Sunday, 15 September 2013
Saturday, 14 September 2013
TOXIC TALES : ARSENIC THE SLOW POISON
Have you ever been in touch with Arsenic in your life well i used it several times during my education we all know arsenic is a useful chemical compound but there are many things or stories that we don't know about arsenic . thats what i am going to tell you
In 2007 a study found that over 137 million people in more than 70 countries are affected by arsenic poisoning from drinking water.
WHAT IS ARSENIC POISONING
Arsenic poisoning is a medical condition caused by elevated levels of arsenic in the body. The dominant basis of arsenic poisoning is from ground water that naturally contains high concentrations of arsenic.
SIGN AND SYMPTOMS OF ARSENIC POISONING
- headaches, confusion, severe diarrhea, and drowsiness
- convulsions and changes in fingernail pigmentation called leukonychia striata
- vomiting, blood in the urine, cramping muscles, hair loss, stomach pain, and more convulsions.
there are many mode of exposure of arsenic to human body but i am discussing few of them
Drinking water
Chronic arsenic poisoning results from drinking contaminated well water over a long period of time. Many aquifers contain high concentration of arsenic salts. The World Health Organization recommends a limit of 0.01 mg/L (10ppb) of arsenic in drinking water.
One of the worst incidents of arsenic poisoning via well water occurred in Bangladesh, which the World Health Organization called the "largest mass poisoning of a population in history
Occupational exposure
The toxicity of arsenic to insects, bacteria and fungi led to its use as a wood preservative.Because of its high toxicity, arsenic is little used in the Western world, although in Asia is still a popular pesticide. Arsenic is mainly encountered occupationally in the smelting of zinc and copper ores
Food
It has been found that rice is particularly susceptible to accumulation of arsenic from soil.Rice grown in US has an average 260 ppb of arsenic according to a study, but U.S. arsenic intake remains far below WHO recommended limits. China has set a standard for arsenic limits in food (150 ppb), as levels in rice exceed those in water.
Thousands are Being Slowly Poisoned in India and Bangladesh, thousands of human beings are unknowingly being slowly poisoned due to arsenic contaminated drinking water. The tube wells, which once saved their lives by preventing gastrointestinal diseases, are now killing them.
You May Be Consuming Arsenic Daily
Sealing off tubewells and using water purifiers may not be enough to prevent arsenic poisoning. The harmful chemical was still affecting thousands through contaminated poultry products and meat, according to a study by researchers at the West Bengal University of Fishery and Animal Sciences (WBUFAS). Chicken, mutton and egg samples collected from affected areas on the northern fringes of the city were found to contain more than five times the permissible limit of arsenic.
According to the study, egg, goat meat, eggs and fish produced in the poultry and other farms of eight arsenic-prone villages in the Deganga block of North 24-Parganas had much higher levels of arsenic than the human system could tolerate."Kolkata gets 60% of its chicken and egg supply from the affected areas of North 24-Parganas.
Solution to arsenic poisoning in India found
Scientists at the Queens University Belfast have created a new low-cost technology to provide arsenic-free water to millions of people in South Asia who are exposed to high levels of poison in groundwater. Queen's researchers have also developed a trial plant in Kasimpore, near Kolkata, which offers chemical-free groundwater treatment technology to rural communities for all their drinking and farming needs.The technology is based on recharging a part of the groundwater, after aeration, into a subterranean aquifer (permeable rock) able to hold water. Increased levels of oxygen in the groundwater slow down the arsenic release from the soil.
Mostly major no of south asian countries are affected with arsenic poisoning but there are few western countries also in the list
Bangladesh and West Bengal, India
Arsenic contamination of the groundwater in Bangladesh is a serious problem. Prior to the 1970s, Bangladesh had one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. Ineffective water purification and sewage systems as well as periodic monsoons and flooding exacerbated these problems. As a solution, UNICEF and the World Bank advocated the use of wells to tap into deeper groundwater. Millions of wells were constructed as a result. Because of this action, infant mortality and diarrheal illness were reduced by fifty percent. However, with over 8 million wells constructed, approximately one in five of these wells is now contaminated with arsenic above the government's drinking water standard.
The central portion of Argentina is affected by arsenic-contaminated groundwater. Specifically, the La Pampa produces water containing 4-5300 microgram As per litre
United States
Fallon, Nevada has long been known to have groundwater with relatively high arsenic concentrations (in excess of 0.08 mg/L). Even some surface waters, such as the Verde River in Arizona, sometimes exceed 0.01 mg/L arsenic, especially during low-flow periods when the river flow is dominated by groundwater discharge.
Nepal
Nepal is subject to a serious problem with arsenic contamination. The problem is most severe in the Terai region, the worst being near Nawalparasi District, where 26 percent of shallow wells failed to meet WHO standard of 10 ppb. A study by Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Environment in the Kathmandu Valley showed that 72% of deep wells failed to meet the WHO standard, and 12% failed to meet the Nepali standard of 50 ppb
may be this post of mine can help the common man to be aware of arsenic poisoning ...........plz must comment weather you liked it or not and for more post like this plz follow the Blog
Fallon, Nevada has long been known to have groundwater with relatively high arsenic concentrations (in excess of 0.08 mg/L). Even some surface waters, such as the Verde River in Arizona, sometimes exceed 0.01 mg/L arsenic, especially during low-flow periods when the river flow is dominated by groundwater discharge.
Nepal
Nepal is subject to a serious problem with arsenic contamination. The problem is most severe in the Terai region, the worst being near Nawalparasi District, where 26 percent of shallow wells failed to meet WHO standard of 10 ppb. A study by Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Environment in the Kathmandu Valley showed that 72% of deep wells failed to meet the WHO standard, and 12% failed to meet the Nepali standard of 50 ppb
may be this post of mine can help the common man to be aware of arsenic poisoning ...........plz must comment weather you liked it or not and for more post like this plz follow the Blog
Friday, 13 September 2013
Can ethical committees stop illegal clinical trials?
In a move to discourage the rampant frequency with which untested
drugs are released in India, all pharmaceutical companies that conduct
clinical trials will have to register internal ethics committees. The
latest gazette notification made it compulsory for all pharma companies
to register ethical companies which will comprise of seven members along
with a chairman who mustn’t be a member of the clinical trials
department. At present most ethics panels consist of people who usually
have conflicts of interest with study sponsors. In fact, in some cases
the clinical trial investigators were even part of the ethics committee!
The
health ministry has also formed two expert panels for the approval of
trials of new drugs and fixed dose combinations. All these developments
are part of the Health Ministry’s move to clean up the mess that the
country’s premier drug regulator body is in. Earlier, the Supreme Court
had slammed the Centre for not reining in illegal trials which were
creating havoc in the country.
‘This is the first time ethics
committees will have to report serious, adverse events to the drug
controller, and informed consent forms will also be reviewed. These
regulatory and monitoring norms should have been in place all along,’
said Anand Rai, an Indore-based activist and a petitioner in the Supreme
Court case on clinical trials. ‘I hope the government can address
concerns raised by the victims who have suffered in the absence of these
basic regulatory norms. Besides deciding on compensation and redressal
of victims’ concerns, doctors who violated ethical practices should also
be punished to send a strong message,’ Rai said.
DCGI’s Hall of Shame
Here are some of the older skeletons from the DCGI’s closet:
Too many drugs being approved: ’On
an average, the DCGI (Drug Controller General of India) is approving
one drug every month without trials. This cannot be in public interest
by any stretch of imagination,’ the panel observed. It also gave
examples where the ‘opinions of experts’ were
based simply on ‘personal perception’. Some of the recommendations were
so blatantly one-sided that it seemed like they were written by pharma
companies.
Too few qualified drug-inspectors: The
standing committee had also lashed out at the lack of quality and
quantity of drug inspectors. The Parliament Standing committee said it
was absolutely irrational to give a pharmacy graduate who doesn’t have
any clinical or research experience the authority to approve drugs. The
headquarters is staffed by four deputy DIs and five assistant drug
controllers.
These nine officers alone handle 20,000 applications, over
200 meetings, attend to 11,000 public/industry representatives, and
respond to 700 Parliament questions and around 150 court cases
annually.
Illegal tests: Recently, a PIL submitted to the SC suggested that big pharmaceuticals including GlaxoSmithKline and MSD – had tested two HPV vaccines on almost 24,000 tribal girls in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The SC had also pointed out the government’s failure to
halt unethical clinical trials by multinational drug companies on
Indian patients who were used as ‘guinea pigs’. Referring to a May 2012
report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on health and family
welfare, judges R.M. Lodha and Anil R. Dave said ‘it really pains us
that illiterate people and children of India are being used as guinea
pigs by the multinational drug companies’.
Given India’s current status as the generic drugs capital of the world, with millions of patients the government’s dream of Universal Health Coverage can’t be achieved without an uncorrupted, untainted, efficient and transparent drug body regulator.
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
POISONS USED TO SAVE LIVES
well whenever we talk about poisons what we find is that A poison is a substance which can be life threatening but its not always like that a poison is not always life threatening sometimes it is also used to save lives so lets talk about the top ten deadliest poisons which are used as medicines and what that is amazing is that the list contain substance only from natural origins sooo let the countdown begain
ERGOT
Ergot or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals who consume grains contaminated with its fruiting structure Ergotism causes hallucinations and attendant irrational behavior, convulsions, and even death. Other symptoms include strong uterine contractions, nausea, seizures, and unconsciousness. Consumption can lead to amputation of limbs which are damaged by the fungus. Since the middle ages, controlled doses of ergot were used to induce abortions and to stop maternal bleeding after childbirth. Ergot alkaloids are used in products such as Cafergot (containing caffeine and ergotamine or ergoline) to treat migraine headaches. It is also used in a variety of treatments for Parkinson’s disease.
CHILEAN ROSE TARANTULA VENOM
Like many other tarantula lover this information was also fascinating for me becoz now i can provide my friends one more reason to love tarantula Biophysicists from the University at Buffalo are using a protein from the venom of the Chilean Rose tarantula to combat death from heart attacks. The walls of your cells have tiny channels that open when the cell stretches. Among other body functions, these channels are responsible for the contraction of heart muscles. When these channels open too wide (which can happen from stretching the heart muscles over time), they allow a flood of positive ions into the cell. These extra ions disrupt the electrical signals in the heart, causing the organ to fibrillate (beat wildly and irregularly). The protein from the Chilean tarantula venom binds to these channels, which can block the positive ions from passing through. This could ostensibly prevent fibrillation — and hopefully death — if delivered during a heart attack.
YELLOW SCORPION VENOM
The venom from yellow scorpion is being used to help treat cancer. Researchers at the Transmolecular Corporation in Cambridge, Mass., have isolated a protein that occurs in the venom of the Israeli yellow scorpion. This protein has been shown to seek out and bind itself to the types of cancerous cells found in gliomas, a type of brain cancer that’s particularly difficult to treat. The researchers created a synthetic version of the protein and attached radioactive iodine solution to it. When introduced into the bloodstream, the protein seeks out glioma cells and binds to them, carrying the radioactive solution along for the ride. The solution then destroys the cells — and with enough treatments, the cancer.
DEADLY NIGHTSHADE
Atropine is a tropane alkaloid extracted from deadly nightshade, jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), mandrake and other plants of the family Solanaceae. Injections of atropine are used in the treatment of bradycardia (an extremely low heart rate), asystole and pulseless electrical activity (PEA) in cardiac arrest. Atropine’s actions on the parasympathetic nervous system inhibits salivary, sweat, and mucus glands. This can be useful in treating hyperhidrosis, and can prevent the death rattle of dying patients. Because of its extremely important use in medicine, this poison is a core medicine in the World Health Organization’s “Essential Drugs List”, which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic health care system.
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HEMLOCK
Hemlock is one of the most widely known poisons. The most important and toxic alkaloid in hemlock is coniine, which has a chemical structure similar to nicotine. Coniine is a neurotoxin, which disrupts the workings of the central nervous system and is toxic to humans and all classes of livestock. Coniine causes death by blocking the neuromuscular junction in a manner similar to curare; this results in an ascending muscular paralysis with eventual paralysis of the respiratory muscles which results in death due to lack of oxygen to the heart and brain. Death can easily be prevented by artificial ventilation until the effects have worn off 48–72 hours later. Ingestion of Poison Hemlock in any quantity can result in respiratory collapse and death. For an adult the ingestion of more than 100 mg of coniine (approximately 6 to 8 fresh leaves, or a smaller dose of the seeds or root) may result in fatality. Despite its deadly reputation, poison hemlock has been used as a sedative and for its antispasmodic properties.
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COPPERHEAD VENOM
The copperhead is an ambush predator: it takes up a promising position and waits for suitable prey to arrive. Like most North American viperids, these snakes prefer to avoid humans and, given the opportunity, will leave the area without biting. However, unlike other viperids they will often “freeze” instead of slithering away, and as a result many bites occur from people unknowingly stepping on or near them. Copperhead venom has an estimated lethal dose of around 100 mg, and tests on mice show its potency is among the lowest of all pit vipers, and slightly weaker than that of its close relative, the cottonmouth. Copperheads often employ a “warning bite” when stepped on or agitated and inject a relatively small amount of venom, if any at all. The venom of the Southern copperhead has been found to hold a protein called “Contortrostatin” that halts the growth of cancer cells and also stops the migration of the tumors to other sites. It will probably be ten or more years before contortrostatin is used in practical treatment but it has shown to be a novel anti-cancer drug in the lab.
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DIGITALIS
Depending on the species, the digitalis plant may contain several deadly physiological and chemically related cardiac and steroidal glycosides. Thus, the digitalis has earned several more sinister monikers: Dead Man’s Bells, and Witches’ Gloves. The entire plant is toxic (including the roots and seeds), although the leaves of the upper stem are particularly potent, with just a nibble being enough to potentially cause death. Medicines from foxgloves are called “Digitalin”. It is used to increase cardiac contractility (it is a positive inotrope) and as an antiarrhythmic agent to control the heart rate, particularly in the irregular (and often fast) atrial fibrillation. It is therefore often prescribed for patients in atrial fibrillation, especially if they have been diagnosed with heart failure.
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WOLFSBANE
The roots of Aconitum ferox (Wolfsbane) supply the Nepalese poison called bikh, bish, or nabee. It contains large quantities of the alkaloid pseudaconitine, which is a deadly poison. Aconitum palmatum yields another of the bikh poisons. The root of Aconitum luridum, of the Himalaya, is said to be as virulent as that of A. ferox or A. napellus. In Western medicine preparations of aconite were used until just after the middle of the 20th century, but it is no longer employed as it has been replaced by safer and more effective drugs and treatments. Internal uses were also pursued, to slow the pulse, as a sedative in pericarditis and heart palpitations, and well diluted as a mild diaphoretic, or to reduce feverishness in treatment of colds, pneumonia, quinsy, laryngitis, croup, and asthma due to exposure. Taken internally, aconite acts very notably on the circulation, the respiration, and the nervous system. The pulse is slowed, the number of beats per minute being actually reduced, under considerable doses, to forty, or even thirty, per minute. Interestingly, the wolfsbane flower was used to identify supposed werewolves. If the flower cast a yellow shadow on the suspected shape-shifter’s chin, the werewolf test was positive.
CONE SNAIL VENOM
Cone snails are medium-sized to large, sophisticated predatory sea snails. These snails hunt and immobilize prey using a modified radular tooth along with a poison gland containing neurotoxins; this is launched out of its mouth in a harpoon-like action. Live cone snails should be handled with care or not handled at all, as they are capable of “stinging” humans with unpleasant results. The sting of small cones is no worse than a bee sting, but the sting of a few of the larger species of tropical cone snails can be serious or even fatal to human beings. The venom of some cone snails, such as the Magician cone, Conus magus, shows much promise for providing a non-addictive pain reliever 1000 times as powerful as, and possibly a replacement for, morphine. The first painkiller Ziconotide derived from cone snail toxins was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2004 under the name “Prialt”. Other drugs are in clinical and preclinical trials, such as compounds of the toxin that may be used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy.
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WARFARIN
Warfarin is an anticoagulant. It was initially marketed as a pesticide against rats and mice and is still popular for this purpose, although more potent poisons such as brodifacoum have since been developed. A few years after its introduction, warfarin was found to be effective and relatively safe for preventing thrombosis and embolism (abnormal formation and migration of blood clots) in many disorders. It was approved for use as a medication in the early 1950s and has remained popular ever since; warfarin is the most widely prescribed anticoagulant drug in North America. Despite its effectiveness, treatment with warfarin has several shortcomings. Many commonly used medications interact with warfarin, as do some foods, and its activity has to be monitored by frequent blood testing.
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