Twilliams scientific/social blog

Body odor (or B.O., bromhidrosis, osmidrosis or ozochrotia) is a perceived unpleasant smell our bodies can give off when bacteria that live on the skin break down sweat into acids - some say it is the smell of bacteria growing on the body, but it really is the result of bacteria breaking down protein into certain acids. Body odor usually becomes evident if measures are not taken when a human reaches puberty - 14-16 years of age in females and 15-17 years of age in males. People who are obese, those who regularly eat spicy foods, as well as individuals with certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, are more susceptible to having body odor. People who sweat too much - those with hyperhidrosis - may also be susceptible to body odor, however, often the salt level of their sweat is too high for the bacteria to break down - it depends where the excess sweating is occurring and which type of sweat glands are involved. Sweat itself is virtually odorless to humans; it is the rapid multip...

Innate and adaptive immunity Edit Scheme of a Fc receptor It is the capability of the body to resist harmful microorganisms or viruses from entering it. Immunity involves both specific and nonspecific components. The nonspecific components act either as barriers or as eliminators of wide range of pathogens irrespective of antigenic specificity. Other components of the immune system adapt themselves to each new disease encountered and are able to generate pathogen-specific immunity. The basic premise for the division of the immune system into innate and adaptive components comes down to the innate system being composed of primitive bone marrow cells that are programmed to recognise foreign substances and react, versus the adaptive system being composed of more advanced lymphatic cells that are programmed to recognise self substances and don't react. The reaction to foreign substances is etymologically described as inflammation, meaning to set on fire, while the non-reaction to se...

If there was a hormone in your body whose chief job was to make you feel hungry, most of us probably wouldn't be too keen on it. (I don't know about you, but having a healthy appetite has never been a problem for me.) But if there was a hormone that decreased our appetites, we'd order buckets of it! Well, let me introduce you to some hormones that do just those things: the "hunger hormones," leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is a hormone, made by fat cells, that decreases your appetite. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite, and also plays a role in body weight. Levels of leptin -- the appetite suppressor -- are lower when you're thin and higher when you're fat. But many obese people have built up a resistance to the appetite-suppressing effects of leptin, says obesity expert Mary Dallman, PhD, from University of California at San Francisco. Here's what we know so far about the "hunger hormones" and what we can do to help control our appe...

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Stem-cell therapy This article is about the medical therapy. For the cell type, see  Stem cell . Stem-cell therapy  is the use of  stem cells  to treat or prevent a disease or condition. Bone marrow transplant  is the most widely used stem-cell therapy, but some therapies derived from  umbilical cord blood  are also in use. Research is underway to develop various sources for stem cells, and to apply stem-cell treatments for  neurodegenerative diseases  and conditions such as  diabetes ,  heart disease , and other conditions. Stem-cell therapy has become controversial following developments such as the ability of scientists to isolate and culture  embryonic stem cells , to create stem cells using  somatic cell nuclear transfer  and their use of techniques to create  induced pluripotent stem cells . This controversy is often related to  abortion politics  and to  human cloning . Additio...

In vitro  fertilisation "IVF" and "Test tube baby" redirect here. For other uses, see  IVF (disambiguation)  and  Test tube baby (disambiguation) . In vitro  fertilisation Intervention Illustrated schematic of IVF with  intracytoplasmic sperm injection . WRITTEN BY COMR. Thankgod williams...BSC, mbbs, In vitro  fertilisation  (or  fertilization ;  IVF ) is a process by which  an egg  is  fertilised  by  sperm  outside the body:  in vitro  ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, removing an  ovum  or ova (egg or eggs) from the woman's  ovaries  and letting sperm fertilise them in a liquid in a laboratory. The fertilised egg ( zygote ) is cultured for 2–6 days in a growth medium and is then transferred to the same or another woman's  uterus , with the intention of establishing a successful  pregnan...

Myopia Defined What is myopia? Myopia, also known as nearsightedness, is a common type of refractive error where close objects appear clearly, but distant objects appear blurry. Normal Myopia.Myopia. When you look at an object, light rays reflect off that object and pass through the cornea and the lens of the eye, which bend (or refract) the light and focus it on the retina at the back of the eye. If you have perfect vision, the rays focus directly on the surface of the retina. But in a myopic eye, the eyeball is usually too long from front to back. This causes light rays to focus at a point in front of the retina, rather than directly on its surface. This makes distant objects blurry. Myopia can also be the result of a cornea that is too curved for the length of the eyeball or a lens that is too thick. For some people, their myopia may be caused by a combination of problems in the cornea, lens, and length of the eyeball. What are the symptoms of myopia? If you have myopia, you...

About Lymphoma Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that occurs when lymphocytes--white blood cells that help protect the body from infection and disease--begin behaving abnormally. Abnormal lymphocytes may divide faster than normal cells or they may live longer than they are supposed to. Lymphoma may develop in many parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, blood or other organs. There are two main types of lymphomas: • Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) (formerly referred to as Hodgkin's lymphoma) — There are six types of HL, an uncommon form of lymphoma that involves the Reed-Sternberg cells. • Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) (formerly referred to as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) - There are more than 61 types of NHL, some of which are more common than others. Any lymphoma that does not involve Reed-Sternberg cells is classified as non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Signs and Symptoms Certain symptoms are not specific to lymphoma and are, in fact, similar to those of many other il...

Causes By Mayo Clinic Staff The production of sperm is a complex process and requires normal functioning of the testicles (testes) as well as the hypothalamus and pituitary glands — organs in your brain that produce hormones that trigger sperm production. Once sperm are produced in the testicles, delicate tubes transport them until they mix with semen and are ejaculated out of the penis. Problems with any of these systems can affect sperm production. Also, there can be problems of abnormal sperm shape (morphology), movement (motility) or function. However, often the cause of low sperm count isn't identified. Medical causes Low sperm count can be caused by a number of health issues and medical treatments. Some of these include: Varicocele. A varicocele (VAR-ih-koe-seel) is a swelling of the veins that drain the testicle. It's the most common reversible cause of male infertility. Although the exact reason that varicoceles cause infertility is unknown, it might be related to ...