Story of alcohol

We often see, where a drunkard fell into gutters or else sleeping on a dirtiest footpaths and  scrap heaps of the country, we even saw in films and often heard in the news where a drunkard beats his wife and children, or else an alcoholic puke out in the party making others irate. We also saw a few men who consume heavy alcohol and despite drives car efficiently and also people die in an accident after taking alcohol.

Why the alcohol gives us a kick? Why the hangover remains? Why alcohol is blamed? Are there any benefits from alcohol?  There will be hundreds of questions in the mind of people and here are answers to some of the questions in the story of alcohol.

Hi I’m called as alcohol by literates, Ethanol by chemistry graduates, Beer, Wine, Whisky, Brandy, vodka, jinn, Champagne, rum and many more names I am being called depend on the growth I’m having (%) and depend on the parents who have produced me( raw material). My mother is yeast and my father varies who donate his sperms in the form of carbohydrate stored in him He maybe barley, Grape, pomegranate, etc. I have different fathers in different parts of the world and depend on the father my name changes and my appearance and my demand too.

I often being consumed by greatest creatures created by almighty, they lose their tongue,  behave hallucinated, some fall in gutters drinking me, some fuck your head, some weep, some talk of philanthropy, some talk of politics and some others behave non-sense and blah, blah.

Why someone gets out easily and some will be stable even after drinking:

Once after consuming alcohol, the alcohol is digested by an our body due to an enzyme called Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), When alcohol enters the bloodstream and reach liver the liver consists of the enzyme called as ADH-I, ADH-I  converts alcohol to acetaldehyde. The liver can, on average, metabolize about one standard drink (i.e. one 12 ounce bottle of beer, one 5 ounce glass of wine or 1.5 ounces of 40% alcohol) in one hour.  Alcohol consumed in addition to these amounts can generally not be processed by the liver. When this happens, your blood becomes saturated, and the additional alcohol makes its way to your body tissues and bloodstream,  and brain where one gets a kick when it starts reaching the brain.

The ADH activity differs from person to person, a person can quickly breaks alcohol can have resistance to more alcohol whereas other persons ADH activity may be less, in such circumstances, the kick will be more rapid.

Reason for hangover

A hangover is a condition which feels un-comfort in you and last for up to 24 hours this is the result of consuming excess alcohol, the symptoms are noticeable by the victim himself such as headache,  dizziness,  dehydration, thirstiness,  nausea( feeling of vomiting), fatigue,  lack of concentration, lack of sleep etc. hangover is caused due to the excess accumulation of acetaldehyde. This activates your immune system and changes  glucose metabolism and the additives and impurities present in alcohol play a vital role  in a hangover, and this is why you get hangover easily when you drink cheap liquor. Actually, the acetaldehyde is toxic to the body than the alcohol itself and it has to be converted to acetic acid before cleared off from the body and the time of the extent of acetaldehyde  exposure to the body decides the time of hangover and this occurs after the effects of ADH is over, and this is the reason why you get hangover only after asleep, especially in the morning.

Why Difference in talking and behaviour

Most of the alcohol is metabolized by liver but when excess alcohol reaches bloodstream it enters the brain and inactivates brain cell (belief is it kills brain cells in not true) Alcohol alters the activity of neurotransmitters such as Glutamate and thereby increase the level of GABA which is inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain which inhibits all other neurotransmitters. Along with GABA alcohol compound called a Dopamine increase in the brain on drinking alcohol and this compound acts as a stimulant which increases the pleasure for the alcoholic. These are the reasons for most of us have witnessed the outward signs of heavy drinking: the stumbling walk, slurred words and memory lapses. People who have been drinking have trouble with their balance, judgment and coordination. They react slowly to stimuli, which is why drinking before driving is so dangerous.

Bad Effects of alcohol

Alcohol decreases your rate of breathing and hence oxygen level becomes low resulting in the killing of many immune cells.  Alcohol can produce detectable impairments in memory after only a few drinks and, as the amount of alcohol increases, so does the degree of impairment. Large quantities of alcohol, especially when consumed quickly and on an empty stomach, can produce a blackout, People who have been drinking large amounts of alcohol for long periods of time run the risk of developing serious and persistent changes in the brain. Damage may be a result of the direct effects of alcohol on the brain or may result indirectly, from a poor general health status or from severe liver disease. Up to 80 percent of alcoholics, however, have a deficiency in thiamine. Acetaldehyde produced by ADH-I is highly carcinogenic results in cancers in some persons.

Good effects of alcohol

Alcohol will have good effects if consumed little or very little, little alcohol consumption increase the level of HDL cholesterol which is a high-density lipoprotein which scavenges LDL Cholesterol which is considered as one of the reasons for cardiac arrests and like this alcohol decreases the risk of cardiac arrest. Lower risk of diabetes seen in men and women, who moderately drink alcohol. Stressed could be released by triggering stress reduction. The positive psychological effects of drinking in moderation can be associated with the studies that show moderate drinkers tend to live longer than people who don’t drink at all or those who drink in excess.

With all these facts I’m putting an end to my story consume me less, enjoy yourself and be healthy.

Stem Cells- The future medicines

When I was reading an article in a journal I read about the importance of umbilical cord blood and thinking of the methods that can help store this valuable blood. I was even thinking that storing these data could definitely revolutionize the stem cell therapy as one of the pioneering field in health care and the Question in mind, of how 101 Kauravas born with just a fluid added in a pot, It was a pot of stem cells that have made 101 humans grow in a pot. I even felt proud of the think whether it is fiction or else a myth or even truth, whatever, but our ancestors were genius minds.

Then I went on studying the importance of stem cells.

Stem cells are the class of undifferentiated cells that on can differentiate to any specialized cell of our body. In fact, life arouses because of the differentiation of these stem cells. Stem cells are of two types

1. Embryonic stem cells: These are derived from 4- 5 days old embryo in the phase of development. When Egg and sperm cells fuse to form a zygote, single zygote cell then divides to form up to 32 cells for 4-6 days where this mass of cell is implanted into the uterus of the mother. This cell stage is called as blastocyst and the blastocyst has several layers in it, different layers in blastocyst gives rises to placenta and inner cell mass, this inner cell mass makes stem cells and stem cells eventually make an organism to develops and entire tissues, organs, organ system, I think this is why I said in the beginning; life arouses because of stem cells the product of fertilization process.

2. Adult stem cells are those which are formed after embryonic stages, these are also called as somatic cells whose division results in growth, development, repair mechanism of an organism. These are present in various organs and tissues such as bone marrow, skeletal muscles, skin, liver, blood, blood vessels.

Apart from these natural developmental importance stem cells have a greater potential as a therapeutic agent artificially. Because they can divide indefinitely, these cells can create any part of the body when grown in a cell line which is becoming popular as stem cell therapy.

Stem cells are very helpful in revolutionizing the tissue implantation which layman call it as plastic surgery unknowingly, it is a method in which kidney, skin, heart of one person can be transplanted to other humans, but the problem with this type of transplantation is the graft rejection i.e. the organs of one human may be antigenic (foreign) to the receiver   because of this rejection the transplantation success rate will be very low except in the case of identical twins.

The stem cells can be used to produce the faulty genes and replace them as a part of gene therapy, thereby it can be very helpful in tackling genetic diseases, autoimmune diseases,  juvenile diabetes, cardiovascular diseases that wrack the human population.

Stem cells can also be used to administer the immune cells and can be helpful in controlling immune-related diseases like AIDS, can be used to treat cancers as well. Stem cells also play a pivotal role in the modern research that mainly manifests new drugs and tackling various diseases arouse day today.

Why store umbilical cord blood

There are many myths knitted around the umbilical cord blood, but Umbilical cord blood is the chief and cheapest source of stem cell, this blood is very rich in stem cell and easy to store by cryopreservation and other methods.

It is the best method that can ensure future health for a child, there are many organizations that educate on umbilical cord blood and store it. Here are some of them located in India.

http://www.cordlifeindia.com/campaign/

http://www.lifecell.in/

http://www.jeevan.org/stemcell/

http://babycell.in/ppc/stemcellbank.php?gclid=_187sCFYEl4godezwAuQ

Problems associated with cord blood

Cord blood storage has many advantages which are infinite but for the Indian context the storage of cord blood looks expensive.

Lack of facilities in a small town, villages that can make ensure the sterile the condition required for the collection of cord blood.

Myths about the storage of cord bold in people’s mind.

Lack of awareness in people and ethical issues.

Whatever the problems are, hope for the best to happen, hope the cost of cord blood storage reduces and let every child gets its future safe secured.

To read about please visit here<a href="http://bio-perceptions.blogspot.in/" title="Japanese Encephalitis">Japanese Encephalitis</a>

Drug Resistance is a warning

If we imagine the pre-antibiotic world where people die of tetanus, diphtheria, anthrax and many other deadly bacterial diseases, we could not even imagine the pain of parents who lost their children for smallpox and children who impaired their lives due to polio. People succumb to cholera, botulism and fear of eating food, drinking water, touching the soil. Even a cool breeze could have turned a tornado of diseases. We have seen the films showing the dreadfulness of plague where most of the human population fainted to death and migrations in all part of the world. A bite of a flea could make you die from plague and bacteria. Ahh …. Horrible scenes could come to your eye and make your eyes wet a bit if you just close and go a look at a pre-antibiotic and pre-vaccination era of 18^th and 19^th centuries and before that. And then, the time came, when people started saying during world wars “Thanks to penicillin he will come back home after the war”.

If we put a small question of what is the impact of all those periods reoccur now? One can wisely answer today the advances in vaccination and medicines can be real tools to tackle all the calamities, the medical sciences have developed to an extent where we could even detect the entire human genome and these pathogens are just a speck to handle. But if the people think these answers they are fully wrong. It’s just because of the warning that these dreadful organisms giving us by evolving themselves “Drug-Resistant”.

WHO warns Antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem, but one that is becoming more dangerous; urgent and consolidated efforts are needed to avoid regressing to the pre-antibiotic era.

What is Drug Resistance?

Drug resistance is a condition in which a drug or an antibiotic turns ineffective against the disease-causing microbe. It is the condition where our immune system which acts as a drug the delivery system fails to recognize the particular strain of drug-resistant microbe hence fails to induce the response on it and also it is a condition in which a drug used to inhibit or kill or eradicate particular microbe fail to act on it and hence the condition of the disease remains uncured and a potential threat to humans.

Drug resistance is due to various reasons, but the main reason is the mutation in a particular protein on which a drug or our immune system acts and there are various reasons for mutations in the microbe. Here a microbe either alters the substrate that is required by antibiotic or immune system’s enzyme to acts or else microbe produces an enzyme that would alter the structure of the drug itself. The organism that is resistant to multiple drugs is called Multidrug-resistant (MDR) microbe and these MDR’s are the major concern that is threatening to the human population.

Reasons for Mutations and drug resistance

Horizontal gene transfer from one organism to others, which is a natural way of acquiring drug resistance.

Use of disinfectants, antiseptics, pesticides, insecticides kill normal flora which are beneficial to humans, these flora fights with pathogens and protects humans. When this Good microbe’s population decreases it leads to the evolvement of new organisms.

The overuse of antibacterial cleaning products in the home may be producing strains of multi-antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Improper use of anti-microbial's that leads to the evolvement of no of drug resistants is one of the major causes.

Weak infection prevention and control practices lead to the increased transmission of resistant microorganisms. This is particularly challenging in resource-limited settings with poor health infrastructures and a shortage of health-care staff. Inadequate laboratory capacity limits the ability to rapidly detect resistant microorganisms for prompt treatment and control measures.

Mechanisms by which drug resistance occurs

Modification of drugs

 Alteration of target site

Difference in metabolic pathway

Reduction in drug accumulation by decreased dug permeability or increased efflux of the drug.

 Important Examples

Evolvement of new malarial parasites

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus

MDR tuberculosis

Penicillin and major antibiotic-resistant microbes

Aids a potent cause

Note about these examples: I will post separate articles on each of them in future days.

Responsibilities on us

  Avoid misuse of drugs in any sort mainly by discontinuing the entire course of drug as by avoiding self- medication.

 “Prevention is better than cure” Prevention of disease by keeping personnel and environmental hygiene.

 Stop forcing doctors to give antibiotics and vaccination until it is mandatory.

 Assure your drug quality before using.

Aflatoxins are the Cancer agents

There is a saying

“Enemy lies nearby and within”.

Aflatoxins are such enemies which lie in very near proximity.  In our food,  on our skin, on our pet animals, in our environment and so on.  The aflatoxins are the major concerns since they are the potents cancer-causing agents which in medical terms called as “Carcinogens”.

What are aflatoxins:

Aflatoxins are the toxins produced by species of fungi such as aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus. These aflatoxins are the potent  toxins which are carcinogenic  mutagenic, immunosuppressive agents produced as secondary metabolites.

Where the aflatoxins occur:

Food products are the main sources of fungus contamination that produce aflatoxins. Cereals, oilseeds, spices, tree nuts, rice milk like this major of the food products are vulnerable to the infection of toxin producing fungi.

How are they harmful?

Aflatoxins are potent toxins which exert their effect once after consumption, Toxins are oxidized and are converted to several hydroxylated metabolites, which are acutely toxic, mutagenic carcinogenic which mainly results in hepatocellular carcinoma. Aflatoxin is mainly absorbed and metabolized in the liver. Once after absorbed aflatoxins enter the bloodstream, then efficiently absorbed in the small intestine. The effects of aflatoxin vary depending on age, environment, species of Fungi. The interference of toxin and its subsequent absorption and metabolism influences reactions with DNA and RNA, Proteins and Enzymes result in carcinoma.  The toxins are hepatotoxic hence results in hepatitis, jaundice and also damage a broad range of organs, tissues and systems.

Effects of Aflatoxins:

Teratogenic effect-Birth defects

Carcinogenic effects- high chances of cancer

Pathological changes-variation of weight in internal organs,

Circulatory- Defects in Hematoposis leading to Hemorrhages, anaemia.

Immune system –Immuno-suppression, leading to secondary infections.

Defects in nervous, urinary, digestive systems.

Though the aflatoxicosis is difficult to treat and prevent, effort in good farming practice, good storage and greater cooking methods that prevent fungi growth have to be monitored and awareness on aflatoxins is a major drawback.

Let’s push to aware every human about the dangerous aflatoxins.

Some superstitions around HIV

While scrolling down my FB page, I encounter a lot of images, that tells a story of HIV-AIDS and few Superstitions associated with HIV- Aids. Look at these images below and a story.

Look at the story below

“Hai Friends,

It’s in India – Karnataka – Bangalore
A 10-year-old boy had eaten pineapple about 15 days back, and fell sick, from the day he had eaten. Later when he had his Health check done…… doctors diagnosed that he had AIDS.
His parents couldn’t believe it…Then the entire family underwent a checkup… none of them suffered from Aids. So the doctors checked again with the boy if he had eaten out…..The boy said ‘Yes’. He had pineapple that evening. Immediately a group from the hospital went to the pineapple vendor to check. They found the pineapple seller had a cut on his finger while cutting the pineapple; his blood had spread into the fruit.
When they had his blood checked…the guy was suffering from AIDS…but he himself was NOT aware. Unfortunately, the boy is now suffering from it.
Please take care while u eat on the roadside (particularly tasty Vadapav&PaaniPuri) and pls fwd this mail to your dear ones.
Take Care
Please Forward This Mail To All The Persons You Know As Your Message May Save One’s Life !!!!!”.

 What Kind of non-sense!  these images and stories, spreading the real non-sense that could increase the fear about HIV in the cerebrum of a layman, who thinks, HIV is deadly dangerous.

These posts fluttering in social the site, made me clarify few superstitions and fears about HIV.

HIV cannot be spread by juices or by fruits that are fed with HIV particles, It can only be transmitted through natural body fluid exchange, which indirectly means contact with blood, sperm, female ejaculations, breast milk.

Kissing a girl is never a comparison for spreading HIV, because, at least litres of Saliva; which means one should smooch each other for at least a day without any disturbances.

Moreover, HIV is transmitted to Gays and lesbians.

HIV is definitely not curable but definitely can be prevented.

In-fact! HIV is not a disease on itself, but it triggers all the other diseases, such that, even a common cold will be threat-full; for HIV patient to sustain.

Healthy life definitely is the solution to HIV, and, it’s a medicine to HIV , where, HIV patient can also leave like a healthy individual.

Balancing Diet is vital for life processes

Balance diet is the one that gives our body the nutrition necessary for its normal function. Scientifically; Balance diet is one which contains Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, Vitamins, minerals and water in proper distribution.

Why Balanced Diet: With time, we are turning machines and our health getting deteriorated. The pressurised lifestyle made us restless, relentless. The situation of habit shifts mutated our food style as well. This created an emergency for us to rely on looking into the balance diet sheet and mutate back to traditional foods.

Human requirements of various Biomolecules vary with sex and age. A complete balanced diet should contain the following organic molecules in proportion per day.

Energy	2500 Kcal
Carbohydrates	55g
Sugar	300g
Fat	120g
Fibres	95g
Salt	6g

Our diet majorly turning towards the junk food for the better or worse, these fast foods are those who have high calories, specifically rich in fats and carbohydrates but, par below the threshold of Proteins, Vitamins and fibres.

Consequences of Crash Diets :

Vitamin Deficiency: Despite synthesis of an array of organic molecules in our body, lack of vitamin synthesis made it a vital organic molecule to be taken in the diet. Though the vitamin requirements are relatively traces but their deficiency leads to various diseases listed in the table below.

Mineral Deficiency: Our our body needs Minerals which are divided as Micro minerals and Macro Minerals based on the amounts required for the body.

Macro Minerals

Sodium	Needed for fluid balance, nerve transmission and muscle contraction
Chloride	For fluid balance and stomach acid balance
Potassium	Needed for fluid balance, nerve transmission and muscle contraction
Calcium	Essential for healthy bones and teeth; helps muscles relax and contract; important in nerve functioning, blood clotting, blood pressure regulation, immune system health.
Phosporous	Found in every cell; part of the system that maintains acid-base balance.
Magnessium	needed for making protein, muscle contraction, nerve transmission, immune system health
Sulphur	Found in Proteins

Micro minerals

Iron	Part of Hemoglobin that carries Oxygen
Zinc	Present in Genetic material and Enzymes
Iodine	Present in Harmones, helps in regulating growth and metabolism
Selenium	Acts as an antioxidant
Copper	Needed for metabolism
Manganese	Needed for enzyme action
Fluoride	Involved in bone formation
Chromium	Factor to Regulate Blood sugar level
Molebdenum	Needed for enzyme action

Proteins are the vital organic a molecule that is necessary for regulation of every life activity; hence they are called as building blocks of life.

A balanced diet is a threshold for avoiding deadly diseases like cancer, it can keep away the ill effects of reactive oxygen. Prevention is better than cure, and a balanced diet is a major necessity for keeping ourselves healthy in every consequence of life.

Few foods that give complete diet

A plant-based diet, which includes green vegetables, nuts, beans, carrot which is usually served as 

salads act as the best source to fulfil the essential nutrients.

Fish acts as the best food that includes all the nutrients, this may act as a best replacing for the non-

vegetarian foods that have high trans-fat.

Including Honey in the food as much as possible can have a more significant impact on health.

A glass of milk, a banana and an an egg a day can be the best breakfast to have.

Why Dengue is dangerous

The toll rose in the tropical country due to this viral disease is dramatic and alarming.  

The world is down and getting deeper into the pothole,  just for the think of the deadly dengue fever.

What causes dengue         

Dengue is caused by the bite of mosquito Aedes aegypti mosquito, which acts as a vector for injecting a virus called a Dengue virus ( DENV) into the body.  This class of mosquitos also spreads chikungunya and yellow fever virus.  This class of mosquitoes can be recognised by white markings on its legs and thorax. These mosquitoes mainly grow in tropical and subtropical regions.

DENV is of family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus which are positive-sense RNA Viruses. DeNV has five serotypes which can cause a full spectrum of disease.

Evolution of Virus  

These viruses evolved in the mid 19th century during the period of world war I and II for which considerable movement of population, environmental   disturbance and environmental change may be blamed as the reason.

Why dengue is dangerous

Dengue infection causes flu-like illness which is not lethal,  but Severe dengue known as the hemorrhagic fever has grown dramatically in recent years,  mainly in subtropical regions.

There are about five serotypes of the virus that  are born in Aedes mosquito whose bite can inject the virus into humans.

When the first infection occurs by a serotype, it leads to dengue, the immune system clears the pathogen and provides lifelong to the particular serotype.  If subsequent infection occurs by the second serotype, it leads to severe dengue.

How it affects

It affects humans by suppressing the bone marrow,  thereby affecting hematopoiesis,  this leads to a decrease in blood pressure.

It infects vascular endothelial cells  and causes leakage in the vascular fluid.

It causes immune cross-reactivity that kills plate cells, thereby decreases the number of platelets which are the main factors to prevent bleeding from damaged blood vessels.  This results in bleeding and haemorrhage.

Signs of dengue

Mild to high fever with a headache,  pain in eye,  muscles and joints.  Rashes on the skin,  abdominal pain,  vomiting,  bleeding and suffocation are the early signs of dengue.

Treatment

Paracetamol can be given to reduce fever.

Giving plenty of water and intravenous fluids helps enormously.

Rest is compulsory for homeostasis.

Giving  platelets will help the patient to escape from severity.

Vaccination 

There are no vaccines available and not even specific treatments available against dengue.  Scientists are trying hard to get successful vaccine trials for all 5 strains of DENV.  

Prevention 

Preventing mosquitoes and mosquito bite is the the only way of prevention,  just like preventing other mosquito-borne diseases.