Quick aide is essential when accidents happen. A traumatic shock can lead to death if not treated (courtesy: photocase.com)

Worlds leading shock researchers meet at the University of Witten/Herdecke from 28. June  - 2. Juli 2008. The meeting with some 800-1000 scientists from all over the world is conducted by the International Federation of Shock Societies (IFSS). At the same time the American Shock Society will meet there, for the first time holding the annual meeting outside the USA. Traumatic shocks caused by severe accidents are often underestimated and can lead to death.

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Loosing eyesight; a tragic fate hard to imagine, mostly avoidable (Courtesy: photocase.com)

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Womens sexuality is more complex than in men (Courtesy: photocase.com)

More than 20% of women report an inability to get frequently vaginal orgasms when having sex with their partner. Also men often believe that women are less able to have a sexually fullfilled lifes. Often it is indeed the case that in partnerships women suffer from female coital orgasmic infrequencies. The reasons can be quite diverse.

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Eyes are our most important sense organs. (Courtesy: Photocase)

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breast cancer often affects young women (Courtesy: photocase.com)

Breast cancer is still one of the most dangerous and deadly cancer types for women. It is a malignant tumor of the mammary glands of women. Around half a million women died in 2007 from breast cancer world wide according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). In Germany with 25% it is among women the most frequent cancer type. But also men can sicken from breast cancer in rare cases.

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Animation of oxy and deoxy forms of hemoglobin (from: Molecule of the Month by www.pdb.org, Courtesy: US Federal Government )

A pulse oxymeter can measure if the blood of a patient is oxygen saturated or not, giving evidence about the content of oxygen in the carrier molecule hemoglobin in the red blood cells, the erythrocytes. This optical checking device tests the amount of infrared light, swallowed by oxygen loaded hemoglobin cells. The more oxygen the blood tested contains, the more infrared light can be detected. Hemoglobin loaded with carbon dioxide is absorbing most of the infrared light, telling the physician that he deals with deoxygenated blood of the veins which normally contain the blood returning from the body with low oxygen and high carbon dioxide which is transported by hemoglobin. The color of hemoglobin normally changes when unloading oxygen and uploading carbon dioxide.

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Scientists have developed algorithms that can diagnose Dengue Fever from body temperature and blood samples. Photo courtesy of Photocase.com.

The largest markets for medical drugs are found in the Western countries and therefore both private medical companies and public universities and funding bodies mainly pour money into the research of diseases found predominantly in Western countries, while equally dangerous and prevalent diseases from developing countries has been neglected. However, this is slowly changing with the arrival of medical journals dedicated to this field, such as the open-access PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. In the latest Issue, a research group comprising of scientists from the Novartis Institute of Tropical Diseases and from various public institutions in Singapore and Vietnam has published a study on Dengue Fever.

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Controlling overweight is a way to improve public health

Scientists from the university of Manchester (England) and Bern (Switzerland) investigated the coherence between overweight and cancer risk. They compared people with normal weight with persons with overweight. The study also considered different ethnic backgrounds. An alarming boost in breast cancer, cancer of kidney, cancer of the colon, skin cancer and  uterine cancer could directly be correlated to overweigt.

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Transmission electron microscopy image of the influenza virus. Magnified around 100,000 times. Courtesy of the Public Health Image Library.

In order to avoid something like this happening in the future, we need to know more about the beginning of the pandemic. The biostatistician Laura White and Marcello Pagano from Boston University studied the recorded spread of the disease in Maryland communities and aboard two ships in order to develop reliable models.

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Parkinson Diease and Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis are caused by degeneration of neurons with long axon projects. Parts of the axon guidance pathway genome can be used to predict the susceptibility and onset of the diseases. Source PLoS Biology Vol. 4, No. 2, e29 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0040029.

Parkinson disease (PD) affects the central nervous system and results in deterioration of motor and speech skills. Usually visible tremors and lack of fine motor control appears in the later stages. Parkinson disease mainly affects elderly people. Around one in 500 will catch the disease, which at the moment is untreatable. However, research to find a cure has been intensified in the last decades. An important aspect is to be able to predict the onset of the disease. Recently an American research group found that variation in some nucleotides in the genome of the axon guidance pathways can predict both the bearer’s susceptibility to PD and probable age of onset the disease. Now the same group has used this approach on another neurologic disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

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p.R254W Variance. A shift from thymin to cytosine causes a shift in the aminoacid order of the enzyme Chymothrypsin. Courtesy: University of Leipzig

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