Dear Hive: Fun Facts I Have Gathered During My Online Classes as a Pre-Medical Student! (PART 2)

Dear Hive,

It's that most awaited time of the month where the semester has finally come to an end, and currently I am in that blissful moment ready to share with you all of my lessons from my online classes. Well, I hope these lessons, albeit the given circumstances, might help me as well to apply it in the real life setting where supposedly, the soon-to-be 'front line' in the health care system must predispose herself to the skills and training, and not just merely 'knowing' things.

Anyways, without further ado, here are the things that I'd like to share with all of you :) (except for this california maki which I craved so much while writing this article~)

Welcome to BLOOD BANKING! Where all of your memory, mnemonics, analysis, and techniques must be in accord because blood group system is no joke! You may think that blood is just a red fluid circulating inside your body, but in depth, a lot of stuff has been going on around with its complexity and diversity.

Here is a table showing you the different terminologies for the Rh blood group system. Rh blood group system is the second most important blood group after the ABO blood group system. It contains specific proteins that are found on the red blood cell surface.

You might have encountered blood types indicating A positive or A negative, so on and so forth...The 'A' indicates the ABO blood group system - the A antigen present on the surface of your red blood cells, which means you have the blood type A, furthermore, the 'positive' indicates the Rh antigen present also on the surface of your red blood cells which means you are Rh positive. Otherwise, it indicates absence of the Rh antigen if it is negative.

I am showing this table to you because this Rh blood group system contains over 57 different antigenic specificities and it continuously grows in number as new mutations have been discovered. I am just so amazed how it can be converted to one terminology to another and we wouldn't have to memorize its correspondence because there's a technique that only needs to be understood to arrive at a certain terminology.

One interesting part is that one type of Rh variation is the 'Rh null', which it kinda lacks all of the Rh antigens (example: D, C, E, c, e) which means it is absent or not found, or it could be that there are mutations of these Rh antigens on the surface of your red blood cells. Fun fact, Rh null is the rarest blood group in the world, often called as the ''golden blood'' because only 43 people (in 5 decades) on Earth have this rare blood type. It was first discovered in 1961 in an Aboriginal Australian woman, and the complicated part is that donations or transfusions for Rh null are incredibly scarce or arduous to obtain since individuals with Rh null syndrome, only Rh null blood can be given.

Now, let's move on to the world of Clinical Chemistry 2! When I was reading my notes, I stumbled upon this another fun fact I've read: 'Adrenogenital Syndrome'.

To start, androgens are a group of hormones that play a role in male traits and reproductive activity, but although these are regarded as male hormones, these hormones are present in both males and females. In case of this so-called 'Adrenogenital Syndrome', occasionally, an adrenocortical tumor secretes excessive quantities of androgens resulting to intense masculinizing effects in the body. It can occur in females, thus females may develop virile characteristics such as: beard growth, deeper voice, or growth of clitoris that resembles a penis. Here is an interesting fact about Chen who is actually a female and was diagnosed with 'Adrenogenital Syndrome'.

Next stop, Hematology 2! Ever wondered how bleeding stops after an injury? Thanks to our platelets for adhering to the site of injury, and subsequently undergo various steps to temporarily stop the bleeding. Yes, temporarily. Because let me introduce to you to the 'clotting or coagulation factors' that are truly responsible for the permanent stoppage of bleeding!

Here is a taste of the coagulation pathway, consisting of your very own coagulation factors that all work together to form an end product, a stable fibrin clot to permanently stop bleeding at the site of injury, indeed quite complex. But wait 'til you get to know the different names of each corresponding coagulation factors, because our instructor told us to memorize all of them! But fret not! I made a song so I can easily recall the different names and integrate them for long-term memory! Maybe soon I'll post and share the song with you :)

Lastly, something that is more relevant in today's setting. I welcome you all to the world of Molecular Biology and Diagnostics! My most fave subject so far, since I got a slight gist of interpreting a Polymerase Chain Reaction result from COVID-19 samples.

Here is a Polymerase Chain Reaction Data Analysis consisting of amplification curves in an amplification plot and a plate map that shows the different samples of COVID-19. And below is a summary of its corresponding interpretation. Well, it's kind of complicated to merely discuss it in this article, so next time I'll write it in a separate one.

Anyway, that's all I can ever share to all of you. This post intends to show you how the medical world is vast, complex, and valuable. Furthermore, one must really give importance to the people who are working in front lines to deliver good health services, because their sacrifices are innumerable and their works are exemplary.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the images above. Credits to my kind professors for imparting all of these substantial knowledge.

Yours truly, @incredibleirah