Latest Posts by aarya-aa - Page 2

this essay by joan didion has completely changed my life i'm planning to print the whole thing and tape it to my work desk so i can stare at it all day

"To assign unanswered letters their proper weight, to free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves—there lies the great, the singular power of self-respect. Without it, one eventually discovers the final turn of the screw: one runs away to find oneself, and finds no one at home."

Good News Network

Owning Pets Helps Stave Off Dementia for People Over 50 Living on Their Own

Caring for a pet helps stave off cognitive decline for people over 50 who live on their own, according to a new study of almost 8,000 partic

"Caring for a pet helps stave off cognitive decline for people over 50 who live on their own, according to a new study of almost 8,000 participants.

Researchers found that pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in verbal memory and verbal fluency among the older adults who were living alone.

The study included 7,945 mostly-white British participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing with an average age of 66.

Followed over an eight year period, more than a third of the group (35.1 percent) owned pets; about 30% of the group lived alone.

Previous studies suggested that solitary living is a risk factor for developing dementia and cognitive decline, but among those folks, raising dogs or cats was related to reduced loneliness.

Some research has found that pet ownership is associated with better verbal memory and executive function, but others failed to find any evidence.

The new research published in JAMA Network aimed to further explore the association between aging by oneself—a trend which has been on the rise over the past few decades—and pet ownership. And the results were clear.

“Pet ownership offset the associations between living alone and declining rates in verbal memory and verbal fluency,” said study corresponding author Professor Ciyong Lu, of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China.

It was “a significant modifier” in all 3 associations—composite verbal cognition, verbal memory, and verbal fluency.

“Pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline among older adults living alone.”

But owning a cat or dog did not make any difference for older people who lived with other people.

“These findings suggest that pet ownership may be associated with slower cognitive decline among older adults living alone.”

Prof. Lu is now calling for clinical trials that could help inform public health measures to address dementia among the elderly."

-via Good News Network, November 30, 2023

ScienceAlert

First New Schizophrenia Treatment in Decades a Much-Needed Alternative

A game changer.

Experts expressed enthusiasm Friday after US health regulators approved the first new form of treatment for schizophrenia in decades. The drug, called Cobenfy and developed by US pharma giant Bristol Myers Squibb, works differently from existing treatments, targeting the so-called cholinergic receptors, not the dopamine receptors. "This drug takes the first new approach to schizophrenia treatment in decades," Tiffany Farchione, a top official in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said in a statement Thursday.

Continue Reading.

Women’s health is a mess, I know this. Research is unthinkably underfunded and doctors seem to do nothing but ignore you and prescribe birth control.

But it’s not all bad, and when you feel hopeless, consider that there are people just as mad as you, who work in research and medicine.

They may have found a cause for morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum! Connecticut just announced a new huge research center just for endometriosis! There’s more and more research about the connection between vitamin D and fertility! Diagnostics and hormone tracking gets a little easier every year!

Here are a few of my favorite recent breakthroughs in women’s health:

Hawes, Geoffrey. “LinkMed to Provide First At-Home Fertility Monitoring in U.S.” EIN News, October 20, 2022. https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/596793974/linkmed-to-provide-first-at-home-fertility-monitoring-in-u-s.

He, Yanan, Jixin Li, Yanjun Qu, Liyuan Sun, Xibo Zhao, Han Wu, and Guangmei Zhang. “Identification and Analysis of Potential Immune-Related Biomarkers in Endometriosis.” Journal of Immunology Research 2023 (January 10, 2023): e2975581. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/2975581.

Hill, Matthew, and Rhiannon Yhnell. “Device Developed in Bristol Offers ‘revolution’ in Hormone Understanding.” BBC News, June 21, 2023, sec. Bristol. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-65961378.

Medical Xpress. “Early Blood Test May Unravel Secrets of Pregnancy Loss,” May 17, 2023. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-early-blood-unravel-secrets-pregnancy.html.

Medical Xpress. “Extra Vitamin D during Pregnancy May Increase Chance of a ‘Natural Birth,’” February 6, 2023. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-extra-vitamin-d-pregnancy-chance.html.

PR Newswire. “Gynov Helps Women Cope with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome with Two Key Ingredients,” October 20, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gynov-helps-women-cope-with-polycystic-ovary-syndrome-with-two-key-ingredients-301654438.html.

PR Newswire. “QvinTM Menstrual Blood Diagnostic Device Receives FDA Approval in Thailand,” February 2, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/qvin-menstrual-blood-diagnostic-device-receives-fda-approval-in-thailand-301736890.html.

Sommer, Constance. “Decoding Endometriosis: Recent Research Fosters Hope.” Medscape, February 2, 2023. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/987811?src=rss.

Watson, Clare. “Scientists Think They’ve Found The Cause of Morning Sickness.” ScienceAlert, June 21, 2023. https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-think-theyve-found-the-cause-of-morning-sickness.

people who work/study in quantitative bio-adjacent fields, rise up. computational neuroscience where you get to see someone's thoughts in feelings in graph form??? so cool. biophysics where you can pass blood plasma through an electric field to determine whether a patient has cancer or not?? unbelievable. biomedical engineering where you can literally build a device to pump someone's heart and be the difference between their life and death??? oh my god. disease modelling, being able to predict AND prevent communities being affected by disease on a large scale through your analysis of data??? i love science

- Evelyn Waugh, from Brideshead Revisited (1945)

NEVER A GOD

Garden Song - Phoebe Bridgers/LadyBird dir Gerwig/LadyBird dir Gerwig/warsh_tippy and zelda - whatever, dad/unknown/unknown/Little Women dir Gerwig/V.E. Schwab Vicious/LadyBird dir Gerwig/Waiting Room - Phoebe Bridgers

— unknown

ScienceAlert

A New Pathway Found in The Brain Could Help Spell The End of Migraines

A newly discovered communication pathway linking far-flung nerve centers within the brain and skull, and the body beyond, could provide a ne

A newly discovered communication pathway linking far-flung nerve centers within the brain and skull, and the body beyond, could provide a new target to stop migraine pain in its tracks. Researchers have long tried to pinpoint where migraines begin in the brain, and how these one-sided, nauseating headaches induce pain and other symptoms, such as vomiting. Understanding this would help find new ways to prevent migraines from happening or at least ease the searing pain once it starts.

Continue Reading.

— Donte Collins

Scan of 1 cubic millimeter of the human brain

Full scan of 1 cubic millimeter of brain tissue that took 1.4 petabytes of data, equivalent to 14,000 4K movies.

{Words by José Olivarez from Citizen Illegal /@fatimaamerbilal , from even flesh eaters don't want me.}

ScienceAlert

We May Have Found a Target For Treating The Fatigue of Long COVID

Researchers have just discovered a process in fruit flies which links inflammation with impaired motor function, providing researchers with

Researchers have just discovered a process in fruit flies which links inflammation with impaired motor function, providing researchers with a potential target for treating the persistent muscle fatigue that follows many infections. Of long COVID's numerous symptoms, an intolerance to exertion could be considered one of the more debilitating. "This is more than a lack of motivation to move because we don't feel well," says Washington University developmental biologist Aaron Johnson. "These processes reduce energy levels in skeletal muscle, decreasing the capacity to move and function normally."

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"to endure!"

vincent van gogh ("trees and undergrowth") robert lowell [How will the heart endure?] vincent van gogh [I must endure bad times and the waters will rise, possibly as high as the lips and possibly even higher, how can I know beforehand? But I’ll fight my fight and sell my life dearly and try to win and pull through.] rainer maria rilke [To be loved means to be consumed. To love means to radiate with inexhaustible light. To be loved is to pass away, to love is to endure.] joan didion [Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it.] elena ferrante [maybe not even a very orderly mind can endure the discovery of not being loved.] elena ferrante [I will give what I can give, I will take what I can take, I will endure what has to be endured.] han kang [The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure.] victor frankl [What is to give light must endure burning.]

Joan Didion, from The Year of Magical Thinking

Good News Network

A Paralyzed Man Walks Again Using Device that Connects His Thoughts to His Spinal Cord

It's long been supposed that implants could connect prosthetics to the brain in a way that stimulates nervous system commands.

"It’s long been supposed that implants could connect prosthetics to the brain in a way that stimulates nervous system commands with electrical signals.

Now, this idea is closer than ever to realization in a meaningful way, as one man paralyzed from the hips down is able to walk unsupported, even up stairs, thanks to such electrical nerve stimulation.

The patient, Gert-Jan Oskam, lost all movement in his legs after suffering a spinal cord injury in a motorbike accident. After using a precursor technology to gain back a little bit of mobility, Oskam enrolled in a proof of concept study to perhaps make further advances...

Now, with an implant in his brain, when Oskam thinks about moving his legs, it sends a signal to a computer he wears in a backpack that calculates how much current to send to a new pacemaker in his abdomen. It in turn sends a signal to the older implant in his spinal cord that prompts his legs to move in a more controllable manner. A helmet with antennae helps coordinate the signals.

The scientists developing the technology and working with him detail that he can walk around 200 meters a day, and stand unassisted for around 2-3 minutes. Once, Oskam details, there was some painting that needed to be done, but no one was around to help him. With the new technology, he simply took his crutch and did it himself.

Incredibly, after less than a year, and completely unexpectedly, scientists believe the technology closed the gap in his nervous system, and he can now lift himself out of a chair, and even walk with the help of a crutch, even when the device is turned off.

The scientists are planning in the future to work with patients with paralyzed arms and hands, and even with stroke victims, as the “digital bridge” is a massive advancement in nervous system stimulation technology."

-via Good News Network, June 16, 2023. Video via NBC News, May 24, 2023

New Atlas

One-dose nasal spray clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins to improve memory

One dose of a new treatment, delivered by nasal spray, clears away build-ups of the toxic tau protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease fr

One dose of a new treatment, delivered by nasal spray, clears away build-ups of the toxic tau protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease from inside brain cells, improving memory, according to new research. It paves the way for new treatments for the debilitating disease. A few years ago, abnormal clumps of tau proteins in the brain were found to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, researchers have been working on a way of eradicating these toxic tangles, which have become a hallmark of the degenerative disease.

Continue Reading.

It’s wild to me that we don’t take women’s health care seriously. We should have better treatment for things like endometriosis and PCOS. I’m in the most excruciating pain, can barely walk and the most I get is an IUD (that is no longer working) thrown at me. But don’t worry, we have tons of cosmetic surgeries directed at women. Buccal fat removal, Brazilian butt lifts, face lifts, etc. All the medical research has gone into making women look more appealing to men and none of it is directed towards women’s health conditions.

Susan Nathiel, Daughters of Madness