What I'm Learning

So if you don't already know I'm going to school for nursing, although I'm not actually in nursing school yet... I'm taking classes that I can, until I am in nursing school and that means this semester I'm taking Human Physiology. This is a VERY interesting class and I thought I'd share some of what I've learned so far in my class

1. Distilled water is not good for you. If taken intravenously (by IV), your cells would swell and lyse (burst)!! Basically it goes into your cells and makes them explode.
2. We all have an electrical charge of -70mV at rest, everyone, humans and animals and we all have to get to -50 to have an action potential or rather for our bodies to do something, say move a finger.
3. Our tongues taste things, ok you knew that but did you know that if your mouth was completely dry you would not taste anything, the reason why is because taste is detected by a watery solution (in this case saliva)
4. Smell is the same way (needs a watery solution) in this case mucus in the nasal cavity, also smell is sent to the Limbic System (this is the emotional brain), so smells are linked to emotions and memory.
5. We can confuse the brain, when we are hurt receptors are sent to that site, but when we rub where it hurts, we are confusing the brain by overstimalating the receptors in that area and the pain is lessened because the brain is overstimulated.
6. We have different brain patterns for when we are awake and a sleep, Beta waves are the higher frequency waves present in the awake state; however they are also the waves found REM sleep.
7. During REM sleep are skeletal muscles are inhibited so we are not acting out our dreams but we may twitch
8. There are different types of memory, one of them is Motor - this is like riding a bike or driving a stick shift. You won't ever forget it!
9. Right handed people use the left side of their brain, which is involved in language, word recognition, and knowing what we want to saya nd saying it (or writing it)
10. Left handed people use the right side of their brain, which is involved in the ability to recognze symbols, patterns, faces, also involved in the ability to recognize emotion in speech
11. Muscles get shorter and pull; never push
12. The reason you get a pain in your side and breath hard while exercise is because you are using Anaerobic Metabolism and are developing lactic acid
13. The cerebellu prevents overshoots in movements that is to say if you see a box labeled books you immediately exert more energy that if it said feathers, but if the box of books was empty and you didn't know if you'd overshoot the movement and probably fall over.
14. Your Sympathetic ENrvous System involves fight or flight which increases heart rate, blood pressure, pupil dilation and decreases digestion
15. Your Parasympathetic Nervous System involves resting and digesting, so decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, pupil constriction, and digestion is up.
16. When you take say Tylenol with Codine, you are increasing the effects of the parasympathetic nervous system, so you'll be extra hungry...
17. Dopamin is a neurotransmitter in the body, an excess of dopamine has been linked to schzophrenia
18. Glutamate another neurotransmitter is linked to memory, MSG the chinesse food additive, glutamate is a component of it
19. A runner's high is true, endorphins and enkephalins are released in the body to inhibit pain perception, it's the body's morphine
20. The reason everything is dark when you turn the lights on in the middle of the night is because you have bleached out your rods in your eyes. They are sensitive to light and you only see in shades of gray.
21. Also Vitamin A deficiency casues night blindness, because lack of it and you aren't producing rods.
22. Binocular Vision is needed for depth perception, close 1 eye, and try to put your hands side by side (without touching eachother) and you'll see what I mean.
23. The Pituitary gland is made up of 2 different types of tissue the anterior side or face side is made from our mouth is the womb and the posterior side or back side is from brain tissue.

Anyway I won't bore you with any more of my knowledge, go on read a different blog now, it's ok, I don't feel bad, this has been a pretty silly post...go on now, don't look back, I'll be ok, no really, I will...