purple medical blog

PARTLY LOWERING BLOOD PRESSURE: TOTAL HEART ATTACK RATE FELL BY 37% AND THE TOTAL STROKE RATE BY 47

2013-04-29T12:23:00.002-05:00

PARTLY LOWERING BLOOD PRESSURE: TOTAL HEART ATTACK RATE FELL BY 37% AND THE TOTAL STROKE RATE BY 47

Doc Tells Janet That Top Blood Pressure in the 130-139 group, the total heart attack rate fell by 37% and the total stroke rate by 47%

You know, "Janet even if we don't bring Joe's blood pressure down to the so called ideal numbers there is still evidence that bringing it down even some of the way can lead to tremendous benefits".

Janet had been startled when Doc Wilson had almost shouted at her that controlling high blood pressure was one of the surest ways to get people to live longer. He was still on a roll and now they were talking about Janet's husband Joe, who had his "ups and downs" when it came to following medical advice. Joe chafed at having to take two or three pills to control his blood pressure and wondered if he really didn't feel that bad what was the need for it anyway?

What Was the Medical Article that Doc Wilson Showed Janet ?

"Joe is sometimes pretty hard headed,doc" Janet said. "I know Janet but the thing is even if we don't get his pressure down to the so called ideal numbers it is still well worth the effort just getting the pressure down to more reasonable numbers. You know Janet, I was just reading a medical report by a group of doctors who found that getting the top number of the blood pressure down to say 130 to 139, even that had demonstrable benefits in lowering heart attack and stroke".

Doc Wilson went over to the book shelf, pulled out a medical journal and quickly leafed through the pages till he came to the page he was looking for. "Ah hah, here it is, here Janet look at this". He was holding open the medical journal to a page titled "RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE AND CARDIOVASCULAR OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH HIGH RISK HYPERTENSION: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ACCOMPLISH TRIAL".

A Lecture at Meeting of Heart Specialists and What Could It Possibly have to Do With Joe and Janet ?

"I was at a recent meeting of the medical society of heart specialists and I heard one of the authors of this report give a talk. He said that this study implied that treating patients with high risk high blood pressure and getting the top number, the so called systolic to between 130 and 139 showed lots of benefits".

"Let me translate this medical mumbo jumbo into English, the researchers here analyzed people who particpated in a study of blood pressure called the ACCOMPLISH STUDY.

They divided the patients from that study into 4 groups, according to the top (systolic) blood pressure numbers that the treated patients achieved with the medicines involved in the study. The groups were those with top numbers of 110-119, 120-129,130-139 and over 140. They found that for people in the 130-139 group, the total heart attack rate fell by 37% and the total stroke rate by 47%".

Common Cause of Untreated High Blood Pressure

Janet asked, "So you mean, the people whose top blood pressure number was in the 130-139 range still showed benefits?". "Yes, exactly, I would call them big benefits,wouldn't you say that a lot less heart attack and stroke are big benefits?".

PRESSURE AND CARDIOVASCULAR OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH HIGH RISK HYPERTENSION: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ACCOMPLISH TRIAL

You Can Get Better Treatment of Your Blood Pressure Than President Roosevelt

2013-04-27T16:15:00.002-05:00

Common Cause of Untreated High Blood Pressure

People Walk Around With High Blood Pressure But Feel Fine So They Don't Get Their Blood Pressure Checked

What's One of the Simplest Things You Can Do to Live longer ?

It "may be one of the simplest things you can do to prolong your life". Janet was a bit startled by the sudden exclamation of her doctor. They sat facing each other in the exam room. "I'm talking about blood pressure, Janet!"

What Did Janet's Doctor Say to Her About Blood Pressure ?

They had been exchanging small talk when Janet casually asked the doctor what she could do to be healthy. Being in her 40's, Janet didn't think of herself as being unhealthy. Still she wanted to be proactive. Doc Wilson kept talking. "You know, Janet, it's such a simple thing, if people would just check their blood pressure from time to time. But the fact is that many people, we're talking millions and millions just don't get their blood pressure checked on a regular basis..They figure they feel fine so why rock the boat". About 65 million Americans are walking around with high blood pressure a.k.a hypertension. And many of them don't even know it! Almost one billion people worldwide have high blood pressure (a.k.a hypertension).

Partly Lowering Blood Pressure 47% Less Stroke and 37% Less Heart Attack

Doc Wilson was on a roll now, "Medicine has made huge advances in treatment of hypertension. Even the rich and famous were not spared. I was just reading that one of President Franklin Roosevelt's doctor wrote,"I have often wondered what turn the subsequent course of history might have taken if the modern methods for the control of hypertension had been available".

What Does High Blood Pressure Feel Like ?

"The thing is that you can have high blood pressure and still feel pretty good. High Blood Pressure is often silent. Ok, sometimes you may have a headache or slight dizziness but very often you feel nothing unusual". Janet asked, "Why do people have high blood pressure?".. "That's a good question, Janet, and amazingly enough in many if not most cases, we just don't know..Oh, sure we know sometimes, but a lot of the time we don't. Still that's not the same as not being able to treat it. Most people can get their blood pressure under control with medicine and some other things like weight loss but they can't get it under control if they don't even know they have it."

How Many People Have High Blood Pressure ?

About 65 million Americans are walking around with high blood pressure a.k.a hypertension. And many of them don't even know it! Almost one billion people worldwide have high blood pressure.What is blood pressure anyway? Your body needs oxygen rich blood all the time. Your heart is the master pump that pumps blood. But blood pressure is more complicated than just the heart. The pressure is created by the heart but the arteries and channels that carry the blood also exert a pressure. An analogy is the way fuel flows in a car. In a car the fuel is pumped from the fuel pump. When you put your foot on the accelerator more fuel is pumped to meet demand. When you exercise your heart pumps harder to meet demand. The fuel flows through pipes to the parts of the engine. If the pipes get clogged it is harder for the fuel to be distributed, similarly resistance in the arteries can force the blood pressure up. If there is a leak in the system the pressure can drop. If you lose a lot of blood the pressure drops and you can go into shock.

He Was Rich, He Was Famous and He Still Couldn't Get The Right High Blood Pressure Treatment to Save His Life (Literally)

Even though we don't know why most people have high blood pressure (some people do have identifiable factors like kidney problems) we do know many things that affect the pressure. If you are angry, angry at the traffic,angry at your boss and pretty much just plain always angry there's a good chance it's showing up in your pressure. Adrenalin gets pumped into your system, the nerves are stimulated. The nerves attached to the artery walls can alter the blood pressure. Anger and stress, especially chronic (long term) anger and stress are correlated with high blood pressure and heart problems.

"Although treatment has been prescribed for nearly all people known to have blood pressures consistently above 140/90, now called the high end of normal, up to half of patients still have elevated pressures.Why? Because doctors are not aggressive and creative in treating the problem...Many patients do not follow doctor’s orders and fail to fill prescriptions or neglect to take medicine daily; and because the rising weight of Americans and the passion for high-salt processed and restaurant-prepared foods have raised the once-normal pressures of many people to levels that experts say should be treated".

While weight loss and improvements in diet and exercise habits can indeed help people lower an elevated pressure, most people can’t adjust their lifestyles enough to normalize their blood pressure. Many people need help from medication and often it's a combination of medicines.

No Really...Chicken Nuggets Safer Than Ground Beef or Chicken ??

2013-04-23T11:10:00.002-05:00

Well This is a Discombobulating Development: Chicken Nuggets Safer Than Ground Beef or Chicken ?

Center for Science in Public Interest:Report What Meats More Likely to Make You Sick

Is it possible? You may want to put down your fork for a minute...Could chicken nuggets actually be safer than hamburger or chicken? That's an eye opening conclusion of a new report that "examines 12 years of foodborne-illness outbreak data—over 1,700 outbreaks—and ranks meat and poultry foods on a scale from Highest to Low Risk". They put food safety under a microscope from the aspect of foodborne illness from bacteria or viruses or the like. The safety of food from added chemicals such as sodium nitrate or processing or the chemicals produced from grilling or charring meat is an entirely separate issue that is not dealt with in this report.

Holy Toledo! You Can Get Norwalk Virus from Improper Hand Washing!

A Route for Food Borne Illness is Via Hands That Aren't Washed Properly

The report focuses especially on how improper handling both during production as well as cooking and handling can all be the source of different illnesses. Some of the illness can even be transmitted from the people handling the food if they don't wash their hands properly. Norovirus, which in Britain is commonly referred to as Winter vomiting bug "tends to cause vomiting and to spread more easily in winter, when people tend to spend more time indoors and near to each other".

"Ground beef with a severity index of 869 racked up 336 outbreaks in twelve years, making
it the second most common source of meat or poultry outbreaks reported to CDC(Center for Disease Control). Over 3,800 people were sickened in those outbreaks. E. coli O157:H7, a pathogen with a high rate of hospitalizations (46.2%), was responsible for over 100 of the outbreaks".

"This report identifies the meat and poultry products that pose the greatest risk of causing serious illnesses. CSPI’s conclusions are based on 12 years of documented foodborne outbreaks from meat and poultry that occurred in the U.S. between 1998 and 2010".

Analysis of the outbreak data reveal the following ranking of risky
meats and poultry foods:
Highest Risk: Chicken, Ground Beef
High Risk: Beef (Other), Steak, Turkey
Medium Risk: Barbecue (Beef or Pork), Deli Meat, Pork, Roast Beef
Low Risk: Chicken Nuggets, Ham, Sausage

Risky Meat: A CSPI Field Guide to Meat and Poultry Safety

What It Feels and Looks Like To Land an Airplane At Chicago Midway From A Pilot's View

2013-04-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

Did You Ever Wonder What It Looks Like to Sit in the Pilot's Seat When an Airplane is Landing...Here's a Video

Here's a Video From A Pilot's Eye View Landing at Chicago Midway Airport

You know what it's like to sit in the passenger seat when your flight is landing at the airport but what if you could sit in the pilot's seat?... Here's an entertaining video from a pilot's view during a landing at Chicago's Midway Airport. It's not your imagination, those houses are really close to the airport.

Growth Hormone of Youth Linked to Cancer in Adults? Some Videos about IGF1 and Studying Laron Dwarfs in Ecuador to Prevent Cancer

2013-04-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

Growth Hormone of Youth Linked to Cancer in Adults? Also Some Videos about IGF1 and Studying Laron Dwarfs in Ecuador to Prevent Cancer and Diabetes

Important Growth Hormone in Youth Might Be Linked to Cancer in Adults: What Protects Laron Dwarfs Against Cancer?

Scientists have pointed to a possible association between IGF1 ,Insulin Like Growth Factor 1, an important growth hormone in youth, and some cancers. Could a key to treating cancer be found among short people living in remote villages in Ecuador? Some people who have a genetic mutation that makes them have less IGF1 circulating in their body have much less reported incidence of cancer. "The Laron Dwarfs have a mutation that some biologists say may throw light on cancer and ways to control it. The villagers are very short, generally less than three and a half feet tall, and have a rare condition known as Laron syndrome or Laron-type dwarfism.

They Have a Mutation Causing Less Insulin Like Growth Hormone and They Also Have Practically No Cancer

"Laron syndrome is due to a mutation in the Growth Hormone Receptor. (Our body cells are studded with so called "receptors" which are actually molecules that when they bind with their targets set off a chemical reaction and Growth Hormone Receptor is a protein in humans when the substance binds to the receptor it activates a biochemical process) that leads to reductions in circulating IGF-1 and consequent short stature. These people are resistant to endogenous (produced in the body) Growth Hormone, as well as GH therapy, due to the receptor abnormality..". They are probably the descendants of conversos, Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal who were forced to convert to Christianity in the 1490s but were nonetheless persecuted in the Inquisition. They are also almost completely free of two age-related diseases, cancer and diabetes". According to a recent review "The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling system plays a crucial role in human cancer and the IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is an attractive drug target against which a variety of novel anti-tumor agents are being developed... Epidemiologic studies have documented a link between elevated IGF levels and the development of solid tumors, such as breast, colon, and prostate cancer."

Is Growth Hormone Resistance/IGF-1 Reduction Good for You?

What Does the Doctor Studying Them Think?

The doctor following them noticed that this group of dwarfs in Ecuador, Laron dwarfs didn't seem to get cancer or diabetes mellitus....The doctor, Dr.Guevara believes that the gene that stunts their growth also helps to prevent cancer and diabetes mellitus. Researchers are trying to illuminate the biological pathway and find drugs to mimic Laron Effect.

The IGF-1 receptor is an attractive drug target against which a variety of novel anti-tumor agents are being developed

According to a recent review "The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling system plays a crucial role in human cancer and the IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is an attractive drug target against which a variety of novel anti-tumor agents are being developed... Epidemiologic studies have documented a link between elevated IGF levels and the development of solid tumors, such as breast, colon, and prostate cancer. Anti-cancer strategies targeting the IGF signaling system involve two main approaches, namely neutralizing antibodies and small molecule inhibitors of the IGF-1R kinase activity".

"In humans, epidemiological
studies have demonstrated that relative
increases in IGF-1 and insulin levels may
be associated with an increased risk of
cancer development. Additional studies
of individuals with increased GH and
IGF-1 due to acromegaly suggest that
increased GH may also add to the risk of
tumor growth in certain tissues".

Targeting the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor in human cancer

Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I and Cancer Mortality in Older Men

Ecuadorean Villagers May Hold Secret to Longevity

Insulin Like Growth Factors and Cancer: From Basic Biology to Therapeutics

'Immune' to cancer: The astonishing dwarf community in Ecuador who could hold the key to a cure

Honey May Be a Sweet Way to Help a Cough Say Some Medical Studies

2013-04-10T20:45:00.000-05:00

HONEY FOR A COUGH? SOME MEDICAL REPORTS SAY YES BUT ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR INFANTS BECAUSE OF BOTULISM

YOU HAVE A HACKING COUGH AND WHEN YOU SIT AT A TABLE PEOPLE GET UP AND MOVE WHAT TO DO? MAYBE HONEY

Coughing can really get on your nerves especially if it's you doing the coughing. Sitting in a packed waiting room with other people at a medical clinic there's a good chance that some of your compatriots are there because they are coughing. So, what do you do for coughing? It depends. Cough can be due to a whole gamut of things that run the spectrum from allergies and the common cold to reflux, asthma and heart failure.

There have been a few medical research papers that point to honey as a putative cough helper. An Israeli study said "In a randomized controlled trial we compared 3 types of honey versus placebo ( a placebo is a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment)of upper respiratory tract infection-associated cough. These types of honey were superior to placebo in alleviating cough." Another study said "significant differences in symptom improvement were detected between treatment groups with honey consistently scoring the best and no treatment scoring the worst". Both of these studies asked parents to rate honey versus other things to help with cough. Again EVERYONE SAYS DO NOT GIVE HONEY TO INFANTS because of the chance of botulism.

The common cold (vs the uncommon cold?) is probably one of the most frequent causes of cough. There are a variety of over the counter and by prescription cough medications including dextromethorphan, which often shows up in medicines with DM in their name and also prescription meds including non narcotic pills that reduce the cough reflex as well as narcotic cough syrup with codeine that is believed to work on the cough control in the brain.

Botulism is poisoning that results from the toxin of a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. "Infant botulism results from the ingestion of the C. botulinum spores, and subsequent colonization of the small intestine...Honey is the only known dietary reservoir of C. botulinum spores linked to infant botulism."

Effect of Honey on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality: A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study

Effect of honey, dextromethorphan, and no treatment on nocturnal cough and sleep quality for coughing children and their parents

Cough and Cold Remedies for the Treatment of Cough in..

Codeine and Cough: An Ineffective Gold Standard

Serendipity Points Way to Possible Link Between Blood Pressure Drug Lisinopril and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

2013-04-07T21:40:00.001-05:00

SERENDIPITY POINTS TO A POSSIBLE CONNECTION BETWEEN TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND A BLOOD PRESSURE DRUG LISINOPRIL

A Computer Glitch Results in A Serendipitous Finding that May Help People With Multiple Sclerosis

A theme that has been mentioned several times on Purple Medical Blog is that researchers are investigating the idea that some common medicines used for one thing may in fact have powers to treat other medical problems. Think about it, it makes sense, we speak of "stomach medicine" or "brain medicine" as if they were mutually exclusive but they aren't. The biological pathways extend all around our bodies and don't necessarily stop at the borders we imagine for them. The H2 Receptor drugs that treat ulcer interact with so called H2 receptors in the stomach but can also cross the blood brain barrier and interact with H2 receptors in your brain.

Dr. Lawrence Steinman, a renowned scientist at Stanford,(Immunologist and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Pediatrics, and Genetics at Stanford University in California) was quoted in a recent interview "Take a drug such as the common antihypertensive agent (blood pressure pill) lisinopril. We give it to experimental animals that have the model disease that resembles multiple sclerosis , and the paralysis goes away after several doses. We learn from studying these animals that various inflammatory pathways are suppressed". (see below link "Recycled Meds and New Approaches in Multiple Sclerosis")

Though animal studies may point to something useful for humans that is only true sometimes. That's why a lot more work is being done to determine if there is any usefulness for lisinopril for multiple sclerosis. He speaks about a model disease in animals which resembles multiple sclerosis. Also,lisinopril while safe for many people with high blood pressure when used properly is not for everybody, lisinopril like the class of ace inhibitors it belongs to is NOT allowed for anyone who is or could be pregnant because of teratogenic (harmful to fetus) concerns.

The story of how Dr. Steinman got on the trail of lisinopril as a possible help for multiple sclerosis is a fascinating story in itself. "The genesis for the paper can be traced to about seven years ago, when Steinman learned he had high blood pressure. His doctor put him on lisinopril, which is used by millions of people all over the world and has an excellent safety profile. Chagrined, Steinman went home and, researcher that he is, immediately did a Google search on the drug. (Steinman's earlier work on the inflammatory features of the disease spurred development of a blockbuster class of anti-inflammatory multiple-sclerosis therapeutics. The drug natalizumab, marketed under the trade name Tysabri, is one)".

"Long ago, a glitch crept into Steinman’s home computer: No matter what keywords he types into the search field, the computer automatically inserts the additional term, “multiple sclerosis.” Thus, to his surprise, a list of medical literature popped up offering tantalizing, if vague, hints of a possible connection between multiple sclerosis and a fast-acting hormone, angiotensin, whose receptors abound on blood-vessel walls throughout the body."

This is an example of serendipity in science and medicine, something that happens more than you might think.

Lisinopril and the class it belongs to, ACE inhibitors, is one of the favorite heart and blood pressure drugs of cardiologists and family practioners. Angiotension Converting Enzyme (see why they call them ACE?) inhibitors seem to have added beneficial side effects like heart remodeling.

PNAS (Proceedings National Academy of Science)previously carried a paper about the possibility that the blood pressure drug might have the power to treat multiple sclerosis symptoms. The paper showed an effect in mice with MS like disease. "Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a link, in mice and in human brain tissue, between high blood pressure and multiple sclerosis. Their findings suggest that a safe,(when used properly) inexpensive drug already in wide use for high blood pressure may have therapeutic value in multiple sclerosis, as well".

Recycled Meds and New Approaches in Multiple Sclerosis

Inexpensive hypertension drug could be multiple sclerosis treatment, study shows

Blocking angiotensin-converting enzyme induces potent regulatory T cells and modulates TH1- and TH17-mediated autoimmunity

Steinman Lab page

Does It Make a Difference What Time You Take Blood Pressure Pills ...Possible Night Bedtime Advantage for Taking Some Hypertension Meds and a Video

2013-04-02T21:44:00.001-05:00

Does It Make a Difference What Time of Day You Take Your Blood Pressure Pill? ..Advantage to Some Bedtime Hypertension Medicine?

What difference could it make what time a person takes a blood pressure pill? Could it help if you swallow some of your blood pressure pills at bedtime? Well, apparently it does matter, at least in some people and according to some medical studies. It certainly seems like something that is worth discussing with your doctor.I guess it makes sense because we do know that there is such a thing as the body clock, the body has a diurnal rhythm. And apparently high blood pressure a.k.a hypertension is yet another body function influenced by time of day.

"Clinical studies have documented morning-evening, administration-time differences of several different classes of hypertension medications in blood pressure lowering efficacy, duration of action, safety profile, and/or effects on the circadian blood pressure pattern. In spite of these published findings, most hypertensive subjects, including those under combination therapy, are instructed by their physicians and pharmacists to ingest all of their BP-lowering medications in the morning".

Blood pressure is dependent on a variety of factors. The heart ejects the blood under pressure and sends it coursing around the body and to and through a labyrinthine array of blood vessels and body tissues such as the kidneys which in turn exert their own pressure and resistance to the blood flow. The arteries, for example, are sheathed in muscular layers that are influenced by neurological (nerves) control and that also exert a force on the blood and there are also thin walled veins.

BP meds: This simple change improves outcomes

Taking Blood Pressure Pills at Bedtime May Prevent More Heart Attacks and Strokes

Dr Ramón Hermida (University of Vigo, Spain) has previously published studies looking at whether there is a benefit to having a person take at least one of their blood pressure medicines at night at bedtime as opposed to taking all medications in the morning. "The prospective MAPEC study was specifically designed to test the hypothesis that bedtime chronotherapy (time related therapy) with ≥1 hypertension medications exerts better blood pressure control and cardiovascular risk reduction than conventional therapy, i.e., all medications ingested in the morning".

"Patients were enrolled if they had a diagnosis of either untreated hypertension (based on ambulatory BP monitoring [ABPM] criteria) or resistant hypertension (uncontrolled on ≥3 optimally dosed antihypertensive medications)".

The result of the study was "Bedtime chronotherapy( therapy related to timing) with ≥1 BP-lowering medications, compared to conventional upon-waking treatment with all medications, more effectively improved blood pressure control, better decreased the prevalence of non-dipping, and, most importantly, significantly reduced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality". Dipping refers to the phenomenon that most people have a night time dip in their blood pressure but many people with high blood pressure don't experience the dip.

Influence of circadian time of hypertension treatment on cardiovascular risk: results of the MAPEC study

Influence of Time of Day of Blood Pressure–Lowering Treatment on Cardiovascular Risk in Hypertensive Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Taking Blood Pressure Pills at Bedtime May Prevent More Heart Attacks and Strokes

What is Low Dose CT ? and Low Dose CT Scan The Way to Go for Screening Lung Cancer? And a Video

2013-03-25T19:46:00.001-05:00

What is Low Dose CT and Is Low Dose CT Scan The Way to Go? Recommendation Lung Cancer Screening and Is the Low Dose Helical CT Scan Superior to Chest X Ray

Low Dose CT Scan Screen for Lung Cancer Superior : Older Studies of Chest X Ray Screening for Lung Cancer Were Disappointing

The American Cancer Society has updated their guidelines for screening of lung cancer. They talk about who and how certain people could be screened. In a nutshell, they zeroed in on cigarette smokers of a certain age. Based on three different trials especially one called the NLST,The National Lung Screening Trial, cigarette smokers especially between the ages of 55 and 74, even those who quit as long as 15 years ago, are candidates for screening with a low dose CT scan. The Low Dose Helical CT scan, a CT scan that emits less radiation than a standard diagnostic CT scan, seems to provide more useful results according to the trials then previous trials that had used chest X rays and weren't encouraging.

Also a Video about Lung Cancer Screening

In the NSLT, 53,454 eligible participants aged 55–74 were recruited by 33 screening centers and were randomly assigned after giving written informed consent to receive either three annual low-dose helical CT scans (LDCT; also called spiral CT by many investigators) or back to front view chest X-rays.

The radiation dose that people get when they are getting tests involving radiation is measured in units called sieverts, a millisievert is 1/1000 of a sievert or an msv. "The term ‘low-dose’ is used because the average estimated whole-body effective dose in the NLST is 1.5 milliseiverts versus 7 millisieverts for standard diagnostic chest CT. Because of concerns about the radiation harms associated with CT scans and other medical imaging tests, lower doses of radiation are used in the screening setting despite higher resolution achievable with increased doses. (Because the estimated average whole body effective dose of the single back to front chest X-ray is 0.02 mSv, the whole body effective dose ratio of chest X-ray:LDCT:standard diagnostic CT is about 1:75:350.)"

But Read the Fine Print

They new guidelines say doctors should talk to their patients about having lung cancer screening but also remind them that the screening itself is not without possible problems and complications. For example, the low dose CT Scan can pickup certain nodules that aren't cancerous but that won't be known unless further testing is done. "Usually this is something as straightforward as a repeat CT scan, but may be more complicated such as a bronchoscopy to look down in the lung or even a biopsy through the chest wall to see if a lesion is cancerous. It may even mean chest surgery".

Lung cancer screening with low-dose helical CT: results from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST)

New Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines form the American Cancer Society : What You Should Know

What is the Meaning of Life A Children's Cancer Specialist Tells What He Does and Why

2013-03-23T19:41:00.001-05:00

Why Become a Doctor and What is the Meaning of Life?

It's Not Just an Education, It's an Inspiration, A Pediatric Oncologist, A Doctor who Researches and Treats Cancer in Children, Tells How and Why He Became Who He Is

Did you ever wonder what is the meaning of life? . Why are we here and what is important in life? Those are pretty deep questions. Questions that probably everybody asks themselves especially when they are confronted with some momentous event in their life. You ask yourself what is important and sometimes you ask How can I contribute? What can I do to make a difference? One answer and certainly a wonderful and brilliant answer is to dedicate your life to lifting some of the heavy burden off the shoulders of mankind. And what if you could do it by dint of your thought and actions? That would be something!!

You should read... maybe even study the blog called Dr. David's Blog, It's not just an education, it's an inspiration!

One man who lives the dream and is doing that every day is Dr. David, a pediatric oncologist. As he says "Why oncology? I was attracted to the science. Understanding how cells work fascinated me, and when I realized that cancer is a perversion of the normal processes of cell biology, I knew what I wanted to study".

"Why pediatrics? That's even easier. I love kids. I love their undying optimism, their boundless enthusiasm for life, they never ending need to explore the world around them, and their seemingly limitless ability to love those around them".

Dr. David's Blog

New Stroke Guidelines Play A Familiar Melody: Step on the Gas With a Stroke Caused by a Clot. Video A Scientist Gets a Stroke

2013-03-21T21:06:00.001-05:00

New Stroke Guidelines Play A Familiar Melody: Step on the Gas With a Stroke Caused by a Clot. Also Telemedicine Is An Option For People in the Boonies and a Video A Scientist Gets a Stroke

How Fast Should Stroke Reversing Chemical be Given to People with a Blockage ?

You've heard that time is money. Well, in the case of stroke time is life . The brain is hungry for blood. That's why the body will work hard to provide blood to the brain. A stroke is brain damage that comes from the interruption of blood supply to some part of the brain. People having an ischemic stroke (a stroke caused by a blockage as a blood clot in the brain that results in ischemia, a lack of blood supply ) should receive clot-dissolving therapy – if appropriate -- within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital, according to new American Stroke Association guidelines published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

What Does It Feel Like to Have a Stroke? Who Better To Tell You Than A Brain Scientist That Had a Stroke

There are a few different components to evaluating and treating a stroke. First someone, yourself or someone around you has to suspect you may be having a stroke. Two, you or they have to call 911 without delay. (Sitting around speculating if and or but could literally kill you). Then you need to get to a place that can diagnose accurately and treat correctly the suspected stroke pronto.

Here is a video about using tPA to reverse stroke damage.

Here is a video about stroke guidelines.

Most strokes are cause by a blockage such as a blood clot while other strokes are caused by hemorrhage, bleeding. The American Heart Association/ Stroke Association published new updated guidelines. They emphasize that time is critical and not to delay. They say to consider a non contrast CT scan and some blood tests but to do it quickly. Clot-dissolving therapy should be administered to people having acute ischemic stroke within 60 minutes of hospital arrival.
The window for clot-dissolving therapy may be extended to 4.5 hours from the start of symptoms for carefully selected patients.

"During an acute stroke, physicians must quickly evaluate and diagnose the patient as soon as possible to determine if patients are eligible to receive the clot-dissolving drug recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA),(this is an enzyme made using genetic engineering that can catalyze the breakup of a blood clot) which must be given 4.5 hours within hours of symptom onset . (different from the old guidelines) The goal is to minimize “door to needle” time which provides the patient with the best opportunity for benefit from the treatment". For people who live far from centers of expertise in stroke treatment , the guidelines talk about using FDA approved telemedicine and teleradiology for quick review of brain scans and treatment guidance.

People having stroke should get therapy within 60 minutes of hospital arrival

Acute Ischemic Stroke Guidelines American Heart Association and American Stroke Association

Full Face Motorcycle Helmet More Protective in Study

2013-03-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

What Kind of Helmet Protects People in Motorcycle Accidents? A Study Points to Full Face Motorcycle Helmet as Providing Added Benefit

In a new medical study, among 151 motorcycle crash victims, those wearing full-face helmets had less injuries of certain types. A fullface helmet covers the entire head with a rear that covers the base of the skull, and a protective section over the front of the chin. The significant attraction of these helmets is their protectiveness.

Among 151 motorcycle crash victims, those wearing full-face helmets had less traumatic brain injury and were significantly less likely than those wearing other helmet types to have a facial fracture or skull fracture.There was protection from traumatic brain injury but they need to enroll more patients to show the significance mathematically.

Dr. Brian L. Brewer reported these results at the annual meeting of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST). Here is a video of an interview with Dr. Brewer.

Higgs Boson, Top Quark,What the Heck Do They Actually Do at A High Energy Physics Lab and Why Should You Care? A Human Face on the World of Physics: A Video

2013-02-26T22:26:00.000-06:00

Higgs Boson, Top Quark,What the Heck Do They Actually Do at A High Energy Physics Lab and Why Should You Care? A Human Face on the World of Physics: A Video

Like a magician pulling rabbits out of a hat, physicists seem to come up with an endless parade of new discoveries and oddly named particles. Did you ever pick up the New York Times or Chicago Tribune, read about a new discovery of some arcane physics particle that is part of some even more arcane physics theory of the universe and wonder what the heck they do over at those physics laboratories and why? This enlightening video from Fermilab puts a human face on the world of physics and the high energy physics lab.

High Blood Pressure Drugs As A Possible Avenue to Treat Parkinsons ?

2013-02-09T14:36:00.000-06:00

Reports that some High Blood Pressure Drugs May have Positive Effects on Parkinsons and New Parkinsons Drugs that are Calcium Channel Blockers

What do some High Blood Pressure Drugs Have to do with Parkinsons

What do high blood pressure drugs have in common with Parkinsons drugs? Reports have circulated on the Internet that some people who take calcium channel blocker blood pressure medicines that can cross the blood brain barrier have seen some positive effects on their Parkinsons.Research in Parkinsons is heading in many directions. Michael J. Fox of back to the Future fame is returning to a full time television show. Fox has been a generous and aggressive supporter of new research into Parkinsons treatments and the search for a cure. His return to full time work is just one indication of the advances in Parkinsons research.

Reports have circulated on the Internet that some people who take calcium channel blocker blood pressure medicines that can cross the blood brain barrier( only some of them cross the barrier) have seen some positive effects on their Parkinsons. (the blood brain barrier is a separation that prevents many molecules from crossing from the blood stream into the brain). This has spurred research in that direction.

People with high blood pressure have heard of the blood pressure drugs called calcium channel blockers. They are one of the most common types of blood pressure medications. They work by acting upon the calcium channels in cells. Calcium channels are molecules that control the influx of calcium into cells. The calcium influx controls how the cells behave. In the case of high blood pressure, controlling the calcium influx, which widens the arteries and thus keeps the blood pressure under control.

"Several years ago, Jim Surmeier, PhD, of Northwestern University, made an important discovery inspired by ongoing work in the lab: He found that hyperactive calcium channels (which are targeted by certain high blood pressure medications) might also stress dopamine neurons."

What do Calcium Channels have to Do with Parkinsons Research

Scientists have studied a calcium channel blocker called isradapine for it's possible positive effects on Parkinsons and are also looking at creating new drugs that work on specific types of calcium channels that they think have an impact on the dopamine producing cells involved in Parkinsons. Voltage-dependent calcium channels are a group of channels found in excitable cells (e.g., muscle, glial cells, neurons, etc.) with a permeability to the ion calcium. Activation of the channels allows calcium entry into the cell, which, depending on the cell type, results in muscular contraction excitation of neurons, up-regulation of gene expression, or release of hormones or neurotransmitters. Although they are studying isradapine, one researcher recommended not to use the isradapine for Parkinsons. Tanya Simuni M.D. who is studying isradapine for Parkinsons was quoted as saying " I would caution people against using isradipine as a drug to treat PD. We simply don’t yet have enough information to know that it works". News in Context: Isradipine Deemed Safe For People With Parkinson’s, But Will it Work as Disease-Modifying Drug?

Building a New 'High Blood Pressure Drug' to Treat Parkinson's Disease

"Several years ago, Jim Surmeier, PhD, of Northwestern University, made an important discovery inspired by ongoing work in the lab: He found that hyperactive calcium channels (which are targeted by certain high blood pressure medications) might also stress dopamine neurons, leading them to shut down or die. A lack of healthy dopamine neurons in the brain is the major cause of the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease"..."Surmeier's compounds are similar to an FDA-approved(for blood pressure) calcium channel blocker that is already in clinical testing for its efficacy as a disease-modifying drug for PD, a drug called isradipine".

PARKINSON'S BREAKTHROUGH COULD SLOW DISEASE PROGRESSION

Use of Calcium Channel Blockers and Parkinson's Disease

CaV1.3-selective L-type calcium channel antagonists as potential new therapeutics for Parkinson's disease

He Was Rich and Famous Still He Couldn't Get The Right Blood Pressure Treatment to Save His Life (Literally)

2013-01-29T11:19:00.004-06:00

He Was Rich, He Was Famous and He Still Couldn't Get The Right High Blood Pressure Treatment to Save His Life (Literally)

With Sky High Blood Pressure Like This You Wonder Where Did His Doctor Go To Medical School?

Can you believe this guy's blood pressure? His numbers read like a recipe for disaster: March 27, 186/108; April 1, 200/108; November 18, 210/112; November 27, 260/150. You don't need to be a doctor to know that these blood pressure numbers aren't good. In fact, they stink! Why doesn't he do something? Maybe he needs to change his medicine or find a different doctor? Can't a guy with all this money get better treatment? Somebody ought to tell him he's on a runaway train heading for a brick wall.

It's too late now. On the morning of April 12, he told people around him that he had a terrific headache. No wonder. His blood pressure was 300/190 and within hours he was dead of a brain hemorrhage. But this guy was rich and famous. He was the scion of one of the most elite families and yet despite his money, despite his reputation, he couldn't get the right treatment for the life of him,literally.

It's especially ironic because not only was he rich and famous he was also powerful, probably one of the most powerful people of the 20th century. The reason he didn't get the right treatment was because his doctors simply didn't know what to do. Probably because the effective treatment of his problem, high blood pressure, pretty much didn't exist. In fact, one of his doctors later wrote,"I have often wondered what turn the subsequent course of history might have taken if the modern methods for the control of hypertension had been available". The man was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had been walking around with high blood pressure for years and for a long time didn't even feel it.

Nowadays, of course, you wouldn't walk around with blood pressure like that, right? or maybe not. Jane Brody, in her New York Times article, Keeping Blood Pressure in Check ,points out that "48 percent of the more than 76 million adults with hypertension have it under control, up from 29 percent in 2000.But that means more than half, including many receiving treatment, have blood pressure that remains too high to be healthy".

One big problem, it's hard to treat your high blood pressure if you don't know you have it. Millions of Americans and people around the world are walking around without a clue that they actually have higher than acceptable blood pressure because they don't feel anything unusual in particular. As charter members of the ostrich with his head in the sand school of dealing with life they figure if they don't know it it can't hurt them.

What are the Medicines, Medical Devices and Surgery to Treat Hypertension ?

Doctors in many if not most cases can't pin down the origin of the high blood pressure. But they can still treat it well. They call it essential hypertension, which is just a fancy sounding name for we don't know why. Sometimes they can pin point the source like an adrenal gland problem, maybe even loneliness! (see the article below)
Brody talks about some of the medicines available to treat hypertension a.k.a high blood pressure. There are actually even more types of medicines for blood pressure than she discusses. Hypertension often gets better with weight loss. She doesn't even mention the experimental surgeries and medical devices out there. Even a machine to use your breathing to control your blood pressure.

A change of heart FDR's death shows how much we've learned about the heart

Keeping Blood Pressure in Check

Loneliness linked to high blood pressure in aging adults

Clinical Notes on the Illness and Death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Blogging About Stroke

2013-01-27T16:42:00.001-06:00

A Medical Blog on a Mission: I Blog on Anything to do with Stroke

"I blog on anything to do with stroke"

"I fell down walking across the bedroom floor that morning, May 21, 2006. I called to my wife, Sarah asking for help to stand up. She was already on the phone dialing 911 and answering the questions, drug use, high blood pressure, diabetes, overweight, All were negative. The paramedics came and asked the same questions mainly because there was this healthy looking 50 year old lying on the floor with some stroke symptoms".

"Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff."

See:

Deans' Stroke Musings

Bluberries May Lessen Heart Attacks in Women and What Do Blueberries Have in Common with Viagra?

2013-01-22T21:25:00.001-06:00

Bluberries May Lessen Heart Attacks in Women and What Do Blueberries Have in Common with Viagra?

What do Bluberries and Viagra Have in Common? They Both Involve Interaction with the Inner Lining of Blood Vessels

Researchers at Harvard have published a study suggesting that blueberries may help women lower the chance of a heart attack. Beginning in 1991, they tracked more than 100,000 women ages 25 to 42 with food-frequency questionnaires every four years through 2009. They found that women who ate more blueberries and strawberries had a lower chance of heart attack. They write, "Our findings suggest that bioactive compounds present in red and blue fruits and vegetables commonly consumed in the habitual diet may be associated with a reduced risk of MI (myocardial infarction a.k.a heart attack) in young and middle-aged women".

Heart attacks can happen because of a disturbance to the endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels, which can lead to the formation of a clot that results in a heart attack. The inner lining of the blood vessels is surprisingly important in the function of the heart and the control of various body functions. The inner lining of the arteries, the endothelium is surprisingly complex and surprisingly important. The endothelial function includes producing vital chemicals that help to control the body.

"Combined intake of 2 anthocyanin-rich foods, blueberries and strawberries, tended to be associated with a decreased risk of MI (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.40–1.08) in a comparison of those consuming >3 servings a week and those with lower intake".They suspect that the chemical in blueberries may impact the endothelium of arteries.

The endothelium is the thin layer of cells that lines the interior surface of blood vessels, the inner lining. The endothelium among other things, produces nitric oxide, a vasodilator (makes arteries wider), (nitric oxide is also produced elsewhere) which is a potent signaling molecule, that happens to be a gas and thus can move more easily among cells that can cause widening of the blood vessels,i.e. vasodilation. Widening the blood vessels can be good as when it lowers your blood pressure or bad if it lowers it too much as in shock. It is interesting that drugs such as Viagra work through the nitric oxide pathway.

Our current knowledge of modifiable risk factors to prevent myocardial infarction in young and middle-aged women is limited, and the impact of diet is largely unknown. Dietary flavonoids (such as those found in blueberries) exert potential beneficial effects on endothelial function in short-term trials; however, the relationship between habitual intake and risk of MI in women is unknown.
"Combined intake of 2 anthocyanin-rich foods, blueberries and strawberries, tended to be associated with a decreased risk of MI (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.40–1.08) in a comparison of those consuming >3 servings a week and those with lower intake. Intakes of other flavonoid subclasses were not significantly associated with MI risk".

High Anthocyanin Intake Is Associated With a Reduced Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Young and Middle-Aged Women

Berries Lower Heart Attack Risk in Women

"After adjusting for many dietary, behavioral and physiological risk factors, the scientists found that compared with those below the 20th percentile in anthocyanin intake, those above the 80th percentile were 32 percent less likely to have a heart attack. Other flavonoids were not significantly associated with reduced risk".
"Women who ate more than three servings of blueberries or strawberries a week - the most common anthocyanin-rich foods consumed - had a 34 percent lower risk than those who ate less.

From a dietary perspective, growing evidence supports the beneficial effects of dietary flavonoids on endothelial function and blood pressure,suggesting that flavonoids might be more likely than other dietary factors to lower the risk of CHD in predominantly young women.Specific flavonoids appear to improve endothelial function by exerting antiinflammatory effects, inhibiting low-density lipoprotein oxidation and endothelial NADPH oxidase, modulating nitric oxide synthase activity/expression, and augmenting nitric oxide status. Flavonoids are widely distributed in many plant-based foods and beverages, including fruits, vegetables, tea, and wine, and the subclasses commonly consumed in the US diet include flavanones, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, flavonols, flavones, and polymeric flavonoids.

Something Old is New: Hopkins Study Says Fasting Might Help Seizures

2013-01-16T21:35:00.002-06:00

Something Old is New Again: Study Says Periodic Supervised Fasting May Help Seizures in Children in Addition to Low Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet and a Video

Supervised Fasting May Help Seizures By A Different Mechanism Than the Ketogenic Diet

Low carbohydrate diets for weight loss are famous or infamous depending on who you talk to. A lesser known application of low carbohydrate high fat diets is the low carb ketogenic diet that doctors use to control hard to treat seizures along with medication. Pediatric neurologists at John Hopkins Hospital have published a study suggesting that the ketogenic diet and fasting can work in tandem to reduce seizures but appear do so through different mechanisms."In the study, six children, ages 2 to 7, and all on the ketogenic diet, were asked to fast on alternate days. All six children had seizure disorders incompletely resolved by the diet alone".

The ancient Greeks, guys with names like Erisistratus and Galen recommended diet alteration for epilepsy.

Ketogenic diets are diets that cause the body to produce chemical byproducts called ketones when the body has insufficient carbohydrates. "Made up of high-fat foods and few carbohydrates, the ketogenic diet is believed to work by triggering biochemical changes that eliminate seizure-causing short circuits in the brain’s signaling system".

The ketogenic diet, popularized in the early 1900s (see NY Times article article from 1922) was designed to mimic the physiologic effects of fasting — a seizure-control method favored by ancient Greeks. The ancient Greeks, guys with names like Erisistratus and Galen recommended diet alteration for epilepsy. "The royal physician Erasistratus(304 BC – 250 BC) was a Greek anatomist and royal physician under Seleucus I Nicator of Syria. He declared, "One inclining to epilepsy should be made to fast without mercy and be put on short rations." Several studies have shown that the ketogenic diet does reduce or prevent seizures in many children whose seizures could not be controlled by medications.

Look at this article from the New York Times
dated July 5,1922 !!

Scientists at Johns Hopkins found that alternating fasting worked in some children to control seizures. They suspect that the fasting works by an alternate mechanism in the nerve cells based on tests they did. They warn that any diets or fasting especially in children MUST BE DONE UNDER PEDIATRIC NEUROLOGIST SUPERVISION. OTHERWISE could be DANGEROUS.

Study: Fasting May Benefit Patients with Epilepsy

Pediatric neurologists at John Hopkins Hospital published the study in the journal Epilepsy Research. The study suggesting that the ketogenic diet and fasting can work in tandem to reduce seizures.Fasting appears to work via a different mechanism — a finding that challenges the longstanding assumption that the two share a common mechanism. "In the study, six children, ages 2 to 7, and all on the ketogenic diet, were asked to fast on alternate days. All six children had seizure disorders incompletely resolved by the diet alone. Four of the six children experienced between 50 percent and 99 percent fewer seizures after the fasts were added to the dietary regimen. Three of the six were able to continue the fasting regimen for two months or longer".

Sailing the Atlantic Climbing Tall Buildings Not Superman But Lung Transplant People

2013-01-13T17:19:00.002-06:00

Sailing Across the Atlantic, Climbing Tall Buildings It's Not Superman It's People with Lung Transplants

Who Gets Lung Transplants ?

Just the thought of climbing the 95 floors to the top of a tall building makes me tired. And sailing across the Atlantic? I don't think so! So I have been intrigued to say the least to read stories of people who have lung transplants sailing across the Atlantic and climbing to the top of the Hancock Building in Chicago.

I read the story of an attractive blond woman, Cassie Stanley, who in the picture anyway, resembles Jennifer Anniston, prepping to climb 95 floors of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. It's especially noteworthy because Stanley has had lung transplants because of her history of cystic fibrosis. The climb is part of a fund raiser for a lung health organisation. And if that is impressive how about Justine Laymond sailing the Atlantic after a double lung transplant?

According to CNN, "The 39-year-old from England, who has suffered nearly 20 lung collapses due to a condition known as Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), is part of a multinational crew taking part in the bi-annual Clipper Round the World Yacht Race -- the only sailing race in the world where crews are made up by ordinary people, many with little or no sailing experience".

"This year more than 500 people from 41 countries are taking part in the 40,000-mile relay race, which started in August 2011 and is set to finish later this month. The line-up this year consists of ten identical 68-foot long yachts -- all sponsored by different cities around the world -- that are currently on the eighth and final leg of the race".

Why Has the Outlook for Cystic Fibrosis Improved ?

In general, people with cystic fibrosis are living longer and longer as the the treatments get better and better. According to an article in the NY Times back in 2009 there were at least 30 drugs to treat cystic fibrosis in the development pipeline. In cystic fibrosis, the lung function is impeded because of the lack of certain enzymes.

A race for life: Double lung transplant woman sails Atlantic

After Transplants Reveling in Everyday Life

A Brighter Outlook for Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Stanley had her lung transplant at Loyola University Medical Center in the Chicago suburbs.
Video About Lung Transplant at Loyola

A Woman with Another Lung Transplant

Video About a Person Who had Lung Transplant

Rapid Stroke Recovery of Senator Kirk Possibly Helped By Experimental Intense Stroke Therapy

2013-01-06T17:19:00.001-06:00

How Did Senator Kirk Recover from His Stroke? His New Intense Stroke Therapy May Have Helped How to Recognize a TIA or Mini Stroke

Did Senator Kirk Get an Experimental More Intense Stroke Therapy?

A stroke is an interruption of blood supply to the brain. Strokes can require a long and arduous time to recovery. Senator Mark Kirk seems to have recovered a great deal and part of the reason why may be due to a more intense experimental stroke therapy.

Kirk reportedly spent 9 weeks in an experimental Stroke therapy program under the tutelage of Dr. T. George Hornby, a prominent researcher at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

A stroke is brain damage that comes from the interruption of the blood supply to some part of the brain. "Kirk credits lead researcher and physical therapist T. George Hornby at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, whose work may change standard therapy for stroke patients. During Kirk’s nine weeks participating in Hornby’s research, he walked nearly 15 miles and climbed 145 flights of stairs".

“We basically treat them like athletes,” said Hornby, who is testing what happens when stroke patients walk 10 times farther than they would in a standard physical therapy session".

"Instead of walking once down an unobstructed hallway, for example, a patient is asked to walk around obstacles, to walk while things are bumping into him and to climb stairs. “We’re really pushing them to the limit on how hard they can work,” the researcher said"".

Can Young People Get A Stroke? What Causes Strokes?

When he checked into a suburban Chicago hospital under an alias it was apparent that this was no ordinary patient. But that wasn't the half of it. The young man, a regular jogger, had been experiencing dizziness and headaches bad enough that he wound up at the hospital. This athletic, somewhat famous person , active in the naval reserves, seemed an unlikely candidate to have a stroke. Yet tests would demonstrate that Mark Kirk, junior senator from Illinois, had indeed experienced a stroke. Specifically, the main artery that carries blood into the brain via the neck, the carotid, had dissected, that is torn open.

According to an article in the New York Times "although a vast majority of strokes occur in people over age 65 (the risk is 30 to 50 per 1,000 in this age group), 10 percent to 15 percent (of strokes) affect people age 45 and younger (a risk of 1 in 1,000)".

Can A Person Have a Stroke and Not Recognize the Symptoms ?

The big problem is that the people having the symptoms didn't guess they were having a stroke, especially young people in their 30's and 40's. Sometimes the hospitals they went to made the wrong diagnosis! If you have odd symptoms like numbness, problems thinking, moving a limb, loss of vision,etc you need to get immediate treatment.

Study Suggests Lycopene may Lower Stroke Risk

A study by doctors at the Wayne State University-Detroit Medical Center Stroke Program found that among 57 young stroke victims,one in seven was given a misdiagnosis including alcohol intoxication, seizures, inner ear disorder or other problems — and sent home without proper treatment".

T. George Hornby at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago using an experimental stroke therapy helps Illinois Senator’s recovery

T. George Hornby

Factors Associated with Misdiagnosis of Stroke in Young Adults

What is a Stroke and What Causes Strokes? Do you have to have a Headache to have a Stroke? The answer is no.

A stroke is some interruption to the blood supply of an area in the brain, If the brain is damaged, then the part of the body controlled by that area of the brain is affected. The stroke is caused by a blood flow interruption, It could be a clot that blocks the blood supply in an artery. A clot causing a stroke is a thrombotic stroke and is like a clot causing a heart attack with the concomitant blockage in a coronary artery of the heart.

A person can have a stroke and yet not have a headache even though it's true that some strokes are accompanied by a headache.
"Stroke symptoms typically start suddenly, over seconds to minutes, and in most cases do not progress further. The symptoms depend on the area of the brain affected. The more extensive the area of brain affected, the more functions that are likely to be lost. Some forms of stroke can cause additional symptoms. For example, in intracranial hemorrhage, the affected area may compress other structures".

Ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain is blocked by a blood clot. This may happen in two ways:

A clot may form in an artery that is already very narrow. This is called a thrombotic stroke.
A clot may break off from another place in the blood vessels of the brain, or from some other part of the body, and travel up to the brain. This is called cerebral embolism, or an embolic stroke.

ACL The Anterior Cruciate Ligament Twisting Tear Women Seem More Susceptible and Increasing in Children

2012-12-27T16:54:00.001-06:00

TWISTING KNEE INJURIES IN CHILDREN: ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT ACL TEAR KNEE INJURY INCREASING IN CHILDREN MORE COMMON IN WOMEN

Why are Anterior Cruciate Tears So Common ?

Do a search on Google News, for example, "Robert Griffin III reportedly suffers partial ACL, LCL tears, will have further tests on injured knee".

Robert Griffin III reportedly suffers partial ACL, LCL tears, will have further tests on injured knee. The Washington Post reported that Griffin had suffered partial tears of his anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments on Sunday.

Anyway, do a search for anterior cruciate ligament and you will be amazed at all the athletes, amateur athletes, and children who injure the anterior cruciate ligament. "Orthopedists at leading medical centers estimate that several thousand children and young adolescents are getting A.C.L. tears each year, with the number being diagnosed soaring recently. Some centers that used to see only a few such cases a year are now seeing several each week." But what is the anterior cruciate ligament? Cruciate means shaped like a cross.

How are ACL Tears Diagnosed ?

By asking questions and examination, the doctor can usually make an educated guess as to the probablity of a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament,posterior cruciate or the menisci of the knee. Usually an MRI, magnetic resonance imaging is definitive. The soft tissue of the ligaments don't show well with x ray.

What does the ACL do ?

The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament is a band of tissue that together with the posterior cruciate helps keep the knee joint in place. It connects the thigh bone (femur) with the tibia (the thick main bone of the lower leg). The knee is held together by a collection of bands of tissue that act as bindings as well as shock absorbers.

The cruciate ligaments help control the amount of twisting of the knee joint, and add stability along with the ligaments on the side of the knee called the medial and collateral ligaments and the anterior cruciate helps limit forward movement by the tibia.Do you know? Which of the following about the anterior cruciate ligament are true?

1. The anterior cruciate ligament connects the front of the upper leg bone, the femur, to the tibia, the big bone in the lower leg.

2. The anterior cruciate ligament acts as a shock absorber between the femur and the tibia.

3. An anterior cruciate tear is often due to a twisting motion or a motion where the knee turns while the foot is firmly planted

4. The anterior cruciate helps to keep the tibia from moving too far forward.

5. An x-ray is the best test to diagnose an anterior cruciate tear.

Numbers 2 and 5 are false. The anterior cruciate and posterior cruciate ligaments crisscross (cruciate means shaped like a cross) in the knee joint. They help control the amount of twisting of the knee joint, and add stability along with the ligaments on the side of the knee called the medial and collateral ligaments and the anterior cruciate helps limit forward movement by the tibia. The menisci are round pieces of cartilage between the femur and tibia which have been said to have a shock absorber function between the tibia and the femur in the knee . Twisting motions can cause a tear of the anterior cruciate, scenarios such as when the foot is firmly planted in the ground and the knee is pointed in another direction.

Are Women More Susceptible to ACL Tears ?

Doctors have pondered why women seem more susceptible.Possibly anatomic differences are a contributing factor. X rays generally are not capable of discriminating a ligament tear. For that, doctors get an MRI. So numbers 2 and 5 are false.

Big-Time Injury Strikes Little Players

"As many as eight times more girls than boys are suffering the acl tears, doctors report. In fact there have been reports that women who play sports are more susceptible to anterior cruciate ligament knee injuries"."Orthopedists at leading medical centers estimate that several thousand children and young adolescents are getting A.C.L. tears each year, with the number being diagnosed soaring recently. Some centers that used to see only a few such cases a year are now seeing several each week".

What is a Meniscus ?

The knee is a complicated joint. There are knee ligaments as well as knee menisici. The ligaments are bands that help to stabilize the knee. The anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments criss cross the knee. A meniscus is a piece of cartilage in the knee. For the knee to operate properly the ligaments and the menisci need to be intact. Anterior cruciate ligament tears are a frequent knee injury especially in sports.

Twisting motions can cause a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, scenarios such as when the foot is firmly planted in the ground and the knee is pointed in another direction.

Does Long Term Aspirin Lower Colon Cancer Risk

2012-12-24T00:29:00.000-06:00

Does Long Term Use of Aspirin Help Prevent Colon Cancer?

Can using Aspirin Lower Cancer?

It would certainly be a wonder drug if it was discovered today. Nevertheless aspirin is still in the headlines almost every week as the results of one study or another seem to shed light on yet another remarkable property of aspirin. Controversy swirls around aspirin with some doctors swearing by aspirin and others swearing at it.

Heart Attack Prevention But Cancer Too?

Probably the most well documented benefit of aspirin is a probable effect to lower the chance of heart attack. Sure aspirin isn't for everybody, say people with ulcers,bleeding problems and some people with asthma for example. Yet, it seems the studies of aspirin benefits just keep rolling in.

Long Term Effects of Aspirin

Take for example, "Long Term Effect of aspirin on Colorectal cancer Incidence and Mortality:20 Year Follow=Up of Five Randomised Trials". Gee! The title is almost as long as the whole study!

Basically, the authors looked at four trials in the 1980's and 1990's with cardiovascular (heart related ) outcomes. Even though the studies were about the effect on the heart ,the authors looked to see whether the participants in the study had died of colon cancer. "We followed up four randomised trials of aspirin versus control in primary (Thrombosis Prevention Trial, British Doctors Aspirin Trial) and secondary (Swedish Aspirin Low Dose Trial, UK-TIA Aspirin Trial) prevention of vascular events and one trial of different doses of aspirin (Dutch TIA Aspirin Trial) and established the effect of aspirin on risk of colorectal cancer over 20 years during and after the trials by analysis of pooled individual patient data".

What did the Study Say?

What the heck are they talking about? Well, what they are saying is they looked at 14,033 people in control or intervention groups. They found that aspirin given at any dosage for an average of 5.8 years lowered the long term risk of colon cancer. They suggested the strongest benefit might be in an area that is hard to reach by common diagnosis methods such as colonoscopy.

Long-term Effect of Aspirin on Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Mortality: 20-year Follow-up of Five Randomised Trials

Several reports have alluded to cancer reduction by aspirin such as a previous study by Harvard scientists.
See

Aspirin and Aspirin Related Medication NSAID May Reduce Risk of Colon and Rectal Cancer

What Do You Call a Country Where 1/3 have High Blood Pressure What Works for Hard to Treat High Blood Pressure Maybe Spironolactone

2012-12-16T18:47:00.000-06:00

Country Where 1/3 of the People Have Hypertension What Works for People With Hard to Treat Resistant High Blood Pressure:

Could a Drug Like Spironolactone Tame Hard to Treat High Blood Pressure a.k.a Hypertension Even in People With No AldosteroneProblems? Resistant High Blood Pressure Despite 3 or More Medications

What do you call a country where 1/3 of the people have high blood pressure and less than half have it under control? Hint: It was founded in 1776.
(Vital Signs: Awareness and Treatment of Uncontrolled Hypertension Among Adults — United States, 2003–2010). Resistant high blood pressure, which is defined as high blood pressure despite the use of three or more high blood pressure medications is common. So what do you do?

What is the Scientific Medical Name for High Blood Pressure ?

Yes, it's true! Some people can be on as many as 3 different blood pressure pills and still not have good blood pressure! Some doctors are pointing to a class of blood pressure pills called aldosterone antagonists. Some studies have shown that drugs like spironolactone can control resistant hypertension. To some degree treatment of high blood pressure, a.k.a hypertension, with medicine is trial and hopefully not much error. Doctors focus medication to deal with the cause. One cause is too much aldosterone. Many times, maybe most, the cause of hypertension is not clear.

Could These Drugs Help High Blood Pressure Even in People Without Aldosterone Problems?

Some doctors are wondering if these aldosterone antagonists might help even those without aldosteronism (too much aldosterone production).
Our adrenal glands manufacture a hormone called aldosterone. Aldosterone regulates sodium (as in salt) and potassium in the body. Sometimes too much aldosterone causes high blood pressure. Aldosterone antagonists counteract this. Some doctors speculate these aldosterone antagonists might work even without aldosteronism.

In this video a well known physician discusses high blood pressure

In the U.S. there are 2 drugs in the aldosterone antagonist category: Eplerenone and spironolactone. Spironolactone is an old drug and eplerenone is newer. Spironolactone was approved in 1960 as Aldactone, a treatment for primary hyperaldosteronism. Although spironolactone has been around for a while, the realization that it's drug class might work in resistant high blood pressure is of more recent onset.

Here is an older video discussion of resistant hypertension.

Spironolactone can have side effects, some of which are potassium problems, gynecomastia.

Addition of Spironolactone in Patients With Resistant Arterial Hypertension (ASPIRANT)

Vital Signs: Awareness and Treatment of Uncontrolled Hypertension Among Adults — United States, 2003–2010

Long-Term Use of Aldosterone-Receptor Antagonists in Uncontrolled Hypertension: A Retrospective Analysis

Use of Aldosterone Antagonists in Resistant Hypertension

The effect of low-dose spironolactone on resistant hypertension

CAR Trip of a Lifetime: Using CAR the Body Will Destroy Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Maybe Pancreatic Cancer A Video

2012-12-09T23:57:00.001-06:00

CAR Trip of a Lifetime: Immune System to Destroy Specific Cancer using CAR: Trial in Pancreatic Cancer and A Video Modified T Cells in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Have They Found a Powerful Method that Really Works to Get the Immune System to Attack Specific Cancers?

What Does a CAR Have to do with Cancer Therapy? : Souped Up T Cells

The creative types that lurk in labs have long been trying to harness the body's immune system to attack specific cancer cells the way we fight disease like polio or infections like influenza. For example, cancer vaccines.

The NY Times had another remarkable story about the creation of "doctored" or "souped up" genetically engineered T cells,chimeric antigen receptor T cells, to teach a person's immune system to destroy a specific cancer . A CAR is a protein composed of an antibody that can bind to a known target together with another part that triggers the T cell to destroy the target.

What are Chimeric Cells and What Good Are They?

Bone Marrow Transplants have been used against leukemia. In contrast, these chimeric antigen receptor T cells were designed to have wider application and more benefits such as prolonged activity. Killer T cells are attractive for gene therapy, because they can last lifelong. So if you can make a T cell become cancer specific, then the potential is that the patient can have lifelong protection from that because the T cells are long lived cells. The concept of doctoring T-cells genetically was first developed in the 1980s by Dr. Zelig Eshhar at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

"Chimera is a Greek word for an animal of two species fused together. A CAR is a protein composed of an antibody that can bind to a known target along with a fusion partner, the other part of the CAR, that contains the business end—it’s basically the engine that activates the T cell and tells it to kill the tumor cell that it’s bound to, and also makes the T cell proliferate.

What are T Cells ?

Our immune system destroys "enemy" cells like infections by recognizing the foreign chemical markers ,the antigens on the surface of the foreign invader cells. An antigen is a substance, a chemical marker or signal on the surface of the "enemy" foreign cell that is invading the body, The antigen marker when recognized by the immune system leads to the production of one or more antibodies. Antibodies are the body's roving defense system against infection and disease elements.

T cells are one part of the body's defense system involved in the immune system.
The cancer therapy uses modified T cells that can target specific cancers. But what are T cells? T cells belong to a group of white blood cells known as lymphocytes, and play a central role in cell-mediated immunity. They mature in the thymus gland. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes, such as B cells and natural killer cells (NK cells), by the presence of a T cell receptor (TCR) on the cell surface.

What Are Antigens ?

An antigen is a substance that evokes the production of one or more antibodies. Antibodies are the body's roving defense system against infection and disease elements. Each antibody binds to a specific antigen by way of an interaction similar to the fit between a lock and a key. Our immune system destroys "enemy" cells like infections by recognizing the foreign chemical markers ,the antigens, on the surface of the foreign invader cells. The substance may be from the external environment or formed within the body (aka rheumatoid arthritis). So an antigen is a kind of chemical signal or marker on a cell surface.

According to Dr. Carl June, "Chimera is a Greek word for an animal of two species fused together. A CAR is a protein composed of an antibody that can bind to a known target —in our model we picked the CD19 antigen found on B cell leukemias. The fusion partner, the other part of the CAR, contains the business end—it’s basically the engine that activates the T cell and tells it to kill the tumor cell that it’s bound to, and also makes the T cell proliferate. So the CAR does two major things:
1. It makes the T cell become leukemia specific, and
2. It makes the T cells divide when they encounter a tumor cell".

In Girl’s Last Hope, Altered Immune Cells Beat Leukemia

"To make T-cells search out and destroy cancer, researchers must equip them to do several tasks: recognize the cancer, attack it, multiply, and live on inside the patient. A number of research groups have been trying to do this, but the T-cells they engineered could not accomplish all the tasks. As a result, the cells’ ability to fight tumors has generally been temporary".

CAR Against Pancreatic Cancer

The method which has been targeted at leukemia will be targeted at pancreatic cancer. It involves adding gene sequences from different sources to enable the T-cells to produce what researchers call chimeric antigen receptors, or CARs — protein complexes that transform the cells into “serial killers.” Serial killers because the Transformed T cells kill multiple cancer cells.

See

Expression of immunoglobulin-T-cell receptor chimeric molecules
as functional receptors with antibody-type specificity

Home Page of Dr. Zelig Eshhar

Pancreatic Cancer Patients to Receive Revolutionary New Immunotherapy in CRI-Funded Clinical Trial at UPENN

Time to put the CAR-T before the horse

The Animal That Wouldn't Die :Aging Backwards Perhaps It's Genes Hold the Secret of Life

2012-11-29T17:43:00.000-06:00

The Animal That Would't Die: Aging Backwards Like a Chicken That Can Grow Back into an Egg Do This Animal's Genes Hold The Secret of Life

Why Is This Important to People ?

Debunking the Most Fundamental Law of the Natural World: The Result Potential Immortality

It sounds like an episode from the old Twilight Zone show, aging backwards. Remember the episode where an elderly couple pay to be turned young again? Imagine for a moment an animal stabbed repeatedly, it curls up into a ball seemingly ready to die. Then slowly something happens and then slowly step by step it recreates itself anew, it has defied death! Fiction? No, apparently it is fact. A jellyfish with a certain rare ability, an ability to defy death, an ability to grow backwards in time. Like a chicken that can grow back into an egg!

What is So Remarkable ?

The NY Times has an article about an amazing animal, an animal whose genes might hold the secret of defying death, maybe of regenerating organs like new hands or new eyes, an animal that seemingly does something impossible. It can grow backwards in time. When physical damage or other crises arise, instead of sure death, Turritopsis( the jelly fish) transforms all of its existing cells into a younger state.

What was the Research Being Conducted?

"Sommer was conducting research on hydrozoans, small invertebrates that, depending on their stage in the life cycle, resemble either a jellyfish or a soft coral."Sommer kept his hydrozoans in petri dishes and observed their reproduction habits. After several days he noticed that his Turritopsis dohrnii was behaving in a very peculiar manner, for which he could hypothesize no earthly explanation. Plainly speaking, it refused to die. It appeared to age in reverse, growing younger and younger until it reached its earliest stage of development, at which point it began its life cycle anew".

What Did The Scientists Say About Potential Immortality?

But several biologists in Genoa, fascinated by Sommer’s finding, continued to study the species, and in 1996 they published a paper called “Reversing the Life Cycle.” The scientists described how the species — at any stage of its development — could transform itself back to a polyp, the organism’s earliest stage of life, “thus escaping death and achieving potential immortality.” This finding appeared to debunk the most fundamental law of the natural world — you are born, and then you die".

"Like cancer cells, "some cells of this jellyfish that were supposed to [die] … are able to switch off some genes and to switch on some other genes, reactivating genetic programs that were used in earlier stages of the life cycle."

Watch this Video about Aging in Reverse in Jellyfish.

Can A Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality

Immortal Jellyfish Swarms World's Oceans

Forever Young

Shin Kubota Homepage

Maria Pia Miglietta HomePage

Reversing the Life Cycle: Medusae Transforming into Polyps and Cell Transdifferentiation in Turritopsis nutricula (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa)