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Hormone Pharmacology

Hormones are vital for maintaining normal health, growth, development and various other aspects of the body. Either excessive or deficient secretion of hormones can therefore cause diseases and disorders.

25 Nov 2009

Effects Of Hormone

Hormones have several effects on the body that are vital to its function. An excess or deficiency in hormones can significantly impact on an individual's normal daily living. Insulin deficiency, for example, leads to a decrease in the body's ability to synthesize and utilize the blood glucose absorbed from food, giving rise to diabetes and its associated complications.

25 Nov 2009

Hormone Interactions with Receptors

Hormones are chemical messengers that interact with receptors present on the surface of a cell membrane or with receptors that are located inside the cell, in the cytoplasm (cytoplasmic receptors). This interaction gives rise to the effects hormones exert on target cells and organs.

25 Nov 2009

Hormones as a Signal

Hormones are signals or chemical messengers released from endocrine glands in the body. Endocrine glands such as the thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, pancreatic glands, the testes and the ovaries are ductless glands that secrete the hormones they produce directly into the bloodstream.

25 Nov 2009

Glycemia Abnormal Values

Glycemia or the concentration of glucose in the blood is strictly regulated in the body through several mechanisms.

25 Nov 2009

Glycemia Measurement

Glycemia measurement is one of the most important practices performed in clinical assessment.

25 Nov 2009

What is Glycemia?

Glycemia refers to the concentration of sugar or glucose in the blood. In the United States and in many other countries, it is expressed as milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl). In many of the European countries blood glucose or sugar is also measured as millimol per decilitre (mmol/dl). These measurements are referred to as the SI units.

25 Nov 2009

Electrolyte Electrochemistry

Electrolytes are formed when the components in a salt compound dissociate in a process called solvation. Electrolytes have several properties that can be utilized in the process of electrolysis as a means of separating and extracting the elements and compounds present in a solution.

24 Nov 2009

Electrolyte Health Importance

Electrolytes are essential substances in the body required for cell function and cell signalling. In the human body, the main electrolytes are...

24 Nov 2009

What is an Electrolyte?

Electrolyte is the medical term for a salt or ion in the blood or other bodily fluid that carries a charge.

24 Nov 2009

Antioxidants in Technology

Antioxidants have a variety of uses in the industry. They are most commonly used as food preservatives and supplements. The industrial and other uses of antioxidants can be summarized as follows.

24 Nov 2009

Antioxidants in Food

Antioxidants are present in large amounts in several foods. However, actual amount of antioxidants in several plant products may differ due to several factors. These include:

24 Nov 2009

Antioxidant Health Effects

Antioxidants, like oxidative injury causing pro-oxidants, have a profound role in health and diseases in humans. Some of the major beneficial roles include those in disease prevention and treatment.

24 Nov 2009

Oxidative Stress In Disease

Reactive oxygen species or ROS and free radicals can cause severe damage to the normal cells of the body. This damage can be to the DNA, proteins, and other macromolecules. This damage forms the basis of a wide variety of diseases, most notably heart disease and cancer.

24 Nov 2009

Antioxidant Enzyme Systems

There are several enzyme systems that catalyze reactions to neutralize free radicals and reactive oxygen species. These enzymes include:

24 Nov 2009

Antioxidant Metabolites

The antioxidant networks in the body are complex and are composed of several components. These may be endogenous factors such as Glutathione, thiols, haem proteins, Coenzymes Q, bilirubin and urates. These may also be endogenous enzymes like GSH reductase, GSH transferase, GSH peroxidises, Superoxide dismutase and Catalases.

24 Nov 2009

Antioxidant: Pro-Oxidant Activities

Antioxidants that reduce the pro-oxidant or oxidative stress causing action of various reactive oxygen species and free radicals also have a dark side.

24 Nov 2009

Antioxidant: The Oxidative Challenge In Biology

Oxygen is the vital requirement for living beings. This is required for the complex metabolic pathways. The paradox of oxygen requirement is the high reactivity of the oxygen molecule. These reactive oxygen molecules damage living organisms by producing reactive oxygen species.

24 Nov 2009

What are Antioxidants?

Oxygen free radicals set off damaging and lethal chain reactions within cells. Antioxidants reduce oxidative damage and may therefore slow ageing.

24 Nov 2009

What is Kawasaki Disease?

Kawasaki disease is a rare disorder that is most commonly seen in children under the age of five. The condition is also termed mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome and usually manifests much like a viral infection in affected children. It is also known of as infantile polyarteritis. The exact cause of the condition is not well understood.

24 Nov 2009