Mantoux Test

Last Sunday I had medical check-up for university purpose. A funny incident happened when I had a medical test which is called mantoux test. For your information, the mantoux test is used to detect latent TB infection ( future risk of developing TB) or any other fatal diseases. I'm sure every student have had the experienced of going through the injection process. Patients that have been injected must wait another 3 days ( 72 hours) to get the result by measuring the hard and dense induration on their skin. The tuberculin is injected into the first layer of our skins not into the blood vien. The normal range is from 0mm to 15mm.On the third day, I have to see the doctor in the evening for the result but the red mark on my skin is so big, really made me nervous of the thought of being infected by TB. I told my parents and they stunned too. I measured it using my old school ruler and oh my god, the reading is 20mm..it's mean I've positive TB and of course I have to postpone my studies and everything will ruin as well...but looking back at myself..I never look sick or feeling that way...I looked deeply on the red mark..I saw a small clear induration in the middle of it..what is it?..I searched mantoux test in the internet and I found one thing that made me feel I'm a dimwit...huhu.. ' measure only the induration, which is hard , dense , and raised formation not the redness around it'...If i read it earlier..(T_T)..haha the doctor also did same thing as in the internet..so next time I won't let such thing happen again.. hahaha

LAVENDER

I'm not a botanist so I just grab the info from wikipedia..

The Lavenders Lavandula are a genus of about 25-30 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region south to tropical Africa and to the southeast regions of India. The genus includes annuals, herbaceous plants, subshrubs, and small shrubs. The native range extends across the Canary Islands, North and East Africa, south Europe and the Mediterranean, Arabia, and India. Because the cultivated forms are planted in gardens world-wide, they are occasionally found growing wild, as garden escapees, well beyond their natural range.

(source from wikipedia)

I really into this wild flower which until now I haven't touch any of them but I still admire its wonderful violet color.Unfortunately its home is not Malaysia..huhu.Lavender is pretty but mostly found growing wild..it can resembles a girl who is really gorgeous but lack of manner..haha just try to read between the lines. Ok, back to the fact, lavender is a natural remedy for quite a number of illnesses , as its oil reacts as antiseptic and anti-inflammatory and not to forget, it soothe headaches too..so get the lavender oil now!!..oops i'm not a salesgirl.

Hmm..while reading through the wikepidia page about this wild flower, i found something that raise my doubt about how 'friendly' it towards human.

In the article stated it is said that "Two essential oils, lavender and tea tree oil, have been anecdotally implicated in causing gynaecomastia, an abnormal breast tissue growth in prepubescent boys. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine claimed that the use of shampoo and similar products, containing lavender and tea tree oils, in three boys resulted in this condition.[4] The authors were contacted, but have refused to identify the products used or discuss their work further. General knowledge of the formulas of such products, however, suggests that the levels of these materials could not have exceeded a few tenths of one percent -- perhaps not enough to produce any adverse effects. However, a child hormone specialist at the University of Cambridge has claimed "... these oils can mimic oestrogens" and "people should be a little bit careful about using these products". [5][6]" (wikipedia)

Huh..it can be our enemy too..but still I have trust in you, lavender!!