So I thought to spend a few minutes to look up an insightful documentary I watched in 2011 to try to illuminate the important issue that there are NO 100% male or 100% female. I am NOT 100% male. The real scientific reasoning is complex but not that difficult to understand. The human stories and the human impact take more compassion to appreciate and accept.
Here is the insightful BBC documentary “Me, My Sex and I” last broadcast on Oct, 2011. Someone posted the full documentary online that you can watch (video is flipped but you can still get most of the important points).
NOTE: I moderate comments on this post, any comments that appear to be made without watching the documentary or understanding the issues first will be deleted.
In one fascinating part of the interview, Dr. Syed talked about Parkinson’s patients who have really bad tremors and don’t respond to drugs anymore. Currently, surgeons insert a deep brain stimulation electrode to allow the patients to stimulate the electrode themselves which release dopamine to stop the tremors. Unfortunately, the electrode can continue to stimulate the brain cells beyond the limit. Resulting in what is known as excitotoxicity. (Too much dopamine constantly being produced and brain cells being over excited.) In essence, nobody is there to tell the electrode when the stimulation is enough and can be stopped to avoid damage because there is no loop going back to tell it. Dr. Syed suggests implanting a two-way link where machines (capacitors and transistors) and the brain cells can talk to each other to better control the stimulation loop and avoid/reduce the problem of excitotoxicity.
As an alumnus of University of Calgary, it makes me really proud to see cool research done in Calgary, Alberta. At the same time, near the end of the interview, I asked Dr. Syed about the challenges of getting the required funding for the research program to succeed and to keep doing cutting edge researches right here in Calgary. Given the achievements his team has made so far, I would hate to see any of these world class scientists leaving Canada to go to United States/China, etc because our three level of governments and private industry partners are not putting in the needed funding to keep doing these ground-breaking researches that can lead to better medical devices, better drugs, etc right in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
On a personal note, a very close friend has Parkinson’s and I hope the device Dr. Syed talked about can be developed, tested, and approved soon so that my friend and other Parkinson’s patients can benefit.
Just in time for London Olympics 2012. Great investigative work to find out “the truth behind sports drinks” by Rhodes Scholarship recipient Braden O’Neill (a third-year MD student at the University of Calgary currently on a leave of absence to study at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences). Excerpt from “Investigating the truth behind sports drinks”,
“Whether it’s ‘faster, stronger, for longer’, ‘enhances recovery’, or ‘gives you that extra boost’, sports product marketing is everywhere. Even the official drink of the Olympics this year is Powerade, whose ads claim that ‘Water is Not Enough’.
One of the research groups I work with here – the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine – recently completed a study on sports performance products which I had the great privilege of being a part of. What we found didn’t quite support all those bold claims.”
Rancourt said the discovery of a plentiful and reliable source of stem cells represents a great alternative to embryonic cells, the use of which is hotly debated.
With current methods, it takes one million adult cells to create one stem cell.
“In this new, finely tuned bioreactor, we are able to make 10 million ‘safe’ stem cells from 800,000 adult cells in 12 days,” said professor Rancourt, who is also deputy director of the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health.
The researchers create the low risk stem cells by cultivating adult cells without the cancer gene ‘cMyc’, they said in a release.
“We are the first team to prove that we can use the bioreactor to efficiently make stem cells that then become mice without cancer,” said Krawetz.
The next stage will be to use the discovery to put human cells into the new bioreactors to design treatments for arthritis, Rancourt said.“
Suzanne Somers is best know as Chrissy Snow in Three’s Company, sex symbol, and in recent years an advocate for alternative medical treatments. This reporter has the pleasure of chatting with Somers in a Fox LA Google+ Hangout few days ago. Somers talked about having breast cancer, had a lumpectomy, and then earlier this year underwent a new (and controversial) procedure of regrowing her breast using her own stem cell.
During the Fox LA G+ Hangout, this reporter asked and Somers confirmed that she is the first woman in United States to undergo the procedure to regrow breast, performed by an American doctor, and most importantly, in an FDA-approved clinical trial. Upon further research, this reporter found that Somers also talked to CNN Anderson Cooper about the new procedure as seen in this video.
“Well, I lost my breast to — most of my breast to cancer 11 years ago. It was called a lumpectomy, but when they took the bandages off it was rather shocking. And I heard that Dr. Kotaro Yoshimura in the University of Tokyo had successfully regrown the breasts of 400 Japanese women. So I brought him over, put him together with a doctor in Los Angeles . We applied for an IRB , which is an institutional revue board, which qualifies me for a clinical trial.”
Note: - In 2007, BBC reported, “Kotaro Yoshimura, a surgeon at the Tokyo University medical school, said more than 40 patients had been treated.“
This reporter wants to make it clear that this report and Somers‘ personal experience should NOT be taken blindly as advice, or worst, as medical advice. It is extremely important to seek proper medical advice from licensed medical doctors/surgeons to help you understand the full risks vs. benefits of any new medical procedures.
Deep down, this reporter wants to be optimistic and hope that new procedure can help survivers of breast cancer. At the same time, this reporter is obliged to suggest and interested readers to read this serious cautioning NYT article by Barron H. Lerner, M.D., professor of medicine and public health at Columbia University Medical Center.
Note: This article is cross-posted on Examiner.com.
A healthy heart is important to us all and especially key for people that have a heart attack. I’ve added emphasis to the following article. [HT Marta]
Calgary, AB –New research from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine has found that patients who have experienced a heart attack are more likely to participate in, and complete a cardiac rehabilitation program when they have access to it within 14 days of hospital discharge. Cardiac rehabilitation is a series of educational and exercise components aimed at teaching participants how to live a healthier lifestyle, subsequently reducing risk factors for future heart related illness. Components include topics such as nutrition, physical fitness and mental wellness.
“The proven benefits of participation in cardiac rehabilitation are multi-faceted,” says Dr. James Stone, co-author of the study and member of the University’s Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta. “They include living longer, less-frequent hospital admissions, requiring fewer heart procedures and having better control of the risk factors that cause coronary artery disease.”
The study, published in this month’s issue of Canadian Journal of Cardiology, included a total of 469 patients, Read the rest of this entry »
“Researchers [...] today reported promising results of a world-first cancer therapy trial in renowned journal Nature. The trial is the first to show that an intravenously-delivered viral therapy can consistently infect and spread within tumours without harming normal tissues in humans. It is also the first to show tumour-selective expression of a foreign gene after intravenous delivery.
The trial involved 23 patients (including seven at The Ottawa Hospital), all with advanced cancers that had spread to multiple organs and failed to respond to standard treatments. The patients received a single intravenous infusion of a virus called JX-594, at one of five dose levels, and biopsies were obtained eight to 10 days later. Seven of eight patients (87 per cent) in the two highest dose groups had evidence of viral replication in their tumour, but not in normal tissues. All of these patients also showed tumour-selective expression of a foreign gene that was engineered into the virus to help with detection. The virus was well tolerated at all dose levels, with the most common side effect being mild to moderate flu-like symptoms that lasted less than one day.
“We are very excited because this is the first time in medical history that a viral therapy has been shown to consistently and selectively replicate in cancer tissue after intravenous infusion in humans,” said Dr. John Bell, a Senior Scientist at OHRI, Professor of Medicine at uOttawa and senior co-author on the publication. “Intravenous delivery is crucial for cancer treatment because it allows us to target tumours throughout the body as opposed to just those that we can directly inject. The study is also important because it shows that we can use this approach to selectively express foreign genes in tumours, opening the door to a whole new suite of targeted cancer therapies.””
“”In a medical emergency, medical imaging plays a critical role in diagnosis and treatment, time is critical in acute stroke care, every minute counts.” said Dr. Mitchell who is from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine.”
“”Now a physician anywhere can get a call on their iPhone and can immediately take a look at the images in the remote community,” said Ross Mitchell, a professor of radiology at the university who helped develop the software. “They can do more than just look at them. They can cut into them, rotate it in 3D, they can do all kinds of advanced visualizations and analysis, which may be critical to make the diagnosis.“”
“New research from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine shows that doctors can make a stroke diagnosis using an iPhone application with the sameaccuracy as a diagnosis at a medical computer workstation. This technology can be particularly useful in rural medical settings. This allows for real-time access to specialists such as neurologists, regardless of where the physicians and patients are located”
Not to take away from the significance and importance of team’s achievement, there are limitations in using the system over 3G network due to data transfer rate issues as indicated in the technical paper.
“The system should provide practical frame rates over cellular or wireless networks. In our experience, a single visualization server can accommodate 10 or more simultaneous iOS device users and is capable of delivering and displaying up to 14 frames per second on an iOS device connected over a 802.11g Wi-Fi network. The frame rate was enough to provide sufficient interactivity for comfortable use. However, the frame rate on a 3G cellular network was 1 to 4 frames per second, which was insufficient for practical use. We know that fourth generation (4G) cellular networks are now installed in many metropolitan centers. We estimate that the higher bandwidth of these new cellular networks should allow 10 to 15 frames per second to be delivered to smartphones. However, currently only the iPhone 4 and a few Android-based smartphones are capable of utilizing greater network bandwidth.”
“Far from being immortal, most cancer cells seem unable to multiply limitlessly and spread throughout the body.
Dot Bennett of St George’s University of London and colleagues found that only four of 37 skin cancer samples they examined displayed the supposed hallmark of cancer. “We thought they’d all be immortal, but they weren’t,” she says.
By studying the molecular profiles of the cancer cells as they grew in the lab, the team found that many appeared to have hit a “telomere crisis” and stopped dividing. Telomeres are the caps that protect the ends of chromosomes and they shorten every time a cell divides. In a telomere crisis, the tips become so short that the cell mistakes them for DNA breaks and tries to repair them, generating freak cells that die or become dormant.”
“Unlike regular polymers like the polystyrene that vending machines cups are made from, or the clear polycarbonate that CDs are pressed with, the molecules in the new rubbery polymers are not linked by strong covalent bonds – which involve atoms sharing electrons. Read the rest of this entry »
Cities and screening dates listed on Orgasm Inc. website (retrieved on Feb 16, 2011):
New York City, NY • QUAD CINEMA • February 11th – Feb 24th, 2011
Chicago, IL • Gene Siskel Film Center • Opens February 11, 2011
Ottawa, ON • Mayfair Theatre • February 18, 19 & 22, 2011
Coral Gables, FL • Coral Gables Art Cinema • February 18 – 24, 2011
Charlotte, NC • McColl Center for Visual Art • March 2, 2011
Brookline, MA • Coolidge Corner Theatre • Opens March 24* – 31, 2011
* Run begins 3/25, with a “special evening” with the filmmaker on 3/24
Los Angeles, CA • Laemmle’s Sunset 5 • Opens April 1, 2011
San Francisco, CA • Roxie Theater • April 1 – 7, 2011
Albuquerque, NM • Guild Cinema • April 17 – 19, 2011
Ellsworth, ME • The Grand Auditorium • April 25, 2011
“The Vitaminwater label lists the amounts of specific medicinal ingredients in the beverage but only lists the presence of non-medicinal ingredients (like cane sugar and citric acid) and not how much has been added.
In reality, a 591 ml bottle of Vitaminwater contains about 33 grams of sugar, while a 355 ml can of Coke contains 39 grams.
The label on a bottle of Vitaminwater recommends drinking “one or two . . . bottles per day as needed.””
Shocking research and reports. Brian Deer has done a great job in uncovering the truth about this autism-vaccine scare scandal. Unfortunately, what we learn here should serve as a serious warning for journalists or general public when we read medical news/research to be a little bit skeptical, even when the researches are published in supposedly “authoritative” medical journals like The Lancet.
“The journal [Lancet], meanwhile, took 12 years to retract the paper, by which time its mischief had been exported. As parents’ confidence slowly returned in Britain, the scare took off around the world, unleashing fear, guilt, and infectious diseases—and fuelling suspicion of vaccines in general.“
RT @emmgryner: OMG just got off the phone w @Cmdr_Hadfield who signed off saying "see ya when I get back to Earth"...and I got chills 5 days ago
RT @WilliamShatner: I watch @Cmdr_Hadfield 's Space Oddity video last night and I have 2 words for him: "SHOW OFF!" I'd even look good floa… 5 days ago
RT @emmgryner: I am going to bed blown away by all the feedback and love re @Cmdr_Hadfield's Space Oddity. So proud to be a part of it. Wow… 5 days ago
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