I don't know if you've ever read the blog
Dear Thyroid, but if you haven't, you're in for a treat. Example: "I happen to
love Halloween. Because I have
Graves’ Ophthalmopathy and I’m a sphere on mini-stilts (5’4), I am a walking costume. I can go to parties, if I choose to, as a pissed off Graves’ disease patient." Hilarious. Anyway, it got us thinking about Graves -- a condition related to an overactive thyroid that causes the eyes to bulge from the sockets, used for comedic advantage by the likes of Marty Feldman and Rodney Dangerfield. A UCLA study recently looked into
why the condition attacks the eye sockets. Turns out the problem isn't all the
thyroid's fault, but trouble also lies with defective infection fighting T-cells (which mature in our good friend the
thymus), which attack the eye tissue.
Think you know a lot about the lymphatic system, or the anatomy of a lymph node? Prove it. Answers below.
1. How does stuff flow through the lymphatic system? A) Lymph Pump B) Gravity C) Pressure from the arteries pumping next to it
2. What are lymph cells called? A) Erythrocytes B) Lymphocytes C) Lymphytes D) Hepatocytes
3. What happens at a germinal center? A) Bacteria are destroyed B) Lymph is filtered C) Mature B Lymphocytes multiply
4. What filters the lymph? A) Macrophages B) Leucocytes C) Tonsils D) Spleen
5. Is the lymphatic system connected to the circulatory system? A) Yes B) No
Answers: 1/C, 2/B, 3/C, 4/A, 5/A
