My Mommy Is Worried About Me

Today in my biology class we learned about diseases and epidemics. The coolest thing we learned about was the plague. The plague started in December 1347 and continued to spread throughout Europe until December 1350. The plague continued to cause deaths after 1350, but caused the most devastation during that period.

There are three types of plagues. The most commonly known is the bubonic plague, which is when your lymph nodes swell in your neck, groins, and arm pits. They become so swollen and discolored that can burst through the skin. There is also the pneumonic plague which has to do with the lungs and there was a 100% chance of death. I know what you're thinking, but apparently there is like a 50% chance of surviving bursting lymph nodes. The final type is septicemic plague, which is when you basically start bleeding from every part of your body.

During this period of time the plague killed 1/3 of the European population. This is probably the reason the epidemic slowed spreading, there just wasn't anyone to spread it to. One of the more interesting aspects of the plague is not the disease itself, but the medical practices and idea. People thought that the plague was punishment from God for bad behavior. They tried to contain the plague by isolating those who had it and burning everything down. The physicians of the time would go around wearing long robes to cover most of their body to prevent the infected from passing on the evil spirits. They would also wear a mask containing "magic" herbs for them to breathe in and keep the evil spirits out of their bodies. This did help, but not for the reasons they thought. They weren't protecting themselves from evil spirits like they thought, they were protecting themselves from the pathogens and it was completely by accident!

Another interesting thing is what happened after the plague. People around Europe started cleaning up and becoming more sanitary to get rid of the evil spirits. Sure enough, the evil spirits went away and with them went the rats and with the rats left the flees and with the flees left the bacteria which caused the plague. Again, completely unintentional. They though God was rewarding them, but really it was their own doing, unless your faith says otherwise, but I'm totally supportive of that too.

*Jumping forward* After the 1850s is when modern medicine began. With modern medicine came sterile "anti-septic" techniques, anesthesia, vaccines, and drugs. Something interesting about anesthetics is that no one really knows how it works. We know that it blocks the movement of Na+ (Sodium) into the neurons, but only the neurons associated with pain. If Na+ can't move into the neuron then K (potassium) can't be moved out and thus no signal can be sent. I know, so scientific. Isn't it weird to think that something that is used so frequently (ex: every time you go to the dentist) we know so little about?

This is why I love my biology class! I find this stuff so fascinating! It is also why...