Group items tagged

The cause of most cases of pediatric leukemia is not known, as most sufferers do not display any risk factors for the disease. However scientists have begun to understand how certain changes in DNA can cause leukemia. Cancer can be caused by mutation oncogenes, the genes that control when cells divide. A translocation between chromosomes 2 and 22 causes almost all cases of childhood chronic myeloid leukemia and childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia. Other genetic mutations can be inherited, however most of the mutations that cause leukemia develop after birth. Environmental factors, when combined with a genetic predisposition for leukemia, may trigger the disease. However the cause of most pediatric leukemia remains unknown.

This essay explains the types of complications related to neurological conditions and how they effect the body. The first complication is of course related to the origination of brain tumors themselves. Brain metastases is caused by the spread of cancerous cells to brain from other areas of the body. Symptoms could include that of headaches to vision problems. The next topic of discussion is the Epidural Spinal Cord Compression. This is another type of metastases which can lead to spinal cord compression and possible paralysis. Common issues associated with this type of metastases include breast, prostate, or lung cancer. Additionally, Plexopathies are caused by the spread of cancer to the plexus. This type of complication causes serious pain and has the ability to migrate towards other areas of the plexus. Leptomeningeal Metastases is caused by the spread of cells to the tissues which cover the brain and spinal cord and could effect cognitive skills. Another complication is a vascular disorder. Vascular disorders and cancer are believed to correlate with a deep vein thrombosis. Finally, paraneoplastic disorder is a complication that is caused by a group of conditions which create biological side effects. These side effects include release of substances into the blood stream and inappropriate immune system responses.

Alzheimer's is actually a common form of dementia. Roughly 50-80 percent of patients with dementia are associated with Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is considered a neurological disorder with loss of memory, thinking and behavioral function. Alzheimer's is common diagnosed in patients 65 and older with the exception of patients with Early-Onset Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's progressively worsens over time and commonly culminates in death 8 years after symptoms start to arrive. Again no cure has been found for alzheimer's, but certain medications are used to treat symptoms. A build-up of plaques and tangles in the brain is suspected to kill nerve cells and cause a loss of brain function. The loss of nerve cells causes gaps in the communication network and eventually causes a loss of function in those areas of the brain. Although scientists do not know their exact role in Alzheimer's, patients have been associated with an abundant amount of these abnormal structures.

Although popularized by the media as "healthy," vaccinations bring more harm to the human body then they do health. Multiple studies have found that those children injected with vaccinations actually caught more disease than those not vaccinated. Vaccinations are not guaranteed to work, and can actually cause severe complications. Few vaccinations have been successful; these effective immunizations protect against one disease, but increase risk of other viruses. Vaccines contain harmful ingredients that can cause cancers and leukemia, and are even linked to AIDS. Vaccines are also connected to brain damage, lowered IQ, ADD, learning disabilities, and autism. Vaccinations are composed of harmful ingredients, are illogically produced, and cause more diseases than they prevent.

Washington University School of Medicine and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital have teamed up to identify genetic mutations that cause pediatric cancer. There are over 600 patient's genes being analyzed. The tumor cells are compared to the patients healthy cells and the differences are recorded. The program is trying to identify a mutation that causes a healthy cell to turn into a cancerous one. This in turn can help scientists develop new treatments to help young cancer patients.

This article goes on to explain two different types of tumors and then states how they start to spread. One of the types of tumors is the primary brain tumor which originates in the brain itself. This type of tumor begins as normal cells mutate their DNA and grow rapidly across the brain. The other type of brain tumor is the Secondary or Metastatic brain tumor. This type of tumor is generally caused by a metastasis of cancerous cells from other organs of the body. Most often this type of tumor originates in areas such as the breast and the colon. Of these two types of brain tumors the metastatic seems to be much more common than the primary tumors.

There are two types of strokes. One is caused by a hemorrhage, and the other is caused by a clot. When someone has a stroke it is crucial to get immediate medical attention, but doctors lose a lot of time waiting for the results of MRIs or CAT scans in order to conclude if a stroke was caused by a hemorrhage or clot. So, researchers in Sweden have developed a super helmet of sorts that can judge whether a stroke was caused by a clot or hemorrhage. The helmet works by sending low-intensity frequencies through the head; then, the helmet senses how the waves scatter. If there is a hemorrhage the helmet will pick up how the waves reflect off of the pooling blood and display it on an attached computer. This innovative helmet will help EMTs determine what kind of stroke a patient is having which will increase the efficiency in which a stroke victim is treated. Helmet trials are scheduled to begin this fall.

Swine flu has become a world wide scare across America causing people to over think the entire situation. When under reacting to the situation with swine flu it puts a huge dent into public heath and harms the vaccine industry. When over reacting it causes tax payers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars which greatly effects the economy. The H1N1 scare is not to serious by saying yes, 2 billion people will be effected with the virus but about half of that won't even know they have the virus. 

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder associated with sudden seizures. In diagnosing epilepsy, the patient must have displayed two unexpected seizures. Epilepsy can be life - threatening and disabling or benign. Typical symptoms associated with epilepsy are strange sensations, emotions, and behavior. The cause of epilepsy is uncertain, but abnormal brain wiring may have an effect. With no cure for epilepsy, modern day medications and surgeries are used to treat patients. Due to the stigma associated with epilepsy, some children develop behavioral and emotional issues. The restriction of independence, like being denied a drivers license due to seizures, is also emotionally challenging for these patients. Current research being conducted for patients with epilepsy include the development of new models used to determine treatments, and brain implants which control seizures. 

This article pertains to the neurological disorder, Parkinson's Disease (PD). PD is known to reduce motor system function due to the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. Most symptoms related to PD include tremors, trembling, and slowness of movement (bradykinesia). As the disease progresses these tremors begin to effect daily activities like chewing and speaking. Unfortunately there is no cure for Parkinson's Disease. The most common treatment for PD is the use of medications such as levodopa. Due to complications with current medications other treatments like deep brain stimulation and surgery are commonly used. Parkinson's Disease is both chronic and progressive. Tremors and other symptoms will occur for long periods of time and possibly grow worse. Patients with PD experience varying symptoms and intensities. Current research being done in response to Parkinson's is being conducted at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and elsewhere. Current topics of research include discovering the cause of PD, and the development of protective drugs needed to delay, prevent, and even reverse the disease.

This article didn't necessary discuss what caused Lyme disease, but rather it talked about how the modern Lyme disease test is inefficient in determining whether a patient truly has Lyme disease. See, the concept is that the Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. So, natuarally the Lyme disease test is designed to only look for said bacterium, but the problem is that in Europe Lyme disease is commonly caused by the bacterium Borrelia garinii which means that if one were to contract Lyme disease from the bacterium Borrelia garinii and get tested for Lyme disease in America they would get a negative result despite actually having the disease. European screening for Lyme disease is called the c-6 based ELISA test and it can detect approximetly 18 different species of Borrelia, but the CDC reports that this test isn't used in America, and this neglect can prove detrimental for many who have Lyme disease. As a result of America's dreadful Lyme disease test many companies have developed their own tests, but none of those have shown to be any more reliable than the one recommended by the CDC. Thusly showing that America should improve its Lyme disease test.

This article is revealing the facts found from a study done on humans. This study shows that over thinking something can actually cause a person to preform worse at the task. This article also states the differences between the two types of memory. People where asked to think about riding a bike. Most people performed very poorly when it came to the details of riding bike. Only when they where guessing do most perform oaky.

A woman with a solitary fibrous cancer, the cancer is only seen a couple hundred times a year, was enrolled MI-ONCOSEQ which led to the discovery of the mutation that causes this cancer. Researchers at University of Michigan ran the tumors genome and identified a mutations. The mutation was unusual, a fusion between two genes, NAB2 and STAT6. Normally mutation are identified because of the they are seen over and over again. However, in this woman's case, there were no known mutations, so scientists looked at what had changed. Then 51 other samples of solitary fibrous tumors were tested for the mutation; all of them tested positive for the mutation. The NAB2-STAT6 fusion may prove hard to treat with target therapy, but scientists may be able to disrupt its growth cycle which leads to this fusion. More research still needs to be done to determine ways in which the knowledge of this mutations can be applied, but for now it is a great start at tackling these rare tumors.

If a mutation occurs in a person's genes it can cause cancer. The future of cancer therapy is identifying and targeting these mutations. A trial at the University of Florida, known as NSCABP-FC-7 takes the genetic fingerprint of a patients DNA and gives them a personalized treatment based on the information. The idea is to move away from the traditional cytotoxic treatment, and towards less toxic personalized medicine. However, the toxicity of cancer drugs is decreasing due to technology's increasing ability to target and destroy specific cells, and not healthy cells. Washington University St. Louis as well as other institutions have become part of the study. Overall, the future of cancer treatment lies in targeted therapies and personalized medicine.

The Cincinnati Children's Hospital did a study on teenage drivers. This study showed that in a 40 min driving period kids with ADHD strayed from the lane and drove faster than kids without. Then they had the kids text when driving. Texting adds a great risk to kids with ADHD because of the focus that is needed to text. This has cause the hospital to push that no texting and driving laws be passed and enforced.

ADHD in adults is much different from kids. ADHD is present in 2-4% of adults. This causes problems staying organized, difficulty getting work done, and procrastination. Other symptoms that where found are restlessness, behavioral, learning, and emotional problems. Most people will act before they think and try to do multiple things at once.

The brain has a balance between "gray matter" and "white matter." People suffering from chronic stress tend to have more white matter, which is white tissue with a  myelin coating. Studies have shown that the stem cells in people with chronic stress mature into oligodendrocytes, which produce myelin. As a result, their learning and memory skills are affected because more oligodendrocytes are being produced instead of neurons. It is also believed that stress causes the hippocampus to become strongly connected to the amygdala, weakening the connection to the prefrontal cortex. This means that people with stress disorders have faster fear responses and have bigger responses to stressful situations than they normally would. 

Children who are abused are more likely to develop serious health problems later down the line. New research has shown that maltreated children have certain changes to their glucocorticoid receptor gene which controls social functioning. The changes in this gene also impact the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, causing difficulties controlling emotional behavior and stress levels. The immune system is also affected by this gene. This explains why abused children are more likely to develop certain illnesses as well as emotional problems. 

As the title suggests, this article discussed how music can affect the choices someone makes. This idea came from an experiment where a group of people listened to music similar to the beginning of the Simpson's theme song (a triton) which is where the notes are spread out and longer. The other group of people listened to music similar to twinkle twinkle (a set of fifths) which is when the notes are consecutive and shorter. After both groups listened to their selected music they were asked to take a grocery list and divide the items on the list into groups. The results showed that the group that listed to the triton music made more inclusive or broader groups whereas the group of people that listened to the fifths were more detailed and had less inclusive groups. After discussing the initial experiment the paper moved on to talk about a new/ developing theory in the field of psychology called construal level theory. This theory states that there is a direct link between how far things are and how people interpret them. Then what scientist have done is make a correlation between the construal level theory and the initial experiment discussed in the passage. Scientists say certain types of music certainly do evoke certain emotions; so, the same can be said for how echoing tones can cause one to interpret things broadly whereas consistent tones can cause one to interpret things more specifically.

A 13 year old Brittany Donovan was born with a fragile X chromosome from her biological father which was a sperm donor. A fragile X chromosome causes slowed learning and can be also classified as retardation. It is said that the child can sue the sperm donor bank that help create her under liability laws. All Brittany had to claim was that the product was harmful.