Lesson of the Week #2.

Title: Why we have veterinary technicians.

Prologue: This week in Nutrition we've been learning about how the body responds to hormonal stumulii such as insulin and glucagon.

Details: (in very general terms, for the non-vets out there) The main fuel for all cells of the body is glucose. Two types of cells specifically run on glucose alone, red blood cells (RBCs) and neurons (highly prefer glucose). Neurons are really picky about their fuel source (think Saskia is a neuron and glucose is meat), and being the "generals" of the body they monitor levels 24/7. If the level of blood glucose drops, messages are sent off to the other cells of the body via hormones to reestablish homeostasis (i.e. it's happy place). These cells play a game of 'telelphone', telling each other that the body needs to eat. The body eats, the glucose levels go up, and the neurons are happy.

BUT - what if the glucose levels continue to drop?

The neurons get really really pissy, and they start to rebel. That's when the body starts to convulse, drop into a coma, and eventually die.

Lesson: So what is a veterinarian to do when a convulsing animal comes into the clinic? Get its glucose levels up fast. How? Give it Karo syrup. Who will get that Karo syrup into the convulsing dog's mouth? Why, the technicians, of course!!

(NOTE: to all of my former techincian mates, I in no way thought this story was funny nor did I participate in laughing one bit.)