Protein - The Denominator Customary to All DietsWritten by Protica Research
The Human Body is in a constant flux with environment. Matter and molecules flow in and out, casting themselves into its complexities. Although body lends them structure, it is intake—the diet—that decides its physique. To control what goes in a diet is to choose what stays inside. Dietary decisions reflect an awareness of metabolism and nutrients needed to modify it. There may be a host of diets purported for each activity and illness. However, one macronutrient that is invariably required, in substantial amounts irrespective of physiological state, is protein.Proteins hold this special place in every diet for a variety of reasons. They connect DNA to rest of cell and modulate all cellular functions and responses. They are scaffolds of human body that struts a billion cells. Proteins are also workers that shuffle around body relaying messages, carrying out repairs and digestion. Oxygen from lungs and many nutrients from gut are protein packed and delivered to their destination. The motors in muscles and antibodies in immune system are all proteins. If genes code life in a helix of DNA, then proteins are life in its decoded form. Their pervasiveness makes them indispensable and, protein synthesis a priority in metabolism. Add to this myriad of functions astronomical turnover rate of proteins, and continuous protein synthesis becomes vital. Every protein has a short life span and is soon broken down into its constituent amino acids. New proteins are required to take their place. The skin itself is renewed every seven days. Then there are proteins that get used up, damaged or excreted, and need to be produced again. Protein synthesis goes on at a frantic pace even in normal people. Then there are periods of rapid growth, like athletes in training, teenagers, convalescent patients, babies, pregnant or lactating mothers, where protein synthesis reaches an all time high. Proteins are broken down for other reasons as well. In times of stress, illness or starvation, body just cannot find enough sources of energy. In such circumstances, proteins are taken apart into their constituent amino acids and are used as fuel. Therefore, in all physiological states, cells are constantly at work, churning out new proteins. To maintain this obligatory and intense rate of protein synthesis, body needs a dedicated supply of amino acids. Unfortunately, unlike carbohydrates and fats that are stockpiled, human body has no arrangement to store extra amino acids. The persistent demand for proteins and amino acids has to be met anew every day and from three possible sources: cellular production, diet or breakdown of other body proteins. Of these, cellular production would be most convenient. If cell could produce all required amino acids, there would be no compulsion to provide them in diet. However, there are amino acids that just cannot be produced in body. These ‘essential amino acids’ have to come from diet.
| | What is Malignant Mesothelioma?Written by Alan Allport
Mesothelioma is a disease in which malignant cancer cells are found in mesothelium. The mesothelium is a protective sac that covers most of bodies major organs.The mesothelium is made up of two layers of cells: One layer immediately surrounds organ; The other layer forms a sac around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between these layers. The purpose of this lubricating fluid is to allow moving organs, such as heart and lungs to glide against adjacent structures. Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which cancerous cells in mesothelium grow to an abnormal size and divide uncontrollably. During this process these malignant mesothelioma cells will invade and contaminate nearby organs and tissues. Cases of malignant mesothelioma have increased over last 20 years, but despite this, mesothelioma is still a comparatively rare form of cancer with about 2000 new cases a year being diagnosed in United States. Malignant mesothelioma occurs much more in men than in women and you're much more likely to contract it when you're old than young.
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