SCIENCE
The Bullet Ant
From the humid lowland rainforests of Nicaragua, to the Amazon, living there is no dream come true, due to one deadly monster. You’d expect a monster to be big, but not this one. This monster may be one of the biggest of its type, but it certainly isn’t close to us big as us. It’s even small enough for many of them to live in a tree. I introduce, the bullet ant, the two and a half centimeter long monster.
Most monsters you read about can’t be killed with a shoe, but this one is an unsuspected attacker. It got its name due to the amount of pain created by its sting. People claim it is as painful as being shot with a bullet; this gave it the world record holder of ‘world’s most painful insect bite’. To make matters even worse, its other name is “the 24 hour ant”, referring to the 24 hours of pain after the sting.
This insect happens to be the 10th most dangerous insect in the world, right behind the bot fly.
Many people have claimed the pain of the sting to be like “a 3-inch rusty needle ripping through flesh”, and others describe it as “fire racing inside their body”
So next time you get stung by a wasp, remember, it could be much, much worse.
Written by: Michael Samuel
MEDICAL MIRACLES:
What helps us when facing difficult situations? Some say faith , some say science and others positive energy. For these people it was more than that. Not only do they leave us breathless with their medical issues, but it gives medicine the belief that there is more to learn and discover. Their cases are unbelievable and extraordinary.
The girl without a heart
D’Zhana Simmons was at the early age of 14 when she discovered her heart was incapable of pumping blood. She then traveled to Miami: Holtz Children’s Hospital. She had a heart transplant which failed, leading her to believe that she had lost her chance of surviving. The new heart caused more problems than the old one so her doctors tried something unusual. They replaced the heart with a pair of artificial pumping devices which kept her alive until her next transplant. D’Zhanas’ case is so incredible because the pumps used are originally intended to be used along with the patient’s damaged chambers. The lack of the major organs forced the doctors to make substitutes from scratch. What is even more impressive is that she survived with these substitutes for more than 100 days (129 to be exact) up until she had another heart transplant. She had other problems such as kidney and liver failure and gastrointestinal bleeding. In the end she survived. She is known as the girl who survived 129 days without a heart.
Walking again
When a doctor tells you “you will never be able to walk again” you believe them. In David Blancarte’s case, 21 years ago, the doctors explained that due to his motorcycle accident, his lower body had been paralyzed beyond repair. He then tried to face the problem, and although there were a lot of everyday difficulties, he adjusted. Now he is getting around on a wheelchair. Years after, he got bitten by a brown recluse which sent him to the hospital. A nurse noticed a spasm in his leg and soon after he was able to walk again.
Attached for 62 Years:
Born May 11, 1811, Chang-Eng Bunker were originally ordered to be put to death because the birth of attached twins was considered an omen in Siam (present-day Thailand). Eventually, however, the king decided that they were harmless and allowed them to tour the world as entertainers. People from all over would travel to see the strong ligament holding them together. They eventually settled, married the Yates sisters in North Carolina, and had a total of 21 children between them, 11 of whom survived. Chang suffered a stroke and became paralyzed, forcing Eng to support him for the rest of their lives. They died January 17, 1874.
Written by: Michelle Vlami
MEDICATION OVERUSE HEADACHES (MOH)
Medications vary depending on the nature of the illness or the location of the pain. For example, you would take a painkiller to relieve migraines and headaches, but you would take a pill with Clarithromycin – which inhibits the growth of bacteria by intervening with their protein synthesis – to fight some kind of infection (e.g. skin infection).
Medical guidelines indicate specific medication for particular conditions along with specific dosages. So people must be very careful to use the medication along the lines that it was made for, to avoid unpleasant side effects like nausea etc.
A common mistake most people make when using medication is that they overtake it. This means that they either abuse the consumption by taking too many over a short period of time or they take more than one type of pill at the same time.
By consuming a higher dosage of a certain medicine for a prolonged period of time, the person might become immune to the effect of the medicine. This leads the person to gradually increase his daily dosage, leading to other symptoms.
For example, medication overuse headache (MOH) is a common symptom of painkillers overuse specifically.
MOH is very common and highly unpleasant. As a matter of fact, Martin Underwood, a GP and professor of primary care research at Warwick Medical School, said in the Guardian’s report how “1 in 50 people suffer from MOH”. He also said that MOH is a very disabling symptom, as the only treatment available for MOH is to stop taking the medication which may lead severely addicted people, who find detoxification hard, to be admitted to hospital.
So the point being made here is to not take medication unless your G.P. has prescribed it or it is a serious case where your organism needs assistance to fight the cause of your discomfort, but to also be careful to follow the medical guidelines and the instructions given with the drug in order to correctly use the medication.
Written by: Daphne Othonaiou