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No Improvement in Mental Health

After a great deal of research we still do not know what mental illness is and what causes it.  There seems to be only general ways of categorizing individuals suffering mental problems.  Each person's illness tends to be unique.  Some people are on extremely high levels of medication.  Indeed, many have to rotate medications because the drugs lose their effectiveness. It is no wonder spending on the treatment of mental illness has not increased in the last twenty years.  Reforms carried out have not improved matters at all.  When sufferers attempt suicide they are kept in the mental health section of public hospitals, given medication and sent on their way a day or so later.  There is usually a little talk with them, but they are thrown out to deal with life's problems, alone. Nearly half of Australia will have mental problems at some time in their lives.  This is a frightening statistic.  Furthermore, there is discrimination.  In OECD countries Australia is near the

Synthetic Heart Repair Conduit

Treatment for heart disease is advancing at a rapid pace. Soon, a tiny piece of artery will be removed from a patient and a new heart conduit will be formed. This is for minor problems in the heart, less that 5mm wide. Conduits are also being made from synthetic materials. Toleration of foreign substances is not a problems because it degrades quickly. They are used to go over the outside of a graft to stop bleeding. The synthetic conduits are made of a fine poly-(glycerol sebacate) net coated with polycaprolactone and the anticoagulant heparin. Mesh holes are too small for blood to pass through. Nothing of the implant remains after three months. A new structure of endogenous cells with M2 macrophages (which reduces inflammation) remains. Though tests have only been done on rats, use in humans will probably be just as successful. Large grafts using the material will be done to see if this is feasible. This will be a welcome advance in medicine. A graft made of the body's

Alzheimer's Can Now Be Diagnosed When No Symptoms Are Present

New findings on Alzheimer's have been released in Australia. The build up of beta-amyloid plaque is thought to be the main cause of Alzheimer's and it is also responsible for cognitive decline over the long term. The presence of plaque in the brain enables diagnosis of Alzheimer's even in people who show no immediate symptoms. This was announced by Dr Christopher Rowe, professor of nuclear medicine at Melbourme's Austin Hospital. A patient can now know years in advance that he/she will develop Alzheimer's. Whether this is a good thing is debatable, though it does give time for a person to get their things in order. Depression could be the result of making such an emotive discovery. Eighteen million people suffer from Alzheimer's worldwide. With the large segment of the population moving into the elderly group this is expected to reach 34 million by 2025. A new drug to fight plaque has been approved in the US. Hopefully, a medication can be found that

Post Cat

"I'm leaving as soon as the postman arrives." http://vistacomputersolutions.blogspot.com/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Funny Animal Photos

New Genomes Could Be Dangerous

There is a lot of excitement about synthetic biology. That is the creation of designer organisms. Many people are concerned, however, fearing the making of monsters that cannot be destroyed, but new developments improve health care and reduce the reliance on non-renewable resources. New body parts are being made from a patient's own stem cells. GM food crops have been accepted after some early resistance. There are clear benefits for society from these scientific achievements. What is not so clear are the possible dangers from creation of completely new genomes to produce fuel, food, polymers and drugs. Making new life forms that could reproduce is the area which frightens most people. There isn't much doubt that science will progress. At the moment purpose built creations are limited to 10 genes. This barrier will soon be surpassed. There is always danger that new things will be misused. We will just have to hope that rules and regulations will prevent this.