Malaria Musings

The more i learn about Malaria, the more fascinating i think the disease is. The great thing about having Jessie back in the country (besides from the fact that work has picked up like 78 %) is that she is just such a wealth of knowledge to bouce ideas and questions off of. I find that i am learning so much here about Malaria, and medicine, and even how much i enjoy the medical sciency stuff. (note: i have not taken a "science course" since AP Bio my senior year of high school. Its definatley been a while. And while i am in no way considering medical school, i ve really been enjoying this experiance.
Malaria is such an interesting disease for so many reasons. Here in Uganda we are dealing with Malaria Falcipirum, which is the deadliest of all the three types (vivax, and i dont remember the third) Because it has the capability of crossing the blood/brain barrier, attatching to the cerebellum, and wreaking absolute havoc on your body. The Malaria parasite itself is ridiuclous- the way it has adapted and controlls the anopholes mosquitoe-
check out this link to an old NY times article about the parasite... http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/science/09para.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
the parasite can survive in the stomach of a mosquitoe for two weeks- (average lifespan of a mosquitoe is about 6weeks: which means about three feeding sessions to infect someone with malaria parasite). The Malaria parasite, once it enters your blood stream actually feeds off your redblood cells- and this is where i think things get so interesting, esp. with regards to treatment / causes of malaria. Anything that affects your red blood cell count or your liver can have a huge effect on your bodies ability to stave off malaria. Drinking alcohol: bad. (kills the liver cells, liver is wehre the malaria parasite first reproduces). Taking Ibprofin or Advil- Bad during Malaria because it divides or affects your redblood cell platletes- its a much better option to take tylenon or acetomenaphin becuase they reduce fever without affecting the red blood cells. Anemias and iron count in the blood stream can also have and effect, and there is the natural immunity of sickle cell anemia gene carriers- people who carry one copy of the sickle cell anemia gene (its recesssive) have a natural immunity to malaria because the parasites are unable to attach onto the bloodcells (they have a different shape).
The way the disease evolvesand continues to eolve is just so fascinating here as it pertains to real, everyday life. I was suprised to learn how much mis-inforamtion about malaria is out there as well...
so yeah. im a dork, but im really enjoying being able to leran about this stuff, and i wish i had a better base in it. Maybe i will end up doing something medical in the long run... you never know. Thats about it for now, im going to consider to fdream up new malaria questions to pester jessie with...
There is a malaria education session today, our second of the week in which i will be doing the family planning lecture, and then this weekend, off to Bwindi, about a 12 hour drive to give nets to the pgymys. im not sure yet if ill get to go on this trip, but i hope so...