The average female is born with two small sex organs called ovaries.  They are located in the pelvic area on either side of the body.  These small organs produce many hormones that allow females to function and grow properly such as estrogens and progesterone.  They also allow for pregnancy (Tortora).  However, sometimes the ovaries don’t do the jobs they are assigned.  This usually happens as women age into their forties, but it can happen before then if complications arise (Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center).  So, if these organs are so important, then how do we fix the problem of hormones going crazy in individuals?

A team from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has been conducting research to find a way to substitute estrogen and progesterone in aging women.   Their main goal is to find a safer way other than drugs, which can cause health problems when used long termed, to replace sex hormones. The research began with the use of 21-day-old rats.  The team took two types of ovarian cells and placed them inside a sac of tissue that resembles the rats’ body tissue.  The sac allows for growth new working cells that will replace old nonworking cells.  The tissue allowed for the new cells to not be rejected. It took many attempts of rearranging the different cells until the right amount of sex hormones were being produced.  This may seem like just another experiment, but it is a giant leap for medicine because… (Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center).

The Wake Forest team has come one step closer to help reduce the use of hormone drugs in women who have lost the ability to produce sex hormones.  The team is now in the process of studying other animals’ body tissues in order to find the perfect combination for humans (Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center).  This discovery has given a glimpse of hope for women who are dealing with these issues.  It has been an improvement in the medical field because the plan is for it to cut back on health problems caused by the use of hormone drugs.

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

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. “Functional ovarian tissue engineered in lab.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 March 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com//releases/2013/03/130326151131.htm>.

Diabetes in the United States is not a rare disease anymore. The definition of diabetes mellitus is the lack of insulin, which causes high glucose in the bloodstream. According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, Diabetes affects 8.3 of the United States’ population. That’s 25.8 million people! People with diabetes mellitus have trouble with keeping their blood glucose levels in the normal range, causing them to have to prick their fingers and take shots of insulin. The question is: how can you help to control your diabetes?

The simplest way to keep your diabetes under control is to check you glucose levels often, and keep a daily log of the readings. But, who wants to prick their finger all day long? Nobody! Therefore, in an article “Google Working on Smart Contact Lens to Monitor Diabetes” posted on January 17, 2014, Google stated that one of their labs is developing a “smart” contact that is able to measure your glucose levels just by using your tears! This means no more finger-pricking if they are successful. The contact lens uses a tiny chip with a glucose sensor that are placed in between two sheets of the normal contact. They have constructed a prototype that can produce a new reading every second. The only part they do not have figured out yet, is how to let the person know if their glucose level is too high or too low. The Google team is looking into LED lights that would flash to let the wearer know. They say that this is only the beginning for this type of technology, and they are not the only ones who are creating something like this. In Europe, a Swiss company called “Sensimed” has already invented a contact lens to measure the pressure of the eyes for the disease glaucoma. Although this contact lens hasn’t been released in the United States yet, Google knows that there is a major want and need for wearable technology such as the glucose measuring contact lens.

This invention will, one day, be a great addition to the diabetes patients’ options. This will impact the whole diabetes community because of the fact that taking your glucose measurement in public will no longer exist, or at least other people won’t know about it or even see it! They won’t have to worry about people staring at them while they prick their finger, and putting their own blood on a strip of paper. Diabetics will feel more comfortable with this invention, I believe, and be able to more accurately regulate their blood glucose levels resulting in a longer and healthier life with less complications. This could also lower the costs to the diabetic community and insurance companies effecting society as a whole.

Citations:

Tweed, Katherine. “Google Working on Smart Contact Lens to Monitor Diabetes.” IEE Spectrum (2014). Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/biomedical/devices/google-working-on-smart-contact-lens-to-monitor-diabetes

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Fact Sheet: national estimates and general information on diabetes and prediabetes in the United States, 2011. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011.

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/statistics/

Do you know what the most common cause of blindness is in the United States? The answer is glaucoma. Glaucoma has had an effect on about two percent of people in the population over forty years old. Glaucoma occurs usually when someone has abnormally high intraocular pressure, which causes the aqueous humor to build up within the inside of the eye cavity, putting pressure on the neurons of the retina. If pressure stays constant, it then leads to damage of the optic nerve and causes blindness. This is painless and a person can have damage long before the condition is found and diagnosed. Because it is more prevalent with aging people, regular checkups with the optometrist is important. The risk factors to glaucoma include race, family history, past injuries, and any type of disorders that you have been diagnosed with (Totora).
Researchers found that females who have consumed any type of oral contraceptives for three or more years are more likely to suffer from glaucoma than anyone else. Gynecologists and ophthalmologists need to be aware that these contraceptives could make this disease worse. Doctors should have their patients eyes screened at least every 2 years. The University of California, Duke University School of Medicine, and Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University (Nanchang China) were the first to conduct this research (AAO). They gathered data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and used a little over three thousand females over forty years old and had been taking contraceptives for three plus years. One of the researchers stated that women who have been taking contraceptives that long should follow up with an ophthalmologist (American).
I feel people should know about glaucoma because it is a serious disease. Before reading this article, I had no idea that oral contraceptives could increase the chances of blindness. I take 2 medicines daily and have taken both of them for more than three years now. It makes me think about how this could be harming my eyes and I not know it. It really makes you think about what you are putting into your body; it could be a good thing, but also harmful.

American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). “Long-term oral contraceptive users twice as likely to have serious eye disease.” ScienceDaily. Science Daily, 18 November 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131118091418.htm>.
Totora, Gerard J., And Derrickson, Bryan. Principals of Anatomy & Physiology. 13th ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2014. Print.

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>.

Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease and a leading cause of blindness in over 40,000 American adults. Most patients with this disease are a diabetic, but premature babies can also have this disease. The development of an abnormal vasculature in the eyes is a reaction from ischemia, which is a restriction in blood vessels and insufficient oxygen in tissue that can lead to the forming of extra blood vessels in the back of the eye. Unlike in the heart where extra blood vessels that form can have a benefit, the new vessels that form in the eye can lead to the leaking of fluid and blood that can ultimately lead to vision loss.

A study at Scripps Research Institute used a method of repairing damaged blood vessels in the eye through the use of stem cells that came from bone marrow. They injected the white blood cells into the eyes of a mouse model. They found that when the stem cells moved into the avascular areas of the retina, and the parent cell started to change into microglia that supported vascular repair. This was the first time that microglia has been shown to support vascular repair in any organ.

Current treatments for these eye diseases—such as thermal lasers and anti-antigenic drugs—are designed to prevent the growth of new vessels or to close, ablate, or remove abnormal vessels. Using preventative measures such as having yearly eye exams, can help slow the place of complete vision loss. Also having better control of your blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol levels can slow the onset and the progression of retinopathy and protect your vision. Also in the 1^st three stages of diabetic retinopathy there is no treatment needed. If the disease escalates into proliferative retinopathy, it is usually treated with a laser treatment.

Heather Mundlin

http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy.asp#4a

http://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20061120/friedlander.html

Glaucoma is a disorder that causes blindness. It is caused from unusually high pressure from aqueous humor accumulation in the anterior cavity of the eyeball. According to Gerard Tortora and Bryan Derrickson, “the aqueous fluid compresses the lens of the eye into the vitreous body and applies pressure to the neurons of the retina” (Tortora and Derrickson 674). The disorder itself is painless and tends to be more prominent in the older generation.

Glaucoma has affected more than 2.7 million people in the U.S. alone that are aged 40 years or older. Researchers believe that advances in technology uses for diagnosis and therapy have caused the number of blindness from glaucoma to half since 1980. The study was conducted by a team from the MayoClinic where the researched reviewed 857 cases of open-angle glaucoma from 1965-2009 in Olmsted County, Minnisota. They found that the population of blindness in people within 10 years of diagnosis decreased from 8.7 per 100,000 to 5.5 per 100,000 [American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)]

Arthur J. Sit,M.D. said that these results are promising to those suffering from glaucoma and their doctors. I have to agree with him on the outcome of the research conducted. I can’t imagine being blind and not being able to see what is going on in my everyday life. I feel that this could possibly lead to even a cure for the disease since they have found a way to decrease the number of cases by half.

American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). “Probability of blindness from glaucoma has nearly halved.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 January 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140121104107.htm>.

Tortora, Gerard J., and Derrickson, Bryan. Principles of Anatomy & Phisiology .13th ed.  Hoboken: John  Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011. Print.

For many years vitamin D has been know as a bone builder.  It also helps prevent, osteoporosis and rickets in children.  All over the world, research is constantly being implemented to study the effects of Vitamin D but here recently research is being conducted to show how it help the eyes stay young even when your age.  These new studies have shown that Vitamin D is centered on fighting the effects of vision loss   as your eyes age.

The newest report from Neurobiology of Aging states that through a study at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London, they have found a favorable outcome to their research. Even though, the University is still in the process of working with animals they have created some encouraging results. They have found that vitamin D helps the aging process in your eyes in two main ways. The first area helps to reduce inflammation by lowering the amount of macrophages.  The second area helps to decrease the deposits of deadly molecules that would gather in your system as you age. This study was conducted on individuals around the age of fifty.

The findings from the university were encouraging because when the macrophages and toxic molecules mix they produce age related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness for individuals over fifty years of age. Vitamin D can be absorbed in many ways but your daily diet is a good way to start.  Such foods could include but are not limited to liver, salmon, tuna fish, and fortified milk. The main source of vitamin D we receive is by UV radiations from the sun.  These examples are ways of fighting the effects of aging eyes.

Green, Robert. “Vitamin D and the Effects on your Eyes.” Eye Specialists. 31, Jan. 2012.  30 Jan. 2014

< http://eyesfl.com/blog/vitamin-d-and-the-effects-on-your-eyes/ >

Pelino, J. Carlo, and Joseph J. Pizzimenti. “Vitamin D Comes to light.” Review of Optometry 15 Nov. 2013: 76-79

Blood Transfusions Using Cultured Blood

Our blood is the most accessible and replaceable component in our bodies.  As such, we can use blood from other humans in order to perform a blood transfusion that save many lives each day.  The current problem with blood transfusions is with the donation process and the different blood types out there. This causes many blood banks and hospitals to run low on the heavily needed blood, due to needing so many people with various blood types to donate, and could pose a serious issue if it were to persist over a large amount of time.

Scientists in a Paris-based lab facility have successfully injected lab cultured red blood cells into a human without rejection.  The scientists cultured these RBCs by using hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), taken from the same person who would get the injection, through use of certain growth factors that aid in the development of said stem cells.  Once injected into the human volunteer, the cultured red blood cells started the maturation process to put them into action.  These cells also had a fairly normal lifespan, with 94 and 100 percent of the red blood cells injected continuing to be in the bloodstream after five days.  In addition, the scientists also found that after twenty-six days, close to the normal half-life for a red blood cell, there were comparable numbers to regular red blood cells after the same amount of time.

The ability to create RBCs easily would have an extreme impact on the current world because of the constant global crisis of needing blood.  This experiment also shows that we could stop the infections and complications of the current transfusion process at the same time.  This is primarily a result of the person receiving the transfusion donating the HSCs to culture the blood.  To be able to donate the necessary components to save your own life would be a major breakthrough if the technique could get perfected.

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

American Society of Hematology (2011, September 4). Researchers successfully perform first injection of cultured red blood cells in human donor.  ScienceDaily. 19. Jul. 2013. Web.