BMI and BMR

BMI stands for body mass index and BMR stands for basal metabolic rate. While both sound similar, they are different. Both are used to calculate the fitness of one's body. However, the BMI is a measure of a person's body composition and is calculated using a person's weight and height. It is used to determine if a person is obese, normal, or underweight. The BMR is the number of calories a person's body burns at rest such as breathing and heart beating. My BMI is 21.92 and my BMR is 1499. My BMI is in the average range while my BMR is at a slightly higher rate than the average woman which is 1493. While my BMI and BMR are normal, I would still like to exercise some more to improve them.

Muscle Disease

One type of muscle disease is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS. It is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease in the United States. ALS affects part of the nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movement. Motor neurons are lost over time and they muscle the neurons control become weak and eventually nonfunctional. There is no known cause for most cases of ALS but some believe it is due to genetics. Some symptoms of this disease are muscle twitches and cramps, along with weak and soft muscles. It can be tight and spastic as well. Symptoms become worse as the disease progresses. Once in the late-stage, most voluntary muscles are paralyzed. Life for those with ALS have improved because of the medical and technological advances. While researchers do not know a definite cause for this disease, they are currently researching it and found many significant breakthroughs. One important discovery would be that they isolated the genes responsible for causing majority of the familial forms.

Sources:https://www.mda.org/disease/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis

Muscle Related Career

A muscle related career I am interested in is becoming a physical therapist. A physical therapist's job includes diagnosing patients' functions and movements by observing their movements, develop individualized plans of care for patients, and evaluating and recording the patient's progress. To become a physical therapist, a person would have to take courses such as anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry, and physics. A person would have to enter a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree which includes courses such as biomechanics, neuroscience, and pharmacology. They also have to complete at least 30 weeks of clinical work. It is a requirement that in all states physical therapists have to be licensed by passing the National Physical Therapy Examination, which is administered by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for physical therapists is $84,020. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $57,060 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $119,790.



Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition, Physical Therapists, 
on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physical-therapists.htm (visited January 30, 2017).