Archive for June, 2015

It started in 2009, lump in throat feeling did barium swallow test whihc was notmal, and had blood test which was normal except ESR slightly high, aske d to take Valprim 2mg and symptoms disappeared after a week or so, Again Sept 2011 felt like I had something in throat, went to doctors, gave me did an gastrocscopy, came clear, also did ultrasound for thyroid right side was in the upper limit s of normal, left was normal, also had some pain in stomach around that time did bariumtest and contrast for MRI to which I was anaphalactic, and had to give a cortizone, also sent me to ENT, during that time I had this white pimple,( have had them previously which ws not often but since 2011 they were there quite often), looking things on right side of tonsil no pain just botherend me making me feel like I need to gag, and sometimes when I coughed it came out other times I had to press on it to get the darn thing out, they were like white heads only two in the same spot all the time, ENT and doctor said food particles believe me they were not I thingk they were tonsil stones, found out through, med help. ENT Dec 2011 ,sent camera through nose said have a drip, I have alleries to hayfever andasthma asked to do a scan , did not do it immediately, until end of March when I woke up and felt that my vison was double digits, was worried as there is glucoma in family, and my previous eye pressure in FEb 2011,check was 19, Since March before I got the blurry vion hadnt been sleeping well, also notedfor getting a lot, putting things in wrong place, sometimes forget what I was looking for as well, had astammer at one time, which I never had but now not often only sometimes, if I am stressed trying to think of words maybe due to lack of slee. Ayway went to emergency did normal test to make sure not a stroke due to double vion and was asked to go toemergency ENT next day, Had terrible headache and went eye pressure was done igt was in 20 and 21, as I was also vomiting, did not have headace when I had the blurry vision, just . They asked if I get sius problems said yes, so they checked it with camera and said may have polyps and do a scan tomake sure hospital put me on antibiotics which had some acid in it made breathing a bit hard felt like something was stuck in chest and itchiness here and there, did scan said have polyps.Went back to GP put me on doxy for 3 weeks while on doxy got me to do a scan of the thyroid and said that it came out normal also did another blood test that came out normal. While on doxy noted the pimples in right side cleared up, but there is a flesh coloured slighly raisedlump on that side, so put finger in there to check it was a small lump size of pea doesnot hurt, but noticed after the doxy was over that it had enlarged , was worried showed it to doctor who said dont worry, been in an oout of doctors, who says my glands are swollen, everytime mentioned it to him but not worried, checked mouth with popsicle stick and light, mentioned to him that it has grown but docotor is not concerned, went back to entwith the report of scan mentioned to him he too said may be due to nasal drip, nasal drip, is back of throat this is in front of the arch where the pimples were,Tthe throat scan for thyroidsdid not show or mention, anything about this lump, as I was on antibiotics at the time, Feel neck is heavy, tightness, so went to chiro who took Xrays of the back top to bottom while on antibiotics, chiro said had a small bend but nothing to worry about, feel a lot of tension in neck area and sometimes a uncomfortable feeling, On the weekend was on bed on the computer, felt the pressure on both side of the neck as if I was going to get choked, have had this dry coughcough too that has started, for some times now but havent taken notice of it as I do have asthma, but it not asthmatic, had breakfast in bed and then got up was in the kitchen felt vision going blurry , as my neck felt tightening on both sides, went and put my feet up for some time took some time for the feeling to leave 20 -30 mts or more. Went back to Dr and mentioned about this, also noted that I had a slightloss of bladder control and did not know until I felt something wet, but was too shy to tell the doctor I am forgetting alotnot sure because of the stress of the lump, my sinus feels fine sometimes get the drip and stuffed nose but not all the time, could it be the lump inside throat that is causing but it is only on the right not left but the compression was on both sides,took a nurofen, yesterday, I am stressed oiut about the lump pressure was fine but my hear rate was 81 and should have been 66 or below, I checkd my poulse when I felt thistightening and it was 99, but when I went to the doctorit was normal, All I want is to get this lump out of my throat so I dont stress anymore, I want to do the polyps but they said they will have to straighten themiddleof nose too, and read that polyps can comeback if you dont know what is causing it so want to get allergy test done, as well as want the doctor to take this lump out at the same time how can I make him do it he is only concentraing on the sinus., will I need my doctor to ask him to remove it too, as it is causing me to stress, sinus not too bad but the vison thing together with the back of neck discomfort, and the side s of throat tightness, is frightening me. when I move the neck around I can hear this funny sound like a crunch noise.do you thing if I go to the dentist will she might be able to help me with this lump on the inside of the neck, I am not sure what to do if anyone can let me know if they have the same problem, I too thought it might be the arteries on the side of neck that is causing this, the doctor said if I get the blur vion next time she will get a scan done, note not sinus when I had the second blured vision. ENT asked me to take prednosoloan, and an antibiotic, not sure for what is if it is for the drip or the lump, as I was sneezing a lot the day I went for the second ENT Please help

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Inflammation of Carotid artery and neck pain - Undiagnosed ...

Overview

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids: They are necessary for human health but the body cant make them -- you have to get them through food. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in fish, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut, other seafood including algae and krill, some plants, and nut oils. Also known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function, as well as normal growth and development. They have also become popular because they may reduce the risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends eating fish (particularly fatty fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon) at least 2 times a week.

Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to be important for cognitive (brain memory and performance) and behavioral function. In fact, infants who do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids from their mothers during pregnancy are at risk for developing vision and nerve problems. Symptoms of omega-3 fatty acid deficiency include fatigue, poor memory, dry skin, heart problems, mood swings or depression, and poor circulation.

It is important to have the proper ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 (another essential fatty acid) in the diet. Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation, and most omega-6 fatty acids tend to promote inflammation. The typical American diet tends to contain 14 - 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids, which many nutritionally oriented physicians consider to be way too high on the omega-6 side.

The Mediterranean diet, on the other hand, has a healthier balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Many studies have shown that people who follow this diet are less likely to develop heart disease. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, including whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, olive oil, garlic, as well as moderate wine consumption.

Clinical evidence is strongest for heart disease and problems that contribute to heart disease, but omega-3 fatty acids may also be used for:

High cholesterol

People who follow a Mediterranean style diet tend to have higher HDL or good cholesterol levels, which help promote heart health. Inuit Eskimos, who get high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from eating fatty fish, also tend to have increased HDL cholesterol and decreased triglycerides (fats in the blood). Several studies have shown that fish oil supplements reduce triglyceride levels. Finally, walnuts (which are rich in alpha linolenic acid or ANA, which converts to omega-3s in the body) have been reported to lower total cholesterol and triglycerides in people with high cholesterol levels.

High blood pressure

Several clinical studies suggest that diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids lower blood pressure in people with hypertension. An analysis of 17 clinical studies using fish oil supplements found that taking 3 or more grams of fish oil daily may reduce blood pressure in people with untreated hypertension. Doses this high, however, should only be taken under the direction of a physician.

More here:
Omega-3 fatty acids | University of Maryland Medical Center

An Interesting Finding

Susceptible strains of rodents fed high-fat diets overeat, gain fat and become profoundly insulin resistant. Dr. Jianping Ye's group recently published a paper showing that the harmful metabolic effects of a high-fat diet (lard and soybean oil) on mice can be prevented, and even reversed, using a short-chain saturated fatty acid called butyric acid (hereafter, butyrate). Here's a graph of the percent body fat over time of the two groups:

The butyrate-fed mice remained lean and avoided metabolic problems. Butyrate increased their energy expenditure by increasing body heat production and modestly increasing physical activity. It also massively increased the function of their mitochondria, the tiny power plants of the cell.

Butyrate lowered their blood cholesterol by approximately 25 percent, and their triglycerides by nearly 50 percent. It lowered their fasting insulin by nearly 50 percent, and increased their insulin sensitivity by nearly 300 percent*. The investigators concluded:

I found this study thought-provoking, so I looked into butyrate further.

Butyrate Suppresses Inflammation in the Gut and Other Tissues

In most animals, the highest concentration of butyrate is found in the gut. That's because it's produced by intestinal bacteria from carbohydrate that the host cannot digest, such as cellulose and pectin. Indigestible carbohydrate is the main form of dietary fiber.

It turns out, butyrate has been around in the mammalian gut for so long that the lining of our large intestine has evolved to use it as its primary source of energy. It does more than just feed the bowel, however. It also has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. So much so, that investigators are using oral butyrate supplements and butyrate enemas to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. Some investigators are also suggesting that inflammatory bowel disorders may be caused or exacerbated by a deficiency of butyrate in the first place.

Butyrate, and other short-chain fatty acids produced by gut bacteria**, has a remarkable effect on intestinal permeability. In tissue culture and live rats, short-chain fatty acids cause a large and rapid decrease in intestinal permeability. Butyrate, or dietary fiber, prevents the loss of intestinal permeability in rat models of ulcerative colitis. This shows that short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate, play an important role in the maintenance of gut barrier integrity. Impaired gut barrier integrity is associated with many diseases, including fatty liver, heart failure and autoimmune diseases (thanks to Pedro Bastos for this information-- I'll be covering the topic in more detail later).

Butyrate's role doesn't end in the gut. It's absorbed into the circulation, and may exert effects on the rest of the body as well. In human blood immune cells, butyrate is potently anti-inflammatory***.

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Butyric Acid: An Ancient Controller of Metabolism ...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes premature mortality, disability and compromised quality of life in the industrialized and developing world (1). Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic inflammatory disease which manifests itself in multiple joints of the body. The inflammatory process primarily affects the lining of the joints (synovial membrane), but can also affect other organs. The inflamed synovium leads to erosions of the cartilage and bone and sometimes joint deformity. Pain, swelling, and redness are common joint manifestations. Although the causes are unknown, RA is believed to be the result of a faulty immune response. RA can begin at any age and is associated with fatigue and prolonged stiffness after rest. There is no cure for RA, but new effective drugs are increasingly available to treat the disease and prevent deformed joints. In addition to medications and surgery, good self-management, including exercise, are known to reduce pain and disability.

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The etiology, or cause, of RA is unknown. Many cases are believed to result from an interaction between genetic factors and environmental exposures.

Socio-demographics: The incidence of RA is typically two to three times higher in women than men. The onset of RA, in both women and men, is highest among those in their sixties(2)

Genetics: There is longstanding evidence that specific HLA class II genotypes are associated with increased risk. Most attention has been given to the DR4 and DRB1 molecules of the major histocompatability complex HLA class II genes. The strongest associations have been found between RA and the DRB1*0401 and DRB1*0404 alleles (12). More recent investigations indicate that of the more than 30 genes studied, the strongest candidate gene is PTPN22, a gene that has been linked to several autoimmune conditions(12).

Modifiable: Several modifiable risk factors have been studied in association with RA including reproductive hormonal exposures, tobacco use, dietary factors, and microbial exposures.

Smoking Among these risk factors, the strongest and most consistent evidence is for an association between smoking and RA. A history of smoking is associated with a modest to moderate (1.3 to 2.4 times) increased risk of RA onset (2). This relationship between smoking and RA is strongest among people who are ACPA-positive (anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies), a marker of auto-immune activity (12).

Reproductive and breastfeeding history Hormones related to reproduction have been studied extensively as potential risk factors for RA:

Read more:
CDC - Arthritis - Basics - Definition - Rheumatoid Arthritis

What is multiple sclerosis (MS)?

MS is a disease where patches of inflammation occur in parts of the brain and/or spinal cord. This can cause damage to parts of the brain and lead to various symptoms (described below).

Many thousands of nerve fibres transmit tiny electrical impulses (messages) between different parts of the brain and spinal cord. Each nerve fibre in the brain and spinal cord is surrounded by a protective sheath made from a substance called myelin. The myelin sheath acts like the insulation around an electrical wire, and is needed for the electrical impulses to travel correctly along the nerve fibre.

Nerves are made up from many nerve fibres. Nerves come out of the brain and spinal cord and take messages to and from muscles, the skin, body organs and tissues.

MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease. This means that cells of the immune system, which normally attack germs (bacteria, viruses, etc), attack part of the body. When the disease is active, parts of the immune system, mainly cells called T cells, attack the myelin sheath which surrounds the nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord. This leads to small patches of inflammation.

Something may trigger the immune system to act in this way. One theory is that a virus, or another factor in the environment, triggers the immune system in some people with a certain genetic makeup.

The inflammation around the myelin sheath stops the affected nerve fibres from working properly, and symptoms develop. When the inflammation clears, the myelin sheath may heal and repair, and nerve fibres start to work again. However, the inflammation, or repeated bouts of inflammation, can leave a small scar (sclerosis) which can permanently damage nerve fibres. In a typical person with MS, many (multiple) small areas of scarring develop in the brain and spinal cord. These scars may also be called plaques.

Once the disease is triggered, it tends to follow one of the following four patterns.

Nearly 9 in 10 people with MS have the common relapsing-remitting form of the disease. A relapse is when an attack (episode) of symptoms occurs. During a relapse, symptoms develop (described below) and may last for days, but usually last for 2-6 weeks. They sometimes last for several months. Symptoms then ease or go away (remit). You are said to be in remission when symptoms have eased or gone away. Further relapses then occur from time to time.

The type and number of symptoms that occur during a relapse vary from person to person, depending on where myelin damage occurs. The frequency of relapses also varies. One or two relapses every two years is fairly typical. However, relapses can occur more or less often than this. When a relapse occurs, previous symptoms may return, or new ones may appear.

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Multiple Sclerosis. Medical information about MS | Patient

Your Expert in Male Fertility & Sexual Health

High technology approaches to fertility, including ICSI, are really a two edged sword: they allow us to treat severe male infertility, but they may alter natural selection in that decisions regarding sperm and eggs are made in the laboratory and not by nature.

Dr. Paul Turek

Among the 15% of couples who experience infertility, about 40% of the time the infertility is due to male factors. About half of male infertility cases are due to defined reasons, including varicocele, infection, hormone imbalances, exposures such as drugs or medications, x-rays, tobacco use and hot tubs, blockage of the reproductive tract ducts, and previous surgery that has left scarring. Another cause of male infertility that has been underestimated in the past, but is now gaining in importance is genetic infertility. The reason for its increased importance is that our knowledge about genetics is growing so quickly. Men who may have had unexplained infertility in the past may now be diagnosed with genetic causes of infertility through recently available testing. In fact, this field is progressing so quickly that genetic infertility has already become one of the most commonly diagnosed reasons for male infertility.

Developed in the early 1990s, assisted reproduction in the form of IVF and ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) is a revolutionary laboratory technique in which a single sperm is placed directly inside an egg for fertilization. This technique has opened the door to fertility for men who formerly had few available treatment options, as it allows men who were previously considered severely infertile or sterile the possibility of fatherhood. However, with ICSI sperm are chosen by laboratory technicians and not by nature and because of this, it is not clear what barriers to natural selection are altered. Thus, along with this technology comes the possibility of passing on to a child certain genetic issues that may have caused the fathers infertility, or even more severe conditions. Another reason to know whether male

Infertility is genetic or not is because classic treatments such as varicocele repair or medications given to improve male infertility. In fact, Dr Turek was one of the first to publish on this issue, showing that varicocele repair was not effective in improving fertility in men with genetic infertility. Because he recognized these issues early on, Dr. Turek, while at UCSF in 1997, founded the first formal genetic counseling and testing program for infertility in the U.S. Called the Program in the Genetics of Infertility (PROGENI), Dr. Tureks program has helped over 2000 patients at risk for genetic infertility to navigate the decision-making waters that surround this condition.

Men with infertility should be seen by a urologist for a thorough medical history, physical examination, and appropriate medical testing. If genetic infertility is a possibility, then a genetic counselor can help couples understand the possible reasons, offer appropriate genetic testing, and discuss the complex emotional and medical implications of the test results. The approach taken early on by Dr. Turek is outlined in Figure 1. Just like the medical diagnosis from a urologist or fertility specialist, information about family history plays a critical role in genetic risk assessment. This approach to genetic evaluation, termed non-prescriptive, has been the corner- stone of Dr. Tureks critically acclaimed clinical program that now has over a dozen publications contributing to our current knowledge in the field. It is important to note that a lack of family history of infertility or other medical problems does not eliminate or reduce the risk of genetic infertility. In fact, a family history review will often be unremarkable. However, family history can provide crucial supporting in- formation toward making a genetic diagnosis (such as a family history of recurrent miscarriages or babies born with problems). Dr. Turek has published that having a genetic counselor obtain family history information is much more accurate than simply giving patients a written questionnaire to fill out and bring to their visit. A genetic counselor can also discuss appropriate genetic testing options and review the test results in patients in a meaningful way.

When speaking to Dr. Tureks genetic counselor about genetic testing, keep in mind that he or she will not tell you what to do. Genetic counselors are trained to provide information, address questions and concerns, and support you in the decision making process. A genetic counselor does not assume which decisions are most appropriate for you.

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The Genetics of Male Infertility - The Turek Clinic

Anxiety is known as a psychological/mental health disorder, and at its core, it is. But scientists now know that your genetics and current physical health can play a very significant role in both the development of anxiety and how it manifests. For example, it's known that low levels of serotonin - a common neurotransmitter - may lead to anxiety and depression, which is why drugs that improve the flow of serotonin are prescribed for anxiety.

Hormones also appear to play a significant role in anxiety development. Those that feel as though their anxieties appeared over time despite effective coping strategies and a high overall quality of life may be suffering from hormonal anxiety, caused by any number of problems with hormone balance.

When the body causes anxiety, treatment may seem more difficult. But powerful anxiety cures can stop anxiety forever. Want to learn more about your anxiety and how to cure it forever?

Take my free 7 minute anxiety test now.

The truth is that it's almost impossible to know the exact cause of your anxiety. Your hormonal imbalance may have caused your anxiety, but your anxiety may also have caused your hormonal imbalance, and in some cases the imbalance may have no effect on anxiety whatsoever.

That's why it's best to start at the symptoms and move forward from there. If you haven't yet, click here to take my free anxiety symptoms questionnaire.

Anxiety hormone imbalance has the potential to cause anxiety, because anxiety is often caused by those whose bodies are under stress trying to operate efficiently. It's the reason that those that don't exercise and those that eat an unhealthy diet often have anxiety as well - without exercise or nutrition, your body struggles to function. In addition, hormones are the messengers to the brain. Without hormones, your body may not produce the right amount of neurotransmitters, and anxiety may be the result.

That said, some examples of hormones that may contribute to anxiety include:

Again, nearly any type of hormonal dysfunction can contribute to anxiety, because the body often responds to poorly functioning hormones with stress. But the three examples above tend to be the most common hormones that cause anxiety.

What is perhaps most interesting about anxiety, however, is that even if your anxiety is caused by a change in hormones, it rarely requires any hormonal therapy. Those in natural medicine often talk about the mind/body connection, and many of those that support research-based treatments laugh at the idea that the mind can genuinely affect the body, and vice versa.

Read more:
How Are Hormones And Anxiety Related? - Calm Clinic

Directory: Characters Villains DBZ villains Bio-Androids

Perfect Cell Super Perfect Cell Android 21 Artifical Human no. 21 The Ultimate Fighter Mr. Cell The Perfect Being Future Cell Super (Albanian dub) The Perfect Warrior Celula (Spanish dub) Komrczak (Polish dub) Selas (Lithuanian dub) Artificial Human Cell

Cell () is a major supervillain who comes from a future timeline in the Dragon Ball manga and the Dragon Ball Z anime, also making an appearance in Dragon Ball GT. He is the ultimate creation of Dr. Gero, designed to possess all the abilities of the greatest fighters to have ever inhabited or visited Earth; the result is a "perfect warrior", possessing numerous favorable genetic traits and special abilities. Cell is one of the few Red Ribbon Androids not directly completed by Dr. Gero; the others are Android 15, Android 14, Android 13, and possibly Android 8. Cell, Android 13, Android 14, and Android 15's completions involve Dr. Gero's Super Computer.

Cell was named after the English word for "cell" because he absorbs humans and transforms.[8]Insects served as the model for Cell's design. Besides his design, the way in which he hatches from an egg and sheds his skin as he grows was also based on insects.[8] Thus Cell very much resembles an insect in both in appearances and in the way he goes through different stages of metamorphosis.

"You fool! Don't you realize yet you're up against the perfect weapon?!" "Save the World"

Cell has as an original personality with various other characters' personalities added in; Gero's computer redesigned the weak parts of the original personality, adding in the personalities of various different characters to make him the perfect weapon.[8] Throughout the Androids Arc, Cell's personality changes drastically with each transformation. At first, Cell's desire to complete his evolution by absorbing both Android 17 and Android 18 is what fuels him in his imperfect form. Upon reaching his final form, his eagerness to test the limits of his newfound power is what defines his character. Cell is unique among most villains of the series in that he is quite sophisticated. Because of his genetic composition from other warriors, he is able to psychologically manipulate those warriors and exploit their weaknesses to his advantage. He also found the Dragon Balls' reviving ability to be a nuisance, as evidenced by his relief when he learned that the Dragon Balls were rendered inert due to Piccolo and Kami's fusion.

Some initial sketches of Cell (Daizenshuu 4)

Initially, Cell is completely single-minded in pursuit of his goals and is very cautious, sneaky, cunning and calculating in achieving his main goal of perfection. Upon reaching his first transformation, he becomes far more brash and impulsive in his actions, relying less on strategy and more on brute force, often becoming clouded and not thinking rationally when things do not go his way. Upon reaching perfection, Cell displays a number of traits shared by those whose cells he possesses; Piccolo's cunning, Vegeta's pride, Goku's laid-back disposition, Frieza's smugness, and the Saiyan lust for battle. He is also shown to be calm and genuinely polite in this Perfect form. Perhaps Cell's most distinguishable trait in this form is his uninhibited vanity, which he shamelessly puts on display by launching the Cell Games, a tournament organized for the sole purpose of showing off his newfound power. It can also be seen during Cell's confrontation with Gohan when he affirms his true purpose: the annihilation of anything he considers imperfect, a category in which he places everyone and everything but himself.

In the English manga, Cell is referred to as "it", while in the anime (and the Japanese versions of both), he is referred to as "he." He is likely described that way in the English manga to emphasize the fact that he is an artificial being.

First colored image of Cell, made for the anime staff ("Ginger Town Showdown")

Continue reading here:
Cell - Dragon Ball Wiki

Abstract

Male hypogonadism is a condition in which the body does not produce enough of the testosterone hormone; the hormone that plays a key role in masculine growth and development during puberty. There is a clear need to increase the awareness of hypogonadism throughout the medical profession, especially in primary care physicians who are usually the first port of call for the patient. Hypogonadism can significantly reduce the quality of life and has resulted in the loss of livelihood and separation of couples, leading to divorce. It is also important for doctors to recognize that testosterone is not just a sex hormone. There is an important research being published to demonstrate that testosterone may have key actions on metabolism, on the vasculature, and on brain function, in addition to its well-known effects on bone and body composition. This article has been used as an introduction for the need to develop sensitive and reliable assays for sex hormones and for symptoms and treatment of hypogonadism.

Keywords: Male hypogonadism, pituitary, sex hormone, testosterone, testis

Hypogonadism is a medical term for decreased functional activity of the gonads. The gonads (ovaries or testes) produce hormones (testosterone, estradiol, antimullerian hormone, progesterone, inhibin B, activin) and gametes (eggs or sperm).[1] Male hypogonadism is characterized by a deficiency in testosterone a critical hormone for sexual, cognitive, and body function and development. Clinically low testosterone levels can lead to the absence of secondary sex characteristics, infertility, muscle wasting, and other abnormalities. Low testosterone levels may be due to testicular, hypothalamic, or pituitary abnormalities. In individuals who also present with clinical signs and symptoms, clinical guidelines recommend treatment with testosterone replacement therapy.

There are two basic types of hypogonadism that exist:

Primary: This type of hypogonadism also known as primary testicular failure originates from a problem in the testicles.

Secondary: This type of hypogonadism indicates a problem in the hypothalamus or the pituitary gland parts of the brain that signal the testicles to produce testosterone. The hypothalamus produces the gonadotropin releasing hormone, which signals the pituitary gland to make the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone. The luteinizing hormone then signals the testes to produce testosterone. Either type of hypogonadism may be caused by an inherited (congenital) trait or something that happens later in life (acquired), such as an injury or an infection.

Common causes of primary hypogonadism include:

Klinefelter's Syndrome: This condition results from a congenital abnormality of the sex chromosomes, X and Y. A male normally has one X and one Y chromosome. In Klinefelter's syndrome, two or more X chromosomes are present in addition to one Y chromosome. The Y chromosome contains the genetic material that determines the sex of a child and the related development. The extra X chromosome that occurs in Klinefelter's syndrome causes abnormal development of the testicles, which in turn results in the underproduction of testosterone.

Before birth, the testicles develop inside the abdomen and normally move down into their permanent place in the scrotum. Sometimes, one or both of the testicles may not descend at birth. This condition often corrects itself within the first few years of life without treatment. If not corrected in early childhood, it may lead to malfunction of the testicles and reduced production of testosterone.

See more here:
Male hypogonadism: Symptoms and treatment

biotechnology,the use of biology to solve problems and make useful products. The most prominent area of biotechnology is the production of therapeutic proteins and other drugs through genetic engineering.

People have been harnessing biological processes to improve their quality of life for some 10,000 years, beginning with the first agricultural communities. Approximately 6,000 years ago, humans began to tap the biological processes of microorganisms in order to make bread, alcoholic beverages, and cheese and to preserve dairy products. But such processes are not what is meant today by biotechnology, a term first widely applied to the molecular and cellular technologies that began to emerge in the 1960s and 70s. A fledgling biotech industry began to coalesce in the mid- to late 1970s, led by Genentech, a pharmaceutical company established in 1976 by Robert A. Swanson and Herbert W. Boyer to commercialize the recombinant DNA technology pioneered by Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen. Early companies such as Genentech, Amgen, Biogen, Cetus, and Genex began by manufacturing genetically engineered substances primarily for medical and environmental uses.

For more than a decade, the biotechnology industry was dominated by recombinant DNA technology, or genetic engineering. This technique consists of splicing the gene for a useful protein (often a human protein) into production cellssuch as yeast, bacteria, or mammalian cells in culturewhich then begin to produce the protein in volume. In the process of splicing a gene into a production cell, a new organism is created. At first, biotechnology investors and researchers were uncertain about whether the courts would permit them to acquire patents on organisms; after all, patents were not allowed on new organisms that happened to be discovered and identified in nature. But, in 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Diamond v. Chakrabarty, resolved the matter by ruling that a live human-made microorganism is patentable subject matter. This decision spawned a wave of new biotechnology firms and the infant industrys first investment boom. In 1982 recombinant insulin became the first product made through genetic engineering to secure approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since then, dozens of genetically engineered protein medications have been commercialized around the world, including recombinant versions of growth hormone, clotting factors, proteins for stimulating the production of red and white blood cells, interferons, and clot-dissolving agents.

In the early years, the main achievement of biotechnology was the ability to produce naturally occurring therapeutic molecules in larger quantities than could be derived from conventional sources such as plasma, animal organs, and human cadavers. Recombinant proteins are also less likely to be contaminated with pathogens or to provoke allergic reactions. Today, biotechnology researchers seek to discover the root molecular causes of disease and to intervene precisely at that level. Sometimes this means producing therapeutic proteins that augment the bodys own supplies or that make up for genetic deficiencies, as in the first generation of biotech medications. (Gene therapyinsertion of genes encoding a needed protein into a patients body or cellsis a related approach.) But the biotechnology industry has also expanded its research into the development of traditional pharmaceuticals and monoclonal antibodies that stop the progress of a disease. Such steps are uncovered through painstaking study of genes (genomics), the proteins that they encode (proteomics), and the larger biological pathways in which they act.

In addition to the tools mentioned above, biotechnology also involves merging biological information with computer technology (bioinformatics), exploring the use of microscopic equipment that can enter the human body (nanotechnology), and possibly applying techniques of stem cell research and cloning to replace dead or defective cells and tissues (regenerative medicine). Companies and academic laboratories integrate these disparate technologies in an effort to analyze downward into molecules and also to synthesize upward from molecular biology toward chemical pathways, tissues, and organs.

In addition to being used in health care, biotechnology has proved helpful in refining industrial processes through the discovery and production of biological enzymes that spark chemical reactions (catalysts); for environmental cleanup, with enzymes that digest contaminants into harmless chemicals and then die after consuming the available food supply; and in agricultural production through genetic engineering.

Agricultural applications of biotechnology have proved the most controversial. Some activists and consumer groups have called for bans on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or for labeling laws to inform consumers of the growing presence of GMOs in the food supply. In the United States, the introduction of GMOs into agriculture began in 1993, when the FDA approved bovine somatotropin (BST), a growth hormone that boosts milk production in dairy cows. The next year, the FDA approved the first genetically modified whole food, a tomato engineered for a longer shelf life. Since then, regulatory approval in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere has been won by dozens of agricultural GMOs, including crops that produce their own pesticides and crops that survive the application of specific herbicides used to kill weeds. Studies by the United Nations, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the European Union, the American Medical Association, U.S. regulatory agencies, and other organizations have found GMO foods to be safe, but skeptics contend that it is still too early to judge the long-term health and ecological effects of such crops. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the land area planted in genetically modified crops increased dramatically, from 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) in 1996 to 160 million hectares (395 million acres) by 2011.

Overall, the revenues of U.S. and European biotechnology industries roughly doubled over the five-year period from 1996 through 2000. Rapid growth continued into the 21st century, fueled by the introduction of new products, particularly in health care.

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biotechnology | Britannica.com

Scientists have found genetic evidence for what some men have long suspected: it is dangerous to make assumptions about women. The key is the X chromosome, the "female" sex chromosome that all men and women have in common. In a study published this week in the journal Nature, scientists said they had found an unexpectedly large genetic variation in the way parts of womens two X chromosomes are distributed among them. The findings were published in conjunction with the first comprehensive decoding of the chromosome. Females can differ from each other almost as much as they do from males in the way many genes at the heart of sexual identity behave, researchers say. "Literally every one of the females we looked at had a different genetic story," says Duke University genetics expert Huntington Willard, who co-wrote the study. "It is not just a little bit of variation." The analysis also found that the obsessively debated differences between men and women were, at least on the genetic level, even greater than previously thought. As many as 300 of the genes on the X chromosomes may be activated differently in women than in men, says the other author of the paper, Laura Carrel, molecular biologist at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. The newly discovered genetic variation between women might help account for differing gender reactions to prescription drugs and the heightened vulnerability of women to some diseases, experts say. "The important question becomes how men and women actually vary and how much variability there is in females," Carrel says. "We now might have new candidate genes that could explain differences between men and women." All told, men and women may differ by as much as 2 per cent of their entire genetic inheritance, greater than the hereditary gap between humankind and its closest relative, the chimpanzee. "In essence," Willard says, "there is not one human genome, but two: male and female." SCIENTISTS estimate that there may be as many as 30,000 genes in the chemical DNA blueprint for human growth and development known as the human genome. The genes are parcelled in 23 pairs of rod-like structures called chromosomes, which are contained in every cell of the body. The most distinctive of the chromosomes are the mismatched pair of X and Y chromosomes that guide sexual development. Until now, researchers considered the shuffle of sex chromosomes at conception a simple matter of genetic roulette. The chromosomes that dictate sexual development are mixed and matched in predictable combinations: A female inherits one X chromosome from each parent; a male inherits an X chromosome from his mother and a Y chromosome from his father. To avoid any toxic effect from double sets of X genes, female cells randomly choose one copy of the X chromosome and "silence" it - or so scientists had believed. The new analysis found that the second X chromosome was not a silent partner. As many as 25 per cent of its genes are active, serving as blueprints to make necessary proteins. To investigate this variation, Carrel and Willard isolated cells from 40 women and measured the activity of hundreds of genes to see whether those on the second X chromosome were active or silent. Although those extra genes were supposed to be turned off, they found that about 15 per cent of them in all female cells were still active, or "expressed". In some women, up to an additional 10 per cent of those X-linked genes showed varying patterns of activity. "This is 200 to 300 genes that are expressed up to twice as much as in a male or some other females," Willard says. "This is a huge number." Researchers were surprised that they found so many unexpected differences in the behaviour of the one sex chromosome that men and women share. Though there is dramatic variation in the activation of genes on the X chromosomes that women inherit, there is none among those in men, the researchers reported. Researchers have yet to understand the effect of so many different patterns of gene activation among women, or determine what controls them, but all the evidence suggests that they are not random. ILLUMINATING this complex palette was the work of an international team of 250 scientists, led by geneticist Mark Ross, at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, Cambridge. The team produced the first complete sequence of the X chromosome about two years after the decoding of the male Y chromosome. The researchers found that the X chromosome, though relatively poor in genes, is rich in influence, deceptively subtle, and occasionally deadly to males. The international team identified 1,098 functional genes along the X chromosome, more than 14 times as many as scientists had located on the tiny Y chromosome. Even so, the researchers say, there are fewer genes to be found on the X chromosome than on any of the other 22 chromosomes sequenced so far. Most of the X genes are slightly smaller than average. But one is the largest known gene in the human genome, a segment of DNA linked to diseases such as muscular dystrophy, that is more than 2.2 million characters long. The X chromosome contains a larger share of genes linked to disease than any other chromosome. It is implicated in 300 hereditary disorders, including colour blindness, haemophilia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Nearly 10 per cent of the genes may belong to a group known to be more active in testicular cancers, melanomas and other cancers, the team reports. "The biggest surprise for us was just how many of these [cancer-related] genes there are on the X," Ross says. The complete gene sequence provided some clues to the origins of the human sex chromosomes. The researchers found that most of the genes on the X chromosome also reside on chromosome 1 and chromosome 4 of chickens. That supports the theory that the human sex chromosomes evolved from a regular pair of chromosomes from a common ancestor of chickens and humans - about 300 million years ago. 2005 Scotsman.com http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=295472005

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Galaxy Of Genetic Differences Between Men & Women

NEW MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS THEORY

By Andrew K Fletcher,

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS MAY BE A PROBLEM WITH THE CIRCULATION OF FLUIDS IN OUR BODY.

Brief description of nerve structure: We call the nerve fibre, which caries the impulses from the nerve body to control the muscles or other functions, the central axon. This fibre is surrounded with a multi-layered sheath with from about five to more than thirty layers. it resembles a large tobacco leaf, coiled around a central trunk, and is produced by a special cell - the oligodendrocyte. The entire group of cells is called the oligodendroglia. The individual layer of the laminated leaf, which makes up the myelin sheath, is structurally identical with the membrane of a cell. That means it has the capability of holding an electric charge of opposite polarity, thereby fulfilling the function of an electric condenser. We have only understood the function of the myelin sheath in the insulation of the central fibre for about a year. An article that first appeared in the magazine SCIENCE brought it out. Indeed, one can measure the insulating ability of the myelin. When this was done, however, it discovered that the many-layered condenser system, which was constructed in the myelin, acted as an electrical shunt to the central axon. In plain language, this means that we have here a classic Tesla technique, which in all probability converts gravity field energy into the electrical energy necessary for function of the central axon. Dr. Hans A. Nieper: The Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis Sept 1985

A closer look at nerves: We have all heard about the fatty insulation around the spinal cord and brain, in which lesions form and cause short circuits, but how many of us have heard that this coating or sheath that protects the nervous system is actually liquid crystal? In fact, it behaves very similar to the substance found in LCD (liquid crystal display) on calculators and wristwatches. Historians now know that some scientists actually saw naturally occurring liquid crystals under their microscopes in the 1850s. These early sightings were made during experiments on the white fatty material known as myelin.

A number of scientists noted that myelin turned liquid when left in water. These liquids seemed to have two different melting points. Not until the 1980s did the answer become apparent. Instead of changing straight into a liquid when heated, these solid materials transform into a kind of intermediate state that emerges at the first melting point, and disappears at the second. Between these two temperatures, the materiel flows like liquid yet keeps some of its optical properties of a solid crystal. In short it has become a "liquid crystal". In a normal liquid molecules are randomly arranged, but the molecules of a warmed liquid crystal retain some of their original orderliness - just enough order for the liquid crystal to retain the optical properties of a solid. Without their liquid crystal structures, living cells could not exist. Although the precise cause of the breakdown of the myelin sheath is still mysterious, it is thought to be tied to the liquid crystal properties of myelin. (Focus November 1994 pages 70-74 by Robert Mathews).

Explanation

The reason that warming liquid assists its ability to dissolve or liquefy soluble minerals is due to the fact that the molecular structure of the liquid, which in this case is water based, is altered by additional heat. The highest alteration before water is vaporised is at boiling point. Boiling water at sea level requires more heat and energy than boiling water at altitude. This is because the atmospheric pressure at high altitude is considerably less than at sea level. In fact when pressure is removed completely within a vacuum chamber, water boils without heat. The Hon. Robert Boyle (1627-91) was first to discover this phenomenon.

An interesting article I read some years ago related to the fact that some people were prone to food poisoning from cooked food when it was prepared at high altitude. Illness occurred because the water, although boiling, was not sufficiently hot enough to kill the bacteria within the food. We of course know that the nervous system does not boil, yet the state of the liquid crystal in the myelin could be encouraged to respond (or re-liquefy) at a slightly lower temperature when exposed to high altitude atmospheric pressure. Oxygen levels at altitude are also greatly reduced in the upper regions of the atmosphere. For instance, the air at Mount Blanc's summit contains only half the oxygen of air at sea level. It is worth considering these two facts while reading the following observations made by two independent accounts. It is also worth considering the fact that a compass needle is attracted to a mountain rather than the pole, due to the mountains mass. Furthermore while standing on top of a mountain the gravitational pull under foot would also be marginally higher and this again, according to my theory, has the most profound implications for circulation throughout the whole of the human anatomy.

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In the 1990s there was great hope that this novel approach may provide an answer to many hitherto incurable diseases. The basic idea is to correct defective genes responsible for disease development. This can be achieved in a number of ways:

When a normal gene is inserted into the genome, a carrier molecule (a vector) is used. This will deliver the new gene to the target cells. The most commonly used vectors are viruses. The most commonly used viruses are:

These viruses are altered to carry normal human DNA. The patient's target cells are infected with the vector, which deposits its genetic load including the gene to be replaced . The target cell is then able to produce a functioning protein. More recently, success has been seen by combining a tumour-specific adenovirus vector and several single therapy genes. Targeting gene-virotherapy has killed tumour cells with minimal damage to normal cells in mice.[1][2] There are also nonviral insertion options. The simplest method is direct introduction of new DNA into the target tissues. This is limited by the type of tissue and the amount of DNA required. An artificial lipid sphere with an aqueous core is created - a liposome - which can both carry the therapeutic DNA and pass it through the target cells membrane. The therapeutic DNA can also bind chemically to molecules that will attach to target cell receptor sites. These are then taken into the cell's interior. This tends to be less effective than the other methods.

Human gene therapy is still largely in the experimental phase. There have been few big breakthroughs since the first trial started in 1990. There has also been at least one death attributed to therapy and two cases of leukaemia developing post-therapy. There are also technical problems involved:

In a bid to alleviate disease at the earliest possible stage, in utero fetal gene therapy has also been tried.[6] Prenatal screening for severe genetic disease such as Crigler-Najjar syndrome, Pompe's disease and haemophilia B has been tested in mouse models. There have been issues with the development of liver tumours, insufficient target cells are reached and the therapy is not toxic enough to target cells. There are attempts underway to manufacture antitumour vaccines.In this technique Epstein-Barr virus vectors mediate gene transfer into human B lymphocytes.[7] Other areas of research include:

A recent trial, approved by the American Food and Drug Administration, is for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. This is a phase 1 clinical trial with 11 patients already enrolled. They are aiming to produce the neuroprotective and restorative subthalamic glutamic decarboxylase. There have been no adverse events reported to date.[13]

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Gene Therapy | Doctor | Patient

Regulation of Genetic Tests Overview of Genetic Testing

As the science of genomics advances, genetic testing is becoming more commonplace in the clinic. Yet most genetic tests are not regulated, meaning that they go to market without any independent analysis to verify the claims of the seller. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the authority to regulate genetic tests, but it has to date only regulated the relatively small number of genetic tests sold to laboratories as kits. Whereas the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) does regulate clinical laboratories, it does not examine whether the tests performed are clinically meaningful. Since the 1990s, expert panels and members of Congress have expressed concern about this regulatory gap and the need for FDA to address it. In response, the FDA in 2010 announced plans to expand its regulation to all genetic tests; this expansion has yet to take place. In the interim, FDA continues to regulate test kits, and has begun to regulate genomics tools in clinical research.

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The term "genetic testing" covers an array of techniques including analysis of human DNA, RNA, or protein.Genetic testsare used as a health care tool to detect gene variants associated with a specific disease or condition, as well as for non-clinical uses such as paternity testing and forensics. In the clinical setting, genetic tests can be performed to determine the genetic cause of a disease, confirm a suspected diagnosis, predict future illness, detect when an individual might pass a genetic mutation to his or her children, and predict response to therapy. They are also performed to screen newborns, fetuses, or embryos used in in vitrofertilization for genetic defects.

The first genetic tests were for the detection of chromosomal abnormalities (seekaryotype) and mutations in single genes causing rare, inherited disorders likecystic fibrosis. In recent years, however, the variety of tests has greatly expanded. There are now tests involving complex analyses of a number of genes to, for example, identify one's risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer, or to quantify a patient's risk of cancer reoccurrence. There are also many tests to predict the effectiveness of therapeutics and guide their administration. Furthermore, NHGRI is pursuing research to enable the clinical use of multi-gene panels, whole exome sequencing (analysis of all a patient's genes), and whole genome sequencing (analysis of a patient's entire genetic code), to detect, for instance, the cause of an undiagnosed disease or a cancerous tumor.

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Three federal agencies play a role in the regulation of genetic tests: CMS, FDA, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). CMS is responsible for regulating all clinical laboratories performing genetic testing, ensuring their compliance with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). The objective of CLIA is to certify the clinical testing quality, including verification of the procedures used and the qualifications of the technicians processing the tests. It also comprises proficiency testing for some tests. More details of CLIA are available in this factsheet

The FDA has the broadest authority in terms of regulating the safety and effectiveness of genetic tests as medical devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Whether FDA regulates a test is determined by how it comes to market. A test may be marketed as a commercial test "kit," a group of reagents used in the processing of genetic samples that are packaged together and sold to multiple labs. More commonly, a test comes to market as a laboratory-developed test (LDT), where the test is developed and performed by a single laboratory, and where specimen samples are sent to that laboratory to be tested. The FDA regulates only tests sold as kits and, to date, has practiced "enforcement discretion" for LDTs.

The degree of FDA oversight of a genetic test is based on its intended use and the risks posed by an inaccurate test result. The FDA categorizes medical devices, including genetic tests, into three separate classes, ranging from class I, for relatively low risk products, to class III, where tests are subject to the greatest level of scrutiny.A complete list of approved human genetic tests is listed here.

FDA oversight also includes pharmacogenomics, which is the use of genomic information to help predict how an individual might respond to a particular drug, to identify individuals who might experience an adverse reaction to taking a drug, or to assist in selecting the optimal dosage of a drug. Part of the FDA's oversight of marketed drugs is to ensure that manufacturers provide information on drug labels about genetic markers that is relevant for drug safety and effectiveness. A list of approved pharmacogenomic drugs is available here.

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Regulation of Genetic Tests

IMAGE:NHGRI scientists are homing in on specific genes in zebrafish to help them better understand the function of genes in people. view more

Credit: Darryl Leja, NHGRI

A relatively new method of targeting specific DNA sequences in zebrafish could dramatically accelerate the discovery of gene function and the identification of disease genes in humans, according to scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In a study posted online on June 5, 2015, and to be published in the July 2015 issue of Genome Research, the researchers reported that the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR/Cas9 is six times more effective than other techniques at homing in on target genes and inserting or deleting specific sequences. The study also demonstrated that the CRISPR/Cas9 method can be used in a "multiplexed" fashion - that is, targeting and mutating multiple genes at the same time to determine their functions.

"It was shown about a year ago that CRISPR can knock out a gene quickly," said Shawn Burgess, Ph.D., a senior investigator with NHGRI's Translational and Functional Genomics Branch and head of the Developmental Genomics Section. "What we have done is to establish an entire pipeline for knocking out many genes and testing their function quickly in a vertebrate model." Researchers often try to determine the role of a gene by knocking it out - turning it off or removing it - and watching the potential effects on an organism lacking it.

Such larger scale - termed "high-throughput" - gene targeting in an animal model could be particularly useful for human genomic research. Only 10 to 20 percent of recognized human genes have been subjected to such rigorous testing, Dr. Burgess said. The functions of many other genes have been inferred based on analyzing proteins or have been identified as possible disease genes, but the functions of those genes have not been confirmed by knocking them out in animal models and seeing what happens.

"This is a way to do that on a more cost-efficient and large scale," Dr. Burgess said.

"The study of zebrafish has already led to advances in our understanding of cancer and other human diseases," said NHGRI Director Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D. "We anticipate that the techniques developed by NHGRI researchers will accelerate understanding the biological function of specific genes and the role they play in human genetic diseases."

The CRISPR/Cas9 method of gene editing is one of the two essential components in the NHGRI team's high-throughput method. Modeled on a defense mechanism evolved by bacteria against viruses, CRISPR/Cas9 activity was first described in 2012. Since then, its use has spread quickly - in other words, has gone "viral" - in genomic research labs in the United States and abroad.

The acronym CRISPR stands for "clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat," referring to a pattern of DNA sequences that appears frequently in bacterial DNA. Scientists believe the CRISPR sequences reflect evolutionary responses to past viral attacks.

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A new role for zebrafish: Larger scale gene function ...

A hormone doctor, or an endocrinologist, is a physician who treats diseases related to the endocrine system. While primary care physicians (family practitioners and internal medicine physicians) can treat many hormonal disorders without a need for specialized training, a physician may also receive advanced training and specialize in endocrinology. A primary care physician can determine whether he or she can treat a patient or whether the patient should be referred to a specialist treating only disorders of the endocrine system.

The endocrine system is composed of many glands, including the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals, hypothalamus, pineal body, ovaries and testicles. The islet cells of the pancreas are also part of the endocrine system. These glands secrete hormones (chemical messengers) that regulate the bodys metabolism, growth, sexual development and sexual function, by complex feedback systems comparable to a thermostat regulating room temperature.

A hormone doctor can specialize in diseases of one or two glands or treat patients in all areas of endocrinology. A large part of a typical practice could involve treating diabetes and related complications. The physician may also treat thyroid disorders, inborn metabolic disorders, over- and underproduction of hormones, osteoporosis, menopause, cholesterol disorders, hypertension, and short or tall stature. Patients with endocrine cancer are usually referred to an oncologist.

To treat non-reproductive hormonal disorders, a physician generally completes four years of medical or osteopath school and a three-year residency in either family medicine or internal medicine. He or she must pass a board examination to become board certified in family or internal medicine. To become board certified as an endocrine specialist, the physician completes a three-year endocrinology fellowship program and passes a board certification examination.

Reproductive endocrinologists complete four years of residency training in obstetrics and gynecology, rather than training in family medicine or internal medicine. They must complete two or three years of fellowship training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility and pass the board certification examination. These specialists treat infertility by using in vitro fertilization, embryo and sperm freezing, assisted embryo hatching, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and other emerging technologies. Reproductive endocrinologists also treat a wide range of reproductive disorders, including endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, gonadal dysgenesis, galactorrhea, repeat pregnancy loss, ectopic pregnancy and excess hair in women, to name just a few.

A hormone doctor may work in academic medical centers, community hospitals, private group practices or private solo practices. Each situation can involve different work hours, a different patient base, and different lifestyles. Unlike surgical specialties, hormone doctors generally do not take call hours, but they may be called on an emergency basis to see a patient in a hospital when the physician on staff cannot appropriately treat the patient.

Problems Caused by Hormone Imbalance

Job Description for an Endocrinologist

What Is the Difference Between Family Medicine & Internal Medicine Physicians?

A doctor with special training that treats diseases and disorders of the endocrine system, a complex system in the human body that

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What Is a Hormone Doctor? | eHow StemCell Doctors

I just found this on the web,

Stem cells in skin care...What does it really mean?

By Jeanette Jacknin M.D.

Dr Jacknin will be speaking about Cosmaceuticals at the upcoming 17th World Congress on Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine in Orlando, Florida, April 23-25, 2009.

Stem cells have recently become a huge buzzword in the skincare world. But what does this really mean? Skincare specialists are not using embryonic stem cells; it is impossible to incorporate live materials into a skincare product. Instead, companies are creating products with specialized peptides and enzymes or plant stem cells which, when applied topically on the surface, help protect the human skin stem cells from damage and deterioration or stimulate the skin's own stem cells. National Stem Cell was one of the few companies who actually incorporated into their skin care an enzyme secreted from human embryonic stem cells, but they are in the process of switching over to use non-embryonic stem cells from which to take the beneficial enzyme.

Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. When a stem cell divides, it can remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a skin cell. There are two types of stem cells, embryonic and adult.

Embryonic stem cells are exogenous in that they are harvested from outside sources, namely, fertilized human eggs. Once harvested, these pluripotent stem cells are grown in cell cultures and manipulated to generate specific cell types so they can be used to treat injury or disease.

Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult or multipotent stem cells are endogenous. They are present within our bodies and serve to maintain and repair the tissues in which they are found. Adult stem cells are found in many organs and tissues, including the skin. In fact, human skin is the largest repository of adult stem cells in the body. Skin stem cells reside in the basal layer of the epidermis where they remain dormant until they are activated by tissue injury or disease. 1

There is controversy surrounding the use of stem cells, as some experts say that any product that claims to affect the growth of stem cells or the replication process is potentially dangerous, as it may lead to out-of-control replication or mutation. Others object to using embryonic stem cells from an ethical point of view. Some researchers believe that the use of stem cell technology for a topical, anti-aging cosmetic trivializes other, more important medical research in this field.

The skin stem cells are found near hair follicles and sweat glands and lie dormant until they "receive" signals from the body to begin the repair mode. In skincare, the use of topical products stimulates the stem cell to split into two types of cells: a new, similar stem cell and a "daughter" cell, which is able to create almost every kind of new cell in a specialized system. This means that the stem cell can receive the message to create proteins, carbohydrates and lipids to help repair fine lines, wrinkles and restore and maintain firmness and elasticity.1

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Hair Loss Forum - Stem cells in skin care products, good ...

Altman Lab The Helix Group at Stanford is directed by Russ Altman. Ashley Lab The Ashley lab is focused on the application of genomics to medicine. Attardi Lab The overarching goal of our research is to better define the mechanisms by which the p53 protein promotes different responses in different settings. Baker Lab Cellular differentiation is governed by dynamic changes occurring in the genome. Barna Lab We study how the genome is translated into morphology through a ribosome code and single cell imaging of tissue patterning. Bhatt Lab The Bhatt lab applies modern genetic tools to deconvolute how the microbiome is intertwined with states of health and disease. Brunet Lab Our laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of aging and longevity. Bustamante Lab Analyzing genome wide patterns of variation to address fundamental questions in biology, anthropology, and medicine using computational biology, mathematical genetics, and evolutionary genomics. Butte Lab Our lab aims to address fundamental and therapeutic questions in immunology by developing and using tools from soft lithography and advanced microscopy to visualize and manipulate cells. Calos Lab The Calos Lab is interested in developing novel gene and cell therapy approaches to address human diseases. Cherry Lab Innovation in literature curation, dataset validation and ontologies enhance experimental results. Cohen Lab We study RNA decay, microbial antibiotic resistance, and mechanisms that regulate transcription elongation through genes containing expanded regions of trinucleotide repeats. Curtis Lab We aim to characterize the evolutionary dynamics of tumor progression and the genotype-phenotype map in cancer by leveraging both experimental and computational approaches. Davis Lab Our center develops new technologies to address important biological questions that otherwise would not be feasible. Fire Lab The Fire Lab studies the mechanisms by which cells and organisms respond to genetic change. Ford Lab The major focus of this laboratory is to explore the mammalian genetic determinants of the inducible response and cellular sensitivity. Fordyce Lab The Fordyce Lab develops new microfluidic tools for making systems-scale, biophysical measurements of genomic interactions. Frydman Lab The Frydman lab uses a multidisciplinary approach to address fundamental questions about molecular chaperones, protein folding and degradation. Fuller Lab A major focus of our work concerns the mechanisms that regulate stem cell behavior. Gitler Lab We investigate the mechanisms of human neurodegenerative diseases. Greely Lab We work on ethical, legal, and social issues in the Biosciences, including genetics. Greenleaf Lab Our lab focuses on developing methods to probe the genome and epigenome at the single-cell and single-molecule levels. Herzenberg Lab Gene Regulation, Molecular Immunology, B-cell development, FACS development... Kay Lab We study gene/RNAi therapeutics and the mechanisms of non-coding RNA-induced gene regulation. Kim Lab Research Areas: C. elegans aging, Human aging, automatic cell lineage analyzer, ModENCODE. Kundaje Lab The Kundaje lab develops computational models of gene regulation by integrating diverse types of large scale functional genomic data. Li Lab We are primarily interested in identifying and understanding sequence variations in the RNA and DNA. Lipsick Lab Our laboratory studies the structure and function of chromosomes and chromatin in metazoans. Montgomery Lab Our lab focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which genetic variation influences human traits. Ormond Lab Master's Program in Human Genetics and Genetics Counseling. Pringle Lab Applying the model-system approach to studies of yeast cell biology and the cellular and molecular biology of the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Pritchard Lab We are interested in a broad range of problems at the interface of genomics and evolutionary biology. Sage Lab We investigate molecular and cellular mechanisms of tumorigenesis and regeneration, with a focus on stem cell biology. Scott Lab Investigating how embryonic and later development is governed by proteins that control gene activity. Sherlock Lab The Sherlock lab is a yeast genomics lab that uses both experimental and computational approaches. Sidow Lab We have a diverse research program at the interface of computational and functional genomics. Snyder Lab We are presently in an omics revolution in which genomes and other omes can be readily characterized. Stearns Lab The central question behind our work is how the centrosome and primary cilium control cell function and influence development. Steinmetz Lab The Steinmetz lab develops and applies interdisciplinary, genome-wide technologies to investigate the functions and mechanisms of genome regulation in health and disease. Sun Lab My lab studies the molecular mechanism of transcription factors that govern the transformation of normal mammalian cells to a neoplastic state. Tang Lab Research in our laboratory aims to uncover the evolutionary forces that have shaped the patterns of genetic variations. Urban Lab The Urban Lab investigates the effects of variation in human genomes on normal and abnormal brain development and function. Villeneuve Lab Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the faithful inheritance and function of eukaryotic chromosomes. Winslow Lab The goal of our lab is to understand the mechanisms of cancer progression and metastasis.

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Research - Department of Genetics - Stanford University ...

Most know that Apple is always a bit behind when delivering latest technology in their iOS gadgets, even though the iOS realistic would no doubt say or else. But as far as I am aware Apple doesnt have any 3D plans for their device. 3D appears to be the next big thing in the mobile space and no doubt the iOS faithful wouldnt want to lose out, but if Apple doesnt bring 3D to their gadgets it appears someone else will.

Actually this resolution involves placing a film over your iOS display and combining with softwareto deliver 3D and actually the film doesnt hamper with your multi-touch gestures. So just so you can check out what this new 3D film and software does, we have a video of 3D in action on the Apple iPad for your viewing contentment below which lasts just 46 seconds by does look relatively remarkable. More information about sell my mobile phone can be found at this http://www.onrecycle.co.uk.

PC provider Acer has provided the Liquid Metal smartphone, a device which it hopes will allow it to compete with the major rivals in what is becoming an increasingly crowded market.

The Acer Liquid Metals specifications make interesting reading, with version 2.2 of Android onboard accompanied by the specialised Breeze user interface.

Its 5MP camera with HD video capture lurks on the rear, whilst a 3.6 inch display using capacitive touch technology makes an appearance on the front, making it a hair larger than the iPhone 4. Sadly the displays resolution is unlikely to match that of Apples smartphone king.

An 800MHz processor will give life to Android, but it is slightly strange to see a new mobile emerging with anything less than 1GHz of processing power under the hood, so it will be interesting to see how the Acer Liquid Metal has been optimised to squeeze the most from this chip.

Officially announced less than two months ago, the Garmin-Asus M10 has just been launched in India, being the countrys first Windows Mobile 6.5.3 smartphone. The M10 offers maps for 62 major Indian cities, Garmin turn-by-turn navigation, lane assistance, and a Ciao feature that keeps you informed on the roads your friends are traveling on.

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Mobilephone | IPSCELLTHERAPY

The field of Health Sciences is a very expansive and fast-growing area of study that provides a variety of job opportunities. It is the combination of health research and the application of that knowledge in the health industry. Health Sciences can be a blend of biology, public health, physical therapy, biochemistry and medicine. Various related majors in college are allied health, applied science, health and wellness, health management, health education, nursing and geriatric health. Choosing a career in this field can depend on many things, including interest in the job description, the type and length of education needed and the demand of that occupation.

This job usually takes place in a laboratory setting. As a technician, responsibilities are to prepare the specimens for the technologist to analyze and perform less-complicated tests than them as well. Technicians are supervised by the laboratory technologists or laboratory managers and are generally required to be certified or have an associate degree. A technologist completes more complicated tests that are more related to chemistry and blood. They are also responsible for analyzing results of these tests and require at least a bachelor's degree with usually a major of medical technology. The earnings of Medical Technicians in 2008 averaged $35,380, and Medical Technologists annual earnings averaged $53,500 in 2008.

Also commonly called Health Care Administrators, the Medical and Health Services Manager either supervise an entire department or a specialized clinical area such as nursing, therapy, health information or surgery. To become this type of manager, a master's degree is mostly likely to be required, but smaller settings may need a bachelor's degree. There are many fields that would be acceptable for this position, but a specific degree in health management is available. The average salary of this position in 2008 was $80,240.

As a Physical Assistant, responsibilities are determined by Physician or Surgeon and usually include working directly with patients through examination, interpretation of x-rays and other tests, and treating injuries. The requirements for this position are an associate degree or bachelor's degree and generally in allied health programs, medical schools or academic health centers. The average annual salary for this position is $81,230.

Health Educators teach people about prevention of common health issues, illness, and injury in institutions such as schools, colleges/universities, public health and medical-care facilities. Entry-level jobs require a bachelor degree in a health education program as well as related experience. Other positions and opportunity for advancement in the field require a master's degree in a specialized area and especially necessary to work in public health. The average salary of a Health Educator is $44,000 a year.

What Jobs Can I Do With a Health Science Degree?

Top 10 Highest Paid Science Jobs

Jobs That Require a Health Science Degree

Health sciences is an umbrella category for a large number of academic, technical and clinical professions related to medicine and general well...

List of Jobs in the Science Field. Finding a job in the science field requires a combination of education and skills. ......

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Jobs in the Field of Health Science | eHow

(Biotechnology Pay Scales)

What are the average salary ranges for jobs in the Biotechnology category? Well there are a wide range of jobs in the Biotechnology category and their pay varies greatly. If you know the pay grade of the job you are searching for you can narrow down this list to only view Biotechnology jobs that pay less than $30K, $30K-$50K, $50K-$80K, $80K-$100K, or more than $100K. If you are unsure how much your Biotechnology job pays you can choose to either browse all Biotechnology salaries below or you can search all Biotechnology salaries. Other related categories you may wish to browse are Healthcare -- Technicians jobs and Pharmaceuticals jobs.

Accounting Administrative, Support, and Clerical Advertising Aerospace and Defense Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Architecture Arts and Entertainment Automotive Aviation and Airlines Banking Biotechnology Clergy Construction and Installation Consulting Services Customer Services Education Energy and Utilities Engineering Entry Level Environment Executive and Management Facilities, Maintenance, and Repair Financial Services Fire, Law Enforcement, and Security Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Government Graphic Arts Healthcare -- Administrative Healthcare -- Nursing Healthcare -- Practitioners Healthcare -- Technicians Hotel, Gaming, Leisure, and Travel Human Resources Insurance Internet and New Media IT -- All IT -- Computers, Hardware IT -- Computers, Software IT -- Executive, Consulting IT -- Manager IT -- Networking Legal Services Library Services Logistics Manufacturing Marketing Materials Management Media -- Broadcast Media -- Print Military Mining Non-Profit and Social Services Personal Care and Service Pharmaceuticals Planning Printing and Publishing Public Relations Purchasing Real Estate Restaurant and Food Services Retail/Wholesale Sales Science and Research Skilled and Trades Sports and Recreation Telecommunications Training Transportation and Warehousing jobs in All Aerospace & Defense Biotechnology Business Services Chemicals Construction Edu., Gov't. & Nonprofit Energy & Utilities Financial Services Healthcare Hospitality & Leisure Insurance Internet Media MFG Durable MFG Nondurable Pharmaceuticals Retail & Wholesale Software & Networking Telecom Transportation industry All $100,000+ $80,000 - $100,000 $50,000 - $80,000 $30,000 - $50,000 $10,000 - $30,000 salary range

Alternate Job Titles: Entry Level Biochemist , Chemist I, biological

Alternate Job Titles: Intermediate Level Biochemist , Chemist II, biological

Alternate Job Titles: Senior Biochemist , Chemist III, biological

Alternate Job Titles: Entry Level Biologist

Alternate Job Titles: Intermediate Level Biologist

Alternate Job Titles: Senior Biologist

Alternate Job Titles: Biologist - Specialist , Biologist - Consultant

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Biotechnology Salaries | Salary.com

Bone Marrow Stem Cells

Dr. Steenblock performing a bone marrow stem cell treatment

The latest discovery in the world of natural medical therapies is STEM CELLS!

You have within you a powerful set of tools to repair your body and keep you healthy. The future of medicine is NOT better drugs but better use and application of your bodys own stem cells. As of now stem cell-rich tissue can be extracted from your hip with virtually no discomfort and used to help restore your body. This opens up an exciting new horizon in terms of preventing and treating disease and tackling the symptoms of aging if not aging itself. Already, patients are returning to Dr. Steenblock for additional bone marrow treatments because they are seeing that their gray or white hair is turning back to its original color. Their skin not infrequently looks younger too and they report having more energy and less arthritic aches and pains!

Over the past six years, Dr. Steenblock and his medical team have done over 2,000 bone marrow procedures with much success. Contrary to the conventional painful methods used, he and his colleagues have developed an almost painless approach to extract bone marrow and the hidden trove of stem cells contained within. Using the patients own bone marrow rather than someone elses has totally eliminated the risk of graft versus host disease and the need for toxic chemotherapy to suppress the immune system. Since Dr. Steenblock is merely transferring stem cells from a persons bones into their blood stream there is never an allergic or rejection type of reaction since these are the patients own cells. The results have at times been phenomenal especially for those under 40 and for those who are really physically fit and walk or run a lot every day. The stronger an individuals bones are the better the bone marrow stem cells are. Even children that are paralyzed and who do not put weight on their legs are generally not going to have good results unless add another facet is added to their treatment. For those people who do not walk much, are not physically fit and who are older than 40, Dr. Steenblock generally recommends that they undergo five successive daily injections of a natural bone marrow mobilizer called Neupogen (Filgrastim) beginning 19 days before they come to his office for their bone marrow treatment(s). The ideal treatment for anyone with a complicated health issue is to first have certain tests done to determine if they have any problems that could interfere with the treatments success. These tests include standard blood tests for anemia, hormones, metabolism, infections, autoimmunity, inflammation and special tests for heavy metal poisons and intestinal infections and infestations. If problems are discovered with these tests then the underlying problem should be corrected before beginning the process of using the Neupogen and the scheduling of the bone marrow treatment(s). The word marrows is pleural intentionally because a person in general has a better result if more stem cells are given. By having two bone marrow procedures on successive days an individual will double the number of stem cells they receive. For example, if a 60 year old sedentary person comes in and does only one bone marrow treatment Dr. Steenblock will generally extract about 400 milliliters of stem cell-rich bone marrow (buffy coat after centrifugation) which is put directly back into the blood stream by intravenous means. The number of active, healthy stem cells in this simple procedure may only be 100 million and these in general will not be as healthy or as active as they will be if the patient first has any known or potential impediments to their post-infusion activity eliminated and they are given the 5 daily injections of Neupogen. When a person comes to the clinic 14 days after their last Neupogen injection, that same 400 ml of bone marrow will have somewhere between 500 and 1000 million stem cells and then if they repeat the process the next day they will get another 500-1000 million stem cells. By this combination of eradicating infections, correcting other problems discovered using our testing, and then using Neupogen followed by two bone marrow treatments patients will be receiving well over a billion stem cells.

Benefits of Bone Marrow Stem Cells

What is the secret behind the successes Dr. Steenblock has seen with the bone marrow treatments? While bone marrow transplants have been done for the past 50 years for cancer patients and those with blood disorders, the whole bone marrow procedure done by Dr. Steenblock is different because it is so SIMPLE! He uses a persons own bone marrow and instead of isolating one type of stem cell, he takes and uses the whole raw bone marrow which contains a rich variety of stem and progenitor cells. In fact, bone marrow is rich in two different types of stem cells: One type turns into blood cells, blood vessels, and cells of the immune system and are called hematopoietic stem cells (heme meaning blood-related). The other type of stem cell is the support (stromal or mesenchymal) stem cell that produces bone, fat, tendons, skin, muscles and connective tissue. Recent research shows that these hematopoietic and the support stem cells are also able to divide into all types of brain cells, including glial cells (white matter) and neurons (gray matter). The bone marrow also contains retinal progenitor cells and several patients have actually commented on how their vision improved as a side benefit of their bone marrow procedure. These two type of stem cells work better together in a ratio of one hematopoietic to 4 to 8 support (stromal or mesenchymal) stem cells which is the ratio found normally in most peoples bone marrow.

In regard to its anti-aging effects, the bone marrow contains primitive progenitor cells that are associated with the early development of the fetus. These primitive cells reside dormant deep inside each of our bones and sport a virginal profile from early development in that these stem cells are generally resting and not active. This inactivity protects them from chemicals or stresses that induce mutations such as occurs in those bone marrow stem cells that are located in the more superficial areas of the bone which are constantly making red and white blood cells. When these primitive, more pure cells are released into a persons system, there can be a revitalization of the body that physiologically sets the clock back in-a-way since these stem cells get into all parts of the body and produce more growth factors than would otherwise be possible. It is this increase in growth factors that induces the regenerative processes. For those that can afford it Dr. Steenblock uses growth factors oriented toward improving the organs that are diseased. For example, if a patients chief problem is their lungs then he may suggest some lung growth factors to be taken right along with the Neupogen and then continued for 6 weeks to help push the stem cells into becoming more like lung tissue cells.

Bottom line: Bone marrow stem cells have the potential to repair damaged tissues and organs. Whether a person wants an anti-aging treatment or needs the procedure to repair damage in joints, liver, kidneys, heart or brain, bone marrow transplants is an efficient and sure way to flood their body with stem cells.

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bone marrow stem cells - Stem Cells Adult Stem Cells ...

These are images of normal (above) and diseased retinas. Patients with MFRP mutations, a cause of retinitis pigmentosa, lose the function of most retinal cells, particularly at the periphery of the retina, leaving them with drastically reduced vision. Personalized gene therapy, using iPS cells, may offer a way to correct this genetic disorder.

Vision loss patients own cells transformed into model for studying disease and developing potential treatment

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created a way to develop personalized gene therapies for patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a leading cause of vision loss. The approach, the first of its kind, takes advantage of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology to transform skin cells into retinal cells, which are then used as a patient-specific model for disease study and preclinical testing.

Using this approach, researchers led by Stephen H. Tsang, MD, PhD, showed that a form of RP caused by mutations to the gene MFRP (membrane frizzled-related protein) disrupts the protein that gives retinal cells their structural integrity. They also showed that the effects of these mutations can be reversed with gene therapy. The approach could potentially be used to create personalized therapies for other forms of RP, as well as other genetic diseases. The paper was published recently in the online edition of Molecular Therapy, the official journal of the American Society for Gene & Cell Therapy.

In normal, or wild-type, retinal cells (left), the protein actin forms the cells cytoskeleton, creating an internal support structure that looks like a series of connected hexagons. In cells with MFRP mutations (center), this structure fails to form, compromising cellular function. When diseased retinal cells are treated with gene therapy to insert normal copies of MFRP (right), the cells cytoskeleton and function are restored. (Image credit: Lab of Stephen H. Tsang, MD, PhD/Columbia University Medical Center.)

The use of patient-specific cell lines for testing the efficacy of gene therapy to precisely correct a patients genetic deficiency provides yet another tool for advancing the field of personalized medicine, said Dr. Tsang, the Laszlo Z. Bito Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and associate professor of pathology and cell biology.

While RP can begin during infancy, the first symptoms typically emerge in early adulthood, starting with night blindness. As the disease progresses, affected individuals lose peripheral vision. In later stages, RP destroys photoreceptors in the macula, which is responsible for fine central vision. RP is estimated to affect at least 75,000 people in the United States and 1.5 million worldwide.

More than 60 different genes have been linked to RP, making it difficult to develop models to study the disease. Animal models, though useful, have significant limitations because of interspecies differences. Researchers also use human retinal cells from eye banks to study RP. As these cells reflect the end stage of the disease process, however, they reveal little about how the disease develops. There are no human tissue culture models of RP, as it would dangerous to harvest retinal cells from patients. Finally, human embryonic stem cells could be useful in RP research, but they are fraught with ethical, legal, and technical issues.

The use of iPS technology offers a way around these limitations and concerns. Researchers can induce the patients own skin cells to revert to a more basic, embryonic stem celllike state. Such cells are pluripotent, meaning that they can be transformed into specialized cells of various types.

In the current study, the CUMC team used iPS technology to transform skin cells taken from two RP patientseach with a different MFRP mutationinto retinal cells, creating patient-specific models for studying the disease and testing potential therapies.

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Patient-specific stem cells and personalized gene therapy ...

Tsai et al./Stem Cell Reports 2015

Weill Cornell investigators have discovered how to generate large numbers of rare cells in the network that pushes the heart's chambers to consistently contract. In this image, investigators stained these cells, generated from embryonic stem cells, to reveal cell-specific genes (green and red, indicated by arrows). The blue represents stained cell nuclei.

For the first time, scientists can efficiently generate large numbers of rare cells in the network that pushes the heart's chambers to consistently contract. The technique, published May 28 in Stem Cell Reports, could be a first step toward using a person's own cells to repair an irregular heartbeat known as cardiac arrhythmia.

This study, while done using mouse cells, will now allow us to develop human heart cells and test their function in repairing damaged hearts, said the study's senior author, Dr. Todd Evans, vice chair for research and the Peter I. Pressman Professor in the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.

The human heart beats billions of times during a lifetime, so it's not surprising that development of irregular heartbeats can lead to a variety of cardiac diseases, Evans says. But treatments for these disorders are costly, and often ineffective.

The government pays more than $3 billion each year for cardiac arrhythmia-related diseases. Despite this enormous expense, the treatments we have available are inadequate, Evans said. For example, artificial pacemakers are often used, but these can fail, and are particularly challenging therapies for children.

One solution is to coax a patient's own cells to generate the specific kinds of cells in the cardiac conduction system (CCS) that maintain a regular heartbeat.

We can imagine someday using these cells, for example, to create patches that can replace defective conduction fibers. Of course this is still a long way off, as we would need to study how to coax them into integrating properly with the rest of the CCS, Evans said. But previously, we did not even have the capacity to generate the cells, and now we can do so in a manner that is scalable, so that such preclinical research is now feasible.

Evans worked with Dr. Shuibing Chen, an expert in stem cell and chemical biology, and Dr. Su-Yi Tsai, a postdoctoral fellow and the study's lead investigator. Other key contributors were from the laboratory of Dr. Glenn Fishman, who specializes in cardiac physiology at New York University.

Their first goal was to increase the efficiency of coaxing mouse embryonic stem cells to become CCS cells. They created mouse stem cells that can express a CCS marker gene that can be quantified. This allows them to measure how many embryonic cells morph into CCS cells.

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Stem cell technology could lead to ailing heart mending ...

Charles A. Goldthwaite, Jr., Ph.D.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes hypertension, coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and congestive heart failure (CHF), has ranked as the number one cause of death in the United States every year since 1900 except 1918, when the nation struggled with an influenza epidemic.1 In 2002, CVD claimed roughly as many lives as cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, diabetes mellitus, influenza, and pneumonia combined. According to data from the 19992002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), CVD caused approximately 1.4 million deaths (38.0 percent of all deaths) in the U.S. in 2002. Nearly 2600 Americans die of CVD each day, roughly one death every 34 seconds. Moreover, within a year of diagnosis, one in five patients with CHF will die. CVD also creates a growing economic burden; the total health care cost of CVD in 2005 was estimated at $393.5 billion dollars.

Given the aging of the U.S. population and the relatively dramatic recent increases in the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity and type 2 diabetes,2,3 CVD will continue to be a significant health concern well into the 21st century. However, improvements in the acute treatment of heart attacks and an increasing arsenal of drugs have facilitated survival. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 7.1 million people have survived a heart attack, while 4.9 million live with CHF.1 These trends suggest an unmet need for therapies to regenerate or repair damaged cardiac tissue.

Ischemic heart failure occurs when cardiac tissue is deprived of oxygen. When the ischemic insult is severe enough to cause the loss of critical amounts of cardiac muscle cells (cardiomyocytes), this loss initiates a cascade of detrimental events, including formation of a non-contractile scar, ventricular wall thinning (see Figure 6.1), an overload of blood flow and pressure, ventricular remodeling (the overstretching of viable cardiac cells to sustain cardiac output), heart failure, and eventual death.4 Restoring damaged heart muscle tissue, through repair or regeneration, therefore represents a fundamental mechanistic strategy to treat heart failure. However, endogenous repair mechanisms, including the proliferation of cardiomyocytes under conditions of severe blood vessel stress or vessel formation and tissue generation via the migration of bone-marrow-derived stem cells to the site of damage, are in themselves insufficient to restore lost heart muscle tissue (myocardium) or cardiac function.5 Current pharmacologic interventions for heart disease, including beta-blockers, diuretics, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and surgical treatment options, such as changing the shape of the left ventricle and implanting assistive devices such as pacemakers or defibrillators, do not restore function to damaged tissue. Moreover, while implantation of mechanical ventricular assist devices can provide long-term improvement in heart function, complications such as infection and blood clots remain problematic.6 Although heart transplantation offers a viable option to replace damaged myocardium in selected individuals, organ availability and transplant rejection complications limit the widespread practical use of this approach.

Figure 6.1. Normal vs. Infarcted Heart. The left ventricle has a thick muscular wall, shown in cross-section in A. After a myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart muscle cells in the left ventricle are deprived of oxygen and die (B), eventually causing the ventricular wall to become thinner (C).

2007 Terese Winslow

The difficulty in regenerating damaged myocardial tissue has led researchers to explore the application of embryonic and adult-derived stem cells for cardiac repair. A number of stem cell types, including embryonic stem (ES) cells, cardiac stem cells that naturally reside within the heart, myoblasts (muscle stem cells), adult bone marrow-derived cells, mesenchymal cells (bone marrow-derived cells that give rise to tissues such as muscle, bone, tendons, ligaments, and adipose tissue), endothelial progenitor cells (cells that give rise to the endothelium, the interior lining of blood vessels), and umbilical cord blood cells, have been investigated to varying extents as possible sources for regenerating damaged myocardium. All have been tested in mouse or rat models, and some have been tested in large animal models such as pigs. Preliminary clinical data for many of these cell types have also been gathered in selected patient populations.

However, clinical trials to date using stem cells to repair damaged cardiac tissue vary in terms of the condition being treated, the method of cell delivery, and the primary outcome measured by the study, thus hampering direct comparisons between trials.7 Some patients who have received stem cells for myocardial repair have reduced cardiac blood flow (myocardial ischemia), while others have more pronounced congestive heart failure and still others are recovering from heart attacks. In some cases, the patient's underlying condition influences the way that the stem cells are delivered to his/her heart (see the section, quot;Methods of Cell Deliveryquot; for details). Even among patients undergoing comparable procedures, the clinical study design can affect the reporting of results. Some studies have focused on safety issues and adverse effects of the transplantation procedures; others have assessed improvements in ventricular function or the delivery of arterial blood. Furthermore, no published trial has directly compared two or more stem cell types, and the transplanted cells may be autologous (i.e., derived from the person on whom they are used) or allogeneic (i.e., originating from another person) in origin. Finally, most of these trials use unlabeled cells, making it difficult for investigators to follow the cells' course through the body after transplantation (see the section quot;Considerations for Using These Stem Cells in the Clinical Settingquot; at the end of this article for more details).

Despite the relative infancy of this field, initial results from the application of stem cells to restore cardiac function have been promising. This article will review the research supporting each of the aforementioned cell types as potential source materials for myocardial regeneration and will conclude with a discussion of general issues that relate to their clinical application.

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6. Mending a Broken Heart: Stem Cells and Cardiac Repair ...