>>4088 https://youtube.com/watch?v=dq2AE76Vzuc [Embed] Mr. Ing and the doctors had no idea what had happened to Neko. He couldn't tell them either, because he was confused coming out of his powernap. They couldn't smell anything but sweat from him. In a 30-year old guy, alcohol could be a problem. But alcohol is a depressant. Neko is agitated and confused, sweating and hyperventinalting. His heart rate was fast, his pupils were bloodshot. All of these together don't usually come from a depressant. These are signs of a stimulant, which is opposite of a depresant, so not alcohol, and we can narrow it down a little. Further exam finds that Neko also has hyperthermia. High body temperature. This is dangerous, not only because it means bad things are happening inside his body causing the hyperthermia, but that the hyperthermia itself can cause more bad things to happen. Neko was shaking. This could be the cause of hyperthermia. When you move, your muscles burn energy. That releases a lot of heat. Lots of heat, in Nekos case. That's why he is sweating, because his body is trying to cool him off. This brings us to the idea of "fight or flight." When you get scared, you jump. Your heart rate immediately goes up. Your muscles become really twitchy and you start shaking. You start hyperventialting because your muscles need that oxygen, because you're either gonna run, or you're gonna fight. This response is controlled by your nervous system. You see something, you hear something, and those will make you jump. But if you’ve ever been really scared, you’ll notice your heart doesn’t just slow down afterwards. And that’s because fight or flight isn’t just from the nerves. To keep up the response, the body releases adrenaline, which is a hormone that floats around in the blood. It lasts for a couple of minutes and it comes from these adrenal glands on top of the kidneys. But Neko hasn’t been scared. He’s been lying there, working out. He has no reason to fight or flight. Meaning something is causing his adrenal glands to release adrenaline. But what could it be? At this point, Neko was still confused and still agitated. When asked what happened, he was able to tell the doctors "GOMAD, ASS TO GRASS and FOUR SCOOPS CMOOOON" and this gives them several clues as to what's happening. A blood test finds that Neko has hypokalemia. Hypo- meaning low, kale- referring to potassium or more formally Kalium as shown by its symbol on the periodic table of elements. and -emia meaning presence in blood. Low potassium presence in blood. If Neko did 10 sets of pushups and squats, but his morning banana has potassium in it, then how does he have low potassium presence in blood? Well, there's a bit of basic biology to be known here. Adrenaline acts on the muscles. The muscles that move your arms and legs are called skeletal muscle. In fight or flight mode, you want these to be active, otherwise you wouldn't be fighting and you definitely wouldn't be flighting. But there's also heart muscle, which you want to beat faster and harder so that those skeletal muscles get more oxygen from blood so they can help you run away, or wrestle a bear. But – your muscles also need a way to be told to contract. Sodium helps start a muscle contraction. Potassium helps promote muscle relaxation. Lots of potassium present means the muscles relax for a long time. Too little present means your muscles won't stop contracting. If Neko has low potassium presence in blood, then it expains why his muscles are twitching nonstop; they can't relax because adrenaline has shifted potassium into Neko's cells to support fight or flight mode. As Neko's muscles can’t stop twitching, they release heat from the energy they’re burning, causing his body temperature to go up. High temperatures deform proteins. Human muscles are made of proteins. Meaning for Neko, those muscles starting to break down and dissolve away into his bloodstream causing loss of gains. This is physique threatening.
