March 21st, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Animals, Genetics, Hematology, Infectious Disease, International, News, Pathology, Research
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As spring approaches, we can expect a new onslaught of pollen, bugs, and mud puddles. Mosquito eggs will hatch in stagnant water, and a new generation of hungry little disease vectors will be lurking in wooded areas, awaiting their first meal.
Luckily for those of us who live in North America, those annoying mosquito bites are unlikely to infect us with malaria.
A team of scientists committed to eradicating malaria (one of my personal favorite parasites) has taken a new approach to reducing transmission rates: creating a strain of malaria-immune mosquitoes.
I had been under the mistaken impression that mosquitoes lived in perfect harmony with malaria parasites, but apparently the organisms can make them quite ill as well. Not ill enough to die immediately (hence their ability to spread the disease) but ill enough to die prematurely.
So if we could create a malaria immune mosquito, we could give them a survival advantage over their peers, thus slowly influencing the mosquito population in favor of the new strain. This could result in a new population of mosquitoes who could not harbor malaria.
In humans, malaria parasites have learned how to attach themselves to red blood cell proteins and incubate inside the cells. In mosquitoes, the parasites latch on to a protein (called SM1) on the surface of epithelial cells of their gut lining. Through the miracle of genetic engineering, we’ve managed to alter the SM1 proteins in certain mosquitoes, making them immune to invasion by parasites they ingest through infected blood.
Although the immune mosquitoes are not ready for prime time release in malaria endemic countries (the research only showed that the scientists could genetically engineer resistance to one strain of malaria), it sure would be interesting to see if we could use mosquitoes themselves to fight a disease that claims the lives of over one million people per year.
This is a rare case of a problem becoming the solution!
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
March 13th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Animals, Dermatology, Infectious Disease
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For those who are faint of heart, please do not click on this link (via KevinMD). This poor man living in Eastern Europe developed a rare disorder (called Lewandowsky-Lutz dysplasia) where he had growths appear on his hands and feet starting at age 14. Many years later the growths are quite disfiguring and difficult to remove.
Some speculate that this may be similar to a warty disorder in rabbits. Either way, it is a little disturbing to me that this condition could be triggered by a virus. Viruses, of course, can be quite contagious…
Any dermatologists out there want to weigh in?
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
March 5th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Beauty, Geriatrics, News, Plastic Surgery, Surgery
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In this latest report from the BBC, we see that our friends across the pond are just as obsessed with appearance as we are in America. Apparently, women in their 70’s and 80’s are getting cosmetic breast surgery and face lifts.
One surgeon is quoted as saying:
“We have a growing population of pensioners – and for those who want to maintain a good appearance, ageing gracefully, the surgical options are there.”
Since when did gracefulness have anything to do with surgery?
I wonder if we’re missing the more important things in life (friendship, love, kindness, charity) by focusing on our exteriors? Beauty is a matter of the heart, I think.
Sophia Lauren once said, “Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful…” but then again, it looks as if she’s chosen to have extensive cosmetic work done as well.
What do you make of the growing trend in plastic surgery among seniors?
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
March 4th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Food and Nutrition, International, News, Weight Loss
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In a recent poll, 80% of consumers (along with the British Medical Association) preferred a simple “stop light” food label to a long list of percentage figures of recommended daily amounts. The stop light icon simply categorizes food as containing low (green), medium (yellow), or high (red) levels of the following ingredients:
- Fat
- Saturated Fats
- Sugar
- Salt
The guideline daily amounts (GDA – the rough equivalent of America’s RDA system) supporters argue that the stop light is an oversimplification, and does not effectively convey all the important nutritional value of food.
What do you think? Would you like to see this sort of labeling in the US?
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
March 3rd, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Animals, Hospitals, Infectious Disease, Neurology, News
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A Canadian news story piqued my interest today – apparently, a man living near Edmonton, Alberta was bitten by a bat during his sleep. Curiosity got the better of me as I tried to recreate the scenario in my head. First of all, “vampire bats” (the kind that feed on the blood of livestock) don’t live in Canada, so this little guy was probably a generic “brown bat.” Brown bats are shy creatures who live on insects primarily, so we know that this bat was in a pretty wacky frame of mind to boldly mistake a sleeping human for a beetle.
Stranger than the behavior of this culinarily confused little mammal, was the behavior of the sleeping victim. Apparently he was unconcerned by the bite and went back to sleep afterwards, never seeking medical attention. I don’t know about you, but if I woke up in the middle of the night with any wild animal sinking its teeth into my flesh, I’d probably not shrug and roll over.
Anyway, the sad news is that this man didn’t get his life-saving rabies shots. Rabies is a very serious condition with a 50% mortality rate! The rabies virus (transmitted through infected animal saliva) wreaks havoc on the brain and nerves. The CDC describes it:
Early symptoms of rabies in humans are nonspecific, consisting of fever, headache, and general malaise. As the disease progresses, neurological symptoms appear and may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation, difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia (fear of water). Death usually occurs within days of the onset of symptoms.
Isn’t it strange that “fear of water” is part of the rabies syndrome? I’d like to get an explanation of that one from a neurologist…
Anyway, human cases of rabies are quite rare (about 7000 cases/year in the US) and are usually caused by raccoon or skunk attacks. So if you come face to face with a raccoon or skunk “gone wild” my advice is to run away. But if you do get bitten, please go to the hospital immediately and get your rabies shots. You can prevent progression of the disease.
Now, if you’re curious to see if you’re in a rabies “hot zone” check out the CDC’s skunk and raccoon tracking maps (can you believe that someone’s job is to create these?)
And for a good spoof of dangerous animals – check out Dr. Rob’s recent warnings against the common goat. You can tell that he must enjoy Monty Python style humor.
Are you an animal lover? Know of some funny websites or links about animal antics? Do share!
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
