Category Medical world

Why medicinal plants are disappearing?

The history of medicine can be traced to prehistoric times. Among the earliest sources of medicines were herbs and various plant parts such as roots, flowers, etc. Across several regions of the world, medicinal plants are in use even today. In fact, research seems to suggest that the demand for these plants could be increasing with people wanting to embrace what are seen as “natural” remedies for ailments. But, how are the populations of medicinal plants faring? Come, let’s find out.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), “between 65% and 80% of the populations of developing countries currently use medicinal plants as remedies”. Apparently, among the few lakh plant species in the world today, “only 15% have been evaluated to determine their pharmacological potential” So, researchers are at work for “demonstrating the efficacy and importance of medicinal plants”. But the truth is that medicinal plants across the globe are facing extinction. An expert has said that “Earth is losing one potential medicinal plant every two years at an extinction rate that is hundred times faster than the natural process.” The situation is no different in our country.

India is among the many countries with known use of medicinal plants. Our country is home to nearly 45,000 plant species, and at least 7,000 of them are medicinal aromatic plants. However, a recent piece of news from experts has become a cause for concern- as much as 10% of 900 major medicinal plant species found in the country fall under the “threatened” category, and “are facing the threat of extinction” What is causing this? The usual suspects – overexploitation, habitat destruction, urbanisation, etc. Another worrisome aspect is that “only 15 per cent of medicinal plants are cultivated while the remaining 85 per cent are collected by the industry from forest ecosystems and other natural habitats”

Conservation strategies such as “field studies, proper documentation, mitigation measures, enactment of special laws…” and recovery programmes are suggested to save the medicinal plants. This is vital because such plants play a crucial role not just in traditional practices but also in treating illnesses such as cancer. It is important to note that “cancer has a long history of depending on natural products for drugs” When medicinal plants disappear, along with them could disappear several chances to better human life.

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What is a speech generating device?

An electronic device, it is of great use to those with difficulty in speaking. How does it work?

A speech generating device (SGD) is an electronic device that creates speech for those who have difficulty in speaking. Most SGDS are connected to a keyboard, eye sensor or other such keyboard input device that allows the user to select the words to be spoken. The user can enter words or phrases with or use a visual display with images to produce speech.

Digitally recorded human voices speaking actual words are stored in the device and played back upon selection. A variety of voices to match a users gender and age are available. Some SGDS also use computer generated speech similar to the ones used in automated telephone systems.

SGDS have certain advantages over sign boards or other communication methods. It enables a person with speech impairment to communicate through spoken words.

This means the user can easily draw the attention of someone at a distance or sitting in another room or even talk on the phone! SGDS are very effective for autistic children with limited speech ability. World renowned scientist Stephen Hawking used speech generating devices for years. He used to prepare his lectures at the Cambridge University in advance and deliver them using the SGD.

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What are superbugs and super resistance and why are they a major problem for human health?

In articles about infections and medicines, you may have come across words such as superbugs and drug resistance. What do they mean and what is providing superbugs (microbes resistant to medication used for treating the infections they cause) the perfect circumstances to thrive? Come, let's find out

It is common knowledge that microbes such as bacteria, virus, fungi, and parasites cause infection in humans, animals, and plants. Such infections are tackled using antibiotics (to fight bacteria), antivirals, antifungal, and antiparasitics. These medicines are collectively called antimicrobials; they prevent or treat infections by killing or inhibiting the growth of the microbes. Medicines tackle erring microbes and bring the infection under control. However, not always do antimicrobials succeed in doing what they set out to. This is because the microbes begin to resist these medicines-in essence, they continue to grow unaffected. This is called drug (medicine) resistance. Now, how do these germs develop that resistance? Most microbes – such as bacteria, fungi, and parasites – are living organisms. So they always find ways to survive by protecting themselves from anything that could harm them. One important way this happens is through change in one or more of their genes- also known as gene mutation. This can help microbes ignore the antimicrobial, block, or even destroy it. And, surviving germs pass on these genes to the subsequent generation that keeps both the resistance and itself alive.

But, what causes the resistance in the first place? Several reasons! Overuse and misuse of antimicrobials are among the most common reasons that lead to drug resistance. Of growing concern in recent times is how climate change is driving drug resistance.

Here's an example. "Higher temperatures have been found to promote the growth, infection and spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, both in humans and animals." Extreme weather events lead to sharing of limited resources such as water in extremely crowded places, increasing risk of infection. Drought, agricultural run-offs, pollutants, etc. exacerbate the growth and spread of drug-resistant microbes.

As drug-resistant microbes cause millions of death the world over, it is important to not just develop newer drugs to combat these microbes but also tackle the pressing issue of climate change.

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What is the history of anesthesia?

Anaesthesia is given to a patient before a surgery so that he does not feel pain during the procedure. A look at the doctors who pioneered modern anaesthesia.

The word ‘anaesthesia’ means ‘without sensation. It comes from the Greek words an meaning without and aisthesis, meaning ‘sensation’. Anaesthesia is given to a patient before a surgery so that he does not feel pain.

Anaesthesia has been used in surgeries since ancient times. Around 600 BCE, Sushruta, known as the founding father of surgery’, used cannabis vapours to sedate patients for surgery. For a long time, physicians made use of hypnotherapy, opium, alcohol, etc., but they were not totally effective and had side effects.

On October 16, 1846 (observed today as Ether Day), William T.G. Morton, a dentist and John Collins Warren, a surgeon, made history with their first public demonstration of modern anaesthesia at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, United States. The patient, Glenn Abott, had a tumour on his neck. Morton made him inhale ether vapour until he was suitably sedated, and Warren removed the tumour.  Abott did not feel any pain. Morton called his creation Letheon after the Lethe River in Greek mythology, as its water is believed to erase ‘painful memories.

The anaesthesia used today is a mixture of various derivatives of ether and inhalable gases such as nitrous oxide (laughing gas). It is administered by skilled anaesthesiologists through machines that measure the specific amount necessary to keep the patient unconscious during the surgery.

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Did you know there was a time when people undergoing surgery died of infection?

Did you know there was a time when people undergoing surgery died of infection ? How did it come to an end? Who were the people behind the invention of antiseptics? Read on to find out….

In the latter part of the 19th century, almost 90 per cent of the patients undergoing surgery in London hospitals died of septic infections after their operations. The infection was spread by the surgeons hands, through unclean instruments and bandages and by the general filth that prevailed in the hospitals.

Then, in the early 1850s, a surgeon at the Vienna General Hospital, Ignaz Semmelweis, introduced a sterilising routine. He had all students and surgeons scrub their hands vigorously in a calcium chloride solution before touching patients.

The result was dramatic. The death rate in the hospital due to infection fell by 90 per cent in two years. The second medical man to try out antiseptics was the Professor of Surgery at Glasgow University, Joseph Lister. He felt that the only way to kill germs was to treat the environment with antiseptic. He applied carbolic acid to the surface of wounds, to pre-boiled dressings and surgical instruments. He invented a spray which sent a fine mist of carbolic acid into the air above the operating table.

Antiseptics enabled Lister to perform major operations with success, something that had not been possible before. Later antiseptics became widely accepted, saving a huge number of lives.

Did you know the first antibiotic penicillin was discovered by accident?

Penicillin was discovered by chance by British scientist Alexander Fleming in 1929. Fleming was growing colonies of staphylococcus bacteria, the cause of a number of diseases from boils to pneumonia, in culture plates in his laboratory. One of the plates had not been covered and airborne spores settled in it and formed a mould. Fleming was about to throw away the contents when he noticed that the mould had destroyed the bacteria in the area around it.

He realised that the mould was producing a substance that was lethal to the bacteria. He also realised that the substance could be used to cure diseases caused by the bacteria. As the mould was called Penicillium notatum, he named the unknown substance ‘penicillin’. Ten years later in 1940, Howard Florey and E. B. Chaim managed to isolate penicillin in the laboratory and showed that it could be safely administered by mouth, by injection or applied directly to wounds.

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Who is the father of blood banking?

An eminent pioneer in the field was Charles Richard Drew, whose work on the banking of blood products and the logistics of collecting and distributing blood saved countless lives in the trenches of World War II and the wards of military and civilian hospitals. American researcher, Charles Richard Drew, pioneered the concept of a ‘blood bank. While researching for his doctorate in the medical field, he took up the job of a supervisor at the blood plasma division of the Blood Transfusion Association in New York City. There he found by separating the liquid red blood cells from the near solid plasma and freezing the two separately, blood could be preserved and reconstituted at a later date. He published his findings in an article called ‘Banked Blood’, where he referred to the process of collecting and storing blood as ‘banking’ it.

Drew’s method for storing of blood plasma revolutionised the medical profession by helping save countless lives all over the world.

The newest concept in blood banks is the storing of umbilical cord blood, which contains stem cells that can be used to cure diseases.

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Strangest Cases for Doctors

On July 1, we celebrate International Doctors Day. We are ever thankful for their service, and this month, we will look at some of the most bizarre medical cases that doctors encountered and diagnosed or treated successfully. Apples, move aside… these people really need doctors!

Never a worm this long!

Tapeworm infections aren’t rare. However, a Chinese man had a tapeworm growing in his intestines for two years after he consumed uncooked meat. When he complained of stomach pain, doctors identified the culprit based on a fragment of the worm in his stools. It turned out that the worm had comfortably grown to a length of six metres (about the size of four humans)! It took an antibiotic to flush the monstrous worm out of his body.

Sudoku + Avalanche = Seizures

Love solving Sudoku puzzles? Good. Just don’t overdo it like this guy from Germany. He was once trapped in an avalanche, and after 15 minutes without oxygen, he experienced muscle twitches. Weeks later, when he tried to solve Sudoku puzzles, he developed seizures. The doctors he consulted also observed that his seizures stopped immediately after he stopped trying to solve the puzzles. Brain scans and tests revealed that the culprit was an overstimulated brain triggered by external stimuli (in this case Sudoku). Having stopped solving them, the patient was free of seizures!

Beware of dares

People do silly things when their friends dare them to, as it happened with a guy who swigged nearly a litre of soy sauce! A dash of soy sauce makes chow mein and fried rice taste yummy, but drinking a whole lot of it is a different matter altogether. A litre of soy sauce can contain 150 grams of sodium (or 25 teaspoons of salt). A team of doctors used around six litres of sugar water and spent five hours bringing his sodium levels back to normal.

Generous to a pathological fault

A woman detected a strange change in her husband’s personality. He started giving away money and bought candies to give to children on the street. Since he had never been that way before, and was about to give all his money away and become bankrupt, his wife wisely rushed him to the doctors. After analyzing his medical records, the doctors discovered something astounding – a stroke he had suffered recently had disturbed his brain activity and caused a condition of persistent and excessive generosity!

When food deceives you….

Sure, food has a way with us. Who doesn’t feel dizzy with joy seeing a plate of hot biryani or the cheesy goodness of a pizza? For a woman it took a twisted turn indeed. She suffered from delusions occasionally. Doctors discovered that she also experienced weight loss and other health issues that appeared to indicate Celiac disease that affects the intestines. It turned out that gluten food was the culprit! When she stopped eating gluten food, her delusions vanished.

The Red Sea emergency

Who would have thought that a swim in the Red Sea could turn out to be problematic? A tourist collided with a school of fish while swimming and thought nothing of it, until he developed a droopy eyelid soon afterwards. Doctors who operated on him removed tube-like structures from his eye and were mystified. On checking with a biologist, it turned out that they were the jawbones of a halfbeak fish (from the aforementioned school of fish that the man collided with in the sea).

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WHAT ARE THE FIVE SENSES OF HUMAN BODY?

The nervous system must receive and process information about the world outside in order to react, communicate, and keep the body healthy and safe. Much of this information comes through the sensory organs: the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin. Specialized cells and tissues within these organs receive raw stimuli and translate them into signals the nervous system can use. Nerves relay the signals to the brain, which interprets them as sight (vision), sound (hearing), smell (olfaction), taste (gustation), and touch (tactile perception).

1. The Eyes Translate Light into Image Signals for the Brain to Process

The eyes sit in the orbits of the skull, protected by bone and fat. The white part of the eye is the sclera. It protects interior structures and surrounds a circular portal formed by the cornea, iris, and pupil. The cornea is transparent to allow light to enter the eye, and curved to direct it through the pupil behind it. The pupil is actually an opening in the colored disk of the iris. The iris dilates or constricts, adjusting how much light passes through the pupil and onto the lens. The curved lens then focuses the image onto the retina, the eye’s interior layer. The retina is a delicate membrane of nervous tissue containing photoreceptor cells. These cells, the rods and cones, translate light into nervous signals. The optic nerve carries the signals from the eye to the brain, which interprets them to form visual images.

2. The Ear Uses Bones and Fluid to Transform Sound Waves into Sound Signals

Music, laughter, car honks — all reach the ears as sound waves in the air. The outer ear funnels the waves down the ear canal (the external acoustic meatus) to the tympanic membrane (the “ear drum”). The sound waves beat against the tympanic membrane, creating mechanical vibrations in the membrane. The tympanic membrane transfers these vibrations to three small bones, known as auditory ossicles, found in the air-filled cavity of the middle ear. These bones – the malleus, incus, and stapes – carry the vibrations and knock against the opening to the inner ear. The inner ear consists of fluid-filled canals, including the spiral-shaped cochlea. As the ossicles pound away, specialized hair cells in the cochlea detect pressure waves in the fluid. They activate nervous receptors, sending signals through the cochlear nerve toward the brain, which interprets the signals as sounds.

3. Specialized Receptors in the Skin Send Touch Signals to the Brain

Skin consists of three major tissue layers: the outer epidermis, middle dermis, and inner hypodermis. Specialized receptor cells within these layers detect tactile sensations and relay signals through peripheral nerves toward the brain. The presence and location of the different types of receptors make certain body parts more sensitive. Merkel cells, for example, are found in the lower epidermis of lips, hands, and external genitalia. Meissner corpuscles are found in the upper dermis of hairless skin — fingertips, nipples, the soles of the feet. Both of these receptors detect touch, pressure, and vibration. Other touch receptors include Pacinian corpuscles, which also register pressure and vibration, and the free endings of specialized nerves that feel pain, itch, and tickle.

4. Olfaction: Chemicals in the Air Stimulate Signals the Brain Interprets as Smells

The sense of smell is called olfaction. It starts with specialized nerve receptors located on hairlike cilia in the epithelium at the top of the nasal cavity. When we sniff or inhale through the nose, some chemicals in the air bind to these receptors. That triggers a signal that travels up a nerve fiber, through the epithelium and the skull bone above, to the olfactory bulbs. The olfactory bulbs contain neuron cell bodies that transmit information along the cranial nerves, which are extensions of the olfactory bulbs. They send the signal down the olfactory nerves, toward the olfactory area of the cerebral cortex.

5. Home of the Taste Buds: The Tongue Is the Principal Organ of Gustation

What are all those small bumps on the top of the tongue? They’re called papillae. Many of them, including circumvallate papillae and fungiform papillae, contain taste buds. When we eat, chemicals from food enter the papillae and reach the taste buds. These chemicals (or tastants) stimulate specialized gustatory cells inside the taste buds, activating nervous receptors. The receptors send signals to fibers of the facial, glossopharyngeal, and vagus nerves. Those nerves carry the signals to the medulla oblongata, which relays them to the thalamus and cerebral cortex of the brain.

Credit : Visible body 

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WHAT DAY IS NATIONAL ORGAN DONATION DAY?

August 13 is observed as World Organ Donation Day to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation.

This day strives to encourage people to donate their healthy organs after death in order to save more lives. Donating organs like the kidneys, heart, pancreas, eyes, lungs, etc can help save the lives of those who are suffering from chronic illnesses. Numerous people lose their lives due to the unavailability of healthy organs that could save them. This day aims to help people realise that volunteering to donate their organs after death can be life-changing for many.

First organ donation and a Nobel Prize

Modern medicine has evolved significantly and has made it possible for organs to be transplanted from one person to another and enables them to live a healthy life. The first-ever successful living donor organ transplant was done in 1954 in the United States. Doctor Joseph Murray won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1990 for successfully carrying out a kidney transplant between twin brothers Ronald and Richard Herrick.

Who can volunteer to be an organ donor?

Donating one’s organs is giving someone a new life, anyone can volunteer to be an organ donor irrespective of their age, caste, and religion. It is, however, important to ensure that those volunteering to donate their organs do not suffer from chronic diseases like HIV, cancer, or any heart and lung disease. A healthy donor is of paramount importance. One can sign up to be a donor once they reach 18 years of age.

Credit : NDTV

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WHAT AND WHEN WAS THE FIRST HUMAN ORGAN TO BE TRANSPLANTED SUCCESSFULLY?

In 1954, the kidney was the first human organ to be transplanted successfully. Until the early 1980s, the potential of organ rejection limited the number of transplants performed.

The first ever successful transplant of any organ was done at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Ma. The surgery was done by Dr. Joseph Murray, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work. The reason for his success was due to Richard and Ronald Herrick of Maine. Richard Herrick was a in the Navy and became severely ill with acute renal failure. His brother Ronald donated his kidney to Richard, and Richard lived another 8 years before his death. Before this, transplant recipients didn’t survive more than 30 days. The key to the successful transplant was the fact that Richard and Ronald were identical twin brothers and there was no need for anti-rejection medications, which was not known about at this point. This was the most pivotal moment in transplant surgery because now transplant teams knew that it could be successful and the role of rejection/anti-rejection medicine.

Credit : Wikipedia 

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WHAT IS AN ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION?

Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transported from a donor site to another location. Organs and/or tissues that are transplanted within the same person’s body are called autografts. Transplants that are recently performed between two subjects of the same species are called allografts. Allografts can either be from a living or cadaveric source.

Organs that have been successfully transplanted include the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestine, thymus and uterus. Tissues include bones, tendons (both referred to as musculoskeletal grafts), corneae, skin, heart valves, nerves and veins. Worldwide, the kidneys are the most commonly transplanted organs, followed by the liver and then the heart. Corneae and musculoskeletal grafts are the most commonly transplanted tissues; these outnumber organ transplants by more than tenfold.

Organ donors may be living, brain dead, or dead via circulatory death. Tissue may be recovered from donors who die of circulatory death, as well as of brain death – up to 24 hours past the cessation of heartbeat. Unlike organs, most tissues (with the exception of corneas) can be preserved and stored for up to five years, meaning they can be “banked”. Transplantation raises a number of bioethical issues, including the definition of death, when and how consent should be given for an organ to be transplanted, and payment for organs for transplantation. Other ethical issues include transplantation tourism (medical tourism) and more broadly the socio-economic context in which organ procurement or transplantation may occur. A particular problem is organ trafficking.[5] There is also the ethical issue of not holding out false hope to patients.

Transplantation medicine is one of the most challenging and complex areas of modern medicine. Some of the key areas for medical management are the problems of transplant rejection, during which the body has an immune response to the transplanted organ, possibly leading to transplant failure and the need to immediately remove the organ from the recipient. When possible, transplant rejection can be reduced through serotyping to determine the most appropriate donor-recipient match and through the use of immunosuppressant drugs.

Credit : Wikipedia 

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WHY THE MOST OFTEN MEDICINES ARE STORED IN BROWN COLOURED BOTTLES?

Medicines normally contain different chemicals. These chemicals are photo-sensitive, that is, exposure to light and heat affects them. In fact, the composition of these medicines might change so much that they become ineffective. This is why the bottles are made of dark brown or opaque glass to minimise entry of light and heat if you look at the label there is a line that reads, ‘Store in a cool and dark place away from direct sunlight.

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WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS, DESEASE AND TREATMENTS OF THE LIVER?

The liver is a large, meaty organ that sits on the right side of the belly. Weighing about 3 pounds, the liver is reddish-brown in color and feels rubbery to the touch. Normally you can’t feel the liver, because it’s protected by the rib cage.

The liver has two large sections, called the right and the left lobes. The gallbladder sits under the liver, along with parts of the pancreas and intestines. The liver and these organs work together to digest, absorb, and process food.

The liver’s main job is to filter the blood coming from the digestive tract, before passing it to the rest of the body. The liver also detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs. As it does so, the liver secretes bile that ends up back in the intestines. The liver also makes proteins important for blood clotting and other functions.

Types of liver disease include:

Hepatitis: Inflammation of the liver, usually caused by viruses like hepatitis A, B, and C. Hepatitis can have non-infectious causes too, including heavy drinking, drugs, allergic reactions, or obesity.
Cirrhosis: Long-term damage to the liver from any cause can lead to permanent scarring, called cirrhosis. The liver then becomes unable to function well.
Liver cancer: The most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, almost always occurs after cirrhosis is present.
Liver failure: Liver failure has many causes including infection, genetic diseases, and excessive alcohol.
Ascites: As cirrhosis results, the liver leaks fluid (ascites) into the belly, which becomes distended and heavy.
Gallstones: If a gallstone becomes stuck in the bile duct draining the liver, hepatitis and bile duct infection (cholangitis) can result.
Hemochromatosis: Hemochromatosis allows iron to deposit in the liver, damaging it. The iron also deposits throughout the body, causing multiple other health problems.
Primary sclerosing cholangitis: A rare disease with unknown causes, primary sclerosing cholangitis causes inflammation and scarring in the bile ducts in the liver.
Primary biliary cirrhosis: In this rare disorder, an unclear process slowly destroys the bile ducts in the liver. Permanent liver scarring (cirrhosis) eventually develops.

Liver Treatments

Hepatitis A treatment: Hepatitis A usually goes away with time.
Hepatitis B treatment: Chronic hepatitis B often requires treatment with antiviral medication.
Hepatitis C treatment: Treatment for hepatitis C depends on several factors.
Liver transplant: A liver transplant is needed when the liver no longer functions adequately, whatever the cause.
Liver cancer treatment: While liver cancer is usually difficult to cure, treatment consists of chemotherapy and radiation. In some cases, surgical resection or liver transplantation is performed.
Paracentesis: When severe ascites — swelling in the belly from liver failure — causes discomfort, a needle can be inserted through the skin to drain fluid from the abdomen.
ERCP (Endocscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography): Using a long, flexible tube with a camera and tools on the end, doctors can diagnose and even treat some liver problems.

Credit :  WebMD

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Andersen’s phobias

Famed Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen is recognised around the world for his books such as The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina and The Little Match Girl.

However, only a few know that he had a lot of phobias. According to his biographer Jackie Wullschlager, Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen was deathly afraid of being buried alive. He spent his final days at the home of his friends Dorothea and Moritz Melchior in Copenhagen, and as the end neared, begged Dorothea to cut his veins after he’d breathed what appeared to be his last breath. Dorothea “joked that he could do as he had often done, and leave a note saying ‘I only appear to be dead’ beside him.”

The note was a fixture of Andersen’s bedside table—some say he even wore it around his neck. Andersen was more than a little neurotic, and being buried alive was far from his only fear.  No matter how remote the possibility, the thought of being buried alive is ghastly. It’s not so much the fear of death as it is the fear of waking up trapped in a grave. Once that fear takes hold of one’s consciousness, it can become an obsession. According to Wullschlager, he also traveled with a rope in his luggage because he was afraid of fire, was terrified of dogs, and refused to eat pork out of fear of trichinosis.

Credit : Nea Orama

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How does the stomach work?

The stomach is a muscular hollow organ. It takes in food from the esophagus (gullet or food pipe), mixes it, breaks it down, and then passes it on to the small intestine in small portions.

The entire digestive system is made up of one muscular tube extending from the mouth to the anus. The stomach is an enlarged pouch-like section of this digestive tube. It is located on the left side of the upper abdomen and shaped somewhat like an oversized comma, with its bulge pointing out to the left. The stomach’s shape and size vary from person to person, depending on things like people’s sex and build, but also on how much they eat.

At the point where the esophagus leads into the stomach, the digestive tube is usually kept shut by muscles of the esophagus and diaphragm. When you swallow, these muscles relax and the lower end of the esophagus opens, allowing food to enter the stomach. If this mechanism does not work properly, acidic gastric juice might get into the esophagus, leading to heartburn or an inflammation.

The upper-left part of the stomach near the opening curves upward towards the diaphragm. This part is called fundus. It is usually filled with air that enters the stomach when you swallow. In the largest part of the stomach, called the body, food is churned and broken into smaller pieces, mixed with acidic gastric juice and enzymes, and pre-digested. At the exit of the stomach, the body of the stomach narrows to form the pyloric canal, where the partially digested food is passed on to the small intestine in portions.

The stomach wall is made up of several layers of mucous membrane, connective tissue with blood vessels and nerves, and muscle fibers. The muscle layer alone has three different sub-layers. The muscles move the contents of the stomach around so vigorously that solid parts of the food are crushed and ground, and mixed into a smooth food pulp.

The inner mucous membrane (lining) has large folds that are visible to the naked eye. These folds run toward the exit of the stomach, providing “pathways” along which liquids can quickly flow through the stomach. If you look at the mucous membrane under a microscope, you can see lots of tiny glands. There are three different types of glands. These glands make digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid, mucus and bicarbonate.

Gastric juice is made up of digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid and other substances that are important for absorbing nutrients – about 3 to 4 liters of gastric juice are produced per day. The hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice breaks down the food and the digestive enzymes split up the proteins. The acidic gastric juice also kills bacteria. The mucus covers the stomach wall with a protective coating. Together with the bicarbonate, this ensures that the stomach wall itself is not damaged by the hydrochloric acid.

Credit : NCBI 

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