Medicine posts
- May 25, 2013
- 11:40 AM
- 13 views
Get the Science Right: Autism vs Vaccines Flares On
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
The reaction was swift, both times. In 1998, British scientist Andrew Wakefield published a paper in Lancet, showing that vaccines could result in autism. Alarmed parents looked at vaccines with suspicion—many kept their children from being vaccinated, which may have helped spark a measles outbreak or two. Then, in 2010, Lancet retracted the paper, and Wakefield eventually had his medical license revoked. But the controversy continues... Read more »
DeStefano, F., Price, C., & Weintraub, E. (2013) Increasing Exposure to Antibody-Stimulating Proteins and Polysaccharides in Vaccines Is Not Associated with Risk of Autism. The Journal of Pediatrics. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.02.001
- May 25, 2013
- 09:49 AM
- 9 views
This Month in Blastocystis Research
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
This Month in Blastocystis Research is a bit meagre, but here's a chance to listen to a 1h related Blastocystis case story podcast...
... Read more »
Sakalar C, Uyar Y, Yürürdurmaz MA, Tokar S, Yeşilkaya H, Gürbüz E, Kuk S, & Yazar S. (2013) [Cloning of Blastocystis sp Subtype 3 Small-subunit Ribosomal DNA]. Turkiye parazitolojii dergisi / Turkiye Parazitoloji Dernegi , 37(1), 13-8. PMID: 23619039
Ozyurt M, Kurt O, Mølbak K, Nielsen HV, Haznedaroglu T, & Stensvold CR. (2008) Molecular epidemiology of Blastocystis infections in Turkey. Parasitology international, 57(3), 300-6. PMID: 18337161
- May 24, 2013
- 04:18 PM
- 42 views
Three Ways to Fight Back Against Daytime Sleepiness
by Shawn Radcliffe in Branáin
If you are dealing with excessive daytime sleepiness, gain an extra boost of alertness with tips from these recent research studies.... Read more »
Reid, K., Baron, K., Lu, B., Naylor, E., Wolfe, L., & Zee, P. (2010) Aerobic exercise improves self-reported sleep and quality of life in older adults with insomnia. Sleep Medicine, 11(9), 934-940. DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2010.04.014
- May 24, 2013
- 09:40 AM
- 26 views
Fluke or Trend? ‘Calcium Causes Heart Disease’
by Alvin Lin in United Academics
Snap! Ouch! That’s from my head doing a double take. All these years, I thought the calcium vs heart disease thing was a conspiracy arranged by one researcher and publication. However, 3 months ago, I stumbled upon some corroborating studies by other researchers in other journals. Even the US Preventive Services Task Force recently came out against low dose calcium (less than 1,000mg/d) in post-menopausal women because they could not find conclusive evidence of benefit in the face of a ........ Read more »
Bolland, M., Grey, A., Avenell, A., Gamble, G., & Reid, I. (2011) Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D and risk of cardiovascular events: reanalysis of the Women's Health Initiative limited access dataset and meta-analysis. BMJ, 342(apr19 1). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.d2040
Langsetmo, L., Berger, C., Kreiger, N., Kovacs, C., Hanley, D., Jamal, S., Whiting, S., Genest, J., Morin, S., Hodsman, A.... (2013) Calcium and Vitamin D Intake and Mortality: Results from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos). Journal of Clinical Endocrinology . DOI: 10.1210/jc.2013-1516
- May 24, 2013
- 07:57 AM
- 28 views
Could you fill a beaker with the fungi in your body?
by Fungi in Bath Fungal Research
--> The mycobiome is starting to get a little traction!When will we know the weight of the fungi on and in our bodies? The human microbiota has been recognized as hugely important in the last few years, but that has almost entirely focused on bacteria. I’ve been interested in the mycobiome of the human built environment for a while, and I certainly haven’t been alone. People tend to think of fungi as a problem in buildings, on or in plants, and in the outside air. However, there is ........ Read more »
Iliev, I., Funari, V., Taylor, K., Nguyen, Q., Reyes, C., Strom, S., Brown, J., Becker, C., Fleshner, P., Dubinsky, M.... (2012) Interactions Between Commensal Fungi and the C-Type Lectin Receptor Dectin-1 Influence Colitis. Science, 336(6086), 1314-1317. DOI: 10.1126/science.1221789
Findley, K., Oh, J., Yang, J., Conlan, S., Deming, C., Meyer, J., Schoenfeld, D., Nomicos, E., Park, M., Becker, J.... (2013) Topographic diversity of fungal and bacterial communities in human skin. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature12171
Huffnagle, G., & Noverr, M. (2013) The emerging world of the fungal microbiome. Trends in Microbiology. DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2013.04.002
- May 24, 2013
- 02:00 AM
- 12 views
Nonessential heat shock proteins affect Candida albicans virulence
by Fungi in Bath Fungal Research
Picking up on my infatuation with all things Hsp, today more on the effects of two of the large Hsps on Candida albicans biofilm formation and virulence in mice and worms.Ssa1, a member of the Hsp70 family, is traditionally implicated in protein folding and entwining. Following heat shock, Ssa1 expression increases, which is a hallmark of heat shock proteins. Recently, Ssa1’s role in Candida albicans’ virulence has been extensively characterized. A series of experiments involving C. al........ Read more »
Fiori, A., Kucharikova, S., Govaert, G., Cammue, B., Thevissen, K., & Van Dijck, P. (2012) The Heat-Induced Molecular Disaggregase Hsp104 of Candida albicans Plays a Role in Biofilm Formation and Pathogenicity in a Worm Infection Model. Eukaryotic Cell, 11(8), 1012-1020. DOI: 10.1128/EC.00147-12
Sun JN, Solis NV, Phan QT, Bajwa JS, Kashleva H, Thompson A, Liu Y, Dongari-Bagtzoglou A, Edgerton M, & Filler SG. (2010) Host cell invasion and virulence mediated by Candida albicans Ssa1. PLoS pathogens, 6(11). PMID: 21085601
- May 24, 2013
- 12:04 AM
- 13 views
Cam-Type Femoroacetabular Impingement in Youth Ice Hockey Players
by Meghan Miller in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Take Home Message: Evidence of increased alpha angles has been shown in ice hockey players as compared to non-hockey playing matched controls. Even at young ages, signs of bony abnormality linked to femoroacetabular impingement are present.
Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a common radiographic finding among athletes participating in sports requiring hip flexion, hip internal rotation, and repetitive cyclic motions. Cam-deformity FAI is marked by the aspherical shape of the femoral he........ Read more »
Philippon, M., Ho, C., Briggs, K., Stull, J., & LaPrade, R. (2013) Prevalence of Increased Alpha Angles as a Measure of Cam-Type Femoroacetabular Impingement in Youth Ice Hockey Players. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. DOI: 10.1177/0363546513483448
- May 23, 2013
- 05:00 PM
- 16 views
The ‘actuator lugs’ on the Newton Running Shoes
by Craig Payne in Running Research Junkie
The ‘actuator lugs’ on the Newton Running Shoes... Read more »
Moran, M., & Greer, B. (2013) Influence of midsole ‘actuator lugs’ on running economy in trained distance runners. Footwear Science, 5(2), 91-99. DOI: 10.1080/19424280.2013.792878
- May 23, 2013
- 01:00 PM
- 12 views
Microbial Misadventures: Exploits in Botulism & Pruno In Our Prison Population
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Drinking pruno is a risky endeavor, both in terms of its offense to culinary sensibilities and to one's health. However, turned stomachs are not the only hazard here; you may add a desire to avoid botulism to your list of reasons to shy away from you'r mates latest batch of prison hooch. The soil-dwelling bacterium Clostridium botulinum can contaminate fruits and veggies, and, in warm, oxygen-deprived conditions, produces the neuroparalytic toxin botulinum. Even more wholesome DIY ende........ Read more »
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2013) Notes from the field: botulism from drinking prison-made illicit alcohol - Arizona, 2012. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 62(5), 88. PMID: 23388552
- May 23, 2013
- 09:21 AM
- 46 views
Should you worry about vitamin D deficiency? Maybe. Or maybe not.
Since my last blog post, where I shared my thoughts on BRCA1, BRCA2, and preventive mastectomies, I've been asked what else can a woman do to reduce her risk of breast cancer. I've heard a big deal about vitamin D, so I did a bit of research on the matter. As a disclaimer, I should tell you up front that, though many correlations between vitamin D deficiency and cancer risk have been found, just as many have been refuted or found inconclusive. You can read more about it on the wikipedia page.Wha........ Read more »
Crew, K. (2013) Vitamin D: Are We Ready to Supplement for Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment?. ISRN Oncology, 1-22. DOI: 10.1155/2013/483687
- May 23, 2013
- 09:14 AM
- 33 views
New Reliable Blood Test Can Detect Depression
by Pieter Carriere in United Academics
Depression or Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has multiple genetic and environmental causes. Genetic factors are hard to find and the discovered factors usually are also associated with other mood disorders. Furthermore, twin studies reveal that genetics can predict 37% of the depressions, which is a much lower heritability than in bipolar disorder, a comparable mood disorder (reviewed in Belmaker et al., 2008). ... Read more »
Papakostas, G., Shelton, R., Kinrys, G., Henry, M., Bakow, B., Lipkin, S., Pi, B., Thurmond, L., & Bilello, J. (2011) Assessment of a multi-assay, serum-based biological diagnostic test for major depressive disorder: a Pilot and Replication Study. Molecular Psychiatry, 18(3), 332-339. DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.166
Pariante, C., & Lightman, S. (2008) The HPA axis in major depression: classical theories and new developments. Trends in Neurosciences, 31(9), 464-468. DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2008.06.006
Raison, C. (2012) A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonist Infliximab for Treatment-Resistant DepressionThe Role of Baseline Inflammatory BiomarkersInfliximab for Treatment-Resistant Depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 1. DOI: 10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.4
Nibuya M, Morinobu S, & Duman RS. (1995) Regulation of BDNF and trkB mRNA in rat brain by chronic electroconvulsive seizure and antidepressant drug treatments. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 15(11), 7539-47. PMID: 7472505
- May 23, 2013
- 07:34 AM
- 24 views
Smelling Lemons Might Better Treat Autism
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
classical music and intense sensory exercises produced improvements in autism symptoms in children after just six months, scientists have found.... Read more »
Woo, C., & Leon, M. (2013) Environmental Enrichment as an Effective Treatment for Autism: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Behavioral Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1037/a0033010
- May 23, 2013
- 04:33 AM
- 22 views
Big data for autism and the promise of newborn bloodspots
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
An episode of the BBC program Horizon on 'Big Data' recently caught my attention. The content was a fascinating insight into how we are living in a data-rich age and how trawling/mining/dredging such data has the ability to advance medicine, predict crime and even make someone a few quid/dollars/euros on the stock market.Gone (data) fishing @ Wikipedia I'm a big believer in big data. In particular how, with the right sources, technology, techniques and people, big data might be able t........ Read more »
Mizejewski GJ, Lindau-Shepard B, & Pass KA. (2013) Newborn screening for autism: in search of candidate biomarkers. Biomarkers in medicine, 7(2), 247-60. PMID: 23547820
- May 22, 2013
- 05:00 PM
- 25 views
The carbon footprint from running shoes
by Craig Payne in Running Research Junkie
The carbon footprint from running shoes... Read more »
Cheah, L., Ciceri, N., Olivetti, E., Matsumura, S., Forterre, D., Roth, R., & Kirchain, R. (2013) Manufacturing-focused emissions reductions in footwear production. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.037
- May 22, 2013
- 02:01 PM
- 126 views
Marijuana and Diabetes: Does Pot Make You Thin?
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Teasing out the insulin effect.
On the face of it, the study seems to come out of left field: A group of researchers claimed that marijuana smokers showed 16 per cent lower fasting insulin levels than non-smokers. The study, called “The Impact of Marijuana Use on Glucose, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance among US Adults,” is in press for The American Journal of Medicine. The authors are a diverse group of medical researchers from Harvard, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and t........ Read more »
Penner Elizabeth A., Buettner Hannah, & Mittleman Murray A. (2013) The Impact of Marijuana Use on Glucose, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance among US Adults. The American Journal of Medicine. DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2013.03.002
- May 22, 2013
- 12:04 AM
- 18 views
High Adherence to the FIFA 11 Decreases Injury Risk Among Youth Female Soccer Players
by Kyle Harris in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Take Home Message: High adherence to a neuromuscular injury prevention program like the FIFA 11 decreases the risk of injury.
Injury prevention programs typically are multifaceted warm-up programs that focus on neuromuscular recruitment. Although various programs aim to improve performance and decrease injury risk no investigation has shown a link between improved physical performance and the quality and adherence of neuromuscular injury prevention training. Therefore, Steffen and colleague........ Read more »
Steffen K, Emery CA, Romiti M, Kang J, Bizzini M, Dvorak J, Finch CF, & Meeuwisse WH. (2013) High adherence to a neuromuscular injury prevention programme (FIFA 11 ) improves functional balance and reduces injury risk in Canadian youth female football players: a cluster randomised trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine. PMID: 23559666
- May 21, 2013
- 05:51 PM
- 26 views
A Machine to Weigh the Soul
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
Newly discovered papers have shed light on a fascinating episode in the history of neuroscience: Weighing brain activity with the balance The story of the early Italian neuroscientist Dr Angelo Mosso and his ‘human circulation balance’ is an old one – I remember reading about it as a student, in the introductory bit of a [...]... Read more »
Sandrone S, Bacigaluppi M, Galloni MR, Cappa SF, Moro A, Catani M, Filippi M, Monti MM, Perani D, & Martino G. (2013) Weighing brain activity with the balance: Angelo Mosso's original manuscripts come to light. Brain : a journal of neurology. PMID: 23687118
- May 21, 2013
- 08:53 AM
- 51 views
Bright Lights, Cold Bodies - The Near-Death Experience Explained
by Anouk Vleugels in United Academics
Last February, Dr. Sam Parnia, an intensive care physician who has been researching near-death experiences for the past 15 years, published his new book ‘Erasing death: The Science That is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death’. Following the release of that book, Dr. Parnia was interviewed on National Public Radio in the US. It wasn’t so much this interview that sparked my interest, as much as the comments that followed. “It’s hard to believe that this gu........ Read more »
van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, & Elfferich I. (2001) Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands. Lancet, 358(9298), 2039-45. PMID: 11755611
- May 20, 2013
- 01:23 PM
- 27 views
Epilepsy Service Organization in Countries with Limited Resources
by Vivek Misra in Beautiful Mind
tumblr: bellapaige88On average, 9.5/1000 population has epilepsy in Low and Middle Income Countries (LAMIC). A research which has resulted in the global campaign against epilepsy has shown, the gap between treatment need and the treatment provision worldwide is approximately 70% [1]. This large ‘treatment gap’, i.e., lack of appropriate treatment for a large number of patients with epilepsy, due to a number of causes including inability to identify cases, inability to deliver adequate treatm........ Read more »
Mbuba CK, Ngugi AK, Newton CR, & Carter JA. (2008) The epilepsy treatment gap in developing countries: a systematic review of the magnitude, causes, and intervention strategies. Epilepsia, 49(9), 1491-503. PMID: 18557778
Pal, D., Das, T., & Sengupta, S. (2000) Case-control and qualitative study of attrition in a community epilepsy programme in rural India. Seizure, 9(2), 119-123. DOI: 10.1053/seiz.1999.0357
Mani KS, Rangan G, Srinivas HV, Srindharan VS, & Subbakrishna DK. (2001) Epilepsy control with phenobarbital or phenytoin in rural south India: the Yelandur study. Lancet, 357(9265), 1316-20. PMID: 11343735
Wang WZ, Wu JZ, Wang DS, Dai XY, Yang B, Wang TP, Yuan CL, Scott RA, Prilipko LL, de Boer HM.... (2003) The prevalence and treatment gap in epilepsy in China: an ILAE/IBE/WHO study. Neurology, 60(9), 1544-5. PMID: 12743252
- May 20, 2013
- 01:10 PM
- 30 views
Sugary Drinks May Increase Risk of Kidney Stones
by Shawn Radcliffe in Branáin
Staying hydrated is good advice for men who’ve had kidney stones before, but sugar-sweetened sodas and fruit punch may not be the best choice of fluids.... Read more »
Ferraro, P., Taylor, E., Gambaro, G., & Curhan, G. (2013) Soda and Other Beverages and the Risk of Kidney Stones. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. DOI: 10.2215/CJN.11661112
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