Month: January 2017

Here is a list of drugs that are derived from plants:

. Aspirin
. Morphine
. Penicillin
. Quinine

Drugs need to be tested but they can be prescribed because they need to be guaranteed to work and be safe so that don’t harm your body instead of helping it. There are three main stages of testing drugs. The first of them using computer models and human sells grown in a lab. Many substances fail this test because they damage cells or do not seem to work. The second test involves giving an animal a known amount of the substance and monitoring them carefully for any side-effects. This is only allowed for medicine, not tobacco products or cosmetics. The third and final test is using the drugs in clinical trials. They are tested on healthy volunteers to check they are safe. The substances are then tested on people with the illness to ensure they are safe and that they work. It is very crucial that these new drugs are tested in labs first, then animals and finally humans to ensure that we don’t waste human or animal life for no good reason. It is also important to have different stages of testing to make sure that there are no unexpected side effects on living subjects, hence the need to test the new drugs on animals ( such as rats ) before humans. If it even gets that far.

Antibodies ( also known as immunoglobulins) are Y shaped proteins designed to stop antigens (basically just unwanted visitors) from entering our bodies. They do this by finding and labeling the antigens. Which lets the body destroy them. However each antibody is made for one and only one antigen, and it’s fitted with special receptors that will only bind to that antigen.

When an antigen tries to enter our body, it is first met by a type of cell called a B cell which is responsible for creating antibodies to match the antigen. After this the antibodies stick to the virus they order the T cells to kill the virus-infected cells. after this a wave of phagocytes come and eat all of the foreign matter left behind.

After an infection is defeated once, the next time it tries to infect you your body will use the same antibodies it used the first time to combat the infection a lot quicker. This is called acquired immunity.

Another way your body helps combat infections is through the use of white blood cells ( Leukocytes ) which flow through your body in your blood streams and produce antibodies to destroy pathogens, and antitoxins to neutralise toxins.

Macrophage