Current Issue : April-June Volume : 2013 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 6 Articles
Most of the women take either prescribed or over-the-counter medication during pregnancy. Pregnant women often make independent decisions about their treatment and require careful counseling that allows them to balance the risk of taking a drug against the risk of not taking a drug and leaving a medical condition untreated. Most drugs are safe in pregnancy but some have unproven safety and may adversely affect the growing fetus. The safety profile of some of the medication may change according to the gestational age of the fetus. An estimated 10% or more of the birth defects results from maternal drug exposure. The development of knowledge in understanding the use of drugs during pregnancy has been in stalemate in comparison to other areas of therapeutics, mainly due to difficulties in testing new products in pregnant women and paucity of good quality research....
When dysthymic disorder is associated with major depression then the psychological condition is said to be double depression. Every year around 3% of the world’s population is suffering from double depression and 10% of the people with dysthymic disorder are prone to develop major depression, which can lead to double depression. This review article discusses about the differences among the major depression, dysthymic disorder and double depression. The clear cut symptoms and diagnosis of double depression was also discussed. By taking into consideration of past medical history, complaints and circumstances, we have to suggest the treatment plan which should be unique for the patients with double depression....
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most serious neurodegenerative disorders occurring mainly in the old age. It results into memory and cognitive impairment leading to inability to perform routine tasks in day to day life and worsening of quality of life. Excitotoxic-neurodegeneration caused by over functioning of glutamatergic transmission is of the main pathophysiological aspects. Glutamate release is mainly mediated by sodium channels and blockade of these channels decreases the excessive release of this excitatory neurotransmitter. The present study evaluated Mexiletine, a sodium channel blocker established as an anti-arrhythmic agent, in progressive Alzheimer’s disease caused by excitotoxicity. Aluminum chloride, a well known neurotoxic compound, was administered at 100 mg/kg intraperitoneally for 45 days to induce Excitotoxic-neurodegeneration followed by memory impairment similar to Alzheimer’s disease. Mexiletine was administered in high and low doses of 85 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg both intraperitoneally in their respective groups continuously throughout the induction period. Memantine was selected as a standard drug and was administered similarly. Cognitive functions were checked by Step-down latency model and elevated plus maze model. Prolongation in step-down latency and shortening of transfer latency were observed in test and standard group animals indicating memory retention and the significant prevention of Alzheimer’s disease in treated animals. Further studies are going on to confirm the mechanism of action of Mexiletine in Alzheimer’s disease....
GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter and is abundant throughout the regions of the brain. It is also sought to play an important governing role in memory. Initial findings suggested that GABA agonists impair memory retention and consolidation and GABA inhibitors such as receptor antagonists and channel blockers enhance the same. These findings indicated inhibitory role of GABA on memory functions and portrayed GABA inhibitors to be possibly useful in memory deficit. On the contrary, studies also exhibited that the same GABA inhibitors produced amnesia when given in certain experimental condition. The explanations may be concealed in minute aspects such as difference in routes, doses and timings of the administration of agents manipulating the GABA level and location as well as density of receptor-subtypes in regions across the brain. There is a constant debate about what exact impact of alteration in GABAergic transmission is laid on the memory function. Extensive experimental research is required to establish the delicate concepts regarding GABA’s role play in memory and design new therapeutic strategies on the basis of the new knowledge to tackle conditions of memory deficits....
Alcoholism is a serious illness interfering with one’s physical, personal and social well-being. Categorizing alcoholism into early and late onset diseases has paved a way for a precise therapeutic approach. In early onset alcoholism, dysfunction in serotonergic transmission in 5HT receptors (in particular, 5HT-3 type) on terminal portion of nucleus accumbens region where its role is to regulate dopamine release, is ultimately responsible for rewarding effect associated with alcohol consumption. Ondansetron, a 5HT-3 blocker, suppresses reward effect as well as craving for alcohol consumption by controlling the release of dopamine. After the preclinical evidence, a series of clinical findings have proved Ondansetron to be an efficient treatment for early onset alcoholism. A detailed research in this direction would better establish delicate aspects pertaining to its exact mechanism and design of optimum dosage regimen....
Oxidative stress is an imbalance between the generation of reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense capacity of the body. Oxidative stress causes cell mitochondrial dysfunction, accumulation of misfolded proteins, inflammation, defects in protein clearance and cell death as a result of disease progression. Oxidative stress is closely related to various disorders such as cancer, diabetes, ageing, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s disease, diseases of eye, respiratory diseases. In addition they also play a role not only in acute conditions, such as trauma, stroke and infection but also in physical exercise and stress. The present review will focus on oxidative stress related diseases and role of various antioxidants in reducing the progression of the diseases....
Loading....