Stem Cells

Recently in Texas doctors have been using stem cell injections to treat people that are said to be clinical trial patients. The FDA has not approved anything yet, but if patients are aware of the clinical trial they can receive the treatment if they are paying customers. A company called Celltex has already been using stem cells derived from peoples stomach fat to treat issues such as back pain in other countries.

Learning Gene in Alzheimer's

This article was based around the new discovery of a way to block the the memory and learning genes from being taken over by Alzheimer's. In the early stages of Alzheimer's they found that a protein named histone decacetylase accumaltes in the brain and in mince an increase in HDAC2 appared to produce a blockade of the genes involved in learning and memory preventing memory loss.

PTSD in Firefighters

The movie we watched last week touched on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This article is from the Jerusalem Post that shows the mix of traumatic events being a firefighter and living in a war zone on an everyday basis in Israel. Ben Gurion University conducted an experiment with 300 firefighters and 24% suffered from full PTSD.  This disorder is a worldwide occurrence dealing with many aspects of life.

Shooting in Ohio

This morning, Monday, February 27, a high school student in Ohio shot 5 people, killing one. This issue of handguns goes back to last weeks debate topic about mental illness. There is not enough information out yet if this student had issues, but articles do state that he came from a broken home. The shooter lived with his grandparents and his parents were not in the picture. It will be interesting to see what other information comes out as the story develops.

Modern Genetics Solves 150 Year Mystery

Recently, I read about a family that lived in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky 150 years ago with blue skin. Martin Fugate passed on his blue skin to four of his children who also had children with blue skin. After years of wondering, the mystery has finally been solved thanks to modern genetics. It turns out that these blue-skinned people had Methemoglobinemia, a blood disorder in which too much methomoglobin is produced. Methomoglobinemia is a recessive genetic disorder which explains how rare it is today. Troublesome Creek had no railroads, leading to almost no contact with the outside world. This led to cousins and neighbors marrying, keeping the trait much more prevalent than in a larger society.

Shortage on Cancer Treatment

This article is about a boy's wish to keep making methotrexate which is a cancer treating drug. This drug slows down the growth of cancer cells. The boy in this article has received surgeries, chemotherapy drugs, and radiation. The shortage of this drug has been going on for the last few years, but now it is getting down to the wire. Also, the shortage of chemotherapy for children in the United States has always been an issue too. There are often shortages of cancer treatments.

Another Look At Life Support

During class Wednesday, we discussed the controversy of life support and when/if someone should be taken off it. Though there are many different opinions on this subject, this topic gets even more controversial as more varieties of comas are occurring. Recently, a story about a senior in Kansas was released. In 2008, she wasn't feeling well and she ended up having a seizure. She went into a coma for 2.5 months, when bizarrely, she was able to shoot baskets without being aware of what she was doing. As new occurrences like this begin to pop up, it will be harder for people to decide when to take a loved one off of life support or not.

Blood Test Could Help Identify Depression

Biomarkers: the next indicator of depression? Apparently so according to this article I stumbled upon searching for something entirely different.

There is so much controversy over the treating of depression, it always depended on the physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist who you talked to; every different one talked to always giving a different answer. The other controversy being over whether a person actually has depression or not. There will be people who fully believe they do and therefore search until they find a doctor (of some specialty) that believes in them, and there will also be people who do not believe they have it and are in denial when a doctor tells them they do have it. This blood test, if successful would obviously dissipate a huge amount of this uncertainty and controversy at least on the side of diagnosis. Treating it is still up the air.

 

Cook County Jail 'A Mental Health Provider,' Says Sheriff Tom Dart, Threatening Lawsuit

The jails complaining about to much mental illness?

This article is about the Cook County jail near Chicago, IL and the mental illness residents' "undue burden on the jail's resources." The sheer number of prisoners with mental illness he says is being affected by a budget cut the state made, closing many mental health clinics. The reason this article is interesting related to our class is the example it shows in that getting people the psychological help they need could keep many of our criminals from becoming that in the first place.

Few depressed college students receive adequate care

This article about depression in college students stems right off the debate in class today about mental illnesses. It is obviously on the side thinking that it is an under-treated problem. The problem I find with the article is that the way they 'test' these students is simply taking their word for it. The article brings up a very good point in that college students in good health are usually the ones to have psychiatric problems. Something prevalent in our society is that everyone is sick, there is something wrong with everyone. If you would like to be diagnosed with something but can find nothing physically wrong I think it is possible to start creating psychological problems to make up for the lack of attention you are getting; whether this be conscious or unconscious. The ones who are truly sick don't want the attention and the ones who are not would do anything to get it. Just something to think about...

Good football helmet fit key to preventing brain injuries

This article discusses head injuries in football, or more specifically the helmets that attempt to prevent them. The discussion begins with the types of helmets used, from "vintage 'leatherheads'" to new plastic helmets with air-lining systems. What the article says is really the deciding factor as to whether you will have a better chance of making it out of that tackle is nothing other than the fit of the helmet. If the fit is good and covering all the right areas without being to tight to allow give, and not to loose to allow movement, a player will have a much better chance of a no-injury game.

'Life support' residence loses power

This article is related to the life support debate from today in class. However it is a very different side to life support. It is not an article about a person being taken on or off life support, or any controversy related to that at all. This article is about the electrical side. It more specifically is about a power company that cut power to "a customer listed as running life-support equipment that required constant power to their home."I thought this was interesting because it shows another aspect to leaving patients on life support. The usual case involves being in a hospital yes, but there are people running off this equipment at home, and if anything were to happen to the power supply (whether it was shut off on purpose or not) would unexpectedly make the decision for you. Overall just an interesting thought realizing you are leaving a life relying on absolutely constant upkeep.

Biology of Immune Responses to Vaccines in Elderly Persons

In this article, it is discussed how when we get older our immune system is different than when we are younger. From this, there are different effects of vaccines on elderly people. They are not as protected from the disease after the vaccination, because their immune system doesn't work the same. Elderly people cannot rely on current vaccines as a save-all technique because researchers are finding out everyday information that says they do not get full protection. In the future, these researchers are trying to improve vaccines and cater them towards elderly people so they can get the same care as younger generations. 

 http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/46/7/1078.full.pdf+html