Deathstalker Scorpion Venom

Could Improve Gene Therapy

for Brain Cancer

Science (Aug. 11, 2010) — An ingredient in the venom of the “deathstalker” scorpion could help gene therapy become an effective treatment for brain cancer, scientists are reporting. The substance allows therapeutic genes — genes that treat disease — to reach more brain cancer cells than current approaches, according to the study in ACS Nano.

Miqin Zhang and colleagues note that gene therapy — the delivery of therapeutic genes into diseased cells — shows promise for fighting glioma, the most common and most serious form of brain cancer. But difficulties in getting genes to enter cancer cells and concerns over the safety and potential side effects of substances used to transport these genes have kept the approach from helping patients.

The scientists describe a new approach that could solve these problems. Key ingredients of their gene-delivery system are chlorotoxin, the substance in deathstalker scorpion venom that can slow the spread of brain cancer, and nanoparticles of iron oxide. Each nanoparticle is about 1/50,000th the width of a human hair. In tests on lab mice, the scientists demonstrated that their venom-based nanoparticles can induce nearly twice the amount of gene expression in brain cancer cells as nanoparticles that do not contain the venom ingredient. “These results indicate that this targeted gene delivery system may potentially improve treatment outcome of gene therapy for glioma and other deadly cancers,” the article notes.

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New ‘hand’ may alleviate phantom pain

JENA, Germany (UPI) — Amputees suffering from “phantom pain” may get relief from a modified prosthetic that can convince the brain the body part still exists, researchers say.

Scientists at the University of Jena in Germany say phantom pain often lasts for years, and sometimes for a lifetime, often putting amputees at risk of mediation addiction from high dosages of painkillers, a university release said Friday.

Researchers say they’ve produced a modified prosthetic hand than can reduce phantom pain following amputation by using a stimulation unit in the hand’s cuff connected to the remaining part of the upper arm.

Modern prosthetic hands have pressure sensors meant to regulate the strength of grip of the artificial hand depending on what the wearer is trying to pick up, such as a raw egg or a hammer.

The stimulation unit in the modified hand takes feedback from the sensors and “talks” to the wearer’s brain, Dr. Gunther Hofmann of the Jena Department for Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery says.

“Our system is now able to transmit this sensory information from the hand to the upper arm,” Hofmann says.

Brain structures responsible for processing sensory information coming from the lost body part are “out of work” following an amputation and try to reorganize themselves, often leading to sensations of pain in a “phantom” hand, the Jena researchers say. By giving the appropriate brain structure sensory input from the “hand” it is meant to control, the reorganization can be prevented or reversed, thus eliminated phantom pain, they say.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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Link Between Migraines And Stroke Confirmed

Migraine headaches may do much more damage than cause a throbbing pain. A new study confirms that individuals who suffer from migraines are about twice as likely to have a stroke caused by a blood clot, compared to those who don’t get the painful headaches. According to Reuters, researchers analyzed the results of 21 previous studies conducted between 1975 and 2007, and involving more than 622,000 adults with and without migraines. More »

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Study: Music training ‘primes’ the brain

EVANSTON, Ill. (UPI) — Musical instruction can “prime” the brain to improve human skills in language, speech, memory and attention, U.S. researchers say.

A study at Northwestern University found the effects of musical training on the nervous system can build meaningful patterns important to all types of learning, ScienceDaily.com reported Tuesday.

Researchers studied music training’s effect on neuroplasticity, defined as the brain’s ability to adapt and change as a result of training and experience over the course of a person’s life.

An active engagement with musical sounds not only enhances neuroplasticity, Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, said, but also creates permanent patterns important to all learning.

“The brain is unable to process all of the available sensory information from second to second, and thus must selectively enhance what is relevant,” Kraus said.

“A musician’s brain selectively enhances information-bearing elements in sound,” Kraus said, and “the nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what they mean.”

These efficient sound-to-meaning connections are important not only for music but for other aspects of communication, she said.

“The effect of music training suggests that, akin to physical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness,” the study said.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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Protein could battle Alzheimer’s disease

NEW YORK (UPI) — U.S. researchers say they are looking at a new approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease with a protein thought to extend lifespan in laboratory animals.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that in mice prone to developing Alzheimer’s, activating a protein called sirtuin suppressed the disease and destroying the protein made the disease much worse, The New York Times reported.

The finding raises the hope that Alzheimer’s, and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s, could be treated with drugs that activate sirtuin, researchers say.

“We think it is a scientifically compelling story that ties the sirtuins to the biology of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Dennis J. Selkoe, an Alzheimer’s expert at Harvard Medical School who was not a part of the study.

Drugs that activate sirtuin already exist, including resveratrol, a minor ingredient of red wine and other foods.

One drug company, Sirtris, is in preclinical trials with sirtuin-activating drugs.

“We think it has very significant potential in neurodegenerative diseases,” Sirtris Chief Executive Officer George P. Vlasuk said.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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Study: Children of lesbians may do better

SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) — Children of lesbian-mother families demonstrate healthy psychological adjustment; in fact, they score higher than their peers, U.S. researchers say.

Study leader Dr. Nanette Gartrell of the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues say from 1986 to 1992, 154 prospective lesbian mothers volunteered for the study designed to follow planned lesbian families from the child’s conception until they were adults.

Information was obtained via interviews and questionnaires by 78 children when they were age 10 and 17 as well as Child Behavior Checklists that were completed by their mothers.

The study, published online ahead of print in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics, found the 17-year-olds were rated significantly higher in social, academic and total competence compared with their counterparts raised by heterosexual parents.

In addition, the study found the sons and daughters of lesbian mothers scored significantly lower in social problems, rule-breaking, and aggressive and externalizing problem behavior compared with children of traditional families using Achenbach’s normative sample of American youth.

Within the study sample, no differences were found among the teens whose mothers were still together and those whose mothers had separated, the study says.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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Unraveling Brain Tumors

Molecular Biologists Devise Strategy

To Starve Brain Tumors

September 1, 2007 — Brain tumor researchers have found that brain tumors arise from cancer stem cells living within tiny protective areas formed by blood vessels in the brain. Killing those cells is a promising strategy to eliminate tumors and prevents them from re-growing. The researchers have found that drugs that block new blood vessel formation can destroy the protected areas and stop cancer from developing.

Brain tumors are often deadly. Figuring out a way to wipe them out has been a mystery for scientists. But now, a new discovery may offer clues and hope for those with even the most hard-to-treat tumors.

In the last two months, Will Pappas has had three surgeries, chemo and radiation.

“You hold out hope that well, it’s just something little, and they can get it all. And then it wasn’t. Then you think, well, at least it’s not cancerous, and then it is,” Cayce Pappas, Will’s mom, says.

“It” is a brain tumor — the stubborn kind that’s hard to treat. In fact, doctors gave this seven-year-old only a 20 percent chance of surviving. Stories like Will’s have molecular biologists determined to find a way to destroy brain tumors.

“It’s what makes us all come to work in the morning,” Richard Gilbertson, a molecular biologist from St. Jude Children’s Hospital, says.

For years, researchers thought all cells inside a tumor were the same. But recently, they’ve discovered something different — a small group of cancer stem cells.

“They give rise to all the cells that make up the cancer,” Dr. Gilbertson explains.

Dr. Gilbertson’s research shows those cancer stem cells live close to blood vessels, which fuel them. In lab experiments, he’s proven drugs that target the blood vessels also destroy the cancer stem cells and can ultimately wipe out the tumor.

“So, if you can target those cells, you can have a devastating effect on the disease,” Dr. Gilbertson says. Drugs like Avastin and Tarceva are now being tested in humans to see if they can target the cancer stem cells. “It’s this tangible way of actually getting at the heart of the disease,” Dr. Gilbertson says.

Will is taking the drug Tarceva. His mom is hoping it will work a miracle.

“That would be amazing. We would jump at the opportunity to increase our odds. He’s still got a lot left to do,” Cayce says.

Dr. Gilbertson says other cancers, like those of the blood, breast and colon, also contain cancer stem cells and may be treated in a similar way in the future.

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Brain Cancer Linked to Nerve Agent in Gulf War Vets
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY

For the first time, a study has found an increase in brain cancer deaths among Gulf War veterans who might have been exposed to the nerve agent sarin by the destruction of Iraqi weapons in 1991.
About 100,000 of the 350,000 Army soldiers in the Persian Gulf could have been exposed to sarin after soldiers blew up two large ammunition caches in Khamisiyah, Iraq, in March 1991, according to a study commissioned by the military and performed by the Institute of Medicine. The institute advises the government on health policy.
At the time, the military didn’t know that the destroyed Iraqi rockets contained sarin, says Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director for the Deployment Health Support Directorate in the Department of Defense. Soldiers showed no signs of exposure to chemical warfare.
Later, however, United Nations inspectors found that some of the weapons contained sarin, which can cause convulsions and death. The military has since contacted about 300,000 veterans who were in or near areas that might have been affected. The potential “hazard area,” where shifting winds could have carried traces of chemicals, extended at times as far as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
According to the study, soldiers inside the “hazard area” were about twice as likely as those outside it to die from brain cancer. Because the actual number of brain cancer cases was small, the overall mortality rate was the same for veterans in the hazard area and outside the area, according to the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Among unexposed soldiers, researchers found a brain cancer death rate of 12 per 100,000 from 1991 to 2000, says William Page, director of the study. Over the same period, researchers found 25 brain cancer deaths per 100,000 veterans who were exposed.
“It’s a doubling of risk, but it’s still a pretty small risk,” says Page, a senior program officer at the Institute of Medicine.
The study did not address “Gulf War syndrome,” as some have called the collection of ailments experienced by returning veterans. It examined whether soldiers possibly exposed to the destruction of Iraqi weapons were more likely to die for any reason. They also singled out specific diseases: breathing problems, infections, circulatory problems, digestive ailments, accidents and suicides, as well as four types of cancer.
The study’s authors note that sarin has never been shown to cause cancer. Page suggests that researchers follow veterans to see whether the risk of brain cancer, which is believed to develop over 10 to 20 years, changes over time. Page also notes that the study doesn’t prove that being in the hazard area caused brain cancer.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 27th APRIL 2010

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The Ultimate Pac Man
for your arteries!

Remember how Pac Man could gobble up and destroy the enemy?

Well, EDTA chelation works the same way! EDTA molecules eat away at rogue calcium deposits. This causes plaque to soften so that it safely and easily flushes out of your body.

Plus, EDTA removes heavy metals, toxins and gunk from all 75,000 miles of your arteries, veins, and capillaries.

The result? Squeaky clean arteries for optimum blood flow throughout your entire body!

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Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 25th June 2009

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New Research Uncovers Amazing Brain Saver!

Clogged arteries prevent blood supply to the brain. Oxygen-deprived brain cells become damaged or even die.

But when scientists induced strokes in laboratory rats and treated them with an amazingly simple nutrient—a remarkable discovery was made. Here’s what happened…

In one experiment, strokes were induced in laboratory rats by blocking the carotid artery for 30 minutes. Once blood flow and oxygen were restored, there was a burst in the production of free radicals. This overwhelmed the brain’s antioxidant defenses and killed 80% of the rats within 24 hours.

In a follow-up experiment, everything was the same, except this time, researchers injected a powerful antioxidant into the rats before blood and oxygen was restored. After a 24 hour period—only 25% of the rats died. The remaining 75% made a full recovery. Further study concluded the brain of the antioxidant-treated rats showed no signs of a stroke at all!

The name of this stellar brain saver?
It’s alpha lipoic acid!

This research and many more demonstrate alpha lipoic acid can deliver remarkable protection to your brain to help prevent damage—and even help restore healthy brain function in the event of a blockage of blood flow to the brain.

That’s why you get the optimum dosage of alpha lipoic acid in every serving of Advanced Artery Solution™. It’s the ultimate insurance for brain health!

Try Advanced Artery Solution™ Risk-Free Today…
It’s Guaranteed to Work
or it’s FREE!

Plus Claim up to $502.65 in
Savings and Free Gifts Now

Can’t order online?

Call toll-free
1-800-746-4513

To receive this special web only offer, please reference savings code: TEC1434

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 25th June 2009

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