immune system 4 Flashcards
Legally speaking food companies cannot come out with specific health claims unless it has been scientifically proven but they can do what?
use language that suggests or implies general health benefits and have a “sciency” tone
Goldielocks principle is what?
That you can have too much or too little but you want to be right in the middle
What are the 3 main toxins in the body?
carbon monoxide-produced by breakdown of hemoglobin
methanol: causes blindness and death produced by metabolism of fruit juice.
Acetaldehyde- product of ethanol, drinking alcohol
What are essential oils
Volatile Hydrocarbons that smell nice, endocrine disrupters. Word that has two meanings
Meaning in biochemistry is a lot weaker than the one that it suggests
What is the word quantum in popular speech and scientific meaning?
Meaning in popular speech and a meaning in science that are exact opposites
Quantum in science is the smallest thing possible(very tiny objects or events)
In popular speech quantum mean huge and large
Vaccination and the MMR scare:
What is Inoculation?
It was historically used to fight smallpox, from about 1000 years ago in china to early 1800s. A small quantity of material from the pustules of people suffering from the milder from of the disease was introduced into healthy people.
What is Vaccination
It is the introduction of weakened pathogen, or something that looks like the pathogen (to our immune system) but does not cause the disease; pioneered by Edward Jenner in the late 1700s
Smallpox
subject to WHO eradication campaign last case in 1977
Yellow fever
liver disease
causes white of the eyes to go yellow.
panama canal workers got this, carried by mosquitos
Tetanus
Caused muscles to get locked into flexed state by effecting the communication to muscles.
Polio
could lead to having to use an iron lung
salk’s vaccine worked to eradicate it
Problems with Vaccination
Not all vaccines work; sometimes a patient is not protected by vaccination
some vaccines might cause allergic reactions. the MMR vaccine causes a severe allergic reaction in 1 in a million doses
What is an Adjuvant?
Help the effects of vaccines
ex. aluminum hydroxide
by themselves they will have no effect, they potentiate effectiveness of vaccines
“Vaccine Injury” what is it?
Is an often-litigated harm, and has won large court settlements, although in some cases these harms do not have solid scientific backing
What are some episodes of resistance to vaccination in history?
Switzerland 1883- repeal of smallpox vaccination law
france 1990- media scare centered on the fear that hep B vaccine caused MS
Nigeria 2000s that polio vaccine rendered children sterile
What is Thimerosol?
Thimerosol is a mercury-containing compound that was added to vaccines as a preservative. It’s use has declined, although there is no good evidence of harm
What is the MMR vaccine
Combo for measles, mumps and rebella
The rise of autism
Reports of autism have risen in the last 30 years, It is uncertain if this is due only to new diagnostic procedures or due also to a real rise in incidence reflecting a real environmental causes
The wakefield paper of 1998
Implicated the MMR vaccine in the rise in autism
it was done using a case series (no control no experiment)
What were concerns about the wakefield paper?
was being paid by a law firm and did not publicly disclose it
undisclosed bias - recommended to his clinic BECAUSE of the symptoms
What is the Beacon Problem
recommended to his clinic BECAUSE of the symptoms
erases all value a paper might have
ex. connection between football fans and gun owners.
What is cochrane?
It is a collaboration of international science volunteers who conduct systematic review of the medical research literature
What is a systematic review
Is a review of randomized clinical trials that have been done to answer a certain question
assigns each a grade that expresses their methodological quality
draws conclusions often with meta-analysis statistical technique
Science journalism lessons
Non-sceience reporters doing science stories
misleading ttachment to “balance” coverage
the self image of journalists as righteous crusaders
puff-piece journalism
pursuing a script and ignorning contrary evidence
press-conference science vs. literature science
