new project...

One really interesting genetic disorder is Klinefelter's syndrome. In Klinefelter's syndrome, a guy has two X chormosomes and one Y chromosome instead of the normal XY that they are supposed to have. These poor guys have large breasts, small umm... male organs, and have a tendency to resemble girls. This is because of their defect on the germinative chromosomes, they have 3 instead of 2. There is hope for guys with Klinefelter's syndrome though, they can be prescribed testosterone to help with their male development. Pretty much everybody can get Klinefelter's syndrome.

Yet another germinative genetic disorder is Turner's syndrome. These girls are only born with one X chromosome instead of the usual two. They are generally short, and have a really hard time developing their ovaries and other female organs. Unfortunantly, doctors can't do much about this disorder except prescribing growth hormones to counter-act the height change, and in-vitro ferilization to the individuals who would like to have children.



There are some interesting autosomal disorders however, like cri du chat, a disorder where part of chromosome 5 is deleted. Individuals with cri du chat can't cry because of their deformed larnyx, all thProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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can make is a mewing sound. Children with cri du chat also have deformed faces, like low set brow-ridges and wide-spaced eyes. Cru di chat also effects the development of the children, making it hard for them to develop muscularly and speech-wise. However, cru di chat can be combatted with plastic surgeries and a variety of therapies.




Have you ever seen "The Grinch?". Well, if you have hypertrichosis, you will look
a lot like him. Hypertrichosis is a rare autosomal disorder on chromosomes 24 to 27. These individuals body hairs grow in the way that animal fur does, giving them the appearence of werewolves. There have only been a few cases of hypertrichosis, so nobody knows if a certain race is more predisposed to it than others. The only treatment for hypertrichosis is shaving or advanced hair removal treatments.



Some children "grow up to fast", but for kids with Progeria, an autosomal defect on chromosome number one, they literally start aging at 1 year old. Kids with progeria (they normally don't live until 13) have beaked noses, wrinkly body and low body fat and bear a striking resembalence ot the elderly. They also go through arthritis and weak bones. As progeria is so rare, we still don't know who is predisposed to this mutation. Currently there is no treatment for this rare disease.



Dwarfs are not magical creatures. In fact, some babies are born with primordial dwarfism, an autosomal defect on chromosome number 23. These people never grow to above 4 foot 11, and are perfectly porportioned, just miniture. Problems with the bones, like sclerosis have been reported but were not disabling. Anybody can be born with primordial dwarfism, it is pretty rare though. Doctors have no cure for primordial dwarfism, but it is not very hazardous.



A video about the girl in the picture

Some people are born with freaky looking eyes and teeth. These people have Rieger's syndrome, another autosomal defect affecting chromosomes 4 and 13. Individuals with this rare disorder have strange cloudy looking eyes and defected teeth. As this disorder is not very seriuos, nobody has researched if anybody is predisposed to it, or if there is any cure.

Why Usain Bolt is fast and Lance Armstrong never stops

Some people have been given the gift of running insanely fast (Usain Bolt), while others have been given the ability to run for a really long time (your marathoners). The difference between the two is how many slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers they have. Fast twitch muscle fibers can contract reallly fast, allowing the person to fly down the track, or bench 300lbs. When you excersize your fast-twitch muscle fibers, they grow and grow, thats why some people bulk up really easily, they have lots of fast-twitch muscle fibers. But fast-twitch muscle fibers get tired extremely quickly. Thats where slow-twitch muscle fibers come in. They can keep of contracting for hours if you try hard enough, which is why you can walk around Busch Gardens all day and still not be too tired. But no matter how much you work them, they don't get much bigger, you normally end up just losing the fat around them, making them more defined. Most of us have a happy medium of muscle fibers, about half fast twitch and half slow twitch, which is perfect by evolutionary standards. Yay for muscle fibers!

Stop being scared of Genetic Engineering

You've all heard about how "dangerous" genetic engineering is, haven't you? They are big fat liers who are against anything different. Genetic engineering is the tweaking of certain genes to make crops resistant to disease or to make chickens grow faster. Eating a modified tomato is not any different than eating a normal tomato, your body can't change its own DNA based on what you eat. In fact, genetically modified foods are reducing hunger and poverty worldwide by providing cheaper, more robust food.

So screw those other people!!!!!

Oylmpic mile champion doped

This guy named Ramzi won the Oylmpic Men's mile in 2008, with a time of 3 minutes and 32 seconds. However, after lots of testing, he was tested positive for "doping", or using drugs to enhance performance (like taking 20 painkillers, or steroids). He is going to be stripped of his medal and it is going to be given to Asbel, from Kenya.

the TRUTH about anorexia

Anorexia. Believe it or not, anorexia is about a lot more than just trying to look like a human skeleton. It isn't a "satan spawn of the media". Anorexia is more like a coping device for life. When most people get mad they call up their freinds, play a game of football, or just scream into their pillow. But what if, just what if, you can't get those releases and just feel the pressure build up inside you, like a balloon, ready to burst. Life isn't going to change for you, the pressure keeps coming, and you feel like you are scum of the earth. There is one thing you can change though... what you eat. Suddenly, you have a purpose, something you can do that releases that big balloon of stress, lose weight. With every hunger pang, every extra sit-up there comes a bit of gratification "I am succeeding, nothing can stop me!". The pressure goes and your whole life revolves around trying to skip meals and fit in extra workouts. Your appearence becomes emaciated, and people start to notice. You feel like you are actually pretty for once, but there is always that little bit of fat on your arms that needs to GO. Happiness and thinness start to mean the same thing, and you are suddenly never satisfied. There is an unsatiable appetite to lose weight, to feel HAPPY again, with every bite you eat, you feel like you are letting yourself down. The happiness never comes either.


i just really want people to relate with anorexics a little better... sorry for writing it in 2nd person POV!

Chocolate Milk is the New Gatorade

Studies show that chocolate milk actually helps atheltes recover better than gatorade, muscle milk or powerade. Milk has natural B12 vitamans plus the optimum ratio of protiens to carbohydrates, in order to help your body recover faster. Plus, since chocolate milk is natural, it is cheaper to purchase and easier for our bodies to absorb (after all, we've been drinking milk since caveman times!).
Oylimpic Medalist, Micheal Phelps drank chocolate milk in between his races, look how well it worked for him. I drank chocolate milk after my 7 mile practice today and I still had the energy to write this blog...
Also, chocolate milk is WAY more delicious than those weird carbo recovery slushy things...

How overtraining REALLY works...

Have you ever lifted hard 10 days in a row? Or upped your mileage by 10 miles in one week? Then you've probably felt the beast of overtraining. Overtraining is when somebody feels intense fatigue and other symptoms caused by pushing their body to the brink. But... how does that happen?
It is said that overtraining effects the automatic nervous system, which is responsible for heart rate and blood pressure. There are two parts, the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system.

What the sympathetic nervous system does in response to overtraining.
-Increases resting heart rate
-Increases blood pressure
-Increases caloric needs
-Causes lack of apatite
the sympathetic nervous system seems to be preparing the body for a time with little food and lots of stress...

What the parasympathetic nervous system does in response to overtraining
-Early fatiguing
-Rapid heart rate after exercise
the parasympathetic nervous system is preparing our body to be lazy whenever it can, which is good for survival, but not for soccer

Hormones are also tweaked out in times of bodily stress
-Cortisol increases (and slows recovery)
-Testosterone decreases (slowing recovery even farther)
In fact, this flip-flop of cortisol and testosterone make it so that the body eats its own muscle for energy, which would be vital in a life-death situation.

Muscle cells are among the most effected by overtraining however
-Muscle tears increase (muscle tears are the leading cause of soreness)
-Lactic Acid builds up (the other cause of soreness)
-The muscles have less oxygen delivered to them
-Gylcogen and Creatine stores become depleted (the sources of energy in exercise)
This is caused by the body essentially giving up on the muscles, and focusing on the internal organs and brain.

The body is under so much stress during overtraining that it even decreases the body's antibodies, greatly supressing the immune system. Thats why so many athletes get colds all the time. So overtraining is actually a preprogramed bodily response, that is good for surviving, but not so good for trying to get that state championship.