Clipmarks | tabsey's 'medical' clips

Vets, military families: McCain has been 'AWOL' on needs

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:19:44 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Democratic veterans praised Republican John McCain’s Vietnam service today, but said he’s been “AWOL” when it comes to boosting funding for vets’ medical care and the GI Bill.

“Senator McCain had honorably served as a POW and was courageous and was steadfast and he kept faith with his fellow POWs,” retired Air Force Col. Dick Klass told the DNC Veterans and Military Families Caucus.

“He has not kept faith with American’s veterans,”

It was Barack Obama, vets and military family members said, who had fought to repair the scandalously decrepit facilities at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and pushed legislation to help an estimated 200,000 homeless vets.

Now, Democratic vets, say it’s the non-veteran Obama – not the revered war hero McCain – whom they can trust to help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress and combat brain injuries and military families strained by the pressure of four or five combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.

SScientists have Created the World's 1st Blood Factory

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:53:31 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Not so sure about the picture. Seen her before.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

This isn't a scene from "Hellraiser XXV: Dear God The Franchise Is Still Going", but a major breakthrough in medical technology. With the ability to grow blood in bulk we might never have to sit through another "Please please give blood" ad ever again.

A combination of commercial and academic researchers have produced a hundred billion blood cells by emulating the blood production system in human bone marrow. While that's only 1% of the blood in a human body, once you've got the process down you can just leave it running like the world's goriest tap - with the advantage that lab equipment very rarely does drugs or engages in unprotected sex, so the blood will be guaranteed disease free.

Qld scientists claim stem cells breakthrough

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:38:15 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Wonderful work. I was surprised, when I found that most liver transplant patients are children, often very young. Some die waiting for a match. This would be a wonderful breakthrough.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Queensland scientists say a breakthrough in embryonic stem cell research could help grow more organs for transplant.

Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane have discovered a way to grow human embryonic stem cells using synthetic proteins.

QUT spokesman Dr David Leavesley says the artificial proteins are cheaper and more efficient.

"The real breakthrough here is that we're no longer required to use animal products, which sometimes contain viruses that we can't detect," he said.

"Now we can absolutely control the conditions that they grow in and with fewer components, they're cheaper to produce.

"However, it doesn't remove the moral dilemma of using embryos to obtain these stem cells."

Tags: medical

Running Slows The Aging Clock, Researchers Find

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:27:40 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (Aug. 11, 2008) — Regular running slows the effects of aging, according to a new study from Stanford University School of Medicine that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as aging nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found.

"The study has a very pro-exercise message," said James Fries, MD, an emeritus professor of medicine at the medical school and the study's senior author. "If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise." The new findings will appear in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

At the beginning of the study, the runners ran an average of about four hours a week. After 21 years, their running time declined to an average of 76 minutes per week, but they were still seeing health benefits from running.

Scientists trial oestrogen in treating women with schizophrenia

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:47:49 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Australian scientists are taking a novel approach in treating women with schizophrenia. They have just published the findings of a clinical trial using the female hormone oestrogen.

The link between women's hormones and their moods is well known.

Life cycle studies have shown that women are more vulnerable to a first episode of serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia at times of hormonal changes, such as post-pregnancy or menopause.

There is also some evidence from animal studies that the female hormone oestrogen acts as an anti-psychotic.

Professor Jayashri Kulkarni from the Alfred Hospital and Monash University in Melbourne wanted to see what effect oestrogen had on women with schizophrenia.

One hundred and two women were given a patch of either active hormone or a placebo.

Participants were not told what they were using.

They took their other anti-psychotic medications during the trial.

Researchers said those on the hormone treatment had their symptoms significantly reduced.

Tags: medical

Vitamin triggers 'electric shocks' ( B6 - large doses)

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:59:27 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.thedaily.com.au

Health authorities have been alerted to a dangerous side-effect of heavy vitamin use that triggers “electric shocks” in the feet and legs.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) says it has been informed of two cases of women who developed painful symptoms after taking heavy doses of vitamin B6.

The vitamin supplement is sometimes taken to treat premenstrual syndrome symptoms, some types of anaemia or conditions of the nervous system, but overdoses are known to have a poisonous effect on nerve tissue.

“In the first case, a 39-year-old female taking 50mg a day of vitamin B6 for three months developed a feeling of burning pain and ”electric shock“ in her feet and lower legs,” the TGA’s adverse drug reactions committee said in a bulletin.

“She was also taking a multivitamin product containing vitamin B6 and therefore her total daily dose most likely exceeded the upper level of intake of 50mg a day recommended by (national guidelines)”.

Tags: medical

Viagra helps depressed women get satisfaction, too

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:53:47 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Limited readership, I hope.

Clip Source: www.newsdaily.com

CHICAGO, July 22, 2008 (Reuters) — Viagra, a popular anti-impotence pill, may help some women on antidepressants have better sex, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

They found women on antidepressants who took Viagra had fewer sexual side effects than those who took a placebo. Sexual dysfunction can prompt many people to stop taking drugs to treat depression.

While other studies have hinted that Viagra might help these women, the latest research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is one of the first scientifically rigorous studies to show this benefit.

"By treating this bothersome treatment-associated adverse effect ... patients can remain antidepressant-adherent, reduce the current high rates of premature medication discontinuation, and improve depression disease management outcomes," Dr. H. George Nurnberg of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and colleagues wrote.

Tags: medical

Fresh nuclear incident in France

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:48:01 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Accidents are bound to happen, but I would rather a solar panel accident than a nuclear accident.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

About 100 staff at a nuclear plant in southern France have been exposed to a low dose of radiation, power firm Electricite de France (EDF) says.

They were "slightly contaminated" by radioactive particles that escaped from a pipe at a reactor complex in Tricastin, an EDF spokeswoman said.

The incident comes two weeks after a leak forced the temporary closure of a reactor at the Tricastin facility.

It is also the fourth incident at a French nuclear site in recent weeks.

EDF says Wednesday's incident at Tricastin - a huge nuclear complex near the town of Avignon - was not connected to the earlier uranium leak.

The company says sensors detected a rise in the radiation level while maintenance work was being carried out at a reactor that had been shut since 12 July.

The rise in radiation prompted 97 EDF and maintenance subcontractors to be evacuated and sent for medical tests.

Tags: nuclear, i fry, you fry, we, all, fry

Drug for deadly prostate cancer

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:25:32 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Sounds almost too good to be true. Wonderful.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists are hailing a new drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer as potentially the most significant advance in the field for 70 years.

Abiraterone could potentially treat up to 80% of patients with a deadly form of the disease resistant to currently available chemotherapy, they say.

The drug works by blocking the hormones which fuel the cancer.

Aggressive prostate cancer has a poor prognosis

The Institute of Cancer Research hopes a simple pill form will be available in two to three years.

An advanced clinical trial involving 1,200 patients around the world is currently under way, with more trials likely later this year.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men.

It is estimated that up to 10,000 men a year in the UK are diagnosed with the most aggressive - and almost always lethal - form of prostate cancer.

Typical life expectancy following chemotherapy is no more than 18 months.

Tags: medical

Slowing Aging Is Way To Fight Diseases In 21st Century

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:09:22 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Sooner they make that time machine, the sooner we can go forward and have the "fixes".

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 10, 2008) — A group of aging experts from the United States and the United Kingdom suggest that the best strategy for preventing and fighting a multitude of diseases is to focus on slowing the biological processes of aging.

"The traditional medical approach of attacking individual diseases -- cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease -- will soon become less effective if we do not determine how all of these diseases either interact or share common mechanisms with aging," says S. Jay Olshansky, professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and senior author of the commentary.

Middle-aged and older people are most often impacted by simultaneous but independent medical conditions. A cure for any of the major fatal diseases would have only a marginal impact on life expectancy and the length of healthy life, Olshansky said.

Tags: i, feel, younger, but, my, wife, says, don't

New Method Identifies Genes Affecting Health In Fraction Of A Second

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:48:13 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: With discoveries such as this, one would think science must be paying for itself. This could make life better for millions.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 11, 2008) — A new tool which makes it possible to extract information about an individual's health from genotypes in a fraction of a second, has been developed by an academic at the University of Southampton.

Professor Joao Marques-Silva, at the University's School of Electronics and Computer Science and collaborators have developed a new approach to the process of inferring haplotype information from genotype data.

A haplotype can be defined as a group of alleles of one or more genes on a single chromosome that are closely enough linked to be inherited usually as a unit and a genotype refers to the combination of alleles inherited from both parents.

According to Professor Marques-Silva, the current method of extracting haplotypes from genotype data is based on statistical approaches, which can take a long time to compute.

Tags: brilliant, medical, scientists

Insect Warning Colors Aid Cancer And Tropical Disease Drug Discovery

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:37:51 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Colorful beetle may indicate useful plant chemicals. (Credit: Don Windsor, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute)

ScienceDaily (July 12, 2008) — Brightly colored beetles or butterfly larvae nibbling on a plant may signal the presence of chemical compounds active against cancer cell lines and tropical parasitic diseases, according to researchers at Smithsonian's Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Such clues could speed drug discovery and provide insight into the ecological relationships between tropical-forest plants and insects that feed on them.

"These findings are incredibly exciting and important," said Todd Capson, STRI research chemist, who directed the project. "The results of this study could have direct and positive impacts on the future of medical treatment for many diseases around the world."

Tags: nature

Bone Marrow Alternative: Stem Cells From Umbilical Cord May Be Used To Treat Hepatic Diseases

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:47:20 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Good news

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 5, 2008) — Scientists from the University of Granada (Spain), in collaboration with the University of León, have confirmed that stem cells from human umbilical cord blood can be an appropriate therapy for the treatment of hepatic diseases such as hepatitis, and are therefore an effective alternative to bone marrow.

According to a scientific paper to be published in the journal Cell Transplantation, human umbilical cord blood cells (HUCBCs) are useful for hepatic regenerative medicine, as they are capable of nesting in the liver after carrying out a xenotransplant from human to rat.

The scientists explain that the cell transplant carried out in rats caused an improvement both in the histological damage and in the hepatic function, as proved by the enzymatic activities of alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, gama-glutamyl-transpherase and lactate dehydrogenase, as well as the concentrations of total and direct bilirubin.

Tags: medical

Doctors' Group Plans Apology for Racism

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:23:10 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: It is good to formalise changes.

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

AMA once barred black physicians.

The country's largest medical association is set to issue a formal apology today for its historical antipathy toward African American doctors, expressing regret for a litany of transgressions, including barring black physicians from its ranks for decades and remaining silent during battles on landmark legislation to end racial discrimination.

The apology marks one of the rare times a major national organization has expressed contrition for its role in the segregation and discrimination that black people have experienced in the United States.

In a commentary in the July 16 Journal of the American Medical Association, Ronald M. Davis, the organization's immediate past president, noted that many of the organization's questionable actions reflected the "social mores and racial discrimination" that existed for much of the country's history. But, he wrote, that should not excuse them.

Tags: conscience

Types Of Genes Necessary For Brain Development Discovered

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:09:08 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 9, 2008) — Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brandeis University have successfully completed a full-genome RNAi screen in neurons, showing what types of genes are necessary for brain development.

Recent advances in genomics, such as the sequencing of entire genomes and the discovery of RNA-interference as a means of testing the effects of gene loss, have opened up the possibility to systematically analyze the function of all known and predicted genes in an organism. Until now, this type of functional genomics approach has not been applied to the study of very complex cells, such as the brain's neurons, on a full-genome scale.

Dr. Katharine Sepp and her fellow researchers took fresh neuronal cells extracted from embryos of the fruit fly genus Drosophila and screened them using RNA interference techniques. The team tested all genes, one by one in a rapid manner, for their potential role in neuronal development. The team then validated the method in mice.

Tags: genomics