Let's say it's 6.15p m and you're going home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your hest that starts to adiate out into your arm and up
into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest to you home. Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself.
HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help,the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However,these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this. It could save their lives!!
Friday, December 7, 2007
Facts about cold
You don’t catch cold because you’re chilled or exposed to a draft. Fact…or fiction
Fiction. We used to think that colds are more common in winter simply because people spend more time indoors, where they are exposed to each other’s germs. Cold weather was not believed to have anything to do with it. However, recent research suggests that when you are chilled, the blood vessels in your nose constrict and deliver less warm blood to its lining—which means fewer white blood cells to boost the immune system and fight disease. If you happen to be harboring a cold virus but don’t as yet have any symptoms, this decreased supply of white blood cells allows the virus to multiply and give you a full-blown cold.
Fiction. We used to think that colds are more common in winter simply because people spend more time indoors, where they are exposed to each other’s germs. Cold weather was not believed to have anything to do with it. However, recent research suggests that when you are chilled, the blood vessels in your nose constrict and deliver less warm blood to its lining—which means fewer white blood cells to boost the immune system and fight disease. If you happen to be harboring a cold virus but don’t as yet have any symptoms, this decreased supply of white blood cells allows the virus to multiply and give you a full-blown cold.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Medical facts
Medical researchers contend that no disease ever identified has been completely eradicated.
The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.
No one seems to know why people blush.
In 1972, a group of scientists reported that you could cure the common cold by freezing the big toe.
The number one cause of blindness in the United States is diabetes.
The adult human heart weighs about ten ounces.
People who laugh a lot are much healthier than those who don't. Dr. Lee Berk at the Loma Linda School of Public Health in California found that laughing lowers levels of stress hormones, and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds have it best - they laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
People who have a tough time handling the stress of money woes are twice as likely to develop severe gum disease, a new study finds.
Between 25% to 33% of the population sneeze when they are exposed to light.
Of the 206 bones in the average human adult's body, 106 are in the hands and feet. (54 in the hands and 52 in the feet)
In 1815 French chemist Michael Eugene Chevreul realized the first link between diabetes and sugar metabolism when he discovered that the urine of a diabetic was identical to grape sugar.
Approximately 16 Canadians have their appendices removed, when not required, every day.
Sumerians (from 5000 BC) thought that the liver made blood and the heart was the center of thought.
Men have more blood than women. Men have 1.5 gallons for men versus 0.875 gallons for women.
The first Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages were three inches wide and eighteen inches long. You made your own bandage by cutting off as much as you needed.
The human brain stops growing at the age of 18.
In 1977, a 13 year old child found a tooth growing out of his left foot.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 18 million courses of antibiotics are prescribed for the common cold in the United States per year. Research shows that colds are caused by viruses. 50 million unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for viral respiratory infections.
It takes an interaction of 72 different muscles to produce human speech.
The first known heart medicine was discovered in an English garden. In 1799, physician John Ferriar noted the effect of dried leaves of the common plant, digitalis purpurea, on heart action. Still used in heart medications, digitalis slows the pulse and increases the force of heart contractions and the amount of blood pumped per heartbeat.
Blood is red only in the arteries after it has left the heart and is full of oxygen. Blood is a purplish, blue color in the veins as it returns to the heart, thanks to having picked up carbon dioxide and other wastes from the body's cells. In fact, your blood is red throughout only half your body. When cut, of course, the blood always appears red because it is instantly exposed to oxygen outside the body.
Contrary to popular belief, hemophiliacs do NOT bleed to death from minor cuts. This rare disease, which affects only males (it is carried by females, but they don't exhibit symptoms), involves an impairment in blood clotting—not an absolute inability to clot. Hemophiliacs today may take clotting serums and often lead fairly normal lives.
During his or her lifetime, the average human will grow 590 miles of hair.
The average Human bladder can hold 13 ounces of liquid.
You lose enough dead skin cells in your lifetime to fill eight five-pound flour bags.
Your thumb is the same length as your nose.
The storage capacity of human brain exceeds 4 Terrabytes.
The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland was a symbolic character for the hat makers in towns of the late 1800's. The large felt hats of the day had supports made out of lead. The lead caused an organic form of psychosis (brain damage) to develop in the hat makers causing them to be declared crazy.
Although your system cannot digest gum like other foods, it won't be stuck inside of you forever. It comes out with other waste your body can't use.
The substance that human blood resembles most closely in terms of chemical composition is sea water.
The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.
No one seems to know why people blush.
In 1972, a group of scientists reported that you could cure the common cold by freezing the big toe.
The number one cause of blindness in the United States is diabetes.
The adult human heart weighs about ten ounces.
People who laugh a lot are much healthier than those who don't. Dr. Lee Berk at the Loma Linda School of Public Health in California found that laughing lowers levels of stress hormones, and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds have it best - they laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
People who have a tough time handling the stress of money woes are twice as likely to develop severe gum disease, a new study finds.
Between 25% to 33% of the population sneeze when they are exposed to light.
Of the 206 bones in the average human adult's body, 106 are in the hands and feet. (54 in the hands and 52 in the feet)
In 1815 French chemist Michael Eugene Chevreul realized the first link between diabetes and sugar metabolism when he discovered that the urine of a diabetic was identical to grape sugar.
Approximately 16 Canadians have their appendices removed, when not required, every day.
Sumerians (from 5000 BC) thought that the liver made blood and the heart was the center of thought.
Men have more blood than women. Men have 1.5 gallons for men versus 0.875 gallons for women.
The first Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages were three inches wide and eighteen inches long. You made your own bandage by cutting off as much as you needed.
The human brain stops growing at the age of 18.
In 1977, a 13 year old child found a tooth growing out of his left foot.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 18 million courses of antibiotics are prescribed for the common cold in the United States per year. Research shows that colds are caused by viruses. 50 million unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for viral respiratory infections.
It takes an interaction of 72 different muscles to produce human speech.
The first known heart medicine was discovered in an English garden. In 1799, physician John Ferriar noted the effect of dried leaves of the common plant, digitalis purpurea, on heart action. Still used in heart medications, digitalis slows the pulse and increases the force of heart contractions and the amount of blood pumped per heartbeat.
Blood is red only in the arteries after it has left the heart and is full of oxygen. Blood is a purplish, blue color in the veins as it returns to the heart, thanks to having picked up carbon dioxide and other wastes from the body's cells. In fact, your blood is red throughout only half your body. When cut, of course, the blood always appears red because it is instantly exposed to oxygen outside the body.
Contrary to popular belief, hemophiliacs do NOT bleed to death from minor cuts. This rare disease, which affects only males (it is carried by females, but they don't exhibit symptoms), involves an impairment in blood clotting—not an absolute inability to clot. Hemophiliacs today may take clotting serums and often lead fairly normal lives.
During his or her lifetime, the average human will grow 590 miles of hair.
The average Human bladder can hold 13 ounces of liquid.
You lose enough dead skin cells in your lifetime to fill eight five-pound flour bags.
Your thumb is the same length as your nose.
The storage capacity of human brain exceeds 4 Terrabytes.
The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland was a symbolic character for the hat makers in towns of the late 1800's. The large felt hats of the day had supports made out of lead. The lead caused an organic form of psychosis (brain damage) to develop in the hat makers causing them to be declared crazy.
Although your system cannot digest gum like other foods, it won't be stuck inside of you forever. It comes out with other waste your body can't use.
The substance that human blood resembles most closely in terms of chemical composition is sea water.
Beware the Dangers of Oxygen
There's a caustic substance common to our environment whose very presence turns iron into brittle rust, dramatically increases the risk of fire and explosion, and sometimes destroys the cells of the very organisms that depend on it for survival. This substance that makes up 21% of our atmosphere is Diatomic oxygen (O2), more widely know as just oxygen.
Of course, oxygen has its good points. Besides being necessary for respiration and the reliable combustion engine, it can be liquefied and used as rocket fuel. Oxygen is also widely used in the world of medicine as a means to imbue the body with a greater amount of the needed gas. But recent studies indicate that administering oxygen might be doing less good than hoped–and in fact be causing harm. No one is immune to the dangers of oxygen, but the people who might most suffer the ill effects are infants newly introduced to breathing, and those who are clinically dead.
There are a variety of injuries and ailments for which modern medicine dictates oxygen therapy. The common wisdom is that by filling the lungs with pure O2, one is pushing more of the vital gas into the blood, and thus to organs that are weakened and in need of support. It has also long been known that even at partial pressures, pure oxygen can be toxic–a fact with which scuba divers and astronauts are intimately familiar. Recent studies have indicated that the human body responds to pure oxygen, even at normal
Liquid Oxygen
When pure O2 is introduced to the lungs, autonomic reflex increases respiration. The increased rate of breathing means that a much larger load of carbon dioxide is released from the body, which causes the blood vessels to constrict. Despite the increased amount of available oxygen in the lungs, the circulatory system is hampered, and cannot deliver precious O2 as well as it could when breathing normal atmosphere.
Ronald Harper, a neurobiology professor at UCLA, conducted observations on a group of healthy teenagers breathing various gas mixes using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). His findings showed that in some subjects the pure O2 caused the brain to go clinically bonkers. Brain structures such as the hippocampus, the insula, and the cingulate cortex all displayed an adverse reaction; they in turn spurred the hypothalamus, the body's main regulatory gland, into a fervor. The hypothalamus regulates a myriad of things, including heart rate, body temperature, and is the master of a variety of other glands. The introduction of pure oxygen prompts the hypothalamus to flood the body with a cocktail of hormones and neurotransmitters which serve to hamper heart rate, and further reduce the circulatory system's effectiveness. But Harper also found that by adding a mere 5% CO2, all the detrimental effects found in pure oxygen are negated.
There are circumstances, however, where even the proper mix of gases would prove inadequate. Modern medicine has long taught that after respiration stops, the brain can only survive for six minutes without oxygen before its cells begin to die in droves. In order to combat this, standard procedure has been to aggressively attempt to restore breathing and heartbeat immediately upon cessation. The base premise on which this protocol is designed may be in error.
Programmed cell death
Upon examining heart cells and neurons deprived of oxygen under a microscope, Dr Lance Becker of the University of Pennsylvania found there was no indication that the cells were dying after five or six minutes. In fact, they seemed to endure the state for up to an hour without adverse affect. Given this unexpected observation, the researchers were forced to investigate why human resuscitation becomes impossible after only a few minutes of clinical death. The answer they uncovered was that the body's cells were not dying of oxygen starvation; they were expiring due to reperfusion–the sudden reintroduction of oxygen to a dormant cell.
Inside the cells, the culprit seems to be in the mitochondria, which is the cell's power plant where sugar and oxygen are converted to usable energy. Mitochondria are also responsible for apoptosis–the organized, controlled self-destruction of a cell. Normally apoptosis occurs in situations such as the cell being damaged beyond repair, infected by a virus, an attempt to prevent cancer, or aiding in initial tissue development. The process effectively kills and dismantles the cell allowing the body's usual waste management functions to carry the cell's remains away. For reasons not entirely clear, reperfusion triggers apoptosis–the oxygen intended to save the cell actually causes cellular suicide.
Armed with this new information about how cells react to oxygen, it is clear that current emergency care is not altogether ideal, and new protocols are under investigation. Dr Becker proposes that induced hypothermia may slow cell degradation, and if a means can be found to safely reintroduce oxygen to tissues, a clinically dead person–who still has trillions of living cells–could be resuscitated after being an hour dead.
This glorious future is still on the horizon, but to imagine the practical application leads one to ponder the multitude of accidents and injuries that are currently fatal, but will one day be treatable. Emergency Medical Personnel could arrive on the scene, and inject the patient with a slurry of ice and salt that lowers the body temperature to about 92° F. In a hypothermic state, the patient is hauled to the hospital, where instead of frantically trying to restart the heart, doctors patch up the problem, prevent apoptosis , and then restart the heart. Though it won't save everyone, these findings may lead to a future where a person made up of perfectly good human cells is not written off as dead merely because their heart has stopped beating. The miracle of modern medicine, it seems, is on the cusp of determining the true distinction between dead and mostly dead.
Interesting facts
1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.
2. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.
3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.
5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.
6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.
8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.
9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
11. Dalmatians are born without spots.
12. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
13. The ‘v’ in the name of a court case does not stand for ‘versus’, but for ‘and’ (in civil proceedings) or ‘against’ (in criminal proceedings).
14. Men’s shirts have the buttons on the right, but women’s shirts have the buttons on the left.
15. The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids.
16. The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it’s already been digested by a bee.
17. Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks.
18. The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.
19. Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.
20. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.
21. The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.
22. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red.
23. When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.
24. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.
25. The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney.
26. Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros.
27. Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan.
28. It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it.
29. The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.
30. There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
31. The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting.
32. Human hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.
33. It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.
34. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
35. Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game.
36. The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air.
37. Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die.
38. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like it
is smiling).
39. Colgate faced big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command “go hang yourself.”
40. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot.
41. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
42. The average person laughs 13 times a day.
43. Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are:Mizaru(See no evil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru(Speak no evil)
44. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
45. German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.
46. Large kangaroos cover more than 30 feet with each jump.
47. Whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound.
48. Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn. Suddenly the pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death.
49. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause.
50. The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!!
2. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.
3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.
5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.
6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.
8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.
9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
11. Dalmatians are born without spots.
12. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
13. The ‘v’ in the name of a court case does not stand for ‘versus’, but for ‘and’ (in civil proceedings) or ‘against’ (in criminal proceedings).
14. Men’s shirts have the buttons on the right, but women’s shirts have the buttons on the left.
15. The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids.
16. The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it’s already been digested by a bee.
17. Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks.
18. The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.
19. Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.
20. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.
21. The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.
22. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red.
23. When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.
24. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.
25. The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney.
26. Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros.
27. Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan.
28. It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it.
29. The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.
30. There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
31. The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting.
32. Human hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.
33. It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.
34. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
35. Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game.
36. The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air.
37. Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die.
38. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like it
is smiling).
39. Colgate faced big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command “go hang yourself.”
40. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot.
41. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
42. The average person laughs 13 times a day.
43. Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are:Mizaru(See no evil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru(Speak no evil)
44. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
45. German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.
46. Large kangaroos cover more than 30 feet with each jump.
47. Whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound.
48. Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn. Suddenly the pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death.
49. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause.
50. The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Skin Aging Reversed in Lab Test (Technique Works in Mice, but Is It Safe for People?)
Researchers say they've turned back the clock on aging skin -- in mice, at least -- and may be one step closer to unlocking the aging process.
"The implication is that the aging process is plastic and potentially amenable to intervention," Stanford University assistant professor of dermatology Howard Chang, MD, PhD, says in a news release.
But don't kiss your wrinkles good-bye just yet. The technique hasn't been tested in people and its long-term effects aren't known.
Here's how the experiment worked.
First, Chang's team did some genetic detective work. They analyzed human tissue samples, looking for signs of gene activity related to aging.
A protein called NF-kB was "strongly associated with aging," write the researchers. That protein appeared to control several age-related genes.
Then, Chang and colleagues turned their attention to elderly mice. For two weeks, the researchers slathered a chemical that blocks NF-kB activity in the mice's skin.
Those mice developed younger-looking skin that was about as thick as the skin of a newborn mouse.
"We found a pretty striking reversal to that of the young skin," says Chang.
He adds that "the findings suggest that aging is not just a result of wear and tear, but is also the consequence of a continually active genetic program that might be blocked for improving human health."
But the study was short, and it's not clear if blocking NF-kB is safe for mice, let alone people.
"The implication is that the aging process is plastic and potentially amenable to intervention," Stanford University assistant professor of dermatology Howard Chang, MD, PhD, says in a news release.
But don't kiss your wrinkles good-bye just yet. The technique hasn't been tested in people and its long-term effects aren't known.
Here's how the experiment worked.
First, Chang's team did some genetic detective work. They analyzed human tissue samples, looking for signs of gene activity related to aging.
A protein called NF-kB was "strongly associated with aging," write the researchers. That protein appeared to control several age-related genes.
Then, Chang and colleagues turned their attention to elderly mice. For two weeks, the researchers slathered a chemical that blocks NF-kB activity in the mice's skin.
Those mice developed younger-looking skin that was about as thick as the skin of a newborn mouse.
"We found a pretty striking reversal to that of the young skin," says Chang.
He adds that "the findings suggest that aging is not just a result of wear and tear, but is also the consequence of a continually active genetic program that might be blocked for improving human health."
But the study was short, and it's not clear if blocking NF-kB is safe for mice, let alone people.
Electronic Microbicide..!!
'Superbug' breakthrough claim
Clinical trials found that the device eradicated MRSA
A company which makes a device to treat conditions like foot ulcers says it has discovered by accident that the device can also kill the MRSA 'superbug'.
MRSA (Methecillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) causes an estimated 2,000 deaths in UK hospitals each year.
Dentron, based at Efailwen in Carmarthenshire, had received £45,000 in financial backing from the Welsh Development Agency, to try to develop a bigger version of its electronic antibiotic, called a biogun
"We actually failed in that," said managing director Jonathan Copus.
"But what we came up with is of far more importance - a way of conquering the MRSA superbug."
Laboratory trials at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend and then a clinical study at a foot clinic at Manchester Royal Infirmary found that the biogun eradicated the MRSA bug in some diabetic foot ulcers.
"It was very successful in getting rid of ulcers with an average diameter of 19mm, although it was less successful with larger ones," said Mr Copus.
"Now the challenge is to find a more efficient delivery system so that larger areas can be treated more effectively."
The biogun, which Mr Copus says is the world's first and only electronic antibiotic, has been available for professionals to buy since 1996. It works by destroying micro-organisms on surfaces such as skin, flesh and dentine with a concentrated stream of electrically-charged air particles.
The device has the approval of the government agency the Medicines and Health Care Products Agency. But further tests will now to be done to see how its uses in killing the MRSA bug can be extended, said Mr Copus.
*******
A MANCHESTER doctor is gunning for a super bug that has killed hundreds of hospital patients.
For years the bug, known as the 'staph' bacteria or MRSA, has been the scourge of hospital wards often attacking the young, the old and weak.
It is often resistant to anti-biotics. It can cause serious skin diseases especially around surgical wounds and pneumonia. Often it gets such a grip on its victim that they die.
But Manchester Royal Infirmary consultant physician Dr Rayaz Malik believes he has discovered a simple and cheap weapon to zap the 'staph' bacteria.
Weapon is the appropriate word because Dr Malik (pictured right treating a patient) has adapted a medical gun invented by ex-priest Jonathan Copus who used it to treat fungal infections.
Dr Malik found that the pen shaped device wiped out all traces of the lethal bug in nearly two-third of his patients. He and other medics now plan to make a full-scale study to make sure the £1000 biogun really works. The gun eradicated MRSA symptoms with just two hits in a test on 15 patients.
It works by shooting a stream of electrons to the infected areas. The electrons mimic the body's natural defences and creates oxygen oxide, the molecule that kills the bacteria.
Dr Malik said: "With patients with larger infections, the treatment can take longer but with smaller areas of infections, patients just need two treatments and they are cured.
Clinical trials found that the device eradicated MRSA
A company which makes a device to treat conditions like foot ulcers says it has discovered by accident that the device can also kill the MRSA 'superbug'.
MRSA (Methecillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) causes an estimated 2,000 deaths in UK hospitals each year.
Dentron, based at Efailwen in Carmarthenshire, had received £45,000 in financial backing from the Welsh Development Agency, to try to develop a bigger version of its electronic antibiotic, called a biogun
"We actually failed in that," said managing director Jonathan Copus.
"But what we came up with is of far more importance - a way of conquering the MRSA superbug."
Laboratory trials at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend and then a clinical study at a foot clinic at Manchester Royal Infirmary found that the biogun eradicated the MRSA bug in some diabetic foot ulcers.
"It was very successful in getting rid of ulcers with an average diameter of 19mm, although it was less successful with larger ones," said Mr Copus.
"Now the challenge is to find a more efficient delivery system so that larger areas can be treated more effectively."
The biogun, which Mr Copus says is the world's first and only electronic antibiotic, has been available for professionals to buy since 1996. It works by destroying micro-organisms on surfaces such as skin, flesh and dentine with a concentrated stream of electrically-charged air particles.
The device has the approval of the government agency the Medicines and Health Care Products Agency. But further tests will now to be done to see how its uses in killing the MRSA bug can be extended, said Mr Copus.
*******
A MANCHESTER doctor is gunning for a super bug that has killed hundreds of hospital patients.
For years the bug, known as the 'staph' bacteria or MRSA, has been the scourge of hospital wards often attacking the young, the old and weak.
It is often resistant to anti-biotics. It can cause serious skin diseases especially around surgical wounds and pneumonia. Often it gets such a grip on its victim that they die.
But Manchester Royal Infirmary consultant physician Dr Rayaz Malik believes he has discovered a simple and cheap weapon to zap the 'staph' bacteria.
Weapon is the appropriate word because Dr Malik (pictured right treating a patient) has adapted a medical gun invented by ex-priest Jonathan Copus who used it to treat fungal infections.
Dr Malik found that the pen shaped device wiped out all traces of the lethal bug in nearly two-third of his patients. He and other medics now plan to make a full-scale study to make sure the £1000 biogun really works. The gun eradicated MRSA symptoms with just two hits in a test on 15 patients.
It works by shooting a stream of electrons to the infected areas. The electrons mimic the body's natural defences and creates oxygen oxide, the molecule that kills the bacteria.
Dr Malik said: "With patients with larger infections, the treatment can take longer but with smaller areas of infections, patients just need two treatments and they are cured.
Five years later, stem cells still tantalize
In early November of 1998, when human embryonic stem cells were introduced to the world, the possibilities seemed astonishing.
"It is not too unrealistic to say that this research has the potential to revolutionize the practice of medicine and improve the quality and length of life," then-National Institutes of Health Director Harold Varmus told a Senate hearing less than a month after Wisconsin biologist James Thomson reported his stem cell feat in the journal Science.
Varmus went on: "There is almost no realm of medicine that might not be touched by this innovation."
Today, five years after the shy University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist published his succinct but earthshaking paper showing that stem cells—ephemeral, blank slate cells that occur at the earliest stages of human development—could be isolated, cultured and grown in apparently limitless quantities, enthusiasm is tempered.
The public cheerleading of Varmus and others, without a doubt, helped make stem cells a household word and set a high (and unrealistic) expectation that therapies for a host of debilitating cell-based diseases were just around the corner.
There is no doubt among biologists that embryonic stem cells have vast potential. There are no other cells that can perform the same biological feats as embryonic stem cells. They can morph into any one of the 220 types of cells and tissues in the human body. Nurtured in their undifferentiated state, they can proliferate endlessly in culture, and provide a vast supply of cells for research and, someday, therapy. And perhaps most importantly of all, they provide our only window to the earliest stages of human development and, after differentiation, access to more specialized cells that could vastly improve our understanding of the onset of cell-based diseases, and perhaps ways to prevent them.
But as Thomson himself emphasized in 1998, their glitziest application in the clinic—the tantalizing potential of transforming transplant medicine by creating large quantities of cells to treat debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's, diabetes and ALS—would be a decade in the future under the best of circumstances.
"We went through this period of extreme hype and high expectations," recalls Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the private, not-for-profit foundation that holds Wisconsin's patents to stem cell technology. "Things seem to have settled down, but people still expect a lot, and we're still in a tight political environment."
Indeed, the politics of stem cells from the outset have been as far reaching as the technology itself promises to be. Extending from the Oval Office, where stem cells became the dominant domestic issue of the first eight months of the Bush Administration, to the other end of State Street, where a few state legislators remain determined to criminalize the research, the political dimensions of stem cell science have framed a national debate and influenced many aspects of how the research is done and funded.
According to Gulbrandsen, the administration's decision to permit federal funds to be used for research on at least some stem cells lines—a decision heavily influenced by former Wisconsin governor and current Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson—was a turning point in the debate.
"Bush's decision was a landmark decision," Gulbrandsen says. "A lot of people don't like it, but it was an ingenious political solution. That decision wouldn't have occurred without Tommy Thompson there."
Although wading through a political quagmire was difficult and sometimes painful for the retiring biologist Thomson, it was a necessary exercise.
"The first year or two (after first isolating the cells) were pretty much wasted due to politics," says Thomson. "But since then we've done pretty well" in the lab.
The early flood of publicity, breathless in its descriptions of the medical and research potential of stem cells, Thomson feared, would set unrealistic expectations in the public mind. Lost in the glowing words, he says, are the hard and painstaking realities of basic science.
"It's a new field. It takes time to grow," notes Thomson. "Look at the first five years of mouse embryonic stem cells. It took a while to get going. It is natural that these things take time."
The field would grow much faster, Gulbrandsen argues, if politics did not remain a prevailing force on stem cell science: "Bush's decision was pivotal, but the field is still stuck in the quagmire, and that is evident in the level of research funding by NIH for human embryonic stem cells. Since Bush's decision, NIH has funded approximately $170 million of adult stem cell research, but only $10 million on human embryonic stem cell research."
Despite such imbalance, there has been significant progress on the stem cell research front over the past five years. Many of the most important developments were not the headline-generating feats that would fulfill the promise touted in the early days of stem cells, but they were the steps necessary to bring the field to fruition.
"All of the little technical things have been worked out," says Thomson, noting such achievements in his lab as learning how to manipulate the genes within stem cells, a technique known as homologous recombination and that makes it possible to use the cells to mimic human disease in the laboratory dish. "We've done very well at Wisconsin."
And what started out as a lonely effort in a single lab has mushroomed into a significant industry on the UW-Madison campus. There are now almost 30 UW-Madison faculty engaged in different aspects of embryonic stem cell research.
Timothy Kamp, for example, a UW Medical School professor of medicine and physiology, has used human embryonic stem cells to derive cardiomyocytes, heart muscle cells that can substitute for the animal cells routinely used to study issues of the heart. "It is obviously very difficult to get living human heart cells for study," Kamp says. "We hope that having (these cells) will provide a routine source of cells amendable for detailed investigations."
It may be possible, Kamp adds, to genetically manipulate the embryonic stem cell-derived heart cells to mimic heart disease in the lab dish. "These cells will help us not only understand basic human cardiac cell physiology and biology, but also will likely play an important role in unraveling the basic mechanisms of disease."
In addition to the growing cadre of Wisconsin faculty lining up to explore issues of basic and applied biology with the help of stem cells, there is a growing physical infrastructure on campus as well. There are gleaming and unique facilities at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, and the Wasiman Center, for example, where neural stem cells are a research emphasis. Included there is a clinical biomanufacturing facility that could well process the first stem cells that will ever be used in a clinical setting.
In October of 1999, WARF created the WiCell Research Institute, a UW Research Park-based subsidiary devoted to distributing stem cells to qualified academic and industrial researchers, and to conducting basic stem cell science. To date, WiCell has shipped cells from three of the five original stem cell lines identified in the November, 1998 Science paper to as many as 140 labs worldwide. By early next year, Gulbrandsen says, WiCell will be shipping cells from all five lines.
According to Gulbrandsen, there are now other sources of stem cells in the United States that, along with WiCell, ship to as many as 200 labs engaged in embryonic stem cell research. "In five years, that is pretty remarkable and would not happen unless the research were critically important."
But Wisconsin remains the leading supplier of cells for research, notes Thomson.
"We've shipped more cells to more labs than anybody else—by a wide margin," says Thomson, who also serves as WiCell's scientific director.
What's more, WiCell has become a training ground for scientists who travel to Madison from around the world to learn how to grow and maintain the finicky cells. And in late September of this year, NIH named WiCell as one of three Exploratory Centers for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in the country, a designation that included $1.7 million in research funding.
"I hope WiCell evolves into an institute that broadly supports research on campus," Thomson says. "WiCell as a research institute is an evolving concept."
On campus, a new infrastructure is taking shape in the form of the Wisconsin Stem Cell Research Program. The mission of the new program, according to its manager, Barbara Lewis, is to provide a framework for UW-Madison stem cell research and training. It will organize seminar series, journal clubs, and an annual retreat for researchers from across the campus to discuss their work and funding opportunities. The program, she adds, will be active in private fund raising for a stem cell training program and basic and applied stem cell research initiatives. In addition to the new Wisconsin Stem Cell Research Program, future initiatives, campus leaders suggest, could bring facilities for both regenerative medicine and a Medical School 'translational facility' where stem cells would gain a more solid clinical footing.
"The university has invested heavily in nurturing the burgeoning area of stem cell biology," says R. Timothy Mulcahy, Graduate School associate dean for the biological sciences and associate vice chancellor for research policy. "We have supported cluster hires in the area of regenerative medicine and stem cell biology and established the Wisconsin Stem Cell Research Program to coordinate and facilitate stem cell research across campus."
Wisconsin, Mulcahy asserts, is well positioned to continue to lead the world in human embryonic stem cell research.
"Thomson's discovery elevated the field to heights previously thought impossible, and has brought within reach all the promise others in the field have long dreamed of," Mulcahy says. "In 20 years we'll be surprised by what stem cell research has delivered. I'd hazard a guess that the biggest pay off will be in areas we haven't even considered."
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Artificial pancreas for diabetics
Scientists in Cambridge say they are moving a step closer to developing an artificial pancreas for people with diabetes.
They are conducting trials in Cambridge with 12 youngsters aged five to 18.
All have type-one diabetes which means their pancreas does not produce insulin - the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.
Jeremy Smith, who is studying for his A Levels, is one of the volunteers.
The 17-year-old has had several overnight stays at the city's Addenbrookes hospital.
Computerised dose
Each time the diabetes care team fit him with a continuous glucose sensor which sits just under the skin.
Quote:
The artificial pancreas could dramatically improve quality of life, and life expectancy
Karen Addington
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
This beams his blood sugar readings to a monitor.
The idea then is for a computer program to work out the right dose of insulin, which is delivered via an insulin pump.
The artificial pancreas would automate diabetes care and free people from the repeated need for finger prick blood tests and insulin injections.
But the system has not gone live yet. Instead, Jeremy's glucose levels are checked every 15 minutes throughout the night and his insulin dose is altered manually.
It will be another six months before the first automated, hands-free trial is conducted.
Mathematical problem
The main stumbling block in the development of an artificial pancreas has been mathematical: no-one has perfected a computer program sophisticated enough to work out the right dose of insulin at any moment of the day.
Quote:
The human body has a very clever way of working out exactly how much insulin the body needs, and we are only just beginning to understand that
Dr Roman Hovorka
University of Cambridge
That is why the scientist leading the trial is not a medical doctor, but a mathematician.
Dr Roman Hovorka, from the University of Cambridge, said: "For an artificial pancreas, you need a brain.
"The human body has a very clever way of working out exactly how much insulin the body needs, and we are only just beginning to understand that."
That's why the overnight trials at Addenbrookes are important.
If the team can stabilise Jeremy's glucose levels then it will help devise the algorithm needed to automate his diabetes care.
Good progress
The trial went well - for the first few hours the glucose levels were flat and stable, although at one point the insulin pump became disconnected.
Quote:
It would be life-changing
Jeremy Smith
Jeremy has been wearing the pump for nearly three years and says this has happened only a couple of times.
The experiment will be repeated in a few days.
But the team already has enough data to show it is on track, and believes home testing of the device will happen within a year.
Nonetheless, it is likely to be several more years before a robust, workable device is widely available.
Jeremy Smith is enthusiastic about the trials and convinced an artificial pancreas is the way forward: "It would be life-changing.
"It would give far better glucose control and freedom from the side-effects of diabetes."
Karen Addington, chief executive of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, has type-one diabetes.
Her charity is funding the trials in Cambridge and she is optimistic about the long-term potential of an artificial pancreas.
"Life expectancy with type-one diabetes is reduced by on average 15 years," she said.
"The artificial pancreas would remove the complications associated with the condition, such as heart and kidney disease, blindness, and stroke; it could dramatically improve quality of life, and life expectancy."
They are conducting trials in Cambridge with 12 youngsters aged five to 18.
All have type-one diabetes which means their pancreas does not produce insulin - the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.
Jeremy Smith, who is studying for his A Levels, is one of the volunteers.
The 17-year-old has had several overnight stays at the city's Addenbrookes hospital.
Computerised dose
Each time the diabetes care team fit him with a continuous glucose sensor which sits just under the skin.
Quote:
The artificial pancreas could dramatically improve quality of life, and life expectancy
Karen Addington
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
This beams his blood sugar readings to a monitor.
The idea then is for a computer program to work out the right dose of insulin, which is delivered via an insulin pump.
The artificial pancreas would automate diabetes care and free people from the repeated need for finger prick blood tests and insulin injections.
But the system has not gone live yet. Instead, Jeremy's glucose levels are checked every 15 minutes throughout the night and his insulin dose is altered manually.
It will be another six months before the first automated, hands-free trial is conducted.
Mathematical problem
The main stumbling block in the development of an artificial pancreas has been mathematical: no-one has perfected a computer program sophisticated enough to work out the right dose of insulin at any moment of the day.
Quote:
The human body has a very clever way of working out exactly how much insulin the body needs, and we are only just beginning to understand that
Dr Roman Hovorka
University of Cambridge
That is why the scientist leading the trial is not a medical doctor, but a mathematician.
Dr Roman Hovorka, from the University of Cambridge, said: "For an artificial pancreas, you need a brain.
"The human body has a very clever way of working out exactly how much insulin the body needs, and we are only just beginning to understand that."
That's why the overnight trials at Addenbrookes are important.
If the team can stabilise Jeremy's glucose levels then it will help devise the algorithm needed to automate his diabetes care.
Good progress
The trial went well - for the first few hours the glucose levels were flat and stable, although at one point the insulin pump became disconnected.
Quote:
It would be life-changing
Jeremy Smith
Jeremy has been wearing the pump for nearly three years and says this has happened only a couple of times.
The experiment will be repeated in a few days.
But the team already has enough data to show it is on track, and believes home testing of the device will happen within a year.
Nonetheless, it is likely to be several more years before a robust, workable device is widely available.
Jeremy Smith is enthusiastic about the trials and convinced an artificial pancreas is the way forward: "It would be life-changing.
"It would give far better glucose control and freedom from the side-effects of diabetes."
Karen Addington, chief executive of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, has type-one diabetes.
Her charity is funding the trials in Cambridge and she is optimistic about the long-term potential of an artificial pancreas.
"Life expectancy with type-one diabetes is reduced by on average 15 years," she said.
"The artificial pancreas would remove the complications associated with the condition, such as heart and kidney disease, blindness, and stroke; it could dramatically improve quality of life, and life expectancy."
Is British man the first to "recover" from HIV?
A British man has confounded doctors by testing negative for HIV antibodies several months after two positive results. This follows a report last February of a man whose test results changed following treatment, and who remained antibody negative four years later.
Feeling tired and feverish, Andrew Stimpson visited the Victoria Sexual Health Clinic for an HIV antibody test in May 2002. The initial result was negative, but he was encouraged to return for more tests because antibodies are often undetectable during the first few weeks after infection.
Mr Stimpson tested HIV antibody positive in August 2002. But he remained healthy and was not prescribed antiretroviral drugs. Tests designed to measure the amount of HIV in his blood - known as the "viral load" - found it to be "exceptionally low".
More than a year later, in October 2003, he was offered another HIV antibody test, which came back negative. Subsequent tests in December 2003 and March 2004 produced the same result.
Mr Stimpson suspected he had been misdiagnosed, and considered legal action. However an investigation by Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust found the clinic had not made any mistakes. The samples taken in August 2002 were retested and again found to be antibody positive. Samples from March 2004 onwards were also retested and found to be antibody negative. DNA testing confirmed that all samples belonged to Mr Stimpson.
Based on the information currently available, it is not possible to say for sure whether Mr Stimpson is currently infected with HIV or whether he has ever been infected.
A spokeswoman for the Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust said: "I can confirm that he has a positive and a negative test. I can't confirm that he's shaken it off, that he's been cured. We urge him, for the sake of himself and the HIV community, to come in and get tested."
This is not the first documented case of an adult reverting from HIV antibody positive to negative. In February 2005, scientists at the 12th Conference on Retroviruses & Opportunistic Infections in Boston presented the case of a man who was diagnosed HIV positive in 1995 by two separate sets of antibody tests, and who had a detectable viral load.*
Two years after diagnosis the man had a very high viral load, and he began taking antiretroviral therapy. Following three years of treatment he was again tested for HIV antibodies and the result was negative. Over the next four years, during which he took no antiretroviral drugs, the man remained antibody negative. Scientists were also unable to detect any viral load or to culture the virus from his blood or semen.
The explanation for this man's reversion is still unclear, but some experts say it may have been an effect of the therapy. Undetectable viral load is not uncommon during treatment, and the absence of antibodies is not conclusive proof that the virus has been completely eliminated.
Mr Stimpson may not be the first to revert to being HIV negative, but unlike the other man he never underwent treatment. Both cases are certainly unusual and intriguing. However it is too early to say whether they will have any implications for HIV medicine. Hopefully matters will become clearer after more tests are carried out.
Feeling tired and feverish, Andrew Stimpson visited the Victoria Sexual Health Clinic for an HIV antibody test in May 2002. The initial result was negative, but he was encouraged to return for more tests because antibodies are often undetectable during the first few weeks after infection.
Mr Stimpson tested HIV antibody positive in August 2002. But he remained healthy and was not prescribed antiretroviral drugs. Tests designed to measure the amount of HIV in his blood - known as the "viral load" - found it to be "exceptionally low".
More than a year later, in October 2003, he was offered another HIV antibody test, which came back negative. Subsequent tests in December 2003 and March 2004 produced the same result.
Mr Stimpson suspected he had been misdiagnosed, and considered legal action. However an investigation by Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust found the clinic had not made any mistakes. The samples taken in August 2002 were retested and again found to be antibody positive. Samples from March 2004 onwards were also retested and found to be antibody negative. DNA testing confirmed that all samples belonged to Mr Stimpson.
Based on the information currently available, it is not possible to say for sure whether Mr Stimpson is currently infected with HIV or whether he has ever been infected.
A spokeswoman for the Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust said: "I can confirm that he has a positive and a negative test. I can't confirm that he's shaken it off, that he's been cured. We urge him, for the sake of himself and the HIV community, to come in and get tested."
This is not the first documented case of an adult reverting from HIV antibody positive to negative. In February 2005, scientists at the 12th Conference on Retroviruses & Opportunistic Infections in Boston presented the case of a man who was diagnosed HIV positive in 1995 by two separate sets of antibody tests, and who had a detectable viral load.*
Two years after diagnosis the man had a very high viral load, and he began taking antiretroviral therapy. Following three years of treatment he was again tested for HIV antibodies and the result was negative. Over the next four years, during which he took no antiretroviral drugs, the man remained antibody negative. Scientists were also unable to detect any viral load or to culture the virus from his blood or semen.
The explanation for this man's reversion is still unclear, but some experts say it may have been an effect of the therapy. Undetectable viral load is not uncommon during treatment, and the absence of antibodies is not conclusive proof that the virus has been completely eliminated.
Mr Stimpson may not be the first to revert to being HIV negative, but unlike the other man he never underwent treatment. Both cases are certainly unusual and intriguing. However it is too early to say whether they will have any implications for HIV medicine. Hopefully matters will become clearer after more tests are carried out.
Virtual surgery may soon be a reality
A surgeon accidently kills a patient, undoes the error and starts over again. Can mathematics make such science fiction a reality?
The day is rapidly approaching when your surgeon can practice on your "digital double" — a virtual you — before performing an actual surgery, according to UCLA mathematician Joseph Teran, who is helping to make virtual surgery a viable technology. The advantages will save lives, he believes.
"You can fail spectacularly with no consequences when you use a simulator and then learn from your mistakes," said Teran, 30, who joined UCLA's mathematics department in July. "If you make errors, you can undo them — just as if you're typing in a Word document and you make a mistake, you undo it. Starting over is a big benefit of the simulation.
"Surgical simulation is coming, there is no question about it," he said. It's a cheaper alternative to cadavers and a safer alternative to patients."
How would virtual surgery work?
"The ideal situation would be when patients come in for a procedure, they get scanned and a three-dimensional digital double is generated; I mean a digital double — you on the computer, including your internal organs," Teran said. "The surgeon first does surgery on the virtual you. With a simulator, a surgeon can practice a procedure tens or hundreds of times. You could have a patient in a small town scanned while a surgeon hundreds or thousands of miles away practices the surgery. The patient then flies out for the surgery. We have to solve mathematical algorithms so what the surgeon does on the computer mimics real life."
How far off is this virtual surgery?
"A three-dimensional double of you can be made, but it would now take 20 people six to nine months," Teran said. "In the future, one person will be able to do it in minutes. It's going to happen, and it will allow surgeons to make fewer mistakes on actual patients. The only limiting factor is the complexity of the geometry involved. We're working on that. Our job as applied mathematicians is to make these technologies increasingly viable."
The technology will be especially helpful with new kinds of surgeries, he said.
"A virtual surgery cannot be a cartoon," said Teran, who works with a surgeon. "It has to be biologically accurate. A virtual double needs to be really you."
Teran is organizing a virtual surgery workshop that will take place at UCLA from Jan. 7 to 11 as part of UCLA's Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics. For information,
Making virtual surgery a reality will require solving mathematical equations, as well as making progress in computational geometry and computer science. An applied mathematician, Teran works in these fields; he develops algorithms to solve equations. Advances by Teran and other scientists in computational geometry, partial differential equations and large-scale computing are accelerating virtual surgery.
How human tissue responds to a surgeon, Teran said, is based on partial differential equations. Teran solves on a computer the mathematical equations that govern physical phenomena relevant to everyday life. He has studied the biomechanical simulation of soft tissues.
"Most of the behavior of everyday life can be described with mathematical equations," he said. "It's very difficult to reproduce natural phenomena without math."
Tissue, muscle and skin are elastic and behave like a spring, Teran said. Their behavior can be accounted for by a classical mathematical theory.
Progress in his field is already rapid, Teran said, noting that "things in geometry that used to take days and days start to take hours and minutes."
Teran believes medical schools will increasingly train physicians using computer surgical simulation.
Teran's applied mathematics can also be used to design more durable bridges, freeways, cars and aircraft.
"I would like people who design bridges to be able to use a virtual model — I'm interested in making that a reality and in creating numerical algorithmic tools that let people who design bridges have more computational machinery at their fingertips," he said.
As an undergraduate, Teran realized "you can use math problems to solve real problems and can help people in ways that seem totally unrelated to math." He earned his doctorate at Stanford University, where he took graduate classes in partial differential equations and worked on new ways of solving the governing equations of elastic biological tissues. He was a postdoctoral scholar at New York University before joining UCLA's faculty.
"I started with math because I like problem-solving, and I like how elegant math is," Teran said. "I like how much careful analysis is required, and that there's a right answer. Now I'm completely fascinated by what you get from a simulation, the kinds of complex behavior you can reproduce on a computer and the kinds of questions you can answer. Math will tell you how the world is. It will give you an answer, and it's intellectually stimulating and fun. It really pays off."
Teran, who is teaching a course on scientific computing for the visual effects industry, said he came to UCLA because it is one of the country's best universities for applied mathematics, because its medical school is among the country's best and because it is near Hollywood, where he helps to make movie special effects.
Teran, who works with UCLA's Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology, spoke this fall as part of Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner's keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum on the rise of the "3-D Internet." Teran demonstrated virtual surgery applications.
The future 3-D Internet will include an "avatar" — a virtual representation of you — that could look "just like you, or better than you," Teran said.
The graphics will be astonishingly realistic and three-dimensional, he said, but the simulation needs to be much more accurate, a goal Teran is working to achieve.
"As virtual words get more realistic, modern applied mathematics and scientific computing are required," he said.
The day is rapidly approaching when your surgeon can practice on your "digital double" — a virtual you — before performing an actual surgery, according to UCLA mathematician Joseph Teran, who is helping to make virtual surgery a viable technology. The advantages will save lives, he believes.
"You can fail spectacularly with no consequences when you use a simulator and then learn from your mistakes," said Teran, 30, who joined UCLA's mathematics department in July. "If you make errors, you can undo them — just as if you're typing in a Word document and you make a mistake, you undo it. Starting over is a big benefit of the simulation.
"Surgical simulation is coming, there is no question about it," he said. It's a cheaper alternative to cadavers and a safer alternative to patients."
How would virtual surgery work?
"The ideal situation would be when patients come in for a procedure, they get scanned and a three-dimensional digital double is generated; I mean a digital double — you on the computer, including your internal organs," Teran said. "The surgeon first does surgery on the virtual you. With a simulator, a surgeon can practice a procedure tens or hundreds of times. You could have a patient in a small town scanned while a surgeon hundreds or thousands of miles away practices the surgery. The patient then flies out for the surgery. We have to solve mathematical algorithms so what the surgeon does on the computer mimics real life."
How far off is this virtual surgery?
"A three-dimensional double of you can be made, but it would now take 20 people six to nine months," Teran said. "In the future, one person will be able to do it in minutes. It's going to happen, and it will allow surgeons to make fewer mistakes on actual patients. The only limiting factor is the complexity of the geometry involved. We're working on that. Our job as applied mathematicians is to make these technologies increasingly viable."
The technology will be especially helpful with new kinds of surgeries, he said.
"A virtual surgery cannot be a cartoon," said Teran, who works with a surgeon. "It has to be biologically accurate. A virtual double needs to be really you."
Teran is organizing a virtual surgery workshop that will take place at UCLA from Jan. 7 to 11 as part of UCLA's Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics. For information,
Making virtual surgery a reality will require solving mathematical equations, as well as making progress in computational geometry and computer science. An applied mathematician, Teran works in these fields; he develops algorithms to solve equations. Advances by Teran and other scientists in computational geometry, partial differential equations and large-scale computing are accelerating virtual surgery.
How human tissue responds to a surgeon, Teran said, is based on partial differential equations. Teran solves on a computer the mathematical equations that govern physical phenomena relevant to everyday life. He has studied the biomechanical simulation of soft tissues.
"Most of the behavior of everyday life can be described with mathematical equations," he said. "It's very difficult to reproduce natural phenomena without math."
Tissue, muscle and skin are elastic and behave like a spring, Teran said. Their behavior can be accounted for by a classical mathematical theory.
Progress in his field is already rapid, Teran said, noting that "things in geometry that used to take days and days start to take hours and minutes."
Teran believes medical schools will increasingly train physicians using computer surgical simulation.
Teran's applied mathematics can also be used to design more durable bridges, freeways, cars and aircraft.
"I would like people who design bridges to be able to use a virtual model — I'm interested in making that a reality and in creating numerical algorithmic tools that let people who design bridges have more computational machinery at their fingertips," he said.
As an undergraduate, Teran realized "you can use math problems to solve real problems and can help people in ways that seem totally unrelated to math." He earned his doctorate at Stanford University, where he took graduate classes in partial differential equations and worked on new ways of solving the governing equations of elastic biological tissues. He was a postdoctoral scholar at New York University before joining UCLA's faculty.
"I started with math because I like problem-solving, and I like how elegant math is," Teran said. "I like how much careful analysis is required, and that there's a right answer. Now I'm completely fascinated by what you get from a simulation, the kinds of complex behavior you can reproduce on a computer and the kinds of questions you can answer. Math will tell you how the world is. It will give you an answer, and it's intellectually stimulating and fun. It really pays off."
Teran, who is teaching a course on scientific computing for the visual effects industry, said he came to UCLA because it is one of the country's best universities for applied mathematics, because its medical school is among the country's best and because it is near Hollywood, where he helps to make movie special effects.
Teran, who works with UCLA's Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology, spoke this fall as part of Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner's keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum on the rise of the "3-D Internet." Teran demonstrated virtual surgery applications.
The future 3-D Internet will include an "avatar" — a virtual representation of you — that could look "just like you, or better than you," Teran said.
The graphics will be astonishingly realistic and three-dimensional, he said, but the simulation needs to be much more accurate, a goal Teran is working to achieve.
"As virtual words get more realistic, modern applied mathematics and scientific computing are required," he said.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Life and A Cup Of Coffee
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar......and the coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them intothe jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf ball are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions--things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else--the small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your spouse out to dinner.
Play another 18 holes.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a cup of coffee with ur friend."
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them intothe jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf ball are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions--things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else--the small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your spouse out to dinner.
Play another 18 holes.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a cup of coffee with ur friend."
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Good Habits to Remember to Prevent Neck Pain
• Take frequent breaks. Don't sit in one place for a long time, such as your car or at your desk. Arrange some of the items in your office so that they are inconvenient. This will force you to get up, stretch or walk around.
• Maintain good neck posture. Adjust the seat of your computer or desk chair so your hips are slightly higher than your knees — your head and neck will naturally follow in the correct position. Traveling in a car, airplane or train? Place a small pillow or rolled towel between your neck and a headrest to keep the normal curve in your neck'
• How are you sleeping? Avoid sleeping with too many pillows or falling asleep in front of the television with your head on the arm of a couch.
• On the phone a lot? Use a speakerphone or headsets — do not cradle the phone in your neck.
• Exercise. Treat your body to a consistent regimen of stretching and strengthening to balance your muscle groups. This protects your neck as well as helping your whole body. Walking at any pace is excellent exercise for your neck. The rotation of the spine provides a great natural workout for the neck muscles.
• Eat smart and drink water. Good nutrition and staying well hydrated are not only important to stay healthy, but vital in the healing process
• Maintain good neck posture. Adjust the seat of your computer or desk chair so your hips are slightly higher than your knees — your head and neck will naturally follow in the correct position. Traveling in a car, airplane or train? Place a small pillow or rolled towel between your neck and a headrest to keep the normal curve in your neck'
• How are you sleeping? Avoid sleeping with too many pillows or falling asleep in front of the television with your head on the arm of a couch.
• On the phone a lot? Use a speakerphone or headsets — do not cradle the phone in your neck.
• Exercise. Treat your body to a consistent regimen of stretching and strengthening to balance your muscle groups. This protects your neck as well as helping your whole body. Walking at any pace is excellent exercise for your neck. The rotation of the spine provides a great natural workout for the neck muscles.
• Eat smart and drink water. Good nutrition and staying well hydrated are not only important to stay healthy, but vital in the healing process
Fever. What is a fever? What to do about a fever?
There is much misinformation out there about fever and what to do about it. What is a fever, and what actually causes it? Normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees F, but this is just an average. Some people are normally higher, and some normally lower. A fever is defined as a body temperature above 100.5 degrees F. Therefore, a body temperature of 99.5 degrees or 100 degrees F is not a fever and should not be a cause for worry in otherwise normal children. While fever is a cause for concern, it is rarely a reason for panic. Fever is only a symptom, not a disease, most often scary and annoying, but in most cases not dangerous.
The body temperature is controlled by the hypothalamus, a section of the brain that acts just like your household thermostat. That is, if the body gets too cold, the thermostat sends out instructions to warm things up, and if it gets too hot, the thermostat tries to cool things down. When the body is faced with an infection, it responds in a number of ways. In addition to making antibodies that kill the offending germs, it sends various white blood cells to the location of the infection, where they act very much like soldiers at a battle.
They help the antibodies destroy the invaders. In addition, they are able to kill the offending germs directly. The number and types of these white blood cells are one of the things that your doctor measures when he does a blood count. Fever can be thought of as one of the body's normal responses to infection. Because of this fact, we may have to reconsider the need to treat fever.
The only reliable way to take a young child's fever is rectally. The new high tech ear canal thermometers are easy to use and remarkable fast, but they tend to read a little high. The under arm is also quite inaccurate.
Not all fevers need treatment. Most children with temperatures lower than 102 degrees generally do not feel all that bad, although earaches and sore throats may hurt. The increased body temperature may actually be beneficial in fighting off the infection. Children with a temperature above 102 degrees are often uncomfortable because of the fever and may need treatment - a child with a fever who is feeling and behaving well does not need to be given medication.
The old favorite remedy, aspirin, should not be used to treat fever in children under 16 years of age because of its association with Reye's Syndrome (a syndrome of rapidly worsening neurological symptoms and liver degeneration) in children with viral illness and chicken pox.
Instead of aspirin to treat fever today we have acetaminophen and ibuprofen, both of which are sold under a variety of brand names. Alcohol rubs are a bad idea as it is scary and uncomfortable, and can cause serious side effects in young infants.
Alcohol rubs make kids shiver, which is the body's way to generate large amounts of heat, the last thing you want to do if your child has a fever. Instead sponge the child down in the tub with lukewarm water for a few minutes - but careful not to allow the child to get cold enough to shiver. Also a child should not be bundled up, as it will make him hotter and can raise the temperature of young infants.
Some cautions: A temperature over 100.5 degrees F in a child under 3 months of age is always a concern. They rarely get fevers, even when they are sick, so a fever is unusual even in the presence of illness, and they can change very rapidly. One minute they are okay and a few minutes later they can become seriously ill. There is little warning. You should quickly alert your pediatrician to any abnormal temperature in an infant under three months of age.
Infants between 3 months to 3 years of age present a similar dilemma, only not such an urgent one. A pediatrician has the training and experience to distinguish medically serious conditions from minor viral illnesses in children. Make notes and call your pediatrician if concerned. Every child and every situation is different, and you and your pediatrician must work together to choose the appropriate course of action. ("My Baby's Got a Fever!" Herschel Lessin, M.D., Healthology.com - Dec. 2001)
In general, it is unwise to reduce a fever unless the person (child or adult) is absolutely miserable and if the fever is over 102 or 103. There is an exaggerated concern that many parents have regarding fever. They are unaware that there is no brain damage until the temperature gets beyond 105 or so. Now, I do get concerned when the temperature is above 102, but would hold off using aspirin or Tylenol unless the person was feeling very uncomfortable.
These drugs actually inhibit the body's immune response and actually tend to prolong the illness rather than resolving it more quickly. ("Sponging, Fans Do Little To Bring Down Fever," Dr. Joseph Mercola, mercola.com - Nov. 2001)
On average, flu symptoms lasted 5.3 days in participants who did not take aspirin or acetaminophen, compared with 8.8 days in people who took the anti-fever drugs. (Researchers at the University of Maryland schools of medicine and pharmacy in Pharmacotherapy, Dec. 2000) This report is on mercola.com. - Nov. 2001)
A basic fever, one due to minor bacterial or viral illness, can be an expression of the immune system working at its best. Some research supports the theory that when fever is blocked, survival rates from infection decline. Fever increases the amount of interferon (a natural antiviral and anticancer substance) in the blood. Fever also impairs the replication of many bacteria and viruses, so a moderate fever is a friend.
However, it makes sense to avoid suppressing moderate fevers with drugs, while continuing to monitor for dramatic increases in temperature and worsening of any other symptoms. Don't cajole or coerce your children into eating during fevers if they don't feel hungry, but encourage fluids, because dehydration alone can drive up fever. For the few children (about 3%) who have febrile seizures, pediatricians can help parents block high temperatures by giving ibuprofen or acetamiinophen when fevers start.
If you give over-the-counter medicines for reducing fever and discomfort follow the package instructions. Bundle if child feels cold, but dress lightly so the child can throw off the covers when they feel the need. ("Fever in Children - a Blessing in Disguise," Linda B. White and Sunny Mavor, originally printed in "Mothering Magazine," excerpted from"Kids, Herbs, and Health: A Parents' Guide to Natural Remedies. on mercola.com - June 2001).
The body temperature is controlled by the hypothalamus, a section of the brain that acts just like your household thermostat. That is, if the body gets too cold, the thermostat sends out instructions to warm things up, and if it gets too hot, the thermostat tries to cool things down. When the body is faced with an infection, it responds in a number of ways. In addition to making antibodies that kill the offending germs, it sends various white blood cells to the location of the infection, where they act very much like soldiers at a battle.
They help the antibodies destroy the invaders. In addition, they are able to kill the offending germs directly. The number and types of these white blood cells are one of the things that your doctor measures when he does a blood count. Fever can be thought of as one of the body's normal responses to infection. Because of this fact, we may have to reconsider the need to treat fever.
The only reliable way to take a young child's fever is rectally. The new high tech ear canal thermometers are easy to use and remarkable fast, but they tend to read a little high. The under arm is also quite inaccurate.
Not all fevers need treatment. Most children with temperatures lower than 102 degrees generally do not feel all that bad, although earaches and sore throats may hurt. The increased body temperature may actually be beneficial in fighting off the infection. Children with a temperature above 102 degrees are often uncomfortable because of the fever and may need treatment - a child with a fever who is feeling and behaving well does not need to be given medication.
The old favorite remedy, aspirin, should not be used to treat fever in children under 16 years of age because of its association with Reye's Syndrome (a syndrome of rapidly worsening neurological symptoms and liver degeneration) in children with viral illness and chicken pox.
Instead of aspirin to treat fever today we have acetaminophen and ibuprofen, both of which are sold under a variety of brand names. Alcohol rubs are a bad idea as it is scary and uncomfortable, and can cause serious side effects in young infants.
Alcohol rubs make kids shiver, which is the body's way to generate large amounts of heat, the last thing you want to do if your child has a fever. Instead sponge the child down in the tub with lukewarm water for a few minutes - but careful not to allow the child to get cold enough to shiver. Also a child should not be bundled up, as it will make him hotter and can raise the temperature of young infants.
Some cautions: A temperature over 100.5 degrees F in a child under 3 months of age is always a concern. They rarely get fevers, even when they are sick, so a fever is unusual even in the presence of illness, and they can change very rapidly. One minute they are okay and a few minutes later they can become seriously ill. There is little warning. You should quickly alert your pediatrician to any abnormal temperature in an infant under three months of age.
Infants between 3 months to 3 years of age present a similar dilemma, only not such an urgent one. A pediatrician has the training and experience to distinguish medically serious conditions from minor viral illnesses in children. Make notes and call your pediatrician if concerned. Every child and every situation is different, and you and your pediatrician must work together to choose the appropriate course of action. ("My Baby's Got a Fever!" Herschel Lessin, M.D., Healthology.com - Dec. 2001)
In general, it is unwise to reduce a fever unless the person (child or adult) is absolutely miserable and if the fever is over 102 or 103. There is an exaggerated concern that many parents have regarding fever. They are unaware that there is no brain damage until the temperature gets beyond 105 or so. Now, I do get concerned when the temperature is above 102, but would hold off using aspirin or Tylenol unless the person was feeling very uncomfortable.
These drugs actually inhibit the body's immune response and actually tend to prolong the illness rather than resolving it more quickly. ("Sponging, Fans Do Little To Bring Down Fever," Dr. Joseph Mercola, mercola.com - Nov. 2001)
On average, flu symptoms lasted 5.3 days in participants who did not take aspirin or acetaminophen, compared with 8.8 days in people who took the anti-fever drugs. (Researchers at the University of Maryland schools of medicine and pharmacy in Pharmacotherapy, Dec. 2000) This report is on mercola.com. - Nov. 2001)
A basic fever, one due to minor bacterial or viral illness, can be an expression of the immune system working at its best. Some research supports the theory that when fever is blocked, survival rates from infection decline. Fever increases the amount of interferon (a natural antiviral and anticancer substance) in the blood. Fever also impairs the replication of many bacteria and viruses, so a moderate fever is a friend.
However, it makes sense to avoid suppressing moderate fevers with drugs, while continuing to monitor for dramatic increases in temperature and worsening of any other symptoms. Don't cajole or coerce your children into eating during fevers if they don't feel hungry, but encourage fluids, because dehydration alone can drive up fever. For the few children (about 3%) who have febrile seizures, pediatricians can help parents block high temperatures by giving ibuprofen or acetamiinophen when fevers start.
If you give over-the-counter medicines for reducing fever and discomfort follow the package instructions. Bundle if child feels cold, but dress lightly so the child can throw off the covers when they feel the need. ("Fever in Children - a Blessing in Disguise," Linda B. White and Sunny Mavor, originally printed in "Mothering Magazine," excerpted from"Kids, Herbs, and Health: A Parents' Guide to Natural Remedies. on mercola.com - June 2001).
Treating a Blister
Blisters are sore, swollen areas on the skin where fluid has collected beneath an outer layer of skin. Blisters are caused by friction, often from poorly fitted shoes or socks that rub against the skin.
Here are suggestions on caring for a blister, courtesy of the University of Michigan Health System:
Steps should be taken to avoid further irritating the problem area.
Large blisters can be carefully drained with a sterilized needle, then covered with antibiotic ointment and a bandage.
For extra protection, purchase a moleskin at a drugstore. Cut a hole that's larger than the blister in the moleskin, creating a moleskin "donut." Then apply the moleskin so that the hole is over the blister.
See your doctor about any blisters that don't heal in a reasonable amount of time, or look like they may be infected.
Here are suggestions on caring for a blister, courtesy of the University of Michigan Health System:
Steps should be taken to avoid further irritating the problem area.
Large blisters can be carefully drained with a sterilized needle, then covered with antibiotic ointment and a bandage.
For extra protection, purchase a moleskin at a drugstore. Cut a hole that's larger than the blister in the moleskin, creating a moleskin "donut." Then apply the moleskin so that the hole is over the blister.
See your doctor about any blisters that don't heal in a reasonable amount of time, or look like they may be infected.
How Today’s Docs Pick Their Fields_Must Read
When young whippersnappers arrive at medical school in the fall of their first year, it's not uncommon to hear them declare, in a voice giddy with idealism, that they want to cure cancer or save babies or dedicate their careers to small inner-city clinics. But check back in with them four years later—after they've racked up $200,000 in debt, contemplated having kiddies and been scared witless by the prospect of piddling reimbursements—and many of them will say they want nothing so much as good pay, flexible hours and few midnight emergencies. Your future lifesaver wants, in a word, a nice lifestyle.
This is said to be particularly true of the grade grubs, the ones with the scores to get into ultra-competitive fields, and they even have a mnemonic to help them remember which are the styliest of the lifestyle specialties: If you want to be happy in medicine, follow the ROAD—Radiology, Ophthalmology, Anesthesiology and Dermatology. ROAD!
But is that all there is to it these days? In medicine, as in love, everyone has his or her type.
Each fall, when the weather turns gusty and romantic, the city's fourth-year medical students embark on a mass professional mating ritual designed to hook them up with the residency program of their dreams. The ritual is known as the Match, and like all frenzied dating rites, it is as much about defining who the students are as about finding their medical soul mates.
Are they ultra-alpha gunners with a latent urge to slice and dice? Then perhaps they'll become surgeons, overworked but well paid. Or maybe they tend more toward the brainy-hipster type, with dog-eared copies of Dora in their pockets. Then clearly psychiatry is the field for them.
This year's match frenzy kicked off on Sept. 1, when a vast electronic database began accepting student applications. By now, most students have already dispatched their carefully crafted personal statements to 10, 20, sometimes 40 programs, but a few poor souls are still scrambling—still trying to choose a specialty, in some cases—by the Nov. 1 deadline.
Then it's on to interviewing, praying and waiting for the big day: March 15, Match Day, when a giant HAL-like computer spits out a binding verdict for each student.
Why do some choose a life of treating rashes while others opt for curing cancer or fixing fractures?
The most popular theory of the moment is the aforementioned Lifestyle Theory. A slightly less cynical theory—in fact, a downright warm-and-fuzzy one—is the "mentoring" hypothesis, which states that students, like ducklings, follow the lead of their schools or advisors.
But at the end of the day, for many students, the big choice comes down, quite simply, to personality, attraction, even musk. Indeed, one of the great old medical-school clichés is that a practiced eye can identify which students will go into which fields on the first day of class. The Match, nearly four years later, just seals the deal.
So who's going to be setting your sprains, delivering your tykes or—God forbid—changing your catheter? Whoever they are, we just hope they'll take our insurance!
INTERNAL MEDICINE
Quote:
To hear many doctors describe it, there are two distinct breeds of modern-day physician: those who "do," which is to say, pin joints, slice open patients and zap people with radiation; and those who "think," which is to say, diagnose diseases, titrate medications and monitor symptoms.
The students who choose internal medicine—the largest residency in the Match—fall by and large into the latter category. Often hailed as the "intellectuals" of the med-student menagerie, they're the ones, according to Mount Sinai fourth-year student Bryan Mahoney, who "love thinking and thinking and thinking about diagnoses and treatment plans." They're the scrabble players and chess types, the crossword puzzlers and, in the case of oncologists, the baseball-card collectors. Why?
"Because oncologists [have to] know a lot of chemotherapy regimens in terms of scheduling, dosing, adjustments, all the minutiae," said Daniel Zandman, also from Mount Sinai, "they're masters of esoteric knowledge."
GENERAL SURGERY
Quote:
Some might call it indentured servitude: at least five years of hard, suturing labor in an environment of screaming supervisors, pressure-cooked peers and geysers of blood. But the students who choose general surgery can't seem to get enough of it. They're the kind of people who take pride at staying at the hospital far longer than they have to, who complain about the laws limiting residency hours, who elbow each other out of the way for the chance to scrub in on a 12-hour surgery. Think Tracy Flick with a scalpel.
Certainly prestige has something to do with it—surgery has long been regarded as the pinnacle of the profession—but it also goes deeper, subcutaneous.
"General surgery has people who really are passionate about doing it, because honestly, I look at them and think … 'Your lives are absolutely miserable,'" said Mr. Mahoney, who himself contemplated surgery before opting for anesthesiology. "But then I see 70-year-olds who still work 90 hours a week, and I have to admit they must sincerely love what they're doing—or hate their family. I can't tell which."
DERMATOLOGY
Quote:
Among the many accomplishments required of the would-be dermatologist are perfect skin (the pimply would never dare apply), a fine sense of fashion and a love of the well-shaped heel—high heel, that is.
"You can always spot the dermatologists among the medicine interns," said one lady student from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. "They're wearing sling-back heels with a white coat. They look like Clinique women."
"All you hear are their shoes clicking down the hallway," observed another Columbia student named Jon.
But don't be fooled by the clip-clopping of well-shod feet: The derm girls are no shuffle-lumps. Thanks to its good hours, high pay and cushy lifestyle—how many dermatological emergencies can you get a month?—dermatology has heel-clicked its way from being one of the easier fields in the medical kingdom to one of the most competitive. Said Dr. Suzanne Rose, associate dean for academic and student affairs at Mount Sinai: "You almost have to have a Ph.D." Or at least a good C.V.
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"Dermatology is for people who have the right résumé, but they're not the most intellectual," said one student. "It's the same kind of people who go into investment banking."
NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY
Quote:
For the overachievers of the overachieving set, the career of choice is, and perhaps only can be, neurosurgery.
Only a handful of students dare apply from each school, but, lucky them, should they match, their big reward is … work. At least six head-splitting, spine-slicing years of it while they scalpel their way through residency. And at the end of that, they are rewarded with yet more work—although this time, the grind is tempered by the sweet smell of fat checks, fast cars (which they park conspicuously outside the hospital) and their very own TV icon.
Still, ladies trawling the neuro-surge wards for their own Dr. McDreamies, beware! "You just can't be normal and work 100 hours a week for the rest of your life," said the Columbia lady student, adding that the neurosurgery residents' behavior was, at times, so "inappropriate" last year (think off-color jokes, for starters) that they were banned from doing rounds with med students.
Indeed, the on-call pager extension for Columbia's pediatric neuro-surge service is, reportedly, *-*-*-D-I-C-K.
ANESTHESIOLOGY
Quote:
Throughout the New York med-scape, this year's residents-to-be are lining up for a spot on the "other side" of the operating-room curtain. Once dismissed as a job for medicine's "techie" types, anesthesia has slowly been building its way up from a field that couldn't fill its slots (in 1996, Weill Cornell didn't place a single anesthesiology resident) to one of the trendy residencies-of-the-moment (in 2006, 10 Cornell students chose anesthesiology).
"Anesthesiology," said a Columbia student named Aaron, "is extremely popular this year."
The anesthesia lifestyle is certainly a big part of the appeal: You can work five days a week, rake in the ducats, and still have time to play catch with the kids. But for many people, the lure of anesthesia is also about the strange thrill of putting people under.
"The classic analogy is that it's like flying a plane," said Mr. Zandman. "There's takeoff and landing, which are really eventful, and then you sort of can put it on cruise control in the middle.
But," he added, "you have to love five minutes of fear."
FAMILY MEDICINE
Quote:
No matter how idealistic med students are when they crack the spines of their first-year anatomy books, after four years in New York's ambition mill—to say nothing of its debt-grinder—few retain enough of that early glow to go into family medicine. And if they do, it can mean only two things: They're Mother Teresa reincarnated—or they bombed their board exams.
The "poorhouse" wages are partly to blame. But the demise of the do-gooder family doc is also part of the larger trend away from the gritty grind of primary care toward the luxe appeal of the lifestyle specialties.
"People are discouraged from entering family medicine because it's just looked down upon," said the Columbia lady student.
A Mount Sinai student painted an even grimmer picture. "Even the students from Caribbean medical schools, which traditionally just take the leftovers in terms of residencies, even they don't want to go into family …. It's a suffering field."
ORTHOPEDICS
Quote:
Thirty or 40 years ago, when orthopedic surgeons were seen as the glorified carpenters of the medical trade, the word on the wards about students who opted for ortho was that they were "strong as an ox and half as smart."
These days, the "half as smart" no longer applies—students have to score top grades to get into this ultra-competitive residency—but the "strong as an ox" still resonates. Among the students who rush ortho, an impressive number are said to be "tawny and brawny," with 20-inch biceps, 18-inch necks and a mantel full of varsity trophies. One Mount Sinai senior said he was convinced one of his friends was trying to pack on 20 pounds of muscle to help guarantee an ortho placement.
Such a cult of beefiness hasn't always been friendly to lady applicants. "I think they guard their profession," said the Columbia student named Jon. But this has started to change in recent years, as a few fearless broads have begun breaking the bone-doctor barrier, determined to show they can retract with the big boys.
Still, there is room for progress. Said one woman who ultimately decided against orthopedics, "I realized I was trying to mentally prepare myself for being discriminated against."
PATHOLOGY
Quote:
In the bowels of every hospital, beneath shvitzing pipes and fluorescent lights, lurks a breed of doctor that thrills to the stench of formaldehyde and the chill of death, the company of a corpse over a live, kicking patient.
And in each med-school class, there are a handful of students—say one or two, maybe three—who can't wait to join them. These are the country's future pathologists, the quirky, mole-ish types with librarian hearts and Tim Burton minds. Some call them the mad scientists of the trade, others the "weirdos" who "like to be in the equivalent of broom closets cutting up people."
But like all true great oddballs, their day might be dawning.
"Everyone says pathology is the next derm," said Mr. Mahoney, "because the hours are great, the pay is wonderful, and right now it's not competitive …. People are starting to look at path."
EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Quote:
For the confident, the quick-thinking and the kids who grew up crushing on Dr. Doug (George Clooney) Ross, the emergency room is becoming an increasingly alluring place to hang their stethoscopes. A relatively new specialty, emergency medicine attracts the steely-nerved and intense, the students who don't shrivel up at the idea of making spot diagnoses—and then, say, jabbing a needle into a patient's chest to inflate their lungs.
"It's pretty dramatic," said Mr. Zandman.
Not everyone is so full of admiration, however. Because E.R. docs work "just" three 12-hour shifts a week, some deride it as shift-work, a flexible, well-paid way to be an M.D. But the emergency "shift workers" might have the last laugh.
"I think people would like more going into it, because there seems to be a shortage of emergency-room doctors," said Dr. Albert Kuperman, associate dean for educational affairs at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "All the big hospitals are enlarging their emergency-medicine departments."
OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
Quote:
Once the province of creepy, specula-wielding old guys, obstetrics and gynecology are all about estrogen these days—and, girl, can it be intense! Though it's not considered one of the "competitive" residencies, OB/GYN is nonetheless filled with hyper-competitive types—people who are determined to deliver babies, cure chlamydia and defend women's health, all while not sleeping, slaving for attendings, and facing a future of endless hours and skyrocketing insurance.
Needless to say, the effect can be traumatic.
"I definitely saw more residents cry during my OB/GYN rotation than I saw in the rest of medical school combined," said one Columbia student.
Indeed, Columbia's OB/GYN residency is somewhat notorious, at least among the med-student throng. While the reigning image of the young OB/GYN is of the feminist crusader, stridently devoted to helping her sex, the Columbia residentrix trends more towards sorority chick. Toward Mean Girls, in fact. Like Lindsay Lohan in scrubs.
"It really feels like an all-girls school, in bad ways," said the Columbia lady student, recalling the bleary mornings of her OB/GYN clerkship, when the residents would page her to do pre-rounds push-ups. "There is a lot of passive-aggressiveness."
PEDIATRICS
Quote:
Farewell, crusty old pediatricians with the icy stethoscopes, old-grandpa smell and bedside manner inspired by Dr. Spock. The lasses who want to become kiddie doctors today—and they are quite often lasses—are widely considered the "nicest" and "most compassionate" kids in the class, if not the most aggressive go-getters.
With its low pay and limited prestige value—these folks are "just" keeping our future generations healthy, after all—pediatrics tends to rank low on the competitive scale (the median pediatrician board score is the fifth lowest in the Match). But what the future peds might lack in cutthroat drive, they make up for in stubborn determination.
"Everyone understands that pediatricians go into pediatrics because they're passionate about taking care of children, and not because they want to make money," said pediatrician-to-be Celia Quinn. "So it's really hard to talk someone out of doing pediatrics."
PLASTIC SURGERY
Quote:
It's one of the strange laws of medicine that perhaps the most competitive field in the residency game is plastic surgery. And the students who set their sights on this prize—who go "straight to plastics," as they say—are of necessity among the most ambitious, driven and grindy students in the class. In 2005, they had the highest median board scores of all the students in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).
But don't worry, the leading lights of medicine aren't sinking their talents into tummy tucks and boob jobs—exclusively. As Jon, the Columbia student, explained, "To have done that well to match straight into plastics, you're going to have enough competitive spirit to want to be recognized as [a leader in your field]. So they're going to do a lot of reconstructive work, burn work, grafting."
At least at first. There is always time for face-lifts
PSYCHIATRY
Quote:
Funky glasses alert! More than 100 years after Freud unlocked the secrets of the unconscious, psychiatry remains the unquestioned realm of the bookish and bespectacled. Often mistaken for their neuro-peers, the psych folks are nonetheless their own individuated breed: a little dreamy, kinda cool, maybe with a background in the humanities or their own near-crazy experience. "They are people that are almost too empathic for medicine," said Ms. Quinn, "because they can't handle dealing with people's physical illness—or not being able to deal with [it]."
This hasn't always won them plaudits in the macho world of medicine, where doctors like to fancy themselves stiff-lipped doers rather than sensitive dreamers. "They're not real doctors," some physicians sneer—a fact that may explain psychiatry's relative unpopularity in large parts of the country. In 2005, according to data from the NRMP, psychiatry filled less than 64 percent of its slots with U.S. students and attracted applicants with the second-lowest median board scores.
But fear not, New Yorkers: Your addled nerves will still be well taken care of. Here, in Therapyville, psychiatry is a pretty good draw, thanks in part to several top psychiatric programs. "At Columbia," said the student named Jon, "it's really popular."
This is said to be particularly true of the grade grubs, the ones with the scores to get into ultra-competitive fields, and they even have a mnemonic to help them remember which are the styliest of the lifestyle specialties: If you want to be happy in medicine, follow the ROAD—Radiology, Ophthalmology, Anesthesiology and Dermatology. ROAD!
But is that all there is to it these days? In medicine, as in love, everyone has his or her type.
Each fall, when the weather turns gusty and romantic, the city's fourth-year medical students embark on a mass professional mating ritual designed to hook them up with the residency program of their dreams. The ritual is known as the Match, and like all frenzied dating rites, it is as much about defining who the students are as about finding their medical soul mates.
Are they ultra-alpha gunners with a latent urge to slice and dice? Then perhaps they'll become surgeons, overworked but well paid. Or maybe they tend more toward the brainy-hipster type, with dog-eared copies of Dora in their pockets. Then clearly psychiatry is the field for them.
This year's match frenzy kicked off on Sept. 1, when a vast electronic database began accepting student applications. By now, most students have already dispatched their carefully crafted personal statements to 10, 20, sometimes 40 programs, but a few poor souls are still scrambling—still trying to choose a specialty, in some cases—by the Nov. 1 deadline.
Then it's on to interviewing, praying and waiting for the big day: March 15, Match Day, when a giant HAL-like computer spits out a binding verdict for each student.
Why do some choose a life of treating rashes while others opt for curing cancer or fixing fractures?
The most popular theory of the moment is the aforementioned Lifestyle Theory. A slightly less cynical theory—in fact, a downright warm-and-fuzzy one—is the "mentoring" hypothesis, which states that students, like ducklings, follow the lead of their schools or advisors.
But at the end of the day, for many students, the big choice comes down, quite simply, to personality, attraction, even musk. Indeed, one of the great old medical-school clichés is that a practiced eye can identify which students will go into which fields on the first day of class. The Match, nearly four years later, just seals the deal.
So who's going to be setting your sprains, delivering your tykes or—God forbid—changing your catheter? Whoever they are, we just hope they'll take our insurance!
INTERNAL MEDICINE
Quote:
To hear many doctors describe it, there are two distinct breeds of modern-day physician: those who "do," which is to say, pin joints, slice open patients and zap people with radiation; and those who "think," which is to say, diagnose diseases, titrate medications and monitor symptoms.
The students who choose internal medicine—the largest residency in the Match—fall by and large into the latter category. Often hailed as the "intellectuals" of the med-student menagerie, they're the ones, according to Mount Sinai fourth-year student Bryan Mahoney, who "love thinking and thinking and thinking about diagnoses and treatment plans." They're the scrabble players and chess types, the crossword puzzlers and, in the case of oncologists, the baseball-card collectors. Why?
"Because oncologists [have to] know a lot of chemotherapy regimens in terms of scheduling, dosing, adjustments, all the minutiae," said Daniel Zandman, also from Mount Sinai, "they're masters of esoteric knowledge."
GENERAL SURGERY
Quote:
Some might call it indentured servitude: at least five years of hard, suturing labor in an environment of screaming supervisors, pressure-cooked peers and geysers of blood. But the students who choose general surgery can't seem to get enough of it. They're the kind of people who take pride at staying at the hospital far longer than they have to, who complain about the laws limiting residency hours, who elbow each other out of the way for the chance to scrub in on a 12-hour surgery. Think Tracy Flick with a scalpel.
Certainly prestige has something to do with it—surgery has long been regarded as the pinnacle of the profession—but it also goes deeper, subcutaneous.
"General surgery has people who really are passionate about doing it, because honestly, I look at them and think … 'Your lives are absolutely miserable,'" said Mr. Mahoney, who himself contemplated surgery before opting for anesthesiology. "But then I see 70-year-olds who still work 90 hours a week, and I have to admit they must sincerely love what they're doing—or hate their family. I can't tell which."
DERMATOLOGY
Quote:
Among the many accomplishments required of the would-be dermatologist are perfect skin (the pimply would never dare apply), a fine sense of fashion and a love of the well-shaped heel—high heel, that is.
"You can always spot the dermatologists among the medicine interns," said one lady student from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. "They're wearing sling-back heels with a white coat. They look like Clinique women."
"All you hear are their shoes clicking down the hallway," observed another Columbia student named Jon.
But don't be fooled by the clip-clopping of well-shod feet: The derm girls are no shuffle-lumps. Thanks to its good hours, high pay and cushy lifestyle—how many dermatological emergencies can you get a month?—dermatology has heel-clicked its way from being one of the easier fields in the medical kingdom to one of the most competitive. Said Dr. Suzanne Rose, associate dean for academic and student affairs at Mount Sinai: "You almost have to have a Ph.D." Or at least a good C.V.
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"Dermatology is for people who have the right résumé, but they're not the most intellectual," said one student. "It's the same kind of people who go into investment banking."
NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY
Quote:
For the overachievers of the overachieving set, the career of choice is, and perhaps only can be, neurosurgery.
Only a handful of students dare apply from each school, but, lucky them, should they match, their big reward is … work. At least six head-splitting, spine-slicing years of it while they scalpel their way through residency. And at the end of that, they are rewarded with yet more work—although this time, the grind is tempered by the sweet smell of fat checks, fast cars (which they park conspicuously outside the hospital) and their very own TV icon.
Still, ladies trawling the neuro-surge wards for their own Dr. McDreamies, beware! "You just can't be normal and work 100 hours a week for the rest of your life," said the Columbia lady student, adding that the neurosurgery residents' behavior was, at times, so "inappropriate" last year (think off-color jokes, for starters) that they were banned from doing rounds with med students.
Indeed, the on-call pager extension for Columbia's pediatric neuro-surge service is, reportedly, *-*-*-D-I-C-K.
ANESTHESIOLOGY
Quote:
Throughout the New York med-scape, this year's residents-to-be are lining up for a spot on the "other side" of the operating-room curtain. Once dismissed as a job for medicine's "techie" types, anesthesia has slowly been building its way up from a field that couldn't fill its slots (in 1996, Weill Cornell didn't place a single anesthesiology resident) to one of the trendy residencies-of-the-moment (in 2006, 10 Cornell students chose anesthesiology).
"Anesthesiology," said a Columbia student named Aaron, "is extremely popular this year."
The anesthesia lifestyle is certainly a big part of the appeal: You can work five days a week, rake in the ducats, and still have time to play catch with the kids. But for many people, the lure of anesthesia is also about the strange thrill of putting people under.
"The classic analogy is that it's like flying a plane," said Mr. Zandman. "There's takeoff and landing, which are really eventful, and then you sort of can put it on cruise control in the middle.
But," he added, "you have to love five minutes of fear."
FAMILY MEDICINE
Quote:
No matter how idealistic med students are when they crack the spines of their first-year anatomy books, after four years in New York's ambition mill—to say nothing of its debt-grinder—few retain enough of that early glow to go into family medicine. And if they do, it can mean only two things: They're Mother Teresa reincarnated—or they bombed their board exams.
The "poorhouse" wages are partly to blame. But the demise of the do-gooder family doc is also part of the larger trend away from the gritty grind of primary care toward the luxe appeal of the lifestyle specialties.
"People are discouraged from entering family medicine because it's just looked down upon," said the Columbia lady student.
A Mount Sinai student painted an even grimmer picture. "Even the students from Caribbean medical schools, which traditionally just take the leftovers in terms of residencies, even they don't want to go into family …. It's a suffering field."
ORTHOPEDICS
Quote:
Thirty or 40 years ago, when orthopedic surgeons were seen as the glorified carpenters of the medical trade, the word on the wards about students who opted for ortho was that they were "strong as an ox and half as smart."
These days, the "half as smart" no longer applies—students have to score top grades to get into this ultra-competitive residency—but the "strong as an ox" still resonates. Among the students who rush ortho, an impressive number are said to be "tawny and brawny," with 20-inch biceps, 18-inch necks and a mantel full of varsity trophies. One Mount Sinai senior said he was convinced one of his friends was trying to pack on 20 pounds of muscle to help guarantee an ortho placement.
Such a cult of beefiness hasn't always been friendly to lady applicants. "I think they guard their profession," said the Columbia student named Jon. But this has started to change in recent years, as a few fearless broads have begun breaking the bone-doctor barrier, determined to show they can retract with the big boys.
Still, there is room for progress. Said one woman who ultimately decided against orthopedics, "I realized I was trying to mentally prepare myself for being discriminated against."
PATHOLOGY
Quote:
In the bowels of every hospital, beneath shvitzing pipes and fluorescent lights, lurks a breed of doctor that thrills to the stench of formaldehyde and the chill of death, the company of a corpse over a live, kicking patient.
And in each med-school class, there are a handful of students—say one or two, maybe three—who can't wait to join them. These are the country's future pathologists, the quirky, mole-ish types with librarian hearts and Tim Burton minds. Some call them the mad scientists of the trade, others the "weirdos" who "like to be in the equivalent of broom closets cutting up people."
But like all true great oddballs, their day might be dawning.
"Everyone says pathology is the next derm," said Mr. Mahoney, "because the hours are great, the pay is wonderful, and right now it's not competitive …. People are starting to look at path."
EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Quote:
For the confident, the quick-thinking and the kids who grew up crushing on Dr. Doug (George Clooney) Ross, the emergency room is becoming an increasingly alluring place to hang their stethoscopes. A relatively new specialty, emergency medicine attracts the steely-nerved and intense, the students who don't shrivel up at the idea of making spot diagnoses—and then, say, jabbing a needle into a patient's chest to inflate their lungs.
"It's pretty dramatic," said Mr. Zandman.
Not everyone is so full of admiration, however. Because E.R. docs work "just" three 12-hour shifts a week, some deride it as shift-work, a flexible, well-paid way to be an M.D. But the emergency "shift workers" might have the last laugh.
"I think people would like more going into it, because there seems to be a shortage of emergency-room doctors," said Dr. Albert Kuperman, associate dean for educational affairs at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "All the big hospitals are enlarging their emergency-medicine departments."
OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
Quote:
Once the province of creepy, specula-wielding old guys, obstetrics and gynecology are all about estrogen these days—and, girl, can it be intense! Though it's not considered one of the "competitive" residencies, OB/GYN is nonetheless filled with hyper-competitive types—people who are determined to deliver babies, cure chlamydia and defend women's health, all while not sleeping, slaving for attendings, and facing a future of endless hours and skyrocketing insurance.
Needless to say, the effect can be traumatic.
"I definitely saw more residents cry during my OB/GYN rotation than I saw in the rest of medical school combined," said one Columbia student.
Indeed, Columbia's OB/GYN residency is somewhat notorious, at least among the med-student throng. While the reigning image of the young OB/GYN is of the feminist crusader, stridently devoted to helping her sex, the Columbia residentrix trends more towards sorority chick. Toward Mean Girls, in fact. Like Lindsay Lohan in scrubs.
"It really feels like an all-girls school, in bad ways," said the Columbia lady student, recalling the bleary mornings of her OB/GYN clerkship, when the residents would page her to do pre-rounds push-ups. "There is a lot of passive-aggressiveness."
PEDIATRICS
Quote:
Farewell, crusty old pediatricians with the icy stethoscopes, old-grandpa smell and bedside manner inspired by Dr. Spock. The lasses who want to become kiddie doctors today—and they are quite often lasses—are widely considered the "nicest" and "most compassionate" kids in the class, if not the most aggressive go-getters.
With its low pay and limited prestige value—these folks are "just" keeping our future generations healthy, after all—pediatrics tends to rank low on the competitive scale (the median pediatrician board score is the fifth lowest in the Match). But what the future peds might lack in cutthroat drive, they make up for in stubborn determination.
"Everyone understands that pediatricians go into pediatrics because they're passionate about taking care of children, and not because they want to make money," said pediatrician-to-be Celia Quinn. "So it's really hard to talk someone out of doing pediatrics."
PLASTIC SURGERY
Quote:
It's one of the strange laws of medicine that perhaps the most competitive field in the residency game is plastic surgery. And the students who set their sights on this prize—who go "straight to plastics," as they say—are of necessity among the most ambitious, driven and grindy students in the class. In 2005, they had the highest median board scores of all the students in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).
But don't worry, the leading lights of medicine aren't sinking their talents into tummy tucks and boob jobs—exclusively. As Jon, the Columbia student, explained, "To have done that well to match straight into plastics, you're going to have enough competitive spirit to want to be recognized as [a leader in your field]. So they're going to do a lot of reconstructive work, burn work, grafting."
At least at first. There is always time for face-lifts
PSYCHIATRY
Quote:
Funky glasses alert! More than 100 years after Freud unlocked the secrets of the unconscious, psychiatry remains the unquestioned realm of the bookish and bespectacled. Often mistaken for their neuro-peers, the psych folks are nonetheless their own individuated breed: a little dreamy, kinda cool, maybe with a background in the humanities or their own near-crazy experience. "They are people that are almost too empathic for medicine," said Ms. Quinn, "because they can't handle dealing with people's physical illness—or not being able to deal with [it]."
This hasn't always won them plaudits in the macho world of medicine, where doctors like to fancy themselves stiff-lipped doers rather than sensitive dreamers. "They're not real doctors," some physicians sneer—a fact that may explain psychiatry's relative unpopularity in large parts of the country. In 2005, according to data from the NRMP, psychiatry filled less than 64 percent of its slots with U.S. students and attracted applicants with the second-lowest median board scores.
But fear not, New Yorkers: Your addled nerves will still be well taken care of. Here, in Therapyville, psychiatry is a pretty good draw, thanks in part to several top psychiatric programs. "At Columbia," said the student named Jon, "it's really popular."
High Body Mass Index Increases Risk of Developing Cancer
An increasing body mass index (BMI) is associated with a significant increase in the risk for certain types of cancer, report researchers conducting the Million Women Study, a cohort study of women in the United Kingdom. Among postmenopausal women residing in the United Kingdom, 5% of all cancers are associated with excess body weight, according to a study published in the November 7 Online First issue of the BMJ. This is particularly true for endometrial cancer and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, as approximately half of all cases within this population are attributed to being overweight or obese.
In an accompanying editorial, Eugenia E. Calle, PhD, from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia, notes that there is already substantial observational evidence suggesting that increasing adiposity, both overall and central, is associated with an increasing risk for a number of cancers.
"The strongest empirical support for mechanisms to link obesity and cancer risk involves the metabolic and endocrine effects of obesity, and the alterations they induce in the production of peptide and steroid hormones," Dr. Calle writes. "The worldwide obesity epidemic shows no signs of abating, so insight into the mechanisms by which obesity contributes to the formation and progression of tumours is urgently needed, as are new approaches to intervene in this process."
Gillian Reeves, PhD, a statistical epidemiologist at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues, evaluated the relationship between BMI and cancer in 1.2 million British women between the ages of 50 and 64 years, who participated in the Million Women Study. The researchers note that according to national statistics, currently 23% of all women in the United Kingdom are obese and 34% are overweight.
For their study, Dr. Reeves and her team assessed the relative risks (RRs) for incidence and mortality for all cancers, and for 17 specific types of cancer, according to BMI. The data were then adjusted for numerous confounders including age, geographic region, socioeconomic status, age at first birth, parity, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, years since menopause, and use of hormone replacement therapy.
The follow-up period for cancer incidence averaged 5.4 years, during which time 45,037 incident cancers occurred. Average follow-up time for cancer-related mortality was 7.0 years, and 17,203 cancer-related deaths occurred during this time.
The researchers observed that women with a higher BMI tended to come from a lower socioeconomic class; had more children vs those with a lower BMI; and were also less likely to smoke, drink, and use hormone replacement therapy. But after adjusting the data for confounders, they found that increasing BMI was associated with an increased incidence of endometrial cancer, adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, kidney cancer, leukemia, multiple myeloma, pancreatic cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer in postmenopausal women and colorectal cancer in premenopausal women.
They note that there were also substantial differences in cancer risk based on menopausal status. For endometrial cancer, both premenopausal and postmenopausal women had a significantly increased risk with increasing BMI, but the risk was far greater for the latter. Positive trends in risk with BMI were seen in premenopausal women for colorectal cancer and malignant melanoma, and although an increased BMI was associated with a lower risk for breast cancer in premenopausal women, it raised the risk in postmenopausal women.
The results of their analysis also showed a significant inverse association between BMI and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and lung cancer. In general, the relationship between BMI and cancer-related mortality was similar to that for incidence.
"Overall, these findings imply that 6000 new cancers annually in postmenopausal women in the UK are due to being overweight or obese, of which 4800 are due to obesity," the study authors conclude.
The Million Women Study is supported by Cancer Research United Kingdom, the UK Medical Research Council, and the UK National Health Service Breast Screening Programme. The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Clinical Context
Obesity is known to be an important cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. In addition, the adverse metabolic effects of excess body fat accelerate the development of atheroma and increase the risk for coronary heart disease, stroke, and early death. Currently, there is substantial evidence that supports the link between increasing adiposity and a higher risk for many cancers. These cancers include adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, and postmenopausal breast cancer.
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between BMI and cancer incidence and mortality.
Study Highlights
* In this prospective cohort study, 1.2 million women aged 50 to 64 years from the United Kingdom were recruited into the Million Women Study between 1996 and 2001.
* On average, they were followed up for 5.4 years for cancer incidence and 7.0 years for cancer mortality.
* Women with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2 were defined as overweight, and women with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more were obese, in accordance with the World Health Organization.
* The main outcome measures included RRs for incidence and mortality for all cancers and for 17 specific types of cancer according to BMI.
* Data were adjusted for several confounders including age, geographic region, socioeconomic status, age at first birth, parity, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, years since menopause, and use of hormone replacement therapy.
* Results revealed that 45,037 incident cancers and 17,203 deaths from cancer occurred in the follow-up period.
* Increasing BMI was associated with an increased incidence of endometrial cancer (trend in RR per 10 units, 2.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.62 - 3.18), adenocarcinoma of the esophagus (RR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.59 - 3.56), kidney cancer (RR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.27 - 1.84), leukemia (RR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.23 - 1.83), multiple myeloma (RR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.04 - 1.65), pancreatic cancer (RR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.03 - 1.48), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.03 - 1.34), ovarian cancer (RR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.03 - 1.27), all cancers combined (RR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.09 - 1.14), breast cancer in postmenopausal women (RR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.31 - 1.49), and colorectal cancer in premenopausal women (RR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.05 - 2.48).
* In general, the relationship between BMI and mortality was similar to that for incidence.
* For colorectal cancer, malignant melanoma, and breast and endometrial cancers, the effect of BMI on risk differed significantly according to menopausal status.
* The estimated proportion of all cancers attributable to being overweight or obese among postmenopausal women was 5%.
* For endometrial cancer and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, approximately half of cases (51% and 48%, respectively) were attributable to being overweight or obese.
Pearls for Practice
* There is evidence to support that obesity is linked to adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, and postmenopausal breast cancer.
* Among postmenopausal women in this study, 5% of all cancers are attributable to women being overweight or obese. Increasing BMI is associated with a significant increase in the risk for cancer for 10 of 17 specific types examined.
In an accompanying editorial, Eugenia E. Calle, PhD, from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia, notes that there is already substantial observational evidence suggesting that increasing adiposity, both overall and central, is associated with an increasing risk for a number of cancers.
"The strongest empirical support for mechanisms to link obesity and cancer risk involves the metabolic and endocrine effects of obesity, and the alterations they induce in the production of peptide and steroid hormones," Dr. Calle writes. "The worldwide obesity epidemic shows no signs of abating, so insight into the mechanisms by which obesity contributes to the formation and progression of tumours is urgently needed, as are new approaches to intervene in this process."
Gillian Reeves, PhD, a statistical epidemiologist at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues, evaluated the relationship between BMI and cancer in 1.2 million British women between the ages of 50 and 64 years, who participated in the Million Women Study. The researchers note that according to national statistics, currently 23% of all women in the United Kingdom are obese and 34% are overweight.
For their study, Dr. Reeves and her team assessed the relative risks (RRs) for incidence and mortality for all cancers, and for 17 specific types of cancer, according to BMI. The data were then adjusted for numerous confounders including age, geographic region, socioeconomic status, age at first birth, parity, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, years since menopause, and use of hormone replacement therapy.
The follow-up period for cancer incidence averaged 5.4 years, during which time 45,037 incident cancers occurred. Average follow-up time for cancer-related mortality was 7.0 years, and 17,203 cancer-related deaths occurred during this time.
The researchers observed that women with a higher BMI tended to come from a lower socioeconomic class; had more children vs those with a lower BMI; and were also less likely to smoke, drink, and use hormone replacement therapy. But after adjusting the data for confounders, they found that increasing BMI was associated with an increased incidence of endometrial cancer, adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, kidney cancer, leukemia, multiple myeloma, pancreatic cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer in postmenopausal women and colorectal cancer in premenopausal women.
They note that there were also substantial differences in cancer risk based on menopausal status. For endometrial cancer, both premenopausal and postmenopausal women had a significantly increased risk with increasing BMI, but the risk was far greater for the latter. Positive trends in risk with BMI were seen in premenopausal women for colorectal cancer and malignant melanoma, and although an increased BMI was associated with a lower risk for breast cancer in premenopausal women, it raised the risk in postmenopausal women.
The results of their analysis also showed a significant inverse association between BMI and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and lung cancer. In general, the relationship between BMI and cancer-related mortality was similar to that for incidence.
"Overall, these findings imply that 6000 new cancers annually in postmenopausal women in the UK are due to being overweight or obese, of which 4800 are due to obesity," the study authors conclude.
The Million Women Study is supported by Cancer Research United Kingdom, the UK Medical Research Council, and the UK National Health Service Breast Screening Programme. The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Clinical Context
Obesity is known to be an important cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. In addition, the adverse metabolic effects of excess body fat accelerate the development of atheroma and increase the risk for coronary heart disease, stroke, and early death. Currently, there is substantial evidence that supports the link between increasing adiposity and a higher risk for many cancers. These cancers include adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, and postmenopausal breast cancer.
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between BMI and cancer incidence and mortality.
Study Highlights
* In this prospective cohort study, 1.2 million women aged 50 to 64 years from the United Kingdom were recruited into the Million Women Study between 1996 and 2001.
* On average, they were followed up for 5.4 years for cancer incidence and 7.0 years for cancer mortality.
* Women with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2 were defined as overweight, and women with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more were obese, in accordance with the World Health Organization.
* The main outcome measures included RRs for incidence and mortality for all cancers and for 17 specific types of cancer according to BMI.
* Data were adjusted for several confounders including age, geographic region, socioeconomic status, age at first birth, parity, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, years since menopause, and use of hormone replacement therapy.
* Results revealed that 45,037 incident cancers and 17,203 deaths from cancer occurred in the follow-up period.
* Increasing BMI was associated with an increased incidence of endometrial cancer (trend in RR per 10 units, 2.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.62 - 3.18), adenocarcinoma of the esophagus (RR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.59 - 3.56), kidney cancer (RR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.27 - 1.84), leukemia (RR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.23 - 1.83), multiple myeloma (RR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.04 - 1.65), pancreatic cancer (RR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.03 - 1.48), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.03 - 1.34), ovarian cancer (RR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.03 - 1.27), all cancers combined (RR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.09 - 1.14), breast cancer in postmenopausal women (RR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.31 - 1.49), and colorectal cancer in premenopausal women (RR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.05 - 2.48).
* In general, the relationship between BMI and mortality was similar to that for incidence.
* For colorectal cancer, malignant melanoma, and breast and endometrial cancers, the effect of BMI on risk differed significantly according to menopausal status.
* The estimated proportion of all cancers attributable to being overweight or obese among postmenopausal women was 5%.
* For endometrial cancer and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, approximately half of cases (51% and 48%, respectively) were attributable to being overweight or obese.
Pearls for Practice
* There is evidence to support that obesity is linked to adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, and postmenopausal breast cancer.
* Among postmenopausal women in this study, 5% of all cancers are attributable to women being overweight or obese. Increasing BMI is associated with a significant increase in the risk for cancer for 10 of 17 specific types examined.
STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Steps
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the party. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some ?don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke... totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE .
T *Ask the person to TALK , to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently: It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
{NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue... if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke} If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency services immediately and describe the symptoms.
This is URGENT A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the party. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some ?don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke... totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE .
T *Ask the person to TALK , to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently: It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
{NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue... if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke} If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency services immediately and describe the symptoms.
This is URGENT A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
Believe it or not
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt ..
Monday, November 26, 2007
What’s happiness?
It is not easy to define happiness. Individual preferences overtake each other’s description of the same.
People often ask: “where do we find happiness?” money,richness, beauty, coloures, scents, nature etc. all give us immense pleasure. God has created this beautiful world only to enchant the occupants. There is some pleasure, which we can drive without directing our efforts towards it.
The case of nature is the best example. The only thing we need is the inclination.
Like the ways to God, the roads to happiness are also many. To derive pleasure out of one’s life is not something that comes directly from god. It lies within us. What we need to rekindle this state of mind is willingness to think wisely and positively.
The mind is a hotbed of emotions. To have the right mix of emotions, we need a better actor in us. How to emote to get the right mix of the mindset is what
matters. Simple things can add colour to our disenchanted life if we have the time to pause and think.
Plenty of anything cannot make one happy. But having this plenty disbursed to the have-nots make us feel the joy of others.
There were two neighbours. One was rich and the other the poor. Both were preparing for Diwali. The rich man decorated his house elaborately and illuminated it with lights. The poor man only lit a diya at the entrance of his house.
They were both intimated by god that he would visit them on New year. The rich man was happy that he had outdone his neighbour. The poor man was happy that his diya was glowing in the darkness and that its light had a divine touch.
Finally, God came to settle their claims. His attention was first drawn to the single
diya that had lit up an entire dark patch. God was attracted to this and did not even look at the brightly-lit house on the other side.
The verdict was clear. We all yearn for happiness. Having plenty does not mecessarily guarantee happiness. So don’t wait for heaven to come to you. Make efforts to steer your mind to a state of happiness by sharing the little you
have. Even a single lamp can cheer up a completely dark area. Light it and you will find happiness shining there in your inner self.
People often ask: “where do we find happiness?” money,richness, beauty, coloures, scents, nature etc. all give us immense pleasure. God has created this beautiful world only to enchant the occupants. There is some pleasure, which we can drive without directing our efforts towards it.
The case of nature is the best example. The only thing we need is the inclination.
Like the ways to God, the roads to happiness are also many. To derive pleasure out of one’s life is not something that comes directly from god. It lies within us. What we need to rekindle this state of mind is willingness to think wisely and positively.
The mind is a hotbed of emotions. To have the right mix of emotions, we need a better actor in us. How to emote to get the right mix of the mindset is what
matters. Simple things can add colour to our disenchanted life if we have the time to pause and think.
Plenty of anything cannot make one happy. But having this plenty disbursed to the have-nots make us feel the joy of others.
There were two neighbours. One was rich and the other the poor. Both were preparing for Diwali. The rich man decorated his house elaborately and illuminated it with lights. The poor man only lit a diya at the entrance of his house.
They were both intimated by god that he would visit them on New year. The rich man was happy that he had outdone his neighbour. The poor man was happy that his diya was glowing in the darkness and that its light had a divine touch.
Finally, God came to settle their claims. His attention was first drawn to the single
diya that had lit up an entire dark patch. God was attracted to this and did not even look at the brightly-lit house on the other side.
The verdict was clear. We all yearn for happiness. Having plenty does not mecessarily guarantee happiness. So don’t wait for heaven to come to you. Make efforts to steer your mind to a state of happiness by sharing the little you
have. Even a single lamp can cheer up a completely dark area. Light it and you will find happiness shining there in your inner self.
iPods Could Kill: Study
If the world wasn’t already worried enough about electromagnetic radiation from cell phones, Apple now provides us with another source from which to fuel our anxieties, particularly if we’re old.
According to a study presented by a 17-year-old high school student to a meeting of heart specialists on Thursday, iPods can cause pacemakers to malfunction and even fail by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart.
If you believe that animal testing is cruel, try waving iPods in front of 100 old folk with a mean age of 77, all fitted with Pacemakers.
The study tested the effect of the iPod on each pacemaker patient. Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient’s chest for 5 to 10 seconds. In some cases, the iPods caused interference when held 18 inches from the chest.
Interfering with the telemetry equipment caused the pacemakers to misread the heart’s pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.
The study was held at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute at Michigan State University. The results were presented at the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Denver.
Fake Steve Jobs, always quick to put the flame out on any negative press for Apple, writes that Apple has known about the issue for quite some time. “And we’re happy about it. We even cranked up the voltage on our new models. Thing is, we really don’t want old people using iPods”. Given this study it’s probably wise that they didn’t.
According to a study presented by a 17-year-old high school student to a meeting of heart specialists on Thursday, iPods can cause pacemakers to malfunction and even fail by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart.
If you believe that animal testing is cruel, try waving iPods in front of 100 old folk with a mean age of 77, all fitted with Pacemakers.
The study tested the effect of the iPod on each pacemaker patient. Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient’s chest for 5 to 10 seconds. In some cases, the iPods caused interference when held 18 inches from the chest.
Interfering with the telemetry equipment caused the pacemakers to misread the heart’s pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.
The study was held at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute at Michigan State University. The results were presented at the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Denver.
Fake Steve Jobs, always quick to put the flame out on any negative press for Apple, writes that Apple has known about the issue for quite some time. “And we’re happy about it. We even cranked up the voltage on our new models. Thing is, we really don’t want old people using iPods”. Given this study it’s probably wise that they didn’t.
Good Night's Sleep Key to Strong Memories
Scientists are finding new evidence that a good night's rest plays a crucial role in cementing memories formed during the day.
One new study has identified a brain region involved, along with the hippocampus, in creating memories of the day's activities during sleep. Another study suggests melatonin, a hormone involved in regulating our day-night cycle, or "circadian rhythm," acts to suppress the formation of new memories as bedtime nears, perhaps in an effort to give memories made earlier in the day a chance to be prepared for long-term storage.
Both studies are detailed in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Science.
Prepping for storage
In 1993, scientists learned that the hippocampus "replays" the day's events during sleep. The process appears to be important for consolidating new memories and preparing them for long-term storage in other brain areas.
In one of the two latest studies, David Euston of the University of Arizona and his colleagues found that the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain region implicated in the retrieval of memories from the distant past, was also active during learning and replayed the day's events during sleep. And similar to memory replay in the hippocampus, events were speeded up when reviewed.
Euston's team recorded activity in the medial prefrontal cortices of rats as they ran on a track and afterward while they slept. When the rats were running, brain cells in the medial prefrontal cortex fired off electrical signals in specific patterns over time. The patterns of electrical firing corresponded to memories.
"You see a series of these patterns," Euston said. "You can imagine at point A there'd be one pattern of cells firing, and at point B there's another pattern."
The rats' brains were scanned again as they rested after performing the task. "When the rats go to sleep, we can continue to monitor the activity of the cells, and we look for a re-expression of those same activity patterns," Euston told LiveScience.
Memory fast forward
The researchers found the patterns, but discovered they were being replayed about seven times faster than when the rats were actually performing their tasks.
"In the maze, the rat might take 1.5 seconds to get from point A to point B," Euston said. "When the rat goes to sleep, you see those patterns replaying, and the entire thing takes only 200 milliseconds."
The researchers say the medial prefrontal cortex's fast-forward replay of the day's events could be evidence that our brains can process information much faster when not busy with real-world tasks.
"When you're awake and performing things, the brain has to go at the pace at which your behavior is unfolding," Euston said. "If you're reaching for a cup, the cells in your motor cortex have to be expressing the patterns of activity that will guide your hand to the cup. When you go to sleep you don't have that constraint anymore."
Brain-imaging studies involving people have also shown the medial prefrontal cortex to be active during learning, so the same processes could apply to humans as well, Euston said.
Melatonin memories
In order to ensure that memory consolidation proceeds smoothly, our brains might have a built-in mechanism that inhibits the formation of new memories as we get closer to bedtime, the second new study finds.
Gregg Roman at the University of Houston in Texas and his colleagues linked the hormone melatonin to the quality of memories formed in zebrafish . They showed that zebrafish trained to perform a task during the day, when melatonin levels are typically low, remembered what they were supposed to do better than if they were trained at night, when levels of the hormone peak.
As further support for melatonin's role in memory, the team found that fish administered with melatonin during the day had trouble forming new memories, and that night training which occurred in the presence of constant lights (which inhibits melatonin secretion) yielded strong memories.
Roman speculates melatonin blocks new memory formation so that older experiences accumulated during the day have a chance to solidify.
Melatonin is an important hormone in every creature from cockroaches to humans, so it's likely the zebrafish findings also apply to humans, Roman said.
So does that mean learning is best done during the day and not at night?
Maybe, Roman said, but he points out that the human memory system is much more complex than that of the zebrafish, and while melatonin should inhibit memory formation at night in us, its effects will be buffered by other hormones and other brain components.
"I would presuppose that learning could occur at night in humans," Roman said. "We have a much higher capacity for learning than zebrafish."
One new study has identified a brain region involved, along with the hippocampus, in creating memories of the day's activities during sleep. Another study suggests melatonin, a hormone involved in regulating our day-night cycle, or "circadian rhythm," acts to suppress the formation of new memories as bedtime nears, perhaps in an effort to give memories made earlier in the day a chance to be prepared for long-term storage.
Both studies are detailed in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Science.
Prepping for storage
In 1993, scientists learned that the hippocampus "replays" the day's events during sleep. The process appears to be important for consolidating new memories and preparing them for long-term storage in other brain areas.
In one of the two latest studies, David Euston of the University of Arizona and his colleagues found that the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain region implicated in the retrieval of memories from the distant past, was also active during learning and replayed the day's events during sleep. And similar to memory replay in the hippocampus, events were speeded up when reviewed.
Euston's team recorded activity in the medial prefrontal cortices of rats as they ran on a track and afterward while they slept. When the rats were running, brain cells in the medial prefrontal cortex fired off electrical signals in specific patterns over time. The patterns of electrical firing corresponded to memories.
"You see a series of these patterns," Euston said. "You can imagine at point A there'd be one pattern of cells firing, and at point B there's another pattern."
The rats' brains were scanned again as they rested after performing the task. "When the rats go to sleep, we can continue to monitor the activity of the cells, and we look for a re-expression of those same activity patterns," Euston told LiveScience.
Memory fast forward
The researchers found the patterns, but discovered they were being replayed about seven times faster than when the rats were actually performing their tasks.
"In the maze, the rat might take 1.5 seconds to get from point A to point B," Euston said. "When the rat goes to sleep, you see those patterns replaying, and the entire thing takes only 200 milliseconds."
The researchers say the medial prefrontal cortex's fast-forward replay of the day's events could be evidence that our brains can process information much faster when not busy with real-world tasks.
"When you're awake and performing things, the brain has to go at the pace at which your behavior is unfolding," Euston said. "If you're reaching for a cup, the cells in your motor cortex have to be expressing the patterns of activity that will guide your hand to the cup. When you go to sleep you don't have that constraint anymore."
Brain-imaging studies involving people have also shown the medial prefrontal cortex to be active during learning, so the same processes could apply to humans as well, Euston said.
Melatonin memories
In order to ensure that memory consolidation proceeds smoothly, our brains might have a built-in mechanism that inhibits the formation of new memories as we get closer to bedtime, the second new study finds.
Gregg Roman at the University of Houston in Texas and his colleagues linked the hormone melatonin to the quality of memories formed in zebrafish . They showed that zebrafish trained to perform a task during the day, when melatonin levels are typically low, remembered what they were supposed to do better than if they were trained at night, when levels of the hormone peak.
As further support for melatonin's role in memory, the team found that fish administered with melatonin during the day had trouble forming new memories, and that night training which occurred in the presence of constant lights (which inhibits melatonin secretion) yielded strong memories.
Roman speculates melatonin blocks new memory formation so that older experiences accumulated during the day have a chance to solidify.
Melatonin is an important hormone in every creature from cockroaches to humans, so it's likely the zebrafish findings also apply to humans, Roman said.
So does that mean learning is best done during the day and not at night?
Maybe, Roman said, but he points out that the human memory system is much more complex than that of the zebrafish, and while melatonin should inhibit memory formation at night in us, its effects will be buffered by other hormones and other brain components.
"I would presuppose that learning could occur at night in humans," Roman said. "We have a much higher capacity for learning than zebrafish."
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