Mar 25
"Lymphatics of the head and eye." The American encyclopedia and dictionary of ophthalmology. 1913.
Internet Archive
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from Tajikistan
seen from France
seen from China
seen from Australia
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from Switzerland
seen from Maldives
seen from South Korea
seen from Brazil
seen from Germany
seen from Russia
"Lymphatics of the head and eye." The American encyclopedia and dictionary of ophthalmology. 1913.
Internet Archive
The carotid arteries are vital pathways that deliver blood from the heart to the brain. When forward head posture is present, this alignment can interfere with optimal blood flow, creating a constant traffic jam that reduces circulation to the brain and places ongoing stress on the nervous system and the body as a whole. Improving this begins with simple, consistent strategies such as regular walking to restore natural movement patterns, strengthening and mobilising the neck to support better posture, and identifying and addressing any underlying jaw dysfunctions that may be reinforcing the forward head position.
A simple but effective exercise to help correct forward head posture is the chin tuck: Sit or stand tall with your shoulders relaxed. Gently draw your chin straight back, as if making a double chin, keeping your eyes level and not tilting your head up or down. Hold for 5–10 seconds, then relax. Repeat 10–15 times, 2–3 times per day. This exercise strengthens the deep neck flexors, helps realign the head over the spine, and supports better blood flow through the carotid arteries.
(Anthony Goldsmith)
Cell Out
Circulating tumour cells can increase the frequency that Ca2+ ions oscillate (which affects molecular signalling pathways) in blood vessel lining (endothelial) cells triggering remodelling of the endothelial cell cytoskeleton, allowing tumour cells to creep through the vessel wall (extravasation) and spread around the body (metastasis)
Read the published research article here
Adapted image from work by Marina Peralta and colleagues
Tumor Biomechanics lab, INSERM UMR_S1109, Strasbourg, France
Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Published in iScience, February 2025
You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky
Cells and Tissue of the Immune System P.3 of 5
(via Human and nonhuman primate meninges harbor lymphatic vessels that can be visualized noninvasively by MRI | eLife)
Lymphatics in the Brain Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke published images this month of a previously undocumented system of vessels in the brain. They are part of our lymphatic system and most physicians have been taught the skull contained no lymphatic vessels. This system of vessels that could be critical to a number of processes and possibly play a part in disease or disease resistance within the brain. Daniel Reich, a senior investigator who aided in the discovery, said, “The discovery of the central-nervous-system lymphatic system may call for a reassessment of basic assumptions in neuroimmunology.” In 2015, researchers discovered "gylmphatics" which are fluids transporting glucose and lipids. Combined with the new discovery, we can hope they point the way to better understanding of how our brain functions and how malfunctions, and how we can best aid it in recovery when something goes wrong. This discovery may lead to new discoveries https://elifesciences.org/articles/29738
Heart-wrapping Lymphatics
The heart's system of lymphatic vessels transports immune cells and is involved in fluid regulation. This study reveals that these vessels develop in the epicardium – one of the heart's membranous coverings, and that they're initiated by signalling of proteins called VEGFC and D
Read the published research article here
Image from work by Ester de la Cruz and colleagues
Cardiovascular Regeneration ProgramCentro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) Madrid, Spain
Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Published in EMBO Reports, March 2025
You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky
Clearing the Cache
While HIV infection is successfully controlled by antiretroviral drugs, the virus can persist at low levels in lymph nodes. Using a mouse model with Friend virus this study shows that treatment with an antibody directed against the protein CD137 induces clearance of the viral reservoir by a type of cytotoxic T cell
Read the published research paper here
Image still from a video from work by Anna Malyshkina and colleagues
Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Published in PLOS Pathogens, October 2023
You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
Tonsil like Us
Organ of the immune system akin to our tonsils discovered in the popular model organism zebrafish and other bony fish
Read the published research paper here
Image from work by Julien Rességuier and colleagues
Section for Physiology and Cell Biology, Departments of Biosciences and Immunology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Published in and on the cover of Science Advances, November 2023
You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook