Health | Human Genome Project

Therapy can Help the Addict to Overcome

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Whether or not people are hard wired with a predilection toward addiction to substances or behaviors has long been wondered about. As genetic scientists close in on firmer answers, one thing seems clear – therapy can help those who suffer from addictions. For therapy to be effective, it must enable a reduction of the feeling of need to engage in the activity which is uncommonly repeated. That activity can be anything from reaching for a bottle of liquor and drinking a large majority of its contents, to reaching for a pack of cigarettes scores of times per day, or engaging in frequent switching of sexual partners. Any action which is repeated frequently in search of a ‘high,’ which quickly fades and must be repeated to achieve the same effect, is an addiction.

Some addictions are regarded as healthy, such as running, whose aftereffect of endorphin release termed ‘runner’s high,’ provides much of the same in the way of pleasurable sensations as drugs. But for the most part, addictions are not healthy, as they ensnare their practitioners in a cycle of up and down mood swings, ever affected by an external input to the brain.

Therapy can help one to realize what drives them to pursue these stimulatory brain rushes. Whether it’s a troubled childhood or a deep seated fear of ending up living in assisted living facilities, people have reasons for their brains seeking pleasure through actions outside of their control. Therapists are deeply trained people, familiar with the situations that pressure people into addictive behaviors, who can help the addict to pinpoint the exact issue or issues which guide their behavior. With understanding the addict can slowly confront their problems, like a child learning to walk one step at a time. It’s not an overnight process, but in time, addicts can learn to get their highs in healthier, nondestructive ways.

Filed Under: Biotech, Health Tagged With: Assisted living, Behavior, Health, Substance dependence

Human Genes and Pain Control

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Some people are genetically predisposed to specific health problems. Others seem predisposed to health, no matter what they do to their bodies. Human genetics are fascinating, but they haven’t been unraveled enough just yet to answer all of the questions that people have about how human beings work, where they really come from, and why some people succumb to certain diseases while others appear to have almost complete immunity. It’s very important to keep issues of genetics in mind, but also to understand that they aren’t the only thing that makes a person healthy or not healthy. A combination of nature and nurture seems the most likely cause of health or illness in the majority of individuals today.

Another issue that genetics has not yet been able to solve is why some people are more sensitive to pain than others are. There are people who are upset and uncomfortable at the tiniest ache, and others who are seemingly oblivious to anything more than the most aggressive discomfort. Most people fall somewhere in the middle – and there have even been people born who are not capable of feeling pain at all. For specific types of spinal pain, PRP therapy can help but isn’t considered a cure.

Most other pains don’t have a ‘cure,’ either. There are medications that can lessen the pain response, but not actually fix the cause of the pain. It’s necessary to get to the root cause of the pain, so that the problem that’s creating it can be treated. In some people, there is a treatable cause and the pain will go away. In other people, there is no specific cause for the pain and it’s not something that can be done away with. Medications to control it could be required for a lifetime. Further advances in genetics may one day change that.

Filed Under: Biotech, Health Tagged With: Chronic pain, Conditions and Diseases, Gene, Genetics, Health, Pain, Support group, United States

A revolution called the Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project undertaken by the US Department of Energy and the National Institute of Health commenced study of the human genetic characteristics in 1990 and was able to prepare a comprehensive report on the map of the sum total of all genes in a human body by 2003. This study was a revolution in terms of scientific knowledge acquired and the spin offs in the field of complex disease prediction, diagnosis and intervention. The concept of the human genome study was to chart all the combinations that make the DNA structure of a human body. Once this DNA structure has been readied then the scientists are in a position to diagnose any disease in that body to the extent of predicting diseases that may manifest in the future. In fact all the genetic related disorders can be effectively targeted by health medicines created as per the exact requirements of the particular body. This is a significant advancement in the field of diagnosis and treatment which can now be early thereby having greater chances of success. The health medicines that are based on the human genome are specifically designed for that combination of genes and hence are more effective. Also the side effects of the health medicines on that genome can be predicted and thereby catered for. This new concept of health medicine is also in the same way helpful in the treatment of addictions and abnormal behavior of humans which was not so developed prior to this. The therapy for behavioral changes depends greatly on the use of such oriented health medicines that have a better success rate compared to conventional medicines. The Human Genome Project is a significant milestone in the field of medical research and its findings will have dramatic implications on the formulation of future health medicines.

Filed Under: Biotech, Health Tagged With: Animal, Biology, Eukaryotic, Genetics, Health, Human genome, Human Genome Project, National Institute of Health

Types of Motion Sickness

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Kinetosis is a condition in which a person becomes ill from either motion, the realistic simulation of motion such as scenes in video games, or watching movies with a lot of action. Kinetosis is known by several other names, the most common of them being motion sickness. It’s also called Travel Sickness, and has more specialized names depending upon what activity causes it. Airsickness, seasickness, space sickness and simulation sickness are all forms of kinetosis.

The most common symptoms of kinetosis are feelings of nausea, dizziness and fatigue, sometimes underscored by a headache. If the symptoms get bad enough, the individual experiencing them may vomit. Unfortunately, unlike a case of the flu, vomiting from kinetosis will not lessen the nausea any. As such, it’s quite possible to vomit more than once from the same case of motion sickness.

There is no official scientifically proven reason for what causes kinetosis. However, the commonly accepted speculative reason is that when your brain sees something that indicates motion but your inner ear does not feel the shifts in the fluid associated with balancing and moving, your body gets mixed signals about whether or not you are actually in motion and the result is feeling ill. It can also work in reverse–your body can be moved around so that your inner ear detects the motion, but if your eyes are covered or viewing what looks like a still image, your brain gets mixed signals that it is both moving and holding still.

On average, around 65 percent of people typically experience kinetosis in moderate to extreme motion situations, such as riding on a boat on choppy water or riding on theme park rides. Around 30 percent are more sensitive and can get ill even floating on calm waters. It is impossible to get motion sickness if you have a genetic condition that prevents your inner ear system from functioning.

Filed Under: General, Health Tagged With: Conditions and Diseases, Ear Nose and Throat, Health, Inner ear, Motion sickness, Nausea, Shopping, vomit

Safe Sun Exposure

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We have heard the stories of those shunned from the sun who become desperate for vitamin D. Ultraviolet rays from the sun, like a host of foods such as cereal, milk, fish, and cheese, help us maintain healthy quantities of both phosphorous and calcium. Our blood relies on vitamin D to promote strong bones and avoid conditions like osteoporosis and rickets. There are plentiful sources to help us avoid vitamin D deficiency and one of them is sun exposure. But as much as we’ve heard about vitamin deficiencies, like that of vitamin D, we know that skin cancer is ever prevalent with over-exposure to the sun as the source.

It’s true that our skin requires up to 15 minutes of sun per day to acquire the daily recommended dose of vitamin D. It then makes it way to our liver and kidneys, active in protecting our bodies from bone growth-inhibiting microbials and bacteria. So if you love to frolic in the sun, whether it’s poolside or on the beach, taking jogs by the river or hiking all weekend long, you need to protect your skin from over-exposure to the sun and vitamin D. Toxic amounts of this vitamin can lead to not only sunburn or dangerous cancers that could be life-threatening, but anemia and frequent episodes of constipation, vomiting, and heart palpitations.

While some of these conditions sound worse than others, the truth is, they all could be attributed to your imbalanced absorption of vitamin D both from sun exposure and from a diet lacking this vital nutrient, and can lead to long term detriment to your overall health. To healthfully control your daily vitamin D dosages, always put sunscreen between the UV rays that produce vitamin D and your skin, as well as take the recommended amount of supplements to be sure your body is equipped with enough vitamin D to avoid poor bone health.

Filed Under: Biotech, Human Genome Tagged With: Health, Rickets, Skin, Skin neoplasm, Sunburn, Ultraviolet, Vitamin, Vitamin D

Understanding Ferals

There have been multiple cases, though rare in the history of mankind, of children brought up in some form of isolation thereby restricting gravely their aptitude for language. When looking at the maturation process of most well-adapted adults, clear demarcations exist in terms of when and at what level certain levels of success should be and were achieved.
Certain landmarks are reached such as diaper training, walking, talking, etc., conditioned by both social standards and those within a familial setting. Structure and necessary discipline and guidance are required to set a pace at which healthy maturation and adaptation takes place.

In the case of ferals, these factors are absent, resulting in multiple deficiencies of domestication, devoid of motion, sound, laughter, and personal development and integration into some sort of community. Isolated and abandoned, these children are forced to equip themselves with cognitive and defensive modes of living, including a need to make sense of their claustrophobic environments, including the ones in their own heads.

Pigs and monkeys and other animals exist within feral conditions and grow up among these types of seclusive populations. The neutering and vaccination schemes imposed by biotechnology initiatives, especially when it comes to the nuisance of feral cat incidences, cannot be adapted for approaching the issue of human feralism. Instead, health medicine as a discipline is interested in analyzing the affects of both biological and conditions imposed by nature or abuse on the feral humans. The interest remains in assimilating them into the world by focusing on language, health, and social conditioning.

While the process is slow, most health professionals agree that critical strides can be made for a feral child in terms of their adjustment to society. This adjustment involves verbal, numerical, and analytical reasoning skills that may have been limited by their alternative upbringing and exposure to collective living. The holistic experience of transferring from a feral life requires the hands-on assistance of trained and compassionate skilled workers.

Filed Under: Biotech, Human Genome Tagged With: Cat, Feral, Feral cat, Free-Roaming, Health, New York City, Pets, Recreation

Buy Electronic Cigarettes Online and Lower Cancer Risk

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Cancer affects millions of people the world over. There are over a hundred types of cancers that affect various parts of the human body like the lungs, jaws, blood, breasts and prostate. Cancer Genome research aims to find ways to beat cancer at the root level. However, as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Considering the number of people suffering from cancer, it is obvious that modern day lifestyles are encouraging the spread of the disease. There are several day to day habits that we may think as normal but go a great way towards causing cancer. These include our dietary habits, physical activity level, cosmetic products we use etc. Also, habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption have a huge impact on the risk of cancer.

Smoking tobacco products greatly increase the risk of lung cancer in a person. This is the reason why tobacco products like cigarettes and pipes carry a health hazard warning, made mandatory by the law. Billions of dollars are spent every year by consumers buying tobacco products. Nearly as much money goes into research of products that help smokers quit smoking reduce the risk of cancer. There are several such products already available for purchase in the market. These include chewing gums and patches that release nicotine in controlled amounts, helping the smoker cope with withdrawal symptoms and gives him/ her a better chance at quitting smoking. Another such product which is fast gaining popularity is the electronic cigarette. These vaporizing devices release flavored liquid with low nicotine or zero nicotine. They look just like a cigarette and work like one too, giving a smoker the psychological satisfaction of smoking a real cigarette. People can buy electronic cigarettes online as well at most health stores. Using alternative products go a long way in preventing cancer and helps chain as well as passive smokers live a healthier life.

Filed Under: Health, Human Genome Tagged With: Cigarette, Health, Tobacco smoking

Research Proves Genetic Predisposition to Obesity Can Be Reversed

Biotech researchers in the field of health medicine have discovered that there are certain genetic characteristics that predispose individuals to obesity. Additionally, chemical changes to DNA as a result of environmental and lifestyle factors can also lead to obesity. Human genome researchers usually start by looking for differences and similarities in the DNA of obese individuals versus those of a healthy weight. Despite these results those with genetics not in favor of the skinny jean still have hope and it lies in a virtually free treatment available to all on a global scale.

The health medicine community acknowledges the role that genetics plays in obesity but urges those who are obese not to resign to a fate of being fat simply because of their family history. Studies have been conducted on individual predisposed to obesity to see if the genetics can be overcome by changes in environmental factors and they proved that there is indeed hope for this unwanted inheritance. The studies have indicated that obesity can be reduced by almost fifty percent with increased physical activity. These findings fly in the face of the idea that people are destined to be fat no matter what they may do.

The study also revealed that for those without “fat genes” exercise did not produce as profoundly positive results as it did in those predisposed to obesity. In other words, those who are hard wired to be fatter can get more from exercise than their skinny counterparts.

The next question raised is how much exercise does it really take to trigger a reversal in the fat genes? Various research in multiple countries revealed that the exercise prescription is not a hard pill to swallow. Research suggests that moderate and regular exercise is sufficient. An obese adult who combines a sedentary desk job with 30-60 minutes of physical activity each day can reduce their genetic risk by up to forty percent. Since the benefits of exercise also prevent heart disease and other problems, it looks like the fat genes can be treated with an easy to produce drug-exercise.

Filed Under: Biotech, Human Genome Tagged With: DNA, Genetics, Health, Obesity

Your Genes Need Vitamin D

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New studies in the area of health medicine are revealing interesting facts about the affects of vitamin D deficiency on the human genome. Biotech researchers have managed to map vitamin D interaction with our DNA. They have pinpointed over two hundred genes that are influenced by the vitamin. Studies reveal that literally billions of people worldwide are not getting sufficient amounts of vitamin D. This increases their chances of being affected by a wide range of diseases.

Vitamin D deficiency is caused by a lack of exposure to the sun and poor nutrition. Developing autoimmune conditions such as type 1 diabetes, cancer, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis can all be linked to vitamin D deficiency. The widespread health impacts of the vitamin has triggered the health medicine community to institute a greater measure of support for supplementation during pregnancy and the early years of life. France has implemented supplementation of the vitamin to pregnant women as a rule.

The main source of vitamin D is the body’s production as a result of exposure to sunlight. This poses an interesting dilemma when experts are urging the population to stay out of the sun because of rises in skin cancers and damaging UV rays. One may question if the increase in autoimmune disease in recent decades can be linked to the widespread use of sunscreens. Vitamin D can also be obtained by eating eggs, fish liver oil, and fatty fish such as salmon, herring and mackerel. Vitamin D can also be taken as a supplement.

Studies have also shown that vitamin D is vital for triggering the immune system’s killer cells, known as T cells which can remain dormant and unresponsive to threats from all sorts of infections if vitamin D is lacking in the blood. These studies have prompted the medical community to reevaluate how much vitamin D is sufficient and how much is recommended if taking supplements of the vitamin. Studies are expected in the fall of 2010 but currently some experts suggest 25-50 micrograms of the health boosting vitamin per day.

Filed Under: Human Genome Tagged With: Diabetes mellitus type 1, Health, Nutrition, Vitamin

Genome Research and the Wine Industry

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Sweet, bitter, salty, and sour: these words describe the sensations that we experience when we taste; but to the wine industry the science behind what makes us taste products the way we do and the genetic differences in the plants they use to produce said products is of great interest. Advances in biotech science have provided incredible insights to wine makers and growers worldwide. This is just another way that the human genome project has advanced science applications beyond health medicine.

The making of a good wine starts with good plants and biotech research advances and developments in grapevine technology provide insights to explore for improvement. Using information from the human genome project, scientists are able to pinpoint the markers in grapevines that are more disease tolerant, require less water, and are less susceptible to pests. Finally, researchers have been successful in mapping the genome of actual grape varietals such as the pinot noir grape. This type of forefront research will provide the biotech community with information as to why certain varieties grow better in specific climates and have different qualities.

Developments in health medicine have revealed that, genetically speaking, people fall into one of three categories of intensity of taste. People with a genetic profile as “super-tasters” are very sensitive to very basic tastes, “taste-blind” are unable to taste the flavors of food or wine, and “regular-tasters”experience taste in a moderate manner. This information could change the way wines are judged in competitions and cause the makers to even question the value of such competitions because without knowledge of the individual who is tasting on a human genome level they would not know if their taste experience is similar to that of the winemaker.

The human genome project has opened a new world to plant and foods research. Biotech engineers use techniques, strategies and data from the human genome project to bring forth advances in the foods and in this case, drinks that we enjoy. With health medicine research indicating the many benefits of moderate wine consumption there are plenty of reasons for a toast to biotech science.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Health, Human genome, Human Genome Project, Medicine, Research, Technology, United States, Wine