Category Medical world

Why medicinal plants are disappearing?

The history of medicine can be traced to prehistoric times. Among the earliest sources of medicines were herbs and various plant parts such as roots, flowers, etc. Across several regions of the world, medicinal plants are in use even today. In fact, research seems to suggest that the demand for these plants could be increasing with people wanting to embrace what are seen as “natural” remedies for ailments. But, how are the populations of medicinal plants faring? Come, let’s find out.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), “between 65% and 80% of the populations of developing countries currently use medicinal plants as remedies”. Apparently, among the few lakh plant species in the world today, “only 15% have been evaluated to determine their pharmacological potential” So, researchers are at work for “demonstrating the efficacy and importance of medicinal plants”. But the truth is that medicinal plants across the globe are facing extinction. An expert has said that “Earth is losing one potential medicinal plant every two years at an extinction rate that is hundred times faster than the natural process.” The situation is no different in our country.

India is among the many countries with known use of medicinal plants. Our country is home to nearly 45,000 plant species, and at least 7,000 of them are medicinal aromatic plants. However, a recent piece of news from experts has become a cause for concern- as much as 10% of 900 major medicinal plant species found in the country fall under the “threatened” category, and “are facing the threat of extinction” What is causing this? The usual suspects – overexploitation, habitat destruction, urbanisation, etc. Another worrisome aspect is that “only 15 per cent of medicinal plants are cultivated while the remaining 85 per cent are collected by the industry from forest ecosystems and other natural habitats”

Conservation strategies such as “field studies, proper documentation, mitigation measures, enactment of special laws…” and recovery programmes are suggested to save the medicinal plants. This is vital because such plants play a crucial role not just in traditional practices but also in treating illnesses such as cancer. It is important to note that “cancer has a long history of depending on natural products for drugs” When medicinal plants disappear, along with them could disappear several chances to better human life.

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What is a speech generating device?

An electronic device, it is of great use to those with difficulty in speaking. How does it work?

A speech generating device (SGD) is an electronic device that creates speech for those who have difficulty in speaking. Most SGDS are connected to a keyboard, eye sensor or other such keyboard input device that allows the user to select the words to be spoken. The user can enter words or phrases with or use a visual display with images to produce speech.

Digitally recorded human voices speaking actual words are stored in the device and played back upon selection. A variety of voices to match a users gender and age are available. Some SGDS also use computer generated speech similar to the ones used in automated telephone systems.

SGDS have certain advantages over sign boards or other communication methods. It enables a person with speech impairment to communicate through spoken words.

This means the user can easily draw the attention of someone at a distance or sitting in another room or even talk on the phone! SGDS are very effective for autistic children with limited speech ability. World renowned scientist Stephen Hawking used speech generating devices for years. He used to prepare his lectures at the Cambridge University in advance and deliver them using the SGD.

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What are superbugs and super resistance and why are they a major problem for human health?

In articles about infections and medicines, you may have come across words such as superbugs and drug resistance. What do they mean and what is providing superbugs (microbes resistant to medication used for treating the infections they cause) the perfect circumstances to thrive? Come, let's find out

It is common knowledge that microbes such as bacteria, virus, fungi, and parasites cause infection in humans, animals, and plants. Such infections are tackled using antibiotics (to fight bacteria), antivirals, antifungal, and antiparasitics. These medicines are collectively called antimicrobials; they prevent or treat infections by killing or inhibiting the growth of the microbes. Medicines tackle erring microbes and bring the infection under control. However, not always do antimicrobials succeed in doing what they set out to. This is because the microbes begin to resist these medicines-in essence, they continue to grow unaffected. This is called drug (medicine) resistance. Now, how do these germs develop that resistance? Most microbes – such as bacteria, fungi, and parasites – are living organisms. So they always find ways to survive by protecting themselves from anything that could harm them. One important way this happens is through change in one or more of their genes- also known as gene mutation. This can help microbes ignore the antimicrobial, block, or even destroy it. And, surviving germs pass on these genes to the subsequent generation that keeps both the resistance and itself alive.

But, what causes the resistance in the first place? Several reasons! Overuse and misuse of antimicrobials are among the most common reasons that lead to drug resistance. Of growing concern in recent times is how climate change is driving drug resistance.

Here's an example. "Higher temperatures have been found to promote the growth, infection and spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, both in humans and animals." Extreme weather events lead to sharing of limited resources such as water in extremely crowded places, increasing risk of infection. Drought, agricultural run-offs, pollutants, etc. exacerbate the growth and spread of drug-resistant microbes.

As drug-resistant microbes cause millions of death the world over, it is important to not just develop newer drugs to combat these microbes but also tackle the pressing issue of climate change.

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What is the history of anesthesia?

Anaesthesia is given to a patient before a surgery so that he does not feel pain during the procedure. A look at the doctors who pioneered modern anaesthesia.

The word ‘anaesthesia’ means ‘without sensation. It comes from the Greek words an meaning without and aisthesis, meaning ‘sensation’. Anaesthesia is given to a patient before a surgery so that he does not feel pain.

Anaesthesia has been used in surgeries since ancient times. Around 600 BCE, Sushruta, known as the founding father of surgery’, used cannabis vapours to sedate patients for surgery. For a long time, physicians made use of hypnotherapy, opium, alcohol, etc., but they were not totally effective and had side effects.

On October 16, 1846 (observed today as Ether Day), William T.G. Morton, a dentist and John Collins Warren, a surgeon, made history with their first public demonstration of modern anaesthesia at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, United States. The patient, Glenn Abott, had a tumour on his neck. Morton made him inhale ether vapour until he was suitably sedated, and Warren removed the tumour.  Abott did not feel any pain. Morton called his creation Letheon after the Lethe River in Greek mythology, as its water is believed to erase ‘painful memories.

The anaesthesia used today is a mixture of various derivatives of ether and inhalable gases such as nitrous oxide (laughing gas). It is administered by skilled anaesthesiologists through machines that measure the specific amount necessary to keep the patient unconscious during the surgery.

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Did you know there was a time when people undergoing surgery died of infection?

Did you know there was a time when people undergoing surgery died of infection ? How did it come to an end? Who were the people behind the invention of antiseptics? Read on to find out….

In the latter part of the 19th century, almost 90 per cent of the patients undergoing surgery in London hospitals died of septic infections after their operations. The infection was spread by the surgeons hands, through unclean instruments and bandages and by the general filth that prevailed in the hospitals.

Then, in the early 1850s, a surgeon at the Vienna General Hospital, Ignaz Semmelweis, introduced a sterilising routine. He had all students and surgeons scrub their hands vigorously in a calcium chloride solution before touching patients.

The result was dramatic. The death rate in the hospital due to infection fell by 90 per cent in two years. The second medical man to try out antiseptics was the Professor of Surgery at Glasgow University, Joseph Lister. He felt that the only way to kill germs was to treat the environment with antiseptic. He applied carbolic acid to the surface of wounds, to pre-boiled dressings and surgical instruments. He invented a spray which sent a fine mist of carbolic acid into the air above the operating table.

Antiseptics enabled Lister to perform major operations with success, something that had not been possible before. Later antiseptics became widely accepted, saving a huge number of lives.

Did you know the first antibiotic penicillin was discovered by accident?

Penicillin was discovered by chance by British scientist Alexander Fleming in 1929. Fleming was growing colonies of staphylococcus bacteria, the cause of a number of diseases from boils to pneumonia, in culture plates in his laboratory. One of the plates had not been covered and airborne spores settled in it and formed a mould. Fleming was about to throw away the contents when he noticed that the mould had destroyed the bacteria in the area around it.

He realised that the mould was producing a substance that was lethal to the bacteria. He also realised that the substance could be used to cure diseases caused by the bacteria. As the mould was called Penicillium notatum, he named the unknown substance ‘penicillin’. Ten years later in 1940, Howard Florey and E. B. Chaim managed to isolate penicillin in the laboratory and showed that it could be safely administered by mouth, by injection or applied directly to wounds.

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