Author: Mariarosaria

Picture by Envato.com

Food sensitivity is a common problem today for almost everyone due to the toxic environment and food alteration and processing, and to conditions we might already have, as a leaky gut, or impermeable intestine, for example, all prerogatives to make us sensitive to those foods we really like and enjoy.

Antioxidants are the best natural option to contrast and neutralize oxidative stress and inflammation, and fruits and vegetables the most recommended, but in regard of fruits and vegetables and other foods there are some things to take in consideration.

For example, for the Blood Type Diet principles not all the good foods are good for everyone based on blood type affinity; in addition, foods like the “nightshades”, as potatoes, bell peppers and eggplants, besides being contraindicated for people with arthritis, unfortunately, are probably not good for anyone because of the lectins presence so as tomatoes and spinaches, unbelievably; there have been cases for people very sensitive where this type of foods were causing serious problems.

But most of us are not so sensitive and therefore we keep eating these foods and do not really want, or cannot, for a variety of reasons, listen to who recommends instead of staying away.

In a recent summit that I have been following, “The Food Revolution Summit”, an interesting and well-arranged documentary with a number of trusted professionals, hosted by the Robbins family who are the descendant of the famous “Basket Robbins”, and that paradoxically turned into a plant-based diet as a rejection to a lifestyle choice made from the ancestors, most of the speakers were mentioning substitutes foods for proteins intake like legumes, or soy foods.

Unfortunately, these foods are not appropriate for people with IBS or any other gut issues, so as wheat can be contraindicated for people with sensitivity, or dairy for those with lactose intolerance. Therefore, how these people might overcome problems with overweight, high blood pressure, high lipids profile, or high sugar, or metabolic syndrome besides staying away from the threating foods?

The plant based diet they were talking about is without doubt the best diet for any type of disease, again, for who is capable to do that, to be vegetarian, unfortunately it is not easy for everyone, many of us need to assume some other kind of proteins besides the plant based proteins, despite of the cardiovascular risks, and this is why I think that the Mediterranean diet which allows a little bit of everything with the exception of red meat, eggs, bad fats and sugars in excess, is still the options for those who cannot be vegetarian, but still there may be complications with sensitivity and intolerances, so, what we can do when we eat foods to which we may be sensitive or intolerant?

Digestive enzymes are the first resolution to facilitate the body’s digestion and absorption, but to avoid lectins and toxins in foods cause of the problems there are specific products defined as lectins-binding formulas that help to bind the lectins with their compounds avoiding that the toxins or lectins bind to our own tissues.

What are Lectins?

Rearranged and Slightly Modified from “The Lectin Connection” http://www.D’Adamo.com/Science

“Lectins are proteins found in foods with agglutinating properties that affect our blood and the lining of our digestive tract causing a variety of health problems like irritable bowel syndrome, weight gain and fatigue, as most common. Lots of germs, but also our immune systems use this type of glue for their benefit; additionally, the lectins used by viruses or bacteria can be blood type specific, and this means that when we eat a food containing protein lectins that are incompatible with our blood type antigen, the lectins target an organ or bodily system and can begin to interact with the tissues in that area.

Lectins have a magnetic effect when they target a cell or a tissue agglutinating the cells together and causing a clump, this clumping can cause any type of problem. Lectins can also act as hormones binding to the receptor of a hormone or even blocking the normal action of the hormone.

Some lectins can cause a variety of other problems, especially if they are specific to a particular blood type, fortunately our immune systems protect us from lectins, 95% of the lectins we absorb from our typical diets are washed off by the body, but at least 5% of the lectins we eat are filtered into the bloodstream where they react with and destroy red and white blood cells.

The actions of lectins in the digestive tract can be even more powerful, they often create a violent inflammation of the sensitive mucous of the intestines, and this agglutinative action may mimic food allergies. Even a minute quantity of a lectin can agglutinate a huge number of cells if the specific blood type is reactive.

One common belief is that all lectins in foods are inactivated either by heating, or through the process of digestion. This is true, but only to a certain degree. Some lectins, such as the lectins from beans, are usually made inactive by slow and long cooking, but not all lectins can be inactivated. Studies have shown that a percentage does tend to resist destruction, despite heating. Digestive juices can inactivate lectins, but many people do not have enough stomach acid levels for this. Those suffering with digestive problems are more likely to have some degree of lectin sensitivity.”

The specific formula created by Dr. Peter D’Adamo for this purpose is called “Deflect” and contains elements blood type specific to bind the lectins.

Specifically Deflect A for blood type A which is the one I know better because it is my blood type, has a blend made of glucosamine, chondroitin, and D-mannose, besides few more elements, all blocking sugars that attack to the receptors of lectins preventing them to cause digestive problems and weaking the immune system.

Specifically, N-acetyl-glucosamine or NAG, acts like a magnet and a distractor, for the lectins binds to this sugar in the formula instead of the NAG on our cells, avoiding therefore to interfere with the metabolism and to promote inflammation.

Chondroitin becomes a smaller peptide after breaking down in stomach, resembling the blood type A antigen, this one can bind to a lectin with affinity with the A-antigen preventing so to attach to the real A antigen.

D-mannose has a unique structure that prevents adhesion of certain bacteria, such as E. coli and influenza viruses by binding to them.

Another formula that I know that can bind lectins is from Dr. Steven Gundry and is called “Lectin Shield”, this also seems to contain binding-molecules like, N-acetyl-Glucosamine, and D- mannose, so as in most of all blood type Deflect of D’Adamo formulas, but there are more elements in this formula.

Specifically for wheat sensitivity instead Dr. Tom O’Bryan has a specific formula which contains among the other elements, degradative enzymes, or fungal proteases; this formula can support the assumption of wheat for those who are sensitive aiding with the digestion of wheat and of the bad parts associated with.

Of course, all these doctors do not encourage eating the wrong foods for using their binding formulas, for what I know they all keep repeating to stay away from the foods that we know are sensitive, but the formulas can help if we do not exaggerate.

It is really not easy to overcome these problems with foods for the variety of reasons an individual has to, for reasons of weight, high cholesterol or triglycerides, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases, arthritis, food sensitivity, IBS, and more; no matter what, the food we eat is always the number one reason of the most of our problems besides of course the lifestyle, this is repeated to the extent and does annoy myself to mention or to listen repetitively, but it is necessary that we all realize that.

Thanks For Reading

Mariarosaria Malham

To become a Functional Medicine Coach, please visit:

https://ua175.isrefer.com/go/overview/MARIAROSARIA/

By ancavasculitis.com

Inflammation is a natural response of the immune system to an attack from the external environment, this can come from an invader as a microorganism, virus or bacteria or parasite, from an antigen or an allergen, from a toxin, or a chemical compound. Any foreign body that attacks the human body is considered a threat to which the immune system reacts in diverse ways and with different fighters, the fever, for example, is a body reaction to an infection, the process of response of the immune system to an invader, or to a cut or a major traumatic damage; the swelling and the redness are the evident signs of an inflammation, these are acute inflammations, they are transitory, the body reacts and we heal from those.

But inflammation can be chronic due to conditions or infections that are stable or silent from time like a root cause or a threat that we cannot define or to events that repeat in time causing progressive degeneration of the body and so more serious problems like degenerative diseases, as autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative as Alzheimer, cancer, and diabetes to mention the most common.

Inflammatory Markers

Inflammation is a complex reaction and more systems and molecules and by products are involved, there are several markers to assess for inflammation and some of these among the very common and more prescribed are: CRP, and CRP high sensitivity, Fibrinogen, ESR, and Lipo-A, but there are more especially for cardiovascular inflammation.

Let’s give a look at

Myeloperoxidase, for example, or MPO, is an enzyme that is released by macrophages (part of white blood cells) that measures body’s response to damaged artery walls that have become thin, cracked, and unstable due to cholesterol accumulation and inflammation.

The Lp-PLA2 Test measures the amount of Lp-PLA2 in the bloodstream. Lp-PLA2 is an enzyme that can assess the amount of inflammation in the arteries due to a build-up of cholesterol. The Lp-PLA2 Test can help a medical provider better understand the health of the arteries and determine if there is actively growing plaque that is at risk for rupturing and developing a heart attack or stroke.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is produced by the liver when inflammation is present somewhere in the body. Traditionally, the CRP test has been used to identify the risk for infection or chronic inflammatory conditions in general and is non-specific. A newer test available called high-sensitivity CRP, or hsCRP, measures smaller amounts of CRP in the blood and is more reliable.

Oxidized LDL is LDL cholesterol that has been modified by oxidation. Oxidized LDL triggers inflammation for causing the production of plaque in the arteries, also known as atherosclerosis. Oxidized LDL may also play a role in increasing the number of triglycerides the body produces, as well as increasing the amount of fat deposited by the body.

F2-Isoprostanes are tested for oxidative stress, F2-IsoPs, so called in abbreviation, are compounds formed from arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is required by the body to make muscles and for basic functioning. Our body can make arachidonic acid on its own, or can get it from the foods we eat, such as red meat or egg yolks. As with many things, having too much or too little arachidonic acid can be harmful to the body. Having too much arachidonic acid can increase the production of F2-IsoPs which can damage the body’s tissues and therefore contribute to the onset of chronic disease.

ADMA (asymmetric dimethylarginine) and SDMA (symmetric dimethylarginine) are compounds made in our body from degraded proteins. ADMA and SDMA reduce our body’s ability to produce nitric oxide, a molecule that helps maintain a healthy endothelium. ADMA and SDMA levels may increase with poor diet and lifestyle, elevated LDL cholesterol, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, or with smoking. These are all risk factors that can damage the delicate endothelial cells that protect our vascular system.

Estimation of these inflammatory markers besides other more specific tests for suspected root cause of a problem are important steps to cool down inflammation before more dramatic changes in our bodies happen.

The Immune System Role

The immune system has a primary role has mentioned with inflammation, the immune system reactions to this are a positive thing, the attempt to repair a damage or to defend us from an invader and these are performed essentially by the white cells of the immune system which includes the lymphocytes T and B and from the coagulation system including the platelets, the coagulation factors, and molecules like thrombin and fibrin and prostaglandins.

The lymphocytes T are part of the innate or general immune system, also defined as “ non-specific”, they attack every type of germ or substance through the production of molecules like cytokines and interferons destroying the molecule or the cell; the lymphocytes B are part of the adaptive immune system, and this is more specific because acts by producing molecules like the immunoglobulins or antibodies which binds specifically to the antigens of a protein or a virus, or bacteria or whatever is the threat neutralizing it, other systems like the complement, for example, have the role to get rid of these complexes antigen-antibodies, while other white cells of englobing and phagocytizing.

An underactive immune system is vulnerable to diseases, while an overactive, instead, attacks its own tissues promoting the process of autoimmunity which is a degenerative process because the body attacks its own cells and looks like that autoimmune diseases are growing time by time with this generation.

Oxidative Stress

Oxidation is the process for body burns oxygen to produce energy, but from this process can derive free radicals which are inflammatory, antioxidants are therefore necessary to neutralize the radicals deriving from the process of oxidation, and this is why antioxidants as fruits and vegetables today are recommended in special way for all the type of problems. On the other hand, hydrogen peroxide is an antioxidantproduced by the cells of the immune system to neutralize the effects of free radicals, but in the same time hydrogen peroxide is antagonized by glutathione, the major body’s antioxidant, this happens because hydrogen peroxide in excess can be damaging and so glutathione intervenes to deplete the excess.

Glutathione is also the primary molecule in charge of breaking down harmful molecules from inflammatory foods, like sugars and unhealthy fats in harmless.

Glutathione helps the immune system to fight infections effectively, when the level drops due to intense activity of for other reasons the immune system begins to attack its own tissues causing inflammation and autoimmunity, also when glutathione level is low the body loses the ability to produce nitric oxide which is also necessary to combat infections. All of this let us realize why this molecule is so important and so mentioned.

How do we fight inflammation?

Treatment for inflammation under the integrative principles is based on lifestyle recommendations, and generally with “avoidances,” avoiding inflammatory foods as junk foods, grains, sugars, and bad fats, losing weight in excess and being active and exercising, avoiding wrong lifestyles like lack of sleep, or smoking or alcohol or drugs abuse, environmental toxins and any type of stressors including emotional and mental stressors, and with the use of antioxidants and natural anti-inflammatories.

There are a variety of these, and currently many are quite common. The most common and mentioned antioxidants are fruits and vegetables for containing molecules like phytophenols and polyphenols, and pigments like anthocyanins, and for the majority of these doctors they should be good enough to fight most of the diseases if a person is capable to follow a restrictive plant diet, but many of us cannot, for help is necessary.

Best antioxidants suggested are, glutathione and turmeric, or NAC can be used also as precursor of glutathione, but as Dr. Ben Lynch was observing recently in one of his podcasts, besides a specific dose to make glutathione, other compounds are necessary, like glutamine and glycine, therefore the benefits and effects of taking specifically glutathione are different, NAC anyway is an important molecule as well, as recommended.

Other highly effective molecules are bromelain and quercetin, or Boswellia and trans-resveratrol to mention the most common, but there are more. Bromelain can function either as digestive enzyme than as anti-inflammatory, its properties and benefits are well known, bromelain in certain doses is also capable of repairing tissues damage. We all know and recognize the importance of digestive enzymes to treat inflammation and their usage has been increasing exponentially lately. Quercetin instead is more implicated and recommended with allergy, and, during the covid period for its properties as an ionophore for zinc, the inhibiter of viral multiplication.

Additionally, also many herbs and essential oils may help with inflammation like for example, ginger, ginseng, garlic, rosemary, and basil to mention some, or essential oil like thyme, clove, fennel, and bergamot, but there are more, and the essential oils must be use carefully following directions of usage and dilutions type otherwise some of these can be very irritant for the skin or cause even more serious side effects.

To be continued

Thanks for Reading

Mariarosaria Malham

Sources:

The Cleveland Heart Lab/www.knowyourrisk.com

To become a Functional Medicine Coach, go to:

https://ua175.isrefer.com/go/overview/MARIAROSARIA/

Important Steps of Healing Process

Picture by Food Revolution Network

As we can hear from doctors, scientists and health experts, any problem connected to health is caused by inflammation and from the immune system strengths and capabilities to fight invaders.

One of the most mentioned and proved cause of today’s diseases is due to stress and toxins exposure or to microbes like bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa and other types; therefore, it is so important to find the root cause or causes because sometime there are more than one reasons. The approaches are different, the expertise is different, some principles and believes are different, but substantially all scientists and specialists convene to same conclusions for the most.

For some it is more a matter of the conjunction of more causes and essentially triggered from stress, poor sleep, diet, exercise, and lifestyle exposures; for others is due to leaky gut, or SIBO, or other causes, but all the reasons bring to inflammation and progressively to degeneration and diseases.

Most of all is due to progress and technologies advancing, food processing escalating always more due to demand of growing populations, industries’ releases of gas and pollutants, vehicles’ s gas emissions and more, and mainly to the toxins in the surrounding environment today and in the products that we use, for cleaning, for personal hygiene, and for aesthetical purpose.

Every conclusion or consideration in regard of any type of health’s issues underlines the importance of eating healthy, stay away from toxins and get rid of bad bugs in our body because this way we heal or “repair” any leaky digestive tract and “rebuild” our microbiota or intestinal flora and so each microbiome in our body. Especially important thing because, “unfortunately,” all is direct from the right balance of microbes in our microbiota, each of them with specific function. If there is overgrowth of bad bacteria or other germs there will be more toxins in the body and by-products like endotoxins also known as LPS, or lipopolysaccharides- for example- from the cell coat of Gram-negative bacteria that with leaky gut can travel through our body’s system and spread all over in body causing all the type of problems.

First step therefore for any type of disease is “removing” as the experts call; removing toxins, or microbes or wrong foods and wrong choices, and removing can mainly happen through detoxification, or cleanse, and avoidance of exposure, or elimination diets in case of foods.

Detoxification

Detoxification can be realized in different ways, there are light detoxification that can just be accomplished through right choices of foods and/or with light types of binders, as elements that binds toxins, or that remove even bacteria or other germs, and there are strong detoxifications in case of more serious problems as for example in case of poison from drugs or intoxication from foods, but I am  not discussing about these last ones in this case.

Let us look in specific at the different type of foods that can help to eliminate toxic compounds from our body and binder elements, as suggested from specialists.

One of the first food, pretty much mentioned that comes to my mind and helps to bind toxins is cilantro, it seems that cilantro can bind also heavy metals, artichokes are very good detoxifier, in Italy are eaten on regular basis, they are known as clean food that helps especially with liver problems, their detoxifier properties are due to nutrients that help support bile production in liver but they also contain inulin, very important prebiotic fiber present in many pre and probiotics today.

Chlorella e spirulina are green superfood, antioxidants, usually in complex for cleans or in prebiotics formula, green tea is considered a superfood for the presence of catechins that neutralize free radicals and therefore another particularly good antioxidant and, in certain ways, detoxicant, and any green juice or smoothie is of course a detoxifier, as well known.

Other beneficial foods for this purpose are beets, beets help with elimination of toxins, but they have multiple benefits, for their content in betaine beets support proper digestion and inflammation, and also support liver function; additionally, they are good source of nitrates to improve circulation.

Broccoli, as sulfuric compounds contain a substance that- as N-acetyl-cysteine- is the precursors of glutathione, the best body’s detoxifier and antioxidant, while sauerkrauts, as fermented cabbage are also rich in sulforaphane which helps to detoxify besides their content in probiotics for gut health although fermented foods are not recommended for SIBO, or small intestine bacterial overgrowth, and which can be another reason or root cause of health problems and that needs to be addressed with other tools of elimination.

Activated charcoal is a particularly good binder, not just to absorb gas caused from IBS or SIBO problems, but it can bind toxins in general and is also used as purifier, another binder that moves particles out is called Iberogast.

SIBO, or small intestine bacteria overgrowth, seems to be one of the causes of IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome, the therapies suggested from naturopaths usually include herbal remedies and elemental diets which are supposed to be sort of physiologic solutions including essential micro and macronutrients, very difficult to sustain, and therefore they also suggest antibiotics therapy in alternative, and which differs based on the type of gas product from bacteria.

Herbal remedies usually include a variety of spices and herbs, the most powerful and utilized are oregano and thyme, or wormwood, or berberine, but there are more, combinations can include different of them; these are utilized for any kind of microorganisms, also for fungi and protozoa.

A naturopath from one of the summits where I learned part of these things, Christa Orecchio, was mentioning a combination of oregano and pesto to get rid of candida overgrowth, she was also mentioning that yeast seems to develop in association with heavy metals, and so getting rid of the yeast a person gets also rid of heavy metals, or vice versa; she also was suggesting the use of bentonite clay, a sort of past that seems to derive from volcanic ash and that must be mixed with water for removing difficult biofilms.

Biofilms are another huge problem connected to this type of issues, I have been talking about this in a previous blog, a doctor specialized with this type of studies and research, Dr. Paul Anderson, and who specifically is involved with oncology research, has developed a specific product for biofilms based on bismuth, a-lipoic acid and black cumin, or nigella sativa, but there are other products that combine bismuth instead with thiol.

In any case there is to be careful with the use of these products and always consult a provider to instruct with the steps of the process that requires few weeks and does not guarantee a total resolution, the biofilms are difficult to remove, and they reform, especially with chronic conditions.

When finally, the systems get rid of the bad stuff, toxins and/ or microorganisms it is possible to repair the damage and rebuild the GI tract and the intestinal flora with appropriate pre and probiotics and healing elements as for example those in bone broth, and so recommended from all naturopaths, or apple sauce, but from real apples cooked on stove.

Healing elements for GI are well known and in different combination now on the market, the most recommended is glutamine, but also DGL, marshmallow, slippery elm, and zinc carnosine, then there are things like alginic acid, anise, chamomiles and all those elements that helps to soothe and heal the gastric mucosa and the lining of the intestinal wall.

In regard of repairing the damage, I would like to mention the benefits and importance of bromelain and of other digestive enzymes, as much as of turmeric, or curcumin, and of the omega’s, to cool down the inflammation and so the fight response from the immune system that reacting to the invaders create inflammation; if its reaction resolves quick it is a good thing and helps the body healing, but if keeps going with time and becomes chronic will be causing collateral damage and so  disease.

Thanks for Reading

Mariarosaria Malham

Sources:

Healing SIBO masterclass, Shivana Sarna and Dr. Allison Siebecker

Gut Health workbook, by Christa Orecchio, Food Matters Institute

Biofilms: What Have We Learned from the Research? NDNR, by Dr. Paul S. Anderson, NMD

Gut Health masterclass, Institute of Functional Medicine

If you want to become a Functional Medicine Coach, please check out this link:

https://ua175.isrefer.com/go/overview/MARIAROSARIA/

Areas of Interest, Roles and Responsibilities and Performance

Medical Laboratory Science embraces a variety of disciplines like, Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Coagulation, Microbiology, Immunology and much more; all of these are performed in a clinical or medical laboratory setting.

Medical Laboratory Scientists can be defined as detectives of Health Care System with a wide knowledge and expertise. Laboratory Scientists perform lab tests on body fluids and tissues to support in the diagnosis of diseases and management of health.

The practice includes collection and processing of specimens, performance of a broad range of analytical procedures, quality control and reporting of tests results.

The key role of a Laboratory Scientist is to perform qualitative and quantitative screening tests and procedures on samples from human body, as saliva, blood, urine, feces, and body’s tissues for support in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

The laboratory plays a special role and support in the health care system in diverse ways, confirming or ruling out a diagnosis, detecting an infection, or any abnormal marker’s value for a diagnosis of a disease.

The increase demand on laboratory in the last years has led to the introduction of more specialized and sophisticated procedures as automation and computerization.

The information that comes from results of blood analysis or of other type of specimen are crucial for the addressing of a disease and right steps to take for a physician.

Medical Laboratory Scientists, Technicians and Technologists work in different areas like: Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Coagulation, Urine Analysis, Toxicology, Immunology, Microbiology, Blood Bank and more.

Brief description of each of these areas and main performances at glance.

Clinical Chemistry analyzes substances in blood that may help in diagnosis of variety of diseases like cardiovascular, diabetes, liver, and kidney diseases.

The markers researched in this area are for example, glucose cholesterol and triglycerides, for metabolic function, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, urea and creatinine for renal function, transaminase enzymes like ALT, AST, GGT, for liver function, ALP and amylase for pancreatic function, electrolytes and inflammatory markers like CRP, ESR and Fibrinogen as for most of the diseases, and many more and specific parameters.

Generally, the methods utilize chemical reactions through the combinations of samples with chemical reagents operated with devices in automation as the Beckman coulters (the most common) to calculate the concentration of variety of substances and metabolites, or electrolytes.

Hematology is based on the study of blood cells characteristics like number and size, and which are executed with specific cells counters detectors, and morphology and pigmentation with the use of microscope for the detection of an acute infection and/or the diverse types of anemia, lymphoma, or leukemia. The most common method of stain for the observation under microscope is the Giemsa-Wright, and which, if well performed, gives a good separation of the parts of the blood cells, like nucleus, cytoplasm, and organelles, thanks to the differentiated coloration.

Neutrophils in a blood smear

Coagulation analyzes blood for blood clots factors and markers for prevention and diagnosis of bleeding or clotting problems and/or to monitor anticoagulant therapy in patients with heart attack or strokes.

Urine analysis involves chemical and cellular analysis of urine performed with chemical strips or dipsticks which are chemical reagents that when in contact with urine react changing color, the color resulting is then compared with a reference scale where colors are associate to a different pH, this is then followed by observation under microscope for the detection of various metabolic disease and infections of urinary tract.

Yeast cells in patient with urinary tract infection

Toxicology is the science that identify toxic substances and drugs in body fluids, and it is performed with different techniques, most utilized are immunoassay screens, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.

Immunology examines the degree of immunity o resistance to diseases through the presence of specific immunoglobulins for chronic and acute infections, IgG, or IgA for chronic and IgM for acute infections. Serology which is a branch of immunology consist in the research of antibodies or antigens for the detection of bacterial and viral infections and it is executed with immunoassay like, for example, the ELISA method (Enzyme-Linked-Immuno-Sorbent-Assay)

Microbiology is the science that identify pathogenic microorganisms   like virus, bacteria, fungi, and parasites responsible of diseases and determines the susceptibility of these pathogens to therapeutic treatments like antibiotics, antiviral and antifungal.

The specimens coming from different areas of the of the body are cultivated in specific cultures or incubated, usually in broth cultures, or specific cultures where inhibiting agents or other substances are added for enhancing the growth of a bacteria among others inhibiting at the same time the rest eventually present in the sample. Successively they are characterized and typed for the different chemical and metabolic characteristics and properties, then processed for antibiotic resistance.

There are different methods to identify the antibiotic resistance, or susceptibility, but a typical method used is the Kirby-Bauer which relies on the inhibition of bacterial growth thanks to the disc diffusion technique measured under standard conditions.

With the disc diffusion technique or method, antibiotics impregnated filter paper disc are placed   on specific agar plates inoculated with the bacteria to be tested. If the bacteria are sensitive to the antibiotic they cannot grow in the zone around the antibiotic, or zone of inhibition while resistant bacteria will. (“Testing antibiotic resistance – Microbiology Nuts & Bolts”) The measure of the diameter of the zone will give the value of the minimum inhibitory concentration or MIC.

Blood Bank involves the determination of blood types performed as agglutination tests, where cells clump together forming a sort of cloth, through the utilization of controls of reference, positive and negative, as for the most tests in laboratory, and the preparation of blood products for transfusion.

Upon on the Board of Registry of the American Society of Clinical Pathology, today’s laboratory uses different complexes, precision instruments and a variety of automated and electronic equipment.

The success of a laboratory’s professional begins with the dedication to the profession and willing to help others.

Laboratorians must produce accurate and reliable tests results, have interest in science and sense of responsibility for affecting human lives.

More on ethics and responsibilities of Laboratory Scientists:

They must exhibit loyalty, honesty, and respect in work environment, adhere to the disclosure roles about client privacy as HIPAA regulations, showing patience, empathy, and consideration towards patients, promoting health care, prevent and control of diseases. They must follow safety procedure as those in HOSHA regulations, demonstrate a correct use of equipment during work time, wearing proper lab-ware, exhibit proper behavior and professional appearance. Especially important also is the correct use of reagents and laboratory’s supplies, reliability, and flexibility towards terms of employment.

This job requires huge sense of responsibility, attention, clarity, and scrupulosity.

This has been my job for a period, and I have always liked and performed following all these roles, but more than everything with sense of conscience, responsibility and scrupulosity, the most important things when dealing with human lives.

Thanks for Reading

Mariarosaria Malham

Sources:

Biologydiscussion.com

Microbiology Nuts & Bolts

Board of Registry Guide, ASCP