Author: arydaye01

HUMIRA( adalimumab) is a monoclonal antibody drug that is used to reduce signs and symptoms of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, moderate to severe polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, moderate to severe Crohn’s disease, moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa, moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, chronic plaque psoriasis, and non-infectious intermediate panuveitis. This drug is a TNF blocker that can suppress your immune system to lessen the signs and symptoms of autoimmune diseases. TNF, or tumor necrosis factor, is a cell signaling protein involved in systemic inflammation and is one of the cytokines that make up the acute phase reaction. This medication can be used by children 2 years and older and adults, but should be taken as prescribed by a doctor. HUMIRA is administered by injection.

Along with HUMIRA comes many serious side effects and signs and symptoms to look out for while using this drug. They include:

• Serious infections
• Hepatitis B infection in carriers of the virus
• Allergic reactions
• Nervous system problems
• Blood problems
• Heart failure
• Immune reactions including lupus-like syndrome
• Liver problems
• Psoriasis
• Pain, redness, rash, swelling, itching, or bruising at site of injection
• Upper respiratory infecctions
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Fever, sweats, or chills
• Muscle aches
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Blood in phlegm
• Weight loss
• Sores
• Diarrhea or stomach pain
• Burning while urinating
• Frequent urination
• Fatigue

These are a lot of serious side effects that re associated with HUMIRA. From patients trying to suppress the symptoms of one disease or illness, there is even more serious diseases and illness can be added to their ailments.

Because HUMIRA blocks TNF, it means that it also suppresses your immune system to be able to fight infections. People who are taking HUMIRA are more susceptible to serious infections like tuberculosis and infections that are caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses. doctors should test for tuberculosis before and during taking HUMIRA. There is also a huge increase to childrena dn adults taking this medication to develop cancers such as lymphoma, hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma, basal cell cancer, and squamous cell cancer. Some of the cancers are fatal and result in death. Although this medication can help with current diseases, it negatively impacts the immune system and may harm more than it helps.

With the pandemic affecting our world, we are relying on antibodies and our immune systems more than ever. Personally, I am hoping and praying that my immune system is strong enough to get us through this sickness because I definitely do not want any virus. Antibodies IgG and IgM are especially important to identify whether an individual has contracted this virus or not. Positive IgM and IgG tests infer that a person has recently been infected by the virus. If someone is IgG positive only, then that can indicate that they had the virus in the past.

Scientist and experts are working tirelessly to pinpoint this virus and provide a safe and effective vaccine. This vaccine will be the guide for the immune system to protect people from another Covid-19 pandemic. There are new discoveries showing that it is genetically similar to SARS and MERS. This could help to further gain understanding of pathogen-interaction, host immune responses, and the pathogen immune evasion strategies. That means that they are taking more steps to create preventative measures for the future. But although the future is looking bright, there is not a safe and effective vaccine out now in the time of crisis.

With the remaining gray areas about this virus, people are still concerned with what happens when they get the virus and the consequences after. There is the big question of if you had Covid-19, do you now have immunity or are you able to get sick again? There was a small study that took place in Shanghai to try to start to answer this question. This study found that people developed low levels of antibodies and in some there were none detected at all. This raises concern that with the lack of antibody production means lack of immunity. So in other words, mission status against Covid-19: INCOMPLETE.

T- cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy that is used to alter T cells to fight against cancer. T cells are collected from the blood and modified to be able to produce chimeric antigen receptors or CARs on their surface. When this is reintroduced into the patient with cancer, they attach onto a specific antigen on the tumor cells and destroy them. Right now, CAR T-cell therapy is approved to be used against aggressive, refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma and relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia up to age 25. With this kind of therapy being highly specialized and personalized, only a few cancer centers have it.

Dendritic cell therapy is like a cancer vaccine that is made from an individuals own blood. The dendritic cells taken from the blood are trained and multiplied to recognize the exact cancer to the specific immune system. This will allow the immune system to be strengthened and boost the body’s potential for working against cancer. So technically this would be a tailored cancer treatment vaccine. In 2018, there was 1,400 cases of melanoma patients that had been treated and 900 cases of a variety of cancers such as urological, intestinal, brain, breast, and lung. During this therapy, there was tumor shrinkage and stabilization of the disease.

Along with this good news comes some bad. Specifically in T-cell therapy there are side effects that include cytokine release syndrome, a large release of cytokines that triggers an inflammatory response causing flu like symptoms, and neurological difficulties, such as confusion and difficulty understanding language and speaking. Also, CAR T- cell therapy is estimated to be as much as $375,000. For dendritic cell therapy it cost about $18,500 per set of injections. For these treatments, there is never a guarantee that insurance will pay for them. There are many cases of cancer, and I personally have had this disease affect many of my family and close friends. It is nice to know that there are treatments being made to prolong life and even get rid of cancer for good even when there are risks.

As we all know there has been an outbreak of Covid-19 also known as the Corona virus all around the world. Because of this very scary virus and the lack of knowledge about its spread, it has caused my life to be flipped upside down. Between schools closing and having to stay at home to prevent getting the virus, it has been a true roller coaster! This post will mainly be about my feelings about not being able to physically be at UNC and how I am handling being at home. Warning: I am about to vent.

I am a first year at UNC. This means that this was my first year of being on my own and creating my schedule and livelihood. I got to meet so many new people and have a lot of first experiences. Now that the Corona virus has arrived, UNC had to close down meaning it closed my freedom, my connection with my new friends, and my first year experiences. I will never get back my first LDOC (Last Day Of Class) among other things. As if this was not depressing enough, I also have a very challenging and demanding course load. If I was struggling to complete assignments and understand material before this catastrophe, it is 1000x worse with classes being online.

As for quarantining in my house… it brings me to tears just thinking about it. After such as stressful semester, I was so excited for Spring Break and when it got extended, I was even more ecstatic! After being stuck in the house for weeks is not cute anymore. On top of being bored out of mind, my siblings and my mom are home because school is closed which hinders me from being able to concentrate on my schoolwork. As if this was not already horrible, I have a 90 year old great grandmother who lives by herself and cannot come out house. This gives her ample amounts of time to think of different things that she needs, no matter how extravagant. So in few words, I’m tired of going to the halfway empty grocery store!…Thank you for listening.

When it comes to having sexual intercourse, we often are advised to make sure you know important details about your sexual partner. For example, you may need to know how old they are or most importantly, their name! In the mist of these times, there is so much running through your head that you forget to check some questions off of the list. After all of the excitement, you think everything is fine. Until a few weeks when you realize, you have gonorrhea!

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoea bacterium. The mucous membranes that are in the reproductive tract, mouth, throat, eyes, and rectum are affected by this bacteria. It can be contracted through sexual contact with the penis, vagina, or anus of an infected person. No need to fear though, this sexually transmitted disease is really common and treatment is available.

To prevent gonorrhea from becoming a personal problem, there are some techniques that should be used to protect yourself. Since gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease, emphasis on the sexual, that mean that be cautious with sexual intercourse is the key. By not having sex at all, or using protective measures will help to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Also getting tested regularly will help to inform you if you do have gonorrhea. If you are infected by gonorrhea, it is advised that you tell you present and past sexual partners, refrain from having sexual intercourse until you finish treatment, and after you are treated, use protective measures.

Bacteria is known for being bad, even though some bacteria do really beneficial things in our bodies. In concern for bad bacteria, there are antibiotics that destroy them and prevent them from making us severely ill or dying. There are certain antibiotics that work on specific bacteria. But just as humans evolve, so do bacteria. This causes what is named a superbugs, but these superbugs are doing everything but saving people.

Superbugs are bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics that are suppose to destroy them. The bacteria that have this resistance quality then pass their newfound strength onto other bacteria. The biggest explanation for antibiotic resistance comes from people not taking the antibiotics correctly. Sometimes, when people are prescribed antibiotics, they stop taking the medicine when they start to feel better. Because all of the bacteria were not killed, this gives bacteria that have not been killed an opportunity to build resistance and become notorious superbugs. But why can’t genius scientists make an antibiotic that can kill superbugs? The short answer is that there is no time, and there are bigger fish to fry!

One of the biggest problems with superbugs is death. There is nothing that can stop these superbugs from taking over the body and making people gravely ill, often resulting in fatality. For example, CNN covered a story on a 56 year old woman who woke up with diarrhea and died shortly after from Clostridioides difficile or C. diff which is one of the deadliest antibiotic resistant bacteria on the CDC’s urgent list. But answering the question above in more detail, it is now more probable to run away from the superbugs than trying to make a superbug antibiotic and risk the bacteria gaining resistance again, causing an ongoing and more difficult problem. Instead it is more sensible to take precaution like hand washing and practicing good hygiene. It is scary to think that in the future, closer than we think, there could be a big and bad enough superbug that could wipe out the entire population.

Polio is a virus that can cause severe nerve damage which can lead to paralysis. Even though there have been man measures to eradicate this virus, today, there are still children and adult who are still affected by polio. The polio virus is usually spread by feces of an affected person. For countries that have poor sanitation and sewage systems. polio is easily spread through contaminated water, food, and direct contact. Children are more susceptible than adults, and that is why the polio vaccine is given to them during early childhood. Polio is prevented by two types of vaccines.

The polio virus has two vaccines called the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and the oral polio vaccine (OPV). The IPV was the first to become available in 1955 and was administered as a shot. The OPV was developed in 1961 acting as a more convenient form because it was administered by drops into the mouth. In the United States, the OPV was recommended until 2000 when only IPV was used. These vaccines resulted in polio being eradicated around 1979. So polio be destroyed and never to be seen again, right? Wrong!

In countries with excellent sanitation and sewage practices, polio should rarely, if at all, be seen due to the vaccines available. I think that everyone should get vaccinated, especially children. There are some people who do not believe this to be true, so they hold the biggest threat for reemergence of eradicated diseases like polio. For countries that have very poor sanitation and sewage practices, they still have occurrences of polio. There was a meeting on December 11, 2020 among the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations concerned with the significant increase in the wild poliovirus cases globally when the amount went from 28 to 113. They are seeing this increase in countries in Africa and Afghanistan. The committee concluded that this was indeed a problem due to the international spread and needed to be handled with coordinated international response. In my opinion, less coordination through talking, and more coordination through action.

Bacteria are all around us. We often think of bacteria in a negative context with the way that it can be spread around and can make people sick. There are people who choose to research these creatures to make antidotes that make sure that they don’t have the ability to attack all human kind and kill us. But, there are good and positive bacteria that are in humans that help us to stay healthy.

There are many microorganisms that band together to fight against invaders. They make up what we call the human microbiota. Each person has their own unique group of microbiota that comes from their DNA. One of the main roles of these microbes is to program the immune system to recognize certain invaders, providing cells with the nutrients that they need to survive, and preventing the colinization of bad bacteria and viruses. The gut and intestines are filled with microbes that help with digestion.

Washington University School of Medicine have researchers that have found a species of gut bacteria that can turn harmful byproducts of food processing into less harmful byproducts. Right now, they’ve only experimented in mice and in vitro conditions. If this were to be true, then this would be a very big discovery. Today, organic, non-processed food is very expensive making it more convenient for people to eat processed food. If there is a microbe that can make these processed food less harmful, there could potentially be decrease in diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

Quick! Run! Hide inside and never come out again! The flu has come to visit. There are many cases of the flu in every season, but the peak of flu season is usually around December and February. During this time period it is is inevitable to turn on the news and to hear that people are dying from this virus. Even those of us who get the flu vaccination still somehow get flu like symptoms. Why is this?

The flu, or influenza, is a viral infection that impacts the respiratory area. This virus is very contagious and is able to be transmitted through respiratory droplets and direct contact. The flu has three strains, A, B, and C. Influenza A and influenza B are the strains that we see seasonally where influenza C only causes a mild illness. When a person has the flu, they usually experience high fevers, body aches, and fatigue. This year, the flu was at worse then it has been for years. There have been at least 9.7 million reported cases, at least 87,000 flu related hospitalizations, and up to 12,000 deaths so far. Currently there are 46 states in the United States along with Puerto Rico that have been affected.

According to the CDC , people who took precaution and got the flu vaccine reduced their risk of the flu by 40%- 60%. So if this is true, how is it possible that people with the flu shot still get the flu or have flu like symptoms? Firstly, the flu vaccine is not always perfect due to the way that the flu strains are able to mutate. Researchers and scientist who make the vaccines try to predict the next year’s flu outcomes and it is hard to keep up with the constant changing because it takes up to 9 months to make a vaccine. This should not sway someone from getting the vaccine, because although it doesn’t completely protect you, it can be a partial shield. Even if you do get the flu, it may not last as long and it prevents you from dying from the flu alone. Secondly, sometimes vaccine users experience flu like symptoms and start to doubt the vaccine given. Sometimes you may have respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) which has similar symptoms. It is always important to get the vaccine, and if flu symptoms appear, go to the doctor to get tested. For those who were unlucky, please stay indoors and rest.

Today, there is an ongoing debate on whether children should be vaccinated. It is recommended to be vaccinated in order to give people’s bodies the advantage of fighting against diseases that can be very detrimental to health. You would think that everyone would desire to be healthy and desire for their bodies to be able to fight against disease, but sadly, everyone doesn’t think the same. The planting of this anti-vaccination mindset stemmed from a man named Andrew Wakefield in 1998. After his “discovery”, many turned away from vaccinating their children.

Andrew Wakefield, who was a gastroenterologist at the Royal Free Hospital in London, published a case series claiming that administering the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine caused children to become autistic. He studied 12 children, 11 of those children were boys, whose parents he claimed brought them in for medical attention due to behavioral changes. With just this prior information, there are many red flags that should have been waved by not only those who published his findings, but those who read it. The sample size was too small and very biased with there being an overwhelming amount of males and being from one medical center. But if it is in The Lancet, a peer-reviewed journal, then it must be absolutely true, right? This began a frenzy, and the MMR vaccine rates dropped because parents were scared that their children would become autistic. The paper was not retracted until February 2010 on the basis that several elements of the paper was false and Andrew Wakefield ignored ethical clearances. So, everyone should now know that vaccinating their children is the safe and important? Obviously not!

Even 10 years after the discovery, there are still people who choose not to vaccinate their children leaving them vulnerable to very nasty diseases. The benefits of vaccines heavily weigh against the risks, which definitely do not include autism. People are so dependent on technology that turning to the internet for answers is the way of life. Of course, the internet is notorious for being slightly false in some situations, but we continue to hold it words as the reigning truth. For example, if the internet says “vaccines are terrible”, many people believe it. But the reluctancy to vaccinated is taking a toll on global health. At first, herd immunity was a safety net, meaning that as long as a community was vaccinated, one or two people wouldn’t be a risk to their health. With the vaccination rates constantly dropping, it is now reversed where a community is not vaccinated and one or two are. Globally, disease like tuberculosis and malaria that were major problems in the past, and were eradicated or incident cases dropped dramatically, are starting to reemerge because people fail to shield themselves from it. Why continue to disease when there is such a simple solution?