Tag Archives: medicine

Werewolf Syndrome

Posted on March 24, 2014 by shamimhr | Leave a comment

There are three words in the world that when put together, can terrify almost every girl. “Excess body hair”! Well, embrace yourselves girls because here’s a more terrifying one, “Werewolf Syndrome”! Although the name might sound cool to team-Jacob twilight fans, it is another name for a condition called Hypertrichosis.

Hypertrichosis is referred to a condition in which, abnormal amount of hair growth covers all over the body, excluding androgen-induced hair growth. Men, women, adult and children have the same chance of showing this condition.

There are two major types of hypertrichosis: generalized hypertrichosis in which hair covers the entire body, and localized hypertrichosis, which create patches of hair on certain areas of body.

Hypertrichosis (werewolf syndrom). photo from: http://flic.kr/p/9nbmCN

Hypertrichosis (werewolf syndrome). photo from : https://flic.kr/p/jQ785x

Another method of classification, categorizes cases of hypertrichosis based on the cause of this condition into two classes of congenital and acquired hypertrichosis.

The congenital form of hypertrichosis, which is very rare, is caused by genetic mutation resulting in the addition or removal of millions of nucleotides. This form is always easily recognized based on the existence of excess hair at birth.

The acquired type of hypertrichosis happens after birth and is caused by different medical conditions such as hormone imbalances like hyperthyroidism, body reacting to certain medications or anabolic steroids, advanced-stage HIV or eating disorders such as anorexia. Also, medications such as Minoxidil that prevent hair loss are believed to be a trigger for the localized type of acquired hypertrichosis.

Limited Treatment options are available, and the results of therapy not always satisfactory. Different body locations or patients require different method of hair removal, and the method adopted will depend on the character, area, and amount of hair growth, as well as on the age of the patient, and their personal preference. The currently available treatment methods include cosmetic procedures (bleaching, trimming, shaving, plucking, waxing, and chemical depilatories), and hair removal using light sources and lasers.

Laser-assisted hair removal is the most efficient method of long-term hair removal currently available, but there are drawbacks involving this method, which is briefly explained in the following video.

-shamim

Beard Implants: A Growing Trend?

Posted on March 24, 2014 by monicaleslie | Leave a comment

Hipsters are known for their trends. From thick-rimmed glasses to flannel plaid, they always strive to be unique. However, none of these trends are as elusive as the full, thick beard so many hipsters strive for.

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons

Although hair transplantation surgeries have been available for years, beard transplants are becoming increasingly popular due to the latest male fashions. According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, facial transplant surgeries have increased 14.2% from 2008 to 2010 and it continues to be on the rise.

A beard transplant is historically done by a series of micrografts and minigrafts; harvesting the hair follicles from the back of the scalp and inserting them into incisions made on the face with a 0.8mm scalpel. However, these techniques are very meticulous, time consuming and require quite a long healing period. In addition, these old techniques limit the surgeons to only harvesting 500-700 hair follicles in one surgery. Most patients require the harvesting of between 500 and 1000 follicles to complete their beard transplant, so this number is less than satisfactory.

The latest technique is called a NeoGraft Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) hair transplant. This technique still collects the hairs from the back of the scalp and implants them in the necessary regions on the face. However the Neograft device improves the accuracy and speed of a FUE hair transplant while being less invasive, and requiring significantly less healing time. Using Neograft, a surgeon is able to harvest and transplant over 1500 hair follicles in one surgery making it more desirable for those individuals who require more hairs to be transplanted.

After the surgery one can expect the hairs that have been transplanted to grow as any normal hair would. A man will have to shave this hair like they would a normal beard. Dr. Bauman, the first plastic surgeon to routinely use the Neograft device says,

“It takes about a week to heal from the procedure. It takes 6 to 12 weeks for hair to start to grow. Half of the transplanted follicles have visible growth after 6 months. The rest fill in after a year.”

Although the latest techniques make a beard transplant surgery a more minor procedure it is not without its costs. A typical beard transplant surgery costs $10 per follicle. This equates to a cost of anywhere between $5000 and $10000. In addition, it should be noted that the hairs that are removed from the back of scalp never grow back.

FUE hair transplant, similar to FUE beard transplant. Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons

With less invasive procedures becoming available and the trend of a thick, full beard being more prominent than ever, it’s no wonder that beard transplants are becoming more popular. So, to all hipsters out there, you are not alone if you choose to embrace this growing trend.

Monica Leslie

The Return of the Woolly Mammoth?

Posted on March 18, 2014 by justinsidhu | 3 comments

What if it was possible to bring back the woolly mammoths? Should we do it, or would it be unethical to bring back a species that went extinct thousands of years ago?

From Wikipedia Commons

Woolly mammoths first appeared over 200,000 years ago and are similar to modern elephants but were adapted to the cold environment of the last ice age.

Recently scientists have found a female woolly mammoth that was about 2.5 years old buried in ice in Russia. This specimen was extremely well preserved due to the ice, which is remarkable since it was alive 39,000 years ago. The mammoth that they found still had fur and its internal organs mostly intact, most importantly scientist were able to extract mammoth blood.

The cloning process can only begin if the DNA is found to be useable and undamaged. Also since cloning is a relatively new process, methods would have to be created to do so and if scientists are successful in cloning the mammoth this could revolutionize the field of cloning. Also if it is possible, it could even be used to bring back endangered species.

The main problem is whether or not we should do it because woolly mammoths had their chance and evolution selected against them. If scientists are successful in cloning the mammoth then that would be the only one of its entire species alive and in an environment that it is hardly even adapted to.

3 Comments

Posted in Biological sciences, Science in the news

Tagged Cloning, Ethics, medicine, Woolly Mammoths

Artificial Organs?

Posted on February 24, 2014 by justinsidhu | 5 comments

Imagine if you or someone you know desperately needed an organ transplant and had to wait months to years for a chance to receive one. This is currently happening to people all over the world and according to the Globe and Mail the average wait transplant wait time in British Columbia is 2,145 days, which is far greater than the national average of 1,258 days. Such a long wait could be disastrous for patients and could even prove fatal if they don’t get a transplant in time. But what if there was a solution to this problem? This brings in the concept of human created artificial organs. As the name suggests artificial organs are created in synthetically using newly discovered scientific methods.

From Wikipedia Commons

The first case of a synthetic organ transplant happened in July 2011, when Swedish surgeons implanted the first synthetic trachea in a 36 year old cancer patient. The trachea was created to be nearly identical to the patient’s original organ by using a 3D laser scan and then using that they were able to craft a nearly identical organ. They also immersed the synthetic wind pipe in a stem cell solution which was created from the patient’s bone marrow. A major benefit from this new method is that antirejection drugs are no longer required since the immune system would recognize the organ and would not attack it.

Also other body parts could be replaced, for example the jaw bone for an 83 year old woman was replaced in 2012. The artificial jaw bone was created using a 3D printer based on a scan of her original bone that was damaged due to a bone infection. This scan was then used in a 3D printer and the new jaw was created out of titanium.

Although we are currently unable to replace vital organs such as kidneys, we may be able to do it in the future as science is always advancing and new discoveries are made everyday.

By: Justin

5 Comments

Posted in Biological sciences, Science in the news

Tagged 3-d printing, health, medicine, organ, printer, stem cells, technology, transplants

Perfect Pitch by Popping a Pill?

Posted on February 3, 2014 by monicaleslie | 1 comment

Have you ever wanted to win that karaoke contest on Saturday night, but just couldn’t seem to stay on key?

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Commons: Encore Entertainment

Well, you may be in luck! Researchers have recently found that you can learn how to detect and produce absolute pitch, even as an adult, with the help of a pill. In this study it was demonstrated that the ability to achieve absolute pitch could still be learned as an adult (with the aid of a pill) even though there is normally a critical period (usually early in life) for being able to learn this type behaviour.

Absolute pitch is the ability to identify or produce a tone without the aid of any reference tone and it is estimated that only 1 in 10,000 people actually have the ability to do this. Although it is believed to be a genetic trait, it was previously thought that if absolute pitch was not learned during the critical period (from birth until around age 7) that it could never be obtained. However, with the help of a medication this critical period can be reopened and allow us more time to learn absolute pitch.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Commons: Yngve Bakken Nilsen

Valproate, or valproic acid is normally used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraine headaches. However, in the study mentioned earlier it was individuals taking valproate that were able to learn to identify pitch significantly better than individuals taking a placebo. Takao Hensch, a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, says:

“It’s quite remarkable since there are no known reports of adults acquiring absolute pitch.”

Valproate is thought to be able to achieve these results by modifying the brain’s plasticity to a more juvenile state. As we age, our neuroplasticity decreases and that’s what causes these critical periods to exist. So, a higher plasticity in adulthood allows us to learn things we were once only able to learn as a child. It makes the brain “young again”.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Commons: Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy Poirrier

What does this mean? Well, being able to win that karaoke competition may only be the start of it. Critical periods exist for a wide variety of other things including language development. This discovery could also potentially enable us to learn new languages more effectively. The possibilities are truly endless.

However, Takao Hensch warns:

“…Critical periods have evolved for a reason and it is a process that one probably would not want to tamper with carelessly … If we’ve shaped our identities through development, through a critical period, and have matched our brain to the environment in which we were raised … then if we were to erase that by reopening the critical period, we run quite a risk as well.”

Although this finding seems to have incredible potential, would winning karaoke really be worth losing part of your personality?

1 Comment

Posted in Biological sciences, Outreach project, Science in the news

Tagged absolute pitch, critical period, medicine, neuroplasticity, pitch, valproate

The Future of Science: Organs on a Chip

Posted on February 2, 2014 by tonycaputo | 2 comments

With a future rooted deeply in technology, it is only a matter of time until sectors like medicine merge completely with technology. the ideas of half-human half-robot may seem distant in the future, however the technology is a lot closer than we imagine. Let me introduce you to the future of technology, organs on a chip.

The researchers over at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have found a way to intertwine technology and medicine, by creating the first organs on a chip.

A functioning lung cell system embedded in a chip Image courtesy: Wyss institute

By using a microfluidic chip as a “cell membrane”, they have been able to create the most realistic cell environment; far more accurate than petri-dish experiments and significantly less subjective than animal testing. Organs on a cell work by using small channels inside the chip as well as a porous membrane to simulate a cell environment.

For the example of a lung cell on a chip, capillary cells are inserted on one side of the membrane, while air sac cells are inserted on the opposite side of the membrane. Blood and air flow can be simulated through the chip, as well as rhythmic strains can be exerted on the chip to simulate breathing and moving. Different chemicals and particles can be administered through the chip, mimicking similar situations to drug dosages and chemical encounters.

Cross section of a lung on a chip
Image courtesy: Wyss institute

The benefits of having different functioning organ cells on a chip are numerous, even with the technology currently in its early stages. Drugs could be tested on real human cells and provide real human responses, all without the dangers associated with human testing. The toxicity of different chemicals could be tested on human cells and the responses could be watched in real time, something that cannot be done accurately today. A large issue with drug testing today is that drug tests done on animals and adults differ greatly when administered to children. By testing cells on a chip that are from a child, we can get a better understanding how the drug will react to children, opposed to the current ambiguities associated with how a drug will react.

Imagine the possibilities of using a system of different cell types on a chip, all linked together forming a network similar to the human body. A system like this could eliminate the need for animal testing, and be far more accurate than working with human cells on a petri-dish. Organ cells on a chip could revolutionize the drug industry.

For more information on how this system works:

-Tony Caputo

2 Comments

Posted in Biological sciences, Issues in science, Public engagement, Science communication, Science in the news

Tagged animal testing, Body parts on a cell, cells, drug testing, medicine, microfluidic cells, technology

3-D Printers: Hope or hype?

Posted on January 19, 2014 by richellee | 2 comments

Over the past few years, hype over 3-D printing has continued to grow. With each new revelation comes increased anticipation of the industry’s potential, now including even the biomedical field. The media reports of printers designed to create almost unbelievable possibilities from live tissues, bone substitutes, to the potential of organs. However, how reputable are these claims? How is this technology even possible? Well to start, simply by changing the ink.

A Standard Public 3-D Printer
Source: Wikipedia Commons

The “Ink” is Alive

Genuine cells have been printed and successfully cultured into tissues through the use of “bio-ink”. This ink contains live cells in a formulation of matrix molecules. During printing, the cells are layered upon each other in an additive procedure, eventually resulting in a 3-D structure. Why bother “printing” out the cells? The appeal of 3-D printers is in the efficiency. They save countless hours of manual labour normally needed to layer a simple tissue, let alone an organ.

Beyond In-Vitro

The BioPen goes beyond the standard of printing tissues onto slides. The handheld printer literally “draws” a framework onto damaged or missing pieces of bone. Initially, the pen deposits modified ink, a gel made from biopolymers and live cells, onto the targeted area. The notion is that by combining this with regenerative stem cell therapy, the polymers will eventually degrade and be replaced by new tissue. The BioPen would allow surgeons to deliver cells instantly and accurately as a temporary substitute.

Below is a short clip showing the pen in action, courtesy of the Australian Research Council of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES).

Tailor Made Organs?

3-D printing has large implications for the future of regenerative medicine, even if we are not quite there yet. This technology would reduce the demand for organ and tissue transplants, notorious for their long wait lists. Though it’s not near ready for clinical use, the bio-printing company Organovo claims that they will unveil the first 3-D printed liver by the end of 2014.

Cancerous liver cells: a common reason for the high demand of transplants
Source: Wikipedia Commons

The Hope

3-D printing continues to rapidly evolve as it becomes more readily available in many fields. The 3-D biomedical industry is still in its initial stages, as researchers will have to overcome barriers to make it more efficient and economically feasible. Regardless, presentations have already demonstrated its viability, from the printing of live tissues to the BioPen’s application into orthopedic surgery. Ultimately, the potential of 3-D printing is likely to have large further implications for not only the medical industry, but society in general.

-Richelle Eger

References

“BioPen to Rewrite Orthopaedic Implants Surgery.” University of Wollongong. N.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “Need different types of tissue? Just print them.” ScienceDaily, 24 Oct. 2013. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.

Institute of Physics. “3-D tissue printing: Cells from the eye inkjet-printed for the first time.” ScienceDaily, 18 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.

Mearian, Lucas. “The First 3D Printed Organ – a Liver – Is Expected in 2014.” Computerworld. 26 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.

2 Comments

Posted in Science in the news

Tagged 3-d printing, bio-ink, biopen, live cells, medicine, organ, printer, regenerative, stem cells, transplants

Tag Archives: medicine

Werewolf Syndrome

Beard Implants: A Growing Trend?

The Return of the Woolly Mammoth?

Artificial Organs?

Perfect Pitch by Popping a Pill?

The Future of Science: Organs on a Chip

3-D Printers: Hope or hype?

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