Hope you and your patient had a good day yesterday. It was a good but exhausting day here punctuated by a visit to a dental hygiene clinic and a long nap for the patient afterwards. The good news; she has no cavities and her teeth are clean and ready for another year or so. The bad news; the trip, the weather, the time in the dentist chair and the return home were enough to put her in bed for an extended five-hour nap. She just awoke after a good nights sleep and says she feels a bit less fatigued and ready for the day. It doesnt hurt that the Sun is shining brightly after several days of cloudy weather so I may have my wife for the whole day. Yeah! This morning brought news from the research front again and the articles may pique your interest. One article can be accessed at cell/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(14)00877-8 and reports on a study of a pair of 68 year-old identical twins, one diagnosed with Parkinsons and the other with no signs of the disease. Though hard to follow it appears that a very thorough study of the genetic makeup of the twins has helped isolate specific flaws and the impact those flaws have on the one twin with Parkinsons. Since it is still only partly clear what role genes play in Parkinsons and other alpha synucleinopathies this study may help advance researchers understanding of the genetic under-pinnings of these diseases. The second article reviews the use of a new tool in the arsenal of those examining objects at the microscopic level. According to the article, found at biosciencetechnology/news/2014/12/tool-explores-cells-3-d?et_cid=4296552&et_rid=646435131&type=cta, a new tool has been developed that allows researchers to examine those objects that size-wise are between a cell and a protein. These objects are in the medium or “mesoscale” range. This new software package, called cellPACK, is also offered as free or open source and has already been downloaded by thousands of people. It may be just the tool needed to examine the behavior of alpha synuclein and its impact on the brain of an MSA patient. As open source it also ensures that those who download it may have the opportunity to tweak it so it can fit with the needs of the researcher. Two comments to make here; making it free and open source will certainly impact research at this level and it keep costs at a minimum. Invaluable in this day and age. If you get a chance you might want to review these two articles or bookmark them for later. They once again illustrate that information and tools needed to solve the MSA problem can come from many different areas of medicine and research. The role for all of us is to help steer these resources to those researchers who can recognize their usefulness and have the skill set to employ them. Hope you have a good Wednesday and are considering what you can do to advance awareness for this disease. Please comment if you have an idea and well explore it further in a future post.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 15:21:02 +0000
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