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Showing posts from November 15, 2015

Statins

The most popular and loved Anti hyperlipidemics world wide are the Statins. Mechanism of Action:  They act by inhibiting HMG CoA Reductase enzyme. The results of Statin use over lipid profile may be listed as below- Decreased Liver Cholesterol levels. Decreased LDL. Decreased VLDL synthesis and Decreased Triglycerides. Increased HDL cholesterol to some extent. Increased LDL receptor expression. Since HMG CoA Reductase activity is at its peak at midnight, Statins are given at bed time. But Atorvastatin and Rosuvastatins have long half lives (t1/2), therefore they need not be timed at bed time specifically. Statins are most potent LDL lowering agents.  They are the number 1 drug of choice in case of Metabolic Syndrome (along with Metformin). Longest acting Statin is Rosuvastatin (14 hrs half life). The Statins also have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties (especially Atorvastatin), thereby making them good drugs to prevent atherosclerosis and giving ...

Green Tea

Camellia Sinensis is the botanical name given to what is popularly known as Green Tea. Basically we get a dry extract of this plant which is used as an decaffeinated tea. Green tea is a Chinese herb, known to the Chinese from hundreds of years. It is rich in Polyphenols (around 40 to 50% by weight) and Catechins . Brief Summary of actions and properties of Green Tea: Antioxidant activity and scavenging free radicals. Stimulation of detoxification centers and systems. Selective induction and modification of metabolic enzymes in such a way that greater amounts of metabolites are formed and excreted from the body. Inhibition of factors that activate and develop the tumor. Ability to induce severe apoptosis (cell death) of neoplastic cells alone. This has been proved in AML (a kind of blood cancer), Skin cancer cells and Prostate cancer cells. Ability to stop abnormal cell growth- acting at the level of growth receptors and factors. Inhibition of gelatinase which is respo...