Skip to main content

How Does Anesthesia Work?

How Does Anesthesia Work?


Anesthesia was first used in 1846, by Dr William T.G.Morton in which he successfully demonstrated the use of Diethyl ether for surgery. In the old days, natural anesthesia were used such as opium-poppy, mandrake fruit etc. It is a medical treatment that prevents patients from feeling pain during surgery. Anesthesia can be of 3 types:

(1) Local anesthesia – this creates numbness only in one small area of the body.

(2) Regional anesthesia - blocks pain in an area of the body such as legs or arms, mostly used during childbirth.

(3) General anesthesia – makes you fully unconscious. This is a combination of both intravenous drugs and inhaled gases. It can have some side effect such as vomiting, nausea and hallucination.

During general anesthesia, the patient is supplied with inhaled gases. These gases are a combination of both anesthetic drugs and oxygen which goes to the lungs and then get mixed with the bloodstream which finally goes to central nervous system (CNS).

In the brain, anesthetic drugs get attached to GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid ) receptors present in the limbic system, which control personal and emotional feelings. GABA receptors are actually found in synapses of a neuron. They can be of 2 types: (1)GABAA receptors, (2)GABAB receptors.

These anesthetic drugs get attached to GABAA receptors and open the gateway allowing chlorine (negatively charged particles) to enter the cells of neurons, making them hyper-polarized. This inhibit neurons in transmitting electrical signals, which makes the brain lose all connections and thus we become unconscious. Though several studies have found that during unconsciousness our brain still remain active to some stimuli such as light and sound.

Emerging from unconsciousness is not so simple, the brain has to build up essential connections between them again, which happens in a certain order. Most basic and essential functions such as respiratory and digestive reflexes come back first, then comes the complex brain functions.

 





-Shyamendra Narayan Sinha
Department-Biotechnology
1st Year

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NEUROIMAGING IN IDENTIFYING DISORDERS

NEUROIMAGING IN IDENTIFYING DISORDERS Neuroimaging deals with the in vivo applications of various techniques to illustrate and study the structural & functional characteristics of the nervous system. Neuroimaging can be classified into two categories: • Structural neuroimaging, which involves the imaging of the structure of the nervous system and the diagnosis of intracranial injuries and tumours. • Functional imaging, which involves the study and diagnosis of metabolic diseases and cognitive research. The most widely used techniques involved in the process of neuroimaging are: 1. Computed Tomography (CT) or Computed Axial Tomography (CAT), in which X-ray images of the brain from various directions are taken and presented as cross-sections of the brain. 2. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which uses magnetic fields and radio waves to obtain high-resolution 2D or 3D images of the brain. 3. Positron Emission Tomography (PET), which measures emissions from radioac...
3 comments
Read more

HYPERLOOP

FIFTH MODE OF TRANSPORTATION-“HYPERLOOP” The concept of Hyperloop was first conceived in 2012 by renowned entrepreneur and founder of SpaceX and TESLA, Elon Musk . He was in search of a new, the fifth mode of transportation which can redefine the future of travelling by drastically reducing the travel time on land. It is termed hyperloop as it would go in a loop. Hyperloop is the greatest leap in mode of transportation infrastructure for generations. With passengers sitting in a pod and travelling through evacuated sealed metal tubes at a speed greater than that of an airline, the concept seems to be fictitious but it is on the verge of becoming reality. The speed of conventional mode of transportation i.e. buses, cars or trains is limited by air resistance and friction.   Hyperloop drastically reduces friction and air resistance by means of magnetic levitation, electric Propulsion and partially vacuum steel tubes. The concept is open-sourced by Elon Musk, the result of...
12 comments
Read more

EMOTION SENSING TECHNOLOGY

Emotion is a mental state associated with the nervous system brought on by chemical changes variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioural responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. Reading and understanding emotions can lead to wide-ranging opportunities. Emotion sensing technologies are being widely used in many applications to effectively understand the users' mood and use that information to do something productive. EMOTION SENSING TECHNOLOGIES can be used in various fields such as personal robots, driverless cars, educational software, consumer electronic devices, video games etc and is on the verge of becoming the next big thing. THE TECHNOLOGY INVOLVED: SKIN CONDUCTANCE SENSORS: Skin conductance (SC) is an index of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation and emotional arousal. To measure skin conductance, a small electrical potential is applied between two electrodes strapped or taped to the palmer side of the hand, and the amount of ...
2 comments
Read more