Biomedical Laboratory Science

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Hepatitis C: Signs and Symptoms

When the liver becomes inflamed due to infection, disease, drugs, poisons, or excessive alcohol, it is referred to as hepatitis. Infectious hepatitis commonly includes hepatitis A, B, or C. All of these forms are caused by viral infections.

The liver is a two-lobed organ found in the upper-right part of the torso. It is responsible for many functions and substances within the body,

Hepatitis occurs when the liver becomes inflamed due to infection, disease, drugs, poisons, or
excessive alcohol. HCV can spread through needle sharing. Testing for HCV is important if a
patient is experiencing any of the symptoms.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Is Fully Integrated LC-MS/MS The Future For The Routine Clinical Lab?

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is an analytical chemistry technique that combines the physio-chemical separation capabilities of liquid chromatography (via conventional chromatography within a column) with the analytic power of mass spectrometry. It allows the user to properly ascertain the individual mass/charge ratio of analytes present in a chromatographic peak.

The high throughput capabilities of this technique will bring value to the clinical lab, where time taken to analyze samples is paramount. Bringing LC-MS/MS testing into the clinical setting has been a slow process, however, the medical device industry is on the verge of a fundamental breakthrough that could help drive the adoption of this technique.

Source: ClinicalChemistryInternational

Heart Attack or Heartburn? Differences Between Types of Chest Pain

Anyone worried about chest pain should not wait to get urgent medical care. They should call for an ambulance straight away, especially if the pain is unexplained, sudden, or severe.

Heart attack pain is caused when one of the arteries supplying the heart becomes blocked. Angina is a similar chest pain caused when these arteries are narrowed by heart disease.

Heartburn is a burning pain often felt in the upper belly or lower chest. It is caused by stomach acid going back up the food pipe.

A heart attack is when there is a loss of blood supply to part of the heart muscle. Though the pain is
located in the chest, heartburn is not related to the heart in any way. Angiography, passing dye into
the heart circulation, is one way doctors test for heart attack.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Boosting the Immune System to Effect Repairs and Fight Disease

Applications from Regenerative Medicine to Gene Therapy to Antiviral Therapeutics Emphasize Self-Healing

Therapeutic interventions of various kinds try to improve the body’s capacity to defend, repair, and even cure itself. Interventions that attempt to enhance self-healing span cell-based therapy, gene therapy, small molecule drugs, biologics, and tissue engineering.

Advances in each of these areas are being followed by Allied Market Research, which has concluded that stem cell technologies look especially promising. For example, stem cell technologies are set to revolutionize the human ability to produce neural cells in abundance.

Source: genengnews

The Best Medicine Against Cholesterol And High Blood Pressure

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that comes from two sources: your body and food. Excess cholesterol can form plaque between layers of artery walls, making it harder for your heart to circulate blood.

Plaque can break open and cause blood clots. If a clot blocks an artery that feeds the brain, it causes a stroke. If it blocks an artery that feeds the heart, it causes a heart attack.

Heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are among the leading cause of death and now kill more than 800,000 adults in the US each year. Two main reasons people have heart disease or stroke are high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Source: herb-cookbook

Why Does Alcohol Burn When You Drink It?

Anyone who's ever taken a shot of hard liquor can tell you: it burns on the way down. But it's not the alcohol itself that's burning your throat. Instead, the ethanol in the liquid is making your throat's VR1 heat receptors more sensitive, prompting them to perceive your own body temperature as hot. (Of course, this doesn't mean you should do shot after shot without fear of consequences.) Learn more about the science of alcohol with the videos below.

Here's Why Taking A Shot Of Tequila Burns Your Throat

Why Does Alcohol Burn When You Drink It? from SciShow

Source: curiosity

Watch Video: Biomedical Video: Why Does Alcohol Burn When You Drink It?

Without Saying A Word, This Short Six Minute Video Will Leave You Speechless!

The shock toward the meat business is a developing issue these days all around the world. Namely, its flaws have been revealed in numerous documentaries and books and have triggered a massive dissatisfaction among people.

The video below is a short fragment from a narrative called “Samsara”, which is an imaginative examination of the creation of advanced nourishment. It will provide fundamental data on pork, poultry, and cattle facilities, as well as a grocery store, followed by a view of the conditions in a fast food restaurant. It ends in a doctor’s office.

Source: herb-cookbook

Watch Video: Six Minute Shocking Clip

Friday, September 16, 2016

Sister Donates Eggs To Gay Brother

The idea that families come in all shapes and sizes has never been more true with adoption, same-sex relationships and the introduction of new ways to conceive.

Writer Samuel Leighton-Dore, 25, spoke to Mirror Online about his decision for his sister to have his child - and has opened up about the negative response it has received.

Samuel, from Sydney, is in a relationship with photographer and designer Bradley Tennant but doesn't want to miss out on their baby having both of their family's genes.

As a compromise, his sister Bronte has agreed to donate her eggs so that the couple can have the family they've always wanted.

Source: msn.com/en-ca/health/medical

Watch Video: Cash-strapped grad considers donating eggs

Cancer: Four-Stranded DNA Could Help Develop Targeted Treatments

By taking a closer look at four-stranded versions of DNA inside the genome of human cells, scientists have discovered some potential new avenues for targeted cancer treatments. They found that the quadruple helix structures occur in DNA regions that control genes, especially cancer genes.

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, report their findings in the journal Nature Genetics.

Targeted cancer therapies are currently the focus of much research and development into new anticancer treatments.

They are an important area of precision medicine - where information about an individual patient's genes and proteins are used to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease.

The aim of targeted therapy is to attack cancer cells without affecting healthy cells.

Source: MedicalNewsToday

'Tracking Bugs' Reveal Secret of Cancer Cell Metabolism

One of the hallmarks of cancer is a change in cellular metabolism, a series of chemical reactions so fundamental to life that their alteration makes cancer cells seem creepily malevolent.

Healthy cells take in blood sugar (glucose molecules), which they break down to extract energy. This happens in two phases—one phase that takes place in the cytoplasm and a subsequent phase that occurs inside cellular compartments called mitochondria.

Cancer cells are thought to mostly skip the mitochondrial phase, compensating for the energy they forgo by revving up the first phase and breaking down glucose rapidly to secrete large quantities of lactate—a form of partially digested glucose that has long been regarded as a "waste product.

Metabolism is nothing if not complicated. Some of the major metabolic pathways are shown in this
metro-style map.

Source: phys.org

Biomedical Laboratory Science