Week 9: Anaemia

Yep, so I've just finished Week 9, which is to do with anaemias of various kinds, and also the process of haematopoiesis. Haematopoeisis is a Greek word meaning "too many vowels". If your haematopoiesis goes out of whack, you may get vowel cancer. Boom boom! No, actually haematopoiesis (I'm typing it this many times so I can learn to spell it) is the process of blood cell growth and maturation. It's fascinating in the way that only truly incomprehensible things can be.

I've also learned a bunch of stuff to do with why folate and vitamin B12 are so important and what the significance is of various abnormalities in the size, shape, and colour of red blood cells. I also learned what the spleen does. The spleen is like a huge oil filter. It munches up red blood cells that are too old and need to be replaced. Don't get punched in the spleen, especially if you have malaria. It is soft and squishy and bleeds easily, and the Knowledgeable Doctors will probably have to remove it to stop you bleeding to death internally. And don't eat it either. It's just gross.

Why did I lurch straight to week 9? Well, week 9 is the first week of the second module we did. I'm doing this one first because the exam is second. Okay?

Relevant film of the week: "There will be blood".