Tag Archives: research

Oregano, Grapes and Cancer – Oh my!

Posted on November 12, 2012 by | 2 comments

With November here, most people are aware that “Movember” is also in full swing, promoting prostate cancer research, among other things. What isn’t so common knowledge is the fact that two rather yummy research endeavours are showing promise in the field of prostate cancer treatment.

Oregano – photo from Fernando Stankuns via Flickr

Already well known for being an antioxidant, oregano was used in one study to test its effects on prostate cancer cells. Researchers tested carvacrol, a component of oregano, in varying concentrations against human prostate cancer cells for different time intervals. Amazingly, they discovered that the carvacrol completely wiped out the cancer cells!

From their research, the team found out that the carvacrol actually caused apoptosis, or ‘cell suicide’, in the cancer cells. It is still in its beginning stages but “if the study continues to yield positive results, this super-spice may represent a very promising therapy for patients with prostate cancer,” says Dr. Bavadekar, the lead researcher. Watch here as the SourceFed team talks about this new research:

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The next study looks into the effects of a compound found in red wine and grape skin on prostate cancer cells. Previous studies have shown that this compound, resveratrol, may have health benefits concerning heart health and stroke prevention. In this study, researchers found that the compound caused the prostate cancer cells to be more vulnerable to radiation. Watch here as the MU News Bureau talks to the researchers about their discovery:

 

Red Wine – photo from Emiliano De Laurentiis via Flickr

The resveratrol causes the cancer cells to express two proteins, perforin and granzyme B, which work together to cause the cell to weaken. When combined with radiation, more cancer cells were killed than with just radiation alone.

The drawback to this discovery is that the body metabolizes resveratrol very efficiently. This means that a very high dosage would need to be consumed in order for the compound to be effective at the tumour site. Due to this, researchers are looking into alternate delivery methods, as the treatment is otherwise promising.

I believe that both of these studies show a lot of potential and are particularly interesting because the compounds used are naturally occurring. It makes me wonder about all the other naturally occurring treatments that may still be out there. Who knows, maybe the next promising cancer treatment will be from pomegranates or blueberries!

-Karly Stillwell

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

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Malicious Scientific Miscommunication

Posted on October 29, 2012 by | 6 comments

As you probably have seen in malls or in online ads, there have been a recent surge in products known as “energy bracelets”. Examples you may have heard include “negative ion” bracelets or “hologram bracelets”.

You have probably also heard that these bracelets can improve balance, treat disease, and perhaps even save the world. Skeptical, you might ask the salesperson why or how these bracelets would help you. They would then give you a whole lot of scientific jargon and explain why each piece of false evidence is true.

YouTube Preview ImageA video from Infinity Pro advertising their bracelets. Notice the extreme amounts of scientific jargon that mean absolutely nothing?

If you were to look at a typical bracelet website, such as  Energy Force,  you would find that they make numerous claims such as

“ENERGY FORCE…regulates your body’s frequency to an ideal level. Optimal health and peak performance occur when your body maintains ionic balance (the exchange between negative and positive charges) and free flowing energy pathways (harmony) at the optimum frequency.”

How does this bracelet maintain balance? Why does ionic balance matter for health? How does it help you stay healthy? Why is it good to have the “optimal frequency”?

In reality, you wouldn’t find any answers to these questions, because these claims are not scientifically proven.

However, there are some much more devious scams that try to trick you in much less obvious ways. They do this by manipulating scientific data in order to make it fit their claims.

Picture made by EQBandz. Source: http://www.eqbandz.com/images/banner2.png

Some examples of the claims made by EQbandz

1. “Anti-oxidising: US Dept. of Agriculture found that anions led to 52% less dust in the air and 95% less bacteria“
2. “Emotional: 25 people tested with seasonal affective depression (SAD) found that anion treatment proved to be as effective against SAD as antidepressants without the side effects of these drugs”
3. “Immune system: Norwich Union Insurance Group: Reduced incidence of sickness and headaches by 78% when exposed to 1000 anions per C/C.”
4. “Aging: Dr Nagao Katsharu, Japan found that skin cells were replaced at 2.5 times normal speed with anions by accelerating the delivery of oxygen to the cells and tissues.”

These claims sound like the band is 100% scientifically proven to work! However, if one was to track these down, they would find that  these claims reference studies that were done using gigantic air-ionizer fans, which are much more powerful than a small bracelet. Interestingly a simple Google search reveals that the “doctor” in claim 4 does not seem to even exist. There are much more problems with these claims, and they can be found here.

katatrepsis has this to say:

[The companies are basically saying] “look at all this good stuff air ionisers do, here’s a bracelet that does the same thing” [which] is like saying “look how great scuba equipment is for breathing underwater, here’s a paper bag filled with air”

The conclusions that can be made from research have to be very carefully constructed. By taking legitimate research and formed their own unscientific conclusions, these companies can maliciously miscommunicate the studies to trick potential consumers.

As students in a science communication class, we have a duty to be able to identify these miscommunications and set them straight for the public, as katatrepsis does.

– Tony Hui

References:
http://trueler.com/2011/10/19/holographic-energy-bands-bracelet-watches-scam/
http://www.lifestrength.com/the-vitamin-you-wear
http://katatrepsis.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/negative-ions-and-health-a-review/
http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/powerbalance.htm
http://www.health24.com/fitness/General/16-4634,60576.asp

6 Comments

Posted in Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science Communicators

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Wave Goodbye to Shots: The Future of Drug Administration

Posted on September 17, 2012 by | 2 comments

A breakthrough by MIT Engineers is making waves in medical drug administration- literally. Previous studies explored using low ultrasound frequency waves rather than a shot or pill to deliver drugs. How is that possible? The ultrasound waves make the skin more permeable allowing drugs to be administered directly on to and passively through the skin. Results of these studies, however, have been lacking.  What researchers have now discovered is the key to success is a combination of both a low and high frequency wave.

Why bother with area of research when we already have pills or shots to give us vaccines or drugs? The possible use of this technique has huge implications on how medicine is produced and administered in the future. Not only is this drug delivery painless, but also direct and noninvasive to the skin.

Watch the video below where Carl Schoellhammer, one of the lead researchers, explains how this technique works:

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Youtube video from user MITNewsOffice

To summarize: a high and low frequency create tiny bubbles in a solution, which implode causing jets of water to remove the very top layer of skin. Drugs are able to be applied via patch or as the fluid the bubbles are created in.

What does this mean for the future?

Image from Google

On a broader scope, if the ultrasound device is made easily available and affordable for wide spread use in hospitals, the need for needles could be hugely reduced. Needle free drug delivery could potentially be more sterile and safer. It could reduce the degree of negative effects or injury from contaminated or damaged needles as well as the dangerous waste of used needles. This change in medical procedure could specifically have a huge effect on third world countries concerning sterility and treatment problems.

Insulin uptake after single freq (blue) and dual freq (red) treatments. Adapted from: Schoellhammer, C. M., et al, 2012

On a smaller scale, practical use of this treatment in the future could changethedaily life and health of diabetics. The two compounds a study used were glucose and insulin, and the results showed that they were successfully delivered passively through the skin.

Eventually, this ultrasound technique could just become an alternative for those who are uncomfortable with swallowing pills or can’t tolerate needles. I, for one, have a vested interest to see where this treatment goes in the future. Because, really, who doesn’t dread getting a shot from the doctors?

– Rachel Chang

References:

Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety : http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/needlestick_injuries.html

Johnson, M.E. et al. “Synergistic effects of chemical enhancers and therapeutic ultrasound on transdermal drug delivery.” J Phram Sci. 12 June. 2012. Web. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8818988 (accessed Oct, 1, 2012)

MIT Media Relations. “Getting (drugs) under your skin.” http://web.mit.edu/press/2012/ultrasound-waves-and-drug-delivery.html (accessed Oct, 1, 2012)

Ogura, M. et al. “Low-frequency sonophoresis: Current status and future prospects.” Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 3 Aug. 2008. Web. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169409X08000860 (accessed Oct, 1, 2012)

Polat, B.E. et al.”Transport pathways and enhancement mechanisms within localized and non-localized transport regions in skin treated with low-frequency sonophoresis and sodium lauryl sulfate.” J Pharm Sci.10 Aug. 2011. Web. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20740667 (accessed Oct,1, 2012)

Schoellhammer, C. M. et al. “Rapid Skin Permeabilization by the Simultaneous Application of Dual-frequency, High-intensity Ultrasound.” J. Control. Release. 22 Aug. 2012. Web. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2012.08.019 (accessed Oct,1 , 2012)

Image source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/resources/library/images/20081030PHT41044/20081030PHT41044_original.jpg

Schoellhammer, C. M. et al. “Rapid Skin Permeabilization by the Simultaneous Application of Dual-frequency, High-intensity Ultrasound.” J. Control. Release. 22 Aug. 2012. Web. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2012.08.019

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science Communication

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