Who you truly are...

"You are not your bra-size, nor are you the width of your waist, nor are you the slenderness of your calves. You are not your hair color, your skin color, nor are you a shade of lipstick. Your shoe size is of no consequence. You are not defined by the amount of attention you get from males, females, or any combination thereof. You are not the number of sit-ups that you can do, nor are you the number of calories in a day. You are not your mustache. You are not the hair on your legs. You are not a little red dress. You are no amalgam of these things.

You are the content of your character. You are the ambitions that drive you. You are the goals that you set. You are the things that you laugh at and the words that you say. You are the thoughts that you think and the things that you wonder. 

You are beautiful and desirable not for the clique you attend, but for the spark of life within you that compels you to make your life a full and meaningful one. 

You are beautiful not for the shape of the vessel, but for the volume of the soul that it carries."

Proof of evolution that you can find on your body

Zika Virus

INTRODUCTION:

A bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito spreads the Zika Virus to people. The virus was first discovered in 1952 when the very first human cases of Zika were detected. Since 1952, outbreaks of Zika have been reported in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and Pacific Islands. Before 2007, at least 14 cases of Zika had been documented, although other cases were likely to have occurred and were not reported. Because the symptoms of Zika are similar to those of many other diseases, many cases may not have been recognized. (A)

 

Pan American Health Organization (aka: PAHO) issued an alert of the first confirmed Zika Virus infection in Brazil in May 2015. Then on February 1, 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) because the Zika Virus has been reported in many other countries and territories and is likely to continue to spread into new areas. (A) 

 

SYMPTOMS:

The most common symptoms if one is infected with the Zika Virus are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (also known as red eyes). Some individuals might also have muscle pain and headaches. Since these symptoms  are very common daily symptoms people experience most people infected with the Zika Virus wont know they have the disease because they might not even experience symptoms. The period from exposure to symptoms ranges from a few days to a week.(A)

After being bitten by an infected mosquito, people do not get sick enough to go to the hospital and rarely die. The virus usually remains in the blood for about a week but it can be found in infected individuals where the virus lasting longer than one week. Once infected, the individual is protected from future infections. (A)

DIAGNOSIS: 

The ways in which one can treat their symptoms is to get plenty of rest and drink fluids to prevent dehydration. Medicine such as Tylenol and or paracetamol will relieve fever and pain. However, it is strongly advised NOT to take aspirin or other non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs. During the first week of infection, Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to a mosquito through mosquito bites. 

An infected mosquito can then spread the virus to other people.(B) Currently there is no vaccine to prevent the Zika Virus so people are advised to avoid mosquito bites at all times. The mosquitoes that spread the virus also spread dengue and chikungunya viruses. When you are traveling to a different country where there is a chance of mosquitoes that spreads viruses make sure you are protected. It is important that you wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

Stay in places with air conditioning or that use window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside.
Sleep under a mosquito bed net if you are overseas or outside and are not able to protect yourself from mosquito bites.

In the case that you have a baby or child, do not use insect repellent on babies younger than 2 months of age. Make sure that you are dressing your child in clothing that covers arms and legs, or
Cover crib, stroller, and baby carrier with mosquito netting. Do not apply insect repellent onto a child’s hands, eyes, mouth, and cut or irritated skin. During the first week of infection, Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to another mosquito through mosquito bites. An infected mosquito can then spread the virus to other people. To help prevent others from getting sick, avoid mosquito bites during the first week of illness. Zika virus can be spread by a man to his sex partners.

 

We do not know how long the virus is present in the semen of men who have had Zika. We do know that the virus can be present in semen longer than in blood. To help prevent spreading Zika from sex, you can use condoms the right way every time you have sex.  Not having sex is the best way to be sure that someone does not get sexually transmitted Zika virus. If you do always make sure to use a condom because they prevent HIV and other STDs. Not having sex is the best way to be sure that you do not get sexually transmitted Zika virus. These mosquitoes typically lay eggs in and near standing water in things like buckets, bowls, animal dishes, flower pots and vases. 

 

They prefer to bite people, and live indoors and outdoors near people. Mosquitoes that spread chikungunya, dengue, and Zika are aggressive daytime biters. They can also bite at night.Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on a person already infected with the virus. Infected mosquitoes can then spread the virus to other people through bites.

With the recent outbreaks, the number of Zika cases among travelers visiting or returning to the United States will likely increase. 80% of cases will not be diagnosed.These imported cases could result in local spread of the virus in some areas of the United States. A mother already infected with Zika virus near the time of delivery can pass on the virus to her newborn around the time of birth.

A pregnant woman can pass Zika virus to her fetus during pregnancy. We are studying the adverse pregnancy and infant outcomes associated with Zika virus infection during pregnancy.
To date, there are no reports of infants getting Zika virus through breastfeeding.

Because of the benefits of breastfeeding, mothers are encouraged to breastfeed even in areas where Zika virus is found. Zika virus can be spread by a man to his sex partners. In known cases of likely sexual transmission, the men had Zika symptoms, but the virus can be transmitted before, during, and after symptoms develop. In one case, the virus was spread a few days before symptoms developed. The virus is present in semen longer than in blood. 

 

LINKS:

(A) http://www.cdc.gov/zik

*Please Note! These images are not mine! They were found on various sites on the internet. If any are yours please let me know so that I can give you credit for them. Thanks so much & enjoy~

Curing Blindness in Children with Cataracs

Cataract surgery includes making large incisions in the front as well as the back of the eye. The cloudy lens is then removed and replaced with a clear, artificial one.The standard surgical procedure with children with cataracts is cutting a 6-millimetre slit in the center of the lens capsule which results in the loss of many LECs.(B) This form of surgery is very risky especially on younger patients because the artificial lens does not grow as the child grows. Future cataract surgery is in the horizon for the younger patients. (Patients have known to get inflammation around the incisions). (A)
 

Stem cells in the science of research and medicine are known as revolutionary. The Nature study conducted in China revealed that the use of activated stem cells within the eye cured blindness in a dozen children where these stem cells were able to grow a completely new lens. Stem cells have also been known to restore damaged heart tissue and generate insulin-manufacturing cells in a malfunctioning pancreas. Twenty million people worldwide are blind because of cataracts (i.e. cloudy lenses). Although cataracts is common in older people but newborns are at risk shortly after birth. (A)

 

Experiments with rabbits and macaque monkeys study was specifically targeted on their lens capsule. A lens capsule is where stem cells line part of the eye that surrounds the lens itself. These lens epithelial stem cells (aka:LECs) were frequently destroyed during conventional cataract removal surgery. However, what the results from these earlier experiments showed that if the lens were left intact they were able to regenerate healthy lenses. (A) The scientists began a series of animal studies to assess whether lens epithelial stem/progenitor cells (LECs) that exist naturally in a fully formed mammalian eye can produce a new lens. Encouraged by the results, the team developed a surgical technique and tested it in rabbits, macaque monkeys and, finally, 12 human infants.(B) 

 

Twelve children under the age of two were chosen for a new type of minimally-invasive cataract removal surgery based on these LECs. Surgeons made 1.5 millimeter-long incisions in both their eyes, and the cloudy lenses were removed as before. This time, care was taken to leave the lens capsules and their LECs intact.(A) In the new method, surgeons slice a 1.5-millimetre opening in the side of the lens capsule to remove the diseased lens, prompting the eye’s LECs to grow a new one. In initial tests, this approach produced a much lower rate of complications — 17% — than the 92% seen after typical cataract surgery. And the lenses generated did not grow opaque as artificial lenses tend to do. (B)

The first infant treated using the method underwent surgery two years ago and still has good vision, says Zhang. He says that the regenerated lens should grow as the child grows, which could reduce later complications.(B) Within four weeks time the incisions were completely healed. In three months the children had regrown fully operational naturally grown lenses. By the eight month these children's sight was completely restored as their new lenses fully grew back to the size of their originally cloudy ones. (A)

Compared to conventional cataract surgery the dozen children had clearer lenses, noticeably less inflammation, and an incredibly shorter healing period. The reason as to why this surgery was specifically aimed at children is because their LECs are much more youthful and more likely to successfully regenerate a new lens than an adult with LECs. Because of the results from these experiments, new approaches are now far more possible than ever before as we can now turn our own dormant stem cells. powerful this could be if we can do it for heart attacks, or turn on neuronal stem cells in the brain. (A)

 

Sight has also been restored to rabbits from discs made of multiple types of eye tissue that have been grown from human stem cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells which are stem cells generated from adult cells is the future in replacing corneal or lens tissue for human eyes. These discs can also be used to study how eye tissue as well as congenital eye diseases develop. (A) Another surgical procedure activates the body's own stem cells to regenerate a clear functioning lens in the eyes of babies who are born with cataracts. From Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, Kohii Nishida conducted the first study with this form of surgical procedure. Nishida was able to cultivate human iPS cells to produce discs that contained several types of eye tissue. (B)

Nishida's team noticed that the cells grew in distinct regions. Because of this, it made it easier for the researchers to extract and purify specific types of cells including those found in the cornea, retina, and lens. They were able to remove cells from one region of the disc to grow sheets of corneal epithelium. Then they were able to successfully transplant into the defective corneas of rabbits. (B)
Although there have been many studies where retina or cornea tissues were produced using iPS cells, none have produced different types of eye cells. Cells made from recipients own cells using the disc method could one day supply tissue repair to damaged eyes without the threat of rejection by the immune system. (B) 

By contrast, the cataract paper could have an almost immediate impact on treatment, says James Funderburgh, a cell biologist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. The technique described does not involve culturing cells outside the body or transplanting material that would require regulatory approval. The research was inspired by a typical side effect of implanting artificial lenses to treat cataracts: the new lenses often become cloudy as the recipient’s own cells grow over them. A team led by ophthalmologists Khang Zhang of the University of California, San Diego, and Yizhi Liu of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, decided to find out whether this regrowth signalled that the body is capable of regenerating an entire lens.(B) 

But there are still difficulties to be worked out. Babies born with cataracts often have genetic mutations that will cause a new lens to become cloudy again. And surgery alone may not work for elderly adults — the people most likely to suffer from cataracts — because their cells regenerate relatively slowly. (Even in babies treated with the method, growing a new lens takes three months.)
Still, Funderburgh is enthusiastic about the technique. “Even if it’s only for kids, it’s fantastic,” he says.(B)

LINKS:
(A) http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/revolutionary-stem-cell-surgery-restores-sight-children-cataracts
(B)http://www.nature.com/news/sci-fi-eye-experiments-improve-vision-in-children-and-rabbits-1.19535

French Kiss (1995): Latest in Heart Disease Treatments

Scientists have found cells that have the ability to grow into fresh arteries and restore blood supply to the organ that could eventually lead to natural bypass therapies that coax heart cells into forming new arteries capable of re-routing blood around diseased and blocked blood vessels. (A) This treatment can be performed after one has had a heart attack or if he or she is at risk. Giving these individuals extra arteries that would be ready to take over should their own become clogged.Coronary heart disease affects the arteries that supply the heart with oxygen rich blood. These arteries become narrowed by the build up of fatty tissues. The narrowing forces blood into a smaller network of neighboring vessels that re-route blood around the diseased artery. However, these collateral blood vessels are not large enough to supply the heart with all the blood it needs. (A) 

Stanford team describe how they were able to track down these very same cells that form arterial muscle in adult mice. The first step was to add a flourescent tag to a single cell in the epicardium (i.e. the tissue layer that covers the heart). Now able to trace epicardial cell through the tag as well as every generation of the cell it gave rise to become divided. What they soon noticed was that some of the cells became arterial muscle cells called pericytes.(A)

The reason as to why bypass therapy has taken so long for scientists to accomplish is because of the lack of understanding or knowledge of how coronary arteries form. It was ambiguous to which heart cells formed smooth muscle sheathes needed to form new arteries and if they even existed in adults. (A) With time and many tests later, they were able to find the molecular signals that tell the pericytes to grow into arterial muscle cells. This conclusion was key in making a drug that could mimic these very same signals where the heart cells could be persuaded to form fresh arteries on the hearts surface (where blood can flow). There is now hope in the future of growing new arteries in mice within the next 5 years. (A) 

Only 124,000 individuals within the UK suffer heart attacks each year. Databases show that one in three die before ever reaching the hospital. Angioplasty is the only available treatment with patients who have obstructed arteries. This treatment removes the material causing the blockage. However, many times the blockage returns. With Bypass surgery, regenerating arteries may work better since this process uses blood vessels used in the bridge of the blocked region. Regenerative medical research will drive major advances in treating heart disease as well as heart attacks. (A) 

New Tests detect genes for every known inherited heart condition: New blood test can now detect all known inherited heart condition genes. This blood test is able to identify 174 genes that are related to 17 heart defects. Not only is this cheaper and more effective that current treatments, it increases physicians ability in properly diagnosing potentially fatal defects. (B)

 

Recent research by the Royal Brompton and Harefeild NHS foundation published their work in the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research. Their research included a study where 40 patients a month were assessed for an inherited heart condition. Genetic testing for these inherited heart conditions are vital in saving lives in the near future. As of now, there are no symptoms or ways in which physicians can prove children do not have the condition or that they will develop it later on. However, through genetic testing it is much easier to diagnose whether one is at risk. (B)The test looks at a smaller number of genes and only identify specific conditions. Other experts can also develop upon this new test. As other genes are identified as being linked to IHCs, they too can be incorporated into the test. IHCs affect the heart and circulatory system, are passed down through families and can affect people of any age.(B)

If effective,A single test may be able to identify the causative gene mutation in someone with an inherited heart condition thereby allowing their relatives to be easily tested for the same gene. genetic testing on family members can identify those who carry the faulty gene and steps can be taken to reduce the risk of sudden death, such as surgery, medication – for example beta blockers – or lifestyle changes. Prof Peter Weissberg, medical director at the BHF, said: “In this rapidly evolving field of research the aim is to achieve ever greater diagnostic accuracy at ever-reducing cost.(B)

Heart muscle cells regrown in medical research breakthrough: Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel as well as Victor Chang Institute in Sydney have uncovered a way to stimulate heart muscles to grow. Humans are unable to regenerate heart cells thus making it difficult to recover from the permanent damage caused by heart attacks. While human blood, hair and skin cells renew themselves throughout life, cell division in the heart comes to almost a standstill shortly after birth, an author of the research. One of the many theories as to why the human heart can not regenerate vessels is because of our sophisticated immune system and because human cardiomyoctes are in deeper state of quiescence making it very difficult to stimulate them to divide. Because of this, there has always been much interest in the mechanism of fish such as salamaders which are capable of heart regeneration. They send their cardiomyoctes (muscle cells) into a dormant state, then enter a proliferative state (where they start dividing rapidly and replacing lost cardiomyocytes. (C) 

Through the many studies conducted with mice, scientists were able to uncover a way to overcome that regenerative barrier. By stimulating a signalling system in the heart by the hormone 'neuregulin' heart muscle cells divide in both adolescent and adult mice. In humans 'neuregulin' is blunted a week after birth but at 20 weeks after birth in mice. The key is to trigger the neuregulin pathway after a heart attack in mice lead to replacement of lost muscle, therefore repairing the lost muscle and restoring the heart to its original healthy condition before the heart attack. Within five years, scientists will know whether it will be possible to replicate the results in humans. Heart attacks occur when one of the vessels that feed blood to the heart muscle becomes blocked, causing billions of cardiomyocytes to die. Many people who survive a heart attack have a diminished quality of life because of this. (C)

Links:
(A)http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/19/artery-cell-discovery-paves-way-for-new-heart-disease-treatment
(B) http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/19/new-test-detects-genes-for-every-known-inherited-heart-condition
(C)https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/07/heart-muscle-cells-regrown-in-medical-research-breakthrough

Please note! These images are not mine~ they were found on various tumblr websites! If any are yours please let me know so that I can give you credit! Thanks so much & enjoy!

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody English National Ballet

Peter Pan: Breakthrough of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

INTRODUCTION:

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)is one of the nine types of muscular dystrophy. It is passed down through family genes and is considered a genetic disorder. It is characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. Individuals who suffer from this genetic disorder lack dystrophin which is a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact.(B)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Symptoms of DMD can be seen in an individual's early childhood between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. Even though, this disease primarily affects boys, there are rare cases in which girls are affected as well. At the age of 3, muscle weakness can be in hip muscles, the pelvic area, thighs including the shoulders. The skeletal (aka voluntary) muscles in arms, legs, and trunk are affected later on. Another sign of a symptom are enlarged calves. By early teenage years, heart and respiratory muscles are now affected also. (B)

French neurologist, Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne, first described what DMD was in the 1860s.There was very little known about this disease until the 1986 where MDA-supported researchers found a particular gene on the X chromosome that when mutated in some form or another leads to DMD. The protein associated with this gene was found in 1987 as 'dystrophin'. Without or lack there of this protein muscle cells become fragile and are easily damaged. This disease is genetically passed down through an X-linked recessive inheritance pattern which is passed down by the mother (i.e: the carrier). (B)

These females who are DMD carriers have a normal dystrophin gene on one X-chromosome and an abnormal dystrophin gene on the other X-chromosome. Carriers do not themselves have symptoms of the disease although a minority do experience signs and are affected. Mild skeletal muscle weakness to cardiac involvement to severe weakness or cardiac effects beginning in childhood or adulthood are just some of the wide range of DMD symptoms.(B)

Boys diagnosed with DMD typically do no survive beyond their teen years- until now. Thanks to advances in medicine such as cardiac and respiratory care, the life expectancy has been increasing allowing for these individuals having the possibility of living a full life of going to college, getting careers, and themselves having children and marrying. Males with DMD reaching their 30s are nowadays much more common and even some who live into their 40s and 50s. Research on DMD is still continuing as MDA-supported researchers pursue research in gene therapy, exon skipping, stop codon read-through and gene repair.(B)

RESEARCH:

Recent research suggests a breakthrough for DMD.  Researchers were able to slow the progression of DMD in adult mice using recently developed techniques that have been developed in 2015. Gene- editing injects could one day give hope to those with inherited DMD.Three teams of US researchers showed how gene editing tool could be used to 'correct' mutations in an animals muscle DNA which prevented the production of the protein dystrophin. These series of studies lead to partial recovery of the animals tested. (A)

DMD affect ~70,000 individuals who are living in the UK, making this genetic disorder to be one of the most common and severe diseases. Primarily seen in early childhood in boys, they become more and more immoble as they age to their 20s or 30s. DMD causes muscle degeneration, disability, and ultimately premature death. Unfortunately, DMD is incurable. New research suggests that gene-editing will soon be able to treat those with DMD through the deletion of a small piece of scrambled DNA which is the area that prevents the gene from working normally. So there is still much hope in this incurable genetic disorder.(A)

The mice that were treated in the series of studies were not completely cured because the dystrophin gene activity was restored to a state that it would be expected to achieve adequate muscle function in a patient with DMD. The gene-editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, is able to cut out a tiny piece of flawed DNA with surgical precision while avoiding complex and difficult traditional gene therapy. It can be applied to adults. It also does not need any controversial tampering with genes in eggs and sperm that are then passed on to future generations.(A)

The way in which this gene editing tool works is that it  harnesses a defense mechanism that is used against viruses to focus on specific targeted sections of DNA. An enzyme that acts like a molecular 'scissor' then cuts the section away. This process has been shown to work on human cells just about 3 years ago. Other recent research studies, used a harmless virus injected to deliver the gene-editing components directly into the muscles of mice with DMD. This resulted in a small section of defective protein-coding DNA being “edited out”. Natural repair mechanisms then stitched the two loose ends of the DNA molecule together to create a shortened but working version of the gene.(A)

Study performed by scientists at Duke Univ. discovered a treatment that restored dystrophin protein levels to 8% which is the normal level for non DMD individuals. Previous research have shown that even at a 4% levels of dystrophin protein are enough to have adequet muscle function. the treatment restored dystrophin protein to roughly 8% of its normal level. In using CRISPR to correct genetic mutations in the affected tissues of sick patients show through the studies and their results a possible path that can be followed. Much more research is of course needed because authors of 'Writing in Science' say that such an approach could cause neuromuscular disorders and other diseases.neuromuscular disorders and many other diseases. (A)

Scientists at Harvard Univ. led a second study where they used a red fluorescent marker to show how the gene-editing treatment altered the development of muscle fibers. A third study was conducted from the Univ. of Texas which demonstrated that the treatment worked best when the gene-editing kit was injected directly into muscles. Before clinical trials can involve any human participants, researchers and scientists alike have to find any unintended consequences or side effects of these type of treatments.(A)

Links:
(A)http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/dec/31/breakthrough-offers-hope-to-those-with-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy
(B)https://www.mda.org/disease/duchenne-muscular-dystrophy

*Please note! These images are not mine. They were found on various tumblr sites! If any are yours please let me know so that I can give you credit for them! Also the people in the images have no relation to the diseases, illnesses, or cancers I write about. Thanks so much & enjoy~