Medical Science Digest

  Social distancing, one of many interventions used to combat airborne communicable diseases. By Patrick James Hibbert  25 AUG 2020 Researchers predict social distancing will prevent a rapid, overwhelming epidemic according to modeling studies. Governments also used this type of intervention in prior pandemics. One being the 1918 influenza pandemic in which it had moderate success.  There is not much information about the health benefits of imposing statewide social distancing measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Because of this, a team of researchers from the United States, South Africa, and the United Kingdom conducted a study on it. They wanted to know what the COVID-19 case growth rate was, before and after social distancing measures where enacted. And, what the public health impacts of government-mandated non-pharmacological interventions were after they started and before they ended. In response to the Spanish Flu pandemic, social distancing and ma...

Brains have resources for the execution of only a finite number of tasks at the same time.  Geralt/Pexels The brain's shared pool of resources are allocated across different tasks, modalities, and processes, spanning from sensory level processing to meaning level processing.  By Patrick James Hibbert  14 Jun 2020 Balance prevents falls, improves sports and mechanical skills, and promotes growth and development in adolescents. Maintaining balance and upright body position requires lots of cognitive resources. This fact is demonstrated in the inability of adolescents to multi-task cognitive tasks and keeping upright body posture. When adolescents perform tasks with their eyes closed their upper body sways, according to studies. This is an example of the Multiple Resource Theory . Here, cognitive and visual processing streams compete for common central resources. Evidence shows performing a cognitive task inhibits visual processing. And  researchers from Anqing Norma...

Bone mineral density correlates with cardiovascular disease in people of all ages. Taokinesis/Pexels   Bone mineral density is influenced by age, sex, body mass index, smoking, race, glucocorticoids, hyperlipidemia and diabetes all which in turn influence the onset of cardiovascular disease. By Patrick James Hibbert  4 May 2020 The CDC states that Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart disease. It  affects the blood flow to the heart and if the blood flow decreases a heart attack can occur. Atherosclerosis is the cause of CAD and is a disease in which plaque builds up inside arteries.  Studies have found that hypercholesterolemia and the resulting deposition and oxidation of lipids in tissues result in atherosclerosis and are related to osteoporotic bone loss. Along these lines, atherosclerosis is related not only to lipids but also to bone biosynthetic factors. To investigate this further, researchers from a hospital and university in Taiwa...

Many hearing disorders share the same underlying mechanisms with non-migraine headaches.  The Digital Artist/ pixabay In a Tawainese population based study the risk of developing a hearing impairment was found to be higher in those with a history of non-migraine headaches. By Patrick James Hibbert  10 Apr 2020 Hearing is described as the process by which mechanical energy in the vibration of sound waves traveling through the air are converted into electrical signals that the brain can process and understand is called hearing. In short, it involves the processing of sound through the auditory system. Specifically the tympanic membranes, ossicles, oval windows, cochlear fluid, hair cells, sensory neurons, brain stem neurons, thalamic neurons, and auditory cortex neurons.  This complex system allows sound frequency, intensity, and point of origin to be each, separately, transmitted to the brain. Damage to the auditory system can occur either mechanically or neurally. Mechani...

Current research has shed light on the effects of the gut microbiome and diet on liver health in humans. McMurrayJulie / Pixabay The liver, being closely connected to the gut, is the first recipient of the gut's microbiome . By Patrick James Hibbert  24 Mar 2020 Only 2% of liver cancers start in the liver in the U.S. Most liver cancers form in other parts of the body and then spread to the liver according to WebMD. The human gastrointestinal tract is colonized by a complex and dynamic range of symbiotic microorganisms, collectively termed the gut microbiome. It defends the human host against pathogens and maintains metabolic homeostasis in addition to immune balance. Although the gut microbiome directly benefits the host, it is also involved in the development of diseases.  In fact, there is mounting evidence of its contribution to both local and distant carcinogenesis in humans and animals. Known cancer-causing gut bacteria include Helicobacter Pylor and E. Coli. The liver ...

GarysLens/ Pixabay This prototype gives users the means of a new form of communication and data storage, controlled only by the mind. By Patrick James Hibbert  25 SEP 2020 In a recent study, researchers from Augmanity Nano, Faculty of Life Sciences, and Gonda Brain Center in Isreal developed a new, implantable, memory tag prototype that could be written to and read from by multiple people within close proximity to each other.  The device sticks onto the neck and integrates a processor, a memory chip (controller), and an RFID circuit. It analyzes EEG signals, has 4 KB of RAM, and transmits data to other controllers and computers, on to which, the sender's binary thoughts are displayed. Deemed potentially very useful, it could aid many people with “bad memories”, memory disorders, and injuries impairing their memories. Such as people with head trauma, infarcts, diseases, and even those experiencing the side effects of drugs.  This tag could also supplement the lack of acces...

ColiN00B/ Pixabay Scientists set out to identify the specific connections between the nervous system and the immune system's organs. By Patrick James Hibbert  2 Jan 2020 The autonomic nervous system is the involuntary part of the nervous system and is composed of sympathetic and parasympathetic regions. The sympathetic region controls the “fight or flight” mechanism and is activated when the body is stimulated.  Conversely, the parasympathetic region acts when the body is at rest and controls functions like digestion. And it’s nerve innervations are found in the parenchyma of all the classic immune organs. Those organs include lymph nodes, the tonsils, the thymus, the spleen, the appendix, bone marrow, gut-associated lymphatic tissue and it’s Peyer’s patch. The way the immune system is controlled by the nervous system is not well-understood by the scientific community. In response to this, researchers in Beijing, China set out to understand how neural signals control the immun...