Cancer, if any word could mean death- this would be it. As far as we know, it is a condition without cure, sure its treatable, but at what cost? Chemotherapy, radiation, they kill us, starve us, wear us thin.
But what if we could do the opposite? What if it was possible to eat to starve cancer? That may sound ridiculous, but in a few years we may be doing just that.
This is possible through what are called anti-angiogenic foods.
But to understand how these foods work you need to understand cancerous tumors.
The main power of a cancerous tumor is to recruit its own blood supply, once this is accomplished,the tumor has the ability to grow exponentially through recruiting more blood through this process, formerly know as angiogenisis.
Anti-Angiogenic foods, as you would expect, limit angiogenisis through natural inhibitors. These inhibitors hinder angiogenisis, and thus starving the tumor, and with it, cancer.
So yes, we can eat to starve cancer. Cool huh?
Friday, April 18, 2014
Exoneration, and The Innocence Project
In our world of law and justice, accusations are a fundamental thing. But have you ever been accused? For something you didn't do? Sometimes the truth is not always as it seems, police make mistakes, prompt false confessions, and prior to recent times relied almost exclusively on witnesses, and testimonies.
Would you be willing to rest a life sentence on the word of a single person? A person who might be biased, confused, or unstable? I sure wouldn't.
However, with new forensic technology, advances have been made. Advances, such as DNA profiling provide irrefutable evidence, that for better or worse, cannot tell a lie. Like I said, in modern times this is standard practice, but prior to its existence, countless innocents were falsely convicted. This has been proven by The innocence Project.
The Innocence project is an organization dedicated to the exoneration of falsely convicted persons. Now, using methods such as DNA profiling, it is possible to re-examine evidence to find out what really happened. So far, they have proven three hundred and sixteen people to be innocent of their crimes. Its truly an incredible thing, and through learning about it, I have found new meaning in the study of forensics.
So now that you know what it can do, how does DNA profiling actually work? Through learning about the process I can claim the following: DNA profiling works through electrolyte gel. A sample of DNA is collected from both the crime scene and the victim, and smeared in a strait line onto a specially prepared electrolyte sample in tow separate lines. A third control example is also smeared onto a third and separate line to see the maximum VTNR lengths. The strands are then allowed to grow, until each line has a full sized VTNR, or variable number tandem repeat. Basically this is just the pattern of lines that appears on the electrolyte gel.
The two patterns are then compared, if they match odds are the suspect is guilty, however if they don't... then they are in fact, innocent.
Would you be willing to rest a life sentence on the word of a single person? A person who might be biased, confused, or unstable? I sure wouldn't.
However, with new forensic technology, advances have been made. Advances, such as DNA profiling provide irrefutable evidence, that for better or worse, cannot tell a lie. Like I said, in modern times this is standard practice, but prior to its existence, countless innocents were falsely convicted. This has been proven by The innocence Project.
The Innocence project is an organization dedicated to the exoneration of falsely convicted persons. Now, using methods such as DNA profiling, it is possible to re-examine evidence to find out what really happened. So far, they have proven three hundred and sixteen people to be innocent of their crimes. Its truly an incredible thing, and through learning about it, I have found new meaning in the study of forensics.
So now that you know what it can do, how does DNA profiling actually work? Through learning about the process I can claim the following: DNA profiling works through electrolyte gel. A sample of DNA is collected from both the crime scene and the victim, and smeared in a strait line onto a specially prepared electrolyte sample in tow separate lines. A third control example is also smeared onto a third and separate line to see the maximum VTNR lengths. The strands are then allowed to grow, until each line has a full sized VTNR, or variable number tandem repeat. Basically this is just the pattern of lines that appears on the electrolyte gel.
The two patterns are then compared, if they match odds are the suspect is guilty, however if they don't... then they are in fact, innocent.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Laughter and the Immune System
Laughter, its a powerful thing, it can make you happy, less stressful, even more relaxed. But can it help you heal? From an injury? From sickness? For some time this has been a topic under scrutiny from several researchers in the medical field, these many sources were compiled into a single document- Laughter and the Immune System. That's what we'll be looking at today.
Laughter and the Immune System is in essence, a highly advanced, convoluted pile of scientific jargon. However I say this in the nicest way I can, It's very through. It takes all of these very different scientific reports and compiles them into one consecutive report, witch based on the sheer amount of data, and the complexity of it, is something very difficult to accomplish. It examines the effects of laughter, and humor on the salivary gland, N.K. cells, as well as cytotoxicity- these represent the immune system, as well as the body's ability for cancer prevention respectively. It pretty exciting to even think about, laughter as a cure for whatever ails you, unfortunately every scrap of evidence in the paper shows that that simply isn't the case.
Laughter, has absolutely no affect on a patients ability to fight, and in some cases, prevent an affliction.
Personally, despite this, I still believe that laughter is a major reprieve for any sick patient. Think about it, do you want to be miserable when you are sick? Of course not! Who would? Humor provides a reprieve from it, makes you forget the condition for a moment and lets you enjoy yourself. It relieves stress as well, witch I imagine could help prevent getting sick in the first place. In my own opinion, even if humor doesn't "actually" help, it never hurts.
Laughter and the Immune System is in essence, a highly advanced, convoluted pile of scientific jargon. However I say this in the nicest way I can, It's very through. It takes all of these very different scientific reports and compiles them into one consecutive report, witch based on the sheer amount of data, and the complexity of it, is something very difficult to accomplish. It examines the effects of laughter, and humor on the salivary gland, N.K. cells, as well as cytotoxicity- these represent the immune system, as well as the body's ability for cancer prevention respectively. It pretty exciting to even think about, laughter as a cure for whatever ails you, unfortunately every scrap of evidence in the paper shows that that simply isn't the case.
Laughter, has absolutely no affect on a patients ability to fight, and in some cases, prevent an affliction.
Personally, despite this, I still believe that laughter is a major reprieve for any sick patient. Think about it, do you want to be miserable when you are sick? Of course not! Who would? Humor provides a reprieve from it, makes you forget the condition for a moment and lets you enjoy yourself. It relieves stress as well, witch I imagine could help prevent getting sick in the first place. In my own opinion, even if humor doesn't "actually" help, it never hurts.
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