WHO's Essential Medicines

Every two years since 1977, the World Health Organization (WHO) publishes a list of medicines which are deemed essential and in order to attain the organization's goal of ensuring universal access to healthcare and medicines.
The list provides a minimum number of medicines for a basic health-care system. It is based on a medicine's efficacy, safe and cost-effectiveness for priority diseases of a given area or population.

 Source: WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines

The Ten Commandments to Prevent Stroke

1. You shall lower your blood pressure.
2. You shall move frequently.
3. You shall balance your diet.
4. You shall reduce weight.
5. You shall quit smoking.
6. You shall take care of your heart.
7. You shall control your diabetes.
8. You shall drink alcohol moderately.
9. You shall ease your stressful life.
10. You shall control your cholesterol.

Source: US News

Image: https://resize.mantisadnetwork.com/mantis-ad-network/image/fetch/w_750,q_75,c_limit,f_jpg/http://uploads.medicaljane.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/stroke2.png

Asparagus

Asparagus is a great choice for boosting nutrients in our diet. It’s a rich source of folate; just four spears provide 87% of our daily needs for this B vitamin, which is important for healthy blood, immunity and protecting against birth defects such as spina bifida in developing babies. Asparagus is also a rich source of vitamin K, good for healthy bones and blood clotting, and it’s a prebiotic so it helps to keep our digestion healthy and our immune system strong. Plus, with just under 7kcal per spear, asparagus is a good replacement for crisps or crackers to enjoy with dips.

Healthy Food Guide UK. Image courtesy of foodiesfood.com.

Metformin for Kidney disease

[The US] FDA concluded, from the review of studies published in the medical literature, that metformin can be used safely in patients with mild impairment in kidney function and in some patients with moderate impairment in kidney function.

Full article:
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm494829.htm

Quote of the Day: Marijuana and the Brain

From: Visual.ly. Click image to enlarge

In the March 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association's Psychiatry article, Dr. Nora Volkow of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) warned:

This is not a problem that is specific to marijuana. Young brains and drugs shouldn't mix. Period.

"Dr. Volkow explained that young brains are engaged in a protracted period of 'brain programming,' in which everything an adolescent does or is exposed to can affect the final architecture and network connectivity of the brain."

Pam Harrison (March 17, 2016) "Legalized Cannabis and the Brain: NIDA Sounds the Alarm." Medscape Internal Medicine.

Have a High IQ? Thank Your Parents for It

Evidence has shown that high IQ heritability and IQ scores are closely correlated with academic performance, as well as occupation, health and income. Numerous studies find that the heritability of intelligence rises from about 20% in infancy to as much as 80% in adulthood. This means that majority of IQ differences between adults can be attributed to inheritance.
This effect may also be increased by the tendency of men and women to choose partners who are similar to themselves. Correlations between married couples are greater for intelligence than they are even for personality or height and weight, an effect that increases heritability.
Thus, a person's success will depend not only on one's upbringing, education, friends, health and other factors but heredity plays a large part as well.

SB (March, 2016) "Q&A: Are academic traits genetic?" BBC Knowledge volume 8 (issue 3), 92.

NSAIDs: Drugs for Pain

Click the image to open the brochure

Lately, I was introduced to an anti-inflammatory drug called "aceclofenac", a relative of an older drug called "diclofenac". Aceclofenac and the other anti-inflammatory medications, collectively called "NSAIDs" (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs), are a group of medicines that provide antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory actions.

Examples of NSAIDs (generic names) are:

• Acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) (Salicylates)
• Diclofenac (Acetic acid derivatives)
• Naproxen and ibuprofen (Propionic acid derivatives)
• Meloxicam (enolic acid derivatives)
• Mefenamic acid (anthranilic acid derivatives)
• Celecoxib (COX-2 inhibitors)

(Wikipedia) Essentially, you can take them for the following conditions:

• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Mild-to-moderate pain due to inflammation and tissue injury
• Low back pain
• Inflammatory arthropathies (e.g., ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis)
• Repetitive Stress Injuries
• Headache
• Migraine
• Acute gout
• Dysmenorrhoea (menstrual pain)
• Metastatic bone pain
• Postoperative pain
• 
  
• Muscle stiffness and pain due to Parkinson's disease
• Pyrexia (fever)
• Ileus
• Renal colic
• They are also given to neonate infants whose ductus arteriosus is not closed within 24 hours of birth

NSAIDs are generally known to cause peptic ulcer and gastrointestinal bleeding. In the US, 60% of 14 million people taking NSAIDs will have side effects. Thus, patients are usually advised to take them during or after meals. COX-2 inhibitors give lower risk for ulcer bleeding compared to the other NSAIDS.

As for aceclofenac, it is reported to be safer than the other commonly-used NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen and indomethacin) in causing stomach ulcers. The usual dosage is 100 mg twice a day.

I Got A Headache!

From Visually.

Zika, the new kid on the block

The Sniffles: Is it the colds or the flu?

What happens if you lack sleep for most days of a week?

Image is taken from The Scientist. Click image to enlarge.

Taken from The Scientist article "Go to Bed!" by Kerry Grens.

Glycated Hemoglobin and Diabetes

Image is taken from Pinterest

(Based on Wikipedia) Hemoglobin A1c or HbA1c or glycosylated hemoglobin is a form of hemoglobin that is measured primarily to identify the three-month average blood glucose concentration. The test is limited to a three-month average because the lifespan of a red blood cell is three months. Normal levels of glucose produce a normal amount of HbA1c. As blood sugar increases, HbA1c also increases. It serves as a marker for average blood glucose levels over the previous three months before the measurement because the lifespan of red blood cells is around 120 days or three months.

(Diabetes.co.uk) Two large-scale studies - the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) and the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) - demonstrated that improving HbA1c by 1% (or 11 mmol/mol) for people with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes cuts the risk of microvascular complications of the eyes, nerves and kidneys by 25%.

Research has also shown that people with type 2 diabetes who reduce their HbA1c level by 1% are:

• 19% less likely to suffer cataracts
• 16% less likely to suffer heart failure
• 43% less likely to suffer amputation or death due to peripheral vascular disease

The HbA1c test does not require fasting and can be taken any time of the day, which for most people is very convenient.

The HbA1c value reflects a person's average blood sugar for the past two to three months, which is good for knowing:

1. A diabetic's control of sugar 
2. One's risk for diabetic complications, 
3. If one has diabetes (along with fasting blood sugar measurements)

Image is taken from https://shellanddiabetes.wordpress.com

The Tonsils and Tonsillitis

By Blausen.com staff. "Blausen gallery 2014". Wikiversity Journal of Medicine. DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 20018762. - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29294598

The tonsils are small masses of flesh found at the back of the throat called the "pharynx". They can be found in three places: (a) Palatine tonsils are the most popular since they can be easily found at the back of the throat; (b) Lingual tonsils are found at the back of the tongue, two of them; and (c) Pharyngeal tonsils or the "adenoids" are located at the back of the sinuses. Tonsils are part of the immune system because they are thought to be the first line of defence against infections in the respiratory and digestive systems.

Image is taken from http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/T/tonsils.html

Tonsillitis or the inflammation of the tonsils is a condition caused commonly by bacteria or viruses. It results in a painful and swollen tonsils, fever and difficulty of swallowing. Usually, rest and fluids are just enough as treatment. However, when the tonsils are unusually large or recurrent (three or more times in a year) then a surgical procedure called "tonsillectomy" can be done.  When bacteria is suspected to be the culprit, then antibiotics such as amoxicillin-clavulanate are given.

When the adenoids (those tonsils on the upper part of the pharynx or throat) get inflamed, breathing can be difficult because it blocks the airway passage to and from the nose and can also interfere with the drainage of the sinuses. Recurrent adenoid infections in children are also an indication for surgery (adenoidectomy) as they frequently become mouth breathers and results to facial deformities.

Image is taken from http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/dpjo/v15n4/en_05f02.jpg

Our Gut Bacteria Control Our Appetite

Image is taken from SmithFit

A French study, in 2015, had found that our gut bacteria controls our diet through signals to our brains to suppress appetite.

The researchers of the study said:

"We now think bacteria physiologically participate in appetite regulation immediately after nutrient provision by multiplying and stimulating the release of satiety hormones from the gut, In addition, we believe gut microbiota produce proteins that can be present in the blood longer term and modulate pathways in the brain."

Gut bacteria or flora consists of a community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tracts of humans and animals. Escherichia coli or E. coli is an example and one of the commonly known and studied gut bacteria.

Proteins are one of the macronutrients needed by our body. It has several roles ranging from protection to body framework and essential bodily processes such as digestion of food.

In practice, if you wish to control how much you eat, take protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, cheese, tofu, beans, lentils, yogurt, eggs, nuts, and seeds.

So the next time you feel full after eating several slices of pizza, remember your gut bacteria.

Study title: Gut Commensal E. coli Proteins Activate Host Satiety Pathways following Nutrient-Induced Bacterial Growth. By Jonathan Breton, et al,

Abstract of the study can be found here.