Brain cancer fears over heavy mobile phone use

A top Australian neurosurgeon suggested that mobile phones could be a greater threat to human health than smoking and even asbestos. A recent 15-month critical review showed the link between mobile phones and malignant brain tumors. The research said that using a person’s risk of getting brain cancer is actually double after 10 years of mobile use. This is caused by exposure to the invisible electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by the handsets.

The world is become more and more dependent on these useful devices. Today, there are currently 3 billion mobile phone users. This number is growing daily as people as young as three are starting use them. The phone radiation heats up the side of the head or thermoelectrically interact with the brain. It has been noted that the recent brain tumors are appearing on the same side as the user’s preferred ear for making calls. Bluetooth devices and “unshielded” headsets could convert the user’s head into a self-harming antenna.

Dr. Khurana, the neurosurgeon leading this research explained that the malignant tumor could take between 10-20 years to form after the commencement of the mobile phone usage. This makes research on recent occurrences difficult.

Some ideas that could be used to decrease the incidences could include restricted use of the devices, properly shielded cell phones, and hands-free devices such as headsets.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/essential-gadgets/brain-cancer-fears-over-heavy-mobile-phone-use/2008/03/31/1206850867797.html

Growth Hormone Effects Limited in Athletes

For several years, athletes have taken human growth hormones believing that they will increase physical performance and strength. However a recent study has deemed this incorrect and signs may even show a decrease in athletic performance.

Human growth hormone (HGH) successfully adds muscle tissue, however this increase in size doesn’t increase strength as previously expected. A study was performed on young athletic men, but the data found no increase in strength as expected.

Professional athletes Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are among those accused of consuming HGH for physical enhancements. Long term effects of GHG usage is still unclear, since such performance enhancement practice is illegal, and are likely to remain such due to the nature of the hormone.

Human growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland and promotes tissue growth. The synthetic version of HGH is legal only for treatment of particular children’s and adult’s diseases.

Although this study has revealed otherwise, there are still many theories of the effectiveness of HGH for performance enhancement. Athletes often choose HGH as a source of enhancement because it is not detectable in a urine sample.

Research on usage of HGH revealed that the average athlete taking HGH supplements achieved five pounds more muscle and two pounds less fat than those not on treatment. However the strength of the treated athletes did not improve strength or physical ability.

I personally found this article interesting because, as an athlete in high school, I know of several people who attempted to increase performance by using steroids and hormones.

full text: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/03/17/hgh.athletes.ap/index.html

New Technology Actually Increases Medicare's Expenditures

According to a relative recent study done by researchers from the RAND Corporation, newly developing medical technologies will drive up the cost of health care by billions of dollars over the next decade. The research team evaluated a complex model of Medicare annual expenses and predicted the cost that 10 new medical technologies would have on the system. Their study found that if only half of the patients with heart failure receive implantable cardiac defibrillators then Medicare costs would increase by 4%, or $14 billion, over the next ten years. The other technologies have similar outcomes.

The problem lies, ironically, with the fact that all of these new medical technologies are allowing people to live longer lives. Under the current model of Medicare increasing the lifespan of the populous will increase Medicare cost drastically as living longer does not necessarily mean living healthier, or cheaper. Quoting the conclusion of the study, “ultimately, society faces it greatest spending risk not from demographics and health trends, but rather from medical technologies.”

In response to the study, dean for social sciences at Harvard University, David Cutler, pointed out that the study does not include the lowered costs for services that doctors will now be able to provide. While it is true, according to Cutler, that most of the technologies mentioned in the report will come to pass, and in all likelihood they will drive up the cost of Medicare, the savings from services that the new technologies provide should more than offset the extra cost.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/31185.php

Heart Association: Hands only CPR Works

The American Heart Assosciation recently put out a release that stated in most cases, CPR using only rapid, deep chest compressions is just as effective as using the traditional method of breaths and compressions. Most of the time when a person collapses and is in need of CPR, it is because of cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest can be caused by a number of complications such as myocardial infarction, or other cardiac disease. In this case the unfortunate person still has air in their lungs and will often gasp for air while compressions are being administered. The problem is that their heart can not pump blood to the brain and other vital organs. By administering rapid chest compressions (about 100/min), doctors believe that a persons chance of survival from cardiac arrest could double or triple.
Often when a person collapses, bystanders are reluctant to begin administering CPR because of fear of infection or the simple "yuck factor". Doctors are hoping that people will be more inclined to step in and administer potentially life saving compressions since they will not have to worry about doing mouth-to-mouth. There are however certain instances in which breaths are still needed. These include anything where the lungs cannot fill properly with air such as a near drowning incidentm, drug overdose, or carbon monoxide poisoning. Also the heart association has said that for children breaths should still be administered because if they collapse they are more likely to have a breathing problem.
The CPR technique was not scheduled to be updated until 2010, but beacuse of three studies done last year it was updated. All three studies suggested that compression only CPR was just as effective as the traditional method. News of this new method has been met with enthusiasm and even had Dr. Gordon Ewy, director of the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center in Tucson, and proponent of compression only CPR, "Dancing in the streets".

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/03/31/hands.only.cpr.ap/index.html

Drug-Releasting Stent Better Than Uncoated Stent for Angioplasty

A study of 745 patients from Italy, Spain and Argentina who underwent angioplasty or percutaneous coronary intervention shows that stents releasing the drug sirolimus or tirofiban have a better effect of preventing major adverse cardiac event than uncoated stents.

Oftentimes, doctors will implant an uncoated stent and infuse with anticoagulants such as abciximab. There are certain concerns and questions about implanting a drug releasing stent, making it very uncommon.

The three year study, ending in April 2007, showed many positive effects of using high doses of tirofiban and sirolimus releasing stents when compared to uncoated stents and the use of abciximab infusion. 97% of the patients appeared to have interpretable ECGs. Also, there was a 5.4% difference in the rate of major adverse cardiac events between patients who received tirofiban and those who received uncoated stents. There was a 7% difference in the number of patients requiring revascularization between patients with the uncoated stent and patients with the sirolimus-releasing stent.

As you can see, the drug releasing stents appear to much more successful in the long run. With more research and testing hopefully uncoated stents will be replaced.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/102103.php

Emotion Makes Nose a Sharper Smeller

Know how a whiff of certain odors can take you back in time, either to a great memory or bad one? It turns out emotion plays an even bigger role with the nose, and that your sense of smell actually can sharpen when something bad happens.

Northwestern University researchers proved the surprising connection by giving volunteers electric shocks while they sniffed novel odors.

The discovery, reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science, helps explain how our senses can steer us clear of danger. More intriguing, it could shed light on disorders such as post-traumatic stress syndrome.

"This is an incredibly unique study," said Dr. David Zald, a Vanderbilt University neuroscientist who studies how the brain handles sensory and emotional learning. "We're talking about a change in our perceptual abilities based on emotional learning."

Scientists long have known of a strong link between the sense of smell and emotion. A certain perfume or scent of baking pie, for instance, can raise memories of a long-dead loved one.

Conversely, a whiff of diesel fuel might trigger a flashback for a soldier suffering PTSD.

Could an emotionally charged situation make that initial cue be perceived more strongly in the first place?

The research team recruited 12 healthy young adults to find out.

Volunteers repeatedly smelled sets of laboratory chemicals with odors distinctly different from ones in everyday life. An "oily grassy" smell is the best description that lead researcher Wen Li, a Northwestern postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience, could give.

Two of the bottles in a set contained the same substance and the third had a mirror image of it, meaning its odor normally would be indistinguishable. By chance, the volunteers correctly guessed the odd odor about one-third of the time.

Then Li gave the volunteers mild electric shocks while they smelled just the odd chemical. In later smell tests, they could correctly pick out the odd odor 70 percent of the time.

MRI scans showed the improvement was more than coincidence. There were changes in how the brain's main olfactory region stored the odor information, essentially better imprinting the shock-linked scent so it could be distinguished more quickly from a similar odor.

In other words, the brain seems to have a mechanism to sniff out threats.

That almost is certainly a survival trait evolved to help humans rapidly and subconsciously pick a dangerous odor from the sea of scents constantly surrounding us, Li said. Today, that might mean someone who has been through a kitchen fire can tell immediately if a whiff of smoke has that greasy undertone or simply comes from the fireplace.

But the MRI scans found the brain's emotional regions did not better discriminate among the different odors, Li noted. That discrepancy between brain regions is where anxiety disorders may come in. If someone's olfactory region does not distinguish a dangerous odor signal from a similar one, the brain's emotional fight-or-flight region can overreact.

Researchers say that is a theory not yet tested.

For now, Northwestern neuroscientist Jay Gottfried, the study's senior author, says the work illuminates a sense that society too often gives short shrift.

"People really dismiss the sense of smell," said Gottfried, who researches "how the brain can put together perceptions of hundreds of thousands of different smells. ... Work like this really says that the human sense of smell has much more capacity than people usually give it credit."

Lung Transplants Not Dangerous For Children With Cystic Fibrosis After All, Researchers Argue

As of late, a study was released in the New England Journal of Medicine that focused on how harmful lung transplants were to children with cystic fibrosis. However, in response to this study a couple more were released refuting the harmfulness and insisting that data used in the study was outdated and flawed. Having accepted the originally presented data on unsuccessful lung transplants, many children patients that might greatly benefit from transplant could have been pushed down waiting lists.
Because cystic fibrosis has no cure and because of its negative affects on the quality of life, it is important to pursue all means to help out the youth of society.This article first caught my eye because of the low number of lung transplants that are performed yearly. The first set of data could have slowed and inapproprately altered the allocation of lungs to patients. Additionally, it keeps avenues open to expand and improve upon lung transplantation methods so that children with the nagging disease of cystic fibrosis can receive more help. It also shows the importance of review of released studies. One would expect that inaccurate data that reaches out to such a global level would not have been published.

"Head implant that makes you taller"

A young woman who wanted to be an air stewardess was rejected for being too short. Half an inch, to be precise. She went to Dr. de la Cruz, who helped her become an air stewardess.

Dr. Luis de la Cruz of the Clinica La Cruz in Madrid, Spain has devised a new implant which can increase one's height by 2 inches during a 90-minute operation. The operation is performed by creating an incision on one side of the head and the implant put in between the skull and the scalp. "It is a relatively simple procedure that can have a wonderfully positive effect on the patient's life," says Dr. de la Cruz. He has performed this operation on 17 patients. The only other option is lengthening the leg bones , a painful procedure.

The main opposition is that people will be conscious of their new image in a negative way.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Head_implant_that_makes_you_taller/articleshow/2912216.cms

Hands Only CPR

The American Heart Association announced that hands-only cpr works just as well as the traditional cpr method. Generally, when adults collapse and stop breathing it is cardiac arrest but with children is probably due to breathing issues so mouth-to-mouth would still have to be used on them.

The hands only method is supposed to be better because it is easier to remember and some people who are reluctant to participate in the mouth-to-mouth part of the traditional cpr method will now, hopefully, be more willing to jump in and help.

Other than removing the stigma of performing mouth-to-mouth on a stranger, hands-only cpr may be more effective than traditional cpr because stopping to give breathes takes time away from compressing. Also, usually patients having cardiac arrest take small gasps of air on their own anyway so they are still getting some air.

I found this interesting because I always thought stuff like cpr was pretty set in stone but I guess people are always working on ways to improve old, simple procedures. I like how they talked about how it would help not only physiologically, but how it ultimately might save more people because it removes some of the stigma behind mouth-to-mouth cpr.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hOVUvypBGYgOxkIQz5F4D8XIps0gD8VOO1101

Autism's mysteries remain as numbers grow

ELLICOTT CITY, Maryland (CNN) -- It remains one of the greatest mysteries of medicine. Although autism will be diagnosed in more than 25,000 U.S. children this year, more than new pediatric cases of AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined, scientists and doctors still know very little about the neurological disorder.

Until they were 18 months old, the Gaston triplets seemed like normal, healthy babies.

Unlike childhood diabetes or pediatric leukemia, there is no blood test, no scan, no image that can detect autism. Diagnosis relies totally on behavioral observation and screening. And that's not easy.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, three distinctive behaviors characterize autism: lack of social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. But children with autism display these symptoms in many different ways, some as mild as avoiding eye contact, while others are totally immersed in a world of their own.
Dr. Gary Goldstein, president of Kennedy Krieger Institute, one of the leading U.S. facilities for autism research and treatment, says although doctors know more about autism than ever, plenty of questions remain unanswered. Over the past few years, it has become clear that genetics play a big role in the development of autism. But researchers believe something -- a trigger -- sets off autism in a child.
"It's a combination of being genetically vulnerable, and then having some kind of social or toxic exposure that tips you over," Goldstein says. If scientists find that trigger, they could find the missing piece of the autism puzzle.
It's that missing puzzle piece that frustrates families with autistic children. When the Gaston triplets of Ellicott City, Maryland, were born seven years ago, their parents, Lynn and Randy, were thrilled. For years, they had been trying to have children. After in vitro fertilization, Lynn gave birth to identical twins, Hunter and Nicholas, and a fraternal brother named Zachary. Though they were born prematurely, they grew to be healthy, happy babies. Then something changed.
At around 18 months, the boys began to display unusual behaviors. Zach became compulsive, lined up cereal boxes and toys; he wouldn't socialize and kept to himself. Hunter would roam the house at night and scream at the top of his lungs. Nick just stopped talking. Lynn asked her pediatrician about it. Her sons' doctor said she was overreacting and they should wait and see. But Lynn and Randy were sure there was something wrong with their children. It was frustrating for Lynn, who watched her children change every day before her eyes. "It was almost as if somebody turned the switch off. It was like the first 18 months of their lives didn't happen."
As months passed, the Gastons became frustrated as doctor after doctor told them to wait. That was unfortunate, because doctors now know that the sooner autism is diagnosed, the better chance the child has for getting successful treatment.

"Early intervention is key, because brain development starts before birth," says Dr. Pat Levitt, director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development in Nashville, Tennessee.
"During the ages of 0 to 5 years, there is a tremendous amount of change that occurs in the brain and brain chemistry."
In October, the American Academy of Pediatrics set up new guidelines to help pediatricians recognize the early signs of autism, in order to diagnose the disorder and get children into treatment as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen for the Gastons. Their boys were 4 years old before doctors at Kennedy Krieger confirmed the family's fears. All three sons had some variation of autism.
The Gastons had never heard of autism before their sons were born. Now they were raising three autistic children. That was tough enough, but even after the diagnosis, it was hard to find any information on the condition. That's because until recently, very little information on autistic children has been widely available. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been collecting data only since 2001, the year the Gaston triplets were born.
Lynn expressed her frustration: "It's not like you can look up autism in the phone book. I couldn't go to the Yellow Pages and find a doctor, and didn't even know what doctor to go see. I thought my pediatrician was going to handle all this."
The Gastons keep asking themselves, "Where is the trigger?" They've each looked into their family history and found no autism.
Some parents believe that thimerosal, a preservative found in childhood vaccines that virtually every child gets, causes autism, because many children were diagnosed after they were vaccinated. But most medical experts increasingly doubt that theory, because even though the chemical has been removed from virtually all vaccines, the number of cases of autism is rising.
"You remove thimerosal from all but the flu vaccine, which isn't given to children under 6 months of age, and the incidence of autism only increases. So you just have piece of evidence after piece of evidence after piece of evidence that really disproves this notion," said Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the Infectious Diseases Division at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Although the Gastons don't express their opinions on vaccines, Randy makes a point: "There's something that's affecting these children at that age, and it's unfortunate that families are left to their own devices to find out what is going on."
For now the Gastons remain dedicated to getting their sons the best care possible, which can be expensive. They sold their house in order to pay bills for therapy and doctors that total in the hundreds of thousand of dollars.
They are also involved in autism awareness groups and try to help other parents of autistic children understand what their children are going through. Just recently they shot a public service announcement to promote a new project developed by the Kennedy Krieger Institute, called IAN, or interactive autism network, an online project that can help autism researchers link with families of autistic children as well as with other scientists. The hope is that IAN will alert families to local and national autism research projects they can participate in.
But minus the projects and the doctors and the therapists, the Gastons, like many families with autistic children, believe it all comes down to the attention they give their children that makes the real difference. To say it's been difficult for the Gastons is an understatement. But above all, they love each other and work to give their children as much happiness as possible.
As Randy Gaston says while Zach turns to give him a hug and a smile, "The one thing he has to know for the rest of his life is that I did everything for him. That's what it comes down to. I love him."
Laura Hernandez-Cruz

Improved Colonoscopies

Rather than the traditional means of performing a colonoscopy, researchers are working on a tiny self propelled robot that will climb its way through the colon with far less discomfort than the traditional method. The robot will climb the clippery insides of the colon wall using muco-adhesives to give them traction. The sticky muco-adhesives are non-toxic and are flushed out of the colon within a number of hours after the colonoscopy. Reasearchers have had success so far with pig colons and are finding the pattern of muco-adhesive that is most effective. This little robot will propel the endoscope which is used to identify cancerous polyps. This new method may lead to less colonoscopies being called off due to the discomfort, thus leading to better diagnoses.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343011,00.html

The Development of Schizophrenia

Recently published studies from two independent teams have demonstrated the relationship between various uncommon genetic mutations and impairments in neural development resulting ultimately in schizophrenia. According to the studies, these genetic mutations, namely deletions and duplications, were found in 15% and 20% of adult onset and child/adolescent onset schizphrenia patients, respectively. Such mutations in turn affect other genes essential to brain development. The obvious implications of this discovery are that a myriad of genes are potentially involved in the illness clinically diagnosed as schizophrenia.

These results may seem more to be a statement of the obvious rather than a significant advancement in the study of neural disorders, but one must begin somewhere. By identifying genes responsible for interference in other genes essential to developmental normality in an individual, researchers take one more step towards nailing down the genetic culprits. Interestingly, the commonly accepted model of schizophrenia suggests the aggregate effects of certain candidate genes, in combination with environmental factors, contribute to the neural disorder. However, a year ago, these same groups published results that indicated a similarity between schizophrenia and autism: the neural developmental disorders stem from "different, spontaneous, and individual rare" mutations in genetic structure.

I find this article of interest because it is yet another example of the nearly unfathomable complexity that is the human being; it is a reminder of the truly awe-inspiring design inherent in the human body. I also find it of interest because it represents the need for re-evaluation of current approaches to investigating the origins of neural developmental diseases.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/102065.php

Identified Mechanism That Helps Fruit Flies Lock-in Memories

Research groups at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have identified a protein in fruit flies whose action helps to alter the strength of synaptic connections needed to lock-in memories. This change in the strength of synaptic connections is called plasticity, which plays a vital role in memory formation. A fruit fly gene called Pumilio, which is similar to a gene found in humans, has been discovered to promote memory formation. It has been confirmed that this gene interacts with several of the protein-precursors, one being dlg1, which is also very similar to a gene that acts in synapse formation in humans. They finally genetically engineered flies to make large amounts of the Pum protein and confirmed that the protein product of the dlg1 gene was dramatically reduced. This led to the notion that Pumilio helps build memories by selectively altering individual synapses.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080329083435.htm

Self-assembled Materials Form Mini Stem Cell Lab

The article discussed how a research team from Northwestern University’s Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine was able to create instantly assembling sacs in which human stem cells can be grown. The sacs have been found to survive for weeks in culture and their membranes are permeable to proteins.

The sacs, made of peptide amphiphile(PA), small synthetic molecules, and the biopolymer hyaluronic acid(HA), readily found in places like joints and cartilage in the human body. When the HA solution was poured into a vial with the PA solution, the heavier HA molecules sank and were engulfed by the smaller PA molecules creating a closed sac with the HA solution trapped inside the membrane. In addition, these two molecules can be used to make many different structures including sacs, with a solid membrane on the outside and liquid in the inside, and flat membranes of any shape. Furthermore the structures, which can vary in size, can be stretched with tweezers and easily repaired through self-assembly should the material have a defect or tear.

In this study the human stem cells were then engulfed by the self-assembly process inside the sacs that they placed in the culture. The researchers found that the cells remained viable for up to four weeks, the large protein growth factor important in signaling the stem cells could cross the membrane, and the stem cells were able to differentiate.

This method could be not only be used in cell therapy and other biological applications but could also be used in the design of electronic devices by self-assembly, such as solar cells as well as the design of new materials.

I found this article interesting because of all the potential this discovery holds. In the article they discussed how these sacs could be used to cloak stem cells from the immune system, confine cancer cells for study and even architect new solar cells or nanoscale columns of catalytic nanostructures that would extend over macroscopic dimensions. There seems to be thousands of applications of these sacs.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327172303.htm

Smart Clothes: Textiles That Track Your Health

A European project known as BIOTEX is aimed at weaving small body sensors into fabrics in order to monitor vital signs constantly. Ultimately, the goal is to use the data collected by these sensors to alert doctors when the vital signs of the person wearing the clothing are dangerous. The sensors analyze the content of minimal amounts of body fluid like sweat and blood. The biosensors are used to measure sodium, potassium, and chloride levels, pH of sweat, and oxygen saturation of blood. In order to transport small amounts of sweat to the sensors a network of hydrophilic and hydrophobic yarns, which cuts down on the power demands of the system. Ultimately, the BIOTEX patches will be used to monitor the vital signs of patients suffering from obesity and diabetes. There is still research needed to utilize the complete benefit of these fabrics, but a continuous monitoring of body fluids will prove to be very beneficial in the treatment of metabolic diseases.

Racial Clues in Bowel Cancer Find

Scientists have recently found certain genes that increase the risk for bowel cancer in different races. The scientists found that one of the genes increased the risk in people of European descent but not in Japanese individuals. The scientists are now moving to the next step which is developing ways to predict people which are at a higher risk. Currently, bowel cancer is not detected until it is in its later stages which reduces the chance for successful treatment. The reason that this is so significant, is because it gives doctors a way to know which patients to follow and suspect more closely due to the genes that suggest the cancer. The only problem with this type of identification procedure is that it has been found that one gene means that people of European descent are more susceptible while those of Japanese descent are not. Overall, this finding is extremely significant and could save many lives in the future.

Cody Covington

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7319251.stm

Drug-Eluting Stents Safe After Heart Attack

New research has shown that drug-eluting stents are more effective than bare-metal stents for heart attack patients. It was found that drug-eluting stents lower the risk of blood vessels (such as the diseased artery) narrowing again , don't heighten the risk of mortality,and reduce the likelyhood that the patient will soon have another heart attack. The drug-eluting stents have been found to be safe and effective for those patients suffering from myocardial infarctions. However, the long-term effectiveness of these stents is questionable, due to the fact that the drug used retards the growth of arterial cells.

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/heart-and-cardiovascular/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100199468

Cells' disease machinery silenced

Original Post for the blog below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7314676.stm

Cells' disease machinery silenced

Scientists are working on a breakthrough technology that will silence RNA. They believe that silencing this genetic material in cells will play an important role in disease.

At the moment, the scientists have cut monkeys' cholesterol levels by silencing strands of RNA in the liver that control metabolism. They are aiming their research to develop a treatment for Hepatitis C rather than high cholesterol. The scientists believe that this technique could ultimately be used to treat diseases like cancer, cardiac disease, and diabetes.

The treatment is based on the idea of silencing certain types of RNA which is believed to be the main regulator of the cell. Specific types of RNA have been associated with different diseases and silencing them could prove to be an effective treatment and possibly a cure.

However, the side-effects of silencing RNA remain unknown. At the moment, silencing RNA seems like a revolutionary treatment for may different.

New Indicators for HIV Progression

According to this article, a new subclass of monocytes, CD163+/CD16+ monocytes, could possibly be excellent indicators of HIV progression. These monocytes are macrophage precursors, and are spectulated to have an intimate role in viral pathology. Though these cells are only shown to have a strong role in indicating the progress of the disease, it is possible that these cells will offer clues on how HIV eventually wins the on average 10 year-long fight with the human immune system.

CD stands for cluster of differentiation, and are receptor tags on white blood cells that are used for identification. New advances in immunochemistry allow immunologists to distinguish between many different types of white blood cells by their cell receptors using monoclonal antibodies. For example, an elevated number of eosinophils, large white blood cells filled with reactive oxygen species, indicates a patient has a parasite.

This article is particular interesting because as we learn more about the human immune system, there will be better ways to diagnose a patient. It may be possible to eventually take a blood sample, look at the body's natural response to the pathogen, and already narrow the pathology signficantly by looking at the subclass of white blood cells that have been upregulated.

Original Article:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/HIVAIDS/HIVAIDS/tb/8937

Blocking microRNAs to Lower Cholesterol

Scientists working with Santaris Pharma, a biotech company based in Denmark, have successfully blocked a microRNA called miR-122 in monkeys. The microRNA regulates cholesterol levels, and when blocked in the monkeys resulted in a drop in cholesterol levels by as much as 40% in 23 days. None of the monkeys treated presented with significant harmful side effects.

This is the first successful experiment blocking microRNAs in primates, and demonstrates the feasibility of the therapy to treat disease. As miR-122 is also involoved in the replication of the hepatitis C virus in humans, this therapy is also being developed as a possible treatment for hepatitis C.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/326/2

Bionic Man Moves Artificial Arm with Brain

A man named Jesse Sulivan accidentally touched live wires while working as a utility lineman in Tennessee. He suffered severe burns, causing him to lose his arms. The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago had been developing prototype mechnical arms and decided Jesse would be the perfect candidate to test out their prototype. Since Jesse had no arms, the surgeons attached his arm nerves to healthy muscles in his chest. From there the signal was translated to the mechanical arms which were attached to the sides of his chest. During the tests, Jesse was able to think "close fist" and the artificial fists would close. He then demonstrated that he could pick up a glass and use it.

While the technology is not yet perfected, the fact that it exists is extremely fascinating. The time of the bionic man is in the near future. Technology may be insufficient today but in a few years it will be good enough to reproduce nearly identical counterparts to where it will no longer be a handicap to have a bionic limb.

Unfortunately, since the technology is revolutionary the price is well beyond an average American could afford. The price of the artificial arms were projected to be 6 million dollars upon completion. But again keep in mind, this was just a prototype, after the final design is complete then price cautious substitutes can then be considered, along with possible payment plans, financial aid, etc.

Link: http://www.local6.com/news/4643968/detail.html

"White Matter Matters"

The brain has always been regarded by scientists as two distinct domains – gray matter and white matter. Gray matter consists of neurons while white matter contains axon bodies wrapped in sheets of myelin. For decades scientists have concluded that gray matter is responsible for learning, memory, mental illness, and more, but now researchers are turning their attention to the fatty substance surrounding the axon: myelin.

Oligodendrocytes are glial cells that lay down myelin in the brain, and they do so differentially at various stages in the human lifespan. A newborn, for example, has virtually no myelin coating his/her axons. Myelination occurs in different areas of the brain until about age 25, at which point it basically halts. Interestingly, the degree of myelination depends on the activities that the subject partakes in; professional pianists have a very dense coating of myelin in the region of the brain that connects finger movement with making music. These and other studies were performed using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which is similar in concept to an MRI only more detailed. Thus it is likely that experience does influence the formation and location of myelin.

A question that arises when studying myelin formation is – why do some neurons contain myelin and others do not? By one interpretation, it takes a great amount of precision for neuronal signals to arrive in one location at the correct time. Some must travel faster than others, and the speed is regulated by the degree of myelination and the number of nodes of Ranvier. The speed of a signal can vary from 30 milliseconds all the way to 300 milliseconds. Thus coordination is key when considering the timing of all of the impulses it takes to formulate a thought.

In addition to myelin’s role in learning and cognition, lack of myelination can also play a vital role in disease. Diseases that arise from missing or incomplete myelination include multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Alexander disease, and possibly schizophrenia, autism, bipolar disorder and dyslexia. Patients with schizophrenia, for example, generally show signs of the disorder during late adolescence; this also happens to be when the forebrain undergoes myelination.

The effects and extent of influence of myelination are not yet fully understood, and of course more research is necessary. The study of the brain is an ever-evolving process that unfolds a bit more each day, revealing mysterious secrets and surprises.

Fields, Douglas R. "White Matter Matters." Scientific American March 2008. p54-61. 03-27-08.

Nanobots, No Longer Science Fiction

In London, a new breed of nanobots are being designed to assist doctors. These nanobots will be able to revolutionize surgery by going where no surgeon or technology has gone before.

These micro-machines are taking their cues from bacteria to help them find their way around the human body. The nanobots are the size of a few molecules and believed to have the ability to reach parts of the body difficult or impossible to get to using today's medical practices.

However, these machines are still in the design stage. If they prove to be successful, they could bring about a new type of molecular surgery that has never been implimented before.

Dr. James Friend, is developing a nanobot propelled by a tiny rotor motor measuring about five-millionths of a meter. With a simple injection the tiny machine would swim to its intended target inside the human body. With ground breaking technology the powerful micro-motor will have its own power supply and be perform tasks by remote control.

The future of nanobots is on the horizon. It is only a matter of years before these scientist can perfect their micro-machines. Both the diagnosis and treatment for patients with diseases or injuries that would normally involve extinsive surgery, will be changed forever.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/02/08/ft.nanobots/index.html

Nanobots,

Appendix Removed through Patient's Mouth

In the last few months researchers have been investigating a new procedure for taking out ones appendix. Previously an appendectomy has taken months to fully recover from because of the incision made in the abdominal wall. With this new procedure a doctor can go through the mouth, down to the stomach, and cut a small hole in the stomach wall and draw your inflammed appendix back out through the mouth. The only symptoms are a mild sore throat afterwards. Patients are back to exercising fully in just a few days. This development opens up so many possibilities for future surgury techniques. This is also being investigated for removal of gallbladders as well. The first US surgery was done less than a month ago so this is still a very up and coming thing.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/571846

Saliva as Diagnosis Tool

Researchers from five different universities have been working on a comprehensive proteome for saliva. Comparing a patient’s saliva content with the ‘normal’ content complied from the proteome could be used to diagnose diseases. Certain proteins which are involved in signaling pathways in response to diseases could be present in the saliva, and finding them during a test could indicate having the disease. Presently saliva-based antibody tests are used to detect human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis infections. By making a more complete protein map, more diseases could potentially be tested for in this manner. One group is pursuing the idea looking for the protein HER2, which could be an indicator of breast cancer. If successful the research group believes that a saliva spit-test could replace mammograms. Researchers presently have leads in the signaling protein markers for Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancer and diabetes.

This idea is intriguing because it would be easier to collect saliva samples than even blood or urine samples. If a child, who typically dislike shots and having blood drawn, needs to undergo diagnosis tests this would offer at least a preliminary alternative. Even if the test is not definitive, it might be possible to run a painless saliva test in the future to narrow the source of the problem to a few possibilities. These tests would probably be cheaper and as the article states could potentially be performed at home. It will be interesting to see how many diseases or conditions for which they can find protein markers or signal pathway protein.
“Testing for disease could be easy as spit.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23792553/

New 'Double-Barreled Shotgun' for Imaging

As many of us found out during last semester's project, PET & MRI are both useful tools for imaging. PET is good at providing views of processes in the body, while MRI is better at giving us a look at structures. Together, they can provide a great view for healthcare professionals. Until now, however, that hasn't been possible, because the strong magnetic field used in MRI interfered with the photomultiplier tubes used for PET.

Researchers at UCLA solved the problem by substituting silicon avalanche photodiode detectors for the photomultiplier tubes. Since the MRI's magnetic fields didn't affect the new detectors, the two imaging techniques could be combined into one scanner.

This should prove very helpful to healthcare professionals by giving them a simultaneous view of both structure and processes. The scanner was built to help researchers be able to understand what is happening inside a tumor, as it shows them the tumor, and the activity inside it.

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/17434

Folic acid improves a man's chance of becoming a father

A current research has shown that high level of folic acid in men will help to produce "high quality" sperm which reduces the chances of harbouring genetic changes that can lead to Down's syndrome and miscarriages. It is shown that the synthetic form of folate (a B vitamin) is essential for development and a deficiency during the early stages of pregnancy can lead to neural tube defects in the baby, including spina bifida. The current recommended daily intake (RDA) of multivitamin supplements containing folate for men aged over 19 is 400 micrograms It is suggested that an possible increase for men considering becoming fathers for at least three months before trying to conceive, in order to reduce the risk of chromosomal abnormalities in their children.

link: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=36528

World's Smallest Spinal Cord Stimulator Approved in US, Europe

St. Jude Medical just announced that the company's rechargeable, longest-lasting Eon Mini implantable neurostimulator has received approval from the FDA, as well as a CE Mark from the EU.
Even with its small size, the Eon Mini has the longest-lasting battery life of any rechargeable spinal cord stimulation (SCS) device in its class. It is the only small rechargeable neurostimulator to receive a 10-year battery longevity approval by the FDA. For patients this means the device should provide sustainable therapy and maintain a reasonable recharge interval for 10 years of use at high settings. The device’s battery longevity also may mean that patients require fewer battery replacement surgeries.

The Eon Mini also allows patients the freedom to comfortably recharge the device’s battery while taking a walk, cooking a meal or shopping because the charging system is fully portable. Additionally, Eon Mini has the greatest recommended implant depth of any small rechargeable SCS device, so the device can be placed more discreetly, potentially making it less noticeable.
In addition, the Eon Mini device features the following:
Enhanced microchip and software (NeuroDynamix™) technology that continuously selects the most efficient power management mode, preserving the battery’s capacity to deliver therapy.
Constant current circuitry that automatically adjusts power output to deliver consistent therapy over time.
Advanced programming capability that allows physicians to treat up to eight pain areas simultaneously to address complex pain patterns.
A 16-contact header that is compatible with all St. Jude Medical SCS leads, giving physicians more control in designing the system for optimal pain relief

Grape Skin Compound Fights the Complications of Diabetes

Research has been conducted on the effects of resveratrol on diabetes patients. It has been found that resveratrol, a compund in the skin of grapes, is useful in protecting blood vessels from cellular damage. In diabetes patients, the buildup of glucose in the blood causes damage to the mitochondria in the cells of the blood vessels. The mitochondria then leak electrons and free radicals, which are very damaging. This can lead to serious complications such as heart disease, retinopathy, and nephropathy. If grapes are ingested, the resveratrol from the skins will stop the damage by assisting the cells in making enzymes. These enzymes will prevent electrons and free radicals from leaking out of the mitochondria. This could become a therapy for diabetes patients in which they would eat certain foods as a source of resveratrol. Other sources of this compound besides grape skins are seeds, peanuts, and red wine.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318094514.htm

Two proteins that regulate potassium in stem cells discovered

Scientists at the Texas Tech University and the University of Wisconsin have discovered two proteins that play a role in monitoring potassium levels in stem cells. This is a vital discovery because this can improve certain diseases involving the heart and nerves. Furthermore, it can lead to diagnosis of diseases faster. Potassium is used in many tasks: to divide stem cells, in the contraction of muscle and nerve cells, and to relay data in the brain. Voltage-gated potassium channel proteins are important in organs to carry out tasks essential to life. By having a detail understanding how these proteins develop in stem cells, scientists can detect and also treat certain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and some cardiovascular diseases. I find this article interesting because they discovered these proteins by accident but can lead a new light to the medical industry. By researching stem cells more in depth, we can discover other factors that can lead to treatments of diseases that our society is confronted with.

http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=36199

Soy Compound May Halt Spread Of Prostate Cancer

Researchers have found that a soybean rich diet in mice helped to prevent the spread of cancer throughout the body. The chemical, genistein, is the key to this phenomenon. The amazing part about this discovery is that a human would only have to consume the amount of soy found in a normal soybean-rich diet.

The study was held at Northwestern University and it was found that the genistein decreased the metastasis of prostate cancer to the lungs by an astounding 96 percent. Genistein inhibits the detachment of cancerous cells by blocking the activation of p38 MAP kinases. The genistein flattens out cells to make them stick stronger to other cells limiting their ability to move away. However, genistein only stops metastasis of the tumor not stopping its growth or reducing the size of the tumor.

The researchers stressed that this information is very new and incomplete. The use of genistein may prove to work different in humans. People who have had soy diets their entire life versus people who switched to a soy diet for treatment may have different results from the treatment. Researchers went on to state that "the only way [they] will find out how promising genistein is will be from conducting clinical trials."


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314085038.htm

A Neuroanatomist Experiences Stroke

Over spring break I had the pleasure of meeting my mom's college friend who has Multiple Sclerosis. In Canada (where she lives), she interviews medical students and speaks to medical students about the psychiatry of patients with neurological disorders, such as MS. I had an interesting talk with her about the differences in health care between America and Canada (the drug costs for a condition such as MS can build up), and about her condition.

Anyways, she sent me this link to a lecture given by a neuroanatomist who experienced a stroke and lived to tell about it. I'll admit it's a bit odd but at the same time it was quite the insight to the condition. I would summarize it, but it would not do the speech justice.


http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/229

Adult Stem Cells Help Those With Immune Disorders, Heart Disease

A new U.S. analysis has shown that adult stem cells may be an effective treatment for autoimmune diseases and cardiovascular disorders.

Adult stem cells are different from embryonic stem cells which are collected from an embryo four to five days after fertilization and are able to differentiate into any type of cell in the body. Adult stem cells, on the other hand, are found in several types of tissue in different parts of the body and function to help replace damaged and aging cells. Adult stems cells are limited in the cell types into which they can differentiate.

Researchers have found that transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells into individuals during the active, inflammatory stage of an autoimmune disease results in a disease-remitting effect. The disease remission duration, however, remains unclear.

In studies of 1,498 patients with cardiovascular disease, it was found that “adult stem cell transplantation may lead to modest improvements in cardiac function.”

This finding is exciting news because it presents evidence that adult stem cells may be an effective treatment method for autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular disease. One must also wonder what other disorders could be successfully treated with stem cells. Clinical trials are necessary in order to “determine the most appropriate cell type, dose, method, timing of delivery, and adverse effects of hematopoietic stem cells.”

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_61587.html

Obesity surgery seen as potential diabetes cure

A study was done on 55 obese people suffering from type 2 diabetes. Half of the group underwent laparoscopic gastric banding, where an adjustable silicone cuff is installed around the upper stomach, limiting how much a person can eat. The other half received standard diabetes care. Those who had the stomach reduction surgery were 5 times more likely to see their diabetes disappear, with most patients able to stop taking their prescriptions. Both patient groups learned about low-fat, high-fiber diets and were encouraged to exercise. Both groups could meet with a health professional every six weeks for two years. 22 of the 29 patients who had the surgery showed diabetes remission after two years; in the standard-care group, only four of the 26 patients achieved that goal. More research is needed to determine how effective is it, for what spectrum of patients, over what period of time and at what cost.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/01/22/diabetes.obesity.surgery.ap/index.html

Silicone Womb Allows Cyborg Babies, At Least Better Success Rates

A common problem with in-vitro fertilization is influencing the fertilized embryo to grow and eventually implant in the uterus. A new "silicon womb" being researched in the UK has found a way to help those odds. The apparatus holds test-tube embryos inside an artificial womb to more closely emulate the natural conditions in which life begins. Researchers believe that putting the embryos in these containers will lead to healthier, better quality embryos, and clinical trials in the upcoming months may prove their theory.

In in-vitro fertilization eggs taken from the donor are fertilized with sperm and allowed to develop for 2 to 5 days. At this point the healthiest are transferred into the donor's uterus; this is where the silicon womb comes in. The fertilized embryos are places in these perforated silicon containers and the whole container is then placed in the donor's uterus where they grow in a more natural environment. After a few days they removed and the healthiest embryos are then implanted in the donor's uterus."Embryos incubated in the lab must have their growth medium changed every few hours to provide new nutrients and get rid of waste", researchers say. "The new device provides a more natural environment."

The apparatus is a silicon capsule, 5 millimeters long and less than a millimeter across that has been perforated with 360 holes, each 40 microns wide. Embryos are placed in the container and a wire is attached for later recovery. Simon Fishel, leader of the CARE UK fertility group says the results s far have been "encouraging but not conclusive", but currently over 40 volunteers will be participating in their study to assess the impact the apparatus has. "We will be able to directly compare the results of the in-vitro and in-vivo techniques," says Fishel.

The most important obstacle is that the Anecova capsule is not placed "exactly where an early embryo would naturally develop, inside one of the fallopian tubes", Fishel says. Embryos usually spend about a week traveling down the fallopian tubes towards the womb; this is where the development the Anecova capsule is mimicking occurs. "It's a lot closer to a fallopian tube than a plastic tray, but this new device is not an artificial fallopian tube," adds Laurence Shaw a researcher at the Bridge Centre fertility clinic in London, "The trials will tell us whether the environment in the womb will do instead."

Nick Sears

Anecova via NewsScientist

Snoring 'linked to heart disease'

A new study has been suggesting that there is a strong link between loud snoring and both heard disease and strokes. The scientists in Hungary that led the study concluded that people who snore heavily while sleeping are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke compared to the rest of the population. Snoring has been known to be common in people who are overweight but it is also estimated that about 40% of adult males and 24% of adult females are habitual snorers. Of the 12,000 people who were interviewed in the convenience of their homes for this study, it was found that compared to the rest of the population, loud snorers had a 34% increased risk of having a heart attack, and a 67% greater chance of suffering a stroke. The researchers suggested that a way to help identify people at risk from these diseases is to listen for loud snoring with breathing pauses. The study also informs us that people who snore quietly had no increase in their risk of cardiovascular illness. And as for good news, it was found that for men, it seems that their snores decline once they get past the age of 70 years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7272651.stm

Protein Shines Light On Cancer Response

Researchers have reported the finding of a protein that, when tagged, is able to locate specific tumors which respond to chemotherapy. The method of tagging is a type of light-emitting molecule, and the research was conducted in mice. Dr. Hallahan and his team of colleagues found a specific peptide which was able to bind to tumors undergoing chemotherapy. This peptide was then attached to a light emitting molecule. After locating the tumors with cameras which detect light in the near infrared range, it was found that the tumors responding to therapy were brighter than the others. This new therapy offers a way of determining the success/failure of a chemotherapy treatment within the first few days of starting the treatment. In the tests conducted on mice, the treatment was able to report cancer response in as little as two days after starting the therapy. Currently it takes two to three months of cancer therapy before determining whether that treatment is effective or not. This is because the current methods of monitoring chemotherapy are imaging techniques such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. If that amount of time could be reduced to two to three days, it could help doctors switch patients to alternative methods of treatment very quickly. Dr. Dennis Hallahan says that quick evaluation of tumor response is of critical importance, especially with modern progress in molecular targeted chemotherapies. He says that focusing on molecular and cellular changes in a tumor were of more importance than the size of the tumor itself. Obviously, the main question now is determining whether this treatment in mice will work in humans. One problem is that the near-infrared technique cannot penetrate deep enough into human tissues, so researchers are modifying the therapy so that it works with Positron Emission Tomography. However, Dr. Hallahan is still hopeful, and says that the peptide will enter clinical trials in about 18 months.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/98412.php