QUESTIONS MR. MULLANEY
DIDN’T HAVE ANSWERS FOR:
2014-2015
What's the Difference Between a Fruit and a Vegetable?
A peach is a fruit, whoever you are, and a carrot is definitely a vegetable. But in the Venn
diagram relating these two produce categories, there's a sizeable region of overlap. It
results from the fact that "fruit" and "vegetable" are defined differently depending on
whether you're a gardener or a chef.
Dead center of the overlapping region sits the tomato. So, why is it a fruit, and why is it a
vegetable?
Botanically speaking, a fruit is a seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a
flowering plant, whereas vegetables are all other plant parts, such as roots, leaves and
stems. By those standards, seedy outgrowths such as apples, squash and, yes, tomatoes
are all fruits, while roots such as beets, potatoes and turnips, leaves such as spinach, kale
and lettuce, and stems such as celery and broccoli are all vegetables.
The outlook is quite different in culinary terms, however. A lot of foods that are
(botanically speaking) fruits, but which are savory rather than sweet, are typically
considered vegetables by chefs. This includes such botanical fruits as eggplants, bell
peppers and tomatoes
What Happens When Someone Is in a Coma?
Someone who is in a coma is unconscious and will not respond to voices, other sounds, or
any sort of activity going on nearby. The person is still alive, but the brain is functioning
at its lowest stage of alertness. You can't shake and wake up someone who is in a coma
like you can someone who has just fallen asleep.
What Can Cause a Coma?
Comas can be caused by different things, including:
a severe injury to the head that hurts the brain
seizures
infections involving the brain
brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen for too long
an overdose (taking too much) of medicine or other drugs
a stroke
chemical imbalances (in the body from other illnesses)
When one of these things happens, it can mess up how the brain's cells work. This can
hurt the parts of the brain that make someone conscious, and if those parts stop working,
the person will stay unconscious.
HOW DOES BONE MARROW PRODUCE BLOOD?
Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow, a jellylike substance inside the bones that is
composed of, among other things, fat, blood, and special cells that turn into the various
kinds of blood cells. In children, the marrow of most of the bones produces blood. But in
adults, only the marrow of certain bones -- the spine, ribs, pelvis, and some others -continues to make blood. Bone marrow that actively produces blood cells is called red
marrow, and bone marrow that no longer produces blood cells is called yellow marrow.
All blood cells come from the same kind of stem cell, which has the potential to turn into
any kind of blood cell. These stem cells are called pluripotential hematopoietic stem cells.
As the blood cells develop from the stem cells in the marrow, they seep into the blood
that passes through the bones and on into the bloodstream. The different kinds of blood
cells have different "life spans" -- red blood cells last about 120 days in the bloodstream;
platelets about 10 days; and the various kinds of white blood cells can last anywhere from
days to years.
The body has a feedback system that tells it when to make new red blood cells. If bodily
oxygen levels are low (as they would be if there are too few red blood cells circulating),
the kidneys produce a hormone called erythropoietin, which stimulates the stem cells in
the marrow to produce more red blood cells.
WHY DO MY EARS RING?
Many people experience an occasional ringing (or roaring, hissing, buzzing, or tinkling) in
their ears. The sound usually lasts only a few minutes. Ringing in the ears that does not
get better or go away is called tinnitus. You may hear a sound, such as a ringing or
roaring, that does not come from your surroundings (nobody else can hear it). The sound
may keep time with your heartbeat, it may keep pace with your breathing, it may be
constant, or it may come and go. Tinnitus is most common in people older than age 40.
Men have problems with tinnitus more often than women.
There are two main types of tinnitus.
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Pulsatile (like a heartbeat) tinnitus is often caused by sounds created by
muscle movements near the ear, changes in the ear canal, or blood flow (vascular)
problems in the face or neck. You may hear sounds such as your own pulse or the
contractions of your muscles.
Nonpulsatile tinnitus is caused by problems in the nerves involved with hearing.
You may hear sounds in one or both ears. Sometimes this type of tinnitus is
described as coming from inside the head.
The most common cause of tinnitus is hearing loss that occurs with aging (presbycusis),
but it can also be caused by living or working around loud noises (acoustic trauma).
Tinnitus can occur with all types of hearing loss and may be a symptom of almost any ear
disorder. Other possible causes of tinnitus include:
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A buildup of earwax.
Medicines, especially antibiotics or large amounts of aspirin.
Drinking an excessive amount of alcohol or caffeinated beverages.
Ear infections or eardrum rupture.
Dental or other problems affecting the mouth, such as temporomandibular (TM)
problems.
Injuries, such as whiplash or a direct blow to the ear or head.
Injury to the inner ear following surgery or radiation therapy to the head or neck.
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A rapid change in environmental pressure (barotrauma).
Severe weight loss from malnutrition or excessive dieting.
Repeated exercise with the neck in a hyperextended position, such as when bicycle
riding.
Blood flow (vascular) problems, such as carotid atherosclerosis, arteriovenous (AV)
malformations, and high blood pressure (hypertension).
Nerve problems (neurologic disorders), such as multiple sclerosis or migraine
headache.
What Is Sleepwalking?
Not all sleep is the same every night. We experience some deep, quiet sleep and some active
sleep, which is when dreams happen. You might think sleepwalking would happen during active
sleep, but a person isn't physically active during active sleep. Sleepwalking usually happens in
the first few hours of sleep in the stage called slow-wave or deep sleep.
Not all sleepwalkers actually walk. Some simply sit up or stand in bed or act like they're awake
(but dazed) when, in fact, they're asleep! Most, however, do get up and move around for a few
seconds or for as long as half an hour.
Sleepwalkers' eyes are open, but they don't see the same way they do when they're awake and
often think they're in different rooms of the house or different places altogether. Sleepwalkers
tend to go back to bed on their own and they won't remember it in the morning.
Researchers estimate that up to 15% of kids sleepwalk regularly. Sleepwalking may run in
families and sometimes occurs when a person is sick, has a fever, is not getting enough sleep,
or is stressed.
WHY STRETCH?
1. Muscles do one thing, and one thing only: contract. That is how they work. All muscles cross
over at least one joint, (sometimes two) and the action of contracting a muscle causes that joint
to move. Here's a good example: Your quadricep (thigh) muscle originates from the front of your
hip (the anterior superior iliac spine, for the technically curious). It crosses over your knee joint,
and inserts (as a tendon, since tendons are how muscles attach to bone), to your shin bone
(tibia). The action of contracting your quadricep muscle lifts your leg, and moves your lower leg
forward, as it straightens your knee.
2. Muscles are the motors of your body. All action is due to their contraction. They can do more
work if they have greater contractile strength. Contractile strength is greater when the muscles
are longer. In other words, the longer the muscle, the more work it can do when acting on a
joint. Stretched muscles are longer muscles.
3. Stretching allows greater extension of a joint when moving. For example, if you are a runner, if
you stretch prior to running, your stride will be longer. If the stride remains the same length,
then the involved muscles will be doing less work.
4. Stretching helps prevent injuries. The more flexible a person is, the less the likelihood of a torn
or strained muscle. Over time, proper stretching strengthens both ligaments and tendons.
Ligaments attach bone to bone, tendons attach muscles to bone. When you stretch properly, you
are microtearing the fibers of your muscles, tendons, and ligaments. When you rest, your body
repairs those tears, and you are left with longer, stronger, more resilient muscles, tendons, and
ligaments.
5. Stretching promotes faster recovery. Stretching the muscles helps to move the toxins and waste
products of muscular exertion out of the muscles and into the bloodstream, where they can be
broken down and eliminated.
6. Stretching relaxes your body. Relaxing your body allows you to experience less intense negative
emotional states.
7. Muscles that are tight waste energy. Stretching allows you to become aware of areas in your
body that are held with undue tension, so you can release those areas.
8. Stretching feels GOOD!!! Anyone, at any age, can stretch. It does not matter where your
flexibility level is when you begin, as long as you work at it you will improve.
WHY DO WE ITCH?
Brain Triggered Itching
In sharp contrast to the general notion that itching is triggered by a physical sensation, it’s actually
your brain that signals your body to scratch in retaliation. The itching sensation in your body actually
triggers a neurological response rather than a physical one and stimulates your brain to send back
signals to your body to scratch.
Pain Curbs Itching
This may sound funny but an itch is a kind of pain as well. However, our body perceives it to be a pain
of lower priority when compared to others. Therefore, when you scratch your body, you inflict pain on
it. And the brain gives its priority (and its neural pathways) to handling the pain rather than the itch.
This in turn would reduce the sensation of itch to an extent, as the brain would ignore it until it takes
care of the pain caused by scratching.
Irritant Triggered Itching
One of the main causes for itching happens to be irritants that work against the chemicals present in
your skin to create allergies, which would result in itching. In addition to the most common irritant
Histamine, over 15 other chemicals can irritate the skin and trigger the neural receptors to send back
physical signals to your body to tackle the irritants by scratching.