Health Archives - Page 7 of 10

Use humans have had it good since penicillin was first discovered in 1928. It, and the many other antibiotics that followed, provided us with a defense against bacteria infections which previously posed serious, sometimes fatal threats to our health. Antibiotics also enabled new forms of treatment that would incredibly weaken our immune systems and otherwise leave us vulnerable to even the mildest infections. Things like chemotheraphy, organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, for example.

The problem is evolution. Bacteria have been adapting to our antibiotics faster than we’ve been able to invent new ones. It’s hard to say exactly when we lost that battle…but there’s little doubt that we’re now in an era where we can not depend on antibiotics like we used to. This is not to say that all infections will be fatal…but they’ll be much more serious than in the past. PBS Frontline has a great article and TV spot talking about this (follow this link) and it’s definitely worth checking out.

High use of antibiotics in factory farms is not helping things…though they’re not the only culprit. Antibiotics are ‘over prescribed’, given out like candy instead of held back for only serious cases. In any case though, more cautious use of antibiotics is really only going to slow the evolution and just delay the inevitable.

So where do we go from here? The antibiotic market has not been a very profitable one, historically, at least compared to the other pharmaceutical options. If that changes, it might attract more R&D dollars which may lead to new antibiotic discoveries…but that’s wishful thinking. The ‘last line of defense’ antibiotics are already very expensive…and as the problem grows worse, the number of patients willing to pay for a new option will sadly increase. Developing a new antibiotic is just not something that can be expected to happen quickly…and the big unknown is how long it will be effective, before it too becomes ineffective against an ever-evolving threat.

It’s a long article over at PBS…but something that we should all read, this is a big change coming to our society and the only way we can expect to counter it is if people are informed and act.

According to this article at Treehugger, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (such as MRSA and CRE) are responsible for more deaths each year than AIDS, in the US at least. It’s a problem that is only expected to get worse in the coming years. Not helping matters is the large extent to which antibiotics are used in animal agriculture – it’s estimated that around 80% of antibiotic use (in the US) is for that. The more we use antibiotics, the faster bacteria will evolve to resist them…there’s no escaping that fundamental fact of evolution.

Government officials at the CDC have recently warned against the emerging threat posed by these ‘superbugs’ as well. It’s not clear there’s any solution in sight though. We can slow the spread of these by better sanitation and reduced use of antibiotics, but it’ll continue to be a growing problem for future generations to deal with. 🙁

Researchers at Neurotrack have developed a computer-based cognitive test that can predict, with 100% accuracy, whether someone is likely to develop Alzheimer’s within six years. Being given such advanced warning is a huge benefit, as it opens up possibilities for slowing the onset of this crippling disease. Despite that 100% accuracy claim, it sounds like there IS a bit of uncertainty in the test. If you score below 50, that’s where the 100% chance of Alzheimer’s applies. Score about 67 and you’re in the clear (well, for six years at least). It’s those people who score between 50 and 67 that are in a gray area…I suspect the diagnosis there would be to repeat the test every year. Considering that it’s a fairly simple test to take, I don’t think that would be a big burden at all, just a minor inconvenience and part of growing old. They’re even looking at adapting this test for iPads, something that people could then self-test at home!

You can read more over at Counsel&Heal.

I came across a really interesting article over at Care2 that talks about the health impacts of not getting enough sleep. I think everyone knows they ‘should’ get plenty of sleep, but why? Just to feel happier? Nope. It turns out that not sleeping enough can affect many aspects of your health:

1. Neuropsychiatric disorders, impaired alertness and cognition, and headaches
2. Vision problems, including blurred vision, floppy eyelid syndrome, glaucoma, even temporary blindness
3. High blood pressure
4. Increased levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress
5. Cancer
6. Difficulty with sexual functioning
7. Increased food cravings and hunger
8. Insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes
9. Hearing loss
10. Muscle weakness and decreased athletic performance
11. Heart disease
12. Skin problems and rashes, including eczema
13. Hair loss
14. Disrupted metabolism, weight gain and obesity

Or to put it another way…just about everything you can think of. My personal metric for whether I’m getting enough sleep, is if I wake up on my own, feeling well-rested, before my alarm goes off. For me, it’s just a matter of getting to bed at a decent time and letting the body do its thing.

Right off the bat, realize that this isn’t about restoring 20/20 vision to blind people…but rather, helping those who lost their sight due to medical conditions (in this case, retinitis pigmentosa) restore partial vision. It’s amazing technology…a retinal implant uses a 1500 pixel sensor to receive light through the eye, and transfers it (via electrical signals) to the nerves in the eye for processing by the brain. This gives these people a very rudimentary level of vision, but adequate enough to detect the objects around them, make out the horizon, houses, trees, rivers, cars. Close up, they can even tell if someone is smiling or wearing glasses. Pretty amazing tech.

(via SmartPlanet)

Category: Health

Welcome to the post-antibiotic era

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria killing more people than AIDS

Early-warning test for Alzheimer’s is 100% accurate

Negative health impacts of too little sleep

A retinal implant to restore sight