Category: Science

Progress in the fight against Hospital Acquired Infections

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The problem:

Over the last few years, public attention has been focused increasingly on the problem of nosocomial or hospital acquired infections (HAI’s). Why is there so much concern? A study by the CDC published in the March/April 2007 issue of the journal Public Health Reports, estimated that 1.7 million hospital patients per year ― 4.5 of every 100 admissions ― become infected, causing or contributing to the deaths of nearly 100,000 people per year. (IHI.org) 100,000 people per year is about 1/5 of the total deaths from cancer per year in the US, or about the same as the total stroke or accidental deaths. Or, another way to understand the size of this number, picture the population of South Bend Indiana, dying every year of mostly preventable causes. This is an epidemic.

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Virtual Colorado Tour – Part I: West to Grand Junction

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Last fall we took a trip around Colorado which took us through nearly every type of landscape Colorado has to offer, including the town of Ouray, nestled in the Mountains, fantastic fall colors of the Kebler Pass area and the dry, dramatic Mesa Verde region in the Southwest.

The map below is an interactive Google map, showing all the main points of interest we hit, and photos along the way.


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Growth Factor I, insulin sensitivity, life extension

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Andrzej Bartke, a researcher in geriatrics, and his colleagues at Southern Illinois University in Springfield, are closing in on the genetic basis for and biochemical/endocrine prevention of aging in mammals .

For years it has been observed that calorie restriction could enhance longevity in rats and other animals (research history) but the mechanisms behind this effect were unknown.

In a 2006 article in the Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences , they write

“there is considerable evidence that reduced secretion of insulin-like growth factor I and insulin are among the mechanisms that mediate the effects of Calorie Restriction (CR) on aging and longevity in mammals.”

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Stem cell tourism

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While stem cell research funding remains bogged down and encumbered in the United States, other countries, most notably China, have forged ahead. Patients are travelling to foreign stem cell clinics, to try treatments not available in this country, whether they follow standard testing and clinical protocols or not.

Lab research with stem cells has been extremely exciting and suggestive of great potential, but the current artificially embargoed situation in the US and several other countries provides ground for less than scrupulous treatment centers.

Beike Biotech, in Shenzen and other cities in China, is one bio-technology company which offers stem cell treatments for diseases that are usually considered untreatable. Their site offers many testimonials from people who have been treated for conditions like Spinal Cord Injury, Autism, ALS, and brain injury, but little in the way of systematic followups. Reading their patient blogs, although very interesting, it is difficult to tell for any given patient exactly what was done beyond “injections of stem cells” and exactly what their outcome was after they left the clinic. Most of the blogs end one or two entries after leaving. Beike’s treatment philosophy is summed up in this paragraph from their website:

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Update on Autism research

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Although repeated studies show little or no correlation between vaccination with the MMR vaccine and the onset of autism, there is a lot of popular support for the idea that there is some causal link. Originally the use of mercury in the form of thiomersal in vaccines was suggested as the culprit, but this seems less likely since mercury was removed from vaccines in North America and Europe by 2001 and the incidence of Autism continued to rise

Still many people remain unconvinced there is NO link between vaccination and autism, despite all the negative results, so other ideas have been floated. These include:

  • Some children’s immune systems may be predisposed to be overwhelmed by the combination vaccines, and they develop high fevers and sometimes febrile seizures which cause or contribute to the onset of autism.
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    • Autism – anecdotal evidence and possible link to gastrointestinal infection

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    Research on the causes of autism is still at the stage where many etiologies seem possible. Althought a genetic link is likely, it may play a role of predisposition to another factor rather than being the only necessary and sufficient cause of autism.

    One such connection being explored is the role of gastrointestinal infections in promoting autistic type behaviors.

    This blog entry written by an occupational therapist refers to improvement in a young patient’s autistic type behaviors after she was treated for a Clostridium Bacteria infection.

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    Recent research on Alzheimers: Blocking an immune signaling chemical allows macrophages to clear plaques in mice

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    Blocking TGF-β-Smad2/3 innate immune signaling mitigates Alzheimer-like pathology.

    A new possible treatment target has been demonstrated by a group of researchers working with transgenic mice that are used to model Alzheimer’s in humans. According to New Scientist:
    “Richard Flavell at Yale University and colleagues created transgenic mice predisposed to develop brain plaques, and doubly transgenic mice that also had a gene that blocks TGF-beta, a chemical used by the immune system.”

    “The researchers expected the second set to fare worse than the first. But to their surprise, the doubly transgenic mice performed better on various mazes”…

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