Medicine posts
- May 20, 2013
- 03:59 AM
- 6 views
Autism, plasma cytokines and siblings
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I'm gonna try and be fairly brief in this post on the paper by Valerio Napolioni and colleagues* (open-access) looking at plasma cytokine profiles in cases of autism and their asymptomatic siblings. Brief because (a) the paper is open-access and (b) the participant groups (autism: n=25; sibling controls n=25) were relatively small so one has to be quite careful in extrapolating the findings with any large degree of confidence.Siblings by Paul Klee @ WikiPaintings Just in case you are ........ Read more »
Napolioni V, Ober-Reynolds B, Szelinger S, Corneveaux JJ, Pawlowski T, Ober-Reynolds S, Kirwan J, Persico AM, Melmed RD, Craig DW.... (2013) Plasma cytokine profiling in sibling pairs discordant for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of neuroinflammation, 38. PMID: 23497090
- May 20, 2013
- 12:04 AM
- 4 views
Do Hyaluronic Acid Injections Reduce Biomarkers of Collagen Degradation?
by Stephen Thomas in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Take Home Message: Hyaluronic acid injections decrease factors related to collagen degradation. Some blood tests may differentiate responders and nonresponders to these injections.
Knee osteoarthritis, one of the leading causes of disability, has no cure and current treatments commonly involve medications to decrease inflammation and pain. Hyaluronic acid (HA) injections have become a popular form of treatment for knee osteoarthritis. However, the mechanism of action has yet to be determ........ Read more »
Henrotin Y, Chevalier X, Deberg M, Balblanc JC, Richette P, Mulleman D, Maillet B, Rannou F, Piroth C, Mathieu P.... (2013) Early decrease of serum biomarkers of type II collagen degradation (Coll2-1) and joint inflammation (Coll2-1 NO2 ) by hyaluronic acid intra-articular injections in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A research study part of the Biovisco study. Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 31(6), 901-7. PMID: 23423846
- May 19, 2013
- 11:52 PM
- 10 views
Blood magic: old blood ages the young
by Shelly Fan in Neurorexia
“Our ancient countess was refused her desires will To bathe in pure fresh blood She’d peasant virgins killed Elizabeth, in the chasm where was my soul Forever young, Elizabeth Bathorii in the castle of your death You’re still alive, Elizabeth” -“Elizabeth”, Ghost As folklore has it, Elizabeth Bathorii, Countess of Hungary, often bath........ Read more »
Villeda SA, Luo J, Mosher KI, Zou B, Britschgi M, Bieri G, Stan TM, Fainberg N, Ding Z, Eggel A.... (2011) The ageing systemic milieu negatively regulates neurogenesis and cognitive function. Nature, 477(7362), 90-4. PMID: 21886162
Loffredo FS, Steinhauser ML, Jay SM, Gannon J, Pancoast JR, Yalamanchi P, Sinha M, Dall'osso C, Khong D, Shadrach JL.... (2013) Growth Differentiation Factor 11 Is a Circulating Factor that Reverses Age-Related Cardiac Hypertrophy. Cell, 153(4), 828-39. PMID: 23663781
Zhang G, Li J, Purkayastha S, Tang Y, Zhang H, Yin Y, Li B, Liu G, & Cai D. (2013) Hypothalamic programming of systemic ageing involving IKK-β, NF-κB and GnRH. Nature, 497(7448), 211-6. PMID: 23636330
- May 18, 2013
- 02:10 PM
- 27 views
‘Is ‘cloning’ mad, bad and dangerous?’ – an argument revisited
by Lee Turnpenny in The Mawk Moth Profligacies
Is 'cloning' appropriate terminology for somatic cell nuclear transfer derivation of human embryonic stem cells?... Read more »
Tachibana, M., Amato, P., Sparman, M., Gutierrez, N., Tippner-Hedges, R., Ma, H., Kang, E., Fulati, A., Lee, H., Sritanaudomchai, H.... (2013) Human Embryonic Stem Cells Derived by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.006
- May 18, 2013
- 11:40 AM
- 45 views
Why Psychology 101 Should Be Evolutionary Psychology
by Jesse Marczyk in Pop Psychology
In two recent posts, I have referenced a relatively-average psychologist (again, this psychologist need not bear any resemblance to any particular person, living or dead). I found this relatively-average psychologist to be severely handicapped in their ability to think about … Continue reading →... Read more »
Smallegange, R., van Gemert, G., van de Vegte-Bolmer, M., Gezan, S., Takken, W., Sauerwein, R., & Logan, J. (2013) Malaria Infected Mosquitoes Express Enhanced Attraction to Human Odor. PLoS ONE, 8(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063602
- May 18, 2013
- 05:33 AM
- 25 views
Darth DSM-5 and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Blue Harvest @ Wikipedia @ Family GuyI need to create a suitable atmosphere for this post, so try this music for size and think Blue Harvest...Right. The wait is over. The discussions / arguments / objections / agreements are all confined to history. Drum roll, spotlight centre-stage... enter DSM-5 and into unknown territory we all go, particularly with autism, sorry.. autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in mind.As you can see from the link above to the new diagnostic guidelines from the Ameri........ Read more »
Lai M-C, Lombardo MV, Chakrabarti B, & Baron-Cohen S. (2013) Subgrouping the Autism “Spectrum": Reflections on DSM-5. PLoS Biology. info:/
- May 17, 2013
- 05:00 PM
- 25 views
Preferred Foot Strike Pattern and Soft Tissue Vibration
by Craig Payne in Running Research Junkie
Preferred Foot Strike Pattern and Soft Tissue Vibration... Read more »
Enders H, von Tscharner V, & Nigg BM. (2013) The effects of preferred and non-preferred running strike patterns on tissue vibration properties. Journal of science and medicine in sport / Sports Medicine Australia. PMID: 23642961
- May 17, 2013
- 12:13 PM
- 34 views
Transitioning from Adolescent to Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Programs: What Are The Challenges?
by Andrea in Science of Eating Disorders
Navigating health service systems can seem daunting, to say the least. Making phone calls, getting doctor appointments and referrals, attending intake appointments, and preparing oneself for treatment can be both mentally and physically draining. When children and adolescents develop eating disorders, their parents become the main navigators in this scenario, making decisions and arrangements for their under-18-year-olds. But what happens when these adolescents reach the age of 18, and sti........ Read more »
Dimitropoulos, G., Tran, A., Agarwal, P., Sheffield, B., & Woodside, B. (2013) Challenges in Making the Transition Between Pediatric and Adult Eating Disorder Programs: A Qualitative Study From the Perspective of Service Providers. Eating Disorders, 21(1), 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/10640266.2013.741964
- May 17, 2013
- 06:13 AM
- 33 views
What is hypnotherapy?
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
Hypnotherapy is the use of the hypnotic state in combination with other psychological strategies acquired from behavioural, cognitive and analytical therapy as well as from neuro linguistic programming (NLP). The main purpose of hypnotherapy is the achievement of your particular goal.... Read more »
Anna Pons. (2013) What is hypnotherapy?. Clinical Hypnotherapy. info:/
- May 17, 2013
- 12:04 AM
- 16 views
Fitness Level and Baseline Concussion Symptoms
by Stephen Stache in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Take Home Message: Fitness level may influence baseline concussion symptom reporting with fitter individuals reporting fewer concussion symptoms. Athletes also appear to report more concussion symptoms when reporting after exercise.
Baseline testing in concussion management, including graded symptom assessment, has become commonplace in multiple sports on almost every level of competition. Different assessment tools (e.g., Sideline Concussion Assessment Tool [SCAT3], Immediate Post-Concussi........ Read more »
Mrazik, M., Naidu, D., Lebrun, C., Game, A., & Matthews-White, J. (2013) Does an Individual's Fitness Level Affect Baseline Concussion Symptoms?. Journal of Athletic Training, 2147483647. DOI: 10.4085/1062-6050-48.3.19
- May 16, 2013
- 07:34 PM
- 34 views
Angelina no longer has them. Does that mean I should get rid of them too?
We love them and yet we hate them. They get censored, augmented, reduced, replaced, covered, exposed. They get grilled, occasionally, but those are not the ones I'm talking about. We want to see them and yet we pretend we don't. We criticize them and yet we forget what they are made for, the most beautiful thing of all: nourish a new life.Yes, I'm talking about breasts. Angelina Jolie's breasts have been extensively discussed this week, more now that they are reportedly gone than when they were ........ Read more »
Hall, J., Lee, M., Newman, B., Morrow, J., Anderson, L., Huey, B., & King, M. (1990) Linkage of early-onset familial breast cancer to chromosome 17q21. Science, 250(4988), 1684-1689. DOI: 10.1126/science.2270482
Bernstein, L. (2008) Identifying population-based approaches to lower breast cancer risk. Oncogene. DOI: 10.1038/onc.2009.348
- May 16, 2013
- 04:00 PM
- 15 views
Hard at work against the hardening of arteries
by Patrick Bartosch in Beaker
Sanford-Burnham researchers identified a potential drug target to prevent the hardening of arteries in patients with atherosclerosis. The gene Dkk1 encodes a protein that plays a key role in increasing the population of connective-tissue cells during wound repair, but prolonged Dkk1 signaling in cells lining blood vessels can lead to fibrosis and a stiffening of artery walls.... Read more »
Cheng, S., Shao, J., Behrmann, A., Krchma, K., & Towler, D. (2013) Dkk1 and Msx2-Wnt7b Signaling Reciprocally Regulate the Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Aortic Endothelial Cells. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.113.300647
- May 16, 2013
- 12:07 PM
- 30 views
Good News or Bad News - Skin cancer and Alzheimer’s disease
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main Point:
Researchers have found that the people, who develop skin cancer, may have less chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the older ages.
Published in:
Neurology
Study Further:
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disorder that affects the brain and causes dementia, especially late in life.
In this new study, researchers worked on 1,102 volunteers with an average age of 79. They were studied for about 3.7 years. In the beginning of the study, 109 peop........ Read more »
White, R., Lipton, R., Hall, C., & Steinerman, J. (2013) Nonmelanoma skin cancer is associated with reduced Alzheimer disease risk. Neurology, 80(21), 1966-1972. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182941990
- May 16, 2013
- 04:00 AM
- 34 views
Meta-analysing MTHFR and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I told you so.I'm talking about the paper by Pu and colleagues* who meta-analysed the currently available literature looking at two SNPs in everyone's favourite Scrabble classic gene, MTHFR in relation to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Said gene controls production of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) which fits very snugly into the whole one carbon metabolism cycle (see here).Love at first sight? @ Wikipedia Regular readers might know that I have a bi........ Read more »
Pu D, Shen Y, & Wu J. (2013) Association between MTHFR Gene Polymorphisms and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research. PMID: 23653228
- May 15, 2013
- 10:48 PM
- 18 views
Placebos: Banned in Helsinki?
by Paul Ivsin in Placebo Control
One of the unintended consequences of my (admittedly, somewhat impulsive) decision to name this blog is that I get a fair bit of traffic from Google: people searching for placebo-related information.
Some recent searches have been about the proposed new revisions to the Declaration of Helsinki, and how the new draft version will prohibit or restrict the use of placebo controls in clinical trials. This was a bit puzzling, given that the publicly-released draft revisions [PDF] didn't app........ Read more »
Emanuel, E. (2013) Reconsidering the Declaration of Helsinki. The Lancet, 381(9877), 1532-1533. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60970-8
- May 15, 2013
- 10:01 PM
- 42 views
Ladies: why Ritalin may not always be helpful. (Hint: sex, genes and dem hormones)
by Shelly Fan in Neurorexia
Little note: Since this post, I’ve been mulling over why Ritalin/Adderall don’t affect cognitive performance of healthy volunteers. Several reasons come to mind. I wasn’t reading the “right” literature (ie studies with positive results – any suggestions?). Stimulants may only influence brain activation patterns, but not performance. In this case, we can only detect differences […]... Read more »
Jacobs E, & D'Esposito M. (2011) Estrogen shapes dopamine-dependent cognitive processes: implications for women's health. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 31(14), 5286-93. PMID: 21471363
- May 15, 2013
- 06:49 PM
- 83 views
Six Arguments For the Elimination of Cigarettes
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Prohibition and the “tobacco control endgame.”
Despite all our efforts in recent years to reduce the percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes—currently about one in five—the idea of full-blown cigarette prohibition has not gained much traction. That may be changing, as prominent nicotine researchers and public police officials start thinking about what is widely referred to as the “tobacco control endgame.”
Considering the new regulatory powers given the FDA under the terms ........ Read more »
Proctor R. N. (2013) Why ban the sale of cigarettes? The case for abolition. Tobacco Control, 22(Supplement 1). DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050811
- May 15, 2013
- 02:42 PM
- 30 views
Wrap-Up of Cell Symposium on Microbiome and Host Health
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A short wrap-up of the Cell Symposium on Microbiome and Host Health in Lisbon, Portugal, May 12-14, 2013.... Read more »
Koren O, Knights D, Gonzalez A, Waldron L, Segata N, Knight R, Huttenhower C, & Ley RE. (2013) A guide to enterotypes across the human body: meta-analysis of microbial community structures in human microbiome datasets. PLoS computational biology, 9(1). PMID: 23326225
Andersen LO, Vedel Nielsen H, & Stensvold CR. (2013) Waiting for the human intestinal Eukaryotome. The ISME journal. PMID: 23407309
Ivanov II, & Honda K. (2012) Intestinal commensal microbes as immune modulators. Cell host , 12(4), 496-508. PMID: 23084918
Brown J, de Vos WM, Distefano PS, Doré J, Huttenhower C, Knight R, Lawley TD, Raes J, & Turnbaugh P. (2013) Translating the human microbiome. Nature biotechnology, 31(4), 304-8. PMID: 23563424
Blaser M, Bork P, Fraser C, Knight R, & Wang J. (2013) The microbiome explored: recent insights and future challenges. Nature reviews. Microbiology, 11(3), 213-7. PMID: 23377500
- May 15, 2013
- 12:09 PM
- 49 views
Why women live longer than men?
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main Point:
Researchers have found that the immune system of the women declines more slowly than men and this could be one of the reasons for the longer life of women - at least in Japan.
Published in:
Immunity & Ageing
Study Further:
Immune system is the system that recognizes and opposes disease. In the new study, researchers have reported that with the passage of time, men’s ability to oppose the disease decrease more rapidly as compared to women, resulting in increased w........ Read more »
Hirokawa, K., Utsuyama, M., Hayashi, Y., Kitagawa, M., Makinodan, T., & Fulop, T. (2013) Slower immune system ageing in women versus men in the Japanese population. Immunity , 10(1), 19. DOI: 10.1186/1742-4933-10-19
- May 15, 2013
- 09:33 AM
- 38 views
Video Tip of the Week: Influenza Research Database (IRD)
It may not be traditionally what you think of as flu season, but lately there’s been a great deal of talk about some viruses that are concerning public health officials and infectious disease specialists. You might have heard of the H7N9 situation in China, and the NCoV virus in France that made headlines. But researchers [...]... Read more »
Squires, R., Noronha, J., Hunt, V., García-Sastre, A., Macken, C., Baumgarth, N., Suarez, D., Pickett, B., Zhang, Y., Larsen, C.... (2012) Influenza Research Database: an integrated bioinformatics resource for influenza research and surveillance. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 6(6), 404-416. DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00331.x
Pickett, B., Sadat, E., Zhang, Y., Noronha, J., Squires, R., Hunt, V., Liu, M., Kumar, S., Zaremba, S., Gu, Z.... (2011) ViPR: an open bioinformatics database and analysis resource for virology research. Nucleic Acids Research, 40(D1). DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkr859
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