Bad Case of Wrinkle Fingers

Going to take a brief break from genetics to discuss how disgusting my thumb was today. A combination of repeated lid twisting and wearing too small latex gloves this week was giving me blisters in the same spot on my thumb. Worried that too much skin would peel away too fast, I decided to smack a bandaid on that sucker. Theeen I forgot about it until today when I realized the bandaid looked gross and I wanted to put away clean dishes. Because I’m not THAT weird, I don’t have any pictures, so you’ll all have to imagine the skin of my thumb pad pure white, puffy and lacking in much sensation. Oh, also stuff was sloughing off. It was all very pretty and I had a nice freak-out until I got to my computer. Apparently this condition is called maceration and it is an extreme version of the wrinkly fingers you get from sitting in the tub too long. Basically the skin absorbs too much water that can’t/won’t evaporate away. This is a common problem with bandages; waterproof bandages will hold sweat and fluids close to the skin while the ones that aren’t totally waterproof will let in some moisture, which then can’t evaporate away. It’s not serious, but if the macerated tissue isn’t cleaned, bacteria can grow and cause infection. Thankfully, I removed my bandaid before that could happen. Shit still looks weird though.

 

Source

Chandler, Nathan. 2013.  “Skin Maceration Explained”. Discovery Health. May 11, 2013 < http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/men/sweating-odor/skin-maceration.htm&gt;

A Bite of Fat

Because comicon is this weekend and comicon/my costume is SERIOUS BUSINESS, my updates will be bite-sized for the next few days. Furthermore, Friday and Saturday posts may not happen. We’ll see. Anyway, for the first bite, I have a tidbit that couldn’t fit in yesterday on BATs. Not bats, brown adipose tissue, or brown fat.

Brown fat is MAGICAL you guys. It’s filled with mitochondria, a cell organelle used for generating ATP (cellular energy source) from larger molecules like triglycerides. What does that mean? It means rather than store all the fats that pass through, the mitochondria burn off excess energy as heat. Small and young mammals have big stores of brown fat to keep warm make up for their high surface to volume ratio (tiny body, but lots of surface to lose heat from).  Some adult mammals will retain a lot of brown fat. This decreases their ability to store energy, but this could be a trade-off in order to remain lean and highly mobile. Remember the Hungry Tiger? You bet he has brown fat. You also better bet that scientists are working on a way to renew brown fat stores in adult humans with weight issues. It’d be a hot alternative to lap-bands and the like. Get it?? Hot and it’s a thermoregulator and- OK yeah, I’ll go.

Told you I had stalkers.

 

 

Source

Sherwood, Lauralee, Hillar Klandorf and Paul Yancey. 2005. Animal Physiology: From Genes to Organisms. Thomson Brookes/Cole, Belmont, CA.