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Thursday, June 3, 2010
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Tuesday, June 1, 2010
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Friday, January 15, 2010
Rats, Humans and Strokes
From: Andy Soos, ENN
Published January 15, 2010 11:37 AM
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Published January 15, 2010 11:37 AM
A stroke (sometimes called an acute cerebrovascular attack) is the rapidly developing loss of brain function(s) due to a disturbance or loss in the blood supply to the brain. As a result, the affected area of the brain is unable to function, leading to inability to move one or more limbs on one side of the body, inability to understand or formulate speech, or inability to see one side of the visual field.
Two new studies by University of California (UC) Irvine biologists have found that a protein naturally occurring in humans restores motor function in rats after a stroke. Administered directly to the brain, the protein restores 99 percent of lost movement; if it's given through the nose, 70 percent of lost movement is regained. Untreated rats improve by only 30 percent.
"No drugs exist that will help a stroke after a few days. If you have a stroke, you don't have many treatment options," said James Fallon, psychiatry & human behavior professor and senior coauthor of the studies. "Now we have evidence there may be therapies that can repair damage to a significant degree long after the stroke. It's a completely unexpected and remarkable finding, and it's worth trying in humans."
A stroke is typically treated with a clot buster drug and is usually combined with supportive care (speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Secondary prevention with antiplatelet drugs (aspirin and often dipyridamole), blood pressure control, and statins may also be used.
The UC studies, carried out by postdoctoral researcher Magda Guerra-Crespo, chronicle the success of a small protein called transforming growth factor alpha, which plays critical tissue-forming and developmental roles in humans from just after conception through birth and into old age.
"TGF alpha has been studied for two decades in other organ systems but never before has been shown to reverse the symptoms of a stroke." Guerra-Crespo said. No lasting side effects were observed in the conducted studies.
In an earlier study scientists sought to learn whether TGF alpha administered directly to the brain could help rats with a stroke induced loss of limb function, typically on one side, as is seen in humans.
When put inside a cylinder, healthy rats will jump up with both front legs, but stroke impaired rats will use just one leg, favoring the injured side. When given a choice of directions to walk, impaired rats will move toward their good side which is an easily observed symptom.
One month after the study began rats suffered an induced stroke; some rats were then injected with TGF alpha. Within a month, they had regained their motor function. Rats that did not receive treatment improved just 30 percent.
Scientists examined the rats' brains and found that TGF alpha was stimulating neuron growth. First, it prompted adult stem cells in the brain to divide, creating more cells. Those cells then turned into brain cells and moved to the injured part of the brain, replacing neurons lost to the stroke. These new neurons, the scientists believe, helped restore motor function.
In the newest study, appearing online January 11 in the Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases, scientists placed TGF alpha in the rats' noses, simulating a nasal spray. They used a slightly different chemical version of the protein to render it more stable on its journey to the brain. After a month, the injured rats had regained 70 percent of their function, indicating that the intranasal method works well.
TGF Alpha promises the potential for improved post stroke treatment and recovery. Whether the TGF Alpha will work as well in humans is to be determined.
For further information please go to: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/22648
2009. Copyright Environmental News Network
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake Hits Haiti
From: Haroon Siddique, Guardian UK and USGS
Published January 13, 2010 06:56 AM
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Published January 13, 2010 06:56 AM
The earthquake that has hit Haiti, raising fears that thousands have been killed, is the latest in a long line of natural disasters to befall a country ill equipped to deal with such events.
Hurricanes and flooding are perennial concerns for the poorest country in the western hemisphere, which has time and again been dependent on foreign aid in emergencies.
In 1963 hurricane Flora, the sixth deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, devastated the island. The US weather bureau estimated the death toll at 5,000 and the cost of damage to property and crops at between $125m and $180m.
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The country was struck by two disasters in 2004. In May heavy rains caused flooding that killed more than 2,000 people. Four months later mudslides and flooding caused by hurricane Jeanne, the 12th deadliest Atlantic hurricane, killed more than 3,000 people, mostly in the town of Gonaives.
Tragedy struck again in 2008 when four storms — tropical storm Fay, hurricane Gustav, hurricane Hanna and hurricane Ike — dumped heavy rains on the country. Around 1,000 people died and 800,000 were left homeless. The number of people affected by the storms was put at 800,000 — almost 10% of the population — with the damage estimated at $1bn.
The January 12, 2010, Haiti earthquake occurred in the boundary region separating the Caribbean plate and the North America plate. This plate boundary is dominated by left-lateral strike slip motion and compression, and accommodates about 20 mm/y slip, with the Caribbean plate moving eastward with respect to the North America plate.
Haiti occupies the western part of the island of Hispaniola, one of the Greater Antilles islands, situated between Puerto Rico and Cuba. At the longitude of the January 12 earthquake, motion between the Caribbean and North American plates is partitioned between two major east-west trending, strike-slip fault systems -- the Septentrional fault system in northern Haiti and the Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden fault system in southern Haiti.
The location and focal mechanism of the earthquake are consistent with the event having occurred as left-lateral strike slip faulting on the Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden fault system. This fault system accommodates about 7 mm/y, nearly half the overall motion between the Caribbean plate and North America plate.
The Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden fault system has not produced a major earthquake in recent decades. The EPGFZ is the likely source of historical large earthquakes in 1860, 1770, 1761, 1751, 1684, 1673, and 1618, though none of these has been confirmed in the field as associated with this fault.
For more information: Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/13/haiti-earthquake-history-disasters
USGS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rja6.php#maps
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