Health

Why do we get sick in winter and cold weather

Published

12 months ago

09/12/2022

pouyan

A new study has found the biological cause of why we are more prone to respiratory diseases such as cold , flu and covid in winter. Why do we get sick in winter and cold weather ?

It’s cold, and when everyone you know suddenly seems to be coughing and sneezing, it’s cold and flu season. It’s like cold, and flu germs kick in with the first wave of winter weather. However, germs are present all year round. Think back to your last summer cold. Why do people get more colds, flu and now covid 19 when it gets cold?

A new study may have found the biological cause of why we suffer more from respiratory diseases in winter. According to this study’s results, cold air damages the immune response in the nose. Dr Zara Patel, professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, said:

For the first time, we have a biological and molecular explanation for a factor in our innate immune response that appears to be limited in colder weather.

Why do we get sick in winter and cold weather

In fact, according to a study published Tuesday in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, dropping the temperature inside the nose to 5 degrees, Celsius kills about 50 percent of the billions of virus- and bacteria-fighting cells in the nostrils. Dr Benjamin Blair, Director of Otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said:

Cold weather is associated with an increase in viral infections; Because you lose half of your safety due to this temperature drop.

In an email to LiveScience, Patel wrote:

Do not forget that these are laboratory studies. However, it uses human tissue in the laboratory to study this immune response. It is not a study done on a real human nose. Most of the time, but not always, findings from in vitro studies are confirmed in vivo studies.

Bee nest

To understand this, Blair and his team conducted a study in collaboration with Mansour Emaji, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern University in Boston. Respiratory viruses or bacteria attack the nose, which is the main point of entry into the body. The researchers discovered that the front part of the nose detects the invader much earlier than the bottom of the nose knows about the presence of germs. At that point, the cells lining the nose start making billions of simple copies of themselves called “extracellular vesicles.” Blair said:

Extracellular vesicles cannot divide like cells, But they are like miniature versions of cells specifically designed to seek out and kill these viruses. Extracellular vesicles act as bait, So now, when you inhale a virus, the virus attaches to these baits instead of sticking to the cells themselves.

get sick in cold weather winter

Then, the said vesicles are released by the cells to the nasal mucosa, where they stop the invading microbes before reaching their destination and multiplying. Blair said:

It is one of the parts of the immune system that allows the body to fight viruses and bacteria before they enter the body. After these vesicles are produced and released into the nasal secretions, billions of vesicles gather around the invading microbes. It’s like what happens when you hit a bee’s nest. You might see a few bees flying around, But when you hit their nest, all the bees will come out of the nest to attack the attacker before they enter their nest. In the same way, the body cleans these inhaled viruses so they cannot enter the cells.

Significant increase in immunity , Why do we get sick in winter

A new study found that when the nose is under attack, it increases the production of extracellular vesicles by 160 percent. There were other differences, too: the extracellular vesicles had many more receptors on their surface than the original cells. This increases the ability to contain the virus through billions of extracellular vesicles in the nose. Blair said:

Think of the receptors as little arms that stick out and try to catch the viral particles you breathe in. We found that the number of receptors on the surface of the vesicles is 20 times higher, making them very sticky.

Body cells also have a viral killer called microRNA that attacks invading microbes. The study showed that extracellular vesicles in the nose have 13 times more microarray sequence compared to normal cells. So, the nose enters the battle against germs with a few extra superpowers.

Now, what happens to these advantages when the weather is cold? To find out, Blair and his team exposed four study participants to a temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes and then evaluated the conditions inside their nasal cavities. Blair said:

When exposed to cold air, the temperature inside your nose can drop as low as 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius). This is enough to practically eliminate all three advantages of nasal safety.

This amount of cold at the tip of the nose was enough to kill about 42 percent of the extracellular vesicles, Blair said. He added:

Similarly, you have about half of the lethal microarrays inside each vesicle, which can reduce the number of receptors on each vesicle by 70%, making them much less sticky.

What does this do to your ability to fight off colds and flu, and covid-19? According to Blair, this cuts the immune system’s ability to fight respiratory infections in half. Blair added that it looks like the world gave us exactly what we needed to help fight the cold weather and maintain immune function. He stated:

Why do we get sick in winter ? Masks not only protect you against direct inhalation of viruses; Rather, they act like a jacket on your nose.

Patel also agreed:

The warmer you can keep the environment inside your nose, the better the innate immune defence mechanism can work. This is perhaps another reason to wear a mask. so Why do we get sick in winter?

Blair expects to see the development of topical nasal medications based on this scientific finding in the future. He said:

The new drugs will effectively trick the nose into thinking it has encountered a virus. With this exposure, you’ll have all these extra bees flying around in your nasal mucosa and protecting you.

via:CNN

Health

Ingestible Sensor Monitors Vital Signs

Published

2 weeks ago

19/11/2023

pouyan

Ingestible Sensor Monitors Vital Signs. A smart capsule that can be swallowed is designed to monitor vital signs and even detect drug overdoses.

Ingestible Sensor Monitors Vital Signs

In this article we’re going to talk about an ingestible sensor that can monitor vital signs. A smart capsule that can be swallowed is designed to monitor vital signs and even detect drug overdoses.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed a new ingestible capsule that can monitor vital signs, including heart rate and breathing patterns, from inside a patient’s digestive tract.

The new device, which can be swallowed like a pill, can track vital signs like breathing and heart rate from inside the body, offering a simple and convenient way to care for people prone to opioid overdoses.

The new device has the potential to be used to detect signs of irregular breathing during opioid overdose, scientists say.

Giovanni Traverso, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and a gastroenterologist who has worked on the development of a range of ingestible sensors, says the device will be particularly useful for sleep studies.

As the lead author of this study, he says: This device can help diagnose and monitor many health conditions without the need to go to the hospital, which can make healthcare more accessible and supportive for patients.

Usually, sleep studies require patients to be attached to a number of sensors and devices. In labs and in-home studies, these sensors can be attached with wires to a patient’s scalp, temples, chest, and lungs. The patient may also use a nasal cannula, chest belt, and pulse oximeter that can be connected to a portable monitor.

As you can imagine, trying to sleep with all these devices connected to you can be challenging, says Traverso.

Now, a new sensor has been developed by Celero Systems – a startup led by MIT and Harvard researchers – in the form of a capsule.

The device is part of a growing field of ingestible devices that can perform various functions inside the body. Unlike devices such as pacemakers that require surgical implantation, the use of easy-to-swallow devices does not require invasive procedures.

The idea is that a doctor can prescribe these capsules and the patient just has to swallow them, says Benjamin Place, one of the authors of the study and the founder of Celero Systems, which is actually a medical device company in Massachusetts. People are used to taking pills and the cost of using ingestible devices is much lower than traditional medical tests.

This capsule, called VM Pill, works by sensing small body vibrations related to breathing and heart activity. This device can detect from inside the intestine whether a person stops breathing or not.

To test this capsule, researchers put it in the stomach of pigs who were unconscious. The pigs were then given a powerful opioid that could cause respiratory failure. This device measured the breathing rate of the pigs in real time and alerted the researchers. So they were able to reverse the overdose process.

The researchers also tested and evaluated the device for the first time by giving it to people suffering from sleep apnea. This was the first time that ingestible sensor technology was tested on humans.

Sleep apnea causes interruption of breathing during sleep. Many people with sleep apnea are unaware of their condition, in part because its diagnosis requires spending a night in a sleep lab attached to external devices that monitor their vital signs.

Researchers administered VM capsules to 10 sleep apnea patients at West Virginia University. This device controls the breathing rate with 92.7% accuracy.

Compared to external devices, this capsule can control heart rate with at least 96% accuracy.

This test also showed that the use of this device is safe.

This capsule contains two small batteries and a wireless antenna that transmits data. The ingestible sensor, about the size of a vitamin capsule, travels through the digestive tract and collects signals while it’s in the stomach.

Participants in the experiment slept overnight in a laboratory while the sensor recorded their breathing, heart rate, temperature, and stomach movements. The sensor was also able to detect sleep apnea in one of the patients during the experiment.

Findings show that this oral capsule is capable of measuring health metrics with medical-grade diagnostic equipment in a sleep center. Traditionally, patients needing to be diagnosed with specific sleep disorders would have to spend the night in a lab where they would be attached to an array of sensors and devices, but this ingestible sensor technology eliminates that need.

Importantly, MIT says there have been no reported side effects from taking the capsule. The capsule is usually eliminated from the patient’s body within a day or so, although this short shelf life may also limit its effectiveness as a monitoring device.

Traverso says the team plans to equip the smart capsule with a mechanism that would allow it to sit in a patient’s stomach for a week.

Apart from that startup and MIT, this research was conducted by experts from West Virginia University and other affiliated hospitals.

Dr. Ali Rezaei, director of West Virginia University’s Rockefeller Institute of Neuroscience, said there is great potential to create a new pathway through this device that will help us detect when a patient has overdosed on drugs and is in the process of overdosing. is to do

He added: “The quality and stability of this data was excellent compared to the standard clinical studies we conducted in our sleep labs.” This device enables us to monitor patients’ vital signs remotely without the need for wires or medical staff, allowing patients to be monitored in their natural environment instead of a clinic or hospital.

Researchers even predict that in the future these devices will be able to mix drugs internally, and if the sensor registers that the person’s breathing rate has slowed down or stopped, the appropriate drugs can be released through it.

The researchers say more data from this study will become available in the coming months.

This research was published in Device magazine.

Health

The relationship between high blood insulin levels and pancreatic cancer

Published

4 weeks ago

07/11/2023

pouyan

The relationship between high blood insulin levels and pancreatic cancer. A new study has confirmed the link between high blood insulin levels and pancreatic cancer.

The relationship between high blood insulin levels and pancreatic cancer

According to New Atlas, a new study has found a link between high blood insulin levels, which are often seen in people with obesity and type 2 diabetes, and pancreatic cancer. The researchers say their findings could lead to new cancer prevention strategies and targeted therapies to slow or stop cancer progression.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are risk factors for pancreatic cancer, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most common, aggressive and deadly pancreatic cancers. However, the mechanisms by which obesity and type 2 diabetes contribute to PDAC remain unclear.

Now, a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada sheds light on the role of insulin and its receptors in the development of PDAC.

James Johnson, one of the corresponding authors of the study, said: “In addition to the rapid increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes, we are also seeing an alarming increase in the incidence of pancreatic cancer.” These findings help us understand how this happens and highlight the importance of keeping insulin levels in a healthy range, which can be done with diet, exercise and, in some cases, medications.

The pancreas performs the functions of exocrine and endocrine glands. Acinar (exocrine) cells synthesize, store, and secrete enzymes in the small intestine that help digest food, while beta (endocrine) cells make the hormone insulin, which regulates blood glucose levels. Insulin is thought to bind to its receptor on the acinar cell and stimulate the secretion of the enzyme.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by a combination of ineffective and insufficient insulin, leading to insulin resistance and high blood insulin (hyperinsulinemia) because the body produces more hormones to lower high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia). It is generally accepted that in obesity, the increase in the level of free fatty acids causes insulin resistance, which leads to hyperinsulinemia due to hyperglycemia.

Using mouse models, the researchers investigated what happens in pancreatic acinar cells when the animals have hyperinsulinemia.

“We found that hyperinsulinemia contributes to the initiation of pancreatic cancer directly through insulin receptors in acinar cells,” said Annie Zhang, senior author of the study. This mechanism includes increased production of digestive enzymes, which leads to increased inflammation of the pancreas.

Researchers say, this inflammation leads to the growth of precancerous cells. Their findings could pave the way for new cancer prevention strategies and therapeutic approaches that target insulin receptors on acinar cells.

“We hope this study will change clinical practice and help develop lifestyle interventions that can reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer in the general population,” said study author Janelle Cope. The research could also pave the way for targeted therapies that modulate insulin receptors to prevent or slow the progression of pancreatic cancer.

The researchers also say their findings could have implications for other obesity-related cancers and type 2 diabetes, where elevated insulin levels may also play a role.

Our colleagues in Toronto have shown a similar link between insulin and breast cancer, says Johnson. In the future, we hope to determine whether extra insulin may help other types of obesity- and diabetes-related cancers.

This study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

AI

What is Bioprinting and what are its uses?

Published

2 months ago

07/10/2023

pouyan

Bioprinting is a relatively new technology that enables the creation of biological structures and living tissues using layer-by-layer methods. In bioprinting, biological materials such as cells, proteins and biopolymers are used instead of ink.

There are different methods for bioprinting, including extrusion, laser and inkjet. Bioprinting has many applications in medicine, such as making artificial organs, tissue repair, and drug production. Bioprinting is also expected to play an important role in the future of medicine as technology advances.

What is bioprinting ?

Bioprinting is an emerging technology that uses layer-by-layer methods to build biological structures and living tissues. In bioprinting, living cells and biomaterials such as proteins and biocompatible materials are layered on top of each other to create tissues and organs similar to the natural tissue of the human body.

There are different methods for bioprinting:

Extrusion bioprint: In this method, biological materials such as cells, proteins and biopolymers are printed from a nozzle in a layer on top of each other.
Laser bioprint: In this method, a laser is used to print cells layer by layer. The laser causes the cells to stick and fuse together.
Inkjet bioprinting: Similar to inkjet printers, cells and biomaterials are printed instead of ink.

There are three main types of devices for bioprint:

Extrusion bioprinting devices that print materials using pressure.
Droplet bioprinting devices that print drops of material.
Laser bioprinting devices that stick materials layer by layer using a laser.

Applications of bioprint

what is bioprinting

The applications of bioprinting will be very wide in the future. Among the most important applications, the following can be mentioned:

Making artificial organs and transplanting organs: by using the patient’s stem cells, organs such as kidney, liver, heart, etc. can be bioprinted and used for transplantation.
Repair of damaged tissues: Bioprint can be used to repair burns, wounds and spinal cord injuries.
Production of personalized drugs: drugs can be personalized and bioprinted based on the patient’s cells.
Research on drugs and scientific experiments: Fabricated tissues can be used for drug testing and scientific studies.
Food printing: Bioprinting can be used to produce food in the future.
Making laboratory models of organs and tissues: these models are used to test drugs and study diseases.
Fabrication of artificial skin: bioprinted skins have been used to treat severe burns.
Making a scaffold or mold for angiogenesis: Scaffolds are made from bioprint in such a way as to cause the growth of blood vessels in the damaged tissue.
Making artificial cartilage: Bioprinted cartilage is used to repair damaged cartilage.
Artificial bone and membrane construction: Bone and membrane constructed tissues are used to replace damaged tissues.
Printing drugs and pills: Drugs can be printed using cells and biological materials.

Of course, there are still many challenges in the field of bioprint. including problems such as providing blood supply to the printed tissues, the high cost of the process, and the complexity of making large structures. But with the advancement of technology, bioprinting is expected to play an important role in the future of medicine and the production of biological materials. Stem cells and bioprinting can change the future of disease treatment.

Combining artificial intelligence and bioprinting

what is bioprinting

It is possible to use a combination of artificial intelligence and bioprinting. Some examples of this combination can be mentioned:

Designing and optimizing the structure of tissues: artificial intelligence can suggest optimal patterns and structures for printing tissues.
Print process control: Artificial intelligence can control and optimize the print process online.
Texture image analysis: Using artificial intelligence techniques such as deep learning, printed textures can be analyzed.
Simulating the behavior of tissues: Artificial intelligence can simulate the behavior of living tissues to optimize the bioprint process.
Automation of processes: artificial intelligence can automate parts of the bioprinting process and reduce errors.
Design of biocompatible materials: Artificial intelligence algorithms are used for the optimal design of materials and biomaterials used in bioprinting.

Therefore, it is expected that in the future we will see the convergence and use of artificial intelligence and bioprinting, which will lead to many improvements.

Bioprinting and superhuman powers

Bioprint is a very new technology and using it to create superhuman powers in humans is currently considered unethical and illegal. However, a few points should be noted in this regard:

It is possible to increase human physical strength by bioprint stronger muscles and bones, but this technology is still very immature.
Bioprinting of the brain and nerves can increase human mental and cognitive capacity, but it also has the risk of irreparable damage.
Genetic modification of embryos with CRISPR can create desirable traits in humans, but it has many ethical considerations.
Brain implants such as Neuralink can extend mental capabilities but are still in the experimental stages.
Creating superhuman powers can cause unpredictable side effects in humans.

Conclusion

Bioprint is one of the emerging and very promising technologies in the field of medicine and tissue engineering. This technology is able to create tissues and organs similar to the human body through layer-by-layer printing of cells and biological materials.

There are different methods for bioprinting, which include extrusion, laser and inkjet, and various devices have been designed and built to perform this process.

Bioprinting is expected to find many applications in the near future in the field of artificial organ manufacturing, tissue engineering, personalized medical treatments, etc. Of course, there are still challenges in this field that require more research and development so that bioprinting can achieve commercial and wide applications. All in all, this technology is expected to create a huge revolution in the field of medicine and biotechnology in the not too distant future.

via: CELLINK