Week 9

There are four blood types: A, B, AB, and type O. Type A blood has A antigens on the surface of the red blood cells and has an anti-B antibody in the plasma. Type B blood is just the opposite with B-antigens on the surface and anti-A antibody in the plasma. Type AB blood has both A and B antigens on the surface and no antibodies in the plasma. Type O blood has no antigens but have both anti A and anti B antibodies. There are also Rh antigens, if someone has these they are Rh positive and if they do not they are Rh-. Knowing these blood types are important for donating and receiving blood.

A women who is Rh negative and is with a male who is Rh positive and is thinking about a child, they want to take precautions. During birth the blood will mix from the baby and the mother, this will cause the mother to develop Rh antibodies. If she does not have a Rhogan shot within 48 hours after the first child, she will develop these antibodies. When she is pregnant with the second child, this will cause clumping of the blood cells and the newborn will be oxygen deprived. This is know as hemolytic disease of the newborn.

Week 8

This week we learned about the second messenger system and its two pathways. There is the cAMP pathway and the PKC pathway. These pathways are much easier to understand through diagrams instead of words. We also went over protein and steroid hormones. There are many differences between the two. The role of the steroid hormone is to make new protein hormones where as the protein hormone causes the hormones to deactivate and activate their activities. Steroid hormones when traveling through the blood have to be connected with a transport protein. This is the case because a steroid hormone is non-polar. This process takes longer than a protein hormone but has a longer half-life. Protein hormones travel through blood. Protein hormones might travel faster but they also have a shorter half-life and degrade fast.

There is a disorder know as the hypersecretion disorder. This is when there is more of a hormone being secreted than necessary in the gland. This is caused by the tropic hormone. There is also hyposecretion where not enough hormone is being produced to function properly. These disorders can be caused by genetics, our diets, or infections. So take care of your body and eat healthy.

Week 7

This week we started to learn about the endocrine system. What an interesting topic to go over. It effects our bodies in many ways. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is produced in the anterior pituitary, by the adrenal cortex. The function on ACTH is to regulate cortizine levels in your body. Antidiuretic hormione (ADH) is produced in the hypothalamus, by the kidney tubules. ADH retains urine and lowers the frequency volume so you stay hydrated. Some other hormones include thyroxine, aldosterone and growth hormones. We also went over steroidal hormones and how they get into the blood. Next week we will go more in depth on this.

Have you ever had any type of shot involving cortizone? This will regulate your levels if you are not producing enough on your own. Have you heard the saying " too much of a good thing is actually a bad thing"? Having too much cortizone is also a bad thing. This will depress your immune system.This will make you more prone to bacteria and germs that cause you to become sick.