Wellness Day Reflection

Wellness Day Reflection 

 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zQ40pJ2LSs6-f3ZJsG17z72bPv1vbrM2W61ee8Fz040/edit?usp=sharing

We decided to choose this topic because most people chose activities that were related to exercise or movement within the body. But little do we know about the connection between stress and eating. It is surprising that we go on with our everyday lives eating food because we are hungry or bored. But little do we know that our body changes its' preference of food just because we are in a stressful situation. We relate junk food to dopamine in times of stress and that is really shocking how our body makes that connection. So our body keeps expecting us to eat unhealthy foods so that we wouldn't feel as stressed. Also, foods high in sugar also dampen our stress response so it is a never ending cycle between food and stress. A problem with emotional eating is that never ends unless you tackle your emotions and how it triggers your actions to reach for unhealthy options. I have heard of mindful eating before, not the exacts words but what it is. It is so important that we treat our bodies well and eating is just part of it. Being present when eating foods like actually taking time to buy groceries, prep and cook food, sitting down and bringing all the senses to the meal is just part of it. I know that so many people sit down at the table with some sort of technology in front of them and that causes them to eat mindlessly and actually leaves them to overeat. The most important idea to remember is be present with out food. Fast food is becoming more and more popular and so many people are missing out on how food is actually made. Many people mindlessly eat these things without thinking about the consequences and this just causes more trouble. 

This topic is very important for health and wellness because our body will constantly be experiencing throughout our whole life and we need to learn how to treat out bodies well during those moments. Emotional eating during a stressful moment may be a reason that so many Americans can't lose weight. We are so drawn to foods high in carbs, sugars, and fats especially as a reward. But our body basically becomes so accustomed to the junk foods that we keep going back to it whenever we are stressed so we can ignore the stress. There are definitely other ways to tackle stress and it shouldn't be covered by eating foods that make your brain feel good. 

On a scale of 1-10 I think I would grade myself a 9.5 because I am fairly interested into the topic of nutrition and food and this wellness day allowed me to explore more about food. My partner and I did a fair share of work and we were able to discover a lot of new information and inform our classmates about something they probably didn't know before. However, during the actual activity in the presentation we should have went through the motions of mindful eating. I think that would have summed up the whole presentation by showing how it is done and would allow people to experience it. 

After this wellness day, it has allowed me to rethink my eating habits. When I am stressed, I shouldn't just mindlessly snack on something because I want to dampen the stress. But rather I should rethink my strategies as to how I got to being so stressed in the first place. 

Unit 4 Reflection

This unit focused mainly on the Integumentary System and how our body defends itself. It starts off with the skin and goes all the way to tiny microscopic cells. We may just view our skin as the only external factor to defend ourselves but we can't forget about sweat, oil gland, hair and our nails. They all protect our bodies from mechanical, chemical, thermal & bacterial damage. We have three layers in our skin, epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. The epidermis contains melanin for our skin color continually sheds throughout our lives. The dermis is the deeper layer and contains collagen and elastic fibers. These help keep our skin tough and elastic. Within the dermis, we have two layers, the papillary and reticular. The papillary layer is at the top of the dermal layer and gives us our fingerprints. The reticular layer is the deepest skin layer and contains blood vessels, sweat and oil glands, and deep pressure receptors. The deepest layer is the hypodermis and is also known as the subcutaneous tissue. It is not part of the skin and is made of adipose tissue. It serves as an anchor for our skin and absorbs shock and insulates. 

The appendages of skin include the cutaneous glands, hair & nails. The cutaneous glands include sebaceous, sudoriferous and ceruminous. The sebaceous gland produces sebum that kills bacteria, prevents hair from becoming brittle and keeps skin nice and moist. The sudoriferous gland has two types of sweat glands, eccrine and apocrine. Eccrine produces sweat for thermoregulation and apocrine inhibits bacterial growth. The ceruminous gland is found in our ear and secrets cerumen for protection. Hair helps us by preventing heat loss and is the reason why we get goose bumps. They also help trap foreign particles in our noses, eyes, and ears. Nails are mostly made of keratin and help us grasp items and serve to protect. 

We also learned about damage to our skin like burns and skin cancer. Burns severely damage or tissue and cells and is rather deadly. Skin cancer is when there is an overexposure to UV radiation and could potentially be prevented. 

There are two forms of immune resistance in our body. The non-specific resistance is present at birth and effective against a broad range of pathogens. The mechanical methods include the skin, mucous membranes, epiglottis, urine flow, vomiting, tears, and saliva. The chemical methods include sebum, perspiration, lysozyme, gastric juice and vaginal secretions. There are also anti-microbial substances. Interferons inhibit viral replications and are expensive to make. Complement are a group of proteins found in plasma that attract phagocytes to the site of inflammation. Natural killer cells cause apoptosis and are WBS that can kill viruses and cancer cells. Phagocytes attach to invaders and include macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, and monocytes. The anti-microbial processes include inflammation and fever. Inflammation is triggered by stress due to tissue damage. It helps prevent the spread of pathogens, get rid of them and promotes tissue repair. The three stages of inflammation are vasodilation and increased permeability of blood vessels, phagocyte migration, and repair. Fever inhibits microbial growth by reducing the availability of iron and zinc and stimulates the production of WBC. The specific resistance (adaptive immunity) is effective against a single pathogen. There are four general properties, specific, versatility, memory, and tolerance. Specific only targets a single invader, versatility can be changed to fight almost any invader, memory can remember antigen, and tolerance recognizes our own tissues. There are four types of immunity and they acquired in different ways. Naturally Acquired Active Immunity is our body producing antibodies as we live our everyday lives. Naturally Acquired Passive Immunity is the transfer of antibodies from immunized donor to non-immunized recipient. Artificially Acquired Active Immunity is acquired through vaccination. Artificially Acquire Passive Immunity comes from an injection of antibodies from outside source. Cell-Mediated Immunity is when invaders are attacked directly by cells and are T-cell driven. Antibody-mediated immunity is when invaders are destroyed by antibodies and are B-cell driven. There are three different types of T Cells. The Helper T Cells stimulate other immune cells to fight the invader and is essential for coordinated specific immune response. The cytotoxic T Cells attack the invader directly. The Memory T Cells are swift to respond to a second attack and can remember an antigen. There are five different actions that the antibodies go through, neutralization, immobilization, agglutination, activation of complement, attention of phagocytes and phagocytosis enhancement. 

Leukemia

Cancer is when there is uncontrolled growth of body cells. Tumors are masses of extra tissue and can either be benign or malignant. A biopsy is required to diagnose a tumor. Tumors survive through angiogenesis where new blood vessels form around it. Metastasis is the spread of cancer is the most advanced stage in progression of cancer. Lymphoma is cancer of the lymphatic cells and leukemia is cancer of the blood cells.The treatment of cancer include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy but it really depends on the person. 

Learning about the different cells within out body and how they provide immunity was pretty hard to understand. That is because it is more detailed but it fascinates me that such microscopic object play such an important role. Without out integumentary system, out body would be weak and could fail us. From the debate, I learned about many ethical issues that is still very controversial in our world. CRISPR is upcoming and could potentially impact the future generations of our world and that comes with pros and cons. 

From the VARK Questionnaire, I got 12 for Visual, 10 for Aural, 9 for Read/Write, and 6 for Kinesthetic. I didn't realize that I am multimodial learner and require many different ways to study. I do know that drawing diagrams does help with my studying. So, for science tests in general, I typically have pictures or draw diagrams. I also like to write facts down, have people explain a concept to me or just say a concept over and over again until it sticks. But, I can also explore different options but it just depends on what subject I am studying for. 

Sheep Heart Dissection Lab

Dissection video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1KRKKvoVIM&app=desktop
1. The purpose of the pericardium is to hold and protect the heart. It secretes a fluid that lubricates the heart and reduces friction.
2. Arteries appear larger and thicker in comparison to veins because they need to withstand the pressure to push blood out to the body. The veins carry blood from the tissue to the heart.
3. The auricle is on the anterior surface of each atrium and increases the capacity slightly so that the atrium can hold more blood.
4. The main difference between the atria and ventricles is that the atria is way smaller and skinnier. The ventricles need to push blood out of the heart to the body and lungs so they were bigger.
5.
a) The coronary sinus was located on the posterior side of the heart and was hidden behind a layer of fat.
b) The inferior vena cava was not visible on our heart because it was cut away. But, it should have been on the right side of the inferior part of the heart.
c) The tricuspid valve was located on the right side of the heart and between the right atrium and ventricle. It has three flaps that open and close to push blood through. It is anchored down by chordae tendinae which connect to papillary muscles.

6.  Drawing of tricuspid valve

7. The anchoring of the heart valves by the chordae tendinae and papillary muscle is important because it prevents the valves from falling back into the atria when closed and keeps them in place. 

8. The bicuspid valve is similar to the tricuspid valve except the bicuspid valve has two flaps while the other has three. 

9. The semi-lunar valves prevent blood from re-entering the ventricles. The pulmonary valve is located pulmonary artery and the aortic in the aorta. 

10. 

a) The right side of the heart is responsible for receiving deoxygenated blood from the body and pumping it to the lungs. If the valve on the right side is faulty, blood can get backed up and could cause swelling to occur in the feet and ankles.

b) The left side of the heart is responsible for receiving oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumping it to the rest of the body. If the valve on the left side is faulty, it could cause blood to flow back to the lungs and/or effect the rest of the body as it can't properly send oxygenated blood to the body. 

11. When we cut into the aorta, we found the aortic semilunar valve in it. The entrance to the right and left coronary arteries came from the anterior wall and lead to the outside of the heart. We were able to locate chordae tendinae and papillary muscle directly beneath each valve. They were pretty obvious and we could tug at the chordae tendinae with a probe. The chordae tendinae connects the valve to the muscle. 

12.The right side of the heart deals with the deoxygenated blood that comes from the body and sends it to the lungs to pick up oxygen. The left side deals with the oxygenated blood from the lungs and sends it to the rest of the body. The left side of the heart is bigger because it needs to push blood to the rest of the body. 

13.

Cardiac Cycle

Unit 3 Reflection

This whole unit was about the anatomy and physiology of the heart, the circulatory system, blood vessels, blood, cardiovascular disease, and the respiratory system. The cardiovascular system is a closed system and contains a network of fluid-filled tubes where material move in and out of cells and the environment. Its' main function is to transport material needed by cells and remove waste materials from cells. The main components are the heart, arteries, veins and blood. Cardiovascular health relates to the health of the heart and vessels. Heart disease and strokes are often times caused by atherosclerosis. This is when plaque or a blood clot blocks the blood vessel and leads to hypertension

Atherosclerosis in artery 

To promote my cardiovascular health, I can exercise on a regular basis, maintain a healthy weight and diet by cutting out excess sugars and polyunsaturated fats and control blood pressure and cholesterol. Something I wonder about is how come so many Americans still suffer from heart diseases even though there are so many healthy habits they can pick up to prevent these

diseases from happening.

As with the learning process this unit, it has been rather different. Learning the heart's anatomy and physiology is much easier than cardiovascular diseases. I have realized that visually learning the heart and how blood flows through it is easier. Drawing diagrams or just connecting images with words is an easier way to grasp a concept. Also, the heart dissection really helped me realize how the blood flow of the heart worked and it was easier to locate the different parts of the heart unlike just looking at an image online. The cardiovascular diseases are rather similar and more confusing and just requires more memorization. Another thing I learned about working in a collaborative setting is that you have to compromise everything to work well within a group. Even if half of the group may not benefit as much, one has to pull through and benefit the group as a whole. I am still slightly confused on how the nodal system works and the cardiac cycle.

Diagram of blood flowing through the heart

Looking back at my unit 2 goals, I have definitely cut my added sugar intake every day and am eating more natural sugars instead. Also, I have tried to exercise more each week although it has been rather difficult with college applications deadlines approaching soon. Another goal I have for the rest of this semester is to improve my time management. This way I won't be as stressed out and can sleep at a timely matter every night, unlike the past few weeks. From this class, I definitely have to improve on my assessments by reviewing and understanding each concept. This will help me in the future when I take anatomy & physiology in college and will have basic knowledge that will help me.

Mid-unit summary

This unit was about the circulatory system and cardiovascular health. The circulatory system transports materials like oxygen & glucose and removes waste materials like carbon dioxide and urea from cells. The major organs of this system include the heart, many arteries and veins that surround the heart and lead to all different parts of the body, and blood. Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart and to the organs, veins bring back oxygen-poor blood back to the heart, and capillaries is where oxygen and other nutrients are transferred between the bloodstream and body tissues. The nodal system is accountable for the heart beating, and the SV node also known as the "pacemaker" which starts each heartbeat and sets the pace for the whole heart.
The heart has four chambers, the left and right ventricle and the left and right atrium. The left side of the heart deals with oxygenated blood and the right deals with deoxygenated blood. We also learned about blood pressure and how it is a measure of the force exerted by the blood onto the walls of the arteries. The systolic & diastolic pressure should be 120/80. But this number varies with age, weight, race, mood, activity level & posture. We did a blood pressure lab where we get a opporunity to measure our partners blood pressure and it was a great way to learn the traditional way of taking blood pressure.

We also learned about the different components of blood. Blood is 55% plasma and 45% cellular material. The main function of blood is to transport nutrients, regulate body temperature, and protect from infection.There are 4 types of blood, A,AB, B & O based on presence of antigens. Red blood cells have no nucleus, no genetic material and contain hemoglobin that carry oxygen. They have a 120 day life span and get recycled in spleen and liver when worn out. Anemia is when there is reduced oxygen carrying capacity of blood and tissues in return have inadequate amounts of oxygen. Sickle cells anemia is when the red blood cells turn crescent shaped. White blood cells fight off microbes and their lifes span ranges from a few days to years. There are 5 types of white blood cells, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes, & monocytes. They all have unique roles in responding to bacteria, parasite, and viruses. Also, platelets initiate blood clotting.

Cardiovascular disease revolves around damaged blood vessels. A heart attack can occur when blood supply to the myocardium is severely reduced or damaged that leads to damaged or death of heart cells. The cause of heart attack is usually due to atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries. The long term of a heart attack can result in the myocardium dying and the heart can lose some of its' strength over time.The heart attack does not kill a person immediately but rather the cardiac arrest a person encounters as a result of the heart attack. During a cardiac arrest the heart stops beating and everything malfunctions. A stroke is essentially a heart attack in the brain. Most strokes are ischemic and that means they occur when arteries get blocked by a blood clot. But what triggers it is when the plaque ruptures and travels to the brain and everywhere else. The clot can cut off blood supply to the brain and two million brain cells can die every minute causing irreversible damage. However, there is a drug called tissue-plasminogen activator (tPA) that can break up the clot and restore the brain's blood supply. An aneurysm is when a section of a blood vessel wall is thin and weakened. This is very life threatening and they most commonly occur in the aorta and the arteries at the base of the brain. An aneurysm can burst at any time known as dissection but there is treatment available.

Most cardiovascular diseases are a result of atherosclerosis. It is a chronic inflammation caused by excess sugars and polyunsaturated fats, excess omega-6, and damaged blood vessels allowing LDL to easily stick to and cause a plaque to develop. In the atherosclerosis reading it informed us that typical LDL levels in Western society exceed what the body needs and can actually promote arterial disease. This may come from the fact that the diet consumed in our society is so high in red meats and carbs it is potentially detrimental to our health. Fortunately, there are methods to help reduce the risk of heart attack and disease by having a healthy diet, lowering blood pressure, exercising regularly and losing weight.