Tuesday 7 January 2014
Difference between Vitamin B and Vitamin C
Vitamin B vs Vitamin C
How many times have you stared at a box of cereals and wondered about words like ascorbic acid, riboflavin and pyridoxine? Both vitamin B and vitamin C are vital to the growth and maintenance of your body. However, there are vital differences between the two that you ought to know about.
Both vitamin B and vitamin C are water soluble. This means that excess amounts of the vitamins are passed off in your urine. Remember, excessive levels of the vitamins are associated with toxicity.
The vitamin B complex group refers to a group of 8 vitamins. They are
1.Thiamine
2.Riboflavin
3.Niacin
4.Pantothenic acid
5.Pyridoxine
6.Cyanocobalamin
7.Folic acid
8.Biotin
However, vitamin is available in a single form only and this is known as ascorbic acid.
The symptoms that indicate a deficiency of the respective vitamins in the body also differ between each other. For instance, a deficiency of vitamin B may be indicated by mental problems, palpitations of the heart, indigestion and chronic fatigue. It is also characterized by such symptoms as chronic fatigue, insomnia and even rashes.
However, the symptoms indicating a deficiency in vitamin C are more distinct. They may range between bleeding gums to weakness, nose bleeds and even scurvy in extreme cases.
Sources of vitamin B include a variety of whole and unprocessed foods. Remember, any sort of processing reduces the vitamin B that is naturally contained in most foods. You may get a lot of this vitamin from meat, tuna, nutritional yeast, lentils and even bananas. Did you know that even beer is a good source of vitamin B because of its high yeast content? There are less harmful ways of getting it of course!
The main sources of vitamin C are fruits and some vegetables. Most fruits will give you your daily recommended share of vitamin C. Among vegetables, rich sources of vitamin C include broccoli, cauliflower and spinach. Remember, this vitamin cannot be stored by your body. For this reason, you need to take it daily, in order to avoid being deficient.
Both the vitamins are better absorbed when you take it in through food, rather than in the form of pills. The rationale behind this is simple. Natural food not only contains the vitamins, they also contain other elements that help them in being absorbed by the body. Pills will not provide you with this extra help!
Summary:
1. Vitamin B is found in 8 different forms. However, vitamin C is found only in a single form, ascorbic acid
2. Sources of vitamin B include meat, egg yolk, yeast etc. Vitamin C is obtained from fruits and some vegetables.
3. Deficiency of vitamin B in the body causes fatigue, mental problems and insomnia, amongst other symptoms. A deficiency in vitamin is mainly indicated by scurvy, bleeding of the nose and the gums.
Differences between Flu and Bird Flu
Flu vs Bird Flu
In the olden days when diseases were thought to be the result of wrath of Gods and astrological influences, people named one of the commonest diseases then, the flu. It comes from Italian word “influenza” meaning “influence”. Over the years more names like grippe, sweating sickness, Spanish fever have been given to this disease which still holds power to send the world into a panic. Multiple flu pandemics have happened in the past, wiping out millions of people in a span of few days.
The flu is caused by the Influenza virus. It affects both mammals and birds. A few strains affect only humans. The bird flu or Avian flu (H5N1) is the Influenza virus adapted to the birds. It is the same Influenza virus, but a different subspecies that has adapted specifically to the birds. This virus was responsible for the bird flu epidemics that happened in Asia in 2003 and Europe in 2005. It is a highly lethal virus with a very high mortality.
Symptoms of flu in humans are fever, chills, cough, runny nose, bodyache, headache, fatigue, sore throat and a great sense of unease. It may also cause nausea, vomiting. The bird flu killed millions of birds in Asia, Africa and European continent by spreading like a wild fire through infected poultry. The virus has increasingly started spreading from birds to humans because of close contact with infected birds. In 2009, a Chinese woman died due to bird flu. 359 more humans have died from this deadly virus in 12 countries till August, 2012.
If left untreated or if treated, the flu inadequately it can lead to pneumonia (a serious lung infection) and even death. History is witness to millions of humans being victims to the influenza epidemics and pandemics when anti-viral medications were not available or not strong enough.
Diagnosis for flu is by a throat/nasal swab, chest x-ray and sputum sample examination under microscope.
Vaccination is now available against the flu virus. The virus has a tendency to mutate and newer strains are formed every few years, sometimes every year. Thus, the elderly, children, pregnant women and those with chronic lung diseases are advised to take a flu vaccine shot each year from the new batch of vaccines made using the new strains. Vaccines against the bird flu virus have also been developed for poultry. A few vaccines have been developed for humans, to prevent contracting the deadly bird flu, but none are available in the market as yet for civilians.
Treatment is done using antiviral like oseltamivir (Tamiflu). The bird flu cannot be treated in poultry. The infected bird has to be killed as it rapidly spreads and destroys 90% of the flock in just a few days. Killing every bird in the entire area is the only solution to contain spread of bird flu. This has resulted in severe economic losses.
Take home pointers:
Influenza or human flu or the flu is caused by the Influenza virus. The virus has multiple strains and mutates a bit every year making it very difficult to eradicate and contain. It produces symptoms like cough, fever, body ache, weakness, running nose and a sore throat. Treatment is necessary and antiviral like oseltamivir are used. Diagnosis is by throat/nasal/sputum sample examination. Vaccines are available.
Bird flu or avian flu is a subspecies of the Influenza virus which has specially adapted itself to the birds. It chiefly infects poultry and spreads like a rage destroying 90% flock in one go. Killing birds in the whole region is the only answer to prevent further spread. Vaccines against bird flu are available for birds.
In the olden days when diseases were thought to be the result of wrath of Gods and astrological influences, people named one of the commonest diseases then, the flu. It comes from Italian word “influenza” meaning “influence”. Over the years more names like grippe, sweating sickness, Spanish fever have been given to this disease which still holds power to send the world into a panic. Multiple flu pandemics have happened in the past, wiping out millions of people in a span of few days.
The flu is caused by the Influenza virus. It affects both mammals and birds. A few strains affect only humans. The bird flu or Avian flu (H5N1) is the Influenza virus adapted to the birds. It is the same Influenza virus, but a different subspecies that has adapted specifically to the birds. This virus was responsible for the bird flu epidemics that happened in Asia in 2003 and Europe in 2005. It is a highly lethal virus with a very high mortality.
Symptoms of flu in humans are fever, chills, cough, runny nose, bodyache, headache, fatigue, sore throat and a great sense of unease. It may also cause nausea, vomiting. The bird flu killed millions of birds in Asia, Africa and European continent by spreading like a wild fire through infected poultry. The virus has increasingly started spreading from birds to humans because of close contact with infected birds. In 2009, a Chinese woman died due to bird flu. 359 more humans have died from this deadly virus in 12 countries till August, 2012.
If left untreated or if treated, the flu inadequately it can lead to pneumonia (a serious lung infection) and even death. History is witness to millions of humans being victims to the influenza epidemics and pandemics when anti-viral medications were not available or not strong enough.
Diagnosis for flu is by a throat/nasal swab, chest x-ray and sputum sample examination under microscope.
Vaccination is now available against the flu virus. The virus has a tendency to mutate and newer strains are formed every few years, sometimes every year. Thus, the elderly, children, pregnant women and those with chronic lung diseases are advised to take a flu vaccine shot each year from the new batch of vaccines made using the new strains. Vaccines against the bird flu virus have also been developed for poultry. A few vaccines have been developed for humans, to prevent contracting the deadly bird flu, but none are available in the market as yet for civilians.
Treatment is done using antiviral like oseltamivir (Tamiflu). The bird flu cannot be treated in poultry. The infected bird has to be killed as it rapidly spreads and destroys 90% of the flock in just a few days. Killing every bird in the entire area is the only solution to contain spread of bird flu. This has resulted in severe economic losses.
Take home pointers:
Influenza or human flu or the flu is caused by the Influenza virus. The virus has multiple strains and mutates a bit every year making it very difficult to eradicate and contain. It produces symptoms like cough, fever, body ache, weakness, running nose and a sore throat. Treatment is necessary and antiviral like oseltamivir are used. Diagnosis is by throat/nasal/sputum sample examination. Vaccines are available.
Bird flu or avian flu is a subspecies of the Influenza virus which has specially adapted itself to the birds. It chiefly infects poultry and spreads like a rage destroying 90% flock in one go. Killing birds in the whole region is the only answer to prevent further spread. Vaccines against bird flu are available for birds.
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