The Happiest People

Mood: Uplifted

Music: Arcade Fire - "Wake Up"

Medicine: Clinical Microbiology

Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity, was interviewed for one hour on CNBC. Here are some interesting points:

He lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence. He drives his own car everywhere, does not have a  chauffeur, does not have a private jet (though he owns the world's largest private jet company), and rather than socializing with high society, his pastime after he gets home is to make himself some popcorn and watch TV. Bill Gates, the world's richest man, met him for the first time 5 years ago. They scheduled a meeting for only half an hour. The meeting lasted for ten hours. After then, Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffett, following his outlook on life.

His advice to young people:

Live your life as simple as you are. Money doesn't create man, but it is the man who created money. Don't do what others say, just listen to them, and do what you feel is good. After all, it's your life. Don't go on brand name; just wear what feels comfortable. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; rather, spend your money on who really is in need. The happiest people do not necessarily have the best things. They simply appreciate the things they have.

Right you are, sir. Right you are.

"If the children don't grow up, our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up. We're just a million little gods causing rain storms, turning every good thing to rust... I guess we'll just have to adjust."

Two Reasons Glutamine May Be Good for Athletes

Mood: Fascinated
Music: Two Door Cinema - "This Is The Life"
Medicine: Kidney Pathophysiology

Glutamine gets a pretty bad wrap, and rightfully so; most Americans do not build muscle.

Glutamine has been often pitched as a "brain food", since its metabolism is increased to form ketoacids in the face of glucose starvation, which are used by the brain for energy. The problem is, in non-starvation situations, glucose is abundant, and this is often the case in Americans. Another use of glutamine in the brain is to create glutamate, which is an excitatory neurotransmitter. You need neurotransmitters for appropriate neural function, thus giving more credence to sell glutamine as a brain food. The problem is that when you have too much glutamine, glutamate accumulates, and this can actually cause neural synapse damage. Neural synapses become too excited, overstimulated, and compensate by undergoing apoptosis and dying. The neurons are trying to reach homeostasis (a balance), and you end up losing neural function as a result.

However, glutamine is definitely NOT a bad thing in avid athletes, and there are two great reasons.

1. Glutamine is the main protein in muscle. So in weight-trainers and athletes that are working out to gain muscle, glutamine is a useful tool to improve muscle building. In inactive people, glutamine won't go to the muscle; in short, the body needs a reason to build muscle. If you're not using your muscles, then why expend energy in making more muscle?

2. Working athletes usually experience respiratory acidosis; as the body's muscles work hard, they undergo oxidative phosphorylation, a process that uses oxygen to create energy. One major byproduct of this process is carbon dioxide. Excess carbon dioxide combines with water to form an acid, carbonic acid, which dissociates into bicarbonate and a proton (protons are responsible for acidity!) Normally carbon dioxide is cleared efficiently through the lungs. However, in more strenuous and chronic exercise, the lung is not entirely capable of clearing this carbon dioxide. So what happens? The kidneys step in to help. They take this carbon dioxide, combine it with water to form carbonic acid, and take the proton created from the dissociation of carbonic acid and pump it into the kidney tubules for excretion in urine. But something needs to carry this proton, and guess what does that? Ammonia. Guess where you get ammonia from? Glutamine! So to avoid the respiratory acidosis caused in athletes, glutamine is used to balance the body's acid (pH).

Just like most aspects of our diet, and of our lives, glutamine just needs to be used in moderation. A balanced use of glutamine leads to a balanced outcome.

"Feel something right, and feel something good. Cause if one thing works, you might know it's true..."

USMLE Step 1

Mood: Motivated
Music: nothing... listening to the sound of rain
Medicine: Anemia

The USMLE Step 1, likely THE hardest test of my professional life, is coming up (April 26th!!!). I'll likely blog here and there if I feel like it, but not consistently as the date gets closer. However, I've decided to start a different blog about mnemonics and interesting facts that I stumble into during the course of my studying. I'm doing this mostly to keep myself motivated and interested in learning, because I'll have to retain a lot in the next few months. Also, the hope is that it may help you out (if you are a medical student. too)!

If you'd like, take a look at the other blog:
http://step1mneumonics.blogspot.com/

I'll do my best to remember to update it a few times a week. See you on the other side of the step 1!