All Posts Tagged With: "humans"

This is getting worse folks….did you know that talking on your cell phone while in a car makes it even worse?  This is also another source of radiation.  This study is very enlightening….

Link: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8443541.stm?ad=1

Excerpt:

After all the concern over possible damage to health from using mobile phones, scientists have found a potential benefit from radiation.

Their work has been carried out on mice, but it suggests mobiles might protect against Alzheimer’s.

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21208663&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Lyme disease is a zoonotic, vector-borne disease affecting humans, dogs,
horses and other species. It is caused by infection with spirochetes of the
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato group which are transmitted to the mammalian
host by infected ticks (Ixodes). Exposure to B. burgdorferi is commonly
diagnosed by serological testing. The gold standard for the detection of
antibodies to B.
burgdorferi is a two-step procedure of an ELISA followed by confirmatory
Western blotting (WB). Here, we developed and validated a new bead-based
multiplex assay for the detection of antibodies to B. burgdorferi in canine
serum which combined the testing by ELISA and WB in a single quantitative
test. B. burgdorferi outer surface protein A (OspA), OspC and OspF were
expressed in E. coli. The recombinant proteins were coupled to fluorescent
beads providing the matrix of the assay. Two sets of canine sera were used
for validation of the multiplex assay. First, sera from 79 dogs with known
ELISA and WB results were used to establish the conditions of the assay.
These samples were selected to provide similar numbers of pre-tested sera
ranging from negative to high positive results and included sera from
vaccinated and/or naturally infected dogs. A high correlation was observed
for detection of antibodies to B. burgdorferi in the single and multiplex
assays (n=79). Spearman’s rank correlations were 0.93, 0.88 and 0.96 for
OspA, OspC and OspF, respectively. Second, a total of 188 canine serum
samples that were not tested previously were used for further multiplex
assay validation. All samples were also blindly analyzed for antibodies to
B.
burgdorferi antigens by WB. The WB results provided a ‘relative gold
standard’
for each antigen and were used to perform a receiver operating curve
analysis.
The areas under the curves were 0.93 for OspA, 0.82 for OspC, and 0.89 for
OspF.
Multiplex assay interpretation ranges for antibodies to all three B.
burgdorferi antigens in canine serum were established by likelihood
analysis. The diagnostic sensitivities of the individual OspA, OspC and OspF
bead-based assays were 83%, 62% and 82%, respectively, and the diagnostic
specificities were 90%, 89% and 86%, respectively. The new multiplex assay
provides a sensitive and fully quantitative platform for the simultaneous
evaluation of antibodies to B.
burgdorferi OspA, OspC and OspF antigens and distinguishes between
antibodies that originated from vaccination or natural exposure to B.
burgdorferi.
Copyright A(c) 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20207197&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Dogs and people are exposed to and susceptible to infection by
many of the same tick-borne bacterial pathogens in the order
Rickettsiales, including Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia
canis, E. chaffeensis, E. ewingii, Rickettsia rickettsii, R.
conorii, and other spotted fever group rickettsiae. Recent
findings include descriptions of novel Ehrlichia and Rickettsia
species, recognition of the occurrence and clinical significance
of co-infection, and increasing awareness of Rhipicephalus
sanguineus-associated diseases. Newer molecular assays are
available, although renewed efforts to encourage their use are
needed. This review highlights the ecology and epidemiology of
these diseases, and proposes avenues for future investigation.
Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Full article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18621561

Excerpt:

The number of known Bartonella species is rapidly growing. Some of them are responsible for distinct infectious diseases and show different prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility profiles. Not only have some vectors of Bartonella not been fully characterized, but also intermediate hosts are actually much more numerous and diverse than previously thought. Among these, dogs differ from cats because they tend to suffer an overt disease similar to humans, thus providing the base for a useful animal indicator and research model. Among the debilitating conditions with an unclear impact on the course of these infections, specific conditions (e.g., homelessness, alcoholism) have been linked to a much higher prevalence and to high risk of unfavorable outcome. Due to the limited arsenal of antibiotics effective in vivo on this peculiar intracellular pathogen, the risk/benefit balance of antibiotic therapy is sometimes difficult to draw. In this evolving picture, the recent discoveries of new species highlights the importance of basic molecular biology resources that would bring major public health benefits if available in endemic areas, and specifically in many areas of Peru and Bolivia.

Full article: ttp://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml

Excerpt:

Wait a minute; that cannot possibly be true.

Can it?

The US Department of Agriculture states that “the Guinea pig’s vitamin C requirement is 10-15 mg per day under normal conditions and 15-25 mg per day if pregnant, lactating, or growing.” (1)

Well, that sounds reasonable. But how much is that compared to humans?

An adult guinea pig weighs about one kilogram (2.2 pounds). Guinea pigs therefore need between 10 and 25 milligrams of C per kilogram.

Among the various species of hard ticks, Ixodes ricinus is the most frequently
found tick throughout Europe. As with other ixodid ticks, the developmental
cycle runs through three stages. In each stage a blood meal is required in order
to develop to the next stage. Ixodes ricinus has been found to feed on more than
300 different vertebrate species. Usually, larval ticks feed on small mammals
such as mice and become infected with various microorganisms and viruses, of
which some are substantial pathogens to humans. The pathogens remain in the tick
during molting and are thus transstadially transmitted to the next developmental
stage. Pathogens transmitted to humans are the agents of Lyme borreliosis, the
tick-borne encephalitis virus, Rickettsia species, Anaplasma phagocytophilum,
occasionally Francisella tularensis, and protozoal Babesia species. Within the
scope of an EU project Ixodes ricinus ticks from all federal states of Austria
were searched by means of PCR methods for bacterial pathogens such as Anaplasma
phagocytophilum, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Coxiella burnetii, Ehrlichia
spp., Francisella tularensis, Rickettsia spp., and protozoal Babesia.
Additionally, the prevalence of Bartonella spp. in this tick species was also
determined. Besides the singular detection of Coxiella burnetii and Francisella
tularensis in one tick collection site the overall prevalence of Anaplasma
phagocytophilum, borreliae, rickettsae and babesiae in Ixodes ricinus amounted
to 15%, 14%, 6% and surprising 36% and 51%, respectively. Bartonellae were
detected in about 7%.