Orthorexia nervosa  (also known as orthorexia) (ON) is a proposed eating disorder characterized by an excessive preoccupation with eating healthy food. The term was introduced in 1997 by American physician Steven Bratman, M.D. He suggested that some peoples dietary restrictions intended to promote health may paradoxically lead to unhealthy consequences, such as social isolation, anxiety, loss of ability to eat in a natural, intuitive manner, reduced interest in the full range of other healthy human activities, and, in rare cases, severe malnutrition or even death.In 2009, Ursula Philpot, chair of the British Dietetic Association and senior lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University, described people with orthorexia nervosa as being "solely concerned with the quality of the food they put in their bodies, refining and restricting their diets according to their personal understanding of which foods are truly pure." This differs from other eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, where those affected focus on the quantity of food eaten.Orthorexia nervosa also differs from anorexia nervosa in that it does not disproportionally affect one gender. Studies have found that orthorexia nervosa is equally found in both men and women with no significant gender differences at all. Furthermore, research has found significant positive correlations between ON and both narcissism and perfectionism, but no significant correlation between ON and self esteem. This shows that high-ON individuals likely take pride over their healthy eating habits over others and that is the driving force behind their orthorexia as opposed to body image like anorexia.
Micafungin, sold under the brand name Mycamine, is an echinochandin antifungal medication used to treat and prevent invasive fungal infections including candidemia, abscesses, and esophageal candidiasis. It inhibits the production of beta-1,3-glucan, an essential component of fungal cell walls that is not found in mammals. Micafungin is administered intravenously. It received final approval from the U.S.  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2005, and gained approval in the European Union in April 2008. It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. Indications
Micafungin is indicated for the treatment of candidemia, acute disseminated candidiasis, Candida peritonitis, abscesses and esophageal candidiasis. Since January 23, 2008, micafungin has been approved for the prophylaxis of Candida infections in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Micafungin works by way of concentration-dependent inhibition of 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase resulting in reduced formation of 1,3-beta-D-glucan, which is an essential polysaccharide comprising one-third of the majority of Candida spp. cell walls. This decreased glucan production leads to osmotic instability and thus cellular lysis. Dosage
The metabolism of micafungin occurs hepatically via acryp sulfatase followed by secondary metabolism by a transferase. Precautions should be taken with regards to dosing, as micafungin weakly inhibits CYP3A4. Dosage forms
Micafungin is a natural antifungal product derived from other fungi as a defense mechanism for competition of nutrients, etc. To be specific, micafungin is derived from FR901379, and is produced by Coleophoma empetri. References
Further reading
External links
"Micafungin". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.