Snow Storm: Death Due to Heart Attack

Several deaths occurred during the last few days while men were shoveling snow in North Carolina. Unfortunately, this is very common: dying after shoveling snow from a heart attack.

Prostate Cancer vs. Breast Cancer

These are the rates: 1 out of 6 men develops prostate cancer; 1 out of 8 women develops breast cancer.

How to make an emulsion

An emulsion is a mixture of two immiscible liquids in the presence of an emulsifier. Without the added emulsifying agent, the two immiscible liquids separate from each other almost within a matter of seconds. Every emulsion contains at least two phases. The outer phase of an emulsion is known as the continuous phase and the inner phase is known as the discontinuous phase. The simplest emulsions are either oil-in-water or water-in-oil. An example of emulsions is Mineral Oil emulsion which is used as a laxative.

Colorectal Cancer---A Blood Test

As of now, no blood test to detect colorectal cancer or polyps is available. A new blood test was described as having a sensitivity for colon cancer of 92% and for polyps of 84%. The specificity of the test is 89%. This blood test detects a protein known as CD24 that is found in blood in high levels when colon cancer or polyps are present.

PAM-4...An Experimental Test for Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer has a very poor diagnosis, and finding an early test to detect it is highly desirable. A new experimental blood test for detecting pancreatic cancer was found to have a very high sensitivity (62% with early tumor and 90% with more advanced cancer). The test detect a specific protein, known as PAM-4, in the blood. PAM-4 is only secreted by pancreatic cancer cells to an appreciable amount, and not by normal tissues (very specific for the disease). The specificity of the test is defined as the probability that the test is negative when the disease is absent. The sensitivity of a test is defined as the probability that the test is positive given that the patient has the disease.

Facial Birth Defect Among Migrant Workers

Kettleman City in California is home for thousands for migrant workers. A cluster of facial birth defect has been detected in this population. The finger has been pointed toward a toxic waste dump site located nearby the city. EPA is now investigating.

Warning from Novartis---Vaccines

The CEO of Novartis warned countries that are trying to cancel their H1N1 vaccines contract with Novartis that there will be looked at unfavorably by the company. Novartis, a well known giant in the manufacturing of vaccines, had many contracts with different countries to supply them with H1N1 vaccines. But now, since the pandemic is over, countries are no longer interested in purchasing this vaccines. The CEO stated that in the future there "will be another pandemic", and those countries that honored their contracts this time will be treated more favorably by the company in the future.

Genes Testing for Prostate Cancer

Scientists from the United Kingdom have identified three genes that determine survival rate for patients with prostate cancer. The presence of defects in all three genes in a patient is bad news; the survival rate over 11 years is only 14%. Men with no defects in any of the genes had a survival rate of 85% over the same period. The good news is that only 6% of men had defects in all three genes.

Cancer rate by gender

In the United States, the incidence of cancer for men is 1 out of 2 and that for women is 1 out 3.

Tax Time is Upon Us

Historical Data on Swine Flu of 2009 (Cases from April 23 to July 27, 2009)

Snow in Holly Springs, NC (Friday/Saturday: January 29 & 30, 2010)

Hemoglobin

Hemoglobin is the red pigment carried by red blood cells (erythrocytes). It is logical to assume that as the number of red blood cells increases the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood also increases. The graph below shows data relating hemoglobin vs. red blood cells in the same individual over a 15-year period.