As the final exams come closer, many medical students get a fairly common syndrome, known as "Book Syndrome" (not to be mistaken for the other 'Book syndrome' [dentistry]: premolar aplasia, hyperhidrosis, and premature canities) .

Coined by Dr Haisook in 2008 after suffering it himself, this syndrome encompasses many psychological and physical signs. At least 5 of the following must persist for at least 2 weeks, in addition to the presence of impending exams, to warrant a diagnosis:

• The patient is a medical student.
• A persistent urge to check out what time it is.
• Not having a haircut for months. 96% of patients with this syndrome had an unintentional Afro hairstyle.
• Sniffing every now and then.
• Sleeping while hugging a medical book.
• Reading 3 books at the same; one by an eye, the other by the other eye, and the third by the nose.
• Sleepwalking to the study desk, and completing sleep there.
• The patient perceives the members of his family as huge medical books.
• Book Chorea; involuntary and semi-purposeful, this type of chorea occurs in the advanced stage of the disease. The patient bring his hands to the sides of his face, and swing them in a jerky manner, simulating a book suddenly swung open. Burping follows. This sign alone is enough for the diagnosis. And once diagnosed, it requires immediate hospitalization for constant follow-up. Mortality reaches up to 65%.
• Book Carditis; a rare type of pancarditis where the heart turns into a spleen reading a medical book. It also warrants a definite diagnosis once confirmed via ECHO.

Incidence is constantly rising, and though the disease may affect any student, it is almost exclusive to medical students. As of September 2008, 32.654 medical students from around the world were reported to have suffered the disease, even long before the term "Book Syndrome" was coined, making a total of 98.3% of all cases. Studies have shown that 1 out of 10 medical students will be diagnosed with this syndrome. There is not a gender difference in incidence, although studies have shown that males are more prone to severe states of the disease, especially Book Chorea.

No treatment has been established yet, save for the common sedatives and tranquilizers. A very recent research has found a definitive treatment though; dropping out of school and booking a vacation in Hawaii reversed the disease completely. Though curative, doctors do not recommend this treatment regime because it may cause potential career problems in the future.

[P.S. This article is purely fictional and is just for fun].

www.alternativemedicine-gotosee.blogspot.com

In this reference a systematic review found the proportion of pregnancies terminated post-diagnosis of Down's syndrome was 91-93%.

In 2002, ethics committees were on the whole opposed to screening, however the authors themselves question the validity of the opinions of the ethics committees studied to the answering of the ethical question.

This blog is rightly concerned with the way Sarah Palin's anti-abortion stance and her Down's syndrome have stirred the media, and asks for a frank discussion of the rights of the disabled. (Godwin's Law violations will need to be forgiven
The writer refers to the case of Baby Doe - an American controversy from the Regan era. I'd never heard of this case, but it involved the parents of a Down's syndrome baby born with a tracheo-oesophageal fistula (in this case relatively simple and low risk to correct surgically) refusing corrective surgery and allowing their child to die of starvation. Supreme Court intervention was sought, but it was unsuccessful and the child died. The Baby Doe Law was enacted in response.

Lastly, this. What a thing to research!

My thoughts:

• It is very tempting (but wrong) to assume the moral high ground on this one and pour contempt on the parents who feel compelled to make the tragic choice to terminate. I will not do this.
• While selective abortion in the case of Down's syndrome will never be acceptable to my personal ethics, I think a salient and less controversial issue is the provision of excellent supportive care to parents and children with Down's, and the sensitive, ethical and moral genetic counselling of patients. This is the cause I will direct my energy toward, without abandoning my ethical opposition to abortion.

I think your position on this issue will have something to do with how you feel about disease. When is someone so unhealthy that it would have been better had they not been born? On what basis can one make that choice?

( Note: Clearly there is more involved in the decision to terminate post Down's Syndrome diagnosis, but the question remains relevant since the expected quality of life of the baby is surely an important factor in the decision to terminate)

Autism is according to the American Psychiatric Association: Autism spectrum disorders — The terms "pervasive developmental disorders" (PDD) and "autism spectrum disorders" (ASD) describe a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders that have diverse etiologies but are characterized by constellations of symptoms involving impairments in reciprocal social interaction, communication, and behavior (specifically, stereotyped interests and activities) . This group of disorders includes autistic disorder, Rett disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified.

• Early indicators of ASD include:

-  Parental concerns about deficits in social skills
-  Parental concerns about deficits in language skills or behavior
-  Parental concerns about frequent tantrums or intolerance to change
-  Delayed language and social skills
-  No babbling by 9 months
-  No pointing or gestures by 12 months
-  Lack of orientation to name by 12 months of age
-  No single words by 16 months
-  Lack of pretend or symbolic play by 18 months.
-  No spontaneous, meaningful (not repetitive or echolalic) two-word phrases by 24 months
-  Any loss of any language or social skills at any age

Why in the hell would I go from a life saving breakthrough in science to a life altering

neurological disorder?

On June 11, 2007, nearly 5,000 parents of autistic children filed a lawsuit against the federal government, claiming that childhood vaccines (specifically the mercury-containing thimerosal in the vaccines) caused their children’s autism. The previous year The New York Times ran a column that was skeptical of the claimed link between autism and vaccines, which generated this comment on an internet message board that is typical of the anecdotal thinking that perpetuates this myth: “You say, ‘There is no proven link’ between mercury and autism. There also is ‘no proven link’ between going outside in the rain and cold without a hat or coat and getting the sniffles. Look at the data: the epidemic of autism mirrors the administration of vaccines with mercury. Now that they are off the shelves (more or less), the cases are going down. “ What in the fuck does going outside and the sniffles have to do with autism and vaccines? This would be a great comparison argument if getting the sniffles meant getting sick. I feel in my opinion that is what the author meant to say. However, going outside in the rain without a hat or coat does not make you sick. What makes you sick is being cold. Being cold uses your body’s energy to reheat and/or stabilize your temperature and that can weaken the immune system for a time being. However that is really reaching, since it would usually require the person to already be on the verge of illness when they went outside. If the author meant the actual sniffles then they would be correct it does cause the sniffles, because the cold causes our eyes to water making the tears run down our tear ducts to the nasopharynx, so does cutting onions. Oh shit, onions can make you sick. Better not cut anymore onions. Just eat them whole.

Alright this is when I get pissed. Want to know why I am pissed and how come I am REALLY pissed? I am pissed because some assclowns have decided that Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy know more than The Institute of Medicine (Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public.  The mission of the Institute of Medicine embraces the health of people everywhere.) have dictated even through all the autism and thimerosal propaganda “Given the lack of direct evidence for a biological mechanism and the fact that all well-designed epidemiological studies provide evidence of no association between thimerosal and autism, the committee recommends that cost-benefit assessments regarding the use of thimerosal-containing versus thimerosal-free vaccines and other biological or pharmaceutical products, whether in the United States or other countries, should not include autism as a potential risk.” In other words they decided to look at the “scientific” evidence and concluded there is no greater risk to humans if the vaccine contains thimerosal or it does not. Speaking of thimerosal. Why does it not harm us even though the byproduct is ethylmercury? We all know that mercury is bad, cumulative and high doses of methylmercury can produce renal and neurologic damage. Ethylmercury is not the same thing as its cousin, methylmercury. Ethylmercury is more, well, fluid. It is expelled rapidly from the body and it does not accumulate. Nevertheless, guidelines for the ingestion of ethylmercury were based on those for methylmercury. Around the same time these guidelines were formalized, children were receiving more vaccines that contained thimerosal. For example, in the early 1990s the Haemophilus influenzae b and hepatitis B became staple features of the vaccine schedule for infants, which already included another thimerosal-containing vaccine (diphtheria tetanus and variants). Based on the very conservative guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency, it was concluded that by age two some children might be receiving excessive levels of ethylmercury when considered in the context of known risks of methylmercury exposure. The EPA did not know there was a difference two. Well about this same time California stated they had a 273% increase between 1987-1998. Holy shit there has to be a reason for this increase. I know!!! Blame the government!!! To top it all off, a county in Texas had 273% of there kids increasing in height over the same decade. Were these two things related? Did the government poison our kids and at the same time sneak in the middle of the night to stretch them. They are in fact related. Related in the way that autism and “tall” had new guidelines to diagnose each. In 1994 the APA expanded its diagnostic criteria of autism so more children could be accurately diagnosed. When they did that it meant more children qualified for that diagnosis. This increase benefitted the children in two ways; one, it meant children could be diagnosed at a younger age and receive earlier therapy. Two, it meant more children would qualify for state aid. You see all these parents that are now blaming the government for unsafe vaccinations wanted to first pull from the governmental tit first. If their child is labeled as “special”, “mildly retarded”, or just plain stupid, they get squat. However, if their special child gets diagnosed with autism, they get;

• A high staff-to-student ratio of 1:1 or 1:2
• Individualized programming for each child
• Teachers with special expertise in working with children with autism
• A minimum of 25 hours per week of services
• Ongoing program evaluation and adjustment
• A curriculum emphasizing attention, imitation, communication, play, and social interaction
• A highly supportive teaching environment
• Predictability and structure
• Functional analysis of behavior problems
• Transition planning
• Family involvement

Little conflict of interest huh. Another conflict of interest is done through the research team purporting to have data supporting the autism-vaccine hypothesis. In addition to the flawed methods on which their conclusions are based, there are conflicts of interest that should cause one to question their motives. As it turns out, David Geier (one of the two man team who claimed a correlation between vaccines and autism) is the president of MedCon, Inc., a legal firm that seeks compensation for people claiming to have been harmed by vaccines. He also has filed, with his father Mark Geier, two patents related to a treatment for autism involving a combination of drugs and chelation. Chelation therapy is, of course, predicated on the assumption of excessive amounts of heavy metals in the blood stream of children with autism. The Geiers are clearly in a position to benefit if claims concerning a vaccine-autism link are accepted by the public.

Claims of a causal link between the administration of thimerosal-containing vaccines and the onset of autism are unfounded. The controversy has been driven more by public fervor than it has by science. This is not to suggest that the advocates and parents fueling the fire are malicious or intentionally misleading the public. The reality is that too many families face the unimaginable hardship of learning that their child has been diagnosed with autism and must encounter the subsequent trials and tribulations of providing the best possible care and education for their child. These parents are in desperate need of both assistance and answers (blame). Compounding the difficulty is that many must navigate the waters of emerging science without having received the necessary training to do so. Clarifying misguided claims of causative factors can help redirect necessary resources to more promising treatments, and perhaps reveal a better understanding of the real factors that cause autism. Tell you what. You can refuse to immunize your child “for religious reasons”, since that is the only way to not immunize your child and attend public school. Then make sure to take a nice long vacation to some place tropical place, when you return watch them die a long paralytic death from polio as they fail to breathe before your eyes, because the disease has shut down their diaphragm. In the ER when the doctor tells you your child has polio and “why the fuck were you so god damn stupid not to immunize your child”. Hold your head up high and say proudly “a playboy bunny and comedic actor (who starred in Dumb and Dumber, irony huh?) told me not to.

Now get your FUCKING SHOTS!!!!

ഒക്ലഹോമ സർവ്വകലാശാലയിലെ ഗവേഷകരാണ്‌ ക്യാൻസർ ബാധിച്ച വ്യക്തികളുടെ നിശ്വാസവായുവിലുള്ള 'ജൈവ-അടയാള വാതകം' (ബയോ-മാർക്കർ ഗ്യാസ്‌) തിരിച്ചറിയുന്ന സെൻസറിനായുള്ള ഗവേഷണത്തിൽ ഏർപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നത്‌.

നായ്ക്കൾക്ക്‌ നിശ്വാസവായുവിന്റെ ഗന്ധത്തിലൂടെ  88% കൃത്യതയോടെ ബ്രസ്റ്റ്‌ ക്യാൻസറും 97% കൃത്യതയോടെ ശ്വാസകോശാർബുദവും മണത്തറിയാനാകുമെന്ന്‌ രണ്ടുവർഷം മുമ്പ്‌ പുറത്തിറങ്ങിയ പഠനം തെളിയിച്ചിരുന്നു.

നാനോ ടെക്നോളജി ഉപയോഗിച്ച്‌ ലേസറിന്റെ പ്രവർത്തനമികവ്‌ വർധിപ്പിക്കാനും ലേസർ ഉപകരണത്തിന്റെ വലിപ്പം കുറയ്ക്കാനും ബാറ്ററി ഉപയോഗിച്ച്‌ പ്രവർത്തിപ്പിക്കാവുന്ന കൈയിലൊതുങ്ങുന്ന സെൻസർ ഉപകരണമാക്കി അതിനെ വികസിപ്പിക്കാനുമാണ്‌ ശാസ്ത്രകാരന്മാരുടെ ശ്രമം.

നിശ്വാസവായുവിലൂടെ പുറത്തുകടക്കുന്ന അർബുദഗന്ധവാഹിയായ വാതകം അളക്കാൻ കഴിയുന്ന ഉപകരണം മെഡിക്കൽ ഗവേഷണങ്ങളെ തന്നെ മാറ്റിമറിക്കുമെന്നാണ്‌ ഗവേഷണം നയിക്കുന്ന ഡോ. പാട്രിക്‌ മക്‍കാന്റെ അനുമാനം. ആരംഭദശയിൽ തന്നെ അർബുദഗന്ധം തിരിച്ചറിയാൻ ഉപകരണത്തിന്‌ കഴിഞ്ഞേക്കും.

നായ്ക്കൾക്ക്‌ അർബുദഗന്ധിയായ വാതകങ്ങൾ തിരിച്ചറിയാമെന്ന്‌ കണ്ടെത്തിയിട്ടുണ്ടെങ്കിലും അവ ഏത്‌ വാതകമാണെന്ന്‌ തിരിച്ചറിഞ്ഞിട്ടില്ല. അതു കണ്ടെത്തി അളക്കാനാകുന്ന ഉപകരണം വികസിപ്പിക്കുക എന്ന ദൗത്യമാണ്‌ ഗവേഷകസംഘം ഏറ്റെടുത്തിരിക്കുന്നത്‌.

"ശാസ്ത്രം ഇതിനെ പിന്തുണയ്ക്കുന്നു; നായ്ക്കളും പറയുന്നു, ഇതിലെന്തോ ഉണ്ടെന്ന്‌," മക്‍കാൻ പറഞ്ഞു.

ജൈവ ബാൻഡ്‌ എയ്‌ഡുമായി ഇറാനിയൻ ഗവേഷകർ

ഇറാനിയൻ ശാസ്ത്രജ്ഞർ പച്ചമരുന്നുകളും കടൽച്ചെടികളും ഉപയോഗിച്ച്‌ ദ്രവ രൂപത്തിലുള്ള ജൈവ ബാൻഡ്‌ എയ്ഡ്‌ വികസിപ്പിച്ചു.

"സാധാരണ ബാൻഡ്‌ എയ്ഡുകൾ പോലെ തന്നെ മുറിവിൽ ചുറ്റിവരിയാവുന്ന പുതിയ ബാൻഡ്‌ എയ്ഡ്‌ മുറിവുണക്കൽ പ്രക്രിയയെ ത്വരിതപ്പെടുത്തുന്ന കൃത്രിമചർമ്മമായാണ്‌ പ്രവർത്തിക്കുക," ബാൻഡ്‌ എയ്ഡ്‌ ഉത്‌പാദിപ്പിക്കുന്ന കമ്പനിയുടെ മാനേജിങ്‌ ഡയറക്ടർ സൊഹെയ്‌ല സലാഹ്സൂർ കുർദ്ദിസ്ഥാനി പറഞ്ഞു.

മുഖത്തും കൈകാലുകളിലും വരുന്ന പോറലുകൾക്കും ചെറിയ മുറിവുകൾക്കും ഫലപ്രദമായ പുതിയ ബാൻഡ്‌ എയ്ഡ്‌ മുറിവു പറ്റിയയാൾക്ക്‌ വൈദ്യസഹായം ലഭ്യമാകുംവരെ അത്യാവശ്യ സന്ദർഭങ്ങളിൽ രക്തവാർച്ച തടയാനും മറ്റുമായി ഉപയോഗിക്കാം.

പൂർണ്ണമായും ജൈവവസ്തുക്കളിൽ നിന്ന്‌ ഉത്പാദിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിനാൽ മറ്റ്‌ ബാൻഡ്‌ എയ്ഡുകളെ അപേക്ഷിച്ച്‌ അലർജിക്‌ റിയാക്ഷനുകൾ കുറവാണെന്ന്‌ കുർദ്ദിസ്ഥാനി കൂട്ടിച്ചേർത്തു.

മീനെണ്ണ ഹൃദ്‌രോഗികളിലെ മരണനിരക്ക്‌ കുറയ്ക്കും

ദിവസം ഒരു നേരം മീനെണ്ണ ഗുളിക കഴിക്കുന്നവർക്ക്‌ ഹൃദയസ്തംഭനം മൂലമുള്ള മരണത്തെ അതിജീവിക്കാനുള്ള ശേഷി കൂടുമെന്ന്‌ ഞായറാഴ്ച പുറത്തിറങ്ങിയ ക്ലിനിക്കൽ പഠനം തെളിയിക്കുന്നു.  മീനെണ്ണആരോഗ്യദായകമാണെന്ന വിശ്വാസത്തെ പ്രബലപ്പെടുത്തുന്ന പഠനം നോർവെയിലെ പ്രമുഖ മരുന്നുത്പാദകരായ പ്രോനോവ ബയോഫാർമയാണ്‌ സംഘടിപ്പിച്ചത്‌.

രക്തം പമ്പ്‌ ചെയ്യുന്നതിൽ ഹൃദയം പരാജയപ്പെടുന്ന അവസ്ഥയാണ്‌ ഹൃദയസ്തംഭനം. അപകടകരമായ ഈ അവസ്ഥ ചികിത്സയ്‌ക്കു പിടിതന്നെന്ന്‌ വരില്ല.

മീനെണ്ണയിൽ അധിഷ്ഠിതമായ മരുന്നുകൾ നിർമ്മിക്കുന്നതിൽ സ്‌പേഷ്യലൈസ്‌ ചെയ്ത ലോകത്തിലെ   ഒന്നാംനിര മരുന്നുകമ്പനിയാണ്‌ പ്രോനോവ.

ഹൃദയാഘാതം, മസ്തിഷ്കാഘാതം, അൽഷീമേഴ്സ്‌, വിഷാദം തുടങ്ങിയ രോഗാവസ്ഥകളുടെ തീവ്രത കുറയ്ക്കാൻ ഒമേഗ-3 ഫാറ്റി ആസിഡിനാവുമെന്ന്‌ നേരത്തെ കണ്ടെത്തിയിരുന്നു. മീനെണ്ണയിൽ ധാരാളമായുള്ള വസ്തുവാണ്‌ ഒമേഗ-3 ഫാറ്റി ആസിഡ്‌.
ധാരാളം മത്സ്യം കഴിക്കുന്നതും ഹൃദയസ്തംഭനമരണങ്ങളെ അകറ്റിനിർത്താൻ സഹായിക്കുമെന്ന്‌ പഠനഫലം വിശകലനം ചെയ്ത കാർഡിയോളജിസ്റ്റുകൾ അഭിപ്രായപ്പെട്ടു.

A person should always look to their past to see towards the future.  I am sure we have all seen old black and white pictures of our grandparents and great grandparents.  Raise your hands if any of those pictures had a fatty in them.  Put down your hands if you are the idiot that is calling them fat now.  When your ancestors of a few generations ago were in their 20s and 30s, I would bet that they were lithe, lean and in shape.  So what changed?  Not why are old people fat,  I mean why are “our” kids fat.  Why has the epidemic of the 20^th century gone from cancer and heart disease to obesity?  Why have they had to change the name of “adult onset diabetes” to “type II diabetes”? Give you a hint on that one, because kids are now fatter and more sugar resistant than before.

Our ancestry is filled with hard work mostly of that manual labor.  If your great, or even great, great grandparent just happened to have a white collar job, they either walked to work or rode a bike.  Nothing came easy, they had to WORK for it.  Doubt any of them went to the gym and rode a bike for 20 min 3 times a day, or lifted weights on off days.  If you told them that in order to be physically fit they had to change from their work boots, change into tennis shoes and run around the block for 30min, while doing so try to stay within a 80% max heart rate.   They would laugh their slim asses off then tell you to get the fuck out of their house.  Cause of the laughter is because they awoke at 5am, made a breakfast of mostly protein (eggs, whole milk and fruit or oats), packed a lunch (probably a sandwich, more fruit, some veggies, more milk).  After the 8 mile walk to work (yes even if raining) they worked, and I mean worked.  Messages were not sent with a push of a button, sent meant they walked it to the desk five floors up or across town.  Lunch was more protein and a starch, with nothing eaten after dinner, since that was bed time.  Weekends usual meant a trip to the country, where they hiked, boated or some other activity.  The key to all this is the activity.  They were fucking busy.  Reason one our kids are fat.  They are lazy.

Food back in the day was homemade, sure it was fried, but it also did not contain processed sugar, high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils.  Ice cream was real cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Here is what McDonalds calls ice cream; Milk, sugar, cream, nonfat milk solids, corn syrup solids, mono- and diglycerides, guar gum, dextrose, sodium citrate, artificial vanilla flavor, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, disodium phosphate, cellulose gum, vitamin A palmitate.  People who owned homes had gardens.  In those gardens they grew vegetables, not herbs or flowers.  When you wanted a bite to eat you grabbed an apple, not an apple bar.  When you wanted a carrot you grabbed a carrot, not a carrot oatmeal cake.  When you wanted coffee, you asked for a coffee, not a grande decaf triple shot caramel macchiato, light foam.  Just so you know the calorie disparity between the two is 0 vs. 150 kcal.  Lastly if you wanted a drink, you drank from the faucet, drinking fountain and soda was “way too sweet”.  Reason two our kids are fat.  They are lazy sugar addicts.

Side note; I have been talking about high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils as the bane of the obese, why is that?  Well all physiology and organic chemistry aside, high fructose corn syrup is a processed sugar, very concentrated and also very cheap.  When it is eaten in the body from sodas mainly, but also anything mass produced that needs a little sweetening, our bodies cannot recognize it as having calories so it does not sate our hunger center.  That means when your kid drinks that mountain dew with 600 kcal (by the way his diet should be around 2,000 kcal, if they are active, no! playing football on playstation is not active) his body just stays hungry as if he just had water.  That same mountain dew also has caffeine which is a diuretic, making them pee more and that in turn makes him more thirty.  Get it?  Now the fun one.  Hydrogenated oils are regular oils (lets say a healthy canola oil) that is chemically altered by the addition of a hydrogen molecule (get it hydrogenated..*wink*).  This makes the oil solid and easy to work into solid foods.  Pretty much anything baked or that needs the “mouth feel” of having a fat.  Our bodies are totally fucked up by hydrogenated oils, they cannot break it down.  It recognizes it as a fat, but does not know what to do with it, so it hides it.  The body just locks it away, out of site, out of mind.  The problem is, it is not out of site.  It is that gunther hanging over your belt, or it is that cottage cheese under your skin when you try on something tight.  Hiding means storing, and that means getting fat.

There is an old saying that a person could make a billion dollars if they had the one proven way to loose weight, 100% of the time.  Show me the money, since I have the answer.  Ready for it?  Get out your pens and write this down.  “Eat less and do more”.  There you go.  Pretty wise huh.  Just eat a well balanced diet, eat whole fruit instead of the juice (real juice, not Hi-C, gator aide or kool aid), more soluble fiber (oatmeal, whole grains, brown not white starches), less sugar (that includes potatoes, white rice, and any and all process fructose, never ever eat high fructose corn syrup).  The actual food pyramid should have veggies at the top, then meats and cheeses, then fruit, then starch, and lastly oils.  Once the diet is ship shape, get out there and do something.  Watch tv standing up, take the stairs and not the elevator and just go for a walk.  Studies have shown that the 30min of exercise that each of us should do daily does not have to be at the same time.  So just eat less and move more. Now pay me you skinny beotches

The technology they use is called 'Target Memory Erasure' and causes mild brain damage in a patient to erase bad or painful memories.

Awesome idea.
These guys thought so too...

'Erasing' drug-associated memories may stop drug addiction relapse

Physorg| August 13, 2008

The team, led by Professor Barry Everitt, was able to reduce drug-seeking behaviours in rats by blocking a brain chemical receptor important to learning and memory during the recall of drug-associated memories. Their research, which was funded by the Medical Research Council, was reported in the 13 August issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

The Cambridge scientists found that by disrupting or erasing memories associated with drug use during recall, they could prevent the memories from triggering relapses and drug taking.

Memories exist in different states depending on whether they are being recalled or not. When memories are recalled, they become 'unstable' or malleable and can be altered or erased during the process called reconsolidation. Because relapse by drug abusers is often prompted when they recall drug-associated memories, the scientists found that by blocking these memories they could prevent relapse.

In order to undertake the experiments, the researchers trained rats to associate the switching on of a light with cocaine. The researchers then exposed the rats to the light, thereby 'reactivating' the memory, without the cocaine. In an effort to receive more cocaine, the rats would perform tasks that the scientists had created which would turn on the light.

When the animals were given a chemical that interfered with the action of the NMDA-type glutamate receptor (which plays an important role in memory) prior to the 'reactivation' session, the rats showed reduced cocaine-seeking behaviours. A single treatment reduced or even stopped drug-seeking behaviours for up to four weeks.

In contrast, blocking the receptors after or without the reactivation session had no effect on subsequent drug-seeking behaviours, indicating that drug-associated memories can be disrupted during but not after reconsolidation of memories.

Professor Barry Everitt said, "The results suggest that efforts should be made to develop drugs that could be given in a controlled clinical or treatment environment in which addicts would have their most potent drug memories reactivated. Such treatments would be expected to diminish the effects of those memories in the future and help individuals resist relapse and maintain their abstinence."

Dr Amy Milton, a co-author, said, "This is a new approach to the treatment of drug addiction that has great potential. Additionally, this might also be used to treat other neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by maladaptive memories, including post-traumatic stress and phobic anxiety disorders."

[slideshare id=584052&doc=medicine20congress2public-1220619770951299-9&w=425]

Many thanks to BioImagene for their help and sponsorship!

BioImagene is a leading provider of total imaging solutions for pathologists, researchers and drug developers in clinical diagnostics and life sciences. Our mission is to bring affordable digital pathology to every pathologist in every laboratory worldwide. Our systems automate pathology workflows for acquisition, analysis, management, archival, reporting and sharing of tissue images. Our solutions can significantly boost productivity, ensure accuracy and reduce bottlenecks in all aspects of lifescience workflows.

Update: You can find some of the slideshows here.

• Fatigue after eating - This may be result of weak digestion. To improve digestion means to stimulate digestive fire before we begin eating. So Ayurveda recommends eating one-inch piece of fresh ginger with few drops of lemon juice and few pinches of salt on it before full meal.
• For Cough and Cold - 1 tsp. of fresh ginger juice + 1 tsp. Honey. Take it 3 times a day.
• Loss of Appetite - 5 tbsp. chopped fresh ginger in a glass jar. Cover ginger with lemon juice; add a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp. of Cumin seeds. Put jar in the sun for 2 days. Take ½ tsp. before meals.
• Stomachache - Boil 1tsp. chopped ginger in 1 cup of water, add pinch of salt and drink.
• Nausea and Flatulence - Mix ½ tsp. ginger juice + 1 tsp. Lime juice + 1 tsp. mint juice and 1 tbsp. Honey. Take twice daily.

The results of the study - the first to study the action of vitamin D among colorectal cancer Sick people - merit further study, but it is too early to prompt supplements as a part of treatment, say the investigators from Dana-Farber and the Harvard School of Public Health.

In a report in the June 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the researchers note that previous research has shown that higher levels of vitamin D lower the risk of origination intestine cancer on 50 percent, but the influence on outcomes wasn't known. To examine this issue, the scientists, ledby Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, and Charles Fuchs, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber, examined data from two long-running epidemiologic experiments whose participants gave blood samples and whose health has been observed for many years.

Doctors showed 304 participants in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals. Follow up Study who were diagnosed with rectum cancer between 1991 and 2002. All had had vitamin D showings measured in blood samples given more than two year prior to their studies. Each patient's vitamin D measurement was classified by "quartiles" - the top 25 percent, the next lowest 25 percent, and so on. Those whose levels were in the lowest quartile were considered in shortage of vitamin D.
The doctors followed the 304 patients until they died or until 2005, whichever occurred first. While that time, 123 patients died, with 96 of them dying from rectum cancer. The doctors then searced for likeness between the sick people' previously measured vitamin D blood levels and whether they had died or are still alive.

The experiments showed that patients with the vitamin D levels in the highest quartile were 48 percent less likely to die (from any sickness, including colon cancer) than patients with the lowest vitamin D levels. The odds of dying from colon cancer specifically were 39 % less, the scientists stated.

"Our study confirms that higher prediagnosis plasma measurements of vitamin D after a diagnosis of duodenum cancer might considerably improve overall survival," the authors stated. "Future trials should examinethe role of vitamin D supplementation in sick people with rectum cancer."

The measurements of vitamin D in the patients' blood reflected both the amounts made by the body when exposed to sunlight and to all origin of the vitamin in their diets, said Ng. However, she said, there can be additional unknown reason that may account for people differences. Patients with the highest vitamin D levels tended to have lower body-mass index indicating that they were leaner, and also were more active. However, after monitoring for BMI and physical activity, as other prognostic factors, higher vitamin D indications were still independently associatedwith much better survival rates.
Ng said that a trial is being planned in which colon cancer sick people will take vitamin D along with post-surgery chemotherapy to look for any phenomenon of the supplements.

Meanwhile, she said that people with colon cancer should see their doctors as to whether they should add vitamin supplements to their daily ration. Recommended daily amountof vitamin D supplements range from 200 IU – international units a day for people under age 50 to 400 International Units for people between 50 and 70, and 600 IU for people over 70.

B.Relieve pain: Pain medication such as ibuprofen , aspirin, and acetaminophen ( reduce pain and inflammation. These medications help to open the airways by reducing swelling.

Homeopathy is well known for cases of Sinusitis,Allergy and recurrent infections. Homeopathy cures permanently Acute,Chronic and Allergic sinusitis. Old patients needs long term therapy to cure permanently. Homeopathy has more then 150 medicines for Allergy,Acute and Chronic Sinusitis. Children and young age persons are more vulnerable to infections of nasal cavity and sinuses. Homeopathy medicines are prescribed on basis of individuality of patient, modalities, symptoms,temperament, personality traits, mental attitudes and behavior patterns.

A detail Research article on Efficacy of homeopathic treatment in Sinusitis is available in "Indian Journal of Research in Homeopathy" in Jan-March 2008 issue.

http://www.ccrhindia.org/ijrh2(1).pdf