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| Volume 8, No. 31 |
Provided To You By COPD-Support, Inc. | July 04, 2008 |
Some thoughts on a slow news week with an early deadline: News of just about everything has been relegated to the back page while the California wild fires and Midwest floods take precedence. The one bit of news that seems to overshadow these tragedies of huge proportions is that Amy Winehouse has COPD. We just cannot escape that, and I suppose we should be happy for the celebrity attention to our cause. Almost 10 years ago when my husband and I joined COPD-Support word was that COPD was expected to be the third leading cause of death. within 10 years. A recent news item said that the ALA expects that COPD will be the third leading cause of death by the year 2020. It's nice to see such dates pushed back if the data is an accurate reflection of current conditions. A long low-volume complaint has been that deaths from COPD or respiratory problems are probably not accurately reported when there are several health problems contributing. And another warmed-up proposal last week was to make organ donation an opt-out rather than an opt-in program (Presumed Consent). In other words one would automatically be considered an organ donor unless you contacted the program for an exclusion. I guess much like opting out of junk mail and telephone calls. The opt-out program has done a lot to solve organ shortages in other countries. Presumed consent: A policy where you are a presumed organ donor unless you notify the government that you don’t want to be. This is done is Spain and Belgium and both countries have significantly reduced their waiting list. England and others are moving in that direction. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies of Science has supported the concept of presumed consent and proposes that future legislative enactment can increase the organ donor’s pool. A paper on the subject was accepted for presentation at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s 36th Critical Care Congress February 17–21, 2007. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/7/14 http://bobsnewheart.wordpress.com/2008/02/17/unos-a-failure-at-increasing-organ-donation/  ALSO IN THIS ISSUE FINDING A FEDERALLY-FUNDED HEALTH CENTER NEAR YOU A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT LUNG CANCER AND TOBACCO CARCINOGENS SMART CHIP REAL-TIME PCR GOES TO PITTSBURGH *PCR POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION HOW LOW TESTOSTERONE CAN AFFECT MEN'S LIVES MISCELLANEOUS
FINDING A FEDERALLY-FUNDED HEALTH CENTER NEAR YOU Here’s a helpful new online tool from the Health Resources & Services Administration: a way to find the federally-funded health center nearest you. These centers play an important role in delivering care to the uninsured and people on Medicaid, the government’s health program for the poor. Many doctors won’t accept new Medicaid clients because of low payment rates. Federally-funded health centers specialize in comprehensive primary care, or basic medical services. If your kid has an infection or you have the flu or your high blood pressure needs to be monitored, they could be a good option for you. Typically, poor people pay a minimal co-pay for services and there are sliding fees for families with slightly higher incomes. By law, federally-funded health centers are required to serve people considered "medically underserved" (poor people, migrant workers, people in housing projects, and so on) regardless of their incomes. About 40 percent of the centers’ patients are uninsured; more than 45 percent are covered by Medicaid, SCHIP (publicly-funded health insurance for kids), Medicare, or other public programs. Nationally, more than 1,000 centers with 6,000 separate sites now cover 16 million people, up 56 percent since 2001. Article at: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/triage/2008/07/finding-a-feder.html Find a Health Center by local address or State and County http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/Search.aspx A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT LUNG CANCER AND TOBACCO CARCINOGENS ScienceDaily — Two types of cancer-causing agents in cigarettes--a nicotine-derived chemical and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the main culprits in lung cancer. Exposure to tobacco smoke -- both mainstream and second-hand -- is a leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Previous studies have shown how PAHs damage DNA, with the emphasis on how PAHs bind directly to DNA itself, leading to the mutations in critical genes that cause disease. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine's Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) have shown that PAHs, via oxidative stress, can also led to mutations in critical genes important in lung cancer. The findings were published online last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A recent microarray study of all 30,000 human genes asked what genes were most over-expressed in non-small cell lung carcinoma. Of the eight genes that were most abundantly overexpressed, two were AKR enzymes. "Because this study relates AKR overexpression to oxidative damage of DNA with lung cancer, it makes you wonder if the 10 percent of smokers that are most prone to lung cancer, have either dysregulated AKR expression or genetic differences in their AKRs that predispose them to disease." Since oxidative stress is also linked to tumor promotion, it is possible that his link may also explain other stages of the disease process. "These findings go beyond the first step of DNA damage and may provide a reason why disease progresses." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080528124719.htm
SMART CHIP REAL-TIME PCR GOES TO PITTSBURGH University of Pittsburgh Medical School acquires WaferGen Biosystems SmartChip real-time PCR* (see below) System, enabling researchers to initiate the alpha testing program for the system and panels as part of the group's alpha testing and research collaboration with WaferGen. The SmartChip real-time PCR system is designed as the first whole genome, high throughput gene expression real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) platform and promises to deliver significant speed and cost advantages to researchers in the gene expression and genotyping markets SmartChip has the capacity to conduct 30,000 assays on a single chip. Comparatively, today's standard real-time PCR technologies are only able to run 384 assays on a single plate...The result is the ability to conduct gene expression research at a fraction of the time and cost associated with current technologies. Under terms of WaferGen's collaboration with the University of Pittsburg Medical School, researchers will leverage the high-throughput real-time PCR capabilities of SmartChip to support their identification of therapeutically-relevant biomarkers in the areas of COPD, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and lung cancer. This research may lead to the discovery of specific genes responsible for causing these diseases and conditions. In turn, this critical genetic information may ultimately provide physicians with new tools for determining accurate disease prognosis in patients, while also potentially providing drug developers with information necessary for the creation of targeted therapeutics for patients with COPD, IPF and lung cancer. These experiments will be overseen by Steven Shapiro, Jack Myers professor and chairman of the department of medicine at University of Pittsburgh and Naftali Kaminski, director of the Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease. Shapiro is an expert in identifying and understanding the underlying biological contributors to pulmonary diseases such as COPD, IPF, and lung cancer. With the goal of uncovering novel and effective pulmonary disease therapeutics, Shapiro and his team employ a multidisciplinary research approach which the SmartChip is expected to strengthen. http://www.laboratorytalk.com/news/waf/waf101.html *PCR POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique widely used in molecular biology. It derives its name from one of its key components, a DNA polymerase used to amplify a piece of DNA by in vitro enzymatic replication. As PCR progresses, the DNA thus generated is itself used as template for replication. This sets in motion a chain reaction in which the DNA template is exponentially amplified. With PCR it is possible to amplify a single or few copies of a piece of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating millions or more copies of the DNA piece. PCR can be extensively modified to perform a wide array of genetic manipulations. PCR is now a common and often indispensable technique used in medical and biological research labs for a variety of applications. These include DNA cloning for sequencing, DNA-based phylogeny, or functional analysis of genes; the diagnosis of hereditary diseases; the identification of genetic fingerprints (used in forensic sciences and paternity testing); and the detection and diagnosis of infectious diseases. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymerase_chain_reaction
HOW LOW TESTOSTERONE CAN AFFECT MEN'S LIVES (NAPSI)- Hypogonadism, or low testosterone, is a common condition in which a man’s body does not produce enough testosterone. It is estimated to affect more than 13 million men over the age of 45 in the United States; however, more than 90 percent of those with the condition remain untreated. Men who are suffering from other conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or asthma/COPD are at an increased risk for low testosterone. The symptoms of low testosterone can be common to many other conditions and oftentimes are mistaken as depression or erectile dysfunction. With symptoms that are physical and emotional, low testosterone can have a significant impact on a man’s life. Dr. Natan Bar-Chama, director of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York said: "But the good news is that a simple blood test is all that is needed to confirm the diagnosis of low testosterone, and once identified, a variety of treatment options are available." http://www.napsnet.com/articles/58679.html
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MISCELLANEOUS The enjoyment of living, Is not where we have been, It's looking ever forward, To another year and ten http://www.allright.com/Poems/TOLRailway/TOL.htm Fourth of July Trivia quiz http://www.riversongs.com/happy/independence_day.html Fun and Games for the Forth -Printable Patriotic Games -Patriotic Songs of America -Holiday Fun Page-Games for all seasons http://hometown.aol.com/kidfun101/KidsParties4th/HolidayFunPg10Patriotic.html#Credits Patriotic Magazine Covers from the Past http://wisher2.freewebspace.com/magazines/magazines.htm Happy Birthday America! http://members.aol.com/rivfs/July/4th.html Fireworks http://www.mamarocks.com/fireworks.htm This page will be next updated on July 11, 2008 |
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