Disease Guide: Diagnosis, Symptoms & Clinical Treatment Protocols

What Causes Epithelial Cells in a Urinalysis?

Epithelial cells in the urine usually represent a normal finding. Abnormal numbers or types of epithelial cells sometimes indicate an underlying health problem.

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Pepsin Enzyme Function

Pepsin is an enzyme -- specifically, it's a proteolytic enzyme, meaning it helps digest proteins. Cells in the stomach secrete pepsin to help you digest the protein that you consume in food.

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The Differences Between Probiotics & Digestive Enzymes

The human digestive tract relies upon many different chemicals -- and in some cases, organisms -- to function normally. Probiotics are organisms, many of them native to the human intestine, that help your digestive tract function.

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Effects of Rubbing Alcohol

Rubbing alcohol is the common name for isopropyl alcohol, also called isopropanol. This compound is chemically related to ethanol, or drinking alcohol; however, unlike ethanol, it should not be consumed recreationally.

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Common Uses for Rubbing Alcohol

Rubbing alcohol is the common name for the molecule isopropyl alcohol. This chemical is very closely related to the familiar substance ethanol, or drinking alcohol, which is found in beer, wine and hard liquor. Unlike drinking alcohol, rubbing alcohol is not suitable for human consumption.

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What is the Complete Oxidation of a Glucose Molecule?

Oxidation is a chemical process that, loosely defined, involves removing electrons from particular areas of a molecule. In biochemical processes, oxidation generally results in the release of energy. As such, when you "burn"

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Digestive Juices & Enzymes

Your digestive tract has the responsibility of breaking the food you eat down into smaller pieces, both mechanically and chemically, so that your intestine can absorb the nutritional molecules from the food. Doing this requires the use of digestive juices and enzymes secreted by various organs of the digestive tract.

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Why Do We Need Glucose in Our Diet?

The human body is made up of cells, each one of which needs to be able to provide for its energy needs by taking up nutritional molecules from the bloodstream and chemically burning them as part of cellular metabolism.

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Staph Infection Symptoms in Infants

The Staphylococcus genus bacteria are omnipresent, even in clean environments. These bacteria colonize the noses and skin of healthy individuals, and while they are quite pathogenic, normal immune systems keep the bacteria at bay, such that it’s possible to carry the bacteria around without getting sick.

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Do Probiotics Help Treat Oral Thrush?

Thrush is the common name for an overgrowth of a specific kind of yeast in your mouth. There are several underlying conditions that make you more susceptible to thrush, and some medications can also increase your chances of getting thrush.

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Sudden Lactose Intolerance in Humans

If you've always been able to eat dairy and suddenly find that you can't do so anymore, you may be lactose intolerant. While sudden lactose intolerance isn't common or likely, it's certainly possible.

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What Is a Protein Buffer System?

Buffer systems, whether inside your body or not, help to control the acidity of a solution. In your body, this is particularly important, as you need a very stable environment both inside and outside the cells with regard to temperature, acidity and other variables.

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Is Maca Safe While Breastfeeding?

You might have heard that maca root has the potential to improve your cellular function, benefit your immune system and generally improve health. However, it hasn't been proven safe or effective for use in breastfeeding women, so if you're nursing a baby, you should talk to your doctor before using maca.

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Lactose Intolerance in Pregnancy

During pregnancy, women often notice a variety of digestive sensations and discomforts. Because pregnancy changes the rate at which your digestive tract processes food, you may experience symptoms that lead you to believe you've become lactose-intolerant.

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What Is the Purpose of Dicalcium Phosphate?

Dicalcium phosphate has many purposes. Manufacturers add it to cosmetics. Doctors use it to aid healing. And, you can take it to get more phosphorus and calcium.

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Do Digestive Enzymes Help With Constipation?

You may have heard that your digestive woes -- constipation or diarrhea, digestive discomfort or heartburn -- are all related to digestive enzyme insufficiencies, and that you can treat them with supplemental enzymes. The fact is that digestive enzyme deficiencies are very rare.

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The Definition of the Protein Hormone

Hormones are molecules that your body uses for communication, often between organs in different organ systems or over long distances in the body. There are two major types of hormones: steroid hormones and protein, or peptide, hormones.

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The Relationship Between Corn Starch and Glucose

There's so much information about carbohydrates and how they affect your body that you might wonder how they're all related to one another and where they come from.

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Side Effects of Phenylalanine and Phenylketonurics

Phenylalanine -- an amino acid and one of the building blocks of protein -- has no side effects as a component of food in healthy individuals. However, in those with a disease called phenylketonuria, or PKU, phenylalanine causes a variety of side effects.

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Hazards of Taking Too Many Enzymes

There are some alternative health practitioners and popular nutrition sources that suggest taking enzymes can help relieve a variety of symptoms and help prevent or treat a number of disease processes. In fact, however, true enzyme deficiencies are rare, and most enzyme supplements neither help nor hurt you.

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