@dresmerelda

ID/Micro Academic Doctor & Smiley-faced lover of purple

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Category: Healthy Living

Learning to Fly

February 21, 2020February 21, 2020Leave a comment

Applying life lessons to myself, and feeling better for it.

Recovery

October 10, 2019February 21, 2020Leave a comment

Today is World Mental Health Day. I'll start by saying, "I'm fine." I think we all say that, don't we? Honestly, mostly I really am. But you may have noticed I've been intermittently absent... Here's why and how we managed it.

Time (or in reality ‘Me’) Management

November 27, 2017November 27, 2017Leave a comment

I'm pleased to say that I've managed to achieve a fair bit so far in my career while being utterly useless at time. How? Read on...

Rejection and the ‘Science’ of Recovery

August 1, 2017August 1, 2017Leave a comment

Thinking positively isn't always that easy. Here I discuss how I learnt self confidence and coping strategies for a healthier mind.

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I’m learning to fly again 🙌 • See link in bio to blog post. Happy #friyay everyone 💕 • #medicine #doctorslife #instamed #scicomm #blogger #scienceblog #lifelessons #reachinggoals #mentalhealth #phdlife #phdchat #medstudent #keephealthy #healthymind #anhedonia #recovery #anxiety #fashioninspo #livelife

Totally favourite new word: “animalcule” meaning a microscopic animal. When van Leeuwenhoek looked down an early microscope at rainwater, he described the funny little creatures moving around in it as “animalcules”- essentially bacteria, cells, parasites... a whole tiny world of little ‘animals.’ Frankly brilliant 😄 • How’s your week going? 👇 • #microbiology #microbiología #inthelab #medicine #microbiologist #science #alwayslearning #infection #doctorsofinstagram #wordoftheday #readersofinstagram #history #colourful #downthemicroscope #scienceart

NOVEL CORONAVIRUS: thoughts from an ID doctor on some “rumours” 👩🏻‍⚕️ • 1️⃣ If this is so new then how come my bleach says it can kill it? 🦠 There are different types of coronavirus. If you’ve ever had cold/flu symptoms, you *may* have had a coronavirus infection before- it’s not uncommon. However, until recently, there were only two severe types: MERS and SARS. Now, there’s a new one- originating in Wuhan in China. 2️⃣ How bad is it? 😷 It doesn’t seem as bad as MERS or SARS. But we think it kills about 2% of those it infects. Hopefully that number will go down- viruses prefer to keep their hosts alive so they can spread!- and we know some people can test positive for novel coronavirus without getting sick. 3️⃣ Did it come from snakes? 🐍 There’s no evidence snakes can get any coronavirus. Chinese scientists showed that ~90% of it is the same as two bat-coronaviruses but a portion is different enough that there was another bird/mammal that had it between bats & humans. The fact that it’s so similar though means it’s likely a pretty recent jump. It’s a problem because humans can spread it to other humans and it can make them sick. 4️⃣ How contagious is it? 😷 We think roughly one person can infect two others. 5️⃣ How should I behave around my Chinese friends/colleagues? 🇨🇳 Well, like a kind and decent human being! Unfortunately, prejudice is the natural friend of fear, even if you don’t mean to be. Many are of Chinese heritage and have never even been there! They may have family/friends caught in the outbreak- spare a thought for how worried they might be. Possible cases are being screened/quarantined. 6️⃣ Will you be involved in the outbreak? 👩🏻‍⚕️ We currently only have 2 cases in the UK- and I’m very proud of my #nhs and PHE colleagues for their hard work. I wish the patients a speedy recovery. At the moment, I’m doing my PhD, but if the number of suspected/confirmed cases rises, I may need to help out. 👍 • Happy to answer any questions I can below 👇 • #infectiousdisease #globalhealth #doctorsofinstagram #medicine #coronavirus #science #scicomm #researcher #phdlife #womeninmedicine #virology #microbiologist #wuhanvirus #bekind #doctorslife

Thanks to those forgiving my relative absence on here- #phdlife folks! 🤦🏻‍♀️😄 • I am still buried metaphorically in papers, trying to understand and then explain concepts that are relatively new to me so I can make a sensible discussion paper out of it! The thing setting my head swimming today is mathematical analysis of gene expression signatures 🤷🏻‍♀️ • But I am still here!! Selective snippets of more general stuff I’ve done in the last couple of weeks: 👉 ✅ Almost thought Wuhan virus actually did come from snakes (probs not) 🐍 ✅ Tried to keep abreast of the clinical developments re: Wuhan (mostly thanks to clinical colleague chat and hearing about clinical staff panicking at the mere site of a coronavirus positive result- there are non-Wuhan and non-MERS types...!) 🤧 ✅ Forgot to start revising yet 🙈 ✅ Tried to avoid Automatic Negative Thoughts 👍 ✅ Written and given a presentation for a Global Health meeting that was generally v interesting 👸🏻 ✅ Started learning bioinformatics 👩🏻‍💻 ✅ Watched People vs OJ and felt wholly sad that women’s rights still often pegged below race on the things we should get angry about. Deserves equal footing; Simpson’s audacity and ongoing victim-blaming in his 2006 interview frankly beggars belief. I have a whole discourse on this. Shan’t bore you now (need to get back to papers) but sigh... 💪 • Right, back to it!! Aiming to complete first proper draft by Thursday... there’s gonna be a LOT of word cutting to do! Wish me luck! 🙌 • #infectiousdisease #microbiology #doctorslife #phd #phdstudent #phdchat #womenempowerment #communityempowerment #research #researchlife #instascience #dresmerelda #globalhealth #dna #geneexpression #readersofinstagram #writing

Literature review tips I’m (re-)learning so far 👇 • 1️⃣ Use a good reference management system- personally I love Paperpile 🥰 • 2️⃣ Read a LOT. I find that listening to rain sounds send me into a very helpful trance- this is particularly important for me by day as I focus WAY better at night. (Apparently that makes me “artistic” PAH!) 💧 • 3️⃣ Write a plan using Word’s ‘contents page’ function- then you just need to fill in your blanks... 🤪 • 4️⃣ Find a technique that helps you write. I use the Pomodoro technique but if I’m focusing well I don’t stop. This involves timing yourself for 25mins of focussed work and then having a 5min break. I hear Einstein used to hold a pencil in his hand and when he started to fall asleep the pencil would drop and he’d wake up and feel refreshed. I prefer 8 hours but I’m also not a genius so 🤷🏻‍♀️ • So yeah- I’m currently buried (metaphorically) in papers as I read through lots of literature to write an article summarising science in my field. It’s both interesting and taxing. It also means I’m slightly absent on here but bear with me! 🐻 • Anyone else got writing tips? (PS not sponsored by Apple, Paperpile or Microsoft, even if Bill is technically paying my wage at the mo 😂 Other hardware/software is available) 👇 • #phd #phdlife #phdlifestyle #researchlife #academia #instascience #science #infectiousdiseases #microbiologist #dresmerelda #studygram #studytips #writingtips #doctorslife #eatsleeprepeat #learnsomethingnew #mondaymotivation #mondayvibes #laptoplifestyle #womeninstem

BUTTERFLY RASH: ever heard of it? 🦋 • Typically it occurs in patients with SLE (lupus). As with many things in lupus, unfortunately we understand little about it beyond that it’s due to the immune system attacking its own body. The rash is seen in about 50% of patients with SLE and covers the cheeks and the bridge of the nose, sparing the nostrils (swipe for pic). There’s some evidence that patients with this rash with SLE have disorders in the structure of some of their DNA that codes for their T-cells: a part of their immune system (see comments for article). Interestingly, the rash can also (rarely) be seen in patients with Lyme disease- in those patients though, it’s more likely about the inflammation in the skin over the face (also seen in SLE) than anything on a DNA level. 🔬 • A similar rash, sparing the bridge of the nose, can be seen in patients with a narrowed heart valve, mitral stenosis (MS). Years ago in the UK and US, the cause of MS was commonly due to Rheumatic Fever, another autoimmune condition that was kicked off after infection with a particular bug. Nowadays that’s rarely the cause of MS. 🙌 • Anyone know what bug causes Rheumatic Fever? 👇 • Picture credit for rash: Doktorinternet, Wikipedia https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lupusfoto.jpg#mw-jump-to-license 👀 • #butterfly #cardiology #research #phdlife #science #infectiousdisease #infection #microbiology #microbiologist #dresmerelda #vintagestyle #studygram #globalhealth #fashion #medicine #medstudent #nurse #palife #instascience

* Infection Question * How might your egg-fried rice act like a terrorist? 🤔 • Fried Rice Syndrome is a form of food poisoning that may come about from eating poorly prepared fried rice. 🤢 To stop fried rice becoming clumpy and soggy, it’s sometimes left at room temp to cool and then fried later at relatively low temperatures (cool and reheat your rice safely folks!!). 🧫 Bacillus cereus (pictured above) is a Gram positive bacterium that likes to live in such rice, with 2 important properties: 🔬 • 1️⃣ It can make toxins, essentially heat-hardy little poison darts, that can make you vomit+++ 1-6 hours after you eat it; 🤮 • 2️⃣ If that doesn’t work, B cereus can also form spores, a tough armour within itself that few things can penetrate and that can cause mischief in your intestine 6-15 hours after you eat it. 💩 These spores are INCREDIBLY resistant to heat, detergents and antibiotics. 😧 Thankfully, Fried Rice Syndrome is often self-limiting, mild and short-lived: people often feel better within 24hours 🥳 • So where’s the terrorist link? Sporulation (the ability to make spores) is a property shared by B cereus’ cousin, Bacillus anthracis a.k.a. ANTHRAX 😱 Which is why it’s such a baddie- some forms of it (specially weaponised forms) are difficult to clean up and tricky to treat. ☠️ • Anyone know any other spore forming bacteria? Anyone know what antibiotics we use to treat Bacillus cereus Infection when needed?👇 • #foodie #science #scicomm #agarart #infection #microbiologist #loveyourmicrobes #microbiologia #microbiology #antibiotics #poison #dresmerelda #inthelab #lablife #lovemyjob #backtowork #colourful #medicallife #sciencejokes #geekgirl #sciencesaturday #infectionquestion

2019 for me is summed up by the word JOURNEY. 💪 • This year has brought many changes, some good some bad, after the horridness of 2018. But there’s been transformation in all of them. I’ve seen friends and loved ones, like the amazing @dee_before_c face what feels insurmountable. I continue to see some face awful circumstances with dignity and even humour. And I’ve battled through my own troubles and learnt a lot about myself. So 2020, you may still be imperfect but you’re a welcome new year. 💖 • So, lessons for life- personal and professional- that 2019 has offered: 🥳 • 1️⃣ TRUST YOURSELF. It’s taken me a loooong time to get here personally, possibly longer than most, despite being confident professionally. If all else fails around you, you are left with yourself forever. Learning to trust yourself is a liberating experience and opens more doors than it closes. 💪 • 2️⃣ ACCEPT NEW CHALLENGES. I’ll let you into a secret: everyone is faking it at some point. You never know what you can do until you give it a go. Learn to say no if you’re doing too much but be brave enough to say yes if an opportunity comes your way. 🤩 • 3️⃣ ENERGY COMES FROM EXERTION. Not a strictly scientific statement but as I’ve started to become healthier again and be more active, I’ve found that my energy levels have started to increase. Turns out, exercise is good for you, who knew? The more you do, the more you can do, providing you look after yourself too. It’s been a good reminder to myself though and one I hope to take into the new year. #timetogetfit 🤪 • As the song says, “the race is long but in the end, it’s only with yourself.” 🎼 Happy New Year everyone! 💫 • (As an aside, I’m hoping to start answering “Infection” and even “Human Body” questions (hopefully relating to infection!) that folks might have. Examples to come in the New Year but if you have anything you can already think of, post below or DM me! )👇 • #my2019challenge #happynewyear #professionalwomen #personalgrowth #journey #travel #microbiologist #infectiousdisease #dresmerelda #instamedicine #instascience #scicomm #phdlife #research #doctorslife #medicallife #getfit #gethealthy #alwaysgrowing

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