Friday, February 25, 2011

Fungi Cures Malaria?

From: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217486.php
Posted by: Kerry Xiong (Giv2Cure) Feb 25, 2011

"Say hello to genetically engineered fungus carrying genes for a human anti-malarial antibody and a scorpion anti-malarial toxin."

This substance was engineered to specifically target the malaria-causing parasite P. falciparum, the most virulent form.

"The research team found that spraying mosquitoes with the transgenic fungus significantly reduced parasite development. The malaria-causing parasite P. falciparum was found in the salivary glands of just 25% of the mosquitoes sprayed with the transgenic fungi, compared to 87% of those sprayed with the wild-type strain of the fungus and to 94% of those that were not sprayed. Even in the 25% of mosquitoes that still had parasites after being sprayed with the transgenic fungi, parasite numbers were reduced by over 95% compared to the mosquitoes sprayed with the wild-type fungus. "


Giv2Cure


Info obtained from above website in exact wording.

What is Malaria?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001646
Posted: Kerry Xiong (Giv2Cure) Feb 25, 2011

WHAT: A disease cause by a parasite, sporozoites of the Plasmodium sp.

CONTRACTION: Mosquitos who are infected with the parasite can give it to humans who they bite. Infected pregnant mothers can pass it to their fetus also. People getting blood transfusion, from someone who is infected, can get it too.

SYMPTOMS: High fevers, shaking chills, flu-like symptoms, coma, convulsion, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, bloody stool, sweating, vomitting, and anemia.

INFECTION MECHANISM: In humans, the parasites (called sporozoites) travel to the liver, where they mature and release another form, the merozoites. These enter the bloodstream and infect the red blood cells. The parasites multiply inside the red blood cells, which then rupture within 48 to 72 hours, infecting more red blood cells. The first symptoms usually occur 10 days to 4 weeks after infection, though they can appear as early as 8 days or as long as a year after infection. Then the symptoms occur in cycles of 48 to 72 hours.

SIGNS/TESTS: During a physical examination, the doctor may identify an enlarged liver or an enlarged spleen. Malaria blood smears taken at 6 to 12 hour intervals confirm the diagnosis.

TREATMENT/CURE: Requires medical hospitalization. Chloroquine (anti-malarial drug) is a frequently used anti-malarial medication, but quinidine or quinine plus doxycycline, tetracycline, or clindamycin; or atovaquone plus proguanil (Malarone); or mefloquine or artesunate; or the combination of pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine, are given for chloroquine-resistant infections. The choice of medication depends in part on where you were when you were infected. Aggressive supportive medical care, including intravenous (IV) fluids and other medications and breathing (respiratory) support may be needed.


The contents of this post was obtained from the above website via copy and pasting. These ideas are not original of Giv2Cure, and we reserve no credit over these information.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Bisphenol-A (What is BPA?)

To reiterate this issue of BPA;

Linked to obesity, infant brain damage, thyroid disease, various types of cancer, heart diseases and sexual health problems, this chemical is used to produce common plastics.

It is most popular in baby bottles, water bottles and plastic food containers and coverings, and reciept paper.

This chemical leaches into foods and water when plastics are heated (i.e. heating a water bottle, or heating TV dinners in plastic containers); ingesting these chemicals can cause health problems, most piopularly hormone disruption. Babies exposed to BPA develop brain developmental abnormalities.

Found in reciept paper, this chemical can enter your blood stream through your skin, simply while you are holding reciept paper within 60 seconds or less. Your chance of exposure through receipt paper increases if your skin is dry, because skin tends to crack when dry, thus allowing ease of entrance.

This is a serious problem!

Good News for Short-term memory loss people :)

According to an article from medicalnewstoday.com:

"Having active control over a learning situation is very powerful. . .and can enhance one's memory. This new research confirms that having some authority over how one takes in new information significantly enhances one's ability to remember it.

"The study focused on activity in several brain regions, including the hippocampus, located in the brain's medial temporal lobes, near the ears. Researchers have known for decades that the hippocampus is vital to memory, in part because those who lose hippocampal function as a result of illness or injury also lose their ability to fully form and retain new memories. "

But the hippocampus doesn't act alone. Robust neural connections tie it to other important brain structures, and traffic on these data highways flows in both directions. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, which track blood flow in the brain, show that the hippocampus is functionally connected to several brain networks - distinct regions of the brain that work in tandem to accomplish critical tasks.


The designed experiment "required participants to memorize an array of objects and their exact locations in a grid on a computer monitor. A gray screen with a window in it revealed only one object at a time. The "active" study subjects used a computer mouse to guide the window to view the objects.

"They could inspect whatever they wanted, however they wanted, in whatever order for however much time they wanted, and they were just told to memorize everything on the screen," Voss said. The "passive" learners viewed a replay of the window movements recorded in a previous trial by an active subject.

Then participants were asked to select the items they had seen and place them in their correct positions on the screen. After a trial, the active and passive subjects switched roles and repeated the task with a new array of objects.

The study found significant differences in brain activity in the active and passive learners. Those who had active control over the viewing window were significantly better than their peers at identifying the original objects and their locations, the researchers found. Further experiments, in which the passive subjects used a mouse that moved but did not control the viewing window, established that this effect was independent of the act of moving the mouse. "

Therefore, become active learners to better retain wanted memories. Cool huh?

Dangers of BPA!!!

According to an article from: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/210765.php

"Bisphenol A (BPA) has been found in certain amounts in 95% of dollar bills in the USA, and a worrying proportion of bills and paper receipts with high levels of BPA. BPA is a hormone-disrupting chemical which has been linked to a higher risk of developing several diseases and conditions, such as cancer, obesity, early puberty, and infertility. BPA has also been found to affect brain development of babies exposed to it in the womb. The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, co-authors of a new study, say that the BPA on paper money is not chemically bound, it is a powdery film that easily comes off onto human skin when touched."


BPA, found in receipt paper, is escaping into our money (paper dollars) in large quantities. Though also a component of baby bottles, BPA doesn't leak off as easily as BPA found on paper.

If was found that "Highest quantities of BPA transfer onto the skin came from crumpling a receipt between two fingers and a thumb, the report revealed."

"The authors of the report wrote:

"Chemicals that can cause cancer, disrupt hormones, cause reproductive harm and infertility, or cause learning disabilities have no place in the products we bring into our homes. New law must reduce or eliminate the use of known toxics on a strict timeline.

New law should expedite the approval of new chemicals that are inherently low-hazard and/or would serve as safer alternatives for problematic uses of existing chemicals such as BPA. Innovative companies could use this expedited approval to meet the growing global market for safer chemicals."