Review: Nagka-clinical trial sa isang baranggay na lubhang apektado ng Schisto. Sinubukan ng grupo kung epektibo ba ang redjuice(isang "food supplement") laban dito. Imbes na tignan nila kung titigil ba talaga ang paglabas ng mga itlog kasama ang tae ng apektado ay sinukat na lang nila ang tiyan ng mga kalahok sa pag-aaral. Lumiit raw ang mga ito(isang tao ang 3 buwan na uminom at nawalan raw ng Schisto). Naniniwala sila na napatunayan nilang epektibo ang redjuice dahil sa nakitang pagliit ng mga tiyan. Asa pa sila. Ang natanggap ko lang sa e-mail ay ad ng kanilang produkto; mukhang machine ang nag-reply sa akin. Siguro kailangan ko tumawag sa hotline nila para makakuha ng matinong sagot.

Ayan tapos na ang review. Hindi ba't napansin nila na lumiit ang mga tiyan ng mga sumali(Hindi pa rin natin alam kung lumiit ba talaga pero isipin na lang natin na lumiit nga.). Ayon sa mga eksperto nila, ang dahilan raw ng pagliit ay dahil nalinis na ang colon ng mga tao. Sige, nalinis ang colon, ano naman ang relasyon nito sa Schisto? Sa kasamaang palad, hindi ito nabanggit sa segment kaya ako na lang ang sasagot. Wala masyado.

Ang mga bulate(o adult forms) na nagdudulot ng Schisto ay sa blood vessels ng atay(liver) at bituka(intestines) o sa mas medikal na paraan sa portal at mesenteric venules nangingitlog. Ang mga itlog naman ay dumadaan sa atay tapos sa bile duct tapos sa intestines. Ngayon, ano naman ang magagawa ng cleansing of the colon? Uh... tulungan lalong maglabas ng itlog ang mga taong apektado ng schisto? At iyon nga ata ang naobserbahan nila(hindi ko sigurado magulo ang segment). Mabuti ba ito? Hindi masyado. Siguro makakatulong para hindi magkaroon ng inflammatory reaction sa atay kung umaabot man doon ang epekto. Ang nakikita ko pa nga ay mas tumutulong pa ang redjuice na ikalat ang sakit dahil mas maraming itlog ang nailalabas agad. Sa pagkakaalam ko hindi naman sila nagbanggit ng anti-helminthic effect ng redjuice. Wala silang ginawang in vitro studies o in vivo studies sa hayop. Ayos lang naman siguro kasi food supplement lang naman siya pero tignan natin mamaya kung etikal ba ito.

Ngayon, alam na natin kung bakit mali ang paliwanag nila sa epekto ng kanilang produkto pero hindi pa rin natin naipaliwanag kung bakit lumiit ang mga tiyan ng mga kalahok. Ang unang maiisip mo ay dahil wala silang control group. Maaaring nagkaroon ng mga pangyayari sa baranggay na nagdulot ng pagliit ng kanilang mga tiyan. Pero posible pa rin naman na lumiit nga ang tiyan nila dahil sa redjuice. Posibleng may anti-helminthic effect nga ang redjuice pero sa tingin ko wala at wala rin silang konkretong ebidensya para suportahan ito.

Sa tingin ko, ang pagpayat nila ay dahil nga sa "cleansing" na ginawa sa mga colon ng mga taong ito. Maaaring ang mga taba, tubig at ibang bagay na naiipon sa kanilang bituka dahil sa mabagal na usad ng dumi ang nawala kaya lumiit ang kanilang tiyan. Siguro ang redjuice ay tulad ng ibang pampapayat na inumin; ang dapat nilang sinabi ay nakakatulong ang redjuice para pumayat ang isang tao at hindi gumaling mula sa Schisto. Pero syempre, ad nga ito kaya kailangan may "experiment" part.

Ethics:
Maraming bagay na mali sa pag-aaral na ito. Una ay sa sample population. Sinabi sa website na hindi dapat uminom ang mga batang may na mababa sa labing-dalawa(12) ang edad at ang mga buntis. Nakita ko sa segment na may mga pinaiinom silang bata na mukhang hindi pa sampung taong gulang. Mukhang hindi rin sila nagsagawa ng pregnancy test sa mga babae.

Pangalawa, kawalan ng pangunahing ebidensya ng pagiging epektibo ng redjuice laban sa mga bulate ng Schisto. Hindi sila nagsagawa ng in vitro studies gamit ang mga itlog, cercaria o adult na bulate. Hindi rin sila gumawa ng in vivo studies gamit ang mga animal models. Hindi naman kailangan na kailangan ang mga ito pero tao ang pinaguusapan kaya maraming bagay muna ang pagdaanan bago sila magpainom ng kung anu-ano sa may sakit. Kung may namatay bigla, pananagutan ba nila?

Pangatlo at pinakaimportante, nakakalimutan nila na may gamot na sa Praziquantel kaya dapat matapos ang trial ay pinainom nila ang mga kalahok nito, gumaling man o hindi. Batas na nga ito sa mga drug trials eh(tutal sabi nga nila hindi gamot/drug ang redjuice kundi isang maaaring lunas...BS) Kung magiging istrikto nga tayo, may dalawang grupo dapat: isa na paiinumin ng praziquantel lang at isang paiinumin ng praziquantel at ng redjuice. Kung may pagkakaiba sa dalawang grupo tsaka lang sila maaaring gumawa ng experimento na ang tanging grupo ay iinom ng redjuice at ang isa ay iinom lamang ng placebo.

Ngunit, matapos ang lahat hindi ko pa rin lubos na masasabing walang kwenta ang redjuice laban sa Schisto. Kulang ako sa ebidensya para maliin sila pero tandaan na kulang rin ang kanilang ebidensya para sabihing tama sila. Ang magandang gawin ay magsagawa ng maayos na clinical trial. Isang double-blind trial na may set-up na nabanggit ko sa itaas. Ang pera syempre ay dapat manggaling sa mga gumagawa ng redjuice at hindi na sa mga ahensya ng gobyerno tulad ng DOH, NIH at DOST.

Ang masasabi ko lang, ang proposed nila na treatment plan sa mga taong may hepatomegaly dahil sa Schisto ay 3 buwan na pag-inom ng redjuice. Ang 2L ng redjuice ay 1800 pesos. Kailangan ng isang tao ng 90 na baso ng redjuice. Ito ay mga 13.3L o 11970 pesos. Magkano ba ang praziquantel treatment? Ang isang taong may hepatomegaly ay mangangailangan ng isang dose ng gamot depende sa timbang. Ito ay maaaring may presyong 20-80 pesos.* Ngayon, kahit epektibo ang redjuice, ano ba ang pipiliin mo?

*-estimated prices mula sa websearch. titignan ko pa kung tama talaga

Kaya naman pala na-feature sa Bandila ang Schistosomiasis ay dahil mayroon na namang segment na Advertisement talaga ang ABS-CBN para sa isang produkto ng sponsor nila. Isa ito siguro sa mga nakakadiring bagay na ginagawa ng ABS-CBN(at ng ibang istasyon rin). Ang produkto ay redjuice at ang palabas ay ang Rated K. Kadalasan kapag naramdaman ko na isang Ad ng isang herbal product ang susunod na segment ay nililipat ko agad pero naakit ako sa ipinapangako ng produkto. Sabi nila na kaya nito lunasan ang Schistosomiasis. Iniisip ko, malamang ka-gaguhan lang ito pero baka nga totoo. Tsaka, malay ko ba kung ito na nga ang kapalit ng Praziquantel(ang pinaka-epektibong gamot para sa Schisto).

Pinalabas na nila ang segment. Syempre, mga pambungad muna na kaalaman tungkol sa Schisto at sa komunidad na apektado nito. Binanggit rin nila kung paano ito nakukuha at kung paano talaga ginagamot. May mga larawan rin pero cercarial stages lang. Wala mang adult stages. Tsk. Ang ikinagulat ko ay sinabi ng rural doctor na nagkukulang ng Praziquantel sa Pilipinas. Ano ba talaga ginagawa ng DOH at walang gamot ang mga taong ito?! Nilustay lang ba nila talaga ang perang ipinautang sa Pilipinas para i-eradicate ang sakit na ito? Naliligaw na ako. Balik sa kwento. Dahil kulang ang gamot, naisipan ng ilang "concerned private citizens" na pumunta sa apektadong lugar at magsagawa ng "clinical trial." Kung titignan mo talaga, hindi naman siya matatawag na matinong trial. Kung ethics pa lang ang pag-uusapan, bagsak na sila(next post siguro). Sabog rin ang Experimental design. Pero sige, pagbigyan uli. Baka nga lunas talaga ito sa Schisto.

Medyo Science mode muna.
Hypothesis: Kapag uminom ka ng redjuice, gagaling ka sa Schisto.
Sample: Lahat ng may Schisto na malaki-laki na ang tiyan.(Symptom ng late stages ng schisto ay ang paglaki ng tiyan dahil sa hepato(spleno)megaly)

Experiment:
1. Susukatin ang tiyan ng kalahok.
2. Iinom ng isang baso ng redjuice ang kalahok.
3. Pagkatapos ng isang linggo, susukatin muli ang tiyan ng kalahok.

Other steps(hindi ko sigurado kung ginawa o kailan ginawa dahil magulo ang segment):
- Mag stool analysis bago uminom. Mukhang Kato thick ang ginawa pero sa ibang anggulo pwede rin siyang Direct Fecal smear.(Mas maraming tae sa Kato thick kaya mas sensitibo/mas maganda ito gamitin kumpara sa Direct Fecal smear)
- Painumin ang kalahok ng redjuice ng pitong araw, isang beses bawat araw .
- Mag stool analysis matapos ang "treatment."
- Mamili ng ilang tao(o isa lang?) na paiinumin ng redjuice araw-araw ng tatlong buwan

Results:
-Mukhang lumiit ang mga tiyan ng karamihan(kung hindi lahat) ng kalahok. Walang data talaga na pinakita. Hindi rin naglabas ng stat analysis. Malamang kasi isa lang naman itong hamak na TV segment/ad. (In-e-mail ko na iyong group na gumagawa ng redjuice, sana mabigyan nila ako ng copy ng report)
-Ang mga taong uminom ng redjuice ng 3 tatlong buwan ay lumiit ng todo ang tiyan. Kita na nga abs niya eh(isa lang ang pinakita kasi).
-"Naglabasan ang mga itlog." Hindi ako sigurado kung bakit ito maganda. Naguguluhan ata iyong doctor, mamaya natin ito tignan.

Conclusion:
Dahil lumiit ang tiyan nila matapos ang isang beses na inuman o isang linggong pag-inom(hindi ako sigurado kung ilang beses talaga sila uminom), maaaring gamitin ang redjuice na lunas sa Schisto.

Next post na ang "discussion" nila, mahaba-haba kasing usapan iyon. Tignan muna natin ang kung tama ba ang conclusion nila.

Para sa akin, mali ang conclusion. Hindi ibig sabihin na lumiit ang tiyan ay gagaling o magaling ka na sa Schisto. Ang tanging paraan para malaman na magaling ka na ay kung negative ka na sa stool exam(paulit-ulit at quantitative dapat) o sa antigen detection test. Hindi ko alam kung bakit naisip nilang gamiting sukat ng pagiging epektibo ng redjuice ang laki ng tiyan. Nagdala naman sila ng microscope, bakit hindi na lang sila nag-stool exam? Marunong naman ata ang mga barangay health workers tumingin ng itlog ng schisto at hindi naman libo ang taong kalahok sa pag-aaral.

Oo nga, senyales ng paggaling sa Schisto ang pag-liit ng tiyan pero matagal-tagal rin naman ang proseso nito. Ang paglabas nga ng itlog bumababa lamang matapos ang 2 linggong gamutan eh(oo doc, may mga lalabas talagang itlog diyan sa tae nila). Pero, kagulat-gulat rin naman kahit papaano ang pagbaba ng sukat ng tiyan(titignan natin sa next post kung paano ito maipapaliwanag). Sa ngayon ang masasabi ko ay malamang hindi pa magaling ang mga kalahok base sa maling paraan ng pagsukat at pagdiagnose nila.

Importante ring isipin kung lumiit ba talaga ang tiyan ng mga kalahok. Sa mas magandang paraan natin sabihin(pag-pasensyahan ang English): Are the differences between the measurements before and after the treatment statistically significant? Tandaan po natin, wala pa akong kopya ng data nila pero malaki ang suspetya ko na insignificant ang difference. At wala rin silang ginamit na control group(kaya baka hindi sila makagawa ng stat analysis). Malay mo, pumapayat talaga ang mga tao sa lugar noong ginagawa nila ang pag-aaral?

Pahabol lang, hindi ko alam kung na-kumpirma nila ang Schisto sa mga kalahok. Malamang oo pero malabo ang segment at ang mga nagsaliksik. Kasi parang ipinapahiwatig ng mga nagsasaliksik na ginawa nila ang stool exam matapos ang isang linggo.

Sa susunod natin tignan ang ethics at discussion. Pagod na ako eh.

Na-feature kahapon sa Bandila ang Schistosomiasis aka sisto. Ewan ko kung bakit parang super big deal ang labas ng sakit na ito sa feature nila(pero big deal nga talaga siya). Nakakaasar kasi ang posible naman gamutin ang sakit na ito at sobrang dali lang kapag na diagnose nang maaga. Ano ba ang ginagawa ng mga opisyal sa lugar na fineature nila? At ano na naman ang ginagawa ng DOH? Sobrang dami ang nagma-manifest ng chronic symptoms(iyong mga lumalabas kapag hindi nagagamot agad) ng sakit.

Nakakaaliw naman dahil ang katulong namin ay alam ang sakit na ito pati na ang mga suso ang may kasalanan(syempre may parasite rin pero kung walang suso wala sila). Isa ito sigurong ebidensya na kahit papaano noong panahon ng kabataan niya ay buhay ang health education tungkol sa sisto sa lugar nila. Sana hanggang ngayon buhay pa rin pero oras na rin na gumawa na nga paraan para buwagin ang sakit na ito sa balat ng Pilipinas.

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May nabasa akong editorial sa Philstar tungkol sa Population control at kung paano niloloko ng mga Pro-control groups ang mga tao. Hah! BS dude! Ang problema naman sa iyo pakiramdam mo sa Pilipinas kapag dumami tao dumadami rin ang nagtratrabaho at dumadami ang gumagawa ng at nagagawa na pagkain. Sino niloko mo dude? Tsaka ang mga binanggit mo pala na teorya ay hindi maganda i-apply sa Pilipinas at ibang 3rd world countries. At huli na, tanga ang Simbahan kung iniisip nila na masama matuto ang tao ng mga paraan para maalagaan nila ang kanilang katawan, buhay at pamilya(ie complete sex and family planning education).

I just received my NMAT score. I won't post my score. Suffice to say that I reached my target. I won't be taking the NMAT again(yeyness!). And, I am very happy with my score.

It's Earth Day and I missed all the celebrations slated for today. My schedule for the day got thrown off so I wasn't able to go to the CCP complex and look at the galleries and stuff they prepared. Crud. At least I was outside most of the time today and had contributed to the carbon output of Man less compared to the case if I were just at home.

Lito Atienza continues with his ramblings.

"Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza had a thing or two to say against population control advocates as he warned the people 'not to be stampeded into perdition.' 'Here we go again, blaming every unborn child for our economic problems,' said Atienza, a staunch pro-lifer and long-time leader of the Pro-Life Movement of the Philippines. He pointed out that the solution to the present 'food crisis' is a strong agricultural production program, which the present government is pursuing and not birth control. Atienza stressed that the Constitution is pro-life and birth control is a clear violation of the law."link

He may be right in that a strong agricultural production program will really help in the food crisis but birth control is not "a clear violation of the law." It is not. Preconception birth control is not illegal. Lito Atienza is under the impression that birth control means murdering babies, in other words, abortion. And of course, the Constitution is pro-life. All people are pro-life in a sense. The ones labeled pro-Choice are pro-life too but they value a real living person more than a hypothetical entity.

Since when did birth control mean murder or killing a person. Even with an expanded definition of human life(meaning, including the zygote and embryonic stages), most of the artificial birth control methods do not result in killing a person(the notable exception being the Pill). This stupid belief of his(and his "Pro-life" group) is really annoying. The sperm alone is not a human being. The ovum alone is not a human being. Actually, the zygote(the first product of the union of sperm and ovum) alone is not really a human being(you still need the uterine wall).

To be clear, we(the ones pro-birth control) don't blame the unborn. We blame the poor policies of the government resulting in a population crisis and subsequent inequitable distribution and/or lack of resources. We blame the irresponsible parents. But we mostly blame the policies.

I find this to comment in a blogpost I read to aptly describe the pro-life group in the Philippines:

"The thing is, these types of pro-lifers aren’t 'pro-life' at all. They are anti-sex. Or, more accurately, anti-sex without the risk of pregnancy. These types are of the opinion that people shouldn’t have sex if they don’t want children, because that kind of sex breeds a 'culture of death'...."

And why is sex bad? Because to them sex should only be used for procreation and nothing else. Going by their logic, people who are sterile, infertile, old and the like should not have sex because it is a bad/a sin.

"Atienza said that population control is a mere 'alibi for failure' and definitely a disastrous direction that will lead to the wrong solution. 'From where I am sitting now, I could see an abundance of natural wealth that could sustain a healthy population growth rate. We just have to maximize and fully develop our potentials and ensure equitable distribution of its benefits,' Atienza said."link

Atienza is spouting nonsense again. His last sentence holds some truth but it is just more rhetoric. He doesn't even propose a method to how we are supposed to achieve what he is saying. But what really annoys me is the "alibi for failure" part. I would very much like to ask him whose failure is it in the first place? Considering that the Catholic church and all the Pro-life Anti-Contraception crowd were the people responsible for "responsible parenthood" throughout the past, the population problem with all the attached crises(rice, housing, health, human rights, etc) is their failure.

I am enjoying my summer break, hence the low output. I've been trying to catch up on all those "hobbies" I've stopped doing during the past years due to lack of time. Unfortunately, our internet connection became slower after switching from Smart WiFi to DSL broadband. Just a few seconds slower really but with our generation, it is all about speed. I'll try to make a long one next time. I do have some nice topics up in my head itching to put in a decent form.

Ciao!

I made a blog in Wordpress.com. No, it is not for me, it is for my college organization. SO what do I think about wordpress? I love it! The ease of making categories, tags and multiple authors! Since, we plan to have all the output of the org members in one site, organization seems to be the biggest problem. It can be done in blogger but it'll involve encoding stuff, stuff that I do not know how to do yet. HTML and CSS with a sprinkling of Javascript might not be the best way to organize the blog we plan to have. Tags wouldn't be practical unless we are willing to waste valuable space with tons of tags after posts. And, based from experience, blogs in wordpress are much "cleaner" than those under other hosts(or, maybe it's just blogger?). Yay Wordpress!

But more importantly, I am not moving. I really love how much freedom one can get in Blogger. This my problem with wordpress.com. I can't make my own template. I can modify the CSS but I really like making stuff with HTML. And, I do not have problems with organization since nobody reads this and, if ever one would want to read my past works, they could just browse through my archives and tags.

It was a good thing I made that blog because the other members planned to make a blog in multiply. Waddaf*ck! Multiply sucks! What serious blogger uses multiply? It limits how much you could modify the site like wordpress but doesn't offer any organization options. The only positive side is the networking and feeds but that could easily be overcome with RSS and site subscriptions. And I really hate how multiply blog pages look. Then again, it might just be that I really really hate Multiply.

We went to Pangasinan, right? The trip was quicker than I anticipated. Instead of 5 hours, we made it just a little bit over 4. The scenery during the trip was beautiful and, in hindsight, I should have took pictures of the wonderful trees, plains, fields and mountains. The afternoon sun really helped to show the charm of the places we passed by. If ever I am on a road trip with friends I would ask to stop by at certain places and then we'd just take photos and run around like idiots. Anyway, we arrived in the house lent to us by my mother's business acquaintance(she's a teacher, go figure.). We ate, I slept, they(the other teachers; it was a company vacation and I just tagged along) sang really loud and horrible versions of songs you don't want to hear when you are tired. So much for a good night's sleep.

The next day we went to the Hundred Islands. We arrived at the port at around 8 and left it at around 930. Why? Because the freaking boat wouldn't start. The waiting time was spent reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and taking photographs of the water.

Once the boat started, I took some more pictures but they were crappy so I won't post it. Anyway, it the islands(pictures later) were really fascinating. I wonder how they ended up like that. After a short ride, we finally glimpsed the islands. Many visitors say that from afar the HI look like a huge mass of land and as you go nearer you start to see how wrong you were. I agree.

We went to Quezon Island first. The most "developed" of the islands. There were many people but it wasn't really crowded. Unfortunately, the sun was starting to gain momentum and the rays really hurt. It was a good thing I had my cap with me.

My parents wanted to "explore" the island before plunging into the ocean and I was dragged along. There were two "tourist spots" in the island, Quezon's statue

and the Mermaid figures. The mermaids look so sad.

After the exploration, I was pretty much left on my own. I took the camera with me in case I see some really interesting things. I also had a pretty full bladder so I went to the CR. The path was a really nice spot for picture taking, unfortunately, I don't have anyone with me who I'd be able to trick into doing the weird poses. This one is the path to the CR.

And along the way, you see these rest areas. Finding the area devoid of people, I took these...

They didn't come out as the way I would have really wanted. Compared to the vanity shots I did during our Bicol trip, the above pictures sucked.

The area where the CR was located was a good spot for shots of the surrounding islands.

They came out a bit too postcard but I still like them. Take that high megapixel cameras!

After running out of things to shoot, I went to the beach and swam. I surprised myself by doing a backstroke without sinking. I really find it weird how I learn in jumps and not in a straight path(saidin... saidar...). It is my first time in a beach and after getting tired of ingesting salt water, I went to the sandy area and played by myself. I wasn't able to make a sand castle. Boo hoo... I just took these instead(note: the two on the right side were taken in another island).

A little while later we had lunch. I think they cooked too much food because we had to bring home a good number of cooked fish. I do not like eating with my hands but they didn't bring any utensils, so much for that. The food was good though. I really liked how they cooked the squash. It wasn't mushy and perfect for eating without utensils. No pictures of those, dirty hands remember?

After lunch, I went for a walk and took some more pictures. The colored versions weren't really good so I made them black and white.

It was hot so I swam again. The sun was really strong and I eventually got sun burned in areas with no sufficient sun block. My mom bought sun tan lotion instead of just sun block so we all became dark(not tan) near the end of the day, which sucked.

A little while later we returned to our boat to go to other islands. As we approached our destination, our boat broke down. It was a good thing that the sea wasn't rough such that we weren't dragged to other places. Eventually, the boat men managed to fix the boat and we landed safely. Along the way I took more pictures.

After landing, we explored the island again. We climbed a hill and I forgot to take pictures of the view from the summit. We also went to a sad looking cave. It was not much of a cave really just a hole in the island's rocky wall. Then again, what do I know about caves? Except that they are just storage areas of fungal diseases.

We returned to the beach and they swam again. I was tired so I just sat and took more vanity pics. I unknowingly sat down near an ant's nest and got bitten. The bite came at a good time though because I managed to capture this weird shot of me.

To ease the itchiness, I soaked my feet in the sea water(not sure if it worked though, I still felt itchy afterwards). I was bored to I made this.

That pretty much sums up our Pangasinan trip. I'll end with this picture of a sculpture in the port area.

NMAT was yesterday. It was all right. I managed to finish both parts ahead of the alloted time. I was lucky because the Biology part didn't contain many plant biology questions and there were questions about Microbiology and Parasitology. Social science and Physics were harder but I managed to make some intelligent guesses. Part I was time-consuming. Boredom didn't became a problem but I do not plan to take the NMAT again because Part I was so tedious and I really hate doing those tests. At least I am sure of most of my answers unlike some of my batchmates. Exam mode(my super power) really helped in the Math and Verbal part because the extra time I gained was used up in Perceptual Acuity.

So what's my prediction? I'll just keep it to myself; I don't want to eat my words later.

Bukas na NMAT. Hindi ko alam kung handa na ba ako. Ang nararamdaman ko ngayon ay parang nararamdaman ko tuwing may long test kami sa Micro.
Parang ganito: Alam ko naman nabasa ko na ang dapat mabasa at may onte pang sobra pero parang kapag tinanong mo ngayon ako wala akong masasagot. Pero alam ko kapag exam na may masasagot na ako. Siguro depende na lang sa mga tanong kung nasasakop ba siya ng alam ko o hindi.
Ang malungkot lang dito ay kadalasan mababa ang nakukuha kong score sa exam sa Micro kapag ganito ang pakiramdam ko. Crap.

NMAT update:

I just took the practice NMAT. My performance in the Physics and Social Science sucked. I did really well in Chemistry and, surprisingly, in the Abstract Reasoning part(the tests which involved looking for mirror images, hidden figures and deviations from the original sentence). My Biology score was actually lower than my Physics score(surprisingly). My Reading Comprehension and Analogy was sub-par according to my standards even though I did get a good enough score. I didn't finish the Quantitative reasoning; it was too boring. My reserves were already sucked dry by the pattern recognition part(A B C D, What comes next? etc).

Comments on the practice test: I was disappointed that they didn't ask any Genetics or Microbiology questions(subjects which I think are more relevant to the field of Medicine than Plant Biology and Ecology). In addition, they could have picked "better" numbers for their problem solving questions because the numbers they gave suck. It was very tedious doing manual computations. I almost gave up on the Chemistry test because of the horrendous values they chose. I gave up on the Numerical reasoning part due to boredom and frustration over the repetitive tasks that I have to do. The Physics part was the worst because I do not even know HOW to solve the problems. Who knew they'd give Electromagnetism priority over Mechanics and Hydraulics?!

Overall, I think I'll survive the NMAT. I just need to study more on certain problem areas like Electromagnetism and Plant Biology.I do not know if I'll achieve my target grade. Hopefully, I will because I'd hate to spend more money to take this stupid test. And more importantly, I do not want to suffer through it again.

Rant time, why do they(CEM, NMAT) keep using Normality instead of Molarity? See this(got it from Wikipedia):

"... normality is no longer used to represent the concentration of a solution .... Instead, a solution should be labeled according to its molarity, and it is then possible to calculate the normality for a particular titration using the equation above. NIST has also stipulated that this unit is obsolete and recommends discontinuing its use." (emphases mine)

I repeat... Normality is obsolete. It may be practical to use during titrations but it is theoretically faulty. Not all compounds completely ionize in solution. Take sulfuric acid(H2SO4(aq)). It releases its 1st proton easily but it holds on to its 2nd one pretty tightly. Besides, in most acid-base titrations that I know, acids or bases which release or accept only one proton(usually the strong acids and bases like HCl and NaOH) are preferrably used because if you use the other acids or bases, you only make the situation in the flask more complicated and their goes practicality. And there is the part involving the need to know what is the reaction is in the flask in order to compute for the normality. Use molarity and you don't need all that fuss.

To answer my rhetorical question, they probably keep on using normality because they're either too lazy to change the questions or want to make sure that the new breed of doctors continue on with obsolete traditions and units in science. Way to go CEM! (I can do this without destroying my chances of getting into any med school in this country, right?)

Still studying for the NMAT...

Found this very stupid thing in my reviewer. Worse, this reviewer probably came from those "all-UP" review centers. Have they no sociologists in these centers?!

"Witchcraft - is the exercise of evil through an immanent power"
"It(witchcraft) is invariably evil." (emphases mine)

Huwaat?! That's BS! Witchcraft is more on manipulation of people through the use of spells or magic. It is not necessarily evil(though, one could argue that manipulation of an individual for personal gain is unethical). This reeks of Christian bias towards shamanic and pagan cultures. And to think that this part appeared after cultural relativism and ethnocentrism was mentioned.

I have a strong suspicion that this is the definition that the CEM(the group responsible for the NMAT) uses. Therefore, I must follow it even though I know it is wrong. Crap.