The miR-182 was safely delivered to the tumors using spherical nucleic acids, DNA and RNA arranged around a gold nanoparticle center.
Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified a small RNA molecule called miR-182 that can suppress cancer-causing genes in mice with glioblastoma mulitforme (GBM), a deadly and incurable type of brain tumor.

While standard chemotherapy drugs damage DNA to stop cancer cells from reproducing, the new method stops the source that creates those cancer cells: genes that are overexpressing certain proteins.

"Our study identified miR-182 as a glioblastoma tumor suppressor that reduces the expression of several oncogenes that promote cancer development," said senior author of the study Alexander Stegh, an assistant professor in the Ken and Ruth Davee department of neurology and of medicine at Northwestern 

University Feinberg School of Medicine.

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The study, published April 2 in Genes and Development, used a nanostructure called spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) to safely deliver miR-182 across the blood-brain barrier to reach tumor cells. There it directly targeted multiple oncogenes at once, increasing cancer cell death and reducing cancer cell growth. SNAs are composed of multiple strands of DNA and RNA densely arranged around a nanoparticle center.

"We demonstrate a more specific, more personalized approach to therapy," Stegh said. "SNAs are a very promising platform to silence the particular genes that drive or contribute to cancer progression in individual patients."

There are 16,000 new cases of the deadly brain tumor reported in the U.S. every year. Patients have a very poor prognosis, with median survival of just 14 to 16 months.

The molecule miR-182 is a microRNA, a type of short non-coding RNA that can bind to hundreds of genes to reduce their protein expression in cells. Looking at large-scale genomic datasets, Stegh and colleagues saw that patients with higher levels of miR-182 had a better chance of surviving glioblastoma mulitforme longer.

In the study, they found that miR-182 suppressed Bcl2L12, a cancer gene that blocks cancer cell death in response to chemo- and radiation therapy. The microRNA also impeded two other oncogenes, c-Met and HIF2A. The next challenge was establishing a way to get miR-182 to those specific targets.

The solution was in SNAs, a structure invented by Northwestern colleague and co-author Chad Mirkin, the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of medicine at Feinberg.
"We designed a novel delivery method for miR-182 using SNAs," Stegh said.

 "Small gold nanoparticles are conjugated with miR-182 sequences. They cross the blood-brain/blood-tumor barrier, and accumulate within brain tumor sites, where they target oncogenes, regulate cell growth and differentiation, reduce tumor burden and prolong survival in our mouse models."

SNAs have unique properties that allow them to reach cells safely without causing toxicity or activating the immune system.

"Our approach to gene silencing has not been demonstrated before in such a powerful way for the treatment of brain cancers," Stegh said. "These particles, microRNA based SNAs, could also potentially be used for gene silencing in other cancers and diseases of genetic origin."

Additional studies will be needed to test miR-182 and the nanoparticle delivery before it becomes an option for patients with glioblastoma mulitforme. But first, Stegh and colleagues want to hone the particle design and to investigate treatments that combine miR-182 with established chemotherapy drugs in mouse models.

This News is republished from site http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150403095933.htm 
"It may surprise you to learn that most of the bacteria found on elevator buttons and restroom surfaces can also normally be found ON YOUR HANDS!"

In their quest to culture every object on planet Earth, researchers have found that hospital elevator buttons are more contaminated with bacteria than restroom surfaces.
Of 120 randomly cultured elevator buttons, 73 (61%) grew bacteria. Washroom surfaces were cultured 96 times with 41 (43%) showing microbial growth.

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As is customary with papers like this, the media sensationalized the findings with headlines like, “Why you should never ever touch that hospital elevator button.”
Most stories eventually mentioned the fact that the authors said the majority of bacteria found “had low pathogenicity,” but some, including Vox.com, mrsaidblog.com, newsok.com, and mynews13.com, did not. In fact, the MRSAID blog also confused the benign streptococcus found in this paper with the pathogen that causes strep throat.
I’ve written several posts about the culturing of various inanimate objects and pointed out that disease transmission has not been documented for almost all surfaces on which bacteria are found.
Like most papers in this genre, this one has some flaws. You can read the full text here.
It was published in an open-access journal called Open Medicine. It is not among the top 40 internal medicine journals listed by impact factor. In fact, it has no discernible impact factor at all and is not listed PubMed.
The title of the paper, “Elevator buttons as unrecognized sources of bacterial colonization in hospitals” overstates the case a bit.
Table 1 of the paper shows the types of bacteria found on both the elevator buttons and surfaces in the restrooms.
Pathogens were few. Multiple organisms were found in several instances accounting for some of the numerical discrepancies. I could not figure out how the percentages were calculated. In neither column did the percentages add up to 100%.
Samples of restroom surfaces were taken “a few months” after the elevator buttons were cultured. The authors conceded that this may have confounded the results.
Washroom sample swabs were taken from the exterior and interior entry-door handles, the privacy latch, and the toilet flusher. They did not swab toilet seats, which previous studies have shown are the gold standard to which all inanimate surfaces should be compared.
It may surprise you to learn that most of the bacteria found on elevator buttons and restroom surfaces can also normally be found ON YOUR HANDS!
Skeptical Scalpel is a retired surgeon and was a surgical department chairman and residency program director for many years. He is board-certified in general surgery and critical care and has re-certified in both several times. He blogs at SkepticalScalpel.blogspot.com and tweets as @SkepticScalpel.

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A study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues in the Netherlands evaluated the relationship between nutritional conditions in very early life and adult health, and found that famine exposure during the first pregnancy trimester was associated with increases in mortality from a variety of causes other than cancer or cardiovascular disease.


This is the first study to quantify the possible long-term effects of nutrition deprivation at different stages of pregnancy and long-term mortality from causes of death coded by the current International Statistical Classification of Diseases.
Findings are published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
The study evaluated how famine exposure--defined as 900 calories or less per day--during the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 at different stages of pregnancy affected mortality through age 63.

Of more than 41,000 men born in the Netherlands from January 1944 to December 1947 and examined at age 18 years for military service in the Netherlands, 22,952 were born at the time of the Dutch Famine in six famine-stricken cities. A total of 5,011 deaths recorded during the follow-up period included 1,938 deaths (39 percent) from cancer, 1,040 (21 percent) from heart disease, and 1,418 (29 percent) from other natural causes, including diseases of the circulatory system (excluding heart disease) and diabetes. In addition, there were 523 deaths (10 percent) from external causes, such as transportation accidents, and intentional self-harm. The researchers adjusted for father's occupation, religion, education, body mass index, and fitness for military service.
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"The circumstances of the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945, with civilian starvation caused by the conditions of World War II, offer a unique opportunity to study the possible fetal origins of common diseases and adult health and critical periods in gestation," said L.H. Lumey, MD, PhD, Mailman School associate professor of Epidemiology and lead author. Prior studies by the Mailman School of Public Health and other institutions have reported an increase in body mass index and a prevalence of type 2 diabetes in both men and women after prenatal famine exposure, but until now results have been inconsistent with respect to cardiovascular disease.

"The robustness of the patterns we observed in the different control groups points to very early gestation as the period when the fetus is especially sensitive to the environment. It also suggests that early childhood exposure to the famine for people born just before the famine had no impact on long-term mortality in this population," according to Lumey.

Continuing Research

Further follow-up of the participants will provide more accurate risk estimates of mortality from specific causes of death after nutritional disturbances during gestation and very early life.

"These are the first study results of a very long-term project. The men in our study population were 63 years of age at follow-up and 85 percent of the cohort is still alive. They will now be entering a period of rapidly increasing mortality," said Lumey, "and this will provide significantly more study power in the future to detect small but important associations between famine exposure by stage of gestation and even more narrowly defined causes of death."

With a recent renewal of funding from the National Institutes of Health, the study will soon be expanded to include socio-economic outcomes (employment, wages, and disability benefits) for analysis with state-of-the-art epidemiologic and econometric methods. "Our new analyses will integrate currently separate research traditions from medical and social sciences and are likely to lead to a better understanding of 'fetal programming' and its implications," said Lumey.
The expanded study will include as co-investigator Nobel Laureate James Heckman from the University of Chicago to look at long-term effects of early deprivation on human capital outcomes.

This news is reprinted from site http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150327132238.htm

Scientists at the University of Michigan have, for the first time, succeeded in growing 3D mini lungs from human stem cells, and the resulting structures resemble both the large proximal airways and the small distal airways. The advantage of growing 3D structures is that their organization bears greater similarity to the human lung.

First 3D Mini Lungs

The ingredients included in the process were embryonic stem cells, proteins involved in lung development, growth factors, inhibitors of intestine development, growing media, petri dish, protein mixture, and method for 'morphogenesis in a dish.' Researchers first, added the protein ActivinA to stem cells and left them for four days. Then they added Noggin, another protein, and a transforming growth factor, and left it for another four days. Researchers found the endoderm is induced to form 3D spherical structures called the foregut spheroids. These spheroids were then transferred to protein mixture and incubated at room temperature for 10 minutes until the mixture solidifies. They were treated with additional proteins every four days and transferred into a new protein mixture every 10-15 days. 

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The resulting lung organoids were able to survive in culture for over 100 days and develop into well-organized structures containing cell types found in the lung. The lung organoids are self-organizing, and do not require further manipulation to generate 3-dimensional tissues. Since these structures were developed in a petri dish, they lack several components of the native lung, including blood vessels, which are a critical component of gas exchange. 

The study appears in eLife.

This news is republished from site http://www.medindia.net/news/us-scientists-develop-first-3d-mini-lungs-from-human-stem-cells-147713-1.htm#ixzz3VYkoL0RX
A review published today by The Lancet Infectious Diseases warns of a potential upsurge in mosquito and tick-borne diseases across Europe as the climate gets warmer

Insects, such as mosquitoes and ticks, are responsible for transmitting a range of diseases, such as malaria, chikungunya, dengue fever, and West Nile virus. The risk of contracting such illnesses is generally only considered when booking an exotic holiday. However, experts from the Emergency Response Department at Public Health England have warned that climate change could allow such vector-borne diseases to emerge closer to home.

In the last 10 years, vector-borne diseases have emerged in new areas across Europe, eg, malaria in Greece, West Nile virus in Eastern Europe, chikungunya in Italy and France. The authors predict that disease-carrying mosquitoes may also become prevalent in the UK within the next few decades as the climate becomes increasingly mild and wet. Such conditions provide ideal breeding conditions for the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which spreads the viruses that cause dengue and chikungunya. The mosquito responsible for the transmission of West Nile virus (Culex modestus) has already been identified at a number of sites across Kent, although there is currently no indication of virus transmission.
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Author of the review, Dr Medlock commented “Given the ongoing spread of invasive mosquitoes across Europe, with accompanying outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya virus, Public Health England has been conducting surveillance at seaports, airports, and some motorway service stations. Although no non-native invasive mosquitoes have been detected in the UK so far, a better system to monitor imported used tyres, in which disease-carrying mosquitoes lay their eggs, needs planning”

Dengue fever is currently considered to be a tropical disease, since the larvae and eggs of the transmitting mosquito cannot survive freezing temperatures. However, climate change models indicate that by 2030 temperatures will have risen sufficiently to enable the Aedes mosquito to survive across large parts of England and Wales.

Author Professor Leach added “We are not suggesting that climate change is the only or the main factor driving the increase in vector-borne diseases in the UK and Europe but that it is one of many factors, including socioeconomic development, urbanisation, widespread land-use change, migration, and globalisation, that should be considered.”

In order to avoid future outbreaks of vector-borne diseases, we must ensure that public health systems worldwide have the ability to adapt to cope with the infectious diseases that might result from climate change.

This new is republished form site http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150323/Insect-borne-diseases-increase-with-warmer-climate.aspx

Women who give birth to four or more children are more likely to have cardiovascular changes that can be early indicators of heart disease than women who have fewer children, new research by UT Southwestern Medical Center cardiologists finds.

"This study adds to a body of evidence that pregnancy, which generally occurs early in a woman's life, can provide insight into a woman's future cardiovascular risk," said Dr. Monika Sanghavi, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and lead author of the study
Using data gathered for the Dallas Heart Study, researchers compared the number of live births reported by women in the study with their coronary artery calcium (CAC) levels and aortic wall thickness (AWT). High levels of coronary artery calcification and thicker aortic walls are markers of heart disease that show up before symptoms develop.
Women were divided into three groups: One or no live births, two to three live births, and four or more live births. Women who reported four or more live births had a 27 percent prevalence of a high calcium score compared with 11 percent among those with two to three live births. The trend was similar when looking at AWT measurements.

The associations were not affected by adjusting for socioeconomic status or traditional cardiovascular risk factors, suggesting that physiological changes associated with pregnancy may account for the change, Dr. Sanghavi said.
Further studies will be needed to identify the causes, but researchers said one possibility might be that women who have many pregnancies may have more visceral fat (fat around abdominal organs), which has been linked to increased heart disease risk. Another possibility could be that increased cholesterol and higher blood sugar associated with pregnancy may lead to increased risk.
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"During pregnancy, a woman's abdominal size increases, she has higher levels of lipids in her blood, and higher blood sugar levels," Dr. Sanghavi said. "Each pregnancy increases this exposure."
The study also found slightly higher rates of high CAC and AWT measurements among women who had one or no children, compared with women who gave birth to two or three children, suggesting a U-shaped association between number of births and heart disease, with the lowest risk at two or three births.
"It's likely that there is a different mechanism for the increased risk at the low end," Dr. Sanghavi said. "Some of these women could have some underlying disease that prevents them from carrying births to term and increases their risk for heart disease."
"We are learning that there are numerous physiologic changes during pregnancy that have consequences for future heart health," said senior author Dr. Amit Khera, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, who directs the Preventive Cardiology Program and holds the Dallas Heart Ball Chair in Hypertension and Heart Disease. "This study reminds us of the importance of taking a pregnancy history as part of cardiovascular disease screening."

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We have all been there; whether in class at school or a meeting at work, sometimes it feels as if our brain just gives up and leaves the building. But according to a new study by researchers from Saarland University in Germany, a short daytime nap could significantly boost brain power.

Publishing their findings in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, the team reveals that a sleep of around 45-60 minutes could improve learning and memory by fivefold.
This is not the first study to associate daytime napping with improved memory performance. In January,Medical News Today reported on a study by researchers from the University of Sheffield in the UK, who found that a 30-minute nap within 4 hours of a learning task significantly improved infants' memory.
But this latest study reveals that power naps may also benefit memory for adults, with the team revealing how a short sleep may affect the brain to produce this outcome.
To reach their findings, study leader Alex Mecklinger, of the Experimental Neuropsychology Unit at Saarland, and his team enrolled 41 participants to take part in a learning task.
Participants were shown a list of 90 single words and 120 unrelated word pairs and were asked to learn them. The researchers explain that unrelated word pairs were used in order to eliminate the possibility that participants may have remembered the words as a result of familiarity.
"A word pair might, for example, be 'milk-taxi.' Familiarity is of no use here when participants try to remember this word pair," explains Mecklinger, "because they have never heard this particular word combination before and it is essentially without meaning. They therefore need to access the specific memory of the corresponding episode in the hippocampus."
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After the learning task, participants were immediately required to complete a memory recall test. Half of the participants were then asked to take a nap of up to 90 minutes, while the remaining subjects were asked to watch a DVD.
The brain activity of the napping participants was measured via electroencephalogram (EEG) while they slept, with the team specifically focusing on "sleep spindles" - a burst of activity in the hippocampus region that plays a key role in memory consolidation.
"We suspect that certain types of memory content, particularly information that was previously tagged, is preferentially consolidated during this type of brain activity," says Mecklinger.
Next, all participants were asked to retake the memory recall test, requiring them to once again remember the words and word pairs shown to them prior to napping or watching a DVD.

Better learning, memory linked to greater number of sleep spindles during nap

The researchers found that, compared with participants who watched the DVD, those who napped for around 45-60 minutes following the learning task performed approximately five times better when it came to remembering the word pairs.
In fact, the researchers note that word pair recall of the napping participants was just as good as it was on the memory tests completed immediately after learning.
Short naps were not associated with improvement in item memory - the ability to remember phone numbers, for example, or a friend's name - the team says.
According to the researchers, these findings suggest that a short nap can significantly boost associative memory - the ability to remember a link between items that are unrelated, such as the name of a person we have just met.
What is more, the team found that better learning and memory recall was associated with a greater number of sleep spindles in the EEG, supporting their theory that sleep spindles play a role in specific forms of memory; in this case - associative memory.

Commenting on their findings, Mecklinger says:
"A short nap at the office or in school is enough to significantly improve learning success. Wherever people are in a learning environment, we should think seriously about the positive effects of sleep."
Earlier this month, MNT reported on a study published in Nature Neuroscience, in which researchers found our head-direction cells - the "internal compass" that tells us which direction we should face - continue to be active during sleep.
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Breast really is best

FOUR extra points of IQ, an extra year’s education and a significantly enhanced income at the age of 30. Those are the benefits of having been breast-fed, according a study just published in Lancet Global Health by Bernardo Horta of the Federal University of Pelotas, in Brazil, and his colleagues.
Previous research has suggested that breast-feeding has beneficial long-term effects. But Dr Horta’s work is particularly persuasive because it looks at adults rather than children and teenagers, and because it contradicts the suggestion that social class is a confounding variable, with rich mothers tending to breast-feed more than poor mothers do.
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The participants in the study were among a group of Brazilians born in Pelotas in 1982. Following a cohort like this through their lives is an established method of medical research. It lets doctors test hypotheses that retrospective examination, relying on memory, cannot address reliably. In 2012 and 2013 Dr Horta managed to track down 3,493 members of the cohort whose diet as babies, including their consumption of breast milk, had been recorded at the time, ask them some questions, and give them an IQ test.
Comparing those who, as babies, had been breast-fed for less than a month with those who had been so fed for more than a year, Dr Horta found the latter’s IQ was 3.76 points higher than the former’s and that they had attended school for 0.91 years longer. The income data were slightly more complicated. Those breast-fed for over a year had incomes 15% higher than those suckled for less than a month, but those breast-fed for six to 12 months did even better, at 55%. These effects, moreover, were unaffected by a family’s income at the time a study participant was born.
The reasons for this are not known for certain, though it is easy to speculate. Human milk has, presumably, been optimised for human nutrition by evolution. The social contact involved in suckling may also have an effect. But the underlying cause is less important than the result. As Winston Churchill once said, “there is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.” Add the word “mother’s” in front of “milk”, and the returns on that investment get finer still.

This news is reprinted from site  http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21646646-more-evidence-breast-feeding-babies-changes-their-lives-better-breast-really-best

Heart Health
9 subtle signs you could have a heart problem
Thanks to more education about healthy eating and advancements in treatment, fewer people die of heart disease than in the past. That said, clogged heart arteries are still the number-one cause of death in the United States. Although heart attack symptoms can be a scary first sign of trouble (and keep in mind women have different symptoms than men), sometimes the body offers up more subtle clues that something is amiss with your ticker. The following is a list of symptoms that might be worth a chat with your doctor. But they may also be caused by a bunch of other things, so don't freak out. Only your real doctor—not Dr. Google—can really tell you if these symptoms mean anything at all.
You're extremely tried
This isn't just lack of sleep tired; it is extreme fatigue. Think of how you feel when you get the flu, except this doesn't go away.
"A lot of women kind of blow this off assuming it's nothing and that they will feel better, but in reality it could be a sign of your heart," said Suzanne Steinbaum, DO, Director of Women's Heart Health at the Heart and Vascular Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
The reason why you feel that way: It comes down to a lack of oxygen. "The heart is struggling and straining to deliver the oxygen to your body." That said, plenty of people feel tired for lots of reasons. If this is your only symptom, you can talk to your doctor, but don't conclude you have heart trouble based on this alone.
Your feet swell
Feet swelling can occur for a bunch of garden-variety reasons, such as pregnancy, varicose veins (which are unsightly but not dangerous), or when you travel and have limited ability to move around. It can also be a sign of heart failure, a chronic condition in which the heart pumps blood inefficiently.
"Swelling can also occur when the heart valve doesn't close normally," said Dr. Michael Miller, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Some medications for blood pressure and diabetes could also cause swelling, Miller said.
"Heart-related foot swelling is usually accompanied by other symptoms that include shortness of breath and/or fatigue," he said.
If you recently developed foot swelling, see your doctor to determine the cause and how best to treat it.
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You have extreme pain when you walk
If your hip and leg muscles cramp when you climb, walk, or move, then feel better when you rest, don't shrug it off as due to old age or a lack of exercise (though those things certainly could be the culprits). It could be a sign of peripheral arterial disease, also known as PAD. PAD is a buildup of fatty plaque in leg arteries that is linked to a higher risk of heart disease. If you have PAD there's a 50 percent chance you also have a blockage in one of the heart arteries, Miller said. The good news? PAD (and heart disease for that matter) is a very treatable condition.
You get dizzy or light-headed
Again, this is one of those symptoms that can have many non-heart related causes. If you have ever been to a gym, you may have seen warning signs to stop walking, running, cycling or elliptical stepping if you feel dizzy or light-headed. This symptom could be caused by dehydration or because you "got up too quick," but if it occurs on a regular basis then talk to your doctor to see if medication side effects, inner ear problems, anemia, or, less commonly, heart issues are to blame. This spinning state could be caused by blockages in arteries that lessen blood pressure or by faulty valves that cannot maintain blood pressure, Miller said.
You get short of breath, even though you're fit
Despite your thrice-weekly cycling classes, you get winded walking up a flight of stairs or you're coughing a lot. What gives? It could be asthma, anemia, an infection, or rarely a problem with the heart's valves or its ability to pump blood.
"Fluid buildup affecting the left side of the heart can produce wheezing that simulates bronchial asthma," Miller said. "Once the valve is fixed, fluid no longer builds up in the lungs and the patient breathes easier."
Since exercise can strengthen the heart, get this symptom checked out so it doesn't interfere with your ability to get a good workout.
You're depressed
Depression is one of the most common problems in the world, and it affects 19 million Americans each year. Depression is probably not a sign that you have heart trouble (as if you need something else to worry about.) But mental wellbeing is linked to physical wellbeing; many studies suggest that people who are depressed are at greater risk of heart trouble.
"People who have multiple risk factors for heart disease or who do have heart disease have a tendency to be depressed," Steinbaum said.
Either way you look at it, it's another reason to seek help if you are depressed.
You get migraines
Sometimes a headache is just a headache. But in some cases, regular migraines suggest that something is amiss with your ticker. Migraines occur in 12 percent of the general population, but that stat rises to around 40 percent in patients with cardiovascular disease. And while there isn't a clear-cut connection, the occurrence of migraines with auras has been related to some heart abnormalities, so it is possible that these attacks might have a connection to dysfunction of the heart. One theory is that they could both are the result of autonomic nervous system imbalances.
You can hear your heart beat when you fall asleep at night
"Some patients with a loud faulty valve can even hear the sound of their valve at night when they are trying to fall asleep," Miller said.
And while some patients adjust to the sound and often just change their sleeping position so as not to hear it, doesn't mean you should ignore it. If you're being lulled to sleep by the thump-thump of your heart, tell your doctor so he or she can find out why. A pounding heartbeat can also be a sign of low blood pressure, low blood sugar, anemia, medication, dehydration, and other causes.
Anxiety, sweating, and nausea attack you all at once
You're suddenly anxious, sweating, and nauseous. These are classic symptoms of a panic attack, but they are also heart attack symptoms. If these early heart symptoms are followed up with shortness of breath (though you haven't moved a muscle), extreme fatigue, or accompanied by pain, fullness, or aching in the your chest that may (or may not) radiate to the back, shoulders, arm, neck, or throat, then get to an emergency room immediately. Waiting more than five minutes to take action could change your chances of survival. In fact, those who arrive at the hospital within an hour of heart attack symptoms starting have better survival rate than those who wait.

The world's first human head transplant: could it happen in the next 2 years?
human head transplantation

I may sound like something from a horror movie, but at the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons' 39th Annual Conference in Annapolis, MD, in June, an Italian surgeon will announce updated plans to conduct the first ever human head transplant, claiming the procedure could happen within the next 2 years.

Dr. Sergio Canavero, of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group (TANG) in Italy, believes the revolutionary procedure - named HEAVEN-GEMINI - could save the lives of people with metastatic cancer or muscle-wasting disorders, such as muscular dystrophy.

Medical News Today first reported on Dr. Canavero's proposal in July 2013. Back then, he noted some challenges for human head transplantation: reconnecting the severed spinal cord, and preventing the immune system from rejecting the head.

In an editorial recently published in the journal Surgical Neurology International, Dr. Canavero says he believes these challenges can now be overcome, noting that recent animal studies have confirmed human head transplantation is "feasible."

The idea of head transplantation is not new. In 1970, US neurosurgeon Dr. Robert White transplanted a monkey's head onto another monkey's body. Though the animal was able to see, hear, taste and smell, it was left paralyzed because surgeons did not have the technology to fuse the monkey's spinal cord nerves to its head. It died 9 days following the procedure, after the animal's immune system rejected its head.

But in his editorial, Dr. Canavero points to a 2014 study in which German researchers successfully reconnected the severed spinal cords of rats, suggesting the same technique could be applied to humans.

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In addition, the researcher believes modern drugs mean the possibility of immune rejection is not as challenging as it once was. William Matthews, chairman of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons (AANOS) told New Scientist magazine that the immune response to a head transplant should be manageable. "The system we have for preventing immune rejection and the principles behind it are well established," he added. What will the HEAVEN-GEMINI procedure involve?
Both the recipient's head and the donor body will be placed in "hypothermia mode" for approximately 45 minutes, which is believed to eliminate any neurological damage that may be caused by lack of oxygen.

The head will be removed from the donor body using an "ultra-sharp blade" in order to limit damage to the spinal cord. "The key to SCF [spinal cord fusion] is a sharp severance of the cords themselves," Dr. Canavero explains, "with its attendant minimal damage to both the axons in the white matter and the neurons in the gray laminae. This is a key point."

The recipient's head will then be attached to the donor body. This is the most difficult part of the procedure, which will involve fusing the end of spinal cord in the body with that of the head. Dr. Canavero says chemicals called polyethylene glycol (PEG) or chitosan can be used to encourage SCF. Next, the muscles and the blood supply will be sutured.

In his original proposal, Dr. Canavero said the procedure is likely to take 36 hours to complete and require the skills of 100 surgeons.

Once the surgery is complete, the recipient will be kept in a coma for around 3-4 weeks to avoid neck movements and give the nerve connections time to fuse. During this time, the recipient's spinal cord would be subject to electrical stimulation via implanted electrodes, with the aim of enhancing the new nerve connections.

Dr. Canavero told New Scientist that once the recipient awakes, they will be able to move their whole body and their voice would sound the same. He believes that the patient will be able to walk within 1 year with the help of physical therapy.

The ethics 'is a real stumbling block'

It is not surprising that many researchers are skeptical about Dr. Canavero's proposal, claiming it is too far-fetched to work.

"This is such an overwhelming project, the possibility of it happening is very unlikely," Harry Goldsmith, a clinical professor of neurosurgery at the University of California-Davis told New Scientist. "I don't believe it will ever work, there are too many problems with the procedure. Trying to keep someone healthy in a coma for 4 weeks - it's not going to happen."

In addition, the procedure has raised many ethical concerns. In 2013, Dr. Canavero said there is a worry that, without sufficient regulation, the procedure may one day lead to wealthy, aging individuals securing the healthy bodies of young individuals on the black market, with "unscrupulous" surgeons carrying out the head transplantation.

Still, he believes the HEAVEN-GEMINI procedure has the potential to save lives, and he hopes his proposal at the AANOS Annual Conference will attract some support for the world's first human head transplantation - particularly from the US.

Dr. Canavero told New Scientist:

"The real stumbling block is the ethics. Should this surgery be done at all? There are obviously going to be many people who disagree with it.

If society doesn't want it, I won't do it. But if people don't want it in the US or Europe, that doesn't mean it won't be done somewhere else. I'm trying to go about this the right way, but before going to the moon, you want to make sure people will follow you."

Written by Honor Whiteman

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