Now on ScienceBlogs: Surgical masks versus respirators for flu protection
Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC getting a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. He holds a BS and MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. If a volcano were to erupt Pompei-style in Central Park, his body would be preserved in a scoliotic posture over his lab desk. Archeaologists would later conclude that he spent most of his day training rats to perform tricks, until he went blind building electrical equipment by hand using a dissecting microscope. But, still, he died happy...because science is cool.
Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.
DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision-making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments I currently attend or attended in the past.
Category: Neurodegenerative disease
The New Old Age blog at the NYTimes -- hadn't read it before, but I like it -- has a post about reversible causes of cognitive decline in the elderly. I think they make a really good point: there are...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:11 PM • 5 Comments •
Category: Neurodegenerative disease
I really love coming to visit you, Grandpa. Researchers at the University of New South Wales are using sarcasm to determine whether patients have frontotemporal dementia (FTD), otherwise known as Pick's disease: Researchers at the University of New South Wales...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 1:00 PM • 1 Comments •
Category: Aging and Longevity
This is the question that I get all the time in family gatherings. Well, maybe not in those words. Usually it is phrased as "How can I not get Alzheimer's? Because that would be a bummer...for me..." People are concerned...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:23 PM • 8 Comments •
Category: Neurodegenerative disease
Trushina et al from the Mayo Clinic have made a big advance in understanding the etiology of Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is a progressive and ultimately fatal disease that is characterized by uncontrollable limb movements and progressive dementia and psychosis....
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 10:53 AM • 2 Comments •
Category: Medicine
I meant to post this early, but the Neurophilosopher has an excellent history of Alois Alzheimer, for whom the disease is named: On November 25th, 1901, a 51-year-old woman named Auguste Deter (below right) was admitted to the hospital, and...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 10:48 AM • 0 Comments •
Category: Neurodegenerative disease
Neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's, were for many years regarded as exclusively diseases of molecular crud. You would look at brains of patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients and notice that there were all these aggregates of protein crud forming in...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 1:22 PM • 0 Comments •
