Medicine Hack

It all started when Alexander Fleming discarded some of his culture plates that had been contaminated with mold. But fortunately, he had a second look to those cultures afterwards. He was amazed to see that in the area around the mold, the growth of bacteria was inhibited. The mold was identified as Penicillium notatum, the active inhibitor named penicillin. Above is a photo taken by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

He was a Dutch merchant and amateur scientist. He was probably the first person to observe live micro-organisms under magnifying lenses. He made a series of drawings of what he called as 'animalcules' i.e. small animals. He observed these by looking through his single-lens microscope at rainwater, his own feces and scrapings from his teeth. He made the drawings shown below.

It refers to the superficial peri-umbilical bruising of the subcutaneous fat. It can be seen in the following cases: 1) acute pancreatitis (classically), 2) bleeding from blunt abdominal trauma, rupture of abdominal aorta and ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The sign was actually first described by Thomas Cullen in 1916 in a case of ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

It is a Fab fragment of a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa. The latter is a platelet surface integrin. It is a receptor for fibrinogen which binds platelets to each other causing aggregation. By inhibiting the receptor, abciximab acts as a potent antiplatelet agent.  Indications: 1) myocardial ischemia, 2) percutaneous coronary intervention. Dose: 1) For M.I - initially an I.V bolus of 0.25 mg/kg over 5 min followed by 0.125 µg/kg/min (to a maximum of 10 µg/min) for 12 hours. 2) For P.C.I - initially, 0.25 mg/kg I.V bolus over 5 min 20-60 min prior to angioplasty followed by 0.125 µg/kg/min (to a maximum of 10 µg/min) for next 12 hours. Contraindications: 1) bleeding disorder or use of anticoagulant within 7 days, 2) CVA within 2 years, 3) known allergy to this product, 4) major trauma or surgery within 6 weeks, 5) severe uncontrolled hypertension, 6) active internal bleeding, 7) thrombocytopenia i.e pla

Definition: Chickenpox is a benign viral disease of childhood, characterized by an exanthematous vesicular rash. It is an extremely common and contagious condition. It is caused by the varicella-zoster virus which is a herpes virus and contains a double stranded DNA in its center. Epidemiology: Age group affected- 5 to 9 years. The infection can be there at other ages too but it is less frequent. It is highly contagious and it affects all races and both sexes equally. The attack rate is around 90% among seronegative persons. Pathogenesis: Incubation period- 10 to 21 days but is usually 14 to 17 days. Patients are infectious around 48 hours from onset of vesicular rash, during the period of vesicular formation (around 4-5 days) and until all vesicles are crusted. Transmission occurs by respiratory route. The virus is believed to be localized in the nasopharynx, in the reticulo-endothelial system. It then enters the blood. This stage of viremia is characterized by diffused ski

The thermostat for body temperature is located in the hypothalamus. When the body temperature falls below normal, the posterior hypothalamic sympathetic centre directs via nerve impulses the blood vessels of the skin to constrict. This conserves heat.  Sympathetic stimulation also causes piloerection i.e. hair to stand erect and trap a layer of air that act as an insulator. However, this does not play a great role in humans. If body temperature falls even lower, the regulatory centre sends nerve impulses to the skeletal muscles, and shivering occurs. Shivering generates heat, and gradually body temperature rises to 37°C. Metabolic systems are also activated to produce more heat. When the temperature rises to normal, the regulatory centre is inactivated. When the body temperature is higher than normal, the regulatory centre directs the blood vessels of the skin to dilate. This allows more blood to flow near the surface of the body, where heat can be lost to the environmen

The skin is sometimes called the cutaneous membrane or the integument. It has 2 regions notably the epidermis and the dermis. The hypodermis is a subcutaneous tissue and is found between the dermis and any underlying structure like muscles.  Epidermis It is the outer and thinner layer of the skin.  It is made up of stratified squamous epithelium divided into several layers; the deepest layer is the stratum basale, and the most superficial layer is the stratum corneum. The deepest layer is constantly producing new cells and pushing them to the surface. The stratum corneum, on the other hand, gets keratinised to form a waterproof layer and also acts as a mechanical barrier.  Dermis It is a thicker and denser region than the epidermis. It is composed of dense and irregular connective tissues. Its upper layer has structures called as dermal papillae that project into the epidermis to cause ridges. These form unique patterns and give the characteristic fingerprint to all indi