Health Care/Medicine
neurotopia | September 25, 2008Some people have been noticing erratic behavior from republican nominee John McCain lately. His most recent seems to be slight, but rather odd. Specifically, he appears to have developed ptosis--- a drooping eyelid--- which could of course be related to any number of causes, from an autoimmune attack on cholinergic receptors such as that seen in myasthenia gravis, to diabetes.
Ptosis can also be the result of a brain tumor that affects the oculomotor nerve (cranial nerve III). Sudden development of the condition at old age following multiple bouts of melanoma (which has a penchant for…
neurotopia | September 7, 2007...but for those who suffer from it, "in your head" can be more debilitating than other chronic, painful illnesses. A massive WHO survey study of 60 countries reported that 3.2% of people had depression over the course of a year. Interestingly, though...
This was a bit lower than for asthma (3.3 percent), arthritis (4.1 percent), and angina (4.5 percent), and higher than for diabetes (2.0 percent.)
But the results of a quality-of-life index called the "global mean health score" showed that depression was, by a significant margin, the most difficult to bear.
The most difficult to bear, and…
neurotopia | August 29, 2007Finally we get some data on changes in AD pathology with statin use! Statins are taken for lowering cholesterol, but they have other beneficial effects such as modulating inflammatory responses. Thus, they could prove beneficial in the treatment of AD given the disease has a significant inflammatory component.
According to the press release
The two changes in the brain that are considered the most definitive hallmarks of Alzheimer's are brain "plaques" and "tangles." After controlling for variables including age at death, gender, and strokes in the brain, the researchers found…
neurotopia | August 16, 2007I'm on a environmental tox kick lately. The latest foray into endocrine disruption in the news is polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs. PBDEs are used as flame retardant compounds, and like my earlier ruminations on bisphenol A, they're in everything. Unfortunately, there's evidence that they don't just sit there, but rather, as the LA Times reports, they like to impersonate thyroid hormone and may lead to hyperthyroidism.
An epidemic of thyroid disease among pet cats could be caused by toxic flame retardants that are widely found in household dust and some pet food, government…
neurotopia | July 18, 2007Yes, that title is a bit ostentatious. But the foods we eat contain many compounds that can be beneficial to brain health. One strategy for optimizing our brains for long-term peak performance is to identify these compounds and discover how they are beneficial. Head-healthy chemicals have previously been isolated from curries and spices before, and it looks like we've found another curcuminoid, bisdemethoxycurcumin, which may be useful in combating Alzheimer's Disease:
Researchers have isolated bisdemethoxycurcumin, the active ingredient of curcuminoids -- a natural substance found in…
neurotopia | July 9, 2007I recently posted three "Basics"-style blurbs about menopause and hormone therapy (HT). If you missed it, they are here, here, and here. The field has gone through a lot of upheaval since the WHI studies in 2002, and I would just like to share my thoughts on how to approach where we stand now. These are the sorts of questions and considerations that researchers and health care professionals need to keep in mind when they evaluate HT. After the reference-heavy previous posts this one is going to just be my thoughts, and very off-the-cuff at that.
We, as humans, have a tendency to put…
neurotopia | July 5, 2007This is the third part in an overview of menopause and hormone therapy. Parts one and two are here and here. This time around I describe changes in cognitive and behavioral profiles for women and animal models of menopause. I may decide to expand on a handful of studies at a later date, but for now I wanted to provide a very brief overview of human studies, problems inherent to human studies, and animal studies. I think the next part of this series will focus on the quality of our animal models and what they have to tell us. But for now, anyone who is interested in these issues knows where…
neurotopia | July 4, 2007This is the second of a series that examines menopause, hormone therapy, and consequences of each. Today's installment looks at the makeup of common hormones on the market, physiological consequences of hormone loss and replacement, and the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) studies. A slight emphasis is placed on Alzheimer's Disease as a segway to the next installments, which will focus on cognitive and neurobiological consequences of menopause and hormone therapy.
Components of Common Hormone Therapies
17-beta estradiol (E2), the primary circulating estrogen during reproductive years, was…
neurotopia | June 13, 2007I thought I'd hop on the Basics bandwagon. Here's an oldy of mine with some menopause and hormone therapy background. WARNING: rampant pharmaceutical company sexism ahead. Do not attempt to communicate or reason with Zuska for at least 4 hours after reading. Rumor also has it that Tara is advocating for a beat-down.
Parts II and III are here and here.
The Transition to Menopause
Menopause is defined as the cessation of ovarian function. It occurs at the average age of 50 in women, is accompanied by a decrease in circulating levels of estrogen and progesterone associated with the loss of…
neurotopia | December 1, 2006Looks like, once again, when somebody bothers to crunch the numbers those flimsy justifications for abstinence-only programs are found lacking.
"It is remarkable that teens are becoming better contraceptors even as there are efforts afoot to reduce the information and skill-building that they receive about contraception," said Freya L. Sonenstein, a professor and director of the Center for Adolescent Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Truer words have never been spoken.
Only 14 percent of the decline in pregnancy was attributed to reductions in teens' sexual activity,…
neurotopia | November 7, 2006Looks like the infamous abortion ban in South Dakota ain't gonna fly with the state's residents.
Opponents of South Dakota's abortion ban are maintaining their lead over those who favor the law.
With 194 of 818 precincts reporting results, 60 percent of voters cast "no" votes, according to results from the Secretary of State's Office.
The ban - which outlaws all abortions except those performed to save the life of a pregnant woman - is a direct challenge to the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
Welcome back to the reality-based community, SD, and here's to…
neurotopia | August 21, 2006Looks like yet another interesting toxin was found, this time in a venomous snail. This discovery comes from the lab of an old player in the field, who apparently discovered the conotoxin that is used in Prialt.
McIntosh says the OmIA toxin will be useful in designing new medicines because it fits like a key into certain lock-like "nicotinic acetylcholine receptors" found on nerve cells in the brain and the rest of the nervous system.
"Those are the same types of receptors you activate if you smoke a cigarette," he says, explaining that nicotine in cigarette smoke "binds" to the receptor to…
neurotopia | August 1, 2006The latest soon-to-be casualty to the Bush administration's attempt to break all useful government programs is 1-800-SUICIDE. Given their track record of scrubbing information oriented to LBGT youth (who happen to be a major at-risk category) from other such sites receiving government money, I think it is clear that we can't trust the Culture of Life Strife on this one. Imagine that.
Click. Read. Act.
neurotopia | July 12, 2006Over at Aetiology, Tara is confused. She somehow thinks that Focus on the Family is actually anti-life.
She says:
Indeed. I'd love to see them mount a campaign against a foundation that fights horribly painful guinea worm infections, AIDS in monogamous, married relationships; and funds scientific breakthroughs for a number of underfunded illnesses. Go ahead and show us again, FoF and ALL, just how "pro-life" you really are.
I'm sorry to say that Tara just doesn't get it. The answer to the conundrum is glaringly obvious. FoF and other assorted "values" groups are most definitely pro-life…
neurotopia | July 10, 2006I know Tara is going to kick me for this post, because as one of the resident D.I.N.K.s here at ScienceBlogs my parenting advice doesn't extend into the realm of "ethical" so much as "practical". Specifically, I've advised her on numerous occasions to just give the toddlers a "pharmacological sleep aid" of sorts. Ok, ok, so my suggested "sleep aid" usually takes the form of whiskey or Nyquil, but I'm not adverse to Benadryl either. After all, diphenhydramine is actually recommended by pediatricians to help kids sleep. Surely it is just as efficacious as my other suggestions, if a little…
neurotopia | June 29, 2006There is one simple reason why a pharmacist's personal beliefs should not factor into the dispensing of medication that, to me, takes precedence over all others.
Medications rarely, if ever, have one use. A single medication can be prescribed for a variety of reasons. This causes a problem: a pharmacist might refuse to dispense birth control pills on the religious grounds that the pill prevents conception and therefore prevents life. But what if the pill was not prescribed for prevention of pregnancy?
This is not an uncommon occurrence. There is a range of therapeutic value for birth…
neurotopia | June 29, 2006Just a couple comments on Tara's situation. Firstly, check that the pharmacist doesn't have a little Vicodin habit of his or her own. Probably not, but I've lost all faith in humanity.
Secondly, this situation is deplorable. If a veterinarian at an academic research facility intentionally withheld post-op painkillers from animal subjects larger than a rat-- especially a dog, cat, or monkey-- without a justifiable experimental purpose**, I have little doubt that said veterinarian just set in motion a series of events that would result in termination of his or her employment. I find it…
neurotopia | June 21, 2006A recent study of 20,000 children confirmed that smoking just isn't good for kids. I don't know why this should come as a surprise to anybody, but I thought I should post it just in case....
The effects of smoking during pregnancy last up to age 12, while exposure to cigarette smoking after birth further worsens lung function, Dr. Manfred A. Neuberger of the Medical University in Vienna, one of the study's authors, told Reuters Health.
It is difficult to tell, Neuberger noted, whether the impairment of lung function resulting from prenatal and early life exposure is permanent, given that…
neurotopia | June 16, 2006I'm sure somebody else on SB had to blog this, but just in case it got missed.... the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released the results of a two-year study that examined the state of the Emergency Care System. The results?
Two words: Breaking point.
This article summarizes the problem. From whence does the problem spring?
At the root of the crisis: Demand for emergency care is surging, even as the capacity for hospitals, ambulance services and other emergency workers to provide it is dropping.
There were almost 114 million emergency room visits in 2003, up from 90…
neurotopia | June 9, 2006...you might not know what to do
you might have to think of
how you got started
sittin' in your little room
--The White Stripes
Welcome to the second incarnation of Neurotopia! The old incarnation can be found here, although lately it has just been a collection of posts where I complain about how Blogger stinks. But no more! Now I'm here on this slick new platform! The SEED overlords pulled a mean trick on me: they set up the new blog launch mere hours before I'm supposed to hit the road and celebrate my 8th anniversary by accompanying Mrs. Evil Monkey to Fallingwater for the weekend.…