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Category: health

Another exampme of how precision works.

While pregnant with her first child, Rhea Birusingh started experiencing blurry vision that her OB-GYN dismissed as an expected pregnancy-related change, but three months later, she went to her ophthalmologist, who discovered an inoperable 2-centimeter benign brain tumor behind her right eye. Now, nearly four months later, Birusingh’s son is healthy and her vision is normal, thanks to a powerful, precise radiation treatment.

“When you’re a pathologist and your eyes are a money maker, you start to get a little bit worried,” Birusingh, 37, of Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, told FoxNews.com.

Doctors at UF Health Cancer Center – Orlando Health decided to use the treatment, called proton beam therapy, because Birusingh’s tumor was adjacent to her hippocampus, which is critical for short- and long-term memory and learning. Proton beam therapy works differently from conventional radiation treatments, which rely on X-rays. Birusingh was the first patient to undergo the treatment— which uses a three-story, 200,000 pound machine— at the hospital.

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Very promising. Wonder how effective it is with Prescription Med. Addictions.

A type of brain cell known as microglia plays a key role in reducing the effects of cocaine in the brain, according to a major study by a team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montreal.

The discovery, published in the journal Neuron, establishes for the first time that microglia can diminish the adverse changes to neural circuitry brought on by the chronic use of and has significant implications for developing an effective treatment for addiction.

Microglia may not be as well known as neurons, the that relay messages, but they have many important functions. They constantly monitor their environment, and can act to maintain normal functioning. When they find something amiss, they can produce molecules that instruct neurons to make adaptive changes to their connections. One such example is the inflammatory molecule known as (TNF).

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Ever dream of becoming a dentist? Or, have family members needing new dentures? Or, know that one person who would look good if they only had some teeth. This 3D Printer is your answer.

An undergraduate at New Jersey Institute of Technology made his own plastic braces using a 3D printer, $60 of materials, and a healthy dose of ingenuity — and they actually worked.

Amos Dudley had braces in middle school, but he didn’t wear a retainer like he was supposed to, so his teeth slowly shifted back.

He didn’t want to shell out thousands of dollars for a whole new round of braces, so the digital-design major decided to make his own.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 17, 2016 — A gene that scientific dogma insists is inactive in adults actually plays a vital role in preventing the underlying cause of most heart attacks and strokes, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined. The discovery opens a new avenue for battling those deadly conditions, and it raises the tantalizing prospect that doctors could use the gene to prevent or delay at least some of the effects of aging.

“Finding a way to augment the expression of this gene in adult cells may have profound implications for promoting health and possibly reversing some of the detrimental effects with aging,” said researcher Gary K. Owens, PhD, director of UVA’s Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center.

Unexpected Protective Effect

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EPA’s new rules on Carbon Nano Tubes.

On May 16, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated, through a direct final rule, significant new use rules (SNUR) for 55 chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN), including functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNT) (generic). EPA states that it determined that any use of the functionalized CNTs without the use of impervious gloves, where there is potential for dermal exposure; manufacturing the PMN substance for use other than as a thin film for electronic device applications; manufacturing, processing, or using the PMN substance in a form other than a liquid; use of the PMN substance involving an application method that generates a mist, vapor, or aerosol except in a closed system; or any release of the PMN substance into surface waters or disposal other than by landfill or incineration may cause serious health effects or significant adverse environmental effects. EPA states that the following tests would help characterize the health and environmental effects of the PMN substance: “a fish early-life stage toxicity test (OPPTS Test Guideline 850.1400); a daphnid chronic toxicity test (OPPTS Test Guideline 850.1300); an algal toxicity test (OCSPP Test Guideline 850.4500); a 90-day inhalation toxicity test (OPPTS 870.3465) with additional testing parameters beyond those noted at CFR 870.3465, for using the 90-day subchronic protocol for nanomaterial assessment; a two-year inhalation bioassay (OPPTS Test Guideline 870.4200); and a surface charge by electrophoresis (for example, using ASTM E2865-12 or NCL Method PCC-2 — Measuring the Zeta Potential of Nanoparticles).” The SNUR requires persons who intend to manufacture, import, or process any of the 55 chemical substances for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by the direct final rule to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The direct final rule will be effective July 15, 2016. If EPA receives written adverse or critical comments, or notice of intent to submit adverse or critical comments, on one or more of the SNURs before June 15, 2016, EPA will withdraw the relevant sections of the direct final rule before its effective date.

©2016 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

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Interesting read on PTSD. Wonder how much this plays into DARPA’s own research around memory removal on PTSD patients. hmmm.

New research suggests that PTSD patients with a larger region of the brain that helps distinguish between safety and threat are more likely to respond to exposure-based therapy.

The study expands upon prior research that discovered having a smaller hippocampus is associated with increased risk of PTSD.

In the current study, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), examined the relationship between hippocampus volume, and response to treatment in 50 participants with PTSD and 36 trauma-exposed healthy controls.

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The next time that you decide to run barefoot in the rain, etc. there is a health benefit that you’re receiving in the form of enhancing your brain.

FRIDAY, May 13, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Runners who want to boost their brain function should consider taking their running shoes off, new research suggests.

The study found that after running barefoot, participants saw improvements in working memory, or the ability to recall or process information. Running in shoes, however, didn’t result in the same advantage, researchers said.

“The little things often have the greatest impact. This research shows us that we can realize our cognitive potential and enjoy ourselves at the same time,” said study leader Ross Alloway in a University of North Florida (UNF) news release.

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New MMTP Interview on Fightaging! discussing longevity, advocacy and the urgent need to support research!

By way of following on from today’s AMA over at /r/futurology, I recently had the chance to ask a few questions of the Major Mouse Testing Program (MMTP) volunteers, a mix of scientists and advocates who aim to do their part to speed up progress towards effective treatments for the causes of aging. The group formed six months ago or so, and are presently seeking funds for their first mouse studies through crowdfunding with the Lifespan.io organization. The initial focus is on senolytic treatments capable of removing senescent cells from old tissues. I encourage you all to take a look at the details of their research proposal.

Growth in the number of dysfunctional, senescent cells is a contributing cause of degenerative aging, involved in the progression and pathology of all of the common age-related diseases. A growing body of evidence supports the outright removal approach as a way to minimize or eliminate this portion of the aging process. Unfortunately there is — as ever in the aging research field — a paucity of funding and always the need for more and better animal data in order to pull in other players with deep pockets. At this stage in the progression from laboratory to clinic, prior to the involvement of any large institutions or companies, all such efforts are important work. I’m pleased to have been able to contribute to this Major Mouse Testing Program fundraiser, and hope to see great things from this group in the future.

How did the Major Mouse Testing Program come about? How did you meet and what made you decide to undertake this particular project?

Elena: I have been collaborating with the International Longevity Alliance (ILA) for about 3 years. It is an international non-for-profit organization with the head office in Paris, our goal is to support innovative biomedical technologies to address aging. At the beginning, the core team had a lot of discussions with other pro-longevity organizations and with the scientific community to identify the bottlenecks that impede the development of the technologies to slow down, postpone and reverse age-related damage to health. And we learned that one of the barriers was the deficiency in robust animal trials for a long list of promising interventions. Then one of the Founding Board Members, Edouard Debonneuil, came in with the idea that the ILA could start its own fundraising project to support this kind of research. This is how MMTP was started.

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This post is a status update on one of the most powerful tools humanity will ever create: nanotechnology (or nanotech).

My goal here is to give you a quick overview of the work going on in labs around the world, and the potential applications this nanotech work will have in health, energy, the environment, materials science, data storage and processing.

As artificial intelligence has been getting a lot of the attention lately, I believe we’re going to start to see and hear about incredible breakthroughs in the nanotech world very soon.

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