Friday, June 29, 2012

Awesome Twosome Drugs

So today I was asked two fixed dose combinations of drugs which antagonize each others side effects..
Lemme tell you about the combinations I thought of! :D

First.. *drum roll*
Aluminum hydroxide & Magnesium Trisilicate!
These two are antacids ie neutralize gastric acids

Magnesium salts act fast & Aluminum salts are slow acting
Magnesium salts act as laxatives & Aluminum salts are constipating
Magnesium salts hasten gastric emptying & Aluminum salts delay it

So.. What do you get when you mix em together? Dose reduction & minimization of systemic toxicity! ^_^

They are indicated in hyperacidity gastritis, reflux  esophagitis, dyspepsia

Second combination is seen in OCPs [Oral Contraceptive Pills]
Levonorgesterol & Ethinyl estradiol

Progesterone inhibits the frequency of LH secretory pulses & estrogen inhibits FSH secretion
So estrogen and progesterone synergise to inhibit ovulation
Estrogens increase the risk of endometrial carcinoma while progestin given concurrently blocks the risk..

So use em together!

Side effects of medicines combined (:


Each coin has two sides.. The trick is to use both sides to your benefit.. Team up!

Lemme know if know of any other such combinations.. Where the evils come together for the good without creating a dilemma..
Please do comment or email me and let me know.. :)

"I make bad look so good" -Megamind ;)
Have a nice day lol

-IkaN

Friday, June 22, 2012

Neuromuscular (myoneural) junction


Neuromuscular junction labelled

 Hello, lovely folks!

Lets learn something about the neuromuscular junction!
Refer the diagram as you read.. Otherwise it might not make sense to you..

1 As the nerve suppplying skeletal muscle reaches its termination it divides into a number of terminal buttons or end feet

2 The endfeet contains many small clear vesicles that contain acetyl choline, the transmitter at these junctions!

3 The endings fit into depressions in the motor plate - the thickened portion of the membrane at the junction

4 Underneath the nerve ending, the muscle membrane of the end plate is thrown into a number of folds called the junctional folds

5 The space between the nerves and the thickened membrane is comparable to a synapse! (Remember, this is a chemical synapse and there shall be delay.. In chemical synapses there is no delay)

 6 Ach muscle type nicotinic receptors are concentrated at the tops of the junctional folds of membrane of motor end plate

7 Only one nerve fibre ends on each end plate, with no convergence of multiple units

THIS, my dear friends, is known as the neuromuscular junction or myoneural junction

That's all! ^_^
You can use this as a ready made short note :P

Oh.. One more thing, in one of my first year vivas, I was asked what are the two types of Acetylcholine receptors..
The answer is nicotinic and muscarinic receptors.. There is an interesting story about how they were named!
Muscarinic receptors were named as such because they are more sensitive to muscarine.. isolated from a mushroom! :O
Nicotinic receptors could be opened by nicotine and hence the name!
Imagine someone naming you dust because you are sensitive to it! [That was a lame attempt to crack a joke on hypersensitivity reactions.. I should stop typing now :D ]

-IkaN

PS: I apologize for the awful diagram.. It's from one of my old notes, when I had no intentions of blogging :D
If time permits I'll update the diagram.. Till that you may rely on Google :)

If you do not heal yourself, you die

In some cases of myocardial infarction, the clot spontaneously resolves itself, this is the healing process.

But at the same time the atheroma can worsen, there maybe haemorrhage & disruption exposing the thrombogenic components causing expansion of the atheroma.

So do you get what I'm talking about? In life too we can either choose to heal or worsen our condition, it's your decision really.. To feel better or worse about the smallest thing or the biggest problem you think you have..

Do you choose to heal?

-IkaN

Friday, April 13, 2012

Oxytocin

Heyy guys I know its' too late for a valentines day blog post.. But why need a day to celebrate love?
Lemme tell you about Oxytocin.. The love hormone <3

Oxytocin is secreted by the posterior pitutary.

Physiological roles:
Labour - It contracts the uterus & facilitates birth by a G protein receptor.
Milk ejection reflex - It causes contraction of the myoepithelial cells to let down milk. Remember it isn't responsible for production of milk. Only secretion or ejection more appropriately.
It is also a neurotransmitter (Love is in the air) ;)


It is a peptide that's why it is inactive orally [Destroyed by the acid in the stomach]
It is generally administered by iv or im routes

Uses:
Induction of labour: Either prematurely or in case of postmaturity.
Uterine inertia: When uterine contractions are feeble & labour is not progressing satisfactorily.
Postpartum haemorrhage: Hypertensive patients where ergometrine is contraindicated.
Breast engorgement: Due to inefficient milk ejection reflex. Nasal spray before feeding infant is given.

Do you know Oxytocin and Anti-diuretic hormone ADH  are both octapeptides & have 6 common amino acid residues but differ at position 3 and 8?
Water intoxication because of ADH like action of large doses given along with i.v. fluids can be a fatal complication in renal insufficiency and toxaemia of pregnancy.

Another cool fact: Myoepithelial cells are more sensitive to Oxytocin than the Myometrium

That's all! :)
Happy 13th April ^_^"
-IkaN
(Inspired by Andrea Martins)

Inflammatory pain & NSAIDs

Inflammation causes release of many different cytokines & growth factors.

Stimuli in the inflamed area that would normally cause only minor pain produce an exaggerated response (hyperalgesia) and normally innocuous stimuli such as touch cause pain (allodynia)

Many of the cytokines and growth factors facilitate perception and transmission in cutaneous areas as well as in the dorsal horn.

Prostaglandins induce hyperalgesia by affecting the transducing property of free nerve endings.

Prostaglandins and other inflammatory molecules facilitate activation of tetrodoxin resistant Na+ channels in the dorsal root ganglion (which give rise to unmyelinated C and Adelta fibres both conducting
nociceptive stimuli)

This is how prostaglandins produced during inflammatory states significantly increase the excitability of nociceptive nerve fibres.

So if you prevent this peripheral sensitization, hyperalgesia is reduced.
This is how NSAIDs work.
Note that NSAIDs do not affect the tenderness induced by direct application of PGs, but block the pain sensitizing mechansim induced by bradykinin, TNFalpha, interleukins (ILs) and other algesic substances.

That is why, NSAIDs are more effective against inflammation associated pain.

So now you know :)
Have a nice day

-IkaN

Monday, April 9, 2012

Viruses and Passion

Viruses are strange, they do not feed & by some definitions are not living things.
A virus simply exists to reproduce itself & only "comes alive" inside a living cell.

I feel that the living cell is our passion.. & without passion we'd simply exist.. Lifeless..
The "living cell" makes us enthusiastic.. To live life..

It maybe anything.. You maybe passionate about photography, cooking, learning new facts or as small as discovering a new piece of music =)
But that small thing.. Brings us to life.. It does make you feel alive, doesn't it?
Passion is your living cell & without it.. You feel just like a non-living thing..

Now there is a really cool thing you can learn from viruses..
Once cell lysis occurs, they free themselves of the past and they find a new cell..
They never stop living.. They keep moving on & exploring life as it comes..
I guess you have to read more about viral replication to understand what I'm talking about ^_^"

Anyway I hope you get what I meant to say..
Be passionate & keep moving forward :)
-IkaN

You can handle it


My mom tells me that God gives the grace & strength to the mother to take care of her child..
Come to think of it, the milk secretion starts from the mammary glands after the birth of the infant.. The milk ejection reflex happens just on time, when the baby suckles on the nipples..

You see, life doesn't put in front of things you can not handle..
I like to believe that with great responsibility comes great power is bestowed.

"I don't think that we're meant to understand it all the time. I think that sometimes we just have to have faith.
Maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself" -Nicholas Sparks

So go with the flow & have faith.. No matter how tough you think life might get :)
Have a nice day with loads of positive energy ^_^

-IkaN

Author's diary - An introduction

Hello everyone..

I'm introducing a new section on my blog.. Which is personal notes from the author.. It is not exactly the informative section of the blog but more about what medicine teaches us.. How we can relate it to our day to day life.. Stuff like that.. Hope you an amazing time reading ^_^

It also contains blabber :P

-IkaN


Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Why lactate dehydrogenase in Light's criteria?

LDH is an enzyme found in almost all cells.

Tissue injury releases LDH.

If it's level is elevated in the plasma or extracellular fluid, that indicates cell death or cell membrane injury :O

It happens in all cases of exudates.. Inflammation remember?

Hence, LDH can be used to differentiate between transudate & exudate :)

-ikaN

Exudate & Transudate

Hello everyone!

Whenever you find fluid in the body which is out of the circulatory system you need to differentiate whether this fluid is an exudate or a transudate (Only if it is in pathologically significant amounts!)

I'll let you know why this is important in a while.. Keep reading.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Hypersensitivity types mnemonic

Hypersensitivity is a state of altered reactivity in which the body reacts with an exaggerated immune response to what is perceived as a foreign substance.

What if you had no idea which hypersensitivity reaction they are talking about in the exam? Disaster right?

Well.. I got it sorted for you.. Remember, "ACID"

Type I - Anaphylaxis
Type II - Cytotoxic
Type III - Immune complex mediated
Type IV - Delayed type of hypersensitivity

Hypersensitivity types mnemonic

There is another type V Autoimmune disease.. Some people put it in type II though..

Wanna remember the disorders too?
Okay.. here you go..

Type I AAA
Atopy
Allergy
Asthma

Type II GATE
Goodpasture's syndrome
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia
Thrombocytopenia
Erythroblastosis fetalis

Type III EARSS
Extrinsic allergic alveolitis (Hypersensitivity pneumonitis)
Arthus reaction
Rheumatoid arthritis
Serum sickness
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Type IV CMCM
Contact dermatitis
Mantoux test
Chronic transplant rejection
Multiple sclerosis

Type V GMG

Graves' disease
Myasthenia Gravis

Hope this helps..
Have an amazing year :)


-IkaN

Updated: Image on 25th Oct, 2013.

Wanna reblog? Here's the link to the tumblr post!







Sunday, December 11, 2011

Mechanism of invasion and metastasis of tumor cells comic

I made this very short comic.. Hope you understand! :)

Mechanism of invasion of tumor cells
Cadherins and catenins
Laminin and fibronectin
Type IV collagenase, cathespin D, urokinase type plasminogen activator
Autocrine motility factors and thymosin beta 15
That's all!

-IkaN

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Classification of antihypertensives


Heyy guys! I'm back.. And this post is the coolest.. I have put in all my creativity!

What are anti-hypertensives?
They are used to treat high blood pressure ^_^

This post is like a mnemonic..
So lets get to the classification..
How to remember?
ABCD!
A is for awesome.. Medicowesome ;)




That's all for today!
Hope you had fun!
-IkaN