Antibiotics 101- What You Absolutely Need to Know

Written by Mansi gupta


Introduction Antibiotics are said to berepparttar greatest contribution of modern day science helpingrepparttar 143960 doctors to think beyond microorganinsms.their importance is felt much more in developing countries whererepparttar 143961 infections are prevalent. There is a mushrooming of antibiotics since last few decades because of bothrepparttar 143962 need andrepparttar 143963 demand of aseptic conditions both in and out ofrepparttar 143964 hospital.

What are antibiotics? Antibiotics are chemical or biological substances either produced by microorganisms or are produced artificially to kill or inhibitrepparttar 143965 growth of other microorganisms. They are used at very low concentrations.

What are different types? As there are innumerable antibiotics that are presently in use, different people classify them differently for e.g. those that kill or those just inhibitrepparttar 143966 action ofrepparttar 143967 microorganisms, according to their chemical nature, according torepparttar 143968 types of organisms they kill, according torepparttar 143969 no of different types of microorganisms, their mechanism of action and so hence and so forth. Hence sulfadiazine and others are sulfonamides while isoniazid is nicotinic acid derivatives, etc. tetracyclines are bacteriostatic while vancomycin is bactericidal.

How do they work? Some antibiotics for e.g. penicillins inhibitrepparttar 143970 cell wall synthesis ofrepparttar 143971 bacteria, some like acyclovir inhibitrepparttar 143972 DNA synthesis, some like sulfonamides interfere withrepparttar 143973 metabolism and still others like tetracyclines inhibit protein synthesis. Similarly there are many others with different mechanism of action meant to be targeted at specific function ofrepparttar 143974 bacteria or virus.

Is there any need for them?

Brain Concussions in Sports: What's the Fuss?

Written by Gary Cordingley


If you're having difficulty understanding what a brain concussion is, and how your son or daughter's head-injury affects their further participation in sports, then you're in good company. The nature and effects of concussions are still poorly understood by many athletes, parents, coaches, news reporters and, to a certain extent, evenrepparttar medical community. But becauserepparttar 143959 brain is a treasured organ—one that athletes should want to keep in good working order forrepparttar 143960 rest of their lives—a good understanding of concussions is crucial.

Neurologists and neurosurgeons cringe when they hear sports-reporters make comments like, "Johnny had a CAT scan and it showed that he didn't have a concussion." The truth is that CAT scans don't show concussions. They do show other serious consequences of head injuries, like bleeding withinrepparttar 143961 brain, or hemorrhages that compressrepparttar 143962 brain. But concussions—while no less real—are invisible to brain-imaging tests like CAT scans and MRIs.

So what is a concussion? If a blow torepparttar 143963 head caused unconsciousness, a concussion occurred. Most people know this. But a concussion can occur even when there is no loss of consciousness. Other symptoms after a head-injury indicating a concussion include:

  1. impaired attention, e.g. vacant stare, slowness to respond, easy distractibility
  2. slurred speech, or speech that doesn't make sense
  3. clumsiness or unsteadiness
  4. disorientation, e.g. walking inrepparttar 143964 wrong direction, forgettingrepparttar 143965 day ofrepparttar 143966 week
  5. excessive emotional reaction, e.g. easy tears, overly upset
  6. memory impairment, e.g. asking same question repeatedly, can't memorize new facts
Other symptoms can develop hours or even weeks afterrepparttar 143967 injury, including headache, dizziness, poor concentration, irritability, impaired memory, fatigue, disrupted sleep, anxiety, depression, and a lack of good judgment or insight.

You'll notice that all these symptoms share a common feature—an alteration in brain function. The normal brain processes, which depend on proper signaling amongrepparttar 143968 brain's 20 billion brain cells, are out of whack.

There can also be physical damage torepparttar 143969 brain's cells. Because brain-cells are so tiny, brain scans don't detect them. Injuries causing more severe concussions can tear apartrepparttar 143970 cells' axons (the long filaments that carry coded messages over long distances withinrepparttar 143971 brain). As you can imagine, these rips inrepparttar 143972 very fabric ofrepparttar 143973 brain can cause lasting impairments in brain function or require long periods of time for recovery.

One certainty about sports-related concussions is that they are very frequent. The Centers for Disease Control estimates there are at least 300,000 of them inrepparttar 143974 U.S. per year and they comprise about 20% of all head injuries. Research also indicates thatrepparttar 143975 brains of high school athletes are more vulnerable to concussion than those of older athletes, and require longer periods of time to fully recover.

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