#premed

The Cytology Zoo

You can come too, too, too!

i♡histo

An exhibition of smears featuring some familiar looking squamous epithelial cell critters.

Can you recognize them all?

Cytology is the study of individual cells that have been isolated from a specimen. The technique is used mainly to study or screen for cancer but can be useful in the diagnosis of other diseases too, like those involving infectious organisms.

Most of the cells seen in a cytological smear or specimen are obtained in one of three ways:

- Scraping/Brushing the surface of a tissue (this is how cells are obtained from the uterine cervix during a pap smear)

- Collecting a fluid, this could be urine, mucus, blood or semen

- Fine-needle aspirations, this is when cells are removed by sucking them through a fine diameter needle. Fluid from the abdominal, pleural or pericardial cavities are obtained in this way and also cerebrospinal fluid during a lumbar puncture (or spinal tap).

The cells seen here are all squamous epithelial cells that are obtained from the cervix by scraping/brushing.

Credits:

@oreoimc (1-4) & (7-9)

@isac.p (5)

@sza_jhycto (6)

#histology #science #pathology #pathologists #anatomy #autopsy #zoo #animals #cytology #dentalschool #iquizhisto #premed #biology #medicaleducation #meded #nurse #nursing #medschool #medstudent #medicine #medlab #vetscience #vetschool #vetstudent #histologia #histotech #histo #pathArt #ihearthisto

forgot to tell y’all the other day when i got the score but i got a 511 on the MCAT and i will not be taking that shit again :) so relieved and proud of myself, i studied for a month almost nonstop and this was my first time taking it! i started with a practice exam score of 496 so this is such a big leap for me

dm if you have questions or need encouragement! and check out my exam resources page on my blog for links to many free PDFs of practice resources and my own personal notes. good luck y’all!

Monkeypox is very difficult to catch from someone carrying the infection and is mostly caught from infected wild animals in west of central Africa. 

The initial symptoms include a high temperature, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen glands, shivering and exhaustion. A rash will usually appear after a few days, beginning on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body.

Sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, usually happens when infants die in their sleep without any particular reason. Researchers in Australia say they’ve found why infants die from SIDS.

In the latest study, researchers found that infants who died from SIDS had lower levels of an enzyme known as Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). This enzyme is thought by scientists to help regulate pathways in the brain which drive a person’s breathing, confirming what scientists had originally hypothesized. 

Bioprinting is an additive manufacturing process similar to 3D printing – it uses a digital file as a blueprint to print an object layer by layer. But unlike 3D printing, bioprinters print with cells and biomaterials, creating organ-like structures that let living cells multiply.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disease characterized by profound fatigue, sleep abnormalities, pain, and other symptoms that are made worse by exertion.

Kids contracting hepatitis with no known cause, liver damage in US, Europe

This audiovisual describes in detail the life cycle of the Onchocerca volvulus and its role in causing blindness in Ghana. Clinical examples of persons afflicted with this disease are shown to elucidate the effects of the disease. According to the presentation, the disease is transmitted by the bite of black flies of the family Simuliidae. The method by which the flies acquire the organism is carefully outlined, as is the process by which the infective larvae enter the wound and develop into male and female worms, which mate and cause a tissue reaction in man. This reaction produces fibrous nodules which often appear externally as lumps. If ocular invasion occurs, blindness can result. Treatment of the disease by surgical removal of the nodules or by administration of the drug diethylcarbamazine is discussed. Measures to control the breeding grounds of the flies with DDT are also noted.

Mice who received mixture of four reprogramming molecules— Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and cMyc, also known as “Yamanaka factors”—  for several months resembled younger animals in many ways, with their skin and kidneys, in particular, showing signs of rejuvenation.

Study: Leaded gas caused American adults to lose 825M IQ points. Leaded gas was banned in 1996, but exposure to the poison cost Americans born before then several IQ points on average, researchers estimated.

Things you must know about Hantavirus [USMLE Quick Review] Orthohantavirus is a genus of single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA viruses in the family Hantaviridae within the order Bunyavirales. Members of this genus may be called orthohantaviruses or simply hantaviruses. Orthohantaviruses typically cause chronic asymptomatic infection in rodents.

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Pacritinib (Vonjo, CTI BioPharma) is indicated for use in the treatment of adults with intermediate- or high-risk primary or secondary (post-polycythemia vera or post-essential thrombocythemia) myelofibrosis with a platelet count below 50 × 10⁹/L.

Pacritinib is a novel oral kinase inhibitor with specificity for activity against Janus associated kinase 2 (JAK2) and IRAK1, without inhibiting JAK1. The recommended dosage is 200 mg orally twice daily.

FDA Approves PYRUKYND® (mitapivat) as First Disease-Modifying Therapy for Hemolytic Anemia in Adults with Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency.

A revolutionary procedure could make donor organs available for more patients — regardless of their blood type. Researchers from the University Health Network in Toronto have proven that it’s possible to convert the blood type of an organ, creating a universal organ that would avoid rejection during transplants.

What Is Multiple Myeloma? 

Cancer starts when cells begin to grow out of control. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer, and can spread to other areas.

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells. Normal plasma cells are found in the bone marrow and are an important part of the immune system. The immune system is made up of several types of cells that work together to fight infections and other diseases. Lymphocytes (lymph cells) are one of the main types of white blood cells in the immune system and include T cells and B cells. Lymphocytes are in many areas of the body, such as lymph nodes, the bone marrow, the intestines, and the bloodstream.

When B cells respond to an infection, they mature and change into plasma cells. Plasma cells make the antibodies (also called immunoglobulins) that help the body attack and kill germs. Plasma cells, are found mainly in the bone marrow. Bone marrow is the soft tissue inside bones. In addition to plasma cells, normal bone marrow is also the home for other blood cells such as red cells, white cells, and platelets.

In general, when plasma cells become cancerous and grow out of control, this is called multiple myeloma. The plasma cells make an abnormal protein (antibody) known by several different names, including monoclonal immunoglobulin, monoclonal protein (M-protein), M-spike, or paraprotein.

A new treatment has been developed that could destroy hard to reach cancer tumors that evade normal treatment. The treatment utilizes existing equipment available at hospitals, as MRI scanners are already a vital tool for diagnosing cancer.

The magnetic fields of the MRI scanner are used to steer a small magnetic seed through the body and into the tumor, where it is then remotely activated to destroy the cancer cells with heat. The 2mm seeds can be navigated accurately, and cause little damage to tissues around the cancer.

The researchers call the therapy MINIMA, which stands for minimally invasive image-guided ablation.