Monday Matters #29

   Over the past four weeks I've  talked about recent discoveries and headline news in the medical field. There were two topics specifically talked about. These topics were dementia and colon cancer. We've found out ways to avoid serious cases of colon cancer by following a vegetarian diet and also by receiving more colon cancer screenings. We also found out that Alzheimers is found in adults as young as 20. With these big discoveries there might soon be solutions to these major problems affecting millions throughout the world. Cancer, I would say, is the most interesting topic to myself because it took two people from my family so it is close to home. I also hear stories about how people lost their friends and family because of cancer and it is dreadful that i can't do anything about it. This field is very interesting to me and helping people is something i really enjoy doing. I really want to make a difference in the world. I could maybe even discover a cure for cancer. I won't know until i try it. I will definitely look at this field with admiration and most likely follow my aspiration in pursuing this career.

Monday Matters #28

      Dementia is a term for diseases that cause memory loss and other mental abilities. The number of people this affects is astounding! It affects 47.5 million people worldwide. Biologist at the University of York and the University of Massachusetts have been studying dementia diseases intensely and recently identified new mechanisms linked to progression of aggressive form of dementia. They found that the changes in the protein CHMP2B, which is linked to Frontotemporal dementia, affect the connections of neurons. Frontotemporal dementia is the most common form of dementia usually starting in peoples fifties. It affects abilities to understand and use language. This is potentially a massive breakthrough. Dr Sean Sweeney, a senior author of the Department of Biology at the University of York said, " These findings shed light on the events occurring in neurons as dementia takes hold. The more we know about the steps that occur in disease progression, the more opportunities we have to intervene with potential therapies." With enthusiastic and dedicated people and organizations like these at the University of York and Massachusetts, one day dementia might be stopped in its tracks.

Monday Matters #27

        Last week, vegetarians showed how they're a step ahead of the rest at preventing cancer. However, what if you're not leaning towards the vegetarian diet? No problem another solution has been found! HealthDay News states that increasing the colon cancer screening rates to 80 percent by 2013, there will be an estimated 21,000 fewer deaths from colon cancer in 2030. Surprisingly, with colon cancer being the leading cancer to cause death, it states that only 58 percent of adults aged 50-75 received screening for it. "Lack of screening is responsible for a substantial percentage of colon cancer deaths." Many organizations are already trying to get four out of five adults screened for colon cancer by 2018. With this, success and greatness can only come out of it. Death rates will be lowered by 19 percent and colon cancer rates will also reduce by 17 percent. With consistency, the numbers will increase and colon cancer will have a challenging struggle in front of it.

Monday Matters #26

   Colorectal Cancer sucks! It is a cancer that affects the colon or rectum. Wouldn't it be great to stop or just even reduce the chances of getting this type of cancer? People who follow a vegetarian diet are doing just that! New research shows that these vegetarian diet eaters had a 22% lower risk for Colorectal cancer  than people who don't follow a vegetarian diet and ate meat. The ones performing the research also put into play age, race, and sex of the vegetarians and the general population of America. They had 27% fewer cases of Colorectal Cancer than you would expect for someone because of their age, sex, and race. When in comparison, vegetarians looked stronger in percentages than the meat eaters did.

Monday Matters #25

       Alzheimers is a disease affecting 5 million Americans. Alzheimers affects the brains memory thought and thought. This disease usually occurs in people over the age of 60. However in recent studies, people as young as 20 are showing signs of the Alzheimer's protein. Prof. Geula and colleagues did a study on the brain cells of three groups of deceased people and compared the results: 13 people, age 20-66 were normal when they died, 16 people, age 70- 99 did not have dementia when they died, and 21 people age 60-95 who did have Alzheimers when they died. In their results, they found that the Alzheimers protein began growing throughout their lives starting from adulthood. they found that the bad proteins formed toxic clusters called amyloid oligomers. These were small in adults and large in older older adults. This research shows that the cells grew as time went on.