Universal Medicine

... the last time you did exercise? According to Dutch researchers, intensive physical exercise increases the memory. But how does this actually work? Universal Medicine is going to look into how an organ smaller than a football is able to hold onto information for exams and tests as well as memories to last a lifetime. Exercise is essential in maintaining a healthy body, but research also suggests that it is key to a healthy mind. With a recent study being carried out with 72 volunteers, it proved that exercise a few hours after learning was very effective in memorizing the information 2 days later. When exercising, many endorphin's are released such as Dopamine, Norepinephrine and Cathepsin B. These are all heavily related to increasing memory when exercising several hours after learning. Dopamine is an organic compound and plays a huge role in the brain and the body as it acts as a neurotransmitter. A neurotransmitter is a chemical released by neurons to send signals to other n...

This week on Universal Medicine, we return to the ‘control centre’ of the body to discuss a potential breakthrough in chemotherapy. Chemotherapy: the type of treatment used to kill cancer cells by damaging their ultrastructure. Thus, preventing their reproduction and spread. Traditionally, tumours (abnormal cell growth) is treated by exposing the area to radiation. What is important to consider is that, unsurprisingly, this vital organ is protected by a barrier of cells. Primarily, these prevent the entrance of chemicals and bacterial toxins, however in turn also stop the penetration of medicine into this organ, enhancing the difficulty of neurological treatments with drugs. This barrier has sparked much research and for the first time, this protective barrier has been temporarily opened and it has been shown that this has boosted the delivery of medication to the brain tumour. For this technique, microbubbles – tiny bubbles of harmless gas – are injected into the blood stream....

As many would already know, the month of Ramadan has come and many Muslims around the world will be fasting- this includes not eating or drinking for approximately 20 hours for one whole month. Of course, this isn't the whole idea behind Ramadan but plays a major role in what occurs within the month. But what are the effects of restraining from food and water? This week Universal Medicine will be exploring the potential benefits from fasting. Within the past few years it's not only Muslims who have been fasting but many individuals have taken it upon themselves to undergo a diet which involves fasting. Hence, a catalogue of studies have suggested that fasting is good for the health which is why fasting is one of the most popular diets that people try. An extravagantly popular fasting diet goes by the name of the "5:2 diet" which involves 5 days of consuming food with a usual plan but 2 days which incorporate a calorie restriction of 25% of the calorie requirem...

This post will hopefully shed a little light on the enigma that is mental health, more specifically anxiety. In today's society mental health disorders are often overlooked or dismissed simply as a case of the blues. The term anxiety can have such a broad definition and the majority of people feel anxious at some point in their lives yet these feelings are generally managed and the anxiety soon subsides. So whats the problem? Well for a few anxiety manifests itself in a more serious form often showing physical symptoms including nausea, dizziness and sometimes even panic attacks. Severe anxiety can be extremely detrimental to a healthy lifestyle. Sufferers can find it difficult to maintain relationships or even just enjoy themselves during day-to-day life.  A recent study conducted by the university of Cambridge found that it is actually more common than you thought with an estimated four out of  every 100 people suffer from anxiety and also young people under 35, women...