JeelLewis

Bio

About me

I am a Washington State Native and student working on my third career path. I worked in the Travel industry during my first career, eventually contracting with overseas vendors for ground services and packaging them for a local company. After 16 years, I returned to school and earned a BS in Business Administration. I worked as an admin for a nationwide company for 8 years during which I discovered this role was unfulfilling. I am currently attending Everett Community College gathering the last few credits needed to apply for Nursing school. I currently work as an NAR (Nurse Assistant Registered) until I take my state certification to become a CNA. Though this type of work is physically and emotionally demanding, it’s much more fulfilling than business where all my efforts contributed to a number on a spreadsheet. My hobbies include figure skating, snowboarding, traveling, and playing video games with my husband and stepsons.

My Wikipedia interests

I have rarely used Wikipedia as it was not accepted as a source for my previous papers. After reviewing the topics and learning more about how it’s reviewed and maintained, I will use it more. Wikipedia has been considered as informative as the Encyclopedia Britannica which has been trusted as a reliable source. Wikipedia can be a good starting point to gather additional information to use in searches for academic writing by providing key words and ideas. I think that I could contribute to Wikipedia by editing anything that I find that is incorrect, though I would need to be certain that I am making accurate corrections.

Article Evaluation

Exercise induced anaphylaxis is a topic that is not well known. I suffer from a modified version of this disorder caused by the ingestion of wheat prior to activity. This is a condition that I suffered through for about 10 years in conjunction with IBS or irritable bowel syndrome. Though it’s never felt life-threatening, I have been told by several doctors to take this more seriously as it is in fact life-threatening. I visited the Exercise-induced anaphylaxis article on Wikipedia and found three aspects of it worth commenting on: its good use of citations, its neutral tone, and its exclusion of a major symptom.

Citations

This article lists 27 individual references all of which are still in working order, though some require a subscription to read beyond the abstract. The use of citations in the text is excellent and as a result there are very few sentences that do not have a reference sited. Many of these references seem to discuss the same studies and use similar sources of information.

Neutral Voice

This article does not show any biased claims, it is written like an article in a scientific journal supported by studies and facts. Though the use of citations is good, there could be more use of Wikipedia links to define certain key terms such as degranulation. Most unfamiliar wording in the article is preceded by a definition contained within the same sentence or in surrounding sentences. Degranulation refers to the release of specific molecules from cells as a process of the immune system. In this article they are referring to degranulation of mast cells specifically and the term could easily be linked to the Wikipedia definition of degranulation.

Missing Symptom

The one missing symptom that I have personally experienced and that seems the most life-threatening is hypotension or a low blood pressure which is a common symptom of anaphylaxis. The article does however mention that anaphylaxis is a serious or life-threatening. This missing symptom is of particular importance as it is more dangerous than other symptoms given such as: hives, gastrointestinal symptoms, itching, and headache. The article does mention that cardiovascular symptoms are reported in one third of patients which should elicit some mention of those specific symptoms.

Conclusion

The Wikipedia page on Exercise induced anaphylaxis is very complete and informative. Citations are well used and would give readers several great sources to inquire further about this condition. The tone is neutral and scientific and though there is a missing listed symptom, it is mentioned under the anaphylaxis definition. It does seem however that because most of these articles refer to the same case studies new information would not be available until new studies are conducted and those results are published. Hopefully more will be discovered to explain why exercise specifically, is a trigger in allergic responses that would not otherwise present.