'Changing Minds' and a new Bi-Polar Desire

By reading 'Changing Minds: Our lives and mental illness' by Rosalind Ramsay, which was recommended to the public by the Royal Psychiatrist website, I have started to develop a better understanding of how it may be like to suffer from a psychiatric condition and the related stigmas which come alongside the diseases. I really empathise with those who suffer from these illnesses; it's not like having a broken leg, the plaster cast alerts and makes the public eye aware of their disability so people can offer them help (such as helping them use the staircase). You can't see depression or Alzheimer's or schizophrenia, that's the problem with illnesses affecting the mind. And if people are made aware of these 'invisible' illnesses, those suffering are often exposed to discrimination and prejudice, left feeling isolated from society. The term mental illness still makes people picture mental asylums and straitjackets, when in reality violent behaviour only relates to the minority of cases. Campaigns are being set up to try and end this terrible discrimination such as www.time-to-change.org.uk/ which tries to raise public awareness of mental health issues.

Interestingly enough, despite the huge stigmas, an article on the Student BMJ website this week expressed how Bi-polar disorder is becoming a 'desired diagnosis' with many patients self-diagnosing themselves. It is possible that due to an increased public awareness on the internet, TV and radio and celebrities such as Stephen Fry speaking about personal experiences, bi-polar is seen as more acceptable in society.
Bi-polar is a serious mental illness where the sufferer encounters extreme mood swings from hypomania to depression. It is important that the psychiatrist carries out the diagnosis as not all people suffering from mood swings are suffering from bi-polar. Dealing with those who 'want to be bi-polar' requires the psychiatrist to show some sensitivity when either confirming or excluding the patient's self-diagnosis.

Commitment to a career in Medicine

Female medical students are freezing their eggs and delaying having children so they can carry on with their career. I looked on student BMJ and found this interesting article; 8 out of 10 medical students would have their eggs collected and frozen to postpone motherhood for the sake of their career.

I think the main issue with this article is the fact that even though the students are collecting the eggs when they are still fertile, by the time they do have a baby their bodies will have aged and will be less biologically adapted to support the needs of that child. After all there is a reason why females are more fertile as a young adult.

Medicine is a challenging and demanding career choice to follow and does come with sacrifices such as free time and starting a family. This is something I have considered myself, I know that many successful doctors have been able to dedicate time to both their career and their family and I hope to do the same one day.

When I read this article it caught my attention because it is something which needs to be taken into consideration when committing to study Medicine. Once graduated from medical school, students then become working as a junior doctors and go on to choosing a speciality, which takes many years of hard work. Therefore as a newly qualified doctor it would be difficult to take time away to start a family until they have a stable career.

'Flu jab may cut heart attacks' Daily Telegraph

The newspaper claimed that having the winter flu jab may reduce the risk of heart attack by 1/5. In a study the heart attack rates of 79000 people who had the vaccination was compared to those who hadn't. The rate for heart attacks may have been lower for those who had the vaccine becasue it stopped them from getting chest infections which could lead to heart attacks.

Although the study was well conducted and had a large sample size, the results can not conclude that the flu jab decreases the risk of having a heart attack. It does show that there is a correlation however it doesn't show whether one causes the other. The scientists chose a matched pairs design so the participants in both conditions can be compared.
They tried to control lifestyle factors of the participants is likely to affect their risk of heart attack; for example someone who doesn't exercise, smokes and has a poor diet is at greater risk that of someone who has a healthier lifestyle. This made the research more valid, however there were still some factors which could be confounding variables, e.g. those who have the vaccine are more likely to have visited a doctor who could influence their way of living.

More research will have to be carried out before this theory can be accepted, as the results are inconclusive of whether there is a direct link between the vaccination and the risk of heart attacks.

Alzheimer's Pathology Project

http://www.medlink-uk.org/Site/documents/Alzheimers2010/DayJ&BiggsK.pdf


Here is the link for my Alzheimer's report which I completed with a friend after Medlink, it has been published on their website and awarded a merit. Researching for the project was of interest to me and has direct links to the voluntary work I do at Elmside. After completing this report in March, I did some more research into the disease and discovered that the youngest person to suffer was only 9 years old. I did my AS biology research on Alzheimer's to further and use it to benefit my studies.

The Artificial Ovary

The title of this article attracted my attention after having an interest in IVF and the surrounding ethics of using human cells.
The report from the Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail states that an ovary like structure, created in a lab from human ovarian cells could be used to mature egg cells extract from chemotherapy patients who have become infertile. These experimental 'ovaries' hope to be an answer for those women who cannot conceive. Before this can happen researchers need to check whether these eggs matured in the artificial ovary are the same quality of those matured naturally and whether these eggs can be fertilised and develop properly. If this is a success these matured eggs can be used for IVF treatment for those unfortunate enough to have fertility complications.

I think this story is exciting, although the research is only in the early stages with humans, they have found it to be a success with mice. There is so much potential with this discovery, which could help hundreds of women to have that child they are longing to have.