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We Tell It Like It Is
Hookworm
This is a Hookworm inside an Intestine.
(source: http://www.familyinternet.com/peds/top/000629.htm)
Hookworm eggs hatch and develop in the soil until an unprotected foot steps on them. The hookworms use sharp teeth and hooks to burrow through the skin into the bloodstream. The worms then travel though the blood, into the lungs, down the throat, and into the small intestines. The adult worms will dig into the intestinal wall and suck the blood of the host causing the person possible weakness and poor growth.
Herpes
Herpes is a sexually transmitted disease that has now become an epidemic with about 20 million Americans infected. The symptoms in both males and females include a blister-like rash that holds a fluid where the virus lives. They can be painful and cause head-aches, fevers, muscle soreness, burning during urination, discharge, and swelling. Herpes sores can disappear with time, but that does not mean that the virus is cured. The sores can return as a result of stress, suffering other illnesses, being tired, having sex, and exposure to the sun. If a woman with Herpes becomes pregnant, it is possible for the virus to be passed on to the baby, causing blindness and possible death. It is also possible for Herpes to lead the way to other diseases such as prostate cancer and cervical cancer. A person can be tested for Herpes through a blood or culture test. Unfortunately, if they test positive, they can not yet be successfully cured, but the rashes can be treated.
Monosodium Glutamate 
Monosodium Glutamate is the sodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid. It is used as a flavor enhancer in many foods. However, MSG does not have a distinct flavor of its own and how it flavors food is not completely understood. Many scientists believe that when MSG comes in contact with the tongue, receptors are stimulated to increase the meat flavors. Asians used to use seaweed broth to obtain these effects, but today MSG is made using starch, sugar beets, sugar cane, or molasses. Injections of glutamate were given to laboratory animals resulting in damage to nerve cells in their brains. These effects do not occur when eaten in food, but the question of possible damage to the nervous system is still being researched.
Hens
Hens are female chickens which are used primarily
for the production of eggs. They usually feed on worms, insects, and seeds
depending on their environment. Most hens have four toes on each foot
designed for scratching the earth. They have large bodies and short wings
which only allow the bird to fly very short distances. Before the twentieth
century, people kept a small amount of hens to feed their families, but today egg
production is commercialized. Technology has allowed a hen to go from
producing about 100 eggs a year, to about 280 a year. If hens are not trained,
they will lay their eggs in tall grass or weeds. The domesticated hens will
periodically stop laying eggs to sit on their nests and hatch chicks which takes
about three weeks.
Goiter
A goiter occurs when there is an iodine deficiency in the thyroid gland which is located in the neck. The thyriod gland produces the hormone thyroxine which contains iodine, so to make up for a lack of iodine, the thyriod gland will enlarge to produce more thyroxine. This causes breathing and swallowing difficulties, dizziness, and swelling on the front of the neck. In some cases the goiter may grow to very large sizes which requires surgery to be removed, but ingestion of small doses of iodine can prevent or calm most goiters. At one time there was an area in the US which included the Great Lakes region and around the inland mountains, called the goiter belt because of the large number of people obtaining the disorder.
Cash Registers
A cash register is a machine that records the amount of money involved in the transaction of a sale. The money is kept in a cash drawer which opens when a sale is registered. The first cash register was invented by James Ritty around 1879; his model displayed the amount owed on a clock-like structure with a hand for dollars and another for cents. The sale was also recorded on a role of paper inside the register. Today's cash registers can perform many more functions like the ones listed below:
The Mating Process of the Octopus
When a male octopus decides to mate, he will search for a female. After he finds her, but before the mating actually begins, there is a period of love play where the male extends an arm called the hectocotylus and gently caresses the female. The hectocotylus has two rows of suction discs on each side of a deep groove that end in a spoon-like tip. After caressing the female, the male inserts the hectocotylus into the female's mantle and sperm travel down the deep groove of the arm into the female's oviduct. Later, the female lays over 150,00 eggs in her lair. The eggs are surrounded by a transparent capsule and are guarded by the female octopus for about 50 days until they develop.
Gout
Gout is a disease caused by defective metabolism of uric acid produced by the breakdown of protein; this results in elevated levels of uric acid in the blood. About 95% of people with gout are men usually under the age of 30. Attacks will occur causing severe pain in the joints of mainly the big toe, but also in the knee, wrist, elbow, ankle, hip, or shoulder. These joints will become swollen, inflamed, and extremely tender which may last up to a week if untreated. After many attacks transpire, a condition called chronic taphacious gout may result. Crystals of uric acid will lodge in soft body tissue near the joints causing bone destruction. To treat gout, one must rest the affected joint and consume a low-protein diet with plenty of water to reduce the uric acid content in the body.
*The previous topics were all researched and summarized by me, but you can use them...if you can actually find a use.
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