A possible cause for ADHD

Scientists may have answered what causes ADHD

The factors contributing to the cause of ADHD have not been fully established. A recent study from Korea suggests an interesting possibility relates to chemical exposure in children. The model suggests children ingest toxins while they play with their plastic toys. The toxins identified are called Phthalates (tha-ˌlāt). These are major chemicals used in manufacturing many plastics. These compounds are used in products ranging from toys, cleaning materials, plastics, personal care items, and other materials.
Recent studies suggest Phthalates are dangerous to children who have contact with the material. Some scientists are saying these chemicals can cause hormonal disruptions, birth defects, asthma, and reproductive problems in humans.
ADHD is not one specific psychiatric or neurological disorder. The disease is represented a spectrum of disorders occurring during development and causing inattention and hyper activity. Hyperactivity is defined as squeamish, inability to follow rules, talks excessively, and has trouble being quiet. Inattention is characterized by making careless mistakes, difficulty sustaining attention, distracted by extraneous stimuli, often forgetful of daily activities.
The Prevalence of ADHD is estimated to be 3 to 7% in school age children. The disorder can continue into adulthood, even though unlikely. People with this disorder tend to cope, but it still threatens certain aspects of life. Interestingly enough it tends to affect men much more then women, even though fully grown women can have ADHD. There is no medical cure for the disorder but various medication strategies are available to treat the symptoms.
Phthalates involved with plastic manufacturing have been recently linked to ADHD symptoms. These findings were published by Korean scientists alarming public health advocates phthalates. Their study measured urine phthalate concentrations along in children who were evaluated for symptoms of ADHD using teacher-reported instruments and computerized tests that measured attention and impulsive behavior and test scores. Sadly these tests are inconclusive to date. More research is needed to find results that can be replicated in other settings. This study is promising towards finding the cause and curing ADHD.
Many people are greatly alarmed by this finding and demand increased attention toward plastics in toy products. ADHD is complicated by the probable multi factorial causes. There are several competing theories about causes of ADHD supported by scientific studies including genetic, dietary, environmental and developmental issues. There is disagreement among people interested in this problem. There is no unanimous conclusion as to what causes ADHD but Phthalates offers a new and plausible model.


By Adam Hall and Lucas Millman
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Weight Loss Breakthrough

There has recently been a scientific breakthrough at the University of Bonn in Germany. A gene commonly found in fruit flies has been identified to control the metabolism, or chemical reactions, of fat. In some fruit flies this gene is defective, which causes them to lose all of their fat. The gene in the fruit fly contains the instructions of certain raw cellular material which has a regulatory function in the metabolism. The mutant form of the schlank gene causes the fruit fly to lose all of its fat. It can be deadly if not counteracted. When the gene works perfectly it helps the body store fat. When the gene is defective, or a mutation of the regular gene, it causes the loss of fat reserves. The scientists at the University of Bonn named this gene 'schlank,' which in english means 'slim'. The 'schlank' gene works by instructing those that carry the gene to turn energy into Ceramides which make up every cell in the body. The 'schlank' gene also regulates the removal of fat from the fat reserves.

The 'schlank' gene or something similar to it may also be found in species other than the fruit fly. Many mammals carry a gene that is very similar to 'schlank', that may also control the same metabolism of fat. Humans have something called Lass genes. Lass genes are six different genes that all preform the same basic function as the 'schlank' gene. When Lass genes mutate they also can cause severe metabolic disorders. These type of mutant Lass genes found in mice were injected into fruit flies with the mutant schlank gene and the process of loss of fat reserves stopped.The simalarity in the genes that are cross species has allowed scientists to deduce the connection between the Lass genes and lipids (cholesterol). Thanks to Darwinism scientist maybe able to use chemically altered 'schlank' like genes to create new far more effective weight loss medications.

Since humans and Drosophila Melangastro (fruit flies) are 60% similar in their DNA in can infered easily enough that a genes similar to the 'schlank' gene arose in the common ancestor of fruit flies and humas. As fruit flies got small however they needed less and less genes to control their fat distrabution where are humans needed more and more. It thus goes with out saying that by using fruit flies we maybe able to eliminate obesity issue while at the same time fix under nourishment issues by allowing people to store fat longer and more efficiently.

Acknowledgements:
http://www.stapleypestcontrol.com/FruitFlies.jpg

http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/bo/bodi-tek-fat-blitz.jpg

http://www.slimmingpillsuk.net/images/slimming_solution_pills_by_Biomix.jpg

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102111843.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Netvibes

Miracle Slimming

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New Treatment for Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma, the most common type of brain cancer, is serious tumor. With even the best prognosis and intense treatment, the average life expectancy for a patient is about 15 months. This bleak outlook is due to the lack of effective drugs and the inability of potentially effective drugs to cross the brain-blood barrier. This phenomenon is created by the cells around the capillaries in the brain, which are so tightly packed that many molecules, such as harmful drugs or microbes, are unable to gain purchase in the brain. Unfortunately, this makes treating brain cancer, or other neurological diseases, more difficult than in other parts of the body.

The current treatment for Glioblastoma, is surgery to remove the tumor, followed by radiation and then chemotherapy with the drug Temodar, which is believed to be able to cross the brain-blood barrier. Unfortunately, as previously stipulated, this is fairly ineffective, and in many cases, new tumors sprout up quickly following, or even during, treatment. However, a clinical trial is currently underway to attempt to find a new way to treat Glioblastoma. This approach involves some of the traditional methods mentioned above, as well as combining some old technology with new medication.

In this new approach the tumor is removed, although that may change with the effectiveness of the treatment, and then a microcatheter is threaded, via an artery in the groin, up into the specific area of the brain that the tumor was in. Then, the cancer drug is infused with another drug called Mannitol, the secret to getting through the brain-blood barrier. Mannitol, discovered some 30 years ago, takes some of the water out of the cells, making them shrink, creating gaps between the cells, allowing the drug molecules are able to move through and into the area of the brain they need to get to. Not only does this allow for a higher dose to get into the brain, over 50 times more than intravenously, it also allows for more specific placement of the dose, which may potentially decrease the adverse effects of the drug on the rest of the brain.

What is also interesting, is the new drug that is being used in this study, called Avastin, works in a manner similar to that of Endostatin, the drug featured in Cancer Warrior. This drug prevents angiogenesis, which prevents cancer cells from getting nutrients, preventing the tumors from getting larger. However, unlike Endostatin, Avastin appears to actually work, not only slowing tumor growth, but actually making tumors disappear.

This new delivery system does not appear to have may ethical issues. The patients that are being treated would die in about four and a half months without treatment, and the drugs that are being used have all been approved for human use and the techniques are fairly widespread and used in many other situations. The only potential moral dilemma, is in the actual development of the drug and whether it is moral to test on animals, as I am sure they did, before the drug is used on humans. Although this has nothing directly to do with the actual operation of this clinical trial, it is a precursor that must be taken into account before using a drug because using it supports the approach of animal testing before human testing.

Glioblastoma Presentation

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Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/health/17tumor.html?_r=1&sudsredirect=true
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glioblastoma_multiforme
http://www.avastin.com/avastin/index.jsp?q=Avastin
http://www.asahi-intecc.com/medical/product/ivr_mc.html
http://www.drugs.com/cdi/mannitol.html

Dylan and Cassie

The Hobbit—Tolkein’s imagination is discovered to be stranger than previously thought through new examinations.

Recently scientists have been preforming a multitude of more thorough tests on a hominid skeleton found in Indonesia, nicknamed the “Hobbit” because of it’s small size. The skeleton was found on the island of Flores, at a archeological site called Liang Bua. Scientists have identified the remains as those of a female, living approximately 17,000 years ago. The early hominid, know by scientists as LB1, is comparatively a dwarf, standing at just over a meter tall. Careful observations have shown that LB1 had a brain roughly 2/3 the size of a modern human’s.

LB1 is a very interesting from an evolutionary perspective. The remains show that LB1 had many ape-like body variations, but it also had many human-like features. The brain, was about the size of a chimpanzee’s brain, but had features that increased it’s cognitive ability. CT scans preformed on the skull showed that the brain cavity had an enlarged Broadmann area 10. This is the part of the brain that allows complex thought processes such as those required to make tools. This allowed a hominid with a brain the size of a chimpanzee’s to be far more advanced and similar to modern humans. LB1 supports a belief about certain organisms. The belief is that organisms living in environments with limited resources will decrease in size. This has already been supported with other organisms, but now is maybe true in early hominids.

Many critics of this idea suggest that LB1 was the result of a disease. This would make sense because fossil evidence has show that at the same time, there were other hominids that were more advanced, and more closely related to modern humans. However, there is evidence that disproves the idea that LB1 is just a sick modern human. The wrist of LB1 is very similar to that of an African ape. In modern humans, the wrist bone, called the trapezoid, is shaped like a boot. But the trapezoid of LB1 is shaped like a pyramid. The partial skeleton of LB1 provides critical information for scientists trying to under stand how the process of natural selection and evolution work.

By Will Mairs, Cindy Cochran, and Matthew Winter

Original article Rethinking "Hobbits": What They Mean for Human Evolution, from the November issue of Scientific American.

Homo Floresiensis

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Tapping into the Cancer Fighter Collective for Treatment

Sometimes the most difficult part of treating cancer is diagnosing it. The ability to recognize which forms of therapy will provide the best treatment is a skill that takes doctors years of experience and can still be wrong. This is why the CINJ (Cancer Institute of New Jersey), Rutgers University, and IBM are developing a computer system that will allow for more precise diagnosis of Cancer.

The computer system is envisioned as a tool that will allow Doctors to track the success rates of previous research. This will allow Doctors to tailor possible therapies to their patients. Additionally the system will let Doctors compare their patient’s samples against more than 100,000 samples within the system’s database, allowing them to immediately classify their patient’s cancer and discover how similar cancers have been treated and which therapies worked best. Besides from helping doctors treat cancer, the system may prove invaluable to researchers, allowing them to test many slivers of biopsies at once against a constantly updating set of samples.

Though using thousands of models to diagnose a single sample creates extremely accurate results, it is difficult to run such an intensive program on most computers. To combat this dilemma IBM has established the World Community Grid, a virtual supercomputer that draws processing power from thousands of volunteers across the world. This new joint effort could possibly allow any hospital to use this newfound method of diagnosing cancer.

Cancer Datbase Ppt Tsai Kuschner

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The Link to the article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cancer-software-technology

Driving Isn't as Easy as It looks for Some People

There may be one new reason not to have road rage these days. Researchers at the University of California Irvine have discovered that a gene mutation that causes a person's difficulty with memory can lead to horrendous driving. 30 percent of Americans have this mutated gene, which explains the mass amount of bad drivers in the United States. The gene controls a protein called "brain-derived neurotrophic factor", which affects the memory. If a person cannot remember the basics for driving, they are most likely going to swerve in lanes and possibly cause car accidents.

The researchers at the university conducted a study on the potentially dangerous gene. The tests involved only 29 people, 7 with the mutation and 22 without the mutation, (this is a good example of chance coming into play, because the study only involved 29 participants) on a driving simulator. The simulator required the participants to memorize the path of a track with challenging curves and turns. The subjects drove 15 laps on the simulator, and were called to repeat the exercise four days later.

The drivers with the mutated gene performed 20 percent worse than the drivers who did not have the mutated gene. Past research suggests that when people with the mutation perform an activity, a smaller portion of their brain is stimulated. Although the researchers believe that when it comes to driving this gene is a danger to society, the gene can also be beneficial to humans later in life. Individuals with the gene have been found to maintain their "mental sharpness" longer than individuals without the mutation.

The researchers at UC Irvine wonder how many people with this gene mutation get into car crashes every year. If this is discovered, many lives may be saved. If individuals with the gene knew more about it, they would be much more cautious on the roads of the United States. They would recognize that they have a better chance of crashing than people without the gene mutation. This discovery is a breakthrough in seeing how to keep the roads of America safer in the future.

Acknowledgments:
For the information:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091029/od_nm/us_genes_driving_odd

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE59R5LC20091028?feedType=RSS&feedName=scienceNews

http://www.livescience.com/culture/091028-bad-driving-genes.html

For the picture:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3051/2750711244_fde9724ebb.jpg

And finally for the opportunity of writing a blog article, Mr Wilson.

James and Emily: Section 2

Could Bad Driving Be Genetic?

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Belgian Scientists Successfully Create Lung Tissue from Stem Cells

By Dominic Ansel, Vahimir Emile, and Giancarlo Schliemann

Stem cells are found in all multi-cellular beings. Embryonic stem cells, are a type of cell that are found in the early stage fetus. A recently new area of genetics called stem cell research allows human cells to be recreated from the cells of an embryonic stem cell. The idea of stem cell research has been promoted by many people, yet many oppose it as well. Some find it inhumane and immoral, and for others it is against their religion.

Recently, Belgian scientists effectively separated human embryonic stem cells into lung tissue. This is a giant medical step for man and will supply an alternative lung to people with lung injuries. Most of these lung injuries are either due to long-lasting pulmonary diseases or can be inherited genetically diseases such as cystic fibrosis. Scientists have also been able to successfully recreated heart tissue from stem cells. Blood and marrow derived stem cells have the capacity to become many different tissues.

Many different tissues thought to only regenerate by themselves. But further studies prove that stem cells can help reconstruct the tissue.

Acknowledgments:

-Stem Cells. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 9, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104191823.html for the stem cell information

-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Axkn8G18t8 for the youtube video

Stem Cells And Lung Tissue Science

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Do Genes Justify Crime?

By Amanda Shepherd and Alex Scheman

The argument whether genes are an excuse for preforming acts of violence came up in a case in 2007 with Abdelmalek Bayout. In Italy, this man admitted to stabbing and killing another man and was given a sentence of 9 years and two months. Bayout had mutated genes that were related to aggression so his judge cut his sentence by one year. This decision was extremely controversial because scientist Nita Farahany, a legal scholar at Vanderbilt University, says that genes could potentially influence someones behavior but genes will never explain why a person committed that crime. The court is there not to blame genetics but to decipher why this person committed the crime and genes are not capable of explaining why.

This case leads to the big question, should genes be considered a reasonable defense in court? The judge, Pier Valerio Reinotti,claimed that Bayout's genetic aggressions lessened the severity of the crime, which is why he reduced his sentence. Farahany on theother hand has noted that US courts more then before are using genes as evidence to make their decisions. Although she also says,"It's just as likely to be used against a criminal defendant as for," meaning when a defendant states they have a genetic disorder itcould be used for as well as against them. "People don't recognize the double-edged potential of this evidence." -Farahany.

Researchers with more advanced technology have found a way to better explain how genes and the environment lead to violent behavior. Terrie Moffitt, a geneticist at King's College and Duke University, has earlier work that helped make the Italian court's decision on Bayout. She claimed that family histories of a defendant are helpful but she also stated that "Everything we know about family history still doesn't diminish our own responsibility for how we make choices." It is similar to peer pressure, if someone told you to jump off a bridge and you had a kind of gene in you that loved heights you still most likely would not jump of the bridge. If you had a motive to kill someone and you have aggression genes, yes the genes will kick in a little bit but it will not at all completely influence your decision.

Acknowledgements:
-http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18098-murderer-with-aggression-genes-gets-sentence-cut.html for using their article on the subject.
-http://www.lifespan.org/adam/graphics/images/en/9344.jpg for using their picture of a gene.

Does Carrying The Agression Gene Justfy Crime

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Potential Cancer/HIV Breakthrough

by Graham and Hayes

Recently at Yale University scientist have had a breakthrough in battle against HIV/AIDS and cancer. Scientists have synthesized particles that are now able to help our body to fight prostate cancer and the HIV virus. The two particles that have been synthesized are the anitbody recruiting particle targeting HIV, (ARM-H) and the antibody recruiting molecule targeting Prostate Cancer (ARM-P). These molecules bind to antibodies and and to HIV infected-cells, proteins on HIV, or cancer cells at the same time. This calls attention to these harmful cells and proteins and the ARMs trigger our immune system to attack these. When it comes to the ARM-H, this molecule can bind onto the proteins on the outside of the HIV virus and can prevent it from infecting other cells. In the words of David Spiegel Ph. D., MD., Instead of trying to kill the pathogens directly these molecules manipulate our immune system to do something it wouldn't ordinarily do."

The fight against HIV and cancer has been long and expensive and has not resulted in many breakthroughs. Both of these diseases can be treated but the treament is often very expensive and painful. Treatments are only successful also if they are started before the disease gets to serious. However, these ARMs offer a drastic contrats. These molecules are very simple and cheap to produce and Spiegel beleives that one day they could be taken in pill form. They also do not traget larger body processes and they are more exact and localized, as opposed to chemotherapy, which hurts the entire body. This means that the side effects of these are not as bad as other treatments for HIV or cancer.

This discovery brings much hope for most people in the world, whether or not they have any connection to HIV/AIDS or Prostate Cancer. However with a discovery so ground breaking it brings much hype and controversy over its use. It is important to realize that they have just begun testing this on mice so any human tests and treatment forms are far off. Controversy is also to arise out of the question of how these drugs could be distributed. HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic that affects 33 million people worldwide and one in six of American men are expected to develop prostate cancer. However, a difference between these two diseases is that HIV/AIDS is much more prevalent in poorer communities and the developing world while prostate cancer is spread more evenly across socio-economic barriers. This raises the question of how these drugs be distributed because a large portion of the people suffering from these diseases, HIV/AIDS, in particular would not be able to afford this drug, despite its rather low cost to create. We believe that if this drug is successful there should be steps taken to give it to the people who require need it to save their lives. If and when this drug reaches the point of successfully combating HIV/AIDS and Prostate Cancer it will be one of the most valuable commodities in the world and the debate over who should have access to it will be lively.

Breakthrough in HIV/Cancer Treatment

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XMRV Leads to New Discoveries for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Ryan Tongue and Ethan Putnam

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is one of a few diseases that not only “frustrates” those with CFS, but those without it as well; however, recent findings of a new retrovirus found in many CFS patients , may lead to new medical findings relating to CFS. This is important because until now there has been controversy over the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of CFS.
CFS has been given a title as a “wastebasket diagnosis” because the symptoms of CFS have such a huge range. It was recently thought that about 17 million people may be suffering from CFS, but this was before there was a specific virus to test for. Now doctors may start looking for a xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or a type of gammaretrovirus, in patients thought to have CFS. The one responsible for this finding was Ila Signh, an associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah. This was because prostate cancer and CFS both change RNase L, an antiviral enzyme. After doing biological tests for this virus in 100 CFS patients, it was found that two thirds of the patients had this virus.
After further studies have shown that CFS can be transmitted through blood, breast feeding, and other related means. The link in this virus which infects healthy cells to that of prostate cancer and CFS, has shown that CFS is “not linked to a genetic mutation.” The relation between the XMRV however, remains a mystery to doctors. However, treatments on animal model tests are starting soon with reverse transcriptase inhibitors (“antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV infection, tumors[1], and cancer. RTIs inhibit activity of reverse transcriptase, a viral DNA polymerase enzyme that retroviruses need to reproduce.”)

Science Powerpoint

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