Artificial Butter Flavoring Ingredient Linked to Key Alzheimer's Disease Process

ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2012) — A new study raises concern about chronic exposure of workers in industry to a food flavoring ingredient used to produce the distinctive buttery flavor and aroma of microwave popcorn, margarines, snack foods, candy, baked goods, pet foods and other products. It found evidence that the ingredient, diacetyl (DA), intensifies the damaging effects of an abnormal brain protein linked to Alzheimer's disease.

• DA gives microwave popcorn its distinctive buttery taste and aroma. DA also forms naturally in fermented beverages such as beer, and gives some chardonnay wines a buttery taste. 
• DA has an architecture similar to a substance that makes beta-amyloid proteins clump together in the brain -- clumping being a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. 
• DA did increase the level of beta-amyloid clumping. 

維基百科/阿兹海默病：

阿茲海默病（英语：Alzheimer's disease，簡稱AD），或稱腦退化症（舊譯為阿尔茨海默病、老人失智症／老年痴呆症，英语：Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type，簡稱SDAT），是一种持续性神经功能障碍，也是失智症中最普遍的成因。

Journal Reference:

1. Swati S. More, Ashish P. Vartak, Robert Vince. The Butter Flavorant, Diacetyl, Exacerbates β-Amyloid Cytotoxicity. Chemical Research in Toxicology, 2012; : 120706140246003 DOI: 10.1021/tx3001016

Molecular Switch Identified That Controls Key Cellular Process: Gives Insight Into Cancer

ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2012) — The body has a built-in system known as autophagy, or 'self-eating,' that controls how cells live or die. Deregulation of autophagy is linked to the development of human diseases, including neural degeneration and cancer.

• 研究團隊discovered a critical molecular switch that regulates autophagy. They also studied the links between autophagy and a cellular process called senescence that stops cell growth permanently. 
• ASPP2, a tumor suppressor, as a molecular switch that can dictate the ability of a common cancer gene, known as the RAS oncogene, to either stop or promote senescence. 
• We found that in the presence of the common cancer-causing RAS oncogene, ASPP2 interacted with a protein complex that is responsible for deciding cell fate via autophagy. [oncogene: A gene that in certain circumstances can transform a cell into a tumor cell]
• Some of the recently developed anti-cancer drugs are potent inducers of autophagy. The new findings may also offer an explanation as to why patient response to these drugs can vary dramatically. 

Journal Reference:

1. Y. Wang, X. D. Wang, E. Lapi, A. Sullivan, W. Jia, Y.-W. He, I. Ratnayaka, S. Zhong, R. D. Goldin, C. G. Goemans, A. M. Tolkovsky, X. Lu. Autophagic activity dictates the cellular response to oncogenic RAS. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI:10.1073/pnas.1120193109

Drug Combo Better for Common Type of Metastatic Breast Cancer, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2012) — Postmenopausal women with the most common type of metastatic breast cancer now have a new treatment option that lengthens their lives, according a study led by UC Irvine oncologist Dr. Rita Mehta and conducted by the Southwest Oncology Group. The findings appear in the Aug. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.




Postmenopausal - menopause 更年期 - men·stru·a·tion 月經

See Also: 這個網頁提供的tags可作為分類/tagging的參考。

Health & Medicine

• Breast Cancer
• Cancer
• Women's Health
• Colon Cancer
• Breastfeeding
• Lung Cancer

Reference

• Hormone replacement therapy
• Metastasis
• Menopause
• Breast cancer

Journal Reference:

1. Rita S. Mehta, William E. Barlow, Kathy S. Albain, Ted A. Vandenberg, Shaker R. Dakhil, Nagendra R. Tirumali, Danika L. Lew, Daniel F. Hayes, Julie R. Gralow, Robert B. Livingston, Gabriel N. Hortobagyi. Combination Anastrozole and Fulvestrant in Metastatic Breast Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 2012; 367 (5): 435 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1201622

First Indication of People Naturally Protected Against Rabies Found in Remote Amazonian Communities Regularly Exposed to Vampire Bats

ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2012) — Challenging conventional wisdom that rabies infections are 100 percent fatal unless immediately treated, scientists studying remote populations in the Peruvian Amazon at risk of rabies from vampire bats found 11 percent of those tested showed protection against the disease, with only one person reporting a prior rabies vaccination. Ten percent appear to have survived exposure to the virus without any medical intervention. The findings from investigators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were published August 2in the August 2012 issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

• The overwhelming majority of rabies exposures that proceed to infections are fatal. 
• Rabies experts estimate the disease kills 55,000 people each year in Africa and Asia alone, and appears to be on the rise in China, the former Soviet Republics, southern Africa, and Central and South America. /美國每年仍有一例。
• In general, people who believe they may have been exposed to rabies are advised to immediately seek treatment which involves post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) -- a series of injections -- to prevent the exposure from causing an active infection. PEP能100%有效抑制發病。
• vampire bats -- the most common "natural reservoir" for the disease in Latin America 
• "We all still agree that nearly everyone who is found to be experiencing clinical symptoms of rabies dies," Gilbert said. "But we may be missing cases from isolated high-risk areas where people are exposed to rabies virus and, for whatever reason, they don't develop disease." 所有經歷臨床症狀的人都死了。但無可否認，高危險群裡有人並未發病。
• The vampire bats can use their extremely sharp teeth and the anticoagulant that naturally occurs in their saliva (appropriately referred to as "draculin") to feed on a sleeping person without awakening them.
• if it turns out there are distinct populations of people with "complete or relative resistance to rabies," there could be the potential to use whole genome sequencing to help develop new, life-saving treatments for rabies infections. 

rabies: 狂犬病：是無救的病？untreatable infectious diseases
populations in the Peruvian Amazon
anticoagulant - saliva - "draculin"

Vaccine Research Shows Vigilance Needed Against Evolution of More-Virulent Malaria

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2012) — Malaria parasites evolving in vaccinated laboratory mice become more virulent, according to research at Penn State University. The mice were injected with a critical component of several candidate human malaria vaccines that now are being evaluated in clinical trials. "Our research shows immunization with this particular type of malaria vaccine can create ecological conditions that favor the evolution of parasites that cause more severe disease in unvaccinated mice," said Andrew Read, Alumni Professor of Biological Sciences at Penn State.

疫苗研究者提醒要更關注嚴重的瘧疾之演化


key words:
Vaccine

human malaria vaccines 

It is possible that more-virulent strains of malaria might evolve if a malaria vaccine goes into widespread use," Read said. The research, which will be published in the 31 July 2012 issue of the scientific journal PLoS Biology.

文中提到，實際狀況並不明白--確定動物模式的通則是極度困難的，是否人類的瘧疾已有演化。但在Read說：with our parasites, our mice, and with this particular antigen; the malaria parasites that evolved through vaccinated hosts become more virulent

Journal Reference:

1. Margaret J. Mackinnon, Andrew F. Read. Immunity Promotes Virulence Evolution in a Malaria Model.PLoS Biology, 2004; 2 (9): e230 DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020230

How Smart Is Your Right Foot?

[2011.10.05] 一封網路郵件，「How Smart Is Your Right Foot?」，是一則廣為流傳的訊息，但這是真的，細節參見：「How Smart Is Your Right Foot?」《Museum of Hoaxes》(2005)。

大致為：右腳順時針轉，畫圓，再用右手寫6，即逆時針轉，這時右腳會不由自主地跟著右手。

仍有人回應說他可以outsmart 他的右腳；

有一則回應說，他可以右手/腳逆行，但他是個左撇子，左手/腳則不行了~~

It's a bit like the old "pat your head while rubbing the stomach" trick.

[結論]：人們對於左右的理解與實際行為是完全依印象，並不細思其理由與手腳的功用。那麼更遑論是否左右腦有關。看完這則，我還是不瞭解大腦(或是其他部位)對於肢體的控制。

《》『』「」【】

《癌症不是病.pps》

[2011.09.24] 接連收到一個名為《癌症不是病.pps》的檔 [arthur's note: 連結被我改為純文字文件]。覺得要放在部落格裡，就整理為文字檔。當中其實讀來是存有諸多疑慮的，文中所舉的例子，也許是因為中文書摘(未摘，但講述)所以不清楚原書裡是否有更可靠的資料可資證明？再者，用語及編排有種市儈用語以貨書之嫌。

既已記錄於此，俟後有空整理或添加資料，文件檔在：我的古溝文件裡。特別要注意的是，這位德國醫學專家的介紹裡，仍沿用了許多看來類似西醫的名詞。雖無可說可否，只是特別要強調他應是被歸於另類醫療/民俗醫療專家吧？

文章以《2010 生命的調養》為題。

關於書：博客來
讀了博客來的介紹，書中其實有更多實用的片斷，也許應該找來看吧~~

作者：安德烈莫瑞茲（Andreas Moritz）