Diabetes its tyes and treatment

Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism—the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body.
After digestion, glucose passes into the bloodstream, where it is used by cells for growth and energy. For glucose to get into cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach.
When we eat, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to move glucose from blood into our cells. In people with diabetes, however, the pancreas either produces little or no insulin, or the cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced. Glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body in the urine. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains large amounts of glucose.

Read More

Circadian rhythm sleep disorder And Treatment

Circadian rhythm sleep disorders are a family of sleep disorders affecting the timing of sleep.


People with circadian rhythm sleep disorders are unable to sleep and wake at the times required for normal work, school, and social needs.

They are generally able to get enough sleep if allowed to sleep and wake at the times dictated by their body clocks.

Unless they have another sleep disorder, their sleep is of normal quality.

Humans have biological rhythms, known as circadian rhythms, which are controlled by a biological clock and work on a daily time scale.

Due to the circadian clock, sleepiness does not continuously increase as time passes.

Instead, the drive for sleep follows a cycle, and the body is ready for sleep and for wakefulness at different times of the day.


Types of circadian rhythm sleep disorders


Two of these disorders are extrinsic (from Latin extrinsecus, from without, on the outside) or circumstantial:
Jet lag, which affects people who travel across several time zones.
Shift work sleep disorder, which affects people who work nights or rotating shifts.

Intrinsic type

Four of them are intrinsic (from Latin intrinsecus, on the inside, inwardly), "built-in":
Delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD), aka delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS), characterized by a much later than normal timing of sleep onset and offset and a period of peak alertness in the middle of the night.
Advanced sleep phase syndrome (ASPS), characterized by difficulty staying awake in the evening and difficulty staying asleep in the morning.
Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome (Non-24), in which the affected individual's sleep occurs later and later each day, with the period of peak alertness also continuously moving around the clock from day to day.
Irregular sleep-wake rhythm, which presents as sleeping at very irregular times, and usually more than twice per day (waking frequently during the night and taking naps during the day) but with total time asleep typical for the person's age.

Treatment for circadian rhythm sleep disorders

Possible treatments for circadian rhythm sleep disorders include:
Behavior therapy or advice about sleep hygiene where the patient is told to avoid naps, caffeine, and other stimulants. They are also told to not be in bed for anything besides sleep and sex
Bright light therapy is used to advance or delay sleep, depending on how the circadian rhythm is shifted. Patients are exposed to high-intensity light (up to 10,000 lux) for a duration of 30–60 minutes at a time, the time of day depending on whether an advance or a delay is required.
Blue blocking glasses therapy is used to block blue wavelength light from reaching the eye during evening hours so that melatonin production is increased.
Medications such as melatonin and modafinil (Provigil), or other short term sleep aids or wake-promoting agents can be beneficial; the former is a natural neurohormone responsible partly and in tiny amounts for the human body clock. Tasimelteon has been proven effective in Phase III trials.
Sleep phase chronotherapy progressively advances or delays the sleep time by 1–2 hours per day

Read More

Discovery Points to New Approach to Fight Dengue Virus

Researchers have discovered that rising temperature induces key changes in the dengue virus when it enters its human host, and the findings represent a new approach for designing vaccines against the aggressive mosquito-borne pathogen.

The researchers found that the dengue virus particles swell slightly and take on a bumpy appearance when heated to human body temperature, exposing "epitopes," or regions where antibodies could attach to neutralize the virus.

The discovery is significant because it could help to explain why vaccines against dengue have been ineffective, said Michael G. Rossmann, Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University.

Scientists have been designing vaccines targeting the virus's smooth appearance found at the cooler temperatures of mosquitoes and ticks.

"The bumpy form of the virus would be the form present in humans, so the optimal dengue virus vaccines should induce antibodies that preferentially recognize epitopes exposed in that form," Rossmann said.

The findings are detailed in a research paper appearing online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.



The researchers used a technique called cryo-electron microscopy to see the three-dimensional structure of the virus at temperatures ranging from 28-37 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Celsius is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or human body temperature). Findings showed that the virus has a smooth appearance while at the cooler temperatures found in mosquito or tick vectors, but then it morphs into the bumpy form at warmer temperatures before fusing to the host cell and delivering its genetic material.



"These findings were a big surprise," said Richard J. Kuhn, professor and head of Purdue's Department of Biological Sciences and director of the Bindley Bioscience Center. "No one expected to see the virus change its appearance as it moves from the mosquito to humans."



The paper was co-authored by postdoctoral researcher Xinzheng Zhang; lab manager Ju Sheng; postdoctoral researcher Pavel Plevka; Kuhn; Michael S. Diamond, a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine; and Rossmann.



Findings also could apply to related infections in the flavivirus family, which includes a number of dangerous insect-borne diseases such as West Nile, yellow fever, tick-borne encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis.



Dengue (pronounced DEN-gē) is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children in some Asian and Latin American countries, causing 50 million to 100 million infections per year. Globally, dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades, placing about half the world's population at risk of infection.



The researchers determined that the bumpy form of the virus is more efficient at infecting mammalian cells. The team was able to measure the virus's infectivity using a laboratory procedure where cells are infected in a culture dish. The bumpy shape is an intermediate stage before the virus becomes unstable, releasing its genetic material. The virus is made of subunit molecules that separate when the virus particle expands into its bumpy form, revealing exposed membrane surfaces between the subunits where antibodies might bind.



The work is funded by the National Institutes of Health and Purdue through university support for a structural biology electron microscope facility



( from universities, journals, and other research organizations )

Read More

Sniffing Rosemary Improves Memory by Amanda Onion

A key to improving memory may lie in a common herb — rosemary.

A study presented at the British Psychological Society’s annual conference in Harrogate showed that the smell of the essential oil from the herb appears to enhance the ability to remember events and complex tasks.

The researchers from the University of Northumbria had 66 adults enter one of two rooms — a room with no scent and a room with a rosemary scent. The participants were then tested on their memory functions by finding hidden objects and passing objects to researchers at particular times.

The subjects in the rosemary-scented room performed better on the memory tasks than those in the room with no smell.

“In this study we focused on prospective memory, which involves the ability to remember events that will occur in the future and to remember to complete tasks at particular times. This is critical for everyday functioning,” explained author Dr Mark Moss.

Previous work had already hinted toward the effect of rosemary on memory, showing that compounds in the rosemary aroma could improve long-term memory and mental arithmetic.

Read More