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Could Glowing Cats Be The Key To Finding A Cure For HIV?

Photo courtesy of the Mayo Clinic Scientists have added a new species to the menagerie of animals that glow, after introducing jellyfish genes into cats that can now glow green.

Scientists report that they transferred genes from monkeys (and jellyfish) into cats in order to study feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), the cat equivalent of HIV. In cats and in people, immunodeficiency viruses deplete infection-fighting T-cells. Key proteins called restriction factors that would normally defend against the viruses are ineffective. The research appears in the September issue of Nature Methods.

To research potential treatments, physicians, virologists, veterinarians and gene therapy researchers from the Mayo Clinic and in Japan sought to mimic the way evolution would generate protective protein versions, according to a Mayo Clinic press release. They inserted monkey versions of a gene into the cat genome using gamete-targeted lentiviral transgenesis. This is done by inserting genes into feline eggs before sperm fertilization.

The monkey restriction factor, TRIMCyp, blocks FIV by attacking and disabling the virus as it tries to invade a cell. In the lab, the transgenic cat lymphocytes resisted FIV replication. The scientists said that they can now test the potential of various restriction factors for Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*

How To Get Rid Of That White Rash On Your Child’s Skin

It could be a common dry skin rash called pityriasis alba.

With pityriasis alba, the white patches of fine dry scale are usually located on the sides of the cheeks and the outer side of the upper arm. They’re more likely to occur when activities or weather conditions dry out the skin such as swimming in chlorinated pools or with the temperature extremes of a cold and dry winter. They also show up more when skin is tanned because the scaly patches stay white and contrast against the tanned skin. That means that towards the end of summer, they may well be in full bloom if you live in a dry climate.

What is pityriasis alba?

It’s a subtle form of eczema (also called dermatitis). It’s an unusual rash though because there really isn’t much, if any, inflammation. This means the involved skin doesn’t itch, it just looks funny. Most people mistake it for a fungus, which it isn’t. It’s just a form of dry skin eczema.

What treatments will help get rid of the white spots from pityriasis alba? Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Bailey's Skin Care Blog*

Inspiring Story About A Man Making Changes To Transform His Life

It isn’t easy to get rid of a harmful habit like drinking too much, or to make healthy changes like losing weight and exercising more. Media stories about people who run marathons a year after surgery to bypass cholesterol-clogged arteries or who climb Mt. McKinley after being diagnosed with diabetes are interesting, but they don’t resonate with me. Mostly it’s because they often leave out the hard work needed to change and the backtracking that invariably accompanies it.

I ran across a truly inspiring story the other day in the American Journal of Health Promotion—one that shows how most of us ultimately manage to make changes that improve our lives. The journal’s founder and editor, Michael P. O’Donnell, wrote a moving essay about his father, Kevin O’Donnell. Once an overweight workaholic who smoked and drank heavily, ate mostly meat and potatoes, and didn’t exercise—and who eventually needed a double bypass—Kevin O’Donnell gradually made changes to improve his health. Now, at age 85, he has the cardiovascular system of a 65 year old and is working on a house-building project in North Korea.

How did Kevin O’Donnell engineer such a remarkable transformation? Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*

Preventive Effects Of Aspirin Compared To Outcomes Of Major Bleeding

aspirin by foolsplay07 via Flickr and a Creative Commons license

Treating 1,000 people with preventive aspirin for five years prevents 2.9 major cardiovascular events (nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death) and causes 2.8 major bleeds, according to a meta-analysis.

Nine primary prevention trials compared results for aspirin alone for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, and reported data on myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular deaths. Aspirin doses ranged from 100 mg every other day to 500 mg/d, and seven of them studied doses from 75 mg/d to 162.5 mg/d. No dose-dependent effects were noted, the researchers said. Results appeared in the July issue of the American Heart Journal.

A total of 2,029 major cardiovascular events occurred among 52,145 (3.86%) patients allocated to aspirin compared with 2,099 major cardiovascular events among 50,476 (4.16%) patients assigned to placebo or control. Over a mean follow-up of nearly 7 years, aspirin was Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*

Comic Books Educate Children About Their Medical Conditions

I’ve recently come across Medikidz, a fantastic initiative with a mission to help children understand medical information, especially diseases. I cannot imagine a better way to promote such important messages to children.

Millions of children worldwide are diagnosed every day with conditions that even their parents may find difficult to comprehend. Most children don’t understand their medical conditions, or associated investigations, procedures and treatments, and are often scared by what is going on around them.

That is where the Medikidz come into action!

The Medikidz are Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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