Health, Medical and Science Thread

[lavce pelagonski]

If there is a defect on the chromosome it makes it hard as you would have to alter a persons DNA. unless you mutate it to try and alter it in some way will probably cause more trouble than it fixes.

That is why there is a lot of money being invested in gene therapy and drugs that can target cancerous cell without killing normal cells.

[lavce pelagonski]

Problems and ethics

For the safety of gene therapy, the Weismann barrier is fundamental in the current thinking. Soma-to-germline feedback should therefore be impossible. However, there are indications[32] that the Weismann barrier can be breached. One way it might possibly be breached is if the treatment were somehow misapplied and spread to the testes and therefore would infect the germline against the intentions of the therapy.

Some of the problems of gene therapy include:

Short-lived nature of gene therapy – Before gene therapy can become a permanent cure for any condition, the therapeutic DNA introduced into target cells must remain functional and the cells containing the therapeutic DNA must be long-lived and stable. Problems with integrating therapeutic DNA into the genome and the rapidly dividing nature of many cells prevent gene therapy from achieving any long-term benefits. Patients will have to undergo multiple rounds of gene therapy.
Immune response – Anytime a foreign object is introduced into human tissues, the immune system has evolved to attack the invader. The risk of stimulating the immune system in a way that reduces gene therapy effectiveness is always a possibility. Furthermore, the immune system's enhanced response to invaders that it has seen before makes it difficult for gene therapy to be repeated in patients.
Problems with viral vectors – Viruses, the carrier of choice in most gene therapy studies, present a variety of potential problems to the patient —toxicity, immune and inflammatory responses, and gene control and targeting issues. In addition, there is always the fear that the viral vector, once inside the patient, may recover its ability to cause disease.
Multigene disorders – Conditions or disorders that arise from mutations in a single gene are the best candidates for gene therapy. Unfortunately, some of the most commonly occurring disorders, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, and diabetes, are caused by the combined effects of variations in many genes. Multigene or multifactorial disorders such as these would be especially difficult to treat effectively using gene therapy.
Chance of inducing a tumor (insertional mutagenesis) - If the DNA is integrated in the wrong place in the genome, for example in a tumor suppressor gene, it could induce a tumor. This has occurred in clinical trials for X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) patients, in which hematopoietic stem cells were transduced with a corrective transgene using a retrovirus, and this led to the development of T cell leukemia in 3 of 20 patients.[33]

[Bij]

To quieten the mind is very difficult, you probably need to relax the physical body before you have any success with the mind.
Even a casual walk, in a peaceful environment will go a long way to clearing the head, avoid powerwalking or similar 'exercise', the idea is to relax the body, not stress it physically.
Gentle stretching, yoga poses and massage will help but most importantly relaxing in a dark, quiet and comfortable room is paramount.
Being physically fit and eating a healthy diet is also extremely important in reducing or combating stress, as is somebody to talk to and bounce ideas and feelings off...

I eat healthy and my block in melb has a gym so I'm in there regularly but my brain never shuts off. Even as a kid I would be churning stuff over in my head all night. I think more than 5 hours sleep a night would do me good bur that's a battle ive fought and lost my whole life

[lavce pelagonski]

We constantly dream and only sleep in short bursts, by the time I get to sleep an hour would have past. For me it is the best time to gather my thoughts and think about what my plans are.

[Phoenix]

I eat healthy and my block in melb has a gym so I'm in there regularly but my brain never shuts off. Even as a kid I would be churning stuff over in my head all night. I think more than 5 hours sleep a night would do me good bur that's a battle ive fought and lost my whole life

I think when you ask people how healthy their diet is they nearly always say they eat a healthy diet, often most people don't realize what they eat and how much water they drink in the course of a week or months.
Keeping an accurate food journal is important for many people, that way they can record how much food and water they consume each day.

The food journal also highlights if a person is missing out on particular food groups and sometimes this is of particular importance to women.
The journal could identify a few culprits in the modern diet like excessive coffee consumption or a real lack of water throughout the day.

The human diet should be varied in the consumption of fruits and
vegetables. A food journal will often show that people develop habitual fruit and veg choices, sticking to the same couple of fruits and veggies, thereby missing out on the variety of nutrition that other fruits and veg provide for the body.

[George S.]

Lavce all that tinkering with dna,genetics makes man like a god.Do you think man will mak a better man by tinkering with the genetics or will produce monsters & mutations.
Anyway a lot of people reckon that the world holds too many people.

[Risto the Great]

We constantly dream and only sleep in short bursts, by the time I get to sleep an hour would have past. For me it is the best time to gather my thoughts and think about what my plans are.

I find some of my highest quality sleeping occurs in the middle of important meetings. The key is to look like you are thinking when your eyes are closed.

[lavce pelagonski]

I find some of my highest quality sleeping occurs in the middle of important meetings. The key is to look like you are thinking when your eyes are closed.

Hahaha I find the best time for me is in lectures (if the lecturer cant keep me entertained)

[TrueMacedonian]

Nice topic. How about something totally out of left field. How about the defense of Evolution against the nonsense of Creationists and their agenda to halt teaching this science in schools in North America.

This is Richard Dawkins, Oxford Biologist and famed Atheist, interviewing a creationist. Just watch the absolute idiocy of this woman and decide whether everything you read in the bible is real or make believe.

YouTube - ‪Richard Dawkins Interviews Creationist Wendy Wright (Part 1/7)‬‏
YouTube - ‪Richard Dawkins Interviews Creationist Wendy Wright (Part 2/7)‬‏
YouTube - ‪Richard Dawkins Interviews Creationist Wendy Wright (Part 3/7)‬‏
YouTube - ‪Richard Dawkins Interviews Creationist Wendy Wright (Part 4/7)‬‏
YouTube - ‪Richard Dawkins Interviews Creationist Wendy Wright (Part 5/7)‬‏
YouTube - ‪Richard Dawkins Interviews Creationist Wendy Wright (Part 6/7)‬‏
YouTube - ‪Richard Dawkins Interviews Creationist Wendy Wright (Part 7/7)‬‏

[George S.]

i find if you got the aprismatic glasses they darken & you can fall asleep & no one will know.A boring lecture or meeting is great it puts you asleep fast.I think half an hour to an hour does the trick & refreshes you.

[Bij]

I think when you ask people how healthy their diet is they nearly always say they eat a healthy diet, often most people don't realize what they eat and how much water they drink in the course of a week or months.
Keeping an accurate food journal is important for many people, that way they can record how much food and water they consume each day.

The food journal also highlights if a person is missing out on particular food groups and sometimes this is of particular importance to women.
The journal could identify a few culprits in the modern diet like excessive coffee consumption or a real lack of water throughout the day.

The human diet should be varied in the consumption of fruits and
vegetables. A food journal will often show that people develop habitual fruit and veg choices, sticking to the same couple of fruits and veggies, thereby missing out on the variety of nutrition that other fruits and veg provide for the body.

No, I do eat healthy, if anything I think I should be eating more (but rarely have the time)

I'll give you my food journal for today

Breakfast
coffee with skim milk
Home made muesli with light yoghurt

snack
mandarin

lunch
clear chicken noodle soup

snack
rice cracker with tomato and cottage cheese

dinner
grilled chicken and salad.

I usually drink a minimum of two liters of water a day too

My brain just works far too hard

[Phoenix]

No, I do eat healthy, if anything I think I should be eating more (but rarely have the time)

I'll give you my food journal for today

Breakfast
coffee with skim milk
Home made muesli with light yoghurt

snack
mandarin

lunch
clear chicken noodle soup

snack
rice cracker with tomato and cottage cheese

dinner
grilled chicken and salad.

I usually drink a minimum of two liters of water a day too

My brain just works far too hard

I hope you're putting LSA in your muesli and a variety of grains...
Not enough 'greens' today Bij...
I bet you were craving that grilled chicken tonight...

[Bij]

I hope you're putting LSA in your muesli and a variety of grains...
Not enough 'greens' today Bij...
I bet you were craving that grilled chicken tonight...

Not really. I had broccoli in my soup with carrots. Forgot to mention that.

Phoenix are you a doctor or nutritionalist?

[Phoenix]

Phoenix are you a doctor or nutritionalist?

No Bij, neither...let's just say I have a 'healthy interest' in these matters...

Here's a website that you might find interesting regarding matters relating to exercise, nutrition and motivation...

https://www.craigharper.com.au

[Sovius]

Here's something to consider:

Many nutritionists believe that the human body doesn't absorb synthetic Vitamin E very well. Vitamin E is actually a group of similar but different molecules and supplements typically contain only one form of this oil soluble substance (fatty acids need to be digested with the vitamin in order for it to actually be absorbed into the body, rather than simply finding its way into the porcelain abyss) . Vitamin E is thought to be responsible for preventing cells from mutating, not only by blocking damage caused by free radicals, but also by helping to keep the lines of communication between cells open and unchanged. Its basically thought of as an anti-mutagen.


They say that you only need to eat a little over a quarter of a cup of uncooked sunflower seeds a day to meet prescribed minimum daily intake requirements; either that or around 11 cups of fresh spinach. 2 tablespoons of wheat germ will provide around 20% of this requirement and wheat germ has less fat than sunflower seeds, so I think the whole food diversification thing bears some weight here.

This is a good overview of Vitamin E:

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=111