Causes And Risk Factors Of Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary refers to the major arteries and blood vessels that supply blood, oxygen and other nutrients to the heart. Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is a complicated condition of these major arteries and blood vessels in which the arteries of the heart become tough and rigid due to the accumulation of a waxy cholesterol-containing substance called “plague”. This condition may lead to severe fatal results because the plague deposit will cause the arteries and blood vessels to narrow causing decreased blood flow to the heart and resulting in severe chest pain, shortness of breath, and eventually a heart attack. Cholesterol is one of the biggest cause of Coronary Heart Disease. The process of plague deposit is called atherosclerosis and plague or fatty deposits are called atheroma. In this article we will discuss the causes and risk factors of Coronary Heart Disease.  

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Atheroma (Waxy Cholesterol Plague), Biggest Cause and Risk Factor Of Coronary Heart Disease 

Why Does Coronary Heart Disease Happens:

Because Coronary Heart Disease is caused by the plague deposit in the major blood vessels that supply blood, oxygen and other nutrients to the heart, it is mostly caused by the lifestyle of a particular person such as:

• ·         Smoking
• ·         Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
• ·         Diabetes
• ·         High Cholesterol
• ·         Sedentary lifestyle

Causes & Risk Factors of Coronary Heart Disease:

Coronary heart disease is caused by the deposit of atheroma (fatty cholesterol plague) in the major blood vessels that supply nutrients to the heart, however, it is supposed to begin with damage or injury to the internal layer of a coronary artery, sometime in childhood. The damage to the inner layer have variety of controllable and uncontrollable reasons including:

• High blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels
• Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
• Diabetes
• Overweight and Obesity
• Smoking
• Lack of Physical Activity
• Unhealthy Diet
• Stress

Uncontrollable causes of Coronary Heart Disease Include:

• Age
• Gender
• Family History of Coronary Heart Disease

The damage to the inner wall of coronary artery is a complicated situation. Once the internal wall of coronary artery is damaged, the cholesterol and other cellular based atheroma (fatty plague) starts accumulating the artery (atherosclerosis), thus causing narrowing of artery and if somehow, the plague ruptures, then platelets (blood clotting cells) try to repair and clump the site of injury. This clot of blood in the artery may block the artery completely and thus causing heart attack.   

Risk Factors of Coronary Heart Disease:

There are many risk factors and causes of coronary heart disease. Some are controllable and some are uncontrollable. The major causes and risk factors of coronary heart disease are High Blood Cholesterol Level, Smoking, Obesity, Diabetes. Explanation of the risk factors of Coronary Heart Disease are as follows:

High Blood Cholesterol and Triglyceride Levels:

Cholesterol and its derivatives are important constituents of cell membranes but their high concentration in blood are thought to promote atherosclerosis (deposit of cholesterol based fatty plague in coronary arteries) and heart attack.

Lipoproteins are of a group of soluble proteins that combine with and transport fat or other lipids in the blood plasma. Cholesterol is carried in bloodstream by the lipoproteins. Lipoproteins are of two types:

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL): 

Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol is referred as Bad Cholesterol on the grounds that it receives cholesterol from liver and transport it to cells, tissues and blood vessels including your heart supply routes. A high level of Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol raises the danger of Coronary Heart Disease.

High-Density lipoproteins (HDL): 

High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol is referred as Good Cholesterol as it helps in removing and breakdown of Cholesterol by bringing back cholesterol from different cells, tissues and blood vessels back to liver where it is broken down. A low level of High Density Lipoprotein cholesterol raises the danger of Coronary Heart Disease.

Good and healthy levels of both Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol will inhibit atheroma (plaque) from building up in your blood vessels especially coronary arteries. 

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure):  

High blood pressure or circulatory strain is the power of blood pushing against the arteries as your heart pumps blood. Uncontrollable high blood pressure may result in rigidity, thinking and narrowing of coronary arteries thus causing an increased risk of Coronary Heart Disease. All levels above 120/80 mmHg raise your danger of Coronary Heart Disease.

Diabetes (High Blood Sugar Level):

Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism which causes excessive thirst and the production of large amounts of urine. It is a condition in which the body's blood glucose level raises too high. As High Blood Sugar Level doesn’t directly affect the risk of Coronary Heart Disease (if the person is not diabetic), however, high blood sugar level may lead to Diabetes which double the risk for developing Coronary Heart Disease. Diabetes are of two types:

Type 1 Diabetes: 

This is also called as Juvenile Diabetes or Insulin Dependent Diabetes. In Type 1 Diabetes, the body's blood glucose level is too much high because body’s pancreas doesn't make enough insulin. Insulin is a hormone that moves glucose molecules into cells, where it's utilized for energy.

Type 2 Diabetes: 

It is also called as Diabetes Mellitus. In Type 2 Diabetes, the body have a high glucose level because of insulin resistance and lack of insulin.

A high blood glucose level can prompt plaque deposit (atherosclerosis) in coronary arteries which results in thickness, narrowing and rigidity of coronary arteries thus causing coronary heart disease.

Obesity (Overweight):

The state of being fat and overweight is called as obesity. Being obese worsen the other risk factors for developing coronary heart disease because overweight or obesity causes increased high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Smoking (Exposure to Tobacco):

Smoking is the habit of inhaling and exhaling the smoke of tobacco or a drug. Smoking is the biggest cause or Coronary Heart Disease because chemicals in the cigarettes damages the internal layers of coronary arteries which triggers the development of plaque (atheroma) in arteries. Smoking additionally upsurge the danger of blood clumps in blood vessels especially coronary arteries. Blood clot may result in heart attach if the artery is blocked by a blood clump.

Other risk factors of coronary heart disease like lack of physical activity, unhealthy diet and stress link to above major risk factors of coronary heart disease. Lack of physical activity, stress and unhealthy diet result in increased cholesterol level and high blood pressure which triggers the development of atheroma (fatty cholesterol based plague) in coronary arteries which results in narrowing, thinking and hardness of blood vessels causing Coronary Heart Disease.    

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Reasons: Why Mendel Chose Pea Plant (Pisum Stavium) For His Breeding Experiments

MENDEL, Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 — 1884) laid the foundation of classical genetics by formulating two laws of heredity;

• Law of Segregation 
• Law of Independent Assortment 

By profession, he was a priest but he's fond of gardening. He performed series of breeding experiments on garden pea, Pisum sativum in monastery garden for eleven years (1854 — 1865). Now the question arises, Why Mendel chose only the Pea Plant? There are lots of other plants and other species which can be chosen for performing experiments. But Mendel only chose Pea Plant (Pisum sativum). Following are the reasons:

Reasons For Selection Of Pea Plant:

Mendel can choose some other plant for experiments but he selected pea plant due to following reasons:

Easy to Cultivate: Pea plant (Pisum sativum) was easy to cultivate. It grew well in his garden.  

Hermaphrodite: Its flowers were hermaphrodite I.e. pea plant have both male and female sexual organs. 

Cross-fertilization (Cross-Pollination) Easily Controlled: It was normally self-fertilizing (self-pollinating) that is the fertilization of plants and some invertebrate animals by their own pollen or sperm rather than that of another individual, but could also be cross fertilized (cross-pollinated) that is the transfer of pollen grains from an anther of a flower of one plant to a stigma of a flower of another plant of the same species.  

Short Generation Time: As the time gap between generations was short, Mendel could raise many generations of pea within a short time. This is one of the main reason for choosing Pea plant (Pisum sativum).  

Many Distinct Traits: Pea had many sharply distinct. its each trait had two clear cut alternative forms or varieties: e.g. seed shape had a round or wrinkled phenotype, plant height was either tall or short, seed color could be yellow or green etc. Mendel called them pair of contrasting traits. He focused on seven such contrasting pair of traits.

Process Of Recombinant DNA Technology (Genetic Engineering)

Recombinant DNA Technology Definition:

Recombinant DNA is the technology used for making artificial DNA (genetic modification) by combining different genetic materials (DNA) from different sources. It is the laboratory methods of genetic recombination to get genetic material (DNA) from different sources which would create a genomic sequence that would not otherwise be found in the genome. 

Gene Cloning Process:

The production of exact identical copies of a particular gene (DNA sequence) extracted from an organism. Identical twins are the perfect example of Gene Cloning.

Gene cloning produces many identical copies of a particular extracted gene. Recombinant DNA technology (genetic engineering) is used when large number of genes is required. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to create a lesser number of copies within a laboratory test tube.

Process of Recombinant DNA Technology:

Recombinant DNA technology popularly known as genetic engineering aims at synthesizing recombinant DNA also known as recombinant deoxsyribonucleicacid which contains DNA from two different sources. In order to produce recombinant DNA, following are required:

• Gene of interest, which is to be cloned
• Molecular scissors, to cut out the gene of interest
• Molecular carrier (vector), on which gene of interest could be placed
• An expression system, on which the gene of interest along with the vector is then introduced as a result of which a specific product is made

How to get a gene:

In the process of recombinant DNA technology, first of all we’ll have to get a gene which is to be cloned. There are two ways to get the gene of interest.

• To Isolate It from The Chromosome: Genes can be isolated from the chromosomes by cutting the chromosomes on the flanking sites of the gene using special enzymes known as restriction endonucleases.
• Chemical Gene Synthesis by Messenger RNA (mRNA): If the genes are small or for some reason we can’t isolate from chromosomes, they can also be synthesized chemically in the laboratory. To make a gene chemically in laboratory, messenger RNA (mRNA) is used. We’ll use the reverse transcriptase enzyme method. Reverse transcriptase is the enzyme which forms DNA from an RNA template in reverse transcription. This DNA molecule is called complementary DNA (cDNA) and is mainly associated with retro viruses.  

Molecular Scissors (Restriction Endonucleases):

Using of Molecular Scissors is the second step in making recombinant DNA. Molecular Scissors also known as Restriction Endonuclease is the enzyme which cleaves DNA molecules at specific base sequences producing small gene fragments by breaking internal covalent bonds linking nucleotides, used in recombinant DNA technology and chromosome mapping. They are natural enzymes of bacteria, which they use for their own protection against viruses. The restriction enzyme (Restriction Endonuclease) cuts down the viral DNA, but does no harm to the bacterial chromosome. They are called restriction enzymes or molecular scissors because they restrict the growth of viruses. In 1970, Hamilton D. Smith, at Johns Hopkins University, isolated the first restriction enzyme.

Palindromic Sequences:

A palindromic sequence is the nucleic acid sequence (DNA or RNA) which reads the same in both directions. These sequences are recognition sites for enzymes. Bacteria produce a variety of such restriction enzymes, which cut the DNA at very specific sites characterized by specific sequence of four to six nucleotides arranged symmetrically in the reverse order. Such sequences are known as palindromic sequences. So far more than 400 such enzymes have been isolated out of which about 20 are frequently used in recombinant DNA technology.

EcoR1 (A Restriction Enzyme): EcoR1, a commonly used restriction enzyme (endonuclease), cuts double stranded DNA when it has this sequence of bases at the cleavage site. Notice there is now a gap into which a piece of foreign DNA can be placed, if it ends in bases complementary to those exposed by restriction enzyme.

Sticky Ends:

The single stranded but complementary ends of the two DNA molecules are called sticky ends because they can now bind by the complementary base pairing. They therefore facilitate the insertion of foreign DNA into vector DNA.

Molecular Carrier (Vector):

A vector is the mean by which recombinant DNA is introduced into a host cell. One common type of vector is plasmid. Plasmids were discovered by scientists studying the sex life of the intestinal bacterium Escherichia coli.

Plasmids are natural extra chromosomal circular DNA molecules which carry genes for antibiotic resistance and fertility etc. One of the plasmids discovered earlier is PSC 101 has antibiotic resistance gene for tetracycline, whereas PSR 322, has antibiotic resistance gene for tetracycline as well as ampicillin. Inserting gene of interest in tetracycline gene of plasmid (PSR 322) would enable separating out colonies of bacteria in a medium containing ampicillin and vice versa.

Recombinant DNA Preparation:

For preparation of recombinant DNA, the plasmids are cut with the same molecular scissors (restriction enzymes), which was used for isolation of the gene. The gene of interest for instance insulin is then joined with the sticky ends produced after cutting the plasmids with the help of another special enzyme called DNA ligase. DNA ligase is a very important enzyme in recombinant DNA technique that facilitates the joining of DNA strands together by catalyzing the formation of a phosphodiester bond. It seals the foreign piece of DNA into vector. Now the two different pieces of DNA have joined together which is now known as Recombinant DNA or Chimaeric DNA.

Expression of Recombinant DNA:

A clone can be a large number of molecules (i.e. cloned genes) or cells (i.e. cloned bacteria) or organisms that are identical to an original specimen. Bacterial cells take up recombinant plasmid, especially if they are treated with calcium chloride to make them more permeable. Thereafter, as the cell reproduces, a bacterial clone forms and each new cell contains at least one plasmid. Therefore, each of the bacteria contains the gene of interest, which will express itself and make a product. From this bacterial clone, the cloned gene can be isolated for further analysis or protein product can be separated. Besides plasmids, the DNA of bacterial viruses (for example lambda phage) can also be used as a vector. After lambda phage it attaches to a host bacterium, recombinant DNA is released from the virus and enters the bacterium. Here it will direct the reproduction of many more viruses. Each virus in bacteriophage clone contains a copy of the gene being cloned. 

All Types Of Cancer (Full List)

Types of Cancer

Cancer is a disease which is caused by uncontrolled proliferation of abnormal cells in body. Cancer develops when the body’s normal control mechanism stops working. Following are the types of Cancer.

A

• Acute granulocytic leukemia (Leukemia)
• Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) (Leukemia)
• Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) (Leukemia)
• Adenocarcinoma (Lung cancer)
• Adenosarcoma (Lung cancer)
• Adrenal cancer
• Adrenocortical carcinoma (Adrenal cancer)
• Anal cancer
• Anaplastic astrocytoma (Brain cancer)
• Angiosarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)
• Appendix cancer
• Astrocytoma (Brain cancer)

B

• Basal cell carcinoma (Skin cancer)
• B-Cell lymphoma (Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL))
• Bile duct cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Bone cancer
• Bowel cancer (Colorectal cancer)
• Brain cancer
• Brain stem glioma (Brain cancer)
• Brain tumor (Brain cancer)
• Breast cancer

C

• Carcinoid tumors
• Cervical cancer
• Chondrosarcoma (Bone cancer)
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (Leukemia)
• Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) (Leukemia)
• Colon cancer (Colorectal cancer)
• Colorectal cancer
• Craniopharyngioma (Brain cancer)
• Cutaneous lymphoma (Skin cancer)
• Cutaneous melanoma (Melanoma)

D

• Diffuse astrocytoma (Brain cancer)
• Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) (Breast cancer)

E

• Endometrial cancer (Uterine cancer)
• Ependymoma (Brain cancer)
• Epithelioid sarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)
• Esophageal cancer
• Ewing sarcoma (Bone cancer)
• Extrahepatic bile duct cancer (Bile duct cancer)
• Eye cancer

F

• Fallopian tube cancer (Ovarian cancer)
• Fibrosarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)

G

• Gallbladder cancer
• Gastric cancer (Stomach cancer)
• Gastrointestinal cancer
• Gastrointestinal carcinoid cancer
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST)
• Germ cell tumor (Brain cancer)
• Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (Brain cancer)
• Glioma (Brain cancer)

H

• Hairy cell leukemia (Leukemia)
• Head and neck cancer
• Hemangioendothelioma
• Hodgkin lymphoma
• Hodgkin's disease (Hodgkin lymphoma)
• Hodgkin's lymphoma (Hodgkin lymphoma)
• Hypopharyngeal cancer (Throat cancer)

I

• Infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) (Breast cancer)
• Infiltrating lobular carcinoma (ILC) (Breast cancer)
• Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) (Breast cancer)
• Intestinal Cancer
• Intrahepatic bile duct cancer (Bile duct cancer)
• Invasive / infiltrating breast cancer (Breast cancer)
• Islet cell cancer (Pancreatic cancer)

J

• Jaw cancer (Oral cancer)

K

• Kaposi sarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)
• Kidney cancer

L

• Laryngeal cancer (Throat cancer)
• Leiomyosarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)
• Leptomeningeal metastases
• Leukemia
• Lip cancer (Oral cancer)
• Liposarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)
• Liver cancer
• Lobular carcinoma in situ (Breast cancer)
• Low-grade astrocytoma (Brain cancer)
• Lung cancer
• Lymph node cancer (Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL))
• Lymphoma (Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL))

M

• Male breast cancer (Breast cancer)
• Medullary carcinoma (Breast cancer)
• Medulloblastoma (Brain cancer)
• Melanoma
• Meningioma (Brain cancer)
• Merkel cell carcinoma (Skin cancer)
• Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma (Bone cancer)
• Mesenchymous
• Mesothelioma
• Metastatic breast cancer (Breast cancer)
• Metastatic melanoma (Melanoma)
• Metastatic squamous neck cancer
• Mixed gliomas (Brain cancer)
• Mouth cancer (Oral cancer)
• Mucinous carcinoma (Breast cancer)
• Mucosal melanoma (Oral cancer)
• Multiple myeloma

N

• Nasal cavity cancer (Throat cancer)
• Nasopharyngeal cancer (Throat cancer)
• Neck cancer (Head and neck cancer)
• Neuroblastoma
• Neuroendocrine tumors (Intestinal Cancer)
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL))
• Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Lung cancer)

O

• Oat cell cancer (Lung cancer)
• Ocular cancer
• Ocular melanoma
• Oligodendroglioma (Brain cancer)
• Oral cancer
• Oral cavity cancer (Oral cancer)
• Oropharyngeal cancer (Throat cancer)
• Osteogenic sarcoma (Bone cancer)
• Osteosarcoma (Bone cancer)
• Ovarian cancer
• Ovarian epithelial cancer (Ovarian cancer)
• Ovarian germ cell tumor (Ovarian cancer)
• Ovarian primary peritoneal carcinoma (Ovarian cancer)
• Ovarian sex cord stromal tumor (Ovarian cancer)

P

• Paget's disease (Breast cancer)
• Pancreatic cancer
• Papillary carcinoma (Breast cancer)
• Paranasal sinus cancer
• Parathyroid cancer (Thyroid cancer)
• Pelvic cancer
• Penile cancer
• Peripheral nerve cancer (Brain cancer)
• Peritoneal cancer (Ovarian cancer)
• Pharyngeal cancer (Throat cancer)
• Pheochromocytoma (Adrenal cancer)
• Pilocytic astrocytoma (Brain cancer)
• Pineal region tumor (Brain cancer)
• Pineoblastoma
• Pituitary gland cancer (Brain cancer)
• Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma
• Prostate cancer

R

• Rectal cancer (Colorectal cancer)
• Renal cell cancer (Kidney cancer)
• Renal pelvis cancer (Kidney cancer)
• Rhabdomyosarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)

S

• Salivary gland cancer (Oral cancer)
• Sarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)
• Sarcoma, bone (Bone cancer)
• Sarcoma, soft tissue
• Sarcoma, uterine (Uterine cancer)
• Sinus cancer
• Skin cancer
• Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (Lung cancer)
• Small intestine cancer
• Soft tissue sarcoma
• Spinal cancer
• Spinal column cancer (Spinal cancer)
• Spinal cord cancer (Spinal cancer)
• Spinal tumor (Spinal cancer)
• Squamous cell carcinoma (Skin cancer)
• Stomach cancer
• Synovial sarcoma (Soft tissue sarcoma)

T

• T-cell lymphoma (Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL))
• Testicular cancer
• Throat cancer
• Thymoma / thymic carcinoma
• Thyroid cancer
• Tongue cancer (Oral cancer)
• Tonsil cancer
• Transitional cell cancer (Bladder cancer)
• Transitional cell cancer (Kidney cancer)
• Transitional cell cancer (Ovarian cancer)
• Triple-negative breast cancer (Breast cancer)
• Tubal cancer
• Tubular carcinoma (Breast cancer)

U

• Ureteral cancer (Bladder cancer)
• Ureteral cancer (Kidney cancer)
• Urethral cancer
• Uterine adenocarcinoma (Uterine cancer)
• Uterine cancer
• Uterine sarcoma (Uterine cancer)

V

• Vaginal cancer
• Vulvar cancer