Universal Medicine

Placebo is defined as a medically inert substance or technique, which is administered like a drug that results in a psychological response such as relief. The use of placebos has been around for many years. Medical trials used to widely use a placebo as a control to test whether a drug was efficient in its function by seeing if the drug worked any better on a patient than the placebo. However, the use of placebos has decreased over time. There is no sufficient explanation for the placebo effect, thus there are many conflicting views on whether it is a real or just an illusion, as well as how it works. From research of the placebo effect, some studies have found that a placebo can cause psychological effects, via changes in neurobiological signalling pathways. One of the ways this supposedly works is down to the expectations of the placebo, such as a fake pill thought to reduce stress, causing a release of endorphins activating the reward pathway in our brain. Endorphins bind ...

Every single day we ingest a group of chemical pigments known as "flav o noids" via a myriad of different plants and fruits. Lucky for us, it seems that along with the variety of colours that these chemicals express, they also provide us with several significant health benefits that otherwise would put our lives at increased risk. For instance, studies have shown that a daily intake of 50-800mg of flavonoids can have a huge impact in reducing the threat of both heart disease and heart attacks. How do flavonoids protect us from various dangers such as those listed above? Well, nigh-on all the mechanisms by which favonoids operate are a mystery to scientists. However, one well-documented and researched method of action is their role as antioxidants, particularly the flavonoid quercetin. Quercetin is the most structurally optimised of the flavonoids to combat free-radical oxygen molecules/atoms that occur around the body. Because of the ability to expunge these free radicals ...

CRISPR: Modernising Medicine   Sci-fi films often depict a boundless view of medicine, whereby one can step into a futuristic pod-like machine, several buttons can be pressed and an individual is almost instantly cured of any bodily ailment. Although medicine is most definitely not there yet, something has entered the forefront of scientific research for its ground-breaking possibilities. Crispr stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, and it is the crux of genome editing technology.   Crispr is used to make reference to CRISPR-Cas9 and other systems which can be employed to target specific sections of DNA along a selected portion of genetic code in order to alter them, and often lead to permanent modification within living cells. When mutations take place in a human genome that lead to disease, Crispr can be used to make the necessary changes so the disease does not take full effect. So, how does Crispr work? A Crisper ‘spacer’ s...

“I will use treatment for the benefit of the ill in accordance with my ability and judgement, but from what is their harm and injustice i will keep from them” - Your Doctor ( Hippocratic Oath) Putting aside the long hours of hard work and years of continual study; patients   putting their total lives and trust within a physician's hand imposes unbelievable responsibility and a pressure. In addition, the process individual coming to one another and sharing personal information they wouldn't disclose with a priest nor rabbi, and then more importantly disrobing and allowing touch begins a ritual of exceeding importance between patient and physician, providing   a career of physical emotional and moral challenges. In this week's blog post we explore how   the most recent ethical issue within the NHS- The Charlie Gard controversy,   and the doctors response to the a morally troublesome situation acted upon the best interest of the patient. The recent case of...

For numerous people waking up to an aromatic cup of coffee is part of their daily routine. Over the years the consumption of coffee has increased, despite it’s relatively negative image. Copious amounts of research has been carried out to find the health effects coffee has on the body, with most on how it’s effects are negative. However, more studies are beginning to allude to how coffee can have health benefits. Caffeine is the controversial drug within coffee. It is a stimulant, which causes an increase in heart rate and breathing rate as well as speeding up reaction times. It does this by causing more neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) to be produced at the synapse (a junction between to neurones), causing an increase in the speed of reaction times. As well as that,  caffeine causes binding to adenosine receptors in our brain, adenosine is a chemical which increases in quantity overtime to make us feel sleepy. Therefore by binding to the receptors it prevents adenosine...

Dementia is a world-wide feared degenerative disease that affects 47 million victims globally, and that number is projected to increase to 131 million by 2050. In 2015 the subsequent cost of care reached a staggering $818 billion globally, which is a phenomenally large amount of money, and that figure will increase exponentially as the number of sufferers increases perennially. Merely imagining the amount of time and money that will go into caring for the poor souls suffering from the disease, puts me in a state of malcontent. So therefore, today I will tell you what exactly dementia is and 9 salient factors that you should adhere to in order to avoid being the 1 in that 131 million. Dementia is a blanket term to describe a series of diseases and their effect on the cognitive function of the brain. Although each case of dementia is unique, there are certain ubiquitous symptoms that are found in virtually every case, for instance: memory loss, difficulty with s...

 Statistics show that approximately 1.6 million people in the UK suffer from an eating disorder and 8 million in the US, with the term itself often being thrown around in a blasé manner in pop culture and television shows without consideration of the often dark and life threatening connotations of the term. The images shown to the world on silver screens are often glamorised versions of what life is really like for those suffering from an eating disorder, serving to perpetuate the growing issue in our society. First of all, what is an eating disorder? The term eating disorder encompasses a wide range of physiological disorders which are categorised by abnormal or disturbed eating habits. An individual may place much emphasis on their specific shape and weight rather than their health, causing them to follow a damaging routing in terms of food. There are three common eating disorders: ·          Anorexia nervosa: this relates to ...

The Francis Report and General Practise The Francis report published on 6 th February 2013 was an inquiry done by Sir Francis in Mid Staffordshire Foundation NHS trust into the role of commissioning survivors and regulatory bodies at the hospital. It follows on from two previous inquiries at the Mid Staffordshire Foundation trust which highlighted neglect in care, increased mortality rates and high level of complaints from relatives and patients. The report considered reasons for problems at the trust, why they weren’t identified and acted upon sooner. The report builds upon the original report published in 2010 and highlights suffering of patients and relatives failed by a system ignored values of true care and acted upon cooperate care interests above patient care. The report plays an important role in the improvement of healthcare services provided in the UK especially having serious implications upon nursing care through its 290 recommendations preaching a fundamental change in...

Over the years the appearance of sugar free gum has become more apparent on the market and it is seen to be a key essential for school bags, handbags and cars. Lots of research has been carried out to find out the effects of sugar free gum on oral hygiene. Within this blog post I'll be exploring the benefits and disadvantages to chewing sugar free gum. It is advices that sugar free gum should be chewed in between meals and on the go, when it is not possible to brush. As sugar free gum contains sweeteners as an alternative to sugars it not believed to cause tooth decay. After meals and eating snacks acids builds up. As spoken about in a previous blog post (don't rush when you brush), acid is one of the main causes of teeth wear by erosion. This is when the enamel dissolves away because of the acid, which overtime can cause holes or cavities, as well as the yellow dentine becoming exposed. Another effect of this is increased sensitivity. Chewing gum causes the production of sal...

During 2014, the entire world feared for their, and their families', lives as the potency of the Ebola outbreak reached its zenith. Many people died and many more suffered, and to those who worked tirelessly to find a cure, to help the infected and their families, we owe them our eternal gratitude. However there are a group of people who have not been given the respect they deserve for the work that they did during this terrifying time. Today I'm going to tell you about the Red Cross 'safe and dignified burial programme' and how they, through volunteers' selfless contributions, became our guardian angels. One of the main of the main aims of the safe and dignified burial programme was to prevent the Ebola virus from spreading through communities via toxic corpses; many communities in West Africa adhere to certain religious practices where people in the community wash the corpse as a way of cleansing the spirit before its passing into the afterlife. As well meaning ...