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Title page/Editorial BoardEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - October 12, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Source Type: journals

Percutaneously adjustable portal vein banding device could prevent post-operative liver failure – Artificial control of portal venous flow is the key to a new therapeutic worldEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: The risk of post-operative liver failure is the central problem in the field of liver resection and transplantation. This is principally due to the “small-for-size syndrome”, an excessive and destructive portal flow through a remnant liver that is too small, which becomes functionally insufficient. Indeed, there is no efficient and safe method that can be used to manage a greatly reduced remnant liver size.We postulated that adjustable portal vein banding, to control the portal venous flow and act as a progressively opening “dam”, in proportion to the initial remnant liver weight and its natural growth, co...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - September 6, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Julien Reyal, Shinji Uemoto Source Type: journals

Title page/Editorial BoardEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - September 2, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Source Type: journals

A new hypothesis about the role of uric acid as a neurotransmitterEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Although there is scientific controversy, gout, characterized by increased uric acid (urate) in the blood, has been linked with abnormalities of mood, and has been described that there are psychological factors that can trigger gout attacks . (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - September 1, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Alberto Halabe Bucay Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Antifibrotic medication using a combination of N-acetyl-L-cystein (NAC) and ACE inhibitors can prevent the recurrence of Dupuytren’s diseaseEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Dupuytren’s disease is a progress fibromatosis of unknown origin first described in 1831. Nonoperative treatment options have been suggested involving radiation therapy, vitamin E, local injection therapy suing calcium channel blockers, interferon, corticosteroids or collagenase. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) and its downstream Smad signalling system is well established as a key player during fibrogenesis. A number of in vitro experiments have been assessed the blockade of TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta 2. Clinically, a number of antifibrotic agents are available such as N-acetyl-L-cysteins (NAC) as well ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - September 1, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Karsten Knobloch, Joern Redeker, Peter M. Vogt Source Type: journals

Epigenetic programming of diverse glucocorticoid response and inflammatory/immune-mediated diseaseEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Glucocorticoid plays a fundamental role in maintaining immune homeostasis. Resistance to glucocorticoids is a potential etiology of inflammatory/immune-mediated disease. Most of the glucocorticoid effects are mediated by glucocorticoid receptor (GR), which has a complicated promoter region with multiple promoters. Studies have found that the methylation pattern of GR promoter is highly individual, which may contribute to the diverse glucocorticoid responds. Early life is a critical time for epigenetic programming of the body in which methylation imprints are established. Here we propose a hypothesis that connects ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - September 1, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Peisong Chen, Tang Jiang, Juan Ouyang, Yingpeng Cui, Yili Chen Source Type: journals

Calcium channel as a potential anticancer agentEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Anticancer treatment in modern clinical practices includes chemotherapy and radiation therapy with or without surgical interventions. Efficiency of both methods varies greatly depending on cancer types and stages. Besides, chemo- and radiotherapy are toxic and damaging that causes serious side effects. This fact prompts the search for alternative methods of antitumor therapy. It is well known that prolonged or high increase of intracellular calcium concentration inevitably leads to the cell death via apoptosis or necrosis. However, stimulation of cell calcium level by chemical agents is hardly achievable because c...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - August 31, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: L. Kriazhev Source Type: journals

Upright position mechanical ventilation: An alternative strategy for ALI/ARDS patients?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Use of body positioning to improve oxygenation in mechanically ventilated patients with acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been well documented. However, neither prone position ventilation nor side lying ventilation has been reported to improve the survival. Whether there is a body position superior to routine supine position or other positions as therapeutic adjunct for ventilated patients with ALI and ARDS? We propose the hypothesis that upright position ventilation may be helpful to improve oxygenation and benefit patients with ALI/ARDS. According to the existing physiolo...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - August 16, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Min Zhu, Wei Zhang, Jia-Ning Wang, Hua Yan, Yang-Kai Li, Bo Ai, Sheng-Lin Fu, Xiang-Ning Fu Source Type: journals

ECT for Parkinson’s diseaseEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive, degenerative disorder that affects over five million people worldwide. Pharmacotherapy with dopamine enhancing medications is the mainstay of treatment. Neurosurgical techniques, ranging from pallidotomy to deep brain stimulation (DBS) are used in refractory patients. Another treatment, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), has repeatedly been shown to have beneficial effects in PD, but has never gained acceptance as a clinical treatment option. We review the literature on the use of ECT in PD, pointing out that ECT has beneficial effects on both the core motor symp...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - August 5, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Dennis Popeo, Charles H. Kellner Tags: Editorials Source Type: journals

Can gossypol be a hope for transsexual patients (male to female) before sex reassignment surgery? Just for adjusting the body to mindEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Transsexualism is a sexual identity disorder distinguished by the extreme conviction of belonging to the opposite sex with a total disharmony in the original sex. Cross-sex hormonal treatment is desired by such patients to live as a member of their identified gender . Endocrine treatment provides some relief from dichotomy between body habitus and gender. There are some medical risks of sex steroids. In that case, medical providers are faced with the difficult dilemma of balancing medical risks and the psychological needs of patients. (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - August 2, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Banu Yurekli, Burcak Karaca, Sevki Cetinkalp, Fusun Saygili, Ruchan Uslu Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus: Thoughts on etiology and pathophysiologyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) remains a mysterious entity, with several gaps in our understanding, despite intensive research. The current theory of its etiology is diminished vascular compliance with redistribution of vascular pulsations. The manifestations of NPH can be explained by the compression of parenchyma and vessels and the accumulation of toxic metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and in the brain parenchyma. The author believes that NPH is caused by repetitive disruption of the normal propagation of ventricular systole, due to chronic derangements of cerebral arterial hemodynam...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 28, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Haris Chrysikopoulos Source Type: journals

A proposed mechanism for the pathogenesis of multiple primary tumoursEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The pathogenesis of many cancers including multiple primary tumours (MPT) is still not clear. In a previous contribution to this journal, a proposed mechanism was to explain the occurrence of frequently multicentric cancer . This interpretation of tumourigenic mechanism is that the large pool of embryonic cells with the initial somatic mutation increases risk of developing one or more cancer lesions during their lifetime. (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 28, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Huawei He, Damin Zhao, Meiyan Liu, Zhixiu He Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

A novel immunotherapy to hepatocellular carcinoma: CD40-activated B lymphocytes transfected with AFPmRNAEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is overexpressed in the majority of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), and thus may offer attractive target for immunotherapy against this neoplasm. CD40 ligand (CD40L) is the major signal that induces B cells to efficiently present antigen to T cells, and CD40-activated B (CD40-B) lymphocyte cells may boost cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) when they are pulsed with tumour antigens. CTL is considered to be a promising therapeutic means for the treatment of cancers. Here, we intend to build a plasmid pGEM4Z/AFP/A64 and to prepare AFPmRNA, then separate B lymphocyte cells. These CD40-B cells are...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 26, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Yafeng Wan, Xiaopeng Ma, Xingrui Li, Jilin Yi Source Type: journals

Innovative strategies for tissue engineered skin based on multiple growth factors gene transfectionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Tissue engineering combines the principles of cell biology, engineering and materials science to develop three-dimensional tissues to replace or restore tissue function. Tissue engineered skin (TE-skin) is one of most advanced tissue constructs. However, much clinical providence demonstrates the TE-skin may not be viewed as the equal of skin grafts, the contributions to accelerate the closure of wound were come mainly from various growth factor. These growth factors respond to its environment to bring about the desired effect. In our hypothesis, this three-dimensional skin substitute could be genetically modified ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 26, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Xin Nie, Mao-jin Yang, Man-jing Deng, Jian-shen Chai, Yan Jin, Lu-chuan Liu Source Type: journals

Singularity: The Achilles’ heel of cancer?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: It is predicted that the total number of mutations present at the first appearance of a fully malignant clone, including passengers, is so large that every individual patient’s cancer is unique from the outset. The initiating (malignant-clone-defining) mutation set (McDMS) defines the cancer, permits absolute identification of cancer cells including all sub-clones, and thus suggests a mode of attack. Directly or otherwise, a useful proportion of the McDMS will give rise to gene products that can be detected and bound by external physical agents in a specific manner. Using such agents cooperatively, as a team, of...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 26, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: T.R.C. Boyde Source Type: journals

Cyclic vomiting syndrome: Contribution to dysphagic infant deathEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Vomiting involves the simultaneous violent contraction of abdominal and diaphragm muscles to produce a high pressure on the stomach. The heart right atrium forms a through path from IVC to SVC, so the high intra-abdominal pressure will drive blood from abdominal contents into the head. Normally internal viscous drags in organs will limit the volume leaving them during a single vomiting event. However, repetitive vomiting such as occurs in cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) may drive sufficient blood into head veins to produce extreme venous hypertension. Dysphagic infant death is essentially a head vein hypertension m...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 26, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: D.G. Talbert Source Type: journals

Why it is ‘better’ to be reliable but dumb than smart but slapdash: Are intelligence (IQ) and Conscientiousness best regarded as gifts or virtuesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In conclusion, high IQ should probably more often be regarded in morally evaluative terms because it is associated with behavioural predispositions; while C should probably be interpreted with more emphasis on its being a gift or natural ability. In particular, people with high levels of C are very lucky in modern societies, since they are usually well-rewarded for this aptitude. This includes science, where it seems that C has been selected-for more rigorously than IQ. Indeed, those ‘gifted’ with high Conscientiousness are in some ways even luckier than the very intelligent – because there are more jobs for reliable...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 26, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Bruce G. Charlton Tags: Editorials Source Type: journals

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors: Do they contribute to delayed chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It is not known whether there is a relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) and chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) since it has not been reported until now. Cancer patients may have other diseases in which ACE-Is have to be used, such as hypertension or others. These patients may suffer from more CINV, when they are given chemotherapy. But, we do not know the rate of CINV, especially delayed CINV, in this group. It may be easily missed out in daily practice since we are usually focused on cancer related major problems. (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 23, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Mutlu Dogan, Bulent Yalcin, F. Guze Ozal, Abdullah Buyukcelik, Gungor Utkan, Fikri Icli, Lutfi Dogan Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Exercise-induced reduction in systemic vascular resistance: A covert killer and an unrecognised resuscitation challenge?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Conclusion: Reduction in systemic vascular resistance due to exercise-induced sympatholytic vasodilatation in skeletal muscle may largely explain the reported poor success rate for cardiopulmonary resuscitation with prompt defibrillation for sudden cardiac arrest in young previously healthy athletes.Investigation of this unexplored area of pathophysiology poses major difficulties but could lead to significant improvements in the outcomes of resuscitation for patients who were involved in immediate pre-morbid exercise. (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 23, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Tom S. Hogan Source Type: journals

Harm reduction techniques for hookah (shisha, narghile, “water pipe”) smoking of tobacco based productsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Tobacco is known to be hazardous for health and particularly when smoked. However, and contrary to a popular common belief, not all forms of tobacco use entail the same risks . For instance, smokeless tobacco of the Swedish SNUS type has proved to be an efficient harm reduction tool and smoking cessation method . Tobacco prohibition measures are generally irrelevant as it early appeared from an ambitious programme put forward four decades ago by two of the greatest world tobacco researchers . According to others, coercion often ends up in human and public health catastrophes . Consequently, harm reduction techniques, inclu...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 22, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Kamal Chaouachi Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Acupuncture: A novel hypothesis for the involvement of purinergic signallingEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: The hypothesis is summarised schematically in Fig. 1.It is proposed that mechanical deformation of the skin by needles and application of heat or electrical current leads to release of large amounts of ATP from keratinocytes, fibroblasts and other cells in skin; the ATP then occupies specific receptor subtypes expressed on sensory nerve endings in the skin and tongue; the sensory nerves send impulses through ganglia to the spinal cord, the brain stem, hypothalamus and higher centres; the brain stem and hypothalamus contain neurons that control autonomic functions, including cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respir...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 22, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Geoffrey Burnstock Source Type: journals

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor is a potentially useful therapeutic agent for nicotine-induced periodontal diseaseEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Many cell types possess the essential components for a non-neuronal cholinergic system. These components include acetylcholine, choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Studies have indicated that AChE may be crucial for various types of apoptosis and that tobacco smoking augments the severity of periodontal disease. We hypothesize that there is a non-neuronal cholinergic system in periodontal tissue that is activated by excess nicotine, which increases expression of AChE, thus increasing apoptosis of periodontal cells. If so, the introduction of an AChE inhibit...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 21, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Yong Wang, Xin Ge, Xiao Fang Xu, Xiao Jing Wang Source Type: journals

Could local delivery of bisphosphonates be a new therapeutic choice for hemangiomas?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Hemangiomas are endothelial neoplasms that affected about 8–12% of one-year-old children. Their life cycle is characterized by a rapid endothelial proliferation phase, followed by a slow involution phase. About 10% of the hemangiomas will cause functional complications or psychological concern requiring active treatments. Current therapy methods, such as intra-lesional or systemic administration of corticosteroids, systemic interferon treatment, or surgery, are diverse but uncertainty. To date, the etiology of hemangiomas is still controversial. However, general consensus on the importance of the endothelial cel...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 21, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Hejun Yu, An Qin Source Type: journals

Pedicled greater omentum graft: A possible approach for reducing the incidence of urinary fistula after kidney transplantationEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Greater omentum is a highly vascular, fatty tissue. Scientists are now discovering that it is an intriguing, physiologically dynamic tissue with a considerable number of researches that support its therapeutic potential. Pedicled omentum, for its strong abilities of absorption, repair and anti-infection, is usually used for in several disorders, because it is considered to provide an alternative vascular supply and play a role as reconstruction using collagen bridges and neurotropic factors. These regenerative vascular channels and repair ability of the omentum are adequate to prevent infarction as well as to improve heali...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 20, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Wenqian Huo, Qiansheng Li, Zhilin Nie, Keqin Zhang, Fengshuo Jin Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

In two minds? Is schizophrenia a state ‘trapped’ between waking and dreaming?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: This paper proposes that schizophrenia is a state of mind/brain ‘trapped’ in-between waking and dreaming. Furthermore, it suggests that both waking and dreaming are functional. An in-between state would be disordered; neither waking nor dreaming would function properly, as the mind/brain would be attempting two, ultimately incompatible, sets of tasks simultaneously. In support of this hypothesis, evidence is synthesised across four different domains: the chemistry of the dreaming state; work on dreaming as functional for memory; the membrane theory of schizophrenia; and chaos theory.The brain produces itself; ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 20, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Sue Llewellyn Source Type: journals

Myopia: A collagen disease?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Myopia is an increasingly important public health problem in the world. Even though previous studies have strongly implicated a role of certain environmental factors such as visual near-work in myopia development, the pathogenesis of this disease still remains unclear. There is evidence showing that myopia is primarily a hereditary condition, combined with or without environmental influence or individual habitual factors. Recent research suggests that collagens in the sclera play an important role in the development of myopia. Based on a literature review after a Medline search on articles on myopia, changes in sc...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 20, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Yin Yang, Xiaohong Li, Naihong Yan, Suping Cai, Xuyang Liu Source Type: journals

Micronutrients and amino acids, main regulators of physiological processesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Human physiology is supposed to be a complex interaction of regulating processes, in which hormones, genes, their proteins and apoptosis are thought to play a dominant role. We hypothesize that regulation of physiological processes is mainly influenced by amino acids and micronutrients with hormones, proteins, apoptosis and gene modifications being their derivatives. Furthermore, we suppose that the cells power plant, the mitochondrion, is in fact an intracellular bacterium, living in absolute symbiosis. Because of its intracellular existence it depends on the host’s micronutrients completely. Within the host th...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 15, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: R.H. Verheesen, C.M. Schweitzer Source Type: journals

Altered circadian rhythm: Possible trigger of familial Mediterranean fever attacksEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent self-limiting episodes of fever and painful polyserositis along with a very intense acute phase response . The disease is much more common in individuals of Mediterranean descent than in persons of any other ethnicity. The gene responsible for FMF was reported in 1997 and denoted MEFV . This gene encodes a protein called pyrin, which plays an important role in regulating the innate immune response . The exact pathogenesis of FMF is unknown. The general hypothesis is that the innate immune response in FMF patients is wrong...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 14, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Balahan Makay, Erbil Ünsal Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Unifying electron transfer mechanism for psilocybin and psilocinEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In 2005, a unifying mechanism for the psychic action and toxicity of abused drugs was proposed based on electron transfer (ET) . Among the principal ET functionalities, one of the main ones is the quinone category which is usually formed as a metabolite. The abused drugs that appear to function by the quinone route include amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, morphine, heroin, phenobarbital, and aspirin. Recently, mescaline has been added to the list . (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 14, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Peter Kovacic Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Cryptic anhydrobiotic potential in man: Implications in medicineEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Anhydrobiosis (“life without water”) is a state of suspended animation in a dry, ametabolic condition which some species enter before desiccation stress. This state confers resistance to other abiotic stresses such as radiation and heat. Once specimens are rehydrated life resumes.Application of such long-term storage in dry state without loss of viability would bring a considerable advance in organ transplant, maintenance of cell/tissue banks, vaccine storage and transport and many other medical applications.Since anhydrobiosis brings biological advantage to organisms, one would expect it to be positively sele...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 14, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: T.C. Pereira, I. Lopes-Cendes Source Type: journals

Complex sleep apnea and obesity hypoventilation syndrome. Opposite ends of the spectrum of obstructive sleep apnea?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: In most cases, the application of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) during sleep in patients affected by obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) eliminates upper airway obstruction and makes breathing stable and regular. However, some OSA patients develop periodic breathing and central apneas during CPAP administration, a finding that has been labelled as “complex sleep apnea” (complex SA). Such breathing disorder may occur only acutely after CPAP treatment initiation or sometimes persist with chronic CPAP treatment. We hypothesize that complex SA may be the consequence of mechanisms analogous to those leading ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 13, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Oreste Marrone Source Type: journals

Depression, another autoimmune disease from the view of autoantibodiesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Immune dysregulation is very common in major depression (MD) patients, with these individuals incurring increased risk for development of chronic inflammatory disease or autoimmune disease. Meanwhile, depressive symptoms have been found at a high prevalence in autoimmune disease. This apparent convergence suggests they may share a common pathogenic factor, or a close interaction innate. Recent studies have found that autoantibodies play an important role in the pathogenesis of depression both in animal models and human. Here, we suggest that depression, in nature, can be regarded as autoimmune disease caused by va...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 12, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Peisong Chen, Tang Jiang, Juan Ouyang, Yili Chen Source Type: journals

Application of biomimetic mineralization: A prophylactic therapy for cracked teeth?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Cracked teeth are usually found and easily ignored in clinic. If not found in time, they can lead to pulpitis and teeth fractures, which even can make the cracked teeth pulled out. The current treatments for cracked teeth include occlusal adjustments or preventive fillings, and the root canal therapy or complete crown restoration, which is decided according to the depth of cracks. However, the successful rate of preserving cracked teeth is less than 50% through occlusal adjustments and preventive fillings. Although the successful rate can reach 80% through the root canal therapy and complete crowns, the pulp and n...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 12, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Yixin Lin, Ren Zheng, Hao He, Huali Du, Yinghe Lin Source Type: journals

Title page/Editorial BoardEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 9, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Source Type: journals

A radially expanding sheath for urethral dilationEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Urethral trauma caused by urethral dilation often leads to complications including gross hemorrhage and inflammation. The injury of the urethral mucosa is, in a large part, due to the shearing forces imposed on it during the introduction of dilation devices. In this article, a radially expanding sheath for urethral dilation is hypothesized by the authors. This device aims to reduce the axial forces during the insertion of dilators, thereby protecting the urethral mucosa from friction. When performing the endoscopy, the device could act as a barrier between urethral mucosa and the endoscope. Moreover, in the situat...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 8, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Zheng Hu, Xin Ma, Hong-zhao Li, Chao Wang, Da-wei Ye, Dao-jing Gong, Xu Zhang Source Type: journals

Is ‘bipolar disorder’ the brain’s autopoietic response to schizophrenia?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Evidence is accumulating that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are related conditions. This paper proposes a particular form of relatedness. If ‘schizophrenia’ is a mind/brain ‘trapped’ between waking and dreaming, in a disordered in-between state, then bipolar ‘disorder’ could actually be an attempt to restore order.The mind/brain is a self-producing, self-organizing system. Autopoiesis applies to such systems. Neuromodulation accomplishes self-organization in the mind/brain. If schizophrenia is a state in-between waking and dreaming, characterized by aminergic/cholinergic interpenetration and dopam...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 8, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Sue Llewellyn Source Type: journals

Intraoperative field flooding with warm humidified CO2 may help to prevent adhesion formation after open surgeryEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Postoperative adhesion formation is a common, serious, and costly complication, which may cause organ dysfunction, difficult re-operations, and chronic pain. The formation of adhesions after open surgery is partly due to the perioperative exposure of the wound cavity to ambient air, which initiates various local processes that cause inflammation and cellular damage in mesothelial layers. These adhesiogenic processes include superficial desiccation, airborne bacterial contamination and subsequent wound infection, and exposure to atmospheric oxygen with ensuing hyperoxia and oxidative stress. Here, we describe how r...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 8, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Mikael Persson, Jan van der Linden Source Type: journals

Do sauna therapy and exercise act by raising the availability of tetrahydrobiopterin?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Sauna therapy has been used to treat a number of different diseases known or thought to have a tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) deficiency. It has been interpreted to act in multiple chemical sensitivity by increasing chemical detoxification and excretion but there is no evidence that this is its main mode of action. Sauna therapy may act to increase BH4 availability via two distinct pathways. Increased blood flow in heated surface tissues leads to increased vascular shear stress, inducing increased activity of GTP cyclohydrolase I (GTPCH-I) in those vascular tissues which will lead to increasing BH4 synthesis. A second ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 7, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Martin L. Pall Source Type: journals

The possible effect of altitude on regional variation in suicide ratesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: In the United States, suicide rates consistently vary among geographic regions; the western states have significantly higher suicide rates than the eastern states. The reason for this variation is unknown but may be due to regional elevation differences. States’ suicide rates (1990–1994), when adjusted for potentially confounding demographic variables, are positively correlated with their peak and capital elevations. These findings indicate that decreased oxygen saturation at high altitude may exacerbate the bioenergetic dysfunction associated with affective illnesses. Should such a link exist, therapies tradi...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 7, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Charlotte A. Haws, Douglas D. Gray, Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd, Michelle Moskos, Laurence J. Meyer, Perry F. Renshaw Source Type: journals

Light Hygiene: Time to make preventive use of insights – old and new – into the nexus of the drug light, melatonin, clocks, chronodisruption and public healthEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Light is, clearly, a key to life on Earth and light, equally clearly, determines biological rhythmicity in organisms. Light does the latter by setting internal or endogenous clocks which allow a multitude of species, including man, to adjust their lives to changing external or environmental conditions. Critical changes over time occur from day to night and throughout the year. In this paper, we sum up how visible light provides electromagnetic information about environmental “time” via the ocular interface of newly discovered photoreceptive cells to a master clock in our brain, viz the suprachiasmatic nuclei [...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 7, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Thomas C. Erren, Russel J. Reiter Source Type: journals

Support for the hypothesis that electro-stimulation is responsible for Lipoatrophia semicircularisEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Lipoatrophia semicircularis (L.s.) is a idiopathic condition characterised by semicircular impressions of the skin, usually at the front and sides of both thighs. It was first described some 35years ago but only as a case study where a few subjects with L.s. were described. Later on some more cases were diagnosed and described but their number remained low. It is only over the past ten years that an outburst of L.s. was observed. This was first seen in Belgium, later on also in other countries (e.g., Spain) where several hundreds of individuals were diagnosed with L.s. All these subjects belonged to the administra...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 5, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Luc Verschaeve, A. Maes Source Type: journals

A “mini-fast with exercise” protocol for fat lossEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: From the standpoint of promoting leanness, exercise is of most value if oxidation of stored fat is maximized during and following the exercise sessions. Bahadori has proposed that this can best be achieved if prolonged exercise of moderate intensity is performed during a 12–14h “mini-fast” that entails skipping a meal; if subsequent food consumption features low-fat foods, the fat stores expended during and after the exercise will not be fully repleted by dietary fat. Thus, prolonged compliance with such a regimen should lead to steady loss of body fat until a much leaner equilibrium body composition is atta...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 5, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Babak Bahadori, Mark F. McCarty, Jorge Barroso-Aranda, John C. Gustin, Francisco Contreras Source Type: journals

A combination of PPAR-γ agonists and HMG CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) as a new therapy for the conservative treatment of AAS (aortic aneurysm syndromes)Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: The aetiology of aortic aneurysms (AAs) is the subject of intense clinical investigation. One of the critical points in their pathogenesis is the disruption of the balance between vascular extracellular matrix deposition and degradation. AAs are common features in some genetically determined diseases of the connective tissue, such as Marfan and Loeys-Dietz Syndromes. Acquired factors determining an enhanced inflammatory state of the arterial wall also play a key role. Previous studies have determined the role of TGF-β as the principal mediator of the pathogenesis of the alterations of the arterial wall homeostasi...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 5, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Gian Pio Sorice, Franco Folli Source Type: journals

Ultrasound assistant chemotherapy may be a novel modality for solid tumorsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Resistance to chemotherapy is the important reason for treatment failure in patients with cancer. Current methods which focus on the identification of more selective and potent drug resistance reversing agents are not satisfying. It is an urgent need for development of new approaches to overcoming drug resistance. The use of low power ultrasound in cancer therapy is a developing field. Recently, it was found that some anticancer drugs, upon ultrasonic irradiation, could create active oxygen species and effectively destruct cancer cells. This means that, in addition to cytotoxicity, these chemotherapeutic agents ma...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - July 1, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: HuiXuan Pan, XiaoPeng Ma, MingZhong Li, JunZhang Chen, Hong Jiang Source Type: journals

Psychogenic carcinogenesis: Carcinogenesis is without exogenic carcinogensEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: The history of researches of a problem of cancer has cleared a number of key cellular–molecular–genetic mechanisms of carcinogenesis, however process of carcinogenesis, is still out of control and a world forecast is unfavorable despite the advanced pathogenetically focused medication and excellent results of cancer treatment in vivo. Numerous researches have shown that chronic psycho-emotional stress by means of stressful hormones and endogenous mutagens (reactive oxygen and nitrogen species) are capable to damage cells DNA and to compromise immune system. Actually, chronic psycho-emotional stress is capable ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - June 30, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Oleg Viktorovich Bukhtoyarov, Denis Mikhaylovich Samarin Source Type: journals

Towards tooth friendly soft drinksEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: Most soft drinks contain high concentration of simple carbohydrates and have a pH of 3 or even lower. Therefore, they are harmful for tooth structure. A tooth friendly soft drink (T.F.S.D) should have the following characteristics and elements; fluoride (approximately 1ppm), casein phosphopeptide–amorphous calcium phosphate (2%), xylitol (4–6g/serving), tea polyphenols (2–4mg/ml), cranberry extract (250mg/ml of the flavonoids quercetin and myricetin), sugar free, pH close to 5.5 and super oxygenation (240,000ppm) vs. carbonation. T.F.S.D can be packaged in a container which gaseous oxygen is dissolved in a l...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - June 30, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Jafar Kolahi, Mohamad Fazilati, Mahdi Kadivar Source Type: journals

Can immunologic intercourse afford protection against renal transplant rejection?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Several studies have shown surprising results with spousal kidney transplantation; showing it to be comparable with living-related donor (LRD) transplantation. However, a tendency for a worse outcome in husband-to-wife transplantation is reported if the wife had previously been pregnant, perhaps due to the generation of antibodies to husband’s HLA antigens expressed by fetal tissues . (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - June 28, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: M.R. Namazi Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Henna (Lawsonia inermis) might be used to prevent mycotic infectionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Fungal infections including superficial mycosis affecting top layers of skin, hairs, nails, and mucuos membranes with high prevalence, are one of the common global human health problems . Some individuals are even at high risk of fungal infection such as those suffer from AIDS, receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics or immunosuppressives . (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Source: Medical Hypotheses - June 28, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Somaieh Ahmadian, Mohammad Amin Abolghassemi Fakhree Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Potential therapeutic advantages of guanosine over inosine in multiple sclerosisEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the recent and excellent article by McCarty et al. (2009) , the authors discussed research on the use of supplemental inosine (INO) to elevate serum uric acid (UA) and thereby serve as an adjunctive treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) or Parkinson’s disease . The authors also discussed research pointing to therapeutic effects of INO that could occur independently of elevations in serum UA , and there is a reason to think that INO could produce some UA-independent effects in MS. Researchers have suggested that guanosine (GUO) may be useful for promoting remyelination in MS , however, and oral or parenteral GUO could ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - June 28, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Erik A. Hanson Tags: Correspondence Source Type: journals

Self-reinforcing loop mechanism in epilepsyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Summary: The evidence for a mutual dependence between convulsive activity and duration of the paradoxical sleep (PS) can be found from the literature. Convulsions diminish the PS time, on the other hand, PS restriction increases the sensitivity to convulsion-inducing stimuli. In epilepsy, the operation of this positive feedback loop mechanism is possibly promoted by elevated levels of enkephalin and norepinephrine that are characteristic of epileptics. The above supports the convulsions–PS interplay representing a relevant therapeutic target in epilepsy. In this connection, usage of PS duration increasing hypnotics like ...
Source: Medical Hypotheses - June 28, 2009 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Ilya D. Ionov Source Type: journals