Most of the people think that it is impossible to develop vitamin toxicity by consumption of the natural foods. But this is a myth. Even though vitamin toxicity develops very rarely with natural foods but it is usually due to the oral intake of lipid soluble vitamins. There are well documented cases of acute vitamin toxicity, which developed after the consumption of certain food items. As you all know liver of any animal is responsible for detoxification of toxins and the storage of vitamins. This mechanism is really important for the storage of vitamin A and due to this most of the animal livers contain high amount of Vitamin A. But this amount in many animals is not adequate to cause acute vitamin A toxicity. But, polar bear liver, whale liver, shark liver and the lowly tuna liver may contain very high amount of vitamin A . This amount of Vitamin A may be adequate to cause acute vitamin A toxicity. First case of Vitamin A toxicity has described in 1597 by Gerrit ge Veer in the arctic. He is a carpenter and the crew of the ship he worked developed serious symptoms after eating a polar bear liver. Symptoms of acute vitamin A toxicity are headache, dizziness, vomiting, stupor and blurred vision.
Next time when you eat a polar bear liver, even though it is a great delicacy, keep in mind to eat in moderation. If you develop above symptoms after that better to seek medical attention immediately.
Natural foods which can cause Vitamin A toxicity
SOME INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT CANNABIS
Extracts of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, the hemp plant contains an interesting compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Various parts of this plant are used with different names but all these compounds contain the same chemical, THC. These compounds are,
Marijuana- prepared using dried leaves and flowers used as a smoking mixture
Hashish – The extracted resin
A metabolite of THC, 11-hydroxy-THC is much more active that the original compound.
Cannabis is probably the most widely abused substance in the word although its use is illegal in almost all the countries. This widespread use is due to the fact that it can be grown fairly easily in tropics and only requires a small space. 15% of the adult population in Western Europe has taken Cannabis at least once in their life.
Action and pharmacological effects
Cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), acts centrally and peripherally.
With its central action it produces,
Feeling of relaxation and well-being
A feeling of sharpened sensory awareness
It also,
Impairs short term memory
Impairs motor coordination
Causes catalepsy
Has an antiemetic action
Causes increased appetite
Its main peripheral effects are,
Tachycardia- Increased heart rate
Vasodilatation- Causes blood shot
Bronchodilatation
Cannabis / Cannabinoid / tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) receptor
Cannabinoids are highly lipid soluble and earlier it was thought Cannabis / Cannabinoid / tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) act in the same way as the local anesthetics. But now it is clear that Cannabinoids have a specific receptor. The receptor is coupled to G-proteins and linked to adenylate cyclase, sodium channels and calcium channels.
Brain Cannabinoid / tetrahydrocannabinol/ THC receptor also known as CB1 subtype is abundant in hippocampus, cerebellum, substantia nigra and mesolimbic system. This receptor,
Impairs short term memory
Impairs motor coordination
Causes catalepsy
Has an antiemetic action
Causes increased appetite
The peripheral Cannabinoid / tetrahydrocannabinol/ THC receptor also known as CB2 is located mainely in the lymphoid system and responsible for the inhibitory effects on the immune function.
Tolerance and dependence to cannabis
Fortunately tolerance and dependence to cannabis occurs in a very small proportion of the abusers and only in heavy users. Abstinence symptoms are nausea, agitation, irritability, confusion, tachycardia, sweating etc.
Some interesting questions…..
Do people die due to cannabis overdose?
Actually this is a tricky question. Straight answer is no. But cannabis and all other abused substances, Marijuana, Hashish, are capable f producing drowsiness and confusion. These are due to the effects of Cannabinoid / tetrahydrocannabinol/ THC. It does not have any cardiovascular or respiratory effects which threaten the life.
Can cannabis cause cancers?
With the current knowledge this question is difficult to answer. But the epidemiological studies have not shown any association between cannabis usage and cancers. But cannabis does cause chromosomal breakdowns. S further research needed to be done in this area.
Can cannabis cause fetal malformations?
Epidemiological studies have not shown any significant association. But further studies needed to be done for a conclusion.
Can cannabis cause male / female infertility?
Cannabis is not known to cause infertility. But due to its effects on the endocrine system definitely it can cause sub fertility. Studies have shown 50% decrease in serum testosterone and sperm count in males.
Can cannabis cause long lasting psychological effects?
This is very difficult to test but there is a hypothesis that cannabis ca cause schizophrenia. This can gradually leads to a state of apathy and underachievement.
Medical uses of cannabis.
Under current regulations cannabis cannot be used to treat patients in western medicine. But in ayurveda cannabis is an essential component of many drugs and it is effective in treating patients.
In UK official drug trials are underway. Canada has legalized the use of cannabis for some conditions.
Reperfusion injury
When there is an infarction to a particular tissue it is necessary to reestablish the perfusion to that tissue as soon as possible. When the perfusion is reestablished sometimes the tissue damage can be recovered and the tissue starts to function normally. But the reperfusion itself can cause tissue damage. This is against the general public idea held by many people that reperfusion does no cause any injury. When an artery is blocked by a thrombus various drugs (Streptokinase) are given to dissolve this clot and re establish the circulation. But when the circulation is reestablished free radicals can be formed in the ischemic tissue and can cause tissue damage. This may be due to the fact that functions of the organelles of the many ischemic cells are impaired and these organelles produce free radicals. For an example when streptokinase is given to a patient with a myocardial infarction sudden spike of CPK enzyme level can be seen in the CPK enzyme test.
PRESENT STATUS OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN SRI LANKA
Present system of primary health care in Sri Lanka is influenced by the Alma-Ata Declaration.
Primary Health Care has two major parts
Preventive care
Curative care
Health Unit
The concept of Health Unit is the core of preventive primary health care
Health Unit Program
“know your area, and know your people is the slogan of Ceylon health unit work”
Each health unit
Serves up to 60,000 people.
Undertakes,
Development of sanitary programs.
Health education.
Vaccination of children.
Maternity and child welfare services etc.
Medical Officer of Health (MOH)
A community physician.
Serves as the director of the Health unit.
Coordinate all the activities.
Supervises the work carry out by the field staff.
Investigates the health problems in the area.
Public Health Inspector is responsible for 10,000 people.
Public Health Midwife is responsible for 3,000 people.
Selective Primary Health care
This is a package which contains,
GOBI
Growth monitoring
Oral rehydration techniques
Breast feeding
Immunization
Primary health care system in Sri Lanka is mainly based on the comprehensive package but it includes all the interventions in the selective primary health care.
All four interventions are operating at high rates when it is compared to other countries.
Growth monitoring
The growth of every possible child is measured. Highly successful.
But the analyzing and intervention is poor.
Oral rehydration techniques
Our Oral Rehydration Solution (Jeewanee) is very high in quality.
It meets all the quality standards of WHO
Breast feeding
Breast feeding rates are very high in Sri Lanka when compared to the other developed countries.
Immunization
Goal,
To reduce mortalities associated with vaccine preventable diseases.
To eradicate Polio
To achieve zero incidence of neonatal tetanus.
To prevent congenital rubella syndrome.
Every child (almost 100%) receives vaccination according to the national immunization schedule.
This program is highly successful.
E.g.: Polio eradicated from Sri Lanka.
Curative care
Curative part of the primary health care includes,
Peripheral hospitals
Base hospitals
Central dispensaries
Rural hospitals
But the services supplied by these institutions are very poor and due to that people bypass these institutions and seek the help of higher curative care institutions.
E.g.: Teaching hospitals
Reference
Sri Lanka national immunization program – financial assessment
International breast feeding journal.
Annual Health Bulletin-Sri Lanka 2003
OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
SRI LANKA
PRESENT STATUS OF SRI LANKA
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM SOUTH ASIA
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN ASIA
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM GLOBALLY
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Paypal alternatives
Do you live in a country where Paypal does not support? H mm. What a pity. I used to have the same problem. But now I use different methods to receive money.
Moneybookers account
One way is to use a Moneybookers account. They are much more friendly that Paypal and they will answer most f your questions. And the other thing is they are UK based. Unlike USA based Paypal they do not have many restrictions. I am a Sri Lankan and I have a verified Moneybookers account. I can use it in anyway I want. Currently I am using it to accept payments in my websites and it works fine for me. Most important thing is moneybookers support bank wire transfers to most of the countries at a very low flat fee.
Payoneer debit card
The other method is to use a Payoneer debit card. Now many institutes like rentacoder and Avafx support Payoneer debit card. This card is a genuine plastic gold classic master card issued by the First Bank of Delaware. I am using a card for quite some time and it is fine. It supports all the countries I think. You can use this card to buy goods at any shop where mastercard debit/credit cards are accepted. Yes you can use this card to withdraw money at any ATM. But there is a small problem. Because their charges are bit high.
There is another way to withdraw money in your Paypal if the allowed methods do not work with you. There are are many institutes which support different payment methods. First pen an account with such institute. Then fund that account with Paypal account. Then ask that institute to send money to you using a different payment method. (I tried it once and it worked. But make sure that institution does not frown at your account. You can do this with many forex accounts)
If you still need a Paypal account but you are not eligible I strongly advise you to not to cheat them. If you try to cheat them they will find it very quickly and they will ban your account. You will have to say good bye to your money.
Can vitamin A cause osteoporosis?
Chronic Vitamin A toxicity due to prolonged overdose of oral vitamin A can increase the blood and tissue concentration of retinoic acid. Retinoic acid can stimulate the osteoclast production and activity. Since the pathogenesis of osteoporosis is due to the action of osteoclasts over osteoblasts the chronic vitamin A toxicity can cause osteoporosis.
Nutrient losses in processing of Pulses
Usually pulses are sun dried and stored.
But during this process some of the vitamins are lost. E.g. B complex vitamins
And there can be changes in the protein structure
Even though the pulses can be stored for a long period of time these are susceptible to weevil manifestations.
This can occur in the field or during storage and results in serious deterioration of the nutritive value of the grain.
If the water content is very high Weevils breed very rapidly and cause even more nutrient deterioration
During long term storage in some pulses rancidity takes place. This results in unpallatability
Various fungal infestations can occur during storage and this can leads to deteriorating of nutrients as well as accumulating of fungal toxins.
E.g. Aspergillus falavus - Aflatoxin
During consumption…….
Pulses are usually not eaten raw
So during cooking, heated to very high temperatures.
This results in,
Total loss of vitamin C
Some loss of B complex vitamins
Medicinal uses of Solenium virginianum L
Family : Solanaceae
Common names: Katuwalbatu
Kattiri
All the parts of this plant has been used in the ayuvedic medicine for centuries to prepare various medicines. It is easy to grow and frond in many tropical countries.
Extracts of this plant can be used for:
Common cough
Allergic rhinitis
Hiccups
Common cold
Flu
And it also can be used to increase appetite
How does increased sugar consumption cause diabetes mellitus?
For a long time increased sugar consumption was known as a risk factor for diabetes mellitus. But I always asked the question from myself how does it cause. So now I have one possible mechanism. Sugar is broken down in the body to glucose and fructose. As you know there is no question glucose increases insulin secretion. Now lets take an 8 year old child who has born with a defect of the pancreatic beta cells which secrete insulin. But the amount of insulin produced by the remaining cells may be adequate for his day to day life. What will happen if he consumes more sugar? The increase glucose level will put an extra pressure on the beta cells to produce more insulin. But now what will happen? The cells will try to secrete a higher amount of insulin and soon get exhausted. So now the child develops type I diabetes mellitus.
Now lets take a 50 years old person. Lets say he is genetically predisposed to insulin resistance. But pancreas can secret a higher amount of insulin and that person to overcome his insulin resistance. But when that person consume more sugar pancreas has to secrete even much higher amount of insulin so his beta cells will soon get exhausted and he will soon develop diabetes mellitus type II. Now if you have a family history of diabetes think about this before eat a chocolate.
DRUGS WHICH ARE USED TO REDUCE THE RISK OF MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION
CHOLESTEROL LOWERING DRUGS
For many years elevated plasma LDL concentration was known to increase the risk of premature coronary atherosclerosis and myocardial infarctions. So the physicians now target their treatments towards lowering of the plasma LDL and cholesterol concentration. It is also known the increased level of HDL which reduces the risk of atherosclerosis.
Statins: HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors
Major group of drugs used to reduce plasma-LDL cholesterol is Statins or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. These drugs reduce the lever synthesis of cholesterol by inhibiting the lever enzyme HMG-CoA reductase and thereby reduce the plasma LDL-cholesterol level. In addition to this statins increase the synthesis of LDL-receptors and increases the clearance of LDL. Simvastatin, Lovostatin, Pravastatin and Atorvastatin are few statins which are commonely used. All these drugs are well tolerated but contraindicated during pregnancy. (HMG-CoA reductase guides migrating primordial germ cells.) Several large randomized trials have shown promising effects on mortality by coronary vascular diseases.
In addition to the LDL-cholesterol lowering effect the use of statins has many other benefits,
Improved endothelial function
Reduced vascular inflammation
Increased neovascularization of ischemic tissue
Increased circulating endothelial progenitor cells.
Stabilization of atherosclerotic plaque
Antithrombotic action
Enhanced fibrinolysis
Osteoclast apoptosis and increased synthetic activity in osteoblasts
Adverse effects
Mild unwanted side effects include gastrointestinal disturbance, increased plasma concentration of liver enzymes, insomnia and rash. More serous adverse effects are rare but include severe myositis and angio-oedema.
Fibrates
This is another class of drugs used to reduce the plasma LDL, VLDL and thereby plasma triglyceride concentration. All the fibrates are fibric acid derivatives. One derivative (gemfibrozil) has shown to reduce the coronary heard disease by one third compared with the placebo.
Bile acid binding resins
Anion exchange resins like Colestrymine and colestipol are anion exchange resins. When these are taken by mouth they sequester bile acids and reduce enterohepatic circulation. This results in covertion of endogenous cholesterol to bile acids by the liver. This leads to increased expression of LDL receptors on liver cells.
ANTIPLATELET DRUGS
Antiplatelet drugs reduce the aggregation of platelets and thereby reduce the risk of thrombo-embolism. Most commonly used drug in this class is aspirin. Aspirin alters the balance between TXA2 and PGI2. Aspirin irreversibly acetylates a serine residue in the active site of the COX- 1 enzyme and thereby irreversibly inactivating it. This enzyme is require by the endothelium for the synthesis of PGI2 (Which inhibits platelet aggregation) and by the platelets for the synthesis of TXA2 (Which promotes platelet aggregation)
These drugs are used,
In acute myocardial infarction
High risk of myocardial infarction
Following coronary artery bypass grafting
Following coronary artery angioplasty
Transient cerebral ischemic attack
Keywords
Drug interaction, Anticoagulants. Ischemia, Cerebral infarction, phosphodiesterase inhibitor, Oral anticoagulant, pharmacokinetic aspects
Deposition of Amyloid/ Amyloid deposition/ Amyloidosis
Amyloidosis means various fibrillary protein depositions in the interstitial tissue in various pathological conditions.
So different Amyloids have different characteristics.
But all have following common characteristics.
With iodine brown colour (color) is produced
Characteristic staining pattern
On electron microscope amyloid appear non branching fibrils
On X-ray diffraction Amyloid exhibit a pleaded beta structure
Chemically Amyloid has two major classes
Amyloid of immunoglobulin origin
Amyloid of other origin
Amyloid of immunoglobulin origin
This is composed of light chains of immunoglobulin molecules. This form is mainly produced by neoplastic plasma cells and B cell lymphomas
Amyloid of other origin
These are composed of,
Serum Amyloid associated protein
Prealbumin
Other peptide fragments
Systemic Amyloidosis
Primary pattern of distribution
Secondary pattern of distribution
Localized Amyloidosis
Amyloid in neoplasms
Free radicals and Amyloid / Amyloidosis
Effects of Amyloid deposition
Amyloid deposited in the interstitial tissue mainly in the basement membrane of the small blood vessels. This also occurs in peripheral nerves. Due to Amyloid deposition flexibility of these tissues are lost. So blood vessels can not contract and tend to bleed more after an injury.
Other relevant areas
Heredofamilial Amyloidosis
Senile Amyloidosis
Amyloid theory of ageing
Ageing and Amyloidosis
Modern theory of ageing