Slowing Cell Death – Saving Lives
Normal Cell Death or ‘Apoptosis’ Apoptosis is a form of cell death that is fundamental to both normal function and malfunction of organs in the body. It is a form of cell death in which single cells die in the midst of living tissue and normally, the above helps in the normal process of cell turnover.Apoptosis appears to be genetically regulated however, apoptosis can be induced by exposing cells to radiation, heat, cytotoxic agents, and abnormal changes in cellular biology. Too little cell death can result in proliferative disorders, such as neoplastic disorders or autoimmune disease...
Read MoreStaggering Costs of Strokes & Heart Attacks
Acquired Brain Injury – Cerebrovascular Accident (‘Stroke’) ‘Stroke’ refers to a group of conditions caused by the occlusion (blockage) or haemorrhage from blood vessels that supply the brain. Occlusion of the artery produces cerebral ischemia or brain cell death. Many stroke patients can either be left permanently disabled or instead die as a result of their stroke. A majority of strokes involve the occlusion of an artery (conservatively assessed at 70% of all strokes) and the treatment-of-choice targets the reopening of an occluded artery using thrombolytics agents....
Read MoreTerrible Costs of Spinal Cord Injuries – Society, Family & Patient
Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) According to French et al (2007), there are approximately 253,000 Americans living with a spinal cord injury (SCI) disability and about 11,000 SCI hospitalizations occurring per annum. The annual cost of SCI is estimated at $9.7 billion. There is significant variation in the average annual health care and living costs, reflecting the severity of injury. First- year injury costs vary from $218,504 (incomplete motor function) to $741,425 (high tetraplegia; C1–C4 injuries) in May 2006 dollars. Spinal Cord Injury /...
Read MoreDon Cherry, Concussions & Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in Hockey, War & Cars
AN OPEN LETTER TO DON CHERRY Hi Don, I’m your neighbour, just a few blocks down from your place. I watched you on CBC ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ the other evening talking about former NHL hockey enforcers complaining about concussions and brain trauma. Imagine that! Don, I like watching you but you seem a bit misguided. I really want to help you. So in order that you be able to make more informed choices before speaking, I am enclosing a bit of information on brain trauma injury and concussions. I love hockey but then I only watch it, haven’t played it since I was a...
Read MoreImagine: Stopping Cell Death – Impact on Medicine
Overview Accelerated cell death or ‘apoptosis’ contributes to about half of all major medical illnesses for which adequate therapy or prevention is currently lacking. This has created an important opportunity for medical science and is creating an emerging multi-billion dollar market. Against this background of a rapidly emerging new market, a number of companies are developing several new drug classes which directly addresses apoptosis either by slowing down the process of cell death (eg. heart attacks, strokes, brain trauma, etc.) or instead, accelerating the rate of cell...
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