Author: avcast22

One monoclonal antibody drug is called cetuximab, more commonly known as Erbitux. A monoclonal antibody is a human antibody that was made from a clone of an immune cell, but was not naturally produced. They are essentially man-made clones of antibodies that are made to counteract the effects of an autoimmune disorder. Cetuximab is meant to prolong the survival of patients with colorectal cancer that has spread throughout the body as well as head or neck cancer that has spread. The drug can slow the progression and even shrink the tumor size in some patients.

Erbitux is given through an infusion into your veins and binds to a receptor found on all body cells that stimulates growth. This receptor is called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Erbitux inhibits the signal released telling a tumor cell to grow and instead can bind to an immune cell that can then kill the infected cell. This immune cell could be an NK cell that would deliver cytokines to induce apoptosis in the cancer cell. However, this drug also has many side effects that a possible recipient needs to be aware of. These side effects include:

Physical symptoms:

• Heart attack
• Blemishes on the skin or pimples
• Bloating or swelling of the face or extremities
• Body aches or pain
• Chills
• Congestion
• Cough
• Deep cracks/grooves/lines in the skin
• Wrinkled skin
• Blistering of skin
• Red skin lesions with purple center
• Difficulty breathing
• Trouble, rapid/shallow breathing
• Dizziness
• Fever
• Headache
• Hoarseness
• Lower back or side pain
• Nausea
• Painful, difficult, decreased urination
• Pale skin
• Rapid weight gain
• Runny nose
• Dry skin/mouth
• Mouth swelling
• Cracked lips
• Skin rash
• Swollen neck glands
• Chest tightness
• Tingling of hands/feet
• Trouble swallowing
• Unusual bleeding or bruising
• Unusual tiredness or weakness
• Unusual weight fluctuations
• Changes in voice
• Stomach ache
• Vomiting
• Belching
• Black, tarry stool
• Diarrhea
• Difficult bowel movements
• Chest pain
• Confusion
• Trouble concentrating
• Fainting/lightheadedness
• Rapid heartbeat
• Sore throat
• Mouth sores
• Sunken eyes
• Eye irritation/itchy eyes
• Eye discharge
• Excessive production of tears
• Swelling of eye/eyelids
• Thirst
• Itching
• Joint/muscle pain
• Neck/back stiffness
• Fingernail/toenail discoloration
• Hair thinning/loss
• Heartburn
• Indigestion
• Loss of appetite
• Weakness
• Pain
• Sleeplessness

Psychological symptoms:

• Anxiety
• Discouragement
• Feeling sad or empty
• Irritability
• Loss of interest or pleasure

If someone has suffered from coronary artery disease or lung disorders, they should not take Erbitux. This is due to the fact that it puts them at an increased risk of developing side effects and those side effects would become more severe. For example, prior lung disorders could make the side effect of difficulty breathing even worse and in turn put the patient at greater risk of death or some other severe consequence. This drug is positively affecting both the adaptive and innate immune systems. The adaptive immune system is being affected due to the antibodies that are being introduced into the body. The innate immune response is being affected because the antibodies will help NK cells (part of the innate immune system) find and destroy cancerous cells.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, people are rushing to find a cure or at least something to help figure out how to slow the spread. One test that is in the works is an antibody test to see who has been exposed to Covid-19 and recovered, and to see who is most susceptible. Those who have a heightened number of antibodies that bind to Covid-19 in circulation have been exposed and recovered from the infection and they still have an increased number of antibodies from the immune response. The test could also help identify who is most susceptible to the disease by finding which populations tend to not have an antibody that binds well to the Covid-19 antigen. If their antibody can’t bind as well, then their immune response will be weaker, leaving them more vulnerable to the effects of the infection.

What these test would do is take a blood sample from a patient and test for antibodies. Most often they test for antibodies IgM and IgG and wield either positive or negative results for each. If a patient had only IgM titers, it would indicate an active infection because IgM antibodies are the first produced during an immune response. If they had IgM and IgG titers, that would indicate they were later on in an active infection because IgM is still present but IgG is also being produced. Having only IgG titers would indicate that they were infected but have since recovered because IgG lasts the longest in the blood. Without IgM, an active immune response is not being produced but the presence of IgG titers indicate that there was a prior immune response and the IgG titers are still left over from that infection. Another test can take a sample of antibodies form a patient and use the antibodies to see if they help prevent an infection, therefore telling us whether or not the patient is protected from a future infection.

While most of these test are still in the research stages, there is some promise that they will become approved for use in a clinical setting. I believe it is remarkable how fast scientists are able to produce such tests that could become very effective. In just a couple months, scientists have found tests that could effectively treat or indicate previous infection from Covid-19. I believe both types of tests are important. Obviously we want a cure for Covid-19 to treat those who are infected but it is also important to know who has been infected in the past to try and determine immunity and susceptibility. These antibody response tests seem promising and essential in understanding more about the virus and how to best combat it.

Today, there is a new treatment being used called T-Cell therapy. This treatment involves modifying a person’s T-cells so that they can better fight off an infection. One disease where this option is being explored is cancer. For cancer, it is called CAR T-Cell therapy and involves inserting a protein called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) into a patients T-cells. This method is still being tested but it is believed that it will provide an effective and safe option for helping treat cancer.

The CAR proteins are very good at finding cancer cells, so they help the T-cells better identify cancerous cells. Through the trials conducted so far, CAR T-cell therapy has shown promise in all age groups who may be losing the effectiveness of their other current treatment. This shows that while other treatments may be losing effectiveness, a promising replacement may be on its way in. Despite these promises, there have been multiple side effects associated with this treatment. The first is the side effect on your wallet. This treatment is very expensive, anywhere from $350,000 to $1.5 million. Other side effects have included problems with speech, delirium, seizures, and other neurological side effects. However, there has been an additional design of the original treatment that is safer. When this alternative was tested, a more than 50% decrease in side effects was recorded with far fewer severe side effects as well.

I believe that this treatment is very promising and could be an effective method of treatment in the future. Given that it is a one-time treatment as opposed to recurring operations such as chemotherapy, it is very appealing to someone who does not want to deal with multiple administrations of the treatment. Also, with the reduced side effects in the new version there is less risk with this treatment than before. I personally am a fan of this treatment because it is stimulating the immune system you already have as opposed to bypassing your immune system to kill the cancer in another way, such as drugs. I believe that with some more testing, this treatment could become widely available and one of the more common methods of treatment.

Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down. So just sit right there, I’ll tell you about how Covid-19 became the most talked about subject everywhere.

The world is crazy right now. I am writing from the friendly confines of my house this week because I have no other choice. We have been instructed to stay in place and only leave our houses for essential travel. So far, our spring break has been extended a week, all of our classes have been moved online, and we have received the option to pass fail any of the classes we are taking (except for the core nursing school pre-reqs). And who knows if the virus is anywhere close to being done wreaking havoc on the world. So as of right now, I am doing all of my work at home.

You may be thinking… “wow I bet that is pretty nice.” Well, that is not really the case as I’ve come to find out. While I am in the comfort of my own home, the work seems to be harder and my life seems to be more uncomfortable. Why is this? Ever since I graduated high school, I have never done homework at my house. I have always done it in Davis Library, my dorm room, a study lounge, or some other peaceful spot on campus. Every time I have come home from college, I have not had to do much work at all. This has led to the feeling that whenever I am at home, I should be on vacation. Because vacation is almost synonymous to relax and don’t do any work, I have found it very hard to focus on work during my Zoom University days. I have plenty of work to do (my teachers are making sure of that), but it’s hard to really focus on work in a place that has meant relaxation for many years.

Times like these really make you realize what you have in everyday, normal life. At UNC, I was used to having all of my friends living in the same building to having them all be over an hour away from me. On top of that, I can’t go visit them because we are supposed to be quarantine ourselves in our home and can’t travel to visit with friends. At UNC and in general, I was used to watching some of my favorite sports this time of year. March Madness basketball (RIP 2020 UNC Basketball), NCAA and MLB baseball, the Olympics were going to happen this summer as well. But now they are all canceled. People around the world are also learning who the real heroes are in our everyday life. It’s not the professional athletes or actors and celebrities (even though they can have big impacts on someones life), it is the nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals that help keep our society in the best health possible. It is the truck drivers and retail workers that keep stores stocked so that we can pick up food, medicine, and anything else we may need to survive during quarantine (apparently a lot of people need toilet paper… and a lot of it). It is the teachers who despite the adverse conditions, continue to educate the next generation and help parents realize that their children are a handful when you have to deal with them the entire day, 5 days a week. It is all of the people who still have to go to work to ensure society doesn’t collapse while everybody else stays home to wait it out. To those heroes, we salute you. Thank you for coming to my TED talk, I’ll give y’all some nice memes to brighten your day during these lonely times.

STD’s are becoming increasingly prevalent in the population. One of the most widely-known STD’s is HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is short for Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. HIV is able to infect the body by attacking the immune system, more specifically the CD4 cells. This weaken the immune system and allows the virus to survive easier in the body because the immune system is not able to fight off the infection.

As the name STD implies, HIV is a sexually transmitted disease. This means that in order to contract the disease, one must have sex with an individual who is infected with HIV. Transmission occurs most often during unprotected sex or sex with multiple partners. However, transmission can also occur by sharing needles with someone infected. While there is still no cure for this disease it is nonetheless very preventable.

There are many steps one can take to prevent getting infected with HIV. The most effective way is abstinence. If you don’t have sex, then it will be pretty difficult to contract a sexually transmitted disease. You could also use protection like condoms. Don’t be a fool, wrap your tool. Also, either clean your needles properly or just use a new one instead of borrowing your buddy’s needle or syringe. Another way to prevent contraction of the disease is monogamy. If you only have sex with one person and you know they don’t have HIV, you won’t get HIV. If you already contracted the virus you can receive antiretroviral treatment to limit transmission of the infection and reduce symptoms but it will not get rid of the infection in your body.

Antibiotic resistance has become an increasingly pertinent issue in the medical world. While one way of becoming antibiotic resistant for bacteria is undergoing random mutations that make them resistant, a major cause of the rising number of antibiotic resistant organisms today are misuse of antibiotics. People can either take antibiotics for something that they don’t do anything against (like a viral infection) or they don’t take the antibiotics like they’re prescribed. One way to misuse the prescription is to stop taking it once you feel better as opposed to the length of time prescribed. Another name for antibiotic resistant bacteria is superbugs.

If we lose the ability to use antibiotics, then we will become more susceptible to infections that we are easily cured by today. We wouldn’t be able to treat the infections and it could lead to more sever infections and even death. For example, Staphylococcus aureus is not very fatal today, but could be a very dangerous infection if we were unable to use antibiotics effectively. Antibiotics are also being used in the farm animal industry. Antibiotics are given to farm animals to help them grow bigger and fatter so they can provide more meat and therefore produce more money for the farmer. Meat is only considered antibiotic free when no antibiotics can be detected at the time of sale, not if there were none used throughout the life of the animal. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae has become an urgent threat in drug resistance and much like the rest of the Enterobacteriaceae family has gained resistance to almost all antibiotics and are becoming more difficult to treat.

This antibiotic resistance is changing our world as we know it. For as long as we can remember we have been able to use antibiotics to fight off a multitude of infections, and all of that will soon be gone. I believe people should not use antibiotics unless they are necessary. If the antibiotics would only weaken the symptoms but are not necessary for treatment, then they shouldn’t be used. Farm animals should stop being fed antibiotics because it only contributes to the resistance of organisms and it hurts us more than it helps us. So while it may seem in the moment like it’s a good idea to take antibiotics, we should stop and think if we really need them before we don’t have an option anymore.

Poliomyelitis, more commonly know as Polio is a viral disease caused by the virus conveniently named poliovirus. There are 3 different types or strains of the virus that can infect humans. All 3 of the strains cause similar symptoms but have to be targeted differently due to their different genome and virology. However, there have been vaccines developed for the virus and it has essentially been eradicated.

There are 2 different kinds of vaccines available for polio. The first is the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV). As the name implies, this vaccine contains an inactivated or killed virus so that the immune system can defend against the virus without risking an infection. This form of vaccine is injected into the bloodstream. Officials are steering away from this vaccine because there are diminishing numbers of poliovirus available to make the vaccine. The other vaccine available is called the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). This vaccine contains a mixture of 3 Sabin serotypes of attenuated poliovirus and is taken orally. The Sabin types are used because they have a lesser chance of being spread and are not as virulent as the virus. Due to its cheap and easy production and the simplicity of the drug administration, this vaccine is used more often than IPV. If I were to get vaccinated today or if I had kids and were giving them vaccinations I would give them the OPV is a series as directed because in my humble opinion, that would be most effective.

Polio is now nearly eradicated but not quite. 2 out of the 3 types have been eradicated but the wild type 1 is still prevalent. Type 1 is on its way out but we need to continue the eradication efforts to finally knock the virus off of the face of the earth. This means people need to continue to be vaccinated. People refusing to vaccinate their children not only puts their kids in danger, but also allows viruses like polio to make comebacks and stay present on Earth. In conclusion, as long as we all act like competent human beings and vaccinate our children and ourselves, we can fully eradicate the poliovirus from this beautiful planet of ours.

Our bodies contain a population of bacteria and other microorganisms, collectively called a microbiome. This microbiome plays a big role in our health. A good and healthy microbiome can help a person stay healthy or fit while a bad microbiome can leave humans prone to diseases or infections. Good and bad microbiomes are made up of good and bad microorganisms, respectively. Good microorganisms are defined as those that contribute to the health or well-being of the person.

Gut microbiota have recently been shown to play an important role in the processes of the central nervous system. For example, they have been shown to influence the production and release of serotonin and other chemicals. This proves that we have to take care of our bodies in order to maintain our health. If we live healthy lives, our microbiome will be full of the good microorganism that contribute to our health. It is a cycle almost like positive feedback, the healthier we are, the more good microorganisms we have, making us healthier.

One main way we can affect our microbiome is our diet. Our diet can not only affect what kind of microorganisms inhabit our microbiome, but they can also prevent parasitic infections from occurring in our body. If we were to eat foods that contained chemicals to help fight against toxins of parasitic bacteria, then it would prevent the infection from harming the host. However, this can also have the opposite effect and some foods may make us more susceptible to infections. For example, someone is more likely to contract salmonella if they have eat more raw food or chicken. For this reason, it is clear that the microbiome plays a big role in the health of our bodies and we play a role in the health of our microbiome.

One of the more common viral infections in humans is the influenza virus. Influenza, commonly known as the flu infects the respiratory tract of humans, although it can sometimes be associated with stomach flu symptoms, it is not the case because the stomach is not affected by the influenza virus. A flu infection can sometimes be fatal however most symptoms go away after about a week. The virus causes symptoms that are similar to the common cold but they are normally more severe and cause the infected individual to feel worse than when they have the cold. Many people come down with the flu each year and it is a constant infection that is expected yearly.

The flu is virulent for many reasons. The virus contains hemagglutinin (HA) spikes and neuraminidase (NA) spikes that aid in its infectious capacity. There are many different types of HA and NA spikes so a single influenza strain can have any combination of the 2 proteins. This determines what strain is infectious each season. For example, the strain can be H1N1 or H3N2 and so on. There are 18 possible HA spikes and 11 NA spikes. Despite influenza’s virulence, this infection is preventable with the use of the influenza vaccine.

New flu vaccines are made each year to try and best combat the expected strain. Scientists can study the virus and make an educated guess on which strain will be the most infectious in the coming year. They then make a vaccine that targets 4 strains of the flu to cover their bases with the unknown and mostly unpredictable nature of the virus. While it is too early to tell whether or not this years vaccine is effective, the CDC says it is still important to get vaccinated. Even if the strain that is most present and infectious for the season is not covered on the vaccine, the antibodies made to fight off the vaccine could play a role in reducing the effect of the virus on your body. So to make a long story short, get vaccinated… it won’t hurt you.

Andrew Wakefield led a study that found links between the MMR vaccine and autism in children. His study composed of 12 children from the Royal Free Hospital and School of Medicine. His research has been unable to be verified or reproduced by independent scientists. In fact, there have been studies that show results that contradict what Wakefield claimed and refute his argument. It was found that Wakefield was involved in a lawsuit against companies that were producing and manufacturing vaccines. His involvement was in the fact that his research was funded by the lawyers defending the parents in that lawsuit.

Wakefield’s study had monumental implications on the world. For starters, it created a stigma around vaccines that has not gone away in over 20 years. His study led people to believe that vaccines could cause autism in their children. As a result of this belief, parents began to not vaccinate their children in fear of their children developing autism. Today, this group is known as the anti-vaxxers and are a source of a lot of controversy in the scientific world.

You may be asking yourself why this is such a big deal. When parents refuse to vaccinate their child, they leave them susceptible to many different kinds of diseases and infections. This can be fatal for the child and dangerous for the population as a whole. A child without vaccinations can help diseases that were once nearly eradicated make a comeback. For example, measles was once thought to be eradicated but was able to have outbreaks in the UK and the USA due to lack of vaccination in children. Additionally, mumps is also making a comeback due to lack of vaccination and there is now a case of the mumps on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. So in conclusion, don’t be wild, vaccinate your child!