A Rose by Any Another Name ....

I've run for years and successfully convinced myself that I need sugar (candy bar, donut, brownie) for fuel. Now too many years past 30, it's caught up with me. I've anecdotally linked my sugar fetish to a number of minor health issues and like many have drawn a line on what and how much sugar I will eat. For example I put down any item in a store if it has the dreaded "high fructose corn syrup" on the label.

So I don't think many of us were too surprised when the Corn Refiners Association, the lobbying group and manufacturing association that represents makers of high-fructose corn syrup - - noting sales are at a 20 year low -- decided to fight back in an extraordinary way. If consumers like myself put back say ketchup if the item has HFCS then, don't list it. Fraud? No not really. Earlier this week the AP reported that the association has petitioned the FDA for permission to identify high-fructose corn syrup on food packaging as corn sugar.
 
One could say this is brilliant - - Business Insider says the re-branding is shear genius - - or that the corporate morals of the nation's major bankers have wafted over to the farmers and the food manufacturers. Never mind obese American kids, the billion dollar diet industry and a broken health care system over-burdened with chronic victims of diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. The bottom line for a tiny minority is all that matters.

For anyone interested in the science, high fructose corn syrup is a blend of glucose and fructose. But for anyone who took a biology or O-chem course, you know sucrose "the good sugar" is also glucose and fructose. The thing is, in the latter. the mix is 50-50. Not so for HFCS ... it's usually 58-42 with additional additives.

Studies indicate the body metabolizes HFCS differently from table sugar in a way that increases the risk of diabetes, liver disease, and obesity. In an article on sixwise.com it was revealed that researchers from the University of California, Davis compared glucose and fructose consumption among 32 overweight or obese people and found they resulted in very different health changes.Read more. 



To read more about the debate and the bigger issue of agribusiness, and corn farm subsidies go to Care2's website and read a few articles then take their  High Fructose Corn Syrup Challenge.

Read My Mind, Hear My Voice

How many seconds does it take a word  to go from thought to audible speech?

Last year researchers clocked it at an amazing 50 milliseconds or .5 of a second. Research teams in Utah and Massachusetts have been working on decoding the neural pattern of speech into sound and managing the lightening speed that naturally occurs in humans.

I mentioned Dr. Hawking in the previous post. He is the renowned British scientist who suffers from a form of Lou Gehrig's disease and is one of thousands "locked in" or cognitively active but disabled from speech or speaking. Dr. Hawking communicates now, at age 68, communicates by twitching one muscle in his right cheek. The action sends an infrared beam to a computer that translates his signals into words. In article published today it is estimated that in 2to 3 years he should be able to do what most do now without a second thought: think a thought and then hear it spoken..


I recommend two good articles. The first one was published almost a year ago in December of 2009. It documented how researchers in Boston implanted electrodes in the temporal lobe, the area where speech takes place. As most know, playing in any area of the brain is extremely risky and could cause irreperable damage if the surgeon is off a millimeter.

Enter the 2010 team. A second article published today documents how researchers in Utah have gotten even more sophisticated placing electrodes near, but not in the brain itself, vastly improving safety.

For a quick overview on the first set of research, scientists embed an electrode in a subject's brain. That electrode then amplifies the person's neural signals which are converted to FM radio waves. These waves  are then transmitted wirelessly across the head and over to two coils serving as receiving antennas.Then these signals are routed into a system that digitizes, sorts and decodes them. The results are fed into a program that synthesizes speech which runs on desktop or laptop computer.

Pray for Science

If religion and science are strange bedfellows maybe philosophy and science can make a go of it.

Well no not really, says Stephen Hawking (photo) Britain's renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist. His new book Grand Design is critiqued by a Guardian journalist in a terrific article. Skimming through that I thought about my own thoughts on the usefulness of philosophy and the utilitarianism of Science and how both co-exist nicely, even if Dr. Hawking believes differently.

The age old debate under the Religion banner is of course Darwinian evolution: Christians who believe in the Book of Genesis and not the Big Bang. To see how the latter have entered into an mid-ground under the banner of Intelligent Design read a USA Today article published last month. Then go back 4 years ago to a Time article written in 2006 and finally skim Stephen Jay Gould's non-overlapping magisteria,(1997).

If you are interested on what people are thinking on this topic, go to the Pew Forum to read about data on attitudes about religion and science.

{Photo courtesy of the Guardian.co.uk]

Anti-Aging News

Every day or so you can find an announcement or product launch - real or shaman-like - in the anti-aging field. For those who take this work seriously it appears to be a roller coaster ride reflecting on information grounded in real science versus commercial nonsense.

Two articles caught my attention on how science and pseudo-science merge in this billion-dollar arena. The first is about a dietary supplement called Telomorase Activator with published research in the scientific journal Rejuvenation Research. The product's researchers believe their magic bullet may help reverse the aging process by lengthening telomeres — the caps on the ends of chromosomes that keep DNA intact as cells divide. Click to read read more.

Additionally, there is an interesting article on prweb.com about a company, Growth Hormone Direct, who report a rise in the elderly buying human growth hormone.

The Science Bandwagon and Middle School Kids

Passionate about making US high school students number one in science again?

Read about the Dream Tour presented by the ExxonMobil and Harris Foundations who have partnered on a creative national tour geared to engaging middle school students in science and technology.

Read more about the tour and then go to the Notebook.org and check out the website's reporting on the new school year in Philadelphia.

Novartis AG and a New Anti-Malaria Drug

{REPRINT}

An experimental Novartis AG medicinethat killed drug-resistant malaria in laboratory studies maybecome the first new class of treatment against the disease in30 years, researchers said.

The drug cured mice at lower doses than existing medicinesand killed drug-resistant strains taken from patients inThailand, researchers said in the journal Science yesterday.Human trials of the drug are planned for this year.

“I would be extremely shocked if someone comes back andtells me that we’re not hitting the bug in humans,” saidThierry Diagana, who led the research at the Novartis Instituteof Tropical Diseases in Singapore ....

ADHD and Food

It's long been noted that there is some sort of link between what a child eats and his or her risk of ADHD. Saying MM's or a Snicker's bar is the problem is too easy. What's the physiological link? These three Digg posts offer some answers ...

Western diet link to ADHD

physorg.com— A new study from Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research shows an association between ADHD and a 'Western-style' diet in adolescents.

Food Dyes Linked to Allergies, ADHD and Cancer: Group Calls

cbsnews.com— Dyes Widely Used in Cereals, Candies, and Other Products Targeted at Children present a "rainbow of risks" and can cause allergic reactions, hypera...

Attention Deficit Disorder | Adhd Natural | High Potassium

theadhdtreatment.com— Learn more about the attention deficit disorder,adhd children,symptoms of adhd,adhd natural,high potassium,vitamin information,stevia see which one...

In The Debate between MMR Vaccines and Autism, The Lancet Retracts Article on Controversial UK Physician

Matt Ford wrote on ArsTechnica.com that the editors of the British journal The Lancet reviewed the conclusions of a multiyear ethics investigation of UK doctor Andrew Wakefield performed by the General Medical Counsel (GMC) and then formally retracted a study which purported to find a link between the childhood MMR vaccine, gastrointestinal disease, and autism.

The article on Dr. Wakefield was published in 1998 and has been a source of international controversy in the pediatric community and among parents ever since. Ford wrote that much of the problems with the vaccines and autism can be traced to Wakefield's study.

"Wakefield was found to have acted unethically and conducted irresponsible research in coming to his—now thoroughly discredited—conclusions. According to Dr. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, "It's the most appalling catalog and litany of some the most terrible behavior in any research and is therefore very clear that it has to be retracted."

Read more about the issue here.

Pharmaceutical Employers Struggling in Talent War for Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) in a Web 2.0 World

(REPRINTED)

A special report explains how corporate staffing consultants of pharmaceutical employers must have Competence, Chemistry, and Charisma when fighting the war for MSL talent. In a press release from 1888.com, it was reported that companies are shifting their recruiting burdens for field-based medical science liaisons.

"More MSL employers and specialty recruiters are coming to us and admitting that general job boards and social networks have become resource drains and time-wasters," said Dr. Jane Chin, author of the special report, 'Medical Science Liaison Recruiting: A Special Report for Corporate HR Sourcing MSLs in a Web 2.0 World.' "Social networks definitely have a role, but most MSL employers are leveraging social media and social networking incorrectly in the MSL recruiting game."


MSL Institute has been surveying the medical science liaison employment trends since 2006, with its salary surveys and analysis of job satisfaction trends based on primary source collection as well as secondary source collection of the MSL community. MSL Institute also provides a niche-specific job board catering only to the MSL recruiting market.

The 14-page report is available to pharmaceutical employers and corporate staffing consultants. Please contact Dr. Chin for a complimentary copy of the report.

Parents .... Check out Ali's Wagon

ABOUT US

Ali's Wagon's Parenting Center which is intended to assist those of us young urbans who are in a family way. Ali's Wagonis the place to go when you are first expecting, to take birthing classes and to informally meet other parents, and Ali's Wagon fulfills the desire of many current Fairmount parents to have some local shopping for their baby needs. Our inventory and programming reflect the personal orientation of Jessie and Nat's identity as parents to a young toddler, but as they continue to learn the ins and outs of store ownership and retail business the center's services will expand to better address the plethora of challenges, from cradle to college. We are proud to host "Lamaze Childbirth Preparation" birthing classes that fill up quite in advance, so register early (please see Parenting Center section for details)! We also hold an ongoing New Mom's Group every Friday with alternating facilitators and a New Moms' Drop-In Group in the afternoon for informal discussion without a moderator. We hope to find additional ways for parents to meet other people who are at similar stages in their journey of parenting. We have learned so much from the experience of others and we want to create and maintain a community environment where others can connect and gain advice and support from their peers.

H1N1 Virus Scare Prompts One Hospital To Change Access Policies

Visiting Kansas any time soon?

To protect workers and patients, the Mercy Regional Health Center in Topeka, KA temporarily changed its visitor policy. No one under the age of 12 can visit patients and only one visitor is allowed into the Birth and Women's Center.

"They're in a category that's high-risk for the H1N1 influenza," Couchman said.

The hospital and doctor's offices in the county have seen an increase in H1N1 cases this month, but emergency services says unless you have a chronic illness or are high-risk, you shouldn't go to the doctor.