Here is an essay on ‘Diseases’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Diseases’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Diseases
Essay Contents:
- Essay on Food Allergy
- Essay on Cancer
- Essay on Diabetes
- Essay on Cardio-Vascular Disease
- Essay on Inflammatory Disease
- Essay on Infectious Disease
- Essay on Anti-Ulcerogenic
1. Essay on Food Allergy:
The term “food hypersensitivity” is referred to any pathological manifestation due to consumption of a specific food. As per the molecular mechanism of action it is termed as “food intolerance” or “food allergy”. Food allergy is a common widespread problem globally and is on the rise in recent years.
It is also termed type I hypersensitivity, and is defined as “a disease following a response by the immune system to an otherwise innocuous antigen” or “an allergic reaction provoked by re-exposure to a specific type of antigen referred to as an allergen” which involves IgE antibody.
Allergen could be a substance of any chemical nature in the environment, capable of inducing allergy or specific hypersensitivity. The route of entry of an allergen can be through inhalation, food, touch or injection. Hypersensitivity occurs upon re exposure to an allergen. Allergy may be immediate or delayed, local or systemic and include anaphylaxis and contact dermatitis.
Though the exact prevalence of food allergy in the general population is unknown, its incidence is reported to be 20 per cent in general population and 12 per cent among children. The increasing occurrence of food allergies and eczema are now adding to the already existing substantial burden of asthma and respiratory allergic diseases. Since, the consequences of food allergy could be dangerous and sometimes life threatening, it has become a growing food safety concern.
Several treatment strategies have been developed depending on the nature of allergens and the kind of the immunological mechanisms involved. Ribeiro et al. (2013) from a descriptive, cross-sectional self- administered questionnaire concerning the current recommendations of pediatricians, pediatric gastroenterologists, allergists and nutritionists revealed that there are gaps in the knowledge of professionals about the primary prevention of food allergy. The professionals recommended modifying the age of introduction of complementary feeding to prevent the development of food allergy.
Based on extensive characterization of food allergens and a better understanding of the immunological mechanisms underlying allergic disease, promising therapeutic modalities for the treatment and eventual prevention of food allergy are being developed. Currently, strict avoidance of the allergenic food and ready access to self- injectable epinephrine is the ‘standard of care’ for food allergy.
Novel immunotherapeutic strategies include peptide immunotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, mutated or homologous protein immunotherapy, DNA immunization and immunization with immuno-stimulatory sequences, of which all strive to elicit a decreased T helper cell type 2-like response or tolerance by the immune system in response to a specific food allergen.
Other approaches such as the anti-IgE therapy or the Fcgamma-Fcepsilon fusion protein aim at preventing the release of mediators by mast cells. The combination of these different approaches would probably offer the best treatment for food-allergy in future.
Quite a few food immuno-therapies are being developed that involve oral, sublingual, epicutaneous, or subcutaneous administration of small amounts of native or modified allergens to induce immune tolerance followed by a maintenance phase with regular intake of a maximum tolerated amount of food.
Oral immuno-therapy seems to be a promising approach for food allergic patients based on results from small uncontrolled and controlled studies. For example, diet containing heated milk and egg may represent an alternative approach to oral immuno-modulation for cow’s milk and egg allergic subjects.
There is increasing evidence that the unbalanced composition of the human micro biome on human skin and mucosal surfaces may be a key player in the development of inflammatory diseases like allergy and asthma. However, this concept has not yet been verified in the recent past.
There are few studies using bacterial lysates to cure food allergy, for example, Escherichia coli plus Enterococcusfaecalis in an inactive form through a preparation-Pro-Symbioflor, and heat-killed Bifidobacterium breve and Streptococcus thermophiles. However, prevalence of food allergy could not be reduced by such interventions.
Foods that can prevent the development of wheezing through their antioxidant effects contain vitamin C and selenium; blood levels of these elements correlate negatively with the risk of wheezing. Intake of vitamin E during pregnancy also appears to be correlated with a reduced risk of wheezing in the offspring.
Similarly, low intake of zinc and carotenoids by pregnant women is associated with an increased risk of wheezing and asthma in childhood. Fiber also has anti-inflammatory properties and protective effects against allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis and asthma.
2. Essay on Cancer:
Cancer is a disease of regulation of tissue growth. Several types of cancers have been diagnosed affecting various organ/tissue systems of the body. These include, cancer of reproductive, gastrointestinal, renal, skeleto-muscular and respiratory systems along with endocrinal cancer and oral cancer. An estimated 12.66 million people were diagnosed with cancer across the world in 2008. Cancer was estimated to account for 13 per cent of all deaths (due to any cause) worldwide in 2008.
In cancer, certain cells of the body display uncontrolled growth and invasion, destroying the adjacent tissues while spreading to other body locations. Transformation of a normal cell into a cancer cell involves alteration of genes which regulate cell growth and differentiation. According to Szarc et al. (2010) epigenetic changes in DNA methylation patterns at CpG sites (epimutations) or corrupt chromatin states of key inflammatory genes and non-coding RNAs, has recently emerged as major governing factors in cancer, chronic inflammatory and metabolic disorders.
Reciprocally, inflammation, metabolic stress and diet composition can also change activities of the epigenetic machinery and indirectly or directly change chromatin marks. It is known that lifestyle, environmental conditions and nutritional components influence gene expression.
Diet is one of the important factors in cancer etiology and prevention. Diet components may modify the risk of cancer through the influence on multiple processes, including DNA repair, cell proliferation and apoptosis. Numerous clinical, pathophysiological and epidemiological studies have underlined the detrimental as well as beneficial role of nutritional factors in complex inflammation related disorders such as allergy, asthma, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, auto-immune disorders and cancer.
Recent research efforts have been greatly emphasized on the recognition of naturally occurring plant derived substances that are capable of inhibiting, retarding or reversing the development of cancer and also to avoid the problems that exist with current chemo-therapeutic regimens. Several epidemiological annotations and a number of laboratory studies have indicated cancer chemo-preventive and anti- carcinogenic potential of plant derived agents that have been traditionally used for treatment of varied human disorders in different parts of the globe.
The patterns of exposure to cancer initiators and promoters and of genetic susceptibility may determine the variations in the site-specific risks of cancer seen across populations. Fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs and/or beverages are typical foods containing various phytochemicals and have been used for prevention and treatment of a variety of human ailments since time immemorial. Nowadays, a large number of individuals are motivated towards the use of phytochemicals in order to prevent or treat chronic diseases.
Several epidemiological studies have shown that populations that consume diets rich in fruits and vegetables have an overall lower cancer incidence. Based on these encouraging observations, research efforts from across the globe have focused on identifying, characterizing, and providing scientific basis to the efficacy of various phytonutrients towards developing an effective strategy to control various human malignancies.
The unique dietary constituents like chili pepper, cloves, black pepper and black cumin have promise as chemo-preventive agents. The anti-carcinogenic benefits of selected foods have been discussed below along with the available scientific evidences.
3. Essay on Diabetes:
Globally, the prevalence of chronic, non-communicable diseases is increasing at an alarming rate and diabetes is one of them. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to a lot of complications like coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy and may result in morbidity and/or mortality. Despite the introduction of hypo-glycemic agents from natural and synthetic sources, diabetes and its secondary complications continue to be a major medical problem to people. It has been estimated that up to one-third of patients with diabetes mellitus use some form of complementary and alternative medicine.
There is the wider appeal of ‘natural’ dietary adjuncts as functional foods through which patients can gain added benefits to the management of their disease. The lack of such adjuncts to combat hyper glycaemia and its accompanying complications presents an opening to revisit traditional anti-diabetic plants. As illustrated by Gray and Flatt (1998a), there is a need for gathering scientific validation for the use of certain traditional anti-diabetic plants, and this has encouraged botanical exploration in the quest for new anti-diabetic drugs.
The World Health Organization has listed 21,000 plants, which are used for medicinal purposes around the world. Among these 2500 species are in India, out of which 150 species are used commercially on a fairly large scale. India is the largest producer of medicinal herbs and is called as botanical garden of the world.
WHO (1980) has pointed out that prevention of diabetes and its complications is not only a major challenge for the future, but also essential to attain health for all. Hence, in recent years, considerable attention is accorded towards identification of plants with anti-diabetic ability and a number of them have shown varying degrees of hypoglycemic or anti-hyperglycemic activity.
According to Aggarwal (2010), curcumin directly interacts with adipocytes, pancreatic cells, hepatic stellate cells, macrophages, and muscle cells. There, it suppresses the pro-inflammatory transcription factors nuclear factor-kappa B, signal transducer and activators of transcription-3, and Wnt/beta-catenin, and it activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma and Nrf2 cell-signaling pathways, thus leading to the down regulation of adipokines, including tumor necrosis factor interleukin-6, resistin, leptin, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1, and the up-regulation of adiponectin and other gene products.
These curcumin-induced alterations reverse insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and other symptoms linked to obesity. Shehzad et al. (2011) thus recommended that these results enable translation of curcumin to the clinical practice for the treatment and prevention of obesity-related chronic diseases.
A few vegetables that are commonly consumed in India have been claimed to possess anti-diabetic potency. Extensive work has been carried out in this regard on bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), and ivy gourd (Coccinia indica), cabbage (Brassica oleracia), green leafy vegetables, beans and tubers both in experimental animals and human diabetic subjects. A limited number of studies on other vegetables such as cabbage (Brassica oleracia), green leafy vegetables, beans and tubers have shown hypo- glycaemic effect in both experimental animals and humans.
Several other plants, M. charantia, Eugenia jambolana, Mucuna pruriens, T. cordifolia, T. foenum graecum, O. sanctum, P. marsupium, Murraya koeingii and Brassica juncea have shown varying degrees of hypoglycaemic. Yadav et al. (2010) reported that the ethanol extract of E. jambolana seeds, water extract of M. charantia fruits, ethanol extract of G. sylvestre leaves, and water extract of fenugreek seeds have higher hypoglycaemic potential and may be used as complementary medicine to treat the diabetic population by significantly reducing the dosage of standard drugs.
Spices such as garlic (Allium sativum), onion (Allium cepa), and turmeric (Curcuma longa) have been confirmed to possess anti-diabetic potential, cumin seeds (Cuminum cyminum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), mustard (Brassica nigra), and coriander (Coriandrum sativum) have also been reported to be hypoglycaemic.
Use of medicinal plants is common in Jordanian traditional medicinal system for the treatment of diabetes. The anti-oxidant activity of these plant extracts and their potential role in radical scavenging agreed with their potential use by Jordanian population as traditional anti-diabetic agents (Al-Mustafa and Al-Thunibat (2008).
Yeh et al. (2003) through a review of well-designed randomized controlled trials on anti-diabetic herbs, found the best evidence for efficacy of Coccinia indica and American ginseng. Other supplements with positive preliminary results include Gymnema sylvestre, Aloe Vera and Momordica charantia.
Based on a large number of chemical and pharmacological research work, numerous anti-diabetic bioactive compounds have been found in Chinese medicinal plants. Pharmacological and clinical evaluations by Jia et al (2003) indicated that the Chinese anti-diabetic drug formulas such as polysaccharide containing drugs restore the functions of pancreatic tissues and cause an increase in insulin output by the functional beta cells, while other ingredients enhance the microcirculation, increase the availability of insulin and facilitate the metabolism in insulin-dependent processes.
These drugs had a mild, but significant blood glucose lowering effect and that the long-term use of these agents may be advantageous over chemical drugs in alleviating some of the chronic diseases and complications caused by diabetes.
Additionally, the use of these natural agents in conjunction with conventional drug treatments, such as a chemical agent or insulin, permits decreases the dose requirement of-the drug and/or frequency of administration and thereby alleviates the side effects most commonly observed. S. cumini exerts a dual effect resembling that of a combination of mechanism of action of sulfonylurea and biguanides and may exhibit its hypoglycemic action through stimulation of surviving β cells of islets.
The hypoglycemic effect is claimed to be mediated through an insulin secretagogic effect or through an influence on enzymes involved in glucose metabolism. Several traditional anti-diabetic plant materials which are components of a normal diet do indeed exert anti-diabetic activity by improving various parameters of glucose metabolism for which, mushrooms, bitter gourd, and fenugreek seeds are good examples.
Mitra (2007) found a composite of Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) leaves, Amla (Emblica officinalis), Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia), Gurmur (Gymnema sylvestre) leaves and Jamun (Syzygium cumini) fruit and its seed fed to mild diabetic patients to be effective not only in changing the blood bio-chemical parameters but also the overall picture of insulin resistance.
Anti-Oxidants in Diabetes:
Oxidative stress is an important aspect of glucose toxicity in pancreatic β-cells. Flavonoids have been shown to exert a variety of biological effects including antioxidant, anti-inammatory, and anti-cancer effects in different cell types. In particular, flavonoids have been shown to have potent anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant activity in experimental diabetic animal models.
Diets rich in flavanols reverse vascular dysfunction in diabetes, highlighting therapeutic potentials in cardiovascular disease. A single ingestion of flavanol-containing cocoa was dose-dependently associated with significant acute increases in circulating flavanols and a 30-day, thrice-daily consumption of flavanol- containing cocoa increased baseline flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery by 30 per cent.
Yamagata et al. (2011) observed that apigenin inhibited high glucose levels and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced adhesion molecule levels in human endothelial cells. Suh et al. (2012) demonstrated that flavonoid apigenin protected pancreatic β-cells from 2-deoxy-D-ribose (dRib)-induced oxidative cell damage.
The anti-oxidants, N-acetyl-L-cysteine and alpha lipoic acid also prevented both dRib- induced oxidative damage and activation of transcriptional factors, nuclear factor- κB and activator protein. It has been reported that apigenin has the potential to regulate disease-induced thyroid dysfunction and lipid peroxidation too, apart from regulating blood glucose level.
Kuhad and Chopra (2008) emphasized the involvement of oxidative stress and inflammation in the development of cognitive impairment in diabetic animals and confirmed the therapeutic potential of sesamol (3, 4-methylenedioxyphenol), a phenolic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecule, in diabetes-associated cognitive decline. Kuhad et al. (2008) further demonstrated that chronic treatment with lycopene (1, 2 and 4 mg/kg; p.o.) significantly and dose dependently attenuated cognitive deficit, increased acetyl-cholinesterase activity, oxidative-nitrosative stress and inflammation in diabetic rats.
Chronic treatment with curcumin (60 mg/kg; p.o.) significantly attenuated cognitive deficit, cholinergic dysfunction, oxidative stress and inflammation in diabetic rats. Kuhad and Chopra (2007) emphasized the involvement of cholinergic dysfunction, oxidative stress and inflammation in the development of cognitive impairment in diabetic animals and pointed towards the potential of curcumin as an adjuvant therapy to conventional anti-hyperglycemic regimens for the prevention and treatment of diabetic encephalopathy.
Quercetin, a bioflavonoid widely distributed in the plants is reported to be a potent anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor, and memory enhancer. Bhutada et al. (2010) found that the treatment with quercetin (5-20 mg/kg, p.o., twice daily for 30 days) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats prevented the changes in blood glucose, body weight, and performance in Morris water and elevated plus maze tasks.
Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid is reported to exhibit anti-diabetic and antioxidant effect, inhibit AChE, and increase GLP release. Bhutada et al. (2011) demonstrated that treatment with berberine prevents the changes in oxidative stress and ChE activity, and consequently memory impairment in diabetic rats.
Bitter gourd also improved the anti-oxidant status, indicated by low levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and normal levels of reduced glutathione. However, rats reverted to diabetic conditions and were found to be under oxidative stress after termination of treatment.
4. Essay on Cardio-Vascular Disease (CVD):
Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) is the largest single contributor to global mortality presently and will continue to dominate mortality trends in the future as predicted by World Health Organization (WHO) way back in 2009. WHO also estimated that about 20 million CVD deaths to occur in 2015, accounting for 30 per cent of all deaths worldwide.
Further predictions by researcher’s project that non-communicable diseases will account for more than three-quarters of deaths worldwide. By 2030, and CVD alone will be responsible for more deaths in low income countries than infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria), maternal and perinatal conditions, and nutritional disorders combined.
Several lifestyle factors contribute to the development of CVD including diet rich in saturated fat and poor in dietary fiber and antioxidants. Abnormal lipid levels contribute significantly to the risk of coronary heart disease. Significant research efforts focusing on the prevention and treatment have identified elevated plasma cholesterol along with triacylglycerol, LDL and lower HDL cholesterol concentrations as risk factors for CVD. The association of hyperglycemia with an alteration of lipid parameters presents yet another crucial risk factor for cardiovascular complications in diabetes.
Oxidative stress especially in the vasculature and kidneys contributes to hypertension, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, thus becomes an important element in the etiology of ischemic stroke. Cardio-protection was associated with increased myocardial antioxidant defences. Toufektsian et al. (2008) proved that the anthocyanin-rich diet improves resistance to regional ischemia and reperfusion insult suggesting a beneficial effect of nutritional antioxidants.
Atherosclerosis is closely related to oxidative events such as oxidized LDL accumulation in the macrophages. This necessitates regular consumption of nutritional and non-nutritional antioxidants through diet as a preventive measure. Several foods exhibit anti-hyperlidemic effect that might be either due to their dietary fiber, PUFA or anti-oxidants.
Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) is the largest single contributor to global mortality presently and will continue to dominate mortality trends in the future as predicted by World Health Organization (WHO) way back in 2009. WHO also estimated that about 20 million CVD deaths to occur in 2015, accounting for 30 per cent of all deaths worldwide.
Further predictions by researcher’s project that non-communicable diseases will account for more than three-quarters of deaths worldwide. By 2030, and CVD alone will be responsible for more deaths in low income countries than infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria), maternal and perinatal conditions, and nutritional disorders combined.
Several lifestyle factors contribute to the development of CVD including diet rich in saturated fat and poor in dietary fiber and antioxidants. Abnormal lipid levels contribute significantly to the risk of coronary heart disease. Significant research efforts focusing on the prevention and treatment have identified elevated plasma cholesterol along with triacylglycerol, LDL and lower HDL cholesterol concentrations as risk factors for CVD. The association of hyperglycemia with an alteration of lipid parameters presents yet another crucial risk factor for cardiovascular complications in diabetes.
Oxidative stress especially in the vasculature and kidneys contributes to hypertension, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, thus becomes an important element in the etiology of ischemic stroke. Cardio-protection was associated with increased myocardial antioxidant defences. Toufektsian et al. (2008) proved that the anthocyanin-rich diet improves resistance to regional ischemia and reperfusion insult suggesting a beneficial effect of nutritional antioxidants.
Atherosclerosis is closely related to oxidative events such as oxidized LDL accumulation in the macrophages. This necessitates regular consumption of nutritional and non-nutritional antioxidants through diet as a preventive measure. Several foods exhibit anti-hyperlidemic effect that might be either due to their dietary fiber, PUFA or anti-oxidants.
5. Essay on Inflammatory Disease:
Inflammation is a pivotal component of a variety of diseases, such as atherosclerosis and tumor progression. The word inflammation comes from the Latin ‘inflammo’, meaning “I set alight, I ignite”. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process and also a reaction of tissues to irritation, injury, or infection sometimes resulting in destruction of the tissues.
Inflammation is part of the body’s complex biological immune response to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Symptoms of inflammation include pain (dolor), swelling (tumor), red coloration in the affected area (rubor), heat (calor) and sometimes loss of movement or function (functio laesa).
Inflammation can be classified as acute or chronic. Acute inflammation is the initial response of the body to harmful stimuli during which, the movement of plasma and leukocytes (especially granulocytes) from the blood into the injured tissues increases. The process involves local vascular system, immune system, and various cells within the injured tissue.
Prolonged inflammation, known as chronic inflammation, leads to a progressive shift in the type of cells present at the site of inflammation and is characterized by simultaneous destruction and healing of the tissue from the inflammatory process. Chronic inflammation can also lead to a host of diseases, such as hay fever, periodontitis, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and even cancer. It is for that reason that the level of inflammatory response is closely regulated by the body.
Inflammatory diseases are widespread globally. Anti-inflammatory effect refers to the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation. The treatment of these illnesses is generally carried out using synthetic and biotechnological anti-inflammatory drugs. Allopathic treatment of inflammation includes use of analgesics (pain reliever), opioids (which affect the central nervous system), steroids, specifically glucocorticoids/corticosteroids, and Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Corticosteroids bind to the glucocorticoid receptors whereas the Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) counteract the cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme which catalyses synthesis of inflammatory prostaglandins to alleviate pain.
Various naturally occurring phytochemicals exhibit anti-inflammatory activity and are considered to be potential drug candidates against inflammation-related pathological processes.
Certain foods such as red meat and refined grains were found to be pro-inflammatory. Whereas nature has provided many anti-inflammatory foods which contribute the benefit without inducing any adverse reaction. Besides their ability to reduce inflammation, they also supply essential vitamins and minerals that boost the immunity.
The anti-inflammatory foods include Salmon, tuna, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and herring that provide omega-3 fatty acids which are precursors of protective eicosanoids. There is also persuasive epidemiological and experimental evidence that dietary polyphenols found in many dietary plant products, including fruits, vegetables, beverages, herbs, and spices have anti-inflammatory activity.
Recent molecular studies on the function of taurine provide evidence that taurine is a constituent of biologic macromolecules. Specifically, two novel taurine-containing modified uridines have been found in both human and bovine mitochondria. Studies investigating the mechanism of action of Tau-Cl have shown that it inhibits the activation of NF-kappaB, a potent signal transducer for inflammatory cytokines, by oxidation of IkappaB-alpha at Met45.
Recently, re-exploration of anti-inflammatory bioactive food components for characterization of their effects on epigenome modifying enzymatic activities (acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, ribosylation, oxidation, ubiquitination, sumoylation) has been initiated. This may promote healthy ageing by reversing disease prone epi-mutations involved in chronic inflammatory and metabolic disorders.
Measurement of Inflammation Factor:
The Inflammation Factor (IF) Rating is now available for more than 6,000 foods that help in selection of anti-inflammatory foods in the diet. A positive rating indicates that a particular food is anti-inflammatory, while a rating in the negative zone means it’s pro-inflammatory. The amount and type of fat; omega-3 to omega-6 ratio; anti-inflammatory compounds such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants; glycemic load and research evidence for the anti-inflammatory effect are taken into consideration in computation of the rating scale.
Positive IF indicates that the food contains known anti-inflammatory nutrients, including monounsaturated fat, selenium, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and folate. Negative IF indicates that the food contains known inflammatory nutrients, including arachidonic acid and saturated fat.
6. Essay on Infectious Disease:
Infectious diseases, also known as transmissible diseases or communicable diseases comprise of clinically evident illness (i.e., characteristic medical signs and/ or symptoms of disease) resulting from an infection i.e., presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism. An infection is not synonymous with an infectious disease, as some infections do not cause illness in a host. Infectious pathogens include some viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions.
Bacteria are single-celled micro-organisms that grow throughout the human body, mainly on the skin and in the digestive tract. Majority of them, interestingly, are either beneficial or are rendered harmless by the immune system. Some of these beneficial bacteria also help fight the harmful pathogens.
Antibiotics are commonly prescribed to treat harmful bacterial infections. Most antibiotics do not discriminate between healthy bacteria and unhealthy bacteria. As a consequence of frequent consumption of antibiotics, many people no longer possess adequate levels of beneficial bacteria in their digestive tracts, thus increasing the risk of infections.
The increasing incidence of food borne diseases, the side effects of antibiotics along with the continuous escalation of resistant bacteria against a wide range of antibiotics necessitate discovering novel unconventional sources of antibiotics.
Most of the antimicrobial compounds are found in plant foods especially in spices. The bioactive components of many foods including spices, allium vegetables (garlic and onions), chillies, coconuts, and oils contain potential anti-oxidant, anti- mutagenic, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial/anti-bacterial properties. If isolated, the antimicrobial compounds of foods can be coated with edible films for fruits and vegetables for easy and safe consumption.
The antimicrobial properties of food extracts are well researched in the field of food preservation and infectious diseases in humans.
7. Essay on Anti-Ulcerogenic (Gastrointestinal):
Gastrointestinal disorders constitute one of the most common diseases worldwide. Peptic ulcer, encompassing gastric and duodenal ulcers is the most prevalent gastro-intestinal disorder. Oxidative stress and Helicobacter pylori colonization are considered to be important factors in the pathogenesis of gastric ulcers. The pathophysiology of peptic ulcer involves an imbalance between some endogenous aggressive factors like acid, pepsin refluxed bile, reactive oxygen species, cyto-protective factors like nitric oxide and growth factors, surface active phospholipids, prostaglandins, enzymatic and non-enzymatic anti-oxidants.
Balint (1998) discussed how the elevation of the gastric mucosal Cyclic adenosine monophosphate – Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cAMP : cGMP) ratio is a useful molecular marker that could provide insights into the effects of anti-ulcerogenic drugs. According to the literature, under normal conditions the cAMP : cGMP ratio in the rat gastric mucosa is approximately 8:10.
Following prostacyclin administration, this ratio transiently decreases but later shows a strong elevation, indicating profound changes in the intracellular cyclic nucleotide balance. There is evidence that this elevation or ‘shift’ in the cAMP : cGMP ratio is linked, on a cellular or molecular level, to the anti-ulcerogenic, cyto-protective processes in the stomach.
The main therapeutic target is the control of gastric secretion using antacids, H2 receptor blockers like ranitidine, famotidine, anticholinergic like pirenzepin, telezipine or proton pump blockers like omeprazole, lansoprazole, etc. Cimetidine and ranitidine (widely used H2 receptor- blocking drugs) administered at doses that are too low to interfere with gastric acid secretion, cause an elevation in the cAMP:cGMP ratio, an effect that is also observed with other prostaglandin derivatives and anti-ulcerogenic drugs.
These drugs now used extensively to control gastric and duodenal ulcer, inflammation and pain have limitations and are not always affordable, the clinical evaluation showing intolerance, incidence of relapses and side-effects have made their efficacy questionable.
The development of novel nontoxic antiulcer drugs, including from medicinal plants, is therefore desired. The anti-ulcer potentials of most plants still remain largely unexplored, despite their prospects evidenced by their use as ethnomedicine.