Sunday, July 31, 2016

Weekend Drive-By

Sorry about the radio silence.
We are transitioning four apartments and selling our house this week.
And the temperature has been in the hundreds for two months.
Already had a spectacular tantrum, just trying to avoid respiratory failure at this point.

Here's some stuff I've been collecting

Study says one in ten Americans has buzzing in the ear or tinnitus

Most powerful obesity gene yet boosts risk by 40 per cent
To investigate how CREBRF promotes weight gain, the team genetically engineered fat cells in the lab to express the obesity-associated variant. They found that this caused the cells to store more fat and release less energy, as if they are trying to conserve as much fuel as possible.
This thriftiness is likely to be advantageous during periods of food scarcity, but lead to obesity in times of nutritional excess, says team member Stephen McGarvey at Brown University.
FDA Strengthens Warning on Powerful Antibiotics
The Food and Drug Administration strengthened the warnings about one type of antibiotic Tuesday, saying they're too strong to be used for sinus infections, bronchitis and simple urinary tract infections.
The drugs are in a class called fluoroquinolones and include levofloxacin (as known as Levaquin) and ciprofloxacin (Cipro). They can cause serious and sometimes permanent side-effects.
"While these drugs are effective in treating serious bacterial infections, an FDA safety review found that both oral and injectable fluoroquinolones are associated with disabling side effects involving tendons, muscles, joints, nerves and the central nervous system," the agency said in a statement.

Resveratrol appears to restore blood-brain barrier integrity in Alzheimer's disease
Resveratrol, given to Alzheimer's patients, appears to restore the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, reducing the ability of harmful immune molecules secreted by immune cells to infiltrate from the body into brain tissues, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center.

Ketone drink gives competitive cyclists a boost by altering their metabolism
A drink developed for soldiers to generate energy from ketones allowed highly trained cyclists to add up to 400 meters of distance to their workouts, a new study reports. The supplement, which will be commercially available within the year, works by temporarily switching the primary source of cellular energy from glucose or fat to ketones -- molecules derived from fat that are known to be elevated in people consuming a low-carb, Atkins-like diet. 

To protect yourself from malaria sleep with a chicken next to your bed
For the first time, scientists have shown that malaria-transmitting mosquitoes actively avoid feeding on certain animal species such as chickens, using their sense of smell. Odors emitted by species such as chickens could provide protection for humans at risk of mosquito-transmitted diseases
Altruism is favored by chance
Mathematicians may have found an answer to the longstanding puzzle as to why we have evolved to cooperate

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

BOOYAH!

Have I told you lately how much I love Armin Alaedini??

Biological explanation for wheat sensitivity found

"Our study shows that the symptoms reported by individuals with this condition are not imagined, as some people have suggested," said study co-author Peter H. Green, MD, the Phyllis and Ivan Seidenberg Professor of Medicine at CUMC and director of the Celiac Disease Center. "It demonstrates that there is a biological basis for these symptoms in a significant number of these patients."
...
In the new study, the CUMC team examined 80 individuals with NCWS, 40 individuals with celiac disease, and 40 healthy controls. Despite the extensive intestinal damage associated with celiac disease, blood markers of innate systemic immune activation were not elevated in the celiac disease group. This suggests that the intestinal immune response in celiac patients is able to neutralize microbes or microbial components that may pass through the damaged intestinal barrier, thereby preventing a systemic inflammatory response against highly immunostimulatory molecules.

The NCWS group was markedly different. They did not have the intestinal cytotoxic T cells seen in celiac patients, but they did have a marker of intestinal cellular damage that correlated with serologic markers of acute systemic immune activation. The results suggest that the identified systemic immune activation in NCWS is linked to increased translocation of microbial and dietary components from the gut into circulation, in part due to intestinal cell damage and weakening of the intestinal barrier.

"A systemic immune activation model would be consistent with the generally rapid onset of the reported symptoms in people with non-celiac wheat sensitivity," said study leader Armin Alaedini, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at CUMC.
(Psst.....   "Acute systemic immune activation" =  allergy or infection.   uh huh.)

Monday, July 25, 2016

As I Was Saying

Gastrointestinal disorders involve both brain-to-gut and gut-to-brain pathways
New research indicates that in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or indigestion, there is a distinct brain-to-gut pathway, where psychological symptoms begin first, and separately a distinct gut-to-brain pathway, where gut symptoms start first.
In the study, higher levels of anxiety and depression were significant predictors of developing IBS or indigestion within 1 year. People who did not have elevated levels of anxiety and depression at the start of the study but had documented IBS or indigestion reported significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression after 1 year.
So what you're saying is that there are both mental and physical symptoms of this chronic illness?
So maybe depressed and anxious people actually need doctors, not psychs?
Hmmmmm.

The Not-So-Fine Points of Progressive Cell Loss

SenatorTom Cotton:
"So, last year, my dad, 70 years old, retired, applied for the first time for a self-carry permit. Why did he do that, I asked. He said somebody has to protect us if ISIS comes over here to cut our heads off."
Sheesh, old men who can't see or hear clearly truly believe they are going to save us all...

Hearing Loss and the paranoia is causes is predictable by that age.
This needs to be recognized as a symptom of sensory impairment, not taken literally.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Just Noticing

Clinton and Kaine.
Somehow each of them makes the other look even more like a buttered biscuit.

Friday, July 22, 2016

The Crux Of the Problem

Police ordered the men to lie down with their hands up, and the 47-year-old Kinsey did just that.
But the autistic man ignored the police orders, and the officer fired three rounds from the rifle as he took cover 50 yards away behind a squad car.

Non-Compliance is used as an indicator of Violent Intentions.
Non-Compliance has many many other causes.

Including not complying with ridiculous commands.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Fun Reading

In case you need to avoid politics.

How a Guy From a Montana Trailer Park Overturned 150 Years of Biology
Biology textbooks tell us that lichens are alliances between two organisms—a fungus and an alga. They are wrong.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Oh Really

Infections, antibiotic use linked to manic episodes in people with serious mental illness
In research using patient medical records, investigators report that people with serious mental disorders who were hospitalized for mania were more likely to be on antibiotics to treat active infections than a group of people without a mental disorder.
Although the researchers caution that their study does not suggest cause and effect, they note that it does suggest that an infection, use of antibiotics or other factors that change the body's natural collection of gut and other bacteria may individually or collectively contribute to behavioral changes in some people with mental disorders.

Alzheimer's may hamper ability to perceive pain
The study used a device to subject participants to different heat sensations and asked them to report their pain levels. After the tests, the researchers analyzed self-reported pain.
"We found that participants with Alzheimer's disease required higher temperatures to report sensing warmth, mild pain and moderate pain than the other participants," said study first author Todd Monroe, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt's School of Nursing. "What we didn't find was a difference between the two groups in reporting how unpleasant the sensations were at any level."
Participants with Alzheimer's were less able to recognize when they were in pain, but their pain tolerance was not diminished, the study found.

One more time, both of these things are symptoms of Systemic Endotoxemia caused by bacterial infection, or antibiotics, or both.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Good Sleep vs Bad Sleep

Mystery of what sleep does to our brains may finally be solved

I think they got pretty close.   The "synapse maintenance" theory seems right to me.

They don't mention Astrocytes though.   They are different brain cells that also contribute to the synapse structure.   And they tend not to uncouple when they are swollen.   And they get swollen pretty easily from endotoxin induced Blood-Brain-Barrier permeability.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Party Time

Not blowing smoke: Research finds medical marijuana lowers prescription drug use

Researchers pinpoint neurons that tell the brain when to stop drinking

Research demonstrates link between gut bacteria and brain inflammation in chronic liver disease

Treating alcoholics - with wine

Give me the Vapors

Shocking new role found for the immune system: Controlling social interaction
In a startling discovery that raises fundamental questions about human behavior, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the immune system directly affects - and even controls - creatures' social behavior, such as their desire to interact with others. So could immune system problems contribute to an inability to have normal social interactions? The answer appears to be yes, and that finding could have great implications for neurological conditions such as autism-spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.  

Yes, it's incredibly shocking and startling to think doctors may someday believe that there might be something called sickness behavior.

Epidemiology 101

The Mystery of Urban Psychosis
      Why are paranoia and schizophrenia more common in cities?

What is ... because they are caused by microbes and infection and those are more easily transmitted in crowded conditions, Alex?

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Totally Off Topic

I have been busy and the world has been high intensity insane lately.
So here's something to amuse us all.
Thanks Denmark.

Faroe Islands fit sheep cameras to create Google Street View
Faroe Islanders have set up Sheep View 360, enlisting ovine population to do the leg work.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Vampires feeding on Zombies

There’s Absolutely No Reason Why an EpiPen Should Cost $300
 So why is the EpiPen so expensive? In September, reporting by Bloomberg Businessweek blew open the story about Mylan’s quest to make the EpiPen a cash cow; the device alone now makes up a full 40 percent of Mylan’s profits, thanks to a series of strategic marketing campaigns, public policy changes, and price hikes.
Because you know, what's an allergic person to do?

Thursday, July 7, 2016

This is Why

Because our buddy Glenn did this:

















For three days straight!
 “They don’t call the Texas Water Safari The World’s Toughest Canoe Race’ for nothing. In addition to the length, the challenges include whitewater rapids, multiple portages, and the relentless, soul-sapping Texas heat. Competitors have four days and four hours to paddle from San Marcos, in the center of the state, to the shy little town of Seadrift on the Gulf Coast. There is no prize money for the winners; just Texas-size bragging rights for the finishers.”
Glenn was diagnosed with narcolepsy in high school and started the gluten-free diet right after graduation.  Since then he's advanced to a ketogenic diet and it's working great for him.  
He ate low carb the whole way and completed the 264 mile journey, finishing at about 3am.

Bragging rights indeed...

He says-  "In your face, Narcolepsy!"

Friday, July 1, 2016

Cry Me A River

With a Free Meal from Pharma, Doctors Are More Likely to Prescribe Brand-Name Drugs, Study Shows

When the Medicine Doesn’t Work
In the meantime, as a doctor who bought the hype about OxyContin’s twice-daily efficacy for decades, I’m frustrated. While my gut sense that someone was pulling the wool over my eyes was correct, I was casting blame in the wrong direction—toward my patients.
Yes, because that's what doctors always do.
I know you're busy feeling sorry for yourself and all, and really can't stand the thought you might be wrong-  but you might want to consider the fact that the food industry has played you in the exact same manner.
Most of your patients are sicker and fatter because they do comply with your advice.

For decades.   Sheesh.