Month: December 2020

A recent study published online on 9th December in Nature Communications by Peckham et al. (2020) shows gender based development of severity of COVID-19 subjected to ITU (intensive therapy unit). The study is based on meta-analysis of reports from 47 countries including 3,111,714 cases. However, study considers the equivalent risks of infection in both males and females, still it shows higher odds for males. The requirement of ITU and death is respectively observed 2.84 times higher and 1.39 times higher in males. Study highlights the differences between male and females for both innate and adaptive immune system. Earlier findings from number of animals including mammals have revealed the genetic and hormonal guidance behind the better immunity in females than male. Higher expression of T...

                   Indian philosophy is based on positive thinking. Rigveda refers to positive thinking in core to improve capabilities. It further emphasizes that the person involved in good deeds experience divine happiness. Positivity in thought is directly connected to brain. Recently a study published in Psychological Science highlights the importance of positive affects with less memory decline in old ages. Positive affect is related to subjectivity experiences of joy, interest and alertness.                       Positive affect is linked to decrease in cortisol level and increase in serotonin level and dopamine level. Researches done on human and animals reveal the link of high cortisol with decreased gray matter in all brain regions. It is directly connected to neurodegeneration....

The genomic structure of coronavirus is non-segmented positive strand RNA (+ssRNA) with nucleocapsid. It has single stranded genomes. It has four main structural proteins as spike glycoprotein, envelop glycoprotein, membrane glycoprotein and nucleocapsid protein. Several other accessory proteins are also present. Spike glycoprotein facilitates binding to host cells by attraction of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in lower respiratory tract in synergy with TMPRSS2 (transmembrane serine protease 2). The furin cleavage site of virus is essential for breakdown of Spike glycoprotein and it determines the entry of virus in host cells. The nucleocapsid protein is localized in endoplasmic reticulum. It is bound to nucleic acid material of the virus. It is responsible for viral genome and r...

A condition with recurring signs and symptoms of indigestion is functional dyspepsia. It is common problem across the globe reported to be 11%-29.2% (Mahadeva and Goh,2006). Changing lifestyle and induction of food items with lots of acid and salts aggravates the condition. Carbonated, alcoholic and caffeinated drinks further vitiate the problems of indigestion. Charak Vimanasthana (C.Vi.) 2/3 apparently mentions about the ratio of solid and liquid food in proper quantity to avoid harmful effects raised from food. C.Vi 2/9 hints about the types of food and drinks to be taken. Even anger, stress, anxiety, confusion, fear etc. are suggested to avoid during intake of food and drinks. Anger, stress and anxiety are related with increased cortisol. Gastric acid secretion increases due to increa...

Sexuality is not only limited to progeny, but is a beautiful way for social intimacy recognized for human life. It is highly influenced by culture. Sexual expression sway around beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors generated from culture. Still, physiology and psychology are pivotal. Psychologically, stress, depression, anxiety, relationship problems, feeling of guilt, concerns about performance etc. are common problem in both male and female. These all are responsible for the frazzled status mind resulting in diminishing libido. American’s Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) considers arousal, not only as a physical genital phenomenon, but subjective excitement/pleasure. Reasons are obvious that psychological treatment of depression inc...

Srimadbhagwad Gita clearly mentions anger as door for hell. Even Charak Samhita refers anger to be avoided by wise people. Modern medical science deals it as feeling of annoyance, displeasure and hostility. Excessive anger is related with many of psychological problems including attention deficit disorder, conduct disorder, psychotic disorder, personality disorder, bipolar disorder etc. Bipolar disorder is easily identified with extreme shifts in mood. It may be resulted from changing neurochemicals due to various reasons viz., altered brain structure, genetics, environmental etc. A study has observed structural brain abnormalities in prefrontal cortex while another study finds family history responsible for affective disorder. Limbic and extrapyramidal circuit is involved in this case fo...

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene is capable of mutations of actual DNA codes by forming a fusion gene. It is already related with various types carcinoma. Recently, it was published online on https://www.news-medical.net/ (26th May) that ALK gene variant facilitates the resistance to weight gain. It means lacking or masking of ALK variants may lead to new frontiers against the obesity. The study was focused on identification of genetic susceptibility to obesity to physiologically healthy thin individuals based on BMI. The study was done on Drosophila and mice. In Drosphila, decrease in triglyceride levels were observed after deleting the RNAi mediated ALK. In mice, marked resistance to diet and leptin-mutation induced obesity was observed after deletion of ALK. The mechanism is sugge...