Video
Watch and learn! Access author selected videos that will help bring key concepts and theories to life, preparing you for your studies/exams/placements.
Click on the following links which will open in a new window.
Injections: How do they work?
Meds can be administered in many ways. We prefer pills over injections, but in many instances injections have been the norm. This Dnews video describes various ways in which injections are administered and why various drugs are administered in different ways. As informative as this video is, keep in mind that new ways are being found to administer drugs (e.g., by patch, or inhalation) that might reduce injection of some compounds.
testtube.com/dnews/what-you-don-t-know-about-getting-shots?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5511a71104d3015a43000001&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
What happens when a flu virus gets into your body
This video produced by NPR has brilliant animations to show what happens when a virus enters a person’s body, notably entry into a cell’s nucleus and the expansion of the viral pool. It’s not like a horror movie, but when you think about it, you’ll see that it can actually be very scary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpj0emEGShQ
Evolution from the viral perspective
This is an amazing, scary video (scarier than invaders from outer space) produced by Milos Velja. It describes what happens when a virus jumps from animals to humans (e.g., HIV, Ebola), and the many viruses that are at the cusp of this jump, some of which could potentially be more devastating than those humans have already encountered. This video also offers a somewhat controversial perspective of evolution, essentially suggesting that retroviruses, by changing our genetic code, which could be passed across generations, may have led to what we are now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ms04x6MvMY
Vaccinations and anti-vaccination: illogical logic
As most readers will likely know, there has been an increasing anti-vaxxer movement. This SciShow video provides a very excellent perspective about cognitive biases in relation to why some people behave as they do regarding vaccination and many others behaviors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzxr9FeZf1g&feature=youtu.be
Don’t be a jerk. Get a flu vaccination
This brief, but terrific Risk Bites video tells us why people might choose not to be vaccinated, and why they should.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky7rqA0-Y_M
Go ahead and be a jerk and see what happens.
This is what happened in 1918 when a pandemic hit, but vaccines weren’t available. We have vaccines now, but we know that most people still don’t choose to get vaccinated, perhaps because they simply haven’t had the experience of witnessing what an epidemic is actually like. This ‘Documentary Tube’ video, about 50 minutes in length, is edifying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY1T90oIPCY
Measles
While we’re on the topic of vaccines, here’s another SciShow video, this time dealing with the potential measles comeback. The video covers how vaccination works, and what herd immunity means.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzxr9FeZf1g&feature=youtu.be
Here’s another go at the same topic, again produced by SciShow.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kjFPUoIXd80
How measles gets into us and how infected cells spread within a person
Ohhhh, measles is pretty awful, even if you’ve never met anyone that’s gotten ill. This video will tell you how measles defies the body’s defenses, and how our immune system fights back. However, even if you beat it, risks for other illnesses will continue because your own immune system is worn down for some time. This simple whiteboard analysis (from Risk Bites) narrated by Professor Brian Zikmund-Fisher tells you a little about our appraisals and fears regarding measles, and why some people seem not to be all that concerned about its spread.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvKXe4D4NAs
Illusionists on vaccines
You may have hear of the illusionists Penn and Teller who have been entertaining people for years. Unlike so many of the Hollywood crowd who feel that they know enough about vaccines and vaccination that they can lecture everyone to stay away, Penn and Teller show very simply what could happen if enough people chose not to be vaccinated. Short and really to the point.
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=penn+and+teller+vaccination&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-003
A short history of antibiotics and what went wrong
These two video clips from the Smithsonian channel tell you a bit about the development of antibiotics and the negative effects that have occurred as a result of the microbiome being altered by these otherwise important medications.
http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/videos/the-war-on-microbes/20596
http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/videos/where-microbes-still-thrive/20595
Antibiotics don’t just come from meds prescribed for us
Overuse of antibiotics has resulted in bacteria mutating at a greater rate so that many are now resistant to antibiotics. Much of our antibiotic intake doesn’t come from the stuff we’ve self-administered, but from livestock that have been treated with agents to keep them healthy, thereby maximizing profits. Should we be concerned about antibiotics in our meat? This Dnews clip will inform you about the risks.
https://testtube.com/dnews/how-much-antibiotics-are-in-your-meat?utm_source=TW&utm_medium=DNews&utm_campaign=DNewsSocial
The deadliest viruses
Some viruses are easily spread (e.g., measles), whereas others are more difficult to pass on. When viruses infect people they may have short or long incubation periods, and differentially effective in killing the host. Do you have any idea which viruses are most infectious and which are deadliest? This SciShow video will let you know which are the most efficient killers, although this doesn’t mean that they’re the most dangerous. They all happen to be zoonotic, initially originating in animals (Nipah, H5N1 (bird flu), Marburg, ZEBOV, rabies).
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gf2bObJGFkg
What can we expect after a pandemic viral outbreak hits, and protection is limited?
As I researched the availability of videos for this supplementary section, I came across some that scared the heck out of me. Here’s one made by Stratus MAX that’s fictional, but not too fictional.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-mcDAxejsg
HIV/AIDS
This sample video produced by Nucleus Medical Media offers an illustrated, informative description of HIV invasion of the immune system and the eventual spread across many cells. Ultimately the development of opportunistic infections occurs and multiple illness will develop. The video also describes several anti-retroviral treatments that limits the spread of HIV within an individual.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng22Ucr33aw&app=desktop
Middle East Respiratory syndrome (MERS)
All sorts of new viruses keep appearing (and old viruses sometimes comeback). Middle East Respiratory syndrome (MERS) is one these viruses, which like several others (e.g., SARS) can be directly linked to animals. MERS first appeared in the Arabian Peninsula and has since spread to South Korea and several cases were detected in the US. At this time, MERS isn’t a major threat, but as it’s airborne and can linger for many hours, it’s hard to know where the disease is heading. Check the information in this video produced by Dnews.
testtube.com/dnews/should-you-be-worried-about-mers?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=55787c1404d301366f000001&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
The scoop on poop: fecal transplants
There are illnesses that occur because we don’t have the right bacteria present in our gut. How to treat these conditions should be obvious – get the right bacteria into the patients gut. How is this done? This Dnews video provides basic information about fecal transplants from a healthy donor that does wonders for the patient, and perhaps where the future lies in this realm of treatment.
testtube.com/dnews/the-future-of-poop-transplants?utm_source=TW&utm_medium=DNews&utm_campaign=DNewsSocial
Just a cold
When people get sick, even with a cold, they often feel that they should still go to work, as they believe that they’re not sick enough to stay home. The rest of us very much wish that the sneezing, coughing martyr would have stayed home. This Typhoid Mary or Typhoid Murray spreads their germs so that many others are affected. This Discovery video tells you how easy it is to spread cold virus, and offers the best advice – send the carriers home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc5g1ndqke4
Migration of plagues are in one direction only
When Europeans came to the Americas, they spread numerous diseases to the indigenous inhabitants, wiping out almost 90% of these civilizations. You probably haven’t wondered why plagues present in the Americas didn’t affect the Europeans. It’s interesting and straight forward as you can see from the link in the mental-floss presentation.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/71909/ameripox-missing-plague
Making-out can be good or bad
Examine your tongue. It’s fairly gross on the top side, and the blue veins in the slick underside is even more disgusting. I expect that not many people think about this when they exchange amorous kisses. Likewise, there’s not much thought that probably occurs under these conditions as to what the spit of the other person contains. This Dnews clip will tell you a bit about this. The good news is that unless the other person is ill, the effect of kissing can actually be healthy from the perspective of bacteria that are present within us.
http://testtube.com/dnews/why-kissing-is-disgusting/?utm_campaign=true