Healthcare Case

Chemistry Paper 2

The chemistry in health and medicine is a forever expanding topic. The chemistry of life becomes very interesting when you look into the chemistry of our very own human body. The precise elements that make up human physiology each provide a specific function and purpose. The modern developments and research in medicine has greatly influenced human health and is continuing to grow.

The human body can seem rather complicated, however it is very clear as to what our body consists of and what their function involves. Our complex body is really made mostly of only four elements making up about 96 percent of it. These elements include oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, most of which is in the form of water. As we know, there would be no life without water. The remaining percentage consists of other elements including calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron and about a handful of others. As stated earlier, each of these elements provide specific functions in the body. Calcium, for example, is found mostly in teeth and bones, but its main bodily function is used for muscle contractions and in the regulation of proteins. Electrolytes such as sodium and potassium send electrical signals to nerves for cellular chemical balance and cellular metabolism. Iron is found in hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood. Magnesium is necessary for hundreds of metabolic reactions as well as its role in the structure of muscles and the skeleton. Any deficiency in just one of these elements can seriously tamper with your normal bodily functions and can eventually lead to complete system failure and death.

Drugs are chemicals that alter the structure or function in our body, or in other words, changes the way our body works. Medical drugs can help people in ways such as getting rid of infection, lowering blood pressure, and slowing down or even preventing diseases. People suffering from diabetes have high glucose levels in their bloodstream preventing glucose from entering into the cell like it is supposed to. To keep the glucose levels down, diabetes patients must take oral medication. Aspirin is an over the counter medication that is used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation. Aspirin is also used to treat and prevent cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack, angina, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Vaccines have been developed to help improve immunity for a particular disease by producing antibodies that will protect the body from its invasion.

Psychoactive drugs are capable of altering feelings, moods, and perceptions. Psychoactive drugs work by targeting the central nervous system. Normal nerve activity works by neurotransmitters delivering chemical messages across the synapse and into the neuron cell. Once the neurotransmitter deliver the message than it is sent back to its original axon or is destroyed. Psychoactive drugs alter this activity by actually preventing the neurotransmitters from entering the neuron cleft causing continuous