Patricia Holden MD|Travel and Medicine

In my last post, I mentioned the hind leg bones of whales as a possible sign of evolution. There are also clues from other species, such as humans, that could be used as evidence that species have slowly undergone evolution over a period of millions of years. As a devout Catholic, although I do believe in creationism, I also believe that the bible was not meant to be taken literally and that the theory of evolution could be accepted as truth. Here are three body parts in humans that could have been traces of our previous forms.

Tailbone - Also known as the coccyx. It is a set of fused vertebrae which is believed to be the last remaining trace of our tails before humans started to learn walking upright. Tails are designed to maintain balance for animals or even used to hang onto branches by some primates. For humans, a tail would essentially be useless given that we walk upright and do not need the tail for counterbalance. Our hip bones and muscles are the ones responsible for that. It is true, however, that the coccyx serves as support for minor muscles and pelvic organs, there have been no observed adverse health effects after its removal.

Body Hair - Alright, give me any seriously bad effects of being bald and shaving your eyebrows, armpits, or even your pubic hair. Can’t think of any? Of course. Aside from keeping sweat from going to your eyes (eyebrows) or helping deal with underarm moisture, the remaining hair on our body serves no other special purpose. Many scientists believe that it simply what remained of our once fully covered bodies but I’m still thankful. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be keeping this nice haircut I just had yesterday.

Toes - Admittedly, if we lost one or more of our toes it will be hard to keep our balance for a while. Eventually, it will just be the same as before. The truth is, the only toe we need for balance is the big toe. According to those who support the theory of evolution, the other toes were simply the remains of our history as tree climbers (like the chimpanzees).

There are other possible signs of us humans having evolved from other species such as a third eyelid and extrinsic muscles. If you are interested in the other ones, here’s a link for additional reading.

I’m taking a break from all that medicine-related mumbo-jumbo to talk about some weird stuff (again). I’m sure you all know what mammals are. Usually, members of a certain “class” of animals have things in common like egg-laying for birds or live birth for mammals. There are however some characteristics of some of the members that make them stand out. Here are some strange mammals and what makes them so.

Sloths - Sloths have a flat head, big eyes, a short snout, and tiny ears. They also have long legs and a stubby tail. But what makes them different from other mammals? Most mammals have seven cervical vertebrae. Two-toes sloths only have six and three-toes sloths have nine. What also makes them weird is their physical capabilities and behavior in general. Sloths can only move one and a half meter every 5 minutes. How slow is that? Also, they spend most of their lives hanging on a branch sleeping for 15-18 hours (although later studies say that they only sleep for around 10 or so hours). They go down only once a week to urinate and other “calls of nature”. Their young also cling to the mother’s fur but often fall off. The good thing is, they are rather tough and don’t die from falls. However, if a predator is waiting below, then there’s a good chance that the young will get eaten.

Platypus - The platypus is one strange creature. It is the only mammal that has webbed feet and a rubber snout whice makes it look closer to a duck than anything than anything else. The webbed feet is folded back when walking on land and is more prominent on its front feet. Its jaw is also different from most mammals along with its jaw muscles. It’s movement is also different as its body is like a reptile that has the legs on the sides rather than underneath.

Bats - Bats are the only flight capable mammals with the forelimbs developed in to wings rather than legs or arms. They are similar to rodents so they are often called “flying mice”. They have poorly developed sight and track prey using a process called echolocation. Basically, they emit high-pitched sounds and listen to the echoes similar to the technology used in submarines. They use sonar to locate their prey instead of by locating them visually.

Armadillos - Armadillo is Spanish for “little armored one”. True to its name, the armadillo is a mammal with a bony armor shell which it uses for defense against predators. They are good diggers and use their sharp claws to dig for food and create dens. Like bats, they have poor vision. Their armor is formed by plates of dermal bone covered in relatively small, overlapping epidermal scales called scutes, which is composed of bone with a covering of horn. They have rigid shields over the shoulders and hips, with a number of bands separated by flexible skin covering the back and flanks.The armor covers the top of the head, the upper parts of the limbs, and the tail.

Whales - When I was younger, I thought dolphins and whales were fish. They don’t have gills and breathe through their lungs which make them different from fish. Although they look like fish with flippers and tail fins, they have mammary glands (which makes them mammals) which they use to feed their young with milk. It is believed that whales, along with dolphins and porpoises, are descendants of land-walkers. Although it may be hard to believe, this weird mammal have been discovered to have hind-leg bones which serve no purpose and serve as an object of curiosity among scientists, making many believe that they have evolved from land-living mammals or would evolve into one. It would be scary to imagine whales walking on land though.

I mentioned something about how some diseases can be spread from one person to another and that how it can cause people to isolate themselves from others. Most diseases have symptoms that can be easily seen so it can be pretty easy for people to distinguish who is infected and who isn’t. However, what if that person is someone who seems to be disease-free but somehow could contract the disease to anyone near him or her? Scary isn’t it? Here are three examples of carriers.

Milkman in Boston - Around 1899, a typhoid outbreak happened in Jamaica Plain, Boston Massachussets. Apparently, it was a milkman who was infected by the disease a month back but continued his duties without realizing that he himself was infected. The bad thing was, being a milkman, wherever he goes to deliver the product, he was unknowingly spreading the disease. The man has 300 customers so imagine how many he could have infected. Note: Picture above is not of the milkman I’m referring to but is simply there to give you an idea of what a milkman is (if you don’t happen to know…haha).

Mary Mallon - Better known as “Typhoid Mary”. She was the first person in the US to be known as a “healthy carrier” of typhoid fever. As a cook, she infected 47 people with 3 of them dying due to the disease. After being approached by typhoid researcher George Soper, she denied that she was a carrier of the disease and refused to quit her job as a cook. This continued on until public health authorities arrived and took her into custody. She was examined and was proven to be a carrier. She was isolated for three years then released under the condition that she would not take a job that was related to food. She still did, under the alias “Mary Brown”, where she infected 25 more people. She was quarantined for life after that. She died at 69 years of age due to pneumonia. During her autopsy, it was found she was carrying live typhoid bacteria in her gallbladder.

Princess Alice - The third child of Queen Victoria of Britain and was a carrier of X-linked hemophilia gene. She passed hemophilia to the German and Russian imperial families. She’s considered to be a genetic carrier, meaning that she inherited a genetic trait yet does not show its trait. Of her six children, three showed symptoms of the disease. Her daughter Irene was also a carrier and after marrying her first cousin, Prince Henry of Prussia, she gave birth to two hemophilic sons. Every attempt was made to conceal the fact that the disease had been presented in the German imperial family, but Waldemar, the youngest of the princes, bled to death at age 4. The other prince, Henry, died at the age of fifty-six.

Those mentioned above are only human carriers. Animals and insects can be carriers as well. They don’t necessarily show any signs of the disease but if the disease-causing organism happens to rub onto you, it’s possible for you to get infected. There’s nothing much that can be done about it unless you have psychic powers to know who’s infected or not. Or live in isolation in your private island. Or an escape to the mountains or the beach. Speaking of beach escape, LL is having a contest so check it out.

Getting pregnant at a critical period (like on your last year of law school) wouldn’t be a pleasant thing to happen. You’ll be stressed out just from thinking about what’s going to happen that you’ll find it difficult to continue with your regular activities. Most likely, you’ll be opting for an abortion afterwards - which isn’t a good thing in my opinion.

Man (I mean humans, not just males) have thought of a lot of ways to prevent women from getting pregnant. There have been natural methods like the rhythm method, and artificial ones like condoms. There have also been beliefs that have been passed on through generations and of course, some are true while most are not. Let me tell you of seven myths regarding birth control.

Having Sex During a Woman’s Period - Many people thought that having sex while a woman is on her menstruation period wouldn’t get her pregnant. Although it is true that women are much more likely to conceive during their midcycle, studies have shown that a woman can conceive at any day of the month (except for the so called safe period, which I’m not going to talk about here). Aside from that, sperm can live up to 5 days inside a woman’s body.

Having Sex For The First Time - A lot of people believe that a woman won’t get pregnant during the first time she will have sex. This is not true. A woman can get pregnant as soon as ovulation occurs (read: when she begins having periods). Girls, don’t believe your boyfriend when he says otherwise. Guys, you know who you are…

Birth Control Pills Are Effective Immediately After Taking One - Oh no, it’s not…well, for most women. Usually, it takes one full cycle for the hormones in the pill to work with the woman’s hormones to prevent ovulation. The best way to go about using one is to follow the directions indicated on the product itself.

A Woman Can’t Get Pregnant Without An Orgasm - Seriously, what does having an orgasm have anything to do with the sperm reaching the egg and forming a zygote? None. Well for males, maybe since orgasm usually follows ejaculation. A woman, as long as she’s fertile and sperm enters her cervix and uterus, would get pregnant no matter if she’s had orgasm or not during sex.

Using The Withdrawal Method Wouldn’t Get A Woman Pregnant - False. That’s why there’s something called premature ejaculation. Sometimes a man releases his fluids even before reaching climax. With that said, it’s near impossible to tell whether sperm has already entered the cervix or not. Men should use condoms to be sure.

Douching After Sex - Once the sperm reaches the cervix, it’s nearly impossible for any douching method to fix that. With that in mind, douching cannot be considered a good method of contraception. Taking a bath afterwards also won’t help as the sperm has almost reached its destination (if not yet).

A Woman Can’t Get Pregnant While Breastfeeding - Not really. Although it is true that menstruation stops when a woman is on her breastfeeding stage, ovulation may happen without warning and could get you pregnant. Use birth control to be safe. Also, it is recommended by doctors to wait for a year before getting pregnant again.

If you’ve read my previous post about some of the disease outbreaks that hit the world hard, then you should know how horrible diseases can be when they spread. It’s not only the death toll that is fearful about it but also the chaos that accompanies such outbreaks. People trying to isolate themselves so they don’t get infected, people begging to be cured, the disease-free trying to push away the infected…things like that.

A good example (where the newer generation can relate) of a scenario would be what occurred in World of Warcraft. You can read about it here. to summarize, people (players) avoided each other to avoid the effects of the “plague”. It became so popular that it attracted attention from the media. Medical researches even went so far as to claim that massively multiplayer roleplaying games could serve as a good platform for studying disease outbreaks. My husband would be so proud.

So exactly what do we do in case such things occur? SARS was one of the latest that hit the world and I believe you guys already know how that went. Anyway, like any illnesses, there are ways to avoid contracting them. Here are some good tips on how to do so.

Keep yourself clean - Take a bath often, wash your hands before eating and after using the toilet. Stuff like what our mothers once told us to do. Those practices were instilled in us for a reason. That is, to prevent us from getting sick. The healthier our body would be, the better it can protect from disease causing microorganisms.

Get immunization - I remember getting vaccinations since I can…uhh, remember things. Immunization is a good way of preventing certain diseases from entering your body. Just remember to keep them up. Just because you got a shot doesn’t mean it will last forever.

Watch what you eat - I’m not talking about diet, although I would also recommend that. What I really meant was to make sure that the food that you eat are well-prepared and in good condition. When I say well-prepared, I meant that it was cooked in a clean environment and cooked well enough to kill any bacteria that may have been present when it was still raw.

Don’t share personal items - Things like your toothbrush and comb should be used by yourself only. Especially your toothbrush, since it goes in your mouth and would be the easiest place for bacteria to enter. With that in mind, don’t share your glass and eating utensils unless you are absolutely sure that the other person is healthy. Better yet, don’t risk it.

Keep your pets healthy - It’s not only from people that you can get infected. Pet’s can be carriers too. With that said, it’s important to keep your pets healthy and have them vaccinated. Make sure to keep their environment clean as well so they don’t get sick.

Avoid traveling to high-risk places - Don’t travel to places where there’s an outbreak. It think that’s obvious enough. Before going anywhere, try to gather information about possible illnesses you may contract from the area as well as other potential dangers. This goes both ways as well. If you are sick or contracted a disease, avoid traveling to keep it from spreading to other people you meet.

Stay at home - If you already show signs of infection, then by all means stay at home! Try to keep your family members from leaving as well if possible as they may already be infected. Get a doctor immediately and admit yourself to the hospital when needed. We can do our part in preventing diseases from spreading by doing this. Well, unless you turn into a zombie.

I’ve been writing (or should that be typing?) about another jellyfish post earlier when my daughter came up to me and mentioned how beautiful they are. Having been stung by jellyfish before, the memory of the incident actually caused me to view them in a different way. However, thanks to my daughter’s comment, I became open to the idea of simply listing a few of the more beautiful jellyfishes I’ve seen.

Aequorea Victoria - A bioluminescent jellyfish. They are commonly found in Puget Sound, Washington State. Adult Aequorea victoria reach about 5 to 10 cm in diameter and live to around 6 months or less. They feed primarily on soft-bodied prey including other jellyfishes, ctenophores, and appendicularians. The luminescent protein and their fluorescent molecule have been cloned by scientists to produce a similar effect in other plants and animals.

Aurelia Aurita - Also called the moon jellyfish or saucer jellyfish. Simply look at the picture and you would see how it got its nickname. They can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Ocean and are the most common species of the genus Aurelia. It is only capable of limited motion and drifts along with the current. It feeds by stinging small plankton and mollusks with its tentacles and then bringing them to the body for digestion by contracting its tentacles in a corkscrew like manner. It is considered as food in countries such as China, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Chironex fleckeri - Known for its highly venomous sting, the box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri is one of the most dangerous jellyfish around. It is said that it can kill 60 adult humans in as little as 3 minutes. It is is the largest of the cubozoans, and is pale blue in color. What makes it extremely dangerous is it’s color which makes it virtually undetectable by swimmers. The only creature known to be immune to their stings are their predators - sea turtles. They can be found mostly near northern Australia and sometimes near Southeast Asia.

Chrysaora colorata - Also called the purple-striped jelly. It can be found mostly off the coast of California. Its body, known for the radial pattern of its stripes, can grow to around 70 centimeters in diameter. Even though it is not shown in the picture, it has 8 long tentacles and 4 shorter ones at the center.

Pelagia noctiluca - Also known as Mauve Stingers. Its name, Pelagia noctiluca was formed from the Greek words Pelagia meaning “of the sea”, nocti meaning “night”, and luca meaning “light” - in other words, its name refers to a sea creature that lights up in the dark. It can be found in warm temperate waters like the Mediterranean sea but there have also been sightings near Hawaii. According to one report back in November 21, 2007: an enormous 10-square mile swarm of billions of these jellyfish wiped out a 100,000-fish salmon farm in Northern Ireland. These days, mauve stingers are treated as a menace by mediteranean resort owners. Read about it here.

I was thinking of a follow-up post about jellyfish or jellyfish stings until I encountered this article about the growth of jellyfish population in oceans and how it is an indication that something has changed and how it poses as a threat to marine ecosystems. Usually, when someone mentions “species population” and “environmental degradation” we immediately think of words such as “pollution”, “global warming”, and “endangered species”. However, changes in the environment and ecosystems, or environmental degradation is not only hinted by a decline in a certain species’ population. A drastic increase or sightings of a certain species in one area (where it is uncommon) could also mean the same thing.

Phytoplanktons - I’m sure a lot of you have heard of this one, particularly in Ecology class. Anyway, phytoplanktons are best known to be one of the reasons for eutrophication (increase in primary productivity in lakes resulting in lack of oxygen needed by fishes to survive) in lakes and rivers. Eutrophication promotes excessive plant growth and decay and is likely to cause severe reductions in water quality. Enhanced growth of choking aquatic vegetation or phytoplankton disrupts the normal function of the marine ecosystem, causing a variety of problems. You won’t be able to see phytoplanktons directly, but a good sign of high density of their species in a body of water would be the water’s color itself. A bright green color would indicate that there are a lot of phytoplanktons in the water.

Crabs and other Crustaceans - 40 million years ago when the waters in the polar regions froze and lowered the temperature of the water around them, crabs and other marine predators were driven away. Now, with global warming becoming an issue and the temperature level of the waters around the poles increasing, those same predators are going back and would most likely be feeding on the defenseless marine creatures in their new territory. This would throw the ecosystem out of whack and would have a great impact on species diversity.

Jellyfish - Now for the article itself. According to Jacqueline Goy of the Oceanographic Institute of Paris, “Jellyfish are an excellent bellwether for the environment”. Why? This was answered by Ricardo Aguilar, the research director for Oceana, an international conservation organization. According to him, “Jellyfish have come to occupy the place of many other species; when vertebrates, such as fish, disappear, then invertebrates - especially jellyfish - appear. The collapse of fish populations boost this process in two important ways, he added. When predators such as tuna, sharks, and turtles vanish, not only do fewer jellyfish get eaten, they have less competition for food.” This not only poses a threat on the direct environment but also on humans as well. Just imagine encountering an army of those things while swimming. You’ll be covered in jellyfish stings and that would most likely prove fatal.

Time for another insect post. I’m not sure why I love writing about insects especially since I’m an internist, not a parasitologist. Anyway, after writing about dangerous insects and largest insects, I’ve decided to write about the smallest this time. Well, I doubt you’ll be able to see these without a microscope so I doubt you even know they exist. However, they do. So be afraid…be very afraid. (Just kidding.)

It’s amazing how some of the smallest insects in the world would be smaller than a protozoa (single-celled organism) and still have every part an insect should have. How they have functional cells of that size are astounding. These insects may be small but they can be very quick, too. As if they’re not already difficult enough to spot. One second they’re there, you blink and they’re gone. Here are five of the smallest insects in the world.

Dicopomorpha echmepterygis - Quite possibly the smallest insect in existence, the Dicopomorpha echmepterygis is a species of fairyflies found in Costa Rica. Fairyflies are not flies but parasitic wasps. The male of the species is blind and flightless can be considered the smallest insect in the world (talk about useless).

Megaphragma Caribea - A hymenopteran (insects having two pairs of membranous wings and an ovipositor specialized for stinging or piercing) parasite from Guadeloupe. It measures only 0.17 - 0.2 mm (around 0.007 in) long.

Feather-Winged Beetle - There are a lot of small beetles that are less than a millimeter in length. The Nanosella fungi, for example,  measures only 0.25mm and is one of the smallest insects in the world. Like other Nanosellinae, the feather-winged beetle inhabits spore tunes of polypore fungi. They can be found mostly in Southern and Eastern United States.

Grease Ants - Quite possibly the smallest ants, they are found in homes in Iowa. Like it’s namesake, they usually prefer greasy foods like fats or meat. They create nests in cracks of walls and cabinets and can be difficult to control. Insecticides may be effective but reappearance after a few days is quite common. A good strategy in catching them would be to use greasy foods (of course) along with baits. Lure them into strips of masking tape to catch them.

Nepticulid Moths - The Nepticulid Moth has a wingspan of only 0.1 inch and is the smallest known species of moth. Most moths have an average of 1 inch in wingspan so these are definitely small. They are not as small as most of the smallest insects but I wouldn’t want to fill this post with only fairyflies.

Let me interrupt my regular posts by raving about a vacation getaway I recently had. The destination? Michigan. My husband and I had been planning on a trip to Michigan just to visit some of the sights there but I honestly didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Talk about a surprise! Anyway, for the vacation we stayed at Mission Point Resort located at Mackinac Island, which is actually the first of two vacation spots I’m going to mention.

Mackinac Island is situated at Lake Huron. After reading about how cars are not allowed on the island, we planned it so we really don’t have to bring one. My daughter protested to the idea but I was able to convince her that commuting is a lot more fun. We rented some bicycles and she had lots of fun. The island was very beautiful especially with its history which you can discover by visiting Fort Mackinac. Next stop, Tahquamenon Falls.

I’ve visited a lot of waterfalls all over the country and this one does not disappoint. There are actually two water falls, the Upper Falls and the Lower Falls. The Upper Falls is the larger one and is most probably one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi.

I really enjoyed the vacation and I’m sure my husband and daughter did, too. If you’re planning a vacation for the summer, Michigan is a good place to consider. There are a few more vacation spots that we were not able to visit because of time restrictions but maybe next time we’ll get to do so. Maybe as a summer vacation.

Jellyfish stings are painful. Especially during the first five minutes after the sting. Do jellyfish stings hurt right away? As far as I know, yes. As soon as the stings of jellyfish (nematocysts) on the tentacles activate and inject venom, you should feel it right away. I did mention about it in a previous article but just a reminder, when you get stung, immediately try to get out of the water or seek help from nearby swimmers. The sting could lead to anaphylaxis and the victim has a high chance of drowning. Being stung by a box jellyfish type is a different matter entirely as their venom can be fatal to humans. For now, let’s focus on what materials we could use in first aid for jellyfish stings.

Vinegar - Probably the most recommended material to use when treating jellyfish stings. Vinegar deactivates the nematocysts (jellyfish sting cells). Afterwards, pluck the tentacles with forceps or scrape them off with the edge of a flat object like an ID card.

Saltwater - Well, it’s still being debated whether salt water or fresh water is better used for rinsing the stung part. Salt water was used when I got stung before so I’ll go with that. It is after all the most accessible material (you are near the sea or ocean, after all).

Urine - Urine is considered as a common folk remedy when treating jellyfish stings. And like most common folk remedies…they don’t work. There have been reports of jellyfish stings reactivating after being peed on so that means more pain. I wouldn’t try it if I were you.