why do i get intense calcium cravings on my period? iron and salt make sense, gotta refill the blood bank, but calcium???
apparently, since calcium helps ya muscles, it therefore helps reduce period cramps, so maybe you're craving it because pain relief?
Yeah cramping uses up ions your muscles need to move (see also: why a lack of electrolytes CAUSES cramps) and piling in additional calcium supposedly helps making the period cramps less bad, though clinical studies are *hand wiggle* on it, which might also be because pain is highly subjective but also because the intensity of a period from one month to the next can be very variable like, judging by myself, my periods range from 'slightly uncomfy' to 'two ibuprofen into this and it's barely touching the ow' But yes wanting for calcium or other electrolytes/salts while on your period does make sense because cramps are hard work for your muscles and thus they need the ions.
I have a weird question about vaccines. My understanding is that vaccines work by giving your body a very weak or even inactive version of the pathogen, so it will develop antibodies. In this case, how does getting a rabies shot shorty after potential exposure work, when presumably the real thing is already in the body? Like how does "training mode" help then?
Okay so two ways. one, the post expoure treatment can include a treatment with pre-existing antibodies, giving you what's called a passive immunity. That's an immunity you didn't produce yourself, you're just benefiting off antibodies made elsewhere. The Rhesus antibody prevention for pregnancies works like that. The other thing about the rabies vaccine (like, proper vaccine) post exposure is that the actual rabies virus needs a while to get into your central nervous system. The idea is to immediately kickstart your immune system with a MASSIVE (and i do mean massive) load of dead virus so that by the time the actual virus rolls around into your brain, it's already faced with the first wave of neutralizing antibodies. This is why for rabies, the window for a post exposure vaccine is REALLY short. Like. Hours. Because if the virus has entered your blood stream it reaches your brain VERY fast, and thus becomes a problem. So basically: passive immunisation while your body gets the actual immunzation going, but also just kick your immune system in the ass with a steel toed boot to make it Go Faster
