Two of England’s respected scientific societies feel there are too many unknowns and the toxic potential is great enough to warrant approving the sale of cosmetics laced with nanoparticles. The the U.S. FDA has a less restrictive policy.

“Preliminary experiments in animals have found nanoparticles capable of moving into and damaging the lungs, brain and other organs. And while some nanomaterials may be able to neutralize poisons in soil or groundwater, others appear environmentally toxic themselves.”

The joint report expresses enthusiasm about the possibilities of nanotechnology but cautions strongly that both sides of the story must be investigated thoroughly before moving ahead with individual applications.

Neurology

A new application for ultrasound. Compared to digital subtraction angiography, results were good just using 3D color-coded duplex sonography to see where the vertebral artery originates. To assess hardening of the vertebral artery (stenosis) , investigators recommend combining with circulation tests, reports the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine. The test saves time and doesn’t require injecting the patient with iodinated contrast agents.

Channel News Asia reports what’s being called an epidemic of high cholesterol in Singapore. Current anti-cholesterol treatment calls for at least two separate doses of medications that contain statins which block production in the liver and keep the intestine from absorbing it. Unfortunately, statins can give people aches and it doesn’t help their livers much. The new drug Vytorin is a single pill combination that doesn’t have those side effects, and it hasn’t yet been approved in the U.S.

This plying people with too much good food is probably not going away anytime soon. Bioscience will be the salvation for so many of our self-inflicted ills.

Innovative Biosensors Inc., a Washington area company, has set out to create a device that manipulates biosensors from the human immune system to detect certain types of bacteria, viruses and proteins, according to a Washington Post article today. Depending on the reagent inserted, it will be able to find traces of pathogens such as anthrax or E. coli and will be especially useful in spotting respiratory viruses and contagious bacteria in the operating room.

Given the tough job of keeping patients from catching new stuff in the hospital, this is an exciting idea.

I can just envision a day when members of the public will be walking around with these things. At a gathering the other evening a bunch of us were enjoying the music and when I looked down the table, I noticed all the technology laid out–cell phones, beepers, digital records, digital cameras, etc. Looked like our modern equivalent of the old westerns where the card player hauls out his six shooter and lays it on the table to let the other guy know he’s serious.

“My tech is bigger’n yourn”–so watch for an addition to the lineup soon: the personal bacteria-spotter device.

Neurology

In Taiwan people who drink tea–black or green, even a little bit–have much lower blood pressure than those who don’t, according to a note in the International Herald Tribune. And they’re also much more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, eat salt, and eat fewer vegetables. Does it ever feel like you’re searching for a needle in a haystack with your experiments–and that the hay looks suspiciously like a pile of needles?

Endocrinology

The healthy version of BRCA1  gene blocks estrogen signalling that can encouarge breast cancer cells to grow. When the gene is mutated, the blocking function is lost and tumors can grow unchecked–which suggests that drugs can be developed to imitate the blocking function. Written up in July issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology, one hope (according to a Medical News Today article) is to create a better way to help handle menopausal symptoms without increasing the danger of breast cancer.

Dosing women with estrogen is a popular way to mitigate the symptoms of menopause. So to a certain extent, this research is helping us solve one of the problems we created by our choice of treatment. Hopefully researchers will also be working out how to help prevent breast cancer in all women.

Endocrinology

A recent test done by SUNY-Buffalo endocrinology experts had normal-weight adults fast overnight and then eat a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin, a Sausage McMuffin and two servings of hash-brown potatoes–not at all an unheard-of amount of carbs and calories and fat for an American meal.

Compared to a control group who had only a 10-ounce glass of water after the fast, “the calorie-laden breakfast increased levels of free radicals, C-reactive protein and nuclear factor-kappa B, a protein that triggers the release of inflammatory chemicals.”

When you eat like this, your body is in an inflamed state for several hours, says the Kansas.com article. Then if you eat another lots-of-bad-stuff meal, you prolong the condition.  Inflammation contributes to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

As if we needed more evidence that our fast-food lifestyle is dangerous to life…

The Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam (serving 3 million people) is implementing the use of Affymetrix microarray technology for every area of research. The goal is to take genetic and genomic research that is consistent and reproducible–as required for clinical trials–and translate it into clinical tools to improve patient care.

As more women delay childbearing, fertility issues get more attention. Besides the usual–you guessed it–cautions to avoid smoking, alcohol, drugs and caffeine, some specialists now say that extremes of weight (either too low or too high) affects estrogen levels and ovulation, which can make it more difficult to control the menstrual cycles as is required for certain types of fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization.

I see this on a Swiss team of pulmonary experts investigating acute mountain sickness and think of the research that’s been done that links this sort of oxygen exchange problem with asthma.

“…acute mountain sickness and the pronounced fall in oxygen saturation were not related to nocturnal breathing disturbances such as reduced or irregular and periodic ventilation, but more likely to impaired gas exchange in the lungs. ”

Asthma is such a stealer of the quality of life. It would be great to see the findings of this article applied to that research.