In my signature, you see me asking for scientific topics you’re interested in. I’m not getting many questions but sometimes there are some that I can use. In other cases though, the question sits on my list of topics for weeks and months and is never answered. Today I chose to explore those topics that have been there for a while.
@thegoldenphoenix once asked me about the connection between HIV and sickle cell disease (SCD). I knew that SCD is effective to prevent death from malaria, as the person who contracts malaria won’t be overpowered by the disease. But HIV? Sounded like fake news.
A simple google search revealed that no, there seems to be a connection, although studies aren’t quite sure what exactly is happening. Those who have SCD seem to be less frequently infected with HIV. And if they are infected, the progression from HIV to AIDS is a lot slower than for those without SCD. @suesa
At the same time, cases of hepatitis B and hepatitis C seem to be slightly more frequent for those with SCD.
It seems that sickle cell disease while being an illness that’s generally not desirable, might have the potential for a treatment of HIV and malaria. How exactly that can happen is a different question entirely, but just the knowledge that there is something we can research is great already.
A clean-shaven face is a sign that someone is taking care of themselves, right? Well, many people at least seem to think so. But how awful is it when shortly after achieving that smooth-skin look, tiny bumps that get infected turn up all over your face!
@greenrun asked me if there’s a reason why especially black men seem to suffer this fate.
The condition described above is called pseudofolliculitis barbae and is caused by the fact that especially black hair is really curly. It turns and twists which can cause it to bury itself back into the skin. Shaving the hair also sharpens the tip of it which makes the effect even more severe.
The skin reacts to this ingrown hair like it would to a foreign object, which is already unpleasant in itself. But at the same time, the affected area is prone to bacterial infections which worsens the effects.
According to one of the sources I linked below, about 83% of all black men suffer from this phenomenon. It’s not exclusive to them though, the shaving or waxing of pubic hair can lead to the same problems in people of all skin colors, as pubic hair is usually thicker and curlier.
There are several procedures that promise to help with razor bumps, from creams to lasers, but they are often really expensive, ineffective or lead to other problems.
@wiplala87 requested “something about black holes”. For a moment I considered researching some fun facts and then writing about them, until I realized that it would be bullshit. I’m not good with physics. I study biology, so biology and chemistry are what I’m good (or at least okay) at. I’m not really qualified to write about black holes!
Someone who is qualified is @lemouth , who is currently planning to write about black holes at some point during the next week. So, if you’re generally interested in physics, head over to his blog and click “follow”. And even if you’re like me and physics is really not your kind of science, you should still have a look. It’s really interesting.
When @rawdawg suggested I should look into Dr. Masaru Emoto, I thought “yeah, why not, never heard of that guy. Maybe I can learn something new!”.
Then I checked him out. And let out a deep sigh.
Dr. Emoto wanted to test the freezing of water and formation of snow crystals under a variety of conditions. So far, so good. Quote:
It was 1994 when the idea to freeze water and observe it with microscope came upon me. With this method, I was convinced that I should be able to see something like snow crystals.
After two months of trial and error, this idea bore fruit. The beautifully shining hexagonal crystals were created from the invisible world…
Sounds not too bad, does it? So, what were the conditions?
- Observe the crystal of frozen water after showing
- letters to water
- Showing pictures to water
- Playing music to water
- Praying to water
I’m sure you can understand my amusement. He couldn’t be serious? But apparently, he was.
The result was that we always observed beautiful crystals after giving good words, playing good music, and showing, playing, or offering pure prayer to water. On the other hand, we observed disfigured crystals in the opposite situation
As a scientist, you should generally keep an open mind. I read more and more about the experiment. Several sources stated that his study was flawed and easily manipulated. The conclusion that the human consciousness has an effect on the behavior of water can be discarded, at least if you just base it on his experiments.
A bit later, Dr. Emoto did another experiment, with rice this time. One glass of rice was insulted, the other one praised. Again, many conditions were not factored in and/or easily manipulated.
Don’t believe everything you read, especially if it sounds this magical. Check if the “study” can actually call itself that and isn’t just pseudo-science.
Pictures were taken from pixabay.com
Today’s Suesa’s favorite is: @m31
Do you need to tune out the world for a while? Do you want beautiful watercolor art along with some thoughts about art on Steemit? Get into the Christmas mood with Lily the hedgehog or have some poetry with another beautiful painting.
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STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
Waiting for your post on black holes now.
Mine or her? I am not sure that @suesa will write any ^^
Most likely yours, otherwise it would mean they have not read the post xD
Don't tell me it is not possible ;)
I like the short Q and A post. Also, I'm impressed you took the time to investigate the connection between SCD and HIV. I would have figured it doesn't exist as well but I'm convinced now based on your research.
Girl, you're a treasure. I love seeing your posts in my feed because I know I can always expect quality.
I am certain you've watched it, but "The Knick" is a wonderful show about medicine 100 years ago. It's pretty nuts.
Topics I'd like discussed:
@techslut, The Knick is an awesome series! I loved every episode of it! It is amazing to watch how far we've come in terms of advances in medical technology and inventions. Imagine using cocaine to treat people. Lol.
Puts everything on the list
Thanks for the compliment <3 I try to keep a certain standard! I've actually not heard of "The Knick" before, going to check it out!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2937900/
I suspect you will like it. I did. :)
And thank you. I don't hand out 100% upvotes much, but you are worth them every time.
(mild spoilers)
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I am still wondering why someone would douce their genitalia with a numbing substance before sex...
I'm not opposed to the idea that reality could be manipulated with thought...but I have always heard about what he did and got this feeling similar to when one sneezes "BULLSHIT".
Your way of breaking down science is addictive. This is such an interesting read especially the first two answers. I find it very interesting that as deadly as Malaria and HIV are, they can't overwhelm SCD yet hepatitis B & C do.
I think Africa is overwhelmed by HIV & Aids so I usually pray someone finds a cure. Malaria overwhelmed this continent a long time ago.
And thank you for making this clear...
I have always wondered why its so common among African men! Always fun to read your work :D
Love these posts @suesa!
The SCD and HIV part is pretty interesting. Correlations appear to be there but proper studies are lacking.
It looks like HIV also negatively influences SCD:1
Yes, I'd love to see more studies about this! The interaction of different types of diseases is always interesting.
Thanks for the advertisement @suesa. I will try to write something about black holes later this week. Maybe during the next week-end. I am very busy at the moment, and it is hard to me to write as much as I would love to.
So, @wiplala87, I will take care of your request soonish :)
Thank you @suesa, my question finally answered! I never liked using depilatory products, I prefer my clipper. But the bumps just won't let me be :)
Great content. One question:
You are writing that SCD "might have the potential for a treatment of HIV and malaria."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought SCD was caused by a gene defect? Are there other ways to induce it that might serve as therapeutic approach?
Yes, it's caused by a gene defect. But if it's possible to find out what exactly the properties are that slow down HIV one could try to mimic those.
nice. You will keep us informed, I guess?^^
If I hear something, you will hear about it next
Do you know anything on this, Suesa? HIV in Africa is 50:50 men women, in Western World about 98% men.
I don't know about the 98% but it's correct that in the western world, the percentage is shifted more towards men. We actually discussed this in a lecture once. In the western world, heterosexual couples tend to use condoms more often than homosexual men, because of the pregnancy risks. In Africa, condom usage is lower because of several factors. This results in an about 50:50 split of HIV cases there and a higher prevalence of the disease in men in western countries.
Or at least that's the theory.
I may be only a new-comer to this platform but I do know a thing or two about physics. Maybe if you get a question sometime that you do not know how to answer, you might refer that question to me.
Thank you a lot!
@lemouth is usually my go-to physicist, but thanks for the offer! Have you already been invited to the steemSTEM channel on steemit.chat? It's a great place for scientifically interested people to connect!
I am in there for a couple of days. I even got upvoted by @curie and @steemstem on my most recent science post. Maybe you should check it out. You might like it! :)
I completely understand. I like @lemouth posts too. Just saying! Keep in mind. I need as much exposure as possible. :)
Thanks a lot for the nice comment. We indeed loved a lot your post on nuclear fusion, and are looking forward to read more from you ^^
PS: I just commented it out. I wanted to do it the other day and then I forgot :p
Thank you very much. This coming from the likes of you two really does mean a lot. I will make sure to notify you when my 2nd part comes out in a couple of days. Your comments on them would mean a lot to me so I can improve.
Don't worry, in general we find out good posts (but I agree that we have only a pair of eyes per person and we may miss some) :)
Also... I just answered your comment on my post. Maybe it will clarify my strong wording.
Can't wait to see something about black holes
I will do my best to write that fast :)
i liked this post
Shaving of the skin hair is well a bit necessary, it keeps hidden dirt away from the skin, i guess there should be a way to prevent these mumps on skin after shave.
nice theme
Hello @suesa
Beautiful answers to the questions asked. I've never thought about some questions.
I take care of pseudofolliculitis barbae by using an anti irritant cream called Tempovate it costs less than 1 steem (cc:@greenrun)
Dr. Masaru Emoto and his Water Experiments: This was funny. I don't know if science and prayers have any connections. Lemme go read more.
I don't fully understand this. What's the principle behind your answer please.
@learnandteach01
Those who suffer from sickle cell disease are somewhat immune to malaria. They can contract it but it doesn't have the extreme effects that it has on those without SCD.
I've heard it proposed that it may have something to do with the fact that the places that SCD are most common also have problems with malaria. People who get malaria die leaving those who inherit SCD which is passed on.
great blog very informative
Am not to good with biology but I really enjoyed the post. Thanks @suesa
I remember reading about the water experiment long ago, at that time I thought this was BS. now I'm having second thoughts. do you think there is some kinda harmonical connection between origin of life & water?
Not really, no. I mean yeah, water was needed for life to happen but I don't think there is a "harmonic connection".
I've got stiff, curly facial hair (just for informational purposes: i'm white male) and the damm Razor Bumps are absolute PAIN IN THE BUTTOCKS.
You can't even imagine how annoying it is.
I found solution though: 0,5mm trimmer.
Looks almost like clean shave, 0 bumps.
Also, stay away from black holes :)
Cheers!
I haven't researched it myself but I don't think that shaving a wild beard has a lot of influence over butt pain...
Don't you say -.-'
I was waiting when somebody is gonna point that out ;)
lol
This post is wonderful, I just didn't know you would be answering questions maybe I would asked one too.. But it's good to see you answering people's questions.
Every question people ask in the comments that require more effort than a Google search go on a list. I then pick topics from there to make posts about. The questions above were all too short to be answered in their own post.
OK...
Hello. I looked at your posts if you spoke about a topic i heard in 2015 ( or 2016, i don't remember), but i didn’t find or i missed it. So i decided to leave a comment here: what do you think about CRISPR-cas9 ? When i heard about it, i thought it was a big-bang in the genetic world. I thought about genetic deases, some spoke about chimeras ( "hey ! what about to create the bird head pharaon ?"). But in fact, i feel like nobody really talked about this. So i was wondering if it was a subject you were interested in. I'm sure you heard about it as Emmanuelle Charpentier is the co-discoverer of this technology and she worked in Germary, especially at the Max Planck institute. Why not let this topic sits a bit on your list ? Or to turn it as a story ?
Nice post upvoted same response required.
https://steemit.com/english/@mabhedal/english-idioms-with-urdu-translation-learning
LOL
