Category: This Mortal Coil

It’s not just the flu that’s going around…

H1N1 Influenza Virus. Image courtesy of the CDC.
H1N1 Influenza Virus.
Image courtesy of the CDC.

UPDATE: A major paper supporting the autoimmunity narcolepsy connection has been retracted, please see my update to this post here.

It’s been a pretty rough flu season. While my household has so far been lucky, (knocking on wood all over the house) many were knocked out of commission by this year’s influenza epidemic. Now, it turns out there’s more to be worried about than just catching the flu. A long range result of having the flu or having a flu vaccine can be development of narcolepsy…..What?!

Narcolepsy is a neurological condition in which your brain cannot regulate sleep and wake cycles appropriately. Narcoleptics can fall asleep at any time regardless of their current activity. Large-scale genetic studies have shown that narcolepsy has a strong association with mutations in the T cell receptor alpha locus. This surprising link to the immune system led to research that implicates auto-immune malfunction wherein a person’s immune system kills neurons expressing the protein hypocretin which is necessary to regulate wakefulness.

So now how is this related to the flu? Continue reading “It’s not just the flu that’s going around…”

A benefactor lost

Over the weekend, one of the largest supporters of biomedical research in Congress, Arlen Specter passed away. We scientists often complain that Congress just doesn’t understand and won’t support our research as much as we’d like. There are, however congressmen like Specter, who do tirelessly support our cause in the senate. Specter championed the effort to double the NIH budget from 1998-2003 and encouraged the addition of $10 billion in stimulus funding for the NIH in the 2009 Recovery Act. Continue reading “A benefactor lost”

Don’t worry, it will dissolve

Each generation has its “badge of coolness”. For, kids it may be the latest superhero lunchbox. High schoolers need a car, any car. Some 25-30 year old nerds, who shall remain nameless, may feel the need to get a PhD. In the near future any member of the 60-70 year old set without a dissolving electronic implant could be doomed to “uncoolness”. Last Friday, Hwang et al published their work on dissolving electronics in the journal Science. Yes, you read that correctly, dissolving electronics.

One of the most common implantable electronic devices is a pacemaker. A pacemaker helps a heart maintain a constant beat. Sometimes, the need for the implant passes. Making a pacemaker go away requires serious surgery with all the risks to the patient that entails. Making a dissolving pacemaker go away only requires water, and our bodies have plenty of water.

The researchers built the structural components of dissolving electronics out of biocompatible silk from the silkworm cocoons. They were able to adjust how long the silk lasts in the body by subtly changing the processing of the silk. By producing silk that lasts only as long as the device is needed, surgical removal would become unnecessary.

Normally, there are metal components in electronic devices. Dissolving heavy metals into a patient could create more problems than it solves. To address this issue, the researchers used magnesium as a conductor because it is very reactive and because magnesium is a necessary nutrient, it poses no danger to the patient.

Now that these electronics exist, it can’t be long before patients will be receiving temporary, dissolving electronic devices. I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.

When Supplements Work? “Sexual Health” dietary supplements like Viagra more than 60 year old investment bankers

The FDA has announced a voluntary recall of the “sexual health” (ie, erectile dysfunction) dietary supplement ACTRA-Sx 500 due to “adulteration” with the active compound from Viagra, sildenafil citrate. This is yet another recall of a “dietary supplement” that happens to be adulterated with a pharmaceutical that has been proven to treat the condition the supplement claims to address. This might make the supplement “work”, but it poses a real hazard to customers who are not permitted to know what they are taking. Continue reading “When Supplements Work? “Sexual Health” dietary supplements like Viagra more than 60 year old investment bankers”

xkcd: Clinically Studied Ingredient

xkcd by Randall Munroe