Bridget Sands
Mr. Ippolito
Core Bio H
12/2/16
Citation:
Yale University. "Zika and glaucoma linked for first time in new study." ScienceDaily.
ScienceDaily, 30 November 2016.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161130132813.htm>.
In the article, “Zika and glaucoma linked for first time in new study”, provided to Science Daily by Yale University, who conducted the study, it is proven that glaucoma is associated with the Zika virus. The Zika virus, carried by mosquitoes, has continued to spread to different countries, showing to be the most prominent in Latin and Southern America. The Zika causes birth defects, including microcephaly, a condition which causes under average head size, and guillain-barré syndrome, which causes muscle weakness. Now, starting with a discovery made by a team from Yale, the Zika is being linked to causing glaucoma. Glaucoma is a condition that causes more pressure onto the eyeballs, which therefore causes blindness that gradually gets worse over time. To prove this, the team headed to Salvador in Northeast Brazil, where they found a boy whose mother had been exposed to the virus while he was in-utero. He initially did not experience any problems after birth, but soon after he started to have pain, swelling, and tearing in his right eye. This discovery sheds lights onto the Zika virus, in which little is known.
The Zika is a very serious problem is the current status of the world and affects thousands worldwide. The Zika has really become a big problem within the last year, not spreading as quickly prior to. It is primarily found in South America, and is transported through a very specific species of mosquito, the Aedes mosquito. When infected, a person may pass the Zika along without safe sex. It mostly affects expecting mothers, for their poor babies are affected with birth defects. Because the Zika is more of a recent problem, doctors and researchers are still working for a huge cure, as well as the specific symptoms that cause the Zika. This is why the discovery of the Yale team, the Zika being associated with glaucoma, will help in the discovery and research of the Zika. It is a milestone that will help them relate it to other diseases, and will help find a treatment. Although it was just proved to have an association with the Zika, glaucoma is commonly found in children suffering from microcephaly, which caused a the team to investigate in the first place. The relevance of this discovery is that it will help in the future of the cure and understatement of the Zika.
This report, written by a team from Yale University, was very well written. It explained the importance of the Zika virus, and the how the discovery of glaucoma will affect its future. It tells of the specific details, and how they diagnosed and treated the three-month old boy. Specifics such as these were strengths of the report. Another strength was the seriousness of the report, and how they put it into perspective. However, there were some weaknesses of the article. The report could be considered too early for publication, for the only one link of Zika and glaucoma was cited and found. This may be to premature, for with only one link there is not a certification that there is a link between the two, more data and evidence is needed. Also, I had to produce further research on the background of the Zika, for it was not provided, such as the other birth defects, and the type of mosquito that is a carrier. To make these weaknesses stronger, the team could’ve waited on the publication of their research, and could’ve expanded their research and background, instead of assuming that the readers would have a basic understanding of the problem.
homas Bender
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Biology
Current event
This current event by Bridge Sandst on the connection between the zika virus and glaucoma, is nothing short of fantastic. For starters, Bridget chose an incredibly interesting article from a reliable source which can can be a difficult task. Another great thing that bridget did was that she explained both diseases in great detail, this simple addition of definitions has made her review quite pleasant to read. An example of this is the sentence “Glaucoma is a condition that causes more pressure onto the eyeballs, which therefore causes blindness that gradually gets worse over time”. Yet another thing that Bridget did well was that she avoided misspelling words, and using poor grammar. Although this seems simple, most of the reviews that I have commented on up to this point have had at least one point where the grammar could have stood improvement.
One of the very few issues that i was able to find with this review was that i did not feel impacted by what it had to say. Of course that is very subjective, and some people might feel impacted by this, but i think that some sort of sentence could have been included about the danger of the zika virus in North America. Such as adding how with the aid of climate change, zika carrying mosquitos are venturing further north.another problem that i saw was that the last paragraph did not go into too much detail on how the article could be fixed. This could be fixed by adding another way in which the article could be fixed.
This review was very informative on the subject of diseased that are carried with the zika virus. I chose this review because I found the subject matter intriguing. Sadly i feel that my life will not be affected by this review in any conceivable way, i feel too removed from the subject to be truly impacted by it.
Sands, Bridget. "Zika and Glaucoma Linked for First Time in New Study." Review. Blog post.
Blogger. N.p., 1 Dec. 2016. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Yale University. "Zika and glaucoma linked for first time in new study." ScienceDaily.
ScienceDaily, 30 November 2016.
.
Hyperlink: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161130132813.htm
Yale University. "Zika and glaucoma linked for first time in new study." ScienceDaily.
ReplyDeleteScienceDaily, 30 November 2016.
Hyperlink: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161130132813.htm
My fellow classmate Bridget wrote a very informative and insightful article on, "Zika and glaucoma linked for first time in new study" from ScienceDaily. This review is mainly about how Zika and glaucoma and how both of these horrible conditions are linked to one another. Bridget does a great job with a few aspects. For example, her summary is pretty much spot-on and it was one of the reasons why I wanted to go on and read this piece. Specifically, when I read the summary, I knew that I was going to learn a lot from reading this review. Another thing that I thought Bridget did a nice job with was explaining in great detail how the team carried out their experiment and how they reached to their final conclusion. Because of this, the review is more understandable and it is more valid as well. Finally, the last thing that I liked about Bridget's review was the story from the experiment that she shared with us about the boy whose mother was exposed by the virus. From this, the review is more detailed, concise, and insightful.
While Bridget's review is mainly great, there are a few flaws that she can tweak to enhance her review to a new level. For example, she should have talked in a little more detail about the team from Yale University. While, she at least states where they are from, she does not state who they are and what they do at Yale. To fix this tiny mistake, she can add information such as the people involved in the research and what they do. This would make all the difference from a A+ review into a A++ review. Another flaw that I noticed from this review is that she did not explain in greater depth about the Aedes mosquito which is the species that contributes to this virus. She should have included facts such as whether they come out at night or in the day time or both. To fix this, she can include such facts after she stated about the specific type of mosquito that is transported in South America and is a major contribution to the virus.
From reading this review, I learned a lot and my knowledge on Zika is greater than it was before reading this piece. As an example, I did not know that Zika causes birth defects such as microcephaly which is a condition that causes under average head size and guillain-bare syndrome which causes muscle weakness. From reading this piece, I have now realized that Zika and the research to cure is very essential and unfortunately, it is under-reported by the mainstream media. After reading this piece, I think that there should be more government funding into Zika research because of the horrifying information about the virus. Overall, this review was great with lots of astounding information and I hope that the people and government are more aware about this horrible epidemic.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMcKenna Stoltz
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Core Bio
2/8/17
Citation:
Yale University. "Zika and glaucoma linked for first time in new study." ScienceDaily.
ScienceDaily, 30 November 2016.
.
Hyperlink: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161130132813.htm
Current Events # 2
I read Bridget Sands informative review on the article, “Zika and glaucoma linked for first time in new study.” The article discusses that glaucoma is present in the Zika virus. Bridget had many aspects to her review that were well done. One aspect, that was well done was that she introduced the topic and what the article is about very well. For example, she wrote, “He Zika virus, carried by mosquitoes, has continued to spread to different countries, showing to be the most prominent in Latin and Southern America.” By including this in the article we now know what zika is and where it is found. Another aspect that was done well is that she included a lot of evidence on the effect of the Zika virus. She stated in her review that Zika can cause birth defects. Many babies heads are enlarged and have muscle weakness due to catching the disease. Lastly, she did a good job in describing the research people did at Yale to discover these side effects. The team from Yale went to Salvador to conduct studies on women who caught the disease and were expecting a baby. By including this she showed us the extremes the group went to obtain these results. Overall, Bridget had many aspects to her review that were well done.
Bridget’s review was overall very well written, however there were a few aspects that could have been approved upon. First, she could have included more facts with numbers. By doing this she would have alarmed the readers on how many people are affected by the disease. She also would have shown how harmful the disease is to people. Another aspect she could have improved on is discussing if the team from Yale will do any more research on this topic. By including this in her review she would encourage the readers to look out for anymore information coming from the Yale team. In conclusion, the aspects that she could be improved can be easily fixed.
One thing in the review that she wrote that really stood out to me is the fact that researchers still haven't found a cure to the awful disease of zika. Even with all the technology and medicine doctors haven't been able to find a cure. Researchers know what will do to someone’s body but still don’t know how to cure it. This stood out to me because researchers have access to so many things so it amazes me that they still can’t find a cure. By discovering this, it has inspired me to do some research into the topic of the zika virus and the effects it has on someone’s body.