Using proper soap vital

By Nilma DOLE

The making and using soap dates back to around 2800 BC in Ancient Babylon when a soap recipe consisted of uhulu ashes, cypress oil and sesame seed oil which was used for washing the stones for the servant girls.

A formula for soap consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC.

The Ebers papyrus indicates that ancient Egyptians bathed regularly and combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to create a soap-like substance. Egyptian documents mention that a soap-like substance was used in the preparation of wool for weaving.

With a history of soap transcending from natural to modern chemically-manufactured methods, do we know what exactly goes into our soap today? There are several Sri Lankan manufacturers but very little is known about the composition of soaps.

One of Sri Lanka's leading Ayurveda specialists and consultant of the National Hospital, Dr.Jayasiri Jayawardena told the Sunday Observer, “Soaps made in Sri Lanka should be subject to quality control and stringent standards as we don't know what all soap products are made of.

It has come to my attention that there are companies that use cheap pig oil or beef fat to make soap.”

He said that as consumers, we should be wary and cautious of what goes into the soaps and check the labels properly, for it means our health would be at stake.

The doctor said, “Most commercial soap have harsh chemicals, colourants, and perfumes in them that can be harmful to the skin.”

He said that not all companies use cheap animal fats or oils but people should know before they apply it to their skin.

“It is best to use soap made from vegetable fats, natural oils and perfumes that would not damage your skin but keep it soft and supple,” he said. Dr.Jayawardena said that it is safer to use soap that have been advertised as washing soap which are made from vegetable fat that is safe for the skin.

The doctor said, “What is ironic is that companies don't know if natural substances go into a soap, it is healthy for people to use.

They think that only if a soap is perfumed would people buy it, but this shouldn't be the case.” He said people should buy soap that are natural, healthy and are safe to use, but companies also shouldn't look at the expensive perfume factor but look into natural perfumes and use vegetable and natural oils to make soap.

Another problem with soaps is that you can't use them for a long time, it washes away soon and dissolves in water easily and you have to keep on replacing the soap you use.

“Companies use various gimmicks to make customers buy their soap, from advertising to using substandard materials to make it cheaper in the market. I'm not saying that people should move from soaps to expensive shower gels, but they should use a product which won't harm their skin and a soap they like using consistently, instead of changing their soap every day,” said the doctor.

Those who change the type of soap they use regularly might have complications as there are different perfumes, various chemicals and different degrees of soap composition which is bound to affect their skin.

Another issue is the problem of soap poisoning which Dr.Jayawardena said, “More often than not, we see various soaps in the market which have a fruity texture and children who use it might be tempted to eat it.”

He said that this was very dangerous as there are lots of chemicals and fat that goes into making a bar of soap and he has seen several cases of soap poisoning.

“Soap contains caustic soda or sodium hydroxide which can burn the skin, cause diarrhoea, block the nose and lungs and even cause severe bleeding,” he said.

If you can, making your own soap would be the best way to know exactly what goes in your soap but make sure you do it the correct way. According to home-making soap manufacturers, when making your own soap you can choose natural ingredients such as herbs and spices for colour, and essential oils such as lavender oil for perfume.

You can also choose from a variety of oils for different purposes, such as olive oil, for a moisturising soap.

“The Consumer Affairs Authority also should check to see what standards soap manufacturers in Sri Lanka have and take action against those who use cheap chemical and unhealthy substances in making soap,” said the doctor.

Muscle atrophy :

Researchers identify key culprit

Whether you're old, have been ill, or suffered an injury, you've watched gloomily as your muscles have atrophied. The deterioration of muscle – even slight or gradual - is about as common to the human condition as breathing.

Yet, despite its everyday nature, scientists know little about what causes skeletal muscles to atrophy. They know proteins are responsible, but there are thousands of possible suspects, and parsing the key actors from the poseurs is tricky.

In a new paper, researchers have reported major progress. The team has identified a single protein, called Gadd45a, and determined that it orchestrates 40 percent of the gene activity that ultimately causes skeletal muscle to atrophy. Moreover, the researchers have learned that Gadd45a does its devilish work inside the muscle cell's nucleus, causing such a ruckus as it reprograms hundreds of genes that it changes the nucleus's shape.

“We now understand a key molecular mechanism of skeletal muscle atrophy,” says Christopher Adams, associate professor of internal medicine at the UI on the paper. “This finding could help us find a therapy for treating muscle atrophy in patients, and we now know a great place to start is by reducing Gadd45a.”

Adams and his team zeroed in on Gadd45a like sleuths following a trail of clues. The researchers knew from previous work that when skeletal muscle is stressed from malnutrition, nerve damage, or inactivity, it increases its production of a protein called ATF4. That protein, in turn, initiates muscle atrophy by activating a slew of genes. But the details remained elusive. For example, are all the genes equally important or do some play larger roles than others?

To find out, Adams and his colleagues conducted a series of experiments to discover the critical ATF4 target genes.

The tests showed that ATF4 caused muscle atrophy by activating the Gadd45a gene. Further tests showed Gadd45a didn't need its protein benefactor to do its atrophy work either, meaning it could act independently of the ATF4 pathway.

“Basically, when we did the experiments, thousands of mRNAs (the genetic messengers) were measured, but only one jumped out, and it was Gadd45a,” says Adams, also a faculty scholar at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the UI. “It was the only one that met all the tests’ criteria.”

The researchers learned that Gadd45a affected muscles in two main ways: it instructed muscle cells to produce fewer proteins (needed to maintain muscle), and it caused proteins already existing in muscle fibers to break down. The result on both counts: muscle atrophy.

The team then turned to find out how Gadd45a did its work. The nucleus of a muscle cell that is stressed changes from a cigar shape to a swollen bulb, with enlarged nucleoli (protein containers inside the nucleus).

When Adams and his team injected Gadd45a into a muscle cell, the nucleus changed shape the same way as if it were stressed.

“To put this all together, it means Gadd45a is going into the muscle nucleus, and it totally changes it, so much so that the changes are visible,” Adams said. “It's turning genes on, and it's turning genes off. It's changed the cell.”Gadd45a changes roughly 600 genes associated with muscle atrophy, by increasing mRNAs charged either with breaking down muscle proteins or reducing muscle protein growth.

The total is about 40 percent of all mRNAs believed to be involved in muscle deterioration in humans, the researchers reported in the paper.“Gadd45a is like a central switch for muscle atrophy,” Adams says. “If you can block it, you can conceivably stunt muscle atrophy to a large extent.”

The researchers aim to find out how to block Gadd45a and to find the other signalling pathways involved in muscle atrophy.

- Eureka Science News

A healthier chocolate on the horizon

It may not make chocolate one of your five a day - but scientists have found a way to replace up to 50 percent of its fat content with fruit juice.

University of Warwick chemists have taken out much of the cocoa butter and milk fats that go into chocolate bars, substituting them with tiny droplets of juice measuring under 30 microns in diameter.

They infused orange and cranberry juice into milk, dark and white chocolate using what is known as a Pickering emulsion.

Crucially, the clever chemistry does not take away the chocolatey ‘mouth-feel’ given by the fatty ingredients.

This is because the new technique maintains the prized Polymorph V content, the substance in the crystal structure of the fat which gives chocolate its glossy appearance, firm and snappy texture but which also allows it to melt smoothly in the mouth.

The final product will taste fruity - but there is the option to use water and a small amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin) instead of juice to maintain a chocolatey taste.

Dr Stefan Bon from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick said the research looked at the chemistry behind reducing fat in chocolate, but now it was up to the food industry to use this new technique to develop tasty ways to use it in chocolate.

Dr Bon said, “Everyone loves chocolate - but unfortunately we all know that many chocolate bars are high in fat.

“However, it's the fat that gives chocolate all the indulgent sensations that people crave - the silky smooth texture and the way it melts in the mouth but still has a ‘snap’ to it when you break it with your hand.

“We've found a way to maintain all of those things that make chocolate ‘chocolatey’ but with fruit juice instead of fat.

“Our study is just the starting point to healthier chocolate – we've established the chemistry behind this new technique but now we're hoping the food industry will take our method to make tasty, lower-fat chocolate bars.”

The scientists used food-approved ingredients to create a Pickering emulsion, which prevents the small droplets from merging with each other. Moreover, their chocolate formulations in the molten state showed a yield stress which meant that they could prevent the droplets from sinking to the bottom. The new process also prevents the unsightly ‘sugar bloom’ which can appear on chocolate which has been stored for too long.

- todaytopics

Nurses as good as doctors in treating HIV patients

Nurse-centred care of HIV patients can be just as safe and effective as care delivered by doctors and has a number of specific health benefits, according to a new study.

Published in The Lancet, the research shows that neither survival rates nor virus suppression reduced when nurses administered antiretroviral drugs to patients in South Africa. Health benefits included: significantly improved detection of tuberculosis; increased white blood cell count; increased weight; and improved adherence with the treatment program. More than 15,000 patients took part in the two-year randomised controlled trial in Free State, South Africa.

All 31 clinics in the province took part in the study which was conducted by UEA in partnership with UCT and other universities.

South Africa has around six million people infected with HIV - more than any other country in the world.

Of those patients who would benefit from antiretroviral treatment, less than one in three receive it.

In the West, this figure is nearer to 100 percent.

It is a priority of the World Health Organisation to expand access to antiretroviral treatment, but in South Africa access to the right drugs in limited by a chronic shortage of trained doctors. The South African government is trying to shift healthcare provision from doctors to primary care nurses who are more plentiful.

This policy has been resisted by some HIV physicians and nurses, however, who feel administration of these drugs is the proper domain of doctors. Prof Max Bachmann, of Norwich Medical School at UEA, said, “Our findings show that with very little extra training and support nurses can deliver HIV care that is just as safe and effective as that provided by doctors. Indeed, we found that this model of nurse-centred care had a number of important health benefits.

“There is a critical need to improve access to antiretroviral drugs – not only in South Africa but in other low to middle income countries where infection rates are high and doctors are in short supply.

HIV programs worldwide should now consider expanding nurse-centred care, safe in the knowledge that there need not be detrimental effects on patient health or mortality rates if done carefully.” The study is the first to explore ‘task-shifting’ from doctors to nurses on such a large scale.

It ran from 2008 to 2010 and was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Development Co-operation Ireland, and the Canadian International Development Agency.

The project was limited to South Africa, but the findings could have relevance in the West where antiretroviral treatment is usually provided by specialist hospital doctors. Prof Bachmann and colleagues are currently undertaking further research to explore the cost-effectiveness of task-shifting HIV care from doctors to nurses, as well as strengthening the primary care of other chronic diseases.

- MNT