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Mars Base

Laser-powered 'needle' promises pain-free injections - 0 views

phys.org/...-powered-needle-pain-free.html

scibyte63 MedicalDevice

shared by Mars Base on 14 Sep 12 - No Cached
  • To test the effectiveness of the drug delivery system, a special gel is used to mimic the behavior of human skin
  • hypodermic needles are still the first choice for ease-of-use, precision, and control
  • A new laser-based system, however, that blasts microscopic jets of drugs into the skin could soon make getting a shot as painless as being hit with a puff of air
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • The laser is combined with a small adaptor that contains the drug to be delivered, in liquid form, plus a chamber containing water that acts as a "driving" fluid
  • A flexible membrane separates these two liquids
  • This type of laser is commonly used by dermatologists, "particularly for facial esthetic treatments
  • Each laser pulse, which lasts just 250 millionths of a second, generates a vapor bubble inside the driving fluid.
  • pressure of that bubble puts elastic strain on the membrane, causing the drug to be forcefully ejected from a miniature nozzle in a narrow jet a mere 150 millionths of a meter (micrometers) in diameter
  • little larger than the width of a human hair
  • impacting jet pressure is higher than the skin tensile strength and thus causes the jet to smoothly penetrate into the targeted depth underneath the skin
  • Tests on guinea pig skin show that the drug-laden jet can penetrate up to several millimeters beneath the skin surface, with no damage to the tissue
  • Because of the narrowness and quickness of the jet, it should cause little or no pain
  • This region of the skin has no nerve endings, so the method "will be completely pain-free
  • ou/Seoul National University. In previous studies, the researchers used a laser wavelength that was not well absorbed by the water of the driving liquid, causing the formation of tiny shock waves that dissipated energy and hampered the formation of the vapor bub
  • laser with a wavelength of 2,940 nanometers, which is readily absorbed by water. This allows the formation of a larger and more stable vapor bubble
  • The laser-driven microjet injector can precisely control dose and the depth of drug penetration underneath the skin. Control via laser power is the major advancement over other devices
  • now working with a company to produce low-cost replaceable injectors for clinical use
  • Further work would be necessary to adopt it for scenarios like mass vaccine injections for children
Mars Base

Researchers find clues to how the brain decides when to rest - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...2013-01-clues-brain-rest.html

scibyte80 Learning

shared by Mars Base on 22 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • A team of researchers
  • has found what they call a "signal" that tells a person when to rest while engaging in work, and then when to resume once rested
  • used fMRI scans on a group of volunteers to study a part of the brain normally associated with pain perception and found what amounts to a signal calling for the conscious mind to take a break
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • Scientists studying how people make decisions regarding work have over time devised theories of cost versus benefit scenarios to describe what causes people to engage in work activities, or to not
  • Not so well studied is how people come to decide when it's time to take a break
  • researchers enlisted the aid of 39 participants who were asked to squeeze a spring-loaded handgrip over and over as they underwent fMRI scans
  • Each was promised a monetary reward for doing so based on a sliding scale. The longer they squeezed, the better the reward would be
  • In analyzing the fMRI images, the researchers discovered that activity in a part of the brain called the posterior insula (normally associated with pain perception), built over time as the volunteers continued squeezing – a signal of sorts
  • grew during effort, and then faded during rest times – peaking just before resting
  • researchers suggest that when a certain peak is reached, the rest of the brain is alerted to the need to take a break
  • The team also found that increasing the difficulty of the squeezing led to the signal increasing at a faster rate, but slowed when a bigger reward was offered despite the increased workload
  • They also found that bumping up the reward during a rest period caused the lowest signal point to come more quickly, indicating that rest time was up sooner than it would have been otherwise
  • suggest that their observations indicate that they brain is constantly engaged in a struggle to maximize reward, while simultaneously minimizing the amount of work needed to get that reward, and uses rests stops to help it get there in a manner best suited to the work at hand.
Mars Base

Headache Tree Is A Pain In The Brain - Science News - 0 views

www.sciencenews.org/...he_tree_is_a_pain_in_the_brain

scibyte20 brain headache

shared by Mars Base on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • One whiff of a plant known as the headache tree can spur intense, excruciating pain — and now scientists know why
  • An ingredient in the tree sets off a chain of events that eventually amps up blood flow to the brain’s outer membrane.
  • Other headache triggers
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • interact with some of the same cellular machinery, suggesting they all work via the same pain-inducing mechanism
  • an international group of researchers extracted the plant compound umbellulone from dried bay laurel leaves
  • Umbellulone tickles the same cellular detector that responds to painfully cold stimuli and the sinus-clearing scent of wasabi and mustard oil
  • triggers the release of a particular protein implicated in migraine headaches
  • This protein prompts blood vessels to swell
Mars Base

New drug reverses loss of brain connections in Alzheimer's disease - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...rses-loss-brain-alzheimer.html

scibyte99 Alzheimer

shared by Mars Base on 18 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • The first experimental drug to boost brain synapses lost in Alzheimer's disease
  • combines two FDA-approved medicines to stop the destructive cascade of changes in the brain that destroys the connections between neurons, leading to memory loss and cognitive decline.
  • The decade-long study
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • shows that NitroMemantine can restore synapses, representing the connections between nerve cells (neurons) that have been lost during the progression of Alzheimer's in the brain
  • These findings actually mean that you might be able to intercede not only early but also a bit later
  • Alzheimer's patient may be able to have synaptic connections restored even with plaques and tangles already in his or her brain.
  • study, conducted in animal models as well as brain cells derived from human stem cells,
  • team mapped the pathway that leads to synaptic damage in Alzheimer
  • found that amyloid beta peptides, which were once thought to injure synapses directly
  • actually induce the release of excessive amounts of the neurotransmitter glutamate from brain cells called astrocytes that are located adjacent to the nerve cells.
  • Normal levels of glutamate promote memory and learning, but excessive levels are harmful
  • Alzheimer's disease, excessive glutamate activates extrasynaptic receptors, designated eNMDA receptors
  • which get hyperactivated and in turn lead to synaptic loss
  • lab had previously discovered how a drug called memantine can be targeted to eNMDA receptors to slow the hyperactivity seen in Alzheimer's.
  • memantine's effectiveness has been limited.
  • memantine—a positively charged molecule—is repelled by a similar charge inside diseased neurons
  • memantine gets repelled from its intended eNMDA receptor target on the neuronal surface.
  • FDA approval of memantine in 2003
  • a fragment of the molecule nitroglycerin—a second FDA-approved drug commonly used to treat episodes of chest pain or angina in people with coronary heart disease—could bind to another site that the Lipton group discovered on NMDA receptors.
  • memantine rather selectively binds to eNMDA receptors, it also functions to target nitroglycerin to the receptor
  • by combining the two, Lipton's lab created a new, dual-function drug
  • researchers developed 37 derivatives of the combined drug before they found one that worked
  • By shutting down hyperactive eNMDA receptors on diseased neurons, NitroMemantine restores synapses between those neurons
  • NitroMemantine brings the number of synapses all the way back to normal within a few months of treatment in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. In fact, the new drug really starts to work within hours
Mars Base

Very Important Invention: Hot Pizza And Coffee Will No Longer Burn Your Mouth | Popular... - 0 views

www.popsci.com/...e-against-hungry-and-impatient

scibyte69

shared by Mars Base on 22 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • University of Texas at Austin researchers have designed an oral strip that relieves burns from hot foods and liquids.
  • oral strip that immediately numbs the pain
  • Users can apply the strips directly to the burn for a dose of benzocaine and therapeutic polymers
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • essentially acts the same as a breath strip, sticking to your mouth and dissolving in your saliva
  • researchers, who are now based at the University of New Mexico
  • currently working on a strip to treat more severe burns that last two to three days
Mars Base

Why Do We Sneeze? - 0 views

news.nationalgeographic.com/...neeze-health-science-sinusitis

GrabBag medical

shared by Mars Base on 16 Aug 12 - No Cached
  • When we breathe in foreign particles, sensors in our noses and sinuses detect the objects. The sensors signal the cilia—tiny, hairlike paddles that line our nostrils and sinuses—to move to expel the irritants
  • burst of air produced by a sneeze not only clears nasal passages but also triggers the cilia sensors to kick the paddles into high gear for an extended period
  • sneeze works by "resetting the system—like Control-Alt-Delete" on a PC
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • Cilia—which resemble a "constantly moving shag carpet" under the microscope—propel potentially harmful material out of our lungs and either up to our nostrils to be expelled or down to our gullets, where stomach acid zaps any harmful organisms
  • People with sinusitis and genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis have trouble clearing out mucus, even though they sneeze a lot.
  • For cilia to work, they need mucus
  • contradiction
  • wonder whether sneezing has a role in getting cilia to clear out mucus—and whether that process was somehow impaired in sinusitis patients
  • puffed air on the lining—a sort of "in vitro sneeze
  • If you puff air on these cells, [their cilia] beat faster
  • from sinusitis patients
  • , the cilia did not beat faster
  • patients aren't getting the same cellular response as patients who don't have the syndrome
  • chronic inflammation or toxins in sinusitis-related bacteria may be preventing the cilia from working properly
  • Can we actually take this information and translate it into a novel therapy
  • scientists could theoretically develop nasal sprays or other topical treatments to get the cilia revved up in people with impaired mucus clearance
  • no "satisfactory treatment option" for chronic sinusitis, which affects an estimated 14 to 16 million Americans
  • usually treated with medicine and surgery to relieve the symptoms, which can include congestion, reduced smell and taste, and pain or swelling in the face
Mars Base

Scientists can now block heroin, morphine addiction; clinical trials possible within 18... - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...heroin-morphine-addiction.html

GrabBag DrugTech

shared by Mars Base on 16 Aug 12 - No Cached
  • Scientists can now block heroin, morphine addiction; clinical trials possible within 18 months
  • an international team of scientists has proven that addiction to morphine and heroin can be blocked, while at the same time increasing pain relief.
  • University of Adelaide and University of Colorado has discovered the key mechanism in the body's immune system that amplifies addiction to opioid drugs
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • the drug (+)-naloxone (pronounced: PLUS nal-OX-own) will selectively block the immune-addiction response
    • Mars Base
      Mars Base on 18 Aug 12
       
      finish this article
Mars Base

Cell therapy shows remarkable ability to eradicate cancer in clinical study - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...arkable-ability-eradicate.html

scibyte121 MedicalTreatment

shared by Mars Base on 20 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • The largest clinical study ever conducted to date of patients with advanced leukemia found that 88 percent achieved complete remissions after being treated with genetically modified versions of their own immune cells.
  • Adult B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), a type of blood cancer that develops in B cells, is difficult to treat because the majority of patients relapse.
  • Patients with relapsed B-ALL have few treatment options; only 30 percent respond to salvage chemotherapy.
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • In the current study, 16 patients with relapsed B-ALL were given an infusion of their own genetically modified immune cells, called T cells.
  • The cells were "reeducated" to recognize and destroy cancer cells that contain the protein CD19.
  • one of the first patients to receive this treatment more than two years ago. He was able to successfully undergo a bone marrow transplant and has been cancer-free and back at work teaching theology since 2011
  • Cell-based, targeted immunotherapy is a new approach to treating cancer that harnesses the body's own immune system to attack and kill cancerous cells.
  • Cell-Based Therapies
  • Unlike with a common virus such as the flu, our immune system does not recognize cancer cells as foreign and is therefore at a disadvantage in eradicating the disease.
  • researchers
  • have been exploring ways to reengineer the body's own T cells to recognize and attack cancer.
  • In March 2013, the same team of researchers first reported the results of five patients with advanced B-ALL who were treated with cell therapy. Remarkably, all five patients achieved complete remissions.
  • In 2003, they were the first to report that T cells engineered to recognize the protein CD19, which is found on B cells, could be used to treat B cell cancers in mice.
  • In the current study, seven of the 16 patients (44 percent) were able to successfully undergo bone marrow transplantation
  • the standard of care and the only curative option for B-ALL patients
  • following treatment.
  • Three patients were ineligible due to failure to achieve a complete remission
  • three were ineligible due to preexisting medical conditions
  • two declined
  • one is still being evaluated for a potential bone marrow transplant.
  • Historically, only 5 percent of patients with relapsed B-ALL have been able to transition to bone marrow transplantation.
  • The study also provides guidelines for managing side effects of cell therapy, which can include severe flu-like symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, low blood pressure, and difficulty breathing
  • The researchers developed diagnostic criteria and a laboratory test that can identify which patients are at greater risk for developing this syndrome.
  • Additional studies to determine whether cell therapy can be applied to other types of cancer are already underway
  • studies to test whether B-ALL patients would benefit from receiving targeted immunotherapy as frontline treatment are being planned.
Mars Base

June 13 - Today in Science History - Scientists born on June 13th, died, and events - 0 views

www.todayinsci.com/...6_13.htm

scibyte134 LookingBackJun

shared by Mars Base on 05 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • Sunspots
  • In 1611, a publication on the newly discovered phenomenon of sunspots was dedicated. Narratio de maculis in sole observatis et apparente earum cum sole conversione. (“Narration on Spots Observed on the Sun and their Apparent Rotation with the Sun”). This first publication on such observations, was the work of Johannes Fabricius, a Dutch astronomer who was perhaps the first ever to observe sunspots. On 9 Mar 1611, at dawn, Johannes had used his telescope to view the rising sun and had seen several dark spots on it. He called his father to investigate this new phenomenon with him. The brightness of the Sun's center was very painful, and the two quickly switched to a projection method by means of a camera obscura
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