Science makes you stop and think

Consider the impact science has had on our lives.  Sometimes we don't notice... lets do so, and consider its implications

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Ain't no rest for the wicked

Some people love to sleep!  Others, consider our non-waking hours as time wasted.  Love it or loathe it (and often we try to avoid it!), but we humans need our sleep.  I’m sure we can all agree that we are usually at our best when we are well rested.  We think clearer, feel better, preform better physically and are more alert.  Sleep has also been shown to help in learning and memory.  However, there are many reasons why in today’s modern world we don’t get enough sleep- we have to look after crying babies, students stay up studying, we get stressed and anxious which only makes it harder to sleep… the list goes on.  New research suggests yet another benefit that may come from getting enough rest, maybe this one will be the one that finally makes us get to bed on time.

Although the outcomes of more or less sleep are clear, I’m sure most of us haven’t stopped to think of what exactly, physiologically, is going on.  

During the day, as we use our brains (and we are using them all of the time, even if we don’t notice!), our brain cells are engaged.  As a by product of their cellular metabolism and of preforming their functions, they produce waste products, all living things do.  Some of these waste products are toxic, and others are associated with neurological disorders- ß-amyloid for example.  It turns out that as we sleep, some cells in our brain shrink, as they are less engaged than during the day.  This results in bigger gaps between cells, called an increase in interstitial space.  At this time, the glymphatic system, your brain’s “plumbing”, is able to clear out these waste products.  Apparently, this cannot be done during the day, as cells are much more engaged and thus bigger.  The article explains this with a clever analogy to a house party- you can entertain your guests or clean up your house, but not both at once. 

These findings have opened up an entire new niche of research!  And they really haven’t come a moment too soon.  Neurological disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are on the rise, a trend that has been identified by the World Health Organization.  Ignorance isn’t bliss- the more we understand what is going on, the better we can take preventative action throughout our lives.   

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24567412

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6156/373

http://www.who.int/mental_health/neurology/en/

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Working out a longer life

Exercise.  It’s something that we all know we should do.  Often, the main obstacle is finding time.  Our lives are busy, hectic and stressful.  Usually it’s hard to find time to have a meal let alone be physically active!  However, each and every year more and more studies are published about the benefits of exercise.  If you haven’t added some physical activity to your typical week, hopefully what I discuss here provides that extra push necessary. 

First and foremost, there is a positive correlation between exercise and living longer.  Period.  This is consistent across multiple body types, BMIs and levels of activity.  Regardless of how active you are now, or how much you weigh, adding activity to your lifestyle will give you an improved life expectancy.

This increase in life expectancy (and quality of life!  The more active you are, the lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, diabetes, cancer and others) comes from a variety of reasons, but I want to touch on one in particular.  Depending on how familiar you are with molecular biology, you may have heard of telomeres.  For those that haven’t, first a little background.  When a cell replicates, it copies its DNA so that each daughter cell is genetically identical.  This happens millions of times a day in your body!  Subsequently, that new cell will one day copy its DNA when it replicates again.  As part of the replication process (think of it like your family- grandparents, parents, you) the DNA is shortened at the ends.  By the time your own grandkids roll around, their DNA is much shorter than your grandparents’.  Normally, that’s okay since your cells are prepared- they have “useless” DNA in that place just for that reason, as a sacrifice.  This sacrificial DNA is called the telomere.  Eventually, it gets used up, and the DNA that gets shortened at the end is important in coding for genes or playing a regulatory role.  This is very detrimental to the cell, and you!  Associated to exercise, is increased telomere length- more sacrificial DNA.  It will take a longer time for the important DNA to be damaged.  It isn’t fully understood why or how this happens, but the phenomenon is real. 

Not enough?  How about if I told you that exercise can be just as effective as taking drugs for particular diseases.  A recent study (http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5577) suggests that this may be the case.  (DISCLAIMER:  The study does NOT recommend replacing prescription medication with exercise, and neither do I.  The findings lead them to suggest that exercise should be used IN ADDITION to prescription medication).  What I find really interesting are the two exceptions noted.  Drugs were the winner (better patient outcome) when dealing with heart failure patients, while exercise was the winner when looking at stroke patients.  This is brand new data and needs to be further studied!

What I think that is most lacking from all this scientific evidence and research is the human aspect of it.  Being active just makes you feel better.  Don’t believe me?  Try it.  For one week, do something active 3 times.   Take a walk in the evening, catch up with a friend over a game of tennis, go for a swim, anything.  Evaluate your mood before, and after- see for yourself!  This will only put a smile on your face and encourage you to do more!  Feeling good and being in a good mood also does wonders for your health, but that’s a story for another day. 

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24335710

http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5577

http://www.express.co.uk/news/health/430025/Secret-of-how-to-live-longer-Exercise-healthy-diet-and-stress-relief

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001335

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Patented genes?

Without getting into the details, this past year has been really busy for me, especially with school work.

Since then there have been so many articles that I wanted to share that have been sitting on a folder on my PC! Therefore, I’ve decided that from now on I will share articles as I come across them, even though I may not have the opportunity to give them a full write up. But rest assured, complete write ups will be coming, and more often then they have been as of late!

Also, I would like to open up answers from now on, so if anyone wants to contribute, go for it!

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  Will the Supreme Court end human gene patents after three decades? http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/will-the-supreme-court-end-human-gene-patents-after-three-decades/

This article was a bit of a surprise to me.  I was not aware that genes could be patented!  Well apparently they can.  What was even more surprising is that the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, genes that if mutated have a high positive correlation with breast cancer, are effectively owned by a company called Myriad Genetics.  Thus, they can monopolize any and all research on these mutations.  

If they discover a "cure", I assume this will allow them to make mega amounts of money.  However, this seems to ultimately hurt the public for the very same reason, they are the only ones that can discover a cure!

Should patents on genes be allowed to exist?

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Stomach flu is no flu, but it is more dangerous this year

Happy New Year!  First I would like to apologize for my long hiatus.  November was a very demanding month for me academically, which led into December and final exams of first semester. 

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20889382

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/01/03/bc-norovirus-newwest.html

Winter vomiting disease.  Stomach bug.  Stomach flu.  Most of us have had this at least once in our lifetime, and, odds are, one day will have it again.  However, this winter you may have noticed that more people are getting it- I know I have.  Several people who are close to me have fallen ill, and although they do not fit into the category of “laboratory confirmed” cases, the symptoms and time course of the disease scream norovirus. 

The name stomach flu is deceiving since norovirus actually isn’t a flu, as it is not a influenza virus of the family Orthomyxoviridae, but it is of the family Caliciviridae.  Norovirus is very infectious, and coming into contact with only a few particles is sufficient for the disease to spread.  It is spread through the oral-fecal route, and thus it is most commonly spread by coming in contact with a contaminated person, through either physical contact or by contaminated food.  However the virus is also spread through vomit and can be aerosolized by toilet flushing and the like.  Throw this in with the fact that in the wintertime people are more often indoors and in close contact with one another, and you have a recipe for many people falling ill. 

Another statistic that I found interesting is that for every laboratory confirmed case (often by either ELISA assay or PCR), 288 are unreported.  There will always be less confirmed cases than actual cases, as not all people will visit a doctor and not all of those that do will be confirmed by a lab test, often because of the sheer cost of testing all these people; but quantifying this is interesting. 

The pattern of this disease has changed.  The BBC article says that normally most cases occur after Christmas, but this year there has been an unusual amount of cases reported prior to Christmas and we can only speculate why.  The reason that most quickly jumps to mind is that a mutation has occurred in this year’s strain that has resulted in a changed epitope.  An epitope is a part of the virus (usually on the exterior) that can be targeted by the immune system and also often plays a role in infection.  Antibodies can bind to this epitope, and the virus then cannot infect your cells and thus cannot replicate.  It is toast.  A mutation can alter this site, so antibodies that we carry from pervious infects cannot protect us from this new strain.  There may also be other reasons, such as alterations to the replicative machinery of the virus that make it more virulent.  However, I have not been able to find any articles or papers investigating this topic further. 

Ultimately, what is most interesting to me is that I have observed this increase in norovirus incidence personally, with those close to me falling ill.  Many times we hear in the media that such-and-such an illness is being reported at higher levels but we do not always witness this first hand.  I did not stumble upon these articles by chance, but I have been thinking to myself lately that it seemed to be unusually prevalent lately and a simple search confirmed my suspicions.  With many more months of winter remaining, the best way to protect ourselves and prevent the spread of this virus is to wash our hands.  Let all be more diligent.

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Updating your status

http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2012.186.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20084303 

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_29-10-2012-14-13-30

One of the greatest challenges that must be overcome before HIV/AIDS can be controlled is widespread, affordable diagnosis.  HIV positive individuals may not know that they are infected, and thus spread the virus to others, who in turn don’t know they have become infected, becoming a vicious cycle. 

In developing countries, the infrastructure or the funding may simply not exist to systematically screen large amounts of people, or for that matter, even small populations.  There is often an accompanying deficit of healthcare professionals, which only make it increasingly difficult to ensure proper diagnosis or treatment. 

The ideal solution would be a simple test, which virtually anyone could perform.  Well, we may not be that far off. 

Researchers have devised a procedure, which essentially boils down to this 

- Patient serum (derived from blood) is put into a disposable container.

- Shake.

- If the patient is HIV+, it turns blue.

Not only is it simple, but it can also be evaluated by the naked eye.  Moreover, it is extremely sensitive- in fact, levels of HIV that could not be detected in a lab nucleic acid based test (which has been the gold standard for many years) can be easily detected.  Researchers also estimate at this test will cost 10 times less than current testing methods!

This could largely improve HIV control and prevention, not only in developing countries, but worldwide.  In this case, ignorance is definitely not bliss. 

#knowyourstatus 

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Producing drugs... inside you.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32477/title/Next-Generation--In-Vivo-Drug-Factories/

Scientists have created drug factors.  What does this mean?

Well, when some drugs are introduced they target a specific region of your body, through various receptors etc. and exerts its effect.  This could be antibacterial, pain relief or others.  Some drugs, however, aren't that specific, and have a systemic effect.  They aren't able to localize, and thus induce their effect everywhere that they reach.  For some, this isn’t much of a problem, in fact, that’s why you can orally take a painkiller for a headache, a toothache, a muscle ache etc. instead of taking a different medication for each ailment.  

Now, these nanoparticles that scientists have created, have no activity themselves.  Contained inside these particles, are everything that is needed to produce proteins, which have biological function.  Not only that, but once these particles reach their target tissue, they lie dormant until they are activated but various stimuli, such as UV. 

How can this be useful?  Well think of chemotherapy, a treatment for cancer.  One of the reasons why its so devastating is that it isn’t specific; it targets non-cancer cells as well as cancer cells.  If these nanoparticles can target tumor cells specifically, that’s a huge step forward.  Active production of the protein can be localized to a target area, as opposed to having a systemic effect.  Perhaps these particles can be “turned on” by products of the tumor cells themselves. 

However, this is still far from being “on the market”.  The molecules that produce the protein are of bacterial origin, many clinical trials must be conducted before this can be shown to be safe.  Also, activating these particles is one thing, there is still no way to turn them off….

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

We can all save lives this season

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/10/19/a-parents-grief-highlights-flu-shots-importance

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm

Fall, autumn, flu shot season.  That’s right, its flu shot time everybody!

Every year when the local governments begin rolling out their campaign to get everyone immunized, people start talking about the flu shot.  There are those that have “never had the shot and have never gotten the flu” or “I got the flu shot for the first time and that was the first time I’ve ever gotten the flu”.  It is this kind of attitude and behaviour that puts everyone at risk. 

Yes of course, not everyone has a background in science, or healthcare, but all it takes is a Google search to learn more about this vaccine.  

First off, it isn’t perfect, nothing is.  Even the simplest medical procedures carry risk with them (you can even die from something as simple as getting your wisdom teeth removed).  Sure, this years flu shot was designed about 7 months ago, and its essentially an educated guess as to what the dominant strain will be this year, however year after year they prove to be about 80% effective in preventing the flu.  The only reason why it is designed so early is to make sure that it is ready in time for the upcoming flue season.  The testing and quality control procedures that the vaccine companies follow take months alone.

Furthermore, you cannot get the flu from the vaccine.  The virus used is a killed virus, it is not active- it is dead.  There is no way it can revert back to its active state. 

When events that are not day-to-day activities occur, people attribute coincidences to them.  Just as much as that pair of socks you wore when you hit a home run aren't really lucky, it was just a coincidence that you got a flu shot the year you got the flu.  For all you know your symptoms would have been much worse if you hadn't been vaccinated.

To people who “never get the shot and never get the flu”, you are putting others at risk.  Did you feel tired for a couple of days and didn’t know why?  That may have been your battle with the flu.  Just because your immune system is strong enough to repel it, doesn’t mean everyone’s is.  Those that are most at risk of death from the flu are the young and the elderly, who have immune systems that aren't quite as resilient.   

You can carry the virus and develop no symptoms, but you may be contributing to the spread of the flu.  How many door handles do you touch in public places?  How many others do you put at risk?  Conversely, if others around you aren't carrying the flu (ie have had the flu shot), you are less at risk to be exposed to it as well.  This is the real life “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”.  Its called community immunity. 

This basically describes a scenario where the majority of a population is immunized.  With the majority in individuals being resistant, it is less likely that a susceptible individual will come into contact with an infectious individual, because the virus has nowhere to “hide”.  So get the shot, if not for your sake, then for someone elses.  

#letsgetimmunized #gettheshotsavealife 

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Unspoken diagnosis

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19812067

Your genes are a blueprint for what makes you, you.  Yes you have your autonomous thoughts, and without getting into a discussion about free will, it is safe and accurate to say that everything that you are comes from your genes. 

If you think you have an illness, the first step is the physical exam.  You see your doctor, describe your symptoms, they ask you questions etc. etc.  Actually, a physical exam is really an art.  It is unfathomable to the average person what is going through a physician’s mind when they just seem to be asking a few questions and listening to you breathe.  

This isn’t so easy for a child, especially a newborn.  They can’t describe symptoms.  One third of all babies admitted to neonatal intensive care units are estimated to be there because of genetic diseases in their DNA, of which there are many and many can be difficult to diagnose.  To be able sequence a genome quickly isn’t too impressive in today’s world, however to decode it quickly as well, well that is. 

 Lets stop and think what this really means.  Infants, with rare and deleterious illnesses can be diagnosed and treated faster than ever before.  How many lives could have been saved if this technology was around earlier?

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Red Bull DOES give you wings

http://www.redbullstratos.com/

It always astounds me how expensive Red Bull is, and as a result I rarely buy it. On top of that, there seem to be so many events where free cans of red bull are handed out (red bill girls handing out free cans during late night study hours at the library). That being said, Red Bull have become much more than a soft drink company. They have become a marketing giant.  They don’t always advertise in the conventional way either, they own a very successful Formula 1 team and a New York soccer team, which may seem a bit unorthodox.  However, when the “New York Red Bull” win a game and make the headlines, bam, free advertising.  Red Bull supports extreme sports as well, and this is their latest endeavour. 

Humans have always wanted to see how far they can push the limits of the body. The latest “stunt” is for a human being to jump from the edge of space and be the first human to break the sound barrier in free fall, before parachuting safely to the ground.  The jump will be from 120,000 feet, and the chute will only be pulled at an altitude of 5000 feet.  To traverse those 115,000 feet will take only about 5 minutes.

The forces acting on his body will be unparalleled to anything else. For this undertaking to even have a chance at being successful, technology has taken a massive step forward. New technology has been developed to make a suit and the capsule to bring him up to 120,000 feet. Also, data will be collected as he falls to quantify just how far to the limit we can push the human body before losing control.  In this case, loss of control will equal death, a hefty price. However this data could prove invaluable for future medical research, so there are gains to be made.

I cannot do justice to everything that is going on related to this mission, the amount of effort the Red Bull Stratos team have put into this is staggering.  You have to check out the website for yourself.   What's super cool is that this isn’t just a plan of something to be done in the future, it’s happening, in a weeks time. Did I forget to mention that this event will be streamed live, for free, on the internet?

[sciencemakesyoustopandthink]

Don't belittle a killer

New 'Sars-like' coronavirus identified by UK officials

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19698335

Bold statements describing a new killer virus better provide evidence, and even then must be taken with a grain of salt.  People are quick to make such claims in the title to attract a reader's attention.  However, although a virus may be "killer", it may not be the next big thing to strike humanity.  

Sure, we are all awaiting the next pandemic, and historically we're overdue.  But the next big one isn't here, not just yet anyways.

There are many killer viruses out there, but for them to be really dangerous for us, they don't need to be exceptionally lethal, they just need to be transmissible.  For example, the Ebola virus kills over 95% of the people that it infects, and it does so in spectacular fashion with victims bleeding from every oraphis, however, the Spanish Flu of 1918 was only fatal in less than 15% of cases.  

The difference between the two is that Ebola kills too quickly in order to cause a widespread pandemic but the Spanish Flu seemed to have found a sweet spot between transmissibility and lethality.  Like other influenza viruses it spread via aerosolization- through the air.  The simplicity of this is remarkable, and incredibly dangerous.  How does one effectively treat somebody, when doing so puts them at incredible risk?  Ever get into an elevator with someone who has a cough?  Hold your breath?  Not good enough.  Aerosolized particles can spread so quickly that its inevitable you will have already inhaled them.  Not only that, but you can become infected if they contact your eye (we're not talking about a big glob of saliva here, just a microscopic droplet). (Anyone have a flashback the "Day 1" scene from last years hit movie Contagion?)

Given how dangerous influenza is, scientists are transfixed on understanding this deadly virus, and staying ahead of it, which is nigh impossible when you take into account how quickly it can mutate.  The next "big one" is predicted to be H5N1- bird flu.  It spreads hyper efficiently and has fatality rates nearly identical to ebola.  

Some may say that scientists are too transfixed.  It is not unlikely that the next pandemic could come from another family of viruses.  Anybody remember SARS?  Well a new coronavirus (the family that includes SARS) has surfaced, and killed two people.  

I don't feel that this article effectively conveys how scary this finding is.  This virus has killed.  Sure it doesn't seem able to spread particularly well among humans now, but what if it's only one mutation away...