Adventure Ausrama Blog

Genetically modified things are dangerous. Whoops! But we are already using them. GM crops have already crossed with normal plantings in adjacent farms. The producers of the GM seeds are suing these farmers for using the crossed seed which they claim belongs to them. Dogs were given a virus that had been genetically modified: the DNA integrated into the host genome. Oncogenes were activated. The virus entered into cells that influence cell growth. The affected cells' rate of division increased dramatically. Modified viruses are a popular way of treating people now. Practitioners had a ho hum attitude to this. It has to changed. The final result of such treatment will probably be cancer. Researchers have known for decades that tests on very young mice were detrimental. However, they pushed blindly ahead. The project on the dogs has been concluded. Calls were made to continue for another five years to discover whether the canine develop tumors. Vested interests stop it. Ultimatel...

Being tall has its benefits. Seeing over the top of a crowd is one. Reaching the top shelf is another. However, there are problems such as a higher propensity to get cancer. A taller body has more cells. This increases the risk of cancer. Research using existing databases proved this to be true. A seven foot tall basketball player is twice as likely to get cancer as a person five foot tall. Moreover, melanoma risk increases with height. Tall people should get their health checked more frequently. Being tall is determined by genetics, by your mother's diet when carrying you and by intake of good nutrition when growing up. It should be noted that obese people have more cells. The study used height as a proxy for the research. Some illness such as mouth, stomach and cervical cancer are not affected by height. Mainly because they are caused by particular viruses. Higher rates of thyroid cancer and melanoma are a real issue for tall people. It seems that the growth hormone main...

It is commonly believed that DNA does its job and is just "there", non-functioning. However, new research shows DNA to be pro-active. It reads our senses and reacts accordingly. DNA detects the seasons and changes ones' body chemistry accordingly. As many as a fifth of all blood cells genes change with the season. Gene switches are turned on or off to achieve this. In winter immune responders are at a high level. The blood gets thinner in summer knowing that you will be more active. Body-building, fat-burning and water retention is the objective in hotter months. It is possible that living in air conditioned buildings could leave you body at risk of disease because the preparatory changes are not complete. Even the length of day is now distorted by artificial light.  While having ant-inflammatory chemicals ready and operational in winter is rationally useful, inflammation in itself damages the body, particularly when there is no attack on the body. It...

Have you ever seen a nurse cussing because she cannot find a suitable vein to insert a drip in the arm of a patient? These are daily problems that the medical fraternity must face. However, technology has come to the fore. There is a new scanner that pinpoints veins that are large enough to insert a cannula. The new device beams light just out of the infrared light range into the arm. It is absorbed by  deoxygenated haemoglobin in the veins. Thus, the veins light up and show the way. It makes life much easier for medical staff and is quicker. There are a lot of things just waiting to be applied to human activity. Technology is already available and it is a case of thinking of new procedures and making them real. Get a move on developers. The public is waiting! ✴ Technology by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml . . . . . . . . . . ....

Despite changes in the supply of motor fuel, i.e., the move toward unleaded petrol, high levels of lead in the blood of children is still an issue. In the northern hemisphere there are seasonal fluctuations in levels of lead. Though the general amount of lead present in the environment has fallen, it remains significantly high in the blood of children. Much of the lead released decades ago is still there. The polluted fine particles are swept up into the air in the warmer months of July, August and September. This is the time when children are outside playing their sports. Money would be better spent on "fixing" the suspended lead rather than reducing content in products we use. Finding a way to "lock-in" the lead particles would end the damage to future generations of people. Once lead reaches a high level in the blood it is extremely difficult to reduce. Damage to the brain and nervous system is permanent. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ htt...

Maybe vampires have got it right - infusing blood into one's body from a younger person is good for you. Saul Villeda did tests on rats. He injected older mice with blood from younger mice. The mice with ailments related to age got better. They actually became younger looking. Effects of aging were reversed. It is rumoured that Saul has infused himself with blood from young virgins. Though blood from virgins is really not necessary. Blood from any younger person will do. He has connected the circulatory systems of young and old mice together for several days. The older mice definitely became younger looking. Autopsies showed a 20 per cent increase in brain stem cell activity for the aging mice. There is a down side. When the blood systems of mice were joined together young mice actually aged. If this is true. And there is no reason to think otherwise. Factors in blood that cause changes in the aging process could be identified and used as a medicine. It wo...

Doctors do not know how "recreational" drugs work. Police forces worldwide fight drug abuse, but the battle is being lost. Until medications can be developed to stop the euphoric effects almost immediately the battle will rage on. There are possible benefits from some of these drugs. For example, magic mushrooms are being tested for treating mental conditions by psychiatrists. Neural circuits in the brain are altered by the use of the drug. What actually happens though was unknown, until now. It was thought that dormant brain cells were being activated, the ones that are used during sleep. It has been discovered, however, that blood flow to the brain is decreased when psilocybin is used. MRIs showed blood flow reductions to the thalamus and cortical regions. The front and back of the brain are separated when the drug is taken. Primary sensory areas still retained good blood flow, while higher association regions became "starved" of blood. Previous theo...

Dinosaur metabolism was not only higher than reptiles, their bodies ran at a faster rate than mammals. Analysis of tiny holes in their bones shows that they pumped a lot of blood through their bodies. So scientists have been wrong for a long time claiming that dinosaurs were slow moving creatures who relied on the sun to get going each day. Tests across a wide range of dinosaurs, big and small, confirm they moved around with ease. Some scientists have accepted the hypothesis that dinosaurs were not reptiles. It makes one wonder how many other things we are taught at schools are totally wrong. New evidence for upright walking of apes goes back more than four million years to an animal with feet designed to climb trees. Their hips are clearly designed for walking upright. And for decades we had been told a special foot design was necessary for bipedal walking. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/Adventu...

It seems we can't win. New findings show if you are underweight or overweight dementia is on the horizon. Being skinny or fat from the age of 40 gives a high risk of dementia after the age of 60. The very high danger group are the obese. Considering most people in the West are overweight wouldn't this finding seem logical? If arteries can become clogged with fatty cholesterol so can the blood vessels in the brain. Obviously, hardly anyone in the scientific community has made this observation. No medical literature has ever made this bold statement. "Hey stop eating that jam donut you'll lose your mind!" Let's be rational. Medical research is good. It can highlight changes that people should make to their lives, but adding 2 and 3 to make 5 does not always show a causal relationship. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/http://advent...

Scientists are looking to moles to enable Mankind to live longer. No, these are not the animal kind of moles. They are the moles one has on one's body - beauty moles. Rather than saying "Yuk, cover that up", we should be saying "You lucky thing." It seems people with moles have benefits that others do not have. The bones in these lucky ones are, apparently, stronger than usual. It is also claimed that they have less wrinkles making them look up to a decade younger than "non-molers". The Heart, eyes and muscles are stronger as well. The downside is the increased risk of skin cancer. Just live like Count Dracula, stay out of the light, and you should be laughing. Researchers are working on a way to turn moles off so they become less visible. This is good if you have the genes for moles, but what about the rest of us? There is no way we can get the benefits from moles which make the telomeres of white blood cells longer, thus slowing bone deterioration an...