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: ἔνδον - “within”, CRINO: κρῑνω - “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