العدد الثامن

في هذا العدد

HEROIN COULD CAUSE HOLES IN THE HEAD 

  The practice of inhaling heroin fumes could cause spongy holes in the brain. Neurologists in AlZheimer’s Research Center reported that “a direct path from the nose to the brain could breach the blood brain barrier, which protects the brain from foreign substances, including drugs. The nasal spray allows the drugs to travel directly to the brain through the olfactory system - the sense of smell- which reach down to the nose. The drug travels along those pathways directly to the brain. This method means that the drug reaches the brain much faster than it would if it were administered into a vein.

Arnold Kreigstein of Columbia university and his colleagues have treated three people who showed brain damage after taking the drug. The worst affected was a 21 year-old woman who had been chasing    the    dragonforsixmonths. The woman’s condition continued to worsen even after she had quit the drug. A magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed spongy holes in her brain’s white matter, a condition called progressive spongiform leukoencephalopathy. The worst hit was the cerebellum, a part of the brain at the back of the head that deals with fine motor skills .The damage also spread forward in a distinctive pattern.

REFERENCE:

http://www.newscientists.com/ns/19991120/newsstory8.html

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20010216/hl/nasal1.html

WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE CAN HELP DIAGNOSE DISEASES

     According to the United State centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health departments in 10 countries, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) - a measure of a person’s weight in relation to their height – can identify health risks associated with over weight and obesity.

     People with similar waist circumferences had comparable rates of type 2 diabetes regardless of age and that in women, the rate of heart disease rose as both BMI and waist circumference increased.

     The authors from the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection in Nether-lands, recommend that primary care doctors use BMI and waist circumference as tools to discuss prevention with their patients.

     People who develop excess weight in their abdomen, or those with an “apple- shaped” body, have a higher risk of certain chronic disorders than people who tend to gain weight in their

buttocks and thighs, of those who have “pear shaped” bodies. Waist circumference can gauge a person’s overall pattern of weight gain.

     Waist circumference and BMI are easy and relatively inexpensive to measure and are easy to monitor over time by either the individual themselves or their healthcare providers.

REFERENCE:

http://allhealth.com/health/followup/print/0,4197,5001_211256,00.html

PEPPERMINT OIL COULD  CONTROL MOSQUITO BORNE DISEASES

       Peppermint oil could be a new, cheap weapon in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, filariasis, dengue fever, West Nile virus and rift valley fever. The oil, not only repels adult mosquitoes, but also kills the larvae. It contains menthol, menthone, methyl acetate, volatile oils, tannic acid, terpenes and vitamin C.     A team from the center for Rural Development and Technology in Delhi extracted the oil from locally grown peppermint. The researchers tested the oil on the larvae of three mosquito species – Aedes (which carries dengue fever rift valley fever), anopheles stephensi (malaria) and culex quinquefasciatus (filariasis and West Nile virus). They spread films of peppermint oil on the water in the trays housing the larvae. When the concentration of oil was 3 milliliters per square meter of water, all the culex quinquefasciatus larvae died within a day, along 90 percent of A. aegypti and 85 per cent of A. stephensi. Higher concentrations should kill all the larvae.    Peppermint oil doesn’t pollute the environment (it is safe for human and animals) than would be needed to do the same job with a commercial insecticide. We would need tons of leaves to treat all the breeding sites around a village.

REFERENCES:

James F. (1990): prescription for nutritional healing.http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991120/newsstory7.html

     Researchers have found that mice and chicken infected with adenovirus-36, a virus known to cause cold, put on much more fat than uninfected animals. After several months, animals infected with adenovirus-36 weighed only 7% more on average than those without the virus, but their bodies  contained more than twice as much fat.Unpublished studies in humans show that 20%-30% of overweight people are infected with adenovirus-36, compared to about 5% of the lean population.Several animal viruses are already known to cause obesity in both animals and humans, but adenovirus-36 is the first human virus known to cause an increase in fat.The latest results do not indicate that all obesity is caused by viruses, but they strongly suggest that infection plays an important role.Researchers do not know yet how adenvirus-36 causes obesity. Infected animals did not eat more than uninfected ones, suggesting that the virus decreases energy expenditure rather than increasing appetite.    Paradoxically, animals infected with the virus also had decreased levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in their blood. Generally, obesity is associated with high cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Researchers report that it is still two early to know whether it may be possible to develop an effective vaccine against obesity or otherwise counteract the effects of the virus.

REFERENCE:

http://www.msnbc.com/news//438439.asp?bt=pu&btu=http://www…./msnbc_o_install.as  

RESEARCHERS COULD MAKE CARTILAGE FROM FAT CELLS

     Researchers reported that they could coax fat cells to transform into cartilage cells, a breakthrough that could one day provide a much needed way to repair joint injuries.

There is currently no good way to treat cartilage damage. Cartilage has a very limited capacity to treat itself after injury, and such injuries often need surgery or joint replacement. The researchers suggest that the first people who might benefit from the breakthrough are those who damage their cartilage in sports or after an accident. People with osteoarthritis, where cartilage breaks down over time, would not be candidates for the treatment until researchers better understand what causes the disease.

The researchers liposuctioned fat cells from human donors and treated them “with a cocktail of growth factors and vitamins”. The cells were then grown in three-dimensional matrix for 2 weeks. The fat cells exposed to the growth cocktail looked and acted like normal cartilage cells called chondrocytes.Using the cells from an injured person to grow repair cells limits the possibility of rejection.

REFERENCE:

http://www.allhealth.com/allhealth/news/0,4800,5001_228082,00.html

الهيروين قد يؤدي إلى ثقوب في المخ

استنشاق أبخرة الهيروين قد يؤدي إلى ثقوب إسفنجية في المخ حيث لاحظ العلماء أنه يوجد طريق مباشر من الأنف إلى المخ يتخطى الحاجز المخي الدموي الذي يحمى المخ من المواد الغريبة. الاستنشاق عن طريق الأنف يؤدي إلى انتقال الدواء مباشـرة إلى المخ عن طريق عصب الشم وتعتبر هذه الطريقة أسرع من أخذ الدواء عن طريق الوريد. وقد أظهرت أشعة الرنين المغناطيسي لامرأة كانت تتعاطى الهيروين عن طريق الأنف وجود ثقوب إسفنجية بالمخ والتي استمرت حتى بعد ثلاثة أشهر من توقفها عن التعاطي وكان الخلل أكثر في المخيخ وهو الجزء المسئول عن الحركات الدقيقة.

تشخيص الأمراض عن طريق محيط الخصر

     أعنت المراكز الخاصة بمكافحة والوقاية من الأمراض في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية وكذلك الأقسام الصحية في عشر دول أن قياس محيط الخصر وكذلك قياس علاقة وزن الشخص بطوله يمكن عن طريقهما تحديد المخاطر المتعلقة بزيادة الوزن والسمنة وقد وجد في السيدات أن زيادة هذين العنصرين يـؤدي إلى زيادة معدل أمراض القلب .

زيت النعناع قد يقضي على الناموس الناقل للأمراض

يعتبر زيت النعناع من الأسلحة الرخيصة التي يمكن استخدامها في القضـاء على النـاموس الناقل للأمراض مثل الملاريا وحمى

الوادي المتصدع فهو لا يطرد الناموس فقط بل يقضي على يرقاته أيضاً حيث إنه يحتوي على زيوت طياره. وقد قام فريق من البـاحـثين في دلهي بوضـع طبقة من زيت النعناع على

الماء التي يكثر فيها يرقات الناموس بتركيز 3 مللي لتر لكل مترمربع من الماء وقد لاحظوا أنه يقضي على هذه اليرقات بنسبة85%.

السمنة الناتجة عن الفيروس المسبب للبرد

اكتشف الباحثون أن الفيروس المسبب لنـزلة البرد قد يؤدي إلى زيادة نسبة الدهون في الحيوانات المصابة بدرجة أكبر من الحيوانات الغير مصابة. ويعتقد الباحثون أن زيادة الدهون لايرجع إلى زيادة الشهية ولكن إلى نقص استهلاك الطاقة. ومـن المعروف أن الأشخاص المصابين بالسمنة ترتفع لديهم نسبة الكوليسترول والدهون على عكس الأشخاص المصابين بذلك الفيروس.  

عمل الغضاريف من خلايا دهنية

أعلن الباحثون أنهم تمكنوا من تحويل الخلايا الدهنية إلى خلايا غضروفية ويمكن الإستفادة من هذا في الأشخاص الذين تحدث لهم تهتكات في غضاريف المفاصل أثناء الرياضة أو الحوادث وقد أوصى الباحثون باستخدام الخلايا الدهنية من نفس الشخص المصاب وذلك لتفادي حدوث رفض الجسم لها.

قائمة العدد الثامن