![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
(Ivanhoe Newswire) - Private companies that offer online genetic testing are proliferating as scientists continue to decode the human genome.
Up until now we have had a clear model for genetic testing. You see a professional genetics counselor, undergo a battery of tests and that professional helps you interpret your results, Saskia Sanderson, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who completed the study while working at the Social and Behavioral Research Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute of the NIH was quoted as saying.
Similar posts: brain health
Up until now we have had a clear model for genetic testing. You see a professional genetics counselor, undergo a battery of tests and that professional helps you interpret your results, Saskia Sanderson, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who completed the study while working at the Social and Behavioral Research Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute of the NIH was quoted as saying.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:cry
- Music:50 Cent
I am an Aspie, thats a nickname for someone who has been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. It means I am on the autistic spectrum. I also have Major Depression, Anxiety, and ADD. I want to bring the following incident to your attention.
I am taking a film class at DeAnza College in Cupertino, CA. The DeAnza Academy of Independent Filmmakers club on campus held an event recently which I attended. Marc Buckland was the featured speaker. He gave a great presentation with insights on directing and producing for TV. Following his presentation, the owner of a new local shop called Psycho Donuts took the stage. Apparently the club invited him.
This man and his donut shop have stirred up huge controversy in Santa Clara County. This owner decided he wanted to make a fun, themed restaurant where parents can take their children and not pay a lot.
The theme is a mental institution. You can eat your donuts in the Group Therapy Room and have your children photographed in a real straightjacket in the shops padded cell. The donuts have strange toppings, such as cereal and candy. Order your favorite Bi-Polar, Massive Head Trauma, or any of the DSM IV psychiatritic diagnoses.
Seriously, the owner thinks it is funny to name the donuts after mental illnesses. So why was this man on DeAnza Colleges campus? (DeAnza is a local community college.) He came to encourage students to send him short films with donuts in them that he will play on monitors at Psycho
Donuts. He apparently has a channel on YouTube, as well. Also, he offered to help the students with fundraising by providing them Psycho Donuts at wholesale prices to sell on campus. He will even send over some crazy doctors and nurses to help. (His employees wear doctor and nurses uniforms and lab coats.)
Nice way of marketing, isnt it? Get the students to sell your donuts and you dont have to pay a dime. Never mind the effect it will have on students who have diagnoses. When I protested that it wasnt funny, I was told by an officer of the club to stop disrupting the meeting. She also told me, re taking this too seriously. And when I persisted, she told me to take it outside.
I wrote the colleges newspaper and my letter was published in it. My letter is starting to make the circuit to various organizations (by way of people forwarding it) such as NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and Silicon Valley Independent Living Center. I also wrote the San Jose Mercury News and my letter was published May 9.
The local NAMI president e-mailed me the press-release that NAMI sent out on 4/28/09 about the impact this shop is having on the mental health community. He said I could e-mail it to anyone at the college. I e-mailed it to the film club members. The officer who told me to take it outside responded by asking if I also would have protested Jack Nicholson for his portrayal in a mental hospital. She wrote that she has visited mental hospital 3 times and was in special education. Her mother has bi-polar. She sees nothing wrong with the donut shop owners and says this is a free country.
Clearly there is a difference between One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest which dramatized the deplorable treatment of patients in mental hospitals of that era and the ridiculing of those with mental illnesses in the guise of naming strange looking donuts after psychiatric illnesses and encouraging students to sell them on campus regardless of how students with diagnoses might feel.
There is a federal law, ADA, that protects those with disabilities from discrimination at school. DeAnza College is funded by the State of California. I do not expect to be publicly humiliated and to have my disability ridiculed at a school sponsered event. While this is a free country, not everything that is creative is allowed at school.
I am certain that if the owner covered a donut with black licorice and named it , he would never have been allowed on campus.
I do not feel I should be subjected to this at school.
Similar posts: brain health
I am taking a film class at DeAnza College in Cupertino, CA. The DeAnza Academy of Independent Filmmakers club on campus held an event recently which I attended. Marc Buckland was the featured speaker. He gave a great presentation with insights on directing and producing for TV. Following his presentation, the owner of a new local shop called Psycho Donuts took the stage. Apparently the club invited him.
This man and his donut shop have stirred up huge controversy in Santa Clara County. This owner decided he wanted to make a fun, themed restaurant where parents can take their children and not pay a lot.
The theme is a mental institution. You can eat your donuts in the Group Therapy Room and have your children photographed in a real straightjacket in the shops padded cell. The donuts have strange toppings, such as cereal and candy. Order your favorite Bi-Polar, Massive Head Trauma, or any of the DSM IV psychiatritic diagnoses.
Seriously, the owner thinks it is funny to name the donuts after mental illnesses. So why was this man on DeAnza Colleges campus? (DeAnza is a local community college.) He came to encourage students to send him short films with donuts in them that he will play on monitors at Psycho
Donuts. He apparently has a channel on YouTube, as well. Also, he offered to help the students with fundraising by providing them Psycho Donuts at wholesale prices to sell on campus. He will even send over some crazy doctors and nurses to help. (His employees wear doctor and nurses uniforms and lab coats.)
Nice way of marketing, isnt it? Get the students to sell your donuts and you dont have to pay a dime. Never mind the effect it will have on students who have diagnoses. When I protested that it wasnt funny, I was told by an officer of the club to stop disrupting the meeting. She also told me, re taking this too seriously. And when I persisted, she told me to take it outside.
I wrote the colleges newspaper and my letter was published in it. My letter is starting to make the circuit to various organizations (by way of people forwarding it) such as NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and Silicon Valley Independent Living Center. I also wrote the San Jose Mercury News and my letter was published May 9.
The local NAMI president e-mailed me the press-release that NAMI sent out on 4/28/09 about the impact this shop is having on the mental health community. He said I could e-mail it to anyone at the college. I e-mailed it to the film club members. The officer who told me to take it outside responded by asking if I also would have protested Jack Nicholson for his portrayal in a mental hospital. She wrote that she has visited mental hospital 3 times and was in special education. Her mother has bi-polar. She sees nothing wrong with the donut shop owners and says this is a free country.
Clearly there is a difference between One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest which dramatized the deplorable treatment of patients in mental hospitals of that era and the ridiculing of those with mental illnesses in the guise of naming strange looking donuts after psychiatric illnesses and encouraging students to sell them on campus regardless of how students with diagnoses might feel.
There is a federal law, ADA, that protects those with disabilities from discrimination at school. DeAnza College is funded by the State of California. I do not expect to be publicly humiliated and to have my disability ridiculed at a school sponsered event. While this is a free country, not everything that is creative is allowed at school.
I am certain that if the owner covered a donut with black licorice and named it , he would never have been allowed on campus.
I do not feel I should be subjected to this at school.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:More emotions
- Music:Christina Aguilera
2. Happiness must combine both pleasure and meaning, providing both present and future gain. To further illustrate this point, Ben-Shahar uses a hamburger analogy. He explains how certain things, like an unhealthy but tasty hamburger, will bring immediate short-term pleasure but have the opposite effect on our long-term feelings.
Similarly, an unappealing but healthy veggie burger might bring us negative emotions while were eating it but bring us long-term benefits. Too often people bounce back and forth between these two without finding out what things in their lives can bring both immediate and long-term happiness; that is, a meal that is both tasty and healthy.
3. Ben-Shahar argues in his book that happiness is not an end state, but rather something you work towards your whole life. Thus, you can be happier each day. Even happiness is a journey, not a destination.
4. Build happiness boosters into your life. These are things which you enjoy doing, and can include things such as having lunch with your spouse, reading a good book, taking a warm bath, engaging in a hobby you enjoy, and so on.
5. Create rituals. Dr. Ben-Shahar has the following to say about rituals: The most creative individuals whether artists, businesspeople, or parents have rituals that they follow. Paradoxically, the routine frees them up to be creative and spontaneous. One important ritual is to keep a gratitude journal. Every evening since September 19 1999, religiously, Ben-Shahar has made a list in a notebook of five things for which he feels grateful.
6. Imagine yourself as 110 years old. What advice would you give your younger self? This added perspective will allow you to recognize and eliminate the trivial and negative things from your life.
7. Allow yourself to feel the full range of emotions, including fear, sadness, or anxiety. Ben-Shahar advises that an expectation of constant happiness is unreasonable and sets us up for disappointment. A happy life will have the usual vicissitudes, and trying to avoid those, or hoping not to experience them, inevitably leads to unhappiness and frustration. A happy person has highs and lows, but their overall state of being is positive.
8. Simplify. Identify whats most important to you and focus on that; stop trying to do too much. People who take on too much experience time poverty, which inhibits their ability to derive happiness from any of the activities they participate in.
9. Remember the mind-body connection. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to both physical and mental health.
10. Keep in mind that happiness is mostly dependent on your state of mind. Barring extreme circumstances, our level of well being is determined by what we choose to focus on and by our interpretation of external events.
11. Consider happiness to be the ultimate currency. Always ask yourself what youre trading it for.
Similar posts: brain health
Similarly, an unappealing but healthy veggie burger might bring us negative emotions while were eating it but bring us long-term benefits. Too often people bounce back and forth between these two without finding out what things in their lives can bring both immediate and long-term happiness; that is, a meal that is both tasty and healthy.
3. Ben-Shahar argues in his book that happiness is not an end state, but rather something you work towards your whole life. Thus, you can be happier each day. Even happiness is a journey, not a destination.
4. Build happiness boosters into your life. These are things which you enjoy doing, and can include things such as having lunch with your spouse, reading a good book, taking a warm bath, engaging in a hobby you enjoy, and so on.
5. Create rituals. Dr. Ben-Shahar has the following to say about rituals: The most creative individuals whether artists, businesspeople, or parents have rituals that they follow. Paradoxically, the routine frees them up to be creative and spontaneous. One important ritual is to keep a gratitude journal. Every evening since September 19 1999, religiously, Ben-Shahar has made a list in a notebook of five things for which he feels grateful.
6. Imagine yourself as 110 years old. What advice would you give your younger self? This added perspective will allow you to recognize and eliminate the trivial and negative things from your life.
7. Allow yourself to feel the full range of emotions, including fear, sadness, or anxiety. Ben-Shahar advises that an expectation of constant happiness is unreasonable and sets us up for disappointment. A happy life will have the usual vicissitudes, and trying to avoid those, or hoping not to experience them, inevitably leads to unhappiness and frustration. A happy person has highs and lows, but their overall state of being is positive.
8. Simplify. Identify whats most important to you and focus on that; stop trying to do too much. People who take on too much experience time poverty, which inhibits their ability to derive happiness from any of the activities they participate in.
9. Remember the mind-body connection. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to both physical and mental health.
10. Keep in mind that happiness is mostly dependent on your state of mind. Barring extreme circumstances, our level of well being is determined by what we choose to focus on and by our interpretation of external events.
11. Consider happiness to be the ultimate currency. Always ask yourself what youre trading it for.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:cry
- Music:Roxette
(Ivanhoe Newswire) Your brain activity can reveal how you make big decisions, according to a new study.
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center studied the brain as people handled a set of decision making problems and found brain regions associated with rational processing, such as the lateral prefrontal cortex, were most active when participants used a strategy not consistent with traditional rational choices.
Similar posts: brain health
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center studied the brain as people handled a set of decision making problems and found brain regions associated with rational processing, such as the lateral prefrontal cortex, were most active when participants used a strategy not consistent with traditional rational choices.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:Very good
- Music:PaPa RoAch
This week the Senate Finance Committee engaged in three daylong sessions to discuss various policy options that may be included in a Health Care Reform bill later this year.
As reported by Congressional Quarterly, Senator Baucus, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, was not very enthusiastic when asked whether committee members had reached consensus on any issues. However, he did say that he sensed some common ground on broader issues and believes his committee is moving towards a on these issues that are expected to be debated next month.
As always, BIAA will continue to monitor any health care reform related progress. If you have not yet taken action and emailed your Senators and Representatives regarding the brain injury guiding principles, you may still do so by clicking the following link:
http://capwiz.
Similar posts: brain health
As reported by Congressional Quarterly, Senator Baucus, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, was not very enthusiastic when asked whether committee members had reached consensus on any issues. However, he did say that he sensed some common ground on broader issues and believes his committee is moving towards a on these issues that are expected to be debated next month.
As always, BIAA will continue to monitor any health care reform related progress. If you have not yet taken action and emailed your Senators and Representatives regarding the brain injury guiding principles, you may still do so by clicking the following link:
http://capwiz.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:More emotions
- Music:Savage Garden
Ha ha! This is not going to be what you were thinking. Jonathan at Advanced Life Skills published an article called What is Your Brain Doing While You Are Sleeping?. Please check it out. I would like to expand on the sleep topic with some other interesting and important information.
I used to think sleep was a waste of time and since I could function on a lot less than most people, I did. Big mistake. Please don’t make the same mistake. Over many years of too little sleep, I have paid a big price and maybe even done permanent damage.
Similar posts: brain health
I used to think sleep was a waste of time and since I could function on a lot less than most people, I did. Big mistake. Please don’t make the same mistake. Over many years of too little sleep, I have paid a big price and maybe even done permanent damage.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:More emotions
- Music:Michael Jackson
• The paragraphs about HIV looks like someone stuck it in there, as it bears little resemblance to the rest of the story.
• It says "Health authorities are particularly worried that the capability to mutate already exhibited by the virus could eventually let it combine with the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS." Then it gives a sentence comparing that to the Spanish flu, and that's the end of the possible "mixing" with HIV. No sources on this at all, only the very ambiguous "health authorities."
• It throws out completely unsubstantiated data with no source. There is also no background info on that--even in the absence of resources, it gives no background on why anyone would think that it could combine with HIV, or how that could even happen. Or what makes this flu strain so special that it would have a special affinity for HIV.
• Reuters uses some pretty loose language too. I think they're both overinterpreting the WHO statement, which discusses the comorbidity of the two infections, not some apocalyptic biological combination.
• There is no scientific basis for such speculation, or evidence that it has occurred in the decades that both viruses have been around.
• The speculation makes about as much sense as saying that because dogs and cats are both pets, some day they might combine to produce a dat or cog.
Similar posts: brain health
• It says "Health authorities are particularly worried that the capability to mutate already exhibited by the virus could eventually let it combine with the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS." Then it gives a sentence comparing that to the Spanish flu, and that's the end of the possible "mixing" with HIV. No sources on this at all, only the very ambiguous "health authorities."
• It throws out completely unsubstantiated data with no source. There is also no background info on that--even in the absence of resources, it gives no background on why anyone would think that it could combine with HIV, or how that could even happen. Or what makes this flu strain so special that it would have a special affinity for HIV.
• Reuters uses some pretty loose language too. I think they're both overinterpreting the WHO statement, which discusses the comorbidity of the two infections, not some apocalyptic biological combination.
• There is no scientific basis for such speculation, or evidence that it has occurred in the decades that both viruses have been around.
• The speculation makes about as much sense as saying that because dogs and cats are both pets, some day they might combine to produce a dat or cog.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:More emotions
- Music:Tokio Hotel
The common phrase “the game is 95% mental” is well known, but hardly respected at least as measured by the amount of time one works on the mental side of any sport. For those professional and amateur athletes who perform at the highest levels, the common thread to their excellence is the mastery of the mental part of their work or game.
I watched the Masters’ Golf Tournament and took away a deep appreciation again of the significance of the mental part of the game. Indeed, the mental part of the game can completely alter a highly proficient mechanical or physical part of the game. Consider the major leaguer who falls into a slump, a professional golfer who cannot hit a three foot putt, and the professional basketball player who cannot drain the fifteen foot foul shot. This is despite the fact that these professionals are the best on the planet and can achieve success at these tasks 98% of the time.
The Masters’ typically begins on Sunday and the last nine holes. This is the time when the mental aspect of the game really becomes paramount, though clearly the mental part of the golf game is always important. Perhaps it is the nearing of the end of the tournament, the amount of fame derived from winning this major tournament, or the fear of failure that cause the execution of the swing or putt to drift. Truly, the ability to put all of these and other mental distractions to the side and mentally focus on the execution of what the professional has done thousands of times represents the road to success and victory.
That the greatest athletes on the planet can be so affected, negatively and positively, by the mental energy and focus of the game is impressive. The human brain’s ability to harness and focus this energy, to not get distracted, to remain confident in the execution of the mechanics, and to see success will always be in the winner’s circle no matter what profession we are discussing.
Hit em straight.
Similar posts: brain health
I watched the Masters’ Golf Tournament and took away a deep appreciation again of the significance of the mental part of the game. Indeed, the mental part of the game can completely alter a highly proficient mechanical or physical part of the game. Consider the major leaguer who falls into a slump, a professional golfer who cannot hit a three foot putt, and the professional basketball player who cannot drain the fifteen foot foul shot. This is despite the fact that these professionals are the best on the planet and can achieve success at these tasks 98% of the time.
The Masters’ typically begins on Sunday and the last nine holes. This is the time when the mental aspect of the game really becomes paramount, though clearly the mental part of the golf game is always important. Perhaps it is the nearing of the end of the tournament, the amount of fame derived from winning this major tournament, or the fear of failure that cause the execution of the swing or putt to drift. Truly, the ability to put all of these and other mental distractions to the side and mentally focus on the execution of what the professional has done thousands of times represents the road to success and victory.
That the greatest athletes on the planet can be so affected, negatively and positively, by the mental energy and focus of the game is impressive. The human brain’s ability to harness and focus this energy, to not get distracted, to remain confident in the execution of the mechanics, and to see success will always be in the winner’s circle no matter what profession we are discussing.
Hit em straight.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:smile
- Music:DJ Smash
Read the Full Story Researchers have released the largest-ever study of African genetic data more than four million genotypes providing a library of new information on the continent which is thought to be the source of the oldest settlements of modern humans. The study demonstrates startling diversity on the continent, shared ancestry among geographically diverse groups and traces the origins of Africans and African-Americans.
Similar posts: brain health
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:smile
- Music:Christina Aguilera
Welcome to SharpBrains! As seen in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, US News World Report, and more, we are a market research advisory company fully focused on providing high-quality information and guidance to navigate the brain fitness and cognitive health market. Our main report this year: The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2009.
Similar posts: brain health
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:lol
- Music:Sum 41
Results:
The paler the faces the greater the increase in redness (both oxygenated and deoxygenated) was added by the subjects to make the faces look healthy. If the faces were already quite red (oxygenated) then less redness was added by the subjects. Hence, the faces which appear to have the least skin blood perfusion (pale) the greatest degree of redness was added to optimize the appearance of health.
While face pictures of both sexes were altered to increase redness, more oxygenated color was added to female faces and more deoxygeneated color added to male faces (in comparison). The authors suggest that females faces are more to blood oxygenation color - but I am not sure what they really mean.
Overall, oxygenated blood color adding was judged as improving the look of healthiness compared to added deoxygenated blood color adding. This was consistent with the researchers hypothesis - but also makes sense in the general concept of a healthier look is judged by degree and amount of oxygenated blood is reaching the face (sign of a healthy cardiovascular system).
In an additional component of the study, the researchers found that participant ethnicity, or face ethnicity, did not result in any differences in the amount of color changes added by participants to optimize a healthy appearance. However, there was an interaction effect, with African participants adding more redness to African faces than the other faces. The authors did not offer much of an explanation for this finding.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:smile
- Music:Tokio Hotel
Learning with anatomy models By : shopanatomical4 shopanatomical4
As with all the anatomical models available human skull models are also available in the original form of in the form of acrylic casts. The original human skull models are expensive in nature so it is better to stick with the casts if budgetary constraints are there. In this article we shall be looking into the different forms of human skull models which are available. Firstly let us concentrate on the miniature human skull models which are available. Like seen on the term itself, these are miniature in construction.
Similar posts: brain health
As with all the anatomical models available human skull models are also available in the original form of in the form of acrylic casts. The original human skull models are expensive in nature so it is better to stick with the casts if budgetary constraints are there. In this article we shall be looking into the different forms of human skull models which are available. Firstly let us concentrate on the miniature human skull models which are available. Like seen on the term itself, these are miniature in construction.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:Very good
- Music:DJ Smash
Have you ever woke up one bright morning and had the irresistible urge to run? And I dont mean just up the street or around the block I mean run, until your legs ache and you shins groan and your whole body shouts with pain and triumph!
No, youre right I have never woken up with that desire either. But just imagine what it must feel like to do that every day, for 5 years straight. To rise with the breaking light of day and just run until you cant run anymore. And then get up and do it all over again. Every day without fail. How far could you go? What people would you meet? What adventures might you run through?
In late August this past year, 61 year old grandmother, Rosie Pope Swale, completed her 5 year circumnavigation of the globe by foot. Let me repeat that a woman in her Sixties, ran by herself, completely unassisted, for 5 years straight, across the entire face of this huge planet. And not only that, she pulled all her food, gear and clothes behind her the entire time!
Her reason for doing it raise awareness for cancer. In 2002 her husband died unfortunately of prostate cancer. Racked with sorrow, Rosie decided she needed to get out of the house and DO SOMETHING. And since running was always one of her greatest releases, she just started to run. And never stopped.
Shes ran through -65 degree winters in Siberia, suffered pneumonia and frostbite, been hit by a bus and suffered numerous injuries and stress fractures along the way. But shes also encountered hundreds of helpful strangers along the way. People who provided food, or shelter or laughter and words of support. In fact, over her journey, she filled 52 notebooks full of peoples encouragement.
s about the magic of people, she says. The one thing that defines us, that brings us all together is Human Kindness.
Here is a woman of unbelievable courage and strength. Who ran an average of 18 miles a day. And yet, she has the most childlike, joyous energy. Its like shes tapped into some invisible ocean of positivity through which no goal is too great. And for me this is the true source of her inspiration.
As she says herselfs a journey that came out of sorrow and pain and heartache, but its a journey that has turned to joy.
Dream big, SuperForest. All it takes it putting one foot forward, and the next foot, and the next. Before you know it youll have crossed continents and achieved the impossible. Just like Rosie!
So get up and get running!
For more inspiration, check out Rosies site here.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:hangry
- Music:Enrique Iglesias
WEDNESDAY, April 22, 2009 (Health.com) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating two cases of swine flu detected in children in the San Diego area last week.
Swine flu is caused by a virus similar to the regular flu virus that circulates in people every year, but is a strain that is typically found only in pigs or in people who have direct contact with pigs.
The children were infected with a virus known as swine influenza A H1N1, which has a unique combination of genes not previously seen in flu viruses in either humans or swine—although it shares similarities with a virus that has been circulating in pigs since 1999.
Similar posts: brain health
Swine flu is caused by a virus similar to the regular flu virus that circulates in people every year, but is a strain that is typically found only in pigs or in people who have direct contact with pigs.
The children were infected with a virus known as swine influenza A H1N1, which has a unique combination of genes not previously seen in flu viruses in either humans or swine—although it shares similarities with a virus that has been circulating in pigs since 1999.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:cry
- Music:David Guetta
Contributed by: Michael Rafii, M.D., Ph.D - Director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at the University of California, San Diego.
Dimebon may soon become the next medication approved for AD. In my last blog, I described the long and arduous path taken by any new compound until it reaches patients. It looks like Dimebon is advancing down this road quite nicely. Pfizer, and its partner Medivation just announced initiation of a 12-month, Phase 3 clinical trial called CONCERT, which evaluates Dimebon plus Aricept for AD. Dimebon is thought to protect mitochondria of neurons damaged by AD, whereas Aricept works by boosting the cholinergic system, which is injured in AD.
What's interesting is that this Phase 3 program also includes the confirmatory 6-month CONNECTION study, which builds on results of the first pivotal trial of Dimebon alone and is the last step needed for FDA approval of Dimebon as monotherapy for AD.
Results of the first pivotal clinical trial of Dimebon in Alzheimers disease, published in the July 19, 2008 issue of The Lancet, showed that Dimebon improved the clinical course of Alzheimers disease. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 183 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimers disease, patients treated with Dimebon experienced statistically significant improvements compared to placebo in all the key aspects of the disease: memory and thinking, activities of daily living, behavior and overall function. After both six months and a full year of treatment, Dimebon-treated patients were significantly better than placebo-treated patients on all key aspects of the disease.
In January 2008, the FDA stated that only one more pivotal study is required to support the approval of Dimebon as monotherapy for AD. If the results are successful, as deemed by the FDA, neurologists will have one more option in their armamentarium for treating AD.
Similar posts: brain health
Dimebon may soon become the next medication approved for AD. In my last blog, I described the long and arduous path taken by any new compound until it reaches patients. It looks like Dimebon is advancing down this road quite nicely. Pfizer, and its partner Medivation just announced initiation of a 12-month, Phase 3 clinical trial called CONCERT, which evaluates Dimebon plus Aricept for AD. Dimebon is thought to protect mitochondria of neurons damaged by AD, whereas Aricept works by boosting the cholinergic system, which is injured in AD.
What's interesting is that this Phase 3 program also includes the confirmatory 6-month CONNECTION study, which builds on results of the first pivotal trial of Dimebon alone and is the last step needed for FDA approval of Dimebon as monotherapy for AD.
Results of the first pivotal clinical trial of Dimebon in Alzheimers disease, published in the July 19, 2008 issue of The Lancet, showed that Dimebon improved the clinical course of Alzheimers disease. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 183 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimers disease, patients treated with Dimebon experienced statistically significant improvements compared to placebo in all the key aspects of the disease: memory and thinking, activities of daily living, behavior and overall function. After both six months and a full year of treatment, Dimebon-treated patients were significantly better than placebo-treated patients on all key aspects of the disease.
In January 2008, the FDA stated that only one more pivotal study is required to support the approval of Dimebon as monotherapy for AD. If the results are successful, as deemed by the FDA, neurologists will have one more option in their armamentarium for treating AD.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:Good
- Music:David Guetta
Generation Y may still jump at the latest technologies faster than baby boomers. But according to a recent survey, consumption rates among boomers are booming, albeit unsurprisingly given their greater disposable incomes.
Carried out on behalf of Accenture, Internet market research firm Survey.com recently surveyed 3,000 American consumers over 18 years old on their use of more than a dozen devices including computers, mobile handsets and HDTVs.
While 79% of all respondents still regard mobile handsets, not as a source of entertainment, but as a means of communicating via voice, exchanging text messages and emailing; use of mobile data services among Generation Y (18-24 year olds) leaped from 14 to 26%.
Business Booming with Boomers
Following are some of the survey’s results:
Baby boomers increased their rate of blog reading and listening to podcasts by 67% year-over-year, nearly 80 times faster than Gen Y (1%).
Boomers increased their use of social networking sites by 59%, more than 30 times faster than Gen Y (2%).
Boomers increased watching and posting videos on the net by 35%. Gen Y usage dropped slightly (-2%).
Boomers increased their video game-playing on mobile devices by 52%, 20 times faster than Gen Y (2%).
The growth rate among boomers listening to music on iPods and other portable music devices was 49%, more than 4 times faster than Gen Y (12%).
The Bottom Line
What the results reveal are that baby boomers (45-64 year olds) are embracing consumer technology products and services at a rate of nearly twenty times faster than the Younger Generation. Indeed, last year, boomers boosted their appetites for popular consumer technology applications by an average of 50%.
Steve Daitch is the Social Media Manager at Mind360.com - a leading scientific brain training games developer for boosting your memory, attention, executive functions, reasoning, and other key cognitive skills. As a Mind360 visitor you simply select your own Personal Training Program, which comes complete with a personal coach and constant feedback to ensure your swift and visible progress.
Similar posts: brain health
Carried out on behalf of Accenture, Internet market research firm Survey.com recently surveyed 3,000 American consumers over 18 years old on their use of more than a dozen devices including computers, mobile handsets and HDTVs.
While 79% of all respondents still regard mobile handsets, not as a source of entertainment, but as a means of communicating via voice, exchanging text messages and emailing; use of mobile data services among Generation Y (18-24 year olds) leaped from 14 to 26%.
Business Booming with Boomers
Following are some of the survey’s results:
Baby boomers increased their rate of blog reading and listening to podcasts by 67% year-over-year, nearly 80 times faster than Gen Y (1%).
Boomers increased their use of social networking sites by 59%, more than 30 times faster than Gen Y (2%).
Boomers increased watching and posting videos on the net by 35%. Gen Y usage dropped slightly (-2%).
Boomers increased their video game-playing on mobile devices by 52%, 20 times faster than Gen Y (2%).
The growth rate among boomers listening to music on iPods and other portable music devices was 49%, more than 4 times faster than Gen Y (12%).
The Bottom Line
What the results reveal are that baby boomers (45-64 year olds) are embracing consumer technology products and services at a rate of nearly twenty times faster than the Younger Generation. Indeed, last year, boomers boosted their appetites for popular consumer technology applications by an average of 50%.
Steve Daitch is the Social Media Manager at Mind360.com - a leading scientific brain training games developer for boosting your memory, attention, executive functions, reasoning, and other key cognitive skills. As a Mind360 visitor you simply select your own Personal Training Program, which comes complete with a personal coach and constant feedback to ensure your swift and visible progress.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:Good
- Music:PaPa RoAch
Mission
Health Newstrack is dedicated to serve recent and updated health news medical research, events/news, views/reviews to its subscribers and free access to general public, health medical professionals, and other health seekers worldwide online with a user-friendly system.
Bookmark this page
Health News Track is tracking world's medical health news daily.
Similar posts: brain health
Health Newstrack is dedicated to serve recent and updated health news medical research, events/news, views/reviews to its subscribers and free access to general public, health medical professionals, and other health seekers worldwide online with a user-friendly system.
Bookmark this page
Health News Track is tracking world's medical health news daily.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:cry
- Music:Enrique Iglesias
Brain Improve
Brain improve? Who doesnt want to improve their brain? I mean, almost
all advertising in our culture implies that with just a bit more mental
oomph, another degree, a harder workout, or this or that potion or
pill, you too can own the Mercedes, or the mansion, or be a super hero
kind of guy.
So we are taught that we should seek out brain improvement tools, among other things.
It
turns out that there are some things we can do to improve our brains,
but brain improvement actually is not what one would think it is
initially.
Brain improvement is actually about neurogenesis and
neuroplasticity, concepts about which there was no knowledge perhaps a
decade or so ago.
It turns out that my brain actually grows new
neurons, which overturns neuroscientific dogma that has been around for
decades if not centuries, and that those new neurons can be cemented
into existing neural networks if they are challenged by a novel
learning experience.
Novel learning experiences help existing
neurons grow new dendritic branches which will sprout new synapses,
which mean more connections between neurons, which means greater
computing power, perhaps fluid intelligence, which is brain
improvement, which is now available to help solve problems in the
external world in novel ways, which could translate into increased
income or fame and fortune. (That is an improved brain).
What does a novel learning experience
consist of? Well, if you are a counselor, reading another counseling
book will not provide a novel learning experience, but learning a new
language will, or learning to play a musical instrument will.
At one of the companies producing computerized brain fitness programs, the Posit Science Company, on Fridays, employees switch departments, so the marketing guys would go to the shipping department, for example, and vice versa, so everyone gets a chance to learn what the other guy does. The company is building in novel learning experiences and I am sure the goal is neurogenisis and neuroplasticity.
Novel learning also could include using any of a number of commercially computerized brain improvement programs.
Please remember, brain improvement means increased numbers of dendrites and synapses and new neurons.
It does not happen overnight after finding a meteorite from Planet X in your back yard, or taking a potion or pill.
And that brings us to our next topic, neuroplasticity, another of your brains inherent capacities which can be encouraged.
Learning
a new skill invites the neurons in your brain to fire together in new
or perhaps subtly different patterns, which is a very good thing for
your neurons. If neurons are left idle, the brain, being an energy
consuming organ of the highest order, will pare unused neurons and even
circuits to be energy efficient.
So doing ordinary things like
brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand is a good way to
disrupt the tooth brushing brain map in a healthy way. Neurons will
re-organize quickly which is teaching the brain to re-organize quickly
which is a good thing for brain improvement.
If you look at what
the scientists are saying about brain improve, (not the marketers),
they are saying that for brains to improve, several things need to be
attended to on a regular basis, like physical exercise/activity, sleep,
nutrition, stress management, and novel learning experiences.
Perhaps
the most important of those areas is physical exercise, which does not
need to be of the go-to-the-gym-and-get-all-sweaty type of exercise,
although that is very good.
Similar posts: brain health
Brain improve? Who doesnt want to improve their brain? I mean, almost
all advertising in our culture implies that with just a bit more mental
oomph, another degree, a harder workout, or this or that potion or
pill, you too can own the Mercedes, or the mansion, or be a super hero
kind of guy.
So we are taught that we should seek out brain improvement tools, among other things.
It
turns out that there are some things we can do to improve our brains,
but brain improvement actually is not what one would think it is
initially.
Brain improvement is actually about neurogenesis and
neuroplasticity, concepts about which there was no knowledge perhaps a
decade or so ago.
It turns out that my brain actually grows new
neurons, which overturns neuroscientific dogma that has been around for
decades if not centuries, and that those new neurons can be cemented
into existing neural networks if they are challenged by a novel
learning experience.
Novel learning experiences help existing
neurons grow new dendritic branches which will sprout new synapses,
which mean more connections between neurons, which means greater
computing power, perhaps fluid intelligence, which is brain
improvement, which is now available to help solve problems in the
external world in novel ways, which could translate into increased
income or fame and fortune. (That is an improved brain).
What does a novel learning experience
consist of? Well, if you are a counselor, reading another counseling
book will not provide a novel learning experience, but learning a new
language will, or learning to play a musical instrument will.
At one of the companies producing computerized brain fitness programs, the Posit Science Company, on Fridays, employees switch departments, so the marketing guys would go to the shipping department, for example, and vice versa, so everyone gets a chance to learn what the other guy does. The company is building in novel learning experiences and I am sure the goal is neurogenisis and neuroplasticity.
Novel learning also could include using any of a number of commercially computerized brain improvement programs.
Please remember, brain improvement means increased numbers of dendrites and synapses and new neurons.
It does not happen overnight after finding a meteorite from Planet X in your back yard, or taking a potion or pill.
And that brings us to our next topic, neuroplasticity, another of your brains inherent capacities which can be encouraged.
Learning
a new skill invites the neurons in your brain to fire together in new
or perhaps subtly different patterns, which is a very good thing for
your neurons. If neurons are left idle, the brain, being an energy
consuming organ of the highest order, will pare unused neurons and even
circuits to be energy efficient.
So doing ordinary things like
brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand is a good way to
disrupt the tooth brushing brain map in a healthy way. Neurons will
re-organize quickly which is teaching the brain to re-organize quickly
which is a good thing for brain improvement.
If you look at what
the scientists are saying about brain improve, (not the marketers),
they are saying that for brains to improve, several things need to be
attended to on a regular basis, like physical exercise/activity, sleep,
nutrition, stress management, and novel learning experiences.
Perhaps
the most important of those areas is physical exercise, which does not
need to be of the go-to-the-gym-and-get-all-sweaty type of exercise,
although that is very good.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:lol
- Music:Limp Bizkit
The budget approved by the Appropriations Committee restores many of Governor Rells proposed cuts to health care programs. The committee did not agree to the Governors proposed co-pays and premiums on HUSKY families; imposition of premiums would jeopardize significant federal stimulus funding. Also to ensure CT gets new federal funding, the committee rejected the Governors proposal to eliminate self-determination of income for HUSKY applicants. The legislature restored HUSKY eligibility for legal immigrants that the Governor proposed to eliminate; the federal SCHIP reauthorization bill grants the state a 65% match on those costs. The committee did not agree to the Governors proposal to eliminate prenatal care for undocumented immigrants, eliminate funding for medical interpreters, or to eliminate vision and transportation services for SAGA clients. The committee provided funding for smoking cessation treatment under Medicaid that was not in the Governors budget. The committee provided funds to implement the family planning waiver; those funds would be 90% matched by the federal government. The committee did not agree to the Governors proposal to eliminate all but emergency dental care for adults in Medicaid and SAGA, however they did implement utilization review for those services. The committee did agree to weaken the Medicaid and SAGA medical necessity definition. The committee agreed to some of the Governors proposed pharmacy cuts, but not others. The legislature took money out of the Governors proposal for her Charter Oak Plan to reflect lower than expected enrollment. The budget restores funding for the Office of Health Care Advocate. A more detailed analysis will be coming.
Similar posts: brain health
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:bad
- Music:Michael Jackson
Study finds five drugs in one dose to reduced heart attack, stroke risk
Create a single pill that contains a statin, three blood pressure drugs and aspirin, and you have an inexpensive medication that can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems.
Or so researchers hope.
A first trial of the polypill (which already has a brand name, Polycap), has been successful, according to a report that was to be presented Monday at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., and online in The Lancet.
The polypill contains generic versions of the blood pressure medications atenolol, hydrochlorothiazide and rampiril, as well as simvastatin (Zocor) and aspirin. It is designed to attack three major risk factors of cardiovascular disease -- high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and formation of artery-blocking blood clots. It is being tested by an Indian company, Cadila Pharma.
The idea was originated by a group of physicians trained in India and now at McMaster University in Canada, said Dr. Koon Teo, a professor of medicine at McMaster and a member of the research team.
"We know that there are many medications that are beneficial," Teo said. "But often people don't like to take many pills, and doctors don't give patients all the pills they might need."
The first trial enrolled 2,053 people with one risk factor, such as high blood pressure, but no cardiovascular disease. They were divided into nine groups, one taking the polypill, the others various combinations of the medications.
The study, done at 50 centers in India, was designed to answer several questions:
Would the five-drug polypill deliver the same effect as individual pills? What reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol could it achieve? Would there be harmful interactions between the ingredients? Would aspirin reduce the blood-pressure-lowering effect?
The answers were favorable. The polypill reduced systolic blood pressure (the higher of the 120/80 reading) by 7.4 points and diastolic blood pressure by 5.6 points, better than the reduction produced by individual medications. LDL cholesterol reductions were almost as great as those produced by individual doses of simvastatin, the statin in the polypill. Readings showed a reduction in urinary levels of a clot-associated molecule. There was no indication of harmful interactions for those taking the polypill.
The blood pressure reduction caused by the polypill would lower the risk of heart disease by 24 percent and lower stroke risk by 33 percent, the researchers estimated. The cholesterol-lowering effect would reduce heart disease risk by 27 percent and stroke risk by 8 percent, they estimated.
And putting those benefits into one pill would increase the possibility that healthy people would actually take the medications needed to keep them healthy, they said.
"I think this is a good idea, in that even though all these drugs are available in separate pills, people don't take them for lots of reasons -- logistics, costs, availability," said Dr. Christopher P. Cannon, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who wrote an accompanying commentary in The Lancet. "If one had a simple, inexpensive pill, it could open cardiovascular protection to many people."
Millions of Americans who are at risk of cardiovascular disease because of common conditions, such as obesity and high blood pressure, are potential beneficiaries of a polypill, Cannon said. "They should be taking cardiovascular medications, but don't, because they are otherwise healthy," he said. "If there were one, simple pill, they might be open to taking it."
More studies obviously are needed, Cannon said, and physician care would be necessary if the pill became available. "You can't just give it and walk away," he said. "You would have to monitor for side effects, but once you get past that hurdle, one simple pill would help."
Some major regulatory changes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be necessary for the polypill to be available in the United States, Cannon added. "The current mandates of the FDA are that a combination pill would have to be tested for every combination of every drug included in that pill. That obviously would not be feasible in this case. It would require a re-looking at the rules by the FDA, and for that, one needs larger and longer studies."
Even with those hurdles to overcome, a polypill would be "a major step forward in trying to simplify and broaden the applicability of all the medications that reduce cardiovascular risk," Cannon said.
The next step would be a major trial of the polypill among people with clear risk of cardiovascular disease, Teo said. If such a trial succeeded, the hope is that a drug company would pick up the idea, he said.
"The concept is important, and we are testing the concept," Teo said. "Once the concept is proved, we hope that a company in Europe or the United States could see that something can be done with it."
source: health.
Similar posts: brain health
Create a single pill that contains a statin, three blood pressure drugs and aspirin, and you have an inexpensive medication that can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems.
Or so researchers hope.
A first trial of the polypill (which already has a brand name, Polycap), has been successful, according to a report that was to be presented Monday at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., and online in The Lancet.
The polypill contains generic versions of the blood pressure medications atenolol, hydrochlorothiazide and rampiril, as well as simvastatin (Zocor) and aspirin. It is designed to attack three major risk factors of cardiovascular disease -- high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and formation of artery-blocking blood clots. It is being tested by an Indian company, Cadila Pharma.
The idea was originated by a group of physicians trained in India and now at McMaster University in Canada, said Dr. Koon Teo, a professor of medicine at McMaster and a member of the research team.
"We know that there are many medications that are beneficial," Teo said. "But often people don't like to take many pills, and doctors don't give patients all the pills they might need."
The first trial enrolled 2,053 people with one risk factor, such as high blood pressure, but no cardiovascular disease. They were divided into nine groups, one taking the polypill, the others various combinations of the medications.
The study, done at 50 centers in India, was designed to answer several questions:
Would the five-drug polypill deliver the same effect as individual pills? What reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol could it achieve? Would there be harmful interactions between the ingredients? Would aspirin reduce the blood-pressure-lowering effect?
The answers were favorable. The polypill reduced systolic blood pressure (the higher of the 120/80 reading) by 7.4 points and diastolic blood pressure by 5.6 points, better than the reduction produced by individual medications. LDL cholesterol reductions were almost as great as those produced by individual doses of simvastatin, the statin in the polypill. Readings showed a reduction in urinary levels of a clot-associated molecule. There was no indication of harmful interactions for those taking the polypill.
The blood pressure reduction caused by the polypill would lower the risk of heart disease by 24 percent and lower stroke risk by 33 percent, the researchers estimated. The cholesterol-lowering effect would reduce heart disease risk by 27 percent and stroke risk by 8 percent, they estimated.
And putting those benefits into one pill would increase the possibility that healthy people would actually take the medications needed to keep them healthy, they said.
"I think this is a good idea, in that even though all these drugs are available in separate pills, people don't take them for lots of reasons -- logistics, costs, availability," said Dr. Christopher P. Cannon, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who wrote an accompanying commentary in The Lancet. "If one had a simple, inexpensive pill, it could open cardiovascular protection to many people."
Millions of Americans who are at risk of cardiovascular disease because of common conditions, such as obesity and high blood pressure, are potential beneficiaries of a polypill, Cannon said. "They should be taking cardiovascular medications, but don't, because they are otherwise healthy," he said. "If there were one, simple pill, they might be open to taking it."
More studies obviously are needed, Cannon said, and physician care would be necessary if the pill became available. "You can't just give it and walk away," he said. "You would have to monitor for side effects, but once you get past that hurdle, one simple pill would help."
Some major regulatory changes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be necessary for the polypill to be available in the United States, Cannon added. "The current mandates of the FDA are that a combination pill would have to be tested for every combination of every drug included in that pill. That obviously would not be feasible in this case. It would require a re-looking at the rules by the FDA, and for that, one needs larger and longer studies."
Even with those hurdles to overcome, a polypill would be "a major step forward in trying to simplify and broaden the applicability of all the medications that reduce cardiovascular risk," Cannon said.
The next step would be a major trial of the polypill among people with clear risk of cardiovascular disease, Teo said. If such a trial succeeded, the hope is that a drug company would pick up the idea, he said.
"The concept is important, and we are testing the concept," Teo said. "Once the concept is proved, we hope that a company in Europe or the United States could see that something can be done with it."
source: health.
Similar posts: brain health
- Mood:Good
- Music:K-MARO
