Coffee Helps Prevent Booze-Related Liver Disease

       

          A recent study by Finnish scientists has found a link between drinking coffee and reducing your chances of developing alcohol related liver disease.  Researchers recently ran a study involving 19,000 Finnish men and women and found that those who drank both coffee and alcohol heavily had a lower risk of liver damage than those who solely drank alcohol heavily.  The study showed that as little as a cup of coffee a day could lower alcohol-caused liver disease by 20 percent, and that the protective effect of drinking coffee increased with the amount of coffee consumed.  According to a recent Harvard Medical School newsletter, coffee drinking lowers the levels of enzymes indicative of liver damage and may even protect against liver cancer and improve treatment of hepatitis C as well.  More research will need to be done, but early evidence is exciting.
          I found this article extremely interesting because I drink both coffee and alcohol (more coffee than alcohol at the moment with finals and all).  The idea that coffee could actually aid in the prevention of liver disease was amazing to me.  I will have to keep my habitual over-caffeination going in the future to produce continuous prevention of liver disease.



  LINK HERE

An Audio Lovers Approach to Cancer Detection

http://www.ivanhoe.com/science/story/2011/10/916a.html

Mapping images through sounds is something all kids know of, like echolocation for bats or dolphins. However, until recently it's been too complicated to replicate until now. Despite sounding downright awesome for somebody that loves audio equipment, this field can hold a lot of promise.
At Washington University, a new method of mapping and imaging cancer has been discovered, Photoacoustic Tomography. Though not yet cleared for use, this method of optics could be a breakthrough in both detecting cancerous tumors and creating better, safer surgeries regarding excision of these tumors. One can see not only the tumor using this new technique, but also surrounding blood vessels.

While this is primarily being looked at in the sense of dermatology, this type of imaging could mean very good things for patients suffering from all types of cancers. Instead of being worried about the method of excision, surgeons will be able to pinpoint natural blood vessels and those formed from the tumor's growth. Not to mention, a new type of imaging could mean many things. Depending on the level of penetration, this could be a magnetic-free alternative to MRI's for patients with metal implants (or prison tattoos), and could end up being noninvasive as an ultrasound without having to use potentially complicating radioactive or other forms of contrast agents. I'm excited for this brand new approach to imagining from those of traditional and modern lighting techniques.

Magnetic levitation

No, it's not a cool magic trick, although it definitely sounds like one. The present way of growing bacteria, tissue, cells etc. involves using the age old Petri dish. The only issue with using a Petri dish for tissue growth is that it is a 2D environment and native tissue grows in a 3D environment. Now, this has worked in the past but a group from Rice University, MD Anderson, and Nano3D Biosciences is working on a new way of growing tissue that will resemble lung tissue more accurately than its 2D counter part.
The process to grow the lung tissue uses magnetic levitation with magnetic nanoparticles as a means of creating an organized 3D coculture of the bronchiole that layers cells in a manner similar to native tissue make-up. The 3D coculture model was assembled from four human cell types in the bronchiole: endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells fibroblasts, and epithelial cells. These cell layers were first cultured in 3D by magnetic levitation, and then manipulated into contact with a custom-made magnetic pen, and again cultured for 48 h.
Using this technique, the lung tissue has the same biochemical signature as native lung tissue. The main purepose of this study was to grow a lung tissue that more resembled native tissue so that researchers could use it to test airborne toxins. With 2-D cultures, it is very difficult to culture cells at the air-liquid interface, which is what is preferred for toxicity testing. As of now there are only research uses for this new technique but it couldn't definitely be used for clinical use in the future! It's even possible this could be used to examine the effect of gaseous radioactive tracers (used for SPECT imaging) on the lungs.


http://www.medgadget.com/2013/01/realistic-3d-lung-tissue-grown-using-magnetic-levitation.html
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ten.TEC.2012.0157

Creating a Stronger Heart

In this study, the authors introduced a more efficient way of repairing a heart after heart attack. Current materials that are used in repairing the heart can become insuffecient and weak, so the findings in this study focus on creating a "native heart tissue." The researchers created a rubbler-like gel (MeTro gel) made out of tropoelastin, which is the protein in the body responsible for making tissues have elastic qualities. The gel was then manipulated to contain micropatterns for elasticity. This was then used to create heart tissue that actually contained heart muscle cells.

I thought that this article was interesting because it combined many of the different concepts I learned in physiology and it showed one of the many ways that the bioengineers can help with cardiovascular problems. It made me reflect on our visit to Aachen. So far, this new technology is being used as only a model. "Moreover, the work lays the foundation for creating more elaborate 3D versions of heart tissue that will contain vascular networks."


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130429133652.htm

Mushroom Burial Suit

This is Ted video that I have seen about a year ago... but it recently came to mind.

It is about a nontraditional form of burial that I think Dr. Wasser would do. It is a burial suit made of mushroom spores that grow from your body after death. It is kind of a weird aspect to think about and maybe a bit morbid but when you think of the amount of people who live on this earth and the amount of space it would take to bury each and everyone of us. I find it interesting because this form of burial is sustainable. However, it is a matter of it is cold hearted or not. How can i put it this way do you want your loved one to be converted to dirt faster to be used as fertilizer? It is not an a question that I can answer for you. But rather cloud your judgment I encourage you to watch and just become informed.


http://www.ted.com/talks/jae_rhim_lee.html

The Tooth Fairy for Adults

Researchers in the UK are combining tissue in the gums with mice cells, allowing lost teeth the completely re-grow. This is novel primarily because it allows the root and head of the tooth to be natural enamel and shaped just like the original tooth. These teeth will be grown in a lab to later be implanted into a mouth. This would replace the current dental implants that are typically a single synthetic rod as a root with the head being a range of materials from gold to enamel. This had the obvious risk of the enamel head breaking off or the root not interacting properly with the surrounding tissue. By implanting an organic tooth, it allows dentists to treat the new tooth exactly the same as the others, only it's in ideal condition.

This is particularly relevant to me because I'm planning on attending dental school and specializing as an oral and maxiofacial surgeon, meaning that I will be the doctor performing the implantation. The time frame estimated for this to enter the market is about 5 years, just before I can earn my DDS.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=you-will-soon-be-able-to-grow-new-t-2013-03

Regaining Feeling in Prostheses

Article here.

Researchers at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico believe that they have made a breakthrough in developing a prosthesis that can move with agility, feel the difference between heat and cold, and restore even the subtlest sensation of touch. The researchers have developed a synthetic substance to act as a scaffold for nerve development into the prosthesis. The old way of building prosthesis used materials that were not compatible with nerve fibers and were too stiff for the nerves to grow into. The material must be flexible, fluid, and also extremely conductive for the signals of the nervous system to travel. The material they used was a biocompatible polymer that was porous so that the nerves could extend through it and also lined with electrodes to increase conductivity for the nervous signals.

Tests of this material have been done in rats and the nerves of these rats grew into the scaffold and fused together there and the material wasn't rejected by the immune system. The direct interface is still a long way off but this is a huge breakthrough in making prosthesis becoming more lifelike and useful overall. Eventually it is believed that if we can get these limbs hooked up to the nervous system, the nervous system my incorporate them into the sense-of-self, and the proprioceptive reflex may return.

Mysteries in Blood Clotting and Hemophilia

This study looks further into the failure of blood coagulation in people who suffer from hemophilia C. Proteins like thrombin and factor XI are responsible for blood clotting to occur properly. Both thrombin and factor XI are turned on when injury occurs. They in turn form fibrin, which makes up the actual blood clots that are formed. Factor XI is missing in people with hemophilia C, but scientists were unsure why factor XI impacted the blood coagulation process in such a severe way. The researchers involved in this study monitored thrombin activity using an imaging system. They noticed that thrombin propogates through the blood in waves. The waves traveled fom the activation site to their distant targets in a way that reminded them of how electrical impulses travel down neurons. In the models of hemophilia C, there was no sign of these thrombin waves. After further research, it was revealed that factor XI is important in spreading the waves to targets that are far away in the body. This explains why people with hemophilia C only experience severe bleeding to large injuries and not minor ones. 

I chose this article because I had a friend with hemophilia in high school, so I find any information involving the disorder interesting. The article also suggested that these waves can lead to problems in bloodflow obstruction, like those caused by cardiovascular diseases. This was expecially significant to me since we just covered the cardiovascular system in physiology. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121120122002.htm

Limiting Protein Synthesis to Restore Myelination

This article describes a possible treatment for a hereditary disease that results from problems with myelinaiton. Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease affects the nerves in the PNS and is a common hereditary neriological disorder. The disease results when the proteins that produce myelin misfold. When cells recognize that there has been a problem with protein folding, they drastically slow down protein production so the problem can be corrected. When protein synthesis needs to be turned back on, a protein named Gadd34 comes in. Gadd34, however, activates protein synthesis at a rate that is too high, resulting in a disruption of translational homeostasis. The results of the research show that if Gadd34 is reduced, myelination is actually improved. This means that the body actually benefits if protein synthesis is not turned on completely. In mouse models, salubrinal has been used to reduce Gadd34. Unfortunately, this research drug is not safe for human use, so the next step is to develop a derivative of salubrinal.


This article was interesting to me because it involved a lot of information that I learned in my neuroanatomy class this semester. The researchers believe that these findings can help the understanding of other diseases that are caused from misfolded proteins, like Alzheimer's diesease and Parkinson's disease. Although the treatment is not available for human use yet, any advancement in medicine is a step in the right direction.



http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130426135037.htm

New Brain Implant to Battle Obesity

This article discusses a totally new way of treating obesity, through the use of an DBS (deep brain stimulation) device implanted in the nucleus accumbens. The nucleus accumbens is also known as the brain’s “reward” center, and has been linked to playing a role in addictive behaviors. The article states that often times people tend overeat to compensate for a stressful, or emotional, day. This overeating will then trigger their reward system, producing good feelings, which teaches the brain to react to food in an overly positive way. Thus, stimulating the reward complex by overeating teaches you that eating feels good. 

This DBS device works by  sending electrical signals to this precise region of the brain, and is predicted to reduce binge/emotional eating, as well as other obesity-related behaviors. Studies were done on “binge-eating mice” to test how this device would work, and the results were very promising. Mice had access to low calorie food 24/7, but soon learned that they would only have access to high calorie, fatty food for an hour day. This led to the mice “gorging themselves” on the fatty food. DBS devices were then implanted into half of the mice. Because their reward complex was no longer stimulated by the fatty foods, the mice ate a significantly less amount, even though they still knew that the fatty food would only be there for an hour. And even more interesting, they didn’t feel the need to make up the calories by eating a greater amount of low calorie food. However, once the DBS was turned back off, the mice quickly returned to overeating the fatty food. 

The DBS device is highly individualized, and doctors would be able to manipulate exactly how much stimulation a patient received, based on a variety of factors. While brain surgery is always a risky procedure, this DBS device is very small. It is believed to be safer than bariatric surgery, and might even work better than prescription drugs. Many drugs work to suppress the feeling of hunger, but if people are just eating to satisfy their reward system, and not because they feel hungry, then the pharmaceuticals won’t have much of an effect. 

DBS is already used in Parkinson’s patients, and therapeutic research is being done on its effects on OCD and depressed patients. 

With 1 in 3 Americans classified as “obese,” this could mean radical changes in medical field. If this could work in humans, then think of all the obesity-linked diseases that could essentially be wiped out! Type 2 diabetes immediately jumps to my mind, as it is often times a direct result of becoming too overweight. Although, it would not completely rid our country of diabetes, as Type 2 does have a genetic component, it would lower millions of American’s risks. This could also promote cardiac health in several ways, eating less fatty foods is obviously an excellent example. 

Though I am far from obese, I completely understand the idea of eating for emotional reasons. To be honest, I rarely eat because I’m actually hungry. Most of the time I’m either bored, or stressed, or I look at the clock and think “hmm it’s lunchtime, guess I’ll go eat!” With that being said, emotional eating can happen to anyone. This leads me to believe that obesity cannot be linked entirely to the nucleus accumbens, as many “normal” sized people also partake reward eating. However, I also know that many obesity patients become insensitive to many of the hunger-inhibiting enzymes that your body produces. So with a combination of ‘never feeling full’ and the desire to stimulate your reward complex by eating, I can see how easily obesity can occur. I am hopeful that I would never need this kind of surgery in my life, but it is exciting to see the potential it holds for America. This kind of surgery, which will ultimately result in weight-loss, will not only help to improve a person’s self image, thus, resulting in high self-confidence and greater achievement in life, but it will also lead to a longer and healthier life. And who wouldn’t want that?

http://news.yahoo.com/battling-obesity-brain-implant-131825711.html

Healthcare= personal care?

I know that this is an unconventional way to present articles in the fashion one would like. But instead of bombarding you with articles that are boring and super long to read and most likely you will forget,  I rather show you a video of new ideas and information that you will remember.

I thought this one was an interesting lecture on Ted because it is discussing a new idea on healthcare, an idea on how healthcare should be. Instead, of revolving around medication and disease healthcare should revolve around the patient. What is best for the patient? Or rather what can the patient do for themselves? It is an idea that patients can provide some healthcare services for themselves while having the more complicated ones for the doctor in the clinic or the hospital .
Also it is based on the idea of not compartmentalizing healthcare but making it a team based healthcare.

I suggest watching.

http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_dishman_health_care_should_be_a_team_sport.html

Let's talk crap. Seriously

This article is well more of a presentation from Ted.com discussing the issue of how there are more people in this world without toilets than those with cellphones. It is a shocking matter because as Rose George said that having a toilet should be a right... but rather it is a privilege. So the question is how can we help?

It is an informative lecture on how this issue causes disease and death. Diarrhea is killing thousands of children of each year. The simple act of having a toilet or an isolated area to release oneself decreases disease dramatically saving thousands of lives. But that is not the only thing, having a simple toilet can keep children in school. Young girls, in some countries, don't have a bathroom.  These are some of the issues presented in this lecture.

Did I mention you can cook with your own poop?

http://www.ted.com/talks/rose_george_let_s_talk_crap_seriously.html

Radioactive Bacteria Used to Kill Cancer Cells

 A group of researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have hit upon a novel way to treat cancerous cells and halt their spread. They conducted a study of mice carrying human tumors where they delivering radiation directly to the cancer cells using genetically modified bacteria. The therapy shrank the rodent’s primary tumors while sparing healthy tissue; it also blasted cancer cells that had spread throughout the animals, reducing their number by up to 90%. The cancer-targeting microorganism, Listeria monocytogenes, is a rod-shaped bacterium that penetrates the cells of the people and animals that it infects. Because of the bacterium’s ability to burrow inside key immune cells called macrophages, some researchers use weakened Listeria with bits of tumor DNA attached to teach the body’s immune system to recognize and destroy cancerous cells that might otherwise slip by unnoticed. The reason I think this is such a cool idea is because of its practical use in only destroying cancer cells and not harming healthy cells. Since the immune system around cancer cells is not working like it should these bacteria can get in and gradually destroy the cells without hurting the healthy cells.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/radioactive-microbes/

Promoting Cardiac Differentiation

In a recent article published on stem cell research and therapy, they tested mediated oxidative stress and their effect on cardiogenic gene expression in adult stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from the bone marrow of adult rats and treated to mimic long term pulsed or short term continuous levels of H202. They found that the mRNA expression of selected endothelial genes they were looking for and early cardiac markers increased. I find it interesting that early smooth muscle markers decreased as a result of the treatment. The activity of the cell surface receptor Notch 1 was also increased, along with its downstream targets Hes5 and Hey1. This up regulation of Notch 1 signaling promotes cardiogenic gene expression in adult stem/progenitor cells.  I found this article interesting and can’t help but think about the possibilities that may come from an advancement in stem cell differentiation.

http://stemcellres.com/content/pdf/scrt190.pdf

Alzheimer's Breakthrough Research

      A new breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research has occurred as new proteins and their ratios have been identified. Alzheimer’s is caused by the aggregation of amyloid-beta proteins that no longer have a healthy ratio. (You want more amyloid-beta 40 than 42.) This article discusses the evidence found that links the protein ratio to a pattern of electrical pulses in the hippocampus. These pulses are responsible for specific brain activity, but it was found that by changing the frequency of these pulses, the ratio of 40:42 protein can be manipulated. Increasing the rate while maintaining a low frequency will increase the ratio proportionately, but it was found that increasing the frequency of pulses also increased the number of amyloid-beta 40 produced. This therefore, allows the ratio of good to bad proteins to increase, which would hopefully help prevent or at least delay Alzheimer’s. 

During this experiment, a new protein called presenilin was discovered to also play a role. It is thought that perhaps changes in the spikes will cause conformational changes in the presenilin. These changes ultimately lead to early memory impairments in sporadic Alzheimer patients. 

Recent research is also showing that “different kinds of environmental changes and experiences -- including sensory and emotion” can affect different synapses in the brain. These changes can also affect the spiking patterns. It is thought that stimulant-rich environments help to delay Alzheimer’s, but recent studies have shown that sensory experiences may also play a role in synaptic regulation that will result in higher levels of a-b 40.  

Researchers are now planning on testing the ability to prevent Alzheimer initiation by manipulating different activity pattern pathways in the hippocampus. If this can be done, then it will perhaps provide a way to diagnose Alzheimer’s earlier on. 

I found this article interesting because several of my great grandparents have died from Alzheimer’s, so I know it runs in my family. If there is any new research on ways to prevent, or at least delay the onset of this disease, then I would very much like to be informed of it. This way I can pass the information along to my other family members, and hopefully prevent this terrible, mind-warping disease. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130418125742.htm

Hyperadrenocorticism in Canines

http://www.vetinfo.com/dencyclopedia/decushings.html

http://www.dechra-us.com/Cushings-Syndrome/Veterinarians/Prescribing-VETORYL-1.aspx

Cushing’s disease, also known as hyperadrenocorticism, is a common diagnosis at the veterinary hospital I work at. I’ve always had a general knowledge of what the disease is, but wanted to learn a little more about it. Cushing’s can be induced by over-dosing corticosteroids or develop naturally. Patients who are diagnosed with Cushing’s produce too much of the hormone, cortisol. This could be caused by a tumor in the adrenal gland (seen in 15% of patients) or pituitary gland (seen in 85% of patients). Overproduction (or over-stimulation) of corticosteroids cause many symptoms: increased drinking, appetite, urination, high blood pressure, poor skin quality and lumps. Patients with hyperadrenocorticism have a higher chance of developing diabetes or skin infections. The increased risk of diabetes is one of the major concerns I see from the veterinarians as they prescribe medications and monitor the disease. Simple blood tests can be performed to identify the disease. Veterinarians can remove the adrenal gland tumor, but at a high risk. Pituitary gland tumors are typically fatal within a few years. Most treatment is life-long medications.

One of the new developments for treating Cushing’s was a drug known as Vetoryl. This drug has effects on both adrenal and pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism. Vetoryl, active ingredient Trilostane, functions by inhibiting unnecessary production of cortisol. It does this by blocking the enzyme 3-ß hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Side effects are vomiting, lack of energy, diarrhea, and weight loss. The most common treatment for Cushing patients is administering Lysodren, a chemotherapy drug. It works by killing the parts of the adrenal gland that produce cortisol, but being on this medication is risky and requires extensive monitoring and blood tests. Neither of these medications are approved as “cures” though, only supportive treatment.

New method to quit smoking

According to a new study, there could soon be another method for smokers to use to quit smoking. A treatment that has already been proven to be effective in patients battling depression, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), has been tested for its effectiveness in a group of daily smokers. TMS uses a magnetic field to stimulate nerve cells in the brain. The upside to this procedure is the fact that it is non-invasive. The study treated 16 smokers on two occasions. The first round they received TMS, and the second round they received a placebo. When the results were compared, it was found that the participants had reduced cravings for nicotine after the TMS versus not having the treatment. In this study, the TMS was performed at the left dorsolateral prefontal cortex. This area was chosen because it is involved in the brain's reward system.

I chose this article mainly because it sounded interesting, but also because we just learned about the different regions of the brain in physiology, so it is interesting to see how things can be applied to different regions. Moreover, I have known quite a few smokers, all have successfully quite smoking by various means, but it is neat to see what knew ways are being discovered to help those that are trying to quit.

Article

Optimal Mechanical Load Promotes Improved Function in Cancellous Bone

Researchers have long sought out answers to the question: how does the mechanical environment affect the growth and formation of bone? Researchers have recently conducted experiments applying mechanical loads to view how cancellous bone reacts. 3 mm and 8 mm in diameter cancellous bone from rabbits were exposed to 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 muepsilon strains 30 minutes every day. Alkaline Phosphatase was detected on the 5th, 14th, and 21st day. The cancellous rabbit bones grew well in the bioreactor with exposure to the mechanical strain with the greatest growth occurring in the bones exposed to the 1,000 - 2,000 muepsilon strain range. This same range experienced increased mechanical properties. All of the models, however, experienced improved function and activity of osteoblasts with correlation to improved tissue structural density.

http://www.biomedical-engineering-online.com/content/pdf/1475-925X-12-35.pdf

Mass Spectometry for Bacterial Identification

Identifying bacterial species is a long and arduous process.  A technique has been recently developed to allow microbiologists to identify certain strains of bacteria by utilizing protein mass spectra patterns.  Each type of bacterium creates their own pattern of proteins recognizable using mass spectra and relationship algorithms. Mass spectra has been used for the past fifty years, however it wasn't until 2002 when a Nobel Prize winning soft ionization technique called Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization that large molecules could be analyzed without being fragmented.  Clinicians now have the capability of prescribing the right bacterial treatments within minutes as opposed to days.  This article interested me, because as biomedical engineers it is important to keep up with the latest innovations and this particular innovation won 3rd place in the Cleveland Clinic top ten medical innovations of 2013 competition.

"A typical mass spectrum of a bacterial sample taken from necrotic wood compared with a matching spectrum from the reference library. (Top) Original mass spectra, (Middle) respective pseudo gel-view showing a bar-code of masses and their intensities, (Bottom) identification by comparison of experimental and reference mass spectra using a pattern matching algorithm. In this example, a highly reliable identification score of 2.7 was obtained from the identification of E. amylovora (CFBP1232)."

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002843

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQwMsyEdITI&feature=youtu.be

Laboratory-Grown Kidney

Today kidneys are the most in-demand organs for transplantation because of its necessary role in filtering waste and excess water from the blood.  Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have engineered an implantable kidney that when tested in animals started to produce urine.  The organ is "grown" by removing all cells from a donated organ and leaving it as a scaffold to be rebuild with the patient's own cells.  This procedure, if made to work for humans, would increase the number of kidneys available for implantation, eliminate the risk of rejection, and allow donated organs that previously would have been rejected to be used. 

 

The scaffolding used to regrow the kidney includes its original blood vessels and drainage pipes, and protein plumbing was used so that the right parts of the kidney would regrow in their correct locations.  When the kidney was tested in the laboratory it reached 23% production of a normal kidney but when implanted in the rat decreased to 5%.  Though the urine production is small, this discovery that solid organs can be "grown" will still have a big impact on future organ transplantation.

 

I chose this article because improvements in availability of organs for transplantation is a huge problem and in the future this development could be the solution.  The kidney is the most complex organ that has been regrown in this way and sets a major milestone on the way to being able to grow any kind of organ, no matter how complex.

Link

Is fame killing us?

A recent study done by the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and the University of Queensland in Brisbane looked at thousands of New York Time's obituaries in order to see if fame could be linked to lifespan. It is already accepted that profession is closely correlated to lifespan; high stress jobs usually decrease the lifespan of the worker. But does simply being famous decrease your lifespan as well? The researchers would say yes. The researchers took a thousand consecutive obituaries from the New York Times from 2009 to 2011 and analyzed them for race, gender, occupation, and cause of death. It was concluded that famous athletes and performers tend to have shorter lives compared to doctors, businessmen and politicians. The researchers concluded, Fame and achievement in performance-related careers may be earned at the cost of a shorter life expectancy. In such careers, smoking and other risk behaviours may be either causes or effects of success and/or early death." 

This is pertinent to me, because obviously, I will be very famous some day. I need to understand the health risks in order to be able to counteract them and design a sort of physiological system that I will be able to live forever in. 

Veterinary Homeopathy

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1539764/pdf/canvetj00141-0066.pdf

With our homeopathic lecture in Vienna and an upcoming veterinary medicine homeopathic demonstration, the science of nonconventional therapies has been a reoccurring subject this semester. Homeopathy is more widely-accepted in Europe than in North America. It is also not as recognized due to advancing technology and opposition from conventional practitioners, states Vockeroth. Veterinary homeopathy is even less well known but has been growing in North America throughout the last twenty years. The actual art of homeopathy dates back to ancient times but was not officially recognized until the late 1800’s by a German physician. The author of this article defines homeopathy as “a system of medicine based on the principle of similars; that is, the symptoms or syndromes that a substance causes experimentally (at pharmacologic or toxic doses) are those that it may resolve in individuals experiencing similar symptoms and syndromes when it is given in specially prepared, exceedingly small doses”. It is looked at as a way to not just treat a headache or minimize pain in the lower back, but to find a lasting cure through means of individualizing a particular medicine for each patient. I wouldn’t call myself a complete believer of holistic practices, but I do think modern society’s unnecessary “pill-popping” for every small symptom is redundant. One of the biggest complications with homeopathy is dosing, according to Vockeroth. Finding just the right amount to be effective without overdosing is crucial. He also talks about “potentization”: a term used to describe diluting and agitating substances so only a small amount of the drug remains. The homeopathic doctor in Vienna also mentioned potentization of medicine in his lecture. Homeopathy in animals specifically has been used in acute and chronic situations, ranging from insect stings, concussions, and respiratory conditions in small and large animals. The author states how administration and safety of homeopathic medicine in animals is good, but still errs on the side of caution about preparing safe doses and how it does not replace treatments like ultrasounds or surgeries. There are many societies gaining popularity in America, such as the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society or American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. The final goal at the end of the day is to provide the best treatment for an animal to live a healthy and productive life, whether through conventional or alternative methods.  

The new bionic hand

Technology to help amputee patients has been increasing in its complexity over the years. Now, there is a bionic hand that can supposedly allow the patients to "feel". This will be accomplished by wiring the hand directly to the patients' central nervous system and hope that he or she will be able to receive signals from the touch receptors on the hand. However, this bionic hand has not yet been attached to an amputee. Only various clinic trials have been performed to learn more about neural signals and controlling a prosthesis. But the next step is to attach the hand to a man from Rome. How crazy would that be if amputees to "regain" feeling again?!

I chose this article because we just visited the Outtobock center in Duderstadt and learned about a few different kinds of prosthesis for patients. It was interesting to see what other developments are occurring in the same field. 

Link

The Link Between Schizophrenia and Sleep-Cycles

This article discusses how new tests are being done to compare the sleep cycles of schizophrenics. Many researchers had initially assumed that the sleep disruption in mental health patients resulted from their medicines or from social isolation. However, as we learn more about what sleep actually does, and the repercussions resulting from a poor sleep cycle, it is possible to see that perhaps poor sleep in not just a symptom after all. People with poor sleep cycles have demonstrated compromised immune functions, “cognitive disruptions, and metabolic abnormalities,” as well as social isolation and difficulty interacting with others. A similar study was conducted on mice whose genes had been modified to mimic schizophrenia, and similar results were seen. A healthier sleep-cycle leads to less severe symptoms. So while a better sleep cycle will not cure schizophrenics, it is believed that it will make a large impact on their quality of life. 

This study has opened the door to question the link between sleep and mental health issues. And Foster believes that it may even provide a way to indicate mental health issues earlier before the disease has fully set in. 

Though I feel like this is a relatively common sense concept, sleep better and feel better, I understand why it might’ve been overlooked earlier. Mental health is such a fascinating topic, but it is difficult to study, and even more challenging to treat. Of course people who suffer from mental disabilities are going to struggle with having any sort of “regular” day, unless they are forced to. However, if we could find a way to get patients to sleep better, and therefore feel better, then perhaps we wouldn’t need to medicate them as much, which would allow them to have a more “normal” lifestyle. The differences seen might help the patients realize these benefits sleep, which should, in turn, make treating schizophrenia easier. I find breakthrough articles like this one very interesting. As I would like to become a psychiatrist someday, it is very cool to see treatments and new ideas that I could potentially use to treat my patients with.

     It's also interesting because it is relevant to what we are learning in class. Since the sleep-cycle, and the parts of the brain that control this are on the next test, I have a better understanding in the importance of these topics!

http://oxfordstudent.com/2012/01/01/study-links-abnormal-sleep-and-schizophrenia-for-the-first-time/

NeuroBlate System clinical trial for recurrent glioblastoma

Researches have held their first in-human clinical trials of a technology called the NeuroBlate in recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (a type of tumor). The NeuroBlate  uses MRI to guide and scan the laser. This Allows for continual adjustment of the patient's treatment throughout the operation along with real-time thermography. Not only will this increase precision,  but it will also decrease the potential risk for damage to healthy brain tissue.

I chose this article because having a minimally invasive procedure for ablating brain tumors is a big step from the current treatments that are commonly used, in respect to the complications from the procedures. This includes treatments like radiation which has a huge negative affect on the healthy tissue around the tumor.

Article link: http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2013.1.JNS1291

Positive results from late stage melanoma drug trial

Recently, it was reported that the oncolytic virus based Amgen's melanoma drug talmogene laherparepvec (TVEC) had met its first major goal of the trial and that 16% of patients with stage III or IV treated with the drug show tumor shrinkage in the span of 6 months. TVEC works by destroying tumor cells and by stimulating the immune system to destroy the bad cells as well. These functions of the drug are due to the virus used in creating the drug is based on a herpes simplex and the TVEC carries a gene for GM-CSF. The company doing the trial is not sure of what their future plan of action will based of these results; however, there are those that do not think that the drug will ever be used in treating melanoma because 16% is not a very high number, and also because TVEC has to be injected directly into the tumors in order to be effective.

I chose this article because I have known several people that have been affected by melanoma. Recently, one of them passed away. She was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma, and there was not much that could be done besides chemotherapy and removal of some of the tumors. It is nice to see that people are working hard to find new ways to battle this cancer.

Article Link

Deep Brain Stimulation for Alzheimer’s Patients

With studies showing that one in every three senior Americans die from Alzheimer’s or some form of dementia, research for how to prevent and improve the disease is growing. A new process known as Deep Brain Stimulation is in its preliminary clinical trial stages. About ten people have volunteered to have electronic brain stimulators implanted and to participate in the research study for a few years. One of the co-authors of this article, Dr. Douglas Scharre, states: "There are a lot of studies out there that say physical or mental stimulation may reduce the risk or impact of Alzheimer's disease, so we wondered if increasing stimulation to certain parts of the brain may be protective." I found this article relevant because we are discussing Neuroanatomy in physiology right now. The stimulation is focused on the frontal lobe, the decision-making lobe, because it is described as being the last brain area to degenerate. The actual procedure involves inserting wires through the skull and down the subcutaneous tissue under the skin in the neck. The wires are “activated” by pacemaker-like battery packs on the chest that the neurologist uses to stimulate and monitor activity. Researchers use qualitative and quantitative analysis to observe whether using deep brain stimulation improves memory for early-onset Alzheimer’s patients. So far, the one patient mentioned in the article claims to be able to recall information better after using the stimulation. Her family agrees that they see a difference in her memory and are optimistic for the success of the study.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=168822