Osteogenesis Imperfecta and its Potential Cure

Genetics Home Reference

(Sub-Portion of US. National Library of Medicine)

Osteogenesis Imperfecta is a genetic condition that affects roughly 7 in every 100,000 people and results in brittle bones. Osteogenesis Imperfecta is caused by a disruption or change in in chromosome 17 or chromosome 7, causing a failure to produce enough and/or adequate collagen, resulting in brittle bones. There is a recessive form of OI (implying dominant form), as well as 8 types of OI (each type is distinguished with its own symptoms, though there is overlap) where type I is the mildest form and type II is the most severe. OI, while affecting a relatively small portion of the world population, is a horrible hereditary condition, and with the discovery of a treatment for it, we will be able to treat other similar conditions.The change in perspectives is brought on by the use of stem cells to treat OI, as the use of stem cells are somewhat controversial in their own right. That being said, they could also be used in the treatment of countless other genetic conditions.

Vegan Diet and Food as Medicine

Dietary Benefits A Vegan Diet and Healing of The Body

The China Study, written by T. Colin Campbell in 2005, is a report of his observations of the Chinese lifestyle, finding that the the population following a vegan diet had a much higher life expectancy. This case supports the fact that longer, higher quality of life is expected with a diet that avoids all animal based products, but it also connects with the body and its ability to function more efficiently and to outlive the norms of an average animal product consumer. This myth of animal products, such as eggs, meat, and even milk, are helping with growth and strengthening the body has been surfacing the world for ages, but those products have actually been proven to be a health hazard and to worsen it by causing issues such as cancer, heart attacks and disease, along with many others. There are many ways of treatment of disease, one of them is believed to be with food, which is a natural source of it's needed vitamins and nutrients that can be easily attained through a vegan diet. Today, heart disease is the number one health issue in the United States. The vegan diet does not only reduce your risk of health issues, but boosts energy, and reduces the amount of unhealthy fats that enter your body, helping with with obesity which is also a major health concern nowadays. Also, many hesitate to switching to a vegan lifestyle because of the the misconception that it is a strictly raw and tasteless diet, when it in no means has to be.

ThingLink Questions- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XI1W4MPX7D2YdF90Q0KY8_Nq3OxXcXI6j9OukbHIy_E/edit

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, is a disease that degenerates the brain spanning over years or decades. The disease often occurs to athletes involved in contact sports such as boxers and football players, caused by frequent and vicious blows to the head. As a result, over time the brain can accumulate an unnaturally large amount of a protein called tau, and the brain tissue deteriorates, losing significant amounts of mass. Victims of CTE can experience depression, aggression, unpredictable behavior and memory loss, among many other mental disturbances. While many studies have proven that the disease can stem from football, the National Football League has been in denial for decades. Just recently a top NFL official admitted to a connection between the sport and disease, but there is still a struggle to spread awareness about the potential risks of football.

Mitochondrial Disease

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Mitochondrial Disease is a chronic illness in which the mitochondria, the organelle in cells responsible for creating energy (ATP), does not work properly. When the mitochondria do not work properly, many of the body's organs that need a lot of energy to function, such as the heart, brain, muscles and lungs, do not work well because they do not have as much energy as they need. The symptoms of mitochondrial disease are wide ranging and vary from person to person, which is why it can be so hard to diagnose and is frequently inaccurately diagnosed. In the worst cases, people can suffer from strokes, heart and kidney problems, blindness, deafness, liver disease, muscle failure, and even death. About 1 in every 4,000 kids that are born in the U.S. will develop a version of this disease by the time they are 10 years old. Mitochondrial disease is not contagious. It is a genetic disorder, which can come about because of a random mutation in the mitochondrial DNA or it can be genetically passed a mother to her child. Though mitochondrial disease most commonly appears during adolescence, it can also appear in later life. So far, mitochondrial disease has no cure. There are only treatments like "mito cocktails", which only provide temporary relief for some of the symptoms. However, these treatment do not address to the root of the problem, the mitochondria's inability to creating the necessary energy for the body. People should care about mitochondrial disease because a cure could save the lives of thousands of struggling kids and adults each year who never get the chance to live a normal life. There is not much controversy over the disease and why and how it occurs, but doctors and professionals do debate about different treatments and how effective they are. There are also some debates on mitochondrial diseases relationship to cancer. Specifics on both of these are not given.

Herpes and How it Affects Us

Image via The Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Herpes is a disease that can be transmitted through sexual contact, oral contact, and also direct contact to other people. This virus is caused by the herpes simplex virus 1 or 2. In terms of HPV-1, this virus is specifically transmitted through mouth-to-mouth contact and usually appears in the form of blisters around the lips and/or mouth. The transmitting of the virus can also come from a pregnant woman, causing her newborn to be infected with the virus, which in severe cases can become fatal for the baby. In other cases, blisters may occur on the tongue or on the host's face, creating a sense of itchiness, burning, or soreness. If the blisters are disrupted, they tend to pop and release a puss-like fluid that can also infect other recipients if they come in contact with the contagious "juices." Although genital herpes, or HPV-2, is incurable, the race to find a useful vaccine to treat the HPV-1 virus has scientists racing to find answers. But in most recent years, the answer was found, and scientists from HHMI were able to create a vaccine in order to prevent the infection of the disease. Overall, this highly contagious disease affects many in the US alone, and comes from the acts of unprotected sexual intercourse, and the sharing of objects such as water bottles, lip glosses, food utensils, etc. The risks of the HPV virus can go from a mild blister to fatality. 

Prosthetic Limbs

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Prosthetic limbs are making huge advancements recently and there are many people working on improving them.  Prosthetics are extremely important because of the opportunities they offer to people who are not able to have this options normally.  People who have lost their legs or arms can now do things previously thought impossible.  With new technology they are able to sense and feel closer to real touch.  Computers now also play a very large role in improving prosthetics.  Computers are now able to convert touch to actual feeling in the brain.  By using chips in the brain or in the arm they are able to bypass the injured areas or create direct links that can create the feeling of touch when the prosthetics touch something.            

3 Guiding Questions:
https://docs.google.com/a/blakeschool.org/document/d/1asGYEgQpsCFMF8kwKyNafRFV7iDBZt0aKek_2H9qpvc/edit?usp=sharing

Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cell Treatment

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Pancreatic cancer, or more specifically pancreatic adenocarcinoma, is the fourth leading cause in cancer mortality. However it is also almost an 100% mortality rate, due to its high metastatic abilities because of the pancreas's connection with many of the body system. Unlike most cancers, treatment for pancreatic adenocarcinoma has not improved over the last decades. By targeting digestive enzymes, and in some cases hormone secreting enzymes involved in the endocrine system, pancreatic cancer is currently almost impossible to control, and impervious to chemotherapy. At the heart of every cancer lies the cancer stem cells, or cells that enable diseases to become metastatic and travel through the bloodstream. Cancer stem cells also allow tumors to relapse and create new tumors. To combat this scientists and medical professionals alike developed the stem-cell therapy. By transferring stem cells such as in bone marrow or fetuses, healthy cells could combat cancer cells and growth in the body. While having success with the brain and blood type cancers, pancreatic cancer has not been fully observed. With limited testing the stem-cell therapy proves to have hopes for increase in treatment, however among other cancers it is still challenged by opposers to human cloning and abortion.
Summary of three questions: (Link does not work)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UKdZn_gcNx92rJM5tte6WgSYJ4ASd6y5qWhSyFDc5ro/edit