Author Archives: jpark

How the term ‘endorphin’ derived and works for our body?

Picture showing how endorphin works
from altered-states.net

Endorphin is closely related to morphine, and morphine is a drug that  effectively removes pain after getting hurt or surgery, and also gives thrill to people as if they fly in the sky. Because of this, morphine freed countless people who have suffered from pain, but also played a huge role in destroying people by making them addicted.

So, in 1970s, many researchers studied about this. And later, they discovered that there is a substance that performs a similar role like morphine in our brains. And it is about 100 times stronger than morphine. Thus, by definition, the substance is endogenous morphine, which means that it exists inside a brain. To call it short, it is called as endorphin.

This substance is secreted when people get stress to counteract it. Endorphin is a very thankful substance that relieves anxiety and pain to make people happy. When people get stress from climbing high mountains and skydiving, the brains secret endorphin to make them feel less pain and thus feel as if they fly the sky.

Also, an interesting fact is that the secretion of endorphin increases when people feel stress, but is restrained when they are happy. For example, when women are about to give birth, the level of endorphin reaches the maximum point in both mothers’ and babies’ brains to deal with the situation. After giving birth, the level of it decreases rapidly.

A woman giving a birth to a baby with help of endorphin
Credit to gettyimages’Korea

Therefore, it seems that babies are exposed to drugs from the moment when they are born. And there is always possibility that anyone can get addicted. So we need to be very careful not to become addicted to drugs.

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This shows how endorphin works for people’s body by William Bloom. (This video is from the youtube username William Bloom.)

-Jong Jin Park

Is alcohol beneficial?

 

Alcohol Beverages (Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ycn-10798319)

In terms of chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound that contains the hydroxyl functional group (-OH) attached to a hydrocarbon group. The hydrocarbon group has a central carbon single-bonded to three other hydrogen atoms. Thus, the general formula for alcohols is CnH2n+1OH. However, in everyday use, the word “alcohol” refers particularly to ethanol, of which the chemical formula is C2H5OH, and it is the type of alcohol used in alcoholic beverages. For thousands years, humans have been producing and consuming ethanol as alcoholic beverages. Because of its intoxicating effects, ethanol has been an intoxicating ingredient of alcoholic beverages since ancient times. This feature makes the alcohol be consumed widespread, for it relieves people’s stress. There has been a controversy whether the alcohol is beneficial to our health or not because it can cause a fatal illness to humans at a sub lethal dose.

However, to accurately examine the effects of alcohol to our health, we need to look at how cell biology mechanism of it works. The primary metabolite of ethanol is acetaldehyde and secondary metabolite is acetic acid, which largely cause the toxicity of ethanol. Toxicities of acetaldehyde and acetic acid are similar to those of aldehydes and carboxylic acids, which are the products from the breakdown of primary alcohols. Within the human body, alcohol dehydrogenase converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, and then acetaldehyde dehydrogenase converts it into the acetyl in acetyl CoA, which is the final product of fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Ethanol may be considered as a nutrient since acetyl can be used to produce energy for these metabolisms. Nevertheless, acetaldehyde contains higher level of toxicity than ethanol, and it has been revealed that acetaldehyde is closely related to most of the clinical effects of alcohol.

Metabolism of Alcohol (Source: http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA72/AA72.htm)

From the mechanism above, when used in therapeutic dose, alcohol does not cause serious and harmful problems to humans. Alcohol in light dose decreases the risk of heart disease. The effect of alcohol to people’s health is clearly exhibited by the study done by Liu, PM. In this study, the relationship between alcohol consumption and risk of stroke and coronary heart disease was examined among Eastern Asian men. It was found that light alcohol consumption (≤ 20 g/d) reduces the risk of stroke, while heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of stroke; and moderate alcohol consumption (21–60 g/d) helps decreasing the risk of coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality.

In conclusion, small to moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial to our health. Based on many studies and experiments, it was shown that people who consume alcohol moderately have fewer heart attacks than those who do not drink at all, and also that moderate drinking lowers risk of diabetes in both men and women. The consumption of alcohol in large dose causes intoxication though. Depending on the dose and the regularity of its consumption, alcohol can be beneficial or harmful to our health.

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This shows how the alcohol has beneficial effects to people’s health by Dr. Matt DeVane. (This video is from the youtube username HeartSmartMD.)

-Jong Jin Park

 

Is Botox Safe?

Effect of Botox (Source: http://www.rejuvmedical.com/pages/BotoxCosmetic/)

Everyday term “Botox” is not the correct term of therapy, but the trade name of Botulinum toxin A, a protein and neurotoxin. Botulinum toxin A is secreted by anaerobic bacteria, called clostridium botulinum. This toxin deters the secretion of acetylcholine from the endings of the motor nerves. The main function of acetylcholine is to transmit a nerve impulse to a muscle, causing it to contract. Thus, the blockage of the neurotransmitter leads to paralysis and relaxation of the applicable muscle. This feature makes the Botox be used widespread for cosmetic use as well as medical use, for it removes wrinkles, and smoothes out facial lines, giving skin a smoother appearance. There has been a controversy whether the Botox is a safe and effective procedure or not because the toxin causes a fatal illness to humans and animals.

Image of how botox works (Source: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2004/tsej4j0/public_html/process2.html)

Generally, some health groups are against the use of Botox to prevent aging. These groups often point out that Botox is made up of commercialized Botulinum toxin A, which is proven to be poisonous and life threatening to organisms. This is indeed true. However, to accurately examine the safety and effectiveness of using Botox, we need to look at how cell biology mechanism of the toxin works. Botulinum toxin type A has both heavy chain and light chain. It uses its heavy chain in order to bind to acceptor sites on motor nerve terminals and enter a neuron through endocytosis. Using the protease activity of the light chain, Botulinum toxin A cleaves and degrades the SNAP-25 protein, which is needed to release neurotransmitters, particularly acetylcholine, from vesicles that are located in the axon endings. This results in the disruption of the release of acetylcholine that transmits a nerve impulse to a muscle, causing it to contract. Consequently, paralysis and relaxation of the applicable muscle happens for about four months.

From the mechanism above, when used in therapeutic dose, Botox does not cause serious and harmful problems to humans. In fact, pharmacological Botulinum toxin A has an excellent safety record. The most common and main side effects of Botulinum toxin A are injection site pain and bruising. Its estimated lethal dose for human beings is within the range of 2500–3000 units. Furthermore, it has been long time since Botox was approved by the FDA. It was first approved by the FDA as treatment for blepharospasm in 1989, and then for dystonia and hyperhidrosis in 2000. Finally, in 2002, Botox was approved as the cosmetic enhancement. The effectiveness of Botulinum toxin A in treating diseases is clearly exhibited by the study done by Carruthers, JA.

In conclusion, the use of Botulinum toxin A in cosmetic facial procedures and medical use is very reliable. It is very safe since typical dosage for cosmetic use is 20-50 units while lethal dose is 2500–3000 units for humans. Use of Botox in a safe and effective manner depends on how patients follow the procedures under authorized health care providers.

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This shows how botox is safe and used in many ways by dermatologist Dr Barry Lycka. (This video is from the youtube username Barry Lycka.)

-Jong Jin Park