hyperparathyroidism, acute glomerulonephritis, and idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura

yes. i know i've been absent for a few days. i've been studying. i get up in the morning, study for a bit, go to work and bring my notes with me and study at work (it's been a bit slower since classes are done), come home, study, make supper (sometimes with my notes on the counter beside my cutting board and cheese grater)... study....

so what can i talk about that's actually interesting to non-physiology-loving people? R gave me a phenomenal haircut today. i love it.

i could also tell you that a problem with pancreatitis is that the digestive enzymes that are produced in the pancreas and are normally only activated in the intestines are now being activated in the pancreas, causing the pancreas to literally eat itself.
or should i talk about ventricular fibrillation and how it basically makes your heart ventricles into a quivering mass of cardiac cells (this is when, on ER, they get out the paddles, yell 'clear', and shock the guy). speaking of heart cells, did you know that if you took one single heart cell and put it in the right solution for it to survive, it will contract. it will make its own pulse. and then if you put a bunch together in the dish, eventually they will all pulse together? it is true. no, this factoid is not on my test, but yes, i am a geek.
let me go on. you think that it's bad news when your lymph nodes are swollen. well, i'm here to tell you that, yes, it's bad that you have an infection, but hey, its a good thing that your nodes are swollen. they've trapped the foreign particles that are causing the infection and millions of white blood cells in your nodes (hence, the swelling) are attacking and fighting a battle for ya.
oh, so you're still reading this? maybe the human body is really as crazy cool as julia says it is....
your kidneys don't just make pee. they can sense when there's not enough oxygen in your blood and they release something that will make your bone marrow produce more red blood cells (kidneys also regulate your blood pressure and release vitamin D so that your body can absorb calcium when you drink your milk).

well, that was a good review for me. i've been studying for a week, and i could go on about hyperparathyroidism, acute glomerulonephritis, and idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura. but i won't. okay, really just now i just tried to think of the biggest words that i knew.

oh, don't you wish you were still in school?