Cell Damage and Antioxidants

Cells in our bodies can be damaged by oxidative stress, any chemical process that creates reactive oxygen species. The damaged cells can be repaired by autohealing processes; however, if the self-repairing process malfunctions either by means of genetic or environmental influences, the cells is still in an irrecoverable state which can lead to many diseases depending on the area of the damaged cells. Antioxidants are substances that after taking will stop the reactive oxygen species from harming the cells because of a special property that they can chemically bound to the reactive oxygen molecules and form innoxious molecules.

Examples of antioxidants are beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E.

Quize I Schizophrenia – symptoms

i. The symptoms of schizophrenia are categorized into three major groups:

1)___________ 2)_____________ 3)______________

ii. Explain “hallucination,” and “delusion.”

iii. Give two examples of thought disorders.

iv. Explain and give an example of movement disorders. What is catatonia?

v. Give examples of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

vi. Cognitive symptoms are often detected only when neuropsychological tests are performed. (True or False)

vii. An inability to absorb and interpret an information, and make decisions based on the information is (Negative symptoms or Cognitive symptoms)

viii. People with schizophrenia can keep recently learned information in mind and use it right away. (True or False)

ix. An inability to focus on one thing is one of the characters of schizophrenia. (True or False)

x. Cognitive impairment usually does not cause emotional distress to people with schizophrenia because they do not know about their well-being. (True of False)

Check your answers tomorrow.

Huntington Disease – Symptoms and treatments

Huntington disease (HD) is caused by mutation of a gene on the autosomal chromosome number 4. It is a familial disease in which a child of an HD parent has a chance of 50% of having HD. A person who carries the HD gene may have an outbreak of symptoms in any ages. The early symptoms involve irritability, mood swings, difficulty in learning new things or making a decision. When the disease progresses, cerebral cortex is damaged, and the patients may exhibit difficulty in thinking or unable to perform any stepwise tasks; for example, the patient is unable to feed himself or herself. To diagnose HD, a physician can screen for the HD mutant in a person’s genome in addition to observing his or her medical history, neurological test, and other lab tests.

Treatments

To date HD is an incurable disease. While many research are looking for ways to cure HD, the goals of treatment are alleviating the symptoms, preventing complications, and providing support to the patient and those who are involved with the patient. Many types of prescriptions such as antipsychotics, antidepressants, tranquilizers, mood-stabilizers, and botulinum toxin are used to control the patients’ emotions and to help their movement problems. The symptoms and drug treatments are listed below.

*** Symptoms: hallucinations, delusions, violence *** Drugs: Antipsychotics: haloperidol, chlorpromazine, olanzapine (contraindicated if patient has dystonia)

*** Symptoms: depression, obsessive-compulsive behavior *** Drugs: Antidepressants: fluoxetine, sertraline hydrochloride, nortriptyline

*** Syptoms: anxiety, chorea *** Drugs: Tranquilizers: benzodiazepines, paroxetine, venlafaxin, beta-blockers

*** Symptoms: mania, bipolar disorder *** Drugs: Mood-stablizers: lithium, valproate, carbamazepine

*** Symptoms: dystonia, jaw clenching *** Drugs: Botulinum toxin