Creativity, Madness, and Drugs Summary: Douglas discusses the common occurrence of some of the worlds most creative

minds being tinged with madness. Renowned authors and artists suffered from some type of mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and were able to achieve such depth in their products due to the cyclical nature of their illness. Bouts of clarity allowed the artists to contemplate all they had experienced and struggled, and use it as inspiration for their creativity, while the harrowing lows of their disorders demonstrated the depth of human suffering, which was often a subject they explored in their works. Though many creative minds suffered, others still induced this same experience through the use of drugs and alcohol. Though this substance abuse was part of creating some of the greatest artistic accomplishments of all time, the artists bodies could not cope with such a detrimental system. The addiction that grew was based in the rewards area of the mind, the frontal cortex, where dopamine receptors slowly build a resistance to the drug. Eventually, this warped activation of the rewards system requires the drug to induce a dopamine rush because without it, the bodys stress system is overly active. The fight-or-flight response in the hypothalamus and amygdala are chronically used without the dopamine relief drug use causes, which within the brain is why addiction occurs. Reflection: Mental disorders and addiction are both genes that can run in families. Depression and addiction are both prevalent in my own gene pool so they are things I feel obligated to be educated on. The definite correlation between mental illness, addiction, and creativity are fascinating to me because it is often the disturbed mind that can find the most profound truths. Though detrimental to ones health and development, the greatest minds often turn to substances to quiet their own demons. It is through suffering that one can realize the greatest beauty, and

with an overwhelming amount of happiness, all else turns to darkness. Being well acquainted with the results of chronic use, I have observed the rising tension and general numbness of those who have overwhelmed their dopamine receptors, and I continue to research it in the hopes of discovering the brain can heal itself and return to its original state, with a normal rewards system.

Fields, R. Douglas. Creativity, Madness, and Drugs. Scientific American Mind. 22 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

Birth Control Pills May Raise Eye Risks Summary: Research suggests that oral contraceptives may double a womans lifetime risk of developing glaucoma, a degenerative eye disease. There is a correlation between increased eye disease and lower levels of estrogen due to the apparent maintaining effect of estrogen on the retinal ganglion cells of the eye, which contain estrogen receptors. Birth control pills, early menopause, and medications that block estrogen production, like those for treating breast cancer, all result in a higher percentage of women with eye disease. American women who used birth control pills for more than three years had a 5% risk of developing glaucoma, compared to the 2.5% risk of the general public.

Reflection: The human body is impressively interrelated, with corresponding points in highly unexpected places. My grandparents immigrated from India, and due to the nature of her upbringing, my mom was always more apt to give me ayurvedic medicine than take me to the doctor, which sometimes meant massaging my foot in a certain location or holding a pressure

point rather than giving me a pain killer, which taught me the body has its own mechanisms for managing issues. Interfering with such a smooth system is undoubtedly going to interrupt natural processes, frequently resulting in unwanted side effects. Though birth control is proven to be highly effective in preventing pregnancy, there are health risks that occur by meddling with the chemical makeup of ones body.

OConnor, Anahad. Birth Control Pills May Raise Eye Risks. New York Times. 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

How Early Should Obesity Prevention Start? Summary: Obesity is a rising issue for Americans in the 21st century due to the unhealthy lifestyles and food choices much of the general public fall victim to. Obesity can be difficult to treat once established because of behavioral and cultural feedback loops. When children are born from an obese mother, they have an increased risk of abnormal weight gain, as well as having an increased risk due to the lifestyle the children are taught. If a child gains excessive weight in the first three to six months of life, it is a predictor of a higher risk of obesity or cardiovascular trouble later in life. There are four major risk factors associated with childhood obesity: excessive gestational weight gain, maternal smoking during pregnancy, fewer months of breast feeding, and not enough sleep. If all four of these factors are present for a child, they have a 29% likelihood of being obese. If a childs mother did not smoke or gain excessive weight during pregnancy, and was breast fed for at least 12 months and slept for at least 12 hours a day, a child has only a 6% chance of being obese.

Reflection: Being an American where it is common to live in such excesses that it actually becomes a health risk is a testament to the skewed moral values of this society and the irresponsible distribution of world resources. This is the first generation that may not outlive their parents due to entirely preventable diseases, such as type II diabetes. The relative ease of modern America is resulting in serious health risks that our forefathers were not threatened by as their lives were considerably more active than ours today. The concept of exercising to stay thin is an entirely new concept, as through much of humanitys history exercise was done through necessity and survival, not as recreation. Steps are being taken such as laws that require physical education for children and education on healthy food choices, but by the flawed system of American society, it is actually more cost efficient to feed ones children chemically modified corn products than real meat and vegetables.

Gillman, Matthew W. and David S. Ludwig. How Early Should Obesity Prevention Start? New England Journal of Medicine. 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

Dissection via Paintbrush Summary: Massachusetts-based artist Danny Quirk came up with the idea to accurately paint the internal structures on peoples skin in order for students to learn about anatomical structure without the guilt and disgust that often accompanies examining human cadavers. Quirk was interested in examining a career in biomedical illustration but was turned away for lack of experience, and upon taking classes, Quirk discovered he found them very dry. Instead, he

contacted biomedical researchers and used these opportunities to gain technical background on anatomy. Kathy Dooley, a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, allowed Quirk to sit in on her gross anatomy class in exchange for the production of some biomedical illustrations. This was the first time Quirk interacted with an actual cadaver, and began reproducing the images inside the human body on his friends in permanent marker and latex paint. Though acclaimed for his artwork, Quirk remained focus on the educational aspect of his art, attaining the artistic integrity he worked toward by removing the fear from studying anatomy.

Reflection: Danny Quirk poses an interesting view to the conundrum of studying medicine from the bodies of once-live specimens. There have been many debates on whether or not it is ethical, though without dissection it is extremely unlikely we would have the understanding of the human body we have today. The most interesting part of the article to me was Quirks certainty that those who were put off by the thought of exploring a dead body would be deterred from studying the sciences, when in reality all people to some extent are initially disturbed by the thought of rummaging through another creatures flesh, but with a commitment to the sciences or desensitization, one can become more comfortable with these actions. Additionally, the union of arts and sciences is a unique blend of interests that to my knowledge are more rarely explored than some other interdisciplinary subjects, but Quirks ability to unite these opposing realms of chaos and reason into a functional, beautiful, and educational purpose is admirable.

Vence, Tracy. Dissection via Paintbrush. The Scientist. 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.

New Hope for Baldness Summary: Scientists have engineered a new way to potentially regrow hair after an accident or due to pattern baldness. Colin Jahoda, professor of stem cell sciences at Durham University in England and a senior author of the study, recently published a study where the researchers have been trying to replicate what happens in an embryo, where new hair follicles are being created. The key to this study has been dermal papilla, which are groups of cells that sit at the base of a follicle and instruct other cells on hair production. Many scientists have tried to simply duplicate dermal papilla and transplant them onto a subjects scalp in order to grow more hair, but it has never worked. By comparing rodent dermal papilla with that of humans, it became evident the papilla needed to become three dimensional before applying it to a subject. Clusters of approximately 3,000 papilla were transplanted onto foreskin tissue which had been grafted to the back of mice, and after six weeks, five of the seven mice had new hair follicles that matched the donors. Though there is still a long way to go, this is a major breakthrough in terms of hair growth.

Reflection: Stem cell research is a controversial issue due to its use of embryonic cells. Many with a religious background believe it is highly immoral, but the medical benefits are nearly endless. Though hair loss may not be the most pressing matter in need of scientific intervention, it is an example of how stem cell research provides the opportunity to alter the traditional course of time and allows for scientific intervention in order to maintain the proper human structure. One day perhaps people will be cured of illnesses with stem cells, far enough in the future maybe people can choose when to stop aging with injections of stem cells. Our technology is not

advanced enough, but if we develop to maximize the opportunity provided by stem cells, the possibilities are truly endless.

Naik, Gautum. New Hope for Baldness. The Wall Street Journal. 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.