Yuliza Perez

Psychology 1100
Current News Articles


Article 1
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/276966.php
Dose of measles virus destroys woman's incurable cancer
Monday 19 May 2014 - 3am PST
In what they describe as a proof of principle study, doctors in the US were able to keep a
woman with deadly multiple myeloma - an incurable bone marrow cancer - free of all signs
of living cancer cells for over 6 months by giving her just one high dose of measles virus.
Two patients received a single intravenous dose of measles virus that was engineered to kill
myeloma plasma cells and not harm other cells.
The team, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, says both patients responded to the
treatment, showing reduced bone marrow cancer and levels of myeloma protein.
But one patient, a 49-year-old woman, experienced complete remission and remained disease-
free for over 6 months.
A report on this first study to establish the feasibility of the treatment appears in the journal
Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Proof Viro-Therapy works for disseminated cancer
First author Dr. Stephen Russell, hematologist and co-developer of the therapy, says:
"This is the first study to establish the feasibility of systemic oncolytic virotherapy for
disseminated cancer. These patients were not responsive to other therapies and had experienced
several recurrences of their disease."
The treatment is an example of oncolytic virotherapy - using engineered viruses to fight cancer -
an approach that dates back to the 1950s. Thousands of patients have received this type of
therapy, using oncolytic viruses from various families, including common cold viruses, herpes
viruses and pox viruses.
But the authors say this is the first well-documented case of a patient with cancer that has
spread experiencing complete remission at all disease sites after receiving oncolytic virus
therapy.
Myeloma is a cancer that develops in plasma cells - a type of blood cell made in the bone
marrow. According to the American Cancer Society, the disease is relatively uncommon, and in
the US, there is a 1 in 149 risk of developing it.
Myeloma can arise in any part of the body where there is bone marrow, including the spine, rib
cage and pelvis. Multiple myeloma means it is occurring in more than one place.
The disease, which also causes skeletal or soft tissue tumors, usually responds to drugs that
stimulate the immune system, but it eventually overcomes them and is rarely cured.
Dr. Russell and colleagues explain in their article that they chose to report these two cases in
particular because they were the first patients they had studied who had received the highest
possible dose, and with limited previous exposure to measles, so their immune systems did not
have many antibodies to the virus. They had also exhausted other treatment options.
Senior author Dr. Angela Dispenzieri, an expert in multiple myeloma, says in very simple terms,
the measles virus makes the cancer cells join together and explode. The treatment also appears to
trigger another lasting benefit:
"There's some suggestion that it may be stimulating the patient's immune system to further
recognize the cancer cells or the myeloma cells and help mop that up more effectively than
otherwise."
Having effectively completed a phase I clinical trial - to prove the concept that the measles virus
can fight cancer - the team is now moving quickly into a phase II trial involving more patients.
They also intend to test the virus's effectiveness as a tool to fight other cancers, such as head and
neck, brain and ovarian cancers and mesothelioma. And they are engineering other viruses that
may be able to kill cancer cells.
Dr. Russell says they have recently started to think along the lines of "a single shot cure for
cancer, and that's our goal with this therapy."
He and two other authors of the study, as well as the Mayo Clinic, have declared a financial
interest in the methods used in the study, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute of
the National Institutes of Health, Al and Mary Agnes McQuinn, The Harold W. Siebens
Foundation and The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation.
Medical News Today recently reported on a study in Nature Genetics, where scientists from The
Institute of Cancer Research in the UK found a gene involved in aging is linked to multiple
myeloma. The team said the discovery brings the total genetic variants linked to myeloma to
seven and may help establish the genetic causes of the disease.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
This article talks about a recent experiment in which to individuals with bone marrow cancer
were given a shot of the measles virus. They noticed that in one of the two individuals a women
was cured from the bone marrow cancer for six months. I believe this article can be related to
human development due to the results of this experiment researchers and scientists have been
given another possible solution to what could help find a cure for not only one cancer but
multiple types of cancer by using other viruses that may have positive similar or exact results as
did the measles virus on the bone marrow cancer.

Article 2
http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2014/05/lyme-disease-warning-ticks-have-
wintered-over-and-they-are-hungry
Lyme disease warning: The ticks have wintered over and they are hungry
By Susan Perry | 05/21/14
As if enduring the interminable cold and snowfall of last winter wasnt bad enough for us
Minnesotans. Now we learn that the thick layer of snow that was such a hassle to deal with
during those long winter months will be making our spring and summer a bit more treacherous,
too.
Thats because snow helps blacklegged ticks (aka deer ticks) survive frigid temperatures. And, of
course, the more ticks that survive, the higher the risk of Lyme disease and other tick-borne
illnesses.
So this may be a particularly bad year for tick-borne diseases, the Minnesota Department of
Health (MDH) warned on Tuesday.
Record cases
Last year, which also featured a long, snow-packed winter, was already a record one in the state
for tick-borne diseases. In 2013, some 1,431 confirmed cases of Lyme disease were reported in
Minnesota residents, up from 912 in 2012. There were also high numbers of cases of
anaplamosis (627) and babesiosis (64), two other illnesses transmitted by blacklegged ticks.

This year, the risk of these diseases will remain high, said David Neitzel, a tick-borne disease
specialist with MDH, in a phone interview with MinnPost. The period of highest risk, he added,
is now through mid-July because its when the immature ticks, or nymphs, are most active.
As soon as the snow melts, the adult stage of the ticks are out and active, and the adult females
can transmit a whole long list of diseases, Nietzel said.
The adult ticks, however, are large enough that most people can find and remove them from their
bodies in time to prevent the transmission of disease. Thats not always the case with the
nymphs, which are only about a millimeter in length.
A lot of people never even know theyve been bitten by one, said Neitzel, and therefore the
tick is able to feed undisturbed for long enough to transmit whatever pathogens it has within its
body.
A matter of habitat
Blacklegged ticks are found almost exclusively in heavily wooded or brushy areas. That means
that most city and suburban dwellers will not encounter the creatures in their backyards.
For your average suburbanite who doesnt have a wooded lot or who just has a few trees and
maybe some bushes, the chances are extremely low that there is a viable population of ticks
there, said Neitzel. But for people who have wooded lots, especially in the northern metro area
Anoka County, Washington County, northern Ramsey County there is a pretty good
population of ticks in those areas.
And, of course, anybody who spends time on heavily wooded property elsewhere in the state is
at risk of becoming host to a disease-carrying tick.
The blacklegged tick is much smaller than the wood (or dog) tick.
Few areas of the state are free of the risk, Neitzel stressed.
Historically, the risk area was east-central Minnesota, from the Hinckley area over to Brainerd
kind of the east-central forest, he said. In recent years, that area has expanded to include the
Bemidji area. Its also expanded to the northeast a little bit to include the Grand Rapids area and
more of the greater Duluth area and the north shore.
And theres been an expansion on the other side of the state, down in southeastern Minnesota,
along the Mississippi River Valley, he added.
Changing climate conditions may have something to do with this expansion, said Neitzel.
The ticks are probably being introduced into new areas all the time, he explained. They get
carried in on white-tailed deer at least the adult ticks do. And the immature ticks get carried in
on smaller animals, especially birds. Its just a matter of whether the ticks drop off in conditions
that allow them to survive or not.
I think the weather conditions weve had in the last 15 or 20 years here have really facilitated
the survival of ticks in new areas, he added.
Self-protection
The MDH recommends that people who intend to spend time outdoors in tick habitat use either a
DEET-based or a permethrin-based repellent.
I think that if DEET is used according to label directions, the risks from it are extremely low,
said Neitzel. It has a very good safety profile.
You should also check for ticks after spending time outdoors. Search your entire body, and
remove the tick immediately.
If you do become infected with Lyme disease or another tick-borne illness, its important to seek
treatment (usually antibiotics) as soon as possible.
If you come down with any illness within a month of being out in the woods, especially an
illness with a rash or a fever or muscle or joint aches, get checked out by a doctor, said Neitzel.
Youll find more information about the signs, symptoms and prevention of tick-borne diseases
(including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is caused by American dog ticks, or "wood
ticks") on the MDH website.
This article focuses on the increasing population of the black legged tick in Minnesota. The
great concern with the ticks is that because the environment is changing it is helping them
multiply quickly which can become very dangerous. These creatures tend to travel on white
tailed deer and even some birds which allows them to spread around easier, especially when
spring begins to happen. The concern is these ticks will tend to attach to people and could pass
on infections. However most people will not notice until later on once symptoms begin to show
up. Therefore if their population begins to continue increasing drastically it could cause severe
problems. I believe this article relates to human development because it is an issue that
impacts society and out state of health.
Article 3
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/277568.php
Industry-funded study implies diet soda is 'superior to water for weight loss'
Friday 30 May 2014 - 8am PST
The results of a new study published in the journal Obesity imply that diet soda is a more
effective weight loss tool than water. The findings are controversial, and what is more, the
study was funded by the American Beverage Association. But does this mean the results
are biased? We investigate.
The new study, from researchers at the University of Colorado and Temple University in
Philadelphia, PA, is not the first to investigate how diet sodas may influence weight loss. But
previous research on this subject has been mixed.
In 2013, Medical News Today reported on a review of the available research on the subject by
Prof. Susan Swithers, an expert in psychology and neuroscience from Purdue University in West
Lafayette, IN. Prof. Swithers came to the conclusion that diet drinks containing aspartame,
sucralose and saccharin increase the likelihood of excessive weight gain, metabolic syndrome,
type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Some researchers have hypothesized that diet beverages actually increase appetite, which is
thought to be responsible for the weight gain observed in participants of these studies.
However, a 2013 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that diet
drinks do not increase appetite.
New study goes further than simply suggesting diet drinks do not increase appetite
The new study included 303 overweight participants, all of whom were taking part in a weight
loss and exercise program and all of whom were regular consumers of diet drinks.
Randomized into two groups, one group was instructed not to consume any diet drinks and to
drink at least 24 oz of water daily during the study period. The other group could continue to
drink diet sodas.
After 12 weeks, the researchers found that those in the diet drink group had lost 14.2 lb on
average. What is surprising is that this is about 4 lb more than the people in the group
instructed to drink mostly water, who only lost an average of 10 lbs.
But why did this happen? The researchers themselves confess they are not sure, explaining that
because of the design of the study they are unable to identify the mechanism for the greater
weight loss in the diet soda group.
Methodology questioned by other researchers
Not only the results, but also the methodology of the research, have prompted criticism from
other researchers. "This paper is fatally flawed, and leaves us with little science to build on,"
Prof. Swithers told NPR's The Salt nutrition blog. She points out that the study does not detail
what the non-diet drink group consumed, beyond water.

The study does not provide detailed information on what - in addition to water - the control
group consumed in lieu of diet drinks.
As these participants were regular soda drinkers, it could be that they replaced their diet soda
intake with other sweetened drinks, in addition to the water they were asked to drink.
"Did they switch to regular sodas? [Did they] add sugar instead of artificial sweeteners to
their coffee or tea?" she asks. "This paper tells us nothing about the long-term health
consequences that should be our real focus."
Medical News Today asked Dr. John Peters, one of the authors behind the new study and Chief
Strategy Officer at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, why the
team made the decision to only use regular consumers of diet soda as subjects and whether this
could have confounded the results.
"It is well known that many people do not like the taste of diet drinks and we didn't want this to
cloud interpretation such that people in that group would not be compliant with the treatment,"
he replied.
Other critics have queried the researchers' decision to publish the results early - just 12 weeks
into the year-long overall study period. As a result, the study cannot say at this stage what the
long-term effects of diet drinks on weight may be.
"Most weight loss trials not using drugs have shown that most of the weight loss ever achieved
occurs within the first 3-5 months," Dr. Peters told us. "We don't know what the 1-year results
will show. Nearly every weight loss trial shows that people regain some amount of weight after
active weight loss stops. The question we will address is whether this weight regain is any
different between treatment groups."
Did funding from 'Big Food' influence the findings?
But the most contentious area of the study remains the fact that it was funded by the beverage
industry, leaving the public with a suspicion that this has distorted the results in the industry's
favor.
"You are big food and you lie to the American people," blasted one reader in the comments
section of NPR's report. The author of the blog also cited a 2007 meta-analysis in PLOS
Medicinethat reported a correlation between industry funding of health studies and results
from those studies favoring the industry's position.
Given the nature of the funding, we asked Dr. Peters if he anticipated the public backlash.
"We actually weren't surprised that some people would be skeptical," he answered. "That is why
we posted the design on ClinicalTrials.gov before we started the study to be completely
transparent about what we were doing. And we had a third-party clinical trials organization
monitor the data."
Dr. Peters - who has also worked as a consultant to The Coca-Cola Company outside of this
research - explains that his team made an agreement with the American Beverage Association
that, whether the findings turned out to be positive or negative, the results would be published.
He also considers there to be some advantages to industry funding of research:
"I am skeptical that this kind of study would be funded by a non-industry organization. That may
be why this is the first prospective randomized trial to look at the question of diet beverages and
weight loss. We thought it was important to get the data because of the belief that because
obesity is associated with diet beverage consumption that it must be causing appetite disruption
and weight gain."
In conclusion, the study asserts that people who are engaged in a weight loss strategy should not
be discouraged from drinking diet sodas if they desire to do so. The authors propose further
studies to examine the mechanism responsible for the weight loss results.
Written by David McNamee
The article I read today focused on investigating the effects of diet pop drinks and losing weight
verses water and losing weight. What they discovered was people who kept drinking diet
beverages lost more weight than those who drank simple water. In relation with human
development this experiment could cause big controversy, because although it shows that people
lost more weight drinking diet sodas. What other effects does it have on the human body that
could impact in a long-term setting.

Article 4
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140605141723.htm
A new model of liver regeneration: Switch causes mature liver cells to revert back to
stem cell-like state
June 5, 2014
Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Boston Children's Hospital have new evidence
in mice that it may be possible to repair a chronically diseased liver by forcing mature
liver cells to revert back to a stem cell-like state.
The researchers, led by Fernando Camargo, PhD, happened upon this discovery while
investigating whether a biochemical cascade called Hippo, which controls how big the
liver grows, also affects cell fate. The unexpected answer, published in the journal Cell,
is that switching off the Hippo-signaling pathway in mature liver cells generates very
high rates of dedifferentiation. This means the cells turn back the clock to become stem-
cell like again, thus allowing them to give rise to functional progenitor cells that can
regenerate a diseased liver.
The liver has been a model of regeneration for decades, and it's well known that mature
liver cells can duplicate in response to injury. Even if three-quarters of a liver is
surgically removed, duplication alone could return the organ to its normal functioning
mass. This new research indicates that there is a second mode of regeneration that
may be repairing less radical, but more constant liver damage, and chips away at a
long-held theory that there's a pool of stem cells in the liver waiting to be activated.
"I think this study highlights the tremendous plasticity of mature liver cells," said
Camargo, who is an associate professor in the Harvard Department of Stem Cell and
Regenerative Biology, and based in the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's
Hospital. "It's not that you have a very small population of cells that can be recruited to
an injury; almost 80 percent of hepatocytes [liver cells] can undergo this cell fate
change."
Much of the work dissecting the biology of these changes and establishing that the
dedifferentiated cells are functional progenitors was carried out by the Cell paper's first
co-authors Dean Yimlamai, MD, PhD, and Constantina Christodoulou, PhD, of Boston
Children's Hospital.
The next step, Camargo said, would be to figure out how Hippo's activity changes in
cells affected by chronic liver injury or diseases such as hepatitis. In the long term, this
work could lead to drugs that manipulate the Hippo activity of mature liver cells inside of
patients to spur dedifferentiation and hasten healing.
It might also be possible to control Hippo signaling to grow countless liver progenitor
cells in a laboratory dish for transplant, which Camargo's team pursued in the Cell paper
using mice born with a genetic liver disease. They cultured healthy liver progenitor cells
and transplanted them into the diseased mice. Over a period of three or four months,
the transplanted liver cells engrafted and the animals saw improvement of their
condition.
"People have been trying to use liver cell transplants for metabolic diseases since the
early 90s, but because of the source of cells -- discarded livers -- they were
unsuccessful," Camargo said. "With this unlimited source of cells from a patient, we
think that perhaps it's time to think again about doing hepatocyte or progenitor cell
transplants in the context of liver genetic disorders."
The observation that mature liver cells dedifferentiate comes after a number of related
studies published in the past year from Harvard researchers showing that mature cells
in several different internal organs, including the kidneys, adrenal glands, and lungs, are
more plastic than we once assumed.
"I think that maybe it is something that people have overlooked because the field has
been so stem cell centric," said Camargo, also a Harvard Stem Cell Institute Principal
Faculty member. "But I think the bottom line is that the cells that we have in our body
are plastic, and understanding pathways that underlie that plasticity could be another
way of potentially manipulating regeneration or expanding some kind of cell type for
regenerative medicine."

This Article fits the future ideas of human development because it focuses on a topic that could
help people from developing any type of liver diseases, or back tracking the process before it
even commences, thus allowing human beings to live longer. Also if successful could contribute
to the study and cure of other diseases that are realted through the malfunction of stem cells.

Article 5
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140616102815.htm
Effective drugs for Parkinson's reduce symptoms of Rett syndrome in mice

June 16, 2014
DIBELL researchers, led by the director of the Program for Epigenetics and Cancer
Biology, ICREA researcher and Professor of Genetics at the University of Barcelona,
Manel Esteller, have shown that a combination of effective drugs for Parkinson's
disease in mice that are used as a model of human Rett syndrome reduces some of the
symptoms associated with this disease. The results of the study are published in the
journal Neuropsycopharmacology.
Second leading cause of mental retardation in females
Rett syndrome is the second most common cause of mental retardation in women, after
Down syndrome. It is a neurodevelopmental disease whose clinical picture begins to
appear 6-18 months after birth and involves a loss of intellectual, social and motor skills,
accompanied by autistic behaviors, such as repetitive movements of the hands.
The syndrome is usually due to the presence of a mutation in the MECP2 gene, an
epigenetic gene which controls the activity of many other genes like a padlock. Today
there is no effective treatment of the disease. Manel Esteller's group, in collaboration
with the group of neurometabolic diseases IDIBELL led by Aurora Pujol, described in
the journal Neuropsycopharmacology how drug treatment in mice used as models of
Rett syndrome reduces some of the symptoms associated with the disease .
"Six years ago, studying the brains of mice that faithfully present the same
characteristics of human Rett syndrome, we found that there was an alteration in the
way of production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Here, Rett syndrome bore some
resemblance to Parkinson, which also presents defects in the same molecule.
There are effective drugs in Parkinson's so we decided to study whether they could also
function in Rett syndrome, "says Manel Esteller. "We found that combined treatment
with L-Dopa and Dopa decarboxylase inhibitor reduces typical manifestations of the
disease and mobility defects, tremor and respiratory distress in these animals."
"This is not a panacea or a magic pill or" warns Esteller "but at least is a starting point to
study whether it may also be useful in controlling the symptoms of Rett syndrome in
humans."
This Article fits the future ideas of human development because it focuses on a topic that could
help people from developing symptoms associated with Rett syndrome, a form of mental and
physical retardation. The study on rats shows that it may be possible to treat patients with a
drug normally used for Parkinsons Disease when symptoms of Rett syndrome develop and that
it may be possible to prevent it from developing. Such a discovery would potentially allow
people to live fully functional lives who otherwise may not have had that opportunity.

Article 6
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/278794.php
Eating extra fruit and vegetables is healthy but may not reduce weight
Saturday 28 June 2014 - 12am PST
A new study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham claims that a
common weight-loss tactic of increasing the feeling of being full by eating more fruits and
vegetables is not an effective diet recommendation.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) team performed a systematic review and
meta-analysis of the available data on increasing fruit and vegetable intake as a weight-loss aid.
The review - which is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition - looked at several
randomized controlled trials involving more than 1,200 participants in total.
According to the UAB researchers, there is no evidence that increasing fruit and vegetable intake
reduces body weight.
"Across the board, all studies we reviewed showed a near-zero effect on weight loss," says lead
author Kathryn Kaiser, PhD, instructor in the UAB School of Public Health.
"So I don't think eating more alone is necessarily an effective approach for weight loss
because just adding them on top of whatever foods a person may be eating is not likely to
cause weight change."
Dr. Kaiser says that in the context of a healthy diet, the best way to reduce weight is to reduce
caloric intake. Although dieters might make the assumption that high-fiber fruits and vegetables
"displace" the less healthy foods, this is not demonstrated in the available evidence.
Researchers suggest public health communications should be amended
Senior author David B. Allison, PhD, associate dean for science in the UAB School of Public
Health, explains the problem with communicating to the public why this technique is ineffective:
"In public health, we want to send positive and encouraging messages and telling people to eat
more fruits and vegetables seems far more positive and encouraging than just saying 'eat less.'
Unfortunately, it seems that if we just get people to eat more fruits and vegetables without also
taking explicit steps to reduce total food intake, lower weights are not achieved."
As public health recommendations are focused on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption,
Dr. Kaiser believes public health messages should be modified to explain that there are many
health benefits associated with eating fruit and vegetables, but that weight loss is not one of
them.

All of the studies in UAB's systematic review showed that adding more fruits and vegetables to a
diet without reducing total food intake had "a near-zero effect on weight loss."
"I think working on more multimodal healthy lifestyle interventions would be a better use of
time and money," she suggests.
Dr. Kaiser adds that it is important that more quality research investigates the interactions of
multiple foods in creating healthy weight loss that can be maintained.
"We need to design mechanistic studies to understand these things better so we can help
the public be best informed and know what to do when it comes to weight-loss efforts," she
concludes. "Overly simplified messages don't seem to be very effective."
However, recent research has shown that the benefits of a diet with higher fruit and vegetable
intake include lower risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, reduced stroke and pancreatitis
risk, and even a more attractive "glow."
While the UAB systematic review may not prove that simply adding extra fruit and vegetables to
your diet will result in weight loss, the importance of fruit and vegetables in a healthy diet should
still not be underestimated.
Written by David McNamee
Although fruits and vegetables are emphasized to be consumed more often because they are
healthy and even suggested in diets, researchers are now saying that they do not work as efficient
as told before. Instead they are considered to just be food items that fill up the stomach pretty
quickly, but have no big weight loss record however they do lower the risk of stroke, pancreatitis
and ischemic heart disease, including an attractive glow.

Article 7
http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2014/06/1-10-premature-deaths-us-linked-alcohol
1 in 10 premature deaths in U.S. is linked to alcohol
By Susan Perry | 06/30/14

Nationally, the annual rate of alcohol-related premature deaths in the study was 27.9
per 100,000 people, or 3.6 percent of all deaths.
Heres a startling and sobering statistic: The excessive consumption of alcohol leads to
nearly 1 in 10 premature deaths among working-age adults in the United States.
Thats a key finding from a new report published late last week by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Using U.S. death data and a special statistical tool, the CDC researchers estimated that excessive
alcohol use which includes binge drinking, heavy weekly alcohol consumption and drinking
while pregnant or under the age of 21 was responsible for an average of almost 88,000 deaths
annually from 2006 through 2010.
The researchers also found that alcohol-related premature deaths resulted in an estimated 2.5
million years of potential life lost during that five-year period, or an average of 30 years lost for
each death.
Nationally, the annual rate of alcohol-related premature deaths in the study was 27.9 per 100,000
people, or 3.6 percent of all deaths. The state rates ranged from 51.2 per 100,000 (6.6 percent) in
New Mexico to 19.1 (2.5 percent) in New Jersey.
Minnesotas rate was 23.3 per 100,000, or 3.3 percent of all deaths.
When only adults of working age 20 to 64 years old were considered, the rates quickly
doubled or tripled, the CDC study found. Among this age group, 9.8 percent of all deaths in the
United States between 2006 and 2010 were attributable to excessive drinking. Once again, New
Mexico had the highest rate (16.4 percent), but this time Maryland had the lowest (7.5 percent)
Minnesotas rate of alcohol-attributable deaths among working-aged adults was 9.9 percent.
Dozens of illnesses
When we hear the words alcohol-related death, most of us tend to think of cirrhosis of the liver
or a drinking-related car crash or perhaps even alcohol poisoning (such as a young person
foolishly and tragically downing too many drinks at his or her 21
st
birthday celebration).
Those may be among the leading causes of alcohol-related deaths, but, as this CDC report makes
clear, theyre not the only ways that drinking too much alcohol can kill.
Indeed, the CDC study lists 44 different chronic and acute alcohol-related causes of premature
death.
Among the chronic causes are stroke (2,090 deaths per year, on average, during the period of the
study); high blood pressure (1,603 deaths); liver cancer (997 deaths); epilepsy (203 deaths); and
newborn deaths due to low birth weight, prematurity or other problems (165 deaths).
Among the acute causes are suicides (8,179 deaths), homicides (7,756 deaths), fall injuries
(7,541 deaths), fire injuries (1,089 deaths), and drowning (963 deaths).
Drinking too much alcohol is the fourth-leading preventable cause of death in the United States,
behind smoking, a poor diet and a lack of physical activity.
A high cost
In addition to the physical, emotional and financial toll that excessive alcohol consumption
places on individuals and their families, it also imposes a huge financial burden on the country.
A few years ago, researchers reported that excessive drinking cost the U.S. economy $223 billion
in 2006. Some of those costs are direct (health care and criminal justice expenses); others are
indirect (lost productivity).
That adds up to about $1.90 a drink.
The authors of the CDC report recommend more widespread implementation of evidence-based
interventions, including raising alcohol taxes, making alcohol retail establishments responsible
for any harm that results from the serving of alcohol to underage or intoxicated customers, and
limiting the days and hours during which alcohol can be sold.
I believe this article is related to human development by emphasizing the effects that drinking
alcohol has on people. Once again the effects of alcohol are displayed as the fourth leading
preventable cause of death such as suicide, homicide, premature birth etc. As the reports of
excessive drinking cost the U.S. economy more it is recommended that more awareness is
implemented along with other law reinforcements.

Article 8
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/279323.php
Contraceptive microchip: could it revolutionize global birth control?
Tuesday 8 July 2014 - 8am PST
MicroCHIPS, an IT start-up company with links to Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
is developing a radical new contraceptive - a tiny microchip implanted under the skin that
can be operated wirelessly by remote control.
In the 1990s, Robert S. Langer - the David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) and reportedly "the most cited engineer in history" - and his colleagues
Michael Cima and John Santini, developed a microchip technology that could release controlled
amounts of chemicals.
Fast-forward to 2012, and Langer's MIT lab received a visit from Bill Gates, who inquires with
Langer whether it would be feasible to create a new method of birth control that a woman could
turn on and off as she likes and which she can use for many years.
Langer proposed that his controlled release microchip might offer a solution. Leasing the
technology to MicroCHIPS, the company have developed a device measuring just 20 x 20 x 7
mm designed to be implanted under the skin of the buttocks, abdomen or upper arm.
The chip contains tiny reservoirs of the hormone levonorgestrel, which is already used in
some contraceptives. The chip dispenses 30 mcg of levonorgestrel every day, and can hold
enough of the hormone to do this for up to 16 years.
When a woman wishes to conceive, she simply turns off the device with a remote. The chip
would not need to be removed from the woman until 16 years of use have elapsed. By contrast,
current hormonal birth control implants last a maximum of 5 years.
The levonorgestrel is contained on the chip using a hermetic titanium and platinum seal
developed by MicroCHIPS. The hormone is released by passing an electric current from an
internal battery through the seal, which melts it temporarily, allowing a small dose of
levonorgestrel to be released each day.
According to MicroCHIPS president Robert Farra, "the idea of using a thin membrane like an
electric fuse was the most challenging and the most creative problem we had to solve."
Speaking to BBC News, Farra suggested "the ability to turn the device on and off provides
a certain convenience factor for those who are planning their family."
Although some critics of the device are worried about the potential for the microchip to be
"hacked," Farra claims that the communication between the remote and implant "has to occur at
skin contact level distance," so "someone across the room cannot reprogram your implant."
"Then we have secure encryption," he says. "That prevents someone from trying to interpret or
intervene between the communications."
MIT Technology Review points out that recently an international coalition of governments,
companies, philanthropies and nonprofit organizations committed to providing family planning
to 120 million more women in the world by 2020.
As new birth control options are rarely produced by private companies, MIT believe that the
MicroCHIPS implant could play an important role in this mission.
MicroCHIPS, with the backing of Bill Gates, plan to submit the implant for preclinical
testing in the US next year, and believe that the device could go on sale by 2018.
Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported on a study by researchers at Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, who found that - in contrast with claims from
critics of free birth control programs - that birth control does not result in "more promiscuous
women."
Written by David McNamee
This article shows how human development has progressed to the point that we can plan more
effectively when we will have children. Birth control has been very effective, but by providing a
solution to allow women the option of not having to go to the doctor more than once every 16
years, this would effectively reduce visits for birth control to about two times per lifetime.
Additionally, with the chip being remote controlled, that would allow for a couple changing their
mind more readily on whether or not they want to conceive.

Article 9
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/279844.php
'The higher the cigarette taxes, the lower the suicide rates'
Saturday 19 July 2014 - 12am PST
In a new study, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, find
a link between suicide rates and cigarette taxes and smoking policies.
Previous research has shown that smokers are more likely to commit suicide than people who do
not smoke. The factor driving this association was assumed by some researchers to be because
people with psychiatric disorders are both more likely to smoke and more likely to commit
suicide than the general population.

The map displays the range of state cigarette taxes from the lowest (lightest blue) to the highest
(darkest blue).
Image credit: Richard A. Grucza, PhD
However, the new study suggests that it may be smoking itself that increases suicide risk -
possibly increasing the risk for psychiatric disorders, or making existing disorders more severe.
The study also claims that policies aimed at limiting smoking may reduce suicide rates.
"We really need to look more closely at the effects of smoking and nicotine, not only on physical
health but on mental health, too," says lead author and associate professor of psychiatry Richard
A. Grucza, PhD.
"We don't know exactly how smoking influences suicide risk. It could be that it affects
depression or increases addiction to other substances. We don't know how smoking exerts these
effects, but the numbers show it clearly does something."
The Washington University team analyzed National Center for Health Statistics' data from 1990
to 2004, a period when individual states began to take different approaches to cigarette taxes and
smoking policies.
Fast facts on US suicide rates
The average annual suicide rate during the study period was about 14 deaths for every
100,000 people
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
In 2010, nearly 40,000 people died of suicide across the US.
The National Center for Health Statistics records data on every death that occurs in the US. The
researchers looked at the states where each person who had committed suicide had lived, and
how aggressive the tobacco policies in those states were.
They found that in the states that adopted aggressive tobacco-control policies, suicide rates
decreased compared with the national average.
By contrast, in states with low cigarette taxes and less restrictive smoking policies, suicide rates
were shown to be up to 6% higher than the national average during the same period.
The researchers also determined whether the people who had committed suicide were likely to
have been smokers. They claim that suicide risk among the people most likely to smoke was
associated with smoking restrictions and tobacco taxes.
"Our analysis showed that each dollar increase in cigarette taxes was associated with a
10% decrease in suicide risk," Grucza says. "Indoor smoking bans also were associated
with risk reductions."
Nicotine may be an important influence on suicide risk, says Dr. Grucza:
"Nicotine is a plausible candidate for explaining the link between smoking and suicide risk. Like
any other addicting drug, people start using nicotine to feel good, but eventually they need it to
feel normal. And as with other drugs, that chronic use can contribute to depression or anxiety,
and that could help to explain the link to suicide."
Grucza adds that he is concerned that many restrictions on public smoking do not cover e-
cigarettes, which deliver nicotine through a vapor rather than smoke. He also hypothesizes that if
states that have low cigarette taxes and relaxed smoking policies raise taxes and restrict public
smoking, then their suicide rates will most likely fall.
Written by David McNamee
The article 'The higher the cigarette taxes, the lower the suicide rates' , talks about recent research
done at the university of Washington school of medicine with the purpose to find a connection as to
why people with psychiatric disorders who smoke are more likely to commit suicide. The article also
mentions a factor to the issue as to how much enforcement each state provides toward smoking.
Research has shown that the higher the tax in a state decreases the smoking suicide rate. which can
relate to human development because as more data is found it can contribute to discovering what is it
in people with psychiatric disorders that causes a higher tendency towards suicide, but also to learn
more about the effect and impact to the human brain during development.

Article 10
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280127.php
Puberty in girls timed by genes from one parent
Friday 25 July 2014 - 3am PST
large international study finds that the age at which girls reach puberty - marked by the timing of
their first menstrual period - is decided by a small subset of genes they inherit from one parent.
For the study, published in the journal Nature, scientists from 166 research centers worldwide
analyzed data on over 180,000 women. One of the investigating centers was the University of
Cambridge in the UK.
Senior author and pediatrician Dr. Ken Ong, of Cambridge's Medical Research Council (MRC)
Epidemiology Unit, says:
"There is a remarkably wide diversity in puberty timing - some girls start at age 8 and others at
13. While lifestyle factors such as nutrition and physical activity do play a role, our findings
reveal a wide and complex network of genetic factors."
Previous studies show that the timing of puberty in girls is a trait that is inherited, varies widely
among individuals, and is linked to risks for obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer,
and early death.
However, the underlying mechanisms that determine the timing of puberty, and how they link to
disease, are not clear.
This study examines data from 57 studies that had analyzed the DNA of 182,416 women of
European descent, and identifies 123 gene variants linked to timing of first menstrual cycle.
When a child is conceived, he or she has a new genome made of pairs of genes. Each pair of
genes has one version from the biological mother and the other from the biological father.
The "usual" rule is that the two copies of a gene are expressed equally in the new individual. For
example, if a child inherits a gene for blood group A from one parent, and the gene for blood
group B from the other, the child's blood group will be AB.
But there are subsets of genes, called "imprinted" genes, that do not follow these equal
expression rules. In imprinted genes, only one version, either the one inherited from the mother,
or the one inherited from the father, is expressed. The other gene is effectively silenced with a
chemical tag.
Six of the variants linked to puberty in girls are 'imprinted' genes
The researchers in this new study discovered that six of the 123 gene variants linked to timing of
first menstrual cycle in girls are clustered within imprinted regions of the genome.
Lead author Dr. John Perry, Senior Investigator Scientist in the Cambridge MRC Epidemiology
Unit says:
"Our findings imply that in a family, one parent may more profoundly affect puberty timing in
their daughters than the other parent."
The parent the gene comes from appears to determine the activity of imprinted genes. Some
genes are only active if the mother's copy is expressed, while others are only active if the father's
copy is expressed.
The study finds both types influence puberty timing in girls, suggesting a potential conflict
between the parents' genes over their child's rate of development.
The researchers found more evidence to support the idea of imbalance between the father's and
the mother's genes from analyzing data on another 35,000 women in Iceland.
This is the first study to show imprinted genes can influence development after birth:
"We knew that some imprinted genes control antenatal growth and development," Dr. Perry
explains, "but there is increasing interest in the possibility that imprinted genes may also control
childhood maturation and later life outcomes, including disease risks."
Dr. Ong says they will continue to study these factors "to understand how early puberty in girls
is linked to higher risks of developing diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer in later life - and
to hopefully one day break this link."
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
The article furthers human development as it continues to investigate the influence genes of each
individual parent have on girls development during puberty. Not to mention the possible long
term effects it could still have on girls after puberty, and even the possibility to see through these
genetic chains early development of any developing disease that could be prevented exmple:
breast cancer.

Article 11
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/280030.php
Potential genetic link found between epilepsy and neurodegenerative disorders
Friday 25 July 2014 - 12am PST
New epilepsy pathway was previously shown to be involved in Alzheimer's
A recent scientific discovery showed that mutations in prickle genes cause epilepsy, which in
humans is a brain disorder characterized by repeated seizures over time. However, the
mechanism responsible for generating prickle-associated seizures was unknown.
A new University of Iowa study, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, reveals a novel pathway in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. UI researchers have
identified the basic cellular mechanism that goes awry in prickle mutant flies, leading to the
epilepsy-like seizures.
"This is to our knowledge the first direct genetic evidence demonstrating that mutations in the fly
version of a known human epilepsy gene produce seizures through altered vesicle transport,"
says John Manak, senior author and associate professor of biology in the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences and pediatrics in the Carver College of Medicine.
Seizure suppression in flies
A neuron has an axon (nerve fiber) that projects from the cell body to different neurons, muscles,
and glands. Information is transmitted along the axon to help a neuron function properly.
Manak and his fellow researchers show that seizure-prone prickle mutant flies have behavioral
defects (such as uncoordinated gait) and electrophysiological defects (problems in the electrical
properties of biological cells) similar to other fly mutants used to study seizures. The researchers
also show that altering the balance of two forms of the prickle gene disrupts neural information
flow and causes epilepsy.
Further, they demonstrate that reducing either of two motor proteins responsible for directional
movement of vesicles (small organelles within a cell that contain biologically important
molecules) along tracks of structural proteins in axons can suppress the seizures.
"The reduction of either of two motor proteins, called Kinesins, fully suppressed the seizures in
the prickle mutant flies," says Manak, faculty member in the Interdisciplinary Graduate
Programs in Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Health Informatics. "We were able
to use two independent assays to show that we could suppress the seizures, effectively 'curing'
the flies of their epileptic behaviors."
Genetic link between epilepsy and Alzheimer's
This new epilepsy pathway was previously shown to be involved in neurodegenerative diseases,
including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Manak and his colleagues note that two Alzheimer's-associated proteins, amyloid precursor
protein and presenilin, are components of the same vesicle, and mutations in the genes encoding
these proteins in flies affect vesicle transport in ways that are strikingly similar to how transport
is impacted in prickle mutants.
"We are particularly excited because we may have stumbled upon one of the key genetic links
between epilepsy and Alzheimer's, since both disorders are converging on the same pathway,"
Manak says. "This is not such a crazy idea. In fact, Dr. Jeff Noebels, a leading epilepsy
researcher, has presented compelling evidence suggesting a link between these disorders. Indeed,
patients with inherited forms of Alzheimer's disease also present with epilepsy, and this has been
documented in a number of published studies."
Manak adds, "If this connection is real, then drugs that have been developed to treat
neurodegenerative disorders could potentially be screened for anti-seizure properties, and vice
versa."
Manak's future research will involve treating seizure-prone flies with such drugs to see if he can
suppress their seizures.
This article relates to human development through the furthering of our understanding of how
various diseases not only work, but how they are related to one another and how they can
potentially be cured in patients. By curing diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons and
preventing epileptic seizures with one discovery of how they are all interconnected, it would
stand to reason that future generations would see quality of life for those affected by these
diseases increase and life expectancy increase.

Article 12
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/280186.php
Researchers find new fertility drug to be more effective than one used for the past 40 years
Monday 28 July 2014 - 2am PST

A fertility drug used for more than four decades could soon be replaced with another drug, which
is 30 percent more effective in helping women become pregnant, according to a study with
University of Florida ties.
In a study published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at seven
different academic centers recruited 750 couples to compare the long-used fertility drug
clomiphene citrate, commonly called clomid, to letrozole, a drug initially developed to prevent
recurrence of breast cancer in women.
Of the 376 women who were given clomid, 72 became pregnant and gave birth. Of the 374
women who took letrozole, 103 gave birth.
"Letrozole works better, has about the same cost, has fewer side effects and has a slightly lower
twin rate than clomid," said Gregory Christman, M.D., director of the division of reproductive
endocrinology and infertility at the University of Florida. "Clomid has been available for fertility
treatment for more than 40 years, but with this new information, we may soon have to reconsider
its role in the treatment of infertility due to anovulation in women with polycystic ovarian
disorder."
Clomid is often prescribed to women with polycystic ovary syndrome as a first step in their
treatment - and this population of women account for about a third of women who seek fertility
treatment, Christman said. About 1 in 20 women of childbearing age have this disorder,
according to the Office on Women's Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Women with this condition typically have fewer periods - seven cycles per year fewer
than women without the condition - and therefore have fewer opportunities to become pregnant.
Christman oversaw one of the trial's sites as one of the principal investigators at the University of
Michigan. There, he recruited 75 of the 750 couples for the study. Women in the study, who
were an average of 29 years old, were randomly assigned to take either clomid or letrozole.
Because the drugs were administered in the same way - both were given for a five-day period at
the beginning of a woman's cycle - the study was double-blinded. Neither the doctor nor the
patient knew which drug the patient was receiving.
Clomid works by traveling to the brain, where it partially blocks estrogen receptors. This triggers
the brain to send a signal to the ovaries to produce more estrogen, which causes ovulation.
Letrozole is prescribed to prevent recurrence of breast cancer in women by shutting off an
enzyme that converts circulating testosterone to estrogen. It works primarily in fat or adipose
tissue throughout the body, causing estrogen levels in a woman's bloodstream to fall. The brain
sees this drop in estrogen and tells the ovaries to make more estrogen, which triggers ovulation,
Christman said.
The study also found that letrozole results in fewer twins. Approximately 10 percent of women
who are treated with clomid give birth to twins. The rate drops to between 3 to 4 percent in
women who take letrozole.
"It always makes you smile when you hear someone is expecting twins, but because of the
increased risks of a multiple pregnancy it would be better and safer if people conceived one baby
at a time." Christman said.
David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., UF senior vice president for health affairs and president of UF
Health, helped oversee the study, which was conducted through the Reproductive Medicine Trial
Network, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development branch of
the National Institutes of Health. The network is now in its fourth cycle, with each cycle
consisting of five years. Guzick was involved in the network's first cycle, and now chairs the
advisory board that oversees new reproductive medicine trials.
"This study indicates that there is a safe and effective medical treatment to help infertility
patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome, which is one of the most common conditions causing
infertility," Guzick said.
Generic versions of both medications are available, making treatment with either drug
affordable.

This article furthers human development by showing advances in medical understanding of
how the human body reacts to certain drugs. Not only that, but specifically, this reaction helps
women who would otherwise not be able to give birth to be able to conceive at a rate 30%
higher than other fertility drugs previously used and with a twin birth rate less than half of
those same drugs. This helps birth rates increase due to a higher success rate and death rates
decrease due to fewer complications arising, usually from twin pregnancies.