Environmental Medicine News

The News Review:

- ‘Doctor’ treating TO, others is under investigation
- Linheng Li Lab Documents The Development Of Cancer Stem Cells
- Father Kills Daughter; Doubted Virginity
- Pan’s Labyrinth: A Shocking Fairy Tale
- The Genius of p53 to Thwart the Big C
- Science and art collide at Dallas’ ‘Body Worlds’

‘Doctor’ treating TO, others is under investigation
ESPN - Jan 25, 2007
If Sloan is able to regrow tendons and ligaments, suggests prominent internist and sports medicine specialist Dr. Gary Wadler, “He not only would own the Nobel Prize, he would go down in the annals as one of the great minds of all time if it were that simple. The prolotherapy questionThough controversial with many who practice traditional medicine, prolotherapy treatments contain no banned or illegal substances. The theory behind prolotherapy is that injections of natural substances around the injured area produce inflammation, thus triggering an increase in blood supply and the flow of nutrients to stimulate tissue to repair itself. Prolotherapy first appeared in major health publications in the early 1960s, though not in great volume and generally accompanied by conflicting evidence. Equally dubious about Sloan’s science is Dr. Ralph Gambardella, president and board chairman of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, where Dr… Gary Wadler, “He not only would own the Nobel Prize, he would go down in the annals as one of the great minds of all time if it were that simple. The prolotherapy questionThough controversial with many who practice traditional medicine, prolotherapy treatments contain no banned or illegal substances. The theory behind prolotherapy is that injections of natural substances around the injured area produce inflammation, thus triggering an increase in blood supply and the flow of nutrients to stimulate tissue to repair itself. Prolotherapy first appeared in major health publications in the early 1960s, though not in great volume and generally accompanied by conflicting evidence. Equally dubious about Sloan’s science is Dr. Ralph Gambardella, president and board chairman of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, where Dr. Frank Jobe pioneered ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction — better known as Tommy John elbow surgery.

Linheng Li Lab Documents The Development Of Cancer Stem Cells
Medical News Today - Jan 25, 2007
, Associate Investigator, are the first and last authors, respectively, on a new publication that clarifies how normal stem cells become cancer stem cells and how cancer stem cells can cause the formation of tumors. The paper, “PTEN-deficient intestinal stem cells initiate intestinal polyposis” was posted to the Nature Genetics Web site on January 21. The theory that cancer stem cells initiate and drive cancer cell growth has been gaining popularity in both clinical and basic research. Recent studies have identified cancer stem cells and shown that they may cause tumors when transplanted into a secondary host. Until now, however, little was known about the process by which mutations in a stem cell result in primary tumor initiation. The Li Lab team studied the intestinal system in mice in which one of the human tumor suppressor genes, PTEN, had been deleted… of Biochemistry, Purdue University; Leroy Hood, Institute for Systems Biology; Hong Wu, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, UCLA School of Medicine. Linheng Li also holds an appointment as Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. About the Stowers InstituteHoused in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research conducts basic research on fundamental processes of cellular life. Through its commitment to collaborative research and the use of cutting-edge technology, the Institute seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease. The Institute was founded by Jim and Virginia Stowers, two cancer survivors who have created combined endowments of $2 billion in support of basic research of the highest quality.

Father Kills Daughter; Doubted Virginity
Washington Post - Jan 25, 2007
correction strong {color:#CC0000;text-transform:uppercase;}Father Kills Daughter; Doubted VirginityBy SHAFIKA MATTARThe Associated PressThursday, January 25, 2007; 7:38 AMAMMAN, Jordan — A Jordanian man fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter whom he suspected of having sex despite a medical exam that proved her chastity, an official said Thursday. The man surrendered to police hours after the killing, saying he had done it for family honor. A state forensic pathologist, who works at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Amman where an autopsy was performed, said in a phone interview that the girl had run away from home several times for unknown reasons. Weeks ago, the girl had returned home from a family protection clinic after doctors had vouched for her virginity and the father had signed a pledge not to harm her, the pathologist said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case. “The tests proved that she was a virgin,” the pathologist said. The girl returned home only after her father signed a statement promising not to harm her, he added. The father shot the girl four times in the head on Tuesday… The man surrendered to police hours after the killing, saying he had done it for family honor. A state forensic pathologist, who works at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Amman where an autopsy was performed, said in a phone interview that the girl had run away from home several times for unknown reasons. Weeks ago, the girl had returned home from a family protection clinic after doctors had vouched for her virginity and the father had signed a pledge not to harm her, the pathologist said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case. “The tests proved that she was a virgin,” the pathologist said. The girl returned home only after her father signed a statement promising not to harm her, he added. The father shot the girl four times in the head on Tuesday. On Wednesday, an autopsy was performed that again showed “she was still a virgin,” the pathologist said.

Pan’s Labyrinth: A Shocking Fairy Tale
AlterNet - Jan 25, 2007
Like the many fairy tale heroines before her, she is alternately brave and contrary. So too, are her fellow freedom fighters, who are busy battling the fascists through subterfuge and deceit. Principle among them is Mercedes, the housekeeper, who sneaks food and medicine to the rebels with the help of the local doctor. Both characters are wonderfully drawn, and give the film a depth of humanity that only adds to the phantasmagorical elements. Real and imaginary monstersInitially, adult and child worlds coexist, and while the grownups go on about their nonsensical actions (ration cards and politics) Ofelia is busy on her own quest. The first thing that greets her in the forest is a fairy, an insectoid sprite that literally leads her down the garden path and into the labyrinth of the title. In the centre of the winding circle is a hole in the ground in which dwells a faun… ” That image is appears in one specific scene in Pan’s Labyrinth, which I won’t spoil for you here. Beauty and horror are so closely intertwined it is sometimes hard to pick them apart. That is perhaps, partly the nature of Spain as nation. The idea of the two Spains (an allusion to the lines Antonio Machado “Here lies half of Spain. It died of the other half”), is addressed by the Captain himself, who says he wants his son to be born in a new clean Spain. The dark tangle of the place must first be wiped away by the precision and order of Franco’s fascists. Unlike the rebels who live in a cave in the mountain, or the creatures of the underworld, this new Spain is a place of unquestioning obedience.

The Genius of p53 to Thwart the Big C
Earthtimes.org - Jan 25, 2007
Ronald DePinho, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, had experimented much earlier on in manipulating “oncogenes”. When these genes are activated they encourage the spread of cancer. Now, however, scientists are carrying out experiments to study the reverse of that. They are looking closely at the role of p53 in controlling the growth of and even doing away with cancerous tumors. As a result of their experiments on genetically altered mice, two teams of scientists in the United States, one led by Tyler Jacks, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the other led by Scott Lowe at the New York Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, have now made it known that certain types of tumors shrivel or disappear altogether when the p53 function of a certain gene is reactivated or restored.

Science and art collide at Dallas’ ‘Body Worlds’
The Daily Campus - Jan 25, 2007
Well, technically, they’re called “plastinates,” but when you’ve got a perfect authentic human preserved in a post-mortem state, it’s a corpse. But it’s really not. The sting of death is gone at Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies, now at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. New life has been injected into the science of anatomy and brought the human body into the public domain in an acceptable manner. The thing is, when you’re used to seeing organs falling apart in formaldehyde jars, you come to accept the human body as an awkward and gross creation that you tolerate just because you’d be dead without it. That’s not going to happen after you see this show. Bodies sliced down the middle, bodies in slabs… For example, I didn’t know how translucent the bones of a human pelvis are. Even the skull and the fingers leak some light through them. Modern medicine shows up as well. There’s a human heart with two replaced valves in it, which look exactly like the seal of a beer keg. You’ve got a few replaced joints and one body that looks like it lived to be 110 years old because doctors had to replace almost every single pivoting structure in the body with artificial joints. The joints are weird only because they have exact color and shine of a metal car bumper. Yeah, Granny sports a chrome interior.