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Using Cholera To Battle Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer, cancer of the colon and rectum, is the third most common form of cancer in the world and has the second highest mortality rate. When caught early enough, it is usually treated with surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, methods that can have significant side effects.
A new study highlights a fourth way, one the researchers hope could have fewer side effects. They found that a purified toxin secreted by cholera bacteria can slow the growth of colorectal cancer and has not shown any side effects. It worked by changing the immune microenvironment in tumors.
A new study highlights a fourth way, one the researchers hope could have fewer side effects. They found that a purified toxin secreted by cholera bacteria can slow the growth of colorectal cancer and has not shown any side effects. It worked by changing the immune microenvironment in tumors.
Categories: Science 2.0
E. Coli Linked To Diabetic Foot Infections Gets Worldwide Analysis
Diabetic foot infections are a serious complications of diabetes and a leading cause of lower-limb amputation but little is known about the specific pathogens involved in these chronic foot infections, particularly E. coli, despite its frequent detection in clinical samples.
A new genomic characterization of E. coli strains isolated directly from diabetic foot ulcers across multiple continents may help explain why some infections become difficult to treat and lead to severe, even life-threatening, outcomes. The team analyzed whole-genome sequences from 42 E. coli strains isolated from infected diabetic foot ulcers in patients from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas and sequenced the complete DNA of each bacterial strain.
A new genomic characterization of E. coli strains isolated directly from diabetic foot ulcers across multiple continents may help explain why some infections become difficult to treat and lead to severe, even life-threatening, outcomes. The team analyzed whole-genome sequences from 42 E. coli strains isolated from infected diabetic foot ulcers in patients from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas and sequenced the complete DNA of each bacterial strain.
Categories: Science 2.0
I Earned It, You're Privileged - The Paradox In How We View Achievement
The concept of “hard work v privilege”, and what either one says about someone’s social status, is an important one.
Politicians regularly draw dividing lines between “hardworking families” and those receiving “handouts”. Others distinguish between those whose wealth increases while they sleep, and small business owners who work hard for their incomes.
Categories: Science 2.0
Letter To A Demanding PhD Supervisor
A fundamental component of my research work is the close collaboration with a large number of scientists from all around the world. This is the result of the very large scale of the experiments that are necessary to investigate the structure of matter at the smallest distance scales: building and operating those machines to collect the data and analyze it requires scientists to team up in large numbers - and this builds connections, cooperation, and long-time acquaintance; and in some cases, friendship.
Categories: Science 2.0
More Meat, Less Carbs, And No Raw Milk - The New Dietary Guidelines Are Better Than Expected
In 1902, President Teddy Roosevelt instructed his US Department of Agriculture to create a set of nutrition guidelines for a population that was gaining increased access to more foods, thanks to railways, but were more and more often in cities.
Wilbur Olin Atwater, Ph.D., did just that, and it was great, and we could have stopped there. Yet that is not the way of government. His recommendations were entirely sensible. Think about calories first. Eat meat and vegetables, limit fatty and carbohydrate foods. It was immensely popular but popularity breeds jealousy and now a desire by scholars to 'make their mark on history' and feel proud they have changed the world every five years.
Wilbur Olin Atwater, Ph.D., did just that, and it was great, and we could have stopped there. Yet that is not the way of government. His recommendations were entirely sensible. Think about calories first. Eat meat and vegetables, limit fatty and carbohydrate foods. It was immensely popular but popularity breeds jealousy and now a desire by scholars to 'make their mark on history' and feel proud they have changed the world every five years.
Categories: Science 2.0
Misinformation Common Among Women With Breast Cancer
Vaccines are getting American media attention now that Republicans are engaging in misinformation the way Democrats did for decades, but there has long been a war on the pharmaceutical and medical communities.
When the HPV vaccine was first rolled out, progressives began the conspiracy theory that it was due to the Vioxx settlement by Merck. Vaccines did not have the same "accountability" (read: predatort lawyers being able to sue and win if they just convince a jury a product may have caused problems) so they created products like Gardasil to claw back their revenue.(1)
When the HPV vaccine was first rolled out, progressives began the conspiracy theory that it was due to the Vioxx settlement by Merck. Vaccines did not have the same "accountability" (read: predatort lawyers being able to sue and win if they just convince a jury a product may have caused problems) so they created products like Gardasil to claw back their revenue.(1)
Categories: Science 2.0
Even With Universal Health Care, Mothers Don't Go To Postnatal Check-Ups
For decades, health care costs have been a political topic in America. Advocates argue it is the best in the world, wealthy people from countries where it is nationalized travel to the United States for elite care, while critics argue it is too expensive and that creates socioeconomic barriers.
Political advocates on both sides always want to be reductionist - X causes Y - but a recent analysis shows it is never that simple. Norway has universal health care and yet 25 percent of new mothers do not attend a postnatal checkup. Even women with with co-morbidities or who endured high-risk pregnancies complications didn't go. The sample was 1,119 women in Nord-Trøndelag Regional Health Authority who gave birth within a year, of whom 351 responded.
Political advocates on both sides always want to be reductionist - X causes Y - but a recent analysis shows it is never that simple. Norway has universal health care and yet 25 percent of new mothers do not attend a postnatal checkup. Even women with with co-morbidities or who endured high-risk pregnancies complications didn't go. The sample was 1,119 women in Nord-Trøndelag Regional Health Authority who gave birth within a year, of whom 351 responded.
Categories: Science 2.0