Solid Tumour

 INTRODUCTION

Solid tumors are the second most common cause of death in the western world. Besides very few successes in rare solid tumors such as testicular cancer, the survival rate of most of these tumors is still low. Solid tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue that usually does not contain cysts or liquid areas. Solid tumors may be benign (not cancer), or malignant (cancer). Different types of solid tumors are named for the type of cells that form them. Examples of solid tumors are sarcomas, carcinomas, and lymphomas.

THE UNIQUE PHYSIOLOGY OF SOLID TUMORS: (AND PROBLEMS) FOR CANCER THERAPY

These physiological differences can be problems for cancer treatment; for example,

(a) hypoxia-selective cytotoxins take advantage of the unique low oxygen tension in the majority of human solid tumors. Tirapazamine, a drug in the final stages of clinical trials, is one of the more promising of these.

(b) Leaky tumor blood vessels can be exploited using liposomes that have been sterically stabilized to have a long intravascular half-life, allowing them to selectively accumulate in solid tumors.

(c) The tumor microenvironment is a stimulus to angiogenesis, and inhibition of angiogenesis can be a powerful anticancer therapy not susceptible to acquired drug resistance.

DETECTION OF SOLID TUMORS

 1) NANOTECHNOLOGY

- Nanotechnology, although still in its infantile stages, has the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of disease progression and success of therapy for numerous diseases and conditions, not least of which is cancer.

- As it is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, early cancer detection, as well as safe and efficacious therapeutic intervention, will be indispensable in improving the prognosis related to cancers and overall survival rate, as well as health-related quality of life of patients diagnosed with cancer.

- Of particular relevance in cancer, nanosystems have shown appreciable success in the realm of diagnosis and treatment. Research into the development of nanosystems for cancer diagnosis and therapy is thus a rapidly emerging.

2) MOLECULAR TESTING

- The world of molecular profiling has undergone revolutionary changes over the last few years as knowledge, technology, and even standard clinical practice have evolved. Broad molecular profiling is now nearly essential for all patients with metastatic solid tumors.

- Molecular profiling methodologies have likewise changed such that tests that were performed on patients a few years ago are no longer complete and possibly inaccurate today.

TREATMENT OF SOLID TUMOR

1) CHEMOPHOTOTHERAPY

- An emerging treatment near infrared (NIR) light penetrates human tissues with limited depth, thereby providing a method to safely deliver non‐ionizing radiation to well‐defined target tissue volumes.

-  Light‐based therapies including photodynamic therapy (PDT) and laser‐induced thermal therapy have been validated clinically for curative and palliative treatment of solid tumors.

- The combination of phototherapy and chemotherapy (chemophototherapy, CPT), when carefully planned, has been shown to be an effective tumor treatment option preclinically and clinically.

- Chemotherapy can enhance the efficacy of PDT by targeting surviving cancer cells or by inhibiting regrowth of damaged tumor blood vessels. CPT can potently eradicate tumors with precise spatial control, and further clinical testing is warranted.

2) PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY

- Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves the administration of photosensitizer followed by local illumination with visible light of specific wavelength(s). In the presence of oxygen molecules, the light illumination of photosensitizer can lead to a series of photochemical reactions and consequently the generation of cytotoxic species. The quantity and location of PDT-induced cytotoxic species determine the nature and consequence of PDT.

REFERENCE

- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147655860480006X

- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/advs.201600106

- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/153303460800700405

BY : SUDHIR KUMAR SAH (sudhirkumar99091@gmail.com)

B.sc.MLT 5 th SEMESTER, NOBEL COLLEGE

Narcolepsy ; Sleep Attacks

 

Introduction

Narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder that causes a potentially disabling level of daytime sleepiness. This sleepiness may occur in the form of repeated and irresistible “sleep attacks.” In these episodes a person suddenly falls asleep in unusual situations, such as while eating, walking or driving. Narcolepsy as a most common causes of chronic sleepiness, affects about 1 in 2000 people.

Despite the frequency of narcolepsy, the average time from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis is 5 to 15 years, and narcolepsy may remain undiagnosed in as many as half of all affected people with narcolepsy, since many clinicians are unfamiliar with this disorder. It can be characterized by disordered regulation of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep.

REM sleep normally occurs only during the usual sleep period and includes vivid, story like dreams, rapid (saccadic) eye movements, and paralysis of nearly all skeletal muscles, except the muscle of respiration. Narcolepsy usually begins between the ages of 10 and 20 years with the sudden onset of persistent daytime sleepiness, although it can also develop gradually.

 

Clinical Features

Narcolepsy is characterized by instability of sleep-wake transitions.

 

·       Daytime sleepiness

Clinically, narcolepsy manifests with excessive daytime sleepiness that can be personally and socially disabling.

 Cataplexy

Cataplexy transient muscle weakness triggered by emotion is a specific feature of narcolepsy type 1. It often begins in the facial muscles and can manifest with slackening of the jaw or brief dropping of the head.

·       Sleep paralysis; hallucinations

Sleep paralysis and hallucinations are other features of narcolepsy that reflect this REM dissociation from sleep.

·       Fragmented sleep

Although they are very sleepy, people with narcolepsy generally cannot stay asleep for very long. Their sleep tends to be extremely fragmented, and they often wake up several times a night.

·         Weight gain, obstructive sleep apnea

Weight gain is common, particularly after symptom onset, and especially in children. As a result, obesity is a frequent comorbidity.

Psycosocial Consequences

Narcolepsy has significant psychosocial consequences.

Additionally, their risk of a motor vehicle accident is 3 to 4 times higher than in the general population, and more than one-third of patients have been in an accident due to sleepiness. There is some evidence to show that treatment eliminates this risk.

Few systematic studies have examined mood disorders in narcolepsy. However, studies tend to show a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders than in the general population, with depression and anxiety the most common.

Conclusion

Hence, narcolepsy is a neurological disorder manifested by sleeping disorder due to reduced hypocretin that can be treated by amphetamine, methamphetamine and medonafil like drugs.

 Refrences

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30526757/

 https://aasm.org/resources/factsheets/narcolepsy.pdf

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3634162/

PREVALENCE OF URINARY TRACT INFECTION AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN

                               

 INTRODUCTION

Urinary Tract Infection is an infection that affects the part of urinary tract that includes kidney, ureter, bladder and urethra. UTI infection causes 150 millions death worldwide per year.  UTIs are the second common complications in pregnant women after anemia. The infection that affects the lower urinary tract is known as a bladder infection (Cystitis) and the infection that affects the upper urinary tract is known as kidney infection (pyelonephritis).

UTIs are frequently encountered in pregnant women and pyelonephritis is the most common serious medical condition seen in pregnancy. The change in the urinary tract is the main reason behind the UTIs in pregnancy and is most commonly seen in time period of 6 weeks to 24 weeks. If the urinary tract infections are not diagnosed and treated in the time then it can adversely affect the health of mother and infants.

NEUROPLASTICITY : PLASTICITY IN BRAIN

 ABSTRACT

Research in the field of neurosciences and genetics has given us great insight into the understanding of learning, behavior and changes in the brain in response to experience. It is seen that brain is dynamically changing throughout life and is capable of tearing at any time. Plastic reorganization of the brain is now being studied in children and adults with new noninvasive tools such as functional brain magnetic resonance imaging.  Increasing evidence demonstrates that neuroplasticity, a fundamental mechanism of neuronal adaptation, is disrupted in mood disorders. Here we provide an overview of the evidence that chronic stress, which can precipitate or exacerbate depression, disrupts neuroplasticity, while antidepressant treatment produces opposing effects and can enhance neuroplasticity. Promising therapies that may enhance training-induced cognitive and motor learning, such as brain stimulation and neuropharmacological interventions, were identified, along with questions of how best to use this body of information to reduce human disability. Improved understanding of adaptive mechanisms at every level, from molecules to synapses, to networks, to behaviour, can be gained from iterative collaborations between basic and clinical researchers. Improved means of assessing neuroplasticity in humans, including biomarkers for predicting and monitoring treatment response, are needed. Neuroplasticity occurs with many variations, in many forms, and in many contexts. However, common themes in plasticity that emerge across diverse central nervous system conditions include experience dependence, time sensitivity and the importance of motivation and attention. Integration of information across disciplines should enhance opportunities for the translation of neuroplasticity and circuit retraining research into effective clinical therapies. Understanding how the brain's circuitry is sculpted during development provides an important perspective for thinking about neurodevelopmental disorders.

Keywords: neuroplasticity, plastic, remodel, neuropharmacological  interventions

INTRODUCTION

Neuroplasticity refers to the inherently dynamic biological capacity of the central nervous system (CNS) to undergo maturation, change structurally and functionally in response to experience and to adapt following injury. 

RISK OF COVID INFECTION AFTER VACCINATION

The novel corona virus infection is frighteningly increasing worldwide. The first known infection from Covid were discovered in Wuhan, China. However, the original source of infection is still unclear. Covid-19 is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Corona virus (SARS-COV-2). WHO declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic in March11, 2020. So far millions of millions of people have contracted to the virus worldwide and it has contributed to millions of death. An immense effort of scientific community has led to the development of more than 300 vaccine project . Many of which are under still undergoing clinical evaluation . Before the vaccine is approved for use, it is extensively tested through several clinical trials to ensure the vaccine is safe and demonstrate that it induce immune response. Few vaccine have passed those clinical trials and have been approved by WHO for emergency use.