health


Measles, HPV may contribute to Lung Cancer Risk

By robin on April 29th, 2008

Viruses found in lung tumours

The association between viruses and various types of cancer has been well established.

As much as 20% of the world’s cancers have been linked to infections. In addition to the connection between HPVs and cervical cancer, chronic infections by hepatitis-B and -C viruses contribute to liver cancer, and the bacterium Helicobacter pylori has been associated with stomach cancer.

There is now evidence of another pathogen actor, this time in some types of lung cancer:

Samuel Ariad of the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel, and his colleagues began by analyzing tumours taken from 65 lung cancer patients. They found evidence of measles virus proteins in about half of their samples.

In addition, Arash Rezazadeh of the University of Louisville in Kentucky and his colleagues tested 23 lung cancer tumours for HPVs. In five cases, the samples tested positive for the virus’s DNA. Others have previously shown a possible link between the virus and lung cancer, but, as in this case, have relied on small sample sizes.

It is hoped that widespread use of the HPV vaccine Gardasil® will positively impact rates of lung cancer but at this stage it is unverified. It will likely take a generation to see any statistical evidence of the effect.

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The paedophile tumor

By robin on April 23rd, 2008

Brain tumour causes uncontrollable paedophilia

The sudden and uncontrollable paedophilia exhibited by a 40-year-old man was caused by an egg-sized brain tumour, his doctors have told a scientific conference. And once the tumour had been removed, his sex-obsession disappeared.

This is interesting because it points to the organic/biological nature of paedophilia. Generally recidivism for paedophilia is very high - up to 40% or more.

If it is clearly demonstrated that a person has no control over such urges, then more research into medical interventions (as opposed to strictly penal interventions) could be justified.

The man, a schoolteacher, began secretly visiting child pornography web sites and soliciting prostitutes at massage parlours, activities he had not engaged in previously. Swerdlow says while the man felt that his new behaviour was unacceptable, “in his words, the ‘pleasure principle’ overrode his restraint”.

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Schizophrenia & The Flu

By robin on April 22nd, 2008

Scientists suspect that pre-natal flu may be the cause of brain damage leading to Schizophrenia.

The strongest evidence links schizophrenia to prenatal influenza infection; pregnant women who become ill with the flu are more likely to give birth to children who will develop schizophrenia.

More: Could Microbes Cause Mental Illness?

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Men more inclined to memory problems

By robin on April 21st, 2008

Men face memory loss earlier than women

When it comes to remembering things, men are more likely than women to become dotty and forgetful in old age, according to a study presented to the American Academy of Neurology, Chicago.

The study found that men were 1.67 times more likely to have such impairment, problems with memory and thinking skills, than women. The finding remained the same regardless of a man’s education or marital status.

I suspect that this has a lot to do with the fact that women maintain their social networks into old age better than men. After retirement, men’s interaction with other people can drop off significantly.

Given that a very large part of our brain power is devoted to negotiating social relationships, this isolation likely has an atrophying affect on the brain.

As an aside, men also seem to show a lifelong quirky tendancy to forget where they put things.

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