Do Mood Disorder, Pain, and Epilepsy Drugs Cause Behavior Abnormalities Later in Life?

Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center questioned whether medicines prescribed to help with diseases such as epilepsy, pain, and mood disorders have behavioral side effects later in life. In order to determine whether or not these drugs have behavioral side effects, the GUMC scientists conducted experiments that tested these drugs on infant rats . They discovered that these drugs kill neurons in the brain and some of the tested medications did cause behavioral abnormalities later in life. However, some of these drugs did not have this behavioral effect. Therefore, more research will need to be done in order to help doctors decide which drugs they should prescribe to their patients to treat epilepsy, pain, and mood disorders.

Socratic Seminar

-Would you take these kind of medicines even if you knew that there was a risk that you could have behavior abnormalities later in your life?

-If you were a doctor, would you prescribe these medicines to your patients knowing this?

-If you could come up with any alternative, what would it be?

-Should the government ban these medicines?

-Do you think that testing on rats is a good way of finding out what side effects the medication may have on humans? And would you trust the results?

-If you think that testing on rats is not a good idea, is there some other thing/being you would test on instead?

By Aliza, Irena, and Reuben. Section 1

Acknowledgements: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020161952.htm#at for the article and http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/fatskinnylab.jpg for the picture.

Will certain drugs cause abnormalities

View more presentations from Student Wilsonsbiologylab.

Scientists Research A Way to Keep The Human Body Active Past Age 50

Scientists in Leeds, England plan to spend 50 million pounds (about 81 million US dollars) over five years to try and create ways to keep human bodies active past 50 years old. Human bodies eventually give out and stop working properly, especially in areas like the joints, such as the hips, elbows, and knees, and heart valves. With modern health care, medicines and vaccines, humans live longer and longer and their bodies become weaker and weaker with age. So scientists at the Leeds University are attempting to create better joint replacements and heart valves, plus more to keep older people active and keep their bodies healthier.

They have already successfully made a new hip replacement that would not wear out like the current one. Humans are expected to take 100 million steps in 50 years, and these new hip joints should be able to last that long, as opposed to current standard replacements, which most likely will not last more then 20 years. The new joints use a cobalt system with a ceramic ball that has been scientifically proven to be much more durable and tough then the previous replacements. Hips are one area on the body that is inclined to give out over time, but not the only one. They also made similar joint replacements for the knees. With more durable knees and hips, humans that would normally be too weak to walk may someday be able to walk unaided by walkers and have an easier time climbing inclines and staircases.

The scientists at Leeds are working on lots of other implants and transplants to keep the human body active. One of the most interesting and scientifically notable contributions they have made are transplantable tissues that the human body can adapt to and actually make a part of themselves. The tissue is basically a shell, taken from a donor or animal suitable as one. The scientists take a healthy organ or tissue from another human or animal and break it down using chemicals until they remove the cells of the other human or animal. Then it can be put into the recipient and the recipient can plant their own cells into. Having more organic tissues that could become part of the body easier would eliminate the fear of the body rejecting an organ from a donor. The scientists have already successfully made a heart valve this way.

The scientists have already tested the method on 40 human patients, and an unspecified number of animals in Brazil and say they have "promising results" says a leading scientist on the project, Doctor Eileen Ingham. The scientists are trying to fix and create new many other parts of the body too. These include such vital things as ligaments, blood vessels, skin, and lots of other organs also. The final goal of this project and other similar regeneration of body parts project, is to one day be able to create tissue, organs, and skin transplants just from the recipient themselves, rather then having to use a donor, it's a way to cut out the middle man. This method would make receiving life saving or altering implants much easier rather then have to find an organ. Hopefully this and many other similar projects gain the fruits of their labor sooner rather then later, and make growing old easier on millions of people.

Keeping Body Active

View more presentations from Student Wilsonsbiologylab.

Clay, Dana, and Isabella

Acknowledgments: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8314442.stm for being our source where we gathered all our data from
Image via http://apps.uwhealth.org/adam/graphics/images/en/19904.jpg
Mr. Wilson for answering general questions about the blog

Nazi Sea Water Experiment

For many years, drinking sea water has been a dangerous and if not lethal way of quenching a thirst. For past years, many people have had to bring their own supply of water on boating trips. If you were stranded on a island, one might not have anything that could quench a thirst without possibly killing one. When the Nazis decided to try and find out a way of curing sea water to make it drinkable, they would have to test it out on people and if not on them selves. Knowing that sea water could be dangerous if the curing process did not work with one of many of their design's, they tested it on Gypsies, which the Nazi's took from one of their many concentration camps. The Nazis preforming this experiment, did not care whether or not a Gypsy died or became dangerously ill. Throughout the experiment, the Gypsies' were just giving the sea water that the Nazi's had tried to cure to make the water drinkable. Even though many of the Gypsies, if not all, were fighting for normal water, all they received was "cured" sea water. The experiment was taking place during World War II, and even though their reason may have been just, they still tested on the Gypsies without their consent. The test subjects licked the floors after they were cleaned because they were so desperate for fresh water, and did not care how they would get it. When the experiment was finished, September 1944, the Nazis who performed this experiment killed the Gypsies they had been testing on.

The Nazis put all these people through this inhumane sea water experiment and many of them suffered a slow and painful death. If there were any survivors left, that were tested on in this experiment, the Nazis who conducted the experiment would kill them. The Nazis were trying to see if they could make seawater into potable water. In the end they were unsuccessful at doing this. What scientists did find out though was how much salt water a human can sustain in his/her body and also how long a person can last without water before dying. This is useful information that has helped save the lives of many people. They saw that there were different stages of dehydration that effected the person by giving them distress, suffering and pain. Doctors can now predict how much water a person need to become hydrated again and be at a healthy state. Though this test was very curl and ethical scientist found out very important information about the body that was used to save and better the lives of people.

Nazi Sea Water Experiment

View more presentations from Student Wilsonsbiologylab.

By Lally, Phillip, and Gordon

Stem Cell Research Breakthrough

Researchers at Mater Medical Research Institute have discovered how to protect stem cells during cancer treatment so they are not damaged.

Chemotherapy is a systematic treatment where a patient receives chemical agents that kill cancer cells. Since the chemical agents given to the patient cannot tell the difference between cancerous cells and healthy ones, many cells that are not cancerous die as well- including stem cells. A stem cell is defined by two properties: they can go through numerous cycles of cellular division while maintaining their state of being undifferentiated, and they have the ability to differentiate into specialized types of cells. The damage to stem cells that produce the blood and immune systems is a major side effect of chemotherapy.


Image via Wikipedia
The Mater Medical Research Institute has studied how stem cells are naturally regulated, and from this they have learned how to put more stem cells to sleep. They discovered a chemical in the cells that, if removed, puts active stem cells to sleep. If the stem cells are sleeping, then they are protected from the chemical agents given to the patients in chemotherapy.

When the cells reawaken after chemotherapy, they help in making new blood and immune cells. This means that the immune system of the patient is not as weak after chemotherapy as it would normally be, which helps to prevent infections, as usually chemotherapy patients are very susceptible to infections. Also, the production of blood cells means that patients will need less blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants, resulting in a shorter recovery time than normal.


Emma and Angelique

Acknowledgements:
http://www.chemotherapy.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

Chemotherapy And Hematopoietic Stem Cells

View more presentations from Student Wilsonsbiologylab.

Eleven Genetic Variations Linked To Type 2 Diabetes

Image via Wikipedia

Scientists and mathematicians at Michigan Technological University have come up with a couple of ways to identify certain genes that cause Type 2 Diabetes. They have identified 11 variations in genes, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNP’s, that indicate a high probability of inheriting Type 2 Diabetes. In diseases such as Diabetes, there are several variations in the genes coding for the disorder. How do scientists find these variations and diagnose the disease?
Scientists have created a testing device called the Ensemble Learning Approach (ELA), which is software that detects a specific grouping of SNP’s that can be directly linked to not only Diabetes, but also other diseases as well. How is this possible when there usually are over 500,000 genes in the human genome?

Well, ELA only targets suspect dangerous areas in genes by using a complex statistical method. Testing for these potentially dangerous areas using the ELA, mathematicians at Michigan Technological University have interpreted data from 500 people in the UK with the Type 2 Diabetes and 500 without the disease. They found the 11 gene variations in the people with the disease. The team says that the ELA software can be used to trace the disease in one’s family lineage as far back as great-grandparents, and possibly farther than that if there are enough data.


Image via Wikipedia

With this knowledge of what genes are linked to disease, can it be possible for the results to help find cures for diseases in the future? It seems reasonable that with enough information from ELA testing, scientists may be able to find treatments for disorders such as Diabetes type 2 as well as Parkinson’s in the future. We will hope to see advancements in ELA technology in the future.

PowerPoint

Type 2 Diabetes

View more presentations from Student Wilsonsbiologylab.

Sources:
Images from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus_type_2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-nucleotide_polymorphism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_genome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_disease
http://www.mtu.edu/

Konstantine and Nate

The Monster Experiment

The monster study was an experiment conducted by Wendell Johnson and Mary Tudor, a former student of his. The test subjects were 22 orphaned children all from about the age of 5 to 15. The children were unaware that they were being experimented on, they just thought that they were recieving speech therapy. It took place in Daveport Iowa, in 1939. The experiment was testing if children were told that they had speech problems when they didn't would they develop stutters, and if children with stutters were told they didn't have a stutter would it go away. The 22 children were divided into two groups 1A and 1B. There were 10 children who even before the study began were marked as having stutters. The group of ten was divided. Half went to group 1A and were told that they had no problem with their speech, and the other half went to group 1B and were told that they had a lot of problems that must be fixed immediatly. The other 12 that made up the 22 children were chosen randomly, some with stutters, some without. Six were put in 1A and complemented on their speech, and 6 were put in group 1B. Their IQ, speech, and handyness were tested. Children with stutters in group 1A were told that they would grow out of their stuttering and that it was only a phase, but children in group 1B were told to never say anything unless it came out correctly. This was quite problematic because after that, in the 45 minute meetings the scientist had with the children, the children would be afraid to say anything in case they might say it wrong. Some children started trying to disiplin themselves so much that they had no time for other things such as school. Eventually they got so anxious when the spoke that some of them just stopped speaking. Most of the children developed mental issues when they grew older, and some even developed mild stutters.
This experiment was named "The Monster Study" by some of Johnson's peers, was hidden from authority, in fear of ruining Johnson's reputation. Johnson's experiment contributed most of the information that we know about stuttering, so although this was a very inhumane experiment, was the knowledge worth the pain it caused others?

T He Monster Experiment

View more presentations from Student Wilsonsbiologylab.

By Mira and Olivia

Technology to Help the Blind See

New technology is being made for the blind so they can see. Barbra Cambel started to loose her eye site when she was a teenager and by her 30's she lost her eye site in her left eye. She is now part of a 3 year research project. Electrodes are surgically implanted into her and other patients eyes. Then a camera is placed on the bridge of her nose and a video processor is on her waist. There are 37 other patients also going under treatment. They say they can now tell plates from cups, see grass from the side walk, tell which letters there are in the alphabet and tell the different from dark and white socks. Andrew P. Mariani who works at the National Eye Institute says, "for someone who's been totally blind, this is really remarkable." This is one way for patients to slowly regain their eyesight. Stem cell research has also been suggested as well as a capsules with protein in them to slow down the process of the decay of light-responding cells that helps a person see. Also patients are using artificial retina which produces some sight. It is basically glasses with a camera that captures images and translates the pattern of light and dark on the video processor patients wear around their waist. Dr Dorn says that it isn't a very good image yet because the implant only has 60 electrodes but they continue to work on improvements. Here is a video about the glasses made to allow the blind to see.

New Technology Helps The Blind To See

View more presentations from Student Wilsonsbiologylab.

by Jennie, Sophie, and Zoe

Sources:
from the New York Times