Miracles and wonders: new ears, new hearts

Vincent, call your office.

Yes, there's good news out there: breakthroughs in the world of medicine:

People in need of surgery to repair or reconstruct damaged cartilage could soon find help in an unlikely place -- their ears. Stem cells from human ears have successfully been grown into chunks of cartilage that could replace the synthetic materials currently used in surgery.

Stem cell researchers are trying to grow spare parts for the human heart that may be ready for tests on people within five years. Scientists have already made basic heart muscle from stem cells, but the team wants to refine it so it can replace any part damaged in heart attacks, and to recreate the natural pacemaker, where the heartbeat originates.

In a bit of high-tech recycling, researchers have developed an innovative way to identify already-approved drugs that may work against diseases they weren't designed to combat. The scientists have also demonstrated how a couple of such repurposed drugs may have benefits in treating two conditions, inflammatory bowel disease and lung cancer. The researchers found that topiramate, a drug used in epilepsy, might work on inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Another hit suggested that cimetidine, an ulcer drug, might be effective in lung cancer. They then tested the two generic drugs in small studies using animal models of the diseases. In the bowel-disease study, the drug reduced symptoms, and in the lung-cancer paper, the drug was found to slow tumor growth.

Researchers have found a protein normally involved in blood pressure regulation in a surprising place: tucked within the little "power plants" of cells, the mitochondria. The quantity of this protein appears to decrease with age, but treating older mice with the blood pressure medication losartan can increase protein numbers to youthful levels, decreasing both blood pressure and cellular energy usage. The researchers say these findings may lead to new treatments for mitochondrial–specific, age-related diseases, such as diabetes, hearing loss, frailty and Parkinson's disease.

A biomedical engineer has developed a lab-on-a-chip that can perform complex laboratory assays, and do so with such simplicity that these tests can be carried out in the most remote regions of the world. It requires only a tiny finger prick of blood, effective even for a newborn, and gives results in less than 15 minutes. This technology significantly reduces the time between testing and treating. New low-cost diagnostics like the mChip could revolutionize medical care around the world.

Roughly the time you spend watching TV commercials

Less than 15 minutes.

A study of more then 400,000 Taiwanese concludes that just 15 minutes of light exercise a day will extend your pathetic life by three years.

Your risk of dying decreases four percent for each additional 15 minutes of exercise a day.

Light exercise includes: falling out of bed, reaching for the remote, putting on your socks ... wait, I just made that up.

"Exercising at very light levels reduced deaths from any cause by 14 percent," said study senior author Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Department of Epidemiology. "The benefits of exercise appear to be significant even without reaching the recommended 150 minutes per week based on results of previous research."

So if you don't want to die, get out there and do something.

Tat tech: skin-deep electronics

This is just weird.

It may soon be possible to wear your computer or mobile phone under your sleeve, with the invention of an ultra-thin and flexible electronic circuit that can be stuck to the skin like a temporary tattoo, The Independent reports.

The devices, which are almost invisible, can perform just as well as more conventional electronic machines but without the need for wires or bulky power supplies, scientists said. The circuit is about the size of a postage stamp, is thinner than a human hair and sticks to the skin by natural electrostatic forces rather than glue.

Try not to scratch.

What can you do with this thing?

A simple stick-on circuit can monitor a person's heart rate and muscle movements as well as conventional medical monitors, but with the benefit of being weightless and almost completely undetectable. Scientists said it may also be possible to build a circuit for detecting throat movements around the larynx in order to transmit the information wirelessly as a way of recording a person's speech, even if they are not making any discernible sounds.

Tests have already shown that such a system can be used to control a voice-activated computer game, and one suggestion is that a stick-on voicebox circuit could be used in covert police operations where it might be too dangerous to speak into a radio transmitter.

This could give a whole new meaning to a hickey

Physical problems can lead to mental problems

Are you crazy? No, you may be just sick.

More than 100 medical disorders can masquerade as psychological conditions, according to Harvard psychiatrist Barbara Schildkrout, author of Unmasking Psychological Symptoms, a book aimed at helping therapists broaden their diagnostic skills.

Studies have suggested that medical conditions may cause mental-health issues in as many as 25% of psychiatric patients and contribute to them in more than 75%, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Common culprits include under- or over-active thyroid glands, which can cause depression and anxiety, respectively. Deficiencies of vitamins D, B-12 and folate, as well as hormonal changes and sleep disorders have also been linked to depression. 

Diabetes, lupus and Lyme disease can have a variety of psychiatric symptoms, as can mercury and lead poisoning and sexually transmitted diseases. Many medications also list mood changes among their side effects, and substance abuse is notorious for causing psychiatric problems.

In some cases, a psychological problem is just the first sign of a serious medical issue. "Depression predicts heart disease and heart disease predicts depression," said Gary Kennedy, director of the geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y.

Experts say mental health counselors should ask patients about their medical histories as well as emotional issues, and make sure they've had a recent physical exam.

How to live forever: whatever

Will live forever, but why?

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that many very old people — age 95 and older — could be poster children for bad health behavior with their smoking, drinking, poor diet, obesity and lack of exercise.

The very old are, in fact, no more virtuous than the general population when it comes to shunning bad health habits, leaving researchers to conclude that their genes are mostly responsible for their remarkable longevity. 

But before you fall off the wagon and start tossing down doughnuts for breakfast just because your Aunt Edna just turned 102, remember that genetics is a game of chance. What didn't kill Aunt Edna still could kill you prematurely, the researchers cautioned.

About 1 in 4,400 Americans lives to age 100, according to 2010 census data. I'm going to submit my name to be in that group.

The living, old people in the study were remarkably ordinary in their lifestyles, Barzilai said. By and large, they weren't vegetarians, vitamin-pill-poppers or health freaks. Their profiles nearly matched that of the control group in terms of the percentage who were overweight, exercised (or didn't exercise), or smoked. One woman, at age 107, smoked for over 90 years. 

Whatever killed the control group — cardiovascular disease, cancer and other diseases clearly associated with lifestyle choices — somehow didn't kill them. "Their genes protected them," a researcher said.

Taking the fun out of everything, the researchers said that for the general population, there is a preponderance of evidence that diet and exercise can postpone or ward off chronic disease and extend life. Many studies on Seventh Day Adventists — with their limited consumption of alcohol, tobacco and meat — attribute upward of 10 extra years of life as a result of lifestyle choices.

Well, poo poo pi doo on you, research Nazis.