Blood pressure is controlled in part by changes in the radius of blood vessels; when the smooth muscle cells in the wall of a blood vessel contract, the radius of the blood vessel decreases and blood pressure increases.
A team of researchers at CSIC-University of Salamanca, Spain, has now identified in mice a new signaling pathway that contributes to relaxation of smooth muscle cells in blood vessel walls triggered by the molecule NO and thereby decreases blood pressure.
Mice lacking the protein Vav2 have elevated blood pressure. By analyzing these mice, the team, led by Xosé Bustelo, identified a Vav2 signaling pathway that normally contributes to NO-triggered relaxation of smooth muscle cells in blood vessel walls. The pathway involves Vav2 activation of the proteins Rac1 and Pak1. Absence of Pak1 activation in Vav2-deficient mice resulted in excessive activity of the protein phosphodiesterase type 5. Consistent with this, treating Vav2-deficient mice with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors reduced their blood pressure to a normal level.
Health & Wellness
What happens when the families of sick and dying hospitalized children ask their physicians to pray with them, or for them? How do pediatricians respond to such personal requests? While increasing numbers of physicians say that religion and spirituality help some patients and families cope with serious illness, a new study reports that it is almost always the families and patients who raise the issue of prayer, not the doctors themselves.
In the current issue of Southern Medical Journal, Brandeis and Rice University sociologists report for the first time how physicians actually respond to personal requests for prayer. The study suggests that medical education could be enhanced by courses that address the topic of prayer, which is embedded in complex situations and is never as simple as praying or not.
"We know that prayer in physician-patient interactions is attracting more attention," said coauthor Wendy Cadge, a sociologist at Brandeis University. "Most research in this area focuses on whether physicians and patients think prayer is relevant, but in this study we wanted to find out when and how prayer comes up in the clinic, and how physicians respond."
In the current issue of Southern Medical Journal, Brandeis and Rice University sociologists report for the first time how physicians actually respond to personal requests for prayer. The study suggests that medical education could be enhanced by courses that address the topic of prayer, which is embedded in complex situations and is never as simple as praying or not.
"We know that prayer in physician-patient interactions is attracting more attention," said coauthor Wendy Cadge, a sociologist at Brandeis University. "Most research in this area focuses on whether physicians and patients think prayer is relevant, but in this study we wanted to find out when and how prayer comes up in the clinic, and how physicians respond."
When New Year's Eve rolls around and you're deciding whether to have another glass of champagne, your decision may be predicted by your perspective of the future.
A pair of Kansas State University researchers found that people who tend to think in the long term are more likely to make positive decisions about their health, whether it's how much they drink, what they eat, or their decision to wear sunscreen.
"If you are more willing to pick later, larger rewards rather than taking the immediate payoff, you are more future-minded than present-minded," said James Daugherty, a doctoral student in psychology who led the study. "You're more likely to exercise and less likely to smoke and drink."
Daugherty conducted the research with Gary Brase, K-State associate professor of psychology. The research was presented in November at the Society for Judgment and Decision Making conference in Boston. It also appears in the January 2010 issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
A pair of Kansas State University researchers found that people who tend to think in the long term are more likely to make positive decisions about their health, whether it's how much they drink, what they eat, or their decision to wear sunscreen.
"If you are more willing to pick later, larger rewards rather than taking the immediate payoff, you are more future-minded than present-minded," said James Daugherty, a doctoral student in psychology who led the study. "You're more likely to exercise and less likely to smoke and drink."
Daugherty conducted the research with Gary Brase, K-State associate professor of psychology. The research was presented in November at the Society for Judgment and Decision Making conference in Boston. It also appears in the January 2010 issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
Researchers have uncovered the complete genetic make-up of the cavity-causing bacterium Bifidobacterium dentium Bd1, revealing the genetic adaptations that allow this microorganism to live and cause decay in the human oral cavity. The study, led by Marco Ventura's Probiogenomics laboratory at the University of Parma, and Prof. Douwe van Sinderen and Dr Paul O'Toole of the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre at University College Cork, is published December 24 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.
Bifidobacteria, largely known as long-term beneficial gut bacteria, are often included as probiotic components of food to aid digestion and boost the immune system. However, not all species within the genus Bifidobacterium provide beneficial effects to the host's health. In fact, the Bifidobacterium dentium species is an opportunistic pathogen since it has been linked to the development of tooth decay.
The genome sequence of B. dentium Bd1 reveals how this microorganism has adapted to the oral environment through specialized nutrient acquisition features, acid tolerance, defences against antimicrobial substances and other gene products that increase fitness and competitiveness within the oral niche.
Bifidobacteria, largely known as long-term beneficial gut bacteria, are often included as probiotic components of food to aid digestion and boost the immune system. However, not all species within the genus Bifidobacterium provide beneficial effects to the host's health. In fact, the Bifidobacterium dentium species is an opportunistic pathogen since it has been linked to the development of tooth decay.
The genome sequence of B. dentium Bd1 reveals how this microorganism has adapted to the oral environment through specialized nutrient acquisition features, acid tolerance, defences against antimicrobial substances and other gene products that increase fitness and competitiveness within the oral niche.
Tell a lie loud enough and long enough and people will believe it.Controversial fluoride is one of the basic ingredients in both PROZAC (FLUoxetene Hydrochloride) and Sarin nerve gas (Isopropyl-Methyl-Phosphoryl FLUoride).
- Adolph Hitler
Earth is an insane asylum, to which the other planets deport their lunatics.
- Voltaire
Sodium fluoride, a hazardous-waste by-product from the manufacture of aluminum, is a common ingredient in rat and cockroach poisons, anesthetics, hypnotics, psychiatric drugs, and military nerve gas. It's historically been quite expensive to properly dispose of, until some aluminum industries with an overabundance of the stuff sold the public on the terrifically insane but highly profitable idea of buying it at a 20,000% markup, injecting it into our water supplies, and then DRINKING it.
Yes, a 20,000% markup: Fluoride-- intended only for human consumption by people under 14 years of age--is injected into our drinking water supply at approx. 1 part-per-million (ppm), but since we only drink 1/2 of one percent of the total water supply, the rest literally goes down the drain as a free hazardous-waste disposal for the chemical industry, where we PAY them so that we can flush their expensive hazardous waste down our toilets. How many salesmen dream of such a deal?
At first it sounded pretty damming: George W. Bush had 86'ed an EPA regulation further limiting the amount of arsenic that could legally be found in America's drinking water.
For people who don't bother to look beyond the sensational headlines, this sounds mighty bad indeed! Everybody knows that arsenic is poisonous! Everybody knows that you can die from arsenic poisoning! Why, it's absolutely outrageous that President Bush would do such a thing! He's a madman!
I purposely avoided conversation on this particular subject this week until I could get a little more information.
OK, here goes. So everybody knows that arsenic is poison, right? Fine. Do you also know that arsenic is found naturally in broccoli and other vegetables? Do you know that most groundwater already contains arsenic? Did you know that at low levels arsenic is virtually harmless to the human body?
For people who don't bother to look beyond the sensational headlines, this sounds mighty bad indeed! Everybody knows that arsenic is poisonous! Everybody knows that you can die from arsenic poisoning! Why, it's absolutely outrageous that President Bush would do such a thing! He's a madman!
I purposely avoided conversation on this particular subject this week until I could get a little more information.
OK, here goes. So everybody knows that arsenic is poison, right? Fine. Do you also know that arsenic is found naturally in broccoli and other vegetables? Do you know that most groundwater already contains arsenic? Did you know that at low levels arsenic is virtually harmless to the human body?
Fluoride - Some interesting facts
"The first occurrence of fluoridated drinking water on Earth was found in Germany's Nazi prison camps. The Gestapo had little concern about fluoride's supposed effect on children's teeth; their alleged reason for mass-medicating water with sodium fluoride was to sterilize humans and force the people in their concentration camps into calm submission."
Ref : The Crime and Punishment of I. G. Farben by Joseph Borkin
USAF Major George R. Jordan testified before Un-American Activity committees of Congress in the 1950's that in his post as U.S.Soviet liaison officer, the Soviets openly admitted to...
"The first occurrence of fluoridated drinking water on Earth was found in Germany's Nazi prison camps. The Gestapo had little concern about fluoride's supposed effect on children's teeth; their alleged reason for mass-medicating water with sodium fluoride was to sterilize humans and force the people in their concentration camps into calm submission."
Ref : The Crime and Punishment of I. G. Farben by Joseph Borkin
USAF Major George R. Jordan testified before Un-American Activity committees of Congress in the 1950's that in his post as U.S.Soviet liaison officer, the Soviets openly admitted to...
"Using the fluoride in the water supplies in their gulags (concentration camps), to make the prisoners stupid, docile, and subservient."
© AP Photo
Steve Zaugg, a chemist at the National Water Quality Laboratory in Lakewood, Colo., holds a tray of samples of wastewater from a U.S. Geological Survey study that looks at discharges from pharmaceutical manufacturing plants.
Steve Zaugg, a chemist at the National Water Quality Laboratory in Lakewood, Colo., holds a tray of samples of wastewater from a U.S. Geological Survey study that looks at discharges from pharmaceutical manufacturing plants.
Federal regulators under President Barack Obama have sharply shifted course on long-standing policy toward pharmaceutical residues in the nation's drinking water, taking a critical first step toward regulating some of the contaminants while acknowledging they could threaten human health.
A burst of significant announcements in recent weeks reflects an expanded government effort to deal with pharmaceuticals as environmental pollutants:
- For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency has listed some pharmaceuticals as candidates for regulation in drinking water. The agency also has launched a survey to check for scores of drugs at water treatment plants across the nation.
- The Food and Drug Administration has updated its list of waste drugs that should be flushed down the toilet, but the agency has also declared a goal of working toward the return of all unused medicines.
- The National Toxicology Program is conducting research to clarify how human health may be harmed by drugs at low environmental levels.
© AP
Natural defence against swine flu found by scientists
Natural defence against swine flu found by scientists
When the proteins were removed the swine flu virus was able to multiply in the body unchecked.
The accidental discovery may help to explain why some people develop serious symptoms when they contract flu and others do not.
The protein, IFITM3, and although it appeared to be connected to the functioning of the immune system, how it worked and what it did had never been understood.
Unusual case of 30-year-old man prompts scientists to reassess prevalence of vCJD.
More people may be incubating variant CJD, the human version of so-called "mad cow disease", than was previously thought, according to scientists who today report an unusual case of the disease. All those tested worldwide since 1994 when the first cases were identified have been MM homozygous.
However, a 30-year-old man who died of vCJD in January this year was found to have a different genetic makeup from the rest of the 200 or so people diagnosed around the world, and identified as MV heterozygous.
Six months before the man was diagnosed with the disease, he had been admitted to hospital suffering from personality changes, unsteadiness in walking that became progressively worse, and intellectual decline. He told doctors he had severe leg pain and memory problems. Two months later, he developed visual hallucinations. The symptoms got progressively worse and an MRI scan confirmed vCJD .
More people may be incubating variant CJD, the human version of so-called "mad cow disease", than was previously thought, according to scientists who today report an unusual case of the disease. All those tested worldwide since 1994 when the first cases were identified have been MM homozygous.
However, a 30-year-old man who died of vCJD in January this year was found to have a different genetic makeup from the rest of the 200 or so people diagnosed around the world, and identified as MV heterozygous.
Six months before the man was diagnosed with the disease, he had been admitted to hospital suffering from personality changes, unsteadiness in walking that became progressively worse, and intellectual decline. He told doctors he had severe leg pain and memory problems. Two months later, he developed visual hallucinations. The symptoms got progressively worse and an MRI scan confirmed vCJD .
