Korean-American medical student
Archive for October, 2010
The HIV treatment primer
Oct 18th
BACKGROUND To understand HIV medication, one must first understand the 6 crucial steps that HIV needs to complete in order to replicate and spread. In order, they are: Binding and fusion: HIV binds to either or both of two cell receptors known as CCR5 (typically in initial stages of infection) and CXCR4 (often in later…
Mosquitoes are evil. Seriously.
Oct 10th
Of 10 major incurable diseases, mosquitoes are the carriers for 8 of them. Whoever eradicates this dreadful species gets my vote for that year’s Nobel Prize in medicine. =__=; Disease (insect): notes. yellow fever (mosquitoes): Mortality rate is high. dengue fever (mosquitoes): This is the most common insect-borne viral disease in the world. Classic dengue…
What is the distinction between HIV and AIDS?
Oct 10th
HIV is the viral agent that causes the condition known as AIDS. It might help to decipher the abbreviations: HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Virus AIDS = Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome In common use, the terms HIV and AIDS are often used interchangeably. The distinction is made clinically because infection with HIV typically doesn’t immediately cause AIDS,…
How much Vitamin C can the body absorb?
Oct 8th
Recommended daily allowance (RDA) for an adult is about 90 mg/day. If you smoke, add 35 for a total of ~125 mg/day. While RDA is set based on recommendations for prevention of deficiency, it’s been shown that anything above that in a healthy person doesn’t seem to improve biomarkers of cellular oxidant stress (at least…
Are parasites useful in treating autoimmune diseases?
Oct 8th
Someone asked me this question on Quora, and it was a pretty interesting thought experiment, so I thought I’d share. The question details: I went to an evolutionary biology talk they had at my school (to celebrate Darwin’s birthday) about the fact that a lot of parasites secrete hormones that suppress a human’s immune system,…
Hey Jae: Is it ok to take pre-med classes at a community college?
Oct 8th
I was wondering if it is OK to take a course sequence (orgo I and II) in the summer in a community college near my home, instead of taking them during regular school year in my college? Do you think that the admission committee will dislike that option? As long as you have your pre-med…