Ken Nelson

A recent finding by a New York researcher could be an important step to stopping Alzheimer’s Researchers have been trying to prevent growth of the plaque that causes Alzheimer’s by preventing a core component of it (gamma secretase which is used to make beta amyloid) from being made.  But the methods found so far of stopping it had too many other side effects elsewhere in the body.

Dr. Greengard has found a way of stopping gamma secretase  in the brain only.

That was what he had found: a targeting protein that sets in motion the activity of gamma secretase, which makes beta amyloid. To further test the discovery, he genetically engineered a strain of mice that had a gene for Alzheimer’s, but he blocked the gene for the gamma secretase activating protein. The animals appeared to be perfectly healthy. And they did not develop plaques in their brains.

As usual, more work is needed. Primarily in how to keep the drug in the brain. 

I hope this work is fast tracked, and I hope the FDA pulls its act together and realizes and permits Alzheimers and cancer drugs to market much quicker.  Time is running out for tens of millions entering the years of life where these diseases take hold.

After seeing my grandmother suffer from Alzheimer’s I do not think there is a pill or shot I wouldn’t gladly risk to avoid that fate. Almost any side effect would be better.

Me, outside my hotel. Not!  Actually it is Bikram Choudhury

Yoga is REALLY good for you. I can testify to that. Hot Yoga has helped me avoid chronic hip pain, sleep better, lose weight, and surprisingly, improve my complexion.

Lacking a Hot Yoga studio in St. George (which I may just remedy!), I’m taking advantage of our 107 degree summer, and I just practice outside in the shade of the hotel.  I don’t sweat nearly as much due to our 20% humidity ( a normal Hot Yoga studio is at 60% humidity).  But it still helps.

So what does science say?

Practicing yoga may do more than calm the mind — it may help protect against certain diseases, a new study suggests.

In the study, women who had practiced yoga regularly for at least two years were found to have lower levels of inflammation in their bodies than did women who only recently took up the activity.

I recommend it, although like many physical activities the first few times may be shockingly difficult (especially Hot Yoga). Keep on trying and you soon wonder how you could ever miss a session.

Another good thing… unlike other exercises, I’ve never been sore after a Yoga Practice.

Give it a go!

Source: The fabulous internet

 
Cure depression! 

Exercise…

Subsequent trials have repeated these results, showing again and again that patients who undergo aerobic exercise regimens see comparable improvement in their depression as those treated with medication, and that both groups do better than patients given only a placebo.

This makes sense.  I wish doctors would prescribe exercise more instead of offering up the latest pill.

Alas, few studies on it because it doesn’t sell drugs. Maybe Nike should fund a study.

Kind of odd looking, but very comfortable and theraputic.

I have plantar fasciitis. It affects me in three major ways. First, my feet hurt unless I wear proper shoes. Second, I can’t really go barefoot at all or my feet will ache madly. Third, my shoe costs have exploded. No more Payless for me. My closet is full of Ecco, Dansk and other shoes costing $100 or more.

I bought a pair of Skechers Cadence Shapeup sandals yesterday.  Skechers recommends wearing them in small doses initially, but I wore them out of the store and walked about 1.5 miles around the large outlet center I bought them in.  I then wore them the rest of the evening, to dinner, and around the hotel.

AND MY FEET FEEL GREAT. Often my feet keep me awake after a long day on them, but not today – they felt great.

I can’t attest to the posture, weight and strength claims Skechers makes for these shoes. I’ll report on that after a month or two wearing them.  But I can say that if you have plantars fasciitis you will definitely want to try them on.

Nickki Buck hears her first words in 10 years after having cochlear implants installed.

It is shocking, and silly,  to me that many in the deaf “community” oppose this.  Being deaf may not be a disability from many parts of life, but it still sucks.  To not hear music? Or my kids singing, or birds chirping – when I could again?  Not partaking of all of natures bounty, when you can, just seems silly.

I visited MIT and Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers working on these 15 years ago, and I’m glad their research has come far enough to help the typical deaf person.

Check out 8 other videos of people hearing for the first time.

H/T Ace

Time to do this to cancer?

It is exciting, learning about this newly discovered protein that disrupts cancer expansion:

Using mice, it was also discovered that the COMMD1-deficient cells were more invasive when implanted. The researchers then generated mouse melanoma cells that produced an overabundance of COMMD1, and injected those cells back into healthy mice. The number of metastatic lung tumors that resulted was greatly reduced when the cells expressed greater levels of COMMD1.

but then I feel bummed because they are so cautious:

The next step, Dr. Burstein said, will be to investigate what changes in the tumor environment may be responsible for reducing levels of COMMD1 in cancer cells.

I would suggest, instead, that the next step be to directly raise levels of this protein in some dying humans, just like they did the mice.  Risky?  Yes.  Would they have had volunteers?  Thousands. 

Why don’t they do this? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor.   I suspect it is because they are bound by the Hippocratic oath, and/or lawyers.   Perhaps that oath needs modified to “Do no harm, unless the informed patient agrees”.

I see no reason, other than timidity, for advances like above to not be capitalized on in months, not decades.

The vagas nerve can be stimulated to control and minimize the immune system. This will help those suffering from autoimmune diseases.

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25440/?a=f

Faster, I need this please.

Liar

I have to wonder how the people I know that support Obama deal with the constant revelations of lies from him.  They seem like normal relatives, friends, neighbors and acquaintances on the outside, but they must be quite warped to continue to support such a blatant liar.

The latest Obama scam is that while he was touting how much the Obamacare would save the nation and cut medical costs, his administration actually had a report  from Health and Human Services saying it would increase costs:

The economic report released last week by Health and Human Services, which indicated that President Barack Obama’s health care "reform" law would actually increase the cost of health care and impose higher costs on consumers, had been submitted to the office of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius more than a week before the Congressional votes on the bill, according to career HHS sources, who added that Sebelius’s staff refused to review the document before the vote was taken.

You have to wonder why the HHS staff didn’t leak it.  Everybody else leaks in DC and I have trouble believing they are honest, because, well, nobody is honest in DC.

Anyway, back to Obama supporters who ignore his lying ways… I just don’t understand you.  You seem…. well, you seem sick.  Get better. The nation needs you.

Awful!

There they go again… investing, risking, and inventing drugs that take on awful diseases. How dare they! What do they seek? They want to prevent the awful descent into the madness of Alzheimer’s Disease, all for a buck of two. The scum!

The current vaccine is therapeutic, meaning it is aimed at treating patients already affected by the disease. But if results are positive, the technology could also be used to manufacture a prophylactic, or preventative, vaccine, Jelitto said.

There should be a law that stops this kind of evil profiteering.

I, Obama, in order to form a more perfect union for my donors

Dave Kopel summarizes the main Constitutional arguments against Obamacare quite nicely.  I’ll summarize his summary:

1. violates commerce clause of Constitution because it is an individual mandate.
2. violates privacy rights by forcing disclosure of private information to a 3rd party
3. violates the takings clause by forcing spending without due process

I would add that it violates the 5th amendment (equal protection) by not being applicable to all classes of people. For instance, only those 18 to 65 must purchase, others are covered by government programs.

If this isn’t struck down as unconstitutional then I don’t know why we have federal courts and a Constitution, because they obviously don’t care what it reads.

 
Smokers get the same rates!

Force us to buy insurance. Force us to have insurance goodies we don’t want. Force insurance companies to offer unprofitable plans. Force them to insure those who only sign up when they get sick. Deny them rate increases.  Watch insurance companies die. Force us onto a government single payer plan. Make it free to 51% of the people, rape the rest of us.

It would be nice if he at least told us the plan. Those of us smart enough to figure it out are also the rape targets.

Obama has a high approval rating with maniacal dictators…

Those of you who voted for this guy (Obama) really should be ashamed of yourselves.

Nanoparticles get busy delivering bad stuff to cancer cells
Photo: Caltech

http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13334

A California Institute of Technology (Caltech)-led team of researchers and clinicians has published the first proof that a targeted nanoparticle—used as an experimental therapeutic and injected directly into a patient’s bloodstream—can traffic into tumors, deliver double-stranded small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and turn off an important cancer gene using a mechanism known as RNA interference (RNAi). Moreover, the team provided the first demonstration that this new type of therapy, infused into the bloodstream, can make its way to human tumors in a dose-dependent fashion—i.e., a higher number of nanoparticles sent into the body leads to a higher number of nanoparticles in the tumor cells.

But this part makes me think it all might work out:

Caltech, Davis, and Heidel have a financial interest in Calando Pharmaceuticals.

Obama said anything to get elected. Now he’ll do anything in his first and only term.

Can we survive him?  Not easily.