July 8th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: ACS Nano, Cavities In Teeth, Dental Application, Dental Fillings, Dental Hygiene, Dentistry, Functionalized, Healthy Teeth, Melanocortin Peptides, MSH, Multilayered Films, Nanostructured, Oral Health, Root Canals, Teeth-Regenerating Gel
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Although people are generally proud of their dental hygiene, undoubtedly many have had root canals that have been plugged using traditional fillings. The procedure is far from being everyone’s favorite pasttime, as only true masochists can enjoy having high speed drills working their teeth and hot glue guns filling them.
A team of French researchers has been working on a new approach that uses nanostructured and functionalized multilayered films to help regenerate teeth and fill in cavities with little pain but all the gain. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
July 8th, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Alzheimer's Disease, Chronic Cognitive Impairment, Clinical Syndrome, Conventional Medicine, Definition Of Disease, Dementia, Epidemiology, Evidence Based Medicine, Functional Medicine, Genetic Science, Genetics-Based Treatment, Huffington Post, Individualized Treatment, Mark Hyman, MeDi, Medical Infomercials, Medical Propaganda, Mediterranean Diet, MTHFR Gene, Neurology, Neuroscience, Pathophysiology, Personalized Medicine, Pharmacology, Pseudoscience, Science Based Medicine, Science-Based Doctors, Science-Based Evidence, Self-Promoting Gurus, Slick Marketing
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Mark Hyman, a proponent of so-called “functional medicine” promoting himself over at the Huffington Post (an online news source that essentially allows dubious medical infomercials to pass as news) has posted a particularly egregious article on personalized medicine for dementia.
In the article Hyman distorts the modern practice of medicine, the current state of genetic science, and the very notion of “disease.” It is, as usual, a fine piece of medical propaganda sure to confuse many a reader. Hyman starts with some standard epidemiology of dementia –- it’s a common and growing disorder –- but then descends quickly into distortion and pseudoscience. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
July 8th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
Tags: Aging Skin, Bronzers, Coppertone, Dermatology, DHA, Dihydroxyacetone, Erythrulose, Exfoliate, Green Pigment, Premature Aging, Preventive Medicine, Raspberries, Safe Sun Practices, Self-Tanners, Skin Cancer Prevention, Skin Care, St. Tropez, Sunblock, Sunless Tanning Lotions And Sprays, Sunless Tanning Product, Sunscreen, Tanning Beds, UVA Rays, UVB Rays
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Your doctor has told you not to use tanning beds anymore. Your skin is beginning to show more aging than your age should have. You have a family history of skin cancer and want to avoid it. Whatever your reason, you have decided to look at self-tanners as an alternative.
I applaud that decision, but remember to use safe sun practices and/or sunscreens as self-tanners offer no protection to your skin from UVA or UVB rays.
According to About.com:Chemistry, self-tanners have been around in some form since 1960:
In 1960, Coppertone introduced its first sunless tanning product — QT® or Quick Tanning Lotion. This lotion produced an overall orange effect. Today’s sunless tanning products produce much more realistic results. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
July 6th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Anthropology Studies, Armed Forces, Dictatorship Governments, Forensic Medicine, Geographic Variability, Hair Proteins, Hydrogen And Oxygen Isotope, IsoForensics, Isotope Ratio, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Security And Intelligence Services, Travel Habits, Travel History, University of Utah, War Crime Investigations, Water
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Researchers at the University of Utah and IsoForensics, Inc. in Salt Lake City have demonstrated that water can potentially be used as a tracer to determine the travel habits of individuals.
Because of the natural geographic variability in the hydrogen and oxygen isotope content of water, proteins within hair should contain evidence of these ratios and therefore act as signatures as to where someone has traveled. The current study has shown that the geographic source of tap water, bottled water, beer, and soda can be distinguished simply by measuring the isotope ratio of the water within these drinks.
In our opinion if the technology pans out for real-world use, IsoForensics has a bright future with dictatorship governments, security and intelligence services, armed forces, and maybe even some legitimate forensic causes such as war-crime investigations or even anthropology studies.
Abstract in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: Links between Purchase Location and Stable Isotope Ratios of Bottled Water, Soda, and Beer in the United States
Image credit: David Hannah
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
July 6th, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: CDC, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Chickenpox, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Herpes Zoster, Immunization, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, NNT, Number Needed To Treat, PHN, Placebo, Postherpetic Neuralgia, Primary Care, Public Health, shingles, VA, Vaccination, Vaccine, Varicella Zoster Virus, Veterans Administration, Zostavax
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Shingles (herpes zoster) is no fun. It usually begins with a couple of days of pain, then a painful rash breaks out and lasts a couple of weeks. The rash consists of blisters that eventually break open, crust over, and consolidate into an ugly plaque. It is localized to one side of the body and to a stripe of skin corresponding to the dermatomal distribution of a sensory nerve.
Very rarely a shingles infection can lead to pneumonia, hearing problems, blindness, brain inflammation (encephalitis) or death. More commonly, patients develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in the area where the rash was. The overall incidence of PHN is 20%; after the age of 60 this rises to 40%, and after age 70 it rises to 50%. It can be excruciatingly painful, resistant to treatment, and can last for years or even a lifetime. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
