First Gunshot Victim in the New World - National Geographic Video

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered the 500-year-old skeleton of a man who died from a gunshot wound. Experts believe he's the first shooting victim in the New World.

Celiprolol as treatment of choice to prevent complications in vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a rare hereditary connective tissue disorder caused by mutations in the collagen type III gene ( COL3A1 ), which leads to a loss of tissue integrity in many organ systems.

Patients with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome have weakened blood vessels and an increased risk of arterial dissection or rupture that can lead to early death.

The researchers assessed the ability of celiprolol, a β1-adrenoceptor antagonist with a β2-adrenoceptor agonist action, to prevent arterial dissections and ruptures in vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Patients with clinical vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome were randomly assigned to 5 years of treatment with celiprolol or to no treatment.

33 patients were positive for mutation of collagen 3A1 (COL3A1). Celiprolol was uptitrated every 6 months by steps of 100 mg to a maximum of 400 mg twice daily. The primary endpoints were arterial events (rupture or dissection, fatal or not).

Mean duration of follow-up was 47 months, with the trial stopped early for treatment benefit.

The primary endpoints were reached by 20% in the celiprolol group and by 50% controls (hazard ratio [HR] 0·36).

Celiprolol might be the treatment of choice for physicians aiming to prevent major complications in patients with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

References:

Effect of celiprolol on prevention of cardiovascular events in vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: a prospective randomised, open, blinded-endpoints trial. The Lancet, Volume 376, Issue 9751, Pages 1476 - 1484, 30 October 2010.

Celiprolol therapy for vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The Lancet, Volume 376, Issue 9751, Pages 1443 - 1444, 30 October 2010.

Cyclist who survived: Use your head. Use your helmet

James Cracknell, OBE (born 5 May 1972) is a British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist.

From Official JCracknell: On 20th July it's exactly one year since James Cracknell was seriously injured in a cycling accident in America. His helmet saved him. James has made a short film to encourage others to wear cycle helmets. To show your support, pass the film to your friends and most importantly, when you're out cycling, use your head. Use your helmet.

More about the cycling Accident from Wikipedia:

On 20 July 2010, Cracknell was hit from behind by a truck whilst attempting to cycle, row, run and swim from Los Angeles to New York within 16 days. The accident happened at around 5.30 am on a quiet stretch of road outside Winslow, Arizona. It has been reported that his bicycle helmet saved his life but he suffered a contre-coup injury to the frontal lobes of his brain. He is now back at home with his family, although recovery is expected to be still some time away.

Related reading:

How Dangerous is Cycling? Cycling Accidents Facts and Figures - INFOGRAPHIC

Medical educators around the world - Healthcare / HCSM / HIT Social Media List

Medical education around the world, a map by Anne Marie Cunningham: Add yourself so we can find people interested in medical education from all around the world.

Look at this short video for guidance on how to edit the map: http://www.screenr.com/vU2s



Here is a list of Healthcare / HCSM / HIT Social Media-related accounts around the world.

This is a list of the Top Twitter Doctors arranged by specialty in alphabetical order - feel free to add your own suggestions. The list is open to anybody to edit:



Related:
For doctors: How to be a Twitter superstar in two easy steps

The Singing Doctor

From Cleveland Clinic YouTube chanel: Who knew doctors can sign? Hear the ENT doctor Paul Bryson sing the National Anthem sing at an Indians Game (Cleveland baseball team).

Comments from Twitter:

@scanman Wow!! Great voice!!

@DrSnit this was a lovely singing voice.

@faisal_q Working talent @ClevelandClinic

@gastromom Ruled out GERD ;)

Weight lifters turning to human growth hormone - and that's just the tip of the iceberg

From WebMD and the American Journal on Addictions:

In the study of 230 male weight lifters aged 18 to 40:

- 12% reported use of human growth hormone (HGH) or a similar supplement known as insulin-like growth factor-1

- all weight lifters reported use of anabolic steroids

- 56% percent had a current or past dependence on opioids, cocaine, and/or Ecstasy

HGH was prohibitively expensive in the 1990s, but now pills, powders, and injections can be purchased at low cost on the Internet.

Weight lifters who already take steroids add HGH as a "turbo boost". “You can always tell which elite athletes are on HGH because their bones are growing at a faster rate and their faces look distorted.”

References:
Weight Lifters Turning to Human Growth Hormone. WebMD.

Image source: OpenClipart, public domain

Drug companies trying to "create" parasites for treating ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is less common in countries endemic for helminth infections, suggesting that helminth colonization may have the potential to regulate intestinal inflammation in IBD. Therapeutic effects of experimental helminth infection have been reported.

According to a researcher: "What we found was that after worm infection, the regions of the colon that were previously not making mucus, were now making mucus again."

"That's a key factor in healing, and it looked like the mucus came back because the worms were causing the body to produce IL-22. This is a molecule that promotes epithelial growth and healing."

Studies suggest parasites can regulate the immune system in ways that prevent it from "going wild" and attacking healthy tissue, and possibly human evolution took that into account.

A case report in the journal Science Translational Medicine provides a cellular and molecular portrait of dynamic changes in the intestinal mucosa of an individual who infected himself with Trichuris trichiura to treat his symptoms of ulcerative colitis.

Tissue with active colitis had a prominent population of mucosal T helper (TH) cells that produced the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-17 (IL-17) but not IL-22, a cytokine involved in mucosal healing.

After helminth exposure, the disease went into remission, and IL-22–producing TH cells accumulated in the mucosa. Genes involved in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism were up-regulated in helminth-colonized tissue, whereas tissues with active colitis showed up-regulation of proinflammatory genes such as IL-17, IL-13RA2, and CHI3L1.

T. trichiura colonization of the intestine may reduce symptomatic colitis by promoting goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus production through TH2 cytokines and IL-22. Controlled helminth infections may lead to new therapies for inflammatory bowel diseases.

References:

Eat Your Worms: The Upside Of Parasites. NPR.

M. J. Broadhurst, J. M. Leung, V. Kashyap, J. M. McCune, U. Mahadevan, J. H. McKerrow, P. Loke, IL-22+ CD4+ T Cells Are Associated with Therapeutic Trichuris trichiura Infection in an Ulcerative Colitis Patient. Sci. Transl. Med. 2, 60ra88 (2010).

Helminth Trichuris suis (pig whipworm) had no effect as therapy for allergic rhinitis

Ulcerative Colitis - NEJM update, 2011.

Image source: Trichuris egg in stool sample (40x). Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.