Obama's DEA Launches Massive Raids on Legal Marijuana. Unilateral Dermatoheliosis. A 69-year-old man presented with a 25-year history of gradual, asymptomatic thickening and wrinkling of the skin on the left side of his face. The physical examination showed hyperkeratosis with accentuated ridging, multiple open comedones, and areas of nodular elastosis. Histopathological analysis showed an accumulation of elastolytic material in the dermis and the formation of milia within the vellus hair follicles. Findings were consistent with the Favre–Racouchot syndrome of photodamaged skin, known as dermatoheliosis. The patient reported that he had driven a delivery truck for 28 years. Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays transmit through window glass, penetrating the epidermis and upper layers of dermis.
Chronic UVA exposure can result in thickening of the epidermis and stratum corneum, as well as destruction of elastic fibers. This photoaging effect of UVA is contrasted with photocarcinogenesis. Overtested Americans: When cancer isn't cancer at all. We all harbor abnormalities, says H. Gilbert Welch, author of "Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health. " National Cancer Institute scientists say the word "cancer" is sometimes misleadingNot everyone who is diagnosed with cancer should be treated, experts sayUnnecessary tests and treatment may account for 10% to 30% of health care spending (CNN) -- The patient slammed his fist on the table in Dr. Otis Brawley's office. "Dammit, I'm American," Brawley remembers him saying. Brawley is the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, a world-renowned cancer expert and practicing oncologist.
It's a scenario that may happen more as science reveals cancer's secrets, the biggest one being that what we now call cancer maybe shouldn't be called cancer at all. "The word 'cancer' often invokes the specter of an inexorably lethal process," a working group for the National Cancer Institute wrote in a recent recommendation.
New cancer screening guidelines issued. Type 1 diabetes treatment could reduce need for insulin injections. Human trials have begun on a new type 1 diabetes treatment that could improve the lives of future sufferers of the disease. Developed by scientists at the University of Cambridge, the treatment could reduce a patient's insulin injections from several per day to potentially just a few times a week. The immunological treatment slows damage to the pancreas, meaning that newly diagnosed patients, in future, may be able to retain the ability to produce insulin naturally. "Our aim is [...] to rebalance the immune system so that patients can significantly reduce the number of insulin injections needed to just once or twice a week by slowing the progression of the disease," says Frank Waldron-Lynch, clinical study lead at the University of Cambridge.
Type 1 diabetes is caused when the body's immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Around 400,000 people in the UK suffer from the disease. Unlike type 2 diabetes, it is not triggered by lifestyle factors like obesity. Diaries of Despair: Reality of vivisection. Uncaged Campaigns has achieved an astonishing legal success by winning the right to publish the Diaries of Despair report and over a thousand pages of confidential documents. Uncaged Campaigns argued successfully that it was in the public interest to reveal the shocking truth behind one of Britain's most extreme programmes of animal experiments in recent history. Grotesque experiments Between 1994 and 2000, hundreds of higher primates were subjected to grotesque 'xenotransplantation' experiments.
Hearts and kidneys from genetically engineered piglets were transplanted into the necks, abdomens and chests of monkeys and baboons captured from the wild. The primates were then injected and force-fed massive doses of immune-suppressing drugs in a vain attempt to prevent the alien organs from being rejected. The results were truly appalling. Unique revelations The leaked confidential documents give a historically unprecedented insight into the disturbing world of vivisection. A new era. Cash-only doctors abandon the insurance system - Jun. 11, 2013. Fed up with red tape and high overhead, a growing number of doctors like Dr. Doug Nunamaker, pictured here, have switched to a cash-only payment system. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Some doctors who have gone that route love it, saying they can spend more time with and provide higher-quality care to their patients.
Health advocates are skeptical, worrying that only the wealthy will benefit from this system. In Wichita, Kan., 32-year old family physician Doug Nunamaker switched to a cash-only basis in 2010 after taking insurance for five years. ("Cash-only" is a loose description. Under the traditional health insurance system, a large staff was required just to navigate all the paperwork, he said. "The paperwork, the hassles, it just got to be overwhelming," Nunamaker said. Related: The Massachusetts (health care) experiment So Nunamaker and his partner set up a membership-based practice called Atlas M.D. -- a nod to free-market champion Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged.
MONSANTO. BPA May Lower Men's Testosterone, Study Finds. By: Rachael Rettner, MyHealthNewsDaily Senior Writer Published: 05/08/2013 01:09 PM EDT on MyHealthNewsDaily Chronic exposure to the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) may lower testosterone levels in men, a new study from China suggests. In the study, men who were exposed to BPA because they worked in a chemical plant for at least six months had lower levels of testosterone in their blood compared with those who worked in a tap water factory. Specifically, chemical plant workers had reduced levels of "free" testosterone, which is the form thought to have the greatest influence on the body.
(Most testosterone in the body is not "free," but is bound to a protein.) The findings provide even more evidence that BPA may change men's sex hormone levels, said study researcher Dr. BPA is similar to the female hormone estrogen, meaning that it could have effects on the human body. "This data should not raise alarm bells for men who don't work in chemical factories," Patisaul said.
Lab-grown blood vessel gets first US clinical trial. A laboratory-grown blood vessel has been transplanted into the arm of a patient with end-stage kidney disease by a team of surgeons working at Duke University Hospital. The operation is the first of its kind to take place in the United States and will be used as a clinical trial to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the bioengineered tissue. The blood vessel is the work of Duke and an affiliated company called Humacyte. A Duke press release refers to it as an "off-the-shelf, human cell-based product with no biological properties that would cause organ rejection".
The vein is constructed using donor human cells which are grown on a tubular scaffold made from biodegradable mesh. Nutrients are pumped through the tube in a simulation of a pulse and as the cells grow the mesh disintegrates leaving a tube of tissue. One of the biggest problems involved in transplanting tissue is that the host body will reject it.