how to deal with your ovulation girls!

I found this article very interesting because its a problem many girls faces during their period and in between, but also many of them don't know what the pain actually is caused by... But this article from epigee.org gives you the answer girls:

"Millions of women around the world suffer from painful periods. That aching and
cramping can really make life difficult, zapping your energy and making daily
chores difficult. But a lot of women also experience painful cramps in between
their periods, known as mittelschmerz..."

The Mittelschmerz is the abdominal or pelvic pain that showes up between the periods, usually on the 14th day of the cyclus. The mittelschmerz coincides with ovulation, where eggs are released from follicles. when these follicles break, they release a fluid that cause irritation and pain in the abdominal lining. Also when new follicles are made, it causes pain.

Here are some good ways to deal with ovulation:

- Motion, because it releases the stuff endorphines that can release the pain

- Drink water to give body more fluid

- Use a warm pad. It can help sooth the cramps by relaxing.

I hope you can find this post usefull girls...

The Artificial Hand That Can "Feel"

Researchers in London England are working on an artificial limb that can actually feel. The SmartHand project sensors from the finger tips to send signals to the forearm which then sends those signals onto the brain for reading.

"If you push the skin on an amputee's forearm, they feel like you are pushing on their phantom fingers," Sebelius told CNN.

When an amputee imagines moving a "phantom hand," signals are sent down nerve fibres in the remaining part of the amputated arm to activate muscles that would have moved the fingers.

They hope to have the new hand on the sales market in two years. But the problem with this is that it is only available for people who have lost their limb below their elbow. They hope to use this new technology to advance this idea into a full artificial arm. The only problem is that there aren't enough muscles to use as sensors to send the message to the brain. Who knows, maybe in the future people will be able to cope with life as they did before they lost their limbs.

Webbed Toes

Syndactyly is characterized by the fusion of two or more toes. As you have seen in ducks and frogs, which allows them to swim better. Although unusual, some humans have webbed toes. Wikipedia states that the chances are about 1 and 20,000 or 25,000.

The exact cause of the condition is unknown. In some cases, close family members may share this condition. In other cases, no other related persons have this condition.

There are a few different levels of webbing. From partial to complete webbing. Oddly enough, it is usually the second and third toe to be webbed. Webbed toes do not hurt the person or have any other effect. It just looks weird. Some people may become self-conscious and chose to surgically fix this problem. Skin graphs may be needed and some degree of scarring may occur. In my opinion i would just keep it and train to be a swimmer. Who know maybe you can be the next Michael Phelps.

Concussions in Sports

The risks you take in sports are pretty great. But do the risks ever overwhelm the strive for glory? Concussions may not seem like a big deal to coaches and parents, but in reality they are serious injuries which may, if not handled correctly could cause permanent brain damage. If you sustain a concussion you may go in and out of consciousness for about twenty-four hours, have memory loss for the time, and may never really remember what happened. They may even need emergency medical attention. The American Family Physician states that many life long injuries will follow someone who has returned to a physical activity too soon.

The risk of complications is increased in athletes who prematurely return to play and in those with prolonged loss of consciousness or post-traumatic amnesia. An athlete with prolonged loss of consciousness or signs and symptoms that worsen or persist after a concussion should be evaluated in the emergency department. An athlete should not be allowed to resume sports participation until all symptoms of a concussion have resolved.

Athletes in any sport may succumb to a serious concussion, even if it is not considered a "contact sport". People need to understand the seriousness of what may happen if a concussion is not treated. I think if people actually understood, we wouldn't see the stories we see on the news anymore. All you need is rest until the symptoms are gone.

Running For Your Life

Exercise is one of the best ways to stay fit and in-shape. And in a recent study in Manhattan, NY shows that older men who exercise are 63% less likely to have a stroke than men who do not exercise. ScienceDaily reported that this study from an issue in Neurology® included 3,298 people over the age of 69. These people were followed for 9 years. During these 9 years 238 strokes occurred. 41% of these people had not participated in any physical activity. The risk of ischemic stroke for the overall group was 5 years was 4.3%.

Taking part in moderate-to-heavy intensity physical activity may be an important factor in preventing stroke. A large percentage of the paricipants were not taking part in any physical activities. This may be true of many elderly perople who live in cities. Identifying ways to improve physical activity among these people may be a key goal for public health. -Joshua C. Willey, author.

The strange part to this is the fact that women showed no signs in reduced stroke risks. How could this be?

I think that maybe this study was not conducted correctly. How could women show no change in risk but men can? It makes me think that there are specific things for men and women to help cope with general health risks. Maybe there is one for women. Overall I think that this study should be redone with a lot more people and level of activity intensity. Stroke is the number one leading cause of disability in the United States. Maybe exercise can lower this.

Imagination to Animal.

If I told you to name all the animals that live in the ocean, how many could you name? Maybe 50? Maybe 100? Of these animals, how many could you name that live 3,280 feet below sea level? Probably none. MSNBC tells of a new census that will be released in October 2010. 5,600 species of marine life have been discovered in deep ocean water. Researchers from Louisiana State University in New Orleans, have found that many species in deep water feed off of chemicals from the ocean floor.

The deep sea was considered a desert until not so long ago; it's quite amazing to have documented close to 20,000 forms of life in a zone that was thought to be barren. -Jesse Ausubel

This discovery shows that a lot of animals can survive in the deep sea under heavy water pressure and in complete darkness. The biodiversity of animals is so extensive in the ocean. It is the least explored place on the planet. One of the challenges oceanographers are trying to overcome is creating equipment that can reach the bottoms of the ocean. 2,000 scientists from 80 countries are trying to catalog these species. Although this is difficult, it may be harder to pay $50,000 dollars a day to use vehicles that travel to the bottom of the ocean. Scientists think that there may be up to a million or more species that have not been discovered.

I think that if we can produce technology that can explore the ocean floor, not only will have a better understanding of life on earth, but we could possibly stumble upon plants that could be used as medicines. Or animals that could be used to consume. It would be a very prosperous thing for a country that could reach the bottom of the ocean floor. I think if we want to know about the history of our planet we need to start from the bottom.

How the Brain Filters Out Distracting Thoughts to Focus on a Single Bit of Information

According to researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, your brain filters out information in your brain that may distract you in order to focus on one thing at a time. I found this article on Sciencedaily.com 

Think of your brain like a radio: You're turning the knob to find your favourite station, but the knob jams, and you're stuck listening to something that's in between stations. It's a frustrating combination that makes it quite hard to get an update on swine flu while a Michael Jackson song wavers in and out. Staying on the right frequency is the only way to really hear what you're after. In much the same way, the brain's nerve cells are able to "tune in" to the right station to get exactly the information they need, says researcher Laura Colgin, who was the paper's first author. "Just like radio stations play songs and news on different frequencies, the brain uses different frequencies of waves to send different kinds of information," she says.

[...]parts of the hippocampus, which is a key memory center in the brain. While listening in on the rat brain wave transmissions, the researchers started to realize that there might be something more to a specific sub-set of brain waves, called gamma waves.

Overall this article is saying that your brain can not focus on more than one thing at a time. It has to choose one thing to focus on at a time. There are cells in the brain that pick a frequency that it wants to focus on. Either a slow or a fast frequency. Your brain, like Colgin said in the article, works kind of like a radio, using frequencies to find one bit of information to focus on. But I found out that people who have schizophrenia have a lot of trouble keeping these brain signals straight. They can't tell is what they are hearing is from a memory they've had or if it's a present voice they are hearing. Overall I actually learned a lot from this article. I've always thought I could be a multi-tasker, but it turns out nobody can, because your brain can only focus on one bit of information at a time. 

New cervical cancer screening guidelines released

There are new regulations for pap tests, like women don't need their first pap test till they're 21 and instead of getting one every year that you should cut back to every other year for women younger than 30, and for the women older than 30 should get the check up every three years.

[...] A review of the evidence to date shows that screening at less
frequent intervals prevents cervical cancer just as well, has decreased costs,
and avoids unnecessary interventions that could be harmful.

There's good data since the last guidelines in 2003 that show that
screening teens or before age 21 is not having an impact on reducing cervical
cancer," said Debbie Saslow of the Cancer Society.

Getting an annual Pap test is the equivalent to getting a mammogram every
four months. Breast cancer on average is growing at a point where, if you get a
mammogram every two years, you will miss a lot of deadly cancers that you would
have caught if you're having them every year. This is not true for cervical
cancer; we are detecting pre-cancers that are taking 10 to 20 years to develop
into cancer."According to the ACS(American Cancer Society), there are about
10,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year, and more than 4,000 deaths. Over
half were found in women who never had a Pap test. Most cases are in women
younger than 50, and rarely occur in females younger than 20.

I found this article at cnnnews.com. I think that honestly it's ones opinion and choice to get checked. I mean everyone should get checked but I don't understand how getting checked every year doesn't prevent cervical cancer. Because isn't that what the check ups are supposed to help inform you and help you treat if you have it? But again I think everyone has their own opinion for what they think, and I wouldn't recommend only getting checked every other year because you never know what could happen if you don't get checked.

Galaxies eating...Galaxies???

Although Galaxies are cannibals, you can learn a lot from them. According to observations made by the European Space Agency on MSNBC's science page, the galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) was seen with the remains of a cosmic merger right between the eliptical galaxy Centaurus A, and a smaller galaxy.

The giant galaxy, Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is the nearest giant,
elliptical
galaxy, at a distance of about 11 million light-years. The galaxy
hosts a
supermassive black hole that is 200 million times the mass of the
sun, or 50
times the mass of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

More importantly was the technique used to obtain these images. The New
Technology Telescope (NTT) allows scientist to observe space with a sharper view
and without dust. This is great in allowing scientist to learn how stars are
formed inside of galaxies.

According to co-author Jesse Alves:

These are the first steps in the development of a new technique that has the
potential to trace giant clouds of gas in other galaxies at high resolution and
in a cost-effective way. Knowing how these giant clouds form and evolve is
to understand how stars form in galaxies.

I think that this will allow scientist to gain more knowledge of not only how stars are formed but what natural occurences happen in the universe. An understanding of other galaxies will help us learn the fate of our own galaxy which is coming closer and closer. Maybe these telescopes will help us find another suitable home. I mean that is what space travel is about anyway...right?

Half Man, Half Tree

There are many articles about this man but I found mine on The Yellowllama. An Indonesian fisherman, Dede Kosawa, also known as "Tree Man" has a very rare condition. In Dede's childhood he had cut his knee and from then on warty "roots" have grown out of his hands and feet. These "warts" proceeded to grow from his body and eventually he was unable to perform simple acts of daily living. An American dermatology expert, Dr. Anthony Gaspari, has flown out to his village south of Jakarta stating that he knows what Dede has and claiming he has a cure. Gaspari says that Dede's warts are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). He has a rare genetic fault that effects his immune system. This means his body is unable to contain the warts.

The virus was therefore able to "hijack the cellular machinery of his skin
cells", ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance that caused
the tree-like growths known as "cutaneous horns" on his hands and feet. Dede's
counts of a key type of white blood cell are so low that Dr. Gaspari initially
suspected he may have the AIDs virus. But tests showed he did not, and it became
clear that Dede's immune condition was something far rarer and more mysterious...

"The likelihood of having his condition is less than one in a million," Dr. Gaspari quotes. Gaspari believes that Dede's warts may be cleared up using daily doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin A. This vitamin will arrest the growth of the warts.

"He won't have a perfectly normal body but the warts should reduce in size to
the point where he could use his hands," Dr. Gaspari said. "Over the course of
three to six months the warts should become smaller and fewer in number. He will
be living a more normal life." The most resilient warts could then be frozen off
and the growths on his hands and feet surgically removed.

Dr. Gaspari hopes to get the drugs for free. He wants to bring Dede to the United States to run more tests on him but he fears financial and bureaucratic barriers will hold him back.

OUCH!

Lately I've been having a problem with my hand, for the last month or so whenever I hit a spot between my thumb and index finger a shooting pain and then numbness or tingling occurs. Sadly this occurrence happens quite frequently and it has become a concern. Most of my friends have heard my complaints and outbursts of profanity, so I've decided to ask the question: What could be the cause of this and what could this mean?

According to Heath Hand Resources

"Five nerves begin at the spinal cord in the neck, go through a complex series of divisions around the armpit, and divide into the three main nerves that provide power and sensation to the hand.

• Median nerve
• Ulnar nerve
• Radial nerve

Depending upon the location of the nerve irritation or injury, specific symptoms may occur.

1. If you experience numbness and tingling in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and/or part of the ring finger, you may have a compression or irritation of the median nerve. Check out the information for the following:
   • carpal tunnel syndrome
   • pronator teres syndrome

2. If you experience numbness and tingling in the ring finger and small finger, you may have a compression or irritation of the ulnar nerve, Check out the information for the following:
   • cubital tunnel syndrome
   • guyons canal compression

If you experience numbness and tingling over the back of the hand, you may have a compression or irritation of the radial nerve. Check out the information for the following:

• radial tunnel syndrome"

But is this really that serious? Could it be a pinched nerve?

According to Arthritis Treatment and Relief

"A pinched nerve refers to a condition where there is nerve root irritation or nerve root compression. This nerve problem can occur either in the spine or in a more peripheral location. Symptoms include numbness, "pins and needles" or burning sensations, and pain radiating outward from the injured area.

Numbness, a loss of feeling or sensation, usually arises from damage or disease of nerves. Numbness is often associated with or preceded by abnormal pain-like sensations often described as pins-and-needles, prickling or burning sensations; these are called paresthesias. Numbness is loss of sensation whereas paralysis usually involves both the loss of the ability to move the area and loss of sensations."

Both articles were informative and give specific examples of symptoms and possible causes of the problem. If you are having any pain in your hand I'd check out some of these syndromes and causes. I know I will.

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Migraine Raises Risk of Most Common Form of Stroke

According to Science Daily, results of 21 studies have shown researchers at Johns Hopkins have concluded that migraine headaches are associated with strokes.

The risks for those with migraines is 2.3 times those without, according to calculations from the John Hopkins team, to be presented Nov. 16 at the American Heart Association (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando. For those who experience aura, the sighting of flashing light, zig-zag lines and blurred side vision along with migrains, the risk of so-called ischemic stroke is 2.5 times higher, and in women, 2.9 times as high. [...]

Such widespread use of horomone-controlling drugs is what Nazarian says may explain why women with migraines have such high risk of ischemic stroke. Contraceptions and other estrogen therapies are both known to contribute to long-term risks factors for cardiovascular disease and stroke, such as high
blood pressure and increased reactivity by clot-forming blood platelets.

Women should make sure that the horomone-controlling drugs they're taking is absolutely necessary, and if so make sure to be watchful and moniter for any signs of a stroke.

How a Mouthguard Can Change a Game

A split-second faster, a step quicker, an inch higher, a bit more flexibility, a little stronger can make all the difference in your game. Is it possible that something so small, that some chew on or stick in the side of their helmet can help you achieve that? According to the research that was done at Rutgers University it is. The Pure Power Mouthguard does just that.

"Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball play ever, stuck his tongue out as he
was driving for the basket. By sticking his tongue out, he was putting his
jaw in that relaxed position. It probably wasn't done consciously. It was
something he just started doing at the age of 12 and it worked for him, said PPM
inventor Dr. Anil Makkar."

As of right now, Rutgers University has found some astonishing outcomes of what they have been researching. The PPM claims that its fitting method is based on neuromuscular dentistry is unlike other 'custom fit' mouthguards in the industry. Traditional mouthguards require just a standard dental impression wherever the jaw might rest. But the PPM process can take anywhere between 80 to 90 minutes, and can only be done at the office of neuromuscular dentist. Approximately 1,000 pro and college athletes have purchased the mouthguard, but the reasoning behind that is because the extra abilities come at a price of about $1,600.

I am still skeptic about how something so small could help you perform better, but I did find this article interesting just for that reason. I was looking into buying one until the price popped up on my screen. So if you are really wanting one, then you better hope the extra centimeters matter.

Wheelchair Rugby puts athletes back on the team

Many people assume that once you become a quadriplegic that is the end of sports for ever. As CNN reports one unlucky guy thought his dreams of continuing athletics after high school were ruined when after his high school graduation he tried to do a trick a friend had done on a trampoline.

"I got hurt jumping on a trampoline," says Kennedy, now 24. "We were in the cheerleading gym..and I was all ready to go celebrate graduating from high school... and I remembered I'd seen my friend try this trick."

But Kennedy landed on his head, damaging the vertebra in his upper neck. He was paralyzed from the chest down.

A rehab center in Atlanta, Georgia, has a Wheelchair Rugby team that is very physical and that is where Talbot Kennedy now plays. His plans were to attend college on a cheer leading scholarship he had won earlier in the year.

By this rehab center having a rugby team it is giving lots of people a second chance. Hopefully many people will be helped by this if they every loose their mobility.

How Brain Remembers Single Events

Many people wonder how certain memories stay vivid in your memory while others fade away. According to Science Daily, many scientists didn't know much about what happened in the brain to make you remember these events, but neuroscientist John Guzowski and his collegues found that a single experience is as effective as repetitive activities in activationg neurons and genes linked to with memory.

Knowing how the brain remembers one-time events can help scientists design better therapies for diseases such as Alzheimer's in which the ability to form such memories is impared. [...]

It is well known that a brain structure called the hippocampus is critical to memory and learning, but many questions exist about how brief experiences trigger the physical changes necessary for memory. In his study, Guzowski set out to learn how neurons in the hippocampus react to single events--particularly in the CA3 region, which is thought to be most critical for single-event memory. [...]

Past studies have shown that turning on Arc is required to convert experiences into long-term memory.

The hippocampus is the main part of the brain that affects all types of memory. So, if scientists can understand how the hippocampus works, it will make it much easier to understand, and hopefully eventually treat memory affecting diseases.

Newborn Cells Clear Space In Brain's Memory- Maker

As we talked about before in class about Stem Celled Research many people think that it is considered as murder. Well people might think the same thing about this article about The Brains Memory In Newborns. Here is a little information about the new study.

A new rodent study shows that newborn neurons destabilize established connections among existing brain cells in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory. Clearing old memories from the hippocampus makes way for new learning....Other researchers had proposed the idea that neurogenesis, the birth of new neurons, could disrupt existing memories, but the Cell paper is the first to show evidence supporting the idea, says Paul Frankland, a neuroscientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto....Scientists have known that memories first form in the hippocampus and are later transferred to long-term storage in other parts of the brain. For some amount of time the memory resides both in the hippocampus and elsewhere in the brain. What’s not been known is how, after a few months or years, the memory is gradually cleared from the hippocampus.

I hope this article has given you information that you had not known before. I thought this information was very interesting. I hope you did too.

Until Next Time!
Lauren

Medical Astrology: Health by Your Zodiac Sign

The article, Health by Your Zodiac Sign, uses Stephanie Gailing's book, Planetary Apothecary: An Astrological Approach to Health and Wellness as a reference to achieving good health through zodiac signs. For example, my zodiac sign is Cancer. According to the article, to achieve good health I should avoid caffeine, keep slippery elm handy for hearth burn, and eat plenty of broccoli and cauliflower.

Medical astrology—the practice of an astrological sign ruling over a specific body part—may be keeping you healthy. Adapted from the book by Stephanie Gailing, Planetary Apothecary: An Astrological Approach to Health and Wellness, check out which regions of the body are taken over by your sign and which foods will support your health:

Honestly, I don't believe the zodiac sign has anything to do with having good health, but the article does give good advice about what foods to avoid and what foods to eat more of. Check out the article, see for yourself if you achieve better health by what your sign suggests.

Lcross Mission Finds Water on Moon

Anyone remember talks of finding out if there any water on the moon? Well, NASA did it, as reported by the New York Times. The 2 piece ship, one part empty rocket, one part small craft to measure the results, smashed in to the moon on October 9. However, instead of the data craft simply collecting data, it also crashed on to the surface. The point of causing an impact is that the crater, which was 60 to 100 feet wide, is that it throws up particles beneath the surface. These particles had water in them, which scientists were able to tell because of telltale color changes.

“We got more than just whiff,” said Peter H. Schultz, a professor of geological sciences at Brown University and a co-investigator of the mission. “We practically tasted it with the impact.”

Scientists hope that the evidence of water on the moon shows that some day it may be a suitable place to live.

Water Found On The Moon

For several years many fictional stories have been about life on the moon and people started to believe that one day we would eventually live on the moon. Well this article about water on the moon gives people the idea that maybe one day we will be shopping at the mall on the moon.

"Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn't find just a little bit, we found a significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete, a principal project investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center.....The discovery came from an analysis of data from a spacecraft NASA intentionally crashed into the moon last month.

I hope that this article somewhat gave you hope that maybe, just maybe we will be taking our summer vacation to the moon. I chose this article because it relates to anatomy because the conditions are pretty much the same that our human bodies could survive there.

Until next time... Tootles

More muscle power means lower Alzheimer's risk

Dr. Pratricia A. Boyle works at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago Illinois. Her and her colleagues have been researching to see if greater mental, physical, and overall strength helps prevent getting Alzheimer's disease when older.

"We certainly think that it is important to be physically active and to work to
keep our muscles strong," she said. "Good physical health is important for
good brain function."

I think that mental health, and physical health have been proven to have a huge roll in the Alzheimer's disease. I also think that more people in the United States need to get in better shape not only to prevent from getting Alzheimer's disease but to be in better shape all around.

KU Doctors perform different surgery on 19yr old with bone cancer

Lawrence Journal World reported about a unique surgery that doctors at the University of Kansas completed on a 19 year old with bone cancer. The doctors had to amputate his arm, clavicle and scapula. The tricky part was removing the bone but keeping as many nerves intact as possible. The nerves that the doctors save will then become attached to the prosthetic arm he will receive. The doctors will do a scan and match the electrodes with the muscles so that everything will work together. He can not receive the arm for about 6-8 months. Most people will get theirs after 6-8 weeks, or when the swelling goes down.

For bone cancer, doctors typically salvage the limbs by removing the cancer and reconstructing the limbs, Templeton said. But, his bone broke just below the shoulder and the cancer cells spread. Without amputation, his survival rate would have been very poor, if not close to zero.

It will be a little harder for him to begin using the arm because after almost a year of not using the muscles most people have to re-learn how since it has not been used. This was very interesting and shows just how far technology has come, and how much it has helped doctors help patients to regain their mobility after a life altering event.

The girl who sneezees 12,000 times a day has doctors baffled

Lauren Johnson is a 12 year old girl who can't stop sneezing. Her sneezing started two weeks ago when she got the cold. She has tried 11 different medication but none of them will stop her sneezing. She has trouble eating between sneezes and she also doesn't go to school because it will distract students. Lynn Johnson, Lauren's mom, has gone on television in a bid to find a cure or a specialist that can help her. Doctors think she is suffering from psychogenic disorder.

'There's less than 40 cases ever documented ever in the entire world. Nobody really knows how to treat it, what's going to work, and even in the cases where it might have worked or turned the sneezing off for awhile, a lot of times it comes back again and then you're right back to where you started.

I found this article very interesting because its rare that this happen. This would be a great case for doctors to find a cure for. Finding a cure or at least knowing the cause will be very helpful.

New help for moms with postpartum depression

Lauren Meehan a former Miss New Hampshire was feeling overwhelmed and panicky since giving birth to her first child. She over thought about getting feedings and naps right that she stopped eating and sleeping herself. She started throwing up and crying continuously. She had gotten a prescription medication for postpartum anxiety by her doctor. She told her husband about what she was thinking the other day, which was that she was thinking about driving her car off the road and that all things would go away as in her not having to worry about the baby or what she was going through. Her husband could not believe what he had just heard, and was shocked. His obstetrician referred her to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and there doctors debuted a groundbreaking inpatient psychiatric unit, that tailored to women suffering perinatal mood disorders.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common complication of childbirth,
striking approximately 15 percent of new mothers each year. Most of these don't
need intensive intervention; standard treatments include counseling and
medication. But there are severe cases: women swallowed up by anxiety, who,
despite the exhaustion of a newborn, can't sleep. Women who can't stop obsessing
over the terrible things that might happen to their babies, or who think about
hurting their children -- or themselves. There are many possible reasons for
this. Experts agree, for example, that PPD is under-reported. But another factor
might be that hospitalization can seem like a pretty scary idea. Especially
considering that moms requiring or requesting it have had only one option:
general psychiatric wards, the same locked units that care for drug addicts,
schizophrenics, and patients with bipolar or eating disorders.

I found this article "New help for moms with postpartum depression" interesting because there are quite a bit of women who go through this and I don't think its fair to them especially if those moms were really excited for having a baby. I know that if I was to have a child I wouldn't want to feel depressed about the child and have thoughts of suicide or hurting the baby because it's not the baby's fault for why you feel that way. And a new mother or a previous mother deserves to feel happy for the new life she had created.

Treating trauma victims may cause its own trauma

People who are hired to treat victims of trauma may be at risk themselves to developing similar symptoms of their patient. Psychiatrists, social workers, or advocates can go through a lot of emotional stress after intensive exposure to patients and their horror stories. Experts call this "Vicarious Trauma."
This subject has recently been brought up due to the shooting at Fort Hood. Investigators are trying to piece together why Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, an Army psychiatrist would open fire at a military processing center Thursday.
Being an army psychiatrist, Hasan worked to help others in high-stress situations. He had never been deployed and he was scheduled for deployment the day of the shooting.

The symptoms of vicarious trauma -- stress, social withdrawal, sensitization to televised violence -- are not enough to make people violent themselves, said Barbara Rothbaum

The toll of bearing witness to account of others' suffering can take many forms. Some therapists may begin to start having the same nightmares that their patients talk to them about. No matter how much schooling is involved, Vicarious Trauma can happen to anyone who is dealing with patients who have undergone extreme amounts of stress.

Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy Restores Walking Ability In Rats With Neck Injuries

This article deals with the recnstruction of spinl cord injuries. It was published on ScienceDaily:

Lead author and doctoral student Jason Sharp, Keirstead and colleagues discovered that the stem cells not only rebuilt myelin but prevented tissue death and triggered nerve fiber regrowth. They also suppressed the immune response, causing an increase in anti-inflammatory molecules.

This new method was tested on rats and the results were successful and the rats gained all their moving abilities after one week of the transplantation of stem cells back. After this breakthrough its now ready to be tested on human beings and it just needs the yes of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. It would be able that people, who lost their ability to walk, could get their feelings in their legs back.

In my opinion its the time to use that to help people and with more scince and research it could help them to improve their standart of living

Amino Acids May Curb Urge to Pull Hair

In the article, Amino Acids May Curb Urge to Pull Hair I found that there is actually a disease for people who pull out their hair, its called Trichotillomania. I found this a little weird, I thought pulling your hair out was a choice, but maybe not. According to the article, Trichotillomania may have a cure, Amino Acids. Some scientists believe that amino acids may help reduce the urge to pull hair out. Currently, amino acid suppliments can cost anywhere from $20-$25 a month. The suppliment comes in a nasal spray form. There isn't a proven cure, but studies have been conducted that suggest that Amino Acids may be a cure for Trichotillomania.

"A team of researchers with the University of Minnesota, lead by Dr. Jon Grant,
a psychiatrist with the University, recently released their study illustrating
the positive effects of amino acids against compulsive hair pulling, in the July
2009 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. According to Dr. Grant,
compulsive hair pulling begins in adolescence with many suffers not realizing
their problem or are too ashamed to seek assistance, making it difficult to
determine exactly how many suffer from the condition. According to the study,
around two percent of Americans are affected and it is seen most often in women.
Trichotillomania has also been linked to anxiety disorders and social phobias."

So basically, amino acids may or may not be able to help with Trichotillomania. Also they may be able to help with people who are bipolar, have problems with gambling, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. There is however no FDA- approved treatment.

"A study recently conducted displayed the benefits that amino
acids can have on the disorder, Trichotillomania. Researchers conducted a study
that lasted for 12 weeks, involved 45 women and five men ranging in age from
18-65, who regularly pull their hair. The trial was a double-blind controlled
trial, with half of the group receiving 1200 mg of N-Acetylcysteine daily for
six weeks, and then an increased dosage of 2,400 mg daily for the remaining 6
weeks, the other half of the participants were given a placebo treatment for the
full 12 weeks. At the end of the 12-week trial, 56 percent of the group
receiving the amino acids reported feeling much better and 16 percent of the
placebo group reported less tendencies to pull their hair. Amino acids have
previously proven to have positive results in treating obsessive-compulsive
disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and it is sold in a nasal spray
formula used to treat mucus buildup and other uses. Eventually we may see a
formula specific to obsessive-compulsive disorders, but more testing is needed."

For all you hair pullers out there, I would be buying some amino acid nasal spray before I go bald.

Some doctors refuse to give vaccine

The hardest factor for many doctors is the dearth of swine flu vaccine for their patients. But a small cadre of outliers remains skeptical about the government's unprecedented immunization campaign, citing doubts about the risks presented by the H1N1 virus of the safety of the vaccine.

Public health leaders are at a loss to explain the skeptical minority,
except to say that it mirrors the chronically low percentage of health care
workers who get the seasonal flu vaccine every year. Officials worry that
these doubters could have a disproportionate influence in an already frustrating and
confusing situation, and stress that the studies conducted so far and the
intensive monitoring under way indicate that the vaccine is as safe as any flu
vaccine.

I found "Some Doctor refuse to give vaccine," intersting to me because not only did I but others around the U.S. and other places got the vaccine. I've heard that it's possible in 10 years that this vaccine could possibly give you cancer because it has not been fully tested and we're not sure what all can happen when this vaccine is taken.

Vishnu Reincarnated

Eight month year old baby born with 8 limbs, thought to be the reincarnation of the 4 armed Hindu goddess Vishnu, prepares for surgery.

Parents Poonam Devi and Shambu Das gave birth to an 8-limbed daughter, named Lakshmi Tatma, on the celebration day of the Vishnu. Poonam Devi believed that her daugther, Lakshmi, was a miracle and a reincarnation of Vishnu.

Lakshmi was born fused together to her parasitic twin. The headless 'twin' is joined to Lakshmi at the pelvis and has its own spinal column and kidney. Without having an operation, Poonam Devi's daughter would never be able to walk or crawl. She would also most likely only live until her early teens.

Lakshmi will undergo surgery with 30 different surgeons, and will have her useless limbs removed.

"The operation itself, although presents several challenges, is not the most comples in the world. What is highly unusual in Lakshmi's case is precisely how her bodies are fused, almost mirroring each other," said Doctor Sharon Patil, who will be leading the surgery.

In the end, the operation all together will cost about 100,000 p.

Medicine killed 84 children in Nigeria

When 84 babies mysteriously died, many people questioned: how? The Nigerian Health Office came up with the answer: a medicine for children with teething pain called "My Pikin Baby Teething Mixture" contained a toxic chemical called DAKAR.
The New York Times said following at their web page: www.nytimes.com:

“The poison has caused many deaths in children between the ages of 2 months and 7 years old in Nigeria,” Babatunde Osotimehin, Nigeria’s minister of health, said in a statement. “The death of any Nigerian child is a great loss to the nation.”

The medicine goes in the kidney and liver and causes serious damage, attacking the central nervous system, and hampers the breathing because of paralysis. Many of the children stopped urinating and some other had diarrhea. They also suffered under pyrexia and vomiting. Many of the children got sick last November, and were brought to lousy hospitals. Then, because of all the similarities the children suffered under, the hospitals started wondering.

Investigators from Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration have traced the medicine down to an unlicensed chemical dealer in Lagos. The company has been shut down, and the medicine have been removed from the pharmacies.

This is not the first time a medicine has caused mass poisoning cases in this world. In Panama, 365 people were killed after taking medicine filled with chemicals in 2006. So next time you take your medicine, you might want to check what it contains...

Analysis Of Windmill Pitching Shows Risk Of Injury To Biceps In Softball Players

Science Daily talks about how fast pitch softball is one of the most popular female sports in America. The pitcher is very important to the game and for a while most people thought windmill pitching put little stress on the arm, but a doctor at Rush University found otherwise. Dr. Nikhill Verma lead a study to watch the arm muscles patterns while pitching.

In the study, seven women--three female collegiate and four professional
pitchers--underwent motion analysis and surface electromyography to evalute the
muscle firing pattern of their biceps in the course of a windmill pitch. Electromyography
detects electrical potential generated by muscle cells when they contract.
[...] Verma launched his study in Rush's human motion laboratory when he
found that female softball players from the local professioal team were coming
into his practice complaining of pain in the front of their shoulders. He
was able to localize the pain to the biceps tendon. In one case, a pitcher
ruptured her tendon during play, which implicated the long head of the biceps
tendon as the source of the stress.
[...] "Previous studies have shown that shoulder problems cause a
significant amount of lost game time among windmill pitchers, with anterior
shoulder pain being the common culprit," Velma added. "This study helps explain
the etiology of
that shoulder pain, and may help doctors advise better treatment and prevention
strategies."

I found this article to be interesting because softball is one of my favorite sports and the pitcher is a vital part of any team. Muscles are an important part of the body and tendons help these muscles move. Rupturing the biceps tendon would put you out of the game for quite awhile.

The Anatomy of A Broken Heart

This article by Anna Sallen just caught my eye. In Health Careers we just spent time studying the heart. I thought it would be an article that most people would be interested in reading. In The Anatomy of A Broken Heart researchers set out to test the idea that a brain respons to social pain just like it does with physical pain. For example, a broken heart. Here is a little infrmation about the story to catch your sparkeling eyes...

The ancient Greek philosopher, Zeno considered pain to be one of the nine forms of grief, said Panksepp who himself was involved in studies over two decades ago which showed similar results in animals. He described the new study as “a bold neuroimaging experiment” which sought to discover “whether the metaphor for the psychological pain of social loss is reflected in the neural circuitry of the human brain”.Panksepp suggests that the research may even help explain the physical basis of a broken heart.“Throughout history poets have written about the pain of the broken heart. It seems that such poetic insights into the human condition are now supported by neurophysiology findings. Will the opposite also prove to be the case – that socially supportive and loving feelings reduce the sting of pain?,” he asks.

I hope this story got you guys interested.
Till next time... All systems are go!

New gene therapy halts 2 boys' rare brain disease

This article by Lauran Neergaard deals with a healing method through a correction of the DNA. The article has been published on YahooNews:

Unlike most viruses, HIV can penetrate stem cells, and it sticks permanently. So
Aubourg's team removed the genetic parts of HIV that make it dangerous, leaving
basically a scaffolding to carry the new therapeutic gene.
Then they culled stem
cells from two 7-year-old boys in the early stages of ALD, and mixed in
the healthy gene. The boys underwent bone marrow-destroying chemotherapy and then had
their genetically corrected stem cells reinserted.

This article is about two boys with a really rare brain desease. This desease could have killed them, but due to a correction of the DNA through an unabled HIV, so it couldn't cause AIDS anymore, they were able to fix the gene with the desease.
Gene therapy works when scientists harness deliver a healthy new gene by attaching to a virus that can harmlessly infect cells, so they had to take the HIV which is able to penetrate to stem cells permanently.

In my opinion that is a great method to heal deseases, but I also think it has to be more developed in the future, so it is able to use it on a larger group of people.

Have You Had Your Flu Shot Today?

In the recent article, Generation Rescue Supports Desiree Jennings, Washington Redskin Cheerleader Disabled by Flu Shot, the non-profit organization Generation Rescue (dedicated to preventing and reversing autism) pours out their support for Desiree. After receiving her flu shot, Desiree

Genetics Testing Soon to Screen for Breast Cancer

Recent studies have been done in Dubai that say that genetic testing may soon be part of the UAE's nationa breast cancer screening program. The officials of the program are currently having some budgetary issues and the acceptance of the people is a bigger problem than expected.

“Genetic testing is already being done for other hereditary diseases such as
thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia,” said Dr Mona Al Sebelgy, Coordinator for
the National Breast Cancer Programme in Sharjah for Planning
and Evaluation.

Free testing will be done for those who have had breast cancer in their family's past. Although the the treatment methods, including mastectomy may make the woman think twice for opting for genetic testing. Through resources like equipped laboratories, there is a shortage of manpower. The government facilities are still conteplating the inclusion of the the national program, there are private fcilities offering it now.

These types of programs may really help save the lives of thousands of woman and children in the world. The early catch of these cancers may help make cures/antedotes for the unfortunate woman who realized that it was to late for them. Currently woman above 40 are being rectuited under the national program and offered free mamograms at all eight of the primary healthcare centers under the health ministry.

Magnesium Migraines

Magnesium Migraines by Kaya Riemann

Recent researchers and neurologists have found that low magnesium in the body can lead to severe migraines. Magnesium is an important mineral that not only helps stabilize blood vessel walls, but also helps you fall asleep. When faced with a migraine that will not cease to go away, many doctors have begun giving magnesium injections that will help fight off the pain.

Some symptoms of low magnesium include irregular heartbeats, loss of appetite, insomnia, shortness of breath, PMS, anxiety, dizziness, nausea, and poor coordination.

One major cause of low magnesium is eating too much of over processed foods. Processed foods are prepared in a way that most of the magnesium is lost. Foods that you can eat though that contain high magnesium include wheat germ, beans, soy products, whole grains, seafood, dark green leafy vegetables, bananas, and milk. If you cannot meat you magnesium needs through eating these foods, you can try an over the counter magnesium supplement.

Some key notes from the article include:

1. If you are taking magnesium, make sure you balance it with an equal amount of calcium intake as well. If you have too much of one or the other it can cause major problems.

2. Also, if you are taking a magnesium AND a calcium supplement, make sure to take them at separate times of the day. If you take them at the same time they might interfere with one another and defeat their benifitial purposes.

Click here for another article over magnesium related migraines

Bad Driving is Genetic

The next time you see a motorist obliviously straddling two lanes, don't blame bad driving, but genetics. In a recent study discovered by Steven Cramer from Cerebral Cortex. He found that people with a certain gene variant performed more than 30 percent worse on a driving test than people without it.
This study might also help explain why there are so many bad drivers on U.S. highways: about 30 percent of Americans have the variant. Ordinarily, when a person does a task, a protein called BDNF is secreted to the area that is related to the activity being done. People who are bad at driving, BDNF secretion is limited. The protein helps facilitate communication among brain cells and helps retain memory.

"These people make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away," Cramer said in a statement.

They recruited 29 people for a test. They were to drive 15 laps on a simulated coarse. 7 of the 29 people had the variant.

The 3-D Simulation that Lets Your Surgeon Practice...on You

This article has been written by Rebecca Day and it deals with a new invention of the Stanford University to simulate surgeries. Published online October 28, 2009 on "Discover":

Using the patient’s own scans in the simulation could greatly assist doctors
performing surgery near critical parts such as the optic nerve and carotid artery, where
damage could cause permanent debilitation or death. In such operations, knowing
the precise quirks of an individual’s anatomy is crucial to a successful
outcome.

This project called Stanford Rhino­logical Virtual Surgical Environment,uses a haptic interface,which simulates the sense of touch and by taking a CT scan is it possible to create a simulation of special human bodies. In that simulation you can test many different surgeries to rise the chance of success and moreover, it is a possibility for doctors to train for special procedures.


Simulations like that could help to heal people's deseases and it makes them feel better, if they know that the proceure has been already tested, what would lead definitly to better results.

Danish researches improves knowledge about Alzheimers

Newest searching in the Alzheimer's disease proves that in many cases, Alzheimer is not a genetic condition you can't avoid, but simply just caused by inflammation, which is avoidable. The new facts were published at www.US.news in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

US.news said in their article:

"Danish researchers found that, compared with those
whose parents didn't have Alzheimers, the volunteers were more likely to have
high blood pressure and high levels of
inflammatory proteins called cytokines"

During the searchings the researchers found out, that actually 40% of the people with Alzheimers, and whose parrents had dementia, not recieved the disease from their parrents, but can get rid of it just by changing their lifestyle. According to the numbers, a lot of the Alzheimer's had recieved the disease because of a high blood pressure or inflammation, with high inflammatory levels of proteins called cytokines.

This new searching can be usefull to many people with Alzheimer's disease. Now they can try to get red of their trouble, just by changing their lifestyle a little, and help prevent it in the future.

(I'm sorry for any wrong spellings etc...)

Girl with 'mermiad syndrome' dies at 10

A recent article found on MSNBC told of a story about a little 10 year old girl who died last Friday from complications of a condition called Sirenomelia.

Doctors had predicted she would at most only survive for days after her birth. The girl died at Maine Medical Center on Friday afternoon, hospital spokesman John Lamb said. She had been hospitalized in critical condition for nearly a week.

Being born with "mermaid syndrome," also known as sirenomelia, meant that the Kennebunkport girl had only one partially working kidney, no lower colon or genital organs and legs fused from the waist down.

Ten year old Shiloh Pepin from Portland, Maine died last Friday with what many have called, 'Mermaid Syndrome.' She was nicknamed the 'mermaid girl' because when she was born her legs were fused together. Doctors could not operate on her legs because she had blood vessels that crossed from one side of her leg to the other and they would have been completely severed.

This is an interesting topic related to Anatomy because it has to do with how her bones were deformed when she was born and how without two legs it would be very hard to survive or even just get around.