Casefile 7: Phosphorus only for plants?

"Drink milk, girl-girl! Get more calcium, or you'll break your bones!" (Credits to my mum)

Right, everyone knows that calcium is important for the development of strong bones. Hence children are haunted by their parents to drink milk every day. However, is calcium the only element needed by our bones?

PHOSPHORUS IS ESSENtIAl FOR STRONG BONES TOO.

No no no! Phosphorus is not just a fertiliser for plants! Phosphorus has more functions than any other mineral in your body!

1. Strong bones

Calcium phosphate helps to keep your bones and teeth strong. Hence without phosphorus, calcium is totally useless to your bones! Long live, phosphorus! :)

2. Formation of connectives

Phosphorus is essential in the production of collagen. Since your bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, and eyes are made up mainly of collagen, your body is unable to produce any of the vital connective tissues or organs without phosphorus. Scary arh!

3. Survival of cells

Phosphorus combines with fatty acids to form phospholipids, which is soluble in water and fats. As water- and fat-soluble nutrients are needed by cells, cell membranes are made up of phospholipids to facilitate the entering and leaving of these nutrients. Without phospholipids, the cell will die. Imagine all your cells dying... *shivers*

4. NO heart diseases

Phospholipids keep blood fat small and thus prevents our arteries from clogging up (reminds me of Shi Jie. Hahaha.). In short, they keep blood smooth. OH.

Tidbit: Lecithin is a phospholipid used in chocolate to keep it smooth. CHOCOLATES!

Phosphorus has so many functions that it's impossible to list them all. They prevent the formation of gallstones (YUCK!), transport fatty acids in your body, maintain the correct pH in the body, help to store carbohydrates, catalyze reaction, to facilitate BRAIN ACTIVITY and to make your muscles move!

Phosphorus Deficiency

Hypophosphatemia (Too difficult? Say, Hypo-Phosphate-Mia! :D)

Hypophosphatemia is caused by:
1. Inadequate intake

This is very rare as many people usually take phosphorus in excess. However, hypophosphatemia might occur in a malnourished patient who is undergoing refeeding. This is because phosphorus is needed to store carbohydrates. Hence the sudden increase in carbohydrate level causes a drastic decrease in phosphorus, which very quickly becomes deplted in the body.

2. Alcohol abuse

Alcohol causes malabsorption and thus decreases the body's ability to absorb phosphorus. This can also lead to other diseases such as osteomalacia (inadequate Calcium and Vitamin D), liver failure, etc.

3. Hereditary (Arrr. So sad!)

Symptoms

Look at the weak thigh bones curving due to a lack of phosphorus, calcium and vitamin D!

Look at the thining bones. :(

Other symptoms of hypophosphatemia include cloudy and unclear urine and, also, irritation at the end of the penis. Hence it is not uncommon to mistake hypophosphatemia for a sexually transmitted disease. LOL.

Caution: Beware when you are consuming fresh foods as they might be covered with arsenic compounds of pesticides. As arsenic and phosphorus are very similar in their molecular structures, it is highly-possible that your body might mistake arsenic for phosphorus and thus include arsenic in its compounds. These compounds do not work. This is especially dangerous when you think about phosphorus's role in the blood and cell membranes.

Hey! This is fun!

Inspector Zhao, let's change jobs and become scientists or doctors!

Love,

Detective CxY

http://waltonfeed.com/self/health/vit-min/phos.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypophosphatemia

http://www.mdtext.com/Parathyroid/parathyroid10/figures10/figure4.jpg

http://www.emedicine.com/radio/images/60376037figure_6.jpg

Casefile 6: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

I'm still young. But does that mean that I don't need sleep?

I slept at 3am this morning, just to complete my History project. It was a horrendous experience. I wonder how many times I knocked my head on the table, because I was dozing off. Now, I have a blue-black on my forehead. It's so painful and ugly! :(

Anyway, nowadays, it is rather common for youths to become nightbirds. They stay up all night, whether to complete assignments, do project work and even just to play computer games. And the reason is very often "It's just one night. I'm still young. I can do without sleep." However, does youth cure fatigue?

This apparently is not the case. Lack of rest and excessive mental stress may lead to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). This is a long-term tiredness that does not go away with sleep or rest and affects your daily life.

Besides feeling tired all the time, patients may have insomnia, sleeping disorders, severe muscle aches and headaches, which can reduce concentration and brain activity.

And the worst thing is: ANYONE CAN GET CFS, although it’s twice as common in women than men. It usually develops in the early twenties to mid forties. Children can also be affected, most commonly around the age of 13 - 15. THAT's US!

In addition, CFS can be aggravated by inbalanced or irregular meals and, also, environmental pollution.

So, sleep well, eat well and save the Earth!


Tired,
Detective CxY.

--

By the way, the Association of Young People with ME (pronounced -aim-) is the largest charity for CFS patients in UK!

http://www.ayme.org.uk/

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=102&sectionId=30283

Case file 5: Dehydration

I am completely shagged today after climbing Bt. Timah Hill Nature Reserve, for Geography Project in case you wondering. And i was completely freaked out by this tombstone-look-a-like-stone which we saw somewhere on the hill:


haha my initials can!!! (Michelle Chia)

Anyway.. back to biology.. i'm soo sorry Kelly i did not understand your post. Btw, I was like completely dehydrated today so I shall do a post on what happens when someone experiences water deficiency, or rather just dehydration. (simple!! won't kill my precious brain cells) =)

Dehydration can be caused by two reasons. (at least). One simple and one complicated. The easy one first: failing to drink enough water on a daily basis. duh. The complicated one: Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) deficiency. (and i thot this would be simple. well at least it is 'unknown'). A deficiency results in dehydration because the EFA actually keeps your cells tightly knit together. Hence, when there is a deficiency, the cells are 'loose' and water and fluids are able to escape. Thus, a person suffering from EFA will still be dehydrated even though sufficient amout of water is consumed. See that adds to another reason why people should not avoid fats so much.

So what really happens when we get dehydrated?? If you have no access to water for.. erm.. bout 1 - 2 days or maybe 3 (somewhere around there), u die. Yes, its more important than food, btw i know most of you know this already. However, before this happens, your brain cells shrink and you unable to think properly. In severe dehydration, you start seeing things as the shrunken brain cells are unable to help you think straight. That's why you must be properly hydrated before a test. And the rule of not being allowed to drink water during lesson is completely stupid, since it helps us think better!!! Out in the open sea, being dehydrated increases the feeling of seasick, or so according to the OBS instructors. Heatstroke is also a likely result. In more scientific terms, rigidity of the connective tissue (vascular system and lungs) and intracellular fluid loss to the extracellular spaces, resulting in dry mucous membranes, shrunken muscle cells in the lips and the tongue, soft eyes, and adverse effects to the central nervous system will occur. Something more superficial and for the girls, dehydration causes your complexion to be dull. So get enough water yeah!

However, in many poor countries, access to potable water or even water itself is difficult. Hence, UNICEF has stageed an enormous program to improve children's health conditions in the develping contries.


A photo of a sufferer of dehydration. This is really sad and we should all be thankful for having enough water to drink everyday.

Special thx to these links =):
http://www.fredacare.com/health.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1507931&dopt=Abstract

By: Michelle Chia (28) aka Professor Chia (still not comfortable with it!)