This week in Matty Ice’s blog we will be researching something called a monoclonal antibody, specifically the drug called Belimumab.

First off we need to explain what a monoclonal antibody is. A monoclonal antibody is a synthetically produced antibody to specifically target certain diseases. This is done by transferring human genes into animals and the scientists introduce antigens to these animals to produce the desired human antibodies. These antibodies are then transferred to a human by injection, which provide protection against autoimmune disorders in which patients own B cells are attacking their tissues.

The monoclonal antibody therapy, Belimumab, specifically targets Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). SLE is an autoimmune disorder, the body causes it self harm by attacking tissues and causing inflammation. The purpose of this drug is to block the production of B cells, in order to protect the body from further harm because the B cells are produced and are attacking the body. This is done by blocking the action of B cell stimulator proteins, which is responsible for the production of B cells.

The side effects to the this drug are relatively adverse. Side affects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, fever, stuffy or runny nose, bronchitis, insomnia, pain in extremities, migraine, and sore throat. Other side affects include allergic reactions, swelling of lips, face, tongue, mouth, and throat, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, dizziness, fainting, rash, redness or swelling of skin. Belimumab, reduces the activity of the immune system making the body more susceptible to infections, heart problems, and certain cancers.

Belimumab negatively affects the innate response of the immune system. This is because B cell production is affected by this drug. B cell are produced for humoral immunity by the body, and this drug stops that making the body more susceptible to various diseases and ailments.

Matty Ice signing off! Peace!

I know y’all are about tired of hearing of the covid-19 because I for sure am, but this week I will be discussing these things called IgG and IgM antibodies to Covid-19 and what they mean.

Also a super cool story that I read the other day was about a 104 year old World War 2 veteran was diagnosed with Covid-19 and survived. This mans fought in World War 2 and said that this dumb Covid-19 ain’t nothing. Quoting the man on how he beat the virus he said “I don’t know. It just went away. Sit out here and you can get rid of anything.”, he is the world’s oldest known survivor of Covid-19. Not only did he survive the Covid-19 he also lived during the Spanish Flu Outbreak in 1918, where he contracted the virus and survived that. This man has a immune system of steel. If you are interested in the story follow this link.

Now to discussing the antibodies and what they mean.

When you hear of the testing that are occurring for Covid-19, they are testing for specific antibodies and if they are present in your body: IgM and IgG antibodies.

IgM antibodies are the primary response of the immune system to a virus in your body. These IgM antibodies represent a short-term immunity for the body and help fight off a virus that is normally still present in your body. When you test positive for IgM antibodies that means that the virus has been present for about 5 days and this because that is about how long it takes for you body to produce these antibodies.

Now if you test positive for both IgM and IgG antibodies that means that your body is on its way to producing long term immunity to protect your body from this virus. The presence of IgG bodies occurs about 2 weeks after the onset of Covid-19, because this is the secondary response of the complement system.

If a person tests positive for only IgG antibodies that means that your body has built up long term immunity and this usually occurs after 14 days of onset of symptoms. What this means is that your body has produced cells that will recognize the antigens from Covid-19 and will produce a proper response to this virus limiting its effects or giving you the ability to fight it off. But, just because your body has the antibodies present to fight the virus it doesn’t mean you are virus free. A person could test positive for IgG antibodies and be a carrier for the virus. This means that someone who tests IgG positive could still be infectious and could transmit Covid-19.

I hope everyone is staying safe out there and doing everything they can do to limit the spread of this virus. As of today, there are 1,847,095 total confirmed cases and 113,902 deaths world wide and mid week we will be well on our way to 2,000,000 confirmed cases world wide. I don’t want to scare you but I want to inform you, follow this link to check my facts.

Much love, Matty Ice signing off! Peace!!

This week I will be discussing T Cell and Dendritic Cell Therapy that can be used to treat cancer and its effects on the human body!

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Therapy has been used in treatment of cancer patients who have relapsed or are not responding to normal treatment such as radiation. How CAR T-cell Therapy works is the patient’s own T cells are extracted, genetically engineered to target tumor’s antigens, then are infused back into the patients body where they multiply, recognize, and kill cancerous cells. This can also provide an immunity, which causes these cells to constantly survey for reoccurrence of tumors and they attack and fight of the cancer. The main side affect of this treatment can lead to life threatening cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Estimates of this treatment can reach totals over $1 million dollars, which is the largest downside of this new treatment.

Dendritic Cells are being used in combination with Cytotoxic T Cells to treat breast cancer, specifically in women. The combination of the Dendritic Cells with the Cytotoxic T Cells targets and effectively kills the residual cancer cells that are the main cause for the reoccurrence of cancer. The side affects for this treatment are very mild and well tolerated by most patients. The worst case is some patients have had flu like symptoms, but were resolved without treatment. Including hospital service, at home care, and the series of Dendritic Cell vaccinations can cost up to around $40,000.

These are very new and exciting treatments, with further progress hopefully we will have a safe treatment for such a terrible disease as cancer that affects so many of our loved ones and hopefully cheaper.

Stay safe everyone as the numbers just keep increasing of the coronavirus! Much love!

Matty Ice out Peace!!

Yeah, so this whole coronavirus things sucks. So update on my whole life since leaving UNC. I haven’t left my house in two weeks, the only social interaction I have had is with my dog and I’m gonna come out of this like Dr. Doolittle, my dad has bought ungodly amounts of toilet paper, and procrastination levels are at it’s highest. I have never been this bored in my life.

Besides waiting to do my work till the last minute I actually enjoy these Zoom classes. UNC has done everything they possibly can for us to finish out our classes and I am finding them very effective. I appreciate the UNC’s staff hard work and everything that they do for us. I am excited for the rest of the semester.

On a serious note, this is a global pandemic there are more than 700,000 total cases worldwide with the United States having the most total confirmed cases stay home and only travel if you absolutely need to. I am seeing all of these people still traveling, hanging out with other people, and just completely ignoring the mandates by the government. These mandates have been put in place to protect us all. Yes, quarantining sucks and it is really boring but when you ignore these rules you are not only endangering yourself but you are spreading this disease and taking the chance of giving this virus to your grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, and family. So please stay inside and the more we follow the rules the less the impact this virus will have and we will be able to socially and economically return to normalcy faster.

Much love to every out there stay safe and enjoy your quarantine! Matty Ice signing off! Peace!!

This week in Matty Ice’s Blog we are discussing those pesky herpes simplex viruses 1 & 2 (HSV-1 & HSV-2).

There are two types of the herpes simplex viruses and they are HSV-1 and HSV-2. These two viruses affect many regions on the body including the genitals, the anal region, inside the mouth, and the skin. There is not a cure for herpes. So, if you are kissing some little boy and you come back with sore on your mouth is probably because you have HSV-1 and you are stuck with it for the rest of your life.

These two viruses are transmitted relatively easy if you are not careful with who you perform intimate relations with, especially since these viruses can be asymptomatic in carriers.

HSV-1, is transferred through direct contact with a person who has the virus. Direct contact includes oral to oral contact through saliva and the sores located in the mouth, oral sex where one’s mouth is exposed to sores on the genitals, and in rare cases can be transmitted from mother to new born.

HSV-2, is almost exclusively transmitted through sexual contact. HSV-2 can affect the mouth, genital, or the anal region. It is transmitted through direct contact with the sores or fluids from one who is infected. Contraction of HSV-2, increases your chances by 3 times of contracting HIV.

For more information on HSV-1 & HSV-2, I refer you to this website.

Prevention strategies for these viruses are relatively simple tell all of the f boys to get the hell out of ya face and that you aren’t interested in what they are giving out.

HSV-1 and HSV-2, prevention strategies are pretty similar: avoiding oral contact, abstain from oral sex, condoms are good protection but do not fully protect you from transmission as because there are areas the condom do not provide protection. The most successful strategy for prevention is ABSTINENCE!!! Everyone loves abstinence….

For more information on how to protect yourself from contraction of these virus follow this link for more tips on protection.

While I may not be able to protect your from Covid-19, I hope you take my blog serious and protect yourself from these viruses.

Matty Ice signing off! Peace! Abstinence!

This week we will be discussing this new concept of the superbug. You know the type of superbug like the type that gives you a radioactive bite and lets you climb walls and shoot spidey webs out of your wrists (P.s. that would be frickin awesome). Unfortunately, no I am not talking about a bug that would give you super powers but more likely to kill you to be blunt.

The superbug that I am talking about is the microbe that will be introduced to the human population and we will have no treatment for it and we will be at the mercy of the superbug. By definition a superbug is a microbe that has developed resistance to multiple drugs that could once be used to treat its infection. The problem with the development of these superbugs is that we will have no modern medicine that can treat these microbes and can lead to many infection and deaths.

Bacterial infections and pathogens have been the major cause of human disease and death. For example, have you ever heard of something called the bubonic plague yeah it is a bacterial infection that killed millions. Antibiotics has protected our health and have allowed us to extend our longevity, but with increasing amount of antibiotic resistant microbes every day we are inching closer to the next superbug that could kill millions of the world’s population.

How antibiotics work is they tend to target specific cellular targets on microbes, and if they specific cellular target changes even slightly the drug is rendered useless which results in a antibiotic resistant microbe. A microbe can develop antibiotic resistance through two ways 1) spontaneous mutation that occurs during genetic replication and 2) horizontal gene transfer, in which antibiotic resistant genes are transferred to other microbes through plasmids or bacteriophages. The main reasons these microbes are becoming antibiotic resistant are the overuse of the antibiotics and the inappropriate use of them when they are not needed for use.

We use antibiotics in livestock production for the same reason we use antibiotics: disease treatment and disease prevention. Animals are infected in many of the same ways that humans are infected by bacterial pathogens. We use antibiotics on animals so that when we come in contact with these animals we do not transfer these disease to humans. Animals are considered antibiotic free, when you cannot detect antibiotics in the animal at the time of sale. It does not mean that antibiotics on the animal it only means that the use of antibiotics were stopped a couple of weeks before the sale of the livestock.

Vibrio Cholerae is a gram negative bacterium that leads to diarrhea and severe dehydration. Vibrio Cholerae normally only uses antibiotics in severe cases, but due to increase in antibiotic resistance more and more outbreaks have been occurring. In India, this study has been researching antibiotic resistant strains of Vibrio Cholerae because there have been 62 outbreaks of antibiotic resistant strains of Vibrio Cholerae. Follow this link to this study of increasing antibiotic resistance in Vibrio Cholerae in India.

Matty Ice signing off, peace!!!

Sorry to get your hopes up we are not discussing the famous childhood game Marco Polo, but instead we are discussing the deadly and very contagious virus called Polio. The Poliovirus is a virus that is highly contagious and deadly. The virus attacks the central nervous system, which in some cases can lead to paralysis and death, if you would like to learn more about the Poliovirus I refer to you the trusty CDC website.

The best way to protect yourself from this virus is through two types of vaccines for Polio called the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) . These vaccines have been very successful in ridding the virus in many developed nations, the nations that are at risk are developing nations that do not have access to these vaccinations.

The OPV is derived from live polio virus, proving to be very effective in protection against the virus but can lead to complications. Since, OPV contains live polio virus the person who receives this vaccine continuously sheds the disease and is infectious to others. Not only are the people contagious and pose a threat to the non-vaccinated, but can infect the person that received the vaccine with a wild type strain of the Polio Virus.

The IPV is a vaccine that does not contain live polio virus, but dead polio virus so that the person receiving the vaccine cannot actively shed the virus and infect others.

These vaccines have helped the United States be polio-free since 1979, but the polio virus still affects nations around the world. In Pakistan, Polio is endemic meaning it is constantly occurring in the country. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, there have been 17 reported cases of the Polio Virus in Pakistan and 144 in 2019. Outside of Pakistan, there have been outbreaks in Africa, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Thank you for tuning into this weeks edition of Matty Ice’s Blog, that each week literally scares the poopy out of me researching these things to tell you about but hey all good vibes here! Matty Ice signing off peace!

The answer is yes, there are trillions of microbial bacteria present in you stomach right now and it is referred to as the human microbiota. I know what you thinking you are “Did this man trillions of microbial bacteria?”, as the same person takes off running to go scrounging in their medicine cabinet looking for antibiotics. Don’t get you underwear in a wad, its a good thing.

OK, I know it’s scary to think that there are just trillions of microbial bacteria that are just sitting there in your stomach…. yeah that kind of made my stomach gurgle too. But, the microbial bacteria aren’t just chilling in our stomach they benefit the human body in several ways: 1) They help by stimulating the immune system, 2) Aid in digestion of food and produce vitamins like the B12 vitamin which enzymes to form this vitamin are only located in bacteria, and 3) Protection of the body from bad microbial bacteria growing in the stomach. Disruption of the microbiota through something as simple as diet or even through antibiotic treatment can lead to complications in health.

Your diet can affect the health of your microbiome, you can refer to this study of the link between diet and microbiome health here. The diversity of your microbiota literally depends on what you eat the more diverse food you eat the more different nutrients that the microbiota is exposed to allowing it to be exposed to more new kinds of microbial bacteria. Changing your diet changes what nutrients that the body is getting and subsequently helping the bacteria to protect your health. So what I am trying to say is all of these fitness “experts” are saying going on this diet or this diet, say heck to the no I have to eat my weekly pizza to make sure I am meeting my microbiota’s nutritional needs.

Taking antibiotics can completely affect the health of your microbiome since they are all bacterial microbes the antibiotics aren’t only killing the bacteria that are causing say a sinus infection but also are killing the good bacteria in your gut. Antibiotic treatment can lead to the arise of a disease called Clostridium Difficile. In the U.S., Clostridium Difficile is the cause of almost 30,000 deaths per year that leads to severe cases of diarrhea, which you can refer to this study between microbiome and Clostridium Difficile by following this link here. The arise of Clostridium Difficile can only take place when the body is on antibiotics because the good bacteria is killed allowing for C. Difficile to compete for nutrients without competition from the good bacteria leading to disease.

All I am saying is that the human microbiome is good, the microbiome aids in digestion, protects the body from pathogenic infection, and overall is happier (more effective) when on a proper diet.

Hope you all are living flu free and refer back to my last blog as flu season is rampant also remember if you get the flu you are still dead to me!!!

Matty Ice signing off. Peace!!

Yeah, that right we are entering the dreaded flu season. Everyone’s favorite time of the year. That means you better wash your hands, stay in your room do not interact with any other humans, be that person who walks around in the hazmat suit, and if I find out that you have the flu you are dead to me! I refuse to get the flu this year, last year was bad enough.

Alright, I want to clear the air on a few things right quick. Yes, the Coronavirus is scary. Yes, are a lot of infection cases and as of today there are a total of 37,592 confirmed cases which you can fact check me by following this link to this super helpful website. Here comes the but, since October 1, 2019 to February 1, 2020 the CDC have estimated that there have been 22,000,000 – 31,000,000 flu related illnesses in the United States. Also, if you would like to see these fancy charts that the CDC have and all the answers you could ask about the flu, follow this link to the CDC’s website on the Influenza Virus. Yeah, million not thousands, millions of cases. #Mindblown. So are you going to get your vaccine this year? The answer is yes you will.

The CDC predicts that the flu vaccination reduces the risk of contracting the flu by 40% to 60%, which you can see the measured effectiveness on this CDC website. Not to get on my “anti-vaccine” movement rant again, but I don’t want to hear, “I’m not getting my flu shot this year it only made me sick and I still got the flu”, creating a vaccine for the flu to protect you and everyone you know is hard. Let me explain a couple of factors involved in creating a vaccine: 1) There is this thing called Antigenic Drift, which means the virus changes every year causing the flu to be unpredictable especially to your body which depends on memory cells to recognize the strain of virus to protect you, 2) because of Antigenic Drift one vaccine cannot be made for the flu like the MMRV vaccine every year doctors around the world convene and discuss what they think the flu will look like this upcoming year. I promise they are very smart, but they make effective vaccines but sometimes they are wrong and a lot of people get sick. Also, if you would like to read up on Antigenic Drift follow this link to the CDC’s website.

I know I am not always serious, but I am being serious right now get your flu shot and yes I am trying to scare you. Get your flu shot or I will dropkick you into the century. I am just kidding or am I….

Much love,

Matty Ice signing off peace!!

Have you heard of this “Anti-Vaccine Movement”? Yeah its all because of this guy, named Andrew Wakefield. Andrew Wakefield is a discredited British Ex-Physician who introduced a link between the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccine (MMR) and autism. His study was published in the Lancet Journal, a prestigious medical journal that puts ground breaking work on the world view. Yeah, so are you think what I am thinking? Is this guy coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs? I definitely think so! When you see all of these crazy people saying that they aren’t going to vaccinate their kids because they believe their kids are going to develop a disorder, blame this guy.

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield conducted a field study with 12 children that had a developmental disorder along with chronic enterocolitis. Andrew Wakefield was able to perform this study because the parents of these children wanted answers to why their children have autism. Thus, Andrew Wakefield preyed on these parents giving them false information stating that a vaccine that will save their children’s lives is the causation of their children’s autism. Yes, a desperate parent could believe this because a parent would do anything for their child. Wakefield’s work was reviewed by the General Medical Council (GMC), a public body that reviews the work of medical practitioners in the United Kingdom, and he was found to be a FRAUD, I repeat a FRAUD!!! There was no link found to the MMR vaccine and autism. GMC, also discovered that Wakefield was set to make a huge pay day from his research. A lawsuit was being built against the manufactures of the vaccine through a solicitor and Wakefield would have benefitted very much from this “Anti-Vax Movement”. He is what you call a gold digger, “Hey Alexa, play Gold Digger by Kanye West”.

The MMR vaccine is the best protection against measles, mumps, and rubella diseases that have claimed the lives of millions before the introduction of the MMR vaccine. Before the commonality of the MMR vaccine, 2.6 million people would die from measles, mumps, or rubella a year. Since 2001, 500 million doses of the MMR vaccine have been distributed and the 2.6 million deaths per year decline significantly to 122,000 deaths per year as of 2012. Health Organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have done an excellent job of distributing information ensuring people that the best way to protect themselves from these diseases is the MMR vaccine, nothing else. So next time you hear someone say, “I’m not vaccinating my child”, send them my way and hit them with the fact check.

Matty Ice signing off! Peace!