Posted by admin on Aug 1, 2010 in |
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and its prevalence is continuously increasing. AD is characterized to varying degrees by Amyloid β, neurofibrillary tangles, gliosis, synaptic and neuronal loss leading to a decline in memory & apraxia agnosia and several neuropsychiatric changes like anxiety and depression etc. Increased age, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are considered to be the major risk factors implicated in the progression of AD. Various signaling systems, such as vasoconstrictor peptides, inflammatory mediators, growth factors, are involved in the pathogenesis of AD. At present, no promising therapy is available due to lack of understanding of signaling culprits involved in the pathogenesis of AD. Animal models are being developed to better understand the disease pathogenesis and develop drugs for this ailment. In the present review, various common lab animal models for AD are discussed, which has been used, can be used and which will open new vistas for developing new drugs to treat this cognitive...
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Posted by admin on Aug 1, 2010 in |
Filariasis is the name for a group of tropical diseases caused by various thread-like parasitic round worms (nematodes) and their larvae. The larvae transmit the disease to humans through a mosquito bite. Filariasis is characterized by fever, chills, headache, and skin lesions in the early stages and, if untreated, can progress to include gross enlargement of the limbs and genitalia in a condition called elephantiasis. While filariasis is rarely fatal, it is the second leading cause of permanent and long-term disability in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has named filariasis one of only six “potentially eradicable” infectious diseases and has embarked upon a 20-year campaign to eradicate the disease. These infections have a significant economic and psychosocial impact in endemic areas, disfiguring and/or incapacitating more than 40 million individuals. Studies from the Indian subcontinent have shown that infected patients lose significant time from work because of the disease costing the national treasury a minimum of $842 million per year. The treatment of filariasis consists of using medicines that kill the worms combined with...
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Posted by admin on Jul 1, 2010 in |
The prevalence of diabetes in India has been growing by leaps and bounds. The statistics in this regard are quite alarming. It is obvious that in a country like India, the rising prevalence of diabetes with its complications is likely to produce severe constraints on health care budgets in future. This explosion of diabetes in India has been viewed with serious concern by the WHO and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The two principal defects in type 2 diabetes are insulin deficiency and insulin resistance. Therefore, combining an insulin-providing agent with an insulin sensitizing agent will augment the efficacy of current anti- hyperglycaemic agents. This is the rational for the development and marketing of sulfonylurea/metformin combination tablets. The ultimate or primary goal of therapy for type 2 diabetes is to prevent the mortality and morbidity related to the microvascular and macrovascular complications. Since these disorders are life long, reduction in the number of tablets and daily doses is a very important consideration from the patient point of view. It...
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Posted by admin on Jul 1, 2010 in |
Herbalism is a traditional medicine practice based on the utilization of plants and plant extracts. In herbalism ‘Valerian’ is a boon medicine for several ailments. Valerian (Valerian officinalis) is a naturally occurring Ayurvedic medicine widely grown in the temperate zones of Europe, North America and Asia and is a safe herbal supplement indicated in various ailments, chief being for the symptoms associated with difficulty in sleeping. It improves subjective experiences of sleep when taken nightly over one- to two-week periods. Although the adverse effect profile and tolerability of this herb are excellent, long-term safety studies are lacking. Due to the this limitations and inconsistent results in currently published clinical trials, further research is needed to clarify the efficacy and side effect profile of valerian, especially in regard to long-term therapy. In present investigation, the medicinally important herbal drug Valerian is reviewed for various taxonomical aspects including botanical authenticity, historical backgrounds, description, existing common names, medicinally important species, going through cultivation, commerce, regulation to phytochemical description, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, adverse drug...
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Posted by admin on Jun 1, 2010 in |
Cordyceps militaris is an important medicinal mushroom useful for the extraction of several bio-metabolites for natural drugs to revitalize the various physiological systems of the body from the ancient era. The constituents of C. militaris are now using widely in the modern pharmaceutical industries. The active principles of C. militaris are beneficial to act principally as pro-sexual, anti-cancer, immunomodulatory, and anti-oxidant agent, let alone its others beneficial activities for most of the systems of the body. In addition, it has lots of clinical applications. The prospects of this novel mushroom could be used not only for modern medicinal manufacturers, but also for the community people for the betterment of their health. The present review highlights the importance of this medicinal mushroom C. militaris, also aiming to draw necessary attention of the researchers as a frontier...
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