One of those “opportunistic” infection agents we heard so much about when HIV became constant headline news more than 10 years ago has come under the scrutiny of science’s latest power-tool, gene mapping. Interestingly, there are two versions of this C. neoformans fungus, one of which caueses brain swelling and death and the other of which doesn’t cause severe infection. So scientists will be mapping both varieties and comparing them–a powerful method of potentially identifying the areas of the gene that contain the virulent material and figuring out how to attack it.

I’ve been watching some CSI reruns on TV. Very informative about the newest tools the crime investigators use. Didn’t realize that these days DNA is a routine test for identifying criminals–oh, yeah, remember the OJ Simpson jury just didn’t get it? DNA evidence doesn’t solve all the issues, though, and the writers are very creative about coming up with medical plot twists.

But clearly our genetic material is becoming more and more an open book. Like the breathalyzer test for alcohol impairment, there will be no covering up certain truths–many of which were heretofore unknowable by authorities. Or by relatives. Or by friends. Good thing the HIPAA laws came along when they did. Given the human penchant for judging and ostracizing those we find lacking–or even just different–protecting our medical privacy has become a societal imperative.

Let’s hope HIPAA works better than our laws against unethical corporate behavior…

The evidence is simply overwhelming–healthy choices in eating and activity are the most powerful predictors of longer life and greater health. So says this Washington Post compendium of study results on how healthy lifestyles prolong life.

This doesn’t, of course, explain why so-and-so’s grandparents both lived happily to 90 while consuming a diet rich in pasta (it had garlic in the sauce, sure), cheese and wine all their lives, and not exercising to speak of. It doesn’t explain the Russian octogenarian who subsisted largely on meat, potatoes and vodka. And it doesn’t explain the guy who runs regularly, eats semi-vegetarian, avoids sugar, salt and fat like the plague, and ends up having a second heart attack followed by multiple bypass surgery.

So take it all with a grain of salt (okay, salt substitute if you must) and choose wisely as often as you can. Life is too short–usually no matter where you end it–to be beating yourself up more than necessary.

As the number of uninsured Americans skyrockets (45 million at latest count) and the cost of prescription drugs soars, the concept of equal access for all to quality health care begins to look more like skywriting than a viable objective.

Now some of the giant pharmaceutical companies have banded together to create a discount program for those who don’t have coverage and meet certain age and income requirements. If you qualify, you can enroll on the website, www.TogetherRxAccess.com. Or call 800-444-4106. Or pick up enrollment forms at participating pharmacies and doctors’ offices. Starting the middle of next month, you’ll be able to save 25 to 40 percent on many medicines.

We’re taking a short break from blogging for a few days. Can’t figure out if we’ve got virus #387,000,000 or just the latest version of the flu. Either way rest seems called for.

We’ll be back on the trail again later this week. See ya then.

Many plants have a natural protective mechanism against stress that works quite well against cold–if the plant is introduced gradually to the change in temperature, which gives it time to signal the mechanisms to trigger. Now at Iowa State University researchers are experimenting to seewhether genetically engineering an increase in Total Soluable Sugar Content (which directly correlates to cold resistance) will also increase resistance to sudden temperature drops–a highly desirable thing for food crops to be able to do. Their experiments are with corn and tobacco and they’ve succeeded so far in increasing tolerance by a couple of Celsius degrees.

Promising idea, getting plants to become hardier. Interesting that they included tobacco. That’s all we need–to be able to grow this destructive weed in more places around the world. Here’s a cool site about the science behind tobacco. Smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, cocaine, homicide, suicide, motor vehicle crashes and fires combined. And here’s the latest report on cigarette pricing from New Jersey. At $58.70 a carton in August of 2004, cigarettes are making more than a few somebodies a good chunk of money.

People are using the Internet more and more as a source of information about various illnesses. Many have experienced a Western medical professional’s blind spot about some disease or condition and are becoming less likely to trust only to the doctor’s opinion. So now, too, more pharmaceutical companies are switching drugs from prescription status to over-the-counter availability.

Making more drugs available OTC might save governments money, but safety is always a concern. Do people really know enough to decide whether to take statins to prevent heart disease? No trials with humans have been done–though the evidence is compelling in early animal studies. US researchers aren’t sure that enough care is being given to such decisions, says this article in the British Medical Journal.

It seems that as more magical procedures and treatments are invented, we are pushing to get them out there and move on to the next big thing. As with bioengineered foods, in our rush to cash in on discoveries, we may not be taking enough time to consider the long-range potentialities of the things we unleash. After all, caution and moderation are such boring approaches to recommend.

Oxygen therapy, even when delayed, has been shown to be effective to help animals with retinal detachment, so it will probably work in humans as well, say scientists at University of California, Santa Barbara’s Neuroscience Research Institute.

Working with another researcher from University College London, UCSB scientists have learned that “glial” cells, which are the supporting cells of the central nervous system (CNS), are critical to the detachment and reattachment process. These cells are known to surround the neurons in the CNS, hold them in place, insulate them from each other and get rid of dead ones. Pretty powerful little items. And it seems they are the same cells found in the brain and spinal cord which means this research may have far-reaching implications.

Administering extra oxygen seems to reduce cell death and prevent nerve cell remodeling, which may lead to faster recovery after reattachment surgery.

Activity seems to be very closely related to how well you maintain your mental functioning as you age, says a study reported in today’s Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Based on a 10-year study of 290 participants, all men between the ages of 70 and 90 in 1990.

Activity of all kinds counts–walking, biking, hobbies, gardening, odd jobs and playing sports–so you don’t have to become a marathon runner to get the benefits of physical activity. Will be interesting to see if they can replicate the results when they decide to put together a similar study that includes women…

The highly purified extract may be useful one day to relieve high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease and skin cancer, according to an article about to be published in the Dec. 29 print issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

Phenolics, plant chemicals long known to have good effects on health, exist in lots of plant sources and have anti-inflammatory properties that include dramatically inhibiting the production of both nitric oxide and prostaglandin, excesses of which contribute to arthritis, pain and circulatory problems. This study doesn’t include tests on humans, but results are promising.

Encouraging at least to find that the Rainforest isn’t the only place we can count on Mother Nature to give us plant help with our medicines…

GREETINGS

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2005, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Canada great (not to imply that Canada is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

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And to all a restful-but-not drug-induced, containing-just-the-right-mix-of-REM-and-non-REM-repose evening.

: )