How to support a loved one that is quitting smoking

Quitting smoking is not an easy task. The smokers need help when they are quitting. This is where family members’ and friends’ roles become very important. The first thing that you should have before you support a loved one quit smoking is empathy towards the person. Empathy is the capacity to recognize emotions that are being experience by another person. To develop empathy towards a person who is addicted to smoking requires proper understanding about the pathology of addiction.

The general idea towards a smoker is that he is not quitting smoking because he doesn’t want to. The will does play a major role in quitting smoking, but sometimes the smoker may not succeed in quitting smoking because they are strongly addicted to it. When a person is addicted something, it is very hard to get rid of it. When a person takes an addictive substance, the chemicals in the brain change. With time, the brain cells loose the ability to stay without that addictive substance. When the concentration of that substance in the brain reduces, the person experience unpleasant feeling and sensations which leads them back to taking the substance. The same thing happens to a smoker also. Therefore, the first thing you should understand is that difficulty in quitting smoking is not entirely their fault.

Encouraging the person to quit smoking is very important. When your loved one is try to quit smoking you must do everything you can to admire his decision. Frequent admiration, encouragements and reminding of the benefits of quitting smoking make it easy for a person to quit smoking. If you keep on reminding him, it will be a great help for him to get over overwhelming feelings of smoking.

People, who are quitting smoking, get the idea of smoking again more frequently. They always get the desire to smoke again. They have got used to keeping something in their fingers and in their mouth for a long time. Therefore, if you can provide your loved one to find things that he can keep in his hands and something to put in his mouth, it will be a great help. You can provide him some hard candy. You can also prepare some fruits or vegetables (carrots) that he can put in to his mouth whenever he wants.

Smokers who are trying the quit often gets the idea to smoke again, especially when they are free and along. At such times, the person is at very high risk of smoking again. The best way to prevent this is by keeping the person busy throughout the day. Always try to stay with the person. Always try to find something for him to work on, so he doesn’t have much time to think about smoking.

Reducing other stressful situations in the person’s life is very important. Quitting smoking itself is a very stressful situation. Therefore, your loved one must be in real stress. They must have got used to smoking especially when they are under stress. Therefore, by removing other stressful situations from his life, you can make the process of quitting smoking much easier. Never forget to reward your loved one. Rewarding the person for taking this life changing decision encourages him to hang on to quitting. It will help him to get over the feelings of smoking again.

Quitting smoking is not easy. It requires the help of loved ones. Understanding the pathology behind smoking and about the way the brain works helps to understand the situation/

How to Identify the Cords of Brachial Plexus in a dissected Specimen

brachial plexus supplies nerves to the upper limb. The books describe the cord of the brachial plexus nicely in relation to the axilllary artery. The cord lateral to the artery is the lateral cord. The cord medial to the artery is the medial cord. The cord posterior to the artery is the posterior cord. But, when it comes to dissected specimen of brachial plexus, at ones it might look like a total mess. Therefore, the students usually find it confusing to identify each cord and its branches. 

First start with simple things. Then you can read more and go in to details. First the way to identify the main 3 cords, their terminal branches and their main branches will be described. When you are given a dissected specimen of brachial plexus, first try to find out the muscularcutaneous nerve. Muscularcutaneous nerve passes laterally in to a muscle in the arm. You will see this nerve piercing through the muscle. This muscle is called coracobrachialis. Once you identify this nerve, the rest is easy. 

Now trace the nerve backwards towards the plexus. The you will find the cord which the nerve arise from. This is the lateral cord. Now you will see that there is another branch arising from the medial aspect of the lateral cord. That is the lateral root of the median nerve. This branch goes downwards and units with another short branch coming from the medial side. That is the medial root of the median nerve. The nerve formed by the union of these two roots is the median nerve.

Now trace the medial root of the median nerve up to find the medial cord. You will see that the medial cord continues downwards along the medial aspect of the arm. That is the ulnar nerve. Now that you have identified the medial and lateral cords, median nerve and the ulnar nerve, the remaining cord posterior to the artery is the posterior cord. Now isolate the posterior cord and look carefully. You will see that the cord goes through the muscles of the upper arm. that is the radial nerve. Higher up in the posterior cord, you will find a branch arising. This branch goes through muscles of the arm. That is the axillary nerve. Now that you have identified the 3 cords and their main and terminal branches, it will be easier to find out the rest. 

Veins Without Valves

Generally veins have valves. This is to prevent the backward flow of blood within veins. Arteries carry blood from the heart to peripheral tissues. At tissue levels, the arteries branch out and finally give rise to capillaries. The capillaries then unit and forms the veins. Veins carry blood from peripheral tissues to the heart. As the vessels branch out in the above manner, the pressure within those vessels gradually decline. When it comes to the capillaries, the pressure is very low compared to that of major vessels such as the aorta. The pressure within the veins is even more less. Therefore, there is less force to pump blood back to the heart. 

Usually, the body takes the help of muscle contraction to pump blood up the veins. So, when the muscles contract, they squeeze blood up in the veins. When this happens, there should be mechanism to prevent blood from going back. This is where the valves come in to play. They prevent backward flow of blood. 

Not all the veins in the body contain valves. There are some veins that do not have veins. They are,

• The pulmonary veins
• Superior vena cave
• Left and right bracheocephalic trunks
• Azygos system of veins

Revolution in Ophthalmology : Discovery of New Corneal Layer

Harminder Dua, a professor at the University of Nottingham has conducted a research to find out the number of layers in human cornea. Up to now it was believed that human cornea was made of only five layers, but with the findings of the Professor Harminder Dua, the anatomical description of the cornea has changed. 

The professor and his team have used cornea that were donated for research purposes. Then they have injected air into these cornea to separate and visualize the layers easily. They have scanned each and every layer through an electron microscope. Through this technique they were able to find a new layer. They have named the new layer as 'Dua's Layer'.

They have also stated that the reason for corneal hydrops is tear of Dua's layer. They have also pointed out the association of this layer with many other diseases of the cornea. Therefore, the discovery of this layer will take the field of ophthalmology in to a whole new level.  

How is Chlamydia treated during pregnancy?

There is a wide variety of genital tract infections. Some of them are sexually transmitted.  Treatment of these infections is important to prevent complications. Chlamydia is one such infections requiring immediate medical attention. It is also a sexually transmitted disease.  Chlamydia is an obligate intracellular organism. That means that the organism lives in side the cells. The pathogen chooses only the noncilliated columnar, transitional and cuboidalcells to live in. These are the cells found in the upper genital tract and urethra.

Unlike many other sexually transmitted diseases, Chlamydia infection gives rise to few symptoms. The patients will be completely normal until they develop complications. The complications are more when the infections occur during pregnancy. In pregnancy, not only the mother but also the baby can get affected by the infections. Chlamydia infection during pregnancy can lead to preterm birth, preterm prematue rupture of membranes and choriamnionitis. Usually, Chlamydia infection in non-pregnant women can be treated with several antibiotics. These antibiotics include azythromycine, doxycycline, erythromycin, levofloxacin and orfloxacin, some of these antibiotics cannot be used during pregnancy. That is because they can cross the placenta and can give rise to adverse effects in the baby. Therefore, the drug should be chosen carefully.

The antibiotic of choice in pregnancy is tetracycline, usually doxycycline. Out if these two, tetracycline binds to the developing bones and teeth of the fetus during second and third trimester. This results in brown colored teeth and dysplastic bones. Therefore, it should be avoided in the second and third trimesters. Erythromycin 500 mg twice a day for two weeks is the treatment of Chlamydia infection during pregnancy.

Erythromycin is usually a drug with many gastrointestinal side effects. Once ingested, the mother can get nausea and vomiting. As a result, the drug might not get absorbed properly. The pharmacokinetics of the drug during pregnancy can also get altered and the efficacy of the treatment is doubtful. Therefore, pregnant mothers who are treated with erythromycin should be tested later for presence of infection 2 weeks after the completion of antibiotic therapy. For women who cannot tolerate erythromycin, azythromycin as a single 1g dose is given. Scientists have found that Co-amoxyclave have a protective effect against neonatal infection. Therefore, it can also be used to treat Chlamydia infection during pregnancy.

As mentioned earlier, Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection. Therefore, not only the pregnant mother, but also her partner should be tested for the presence of infection. If the male partner is also found to have the infection, he should also be treated before resumption of sexual intercourse. If the mother is found to have infected with Chlamydia after delivery, she should be given tetracycline as definitive treatment. Breast feeding can be continued while on treatment.

Sometimes, Chlamydia infection goes unnoticed during pregnancy. In such cases the first presentation could be eye infection of the neonate. This is called ophthalmia neonatarum. If the baby develops ophthalmia neonatarum, it should be treated with tetracycline eye oinements. They should be also given erythromycin syrup for two weeks. This is to reduce the risk of neonatal pneumonia.

As described earlier, treatment of Chlamydia infection is very important to prevent its complications. The treatment of the mother as well as her sexual partner and the baby after birth is very important. 

Causes for Loss of Motor and Sensory Functions of Limbs

Loss of motor and sensory functions of limbs is a common neurolgical disorder. Both young and old can get this condition. Peripheral neuropathy is the commonest cause for this disease. If a patient has difficulty in moving his limbs or abnormal sensation, then he might be suffering from peripheral neuropathy. This is a disease that requires immediate medical attention because some can progress rapidly.

Following are some common causes of peripheral neuropathy. it can be easily remembered by the mnemonic STAGLAND.

1. Sarcoidosis
2. Thyroid
3. Amyloidosis
4. Guillian Barre
5. Lead
6. Alcohol
7. Nutritional
8. Drugs/ Diabetes

Can Adults Form New Brain Cells?

Some human organs have the ability to grow until death (e.g: hair, skin), but some stop growing at very young age (e.g: neurons) . It is believed that the development of the brain is completed at very young age. Scientists believed that after that certain age, the human brain does not grow. But, according to the latest research findings, human brain cells grow even at adult age.

Kirsty Spalding, a molecular biologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Frisén, and colleagues have done a research to find out the ability of brain cells to divide even at adult age. For this research they have used brains of deceased humans who were exposed to above-ground nuclear weapon testing 50 years ago. During these nuclear weapon testing Carbon 14 were released in to the atmosphere. These Carbon 14 were incorporated in to DNA of cells of people who were exposed. They have found out a way to test the amount of Carbon 14 with in DNA of these cells. In their study they have extracted hippocampi of 55 deceased people who had given their consent to use their brains for research purposes. They have found out that every day about 1400 cells in hypoccampal region are being replaced. 

According to this research, it is confirmed that the brain cells have the ability to regenerate even in adult age. The results of this research will help the development of many aspects of science, especially the field of medicine.