Thursday, July 07, 2011

DEADLY TOXINS!!!

photo credit to:
samruby.com
Got this image when i was trying to search some info's about TOXINS. This is a photo of a marvel comics, toxin. The main character is "Toxin: The Devil You Know".


Let us now go to my real purpose why i'm doing this blog, i really need to give some important info's about what TOXINS are. As what you've notice in the story above, toxin is the devil you know. So it gives us the hint that toxins are bad and do no good.


Universal warning symbol used to indicate
       toxic substances or environment.
http://www.sodipodi.com/clipart/symbols/toxic.svg
TOXINS are poisonous substances produced by living organisms. A small substance that are capable of causing diseases and harm to humans when introduced to body tissues. It is also capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies or antitoxins.
SOURCES OF TOXINS
Woaah! Dint know we are exposed to a lot of toxins everyday and dint expect that we can have it through the stuffs listed below.

Still, praise God for we can help our body detoxify these toxins though we can't avoid them =)

TOXINS FROM EXTERNAL - are toxins derived from the environment which get into our body. some sources maybe from:

foods -food stabilizers,coloring,herbicides, etc.
air -stagnant air, tobacco smoke,toxic fumes, etc.
water -water contaminated with bacteria, chlorine, heavy metals, etc.
medical treatments -chemotherapy, antibiotics, artificial hormones, etc.
dental treatments -root canals, acrylic dentures, implants, woooah! even braces! (i actually wore braces before :z)
radiation -CT scan, X-rays, gamma rays, etc.
household -new paints, varnishes, new carpets, etc.
personal care -perfumes, soap, toothpastes, etc.



photo credit to:
virtualtourist.com
We SHOULD NOT UNDERESTIMATE the degree of toxicity from the items listed above!

Let's now go to other source of toxins.


photo credit to:
Challaney Nolasco
I am a pet lover and my favorite pet are dogs. i sooo love them<3<3<3
But wait! Do you know that we too can be exposed to toxins through ANIMALS? By poisoning, animals defend themselves and/or capture preys. One of these animals are some types of frogs. These frogs are eye catching for mostly they are brilliantly colored.


photo credit to:
Tierdoku.com
Phyllobates terribilis, the Golden Poison From or the Golden Dart Frog is the deadliest among them. It's toxin is called "batrachotoxin". pumiliotoxin is another type of toxin found on poison frogs. These toxins have been used for "poison darts" by some people in South America.


Frogs too can get the toxins from the preys they eat, such as ants, flies and termites. One of such preys has been identified as Choresine pulchra, a small beetle of about rice grain size.

photo credit to:
 
Amanita muscaria
-A poison mushroom that contains muscarine. However, the primary active component of the mushroom is muscimol that is an agonist of GABA-A receptors.


photo credit to:
Phreddie
This is a fried fugu. A japanese delicacy. Sad thing is it contains a toxin called "tetrodotoxin". The cook should know where it is located and should know how to remove it safely.


photo credit to:
wparena
No wonder, snakes are another group of animals that contains toxins.the toxins called snake venoms are quite different from those of frogs.
hemotoxins and neurotoxins are the two general kinds of enzymes enject by snakebites.


NEUROTOXIC VENOMS attacks the nervous system of the victim. The victim may experience heart failure and difficulty in breathing. Cobra and sea snakes are example whose venoms are mostly neurotoxin.


HEMOTOXIC VENOMS attacks the circulatory systema and muscle tissues. Rattlesnakes and copperhead are example of snakes which use hemotoxins.

photo credit to:
Elisabeth Wilkinson ©
One good example of toxins from plants is MORPHINEOne of the ultimate pain killers are NARCOTIC, MORPHINE. MORPHINE is the main ingredient of opium. A derivative of morphine, heroin has been widely used as a drug to get "high". These components are alkaloids which is produced as defense chemicals by PLANTS.


Chemicals for Life and Living

 By Eiichiro Ochiai

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Powerful Gland, Anterior Pituitary Gland

photo credit to:
acromegalynz.health.officelive.com

Have you heard of the pituitary gland?
Actually it is the master gland.
Why why why???
Its responsibility is to make the functions of the other  glands to be worthwhile.
photo credit to:
rickrichards.com

It is located in the middle of the brain
That stands out like a rain
It is as big as a pea
Like a small fruit in a tree

It consist of three sections
That has its own proportion
It is the the anterior lobe
The intermediate lobe
The posterior lobe

Anterior pituitary is composed of multiple parts:
Pars distalis or the distal part
Pars tuberalis or tubular part
And pars intermedia or intermediate part

Its regulatory function
And greatest mission
Is achieved through the secretion
Of peptide hormones

Which acts on act on target organs
Including the adrenal gland
Liver, bone, thyroid gland
And gonads

It secretes different hormones
Like growth hormone
photo credit to:
mercksource.com
Prolactin hormone
And many more kinds of hormones.

Growth hormones helps us
Acquire our desires
Which is to grow and develop
As we become matured of

photo credit to:
endocrineweb.com
As we all know
All babies need to grow
They need milk and milk secretion
Is done by prolactin hormone

Thyroid hormones
Have two kinds of hormones
Also known as the t3 and t4
Which is essential for growth and development
photo credit to:
www2.estrellamountain.edu

Gonadotrophin hormone
Or known as glycoprotein hormone
is responsible for sexual growth
Of people and not of goat

How poweful you are
Oh pituitary gland
How tall can you stand
On a high paved land

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Clinical Chemistry 3: Endocrinology, Toxicology and Drug Testing

ENDOCRINOLOGY
image credit to: 

poweraging.com


You might be thinking of HORMONES when you hear the word ENDOCRINOLOGY.

HORMONES, coined by Bayliss and Starling, are the substances that provide the chemical basis for communication between cells. 

ENDOCRINOLOGY (ENDO: νδον - “within”, CRINO: κρνω - “to separate” and LOGY: λογία – “study”) is the branch of medicine that deals with ENDOCRINE SYSTEM and its specific secretions called HORMONES.

Michael L. Bishop said that ENDOCRINE SYSTEM  relates to a group of hormones that are typically produced and secreted by one cell type into the circulation, where their effect is exerted in other target cells.


Important aspect of Endocrinology as a Work:
  • It’s medical specialty involves the diagnostic evaluation of a wide variety of symptoms and variations and the long-term management of disorders of deficiency or excess of one or more hormones.
  • It distinguishes human variation from disease.
  • Involves caring for the person biology as well as the nucleus, enzymes and disease.

TOXICOLOGY
image credit to: 

askavatar.deviantart.com


Poisons comes into my mind when i hear the word TOXICOLOGY.

TOXICOLOGY is the branch of medicine that talks about the adverse effect of chemicals on living organisms.
image credit to: commons.wikimedia.org


MATHIEU ORFILA - is the modern father of toxicology.





Four Major Disciplines within Toxicology:
  • MECHANISTIC TOXICOLOGY - exemplifies the cellular and biochemical effects of toxins. It also provides the basis for rational therapy and assess the degree of exposure of poisoned individual.
  • DESCRIPTIVE TOXICOLOGY - also known as risk assessment. Predicts the level of exposure that will cause harm in human using animal experiments.
  • FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY - is concerned primarily in the medicolegal consequences of toxin exposure. Its major focus is to establish and validate the analytic performance of the methods used to generate evidence in legal situations, including the cause of death.
  • CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY - is the study of interrelationships between toxin exposure and disease states. It also emphasizes diagnostic testing and therapeutic intervention.

Why is it important?
It is important because now a days most of us use different chemicals daily. Toxicology helps us know the adverse effects of the chemicals. It can also help us detect the degree of exposure to the poison and help us medicate it.

DRUG TESTING
why pollute my precious body with unnecessary drugs, when all i need is your desire to make me high.
image credit to: 
drugsarehorrible.com

Marijuana, the weed plant, comes to my mind whenever i hear the word DRUGS.

Drug addiction is now a big problem in the community. Alot of people used it to forget their problems or have fun, as what they say. Good thing, drug testing is now studied.

DRUG TESTING - Is the technical analysis of a biological specimen such as urine, which is the most common, hair, sweat and oral fluid or saliva to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites.

Common Types of Drug Tests:
·         Urine Drug Screen
·         Hair Testing
·         Alcohol
·         Saliva Drug Screen / Oral Fluid-based Drug Screen
·         Sweat Drug Screen

Types of Testing:
·         Anabolic steroids
·         Random Drug Testing
·         Diagnostic Screening

Drug Testing Methods:
·         Urine Drug Testing
·         Spray (sweat) Drug Testing
·         Hair Drug Testing