Response BLog to October Sky

Today, some 125 students watched the movie "October Sky", I was one of them. It's a very interesting story about a boy, Homer H. where he is in high school and he becomes intrigued by the works of rockets. With three other school friends, they continuously try and try to make a rocket. There was a lot of connections to make and facts to state, such as dangers like coal mining increases the chance of cancer. This is due to all that time of breathing in the cold air. Also, there is a chance that the coal mine might explode or collapse and you'll die or get stuck. In this movie, Sputnik and the Russians were also mentioned, the whole thought of making a rocket was actually based on the Sputnik that was visible to Homer and the town for a small portion of time. It was a very big deal to everyone back then because it was the first successful satellite, and many got to see it while it was boosted into space. Math was the "base" of the story because nothing could've happened without it. Math was used to calculate the needs and power of the rocket, and it was even used to prove the boys innocence in the cause of a fire. It took a lot cooperation, responsibility, and patience for the boys to finally dominate the conflicts of getting a rocket to fly. Yet there was also many traits that weren't showed in certain people like self-control, when one of the boys fathers beat him because he was crafting the rocket. And there was no respect in Homer's dad's eyes because he wanted Homer to follow in his footsteps as a miner. Another interesting fact is that this story took place in a town that was completley owned by the coal mining company.

Response Blog to Tay Sachs Disease!

I just finished reading about a disturbing disease called "Tay Sachs" disease from "Saints Are The Best"'s blog. It's very interesting yet so horrible. You know that you have Tay Sachs disease if you have a red spot in your retina, or in other words, the back of your eye. Anyone that gets it isn't "scheduled" to live longer than 10 yrs. If you have it as a baby, you won't live past 4, and if you get it between 2 years of age and 12, you'll die before 16. This occurs because there is an absence of Hex-A, a fatty substance, or lipid that's called GM2 ganglioside. The worst part is that there is no treatment or cure! I feel very surprised that this disease isn't even well-known throughout the world, especially when 1 out of every 250 people will get it. I believe that we should nationally aware people on diseases like this, and try to end it.

Celiac Disease

Celiac Disease is a very serious and now common disease amongst people. It's so scary that something so horrible would have so many symptoms! Symptoms are such of Abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, stomach upset, joint pain, weight loss, muscle cramps, stunted growth(in children), general weakness and fatigue, vitamin, mineral, and nutritional deficiencies. Fortunately, some people don't have ANY symptoms at all, but you never know when you might develop one. Those that have the disease but don't experience any symptoms must still be careful because of the fact that there is an increased mortality rate in victims with Celiac disease that is about two to four times that of the general population! It's a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients. What once started as a rare child-hood disease, it is now known as a genetic disorder. It's quite common all around the world but mainly in Europe. 1 in every 133 people have Celiac disease in the USA, 1 per 122 in Northern Ireland, and 1per 100 in Western England. It's interesting how long ago Celiac disease was discovered and that we still don't have any cure, it was discovered by a man named Aretaeus of Cappadocia in the 1st century. Thankfully there is a treatment, a gluten-free diet for the rest of your life. It's easy to remember, but hard to deal with because gluten is found in so many different foods. This is especially hard on children because they'd never get to experience some types of food. Something that needs to be remembered to find a cure is that the diagnosis of celiac disease requires finding characteristic changes in small intestinal biopsy, together with clinical and/or histologic improvement on a gluten-free diet. It's sad to know that there are diseases out there like this one, but good to know that people are definitely working to eliminate it. I strongly feel that we should concentrate more money, time, and energy into finding cures for the unfortunate people that are stuck with this disease.

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/
http://www.csaceliacs.org/library/howsandwhys.php
http://www.celiacdiseasecenter.columbia.edu/A_Patients/A03-WhatAre.htm