Showing posts with label disease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disease. Show all posts

Protecting Children From the Environment Causes Disease in Old Age

When is human advancement and achievement not necessarily so? When improvement leads to deleterious side effects. There are theories that protection of children from the environment by medication and physical intervention causes such things as hay fever and autism. These are only theories and not proven.

Another issue is the massive intake of carbohydrates humans have taken into their bodies over the last ten thousand years. We have not evolved to digest the diet. For most of our evolution we lived on meat and fruit with tubers in small amounts.  Societies have changed a great deal.

There are now strong indications that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by people keeping the environment too clean when children are toddling around. "Good" bacteria and viruses do not get into our bodies. It should be noted that the rate of Alzheimer's is rising only in wealthy nations. Lack of microbes could also be increasing strokes.

This seems to be an insurmountable problem. Do we let children catch diseases some of which can be deadly and crippling, or do we continue along our present path? Even providing clean drinking water reduces exposure to microorganisms. Perhaps science can develop ways of injecting the required T-cells into people. It is becoming an epidemic. The number of AD sufferers will treble by the year 2050. Some estimates put the rate higher.
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Health by Ty Buchanan
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Asian Tiger Mosquitoes Moving To the Australian Mainland

With climate change insects move geographically. New regions open up to be populated. Warming of the Australian mainland has taken place. The Asian tiger mosquito has been found on Thursday and Horn islands in the Torres strait close to Australia itself.

Dengue and chicungunya are the greatest dangers. These diseases can be fatal. There is no way the mosquitoes can be stopped. They will move into Australia proper. Spraying insecticides will only slow them down. They won't fly to Australia. They will be brought here on small boats moving all over the Torres Strait.

The threat is serious. Once established in Australia Asian tiger mosquitoes will be spread by humans as far south as Tasmania. They prefer a cooler climate than the main dengue host, Aedes aegypti. Tigers will carry dengue, however.

The outside-life of Australians is under threat. Having a barbecue will be a dangerous pastime. Recently it has been established that mosquitoes are not native to Papua New Guinea. They came from Indonesia, so migration is normal for the insect.
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Environment
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Spread of Malaria to Man from Other Apes - Just Theory

Gorillas caused it. Scientists say mosquitoes split into a new form capable of infecting humans when Man and chimpanzees had a common ancestor. This is a myth. It is not based on fact. Bonobos have also been singled out for blame despite no parasites being found in bonobos or western gorillas, though some parasites were found in chimpanzees and eastern gorillas.

Before conclusions can be drawn on such research evidence of this mystery ancestor must be found first. This is all hearsay. How can present day apes be responsible for current malaria infection. Gorillas are only found in very small parts of Africa, not all around the world.

This wreaks of leaps of faith not science. It is no better than religious beliefs based on prophets who probably never existed. It is scientific fact that evil spirits do not cause disease, yet millions of people believe that a man, Jesus, cured illness by casting out spirits.  Note, everyone is entitled to follow a religion.
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Conservation
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New Type of Flu From the Middle East

Generally, people do not keep up with the latest infectious diseases that could come their way. We all know about the Asian flu because it has been around for a while. However, there is little fear involved because many believe that they will not catch it.

Last year a new disease appeared called Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). It killed more than half of the 79 people infected. In the serious 1957-1958 Asian Flu outbreak the death rate was 0.13 per cent.

While MERS is still present, the number of new cases has held steady. There is a worry that the disease could suddenly become highly contagious. It is not yet known whether the virus is spread by human contact or it has an animal source. The number of cases did rise during the Muslim hajj to Mecca.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is in an emergency sitting at present considering whether to declare the coronavirus a public health emergency. An emergency would allow travel restrictions to be put in place. Pilgrims may deem to ignore this and travel anyway, putting their faith in God. The Saudi government is not keen to stop Muslims attending the hajj. Countries cannot be forced to implement restrictions.
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Health
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High Meat Consumption Blamed for Obesity - Questionable!

In the twentieth century Australia was dominant in swimming at international events. This was largely due to the high consumption of meat in the diet of Australians. As time went by other nations noticed this and their athletes ate more meat. Today, Even small island nations have access to reasonably priced beef, pork, lamb and poultry. Consequently, Australia's dominance has waned.

Despite consuming a lot of meat, Australians did not die at a young age. Indeed, longevity was extended. New research points to an increase in heart disease, obesity, cancer and diabetes that do tend to shorten life. An example was given of Hawaii where these diseases are rapidly increasing. Red meat is seen as the major cause.

This research has flaws. Higher red meat consumption cannot be directly linked to more "modern" maladies. It could be coincidence. No tests were done on the rising consumption of refined carbohydrates. The call for more vegetables in the diet will improve the situation, but only if less red meat and refined carbohydrates are consumed.

There is an indirect link between red meat consumption and more disease. The feeding of antibiotics to animals to improve body weight has impacted on humans. Antibiotics are not so effective in people generally. Some countries have banned this practice, but all nations need to do so. Overall, there is no evidence of antibiotics in animal feed leading to modern diseases. Control of infections is the biggest problem.
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Society
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Potentially Lethal Leishmaniasis Affects Many Travelling Abroad

Be careful when you travel abroad - you could bring something unwanted home with you. In 2002 Alfred Heliah and his wife Helene accompanied research scientists on a trip to Peru. They volunteered to assist in the study of red and green macaws. During their visit they were constantly attacked by biting insects. Though they wore protection right down to their wrists they were bitten black and blue.

On their return home the wounds slowly healed. While shaving one morning Alfred noticed what he thought were pimples on the side of his chin. They didn't hurt, but over time they grew larger. They eventually burst, becoming shallow ulcers oozing a yellow discharge. Treating them with antibiotic ointment had no affect.  A new lump appeared and he thought it was time to see a doctor.

After being told by Alfred that he had recently returned from the tropics in Peru, doctors at the local hospital believed that he had leishmanisis that could devour the flesh on his face. It causes major damage to the spleen leading to death. The disease is transmitted by the humble sandfly. Leishmania parasites live in the sandfly's gut and it is vomited into open wounds.

Though the general public has hardly heard of the disease it is endemic to eighty-eight countries. During Desert Storm in Iraq twenty US soldiers came down with the parasitic infection. After returning home, eight more came down with the disease.

Getting back to Alfred. A tropical disease specialist Dr Angami examined him and asked how many were on the team in Peru, Alfred told him about thirty. The Doctor frighteningly replied that some more in the group would have the disease by now.

Biopsies showed that Alfred did indeed have Leishmaniasis. He was given Pentostam, a nitrogenic metal and a medication never approved by the FDA - the only treatment available. Patients must sign away any damages entitlement from the medication's side effects. After only three days with Pentostam being infused into his blood Alfred began to improve. Though he felt worse, doctors could see he was recovering. Alfred did recover. However, there was always the possibility of infectious bumps reappearing at any time in the future. A side effect of Pentostam is tremor in the hands. Alfred had to live with this for the rest of his life. When Alfred was offered a research trip to Africa, he turned it down. He had suffered enough.
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Health
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Animal To Human Transplants Allowed in Australia

An old joke: Do you want a new heart? Then get one from a gorilla - "grunt!"

This is not a joke any longer. Australia has just given the go ahead for animal-to-human transplants. This is a turn around from the outright banning of such transplants in 2004. There are two conditions: one, a monitoring system must be in place: and two, there must be a patient register. New Zealand allowed transplants in 2005. The first "transplant" involved implanting insulin producing pig cells into volunteer diabetics.

This change has happened when direct research on animals such as chimpanzees is being reduced because tests can more effectively be done in a test tube. Results in many instances are quite different for chimpanzees, for example. This was discovered in AIDs research when chimpanzees didn't get AIDs. They became carriers of the disease. Animals are proving more useful when material at a cellular level is transplanted. Using animals as hosts is far more beneficial than just infecting them and seeing what happens. Soon, infusion of material to patients suffering from Parkinson's disease will begin.

The medical world is hoping that research done in Australia will be of a high standard and will add to knowledge about new medical techniques. Great care is needed in housing animals such as pigs in sterile environments. It is hoped that improved transplant success from animals will reduce the waiting lists for organ transplants.
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Science
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Rate of Food Allergies Is Rising

Why does Australia have the highest rate of food alergy in the world?  This is a question that should be answered.  Managing the problem is important.  Research is needed to find out why this is the case.

People in developing countries are rapidly catching up with the Western world as they adopt a "modern" food consumption style.  Clearly we are eating the wrong kind of food.  Refined products and those with artificial food flavoring, coloring and preservatives must be responsible. 

Humans have eaten natural food for over 99 per cent of evolutionary time.  The way we live has also changed.  Children today are protected from the natural environment.  Only a small minority of Western children actually play outside, where there are are natural flora and fauna so they can build resistance.

Food allergy has increased more than alergies such as asthma.  Only northern Europeans evolved to be able to digest milk.  It is no wonder that mixed race citizens and even those of general European decent have a milk allergy.  When Asian people move to Western countries whole families go down with allergies.

We need a return to the old ways.  Children need to put down electronic game pads, go outside and experiment with nature.  A controversial thing is mothers' milk.  Feeding young children cows milk is unnatural.  Mothers pass on disease resistance when they feed babies breast milk.  It contains immune-modulating compounds that make a young child's gut operate more efficiently.

For many allergies there is no treatment.  The only answer is to find the "culprit" and stop ingesting it or being near it.  Even autism has been shown to respond to high doses of probiotics.
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Science
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Much to Learn About the Human Genome

It was thought that once the human genome was known "interpreting" how things work would be easy. However, this is not the case. The hereditary sequencing in our genes is not the only factor determining what we are and what we do. Only 3 per cent of human genes are actually involved in the "code". Little is known about what the rest do.

It has been discovered recently that these "dumb" genes turn the letter genes on and off. They determine whether a cell becomes a brain or kidney cell, for example. There are 3 billion base gene structures, so there is a long way to go in understanding basic functions. At any one time 80 per cent of genes are active. Some are triggered by proteins. Others change into RNA that regulate letter genes.

In regard to understanding human health, many bases just keep chromosomes quiet. A complicating factor is that genes overlap and have many end points - not singular. Over 4 million gene triggers have be found and they are not all located near their target letter gene. The next step is to find out which base changes affect susceptibility to arthritis, diabetes and so on.
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Science
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Synthetic Heart Repair Conduit

Treatment for heart disease is advancing at a rapid pace. Soon, a tiny piece of artery will be removed from a patient and a new heart conduit will be formed. This is for minor problems in the heart, less that 5mm wide.

Conduits are also being made from synthetic materials. Toleration of foreign substances is not a problems because it degrades quickly. They are used to go over the outside of a graft to stop bleeding. The synthetic conduits are made of a fine poly-(glycerol sebacate) net coated with polycaprolactone and the anticoagulant heparin. Mesh holes are too small for blood to pass through. Nothing of the implant remains after three months. A new structure of endogenous cells with M2 macrophages (which reduces inflammation) remains.

Though tests have only been done on rats, use in humans will probably be just as successful. Large grafts using the material will be done to see if this is feasible. This will be a welcome advance in medicine. A graft made of the body's own tissue will last much longer and patients will not need to be treated again for obstruction in the new graft.
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Health

Tasmanian Devil Cancer Is Parasitic

Tasmanian devils have a unique form of cancer. It is the only type that is contagious. Just how it is transmitted is the unknown factor. Scientists studying the disease now believe it should be reclassified as a parasite. Though at first glance it seems to be a cancer it has many characteristics of a parasite.

The parasitic cancer stays in a host until the sufferer is irretrievably damaged then it will move on to a new host. It uses the Tasmanian devils predilection for violence to spread itself. It remains alive by sticking to the teeth. When devils fight they snap at each others' mouths causing blood to flow.

It is really a new category of disease. Though a cancer it not in other animals. A parasite will exist in many animals. The disease originated in one female devil during the 1990s. Just how it originated is not known. It is such a difficult disease to treat. The Tasmanian devil could reach its demise in less than 15 years.
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Science

Staying Out of the Sun Prevents Skin Cancer but Not Osteoporosis

Australians are so obsessed about staying out of the sun to prevent skin cancer that the number of people getting osteoporosis is increasing. This is a sad consequence of a positive behavior change. Osteoporosis would not be a problem if more people took calcium tablets with vitamin D each day. Unfortunately, many would rather spend their money on other things. The disease affects young people as well as the elderly.

The Nepean Consensus Statement meeting has been praised for making the disease more widely known. However, money spent on such activities is wasted, considering you can treat yourself without actually being diagnosed with the disease. Developing "fancy" management practises is unnecessary.

Giving calcium and vitamin D to the elderly who already suffer with osteoporosis is a waste of time, because once you have the disease it cannot be cured. A person need not adopt a calcium rich diet: calcium and vitamin D in tablet form are easily absorbed by the body. Even exercise is questionable, as this could cause bone fractures in susceptible people. Bone density tests just show that someone already has the disease.
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Health

Alzheimer's Can Now Be Diagnosed When No Symptoms Are Present

New findings on Alzheimer's have been released in Australia. The build up of beta-amyloid plaque is thought to be the main cause of Alzheimer's and it is also responsible for cognitive decline over the long term. The presence of plaque in the brain enables diagnosis of Alzheimer's even in people who show no immediate symptoms. This was announced by Dr Christopher Rowe, professor of nuclear medicine at Melbourme's Austin Hospital.

A patient can now know years in advance that he/she will develop Alzheimer's. Whether this is a good thing is debatable, though it does give time for a person to get their things in order. Depression could be the result of making such an emotive discovery.

Eighteen million people suffer from Alzheimer's worldwide. With the large segment of the population moving into the elderly group this is expected to reach 34 million by 2025. A new drug to fight plaque has been approved in the US. Hopefully, a medication can be found that will dissolve the plaque.
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Health

Western Adults Have Chronic Raised Immune Responses

People who live in industrialized countries are physically weak when they are attacked by parasites, microbes and viruses. This is because children are increasingly being brought up in clean, sterile environments. If they are not exposed to these dangers as children they could die if "bugs" invade their bodies when they become adults.

In Ecuador, the Shuar people have a high childhood death rate, three times that in Western countries. However, as adults their immune systems are stronger. A group of Shuar adults was tested for inflammatory levels. Some had very low levels. Others had moderately high levels, below the chronic level, probably because they were in the process of becoming ill or had been sick.

Western adults have a generally high level of inflammation, constantly. There bodies fight "minor" infections all the time. Consequently, damage is caused to the body resulting in diabetes, cancer, heart attack and stroke. A Chronic level of inflammation can be a killer.

As susceptible Shuar children die, adults develop the "correct" immune response, only fighting back strongly against dangerous infections. Western adults' immune systems are not "tuned", as childhood minor infections are prevented. Basically, this is why people in developing countries may die in an epidemic, but they can survive an infective environment better than first world adults. Third world adults carry infections and have a mild immune response, when Western people would probably not survive living in such muddy conditions, particularly with the dirty water.
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Health

Handwriting Shows Whether a Person Has Heart Problems

Just as jerky handwriting can indicate that a person has cancer, so handwriting shows if a person has heart disease. Christina Strang gave a presentation at the International Graphonomics Society in Melbourne stating that she examined the handwriting of over 1,000 people in their 60s.

The handwriting expert magnified handwriting looking for traits such as momentary stop-starts, location of dots, odd shaped 'o's, etc. She found that people with cardiac problems had more "resting dots" in the upper parts of 'a', 'e' and 'o's, vis-a-vis the control group.

Doctors have dismissed the findings as being too general and unscientific, in much the same way as they did with similar research into Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's diseases.
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Health

Culling Could Destroy the Tasmanian Devil

Tasmanian devils are still under threat despite culling programs. Far too many devils must be killed to eradicate the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), so many in fact that it could decimate the Animal itself. During the incubation period of the disease, devils have no facial deformity and these animals slip through the cull net.

Current estimates give the Tasmanian devil only 25 years for survival in the wild. Work is in progress to find a vaccine. An "insurance population" is being established on the Australian mainland. And devils in north-western Tasmania have a natural genetic resistance; the spread there is slowing.

Just why the disease developed is unknown. It began in 1996. Because devils bite each other during normal interaction, DFTD spreads rapidly. The devil population has fallen by 60 per cent due to the dangerous facial tumour disease.
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Biology

New Hope for Kidney Tranplant Patients

Kidney transplants could soon be a thing of the past. It will soon be possible to take kidney cells from a patient, reprogram them, then put the rejuvenated cells back in. Sharon Ricardo of Monash University has taken cells from a person's kidney and made them into progenitors that will develop into healthy kidney cells. In China kidney cells have been isolated in urine. These cells are perfectly okay for reprogramming.

The process is called induced pluripotency. Transplanting the new healthy cells will also enable further study into the causes of kidney disease. Kidney transplantation is a drain on health resources worldwide. This new treatment will save millions of dollars.

Success in treating kidney disease will lead to similar applications for other diseases. This could impact on health treatment in the future, revolutionizing health care.
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