Thursday, July 24, 2014

Nutrition




Nutrition
                              

Do you remember that familiar saying told to you by your parents? “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? This actually turns out to be true and not just a scheme to get you to eat healthy. Apples have important vitamins that help the body fight off skin disease. They are good sources of vitamin C and vitamin E which protects the body’s tissue from free radicals which are responsible for skin aging. Although apples are good for you, they are many other forms of nourishment that positively affect the body.

                             



 By definition, nutrition is the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth. Nutrition, if it is the right kind, can prevent diseases, conditions, or problems from surfacing that can be very detrimental. Some diseases that are known to be caused by unhealthy eating are cancer, diabetes, and arthritis. With the right nutrition, vitamins can help prevent these diseases from entering out bodies.

Vitamins are organic compounds that directly aid in the correct function of a certain bodily organ or system. For example, vitamin A is usually found in dairy products, meat, and fish. It helps increase the growth of hair and, among other things, assists with the correction and/or strengthening of our vision. Other examples of essential vitamins are vitamin C and vitamin D. Vitamin C can be found in citrus fruits such as lemons, oranges, and tangerines. Vitamin C is a major vitamin because it strengthens our immune systems and speeds up our healing process when we get sick. Vitamin D is also a major vitamin needed in our systems. It strengthens our bones and teeth by absorbing calcium. It is found in products such a fish, fish oils, and dairy. Iodine, which is found in seaweed and seafood, assists with Thyroid function. It controls the body’s temperature and stabilizes the metabolism.

Just as there are rewards to having a proper intake of the right vitamins, there are also major consequences to not having that correct intake. As stated before, there are many diseases that can surface if you do not eat healthy. Diseases like Type II Diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease, and High Blood Pressure are just at the top of the list of the many diseases caused by an unhealthy diet.
                                             
                                              
                                                                   Swollen gums are a symptom of scurvy.

Scurvy, for example, is a disease caused by the lack of vitamin C. It’s characterized by bleeding of the gums; loss of teeth, and internal bleeding. It was a major problem among pirates in the 1500s. The disease Rickets is a disorder that becomes apparent during childhood. It is the result of insufficient amounts of vitamin D in the body. Vitamin D is essential to the body’s bone structure. Osteoporosis is another disease caused by a lack of vitamin D. It’s a disease in which the densities of our bones have been reduced. Unlike Rickets, Osteoporosis occurs in older adults.
                                                        
  Left: normal bone, right: osteoporotic bone
                

Left: normal bone Right: Osteoporotic bone

             Healthy nutrition is important to the survival of the human body. The vitamins found in different types of foods help the body become stronger and less susceptible to harmful diseases. It’s imperative to eat the right foods to get the right vitamins in your system as a kind of preventative medicine against illnesses. Eating right can sometimes be the difference between living a healthy life and suffering from a terminal illness. In this case I must say that the old adage is true, an apple a day does in fact keep the doctor, as well as a variety of illnesses, at bay.


Resources:
http://www.iofbonehealth.org/what-is-osteoporosis
http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/
http://www.webmd.com/diet/rickets-vitamin-d-deficiency
www.monzy.com/scurvy/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/84174-illnesses-caused-bad-diet/
http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/10-reasons-to-eat-an-apple-a-day
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160774.php



Vitamins

VITAMINS


Vitamins are organic compounds (made of C (carbon), H (Hydrogen) and O (Oxygen))
Many vitamins are essential, the body cannot produce them by itself (or cannot produce enough) this mean we need them in the diet.
There are many type and variation of vitamins but I will only focus on Vitamins A,B,C,D.


Vitamin A:




Function:


Vitamin A is fat-soluble vitamin. It is also know as retinal because it produces pigment in the eye's retina. The eye needs a specific metabolite -retinal- a light-absorbing substance that is crucial for low-light vision.
Vitamin A contains antioxidants that work to condition and moisture the sebum in the scalp. 
It will fight the free radicals such as pollution that weight down your hair and make it weaker.
As a result, you hair will fell lighter and have better body. It will also strengthen and thicken your curls so that they will grow longer faster and break much less often.
Vitamin A helps form and maintain healthy skin, teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, mucus membranes, and skin.


Sources:


Vitamin A can be found in animal sources like eggs, meat, milk, cheese, fish... 
All of these sources are high in saturated fat and cholesterol except skim milk that has been fortified with vitamin A.


Side Effects:


If you don't get enough vitamin A, you are more likely to get infectious diseases and vision problem.
In contrast, if you get too much vitamin A, you can become sick. Larges doses of vitamin A can also cause birth defects.
So it is important to keep a normal amount of Vitamin A

RDA:














Vitamin B:



Function:


B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. There is more than one vitamin B. Refer to the picture for some example and what they are use for.
The B vitamins are important in metabolic activity (they help make energy and set it free when your body needs it). Vitamin B is also involved in making red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout your body. Every part of your body needs oxygen to work properly, so they have a really important job.

The Vitamin B complex is one of the most important vitamins that can have a great influence on a person's health as well as on one's physical and mental performance concerning the nervous system. It is a part of the group of nutrients which are responsible for the creation of some of the most basic structures in the nervous system. Vitamin B 12, also referred to as cobalamin due to its cobalt content, has a highly significant role in both the formation of the nervous system as well as in the maintenance of its proper functions. It also helps in the formation of the nerve cells themselves, the most basic of the nervous system structures.
An other function of vitamins B is their digestive function. They are essential for producing stomach acids and maintaining muscle tone, especially the valves between the different segments, such as the ileocecal valve.

Sources:


Some good sources of Vitamins B could be dairy, meat, spinach,broccoli, bananas. Some other fruits,vegetables or  whole grains,beans, cereals... can also be sources of vitamin B.

Side Effects:


Too much vitamin B can cause diarrhea, itching, blood clots and allergic reaction in some people.Not enough vitamin B can cause Anemia, indigestion, insomnia, easy agitation, frustration... For more info follow this link: http://nutritionresearchcenter.org/healthnews/vitaminbdeficiencies/


RDA (and more info):



Vitamin C:



Function:


Vitamin C is one of many antioxidants. Antioxidants are nutrients that block some of the damage caused by free radicals.
Vitamin C increase the white blood cells as well as antibodies in your body. It also increases the number of interferon, an important antibody that coats the cell surfaces and prevents the entry of viruses. It offers protection to your immune system by encouraging the activity of immune system cells including neutrophils and phagocytes. 
It rids your body of the foreign invaders and helps it to detect any sign of tumor in your body.
Vitamin C also help to heal the wounds.

Sources:


Some good source of Vitamin C are 
Fruits:
Citrus fruit, kiwi, mango, strawberries...
Vegetable:

Broccoli, green and red pepper, tomatoes...

Side effect:


Too much Vitamin C can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, abdominal bloating and cramps, headache, insomnia, kidney stones...

Not enough can cause scurvy, fatigue, mood changes, weight loss, joint and muscle aches, bruising dental conditions, dry hair and skin, infections.


RDA:



Vitamin D:



Function:


The major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. It is used, alone or in combination with calcium, to increase bone mineral density and decrease fractures. Recently, research also suggest that vitamin D may provide protection from osteoporosis, hypertension (high blood pressure), cancer, and several autoimmune diseases.

Sources:


Some good sources of vitamin D are dairy, fish, fish oils, sun. The sun is a good source of vitamin D, being expose to it as little as 10 minutes daily can prevent deficiencies. 

Side effect:


Too much vitamin D can make the intestine absorb too much calcium which can cause high level of calcium in the blood. High level of calcium can cause confusion and disorientation, kidney stone, nausea, vomiting, constipation, poor appetite, weakness and weight loss.

Not enough vitamin D can cause cancer (breast, prostate and cologne), diabetes ( vitamin D  reduce the risk of diabetes in children), heart diseases, osteoporosis

RDA:


Sunday, March 23, 2014

Hunter Syndrome: Causes and Effects

This disease is caused by a lack of an enzyme or the lack of the function of that enzyme. It is said that the disorder is caused by a defective chromosome that was passed down to the child from the mother. This means that the mother was a carrier for this disease. This disease is found nearly always in males and can be detected as early as 18 months. The type of symptoms that people have range from almost nonexistent to very severe. The symptoms don't show up right away, they develop as the child does. 

Some Symptoms:
- Progressive loss of hearing
- Carpel Tunnel Syndrome
- Stunted Growth
- Enlarged Internal Organs
- Claw-like Hands
- Delayed Development
- Vision Impairment 
and many more



The enzyme that is missing is called iduronate sulfatase. In people without this disease, this enzyme is found in the lysosomes. It helps break down what are called glycosaminoglycans. 
"Glycosaminoglycans are linear polysaccharides, whose disaccharide building blocks consist of an amino sugar (N-acetylglucosamine, glucosamine that is variously N-substituted, or N-acetylgalactosamine) and a uronic acid (glucuronic acid or iduronic acid) or galactose."  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1900/
Without the enzyme, mucopolysaccharides build up. This causes damage to the connective tissues. This syndrome is also known as a lysosomal storage disease. 

There are many risk factors that come along with this disease. It can take longer for someone to recover after an illness. Cardiovascular issues are prominent as well as skeletal issues. This disease can cause seizures and nervous system damage.
People obtain this disease from the carrying mother. It doesn't have many effective treatments, and is also progressive. It gets worse as time goes on. Since there is no exact cure for this disease, doctors tend to target the symptoms. This can help against an outburst. Gene therapy, enzyme therapy and bone marrow transplants are common treatments.