A team of scientists has managed to achieve another breakthrough in the area of stem cell therapies. They were able to create totipotent stem cells in the lab. This is the first time ever to achieve such a feat and follows the creation of pluripotent stem cells.

Scientists Will Try To Develop New Stem Cell Therapies Based On Such Totipotent Cells

This new breakthrough was achieved by an international team of researchers coming from the California Salk Institute and the Chinese Peking University. Study results were published in the Cell journal. They were able to create the totipotent stem cells from both cultured mouse and human such cells.

Totipotent stem cells are known to be able to form tissues capable of providing embryonic support. At the same time, they may also offer extra-embryonic tissues, for example, the amniotic sac and the placenta.

“This is the first study reporting the derivation of a stable stem cell type that shows totipotent-like bi-development potential towards both embryonic and extra-embryonic lineages”.

This is according to Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a Salk Professor, and researcher involved in the study. The team was able to divide the new cells into either totipotent or pluripotent stem ones, while still early on in the development process.

They were able to do so thanks to a new chemical cocktail. This was able to stabilize the cells before the division process and this prolonged their versatility. As such, the researchers dubbed their result EPS cells or “extended pluripotent stem cells”.

Based on the new chemical cocktail, the team was able to create various stem cell therapies. More exactly, they were able to form chimeras or a collection of embryonic cells coming from different zygotes. According to Izpisua Belmonte, the new, totipotent-like stem cells line may have a “broad and resounding impact” in the stem study field.

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According to a clinical trial, a new skull cap device could help improve the survival chances of brain cancer patients. It could do so as it shocks the tumor with low-intensity electric fields. Nonetheless, this therapy would also have to combine with an oral chemotherapy.

The new clinical trial study results were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting. This new skull cap device is produced by Optune and works as follows. It is capable of continuously delivering alternating electric fields to the affected brain part. According to the researchers, this can have an anticancer effect as it helps block cell division.

This New Skull Cap Could Improve And Prolong Glioblastoma Survival Rates

The trial study involved patients diagnosed with the aggressive cancer type named glioblastoma. For the trial, they were randomly assigned to one of two treatment methods. A first was based on the Optune skull cap combined with a chemotherapy treatment. The other offered solely the chemo method.

Then, the research team monitored the patients and reported their median overall survival rates. Those that used the Optune cap had a 21-months such rate. In contrast, chemo-only patients had a 16-months median overall survival one.

Median survival rates presented, in general, an overall improvement even on the 1 to 5-years time frame. After a year, the team reported a 43 percent cap survival rate, compared to 31 percent for patients with just chemo. 5 years later, the percentages had fallen to 13 percent versus 5 percent, but the Optune results still stand.

 “Now, we see a meaningful improvement in survival at two years and beyond. With the combination of Optune a temozolomide, one out of seven patients is living longer than 5 years.”

This is according to Dr. Roger Stupp, a Neurological Surgery Professor part of Northwestern University.

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A new study went to analyze the lifestyle choices of British people. According to it, over 20 million people living in Great Britain are quite physically inactive, which could come with serious risks to their health. The study and report come from the British Heart Foundation or BHF, a charity organization based in the United Kingdom.

According to the researchers, they considered ‘physically inactive’ any person which did not follow the governmental health guidelines. These state that every individual should accomplish 150 minutes of physical activity each week. This doesn’t even have to be intense, it can have a moderate intensity. Also, they should perform strength activities at least every two days throughout a week.

The BHF found that women are more likely to be physically inactive than men. More exactly, they are 36 percent less active which accounts for some 11.8 million people, compared to 8.3 million men.

The Rates Of Physically Inactive Also Varied According To Region

In its report, the charity also presented a list with the least activity regions in the United Kingdom. North West England residents placed first, with a 47 percent rate of inactivity. They were followed by the Northern Ireland population with 46 percent and the Welsh with 42 percent. North East England and London residents rounded up the top 5 less active.

According to the BHF, this lack of physical activities poses more risks than initially believed. The charity claims that it leads to over 5 million deaths each year at a worldwide level. Exercising regularly is recommended as it can help reduce the risk of circulatory problems and heart disease. This can be reduced by as much as 35 percent. The early death risk can also see a significant reduction thanks to regular exercises, one of up to 30 percent.

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Remember when you were so angry that you wanted to punch somebody. When you feel that way the best thing you can do to calm down is to take deep breaths. A new research shows that deep breaths can calm your nerves in a few seconds.

This new study focused on showing the effects of deep breathing when it comes to our feeling. In order to conduct this study, researchers analyzed mice. They observed a connection between the nerve cells and breathing. Deep breaths were the ones that calmed the brain activity.

Less than 400 nerve cells are responsible for the connection between our brain activity and breathing. Once the researchers removed those nerve cells from the mice they observed that the mice were very calm and that they breathed normally.

Scientists mentioned that their research could, someday, help people that suffer from panic attacks, anxiety, and stress. Their findings were published in the journal Science. Breathing is involuntary, an unconscious action that we do in order to stay alive. Animals and human inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide after they used the oxygen to create energy.

People have been taking deep breaths when they feel angry or anxious for a long time. This research just showed the connection between the activity of the brain and deep breaths. Panic attacks, for instance, make a person to take fast, short breaths. This causes the person to feel even more panicked.

This research was conducted by scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine. They observed that our breathing can control the way we feel. When we are angry we tend to breathe faster and to inhale less oxygen. The interesting fact is that the brain is the ones that control the breathing. So, if we manage to make our brain to control the breathing in such a way for us to take deep breaths in the moments when we feel angry, we are more likely to calm down easily.

The problem is that people who suffer from a panic attack have a hard time controlling their breathing. Despite this fact, people who suffer from anxiety should consider doing this simple “treatment”. Deep breaths can make a person feel calm and relax in almost any situation.

What is your opinion about this study? Did you ever use this method of calming down?

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This month is Colon Cancer Awareness Month. This condition is often associated with old age. Despite this fact, more young people are starting to develop this type of cancer. A new study shows that colon cancer is increasing among Millennials.

The study conducted by the American Cancer Society shows that more and more young people are suffering from this condition. This type of cancer is the second deadliest one. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned that more people should get a colonoscopy.

After the age of 50 getting a colonoscopy is a normal preventive measure. When you are young you might think that this test is not necessary. Apparently, it can affect younger people too. The number of cases of colon cancer at young people increased in the last few years.

This new study recommends doctors to talk to their patients about this type of cancer. People should know more about how to prevent and treat cancer. In order to decreases the number of colon cancer cases, the American Cancer Society launched an initiative named “80 by 2018”. This project has the goal to make 80% of older people over 50 to get a colonoscopy by 2018.

The research about the increasing cases of colon cancer in young adults was published in JAMA. Researchers also mentioned that the risk of death is decreased if people catch cancer early. This way, the treatment is much more efficient.

Because of the fact that this type of cancer is a slow-moving one, people are more likely to fight it. They have more time to catch it and to treat it. Unlike other types of cancers, colon cancer is developed in years and it can be avoided if people take the test.

People need to stay alert and to see if something changes in their body. If they observe signs like blood in the stool, unexpected weight loss, stomach pain, and change in bowel habits, they should go to the doctor immediately. It is important to go to the doctor sooner than later.

What is your opinion about this study? Did you know that colon cancer can affect young adults too?

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can be experienced by everybody. After a traumatic event, people can develop distress and anxiety. This can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. A new study shows that there might be a way of preventing PTSD.

Tetris And The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

This research shows that the game Tetris can help people prevent PTSD. If people play Tetris in the first few hours after the stressful event, they are less likely to develop anxiety. PTDS is caused by intrusive memories from the event that consolidate in a person’s mind.

A game of Tetris can help people remove the intrusive memories from their mind. This study was conducted by Swedish researchers from Krolinska Insitute. The leader of the study, Emily Holmes, mentioned that Tetris needs vision and imagination. Since our brain can do 2 things at the same time, it interrupts the memories from the event.

This “treatment” showed efficiency only before the appearance of the post-traumatic stress disorder appeared. People who already have this problem can’t treat it with this game. The researchers mentioned that, in order to be efficient, the game needs to be played in the first hours after the traumatic event.

The Effectiveness Of The “Treatment”

Scientists tested this game on 70 patients that were involved in motor accidents. All of them were in a UK emergency room seeking care. Half of these people received a psychological intervention in the first 6 hours after the accident. The other half received the standard care.

The people who received the psychological intervention were asked to play the game while they recalled the traumatic event. After that, the patients were tracked for a week to see if they had flashbacks or memories from the event.

Those who played the game mentioned that they had 62% fewer flashbacks over the week. After this research, scientists believe that post-traumatic stress disorder can be prevented if people receive treatment early on. This is the first study that involves a computer game as a preventive method for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Despite the fact that this research showed potential, scientists mentioned that they need to make more tests before they can confirm that Tetris can prevent post-traumatic stress disorder. One limitation of the study is that it was based on so few participants.

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Health officials are warning pet owners about a rat-borne fatal disease. In New Jersey, more and more dogs are affected by leptospirosis. This fatal disease is a bacterial infection that was transmitted through rat urine. The officials mentioned that more than 10 dogs are being treated in New Jersey.

This infection can be deadly if it’s not caught early. Two dogs already died due to the fatal disease. The others are in critical condition. Health officials stated that dogs can get infected if they drink puddle water. This is why pet owners should be alert at all times in order to stop their dogs from drinking street water.

When the pet owners observe any symptoms they should get the dog to the veterinarian. If the fatal disease is caught early it can be treated. When the condition is in an advanced stage, antibiotics don’t have the same effect. The bacterial infection causes organ failure in the final stage.

This disease can be dangerous for people too. A man died from this condition in February. Other two people got sick. Health officials mentioned that, at the moment, there are no cases of human leptospirosis. The only way to get infected is to come into contact with rat urine. People who work around these animals should be extra careful.

Pet owners should look for symptoms like loss of appetite, urination problems, and fever. If their dog suffers from any of these problems, they should take it to the doctor immediately. Once the dog receives antibiotics it will start to feel better.

“Once it gets into the bloodstream it starts to cause inflammation inside of blood vessels in various organs, one of the more common things to occur is kidney failure” specialist Benjamin Davidson said.

Pet owners should know that there is a vaccine available that can prevent this disease. They should take the dog to the veterinarian in order to give them the preventive vaccine for this fatal condition. Doctors believe that the numbers of cases of leptospirosis are beginning to rise due to the fact that it is hotter outside and people are starting to take their pets out for a walk.

What is your opinion about this fatal disease? Have you heard about it?

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Climate change is one of the biggest problems, worldwide. It has affected everybody and it is going to continue if action is not taken. A new report shows that climate change can increase the risk of deaths caused by extreme heat.

Despite the fact that nations have agreed to limit the global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, extreme heat events are  still going to occur. The 2 degrees limit is approaching and with it, extreme heat is coming. This new analysis shows that the heat stress is going to double in the most populated cities.

More and more people are going to be affected by the warming weather. Due to this fact, heat-related deaths are going to be more numerous by 2050. The number of heat waves is also going to increase. Growing population numbers are one of the factors that affect the weather. The more people the hotter it gets.

The researchers that conducted this study mentioned that even if the global warming doesn’t reach 2 degrees Celsius, extreme heat waves are going to affect many countries. In 2015, the hottest year until now, extreme heat has caused 2000 deaths in India and more than 1000 in Pakistan. These events are going to happen in 2017 too.

The heat waves are going to be expected in megacities, the ones that have a high level of population and a large population. Scientists also said that the numbers of deaths caused by heat waves are still too many, despite the fact that action is taken.

Researchers stated that heat waves are going to be more frequent in the cities that have experienced this phenomenon. Other cities, which haven’t experience extreme heat, are at risk too. The US is also going to be affected by this issue. Despite the fact that many cities in the US have taken action against climate change, they are going to experience extreme weather condition in the next few years.

Scientists are also predicting more deaths caused by heat. This is because our bodies can’t adapt to the climate so easy. More and more people are dying due to the extreme heat waves. The researchers added that this report should be taken into consideration by state officials in order to confront climate change.

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Breastfeeding has been known to bring a lot of benefits to kids. Some studies say that it can make the child smarter, while others state that it can make him or her develop faster. A new research shows that some of the benefits of breastfed kids might not be real.

While it is great for children to be breastfed, the benefits are not that big as it was previously believed. This new study focused on understanding the benefits that may come to breastfed kids. It showed that they might be less hyperactive than kids that were not breastfed.

This is not the first study that looks for evidence about the cognitive development of breastfed kids. Despite the fact that this research wanted to strengthen the idea the breastfeeding makes children smarter, the researchers were not able to find a link.

In order to conduct this study, scientists analyzed almost 8,000 kids. These children were monitored by scientists since they were 9 months old. When the kids turned 3, the researchers evaluated their cognitive abilities. The parents were also asked about the development of their children.

Researchers were trying to find a strong connection between breastfed kids and their stronger cognitive abilities. They were not able to find the link. This is because the difference between breastfed kids and the children that were not breastfed were not that big.

The only benefit found is the lack of hyperactivity. Kids that were breastfed for at least 6 months were less likely to be hyperactive when compared to children that were not breastfed. This benefit was only applicable to 3 year-olds.

When the kids turned 5, the risk of hyperactivity was almost the same for both breastfeed kids and the other children. The researchers also mentioned that children who were breastfed for a shorter period or were not breastfed at all did not show any delays in cognitive development.

A limitation of the study is the fact that only kids who were breastfed for more than 6 moths were studied. This shows that the most important thing is for how long they were breastfed, not if they were or not.

What is your opinion about this study? Did you know that breastfed kids are less likely to be hyperactive?

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Germs are very dangerous for us. They can be found anywhere, even in the most unusual places and things. A new study shows that our supermarket groceries have more germs that we believe. Despite the fact that we didn’t suspect groceries to have germs, they do.

Although supermarkets are clean, we can still find germs there. Also, brands need to pass many health inspections before they can put their products on the shelves. Despite this, germs find a way to hide in our shopping carts.

The leader of the study, Charles Gerba, is a microbiologist at the University of Arizona. He mentioned that people need to understand that microbes are everywhere. The germ exposure is much higher when it comes to meat containers. This is because there the microbes breed faster there.

Charles Gerba made this study and showed which are the most dangerous things when it comes to microbes. One of those is the shopping cart handle. A lot of people touch the same handle every day. This is the fastest way to transmit bacteria. In order to get rid of microbes, people should use hand sanitizer.

The fresh produce section is also a place where microbes love to spread. Almost everybody touches or squeezes the goods before buying them. The researcher mentioned that it is best to buy products that are not cut. When the products are cut microbes spread there.

Seafood and meat have more germs than other products. People should always use two bags to put meat and seafood. These products should be separated from the other supermarket groceries. This measure should be taken in order to avoid cross-contamination.

When they are buying supermarket groceries, people should avoid buying canned products that have damages. If the cans are swollen or they are leaking, you should not touch it or buy it. The risk of bacterial contamination is bigger in this case.

Despite the fact that people don’t notice them, germs are everywhere. Microbes can be found even in supermarkets. In order to avoid them, people should follow the recommendations made by Charles Gerba.

What is your opinion about this study? Did you know that supermarket groceries have a lot of germs?

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