Baby girl has to take multiple baths to keep skin from cracking
Washington D.C: Jennie Wilklow’s daughter Anna has a strange condition. Minutes after she was born via C-section, the newborn’s skin began to thicken and crack, creating fissures across her body. Speaking to People magazine, Wilklow said that out of the womb, her daughter’s skin became dry and hard, like armour. Wilklow remembers the shock among hospital staff as Anna’s eyes swelled shut and circulation in her hand and feet were cut off. It turns out that Anna was born with harlequin ichthyosis, a rare condition that causes newborns to form thick plates of skin, according to the First Skin Foundation. According to experts, the hardening of the skin can dramatically affect an infant’s appearance and cause their lips and eyelids to turn inside out. The condition further creates constriction around their chest and makes it difficult to breathe and eat. While the mortality rate for the condition used to be high earlier, medical advancements have allowed survival rates to increase. Treatment for the disease is extremely intensive and involves a thorough skin care regimen that aims to keep the skin moisturized and soft to prevent infections. Wilklow covers Anna in Aquaphor, a healing ointment, every few hours. Wilklow decided to stop work and stay home with her fulltime to give her everything she needs. Since Anna’s body produces so much extra skin, she consumes a tremendous 2,100 calories a day. Ann needs to have multiple two-hour baths a day and daily caloric needs as well, along with weekly occupational therapy and bi-weekly physical therapy. However, Wilklow says that Anna’s personality is always happy and incredibly loving. “She steals people’s hearts because even when she is dry and uncomfortable, she’s always smiling,” she adds. Wilklow hopes that Anna’s story inspires others in similar conditions to focus on the positives, even when things seem bleak. (ANI)
Man bedridden after selling kidney to buy iPhone, iPad
San Francisco: A Chinese man who sold his kidney as a teenager to buy the latest Apple iPad and iPhone in 2011 is now bedridden with organ failure, the media reported. Wang Shangkun was 17 years old when he made the decision to undergo surgery and sell his right kidney in the black market to buy the Apple products. Shortly after the illegal surgery, he began suffering from a decreased level of kidney function, news.com.au reported late on Monday. “Shangkun had sold his kidney to black market organ harvesters in April 2011 where he received $4,500 Australian dollars. He purchased an iPhone 4 and iPad 2 with the funds,” the report added. The man suffered renal failure in his second kidney after having one removed. It is said that it was due to the unsanitary conditions where the surgery took place. In 2012, a total of nine individuals connected to the organ harvesting case were jailed for their involvement. Five surgeons involved with the procedure were among those convicted, according to Newsweek. (IANS)
126-million-year-old fossilized dinosaur dung
NEW YORK: For 126 million years, a very specific record of dinosaur behavior has weathered the eons. Coprolite is the fossilized feces left behind by dinosaurs. Though coprolite gets its name from the Greek kopros, meaning dung and lithos, meaning rock; there is an urban legend in the paleontologist community regarding the name: In the early 1800s, two dinosaur specialists sparred constantly over fossils and research. Othniel Marsh supposedly named coprolite after his rival Edward Cope in order to forever associate his enemy with dung. William Buckland, however, officially dubbed the dung. Buckland, a noted theologian and academic paved the way for paleontology by being one of the first serious scientists to rail against a literal interpretation of the bible. Buckland was the first to realize just what coprolite was. Inspired by the observations of fossil hunter Mary Anning, he deduced that they were indeed fossilized droppings. He observed that the spiral shape of the coprolites she found was evidence that their intestines were spiraling like a shark and that the ones dyed black with ink belonged to animals that had been eating now-extinct cephalopods. While coprolite isn’t the actual remains of a dinosaur, they are trace fossils, with much to teach us about how dinosaurs ate. Paleontologists are able to tell if a dinosaur was a carnivore or herbivore. Though coprolites true nature can sometimes be apparent on the outside, the inside is usually a dazzling array of patterns and colors. (Agencies)