BrightMed Session 1 and 2: Year 12 Begins!

Hi everyone,

On the 15th October and the 3rd December I had session one and two of Year 12 BrightMed! So, here are my write ups!

15th October

 

 Cancer

 

www.celldiagram.net

To start, did you know that 1 in 3 people get Cancer? That's 33% of all people at some point in their life, and it all starts with the mutation of one cell...

On a more positive note, 50% of people survive cancer (to live 10 years or more).

We can classify it using the "Six Hallmarks of Cancer"

1. Autonomy from growth signals - generally we know that cells require messages to start growth. But for cancer cells, this isn't seen as they use "Autocrine signalling".
2. Evasion of inhibitory signals - the tumour suppressor genes do not work on these cancer cells (to note, proto-oncogenes are also now activated, which help regulate cell growth)
3. Evasion of programmed cell death (apoptosis) - Apoptosis cannot activate in cancer cells
4. Unlimited replication - immortal cells
5. Blood vessel formation - they receive a continuous supply of nutrients
6. Invasion and spread - they metastasize 

 This means that multiple mutations accumulate over time. Usually this leads to cell death, but somehow they manage to survive.

Now that we've covered the basic ideas of cancer, my next task was to cover a particular treatment for cancer. Mine was Hormonal therapy, and I used breast cancer as an example.

Hormonal Therapy

Hormonal therapy is not hormone replacement. It is the giving of synthetic drugs to block the body's natural hormones. For instance, on breast cells, you can either lower the oestrogen or block the action. However, hormonal therapy is not effective against things like hormone-receptor-negative breast cancers - hence the name.

Examples for breast cancers are

• Aromatase inhibitors - aromatase is an enzyme that synthesises oestrogen
• Selective oestrogen receptor modulators - these are gents which bind to oestrogen receptors
• Oestrogen receptor down regulators - these block the effects 

As an alternative, some people may choose to have their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, or shutdown temporarily.

Some of the side effects of breast cancer hormonal therapy are:

• Hot flashes
• Fatigue
• Mood swings
• Vaginal dryness and discharge
• Weight gain
• Headaches
• Depression and mood swings

 3rd December

 Introduction to Ethics

 

What is ethics?
 
Ethics is a branch of philosophy which involves the study of right and wrong.

An important note is that ethics involves consistence - you can't have a principal and only apply it to certain things, it must be ubiquitous!

We all have a sense of personal morality. It helps us decide between right and wrong, where we consider the pros and cons, and think about both our own, and our social moral principals.

What types of ethical theories are there?

 Consequentialist - utilitarianism
Non-Consequentialist - Deontology, contractarianism

Utilitarianism 

Jeremy Bentham transformed ethics from pleasing God to pragmatic concerns. His principle:

The act to produce optimal amount of happiness.

 Benefits:

• Egalitarianism
• Intuitive - makes sense to want to please everyone
• Easy to follow
• Flexible - Different contexts require different responses

Social Contract Theory

"Social contract theory, nearly as old as philosophy itself, is the view that persons' moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live." - www.iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/

Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan:

 In regards to morality "... In order to live together optimally"
He said that life without social contract - a world without morality: "The life of man, solarity, poor, nasty brutish and short"

Our facts of human existence:

1. We have quality of need
2. Resources are scarce
3. We have equality of facilities
4. Altruism is limited

People must abide by social contract - this builds trust with no life of fear and self interest.

With civil disobedience, the social contact can change.

Weaknesses:

• Hypothetical structures
• Entirely implicit
• We sign up because of fear: cost-benefit analysis

Another thing to consider: do we have duties towards: babies, non human animals, oppressed people, the planet and our descendants? 

Deontology
The categorical imperative - devised by Emanuel Kant

To clarify, an example of a cateogrical imperitive is "you ought not to kill" whilst a hypothetical imperative is "if you want... then...". This creates a universal law.

However, the problems with it are as followed:

• It's wrong to lie
• It's wrong to be complicit in the killing of innocent people
• It's too idealistic

Health Ethics
 
Now to put this in regards of medicine, it's incredibly important for doctors to be aware and put into practice the four principles of medicine:

1. Autonomy -  the patients' needs (decision making)
2. Beneficence - Doing good (the Hippocratic oath)
3. Non maleficence - Do no harm
4. Justice - Considering treating equally 

What do you think on everything discussed today? Let us know, I'd love to hear what you think!

- Geeker