Can some please explain what this means. Sulfa drugs and PABA!?

Question

For example, sulfa drugs have a chemical structure similar to that of the nutrient PABA. When PABA is available, microorganisms can synthesize the vitamin folic acid, which is necessary for growth. Humans do not synthesize folic acid from PABA, and that's why sulfa drugs selectively affect bacteria. What does this mean in english!!!!

Answer 1

There are several sulphonamide-based groups of drugs. The original antibacterial sulfonamides (sometimes called simply sulfa drugs) are synthetic antimicrobial agents that contain the sulfonamide group. The sulfonylureas (main article: sulfonylureas) and thiazide diuretics (main article thiazide) are newer drug groups based on the antibacterial sulfonamides.

In bacteria, antibacterial sulfonamides act as competitive inhibitors of the enzyme dihydropteroate synthetase, DHPS. DHPS catalyses the conversion of PABA (para-aminobenzoate) to dihydropteroate, a key step in folate synthesis. Folate is necessary for the cell to synthesize nucleic acids (nucleic acids are essential building blocks of DNA and RNA), and in its absence cells will be unable to divide. Hence the sulfonamide antibacterials exhibit a bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal effect.

Folate is not synthesized in mammalian cells, but is instead a dietary requirement. This explains the selective toxicity to bacterial cells of these drugs.

Sulfa allergies are common, hence medications containing sulfonamides are prescribed carefully.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfa_Drugs

An antibiotic is a drug that kills or prevents the growth of bacteria. They have no effect against viruses or fungal infections. Antibiotics are one class of antimicrobials, a larger group which also includes anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic drugs. They are relatively harmless to the host, and therefore can be used to treat infections. The term, coined by Selman Waksman, originally described only those formulations derived from living organisms, in contrast to "chemotherapeutic agents", which are purely synthetic. Nowadays the term "antibiotic" is also applied to synthetic antimicrobials, such as the sulfa drugs. Antibiotics are generally small molecules with a molecular weight less than 2000 Da. They are not enzymes. Some antibiotics have been derived from mold, for example the penicillin class.

Unlike previous treatments for infections, which included poisons such as strychnine and arsenic, antibiotics were labeled "magic bullets": drugs which targeted disease without harming the host. Conventional antibiotics are not effective in viral, fungal and other nonbacterial infections, and individual antibiotics vary widely in their effectiveness on various types of bacteria. Antibiotics can be categorized based on their target specificity: "narrow-spectrum" antibiotics target particular types of bacteria, such as Gram-negative or Gram-positive bacteria, while broad-spectrum antibiotics affect a larger range of bacteria.

The effectiveness of individual antibiotics varies with the location of the infection, the ability of the antibiotic to reach the site of infection, and the ability of the bacteria to resist or inactivate the antibiotic. Some antibiotics actually kill the bacteria (bactericidal), whereas others merely prevent the bacteria from multiplying (bacteriostatic) so that the host's immune system can overcome them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic

Answer 2

Example Of Sulfa Drugs

Answer 3

I agree with the answerers who say keep it simple and age appropriate. Drug addiction is too complex an issue for a 5 year old to understand. Since you've made a presidency by saying her parents were sick, I would suggest following up with telling her that there are different types of sicknesses. Some sickness - like a cold or the sniffles are easy to fix. You take a medicine a doctor gives you, and rest then in a few days you feel better. But there are some illnesses that a person might have for their whole life. I would add that her parents' illness made it too hard for them to be able to care for her properly but that they loved her very much and want her to have a good life. But I also think its important to ask her open ended questions so that you can get a better idea of what's going on in her head. Perhaps she's fearful when she sees you with a cold that you will get "too sick" to take care of her and then her and her sister will have to leave your home too. Perhaps she's fearful she'll get sick like her first parents and worries that she will have to leave, or won't be able to go to school etc. 5 year olds think way more then most people give them credit for, but at the same time, they don't have the life experiences to follow traditional thought patterns so there's no way to know what she could be thinking and believing without talking with her. If it were me, I would keep the focus of the conversation on the fact that they loved her a lot, and that they want her to have a good life. EDIT: I just read your additional comment about not wanting so paint it as a selfless act. I completely agree with that. However, its been proven that people under the influence have flawed thinking, so even though they did awful things that hurt the children, it doesn't mean that they didn't love them, or that they didn't want them to have a good life. Most people's "intentions" is for their children to have a good life even if they don't know how to provide it or simple can't, or even if their actions say something completely different. I think the fact that they were removed is a seperate issue to be dealt with when the kids are older and better able to understand complex issues. At your daughter's current level of development she's in a very ego-centric stage where she can twist whatever you say to be her fault. You don't want her to spend the next 10 years believing she wasn't good enough - which was why she had to leave their home, or that she caused their problems. (most kids will come to this conclusion at that age) That's why I personally think for now its important for your children to feel loved, so that's why I recommend putting the focus there. Just my thoughts