Just a Little Sugar

If we were playing “I Spy” and I described to you an object by the adjectives blue, round, and has a whole in the middle, what would you think? Well if you guessed the world, then you are wrong. Actually it is a symbol that represents a major disease that is affecting the world that we live in. This is a universal symbol for diabetes. Many would not consider diabetes as a serious illness. Often times you will hear people say “it’s just a little sugar,” but this disease accounts for almost four million deaths alone in 2010. In the article Management of diabetes and associated cardiovascular risk factors in seven countries: a comparison of data from national health examination surveys a study is given to see if this disease is destroying millions of lives because of the relationship between socioeconomic factors and inequalities in the health care system.

             Diabetes does not just have an effect on one part of the world. Every continent has seen major increases of the disease in their populations. Being that this is the case,the study was researched worldwide in seven different countries. These countries included Columbia, England, Islamic Republican of Iran, Mexico, Scotland, Thailand, and the United States. As they began their research, they broke the studies into four major categories which would determine how health systems were reacting to diabetes.These categories were undiagnosed, diagnosed but untreated, treated but not controlled which means that they were not meeting treatment targets, and last treated and controlled so they were making the targets for blood glucose, blood pressure and serum cholesterol. The results were that only a small percentage of individuals with diabetes actually reached the target for all three conditions. Wealth was not proven as a major significance in being diagnosed with diabetes.
            The study also broke down environmental factors that would impact the data.The following determinants were age and sex of the respondent, where they lived ( urban or rural), income, highest level of education, and insurance status. When it came to age, Mexico stood out with its high diagnosis of diabetes. In those over the age of 35, 24% were males, and 21% were females.In Columbia more women were actually willing to get tested and more were diagnosed than men.Another result was that coverage of treatment with medication was higher in more developed countries.Sadly though, overall in younger people diabetes was not diagnosed.

The article gives five approaches to help lower the pressure of diabetes. Case preventions through lowering factors that can be changed such as obesity through change of lifestyle. Screenings and lifestyle interventions with patients that have pre-diabetes. Quicker diagnosis and treatment plans, better management of complications such as renal disease and diabetic foot. Last but not least, improved organization on associated heart risk.

            Diabetes is definitely a silent killer. Even though millions are affected by the disease, people do not think of it as something that is detrimental to their health.Diabetes does not just affect one group of people.Age, sex, socioeconomic status, religion are not factors that determine whether a person will have disease. No one has a pass.It is important for us to gain knowledge on this crippling disease.


P.S. A few movies that I love that had a character affected by diabetes were Panic Room, Soul Food, and Mad Money.

Gakiodu,Mallinger,Abbott-Klafter,Guerrero,Villalpando,Ridaura,Aekplakorn,Naghavi,Lim, Lozano,JL Murray(2010).Management of diabetes and associated cardiovascular risk factors in seven countries: a comparison of data from national health examination surveys, Bull World Health Organ 2011:89:172-183, doi:10.2471/BLT10.080820

Are mental health services underutilized?

Do you know someone who suffers from depression or do you yourself suffer from depression? Most people can answer yes to one of those two questions, and depression is only one of dozens of mental illnesses that plague the human population. Mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, multiple personalities disorder, or schizophrenia, are not just abstract concepts that make up the plot of popular horror movies. They are real issues that create real problems and are in need of real solutions. In the article, “Typology of  adults diagnosed with mental disorders based on socio-demographics and clinical and service use characteristics” a study was conducted to develop a typology of individuals that suffered from mental illness in order to generate better and more efficient ways to improve the health care system to better serve the mentally ill. The study focused primarily on the predisposition, enabling factors, and needs factors of 2,433 people selected to participate in the study, as well as, the use of mental health services provided by those that had a history of mental illness.  

The study found that the most prevalent pre-disposing factors were gender, age, and marital status. Fifty six percent of participants were women around the mean age of 39.4 years. Fifty-one percent of the participants had never been married or were single. Socio-economic factors proved key in becoming enabling factors. Forty five percent of participants earned a salary as their primary source of income, and thirteen percent reported receiving government assistance in the form of welfare. Three percent received unemployment insurance, and the mean household income was $43,650. The needs related factors were shown to be major depressive episodes at fifty two percent, alcohol dependence at twenty-four percent, and social phobias at twenty percent. The average number of mental disorders per participant was found to be 1.47 disorders. These numbers reveal patterns of mental disorders  as an indirect result of various factors.

Among the 2,433 people that participated in the study, 406 people experienced at least one episode of mental disorder in the year prior to the study. Out of these 406 people, fifty-two percent, or 212 people, claimed to have used health care services for mental health issues at least one time. Most of the fifty-two percent suffered from major depressive episodes. The average number of services used by this section of the participants was 1.9 services. Most of the participants that had sought medical help used both primary care, which would include general practitioners, and specialized care, which would include psychiatrists and psychologists. Most of the participants that received specialized care had private health insurance. Forty of the participants consulted four or more different types of professionals. These numbers reveal patterns in the use of available public services for addressing mental disorders.

Through these findings the study found that there is an under use of the mental health services currently provided, with mostly woman taking advantage of them. The study found that because some services are underutilized and because mental illnesses vary with different pre-disposing factors, it is important to develop treatment programs for individual mental illnesses, and not more broad treatment programs that encompass the whole spectrum of mental illness. The study identified four main groups that need to be targeted, which include young females with anxiety disorders, middle aged, high income females with depressive disorders, young, low income earners with dependence disorders, and young low income earners with multiple mental and dependence disorders.  Outreach and promotion programs were found to be necessary for males specifically, as well as, for all four types of subgroups identified in the study.

Fleury, M., Grenier, G., Bamvita, J., Perreault, M., & Jean-Caron. (2011). Typology of adults diagnosed with mental disorders based on socio-demographics and clinical and service use characteristics. BMC Psychiatry, 11(1), 67-77. doi:10.1186/1471-244X-11-67

Viruses that Cross Borders

Imagine sitting on a bus  next to many coughing individuals, perhaps even sitting in  right in front of a violent sneezer.  The germophobe in you cringes, right?  Truth is, as many bottles of hand sanitizer we buy, or shots we take, there is not stopping viruses from spreading whether it be from each other, or between countries.

Photo by Xavier Donat

According to Yuki Furuse, Akira Suzuku, Taro Kamigaki, Emmanuel Abraham Mpolya, Irona Khandaker and Hitoshi Oshitani, there are four criteria to determine how spreadable each disease is, globally.  In their study “Viruses that Cross Borders: Factors Responsible for Global Dissemination of Viral Infections,” they study what  factors make a virus so contagious and resilient.

        The research concluded that viruses were classified as either Local or Global based upon the geographical distribution of genotypes of Viruses, how far ranging the Virus has spread.  Factors that were examined were : the biological characteristics of viruses, ways of transmission, host responses and epidemiological  factors.  The researchers found that viruses that were in closer range together looked genetically similar while the viruses that were far ranging came from the same familial tree.  This was a longitudinal study conducted over 10 years.  The researchers found that a lot of viruses while classified as Local can dually be classified as Global.  HIV is an example of a disease that is locally spread and yet has become a global problem.  There are many strains of HIV, many mutated versions.  This once “local virus” has become an issue for the global community.  With the advances in technology that has allowed for more travel of ideas, people, and culture, Viruses have inevitably followed. Globalization has become one of the biggest factors in the spreading of viruses as well as other factors including population density, lack of public health education.
        So then, how does this affect me?
        We live in a time of instantaneous transaction. People are no longer confined to the boundaries of their country because they have the motive and the means to travel.  As a result, their ideas, cultures, and diseases follow.  Perhaps this gives us an incentive to care more about what occurs in a small village in Africa.  Perhaps this should give us encouragement to put more money into foreign aid.   Whatever the result, it is clear that we are no longer a society confined to national borders, but rather a global community that is growing to share in culture, politics, and diseases.
        In today’s global society, everything is spread and shared instantly.  Whether it is ideas, fashion trends, fast food or news, it seems that nothing is set to one country’s boundary anymore.  The same can be said for Viruses.   
       
        Note:  For more: Check out the trailer for the upcoming movie, “Contagion”  this movie analyzes the breakdown of our political system as a disease is spread globally.

Furuse, Y., Suzuki, A., Kamigaki, T., Mpolya, E., Khandaker, I., & Oshitani, H. (2011). Viruses That Cross Borders: Factors Responsible for Global Dissemination of Viral Infections. Intervirology, 54(5), 246-252. doi:10.1159/000320967

Elephants and the Savanna

Photo by Frédéric Salein. June 23, 2010

Does a country’s jurisdiction extend to the diet of the animals within its boundaries? To save the acacia woodland of southern Zimbabwe, it might have to. A study conducted in Northern Gonarezhou Park in Zimbabwe observed the impact of the eating habits of elephants’ upon woodlands composed of Acacia tortilis trees. Through careful measurement of over 800 different plants, the study determined that the A. tortilis woodland was gradually being transformed into open woodland by the elephants, and recommended a program of long-term observation and conservation for sensitive, at-risk areas.

As the largest land mammals on Earth, elephants are often the subject of our wonder, our fascination, and sometimes our greed. In the summer movie Water for Elephants, Reese Witherspoon plays a circus performer who makes her living riding atop an elephant-- an elephant who is beaten and abused by the ringleader with his lust for power and money. The intended effect is that the audience comes to sympathize with the elephant, which is in itself interesting; these are creatures who, it has been demonstrated, have the capacity for long-term memory far exceeding a human’s and, like us, hold quite an influence over their environment. So when a study is published which takes a look at the elephant in its natural habitat, and its impact on the ecosystem, it is an attention-grabber.

Three acacias - Photo by Martin Sharman. Dec. 18, 2006

In the semi-arid climate of Northern Gonarezhou Park, Zimbabwe the plants see just two inches of rainfall per year. To put that in perspective, Chapel Hill’s thunderstorm on the 21st dropped over an inch of rain in just a few hours. In the midst of this drought-ridden climate, the acacia tree is an ecological keystone species. Acacia’s have been described as the “quintessential African tree” (Midgley and Bond, 2001). For humans they have a host of uses, including “fuel (wood and charcoal), agro-forestry, medicines, tannins, gums, building materials, rope, fibre and honey production” (Midgley and Bond, 2001). However, this treasure trove of applications has led to their decline in recent years. Not to mention that due to the high crude protein content of this plant, elephants go after the acacia tree more than any other woody plant.

As finding and tracking wild elephants in Zimbabwe is not only difficult but dangerous, cunning methods of data collection had to be used to infer the impact of the elephants. Cunning like, say, counting piles of dung. By defining a grid for the woodland patches and then counting the elephant dung, researchers were able to stratify the areas the elephants used in to high, medium, and low levels of utilization. The highest utilized patches of woodland occured near the Park’s largest river, the Save. The plants themselves were analyzed for elephant damage characterized by missing leaves, broken branches and stripped bark. Any and all woody plants with a height greater than three meters and a basal diameter of more than six centimeters were counted in the study. Twenty-six species of woody plants were observed in a total of twenty-five plots. Everything from tree height to number of stems was quantified and recorded.
From the data analysis, the picture became clear: mean tree height, mean basal area, and mean tree density were all significantly higher in the lower utilization zones. Furthermore, there was a greater diversity of woody species in these areas. Across the board, the acacia woodland in the lower utilization zones, the zones least frequented by elephants, was healthier and more prosperous. The findings support the hypothesis that elephants impose a large influence on the vegetation of their arid and semi-arid climates, mainly by debarking in the dry season. Observations show that during critical dry periods in the savanna, the elephant is more likely to come to the A. tortilis tree than any other tree. (Owen-Smith, 1988). Largely through the elephant’s efforts, the woodland patches in the Gonarezhou savanna are being transformed and its most important tree being wiped out.
Or is it? The results, while cause to worry, are not exactly a sure thing. There are other factors which hold influence on the life cycle of an acacia woodland: drought, disease, fire, soil conditions, topography, and past human activities. Elephants certainly do not hold all the blame when a woodland is stripped of its acacia’s. Moreover, the results could have been affected by the fact that only a single round of sampling was conducted. This phenomenon could be temporal and fleeting... or it could be even worse than previously suggested. With such limited data it is hard to know. The researchers conclude by making two recommendations: establishing thresholds beyond which action will be taken to protect the ecologically important A. tortilis, and continuing long term evaluation of the interaction between large herbivores and their choice of vegetables.

Matt Hugo

Gandiwa, E. E., Magwati, T. T., Zisadza, P. P., Chinuwo, T. T., & Tafangenyasha, C. C. (2011). The impact of African elephants on Acacia tortilis woodland in northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe. Journal of Arid Environments, 75(9), 809-814. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.04.017

J.J. Midgley and W.J. Bond, A synthesis of the demography of African acacias. Journal of Tropical Ecology,  17  (2001), pp. 871–886.

R.N. Owen-Smith, Megaherbivores: The influence of very large body size on ecology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1988).

What Happened?: A Study on Concussion Knowledge

What if I were to tell you that 10% of athletes suffered a concussion in the past year? More troubling, what if you were to find out that 62% of these injuries were not reported? The existence and awareness of these concussions are at the heart of the research article, “Concussion occurrence and knowledge in Italian football (soccer). Co written by Steven P. Broglio, Roberto Vagnozzi, Matthew Sabin, Stefano Signoretti, Barbara Tavazzi, and Giuseppe Lazzarino, the article tackles the realm of concussions: from the reporting by players to recognition by coaches and the medical staff.This is an article whose relevance is ever present in the headlines. Each week in the United States, the ESPN ticker is littered with football players (albeit American football) plagued by injury and uncertainty as to the severity of their ailments. In an age where knowledge of the medical field is evolving constantly, athletics have come under scrutiny for their handling of concussions. It is in the author’s belief that all three (athletes, coaches, and medical staff) are in need of more educational materials to help with the recognition of warning signs, evidence, and assessing techniques of concussions.

It is with this figure in mind that in 2009, the researchers conducted surveys on athletes, coaches, and medical staff to assess their knowledge and treatment for concussions. The surveys reached out to 727 individuals (650 athletes, 43 coaches, 34 medical). The athlete survey was conducted to deduce the correlation between the occurrence of concussions and how often they were reported. The results were disturbing to say the least. Working with 303 returned surveys (46.6% return rate) the researchers deemed that 10% of those surveyed had sustained a concussion in the current season. As eluded to in the introduction, 62.1% of these athletes did not report their injuries. What is more troubling is that the average age of those tested was 16.8 years old. Juvenile athletes are being subjected to this type of punishment on the body. Worse yet, they are not saying anything about it and therefore increase their chances of injury in the future. Their own teammates reported in at 72.7% in knowing their teammate had a concussion but not reporting it because they believed it was not serious. It is clear in these findings that athletes have to be closely guarded and tested since they are unable or unwilling to keep track of their own health.

Unlike most studies on concussions, the research done for the findings of the article take place outside the United States. While much of the focus on concussions has been geared towards American football, little attention has been made to the sport that attracts the most attention worldwide; soccer. The reason for this possibly being since American football (along with rugby) is usually regarded as one of the most dangerous sports on the planet. Yet, the number of athletes playing American football pales in comparison to soccer.  In fact, it is reported that soccer comes out on top with over 240 million participants (Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), 2008). Yet with most of investigations on concussions coming out of the United States, little is known how the rest of the world conducts themselves when it comes to concussions and their treatment.l

With 43 surveys distributed to coaches, 27 (62.8%) were returned. In one occurrence of good news from the study, 72% of the coaches tested understood the risk of injury increases after just one concussion. Even more encouraging was 81.5% would support baseline testing of their athletes if it lead to a more informed medical decision. In addition, all coaches agreed that the decision of when a player can return to the field should be left to the medical staff. Of the three groups, the coaches surveyed showed the most promise as they seemed to be aware of the severity of concussions and to defer judgement to the medical staff.

In concluding with the survey, the medical stuff had the smallest sample size (12 out of 34) at 35.3%. Of those surveyed, 81.8% marked that they complete baseline testing of the athletes. Of this group surveyed, an identical 91.7% completed a clinical exam and relied on the use of athlete reported symptoms. Minimal use was reported in the areas of neurocognitive testing and grading scales, both of which came in at under 20% ( 16.7% and 8.3% respectively). In addition, no medical staff reported that they had ever knowingly returned a concussed player to the field..

The research is gloomily concluded with an analysis on the state of concussions in Italian soccer. It is said that more education materials need to be made available to coaches and medical staff. This is largely in reference to the fact that not all medical staff administered baseline testing. Furthermore, of this testing, medical staff and coaches need to be aware of using neurocognition and postural control, both of which were seldomly used by the surveyed medical staff. The researchers argue that the above stated techniques have to be used in conjunction with standardized base line testing to produce more concise results.

As it pertains to the society of the United States, concussions are present in our every day lives. For example, I had to bench three of my starting players in fantasy football because they were out due to concussions. All kidding aside, the National Football League (NFL) has made concussion analysis and prevention a priority in their league. From limiting where you are allowed to hit someone (no head to head contact) to ensuring an independent opinion is given before a player is allowed to step back on the field, concussion prevention is at the forefront of the NFL’s safety measures. Last Sunday night, as the Falcons played host to the Eagles, the starting quarterback for the Eagles (Michael Vick) was sidelined due to a concussion. After the game, the head athletic trainer for the Eagles reported that Vick was looking okay after the hit but they wanted to be on the side of caution and wait to put him back in. It’s preventative actions like these that are helping reshape the NFL as a league of safety.

Austin Hurwitz

Broglio, S. P., Vagnozzi, R., Sabin, M., Signoretti, S., Tavazzi, B., & Lazzarino, G. (2010). Concussion occurrence and knowledge in Italian football (soccer). Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 9(3), 418-430. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

The Need for Citation

Plagiarism is very bad. So do not do it.


If only it was that simple. In today's day and age, with information at our fingertips, the need for giving credit where credit is do has never been more important. Citing sources is not only a good idea to protect oneself from claims of plagiarism, but it is a moral obligation. To cite UNC'S "Why We Cite" (see what I did there), citations serve three major roles in scholarly work
These roles are:


1. They allow you to show how your argument is built upon the ideas of others


2. They allow you to indicate which ideas are taken from others, and from whom those ideas were taken


3. They allow the interested reader to follow your argument and confirm its logic by investigating the ideas on which the argument is built, or to further explore those ideas on their own.


See now if we did not cite UNC for the above stated information...that would be plagiarism and we would all have to go to honor court. Personally, I know we would like to stay away from honor court and in school so we will make sure to cite.
This will be done in APA format in all our blogs to ensure regulation among our posts. APA is used universally in the word of academics, therefore it can be easily recognized and understood. Because it is somewhat of an academic standard it is often an option to export any article one is working with in APA format, ensuring easy citation.


We hope you enjoy.

Out for Blood: Consent and Controversy

In the Nature editorial, “There will be blood,” the author takes issue with the sampling of an infant’s blood for testing without parental consent. The author asserts that parents are unaware that their child has his or her heel pricked and blood tested. While the author does not argue against the pricking of the child’s heel to sample the blood, the author does take issue with the lack of consent or awareness of the parent. In support of this issue, the author asserts that this is an ethical issue about the use of our genetic information. Because the hospitals will have the child’s genetic information on file, this raises the question of whether our blood and the information from our blood is our property or public domain.

As evidence, the author cites the opinion of nurses and M.H. Lewis who said “People want control over their genetic information and that of their children, and they are not getting it. Some parents might have been given a leaflet and some may even have signed a form, but as a recent review shows, state regulation of newborn screening is a mess.” In the Dark Daily article “Parents outraged at warehousing of DNA from newborn Baby screening programs used for clinical laboratory testing,” the author takes the position that an infant’s DNA should not even be kept. This takes a separate position from the Nature article’s position of needing explicit consent.

This Dark Daily article sees the storing of genetic information as an abuse of power in the medical industry.

Both articles raise important points about biological information and whether or not data from our blood is public or private domain. The Dark Daily article takes the stance that our blood information should not be stored in a public database to be tested because it is private property. As such, the consent of giving up data obtained from one’s blood does not belong to the parent, but the person whose blood is collected. And while I understand the writer’s opinion, I’m more inclined to agree with the Nature article. If the information is given with parental consent especially if it is used to test for birth defects, that decision should be left to the family. Perhaps the person whose blood is taken should have the option of having his or her information thrown out. I have trouble seeing the distinction of having a person’s DNA information stored and having someone’s blood type stored.

These two editorials take on interesting controversies regarding the use of genetic information taken at birth. This leads me to wonder about the nature of genetic testing. As of now, we use genetic information obtained at birth for screening uses. I find it acceptable to test for genetic disorders but could we one day get to a point where we could go beyond testing? The movie Gattaca is about the manipulation of genetic information. Should we one day get the ability to prevent genetic disorders, or even genetic “flaws” would we ever utilize this skill? Is it ethical? For those interested in Science Fiction, this movie is for you. For those who love either Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman or Jude Law, this movie is for you too.

Here’s a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZppWok6SX88&feature=related

Hopefully you Remember this Today and Tomorrow

        Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one of the greatest movies that was released this year. One focus of the movie was an issue that has left the scientific world puzzled. With all the major research that has been done, there is no known cause or cure for Alzheimer’s disease. While both articles agree that this disease is affecting the world negatively, in the Journal Nature the article Alzheimer’s disease discusses the crippling disease that many are facing as a result of old age and the second article Brain Plaques Do Not Cause Alzheimer’s, focuses more on the actual scientific research and how they may need to start looking into other causes for the illness.
        The first article explains how at one point, when you think of Alzheimer’s you may just think of someone who is old and that is simply forgetting everyday task, which is definitely not the case. The article describes this disease as a fog. The disease and the effects are both mysteries to the world. Is this disease predetermined? Is it based on your genes? These are frightening questions that can scare many, especially if their family went through the disease and they saw the tragic downfall.Being that scientist cannot even understand the disease there is no possibility that they will find the correct cure. This disease not only affects the individuals and their families but also the economy. One figure showed that in the United States alone costs were up to 300 billion dollars a year. The amount is only going to increase with more cases. It gives a little hope that certain activities such as dancing and playing games can help.
       There is a debate on whether plaques and tangles that the brain forms cause this disease. Plaques are deposits of beta-amyloid that gather in the spaces between nerve cells, and tangles are deposits that accumulate inside the nerve cells. The article Brain Plaques Do not cause Alzheimer’s, says that plaques on the brain do not cause this detrimental disease. One reason that the author feels this way is because the body produces these proteins to protect the brain. The human body is magnificent and it would not produce something that would harm itself. This is the debate. Whether plaques are harmful and toxic to the brain or if they are protective and tools created by the brain. One cause that scientist are now leaning towards are oligomers. An experiment was tested on the plaques theory on mice. One group had oligomers and plaques present and the other group just had oligomers. The results were that there was no major difference between the test groups. If plaques were the cause of the disease, then the drugs that they produced would have resulted with better results. This article feels that the scientific world needs to take on a new approach to this disease and explore possibilities that they may have ignored in the past.
       There is definitely a consensus that whatever the cause or cure may be, that there is a sure need for this enigma to be solved. In both articles, you feel a sense that unfortunately there may never be a cure. The brain is complex and there is a great capacity that the world does not understand. Whether plaques are the cause of this detrimental disease, from these articles we see that Alzheimer’s disease is very serious and hurting the economy and the lives of those with the disease and the people around them. Hopefully when the cure is found, it does not result in apes taking over the world.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7355_supp/full/475S1a.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/029921_brain_plaque_Alzheimers.html

Disease Debates

Human mortality, aging, and disease are popular topics of interest in modern culture. We see numerous television shows that detail the lengths people go to in order to defy the aging process through the use of plastic surgery. We see awareness organizations for diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s to Down Syndrome to Depression, and we see a fascination with the ability to thwart death, as evidenced in various sci-fi movies and books, most recently the Twilight Saga involving immortal vampires. Mortality, aging, and disease are not only areas of interest and curiosity, but are areas that affect every single individual personally and thus prove to raise controversial questions in the political and societal realm. In the article “Brain Burdens,” which can be found in Nature Journal, the author presents a bold and relatively new claim to Western research and medicine. He or she proposes that neurological diseases do not receive enough attention or funding for adequate research and funds from other areas, namely cancer, should be relocated. In a contrasting article entitled “The Triumph against Cancer,” the author indirectly refutes the claim “Brain Burdens” raises by revealing the cost of the trade-off it propose through the use of a personal account of a cancer victim. Each article presents a separate perspective, “Brain Burdens” with a scientific and clinical  overtone and “The Triumph against Cancer” with a more personal and emotional overtone,  on the costs that two different types of diseases pose to both society and individuals, which, in turn, creates a debate on the allocations of funds between different types of medical research.

In the article “Brain Burdens” the author argues that there needs to be a shift in funds toward research on neurological and mental disorders and away from other types of research, specifically cancer and cardiovascular disease. The author points out that the research and funds allotted towards a particular disease should be proportional to the burdens that disease places on the population. In order to support this reasoning, he or she then goes on the detail the significant burdens neurological and mental disorders bring. In a span of thirty European countries, it was found that 38% of the collective population will have a mental disorder in a typical year. It was also found that the single most widespread disease in the countries was depression, which affected thirty million people. Furthermore, only one out of two people that suffer from mental or neurological diseases received any medical treatment, and only ten percent of those that received the treatment actually received what is deemed to be “notionally adequate” treatment. The author pointed out that while cancer and cardiovascular disease typically result in early deaths, the same is not true for neurological and mental disorders. The quality of life that neurological and mental disorders cause is much lower for longer portions of time. Mental disorders commonly emerge in the first twenty years of a person’s life, yet little is known of a healthy versus unhealthy adolescent brain. The author argues that preventative measures that can be used at an early age should be researched and developed further.

The article “A triumph in the War against Cancer” Indirectly opposes “brain Burdens” in that it praises the immense amount of time and funds being poured into cancer research. The article is written with a personal and individualistic perspective, which is in contrast to the utilitarianism perspective of the first article. “A Triumph in the War against Cancer” illuminates cancer research by delving into the perspective that cancer victims and their families share on the matter. The article indirectly brings light to the fact that while cancer victims do not necessarily have to live with the effects of their disease due to death, as victims of neurological and mental disorders do, the effects are no less worse. The article details the account of a woman with a specific type of Leukemia, CML, and her journey from hopelessness and imminent death to normalcy, all because of the cancer research done by Dr. Druker. One striking image the article discusses is that of the woman taking a picture at her own tombstone, which she bought before taking a drug that managed her leukemia for over ten years and is still currently doing so. The article highlights the importance and the need for the continuation of cancer research.

While “Brain Burdens” points to various statistics and hard data, “A Triumph in the War against Cancer” was far more convincing and much more relateable because it discussed the reality a certain individual faced as opposed to abstract situations and predicted outcomes. “A Triumph in the War against Cancer” would arguably appeal to almost every single reader. Most everyone knows someone, be it a family member, friend, colleague, or acquaintance who has suffered from some type of cancer. At the very least most everyone has empathized with a movie character who was victimized be the disease. Modern culture places a huge emphasis on cancer research, as evidenced by recent movies such as “My Sister’s Keeper” or the less recent “A Walk to Remember.” Martina McBride’s latest country hit is a song dedicated to survivors of breast cancer and the breast cancer awareness now has its own month. While the general public would most definitely see the benefit of more research for neurological and mental disorders, it would not be prone to give up funding for cancer research, as “Brain Burdens” deems necessary, which leads us to a problematic question. If funds are not directly taken from cancer research and transferred to neurological research, than where will the extra funding come from in an economy that is floundering, and, beyond that, how do we quantify the pain, loss, disruption, fear, and sadness each type of disease causes in a systematic method that results in the ranking of one disease to be worse than the other?

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/A-Victory-in-the-War-Against-Cancer.html?c=y&page=5

Philanthropy... For Profit

As funds are cut and budgets tightened nationwide on scientific research, the question of where to get adequate funding for research labs is not only controversial among scientists, but of drastic importance. This problem rears its ugly head in many other sectors, including public education, public health, and social reform policy. In an ideal world, most researchers would like to have complete intellectual freedom to carry out their studies at their own pace. However this is becoming less and less common as ‘venture philanthropy’ takes hold, a practice that couples academic lab with industry. In the Nature article “With Strings”the author argues for professionals to “shrug off their fears”and welcome venture philanthropy, while in “Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools,” from the e-zine Dissent, Joanne Barken offers a perspective that venture philanthropy is failing and need to be reexamined.

It began in 2000, in a case which the Nature author uses to begin their article: “When the Maryland-based Cystic Fibrosis Foundation invested in Californian biotechnology company Aurora Biosciences, it launched a revolution.” The author claims that this type of partnership between scientist and CEO is the future, and will have to be embraced in the coming years if we want to see scientific research continue without declining. The chief assumption that this article brings with it (and one I would expect in a Nature article, or at least one I wouldn’t expect the author to go out of their way to explain) is that scientific research deserves to continue unchecked and that securing these funds is favorable to the alternative. That being said, the funny thing about this article is that it provides little to no evidence to back up its claims. When it says that a partnership between charity foundations and industry researchers is the best way to deliver a product to the shelves, it offers no support to that claim. The only data that the author ever gives is anecdotal-- like the opening line about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, or later on with a similar line about The Michael J. Fox Foundation-- without ever relaying to the reader how these cases turned out. The article ends with a final base-less claim: that ushering in this new coupling of industry and charity funding will “ultimately help all those involved in health-care research to turn ideas into therapies.”

In the Dissent e-zine article “Got Dough? How Billionaires rule our school outlines an opinion on a similar topic, health and education falling into the hands of private sector managers and owners. They criticize companies such as The Gates Foundation who, through aggressive investment and lobbying, can exert a large amount of influence on the goals and values of our education system. Because they have the funds to change standards they would like to improve (“charter schools, high-stakes standardized testing for students, merit pay for teachers whose students improve their test scores, firing teachers and closing schools when scores don’t rise adequately, and longitudinal data collection on the performance of every student and teacher”) we are seeing concrete changes in the landscape of public education, argues the author. As opposed to the Nature article, this article spouts off studies left and right about its topic-- “Stanford University’s 2009 study of charter schools,” “Vanderbilt University study showed definitively,” “ a National Research Council report confirmed multiple studies”-- however, not one of these studies or reports was cited, and they were often summarized in a single, generalizing statement (“Study X showed that public education is failing”). Barkan’s main claim that venture philosophy in the hands of such financial giants eventually turns corrupt is impactful, but the sources she uses to prove her point are thrown around so willy-nilly it becomes hard to take it seriously at points.

It is interesting to note that the two articles, making markedly different arguments, suffered from problems on the two ends of the spectrum. The Nature article offered so little in terms of supporting evidence that it is completely unpersuasive, while the Dissent article flung around so many uncited facts that it felt desperate and muddled. Although the articles weren’t in direct conversation over the the topic of venture philanthropy in one specific sector, they came away with two different claims. Indeed, in modern culture there are often two sides, arguing for and against the simplest of scientific facts. The anti-vaccination argument has historically always had an undercurrent in society, but recently it blew up when celebrity Jenny McCarthy started a new anti-vaccination movement using her own son’s autism, which she believed he received from a vaccine, as her cornerstone. Scientifically, the movement has always and still holds no merit, yet it continues to make headlines. What makes these arguments so appealing to dissenters? How does controversy spread from such groundless claims?

Is Google Killing the Planet?

           

What if I were to tell you that you were hurting the planet more by driving an electric car rather than a gas fuelled one....

Yeah,you would probably react something along the lines of this guy. Well that is exactly the argument the Nature article “On the rebound” is trying to tackle.  The author’s thesis is researches have been critical about the benefits of energy efficiency. This argument has been fuelled by William Jevons, the late British economist. Jevons had suggested back in 1865 that energy efficiency could blow up in our faces. Resulting in increased resource exploitation, the exact opposite effect of what advocates of efficiency would hope for. Jevons argument consisted around the premise of the old adage “too much of a good thing”.

“Jevons paradox”, as it has been called, includes as its evidence that as society becomes more adept at converting more efficient fuel, the work itself will expand. Nature gives the example of an electric vehicle that I touched on lightly at the beginning. Consider this; what if fuel efficient vehicles were available and used by everyone in the United States. The drivers of these cars as a result may be more willing to drive more often. In what is described as the “rebound effect”, the positives of this efficiency of switching to electric cars is negated by their use.

This brings us to Google. Now you may be thinking, how could the search engine conglomerate possibly be less energy efficient then lets say....searching through an encyclopedia. The answer may surprise you. In the article “Stung by accusations its business harms the planet, Google discloses its energy use”, The Washington Post addresses claims that Google is bad for the planet. Amid criticism, Google recently released how much electricity the company uses and its production of greenhouse gases.

While watching a video on YouTube is more energy efficient that watching a DVD, the rebound effect explained in the Nature article produces questions of its own. How many YouTube videos do people have to watch for it to equate to watching a DVD? When you consider that YouTube handles three billion views a day, the rebound effect really has to come into question.

Larry Page has been a public advocate of energy efficiency since 2007. It is since this time that he has claimed Google removes enough greenhouse gases through projects to completely negate its own omissions. So while The Sunday Times (UK) claims a single Google search “generates the same amount of carbon as boiling a kettle of water[...]” Page is adamant the company is doing what it can to reduce or negate its carbon footprint.

The fact of the matter is energy efficiency is good for the environment to an extent. Its like eating an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Sure, one apple a day is great, but try eating twenty and you will probably get sick. The issue is not so much efficiency as it is consumption. No one can critically argue that energy efficient procedures and applications do not help the environment, its the people using them that need to cut back.

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