Scientists studying a unique collection of human skulls have shown that changes to the skull shape thought to have occurred independently through separate evolutionary events may have actually precipitated each other.
Researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Barcelona examined 390 skulls from the Austrian town of Hallstatt and found evidence that the human skull is highly integrated, meaning variation in one part of the skull is linked to changes throughout the skull.
The Austrian skulls are part of a famous collection kept in the Hallstatt Catholic Church ossuary; local tradition dictates that the remains of the town's dead are buried but later exhumed to make space for future burials. The skulls are also decorated with paintings and, crucially, bear the name of the deceased. The Barcelona team made measurements of the skulls and collected genealogical data from the church's records of births, marriages and deaths, allowing them to investigate the inheritance of skull shape.
The team tested whether certain parts of the skull - the face, the cranial base and the skull vault or brain case - changed independently, as anthropologists have always believed, or were in some way linked. The scientists simulated the shift of the foramen magnum (where the spinal cord enters the skull) associated with upright walking; the retraction of the face, thought to be linked to language development and perhaps chewing; and the expansion and rounding of the top of the skull, associated with brain expansion. They found that, rather than being separate evolutionary events, changes in one part of the brain would facilitate and even drive changes in the other parts.
"We found that genetic variation in the skull is highly integrated, so if selection were to favour a shape change in a particular part of the skull, there would be a response involving changes throughout the skull," said Dr Chris Klingenberg, in Manchester's Faculty of Life Sciences
"We were able to use the genetic information to simulate what would happen if selection were to favour particular shape changes in the skull. As those changes, we used the key features that are derived in humans, by comparison with our ancestors: the shift of the foramen magnum associated with the transition to bipedal posture, the retraction of the face, the flexion of the cranial base, and, finally, the expansion of the braincase.
"As much as possible, we simulated each of these changes as a localised shape change limited to a small region of the skull. For each of the simulations, we obtained a predicted response that included not only the change we selected for, but also all the others. All those features of the skull tended to change as a whole package. This means that, in evolutionary history, any of the changes may have facilitated the evolution of the others."
Lead author Dr Neus Martínez-Abadías, from the University of Barcelona's, added: "This study has important implications for inferences on human evolution and suggests the need for a reinterpretation of the evolutionary scenarios of the skull in modern humans.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Deadly Brain-Eating Ameba.
Naegleria fowleri infection can occur after swimming in rivers and freshwater lakes. More rarely, people may also become infected when swimming in poorly treated swimming pools, submerge their heads into contaminated tap water, or irrigate their sinuses with contaminated tap water (that was not boiled).
Naegleria fowleri infection does not occur from drinking the water - the parasite has to enter through the nose.
Naegleria fowleri infection can lead to PAM amebic meningoencephalitis, an infection of the brain in which tissue dies. Initially, PAM signs and symptoms are very similar to those of bacterial meningitis.
PAM symptoms may appear between one and seven days after the human is infected, and may include fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck and headache. The patient may eventually experience confusion, loss of balance, seizures, hallucinations and unawareness of what is going on around him/her. Most patients with PAM eventually die.
According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there were 32 reported Naegleria fowleri infections from 2001 through 2010 in the USA. Thirty of the patients had become infected after contact with recreational water, while the other two became infected from a geothermal drinking water supply.
Naegleria fowleri is also known as "brain-eating ameba". It exists in nature in three forms: a cyst, a trophozoite (ameboid) and a flagellate.
Three stages of Naegleria fowleri
Naegleria fowleri infection does not occur from drinking the water - the parasite has to enter through the nose.
Naegleria fowleri infection can lead to PAM amebic meningoencephalitis, an infection of the brain in which tissue dies. Initially, PAM signs and symptoms are very similar to those of bacterial meningitis.
PAM symptoms may appear between one and seven days after the human is infected, and may include fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck and headache. The patient may eventually experience confusion, loss of balance, seizures, hallucinations and unawareness of what is going on around him/her. Most patients with PAM eventually die.
According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there were 32 reported Naegleria fowleri infections from 2001 through 2010 in the USA. Thirty of the patients had become infected after contact with recreational water, while the other two became infected from a geothermal drinking water supply.
Naegleria fowleri is also known as "brain-eating ameba". It exists in nature in three forms: a cyst, a trophozoite (ameboid) and a flagellate.
Three stages of Naegleria fowleri
Columbus Brought Syphilis Back From The New World
According to an article published in the currentYearbook of Physical Anthropology, new research is showing that the origin of Syphilis can be traced definitively back to Columbus crew. It appears that European skeletons thought to show evidence of the disease prior to 1492, when Columbus set sail, are misleading and that the disease did not exist prior to the explorer's return.
The appraisal was led by two of Armelagos' former graduate students at Emory: Molly Zuckerman, who is now an assistant professor at Mississippi State University, and Kristin Harper, currently a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University. Additional, authors include Emory anthropologist John Kingston and Megan Harper from the University of Missouri.
Zuckerman says that :
The Santa Maria in 1492 - Evidence points to Columbus bringing back syphilis from the New World
The debate of the origin of Syphilis is very similar to the modern day debate about the origin of theHIV virus that causes AIDS. Nonetheless, new research appears to show that it was the byproduct of the meeting of two previous separate populations. The pathogen was exchanged and began to adapt, in a typical Darwinian natural selection evolution, becoming the disease that still exists today, and prior to antibiotics was considered fatal and caused the suffer terrible symptoms.
The documented case of syphilis in Europe dates back to 1495, and one theory is that the disease mutated to survive in the new European hosts who were used to a colder climate.
Armelagos, a pioneer of the field of bioarcheology, didn't believe the idea when he first heard the Columbus theory for syphilis. He recounts :
However, as they researched the issue further, publishing a paper in 2008, all the evidence continued to point to the Columbus sailors as the origin. What baffled researchers were skeletons with evidence of syphilis that dated from pre 1492 that kept cropping up.
One of the symptoms of the disease is known as caries sicca. It is characterized by pitting and swelling of the long bones and pitting on the skull.
Police investigators often use the premise that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one, and that certainly appears to be the case here. The problem was not the skeletons or the symptoms they preserved, but the dating of them.
People who eat a lot of sea food, where "old carbon" has come up from depths in the ocean, can throw off radio carbon dating by hundreds of years, so researchers looked at the collagen levels to establish the level of sea food consumption in the skeletons, to be certain that the so called "pre Columbus" skeletons were in fact pre Columbus. It appears that the dating of them was wrong, and there is no longer any solid evidence for Syphilis prior to 1492.
Zuckerman concludes :
"This is the first time that all 54 of these cases have been evaluated systematically ... The evidence keeps accumulating that a progenitor ofsyphilis came from the New World with Columbus' crew and rapidly evolved into the venereal disease that remains with us today."
The appraisal was led by two of Armelagos' former graduate students at Emory: Molly Zuckerman, who is now an assistant professor at Mississippi State University, and Kristin Harper, currently a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University. Additional, authors include Emory anthropologist John Kingston and Megan Harper from the University of Missouri.
Zuckerman says that :
"Syphilis has been around for 500 years ... People started debating where it came from shortly afterwards, and they haven't stopped since. It was one of the first global diseases, and understanding where it came from and how it spread may help us combat diseases today."
The Santa Maria in 1492 - Evidence points to Columbus bringing back syphilis from the New World
The debate of the origin of Syphilis is very similar to the modern day debate about the origin of theHIV virus that causes AIDS. Nonetheless, new research appears to show that it was the byproduct of the meeting of two previous separate populations. The pathogen was exchanged and began to adapt, in a typical Darwinian natural selection evolution, becoming the disease that still exists today, and prior to antibiotics was considered fatal and caused the suffer terrible symptoms.
The documented case of syphilis in Europe dates back to 1495, and one theory is that the disease mutated to survive in the new European hosts who were used to a colder climate.
Armelagos, a pioneer of the field of bioarcheology, didn't believe the idea when he first heard the Columbus theory for syphilis. He recounts :
"I laughed at the idea that a small group of sailors brought back this disease that caused this major European epidemic."
However, as they researched the issue further, publishing a paper in 2008, all the evidence continued to point to the Columbus sailors as the origin. What baffled researchers were skeletons with evidence of syphilis that dated from pre 1492 that kept cropping up.
One of the symptoms of the disease is known as caries sicca. It is characterized by pitting and swelling of the long bones and pitting on the skull.
Police investigators often use the premise that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one, and that certainly appears to be the case here. The problem was not the skeletons or the symptoms they preserved, but the dating of them.
People who eat a lot of sea food, where "old carbon" has come up from depths in the ocean, can throw off radio carbon dating by hundreds of years, so researchers looked at the collagen levels to establish the level of sea food consumption in the skeletons, to be certain that the so called "pre Columbus" skeletons were in fact pre Columbus. It appears that the dating of them was wrong, and there is no longer any solid evidence for Syphilis prior to 1492.
Zuckerman concludes :
"The origin of syphilis is a fascinating, compelling question ... The current evidence is pretty definitive, but we shouldn't close the book and say we're done with the subject. The great thing about science is constantly being able to understand things in a new light.
Parental Smoking Causes Vascular Damage In Young Children.
Another wave of evidence against tobacco use was released this week, with evidence from a Dutch research team showing parents smoking causing vascular damage in young children.
Published in Pediatrics, 5 years ago, the scientists began collecting data from 259 children at the age of four weeks, gathering data about their parents smoking habits and studying their cardiovascular health until the age of 5. Specifically, they looked at the children's carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) and arterial wall distensibility, using ultrasonography to take the measurements.
The evidence is fairly conclusive and shows that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy had on average carotid arteries showing 15% more stiffness, as well as arterial thickening of 19 microns, (which is about the thickness of a cassette tape) compared with their smoke free peers. Where both mother and father smoked during the pregnancy the stiffness rose to 21% and thickening to 28 microns.
The scientists state that they were unable to find an effect from fathers smoking during pregnancy or from mothers that began smoking after giving birth, showing that the primary damage is from the mother smoking while carrying the fetus.
Uiterwaal, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at the University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands, said :
Researchers pointed out that nearly twenty percent of U.S. adults smoke, with around half of children showing biochemical evidence of exposure to tobacco smoke, or passive smoking as it is known.
Authors and pediatricians Susanne Tanski, MD, MPH, of Dartmouth College and Karen Wilson, MD, MPH, of the University of Rochester write that :
Although of course there are hundreds of other chemicals we are exposed to daily, from car fumes, brake pad dust, to household cleaning chemicals, paints and glues, that are just as aggressive and harmful as tobacco smoke.
Nonetheless Uiterwaal's study, as Tanski and Wilson write :
Published in Pediatrics, 5 years ago, the scientists began collecting data from 259 children at the age of four weeks, gathering data about their parents smoking habits and studying their cardiovascular health until the age of 5. Specifically, they looked at the children's carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) and arterial wall distensibility, using ultrasonography to take the measurements.
The evidence is fairly conclusive and shows that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy had on average carotid arteries showing 15% more stiffness, as well as arterial thickening of 19 microns, (which is about the thickness of a cassette tape) compared with their smoke free peers. Where both mother and father smoked during the pregnancy the stiffness rose to 21% and thickening to 28 microns.
The scientists state that they were unable to find an effect from fathers smoking during pregnancy or from mothers that began smoking after giving birth, showing that the primary damage is from the mother smoking while carrying the fetus.
Uiterwaal, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at the University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands, said :
"...With our findings, we think that smoking in pregnancy does play an independent role, although we know that exposure of children to [secondhand] smoke is damaging in many areas."
Researchers pointed out that nearly twenty percent of U.S. adults smoke, with around half of children showing biochemical evidence of exposure to tobacco smoke, or passive smoking as it is known.
Authors and pediatricians Susanne Tanski, MD, MPH, of Dartmouth College and Karen Wilson, MD, MPH, of the University of Rochester write that :
"There is no known safe level of exposure."
Although of course there are hundreds of other chemicals we are exposed to daily, from car fumes, brake pad dust, to household cleaning chemicals, paints and glues, that are just as aggressive and harmful as tobacco smoke.
Nonetheless Uiterwaal's study, as Tanski and Wilson write :
"... Provides one more piece of evidence for the importance of smoking cessation, in particular, among families with young children and those planning to have children." Anyone interested in quitting smoking should contact their local family doctor or try online at www.smokefree.gov.
Friday, December 23, 2011
To stay healthy during the winter, Eat fruits.....!!!
(Health.com) -- You've been told a trillion times not to buy produce out of season. But that doesn't mean you have to skip the fruits you love this time of year. It's just a matter of knowing which version is the healthiest and tastiest.
"In the winter, frozen or dried options may have a leg up over fresh when it comes to flavor and nutrition," says Elizabeth Somer, R.D., author of "Eat Your Way Sexy". In other cases, fresh is still the way to go. Here's your guide to making the best picks now.
Health Benefits of fruits
Have you ever wondered how ancient people were in good health?
Have you ever wondered how ancient people were free of chronic diseases?
Have you ever wondered how ancient people were free of cancer diseases?
Have you ever wondered how ancient people live more than 100 years old?
The secret is the health benefits of fruit !!
Blueberries
Buy 'em: Frozen
Frozen blueberries are typically the petite wild version, which have been found by scientists to contain more disease-thwarting antioxidants than their traditionally cultivated counterparts (the type you're most likely to find fresh right now). Also, fresh blueberries are pricey in winter and, if trucked in from afar, can go moldy fast.
Apples
Buy 'em: Fresh
Apples are a top-notch source of quercetin, an antioxidant shown to slash the risk for certain cancers. And quercetin levels in a fresh apple hold up even if it was picked months ago and put into cold storage until the winter, a "Nutrition Journal" study suggests.
Nearly all of the fruit's quercetin and half its fiber is found in the peel -- which you'll get with fresh apples but usually not with dried. (Opt for certified organic, if possible, to avoid pesticides on the fruit's exterior.)
Peaches
Buy 'em: Frozen
When it comes to juicy goodness, winter peaches from South America are mere shadows of the fresh, locally sourced summer version. They're also about twice the price.
They're not as good for you, either: "Peaches can lose a considerable amount of their nutrients, including potassium, during multi-country shipping," says Cynthia Sass, R.D., author of "Cinch! Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches".
Frozen peaches, on the other hand, are harvested at peak ripeness and quickly flash-frozen to lock in vitamins, antioxidants, and flavor.
Strawberries
Buy 'em: Fresh
Fresh or frozen, strawberries are a leading source of vitamin C, but let's face it: The texture of frozen strawberries leaves something to be desired. What's more, compared to other berries, fresh strawberries remain reasonably priced throughout the winter.
Why is it called Diabetes Mellitus?
What is diabetes? What causes diabetes?
Diabetes (diabetes mellitus) is classed as a metabolism disorder. Metabolism refers to the way our bodies use digested food for energy and growth. Most of what we eat is broken down into glucose. Glucose is a form of sugar in the blood - it is the principal source of fuel for our bodies.
When our food is digested the glucose makes its way into our bloodstream. Our cells use the glucose for energy and growth. However, glucose cannot enter our cells without insulin being present - insulin makes it possible for our cells to take in the glucose.
Insulin is a hormone that is produced by the pancreas. After eating, the pancreas automatically releases an adequate quantity of insulin to move the glucose present in our blood into the cells, and lowers the blood sugar level.
A person with diabetes has a condition in which the quantity of glucose in the blood is too elevated (hyperglycemia). This is because the body either does not produce enough insulin, produces no insulin, or has cells that do not respond properly to the insulin the pancreas produces. This results in too much glucose building up in the blood. This excess blood glucose eventually passes out of the body in urine. So, even though the blood has plenty of glucose, the cells are not getting it for their essential energy and growth requirements.
When our food is digested the glucose makes its way into our bloodstream. Our cells use the glucose for energy and growth. However, glucose cannot enter our cells without insulin being present - insulin makes it possible for our cells to take in the glucose.
Insulin is a hormone that is produced by the pancreas. After eating, the pancreas automatically releases an adequate quantity of insulin to move the glucose present in our blood into the cells, and lowers the blood sugar level.
A person with diabetes has a condition in which the quantity of glucose in the blood is too elevated (hyperglycemia). This is because the body either does not produce enough insulin, produces no insulin, or has cells that do not respond properly to the insulin the pancreas produces. This results in too much glucose building up in the blood. This excess blood glucose eventually passes out of the body in urine. So, even though the blood has plenty of glucose, the cells are not getting it for their essential energy and growth requirements.
Why is it called Diabetes Mellitus?
Diabetes comes from Greek, and it means a siphon. Aretus the Cappadocian, a Greek physician during the second century A.D., named the condition diabainein. He described patients who were passing too much water (polyuria) - like a siphon. The word became "diabetes" from the English adoption of the Medieval Latin diabetes.
In 1675 Thomas Willis added mellitus to the term, although it is commonly referred to simply as diabetes. Mel in Latin means honey; the urine and blood of people with diabetes has excess glucose, and glucose is sweet like honey. Diabetes mellitus could literally mean "siphoning off sweet water".
In ancient China people observed that ants would be attracted to some people's urine, because it was sweet. The term "Sweet Urine Disease" was coined.
There are three main types of diabetes:
Diabetes Type 1 - You produce no insulin at all.
Diabetes Type 2 - You don't produce enough insulin, or your insulin is not working properly.
Gestational Diabetes - You develop diabetes just during your pregnancy.
Diabetes Type 2 - You don't produce enough insulin, or your insulin is not working properly.
Gestational Diabetes - You develop diabetes just during your pregnancy.
(World Health Organization)
Diabetes Types 1 & 2 are chronic medical conditions - this means that they are persistent and perpetual. Gestational Diabetes usually resolves itself after the birth of the child.
Treatment is effective and important
All types of diabetes are treatable, but Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes last a lifetime; there is no known cure. The patient receives regular insulin, which became medically available in 1921. The treatment for a patient with Type 1 is mainly injected insulin, plus some dietary and exercise adherence.
Patients with Type 2 are usually treated with tablets, exercise and a special diet, but sometimes insulin injections are also required.
If diabetes is not adequately controlled the patient has a significantly higher risk of developing complications, such as hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis, and nonketotic hypersosmolar coma. Longer term complications could be cardiovascular disease, retinal damage, chronic kidney failure, nerve damage, poor healing of wounds, gangrene on the feet which may lead to amputation, and erectile dysfunction.
Patients with Type 2 are usually treated with tablets, exercise and a special diet, but sometimes insulin injections are also required.
If diabetes is not adequately controlled the patient has a significantly higher risk of developing complications, such as hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis, and nonketotic hypersosmolar coma. Longer term complications could be cardiovascular disease, retinal damage, chronic kidney failure, nerve damage, poor healing of wounds, gangrene on the feet which may lead to amputation, and erectile dysfunction.
Understanding The Honesty and Ethics of Medical Professions.
Americans have very high opinions about the honesty and ethics about those in medical professions and have for years, according to a Gallup poll.
Since 1976, Gallup has been asking Americans to rate the honesty and ethics of numerous professions with answers of very high, high, average, low and very low. Three medical professions topped this list this year: nurses, pharmacists and doctors.
Since nurses were included in the list in 1999, they have consistently topped it. The only exception was in 2001 when firefighters were included to measure support after 9/11. Only 1% rated nurses’ honesty and ethics as low or very low. In the years before nurses were added to the list, pharmacists topped it for eight years.
This year 84% rated the honesty and ethics of nurses as very high or high. This year 70% of Americans rated doctors highly — in 1976 they only had 76% — and 73% rated pharmacists highly.
However not everyone in the health industry is considered honest and ethical. There were some jobs not asked about in 2011 that were use in the past, and some fared better than others.
Nursing home operators only rated in the 20s during the four years that the job was included in the list, and had the worst percent for those in care. Chiropractors weren’t considered very ethical or honest either. The highest percent vote of confidence the field got was 36%, but was as low as 26% in 1999.
Perhaps because people are at their most vulnerable with psychiatrists they don’t believe them to be very honest. In 2004 and 2006 only 38% said their honesty was very high or high, but in 2009 only 33% felt that way.
Lastly, dentists were considered fairly honest and ethical, with more than 50% always putting their honest at very high or high.
Since 1976, Gallup has been asking Americans to rate the honesty and ethics of numerous professions with answers of very high, high, average, low and very low. Three medical professions topped this list this year: nurses, pharmacists and doctors.
Since nurses were included in the list in 1999, they have consistently topped it. The only exception was in 2001 when firefighters were included to measure support after 9/11. Only 1% rated nurses’ honesty and ethics as low or very low. In the years before nurses were added to the list, pharmacists topped it for eight years.
This year 84% rated the honesty and ethics of nurses as very high or high. This year 70% of Americans rated doctors highly — in 1976 they only had 76% — and 73% rated pharmacists highly.
However not everyone in the health industry is considered honest and ethical. There were some jobs not asked about in 2011 that were use in the past, and some fared better than others.
Nursing home operators only rated in the 20s during the four years that the job was included in the list, and had the worst percent for those in care. Chiropractors weren’t considered very ethical or honest either. The highest percent vote of confidence the field got was 36%, but was as low as 26% in 1999.
Perhaps because people are at their most vulnerable with psychiatrists they don’t believe them to be very honest. In 2004 and 2006 only 38% said their honesty was very high or high, but in 2009 only 33% felt that way.
Lastly, dentists were considered fairly honest and ethical, with more than 50% always putting their honest at very high or high.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
11-year-old Boy's survival from flesh-eating bacteria.
Jake Finkbonner is bouncing about, teasing his sisters and playing basketball again. That is a miracle – not only to him and his family but also to the Pope Benedict XVI.
The 11-year-old Ferndale, Wash., boy’s stunning recovery from the flesh-eating bacteria that chewed up his face and nearly killed him in 2006 has been officially deemed by the Vatican as a miracle attributable to Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th-century American Indian woman who converted to Catholicism at a young age.
The pope on Monday signed a decree authenticating the miracle, clearing the way for Tekakwitha to be canonized as America’s first Roman Catholic indigenous saint.
“There is no doubt in me or my husband’s mind that a miracle definitely took place,” Jake’s mother, Elsa Finkbonner, told msnbc.com on Tuesday. “There were far too many things that could have and should have gone wrong with his illness. The doctors went through every avenue they could to save his life and he survived. It’s a miracle that all of the other things that could have gone wrong, didn’t.”Fateful day
Jake's face-off with death started at age 5 on Feb. 11, 2006, when he fell and bumped his mouth against the base of a portable basketball hoop while playing basketball for the Boys & Girls Club. Lurking on the surface of that base was Strep A bacteria, which causes a tissue-destroying disease known as necrotizing fasciitis, a very rare condition commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria.
Within a couple of days Jake found himself in Children’s Hospital in Seattle, fighting for his life as the bacteria gnawed away incessantly at his head, neck and chest.
“They had taken him apart. There was nothing to see of Jake’s face except his nose and chin. Everything else on his head was completely covered in bandages,” Elsa Finkbonner recalled.
jakefinkbonner.com
Jake Finkbonner two months later with skin grafts.
Doctors told Elsa and her husband, Don Finkbonner, who works at a BP refinery in Ferndale, that the prognosis was grim.
“They opened up Jake and said, ‘If you are praying people, you need to pray. You need to get your family here because we are trying to save his life,’” Elsa said.
A priest and family friend, Fr. Tim Sauer, was called in to administer what he thought would be last rites.
“When I was called to the hospital it was basically to help the family prepare to say goodbye and let go. His probability of survival at that point was very slender,” Sauer told mnsbc.com.
Vatican investigates
After Jake’s recovery, Sauer sent a letter to the Seattle archbishop detailing the possible miracle.
After Jake’s recovery, Sauer sent a letter to the Seattle archbishop detailing the possible miracle.
The Vatican in Rome eventually sent a panel of investigators – including a doctor and a church lawyer – to Ferndale and Seattle to examine the claims. Community members were asked if they indeed did pray for the intercession of Tekakwitha. Doctors who attended to Jake were also interviewed.
The findings were forwarded to the Congregation for Causes of Saints, a committee of cardinals and bishops in Rome who review all the testimony that leads to the canonization of saints and presents the case to the pope.
And here is Jake Finkbonner and what he has to say.
Elsa Finkbonner
Jake Finkbonner in 2011
“He said, ‘I’m not afraid of that infection. I beat it the first time and I can beat it again,’” Elsa said.
As for the nonbelievers, Elsa is quick to explain that attributing Jake’s miracle survival to a future saint is in no way a discredit to the doctors who treated him.
“We know Jake would not be here if those doctors were not so fabulous,” she says.
But she also notes that the doctors themselves told the Vatican interviewers they don’t know how to account for the boy’s turn of fortune.
But she also notes that the doctors themselves told the Vatican interviewers they don’t know how to account for the boy’s turn of fortune.
“They stated they did everything humanly possible and that the death rate for this disease is very high. They had also made comments as to they don’t know why he survived. They, too, have stated that, yeah, it is a miracle that he has survived.”
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
#NewStudy--Scientists growing skin from baby foreskins.
No, this is not an ill-conceived sequel to an Ira Levin novel. Scientists at a laboratory in Germany have begun growing human skin from the cells of infant foreskins.
According to the German Herald, the "medical breakthrough" is being used to test cosmetics and other consumer products and could someday replace all animal testing. The so-called Skin Factory, at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart, takes foreskin cells donated to the project and uses them to grow the skin, according to spokesman Andreas Traube. More from the Herald:
Scientists extract a single layer of cells from each foreskin and then grow on layers of collagen and connective tissue in the Skin Factory, a sealed growing environment just seven meters, by thee meters, and three meters high and kept at a constant temperature of 37 degrees centigrade.
The scientists use the Skin Factory machine--some 22 feet long, 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide--to grow the new skin. Parents provide the scientists with permission before they are allowed to use the donated foreskins.
Once the cells are multiplied inside the machine, researchers then inject them into a gel that causes them to grow into a sheet that simulates the epidermis. The layers are then fused together, creating a replica of natural human skin.
Traube said the foreskin is taken from children aged 1-4, because the younger tissue has better research applications. "The older the skin is, the worse it performs," he said. According to the report, the cells taken from a single foreskin can produce test skin samples in six weeks. The success of the research has led the Skin Factory to consider expanding its efforts to commercial projects.
"It's logical that we'd want to take the operation to a bigger scale," Traube said. "In the future, there are all sort of possible applications for the Skin Factory like cancer research, pigmentation diseases, and allergic reactions." ("The "Skin Factory" may soon replace all animal testing on cosmetics")
The benefits of eating fruits both before and after meals.
Eating fruits mostly on an empty stomach, provides your body with the best concentration of Vitamins, Minerals and other beneficial compounds.
Eating fruits on an empty stomach enhances Detoxification, provides the body with energy, helps regulate fat in people with excess body fats, antioxidants, fibers etc.
While on the other hand, eating fruits after a meal can be the best option towards maintaining a good Immune system.
Some vitamins and minerals are actually absorbed better when in the presence of fruits. E.g Iron is best absorbed when consumed with vitamins C-rich fruits and vegetables.
18th Century Japanese Obstetrics.
19th Century Japanese Obstetrical Doll.
Popular in the 18th centuries, these Japanese pregnant dolls were often shown at carnivals. Although it is commonly believed that these dolls were created to teach midwives how to deliver babies, evidence suggests they were also used for other things e.g entertainment purposes.
Too bad there is no sense of scale in these photos, are these dolls life size or are they barbie size?
Doll with placenta and umbilical cord
Doll with stretch marks
Instead of tears, she cries blood.
Twinkle Dwivedi is the subject of much intrigue and confusion – as well as speculation and disbelief. A now-14-year-old Indian girl, Twinkle experiences frequent bleeding – out of her eyes, through her scalp, the soles of her feet, and through her nose. Twinkle and her mother have sought help from medical as well as spiritual leaders, and have yet to solve Twinkle’s mysterious problem.
National Geographic did a piece on Twinkle, and Dr. George Buchanan believes that Twinkle and/or her mother are responsible for Twinkle’s bleeding. He feels that in order to be sure that Twinkle would need to be observed by medical professionals for several 24-hour periods, something that would be very costly. Twinkle’s family is very poor, so unless a very generous or very curious individual wants to pay for it, there is no telling if we’ll ever know for sure what Twinkle’s real problem is.
What else could it be? Buchanan believes that it’s Munchhausen or Munchhausen-By-Proxy Syndrome – meaning that Twinkle (in the first case) or Twinkle’s mother (in the second case) is somehow causing the bleeding for attention or some other reason.
A London doctor who had no previous contact with Twinkle, suggested that she might have Type II von Willebrand disease – a coagulation disorder. von Willedbrand is usually characterized with easy bruising, etc, but spontaneous bleeding from the pores is practically unheard of. So, again, Twinkle would need a great deal of testing to determine if von Willebrand is really what is wrong.
Others believe that Twinkle is possessed by demons. Her school dismissed her after her symptoms started, and her friends stopped playing with her. Sometimes her neighbors and fellow townfolk throw rocks at her or spit on the ground as she walks by. Still others believe that Twinkle might be experiencing symptoms of stigmata – a condition strongly associated with the Catholic faith.
Either way, Twinkle could use some help.
It’s hard for Twinkle to have “twinkle toes” when she bleeds spontaneously from her feet.
You will notice, however, the calm and cool expression on Twinkle’s face as she is examined by the doctor in the video that National Geographic posted. Can this be a publicity stunt, or is this girl a medical mystery?
National Geographic did a piece on Twinkle, and Dr. George Buchanan believes that Twinkle and/or her mother are responsible for Twinkle’s bleeding. He feels that in order to be sure that Twinkle would need to be observed by medical professionals for several 24-hour periods, something that would be very costly. Twinkle’s family is very poor, so unless a very generous or very curious individual wants to pay for it, there is no telling if we’ll ever know for sure what Twinkle’s real problem is.
What else could it be? Buchanan believes that it’s Munchhausen or Munchhausen-By-Proxy Syndrome – meaning that Twinkle (in the first case) or Twinkle’s mother (in the second case) is somehow causing the bleeding for attention or some other reason.
A London doctor who had no previous contact with Twinkle, suggested that she might have Type II von Willebrand disease – a coagulation disorder. von Willedbrand is usually characterized with easy bruising, etc, but spontaneous bleeding from the pores is practically unheard of. So, again, Twinkle would need a great deal of testing to determine if von Willebrand is really what is wrong.
Others believe that Twinkle is possessed by demons. Her school dismissed her after her symptoms started, and her friends stopped playing with her. Sometimes her neighbors and fellow townfolk throw rocks at her or spit on the ground as she walks by. Still others believe that Twinkle might be experiencing symptoms of stigmata – a condition strongly associated with the Catholic faith.
Either way, Twinkle could use some help.
It’s hard for Twinkle to have “twinkle toes” when she bleeds spontaneously from her feet.
You will notice, however, the calm and cool expression on Twinkle’s face as she is examined by the doctor in the video that National Geographic posted. Can this be a publicity stunt, or is this girl a medical mystery?
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