One would think I am talking about a third world war or some type of apocalyptic disaster. Neither of those actually, I am speaking about the thousands of deaths that occur each day due to the poor choices people are making with their lifestyles that result in acquiring one of the primary eight deadly diseases that afflict millions worldwide each year.

All is not lost however, there is hope for the millions more who are likely to perish before cures and effectual treatments can make these diagnoses less severe. We can take steps personally to safeguard ourselves from these diseases but it will take some modifications to do it. Science will help of course with stop gap measures like drugs and surgeries etc.

These eight deadly diseases have only been with us in such epidemic proportions for perhaps sixty or seventy years. These illnesses were practically unheard of in the early part of the 1900’s. Since so many baby boomers are coming into their declining years, it pays to start doing the research required to begin making changes in our way of life so we can do what is necessary to prevent these diseases.

One of the problems is that there is so much ambiguous data floating around it is very easy to become confused. Maintaining one’s health requires a commitment to follow through with the data gathering process and then putting your new information into practice. The simplest thing to do is make excuses about how tough it is to find reliable information so the heck with it and just carry on eating like a glutton and all the wrong foods to boot!

There is much to be wary about when looking into health information through medical research reports. Amazingly, some of these evaluations have been paid for by the same people who make the products in question and are directly impacted by those research outcomes. This kind of conflicting interest is one reason why inaccurate data flows to an unsuspecting population. Little wonder so many people have a litany of excuses for not maintaining their health better. Data manipulation occurs regularly so evidence will back up positively what the product producers know you desire.

It is worthwhile to look at the holistic medicine community and see what is happening in this realm when it comes to health maintenance. So many people swear by the professions involved in natural healing arts and who am I to doubt the sincerity of the holistic patient. If at all possible, learn from those with positive testimonies regarding their own experiences with naturopathic medicine and natural healing.

There is now no doubt that proper nutrition, the food we eat, fresh water, rest and physical activity are the root of the tree of health. Anyone can verify by doing the research that our bodies respond amazingly when they are provided with these five sustaining elements in the correct manner, the body will literally heal itself.

The obvious thinkers out there will assume that we all live so much longer than we did a century ago due to a rise in longevity statistics but there is unfortunate news too. The eight deadly illnesses are also increasing at a phenomenal rate and we are actually living less time than we should be, truth is its taking longer for us to pass away. Science and technology is what keeps us above ground longer only our lives are not of the same quality given the extended years. What kind of life is it when dignity is left at the door of the hospice or treatment center?

I ask myself if anyone has ever aged normally and passed away of “natural causes”, or if this is just a myth courtesy of the obituary writers. If you are hit with one of the eight deadly illnesses, will you die a slow, prolonged death that is wretched in its duration? Well, take heart disease for instance, the number one cause of death for U.S. citizens. This is a comparatively recent disease and the initial heart disease patients in ‘modern’ days were documented in 1912, and that in itself was a rarity.

These days, heart disease is killing people off quickly; four times more U.S. women die each year of heart disease than breast cancer. For over three hundred thousand people annually, the first symptom they have of heart disease is meeting up with their dead relatives! How on earth could this illness come from obscurity to a number one killer of people in such a short time frame?

Then there is cancer. Remarkably, only three percent of the population was perishing from cancer just a century ago. These days upwards of thirty percent of us will languish and die because of cancer. In 1909, the U.S. Text called Principles and Practices of Medicine had just fifteen pages written regarding cancer. Bowel cancer had just two lines devoted to it and prostate and breast cancer had zero written about them. In 1994, Principles of Internal Medicine – the modern medical text – by contrast featured a full one hundred seventy four pages to cancer.

A mere century ago strokes were responsible for only a few deaths but in today’s world it falls in at number three on the deadly disease list.

The first time Alzheimer’s disease was discovered was in 1907. In our world today, forty percent of those people over the age of eighty five are enduring this horrible illness.

Incidence of diabetes have elevated by six hundred percent in only one generation! Every year twice as many women in the United States perish from diabetes versus women with breast cancer.

More than forty million women in the U.S. endure a variety of Arthritis or osteoporosis. Obviously breast cancer is now the most frightening disease for most women, however, broken hips are responsible for more mortality in females than breast cancer, cervix and uterus cancer put together.

Last but certainly not least are the auto immunity illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, Epstein-Barr virus, Lupus, Fibromyalgia and AIDS. They have been added together here since the lot of them has been growing in appalling frequency throughout America at this particular time. Only two decades ago we did not know what to call these illnesses and diseases. Most were told that their symptoms were just in their heads by unsympathetic physicians. These diseases are currently causing untold suffering to millions of Americans and others around the world. People are dying in horrific numbers, especially from AIDS.

We as a people must realize that something terrible has happened and during our lifetime we are seeing this occur and it should be more troubling for us. The most frightening aspect of all is that we are going about our day to day lives as if nothing is wrong and these deaths are all a result of the advancing year and age progression of the victims. This is NOT normal people! Something is dreadfully wrong and we need to get to the bottom of it ASAP!

So many of these deaths do not need to happen and that is a sad fact. The media files a story when a place or train crashes and several hundred people die, we hear about it for days after. A million people perish from heart disease or cancer kill off a half a million and one would think the population would be more vocal – even riotous. Seriously folks, this is like a major airliner packed with people plummeting to the earth each hour of each day of every month for a whole year, for innumerable years. Where is the human outrage?
Have you ever thought about how long you would LIKE to live for? How many years would seem rational? If you take that number and fix an additional ten healthy years on to it. Would it not be wonderful if you could live to become a centenarian and do so in the best possible health? Imagine living that long without pain or debilitating illness that causes nothing but continual suffering.

These days the average human life span is approximately seventy six years old. It works out to seventy nine years for women and seventy two for men. There are regions throughout the world where people often survive beyond the century mark, outliving even their own children. We have been studying these people and are beginning to learn from them.
 
It is not likely that you will die from any serious diseases these days before the age of forty years. However, after the age of forty, things start to go downhill and you are in the deadly disease danger zone. These diseases kill better than eighty percent of all humans and the regrettable part is that so many of these deaths could have been prevented.

So listen up people! The keys to survivability and improved health and wellbeing for longevity are good food, proper nutrition, clean water, physical training or activity and adequate rest. Be sure to follow these five rules and you will live with the best health you could ever imagine.

Anti Aging, Bioscience, Health And Aging, Longevity

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Bioengineers of the Duke University carried out feasibility studies which have showed that a robot, without any kind of human assistance, has the capacity to locate a man-made or phantom, cut simulated human organs, direct a device to the lesion as well as take several samples during one single session. This has lead researchers to believe that as technology advances with time, independent robots could one day carry out many more straight forward surgical tasks.

Kaicheng Liang, an ex-student in the laboratory of Stephen Smith who is actually the director of the Duke University Ultrasound Transducer Group at the Pratt School of Engineering as well as the lead member of the research team said that earlier this year they illustrated that a robot guided by artificial intelligence can by itself situate simulated calcifications and cysts found in simulated breast tissue with a high degree of accuracy and repeatability. They have been able to show that the robot is able to sample up to eight diverse spots in simulated human prostate tissue.

The results of the Duke research have appeared in the recent issue of the journal Ultrasonic Imaging. The results of Duke’s team regarding simulated breast tissue were described in an earlier study in the journal Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology in January. Whole turkey breasts were made use of in both experiments. Raw turkey breast are usually used in medical research as the tissue bears a close resemblance to that of human beings in terms of texture and density. Furthermore it seems to be similar when it is scanned by ultrasound.

The team of researchers from Duke associated a “souped-up” version of an actual robot arm along with an ultrasound system of its peculiar design. The ultrasound works as the robot’s “eyes” in order to collect information from its scan and situating its target. The robot is controlled by an artificial intelligence program instead of a physician as in normal cases. The artificial intelligence program takes the real-time three dimensional data, processes it and subsequently gives specific commands to the robot to perform. The robot is equipped with a mechanical “hand” that allows it to manipulate the same biopsy plunger device which is used by physicians so as to reach a lesion and take samples.

During the recent series of experiments, the robot successfully directed the plunger to eight different places on the simulated prostate tissue in 93 percent of its tries. According to Smith this is indeed important as multiple samples can also establish the extent of any lesion.

Smith is of view that regular medical procedures like biopsies in other tissues in the human body will be carried out with the least human guidance in the future, and with more convenience and less charge to the patients.

A significant challenge that needs to be overcome is the speed that the data us acquired and processed despite the fact that the researchers are positive that quicker processors and improved algorithms will be able to address this problem. In accordance to the researchers in order to be useful clinically, all the actions of the robot would require to be in real time.

Smith stated that one of the attractiveness of this system is in the fact that the each and every hardware component is already on the market. The researches firmly believe that this is merely the initial step in demonstrating that with a few changes, systems like this can be made without the need to build up a novel technology from scratch.

These recent experiments have been possible due to the advances that have been made in ultrasound, by producing thorough three dimensional moving images instantaneously. The team from Duke has an extensive track record of altering conventional 2-D ultrasound, such as those used to picture babies in utero, into the more complex 3-D scans. This technique was invented by the Duke lab in the year 1991.

Smith stated that they are actually experimenting the robot on a human mannequin that is seated at the examining table. The breast of the human mannequin is confined in a rigid bra cup. The breast that is composed of turkey breast tissue has an embedded grape in order to simulate a lesion. Smith declares that their next step would consist moving to a human breast that has been excised.

Source: Science Daily

Bioscience

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The DAF-16, which forms part of the insulin signaling pathway, has a vital role to play in several of the biological processes in C. elegans, consisting of lipid metabolism, longevity, stress response and development, and is also the focal point of a complex network of proteins and genes. Studies that have been carried out in the past have identified the isoform, a varied kind of the same protein, DAF-16a as a regulator of longevity; hereditarily knocking down the DAF-16a shortens the life span of the C. elegans. In accordance to a recent study that appeared in the July issue of the online edition of Nature, Doctor Heidi A. Tissenbaum a PhD and an associate professor of molecular medicine along with his colleagues in the Program in Gene Function and Expression from the UMass Medical School, demonstrated that the isoform DAF-16d/f which has been recently found out, works in collaboration with DAF-16a in order to promote the lifespan of the organism.

Doctor Tissenbaum stated that up until now researchers have concentrated on the DAF-16b isoforms and DAF-16a. He explains that they have been able to demonstrate that DAF-16a along is not enough to regulate the life span. In order to progress, any further discussion regarding the aging process will need to take this new protein isoform into consideration.

Doctor Eun-soo Kwon, the lead author who is a post-doctoral fellow in the Tissenbaum laboratory, increased the expression of the DAF-16d/f and DAF-16a in C. elegans so as to the impact of the DAF-16d/f on life span. These researches have demonstrated that the worms which had overexpressed DAF-16d/f were the ones who lived longest. Extra experiments that have been carried out show that the worms which expressed DAF-16d/f showed more tolerance to heat stress during development and were able to store more fat.

The fact that the DAF-16 gene in the C. elegans is homologous to the FOXO gene found in mammals, it may offer indications regarding the issue of longevity in human beings. In accordance with Doctor Tissenbuam, the comprehension of molecular pathways of the DAF-16 as well as other genes will provide them with an insight into the process of aging both at the cellular and organism levels. He explains that as an individual age, when he reaches a certain point, something that triggers age related diseases occurs. If the researchers are successful to learn what these signals are, it will be possible to find a method to prolong the healthy portion of the individual’s lifespan as well as potentially postpone the onset of diseases that are related to aging like diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Further investigation will look at whether a boost in life span is associated to the health of the worm. Tissenbaum said that it is possible that they are restoring life span, however they are not aware of the impacts of doing so. There is a need to see whether this increase in life span is of the healthy segment of the life span.

It should be noted that Sri Devi Narasimhan, a graduate student along with Dr. Kelvin Yen, a post doctoral colleague also made their contribution to this study.

Source: Science Daily and Escience News

Bioscience

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Tortoises are reptiles that can live to an advanced age. Their main secret for longevity is a low metabolism and not their slow speed. However, both low speed and metabolism are connected. It is a general rule. Most animals with a high metabolic rate tend to die early in comparison to those who burn energy slowly. In other words, the more responsive an animal is the higher will its metabolic rate be. This is so to supply sufficient energy to sustain its’ body activity.

An example could be the shrew or hummingbirds, which are highly active and live only to around 2 years. On the other hand, Giant Tortoises consume energy at a much lower pace and can therefore, live up to their eighteenth or twentieth decade. Jared Diamond who is an UCLA-based physiologist says that metabolic rates vary across species. The metabolic rate can within only the category of vertebrates differ by 10 million times.

Researchers commonly measure animals’ metabolic rate by analysing the level of oxygen they gulp while they walk on treadmills. According to Armand Leroi who is an evolutionary developmental biologist at Imperial College, London says that measuring metabolic rate is “trickier with some animals than others”

Scientists do know that low metabolic rate is associates with longer lifespan. However, it is still unknown why a drop in metabolic rate is really connected with longevity.

There is a general opinion that aging is caused by free radicals, which are reactive molecules emitted in the body when fuel (food, etc….) is burned. According to Leroi, there are a number of proofs showing that free radicals do cause oxidative and DNA damage.

The controversy is that slowing down the metabolism would not assure longevity. According to Leroi, you would still “die from any number of things”.

Source: Guardian

Bioscience

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It has now been more than ten years since scientists have believed that a diet that is low in calorie tends to lengthen the lives of many organisms, monkeys, fruit flies, yeast and may be human beings as well. However, the link may have as much to do with the smell as it does with the eating. For instance, in the year 2004, Cynthia Kenyon, a molecular geneticist from the University of California in San Francisco, found out that the removal of specific olfactory neurons blocks round worm’s sense of smelling as well as extends their lifespan. Moreover, a few years after, Scott Pletcher, a geneticist from the University of Michigan Medical School along with Gregg Roman, a biologist from the Baylor College of Medicine and their colleagues shortened the life of fruit flies by blowing the smell of live yeast-which is a tasty treat- in the direction of the fruit flies while they were on a diet.

Pletcher and his colleagues were of view that a particular odor was at work, however they did not know which one in question. During that time, other scientists had found a receptor in a group of neurons that allow the fruit flies to smell carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is responsible for signalling the presence of a fine meal of tasty yeast.

In order to verify if ever it was the carbon dioxide that was the key to shortening the dieting lives of the fruit flies, Pletcher and Roman got hold of mutant flies that did not have the CO2 receptor. They discovered that the mutant flies were able to live up to 30 percent more than normal flies even when they were put on a standard diet.

Afterwards Pletcher and Roman provoked the neurons that sense carbon dioxide to self-destruct and were confronted with similar life-extending outcomes. Ultimately, when the gene for the CO2 receptor was restored back in the mutant flies, by the researchers, the flies did not enjoy a longer lifespan compared to their normal cousins.

It is noteworthy that the mutant flies that were unable to smell carbon dioxide not only benefited from a long life but they moreover remained resilient and strong by various measures. For instance, according to what the researchers have reported in PLoS Biology, the mutant flies were able to store more fat. This is a crucial to promote a psychological state which helps the flies to fight against stress. Furthermore the number of offspring that the female flies were able to produce was no less than the normal flies.

According to the authors, by blocking the perception of CO2, the animals are tricked to believe that there is no food in the surrounding. As a result, their metabolism is slowed down and they react by conserving their nutritional supplies similarly to the way hungry animals do.

Tadeusz Kawecki, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, finds that the result is a very exciting one. He explains that if the physiology and metabolism can be changed by specific odors, then drugs which are capable of blocking certain odros could also changer the physiology and metabolism in human beings. This as a consequence could assist in the preventing diseases or prolonging lives. This idea may seem improbable at this stage; however it definitely works in the case of flies.

Source: Science Magazine

Anti Aging, Bioscience, Gerontology, Health And Aging

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It is precisely for this reason that we have many serious health debacles these days like obesity, heart disease and so many others. It is a known fact that the many clinical proposals that exist today are flawed and contributory to many health issues due to their inaccuracies. Some top medical professionals in their fields have openly stated that many of these health program plans are pitched by the actual businesses that have a financial stake in their successful implementation.
Now that this situation has come to light, it is time to shine a light of truth on the top ten most misconstrued myths regarding our health. Today we will be examining the final five myths.

Myth 6: Eggs contain exceeding large quantities of cholesterol so we should steer clear of them.

Truth: An individual can consume one r two entire eggs each day and have no worries regarding their cholesterol intake.

It has been commonly believed that eating eggs will eventually damage your heart, but consuming entire eggs each day could in fact be very healthy for you, including benefits to your health like reducing your chances of contracting heart disease! Investigations have revealed that when healthy mature adults consume eggs each day there was no evidence of increased cholesterol nor did they increase their risk of heart illness.

Egg yolks most certainly do have cholesterol in them, no one should presume that when we eat them our dietary cholesterol needs will mean an automatic elevation of our blood cholesterol. Let us also remember that our body needs a particular quantity of cholesterol. This is where the mystification occurs. There is no relation between dietary cholesterol and our serum – blood cholesterol levels.

Therefore, you can comfortably eat your eggs, one or two each day and feel comfortable doing so. There is no need to feel guilty when enjoying your next omelet. Just try and eat free range or organic eggs!

[Just an added note: interestingly, increased cholesterol levels are more apt to be causes from insulin resistance due to a poor diet loaded with refined carbohydrates.] Myth Busted!

Myth 7: We should opt to consume margarine instead of eating butter.

Truth: We should be steering clear of margarine like the plague. That would also be true of the ones claiming to be healthy olive oil varieties. Butter is a much smarter choice.

This is just one more myth that needs to be dispelled. Do not for a minute believe that margarine and other spreads are any better for you due to being low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Butter is the better option over margarine and the vegetable oil type spreads. In spite of the cautions extended regarding saturated fats, butter still has so many advantages over margarine. It is a valuable source of A, D, E and K vitamins, the last one not particular easy to consume. It is also loaded with minerals and fatty acids that are a requirement for many physiological systems to operate.

Then you have the various margarines and veggie oil spreads that are promoted with millions of dollars by manufacturers in direct conflict to the superior quality of butter. They may indeed be less expensive to purchase but many people would refrain from ever consuming them again if they were privy to the production process of margarine!

Margarine is produced with different kinds of vegetable oils which have been treated with heat to tremendously elevated temperatures. They do this to render the oils rancid. Next they add a nickel catalyst as well as hydrogen atoms to congeal the mixture. We know that nickel is a high toxicity heavy metal and trace particles stay behind post production. Lastly, they add color and deodorants so the brutal odor from rotten oils is masked and the vomit inducing now grey colored mixture is altered.

While the margarine is going through the hardening procedure, dangerous carcinogenic trans-fatty acids are made. If it is a choice between butter and margarine, think about the difference between a block of cancer causing, bleached and perfumed muck or a healthy and beneficial natural spread. Your choice is a simple one. Myth Busted!

Myth 8: Imitation sweeteners make a good substitute for sugar.

Truth: Synthetic sweeteners are harmful to your system!

Aspartame, also known as phenylalanine and sold as brand names NutraSweet and Equal, has been associated with Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Fibromyalgia and even Alzheimer’s disease. It has been called a silent killer with symptoms that include leg numbness, cramping, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, painful joints, depression [due to aspartame lowering serotonin quantities in your brain], and slurred speech memory problems and panic attacks from anxiety.

Since we are so often careful of what we eat and many are endlessly dieting, we buy into promotional information about no sugar or reduced calories when in fact quite often these consumables are manufactured using imitation sweeteners. Ironically, these synthetic sweeteners lead to carbohydrate craving which winds up making us fat!

These artificial sweeteners can be located in nearly any type of foods from yogurt to soda pop and bakery items to candy bars and gum. Taken in minute quantities probably will not become an issue but the public needs to become far more aware of what is in the food and drinks they are consuming and this means aspartame. Why risk your continuing health when a food or beverage additive is so risky? Myth Busted!

Myth 9: Try and consume a diet low in fat.

Truth: Everyone requires fat in their systems. In particular they need essential fats.

The notion that any and all fat is unhealthy is totally not true. Each cell in your system must have fat for proper metabolism functionality, hormone development, brain functionality and so many other crucial mechanisms.

We require essential fats from the foods we ingest [essential means our body does not manufacture it from within and so we source it externally]. Superior sources of these fats have omega 3 fatty acids in abundance. These would include olive oil, nuts, avocados and fish oil.

When you eat the proper fats it will aid in reducing your blood pressure, it thins the blood thus safeguarding us from clotting. Additionally, many inflammatory ailments can be assisted with regular supplies of omega 3 fats from our diets or supplementation. When you are lacking in omega 3’s your inflammation troubles will become worsened and these can include arthritis, asthma, Crohns disease and even heart ailments.

Our body is unable to absorb fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K without proper quantities of fats in our foods. Hence, regardless of how much healthy and nutritious veggies and fruits you consume, if you follow a low fat diet plan it is quite possible you will eventually fall victim to degenerative illnesses from being vitamin deficient. A prime example of this would be osteoporosis. In order for the calcium we consume to do its job, it must have vitamin D and K absorbed to aid in bone strength and mass.

Since the human brain is made up of something like seventy percent fat [lipids], we must be getting sufficient levels of healthy fats and cholesterol so it can be at its peak in functionality. There should be no surprise then that a reduced ingestion of fats in your system can mean short term memory impairment, lack of focus, depression, bi polar conditions and schizophrenia and eventually leading to Alzheimer’s disease.

When we lack proper amount of fats in our meal plan we open ourselves up to higher cholesterol levels, we lose skin elasticity and it can become flaky and dry with the result being wrinkles and lines. The advantages of having healthful fats in our bodies are kind of similar to antioxidants. If you have been listening perhaps now you have been persuaded to raise the quantity of healthy fats in your meals- just make sure you are eating the “good” fats. Myth Busted!

Myth 10: Drinking red wine is great for a healthy heart and even physicians recommended it.

Truth: The alcohol in red wine is harmful to your health, it is a neurotoxin! It is not what is beneficial about the red wine.

Alcohol has nothing to do with reduced rates of heart disease in individuals, it is actually an antioxidant known as resveratrol in the wine – which originates in the grapes. Wine is laden with polyphenols, a variety of antioxidant that cannot be found in any other alcoholic beverage. The number of polyphenols located in the red wine has a two or three times greater quantity than can be found in white wine, the polyphenols come with some amazingly healthy benefits.

When you drink alcohol, you are literally inviting a harmful neurotoxin into your body under the guise of a comforting beverage when in actuality it can cause hormone imbalance, liver harm and other physical and emotional drama. If you are currently a teetotaler, you should remain that way! It is not the alcohol content in the red wine that is beneficial for your health, but the antioxidants. You can find these antioxidants elsewhere, like in grape juice. Myth Busted!

IN CLOSING:

Well, there you go, the ten top health myths finally busted!

I would be doing the reader a disservice by not repeating that they must stay observant in their quest for a healthy mind and body. Be suspicious of health assertions promoted in the media by the media in particular, the pharmacology industry as well as your very own physician. Your health is all yours – it belongs to you, so manage it accordingly.

Start doing your own research to educate yourself about what interests you regarding your health or health in general. Try and find dependable sources of data and keep an open mind when looking into alternative and traditional forms of treatments when these are suitable. Ultimately you control your health and any information required must pass through you so be inquisitive, study recent health trends and suggestions and reacquire the power over your health and personal well being.

Bioscience, Health And Aging, Lifestyle

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The researchers were able to join the viral particles together by making use of light-sensitive polymers. While the viral particle has a negative charge, the polymer on the other hand has a positive charge. The two opposites attract and as a result the two stick together. As a consequence, the polymers act as a glue, and absolutely stuck together. As this is the case, the challenge lies in being able to separate all the parts once again.

The polymers that have been used by the researchers are long chain of molecules that are linked together in a tree-like structure. That is, every end of the chain can link to a dissimilar particle. The polymers that have been used by the researchers can in fact be manipulated with light and that is the mystery of their success. When polymers are illuminated with UV light or light having a low wavelength for a very brief period, they fall apart. This permitted the researchers to put the particles together, introduce this complex into the body and thereafter allow it to separate once more in the body.

Filling a virus

There are various ways in which the empty particle may be used. For instance, the particle can be filled with growth promoters or drugs. After it is injected in the body, one can make use of light to make sure that the complex separates at a particular location, from which the drug can spread progressively. On top of being use as drug distributors, virus complexes can also made use of to construct chips. In that case, as a replacement for drugs, a viral particle is filled with magnetic particles in order to make an integrated electronic switch. Now the researchers will try to apply layers of polymer virus complexes of varied make-up to a surface and thereafter, similar to conventional chips, make use of light to make structures and patterns in this.

Source: Science Daily

Anti Aging Supplements, Bioscience

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GVHD is the same as an organ rejection syndrome but this one is for the transplant of bone marrow. The disease is initiated once the immune cells in the donor bone marrow start to mingle with the recipient’s cells and consider the cells as foreign. The immune cells will then start to attach the recipient’s cells. The first signs of the disease are commonly skin rash, so it is very hard to diagnose. However, if nothing is done to stop the disease, GVHD can destroy internal organs. It does also have a proven record of being deadly for up to 30 to 40 percent of all cases. Moreover, GVHD is the main cause of death for patients who have had a bone marrow transplanted.

Clinics do regularly use strong treatment to avoid the deadly risk of GVHD. The initial treatment is to induce a high dose of steroids, which does eventually suppress the body’s immune response. However, without proper diagnosis this approach is perilous. It put one at the risk of infection and the potential of further deterioration for cancer patients. According to James Ferrara of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor the co-author and a pediatric oncologist, the case of “… overtreating some patients and undertreating others” is often a fatal issue in medical care.

However, Ferrara’s team has been working on establishing an early diagnosis method. They took a weekly plasma extract from patients who had recently had a bone marrow transplanted. They examined the volume of elafin, which is an anti-inflammatory protein that is generated by the human body as a reaction to skin GVHD. This scrutiny was conducted on 20 patients who did not have the disease developed and 10 patients who had. In an online report in the Science Translational Medicine it was published that the level of elafin was on average as much as 3 times higher for those who suffered from skin GVHD.

Subsequently, the researchers had a sample size of 159 patients, which they divided into two groups. The first group had a plasma level of elafin, which was above normal. The next group had a level of elafin, which was below average. The two groups were followed to understand their long-term survival. Only after 12 months, it was seen that patients having had a high elafin level was three times much likelier to die from GVHD than those in the low-elafin group. Ferrara suggests that in the future clinical test must be developed to evaluate “elafin levels of a transplant patient with a rash to decide whether to initiate treatment”. The researchers predict that if it is possible to analyse the level of elafin before GVHD symptoms are seen then it might be possible to know if the patient is at risk even before a rash appears.

Corey Cultler who is a hematological oncologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston says that GVHD is commonly spotted with an intense examination of skin rashes. However, the use of more diagnostic test is positive. Finding the risk of GVHD before a rash is seen “…could be extremely valuable,”

Source: Science Magazine

Anti Aging, Bioscience, Health And Aging, Nanotechnology, Stem cells

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Particular immune cells known as T cells are responsible to combat infection as well as protect one from cancer. However, these cells must be aware of the threat in order to eliminate it. Another group of cells known as dendritic cells inform T cells about infected and/or damaged cells. The T cells will thereafter evaluate whether these foreign pieces need to be removed. If the T cells find a need for removal of these infected cells, then it will reproduce an army of clones so as to hunt down infected cells present in the body.

The human body is a complex and large puzzle. Scientists have since long been thinking whether T cells have other receptors. Some studies conducted on the gut propose that dendritic cells discharge a particular chemical that helped the T cells to find particular regions in the intestine.

Many scientists have been eager to find whether something similar occurs to our skin. Eugene Butcher, an immunologist of Stanford University together with her colleagues found some stunning information. It was found that skin cells required sunlight to create a “static” form of vitamin D. Since long, scientists and biologists have believed that vitamin D derived from sunlight to be active and utilizable for the body. It appeared that the vitamin D had to be processed by the liver and kidney.

However, Butcher’s team demonstrated that this same process could be accomplished through dendritic cells present in the skin. They permitted the inertia vitamin D to reach T cells. This boosted a mechanism that led to the production of specific skin chemokines receptors. More elaborately, modified T cells assure that the outer layer of the skin is protected. They eliminated defected and infected cells, this was reported in a previous issue of Nature Immunology.

According to Butcher, not much sunlight is required for the process to be initiated. The research concludes that the sun is good for our skin. A moderate amount of sunlight will give the body enough vitamin D required. Nonetheless, extensive exposure to the sun puts one at the peril of skin cancer.

According to Chantal Mathieu, from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, the research was very important. There have been various studies showing hints of this mechanism but no singly study did successfully make any sense out of it.

Source: Science Magazine

Anti Aging, Bioscience

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Studies conducted on ants to apes or insects to animals, has projected that every single species have their own respective personality. There are those who are aggressive while others might be timid. Natural biologists have suggested that character is something that is built up during a life history. The underlying thought is that aggressive and bold animals tend to use more energy and hence their lives are shorter. On the other hand, animals which are calm tend to reproduce later in life and therefore, live longer.

Evolutionary experiments are tremendously hard to conduct on a living organism that survives longer than a fruit fly. However, Vincent Careau, an evolutionary biologist from Université de Sherbrooke in Canada proposed to use dogs in evolutionary experiments. According to Careau, this new evolutionary prototype for experiments is bringing new ideas to evolutionary studies. There are several categories of dogs, with diverse traits. This has given scientists a new agenda to discover; Dogs sitting near the sofa; dogs managing a herd of sheep; and notorious dog chasing foxes to the peril.

Assimilating data from earlier studies, Careau could analyse the differed breeds’ energy expenditure as well as longevity factors. The body size was a major factor accounted in the study, but apart from that Careau examined the relation of obedience, aggressiveness and activity.

In the June issue of The American Naturalist, Careau revealed that dogs that were more obedient had a greater survival chance. For example, the German Shepherds & bichon firsés, lived longer than expected when relying on their body size. However, dogs such as Pomeranians and beagles, that are less easy to tame and to teach, tend to die earlier than other dogs of the same size..

There was an alike association identified for energy expenditure. Dogs being calmer, using less energy per kilogram, like Labradors and Newfoundlands had a better longevity prospect than aggressive dogs such as Great Danes and Fox terriers. According to Careau, individuals who created these breeds were choosing dogs in respect to personality. They did not consider whether the dogs lived long or ate much. This is why Careau, believes that metabolic demands and personality are somehow associated genetically.

Franjo Weissing, a theortical biologist from University of Groningen in the Netherlands says that “It’s an intriguing finding”. He associated the finding to the philosophy to “live fast and to die Young”. Weissing, was a co-author of a significant paper in 2007 analysing relations of “how tradeoffs in life history between living speed and longevity can lead to the evolution of animal personality”. It is interesting to note that, this research is in-line with what is proclaimed by the natural selection models.

Nevertheless, everyone does not agree to the idea that longevity for dogs is related to the evolution in nature. Joseph Williams, physiologist, of Ohio State University in Columbus, consider that dogs are different in nature regarding longevity. For example, an Elephant survives for decades, whereas a mouse lives roughly only 7 to 9 months. However, a Saint Bernard is outlived by a small Chihuahua.

Source: Science Magazine

Anti Aging, Bioscience, Longevity

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