The Medical Manifesto

The Disease That Stopped Life As We Know It: Covid-19 Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, I have heard and seen many different beliefs and practises. Here I will address some of these beliefs and provide fact instead of rumour.  So and So's got coronavirus... Firstly, I think it is important to distinguish between Covid-19 and Coronavirus. The name of the disease that is at the centre of this pandemic is Coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated to Covid-19. Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered CORONA VIRUS . Coronavirus is a large family of viruses, some of which cause less-severe diseases than Covid-19, such as the common cold; others causes more serious diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The virus causing Covid-19 has been defined as SARS-CoV-2.  Initial research into the SARS-Cov-2 virus indicates that it is a beta-coronavirus that is genetically similar to SARS-like c

It's flu season! Aka coughing, sneezing and sniffling all around. What is a cough? A cough is a complex protective reflex. The purpose of this reflex is facilitating the clearance of aspirate, mucous, irritant, etc. from the airways. The reflex is initiated by an airway stimulant such as mucous. This initiates a 'signal' which travels through the vagus nerve, before dividing into a 'conscious' and an 'unconscious' pathway. The pathway involved in the cough reflex is the unconscious pathway, occurring with the absence of voluntary input. The resulting signal continues towards the spinal cord and then into the branches responsible for the innervation of the respiratory muscles, which become stimulated and lead to a cough. How do you know if your cough is more than just a symptom of a cold?  A cough will usually clear up on its own within 3 to 4 weeks, with no need to see a general practitioner (GP). You can help this process along by ensuring you get

Eating disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent throughout the world. They are responsible for more loss of life than any other mental health condition. Sara Ariel Wong for NPR For this reason it is crucial to increase the awareness of the  Symptoms of Eating Disorders. Spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape Having a distorted body image Avoiding socialising when you think food will be involved  Feeling anxious or irritable around meal times Feeling 'out of control' around food Eating very little food or sudden changes in food preferences Deliberately making yourself sick or taking laxatives after you eat  Exercising too much Having very strict habits or routines around food (e.g. frequent trips to the bathroom) Changes in your mood Changes in clothing (e.g. baggy clothes to hide weight loss/gain) You may also notice physical signs, including : Feeling cold, tired or dizzy Problems with your digestion Your weight bein

One of the hottest topics worldwide right now is the human diet, but the problem is that there are so many opinions on what the ideal human diet should be, that it’s almost impossible to know which one to follow. What we do know is that diet has a direct effect on both mental and physical health. Inappropriate diets have been shown to lead to undesirable diseases such as type 2 diabetes or even cancer. Recent research has lead many people to believe that a plant-based diet may be the answer to the worlds growing diet dilemma. It is often debated whether humans should be meat eaters or not – from our teeth (with a lack of true canines as found in carnivores) to our gut (which is similar to that of apes, who survive on a diet of fruit, leaves, nuts, insects and the occasional scrap of meat as opposed to that of bears, who are true omnivores) all the signs point towards a diet without meat. However, evolutionists have suggested that without meat and animal products we may not have ev

The drinking of coffee began approximately 1000 years ago in Arabia and this custom spread to Europe at some point during the 16 th century. Before this, unsanitary water conditions drove Europeans to drinking weak beer or wine in order to hydrate – we can all imagine the potential result of that, and it does not include a good work ethic. At the time, the arrival of coffee was considered nothing short of a miracle: simultaneously increasing energy, work ethic and hydration. Only recently have we begun to investigate the effects that coffee has on our bodies.   Coffee contains a molecule called caffeine. Caffeine is very similar in structure to adenosine, a component of adenosine triphosphate (ATP, our bodies’ source of energy). According to Brain Research Reviews, this means that caffeine is able to bind to adenosine receptors in the nervous system. Caffeine is unable to activate these receptors, but blocks the binding of adenosine. Adenosine typically binds to type 2 adenosine