| FAQ/Help |
| Calendar |
| Search |
| Today's Posts |
03-15-2008, 09:18 PM
|
#1 | |||
|
||||
|
In Remembrance
|
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229
the above link - what it is about: Why you should listen to her: One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness ... Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist." "How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career." Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/12 the above link Why you should listen to her: Eva Vertes may not yet have the answers she needs to cure cancer, but she's asking some important -- and radical questions: If smoking can cause lung cancer, and drinking can cause liver cancer, is it possible that cancer is a direct result of injury? If so, could cancer be caused by the body's own repair system going awry? She asks this and other breathtaking questions in her conference-closing 2005 talk. Her approach marks an important shift in scientific thinking, looking in brand-new places for cancer's cause -- and its cure. Her ultimate goal, which even she calls far-fetched, is to fight cancer with cancer. "Vertes and her colleagues are gifted researchers who realize that stem cells hold an infinite amount of possibility within their amazingly small frames. Unlocking their potential will produce cures that could end the suffering of hundreds of millions of afflicted people." Digital Journal
__________________
with much love, lou_lou . . by . , on Flickr pd documentary - part 2 and 3 . . Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these. Last edited by lou_lou; 03-16-2008 at 12:41 PM. |
|||
|
 Reply With Quote
|
| "Thanks for this!" says: | Thelma (03-15-2008) |
|
03-16-2008, 12:30 PM
|
#2 | |||
|
||||
|
In Remembrance
|
Web address:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/ 071024083630.htm Direct Route From The Brain To The Immune System Discovered ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2007) — It used to be dogma that the brain was shut away from the actions of the immune system, shielded from the outside forces of nature. But that's not how it is at all. In fact, thanks to the scientific detective work of Kevin Tracey, MD, it turns out that the brain talks directly to the immune system, sending commands that control the body's inflammatory response to infection and autoimmune diseases. Understanding the intimate relationship is leading to a novel way to treat diseases triggered by a dangerous inflammatory response. Dr. Tracey, director and chief executive of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, will be giving the 2007 Stetten Lecture on Oct. 24, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. His talk -- Physiology and Immunology of the Cholinergic Anti-inflammatory Pathway -- will highlight the discoveries made in his laboratory and the clinical trials underway to test the theory that stimulation of the vagus nerve could block a rogue inflammatory response and treat a number of diseases, including life-threatening sepsis. With this new understanding of the vagus nerve's role in regulating inflammation, scientists believe that they can tap into the body's natural healing defenses and calm the sepsis storm before it wipes out its victims. Each year, 750,000 people in the United States develop severe sepsis, and 215,000 will die no matter how hard doctors fight to save them. Sepsis is triggered by the body's own overpowering immune response to a systemic infection, and hospitals are the battlegrounds for these potentially lethal conditions. The vagus nerve is located in the brainstem and snakes down from the brain to the heart and on through to the abdomen. Dr. Tracey and others are now studying ways of altering the brain's response or targeting the immune system itself as a way to control diseases. Dr. Tracey is a neurosurgeon who came into research through the back door of the operating room. More than two decades ago, he was treating a young girl whose body had been accidentally scorched by boiling water and she was fighting for her life to overcome sepsis. She didn't make it. Dr. Tracey headed into the laboratory to figure out why the body makes its own cells that can do fatal damage. Dr. Tracey discovered that the vagus nerve speaks directly to the immune system through a neurochemical called acetylcholine. And stimulating the vagus nerve sent commands to the immune system to stop pumping out toxic inflammatory markers. "This was so surprising to us," said Dr. Tracey, who immediately saw the potential to use vagus stimulation as a way to shut off abnormal immune system responses. He calls this network "the inflammatory reflex." Research is now underway to see whether tweaking the brain's acetylcholine system could be a natural way to control the inflammatory response. Inflammation is key to many diseases - from autoimmune conditions like Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis to Alzheimer's, where scientists have identified a strong inflammatory component. Dr. Tracey has presented his work to the Dalai Lama, who has shown a great interest in the neurosciences and the mind-body connection. He has also written a book called "Fatal Sequence," about the double-edge sword of the immune system. Adapted from materials provided by North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats: APA MLA North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System (2007, October 24). Direct Route From The Brain To The Immune System Discovered. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 16, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com* /releases/2007/10/071024083630.htm
__________________
with much love, lou_lou . . by . , on Flickr pd documentary - part 2 and 3 . . Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these. |
|||
|
|
Reply With Quote
|
|
03-16-2008, 12:45 PM
|
#3 | |||
|
||||
|
In Remembrance
|
Brain Cancer Linked to Stem Cells
Reuters 08.16.05 | 12:08 PM WASHINGTON -- Some types of brain cancer may start with specialized stem cells, researchers said in a report that could lead to new treatments for hard-to-treat brain tumors. Studies in mice showed that certain incurable types of brain tumor may be initiated by the primitive stem cells, which are a kind of master cell for blood and tissue, they reported Monday. "Continued research into the biology of adult stem cells will aid in the understanding of how cancers originate and develop and may lead to possible new therapies for treating aggressive, currently incurable brain tumors," said Dr. Luis Parada of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who led the study. Writing in the journal Cancer Cell, Parada and colleagues said their findings support evidence that so-called adult stem cells may play a role in the development of some forms of cancer. Stem cells share some properties with cancer cells, including an ability to live a very long time without self-destructing, as a normal cell does as it ages. Adult stem cells are already programmed to become certain types of tissue. For example, bone marrow stem cells make various kinds of blood cells such as white blood cells, and can also become muscle when directed properly. Similarly, there are primitive liver cells and primitive brain cells. Some of these primitive brain cells may be predisposed to form tumors, Parada's team found. They bred genetically engineered mice that lacked a gene called p53, known for its role in preventing tumors. It repairs the errors in DNA that can result in cancer. The mice also had a mutated version of another tumor suppressor gene called NF1. As these gene-engineered mice matured, they all developed brain tumors. The researchers found that stem cells in a part of the brain called the subventricular zone gave rise to malignant astrocytoma cells in the genetically engineered mice. Malignant astrocytoma, or glioma, is one of the most common types of brain tumor in adults. "Our results challenge current dogma, which assumes that tumors of this type arise from glial cells located throughout the brain," Parada said in a statement. This could help explain why these tumors are so hard to cure. Surgery and radiation therapy my remove the tumor, but the cancer could be replenishing itself from the stem cells, Parada said. http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2005/08/68541
__________________
with much love, lou_lou . . by . , on Flickr pd documentary - part 2 and 3 . . Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these. |
|||
|
|
Reply With Quote
|
| Reply |
|
|
Similar Threads
|
||||
| Thread | Forum | |||
| Interesting -- Video re: Senator Clinton | Social Chat | |||
| Speech loss and meds | Epilepsy | |||
| Speech | Parkinson's Disease | |||
| Speech therapy | ALS News & Research | |||
a speech about the brain -video - very interesting
Brain Cancer Linked to Stem Cells
Linear Mode
