Health Science Simplified

Malaria is a leading killer in many parts of the world. The statistics on the disease are pretty scary. About 90 countries on the planet struggle with the disease, these are mostly tropical, underdeveloped nations spread across Africa, Asia and South America. Africa undoutedly is the biggest victim and it is estimated that malaria kills a child on the continent every 30 minutes (Yeah that's pretty scary!) Some of the kids who do survive the disease unfortunately suffer from lasting mental impairment. In fact malaria makes the mortality figures of HIV/AIDS look insignificant. Most people would agree that this monster must be stopped at all costs (Yours truly included. I have taken a few blows from the disease myself over the years). Malaria was successfully eradicated in the developed world in the 20th century using combinations of highly effective insecticides to kill off the mosquitoes and antimalarial drugs to tackle the parasite causing the disease ins...

How are free radicals naturally generated in the body? A plethora of biochemical activities are constantly taking place inside the human body at any given point in time, most of these activities are highly dependent on energy. Basic biology tells us that the main source of energy used by our cells is glucose. Glucose undergoes a series of metabolic conversions to various products at different stages, culminating in the synthesis of ATP(Adenosine triphosphate). ATP is simply an energy currency. Yes, much like the US Dollar, the British Pound and even the perpetually weak Nigerian Naira. A currency serves two main purposes : A currency is a store of value and a medium of exchange. The figure below illustrates the production of ATP from glucose. Figure 1. Glucose metabolism :::  Basic medical key ATP AS AN ENERGY CURRENCY Let us examine the structure of ATP a bit closely to glean some information about its characteristics. ...