement of mankind. With the quick melting of Arctic glaciers, governments, scientists and humans around the globe are concerned with the global affects it could cause like earthquakes, tsunamis, drowning of islands (like the Maldives), temperature fluctuations etc.

The Arctic ice is melting on an unprecedented scale and pace. Scientists and researchers are working to figure out its global ramifications. Thirty-five Japanese organizations, such as the National Institute of Polar Research and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, embarked on a five-year project last fiscal year to monitor the Arctic. Around 300 researchers are to determine how the melting in the Arctic Ocean, Siberia, Alaska and elsewhere will affect the rapidly changing climate, and thus the Earth's environment.

For now, the only hope is that the theory of global warming is false and that this melting is natural and won't have any drastic affects globally.

Thank you,
Parth Patel

News Articles Used: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-arctic-ice-crisis-20120816

Tsunami 2004

The biggest and most destructive tsunami in 2004 and one of the biggest tsunami's in history was the one the originated due to an earthquake in the Indian Ocean. The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The shifting of the earth’s plates in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004 caused a rupture more than 600 miles long, displacing the seafloor above the rupture by perhaps 10 yards horizontally and several yards vertically. That doesn't sound like much, but the trillions of tons of rock that were moved along hundreds of miles caused the planet to shudder with the largest magnitude earthquake in 40 years. The tectonic plates in this area had been pushing against each other, building pressure for thousands of years – they continue to do so and will likely cause underwater earthquakes and tsunamis in the future.

Within hours of the earthquake, killer waves radiating from the epicenter slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, damaging countries from east Africa to Thailand.

By the end of the day of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, it had already killed 150,000 people. The final death toll was 283,000.  The Indian Ocean tsunami traveled as far as 3,000 miles to Africa and still arrived with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property. The risk of famine and epidemic diseases was extremely high immediately following the tsunami – bodies rotting in the tropical heat contaminated food and water sources.

-Parth Patel