UK recruits for clinical trial on cannabis and MS

The MS Society in the UK and Canada publicly supports the therapeutic benefits of cannabis for the disease. Now UK scientists are recruiting for another clinical trial. There are significant indications that derivative materials (cannabinoids) can reduce the severitiy of MS symptoms (pain, muscle stiffness, incontinence) and even slow the progression of the disease for some patients. Pretty dramatic results.

The U.S. has been slow about this because of questions of morality--the "war on drugs" not least among the holdups. But after twenty years, the University of California has gotten the blessing of the National MS Society for a similar clinical trial with cannabinoids and in January, a cannabis-based oral spray for pain (MS, cancer) was approved for clinical trials here.

As with stem cell research, the U.S. scientific community has been somewhat hampered by the current political climate. It seems sad to think of people in serious pain being denied access to soothing treatments that are very likely to help. The first principle of the physicians' code: First, do no harm. Unfortunately, everybody defines "harm" a little differently.

Mental activity protects aging brains--yeah, but...

Yes, we've heard it lots of times. Keeping mentally challenged and socially connected makes a big positive difference in how sharp your mind remains as you grow older.

But now there's also some new strong evidence that not only does it keep you sharp, it may actually prevent you from showing signs of Alzheimer's even though all the typical deterioration has occured in your brain.

Small study, dramatic findings. I predict the idea that disease is present in human beings much more often than it manifests is going to get really big traction in the near future. It fits perfectly with the ideas of the alternative medicine people, the quantum physicists, and a host of holistic healers of every stripe...those being that mind and body are inseparable and that our attitudes and our spirits have great power over our physical side.

Our medical school curriculum is in for some new material in the near future.

Study links pesticides and Parkinson's

70% of those exposed to pesticides, even low levels, developed Parkinson's over a 20-year study. They couldn't connect any other source such as asbestos, coal dust, exhaust, formaldehyde and radioactive material with the disease.

My dad worked a tiny little farm for the last 20 years of his life, and he tried really hard not to use pesticides (and succeeded with almost every bug and virus, with a lot of help he got by pestering the heck out of the County Extension Agent). On a few creatures such as the Japanese beetles, he tried the most astounding array of efforts to keep them from devouring his grape vines, including things like playing with their mating process. I'll never forget the day that he, my tough, "I can take anything" dad, showed me a big cloth sack full of those bugs... Even he looked revolted.

I admired my dad's persistence and patience with battling nature. I realized how grateful we all need to be to those who grow our food. And now it seems they may be paying a higher price than they thought for their occupation. Read more at Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Study Bolsters Link between Pesticides and Parkinson's

Estrogen, nitric oxide...stress and race

My favorite substance is at it again. NIH research indicates that estrogen releases nitric oxide (which is good for your blood vessels), but estrogen drops significantly in black teenage girls when they're under stress--and could leave blood vessels more prone to potential damage. This could be another factor, in addition to a lower ability to secrete sodium following stress, in the higher rates of cardiovascular disease among blacks.

Shockingly, this report says black women die of hypertension not only more frequently than black men but also at twice the rate of white women. Read more here.

With every discovery, it becomes clearer that, much as we are alike, medicine will continue to discover more personalized ways to help us as individuals.

Getting closer to the fountain of youth?

Aging has become big business both in commerce and in science with the advent of the baby boomer wave. So many smart people getting old at the same time has resulted in a lot of focus on that process.

Here's a fascinating study talking about how cells age. What happens, it says, is that you see a big increase in the frequency with which different genes behave out-of-synch (in cells where they're supposed to act in concert).

One explanation could be that "a gradual accumulation of random DNA alterations, also termed 'mutations' begin to interfere with transcription, i.e., the process that generates the message from each gene that contains the instructions to make a protein...mutations that cause for example, a loss of functional gene copies or the inactivation of DNA stretches that serve to control gene activity."

The experimenters used hydrogen peroxide, a known free radical-generating agent that damages DNA, to see if they could "artificially" age mouse embryo cells. Turns out it did look a lot like what happens to its heart when a mouse gets old.

So does this mean we're on the path to discovering how to reverse the part of aging we haven't so far been able to do anything about? Maybe. But I don't know if nature isn't just going to have to reveal another secret, and then another, and another about how we age...maybe because we simply aren't meant to live in these bodies for too long. But who knows? Who would have believed a hundred years ago what we know about stem cells today?

Paralysis has new stem-cell-based approach--too late for Superman

At Johns Hopkins they've found a way to get embryonic stem cells to form new nerve connections that connect to muscle in paralyzed mice.

Christopher Reeves is smiling down on the world today, knowing that his contributions to our knowledge have helped make a difference for those who, like him, are paralyzed in profoundly life-changing ways. Today, though, scientists report they've succeeded in making paralyzed mice move again with stem-cell therapy. It's a small study, reported in the Annals of Neurology, but its promise is practically limitless.

The key to this experiment was that researchers were able to find substances that would stop a natural body process that was preventing certain functions (axons growing) needed to repair connections. "Out of 15 paralyzed mice, 11 regained muscle function and strength."

We are on the brink of an extraordinary change in how medicine is thought about, developed, and delivered. What a time, they will say this was.

One way...or another

Could this be a case where we're not listening to nature? If we artificially extend the life of someone who's had a heart attack by implanting a defibrillator, says this study, chances go up that the person will then develop heart failure.

This may be another clue in our quest to discover nature's way rather than applying our own intellectualized solutions to things. I know if the day comes when I need to have a valve or something else in my heart replaced, I'm going to hold out for a stem cell solution as long as possible. And I'm sure not going to let them put a piece of metal in there...

Then again, we might interpret the study results to mean that our hearts know when it's time for us to go. Only time will tell how much further we will be able to extend the average lifespan.

Breathing can reduce inhaler dependence

In this very small study, asthmatics who were taught breathing exercises were able to cut their dependence on inhaled corticosteroids by using the exercises at the first sign of an attack. The number for whom it worked at the beginning of the study was 80%. By the time 28 weeks had gone by, that was up to 86%.

While there were no measurable improvements in physiological signs, that's an astonishingly successful result that so dramatically reduces the need for a potentially long-term damaging medication. I'd guess these results have to do with feeling in control. Asthma is about being out of control of life's perhaps most important processes--breathing. Anything that can give the person a sense of control is bound to be welcome. Read more here.

Proton therapy for cancer

Been trying to get this post written for 3 days...guess I better do it or dump it, eh?

Guess this approach has been around since '98 or so but I just heard about it recently. Another one of those non-intrusive alternatives to what we used to think--with our limited knowledge--was the only way to get at cancer cells. Now with proton beams physicians can precisely control where treatment is given, thus sparing the usual damage to healthy surrounding tissue.

And you can watch a video about it here, and visit the site for the M. D. Anderson Center that does all types of cancer therapies and just became the fourth location in the U.S. to use proton beam therapy and has now instituted clinical trials.

This is good. Certainly another brick in the wall medicine is building against cancer. But we're still talking violence--these beams explode in order to kill the cells. One day we'll find another way that will use the body's own capabilities. I'm sure of it.

What's with the aggressive cholesterol recommendations?

In the category of, you hear it more than once, you pay attention, there's this report from the British Medical Journal that the U.S.'s new dramatically lower recommendations for LDL cholesterol levels may do more harm than good.

Later in the report it's mentioned that many more people would have to be taking statins at far higher doses--resulting in far more and more serious side effects.

Why--when we are leaning so much closer to trusting nature--would we now be artifically lowering a number that would put vast numbers more people on way more drugs? Someone suggested the other day it might have to do with lobbying by the drug makers who stand to make several fortunes if they can get three-quarters of Americans taking lots of their medication for virtually all their adult lives.

Boy, I hope she's wrong, but I don't know what else to make of this. Like pumping menopausal women full of drugs/hormones for what's essentially a natural process, this has the ring of falsehood to it.