BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: Treatments

Video Games: Can They Be Beneficial to a Child’s Learning and Development?

We’re told that video games are the downfall of today’s youth, but is it possible that there are video games that can help advance today’s youth? Well, researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to test exactly that, and thus Project: EVO was born.

They used a fairly new branch of medicine known as “digital medicine.” According to DW Shaffer at the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “…”digital medicine” [is medicine] that is potentially more precise, more effective, more experimental, more widely distributed, and more egalitarian than current medical practice. Critical steps in the creation of digital medicine are careful analysis of the impact of new technologies and coordinated efforts to direct technological development towards creating a new paradigm of medical care.” The researchers set out to prove whether or not digital medicine could be used as an investigational treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and co-occurring attention/deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

It is statistically proven that as many as 50 percent of children on the autism spectrum experience symptoms of ADHD, with about 30 percent of said children receiving a secondary diagnosis of ADHD. ADHD medications are far less effective, however, in children with both disorders than in those with only ADHD, which led researchers to conduct a study exploring alternative treatments.

The study included 19 children aged 9-13 who had each been diagnosed on the spectrum and experienced co-occurring ADHD symptoms. The care givers of each child, were asked to submit reports of his/her child’s ADHD symptoms, as well as his/her child’s ability to both plan and carry out specific tasks. Participants in the study were given either the Project: EVO treatment, which is delivered via an action video game experience, or an educational activity involving pattern recognition. The researchers were using the TOVA API score, an FDA-cleared objective, to measure each child’s attention.

“Our study showed that children engaged with the Project: EVO treatment for the recommended amount of time, and that parents and children reported high rates of satisfaction with the treatment,” Benjamin Yerys, Ph.D., a child psychologist at CHOP’s Center for Autism Research (CAR) and first and corresponding author on the study. “Based on the promising study results, we look forward to continuing to evaluate the potential for Project: EVO as a new treatment option for children with ASD and ADHD.”

The overall conclusion of the study, found that children engaged with the treatment for 95% of the recommended treatment sessions. The study also found that upon using Project: EVO, children showed improved attention both quantitatively (on the TOVA API score) and qualitatively, with a noticeable reduction of ADHD symptoms. Both parents and children deemed Project: EVO a worthwhile approach for treatment. Though the sample size of the study was small, the study showed that using Project: EVO was both feasible and acceptable; with potentially therapeutic effects.

Dysbiosis: Does Imbalance Help?

The gut microbiome is a very large collection of mutualistic relationships between microorganisms and an animal. In our case, these microorganisms control very much of the digestive tract and have influences throughout the body. Crohn’s disease is something that can happen due to imbalance in this microbiome or “dysbiosis“. Usually marked by inflammation in the digestive tract, this disease is a result of an autoimmune response against possibly microbial antigens. Although there is no cure, scientists have determined the best course of action is to relieve the symptoms. This results in disruptions to the gut microbiome.

Inflammation of the colon due to Crohn’s disease

Scientists studying responses in the gut microbiome have found that treatment for Crohn’s disease have caused various responses in the people in the experiment. Antibiotics have been found to decrease bacterial growth in the tract while allowing fungus to grow more freely. Formula diets relieved inflammation and other symptoms but didn’t repair bacterial balance in the microbiome. Immunosuppressants decreased inflammation and bacterial dysbiosis at the expense of increasing fungal dysbiosis. All these methods don’t seem to work out.

But what if the microbiome does not need to be restored to remain healthy? Formula diets caused more dysbiosis but were able to alleviate symptoms. Suddenly, the microbiome does not seem to be as necessary as previous studies suggest. However, this experiment only measures a few variables. Results beneficial to treatments for Crohn’s disease may cause something bad to happen elsewhere in the microbiome. Replacing the gut microbiome would definitely have massive side effects.

Perhaps one day, we could find some way to substitute parts of our mutualistic relationship with the bacteria inhabiting our gut. However, that day seems far off. For now, we should probably stick with what we have.

Original Article

Wait, you don’t hear that ringing, too?

Defined as “the perception of sound in one or both ears or in the head when no external sound is present” by the American Tinnitus Foundation, tinnitus affects 50 million people in the US and forty percent of veterans.  It can be caused by everything physical trauma or long-term exposure to loud noises (i.e. combat veterans or teenagers with iPods) to hormonal imbalance or aspirin use. Currently, there are many treatments available, although the success rate of these treatments varies. The main reason for this is that the best way of treating tinnitus would involve delivering medication to the inner ear, the site of the problem. Currently, doctors have no way of putting medication in the inner ear, but this could change  in a few years thanks to the the beginning of a new project by the US Department of Defense, who has commissioned Draper Laboratory to work out a

concept for a small delivery device inserted near the membrane-covered window—no more than three millimeters in diameter—separating the middle ear from inner ear. Once at the membrane the device … would release a drug into the cochlea… The plan is to embed wireless communications into the capsule so that a patient or doctor can control the dosage. After the capsule finishes delivering its supply of drugs, it would dissolve. 

 

Courtesy of: http://www.lesliewong.us/blog/2009/01/23/sony-mdr-v6-and-sennheiser-cx300-headphones/
These may be setting up my generation for a tinnitus epidemic many years from now.

 

The project is only in its beginning stages, so it will be years before patients can actually reap any benefits from this technology. However, I take comfort in knowing that should I develop tinnitus, I could possibly have access to better treatment than is available today. This is especially relevant to my generation; everywhere you look, there are teenagers blasting their iPods, unknowingly (or not caring) causing permanent damage. Despite the warnings received from adult, many teens will not listen, and will continue to cause damage with loud noise. Should this treatment be developed, the tinnitus that will be inevitable developed by a large portion of my generation will treated, and possibly cured.

This project also holds a personal significance for me.  As someone who wants to eventually enter the armed forces, I am relieved to know that such a common issue among veterans is coming a step closer to being eradicated. Despite the technology used today to prevent noise damage,  I know of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who are experiencing tinnitus, and even hearing loss. I’m glad that research is being conducted on a condition that, while it may not sound terribly crippling, can actually have a huge effect on one’s quality of life.

So, readers, do any of you have or know someone with tinnitus  If so, how did you or the person you know develop it? And, if you have it, would you consider one day utilizing this kind of treatment?

Post, discuss, talk with your friends. Discussion breeds awareness, which is key to arriving at a cure. 

 

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tinnitus-treatment

Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Credit: Fillmore Photography Flickr

Can you imagine having TWO life threatening diseases? Well, for some in Cambodia, that is the case. HIV and TB are two very common diseases that plague Cambodia, as well as other countries. Typically, a patient would go through TB treatment for two months and then begin HIV treatment. However, a new study done by Dr. Anne Goldfeld, the Program in Cellular and Molecule Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, and the CAMELIA (Cambodian Early versus Late Introduction of Antiretrovirals) shows that people with HIV and TB can benefit by being introduced HIV Treatment two weeks, instead of two months, after TB treatment was started. 

Doctors and researchers used to believe that the two medicines too much for the body to handle. Combining these two treatments would include taking seven, yes seven, pills a day. In addition, the pills would actually work against each other, the TB pills would work up the immune system to attack the TB and the HIV pills would suppress the immune system to stop the HIV from getting worse. This would put a massive strain on the body. However, this new study shows that the combination of the treatments can actually benefit the patient.

As of now there is no specific research or answers as to why the combination of the TB treatment and the HIV treatment is so effective. However, the study’s results are definitive. The patients that started the HIV treatment two weeks after starting the TB treatment had a better survival rate than those that started the HIV treatment later, 33% greater, to be exact.

Although the study did not give the exact reason behind this beneficial combination, it opened the door to a multitude of possibilities for HIV and TB sufferers around the world.

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