Medicine posts
- March 18, 2016
- 03:48 AM
- 339 views
Autism depression = more medical issues?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I wanted to draw your attention to the paper by Greenlee and colleagues [1] today, talking about how: (a) "Co-occurring depression is a particularly common problem in higher-functioning older children" with autism, and (b) "children with ASD [autism spectrum disorder] and a history of a depression diagnosis are more likely to also have co-occurring medical problems" at least in their cohort.Published as part of a supplement about autism in the journal Pediatrics (see here), the Greenle........ Read more »
Greenlee JL, Mosley AS, Shui AM, Veenstra-VanderWeele J, & Gotham KO. (2016) Medical and Behavioral Correlates of Depression History in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Pediatrics. PMID: 26908466
- March 17, 2016
- 03:47 PM
- 460 views
Preventing Alzheimer’s, with an implant
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer's has been a losing battle, sure we can fight back with drugs, but that still just prolongs the inevitable. With that said we can all hope this research pans out, to something meaningful. In a cutting-edge treatment for Alzheimer's disease, EPFL scientists have developed an implantable capsule that can turn the patient's immune system against the disease. Even better, the implant is subdural, not intracranial.
... Read more »
Lathuilière, A., Laversenne, V., Astolfo, A., Kopetzki, E., Jacobsen, H., Stampanoni, M., Bohrmann, B., Schneider, B., & Aebischer, P. (2016) A subcutaneous cellular implant for passive immunization against amyloid-β reduces brain amyloid and tau pathologies. Brain. DOI: 10.1093/brain/aww036
- March 17, 2016
- 03:40 PM
- 523 views
Green fungi for a certain March-based holiday
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
In honour of St. Patrick's Day, here are a couple of neat green fungi. I was going to do plants, but there are just so many to choose from. Ha ha.... Read more »
Cao Y, Zhang Y, Yu Z, Mi F, Liu C, Tang X, Long Y, He X, Wang P, & Xu J. (2013) Structure, gene flow, and recombination among geographic populations of a Russula virescens ally from Southwestern China. PloS One, 8(9). PMID: 24069176
Santi L, Maggioli C, Mastroroberto M, Tufoni M, Napoli L, & Caraceni P. (2012) Acute liver failure caused by Amanita phalloides poisoning. International Journal of Hepatology. DOI: 10.1155/2012/487480
Schuster A, & Schmoll M. (2010) Biology and biotechnology of Trichoderma. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 87(3), 787-799. DOI: 10.1007/s00253-010-2632-1
- March 17, 2016
- 07:50 AM
- 351 views
One-two punch: Small peptides attack ovarian cancer cells and their environment
by Tom Ulrich in Vector, a Boston Children's Hospital blog
ovarian cancer psaptides
Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women. Tumors often remain silent until they have spread; as a result, many women go undiagnosed until the disease has already advanced. Ovarian cancer cells often develop resistance to chemotherapy with taxanes and platinum agents, leaving few therapeutic options for women with advanced disease.
Two small peptides could present a new approach to ovarian cancer and potentially other tumors. Derived fro........ Read more »
Wang S, Blois A, El Rayes T, Liu JF, Hirsch MS, Gravdal K, Palakurthi S, Bielenberg DR, Akslen LA, Drapkin R.... (2016) Development of a prosaposin-derived therapeutic cyclic peptide that targets ovarian cancer via the tumor microenvironment. Science Translational Medicine, 8(329). PMID: 26962158
- March 17, 2016
- 03:47 AM
- 331 views
No unique patterns of gut issues in autism? Headline fail...
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"This study supports the observation that children with autism who have symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders have objective findings similar to children without autism. Neither non-invasive testing nor endoscopic findings identify gastrointestinal pathology specific to autism, but may be of benefit in identifying children with autism who have atypical symptoms."So concluded Rafail Kushak and colleagues [1] (them of "Lactase deficiency not associated with intestinal inflammation or injury is co........ Read more »
Kushak RI, Buie TM, Murray KF, Newburg DS, Chen C, Nestoridi E, & Winter HS. (2016) Evaluation of Intestinal Function in Children with Autism and Gastrointestinal Symptoms. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. PMID: 26913756
- March 16, 2016
- 09:59 AM
- 445 views
An open letter to all science lovers who want to defend science ... please don't.
Last week I had an animated discussion on Facebook over an older post in which I describe some literature I dug out on possible (underline “possible”!) correlations with autism. True, my post is highly incomplete, but it was meant as a discussion starter to point at things that scientists have been looking at in an attempt to unravel what feels like a rise in autism. Is autism the new childhood plague of our modern society or has it always been around and we just became more aware of it? And........ Read more »
Kushak RI, Buie TM, Murray KF, Newburg DS, Chen C, Nestoridi E, & Winter HS. (2016) Evaluation of Intestinal Function in Children with Autism and Gastrointestinal Symptoms. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. PMID: 26913756
Li, Q., & Zhou, J. (2016) The microbiota–gut–brain axis and its potential therapeutic role in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.03.013
Heijtz, R., Wang, S., Anuar, F., Qian, Y., Bjorkholm, B., Samuelsson, A., Hibberd, M., Forssberg, H., & Pettersson, S. (2011) Normal gut microbiota modulates brain development and behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 3047-3052. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1010529108
Mulle, J., Sharp, W., & Cubells, J. (2013) The Gut Microbiome: A New Frontier in Autism Research. Current Psychiatry Reports, 15(2). DOI: 10.1007/s11920-012-0337-0
- March 16, 2016
- 04:30 AM
- 333 views
Quadriceps Inactivation? Shake It Off
by Nicole Cattano in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Local or whole body vibration treatments increase quadriceps function similarly. Vibration therapy can be a tool to facilitate strengthening protocols.... Read more »
Pamukoff, D., Pietrosimone, B., Lewek, M., Ryan, E., Weinhold, P., Lee, D., & Blackburn, J. (2016) Immediate effect of vibratory stimuli on quadriceps function in healthy adults. Muscle . DOI: 10.1002/mus.25081
- March 16, 2016
- 03:39 AM
- 342 views
9% of those diagnosed with autism might have optimal outcome?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"Although for many children, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disability, a subset of children with ASD lose their diagnosis and show typical cognitive and adaptive abilities."Unfortunately, that sentence taken from the report by Emily Moulton and colleagues [1] including one Deborah Fein on the authorship list, is not likely to be taken well by some people. Indeed, the whole concept of 'optimal outcome' with autism in mind (see here) has sometimes been met with outright hostility de........ Read more »
Moulton E, Barton M, Robins DL, Abrams DN, & Fein D. (2016) Early Characteristics of Children with ASD Who Demonstrate Optimal Progress Between Age Two and Four. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. PMID: 26895327
- March 15, 2016
- 03:30 AM
- 341 views
Measuring anxiety comorbid to autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Anxiety, whether reaching clinical thresholds or manifesting as something rather more subtle, is a common theme in autism research and practice these days. I've talked about it enough times on this blog (see here and see here for example) reflective of the growth in this peer-reviewed research area that has continued unabated.Recognition of just how 'disabling' anxiety can be for someone on the autism spectrum is fairly widely noted these days. Problems however, still remain in terms of (i) how ........ Read more »
Rodgers J, Wigham S, McConachie H, Freeston M, Honey E, & Parr JR. (2016) Development of the anxiety scale for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASC-ASD). Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research. PMID: 26887910
- March 14, 2016
- 02:19 PM
- 358 views
Decrypting a collagen’s role in schizophrenia
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What would be worse than having bad joints? How about schizophrenia and bad joints? To be fair that isn’t what is suggested, but they may, in fact, be linked. A small peptide generated from a collagen protein may protect the brain from schizophrenia by promoting the formation of neuronal synapses and study may lead to new approaches to treating the mental disorder.
... Read more »
Su, J., Chen, J., Lippold, K., Monavarfeshani, A., Carrillo, G., Jenkins, R., & Fox, M. (2016) Collagen-derived matricryptins promote inhibitory nerve terminal formation in the developing neocortex. The Journal of Cell Biology, 212(6), 721-736. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201509085
- March 14, 2016
- 02:19 PM
- 260 views
Decrypting a collagen’s role in schizophrenia
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What would be worse than having bad joints? How about schizophrenia and bad joints? To be fair that isn’t what is suggested, but they may, in fact, be linked. A small peptide generated from a collagen protein may protect the brain from schizophrenia by promoting the formation of neuronal synapses and study may lead to […]... Read more »
Su, J., Chen, J., Lippold, K., Monavarfeshani, A., Carrillo, G., Jenkins, R., & Fox, M. (2016) Collagen-derived matricryptins promote inhibitory nerve terminal formation in the developing neocortex. The Journal of Cell Biology, 212(6), 721-736. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201509085
- March 14, 2016
- 01:59 PM
- 372 views
How machines used to resurface ice rinks can also resurface your lungs
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
In a previous post, I discussed how the introduction of the automobile also introduced a bunch of new ways for people to hurt themselves. Similarly, an injury known as ice hockey lung didn't exist until a key advance was made in the world of ice sports: motorized ice resurfacing machines. Otherwise known as Zambonis (the same way Kleenex is a catch-all term for different brands of tissue paper), they were developed in the 1940s as a means of quickly and efficiently restoring ice sheets carved up........ Read more »
Brat K, Merta Z, Plutinsky M, Skrickova J, & Stanek M. (2013) Ice hockey lung - a case of mass nitrogen dioxide poisoning in the Czech Republic. Canadian Respiratory Journal, 20(6), 100-103. PMID: 24032121
- March 14, 2016
- 03:49 AM
- 367 views
Methyl B12 for autism? Placebo-controlled results say maybe...
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"Methyl B12 treatment improved clinician-rated symptoms of ASD [autism spectrum disorder] that were correlated with improvements in measures of methionine metabolism and cellular methylation capacity."Those were the very encouraging results published by Robert Hendren and colleagues [1] who can now update their ClinicalTrials.gov study entry (see here). Building on the ideas that: "Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been reported to have reduced ability to methylate DNA ........ Read more »
Hendren RL, James SJ, Widjaja F, Lawton B, Rosenblatt A, & Bent S. (2016) Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Methyl B12 for Children with Autism. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology. PMID: 26889605
- March 12, 2016
- 03:08 PM
- 378 views
People with anxiety show fundamental differences in perception
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
People suffering from anxiety perceive the world in a fundamentally different way than others, according to a new study. The research may help explain why certain people are more prone to anxiety. The study shows that people diagnosed with anxiety are less able to distinguish between a neutral, “safe” stimulus (in this case, the sound of a tone) and one that had earlier been associated with gaining or losing money.
... Read more »
Laufer, O., Israeli, D., & Paz, R. (2016) Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms of Overgeneralization in Anxiety. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.023
- March 12, 2016
- 03:26 AM
- 334 views
Psychopharmacologic intervention for adults with autism: systematically reviewed
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"The results indicate that only two medications, fluoxetine and risperidone, can be considered as promising evidence-based practices for adults with ASD [autism spectrum disorder]."So said Lauren Taylor [1] and her (systematic) review of what might work, pharmaceutically speaking, when it comes to managing "behavioural disturbance in adults with ASD." Including over 40 studies examining psychopharmacology in adults diagnosed with ASD, Taylor concluded that many medicines/formulations did no........ Read more »
Taylor, L. (2016) Psychopharmacologic intervention for adults with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic literature review. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 58-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2016.01.011
- March 11, 2016
- 02:17 PM
- 376 views
Finding the circuit for experience-informed decision-making
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
How is the brain able to use past experiences to guide decision-making? A few years ago, researchers discovered in rats that awake mental replay of past experiences is critical for learning and making informed choices. Now, the team has discovered key secrets of the underlying brain circuitry — including a unique system that encodes location during inactive periods.
... Read more »
Kay, K., Sosa, M., Chung, J., Karlsson, M., Larkin, M., & Frank, L. (2016) A hippocampal network for spatial coding during immobility and sleep. Nature, 531(7593), 185-190. DOI: 10.1038/nature17144
- March 11, 2016
- 09:11 AM
- 417 views
Anesthesia, cancer, and the wrong pipe: A quick tour of cycloalkanes
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
The simplest organic molecules out there are alkanes, which consist of one or more carbon atoms coated with hydrogen atoms. If you loop an alkane chain you get a cycloalkane. For today's post I'll be looking at a couple of cycloalkanes and their relevance to human health and biology at large.Cyclopropane is an unstable carbon atom triangle. It's a gas at room temperature, and its lack of stability makes it explosive when mixed with oxygen. Back in the day, medical folks became interested in usin........ Read more »
Boros G, Miko E, Muramatsu H, Weissman D, Emri E, van der Horst GT, Szegedi A, Horkay I, Emri G, Karikó K.... (2015) Identification of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer-responsive genes using UVB-irradiated human keratinocytes transfected with in vitro-synthesized photolyase mRNA. PLoS One, 10(6). PMID: 26121660
Park SH, Moon K, Bang HS, Kim SH, Kim DG, Oh KB, Shin J, & Oh DC. (2012) Tripartilactam, a cyclobutane-bearing tricyclic lactam from a Streptomyces sp. in a dung beetle's brood ball. Organic Letters, 14(5), 1258-1261. PMID: 22360311
- March 11, 2016
- 08:26 AM
- 392 views
Kill "Bill" !!!
by AG McCluskey in Zongo's Cancer Diaries
Drug Discovery, Part I
How does Drug Discovery start? How are targets identified? Time for Epidemiology 101... Read more »
Lu, Y., Guan, G., Chen, J., Hu, B., Sun, C., Ma, Q., Wen, Y., Qiu, X., & Zhou, Y. (2015) Aberrant CXCR4 and β-catenin expression in osteosarcoma correlates with patient survival. Oncology Letters. DOI: 10.3892/ol.2015.3535
AG McCluskey. (2016) Kill "Bill". Zongo's Cancer Diaries. info:/
- March 11, 2016
- 04:29 AM
- 335 views
Introducing MARA: The Mobile Autism Risk Assessment
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I just had to post an entry about the latest Duda/Wall combo paper [1] continuing their machine learning voyage through autism screening and assessment (see here) culminating in an important end-point: the MARA - Mobile Autism Risk Assessment.So, what is the MARA? Well, we are told it is: "a new, electronically administered, 7-question autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screen to triage those at highest risk for ASD."What seven questions?"1. How well does your child understand spoken language, based........ Read more »
Duda, M., Daniels, J., & Wall, D. (2016) Clinical Evaluation of a Novel and Mobile Autism Risk Assessment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2718-4
- March 10, 2016
- 02:50 PM
- 434 views
Alzheimer’s on and now Alzheimer’s off?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer's disease, is anything more frustrating than seeing someone -- who otherwise looks healthy -- start to forget who you are? Worse than that, we don't know exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease, or how to stop it. Well actually that might be changing. Don't get too excited, because we've had false starts before, but an international group of scientists have succeeded in sorting out the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease development and possibly distinguished its key trigger.
... Read more »
Istrate, A., Kozin, S., Zhokhov, S., Mantsyzov, A., Kechko, O., Pastore, A., Makarov, A., & Polshakov, V. (2016) Interplay of histidine residues of the Alzheimer’s disease Aβ peptide governs its Zn-induced oligomerization. Scientific Reports, 21734. DOI: 10.1038/srep21734
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.