Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Secret of GARLIC

In the mysterious story, it is often told that GARLIC (Allium sativum) and its unpleasant smell can expel evil creatures so people hang it on door and windows, or use it as necklace.

Actually, in the outside of mystical power that hasn’t proven yet, garlic has a power to kill evil creature that we usually call it as bacteria.

Beside that, garlic also can expel various diseases like cardiovascular disease, inflammation, hypertension, cancer, and multiple complications that is appeared by type 2 diabetes.

Garlic doesn’t only become popular thing to research in Indonesia, but also in international. One of research is done by Dr. H. Isensee from Tubingen University, Germany, that success to prove that garlic has power as cardio protective.

Several research has revealed that garlic extract which just be bruised, could bring down and kill some kind of bacteria included drug resistant bacteria. And Allicin, which contained in garlic, also is proven that it can protect body cells from material than can cause cancer, and could make slow the spreading of cancer cells.

A lot of scientific journals has propagated the benefit of garlic. And the conclusion always just one: Garlic is useful (and very reasonable being used as food material, although its smell can make breathing smell stinky).

However, there are 2 things that need attention in order to feel optimum power of garlic: Always use fresh garlic. Beside that, let garlic that has bruised for 10 minutes, in order to increase the Allicin.

GARLIC’S FUN FACTS

Onion has close relation with garlic.

Garlic actually has high vitamin C content.

People name garlic as “Stinky Rose” because its smell.

Do you know? The way that used for disappearing garlic’s unpleasant smell is brush it to the stainless steel surface.

Because of famed, in some areas in United States, arrange Garlic Festival every year.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Prohibited Medication During Pregnancy

Most women take some kind of drug, substance or medication during pregnancy, often without realizing the potential for harm. Drugs or medication which taken by the mother may cross the placenta and reach the developing fetus. The possible effects may include prenatal death (stillbirth), developmental delay, intellectual disability and birth defects.

Therefore, US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) creates a system for rating drugs in terms of their safety during pregnancy. This system rates both over-the-counter (OTC) drugs you can buy in a drug or discount store, and drugs your health care provider prescribes. But most medicines have not been studied in pregnant women to see if they cause damage to the growing fetus.


The FDA system ranks drugs as:

· Category A – drugs that have been tested for safety during pregnancy and have been found to be safe.

· Category B - drugs that have been used a lot during pregnancy and do not appear to cause major birth defects or other problems.

· Category C - drugs that are more likely to cause problems for the mother or fetus. Also includes drugs for which safety studies have not been finished. The majority of these drugs do not have safety studies in progress. These drugs often come with a warning that they should be used only if the benefits of taking them outweigh the risks. This is something a woman would need to carefully discuss with her doctor.

· Category D - drugs that have clear health risks for the fetus

· Category X - drugs that have been shown to cause birth defects and should never be taken during pregnancy.

The list of drugs which is prohibited during pregnancy and the efect to the baby are:

Medication

Possible Effects

Androgens (male hormones)

Ambiguous genital development (depends on dose given and time when given)

Anticoagulants (warfarin)

Bone and hand abnormalities, intrauterine-growth retardation, central-nervous-system abnormalities, eye abnormalities

Antithyroid drugs (propylthiouracil, iodide, methimazole)

Hypothyroidism, fetal goiter

Chemotherapeutic drugs (methotrexate, aminopterin)

Increased risk of miscarriage

Isotretinoin (Accutane)

Increased miscarriage rate, nervous-system defects, facial defects, cleft palate

Lithium

Congenital heart disease

Phenytoin (Dilantin)

Growth retardation, mental retardation, microcephaly

Streptomycin

Hearing loss, cranial-nerve damage

Tetracycline

Hypoplasia of tooth enamel, discoloration of permanent teeth

Thalidomide

Severe limb defects

Trimethadione

Cleft lip, cleft palate, growth retardation, miscarriage

Valproic acid

Neural-tube defects

There are still a lot of drugs, which haven’t tested yet for pregnant women. So it is good for you or your wife for seeking advice from your doctor before you take some medication.