Medical News You Can Use

[amirm]

Thought I created a running thread on latest medical news. Feel free post what you found.

To start, I thought I post this excellent TedX presentation on Tinnitus. I discovered that I had this after a morning when I thought I was going mad. I was literally walking around the neighborhood wondering who was running this generator for hours on end. What I found strange is that no matter which direction I went, the sound did not change in amplitude. Then it hit me that it might be inside my head. I went to my car, closed the door and darn it, the sound continued to be there .

Went to my doctor and he said there is no cure and sent me home. Thankfully I got acclimated to it and most of the time I don't hear it. When I do hear it though, it is an ultra high frequency pitch. Did not know why that is what I am hearing until I watched the video. Explanation is that what you hear in your head is what your ear has lost the ability to hear! With loss of high frequency in my case, came my brain making up for it.

Very fascinating presentation and worthwhile to watch (18 minutes) given how important this is to our hobby as the explanation includes psychoacoustics (cognitive filtering in the brain of what we hear).

Best of all, there may be some hope for a cure one day given the better understanding of the problem:

Published on Jan 23, 2017
In this talk Josef Rauschecker illuminates the science behind tinnitus as well as the current state of treatment options.

Josef Rauschecker has 35 years of experience in systems and cognitive neuroscience, more than 25 years of experience in animal electrophysiology, and upwards of 15 years of experience with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). At Georgetown University Medical Center, he helped create the first human fMRI research facility. He has also held visiting appointments at several institutions, including Harvard Medical School, and has been the recipient of a Humboldt Award and a Finland Distinguished Professorship.

 

[amirm]

Another fascinating thing. As soon as I started to watch that video, my tinnitus got triggered and went through the roof! It took a few minutes after it was over for it go away at the end of the video. So for sure other factors control how much it gets filtered by the brain.

 

[The Smokester]

When I first got my new custom in-ear-monitors, they sounded great, had fantastic isolation but I kept wondering how the pounding from next door got through. It was the blood coursing through my head and eventually my brain canceled it out. I think the same thing happens with tinnitus.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Explanation is that what you hear in your head is what your ear has lost the ability to hear!

Just taking this one quote out of context and running with it (hey what else am I going to do). I would surmise that plenty of subjectively oriented "experienced" audiophiles have lost all ability to hear. Therefore in their head they hear everything. Hence, everything matters! Cause whatever they are hearing doesn't seem to exist outside their heads.

 

[Don Hills]

Another fascinating thing. As soon as I started to watch that video, my tinnitus got triggered and went through the roof! It took a few minutes after it was over for it go away at the end of the video. So for sure other factors control how much it gets filtered by the brain.

I have the same experience - I'm only aware of it when I'm reminded of it. In my case, the likely cause was many years of high-speed motorcycling with inadequate ear protection. I didn't think the wind noise was especially loud, until I tried in-helmet earphones and found them inaudible at any speed above 30 MPH. So I bought some Norton Sonic II protectors, basically earplugs with built-in diaphrams that limit (clip) above a specific volume. The diaphragms split after a few trips at 80 MPH...

 

[amirm]

Gentlemen, it seems we are falling behind on our job!

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http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/25/health/sperm-counts-declining-study/index.html

Sperm counts of Western men plummeting, analysis finds

(CNN)Sperm counts of men in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand are plunging, according to a new analysis published Tuesday.

Among these men there has been a 52% decline in sperm concentration and a 59% decline in total sperm count over a nearly 40-year period ending in 2011, the analysis, published in the journal Human Reproduction Update, said.

[...]
Researchers led by Dr. Hagai Levine of Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined thousands of studies and then conducted a meta-analysis of 185 studies. These included 42,935 male participants who provided semen samples between 1973 and 2011. The chosen studies were well distributed over the nearly 40 years of the study period and among 50 different countries. The analysis included information on fertility status, age, ejaculation abstinence time, semen collection method, sperm count method and geographic location at the level of continent.

Based on their analysis, the international team of researchers from Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Spain and the United States reported a decline in sperm concentration of 1.4% per year with an overall drop of 52.4% during the entire study period for men living in industrialized, Western countries. Meanwhile, total sperm count among the same group plunged 1.6% per year and 59.3% overall. By comparison, the researchers found no significant declines in the sperm counts and sperm concentrations of men living in South America, Asia and Africa.

[...]
The high proportion of men in Western countries with sperm concentrations below 40 million/ml is "particularly concerning," wrote Levine and his co-researchers, because evidence indicates that a sperm concentration below this threshold is associated with a "decreased monthly probability of conception."

------
See the article for some hypothesis on the reasons (overweight, global warming (!) ).

 

[RayDunzl]

"Normal sperm densities range from 15 million to greater than 200 million sperm per milliliter of semen."

Looks like there might be a few spares in there just in case.

 

[The Smokester]

Okay. Thanks. We will redouble our efforts.

 

[Brad]

Be wary of any research that relies solely on fMRI. Problem of correlation does not equal causation, problematic calibration and researchers that don't understand the statistical tools they use to process the MRI imagery.

 

[RayDunzl]

Word for the day:

Hemocytometer

 

[iridium]

Gentlemen, it seems we are falling behind on our job!

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http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/25/health/sperm-counts-declining-study/index.html

Sperm counts of Western men plummeting, analysis finds

(CNN)Sperm counts of men in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand are plunging, according to a new analysis published Tuesday.

Among these men there has been a 52% decline in sperm concentration and a 59% decline in total sperm count over a nearly 40-year period ending in 2011, the analysis, published in the journal Human Reproduction Update, said.

[...]
Researchers led by Dr. Hagai Levine of Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined thousands of studies and then conducted a meta-analysis of 185 studies. These included 42,935 male participants who provided semen samples between 1973 and 2011. The chosen studies were well distributed over the nearly 40 years of the study period and among 50 different countries. The analysis included information on fertility status, age, ejaculation abstinence time, semen collection method, sperm count method and geographic location at the level of continent.

Based on their analysis, the international team of researchers from Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Spain and the United States reported a decline in sperm concentration of 1.4% per year with an overall drop of 52.4% during the entire study period for men living in industrialized, Western countries. Meanwhile, total sperm count among the same group plunged 1.6% per year and 59.3% overall. By comparison, the researchers found no significant declines in the sperm counts and sperm concentrations of men living in South America, Asia and Africa.

[...]
The high proportion of men in Western countries with sperm concentrations below 40 million/ml is "particularly concerning," wrote Levine and his co-researchers, because evidence indicates that a sperm concentration below this threshold is associated with a "decreased monthly probability of conception."

------
See the article for some hypothesis on the reasons (overweight, global warming (!) ).

GOOD - maybe they can get control of the out-of-control School Taxes. I am tired of paying for executives, committees, administrators, football fields, soccer fields, etc.
And what do we get: "The chancellor of the California Community Colleges system says intermediate algebra should no longer be required to earn an associate degree — unless students are in the fields of science, technology, engineering or math."

A 7 year old should be able to do intermediate algebra.

iridium.

 

[amirm]

A 7 year old should be able to do intermediate algebra.

Reminds of the first class I taught at community college in Florida. It was about computer programming. So I start writing on the whiteboard the simple equation for computing interest for a loan. A student raises her hand and says, "I am sorry but we were not required to learn algebra on high school so I don't understand what you wrote!" Couldn't believe someone couldn't read a simple equation like that.

 

[Blumlein 88]

"Normal sperm densities range from 15 million to greater than 200 million sperm per milliliter of semen."

Looks like there might be a few spares in there just in case.

Good news if you ask me. We just need to find out why it is in western countries only and introduce the advance to everyone else. Global warming, and many other problems are primarily a population problem. Besides I am here so I am unconcerned with those who will not follow me.

 

[Thomas savage]

Good news if you ask me. We just need to find out why it is in western countries only and introduce the advance to everyone else. Global warming, and many other problems are primarily a population problem. Besides I am here so I am unconcerned with those who will not follow me.

Diet and sedentary life..

It's ok though, don't worry about the two headed sperm or the lazy buggers that dont seem interested in the job and prefer to swim about in circles ( umm, these defective sperm seem to mirror the young adults I sometimes have to 'train' at work) as all this means is
A. If your trying to conceive a humanoid ( Christ knows why you would in this day and age ) logically you can request a lot more sex is required given this knowledge.
B. If your not trying to convince a humanoid ( ah, sense blissful wonderful clarity) the chances of a ' accident ' ( complete fucking disaster) Has considerably dropped so logically you can engage in more sex...

So more sex seems to be the result here...........

 

[Blumlein 88]

Diet and sedentary life..

It's ok though, don't worry about the two headed sperm or the lazy buggers that dont seem interested in the job and prefer to swim about in circles ( umm, these defective sperm seem to mirror the young adults I sometimes have to 'train' at work) as all this means is
A. If your trying to conceive a humanoid ( Christ knows why you would in this day and age ) logically you can request a lot more sex is required given this knowledge.
B. If your not trying to convince a humanoid ( ah, sense blissful wonderful clarity) the chances of a ' accident ' ( complete fucking disaster) Has considerably dropped so logically you can engage in more sex...

So more sex seems to be the result here...........

Yes both A and B occurred to me, but I thought it too self centered to post.

Somehow it brings to mind the scene in the delightful off beat comedy film, The Invention of Lying.

The one where the man tells the pretty woman if they don't have sex right now the world is going to end. As no one in this fictional world had been exposed to the concept of lying, she believed him completely only asking, "did they need to do it right here or could they go indoors".

 

[Thomas savage]

Yes both A and B occurred to me, but I thought it too self centered to post.

Somehow it brings to mind the scene in the delightful off beat comedy film, The Invention of Lying.

The one where the man tells the pretty woman if they don't have sex right now the world is going to end. As no one in this fictional world had been exposed to the concept of lying, she believed him completely only asking, "did they need to do it right here or could they go indoors".

Well the key is to inspire spontaneous bewitching lustful rage in your chosen partner, this nullifies the requirement for verbal requests.., nothing self centred about that , not if your doing it right

Iv lowered the tone , soz

 

[amirm]

I know there is a new cancer discovery announced everyday that doesn't amount to anything. But here is to this one actually coming to fruition. Heaven knows I don't enjoy having a camera stuck into my back side to check for prostate cancer every few years.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/blood-test-finds-cancer-symptoms-start-n793181

Blood Test Finds Cancer Before Symptoms Start
by MAGGIE FOX
Researchers say they have taken a big step towards developing a test that can tell people if they have cancer long before the first symptoms show up.

The blood test detected the majority of cancers in people with four of the biggest cancer killers: breast, colon, lung and ovarian cancer, the team at Johns Hopkins University said.

The test is a long way from being used to screen for cancer, but the study shows a way to get there, the team reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

“There is a lot of excitement about liquid biopsies, but most of that has been in late-stage cancer or in individuals where you already know what to look for,” said Dr. Victor Velculescu, professor of oncology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins University Kimmel Cancer Center.

“The surprising result is that we can find a high fraction of early-stage patients having alterations in their blood,” said Velculescu, who led the study team.

It was not a slam dunk, but the test found cancer in the blood of more than half the patients who had been diagnosed with stage 1 cancer. It was even more accurate in finding late-stage cancers, but the goal would be to catch cancer in its earliest, easiest-to-treat stage.

There were no false positives in 44 people who did not have cancer, they said. That's important, said Dr. Wyndham Wilson of the National Cancer Institute, because there is no point detecting cancer in people if the cancer is not going to actually cause trouble.

"You don’t want to go screening people for hallmark (cancer) mutations unless you absolutely know that when you find it, that there is a tumor there and that it is a tumor that needs to be treated," said Wyndham, who was not involved in the study.

Sometimes, early-stage tumors or precancerous growths just go away -- attacked by the immune system or because they don't thrive for other reasons.

Several different liquid biopsies are already on the market, used to help track whether cancer treatments are working. But there’s nothing yet that can detect cancer in someone who has not yet been diagnosed.

It was not a slam dunk, but the test found cancer in the blood of more than half the patients who had been diagnosed with stage 1 cancer. It was even more accurate in finding late-stage cancers, but the goal would be to catch cancer in its earliest, easiest-to-treat stage.

There were no false positives in 44 people who did not have cancer, they said. That's important, said Dr. Wyndham Wilson of the National Cancer Institute, because there is no point detecting cancer in people if the cancer is not going to actually cause trouble.

"You don’t want to go screening people for hallmark (cancer) mutations unless you absolutely know that when you find it, that there is a tumor there and that it is a tumor that needs to be treated," said Wyndham, who was not involved in the study.

Sometimes, early-stage tumors or precancerous growths just go away -- attacked by the immune system or because they don't thrive for other reasons.

Several different liquid biopsies are already on the market, used to help track whether cancer treatments are working. But there’s nothing yet that can detect cancer in someone who has not yet been diagnosed.

ancer patients had more of this DNA in their blood, the team found.

They identified 62 percent of the patients with stage I cancer – four out of eight colon cancer patients, and 90 percent of colon cancer patients with stage II, III or IV disease.

[....]

 

[amirm]

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/254260-scientists-design-micromotor-deliver-antibiotics

Scientists Design Micromotor to Deliver Antibiotics


Researchers from the University of California San Diego have developed a “micromotor” capable of transporting antibiotics to the site of infection, making them more effective and reducing side effects.

The micromotor isn’t anything mechanical. It’s a tiny construct composed of magnesium, titanium dioxide, and a polymer derived from crustacean shells called chitosan. They look like spheres and are functionally inert until they hit the stomach. That’s when the motors flip on thanks to the high acidity of the environment. That’s actually what makes so many antibiotics difficult to administer in humans–they don’t retain the same activity after passing through the stomach. The micromotors not only protect the drug, but propel it through the body.

[...]


Not only can the antibiotic be delivered to the site of infection by the motor, but the decomposing magnesium naturally lowers acidity (those hydrogen bubbles that are released) without all the side effects of medications. The team reported that micromotors were the same or better at fighting Helicobacter pylori infections compared to traditional treatments, and that stomach acidity returned to normal in just a day.

It’s possible micromotors could be used in humans to treat stomach ailments with new drugs that would otherwise be ineffective. That could be a significant advantage as antibiotic resistance becomes a larger problem.