Spooky Edition
Halloween is around the corner and because it is my absolutely favorite holiday, I will slightly relate this blog to the spooky side of biology.
Let's talk blood and guts!!
Our blood is made up of liquid and solids. The liquid part, called plasma, is made of water, salts and protein. Over half of our blood is plasma. The solid part of our blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. When our blood is poisoned, it is referred to as sepsis. Now you may have heard about sepsis on some fictional TV show, but it is indeed very dangerous.
Sepsis is a life-threatening complication of an infection. It occurs when chemicals are released into the bloodstream to fight the infection but then end up triggering inflammatory responses throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a multitude of changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail.
If the sepsis progresses, it can lead to something called septic shock. When an individual goes into septic shock, their blood pressure can will drop to a dangerous level and this may lead to their death.
I believe what makes sepsis scary is that anyone can develop it. It isn't something that is picky, but it does occur mostly in the elderly and individuals with weakened immune systems. If sepsis is caught early, it can be treated with antibiotics and large amounts of fluid. This treatment can definitely improve the chances of survival, but it must be caught early.
As sepsis worsens, blood flow to vital organs, such as the brain, heart, and kidneys become impaired. Sepsis can cause blood clots to form in these organs and in your arms. legs, fingers, and toes. This is what leads to the organ failure and tissue death. The mortality rate for septic shock is just under 50%!
No one really talks about sepsis, and that may be the scariest part about it. Keep an eye out boys and girls and pay attention to your body.
Sources of information:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sepsis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351214
https://www.healthline.com/health/sepsis
https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/basic/index.html
Let's talk blood and guts!!
Our blood is made up of liquid and solids. The liquid part, called plasma, is made of water, salts and protein. Over half of our blood is plasma. The solid part of our blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. When our blood is poisoned, it is referred to as sepsis. Now you may have heard about sepsis on some fictional TV show, but it is indeed very dangerous.
Sepsis is a life-threatening complication of an infection. It occurs when chemicals are released into the bloodstream to fight the infection but then end up triggering inflammatory responses throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a multitude of changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail.
If the sepsis progresses, it can lead to something called septic shock. When an individual goes into septic shock, their blood pressure can will drop to a dangerous level and this may lead to their death.
I believe what makes sepsis scary is that anyone can develop it. It isn't something that is picky, but it does occur mostly in the elderly and individuals with weakened immune systems. If sepsis is caught early, it can be treated with antibiotics and large amounts of fluid. This treatment can definitely improve the chances of survival, but it must be caught early.
As sepsis worsens, blood flow to vital organs, such as the brain, heart, and kidneys become impaired. Sepsis can cause blood clots to form in these organs and in your arms. legs, fingers, and toes. This is what leads to the organ failure and tissue death. The mortality rate for septic shock is just under 50%!
No one really talks about sepsis, and that may be the scariest part about it. Keep an eye out boys and girls and pay attention to your body.
Sources of information:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sepsis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351214
https://www.healthline.com/health/sepsis
https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/basic/index.html
You are definitely right about people not thinking about this, since I never think about this despite it being such a lethal and easily contractible condition. It also sounds like it could occur when you are trying to cure another ailment which is also pretty scary.
ReplyDeleteI have literally tried to comment on your post 3 times now so hopefully this works. I found your blog post interesting because I learned little on sepsis in the past, but you clarified a lot. I agree that is scary that people are not educated about not only sepsis but numerous of other scary things that can happen in our bodies! It is scary to me that elderly are commonly effected because they are the ones that let things go on without telling anyone! Good Job!
ReplyDeletePrior to reading your post, I knew quite a bit about sepsis due to learning about it in microbiology and observing it while at work. Sepsis is quite dangerous due to all the negative effects it can have on ones body. I enjoyed reading your post mainly because I encounter individuals who have sepsis quite regularly and I now have a better understanding of what is going on with those individuals.
ReplyDeleteI knew the basics of sepsis before reading this, but now have learned a lot more! I really think that people need to talk about it more since it can literally happen to anyone. It can be easy to get caught up with life, but we need to start paying more attention to what it happening to our bodies so things like this can be prevented. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteI always knew that once an infection got into the blood stream it was usually fatal. I had no idea that it was called sepsis. I have also heard of septic shock but never put two and two together. Thank you for the information. It is always fun to learn something new. Happy Halloween!!
ReplyDeleteAs it is defined in a text I have it, sepsis is the spread of an infection from the site of infection to the bloodstream.
ReplyDeleteAs you stated there is septic shock and this falls under the area of distributive shock. Other types of shock include carcinogenic, hypovolemic, and obstructive.
Distributive shock can be thought of widespread dilation of arterioles, or venues. Sepsis toxins cause tissue damage of these walls and can make it difficult for contraction and thus movement of blood to occur.
As you stated clots can be common, since blood isn't moving as rapidly or effectively it can become caught and coagulate as the entire body organs struggle to function.
Nice clarification.
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