Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

2013-03-23

Lab-Made Body Parts

Science Fiction Comes Alive as Researchers Grow Organs in Lab - WSJ.com



Building a complex human organ in the lab is no longer a dream of science fiction. At London's Royal Free Hospital, a team of 30 scientists is manufacturing a variety of body parts, including windpipes, noses and ears. WSJ's Gautam Naik reports.  Photo: Gareth Phillips

[...]

The problem had been cracked by Dr. Taylor. She said that when human stem cells were put into a heart scaffold in 2010, they seemed to know just where to go. "They organized themselves in a way I didn't believe," said Dr. Taylor, who now works at the Texas Heart Institute but makes regular visits to Madrid to help with the experiments. "It's amazing that the [scaffold] can be as instructional as it is. Maybe we don't need to micromanage every aspect of this."
A person's heart grows in the womb where its cells receive the right mixtures of oxygen and nutrients and chemicals to grow into a working organ. To duplicate that process in a laboratory, scientists uses a device called a bioreactor, which has various tubes ferrying materials to the heart and whisking away waste products. The lab's bioreactor—a cylindrical device nearly a foot in diameter—is being designed by Harvard Bioscience Inc., HBIO +3.61% a maker of medical devices in Holliston, Mass. The machine will be ready for experiments in April, according to Dr. Aviles.

Dr. Aviles said he hopes to have a working, lab-made version ready in five or six years, but the regulatory and safety hurdles for putting such an organ in a patient will be high. The most realistic scenario, he said, is that "in about 10 years" his lab will be transplanting heart parts.

He and his team already have grown early-stage valves and patches that could be used some day to repair tissue damaged by heart attack.




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2012-11-23

The Science of Appetite Overeating and Weight Loss

The Science of Appetite - Beating Overeating - YouTube



Want to lose weight but can't stop eating? There's a reason for that. Find out how you can beat the desire to overeat and bring yourself one step closer to being your healthy self!

Ghrelin - What is Ghrelin?

Ghrelin is a hormone produced mainly by P/D1 cells lining the fundus of the human stomach and epsilon cells of the pancreas that stimulates hunger. Ghrelin levels increase before meals and decrease after meals. It is considered the counterpart of the hormone leptin, produced by adipose tissue, which induces satiation when present at higher levels. In some bariatric procedures, the level of ghrelin is reduced in patients, thus causing satiation before it would normally occur.

What is Leptin?

Leptin is a 16 kDa protein hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including appetite and metabolism. It is one of the most important adipose derived hormones. The ''Ob(Lep)'' gene (Ob for obese, Lep for leptin) is located on chromosome 7 in humans.

The effects of leptin were observed by studying mutant obese mice that arose at random within a mouse colony at the Jackson Laboratory in 1950. These mice were massively obese and excessively voracious. [...]

Precision Nutrition » Leptin, Ghrelin, Weight Loss: It’s Complicated

Leptin and ghrelin seem to be the big players in regulating appetite, which consequently influences body weight/fat. When we get hungrier, we tend to eat more. When we eat more, obviously, we maintain our body weight or gain that weight back.

Both leptin and ghrelin are peripheral signals with central effects. In other words, they’re secreted in other parts of the body (peripheral) but affect our brain (central).

Leptin is secreted primarily in fat cells, as well as the stomach, heart, placenta, and skeletal muscle. Leptin decreases hunger.

Ghrelin is secreted primarily in the lining of the stomach. Ghrelin increases hunger.

Both hormones respond to how well-fed you are; leptin usually also correlates to fat mass — the more fat you have, the more leptin you produce. Both hormones activate your hypothalamus (a part of your brain about the size of an almond).

And here’s an important point: both hormones and their signals get messed up with obesity.


Scientific Weight Loss Tips - YouTube



Tired of searching for the perfect diet or pill to shed some pounds? Find out the top weight loss tips, with solid science to back them up.

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2012-07-10

Keep 32 Molecule Provides Cavity-Proof Teeth

Dental News | Oral health | New molecule means cavity proof teeth


Scientists have created a new molecule that may make teeth cavity-proof and may change dental care forever.

The new molecule, named Keep 32, after the 32 teeth in a human mouth, can wipe out bacteria that cause cavities in just 60 seconds.

Keep 32 molecule discovered, kills the bacteria that causes tooth decay | Geek.com



It’s not actually sugar that causes cavities, it’s the bacteria Streptococcus Mutans. This bacteria metabolizes the sugar in your mouth and turns it into lactic acid which then attacks your tooth enamel. When that happens your teeth become vulnerable to decay and cavities can form. So, if you remove Streptococcus Mutans from the equation you stop the decay from happening.

Jose Cordova, a researcher at Yale University, along with Erich Astudillo from the University of Chile, have discovered a new molecule called Keep 32 that kills Streptococcus Mutans. The pair already have a patent pending and now want to begin human trials to prove it works. That should take no more than 18 months if they find funding.


Chilean Scientists Discover Solution to Cavities | I Love Chile: The Most Important Source of Chilean News

“The molecule has the potential, not only to be harnessed into a gum, but also in products like tooth paste, mouthwashes, toothpaste sheets, candies, overnight dental gel, and other products that stay in the mouth for at least 60 seconds,” explained Erich Astudillo, CEO of Top Tech Innovations, the firm that sponsored the discovery.

“In Chile, we’ve been looking for financial backing for two years.  No one was interested in putting resources into R&D,” he commented.
After unsuccessfully seeking investors in Chile, the researchers joined forces with the Founder Institute to improve their business model and look for sources of capital internationally.

“At the moment, we’re having conversations with five parties who are interested in either investment or buying our patent. This will involve moving abroad to complete product development,” he explained.


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2012-07-05

LifeWatch V: Android-based Healthcare Smartphone

LifeWatch V: Android-based Healthcare Smartphone Packed with Medical Sensors


LifeWatch AG (Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland) has presented the LifeWatch V, a feature-packed healthcare smartphone for patients and health conscious consumers. At its core, the LifeWatch V is a pretty standard Android-based phone. However, what sets it apart is the presence of a plethora of medical sensors powering seven health tests, combined with wellness-related applications and cloud-based services. The health tests are operated by placing a finger on one of the sensors, allowing users to measure, track and analyze their medical measurements, take corrective action, plan meals, activities and more.


Tests Overview | LifeWatchV

The LifeWatch V not only tests ECG, body temperature, blood glucose, heart rate, oxygen saturation, body fat percentage and stress levels (heart rate variability). It contains health tests and apps, test result delivery, historical data analysis and even physician connectivity.


LifeWatch V News, Videos, Reviews and Gossip - Gizmodo

You'll still want to keep up regular doctor visits if you are dealing with a medical condition since devices like these are usually far less accurate when compared to dedicated hospital equipment. But with full data connectivity it means you can keep your medical practitioner abreast of your condition between checkups. And more importantly, it minimizes the number of medical-related smartphone accessories you have to tote around.


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2012-06-26

Eyejusters Self-Adjusting Glasses

Adjustable Eyejusters Glasses Let You Alter Your Own Prescription! | Inhabitat

Eyejusters are just like a regular set of glasses except they are self-adjustable, allowing the wearer to alter the focus at the twist of a dial. It is hoped that the glasses will be able to help those in the developing world who don’t have access to the glasses they need.


Eyejusters - Self-adjustable glasses

Each SlideLens in a pair of Eyejusters is adjusted to suit a user’s eyes with the simple turn of a dial, so almost anyone can dispense them. They're durable, easy to clean, have attractive metal frames that fit most faces, and come in a range of colours.


Stunning SlideLens technology
The SlideLens adjustable lens technology is the product of intense engineering, manufacturing and optical design. We've designed, simulated and measured the lenses with nanometre-scale precision to ensure the best quality optical experience. Try out a demo →


Eyejusters - self-adjustable glasses designed for the developing world

There are two different types of SlideLens - positive power (for long-sightedness) and negative power (for short-sightedness). The range of the positive power lenses is from +4.5 to 0 diopters, while the range of the negative power lenses is from 0 to -5.0 diopters. This covers the majority of common cases. The glasses are priced at US$39.95 for the individual buyer, but the main aim is to distribute these to people in the developing world.

A pair of Eyejusters glasses being worn in Malawi



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2012-06-07

Lucid Dream Control Devices

BBC News - Lucid dreaming: Rise of a nocturnal hobby


Lucid dreaming technically refers to any occasion when the sleeper is aware they are dreaming. But it is also used to describe the idea of being able to control those dreams.

Once confined to a handful of niche groups, interest in lucid dreaming has grown in recent years, spurred on by a spate of innovations from smartphone apps to specialist eye masks, all promising the ability to influence our dreams.

[...]

... Dream:ON, the most popular of the many new smartphone apps now available.

Created by psychologist Richard Wiseman, the app has seen over half a million downloads in just six weeks.

"The new wave of interest is led by technology," says Wiseman, whose app claims to allow users to choose their dream before bed, and plays sound cues once they have entered the right phase of sleep.

Dream:ON - The App to Influence Your Dreams


Before going to bed you indicate the type of dream you would like to have and when you want to wake up. You then place your iPhone on your bed and go to sleep. Dream:ON then activates and begins monitoring your sleep pattern.

When Dream:ON senses that you are dreaming, it plays a 'soundscape' that has been carefully designed to help create your desired dream. Whilst your chosen soundscape is playing, Dream:ON continues to monitor your movement and adjusts the volume accordingly to ensure you're not woken up.


Dreams can come true: Can we really control our night reveries? | Metro.co.uk

‘The app monitors your movements throughout the night because when you dream you’re totally still,’ said Professor Wiseman.

‘If it detects stillness in the 20 minutes before you wake up it plays in the soundscape then wakes you up at the end of the dream.

‘It seems to work for about 30 per cent of people. The more you use it, the more it works. Some people love it – it makes their dreams very vivid and very colourful.’

At the moment, the app is about incorporating the soundscape into the dream rather than initiating it. But in the future, will it be possible to control our dreams?

‘We know that you can because external stimuli, like your alarm clock going off, people often incorporate into their dreams. So we know the mechanism is there, it’s not a wild claim.’

The Dream:ON soundscapes are based on what customers want from a dream, but Professor Wiseman admits there have been some more outlandish requests than birdsong.

Taking Control of Your Dreams | Innovations

New York inventors Duncan Frazier and Steve McGuigan have taken a different approach. Instead of incorporating sound to help people shape their dreams, they use light. They’ve created a sleep mask they call the Remee, which comes with six red LED lights and runs on a three-volt battery.

The device waits until a person is four to five hours into their night’s sleep–a time when periods of REM sleep tend to last longer–then begins flashing the lights in a pattern that lasts 15 to 20 seconds. It’s a visual cue meant to remind the person that they’re dreaming, which is key to having them take control of what happens.

Clearly, there’s lots of interest in driving dreams. When Frazier and McGuigan posted their idea on Kickstarter, they hoped to raise $35,000. More than 6,500 people have pledged almost $600,000 to help them out.

Remee - The REM enhancing Lucid Dreaming Mask by Bitbanger Labs — Kickstarter

So how does it work?

Sleep stages are divided into two main categories: non-REM sleep and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, where dreams typically occur.  Over the course of the night a sleeper will cycle through the five stages of sleep a number of times with the REM stages lasting longer and longer towards morning.
In default mode, Remee targets these long chunks of REM sleep towards the end of the sleep period. Before bed, turn Remee on, fine tune the brightness of the lights (if needed) and then go to sleep.  Remee will wait for an initial long delay, usually 4-5 hours, until you're in the heart of the heavy REM stages, before initializing light patterns.  After the initial long delay Remee will display light patterns for 15-20 seconds with a second shorter delay, default at 15 minutes, between each signal.  During non-REM sleep the lights are unlikely to effect you, but if you're in REM sleep the lights will bleed into your dreams, presenting a perfect chance to become lucid.

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2011-11-05

Jawbone UP a Wristband Health Monitor

Jawbone Unveils Up, The High-Tech Wristband To Help You Sleep, Live Better

Jawbone, a company best known for making mobile headsets and speakers, is expanding into the health business.

The company has debuted a high-tech wristband called "Up" that, paired with a free smartphone application, tracks users' sleep and activity patterns and promises to "nudge" them to adopt healthier habits.

Jawbone Up aims to get you healthier | Crave - CNET


Similar to other movement-tracking fitness gadgets like the Fitbit, the Jawbone Up has a motion accelerator to sense movement. Jawbone calls this one the MotionX engine, and the wristband is designed to be worn all day long. The Up is durable and water-resistant, so you can wear it in the shower as well. Jawbone claims that the Up has up to 10 days of battery life

The Up iPhone app tracks your daily activity (pace, steps, calories); your sleep patterns; and even what you're eating (you take a picture of the food with the app) in a "ME screen" along with a "Lifeline" chart. After you've captured the photo of your meal, Up will notify you a few hours later to ask how the food has affected you.

Jawbone Wristband, App Track Your Total Health | PCWorld


The band resembles a bulkier version of those yellow Livestrong bracelets, and keeps track of all your activity and sleeping patterns thanks to the motion-tracking engine and other sensors. The companion app then asks for photos of your meals and answers to a few questions about how certain foods make you feel. The idea is to collect as much data as unintrusively as possible to then create, as the company puts it, "a complete, holistic view of your health" that can be accessed from the app at any time.

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2010-11-12

Cody the Robotic Nurse Performs Autonomous Bathing Tasks

Meet Cody, the robot that gives sponge baths | Crave - CNET




The autonomous robot uses lasers--because, really, robots all have lasers, or at least should--to specify a body part that needs to be scrubbed.

A camera then feeds the information to a microprocessor which, in turn, commands the robot's arm to wipe the selected area, which it swabs first


This new humanoid robot named "Cody" comes from Georgia Tech's Healthcare Robotics Lab (to which I belong).  Cody is composed of a Segway RMP 50 Omni mobile base, 1-DoF vertical linear actuator, and a pair of 7-DoF Meka Arms with series elastic actuators (the same as Simon).  This mobile manipulator has shown some pretty impressive capabilities.  It can open doors, drawers, and cabinets using equilibrium point controllers developed by Advait Jain and Prof. Charlie Kemp.  It also has a nice direct physical interface (touching interface) to reposition the robot that was developed by Tiffany Chen and Prof. Charlie Kemp. Much of the code controlling this robot is open-source and has ROS (Robot Operating System) interfaces.



Healthcare Robotics Logo

Publication

Abstract

This paper describes the design and implementation of a behavior that allows a robot with a compliant arm to perform wiping motions that are involved in bed baths. A laser-based operator-selection interface enables an operator to select an area to clean, and the robot autonomously performs a wiping motion using equilibrium point control. We evaluated the performance of the system by measuring the ability of the robot to remove an area of debris on human skin.
 [...]

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2010-08-25

Lose Weight by Drinking Water

Trying to lose weight? Drink more water


Researchers found that drinking two glasses of water before each meal may help dieters lose weight and keep it off.


Drinking Water Before Meals Helps Weight Loss

(CBS)  Drinking two glasses of water before each meal may help you lose weight, according to a new study presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, Health.com reports.

Obese dieters who drank two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner lost five pounds more than dieters who didn't increase their water intake. Those who drank more water also kept more of the weight off after a year, said Brenda Davy, an associate professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.


Clinical trial confirms effectiveness of simple appetite control method


“We are presenting results of the first randomized controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water consumption is an effective weight loss strategy,” said Brenda Davy, Ph.D., senior author on the study. “We found in earlier studies that middle aged and older people who drank two cups of water right before eating a meal ate between 75 and 90 fewer calories during that meal. In this recent study, we found that over the course of 12 weeks, dieters who drank water before meals, three times per day, lost about 5 pounds more than dieters who did not increase their water intake.”


Drinking more water before meals can help
promote weight loss.

“People should drink more water and less sugary, high-calorie drinks. It’s a simple way to facilitate weight management.”

Davy pointed out that folklore and everyday experience long have suggested that water can help promote weight loss. But there has been surprisingly little scientific information on the topic. Previous studies hinted that drinking water before meals reduces intake of calories. Lacking until now, however, has been the “gold-standard” evidence from a randomized, controlled clinical trial that compares weight loss among dieters who drink water before meals with those who do not.

The study included 48 adults aged 55-75 years, divided into two groups. One group drank 2 cups of water prior to their meals and the other did not. All of the subjects ate a low-calorie diet during the study. Over the course of 12 weeks, water drinkers lost about 15.5 pounds, while the non-water drinkers lost about 11 pounds.

Davy said water may be so effective simply because it fills up the stomach with a substance that has zero calories. People feel fuller as a result, and eat less calorie-containing food during the meal. Increased water consumption may also help people lose weight if they drink it in place of sweetened calorie-containing beverages, said Davy, who is with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.



Brenda Davy

Associate Professor

Research

Improving health behaviors: diet, physical activity, and weight management; Appetite control and food intake regulation; Beverage consumption and weight management; Dietary intake assessment.



Sources
Trying to lose weight? Drink more water - CNN.com
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/23/drink.water.lose.weight/?hpt=Sbin#fbid=75_9at2LgRX&wom=false
Drinking Water Before Meals Helps Weight Loss - CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/23/health/main6798331.shtml
Clinical trial confirms effectiveness of simple appetite control method
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_025391&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=a733bd09-2fc8-403a-86ee-14ba49cf353d
Brenda Davy | Virginia Tech
http://www.hnfe.vt.edu/about_US/Bios_faculty/bio_davy_brenda.html

Related
Drink Water Before Meals, Lose Weight - CBS News Video
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6800561n&tag=related;photovideo
Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise | Virginia Tech
http://www.hnfe.vt.edu/
Clinical trial confirms effectiveness of simple appetite control method | Virginia Tech News | Virginia Tech
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2010/08/082310-cals-davy.html
Study Finds Water Helps Weight Loss | keyc.tv
http://www.keyc.com/node/41019
Six glasses of water a day makes you slim - mirror.co.uk
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/08/24/six-glasses-of-water-a-day-makes-you-slim-115875-22509617/

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2010-06-18

The MetroNaps EnergyPod

Nap in style, Thats how google does it anyway!



A reporter found a alien like pod while visiting  Google HQ’s in Mountain View. The Contraption you see, is a Mountain View Nap Pod or the EnergyPod, like they call it.


Googlers Take Naps In Bizarre Contraption


How does Google keep its employees fresh for long days and nights of working? With sleep pods.


FT reporter Richard Waters was in Google's Mountain View headquarters yesterday and snapped this photo of an anonymous Googler catching some rest. When Richard walked past the pod later, he said a pair of female legs were sticking out from the pod.

This contraption is a MetroNap EnergyPod. Metronap says it "harnesses science and NASA technology" to deliver a refreshing nap for users.


 Click here for more pictures and information on the EnergyPod


The EnergyPod


The MetroNaps EnergyPod solves a contemporary problem: most work spaces do not offer their employees a place to rejuvenate. The result is that people seek rest in places not intended for it: at their desk, in a conference room, a parked car or even the bathroom.

Based on years of research and thousands of design hours, the MetroNaps EnergyPod is the perfect place to quickly and effectively enhance your energy. Designed to be installed almost anywhere, the EnergyPod is a self-contained productivity device.


EnergyPod


Key Features & Benefits
  • Room within a room
  • Inbuilt Bose sound system
  • Contemporary design
  • Zero gravity technology
  • Controlled nap timer
  • Gentle waking sequence
  • Privacy visor

Sources
Nap in style, Thats how google does it anyway!
http://igyaan.in/2010/06/18/nap-in-style-thats-how-google-does-it-anyway/
Googlers Take Naps In Bizarre Contraption
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-sleep-pods-2010-6
MetroNaps / The EnergyPod
http://www.metronaps.com/mn/the_metronaps_service/the_energypod
MetroNaps. Fatigue Management, accredited training and napping solutions for safety critical workplaces
http://www.metronaps.com.au/australia_files/products/energypod.aspx

Related
40 Googlewinks | Tech Blog | FT.com
http://blogs.ft.com/techblog/2010/06/40-googlewinks/
Google Employees Sleep In Alien-Like Pods
http://gizmodo.com/5566465/google-employees-sleep-in-alien+like-pods
The MetroNaps EnergyPod: For the Serious Power-Napper
http://www.luxist.com/2007/05/10/the-metronaps-energypod-for-the-serious-power-napper/
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2010-03-02

O2 Linn: An Oxygenated Hangover-Free Alcohol-Booze

Clipped from: Scientists Create Hangover-Free Booze - Hangover-free alcohol - Gizmodo

Scientists Create Hangover-Free Booze

Bad news for weeknights! Scientists in Korea have figured out that when you oxygenate booze, it sobers you up faster and helps prevent hangovers the next day.


Clipped from: Scientists Have Discovered Booze That Won't Give You A Hangover - Alcohol - io9

Scientists Have Discovered Booze That Won't Give You A Hangover




Doctors Kwang-il Kwon and Hye Gwang Jeong of Chungnam National University studied the properties of oxygenated alcohol - booze with oxygen bubbles added - which is a popular concoction in their country. In these drinks, oxygen is added the way carbonation is usually added to soda, and the scientists wanted to know if these oxygenated beverages affected people differently than non-oxygenated ones. The answer was a resounding yes.


Clipped from: Influence of Dissolved Oxygen Concentration on the Pharmacokinetics of Alcohol in Humans. In-hwan Baek. 2010; Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research - Wiley InterScience
Influence of Dissolved Oxygen Concentration on the Pharmacokinetics of Alcohol in Humans
In-hwan Baek, Byung-yo Lee, and Kwang-il Kwon
From the College of Pharmacy, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea.

ABSTRACT

Background: Ethanol oxidation by the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system requires oxygen for alcohol metabolism, and a higher oxygen uptake increases the rate of ethanol oxidation. We investigated the effect of dissolved oxygen on the pharmacokinetics of alcohol in healthy humans (n = 49). The concentrations of dissolved oxygen were 8, 20, and 25 ppm in alcoholic drinks of 240 and 360 ml (19.5% v/v).

Sources:
  1. Scientists Create Hangover-Free Booze - Hangover-free alcohol - Gizmodo
  2. :+: eco_healing 기업 - (주)선양 :+:
  3. Scientists Have Discovered Booze That Won't Give You A Hangover - Alcohol - io9
  4. Influence of Dissolved Oxygen Concentration on the Pharmacokinetics of Alcohol in Humans. In-hwan Baek. 2010; Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research - Wiley InterScience
Related:
  1. :+: eco_healing 기업 - (주)선양 :+:
  2. SUNYANG CO., LTD. - Company Profile
  3. Scientists Have Discovered Booze That Won’t Give You A Hangover [Mad Science] | Sci Fi SoundTrack
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2010-01-28

Running Barefoot is Better

Clipped from: YouTube - Running shoe stress

Running shoe stress





Clipped from: The best running shoe may be nature's own: study | Reuters

The best running shoe may be nature's own: study



Runners who eschew shoes may be less likely to do serious injury to their feet, because they hold their feet differently, Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and colleagues found.

Writing in the journal Nature, they said runners who wear shoes tend to hit the ground with their heels first, whereas barefoot runners put the balls of the feet down first.

"People who don't wear shoes when they run have an astonishingly different strike," Lieberman said in a statement.

"By landing on the middle or front of the foot, barefoot runners have almost no impact collision, much less than most shod runners generate when they heel-strike," Lieberman added

Clipped from: Running Barefoot: Home

This website has been developed to provide an evidence-based resource for those interested in barefoot or minimal footwear running.

Clipped from: YouTube - The Barefoot Professor: by Nature Video

The Barefoot Professor: by Nature Video


Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman has ditched his trainers and started running barefoot. His research shows that barefoot runners, who tend to land on their fore-foot, generate less impact shock than runners in sports shoes who land heel first.




Clipped from: Running Barefoot: Biomechanics of Foot Strike

Biomechanical Differences Between Different Foot Strikes


The explanations below illustrate how and why a large collision is generated when heel striking and why such a small collision is generated when forefoot striking.

Heel Strike when Barefoot


Heel Strike in Running Shoes





Forefoot Strike when Barefoot



Sources:
  1. YouTube - Running shoe stress
  2. The best running shoe may be nature's own: study | Reuters
  3. Running Barefoot: Home
  4. YouTube - The Barefoot Professor: by Nature Video
  5. Running Barefoot: Heel Striking & Running Shoes
  6. Running Barefoot: Biomechanics of Foot Strike
Related:
  1. Access : Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners : Nature
  2. Observations: Running barefoot is better, researchers find
  3. Running Barefoot Reduces Stress—On Feet
  4. Running Barefoot Better than Running with Shoes : Discovery News
  5. BBC News - Shoes may have changed how we run
  6. Study: Running Shoes Could Cause Joint Strain - Fitness - FOXNews.com
  7. Shoeless running may spare feet - The Boston Globe
  8. Study: Humans Were Born To Run Barefoot : NPR
  9. Running Barefoot
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2009-08-01

Mosquitoes Against Malaria

Clipped from: The Associated Press: Mosquitoes deliver malaria 'vaccine' through bites

Mosquitoes deliver malaria 'vaccine' through bites

In a daring experiment in Europe, scientists used mosquitoes as flying needles to deliver a "vaccine" of live malaria parasites through their bites. The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later.

The study was only a small proof-of-principle test, and its approach is not practical on a large scale. However, it shows that scientists may finally be on the right track to developing an effective vaccine against one of mankind's top killers. A vaccine that uses modified live parasites just entered human testing.


Clipped from: Effective Vaccine For Malaria Possible, Study Shows

Effective Vaccine For Malaria Possible, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (July 30, 2009) — Scientists in Singapore, The Netherlands and France report that they have developed a novel immunization method that will induce fast and effective protection in humans against the life-threatening malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which infects 350 to 500 million people world-wide and kills over one million people each year.


Clipped from: In New Trial, Mosquitoes Spread Malaria Vaccine | Popular Science

In New Trial, Mosquitoes Spread Malaria Vaccine



Malaria kills upwards of a million people a year, infects hundreds of millions, and significantly damages the economies of dozens of countries. Cures and prophylaxis for malaria range from bug nets to drugs to gin and tonics, but none are weirder -- or more poetically just -- than a new method that uses mosquitoes themselves to deliver a malaria vaccine.

Clipped from: Ouch: Mosquito Bites Deliver Malaria Vaccine : EcoWorldl

The Mosquito Bite Study

The study, which took place at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, included 15 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 45. 10 people were in the vaccine group and five in the control group. All 15 were given chloroquine for a three-month period and exposed to mosquito bites once a month for three months.

The vaccine group was exposed to malaria-infected mosquitoes while the comparison group was exposed to non-infected mosquitoes. One month after the entire group stopped taking the drug, all 15 volunteers were bitten by the infected mosquitoes. None of the 10 people in the vaccine group developed parasites but all five in the control group did!


Clipped from: NEJM -- Protection against a Malaria Challenge by Sporozoite Inoculation
The New England Journal of Medicine
Protection against a Malaria Challenge by Sporozoite Inoculation
Meta Roestenberg, M.D., Matthew McCall, M.D., Joost Hopman, M.D., Jorien Wiersma, Adrian J.F. Luty, Ph.D., Geert Jan van Gemert, B.Sc., Marga van de Vegte-Bolmer, B.Sc., Ben van Schaijk, M.Sc., Karina Teelen, Theo Arens, Lopke Spaarman, B.Sc., Quirijn de Mast, M.D., Will Roeffen, Ph.D., Georges Snounou, Ph.D., Laurent Rénia, Ph.D., Andre van der Ven, M.D., Cornelus C. Hermsen, Ph.D., and Robert Sauerwein, M.D.

Figure 1. Study Design and Enrollment.

Immunologic assessment was performed 1 day before the first immunization (day I-1) and 1 day before challenge infection (day C-1). A final challenge with infectious mosquito bites was performed 28 days after the discontinuation of chloroquine prophylaxis.


Sources:
  1. The Associated Press: Mosquitoes deliver malaria 'vaccine' through bites
  2. Effective Vaccine For Malaria Possible, Study Shows
  3. In New Trial, Mosquitoes Spread Malaria Vaccine | Popular Science
  4. Ouch: Mosquito Bites Deliver Malaria Vaccine : EcoWorldly
  5. NEJM -- Protection against a Malaria Challenge by Sporozoite Inoculation
Related:
  1. Singapore Immunology Network
  2. The Great Beyond: Mosquitoes against malaria?
  3. Malaria vaccine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  4. Radboud University - Homepage - www.ru.nl
  5. Radboud University - Centre for Clinical Malaria Studies - www.ru.nl
  6. UMC St Radboud
  7. Little Malcolm's Swimming Pool: Malaria Vaccine
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