Download ObGW-July 13

Original Research
Effects on mental states: A pilot Transcranial
ultrasound (TUS) study
Stuart Hameroff et al
Anesthesiologist
and professor at the
University of Arizona
known for his studies of consciousness
Double blind study on patients with
chronic pain
• Improvement in subjective mood
• Subjects felt lighter & happier!
• Promising non invasive therapy for
modulating mental states
• May benefit a number of neurological &
psychiatric disorders
Did you know
• That a bat can tell the
difference between a fly
in motion or at rest?
• That a fruit bat can
determine which of two
fruits is heavier by
observing their
movements in the wind?
• That a dolphin can see a
tennis ball from 260 feet
away?
Why is Biosonar superior?
• Biosonar animals send ultrasonic sounds called "pings“
• The shape of the returning echoes, helps these animals
to "see" their surroundings
• In milliseconds, the neurons in brain do a full-scale
analysis of their surroundings represented in 3-D, with
little energy consumption
• It helps them to navigate or hunt for prey
• Even with the aid of a super computer, which consumes
thousands of times more energy, we cannot produce
such an accurate picture
• By understanding sonar animals, we can create
ultrasound systems that will be able to render more
accurate medical imaging"
-Intrator N, tel Aviv Univ, J. Acoustical Soc. America
Yoruba tribe, west Africa
Yoruba people happen to exhibit the highest twinning
rate in the world
90-1000 Twins / 1000 live births
Ibeji twin figures
• Made of carved of wood,
the figures embody the
spirit of deceased twins
• Because twins bring great
good luck to their parents,
they are honored, both
living and dead
• The parents lavish
attention on surviving
twins and on twin images
Cause?
• Their staple diet is
Yam which contains
phyto estrogens
• Genetic
predisposition
• In-breeding
Mohammad umri, Allahabad, UP
• > 50 twins in
population of
a few 1000s
• Muslims as
well as
Hindus
In Kodinhi,
a village in Malappuram district in Kerala
as of 2008,
there were 220 twins in 2000 families
In 2008, of 300 births 15 (5%) were Twins
The number of twins per thousand here is around 45 per 1000 births.
How HPRL causes Infertility has
been a Mystery
• It is known that Prolactin inhibits GnRH,
thereby decreasing ovarian function &
causing infertility
• But receptors are not expressed by these
GnRH neurons
• Hence the mechanism has not been
understood so far
• Neurons situated
upstream the GnRH
neurons secrete
neurohormone,
Kisspeptin which is
essential for GnRH &
ovarian function
• HPRL inhibits kisspeptin
& GnRH secretion &
blocks Ovarian activity
• Administration of K
restarts GnRH secretion
& ovarian activity
-Young & Binart, J Clin Invest
2013
Pain after CS
• After Caesarean section, 300 women were randomized
and studied
• Group P women were asked to rate their pain on a 0–10point verbal numerical rating scale (VNRS), where '0'
was 'no pain' and '10' was 'worst pain imaginable'.
• Group C women were asked to rate comfort on a 0–10point VNRS, where '0' was 'no comfort' and '10' was
'most comfortable'.
• Conclusion: Asking about pain and pain scores after
Caesarean section adversely affects patient reports of
their postoperative experiences.
-A Randomized Trial: Chooi CSL et al, Br J Anaesth. 2013;110(5):780-787
England Approves “3-Parent
Babies”
This technique requires taking only the healthy genetic material
from the egg or embryo of a woman with defective mitochondria
This healthy DNA is instilled into a donor egg or embryo which is
stripped of its key DNA but still retains its healthy mitochondria
Finally, the fertilized embryo is placed in the womb of the mother
This is excellent news for families with
mitochondrial disease (heart disease, liver
disease, loss of muscle co-ordination and other
serious conditions like muscular dystrophy)
Women who carry these diseased genes will
have more reproductive choice and the
opportunity to have children free of
mitochondrial disease
• Erica Nigrelli, a teacher at a High School in
Missouri City, Texas, was 36 weeks pregnant
when she fell unconscious in front of her class in
May 2013
• Her heart stopped beating and her co-workers
started CPR
• She was pronounced technically dead when she
was rushed to the hospital
• An emergency postmortem C-section was
performed to deliver a live baby
• Although she officially went through what was
considered a post-mortem delivery, her heart
started beating after she gave birth!
Both Erica and baby Elayna are doing fine
When fathers to be eat high fat
diet…
When fathers eat a high-fat
diet before conception of
offspring, the male offspring
has increased body weight
after weaning and high
body fat in midlife despite
eating a low-fat diet finds a
new study in mice
-Nowak VN- The Endocrine Society's
95th Annual Meeting in San
Francisco, Feb 2013.
Sergio Canavero
Italian Neurosurgeon,Turin - Advanced Neuromodulation Group
HEad Anastomosis VENture
How to do heaven?
• severe the heads of two humans simultaneously using an
"ultra-sharp blade“
• Cool and flush out the "recipient" head before attaching its
new body with an advanced polymer "glue“ or by
electrofusion
• The greatest technical hurdle so far has been the
reconnection of the spinal cords
• “clean cut” is the key to spinal cord fusion
• Proximally severed axons are ‘fused’ with their distal
counterparts exploiting the so-called fusogens/sealants
which immediately reconstitute cell membranes damaged
by mechanical injury,
-J Surg Neurol International
Head Transplant in Monkeys -1971
Implications
• Paraplegics with enough spinal cord left
intact to allow for a head transplant could
regain full use of a (donor) body
• Patients with muscular dystrophy could be
given whole new lives
• Aside from the enormous technical
challenges, the potential barrier is cost (at
least $13 million)
Breaking News!
Birth of a Prince!
Summer Babies
• Children born in June, July and August
face the so-called "birth-date effect“
• They are statistically likely to perform less
well than their older classmates
• These sunshine-month youngsters never
catch up with their older winterish peers
• In a major overview, Cambridge concluded
that summer babies were "strongly
disadvantaged“
• At the end of primary school the difference
on average stands at 12%!
• An analysis of more than half a million
GCSE candidates found a consistent
pattern of summer-birthday teenagers
performing less well across all subjects
• The chance of going to Oxford or
Cambridge was 30% less for someone
born in July
• The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said
that summer-born children should get
extra exam marks!
• Many women are left with scars, stretch marks,
and loose skin after giving birth
• women often try to hide these marks of
motherhood
• But one photographer is on a mission to redefine
the idea of the beautiful woman's body
• One day, Jade Beall - a new mother, went into
her studio with her five-week-old baby and took
a series of photos
• There were bumps and lumps that she had
never had before her pregnancy
• But she posted the pictures on her blog - keen to
share with others a side of motherhood that
tends to be kept out of view
• The media is full of images of women's bodies.
But not these kinds of bodies!