Author Archives: brlenz

Jun
17
2014

A Link Between Heartburn and Esophageal Cancer: What You Can Do to Reduce Your Risk

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Heartburn, also known as acid reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), is a condition that nearly 60 million adults in the United States alone suffer from. It is a very common condition that attacks generally without warning. Some of its varied causes include, but are not limited to: pregnancy, large meals, eating habits, bending forward, peptic ulcers, and many other causes (Lifespan). Drinking and smoking also cause the sphincters of the esophagus to relax and worsen the problem (Tortora). It has been discovered in the past that only a small percentage of those patients who suffer from heartburn will develop Barrett’s esophagus. Barrett’s esophagus is a condition that is caused by the cells of the lower esophagus becoming damaged. These cells are damaged by repeated exposure to gastric juices and stomach acid (Lifespan).

These few percentiles of patients who suffer from heartburn that are later diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus have now been found to have a higher risk of developing esophageal cancer. Although this is bad news, surprisingly good news has also been found. This link between esophagus cancer and heartburn can be blocked by total suppression of stomach acid, a job that can be done with a proton pump inhibitor, such as omeprazole (Lifespan). Omeprazole’s job in the body is to decrease the amount of acid produced in the stomach, that way less acid travels into the esophagus. Omeprazole is not only used as a daily medication to decrease acid produced, it also promotes healing of the esophageal damage caused by stomach acid (What).

This is good news for people who suffer from heartburn and those who have had a diagnosis of Barrett’s esophagus. These over-the-counter and prescription-given proton pump inhibitors, like omeprazole, could greatly reduce the risk of esophageal cancer. This gives hope to patients who suffer from Barrett’s esophagus, because the proton pump inhibitors could bring healing to the esophagus. This is good news for families everywhere, and a discovery that could lower the risk of esophageal cancer for the patients that are most at risk.

 

Lifespan. “Pathway uncovered linking heartburn, esophageal cancer.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 October 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131007151833.htm>.

 

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons

 

“What is omeprazole?.” Drugs.Com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www.drugs.com/omeprazole.html>.

Feb
26
2014

New Approaches to Treating Childhood Visual Disorders

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Vision is the act of seeing.   The eye contains over fifty percent of the receptors in the body.  Therefore, vision is an extremely important to our daily lives. The eye has many neurons that are involved in the development and use of the eye (Tortora). The proper development of these neurons is key to proper functioning of the eyes, especially in children.

Scientists at UC Irvine and UCLA have come up with a new approach to correcting visual disorders in children. The two visual disorders that they looked at in children were early cataract development, and amblyopia. Amblyopia is a condition known as lazy eye (University).

The problem was that even after children would have surgery to correct these visual impairments,their  vision was not corrected. They found that vision was not corrected because of improper brain development due to problems with vision during childhood. Assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology at UC Irvine, Xiangmin Xu and Josh Trachtenberg, associate proffer of neurobiology at UCLA, found that vision not returning after surgery is caused by a specific type of inhibitory neurons that control the “critical period” in development of early vision. This “critical period” is usually before age 7 (University).

They discovered that the cause of the vision defects in these children were due to improper functioning of inhibitory nerons. They did tests on mice in which they used an experimental drug compound that would treat the neuronal defects that were causing vision loss. Their work suggests that the drugs would target the neurons and help correct the vision disorders, in these children (University).

This research is important for children and families who have a child or even children who suffer from these vision disorders. This is hopeful information for these parents, which could prevent vision loss in children or help the children who are affected by these visual impairments. The hope is that more advancements will be made in this field so that even more vision disabilities can be corrected.

 

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons

 

University of California – Irvine. “New approach to remedying childhood visual disorders.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 August 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130826123145.htm>.

 

Feb
26
2014

Recovery After Strokes: Talking and the Left Brain

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In the frontal lobe close to the lateral cerebral sulcus, you will find the Broca’s speech area. This area of the brain is localized in the left hemisphere for about 97% of the population. In the left frontal lobe is where planning and production of speech occur for most people (Tortora). We know that speech is localized in the left hemisphere of the brain for most individuals, but what happens when someone is affected by a stroke? How does the brain process speech if the Broca’s speech area was affected?

Kiel University scientists simulated a dysfunction in the brain, which was comparable to a stroke. They used a magnetic coil that transmitted a current pulse that interrupted the functioning area of the brain that is responsible for producing speech, the Broca’s area. The scientists insure that this process is harmless for volunteers and only influence speech, or the lack of speech for about 30 to 45 minutes (Christian).

Once this test was carried out, the scientists compared it to previous research, which indicated that speech was localized in the left hemisphere. They used several tests to show brain activity. One of which was a fMRI- functional magnetic resonance imaging test and a TMS- transcranial magnetic stimulation test. During the 30 to 45 minutes that speech was influenced, they asked volunteers to listen to pseudo words and repeat them. During this test they observed suppressed activity in the left hemisphere (due to the magnetic coil) and it took volunteers longer to repeat the words. They also saw a surprising display of activities on the right hemisphere of the brain (Christian).

This research is a sign of hope for the scientific and medical community. It shows us that although strokes could suppress speech activity in the left hemisphere, the right hemisphere could facilitate speech production for the injured or weakened left hemisphere (Christian). This gives the medical community hope for helping stroke patients recover their speech. This research gives us insight on what could possibly be done to prevent total speech loss and to help recover it. It gives hopes to medical professionals and families just alike, who equally want to help the patient recover to the best of their functional abilities.

 

Christian-Albrechts-Universitaet zu Kiel. “Speech recovery after stroke.” ScienceDaily, 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

 

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons

 

Dec
06
2013

New Theories Behind Muscle Fatigue

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What causes muscle fatigue? Is it simply overexertion, or is there something more? We know what causes muscle contraction. A stimulus is sent from the brain and down through the nerves of the body.  This causes an increase of calcium ions into the sarcoplasm. This overload of calcium causes release channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum to open. This causes acetylcholine (ACh) to be released into the synaptic cleft between the motor neuron and the motor end plate. The Ach causes sodium channels to open, letting sodium flood into the muscle fiber. The flow makes the inside of muscle more positively charged. This charge triggers and action potential. This muscle action potential then propagates along the sarcolemma into the T tubules. This causes the sarcoplasmic reticulum to release its stored calcium into the sarcoplasm and the muscle fiber contracts (Tortora).

Now although that was a wordy, scientific definition of what is going on the basic things you should take from that is that you need: a stimulus, calcium, acetylcholine, and sodium for a muscle to contract. During muscle contraction and relaxation the influx of sodium and potassium ions are constantly changing. The exact influx of the ions has never been known until recently. Tom Clausen from Aarhus University conducted a study that now gives us some insight into how the ions vary with muscle activity (Rockefeller).

Clausen’s study measured the changes in concentration of sodium and potassium ions in the extensor digitorum longus (ESL) muscles of rats. His study found that when these muscles were stimulated for about five minutes there was a sufficient loss of potassium. This loss would lead to an extracellular concentration that would interfere with further excitation (movement/exercise). This study shows that extracellular concentrations of potassium play a bigger role in muscle fatigue than previously though (Rockefeller).

Although this information does not lead to any solutions for muscle fatigue, it does give us insight into particular channelopathies that affect skeletal muscle such as hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (Rockefeller). This research allows us to look further into muscle fatigue and deeper into how our bodies work. This is particularly helpful insight to a highly complex and important working system of the body.

 

Rockefeller University Press. “New insights into the mechanics of muscle fatigue.” ScienceDaily, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

 

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons

Oct
24
2013

Aging and Sleep: Are they linked?

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As we age we know that not all things will be as they use to be. We expect our skin to have wrinkles. We expect to gain “wisdom”, also known as pesky gray hair. We know that naturally our bodies will breakdown. Our bones will be come more brittle. Tasks that were simple during youth would become difficult. It has come to be known as a natural part of life, and for the most part we have accepted it. For years we have all dreamed of a magic cure, or a fountain of youth. Although we dream of younger days could we be doing something in our youth and adulthood to increase our chances of aging quickly.

Studies found that good and poor sleepers show statistically significant differences in skin aging (University). The participants in which poor sleep occurred, showed increased signs of skin aging. Which included but is not limited to fine lines, uneven pigmentation and reduced elasticity of the skin (University). All of these are classic signs of aging. Usually the pronounced effects of skin aging do not become noticeable until people are in their late forties (Tortora). The women who participated in this study were between the ages of 30 and 49, and still showed a significant appearance of aging due to the lack of good sleep (University).

Although this research shows how sleep affects aging skin, it also gives us some insight on how to help with aging. Aging skin is a popular topic in our lives, no one wants to age quickly and most don’t want to age at all. This study shows us one area we can improve on. This just one solution we can implement into our lives to help with the dreadful process of aging.

 

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons

 

University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “Sleep deprivation linked to aging skin, study suggests.” ScienceDaily, 23 Jul. 2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.

 

 

Oct
01
2013

Pediatric CT Scans

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Medical imagining is one way healthcare specialists can diagnose patients, including children. One type of these medical imagining scans is called a CT scan or computed tomography scan. A CT scan can see organs and soft tissues with much more detail than some other types of radiographs (Tortora). Even though these scans are more detailed than some, it does not necessarily mean they are better. These CT scans expose the body to a large does of harmful radiation. Which poses the question, are CT scans more helpful or harmful?

In a recent study, researchers have found that the use of CT scans of the head, abdomen/pelvis, chest, or spine in children under the age of 14 has more than doubled from 1996 to 2005. This news has shown that the radiation associated with this scan has the potential to increase radiation-induced cancer in children. Researches estimate that these pediatric CT scans, while helpful for diagnosis, could potentially cause 4,870 future cancers by these 4 million scans per year (American).

Researchers estimate by reducing 25% of doses to the midpoint we could possibly prevent 43% of these future cancers (American). Although this reduction would not cure childhood cancer it would certainly play a role in prevention. This research gives us insight into areas of healthcare we should improve on, such as finding/using a less harmful yet just as effective scan to decrease exposure to radiation. The ultimate goal is to save the lives of children, by being helpful and not harmful.

 

American Medical Association (AMA). “Study examines cancer risk from pediatric radiation exposure from CT scans.” ScienceDaily, 10 Jun. 2013. Web. 13 Sep. 2013.

 

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons