Crystals And Catalysts

My previous post was on the success of research for finding a vaccine for the Hepatitis-C virus , this posts looks into a new way to prevent Hep-C along with other blood transmitted diseases in a magnificent way. Since using sharp, medical needles are risky and have been a transmitter of diseases, when used incorrectly; it’s suggested that healthcare professionals use the needle only once and with the correct procedure and is disposed of safely. But there’s also an alternative option, which is much safer and painless. Micro needles affixed to plaster are painless and safe to administer and they don’t get through to the nerves, which almost gives a Velcro-like texture. The micro-needles are made of soft contact lens like material and at their dry state, the needles are hard and can penetrate the skin (50 microns) and once in the skin, can rapidly take up fluid from the interstitial fluid, into the micro-needles, and swell.

Hepatitis-C is a worldwide virus that infects people if they come into contact with the blood of an infected person. The potent virus damages the liver by causing liver cirrhosis, usually after several years of infection, which can lead to liver cancer in cases of chronic Hepatitis-C. Even though there are many successful anti-viral treatments they can be very expensive especially in the areas that it is prevalent in: North Africa, the Middle East and Central and East Asia. Symptoms of Hepatitis-C §   Flu-like symptoms such as muscle aches and loss of appetite §   Feeling tired all the time §   Depression Hepatitis-C is spread by: §   Shared needles for vaccinations or medical treatment §   Shared needles during illegal drug injection §   Needle- stick injury via contaminated needles, in nurses and doctors who deal with Hepatitis-C carrying patients

The increasingly popular drink, coconut water, is getting good reviews for its elixir-like health benefits and its hydrating properties so what is there to know about coconut water… 1) Coconut water is rich …in antioxidants and ions such as calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium and vitamins B6, C, and E, as well as vitamin K, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and folate.

Some people can’t lose weight and some people can’t put it on and I’m one of those people that people hate because I can eat whatever I want without gaining a pound whilst my friends find it extremely difficult to lose weight and all that is because we have different metabolisms to each other. It’s also a well known fact that we get our looks from our parents so it won’t be a surprise if I tell you that we also inherit our weight from our parents too.  The first research of its kind has found that the existence of a particular type of bacteria in our gut has the potential to determine if the person will be fat or thin and it can actually be inherited through our DNA not just by our environmental factors.

Exam season is always a stressful time for students and every time it comes around everyone prepares in their own to make sure they can perform their best, even if it means taking performance enhancing drugs. There’s a prescription drug called Modafinil that can enhance your concentration. Personally I've never heard of anything like this till yesterday, the only drug I heard of at exam season is caffeine pills. Loads of students would take caffeine pills at exam season to try and stay up and revise or pull an all-nighter the day before the exam to cram in as much information as possible.  But sometimes that didn’t end up well because some students would end up taking too much caffeine pills and faint during the exam and subsequently need to be hospitalised for overdose.

The "3-second rule" Say you 've  dropped a sweet on the floor so your friend shouts  “Quick! Pick it up! 3 second rule!” Because apparently if you drop food on the floor, you have three mighty seconds to rescue it and it will still be pure and untouched by bacteria as it was before you dropped it. Food dropped onto any contaminated surface, in this case the floor, has the potential to cause food poisoning and many other problems nobody wants and it was found that at least 20,000 UK residents seek hospital treatment for contaminated food case, a year, which could have been easily avoided. It has also been scientifically proven that the 3-second rule or 5-second rule doesn’t exist and it is safer to just throw away whatever food you dropped on the floor. Better to be safe than sorry.

Ozone is typically associated with the ozone layer that surrounds the Earth and any articles about it are usually about the size of the hole in the ozone layer and how and what affects it every day. But that isn't what this article is about. This blog post is about how ozone can be bubbled into water to make nano-bubble water that is a powerful antiseptic agent that can be used to treat periodontitis and other dental related problems. The new research was published in the journal: Science and Technology of advanced materials.

Proposals have surfaced that paracetamol should be reassessed to make a “safer” version of paracetamol without the liver-harming side effects, even though paracetamol is the most widely exploited pain-killer for everyone around the world and a good antipyretic (fever reducer).