Internet addiction

And you think it isn't true...

(SA Doc says: Where your world meets mine!). Har. Har.

Check it out...

I do like the bit about seduction:

The Internet itself is a neutral device originally designed to facilitate research among academic and military agencies. How some people have come to use this medium, however, has created a stir among the mental health community by great discussion of Internet addiction. Addictive use of the Internet is a new phenomenon which many practitioners are unaware of and subsequently unprepared to treat. Some therapists are unfamiliar with the Internet, making its seduction difficult to understand.

VIDEO CAN STEM CELL THERAPY IN CHINA PARTIALLY RESTORE VISION TO BLIND CHILDREN SOME FAMILIES SAY MAYBE BUT SOME AMERICAN DOCTORS QUESTION HOW AND WHY

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What is the truth about stem cell transplants in China? Some American families are taking their loved ones with medical problems to China for experimental stem cell therapy. A fascinating and heart warming story about an 8 year old girl with a congenital blindness called Optic Nerve Hypoplasia who undertook the pilgrimage to China is in the news. Savannah Watring who has ONH is reported by her family to have gained some vision.

Daniel Kish Video Explains How Blind Kids Can See With Sound




She received several stem cell transplants in an experimental procedure at a hospital in China. See the video below. But wait, not so fast! as you can read and hear below some American doctors are saying the stem cell procedure is risky and recommend against it.




Watch Video About Stem Cell Transplant in China for Blindness Click the arrow







The doctor in the radio interview below says the procedure doesn't make sense to his mind and that maybe 50% of children with optic nerve hypoplasia have spontaneous improvement in sight and maybe that is what is being observed in some of these people.






"According to her family, Savannah Watrings's blindness became evident at the age of about eight weeks, when it was noticed she was not “tracking” the way most babies do at that age. After visits to several doctors and a lot of tests, she was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (ONH), and her family was told she would never see".



"ONH is an underdevelopment of the optic nerves. According to information available, there is rarely any identifiable cause for ONH, or any particular group that falls victim to it any more than another. It is generally considered that there is no cure, but research in China has led to experimental surgical treatment which has shown some success...The procedure uses umbilical cord-blood stem cells. Stem cells are harvested from the umbilical cord of a newborn, and transplanted into the patient."

Savanna Watring Family Website

Doctor: China's Stem Cell Therapy for Kids Risky





"Savannah's grandmother, father and aunt took the 8-year-old for seven stem-cell infusions at a hospital in Quingdoa, China. The result is that Savannah can see. Doctors said it would take three to six months before they would see any change, but after Savannah's fourth treatment, something amazing happened in an elevator she saw herself for the first time".

China Stem Cell News

WHY YOU SHOULDNT ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR TEACHER AND BRAIN FITNESS AND BRAIN INTELLIGENCE TRAINING ON THE INTERNET

A wonderful feature of the Internet is interactivity. Such as demonstrated on the brain fitness and brain intelligence training sites. You've probably heard that you use only a small percentage of your brain power. I'm not sure if that is scientifically true. But it is true that most people do a lot less with their brain's thinking and remembering power than they could. It may have been because of teachers, friends, relatives or bosses but many people have been brainwashed into doubting their ability. According to Wikipedia, "In school, the young Thomas Edison's mind often wandered, and his teacher..was overheard calling him "addled.""(i.e confused, slow, muddle headed, you get the picture) Apparently his mother believed in his ability and home schooled him. One thing is certain if you believe you can't you probably won't.



I have repeatedly written in healty medical Blog about these brain fitness web sites and brain training games here on the Internet such as the post about how ordinary people can use rules of mnemonics to perform remarkable memory feats. See the link below. One of the most sophisticated of these sites is operated by Lumosity. In one of the latest additions to their website, they have added a mind brain training game called Follow the Rules. You have to use your intelligence to distill what rules are being applied to organize playing cards you are shown. The first level is easy but it gets difficult rapidly.

By the Rules Brain Intelligence Training Game

A Video Of Mind Power Games and the Real Brain Power Who Developed It









If you peruse the link below you'll see videos demonstrating remarkable feats of remembering, all the more remarkable because the people doing them are just applying techniques which anyone can learn.

Video Demonstrations of Remarkable Brain Training and Remembering

CLINICAL TRIALS OF DCA AGAINST CANCER TUMORS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA USES THE WARBURG EFFECT

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Does DCA, dichloroacetate acid kill cancer cells? E D Michelakis etal have published a new paper in the British Journal of Cancer about dichloroacetate and cancer. A while back dichloroacetate was all over the news. I wrote in healty medical Blog that it was being studied by scientists at the University of Alberta. On the web, DCA dichloroacetate was being touted by some especially in the news as a possible drug for use against cancer. You may remember that DCA is a generic chemical that scientists theorized might be able to suppress tumor growth. A web site that sold DCA was ordered shut down by the FDA.

Video Interview DCA Cancer Michelakis and Glenn Beck Click the arrow




It can be toxic and in any event the scientists said that the commercially available product was not appropriate for use. The conspiracy theorists suggested that since it was generic and non patentable the "big boys" in the drug industry had no interest in it. Glenn Beck, the headline news personality even vented about it on his tv show. (See the video) But I haven't heard much lately. Indeed DCA seemed to have fallen off the radar, news wise. Or perhaps not. E D Michelakis etal have published a new paper in the British Journal of Cancer called Dichloroacetate (DCA) as a Potential Metabolic-Targeting Therapy for Cancer. Michelakis in the article writes "The unique metabolism of most solid tumours (aerobic glycolysis, i.e., Warburg effect) is not only the basis of diagnosing cancer with metabolic imaging but might also be associated with the resistance to apoptosis (cell self destruction) that characterizes cancer.

Dicholoroacetate DCA as a potential metabolic targeting therapy for cancer






How does dca work on cancer? It is supposed to restore the normal energy function of the cells and the ability of cells to undergo programmed cell death called apoptosis. Cancer cells seem to be able to avoid apoptosis. The cells in our bodies contain little energy factories called mitochondria. The factories can employ different chemical processes to produce energy depending on the outside conditions. Namely is oxygen available or not? The Alberta scientists say "The generic drug dichloroacetate is a small molecule that, by inhibiting a chemical called pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase increases the (flow) of pyruvate into the mitochondria, promoting the process glucose oxidation over glycolysis" and apoptosis. Normal cells usually use a biological process called oxidative phosphorylation when oxygen is available and only switch over to another process called anaerobic (without oxygen) glycolysis in conditions of low or no oxygen (anaerobic conditions).

healty medical Blog on DCA Before

Why Do Cancer Cells Grow and Spread?




As the doctor at the Respectful Insolence blog points out "The entire concept behind the use of DCA is to target a phenomenon known as the Warburg Effect...This effect was first observed by a biochemist named Otto Warburg back in the late 1920's in tumor cells...Dr. Warburg postulated that in tumor cells the mitochondria (which is where oxidative phosphorylation takes place) are reduced or functionally impaired. Indeed, he postulated more than that, namely that impaired mitochondrial function contributes to tumorigenesis.(having to do with malfunctioning of the energy factories of the cell called mitochondria and the failure of cancer cells to undergo normal cell death). The problem in normal cells is that glycolysis produces much less usable chemical energy per molecule of glucose (sugar) than oxidative phosphorylation, and normal cells normally cannot survive on anaerobic glycolysis alone for very long. However, many tumor cells can. Indeed, many tumor cells continue to use glycolysis and produce lactate even in aerobic conditions, an observation that led Dr. Warburg to postulate that in tumor cells the (energy producing regions called) mitochondria (which is where oxidative phosphorylation takes place) are reduced or functionally impaired".




Michelakis in the article writes "The unique metabolism of most solid tumours (aerobic glycolysis, i.e., Warburg effect) is not only the basis of diagnosing cancer with metabolic imaging but might also be associated with the resistance to apoptosis (cell self destruction) that characterizes cancer. The glycolytic phenotype in cancer appears to be the common denominator of diverse molecular abnormalities in cancer and may be associated with a (potentially reversible) suppression of mitochondrial function. The generic drug dichloroacetate is an orally available small molecule that, by inhibiting the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, increases the flux of pyruvate into the mitochondria, promoting glucose oxidation over glycolysis. This reverses the suppressed mitochondrial apoptosis in cancer and results in suppression of tumour growth in vitro and in vivo. Here, we review the scientific and clinical rationale supporting the rapid translation of this promising metabolic modulator in early-phase cancer clinical trials".

Manto's Liver

Spotted on a Times blog...

“The Medical Association of South Africa (MASA) herewith informs the Minister of Health, the Honourable Manto Tshabala-Msimang, that should she resign, now, with her 11 Cabinet colleagues, she would not be obliged to return her liver.”

Some humour following the chaos in South Africa today...

DIAGNOSED WITH BLADDER CANCER TWENTY YEARS AGO AND DRAMATIC SURVIVAL RATES IN CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA YET THE CANCER MANHATTAN PROJECT STILL SEARCHES FOR T

DIAGNOSED WITH BLADDER CANCER TWENTY YEARS AGO AND DRAMATIC SURVIVAL RATES IN CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA YET THE CANCER MANHATTAN PROJECT STILL SEARCHES FOR THE ANSWERS

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He was diagnosed with bladder cancer. The 80 something patient was telling me about his medical history. As I listened to this man with a history of coronary artery bypass and diabetes I expected him to tell me that this was the latest and probably final attack on his health. Only it turned out the diagnosis of bladder cancer was made twenty years ago! If there was ever something like a Manhattan Project in medicine it is probably the effort to find a "cure" or "cures" for cancer. If you look at the survival rates for bladder cancer, often if bladder cancer is detected and treated at an early stage the survival rate is high. On the other hand some other patients have succumbed to cancer within a few months of diagnosis. Cancer is probably the number one problem in medicine and probably in the public's mind. There have been some dramatic successes in treatment and survival of some cancers. Yet cancer still has a kind of scary mystique associated with it that the other big medical problem, heart disease seems to lack.



Newsweek recently had a fascinating article about how cancer research is done and what works in cancer treatment or at least produce more practical results. And also how some things in science and medicine are sometimes decided in decidely unscientific ways. According to the article, "there is no more common refrain among critics of how the war on cancer has been waged than that innovative ideas, ideas that might be grand slams but carry the risk of striking out, are rejected by the National Cancer Institute in favor of projects that promise singles...Part of the answer is that the infrastructure of cancer is to keep things moving along as they have been and to reward people doing safe research."



I have written in healty medical Blog about some of the recent new developments in early cancer diagnosis and treatment such as the drug abiraterone for prostate cancer, the new blood test for ovarian cancer and the vaccine treatment at Johns Hopkins for pancreatic cancer.

healty medical A Video About Abiraterone for Prostate Cancer

New Blood Test for Ovarian Cancer

Vaccine Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer




It's logical to expect that if you understand how your car engine works you have a better chance of fixing it. But sometimes if you don't know where the engine knocking is coming from but you know if you add synthetic motor oil it stops you do it anyway.










As Dr. David, a pediatric oncologist points out in his blog,"Funding for pediatric oncology clinical trials, which are so expensive that they can only be done with the support of NCI or a pharmaceutical company that hopes to uncover the next blockbuster drug, is at $26.4 million per year and has been dropping steadily since 2003. This decrease in funding has had a real impact. A number of trials being conducted by the Children’s Oncology Group have had to close, and others have been reduced in size or delayed. These clinical trials are responsible for one more astounding fact about childhood cancer: approximately 3 of every 4 children diagnosed with cancer will be cured.

Dr. David's Blog

healty medical University of Alberta Examines Dicholoroacetate to Fight Cancer



The story in Newsweek suggests that theoretical research into the basic biological mechanisms of cancer have not yielded as much practical results as might be expected. And that some of the great successes have come from coordinated efforts to use existing medications and modalities and experiment with combinations to see which might work better. It goes on to point out as an example the singular success of pediatric oncologists in battling childhood leukemia who by tinkering with drug doses and combinations of drugs and timing were able to develop methods that are successful in the majority of cases.

WHAT TO DO FOR HEAD CONCUSSION VIDEO AND MORE WHAT IS AND WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF IT

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A head concussion is one of the most prominent of sports injuries. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to outlaw football after 19 college football players were killed or paralyzed from brain or spinal cord injuries. (Statistic from Maroon et al., Neurosurgery, 47:659-672, 2000.) I've written previously about concussion in healty medical Blog. It's such an important topic because there are so many young athletes including many who choose to ignore or even hide their symptoms.

A Kid's Football Game Takes a Hit by Concussions

Video About Brain Injury Head Concussion Click the Arrow

"Without rest, a head concussion victim risks developing post-concussion syndrome, which can include not only headaches, dizziness and nausea but also a loss of memory, difficulty paying attention, fatigue, mood swings and personality changes, symptoms that in some cases last a lifetime". That according to a neuropsychologist writing in the NY Times.







A head concussion is a mild to severe brain injury in which trauma such as a blow to the head or neck causes a sudden acceleration or deceleration of the head. You may or may not pass out. Even though the brain is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid, protected by the skull and cushioned by the meninges i.e. the linings of the central nervous system, the impact of a concussion can cause brain damage and repeated concussions can cause cumulative damage to the brain.



Second Impact Syndrome is where an athlete who has received a head injury sustains a second injury before the symptoms of the first injury have resolved. Like this story,"A 17 year-old high school football player died after suffering a severe brain injury while trying to break the wedge on a kick-off. The accident took place in a game on September 28, 2001. He had a previous concussion on September 15, 2001 . Cause of death was second impact syndrome brain injury."



"At greatest risk for post-concussion syndrome are people who have had concussions before, have a family member with a psychiatric disorder or have a condition like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, seizures or bipolar disorder. Also, the risk is greater for females than for males."









"Children aged 5 to 18 suffer at least 96,000 sports-related concussions every year in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Even more troubling, as many as 20 percent of all high school football players sustain concussions annually, studies show. Because teenage brain tissue is still developing, injuries at this age can be especially damaging. Yet most high schools and colleges fail to provide athletes the kind of neuropsychological testing that’s needed to help them recover". (In a personal note I have encountered resistance to rest from students and even their parents who in their zeal to return to sports ask or demand to be allowed to return to active play prematurely, not to mention a minority of coaches who may actually also put pressure on a young athlete)



"It’s true that coaches have become better educated about concussions. The days of patting the athlete who’s had his “bell rung” on the backside and sending him back into the game are diminishing. Most now realize that someone who’s had a concussion needs rest. He or she may need to take a break from the sport, or even from school. This allows the brain to devote all its resources to healing".

Head Games Concussions

healty medical Blog Vince Lombardi Was Right

National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT FALL 1982 - SPRING 2007

Cyberchondria...

Have you got it? Excerpt from Associated Content...

Consider this; the Internet is a pure informational gold mind! You can look up practically anything and get immediate gratification to satisfy curiosities or calm suspicions. But what if you have an abnormal anxiety regarding your health? Commonly known as Hypochondriasis or Hypochondria, the Internet has paved the way for its twenty-first century counterpart - Cyberchondria!

The availability of health information plastered all over the Internet has made it easier for those who worry over illnesses or tend to exaggerate symptoms to justify their fears. A common headache now becomes a brain tumor or a simple upset stomach becomes un-curable cancer! Hypochondria and Cyberchondria are devastating obsessions causing obvious distress to those who suffer from it.

These people are not fakers or malingerers – they honestly believe they suffer from life-threatening diseases or disorders! The trouble starts with the amount of information found on the Net, which provides no scientific validity! Cyberchondriacs view any source of information, from old wives tales to comments from a friend or relative to articles posted on the Internet by complete strangers with no medical background as legitimate, regardless of the lack of medical proof. Frequently a symptom of an anxiety disorder or depression, anyone can be stricken with Cyberchondrosis.

Normally it develops in the twenties or thirties and often follows the illness of a close family member or friend however, an illness in the family is not a prerequisite. This obsession of serious medical problems begins to interfere with daily routines. And the quest for justification cost millions in unnecessary medical tests and treatments every year! This disorder causes its sufferers to become obsessively aware of common sensations most people often ignore. These complaints become a central part of their personalities, as he/she honestly believes they are always a serious threat to their overall well-being. Cyberchondriacs tend to concentrate on hard-to-diagnose, vague symptoms, such as fatigue, general muscle aches and strange physical sensations. And surfing the Net provides validation, especially when his/her primary physician may dismiss worries or simply not supply a diagnosis that soothes the anxiety.

We've told you before.. Google Health just ain't, well, good for your health.

VIDEO A WOMAN WORRIES ABOUT A LUMP IN HER NECK SO HER DOCTOR GETS TESTS THE SYMPTOMS AND NEW TREATMENTS OF HODGKINS LYMPHOMA WHAT ARE LYMPH NODES

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You're rubbing your neck when suddenly you find a lump in it. Your friend Larry once found a lymph node in his neck and it turned out to be Hodgkins Lymphoma, (Hodgkin's Disease) a cancer. You have read in his biography that Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft was diagnosed with Hodgkin in 1983. In fact the most common symptom that people show up with when they have Hodgkins Lymphoma is painless lymphadenopathy. That is a painless swollen lymph node. You panic and run to the doctor who says it's a swollen lymph node probably from your throat infection. But as you can see in this video sometimes you have to be more insistent with your doctor to get his or her attention to a suspicious swelling in the neck




Video A Woman Tells How Her Concern to her Doctor Helped Find Her Lymphoma Click the arrow









What is a lymph node anyway? Why do lymph nodes get big? There are a number of reasons lymph nodes can enlarge. When you have a throat infection,for example, the lymph nodes in the neck often mistakenly called "glands" can get enlarged because the lymphatic system is involved in fighting infection. Another possible reason for lymph node enlargement is cancer such as Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Read healty medical Bladder Cancer 20 Years Ago and Curing Cancer




Cancer can travel along the lymphatic system. The lymph nodes are like traps in the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is a network of lymph nodes connected by "pipes" somewhat analogous to blood vessels and it is a vital part of the immune system. So the lymphatic vessels carry lymph like blood vessels carry blood. These lymph vessels "drain" into lymph nodes along the way. In the lymph nodes, various immune system actors like white blood cells and macrophages can collect, interact with each other and antigens, and generate immune responses to foreign substances which can be trapped in the "net" in the nodes. That is part of how the lymphatic system is involved with immunity and fighting infection.




Video New Treatments for Hodgkins Lymphoma Click the arrow














Allen was in his thirties when diagnosed. In fact, Hodgkins Lypmhoma has a so called bimodal incidence with one peak in the age group of 15 to 34 and the second peak in people over sixty. Hodgkins lymphoma can show up or "present" with painless swollen lymph nodes and may or may not be accompanied with other symptoms such as fever, night sweats, weight loss and cough. Tests to detect and "stage " it include blood tests, x rays, CT scans and biopsy. The good news is that Hodgkin Lymphoma has a very high survival rate. As you saw in the video doctors and scientists are using new therapy combinations for Hodgkin because the older therapies can lead to other medical problems like heart problems and secondary cancers.

MORE CONTROVERSY ABOUT VYTORIN CHOLESTEROL DRUG A DOCTOR DISCUSSES THE CANCER RISK STUDY NOT A SIMPLE ANSWER

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If you read the NY Times you probably are familiar with the controversy surrounding the cholesterol lowering heart drug Vytorin. I have previously discussed in healty medical Blog the big hoopla surrounding the study that questions the value of Vytorin and Zetia (ezetimibe) to halt or decrease artery clogging atherosclerotic plaque in the heart. Zetia has been viewed as a way to lower cholesterol without the possible systemic side effects of the more powerful statin cholesterol drugs. Vytorin is a combination of a statin cholesterol lowering drug with Zetia (ezetimibe) .

See healty medical Video of Cleveland Clinic Cardiologist ON ZETIA AND VYTORIN STUDY QUESTIONS VALUE



As Dr. David points out at at his medical blog, as if Vytorin didn't have enough controversy associated with it, a study suggested that "surprisingly, the patients taking Vytorin had an increased risk of cancer compared with patients taking a placebo". But he asks "What’s going on here? Does this new heart medicine not only not work, but also cause cancer? The answer is probably not that simple".

Could Your Heart Medicine Cause Cancer?