College

Enough has been said about the unending vagaries of my life, the flimsy fibres of affection that entangle us in friendships, relartionships and family.

So here's a sneak peek into how our college is.

Basically we finished the dissection of the upper and lower limbs and the thorax. While we were in thorax, we removed the lungs, the fist sized heart, appreciated its inner chambers, the papillary muscles, chordae tendinae, atrioventricular orifices and the coronary arteries on the surface of the heart.

As a part of the subject, we also study the embryological aspect of the organ concerned. Like today we studied about the development of the heart. Its actually quite interesting.

So basically there are these Intraembryonic and Extraembryonic blood vessels that communicate through angioblast cells. There are 2 dorsal aortae that appear and later these invade the cardiogenic area which is towards the superior or cranial end. This cardiogenic area is just a small enclosure between the foregut and pericardial sac dorsoventrally and stomadeum septum transversum superoinferiorly.

All this still hasn't given rise to any definite structure. The development of def. Heart starts from a sheath of myoepicardial mantle that envelopes the endothelial tubes. This mantle later gives rise to myocardium and epicardium of the heart. There are cephalic foldings and fusion occurs in craniocaudal direction to give rise to a single primitive heart tube which lies vertically.

This tube has 6 aortic arches followed by dilated regions for:
1. Bulbous Cordis
2. Primitive ventricles
3. Primitive atria
4. Sinus venosus which has 2 horns (Rt and Lt)

The Bulbous cordis has further divisions which give rise to inflow part, outflow part of ventricles and also the ascending aorta and pulmonary trunk. Each horn of Septum transversum receives Umbilical veins from placenta, Cardinal veins from body wall and Vitelline veins from the yolk sac.

After this, there occurs the formation of Cardiac Loop which is contributed mainly by Bulbous Cordis and Primitive Ventricle. This occurs around 4th week of IUL. (Intra Uterine Life) In the following 4 weeks, there are several septations that are formed in the heart. (S. Primum, Secondum, Intermedium)

The foramen ovale is an interatrial opening formed from Foramen Secondum by the overlapping by Septum Secondum and in the adult stage, this foramen is closed when the pressure in both atria are equalized.

And of course, there is the formation of the different parts of Right Atrium, i.e the smooth posterior part, rough anterior part and the most ventral smooth part. (But by then I was filled to the brim and couldn't digest anymore info.

Speaking of saturation, I hate it when this happens. I'd like to call it the Breaking Point of a lecture. Considering normal emotional conditions, intermediate hunger levels and a mildly interesting lecture, I find it ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to sit in the class beyond a point. This point depends on:
The difficulty level of the class
The amount of info the teacher is trying to deliver to our brains
The Interesting Quotient of the class
The interactions in the class.

Basically I get extremely fidgety, uncomfortable and annoyed in such circumstances. And all attempts to curb this awkward psychological state would backfire and escalate matters.

Biochem these days is like swimming in an ocean of reactions, inhibitor, enzymes and their corresponding deficiency diseases. We crossed the high tides of Carb, Purine-Pyrimidine and Amino acid metabolism and now we're up against Lipid metabolism. In these chapters we just look at the fate of the substances that we ingest.

Like I had chappati today. Implying starch. Implying maltose. Implying glucose. Implying glycolysis. Colloquially considered the opposite of Glycolysis, Gluconeogenesis is the synthesis of glucose molecules from non carbohydrate substances. (Say glycogenic amino acids)

Today was Shilpa ma'am's last day in college. Although I didn't know her too well, I liked her from the very beginning. There'something about ma'am, I can't pinpoint what exactly it is, but I feel really inspired by her. She radiates these 'good human, good doctor' vibes, she seems so focused, balanced and composed. She is like the perfect example for the adage 'There is a time and place for everything'. Her stories were few but powerful, examples were simple but effective and her explanation was lucid thanks to her clarity in the concepts.

I always wonder how is it that teachers know so much. I even asked Chetan Sir (Physio sir, the best) how he can answer any doubt on any topic at any point in time. My knowledge seems so ephemeral and here are these people spewing complex laws, processes, functions at the drop of a hat!

I am suprised I am awake. I shouldn't be.
Byee :-)