March 2011 - Living Healthfully

Living Healthfully

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Living Healthfully - March 2011

Diarrhea in Children

March 31st 2011 03:40

Diarrhea is one of the common problems among children. We may have seen at times that it had caused mortality among the younger age group especially in developing countries. The causes vary from overfeeding, allergic reactions, malabsorption, anatomic defects to infectious agents like viruses, bacteria, and parasites.

Children below 5 years old are the more susceptible group to gastrointestinal infections.

Mind you! Diarrhea doesn't always mean increased frequency of voiding. An individual might evacuate stool more than three times in a day but doesn't have diarrhea. on the other hand one may have only voided a few times but if the consistency is watery, not as hard as usual, then we may consider diarrhea.

One of the dreaded complications of diarrhea is dehydration. Indeed it destabilizes the body's homeostasis leading to multiple organ dysfunction. and so prevention of dehydration is an important key to management. We have to take note however that presence of diarrhea does not always mean presence of dehydration.

And so a child's caregiver should be able to distinguish someone who has dehydration and someone who has none. It is better though to consult a physician promptly once diarrhea is considered.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Posted By: Physiotherapy - Category: No Category

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New Approaches in HIV Management (Biochemistry)

March 29th 2011 12:28

Other Possible Approaches in Managing AIDS

At present, drugs that are designed to manage HIV are usually directed at either inhibiting reverse transcription of the virus (anti-retroviral) or inactivating certain protease enzyme that aids in manufacturing viral proteins to be incorporated to newly produced RNA of the virus in an infected cell (protease inhibitor). For so many years, these drugs have been the mainstay in delaying, if not totally stopping AIDS progression. But such use poses limitation. Literature would show that these drugs upon initial administration may significantly reduce viral load among patients. However later use has been observed to make the drugs ineffective (Devlin, 1996).

What are the possible reasons for the limitation of current drug therapies? The primary reason for this is drug resistance by continuously mutating HIV genes (especially those that dictate synthesis of viral proteins).

In the earlier part of the discourse, the life cycle and the mechanism of HIV replication have been discussed. It has emphasized that the hallmark of HIV replication is reverse transcription of the RNA virus to DNA by the enzyme reverse transcriptase. The DNA copy of the virus in turn, is being integrated into the host cell chromosomes. When the host cells become activated, the process of HIV reproduction then proceeds (Fauci and Lane).

At what point in the above process is contributory to producing drug-resistant, mutant genes? It is at the point of reverse transcription itself. In carrying out its action, reverse transcriptase does not perform proof-reading; thus its error rate is much higher than that of cellular DNA polymerase. And so if by chance reverse transcriptase errs in encoding one of the information from a parent HIV RNA into corresponding viral DNA, then what would be produced at the later stages would be mutants. It could have been nice if such mutants have shown decrease in their potency of infecting the body. Unfortunately, most mutants are as potent and as devastating as the original HIV. Even the viral proteins like the protease enzyme have shown mutations. And much worse, the effects of the drugs may not be reactive to such mutations.

Another reason for current drug limitation is the presence of immune cells that can act as reservoirs of HIV. These cells which serve as HIV reservoirs, usually are inactive CD$ cells (resting) containing provirus. In these cells HIV does not replicate. Current drugs cannot identify these cells. And by the time these resting cells become activated, HIV proceeds in duplicating, further aggravating an AIDS patient’s condition.

And so with such problems, other ways in managing AIDS are being cultivated, in hope of permanently controlling HIV infection. The succeeding portions discuss some of the developments in HIV treatment and management. All of which are still under serious scrutiny.
to be continued...

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Contraception and HIV

March 27th 2011 12:13

A wise thing to do for individuals who have HIV is to think about helping not to spread the virus anymore. And so they have to re-evaluate their lifestyle and turn to what's best for their partners, their family, and the society.

One of the things I am referring to is sexual activity. Truly the body has its own need. A time comes when you have to fulfill that need. And not doing so is depriving yourself with your own rights. Sexual activity is one of them.

It is however imperative that individuals having such need take precautions. Use of artificial contraception is one of the most effective ways to do this. I have known people who have been using barrier contraception (condom) to protect themselves and others. Indeed if sex is inevitable, this is a way of showing responsibility.

But what about couples (both of the partners have acquired HIV), do they need contraception even if now they have been doing coitus within the confines of their relationship (no more extra-marital affairs). I would have to answer yes. Why? The women at one point could get pregnant. And poor child! We all know how vertical transmission works from mother to fetus. We don't want our own child to be getting the sickness. And so again, Imust say yes...

But I have heard women taking Oral Contraception. They claim that barrier method is not needed since their partners already had HIV and there is no use for such barrier methods. Correct. However if a woman is taking anti-retroviral therapy (ART) this may interfere with the efficacy of oral pills. Some anti-HIV drugs have been discovered to depotentiate estrogens in oral pills (Protease INhibitors like Nelfinavir is an example). The bottomline is that failure of contraception may ensue. A woman may still get pregnant. And so personally, consulting a physician is a must in order to have an appropriate method of contraception.

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On Breast Feeding

March 25th 2011 09:34

Huge body of evidences show how breastfeeding affects a child’s physical growth and mental development. We also mentioned that it positively affects a child psychologically and emotionally. Rafael Perez-Escamilla, PhD (2005), a correspondent from University of Connecticut, explains how breastfeeding bring about such effects. First, breast milk contains bioactive substances such as long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that are really needed for brain development. Second, two important acids which can be derived from PUFAs play crucial roles in the proper growth, development and maintenance of the brain. These are Arachidonic acid and docohexaenoic acid. Infant formulas are still not fortified with these PUFAs which makes breastfeeding consistently associated with better central nervous system development. Biological properties and differences in maternal-infant interaction during feeding process also help to improve motor and intellectual development outcomes. Breast feeding also appears to help protect the infant from childhood obesity, a condition that has a large psychosocial consequence. These events may contribute to an individual’s emotional stability and adaptability.