Things I have learnt so far about AAAs

There are 6 books related to my project piled up on my desk at the moment. I spent about an hour in the main library yesterday. Today I spent about 3 hours in the medical library and another hour in the main library. I've found out quite a bit about aneurysms.

Off the top of my head I can inform anyone who might ask that aneurysms generally occur on the aorta (the main artery going from the heart that feeds oxygen and other good stuff to the body) and that they occur far more commonly in the abdominal region than in the thoracic region although they can form in both places at the same time.

When aneurysms form on the abdominal aorta they generally occur just below the renal arteries (arterial branches that feed the kidneys). There are several different types of aneurysm, but the fusiform type is the one which occurs most commonly in the abdominal aorta. Fusiform aneurysms are where the artery gets gradually wider and then thinner again rather than suddenly ballooning out on one side which would be a saccular aneurysm.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are most likely to rupture once they reach a diameter of 6cm, but they can grow bigger in some cases. Then again, in other cases an abdominal aneurysm may rupture before it reaches a diameter of 6cm. 0.3% of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms occur when the aneurysm is less than 4cm in diameter though. The "normal" diameter of the aorta in the abdomen ranges from about 1.5cm to about 2.1cm. That depends on gender and a few other factors.

In general 3% of people get aneurysms, but if your parent has an aneurysm you are far more likely to develop an aneurysm than someone who is not related to anyone with an aneurysm.

The problem with abdominal aneurysms is that they rarely present with any symptoms at all. Most people who have them will not know about them unless they are screened. The problem with screening is that the most effective and most useful screening method is computed tomography (CT), which is rather expensive and a little time-consuming. It is debatable (and people are debating it) whether or not it is worth the money it would cost to screen all people who may be "at risk".

Generally it is older people (over 50) who develop aneurysms. Men are most at risk of developing an aneurysm, but females are more at risk of rupture according to many studies.

The world through the eyes of a mathematician

I will begin as I have done previously with a quote from Ian Stewart's letters to a young mathematician.

"I am reminded of one of the many stories mathematicians tell each other after all nonmathematicians leave the room. A mathematician at a famous university went to look around the new auditorium, and when she got there, she found the dean of the faculty staring at the ceiling and muttering to himself, "...forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven..." Naturally she interrupted the count to find out what it was for. "I'm counting the lights," said the dean. The mathematician looked up at the perfect rectangular array of lights and said, "That's easy, there are ... twelve that way, and ... eight that way. Twelve eights are ninety-six." "No, no," said the dean impatiently. "I want the exact number."
Even when it comes to something as simple as counting, we mathematicians see the world differently from other folk."

People the world over see things differently, but I find that more often than not mathematicians/scientists see the world in a similar way to each other, but in a totally different way to an artist or a musician.

I wonder why we see things differently. Do we see things differently because of our different interests? Or are we interested in different things because we see things differently?

It's like the chicken and the egg saga. Which comes first? Is it instilled in us from birth? Are we genetically programmed to be like we are? Do environmental factors play a part at all?

I don't know the answers, but it does make interesting thinking. For me anyway. But is that because I'm a mathematician? I have no idea if an artist would find this idea interesting or not.

Sharon Evans, licensed to do Mathematics!

Before I got far into Ian Stewart's book Letters to a young mathematician I came across the following passage, which amused me so much I feel obliged to write about it.

We all know that our doctor has a medical degree, and our lawyer has a law degree, because those are specific, well-defined professions that require equally specific training. But you don't find brass plaques on buildings advertising a licensed mathematician within, who, for a large fee, will solve any math problems that you need help with.

He goes on to comment that mathematicians and maths are not noticed in the real world. Basically what we do and who we are is taken for granted. People assume that their computers are all the work of computer scientists, but they don't necessarily realise that a lot of computer science is actually maths. A lot of gene technology is actually maths and we wouldn't know much about space (or our own world) if it wasn't for mathematicians of the past.

I find it frustrating sometimes when I tell people I'm a maths student. The blank look on their face along with a certain amount of fear in their eyes. They often say that they could never do it because they were never any good at maths in school. If I had believed my primary school teacher Mrs H, maybe I would also be one of them. Maybe I wouldn't have a degree in maths if I had believed her. A small part of me wants to go and find her and show her my degree certificate and say,

"do you know what Mrs H, I got a degree in mathematics despite you telling me I'd never get anywhere unless I learnt my times tables..... and I still don't know them!"

The thing is the stuff you learn in maths classes at school is mostly how to add, subtract, times and divide things. There is also a lot of other stuff, but at university level you get told to forget most of what you've been taught so far because a lot of it was just lies. They tell lies to kids in school about maths (and other subjects) because the truth is just too complex to cover in the time they have your attention for. Also the range of maths is much broader once you get to university level.

At most universities (certainly in the UK) there will be the option to study some statistics, some pure mathematics (algebra and calculus - i.e. lots of funny letters and symbols instead of "proper numbers") and of course applied mathematics. Applied mathematics can cover a whole range of topics from the mathematics of biology (why tigers have stripes and how disease spreads) to discrete mathematics (binary code, password quality, code making/breaking etc) or mechanics (movement of solids, or indeed liquids or gases).

Of course there are also many other applications of mathematics. If I were to mention all of them here this post may never end.

My course falls under the engineering department, but I still class myself as a mathematician. A lot of what I do is still mathematics. I think that I will always think of myself as a mathematician. No matter how much I learn about engineering or whether or not I get a job in my field. Deep inside me is the heart of a mathematician and it skips a beat when I read about a particularly exciting concept or solve a big problem.

If at first you don't succeed - try harder!

In "Letters to a young mathematician" Ian Stewart writes something along the lines of

'if you do not understand a text you are reading, make a note
of it and carry on reading as the part you do not understand may be explained
later.'

I read that bit yesterday (I got the book for Christmas) and didn't really expect that I would be following the advice the very next day.