Up, Out, In, & Onward – Page 7 – Exploring space, the environment, and human health.

February 13, 2018April 26, 2018

The Beginning of an End to the Autism-Vaccine Debate?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder of the nervous system. The causes of ASD are yet unknown, but it has been linked to both genetic and environmental factors. Researchers at Keele University in the UK have identified aluminum as a potential cause of autism based on a study conducted in 2017 on brain tissue from people diagnosed with ASD.

Aluminum is used in vaccines to enhance the body’s immune response to antigens (harmful or toxic substances). The vaccine-autism debate is highly controversial, but animal models have linked the use of aluminum in vaccines to ASD. The results of this study on human cells further assert these findings.

Aluminum content was measured in 0.3g tissue samples from different regions of the brain of 5 individuals using atomic absorption spectrometry. This method utilizes the difference in the light absorption capabilities of different atoms to find the chemical composition of samples. The values ranged from 1.20 to 4.77μg/g. Past studies have suggested values ≥2.00μg/g as pathologically concerning and those ≥3.00μg/g as pathologically significant. The results showed at least one tissue in each individual that exceeded the established pathologically significant value.

Some of the values recorded were the highest ever measured (17.10, 18.57 and 22.11μg/g).

In addition to the concentration, the locations of the aluminum deposits were also examined using fluorescence microscopes. A dye that selectively stains aluminum in cells and human tissues and makes them appear orange or bright yellow was used to view aluminum on the images obtained through the microscope. Deposits were found both inside and outside brain cells. However, the most distinct observation was the presence of metal deposits in the microglia. Microglia are the main immune defense cells inside the central nervous systems and scientists concluded that the deposits seen in them were a direct indication that aluminum had somehow crossed the blood-brain barrier.

fluorescence micrograph — Figure 1 shows the cells in the hippocampus of a 50-year-old male donor used in the study by Mold et al. The white arrow indicated aluminum depositions that were observed via orange fluorescence emission. Hippocampus is the part of the brain considered to be the center of emotion and memory.

Aluminum is toxic to living cells. Although the microglia could remain functional for a certain time period, the metal will eventually show its adverse effects by disrupting this functionality. This directly correlates defective microglia with ASD. In addition to microglia, the study showed aluminum depositions in other tissues from different parts of the brain.

The study also showed great variability in the age groups of donors from 15 to 50 year olds. Initially, the high concentration seen in tissue from a 15 years old donor had greatly puzzled the researchers. However, the evidence of aluminum deposition in the microglia and other intracellular locations ties back to implicate vaccines as a potential cause of ASD and explain how such high amounts of aluminum could have deposited in the brain tissues of a 15 year old boy.

This shows the first ever instance of aluminum concentration measurement in human brain tissues from individuals with ASD. Despite the concrete results, the research was limited due to the lack of a substantial number of subjects and the minimal amount of tissue cells that could be obtained for the study. These factors render the research inadequate by itself to establish ASD as a direct outcome of aluminum deposition from vaccines in brain tissues. However, it is a major stepping stone towards realizing the potential cause of autism spectrum disorder. Now, there is a need for more research to either support or question the results of this study.

Reference:

Mold, M., Umar, D., King, A., and Exley, C.2018. Aluminium in brain tissue in autism. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology 46: 76-82.

Link to article

Link to feature image

February 13, 2018

Weighing the Risks: Gastric Surgery May Lengthen Life

A recent study found that obese patients who received gastric surgery, rather than nonsurgical weight loss treatment, saw a significant decrease in mortality rates over a 4.5 year period. The researchers identified three specific surgeries, which effectively reduce the size of the stomach so that the patient will feel full with less food. The study consisted of over 8000 obese Israeli citizens and was conducted by the state health service.

The study lasted from 2005-2014, with each patient being followed up with for a minimum of one year after entering the study, an average of 4.5 years and a maximum of 11 years. Specifically, the findings reported a 1.3% mortality rate among obese patients who received gastric surgery and a 2.3% mortality rate among obese patients who opted for nonsurgical treatment. These findings are significant, because even with all the associated risks of surgery, there was still a higher survival rate with it than without.

There is a tendency to dismiss any treatment for obesity other than diet and exercise, as the presence or absence of these are the only treatment or cause of obesity. But in patients who have a history of struggling with this traditional prognosis, they would be better off having the surgery to force them into a lesser diet rather than face the health risks of continuing to remain obese under a less drastic treatment plan, based on these findings.

As a 10 year long study following the ongoing care of 8385 patients, the parameters are more than sufficient to inspire confidence in its results. And even though a 1.3-2.3% may sound small, it is a significant increase in the proportion of mortalities and an indicator of future health and longevity. So perhaps patients who struggle with obesity should consider gastric surgery as a new strategy.

Reges O, Greenland P, Dicker D, Leibowitz M, Hoshen M, Gofer I, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Balicer RD. Association of Bariatric Surgery Using Laparoscopic Banding, Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, or Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy vs Usual Care Obesity Management With All-Cause Mortality. JAMA. 2018;319(3):279–290. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.20513

February 13, 2018

Insight into Pericytes

Blood Brain Barrier and Astrocytes type 1 — Blood Brain Barrier. Credit: Ben Brahim Mohammed, Wikimedia Commons

Imagine the vascular system in the brain as a strainer used in cooking. After cooking pasta in a pot of water, you pour the pasta over the strainer, so that it catches the noodles, and the water filters out into the sink. Typically, you want a strainer with small holes, so vegetable pieces or meat pieces cooked with your pasta don’t slip out with the water into the sink.

Similarly, specialized cells called pericytes act as the strainer of blood flow in the brain. These cells contribute to forming the blood-brain barrier, which permits nutrients and oxygen to filter through to feed brain cells but prevents toxins from entering the brain. The pericytes play an active role in managing this exchange. Pericytes also regulate blood flow in the small capillary blood vessels. In other words, they determine the width of the blood vessels and decide how much blood can flow freely.

A recent study published in Nature Medicine on February 5th linked pericyte damage with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. Previously, Azheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases were associated with accumulations of TAU proteins, toxic proteins that build up over time and inhibit brain function. Researchers at the University of Southern California now think pericytes are to blame as an earlier marker for dementia, causing issues before TAU proteins even show up.

Researchers used a mouse model to simulate pericyte deficiency in humans, and noticed that damaged pericyte cells let some materials leak out of the blood and into the brain that were not supposed to be there, just like a strainer with holes that are too big and macaroni noodles start plopping into the sink. The leaking material was fibrinogen, a protein that creates blood clots at injury sites. During the healing process, fibrinogen is vital, but in the brain, fibrinogen deposits erode away at the insulation barrier of neurons, called myelin, and disrupt electrical communication from one neuron to another. You might equate fibrinogen as the chunks that get through your strainer, and then clog the drain pipe.

Nerve tracts gradually eroding as the result of damaged pericytes. — Myelin (shown in green and red) gradually erodes away as the result of damaged pericytes. Credit: Montagne et al.

The alarming discovery was that in the absence of healthy pericytes, fibrinogen leaked into the brain, and the cells that produce myelin, called oligodendrocytes, started to die. By the end of the experiment, 50% of the oligodendrocytes were dying or defective. One hypothesis proposed was that besides directly destroying the oligodendrocytes, fibrinogen also blocks oxygen and nutrients from reaching them, further accelerating cell death.

The scientists are hopeful that their research will initiate new treatments for dementia by focusing on the root of the problem: the damaged pericytes producing leaks in the blood-brain barrier. The senior researcher said, “Perhaps focusing on strengthening the blood-brain barrier integrity may be an answer because you can’t eliminate fibrinogen from blood in humans. This protein is necessary in the blood. It just happens to be toxic to the brain.” With future research, the pericytes may become the primary target for dementia treatment and prevention.

Sources:

Montagne, A., Nikolakopoulou, A., Zhao, Z., Sagare, A.P., Si, G., Lazic, D., Barnes, S.R., Daianu, M., Ramanathan, A., Go, A., Lawson, E.J., Wang, Y., Mack, W.J., Thompson, P.M., Schneider, J.A., Varkey, J., Langen, R., Mullins, E., Jacobs, R.E., & Zlokovic, B.V. 2018. Berichte degeneration causes white matter dysfunction in the mouse central nervous system. Nature Medicine [ePub ahead of print].

Vuong, Zang. 2018. Half of all dementias start with damaged ‘gatekeeper cells.’ USC Press Room. Retrieved Feb. 12 from http://pressroom.usc.edu/half-of-all-dementias-start-with-damaged-gatekeeper-cells/.

February 8, 2018February 13, 2018

Extra Extra: Energy Savings for Dummies

Are there cost benefits to conservation? It may appear to be an obvious answer, but researchers at the University of California Davis wanted to quantify this answer. Spang and his co-authors investigated how much the state of California saved on electricity and greenhouse emission reductions after the Governor of California mandated a 25% reduction and water consumption statewide in 2015. On April 1, 2015, Governor Brown passed Executive Order B-29-15 in response to the four-year drought that impacted 48% of the state’s surface water resources. Consequently, the drought impaired 542,000 acres of land, $2.74 billion of the state’s revenue, and approximately 21,000 jobs according to the researchers. This was the first bill that regulated urban water consumption in their state history.

Water and energy are interdependent. Water is needed to produce energy for fuels and electricity generation. In California, energy is needed to transport water resources across the state. Additionally, energy is needed to treat water and waste water. This is way the authors decided to calculate the savings for energy. By conserving energy, they can reduce greenhouse gas emitted into the air.

For their study, they observed energy use from June 2015 to May 2016. During this time, California saved 524,000 million gallons (MG) in water, which is a 24.5% decreased from their 2013 baseline. From this, California saved $230 MG-1 on water conservation. In energy, they saved 1830 gigawatts statewide (GWh). Because of these energy savings, they avoided approximately 521,000 metric ton (MT) CO2e in greenhouse gas emission. This is equivalent to taking 111,000 average cars off the road annually.

The hydrologic region that saved the most was the South Coast region (237, 200 MG), which has populous cities like Los Angeles and San Diego. The North Lahontan region (1,400 MG) had the lowest savings, which has sparsely populated cities like Susanville and Truckee, California.

After comparing the general cost benefits, the researchers compared the cost benefits from the statewide mandate and the energy programs of investor-owned utilities. They found that they saved 11% more on energy than investor-owned electricity utilities’ efficiency programs.

These findings could be useful in other advertisements for conservation efforts. If people knew the savings and environmental benefit from this mandate, this could encourage people to reduce consumption.

Journal Citation:

Spang, E.S., Holguin, A.J., Loge, F.J. 2018. The estimated impacts of California’s urban water conservation mandate on electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental Research Letters 13:1.

February 8, 2018May 3, 2018

Microplastics; Yet Another Growing Environmental Catastrophe

Since their discovery in the mid 1970’s, plastic pollutants have increasingly become a major issue. Today millions of tons of plastic can be found in our oceans and rivers. ‘Plastic Islands’ which have formed from water currents, have been discovered floating around in the oceans. These islands can stretch for miles and continue to grow with every passing day, the biggest one the Great Pacific garbage patch is located off the coast of Hawaii. Plastic pollutants are a major threat both aesthetically and biologically to the worlds water systems, and yet the threat extends past this.

Microscopic plastics pose the largest threat. Microplastics are those that range between 1-5 micrometers in length. They can either be intentionally manufactured, and made for use as raw material, pellets, microbeads, or by the slow degradation of bigger plastics in water environments. These pollutants can make their way into the water environment through a number of different ways including wastewater treatment plants, fisheries, cargo shipments, and urban runoff. Scientists at the University of Bielsko-Baila in Poland noted that wastewater treatment plants (WWTP’s) were one of the main sources that introduced micro plastics into freshwater, and that rivers were the main means of transporting these plastics into the ocean. These ideas were backed up by stating that after treatment, wastewater was found to contain on average 8.6 particles and 4.9 fibers (microplastics which deteriorated from bigger plastics) per liter.

But why does this matter, what’s so bad about a few bits of plastic floating around?

Well for one, plastics don’t dissolve and disappear, once manufactured they’re in the system for good. As stated earlier, when these plastics make it into water, they disintegrate into smaller and smaller pieces eventually becoming microplastics. Apart from the plastics being relatively displeasing to look at and causing economic loss in terms of tourism, the more serious issues come into play when water organisms mistake them for food. Plastic when ingested can be toxic and can cause all sorts of different issues, including rapid death. The problems continue when human consumption of these organisms is brought into play, and although the extent of these problems isn’t fully understood more research is currently being done to test the harmful causes of consuming seafood containing bits of plastic.

Plastic pollutants have been a long standing issue and as long as our ocean and waterways contain plastic, it will continue to be an issue. The hard part about plastics is even if we were to completely stop all production of them at once, the millions of tons of plastic in the ocean right now wouldn’t just disappear, they would continue to persist. Personally, I believe much more political action as well as scientific research needs to go in to figuring out how to find alternatives to plastic so as to lesson its impact on our environment. However, if consumption continues on the trend it has, microplastics will have something to say for ocean biodiversity and human health.

Source:

Mrowiec B., 2017. Plastic Pollutants in Water Environment. De Gruyter 28 NO 4(75): 51-55.

February 8, 2018

“How would you like to see the beginning of everything?”: New telescope, JWST, to be launched in 2018

Picture of the JWST's large mirror plate — The James Webb Space Telescope being worked on by a team member at NASA.

With help from the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), researchers at NASA have been working for the past few years on a new telescope designed to surpass The Hubble Space Telescope. In January, Matt Greenhouse from the JWST Project office at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center presented about The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mission and its progress. Set to launch later in 2018, JWST, named after the second administrator of NASA, James Webb, is designed to look back in time to the very first galaxies. The Hubble Space Telescope can only look back one billion years (although it has been known to look back a little further than one billion years) and the universe is 13.7 billion years old. Light from the most ancient galaxies is emitted in the ultraviolet spectrum which eventually stretches to infrared as it travels through expanding space. Unlike the Hubble, JWST is engineered to see in this infrared spectrum.

The JWST will have many other uses once it is launched. It will be able to see stars form so we can finally understand how stars are born. We will be able to watch how planetary systems are formed and how they evolve. A skill that will be very import for humans in the future is our ability to understand planets that orbit a star outside our solar system (exoplanets). JWST utilizes spectroscopy, a branch of research that looks at the spectra an objects reflects when in contact with or gives off electromagnetic radtion, to allow us to monitor atmospheres and possible life on these exoplanets that might allow us to find a new home far in the future. JWST will even be capable of looking at our own solar system. There are so many possibilities from looking at our sun and seeing the first solid bodies that were formed 4.567 billion years ago. JWST will even let us map out our future to when the sun becomes a red giant and destroys earth (currently estimated at 8 million years from now).

As amazing as this sounds, it’s been a massive technical project. JWST had to be designed to operate in very low temperatures (cryogenic) and it will be the largest cryogenic telescope ever constructed. The team had two main problems: the mirror from the telescope is bigger than the Ariane Rocket Fairing (a rocket fairing is the nose cone that protects the item that is going into space through launch), and it was hard to create a high stability cryogenic operating temperature (-233 degrees Celsius, -388 degree Fahrenheit). The telescope is made up of three important elements: an optical telescope, an integrated science instrument module, and a spacecraft. The mirror is a major accomplishment in itself because it is made up of multiple mirrors that will be able to work together as one big mirror. The mirrors were crafted from Beryllium because it conducts heat well, does not expand and contract with a large changes in temperature, and is lightweight and rigid.

Workers posing in one of the JWST mirrors. — JWST crew posing in one of the large mirrors that make up the giant optical telescope.

Overall, 3,200 bonded composite pieces were put together to build the telescope. The JWST will be transported by ship through the Panama Canal to French Guiana for its launch during 2018. When launched, it will be placed in orbit 1.5 million km from earth to help with the passive cryogenic cooling. Ultimately the telescope will be able to see the whole sky which will lead to very interesting discoveries in the next few years.

OPINION: I can’t believe the Hubble Space Telescope isn’t going to be the new cutting edge technology anymore. The Hubble Space Telescope was a part of my childhood so a part of me is sad to see it go. However, this new telescope is so exciting, I think I could forgo my sadness. I’m really excited to see what comes out of this new telescope and I’ll be sure to live stream its launch when it goes up later this year.

Greenhouse, M. 2018. The James Webb Space Telescope Mission. NASA Technical Reports Server: Oral/Visual Presentation, GSFC-E-DAA-TN51070.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20180000376.pdf

February 8, 2018April 8, 2018

Element of Surprise

While it was previously thought that just large concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane were trapped within the permafrost of the Northern Hemisphere, researchers with the American Geophysical Union have recently discovered that this permafrost also contains the largest reservoir of mercury on the planet. Published on February 5^th, 2018 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the study details their discovery that permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere contains an enormous amount of mercury; a finding that has extremely negative implications for the health of not only humans but ecosystems all over the world.

Permafrost, the permanently frozen soil that occurs in locations with high latitudes, makes up 24% of the land in the Northern Hemisphere and supports various ecosystems. As a result of climate change, permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere is at risk of melting. Model projections that assume anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate estimate a 30-99% reduction of the Northern Hemisphere’s permafrost by 2100.

If this occurs, not only will the structural integrity and ecosystems of permafrost regions be at risk, but massive amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, and mercury will be released, harming ecosystems all over the world. Mercury specifically can accumulate in the food chains of both aquatic and terrestrial networks, harming the reproductive and neurological systems of animals.

This study, which took place between 2004 and 2012, had 13 sampling sites across Alaska that represented a variety of characteristics and ages typical of permafrost soils. After analysis in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, researchers found that their measurements were consistent with published data on mercury in both samples of permafrost and non-permafrost soils from thousands of other sites worldwide. With these observations they calculated the total amount of mercury stored in permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere and created a map of mercury concentrations in the region.

Based on these observations and calculations, the researchers deduced that the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region contains nearly twice as much mercury as all other soils, the ocean, and the atmosphere combined. They concluded that there is a need to reevaluate the role of the Arctic region in the global mercury cycle.

Paul F. Schuster, Kevin M. Schaefer, George R. Aiken, Ronald C. Antweiler, John F. Dewild, Joshua D. Gryziec, Alessio Gusmeroli, Gustaf Hugelius, Elchin Jafarov, David P. Krabbenhoft, Lin Liu, Nicole Herman-Mercer, Cuicui Mu, David A. Roth, Tim Schaefer, Robert G. Striegl, Kimberly P. Wickland, Tingjun Zhang. Permafrost Stores a Globally Significant Amount of Mercury. Geophysical Research Letters, 2018; DOI: 10.1002/2017GL075571

February 6, 2018February 6, 2018

Alpha waves, attention, anxiety, oh my!

Neurons firing in the brain. — Neurons firing in the brain (artificial color added). Credit: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, M.I.T.

In a recent study, published in January 2018, scientists pinpointed a unique characteristic of people who experience trait anxiety–differences in alpha brain wave activity. Usually anxiety is correlated with an absence of alpha waves; in anxious brains, beta waves overpower alpha waves, and over time, this accumulates into feelings of constant stress. Researchers in the Departments of Psychology and Psychological Science at Ball State University found that too many alpha waves can create an equally disruptive imbalance.

The brain is composed of billions of neurons, which communicate with each other through electrical signaling. When multiple neurons fire simultaneously, they produce electrical oscillations, or “waves.” The frequency of these waves depends on the current level of consciousness: brain waves tend to be lower frequency during deep sleep, but high frequency during problem-solving, decision-making, and other tasks requiring complex thinking and concentration.

Alpha waves, which were evaluated in this study, are known to occur when the mind is in a state of relaxation. At any given moment, the brain might elicit more than one type of brain wave, but alpha waves are most widespread during meditation, while daydreaming, and even during prolonged aerobic activity, like a “runner’s high.” However, as soon as we are alerted with a task, faster beta waves take over.

This may not be the case with highly anxious individuals. Researchers used an EEG to measure the alpha brain waves of a group of individuals in a high-trait anxiety condition, analogous with having an anxiety disorder, and a group of individuals in a low-trait anxiety condition, meaning they showed very few anxiety symptoms. Researchers first measured the alpha waves during a resting, relaxed state, and then while the participants completed a response-inhibition test called the Eriksen-Flanker Task.

Researchers found that the highly anxious individuals demonstrated more alpha wave activity in the resting state, compared to the less anxious individuals. But during the Eriksen-Flanker Task, the two groups demonstrated similar levels of alpha wave activity. In other words, at baseline, the highly anxious individuals were essentially more relaxed than typical, so their brains had to make a further jump to get to an alert and focused state.

While this may seem counter-intuitive, the implications for this experiment are that the prevailing alpha waves in the brain of a highly anxious individual suppress processing of external stimuli and information. The individual might then have trouble focusing on specific tasks and thoughts. In conjunction with previous studies, anxiety has been linked to a lack of alpha waves as well as extra alpha waves in a resting state, suggesting that abnormal alpha brain wave activity alters attention and processing in various ways. More research is needed to more clearly understand this phenomenon, but researchers hope this method of measuring alpha waves will become a tool to measure degrees of anxiety in the future.

Types of brain waves, as they appear on an EEG. Credit: Slaven Cvijetic.

Sources:

Ward, R.T., Smith, S.L., Kraus, B.T., Allen, A.V., Moses, M.A., Simon-Dack, S.L. 2018. Alpha band frequency differences between lot-trait and high-trait anxious individuals. NeuroReport 29:79-83.

Bergland, C. 2015. Alpha brain waves boost creativity and reduce depression. Psychology Today. Retrieved Feb 5, 2018 from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201504/alpha-brain-waves-boost-creativity-and-reduce-depression

February 6, 2018February 6, 2018

Coffee, Cocoa, and Cost Efficiency

A group of researchers from the Netherlands have conducted a study comparing the outcomes of coffee and cocoa farming in a shaded agroforestry setting versus a conventional full sun plantation setting. Agroforestry is the practice of integrating trees and shrubs with crops to create environmental and economic benefits, without the use of agrochemicals and high densities of monocultures. The 2017 study attempted to compare the two methods of farming by calculating price per kilogram, yield, net return and revenue, and biodiversity performance.

After analyzing 23 studies, the researchers found some promising information. Profit and cost efficiency was greater for small, shaded farms. The average net return for shaded systems was 23% higher than conventional systems, resulting in a higher profit per hectare. In addition, the price per kilogram was 18% higher from shaded farms- potentially due to higher quality and environmental certifications. However, the conventional non-shaded farms had a greater yield. The lower yield produced by shaded farms, however, is said to be compensated for by the increased biodiversity and protection provided by the trees. The addition of trees in the growing of coffee and cocoa can prevent crop disease and enhance the soil fertility, acting as a natural fertilizer and soil stabilizer.

The study concluded that more research would need to be conducted to further demonstrate the relationship between biodiversity and shaded systems, as well as the financial relationship with shaded systems. Information from this study may serve to induce similar studies so we can fully understand how agroforestry may benefit an agricultural system, the environment, biodiversity, and income of the 30 million coffee and cocoa smallholders predominantly from developing countries.

Source: Rosalien E. J., Pita A. V., Maria J. S., René G.A. B. 2017. Shaded Coffee and Cocoa – Double Dividend for Biodiversity and Small-scale Farmers. Ecological Economics 140: 136-145

Photo Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

February 6, 2018April 26, 2018

Radiation in Clinical Care

Medical Intensive care unit (MICU) patients are exposed to radiation higher than annual US Federal occupational standard limits within a short period of time during radioscopic studies. Research conducted between January and December 2013 by scientists at the Cleveland Clinical Foundation discovered this to be true among 3% of the total 4155 patients involved in the study.

The millisievert (mSv) is a measure of the organic effect of ionizing radiation and is known as the effective dose (ED). Statistical tests conducted on the data obtained in the study showed that 36% of the patients were exposed to radiation higher than the natural background radiation (~3 mSv). Values just 3-5 times higher have been suspected to cause carcinogenesis, although the debate is still ongoing.

Radiation is used in numerous reliable diagnostic procedures in the MICU. Although this has been overshadowing the potential risk of cancers, recently, more medical literatures are exploring its adverse effects. The study also showed an increase in cumulative ED for patients with a higher length of stay at the MICU. Among the radiation based Imaging systems used in healthcare, CT and IR caused the highest amount of radiation burden. However, diagnosis of sepsis, COPD, cirrhosis and Gastrointestinal bleeding were seen to affect cumulative ED.

radiation burden data distribution — Figure 1 shows the distribution of data obtained by Krishnan et al for radiation burden

Ionizing radiation can lead to cancers by damaging our DNA or RNA, and cause genetic abnormalities. This is especially true for kids and young adults who have a high rate of cellular division and a longer lifespan to express the effects of radiation. Krishnan et al report that despite their adoption of the ALARA (‘as low as reasonably achievable’) principle of radiation safety, patients were exposed to substantial amounts of radiation during diagnosis. Therefore, they suggest methods for assessing the risk vs benefit of radiation therapy.

“Proactive monitoring of CED with real time display in electronic medical resorts will assist physicians in deciding the risk-benefit ratio.”

The study was limited as it was conducted among MICU patients from a single academic medical center. The estimate of ED from previous papers and the limited medical records from which data was obtained could have caused an undervaluation of the cumulative ED. Another shortcoming was the disregard for patient basic characteristics like age and sex. Nevertheless, the results denote a need to conduct more research to weigh the pros and cons of radiation in medicine and its effects on overall patient health.

This makes me wonder, are we so highly dependent on radioscopic resources that we fail to consider the harm it might be doing us? At this day and age of technological advancement, there should be active endeavors to explore the benefits and possible disadvantages of radiation in the medical industry and ways to alleviate them.

Reference: Krishnan S, Moghekar A, Duggal A, Yella J, Narechania S, Ramachandran V, Mehta A, Adhi F, Vijayan AKC, Han X, Dong F, Martin C III, Guzman J, Radiation Exposure in the Medical Intensive Care Unit- Predictors and Characteristics, CHEST (2018), doi: 10. 1016/ j.chest.2018/01/019.

Link to article

Canadian Light Source Research Office

February 6, 2018March 20, 2018

Pepper Patch for Pain Relief

A double blind study out of the Netherlands, funded by Astellas Pharma, have found that skin patches containing capsaicin, the active component of chili peppers, has been show to significantly reduce pain in patients suffering from Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (PDPN).

PDPN is characterized by nerve damage due to chronically high blood sugar and diabetes, causing numbness, and often pain in hands, feet, and legs. It is a common complication of diabetes and is most often treated broadly as chronic pain or nerve damage. This study takes a more targeted approach.

The completed study consisted of 352 PDPN patients, half of whom were giving a placebo patch, the other half given a 8% capsaicin patch for only 30 minutes. The patients with the capsaicin achieved at least a 30% reduction on average daily pain, shortened treatment response time, and increased sleep quality. These effects were sustained for up to 12 weeks.

Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy is a debilitating condition that affects approximately one quarter of type 2 diabetes patients. A lack of treatment consensus has led Doctors to prescribe opiods, antidepressants, and anti-seizure medications to combat the pain. However these medications act on the entire central nervous system, not just the site of the pain, and have the potential for addiction, abuse, withdrawal, and worse. The concentrated capsaicin acts by shocking hyperactive neuron receptors near the skin providing rapid and targeted pain relief after only one 30-minute treatment.

Though over 35% of the non-placebo group reported adverse reactions (compared to 13% in the placebo group), most were mild to moderate in intensity; though 3 non-placebo patients saw severe irritation at the application site.

Doubtlessly this will not replace traditional treatment regimens anytime soon, but as research progresses on the effectiveness of capsaicin for nerve pain relief, it will be helpful to doctors and patients to have a moderately effective and comparably benign treatment for such a complex problem.

To date this is the first known study using a capsaicin patch for pain relief in this population, but if the results are any indication it will not be the last.

Capsaicin 8% Patch in Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study Simpson, David M. et al. The Journal of Pain , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , 42 – 53