|
Diosmectite
Diosmectite (brand names Smecta, Smecdral) is a natural silicate of aluminium and magnesium used as an intestinal adsorbent in the treatment of several gastrointestinal diseases, including infectious and non-infectious acute and chronic diarrhoea, including irritable bowel syndrome diarrhea subtype. Other uses include: chronic diarrhea caused by radiation-induced, chemotherapy-induced, and HIV/AIDS-associated chronic diarrhea. It is insoluble in water. It is usually taken orally as a suspension in warm water. In the field of geology, it is more commonly known as montmorillonite. Diosmectite is a contraction of " dioctahedral smectite". Mechanism of action Its effectiveness in improving stool consistency is the result of its alleged ability to absorb bacteria, viruses and toxins as well as strengthening the intestinal mucus barrier to reduce luminal antigens passing through the mucus barrier which in turn helps to reduce inflammation. Diosmectite may be a useful additive in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diarrhoea
Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin with loss of the normal stretchiness of the skin and irritable behaviour. This can progress to decreased urination, loss of skin color, a fast heart rate, and a decrease in responsiveness as it becomes more severe. Loose but non-watery stools in babies who are exclusively breastfed, however, are normal. What is diarrhea? How is it caused, treated and prevented? (see also script)The most common cause is an infection of the intestines due to a virus, bacterium, or parasite—a condition also known as gastroenteritis. These infections are often acquired from food or water that has been contaminated by feces, or directly from another person who is infected. The three types of diarrhea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medicinal Clay
The use of medicinal clay in folk medicine goes back to prehistoric times. Indigenous peoples around the world still use clay widely. Such uses include external application to the skin and geophagy. The first recorded use of medicinal clay goes back to ancient Mesopotamia. A wide variety of clays are used for medicinal purposes—primarily for external applications, such as the clay baths in health spas ( mud therapy). Among the clays most commonly used are kaolin and the smectite clays such as bentonite, montmorillonite, and Fuller's earth. However, their use is declining, and modern evidence-based medicine has ended the use of many types. History Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The first recorded use of medicinal clay is on Mesopotamian clay tablets around 2500 BC. Also, ancient Egyptians used clay. The Pharaohs’ physicians used the material as anti-inflammatory agents and antiseptics. It was used as a preservative for making mummies and is also reported that Cleopatra us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silicate
A silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name is also used for any salt of such anions, such as sodium metasilicate; or any ester containing the corresponding chemical group, such as tetramethyl orthosilicate. The name "silicate" is sometimes extended to any anions containing silicon, even if they do not fit the general formula or contain other atoms besides oxygen; such as hexafluorosilicate . Most commonly, silicates are encountered as silicate minerals. For diverse manufacturing, technological, and artistic needs, silicates are versatile materials, both natural (such as granite, gravel, and garnet) and artificial (such as Portland cement, ceramics, glass, and waterglass). Structural principles In most silicates, a silicon atom occupies the center of an idealized tetrahedron whose cor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montmorillonite
Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate group of minerals that form when they precipitate from water solution as microscopic crystals, known as clay. It is named after Montmorillon in France. Montmorillonite, a member of the smectite group, is a 2:1 clay, meaning that it has two tetrahedral sheets of silica sandwiching a central octahedral sheet of alumina. The particles are plate-shaped with an average diameter around 1 μm and a thickness of 0.96 nm; magnification of about 25,000 times, using an electron microscope, is required to resolve individual clay particles. Members of this group include saponite, nontronite, beidellite, and hectorite. Montmorillonite is a subclass of smectite, a 2:1 phyllosilicate mineral characterized as having greater than 50% octahedral charge; its cation exchange capacity is due to isomorphous substitution of Mg for Al in the central alumina plane. The substitution of lower valence cations in such instances leaves the nearby oxygen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geophagy
Geophagia (), also known as geophagy (), is the intentional practice of consuming earth or soil-like substances such as clay, chalk, or termite mounds. It is a behavioural adaptation that occurs in many non-human animals and has been documented in more than 100 primate species. Geophagy in non-human primates is primarily used for protection from parasites, to provide mineral supplements and to help metabolize toxic compounds from leaves. Geophagy also occurs in humans and is most commonly reported among children and pregnant women. Human geophagia is a form of pica – the craving and purposive consumption of non-food items – and is classified as an eating disorder in the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM) if not socially or culturally appropriate. Sometimes geophagy is a consequence of carrying a hookworm infection. Although its etiology remains unknown, geophagy has many potential adaptive health benefits as well as negative consequences. Anima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antigens
In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule, moiety, foreign particulate matter, or an allergen, such as pollen, that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. The presence of antigens in the body may trigger an immune response. Antigens can be proteins, peptides (amino acid chains), polysaccharides (chains of simple sugars), lipids, or nucleic acids. Antigens exist on normal cells, cancer cells, parasites, viruses, fungi, and bacteria. Antigens are recognized by antigen receptors, including antibodies and T-cell receptors. Diverse antigen receptors are made by cells of the immune system so that each cell has a specificity for a single antigen. Upon exposure to an antigen, only the lymphocytes that recognize that antigen are activated and expanded, a process known as clonal selection. In most cases, antibodies are ''antigen-specific'', meaning that an antibody can only react to and bind one specific antigen; in some instances, however, antibodies may cross-react ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lumen (anatomy)
In biology, a lumen (: lumina) is the inside space of a tubular structure, such as an artery or intestine. It comes . It can refer to: *the interior of a vessel, such as the central space in an artery, vein or capillary through which blood flows *the interior of the gastrointestinal tract *the pathways of the bronchi in the lungs *the interior of renal tubules and urinary collecting ducts *the pathways of the female genital tract, starting with a single pathway of the vagina, splitting up in two lumina in the uterus, both of which continue through the fallopian tubes *the fluid-filled cavity forming in the blastocyst during pre-implantation development called the blastocoel In cell biology, lumen is a membrane-defined space that is found inside several organelles, cellular components, or structures, including thylakoid, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosome, mitochondrion, and microtubule. Transluminal procedures ''Transluminal procedures'' are procedures occur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smectite
A smectite (; ; ) is a mineral mixture of various swelling sheet silicates (phyllosilicates), which have a three-layer 2:1 (TOT) structure and belong to the clay minerals. Smectites mainly consist of montmorillonite, but can often contain secondary minerals such as quartz and calcite. Terminology In clay mineralogy, smectite is synonym of montmorillonite (also the name of a pure clay mineral phase) to indicate a class of swelling clays. The term smectite is commonly used in Europe and in the UK while the term montmorillonite is preferred in North America, but both terms are equivalent and can be used interchangeably. For industrial and commercial applications, the term bentonite is mostly used in place of smectite or montmorillonite. Mineralogical structure The 2:1 layer (TOT) structure consists of two Silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2) Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedral (T) layers which are electrostatically cross-linked via an Al2O3 (gibbsite), or Fe2O3, Octahedral mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insoluble
In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution. The extent of the solubility of a substance in a specific solvent is generally measured as the concentration of the solute in a saturated solution, one in which no more solute can be dissolved. At this point, the two substances are said to be at the solubility equilibrium. For some solutes and solvents, there may be no such limit, in which case the two substances are said to be " miscible in all proportions" (or just "miscible"). The solute can be a solid, a liquid, or a gas, while the solvent is usually solid or liquid. Both may be pure substances, or may themselves be solutions. Gases are always miscible in all proportions, except in very extreme situations,J. de Swaan Arons and G. A. M. Diepen (1966): "Gas—Gas Equilibria". ''Journal of Chemical Physics'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aluminium
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has a great affinity towards oxygen, passivation (chemistry), forming a protective layer of aluminium oxide, oxide on the surface when exposed to air. It visually resembles silver, both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light. It is soft, magnetism, nonmagnetic, and ductility, ductile. It has one stable isotope, 27Al, which is highly abundant, making aluminium the abundance of the chemical elements, 12th-most abundant element in the universe. The radioactive decay, radioactivity of aluminium-26, 26Al leads to it being used in radiometric dating. Chemically, aluminium is a post-transition metal in the boron group; as is common for the group, aluminium forms compounds primarily in the +3 oxidation state. The aluminium cation Al3+ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HIV/AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, preventable disease. It can be managed with treatment and become a manageable chronic health condition. While there is no cure or vaccine for HIV, Management of HIV/AIDS, antiretroviral treatment can slow the course of the disease, and if used before significant disease progression, can extend the life expectancy of someone living with HIV to a nearly standard level. An HIV-positive person on treatment can expect to live a normal life, and die with the virus, not of it. Effective #Treatment, treatment for HIV-positive people (people living with HIV) involves a life-long regimen of medicine to suppress the virus, making the viral load undetectable. Treatment is recommended as soon as the diagnosis is made. An HIV-positive person who has an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
