* Hair Loss Treatment

Hair Loss Treatment in Zinc

Hair loss can be a difficult thing to experience. There are a number of hair loss treatments that claim to be helpful if a person wants to try and stop the process or at least slow it down. One possibility that may not have been considered is to find a vitamin or mineral that targets hair loss.

While genetics does have some credibility as one cause of baldness, another cause could be a nutritional deficiency in the diet. Zinc is known to be one nutrient that can help stop loss of hair. It will be easier to use zinc to treat baldness or thinning of hair when it is known how zinc relates to this problem and what the proper balance should be.
Making sure that you are eating a balanced diet with the proper amounts of zinc and other nutrients is one way to make sure that you are doing all you can to help prevent hair loss.

If there is a considerable lack of enough zinc in a person’s body then it is most likely one of the factors causing hair loss. In order to tell if a lack of zinc could be affecting your hair, you need to figure out how much of this nutrient is in your daily intake of food. Since we also know that stress can be a factor in losing hair, it is important to note that zinc is beneficial for helping your system cope when it is under excessive stress. If you are experiencing a great amount of stress, this can cause the zinc to move through the body more quickly leaving you with a substantial lack of the nutrient.

Zinc helps your system by increasing the proteins you need that affect the health of your hair, skin and nails. When you suffer from a lack of zinc, then the hair does not continue to grow and can fall out. Zinc helps to create a balanced support system by working along with several of the proteins that you have in the body. It is important that the nutrients which the body requires stay in proper balance.

A lack of sufficient zinc can cause problems with the scalp as well as contributing to a loss of hair. Nutrient deficiency may be irritating the scalp and making it dry and flaky. Zinc is known to also help prevent hair color changing to gray. It is so effective that it can even help reverse the process of hair thinning, baldness or graying if zinc is taken in the right quantity.

There are a number of different foods that are a good source of zinc. Fish, yeast, egg yolks and wheat germ are all helpful to increase a person’s intake of this nutrient. The zinc in these foods will help to stimulate protein production in different parts of the body. Another option is to purchase zinc nutritional supplements. A good rule of thumb is to take fifty to one hundred milligrams daily to make it most helpful.

Often, zinc is lacking in typical daily meals alone. If you desire to be certain your body has the proper balance of the nutrients it requires, then you can increase your intake of foods rich in the nutrient you lack as well as take supplemental vitamins and minerals. This will help assure that your body has been properly armed to help fight hair loss.

Hair Loss Treatment by Aromatherapy

For thousands of years people have found many purposes for Aromatherapy. We know that as far back as the early Egyptian culture, its uses for many aspects of the human body have been investigated. It has been known that different combinations of roots and leaves along with extracts from flowers that have been condensed into essential oils help regenerate the human body and lift the spirits of people.

One of the things that humans have an ongoing problem with is hair loss and there has been some success quite often using aromatherapy as a hair loss treatment. Alopecia has been treated for many years with oils such as lavender, cedar wood, rosemary and thyme.

Massaging bald areas on the scalp for two minutes every night can be helpful when using unique combinations of oils. To help improve the scalp’s ability to absorb these oils and increase the benefits, simply wrap the treated scalp with a towel. This may be helpful for baldness. For the treatment of alopecia, the following essential oils are necessary:

• 3 drops Rosemary

• 3 drops Lavender

• 2 drops Thyme

• 2 drops Atlas cedar wood

The following carrier oils are also needed:

• 4 teaspoons Grapeseed oil

• ½ teaspoon Jojoba oil
These are some additional treatments using aromatherapy:

Choose an essential oil and add 2 drops to rinse water after shampooing. You may add it to a vegetable oil instead. Massage this thoroughly into the scalp. Wrap your head using clear plastic wrap first. Then wrap a warm towel on top of that and leave it on for several hours or overnight, if possible. Next, use a mild shampoo so as not to change the sebum balance on your head and wash your hair.

Improve hair by stimulating the scalp which helps the circulation:

To help your hair stay healthy, blend together lavender and bay essential oils. This will help stimulate the hair follicles and scalp. Combine 6 drops each of bay and lavender and blend into 4 oz. of a warm carrier oil such as soybean, sesame or almond oil. Massage this mixture into your scalp. Allow for 20 minutes to let it be absorbed thoroughly. Next, shampoo your hair with your regular shampoo but add 3 drops of bay essential oil.

If high blood pressure is a problem for you, either avoid rosemary oil altogether or don’t use it very often. If you have sensitive skin, lemon or grapefruit oil may irritate your scalp. You may want to use less of those essential oils. Do not use more than the recommended amounts of the essential oils as listed in the directions.

Article courtsey of curehelp.com

* Eat Less, Live Longer

For years, studies have shown that an almost foolproof way to live longer is to cut back on calories. In mice, cutting calories has not only extended their lifespan, but also their reproductive period. It is hypothesized that a low calorie diet in humans can have a similar effect.

In yeast, it was demonstrated that decreasing caloric intake of these cells decreases SIR2, an inhibitor of an anti-aging enzyme. Lower production of SIR2 meant the longevity system of the cell flourished. We humans have similar genes, and it is likely it is modulated in a similar manner.

We already know that cutting back on calories can lower cholesterol, fasting glucose, and blood pressure. These parameters have also been termed biomarkers of aging, as they can be correlated with age related diseases.

Don’t want to cut back on your gastronomic experiences? Then pop an antidepressant. Unlike Prozac or Zoloft, when worms were given another anti-depressant called mianserin (trade name Tolvon), their appetite center was tricked into thinking they had consumed much less calories than they actually did. Their lifespan was increased significantly, from 3 weeks to more than four.

According to Linda Buck, Nobel Prize winner and leader of this study, the drug works by modulating neurotransmitter serotonin, which controls appetite and hunger sensation in both these worms as well as in humans. It also stimulates octopamine, which is a trigger for starvation. While the worm’s nervous system was tricked into thinking they were starving, the organisms did not consume less food. Furthermore, when the worms were put on a diet on top of the antidepressant treatment, there was no additional increase in lifespan beyond the basal effect of a caloric cutback. This suggests that mianserin uses the exact same mechanism as a strict diet to make the worms live longer.

While these findings have yet to be shown in humans, we see ample evidence that diet does have a similar effect in us. For example, inhabitants of the Ryūkyū Islands of Japan have the highest life expectancy. These people consume a low calorie diet which is positively correlated with the number of people living over the age of 110.

Article Courtsey of brainblogger.com

* Food Additives & Common Sense

A BMJ editorial, Food additives and hyperactivity, discusses the recent attention that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been giving to the possible link between food additives and childhood hyperactivity. Apparently the EFSA had to re-evaluate studies regarding this possible connection after publishing an opinion that suggested that there wasn’t enough evidence to suggest a correlation between additives and hyperactivity.

The editorial mentions various treatment options for hyperactivity. Apparently there is substantial evidence backing up two common therapies for this problem: drugs and dietary modification. But there is little evidence to justify treating this problem with behavioral therapy, even though this is a common procedure.

It is interesting to note that there is quite a bit of focus on both drug and behavioral therapies. But Andrew Kemp, the author, notes that it would be wise to eliminate various additives that have been shown to affect the behavior of children. After all, even though the evidence may not be staggering, there is still indeed evidence that shows this.

It is ironic to me that Kemp even needs to suggest this; it sounds like this “advice” is common sense. I know that many people treat various aliments with more natural approaches such as dietary changes, as we’ve discussed here, or with other changes such as exercise, meditation, light-therapy, etc. The list is endless. And honestly I’m quite envious of people who have successfully been able to do this well.

I believe that a good number of people (myself included) have strayed from the common sense approach to treating physical and emotional ailments. We’ve relied on drugs and other “easy” methods to the point that it seems extreme to try other, gentler methods.

Now be clear. I am not saying that people shouldn’t take drugs or are lazy if they do. That’s not my point and certainly not even my implication. Therapeutic drugs have a place in our treatment of illnesses just as yoga and sugar-free diets do. And taking drugs, while not void of all complications or issues, is usually more straight-forward than other therapies. (Our society and western viewpoint of illness is partially responsible for this but that’s another topic.) And I know that I too, look to those educated in these matters, to help me choose the best treatment option. And natural solutions, while agreed that they may be viable, are not usually the course of action relied upon.

While I hope that our health care system eventually becomes more well-rounded, I understand that doctors will continue to rely on the regulated, scientific-based methods for years to come. And that’s fine. In fact, I understand why they would be hesitant to suggest something that isn’t based on scientific evidence or that isn’t governed by a regulatory system.

That’s why I think it’s up to us as patients to take a second to consider common sense solutions to our everyday health problems. Maybe they will help, maybe not. But at least we’ll be adding balance to our somewhat narrow-minded western viewpoint of medicine.

Article courtsey of brainblogger.com

* A Bad Mix - Cell Phones & Children

Of course the prominence of cell phones goes beyond the streets. You can find cell phones attached to ears everywhere. Little is sacred now; once that little phone rings a quick “excuse me” is the standard protocol. Sometimes I wonder if society is addicted; after all, people seem to take their phones everywhere, even when they are in the company of others. I see it when I walk my son around the neighborhood, other walkers and their cell phones. I’ve been out to eat with acquaintances that interrupt our dinner for their daily touch-base with their aunt. I’ve even accidentally responded to strangers in the grocery store who were looking my way, saying something, yet talking on those headset devices.

The good news for our cell-crazed culture is that a German study recently announced that their decade’s long study found that cell phones were safe for adults. Of course there were caveats: they cannot make conclusions based on more than 10 years of cell phone usage and some cellular activity did change while being “under the influence” of mobile/cell phone radiation. (According to the article, even this information did not dissuade the survey from concluding that cell phones were safe.)

So, the good news is that, as of now, we can continue being a country obsessed with cell phones.

I think it’s important to note though that the study could not make any safety statements regarding children and cell phone usage. Therefore, since there is not evidence one way or another they suggest that children do not use mobile phones.

Although most kids probably aren’t concerned about how healthy it is to use cell phones, as their parents, we have to be. And since having a cell phone is starting to become “the thing” at earlier and earlier ages, we need to pay extra attention to future studies that focus on this population and cell phone exposure. It may just be that we have to tone down our usage of cell phones in order to keep our kids from becoming too eager to start acting like adults at the expense of their health. The question is: could we do it?

Article courtsey of brainblogger.com

* Viruses Cause Cancer?

In the 11th Report on Carcinogens, the US government added Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, and certain papilloma viruses to their list of substances known to be carcinogenic. This represented the first time ever that viruses were included.

At the sixth annual International Conference of the American Association for Cancer Research, Dr. Andrew J. Dannenberg stated, “I believe that, conservatively, 15 to 20% of all cancer is caused by infections, however, the number could be larger, maybe double.”

Dr. Dannenberg is director of the Cancer Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He went on to say, “Unfortunately, the public, as well as many health-care workers, are unaware of the significance of chronic infection as a potentially preventable cause of cancer.” Some examples he gave were liver cancer, caused by chronic Hepatitis B and C, and MALT lymphoma and adenocarcinoma of the stomach caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria. Also, schistosome parasite infection has been implicated in bladder cancer (transitional cell carcinoma) .

Probably the most well known example is HPV, or human papilloma virus, known to cause genital warts and now known to be the major cause of cervical cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, 11,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2007, and nearly 4,000 of these would die from it. Oropharyngeal cancer is also thought to be caused, in some cases, by HPV infection and past HPV exposure.

The FDA approved Gardasil vaccination in 2006 to prevent infection against high-risk HPV’s known to cause cervical cancers and genital warts. Gardasil is approved for use in girls only, and can be given as young as nine years of age. This has led to some questions as to why the vaccine is not offered to boys if it is known that HPV causes oropharyngeal cancer as well as vaginal cancer. This may be because the vaccine is expensive and oropharyngeal is rare in comparison to cervical cancer.

What does the future hold for virus research? Likely much more research will be done to attempt to identify which viruses are associated with certain types of cancer. If this can be accomplished, perhaps the key to fighting cancer in the future will be to prevent people from getting cancer in the first place. If scientists can create a vaccine like Gardasil to prevent cervical cancer, it is not out of the realm of possibility to hope that some day they will come up with a vaccine for all cancers. One can always hope.

Article courtsey of brainblogger.com

* Health Benefits of Vitamin D

(NaturalNews) This once obscure vitamin has been thought to only fortify skeletal structure through the minerals calcium and phosphorous; however, new emerging research shows this vitamin carries many more tasks than just strengthening bones.

Vitamin D and Pre-eclampsia

Pre-eclampsia is a devastating systemic disorder that is characterized by proteinuria (protein in urine), high blood pressure, and edema. This disorder can cause grave health problems for the mother and fetus: pre-eclampsia can cause premature delivery and is the leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death around the globe (causing some 76,000 deaths per year). Pre-eclampsia is, no doubt, a problem that greatly affects mothers and infants. The cause still remains unknown; however, a study carried out by the University of Pittsburgh found that vitamin D deficiency early in gestation is associated with a five-fold increase risk of developing pre-eclampsia.

Vitamin D and Diabetes

Most people in Western societies are familiar with diabetes, particularly that of type II diabetes. Type II diabetes is highly publicized since most diabetes sufferers are afflicted with this particular form of the affliction. However, the smaller subset, those suffering with type I diabetes, have a small advantage over their counter parts. Recent research has demonstrated that those who receive high amounts of vitamin D during childhood have a lower risk of developing type I diabetes later on in life, the greater the amount of vitamin D, the greater the benefit.

Type I diabetes is different than type II in the fact that, it does not arise out of insulin resistance; rather, it comes about because the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed by one's own immune system, starting early in childhood. Though more commonly found amongst Europeans and North Americans, it can affect people from all walks of life.

Vitamin D and Cancer

Vitamin D has also been linked to better outcomes in cancer. In breast, colon and prostate cancer, the sun-shine vitamin has been shown to suppress cancer growth and the formation of blood vessels that feed cancer cells. Furthermore, in a breast cancer study, 24 percent in the breast cancer study had adequate levels of the vitamin at the time of diagnosis. Those who were deficient were more likely to have the cancer metastasize or recur ten years later. Moreover, 73 percent of the deficient were more likely to die.

A study in the International Journal of Cancer found that vitamin D protects cells from oxidative stress. This study used the most biologically active form of the vitamin, vitamin D3 along with nonmalignant human prostate epithelial cells. Metabolism of cells produces free radicals that can damage DNA and contribute to cancer formation and accelerated aging. Vitamin D links with a gene that increases its activity and produces an enzyme that combats free radical damage by clearing the cell of those DNA-damaging substances. This relieves cell stress and retains healthy cells.

Vitamin D and Brain Function

Because of the many vitamin D receptors in the brain, it has been discovered that vitamin D plays a very important role in maintaining and achieving a healthy mind. Though more research in this particular area of vitamin D functions is needed, it is worth mentioning since vitamin D has been indicated in children with brain dysfunction (its exact mechanisms are still unclear at present).

Though behavioral and cognitive difficulties and their association to low vitamin D levels is still a little sketchy, what is known is how low vitamin D levels affect depression in the elderly. Accompanied by an overactive parathyroid, low vitamin D levels have been implicated to increase depression in older adults, and in other mental disorders. This information is particularly important because, instead of treating patients with dangerous psychotropic medications that have hazardous side effects, depression could in the future be treated with a higher intake of vitamin D or more calcium and exposure to sunlight.

Supplementation

Now that many of the health benefits of vitamin D have been shown, it is time to describe where to find this vitamin and who needs it the most. The largest source of this vitamin is the sun. Contrary to popular belief, spending time in the sun daily is not deadly. Though there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, never spending any time in the sun is certainly not the better alternative. Lighter individuals need less time than darker individuals, about 15 minutes in the sun daily. For darker individuals, more time is need than 15 minutes (approximately 30 minutes).

Another source is through diet. Raw milk naturally contains vitamin D, but the largest dietary source
would have to be cod liver oil.

As for who needs vitamin D the most, everybody needs it! However, it has been recently shown that young children and infants tend to be deficient, even though they appear healthy otherwise. Currently, the new info on vitamin D and all its varying abilities has prompted many to deem the recommended daily allowance (RDA) to be far too low -- the highest amount suggested being 600 IU. The Vitamin D Council recommends at least 1,000 IU (or 25 ug/day).

To sum up all this info on supplementing this vitamin: if people get plenty of sunshine, raw milk, and cod liver oil, many would surely reap the benefits of this vitamin.

Overall, vitamin D has been for years underestimated in its abilities and its health benefits. The future only holds more data on how important this vitamin is; therefore, supplementation needs to be more emphasized.

* Diet Rich in Fish

Researchers have found that a diet rich in fish, seafood, and grains -- also called polyunsaturated fats -- is better at preventing heart disease than a diet containing olive oil, nuts, and avocados -- called monounsaturated fats.

Although both types of fats are healthy, people should probably include more of the first than the second in their diet to keep a healthy heart, the scientists say.

Too much cholesterol has long been linked to increasing risks of developing heart disease, but it has been less clear how the various dietary fats -- saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated -- make people susceptible to the disease.

Lawrence L. Rudel and colleagues developed a method to determine the effects of the three types of dietary fats on acyl-coenzyme A, a key molecule involved in the metabolism of fatty acids.

The scientists found that mice fed diets high in saturated and monounsaturated fat showed an increase in acyl-coenzyme A compared to mice fed a diet enriched in polyunsaturated fat. These results suggest that polyunsaturated fat is a more suitable replacement than monounsaturated fat for dietary saturated fat, the scientists concluded.

Article: "Monounsaturated fatty acyl-CoA is predictive of atherosclerosis in human ApoB100 transgenic, LDLr-/- mice" by Thomas A. Bell III, Martha D. Wilson, Kathryn Kelley, Janet K. Sawyer, and Lawrence L. Rudel

* New Disease Fighting Nanoparticles

Ultra-miniature bialy-shaped particles — called nanobialys because they resemble tiny versions of the flat, onion-topped rolls popular in New York City — could soon be carrying medicinal compounds through patients' bloodstreams to tumors or atherosclerotic plaques.

The nanobialys are an important addition to the stock of diagnostic and disease-fighting nanoparticles developed by researchers in the Consortium for Translational Research in Advanced Imaging and Nanomedicine (C-TRAIN) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. C-TRAIN's "smart" nanoparticles can deliver drugs and imaging agents directly to the site of tumors and plaques.

The nanobialys weren't cooked up for their appealing shape — that's a natural result of the manufacturing process. The particles answered a need for an alternative to the research group's gadolinium-containing nanoparticles, which were created for their high visibility in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

Gadolinium is a common contrast agent for MRI scans, but recent studies have shown that it can be harmful to some patients with severe kidney disease.

"The nanobialys contain manganese instead of gadolinium," says first author Dipanjan Pan, Ph.D., research instructor in medicine in the Cardiovascular Division. "Manganese is an element found naturally in the body. In addition, the manganese in the nanobialys is tied up so it stays with the particles, making them very safe."

The bulk of a nanobialy is a synthetic polymer that can accept a variety of medical, imaging or targeting components. In the July 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society the researchers report that targeted manganese-carrying nanobialys readily attached themselves to fibrin molecules, which are found in atherosclerotic plaques and blood clots. Laboratory-made clots then glowed brightly in MRI scans. They also showed that the nanobialys could carry both water-soluble and insoluble drugs.

Pan, who is a research instructor in medicine, played a leading role in the creation of nanobialys and chose the particles' name. "When we looked at the particles with an electron microscope, we saw they are round and flat, with a dimple in the center, like red blood cells, but also a little irregular, like bagels," he says. "I came across the word bialy, which is a Polish roll like a bagel without a hole that can be made with different toppings. So I called the particles nanobialys."

Pan is one of a group of researchers headed by Gregory M. Lanza, M.D., Ph.D., and Samuel A. Wickline, M.D. Lanza is an associate professor of medicine and biomedical engineering. Wickline is a professor of medicine, physics, biomedical engineering and cell biology and physiology. Lanza and Wickline are Washington University cardiologists at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Nanoparticles can be a more effective way to administer medications and imaging contrast agents because they are targeted, packaged units — drugs and imaging agents stay on the nanoparticles, which can be made to concentrate at a specific site in the body.

In animal studies, the research group has shown that their original, spherical nanoparticles can carry therapeutic compounds to tumors and atherosclerotic plaques. These nanoparticles also can hold thousands of molecules of gadolinium, which allows the researchers to use standard MRI scanning equipment to see where the nanoparticles congregate. The scans can then detect the size of lesions as well as the effect of drugs delivered by the nanoparticles.

But gadolinium has recently been linked to nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF). First described in 2000, NSF is an unusual progressive, incurable disease seen in about 3 percent of patients with severe kidney disease who have had MRI scans using gadolinium. In NSF, collagen accumulates in tissues causing skin hardening and thickening, joint stiffening that can lead to physical disability, and disorders of the liver, lungs, muscles and heart.

"Even though it seems that gadolinium affects only those with severe renal failure, physicians have decided not to use gadolinium even in those with moderate renal failure," Lanza says. "A lot of patients with diabetes or hypertension develop renal failure, so that decision potentially affects many people. Our goal has always been that our nanoparticle technology should be able to help everyone. And with a growing number of people having diabetes and related cardiovascular problems, we knew we needed to find a substitute for gadolinium-based particles — nanobialys are our first step in that direction."

The researchers will continue to adapt the nanobialys for a variety of medicinal applications and work to develop other types of nanoparticles so that they can supply a wide range of medical needs.

"We're not sitting in the lab generating nanoparticles and then looking for what they could be used for," Lanza says. "We see a medical problem and ask what kind of particle might overcome it and then try to create it."

Funding from National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute supported this research.

* How Viruses Evade Immune System

Viral Cloaking Device: How Viruses Evade The Immune System

Viruses achieve their definition of success when they can thrive without killing their host. Now, biologists Pamela Bjorkman and Zhiru Yang of the California Institute of Technology have uncovered how one such virus, prevalent in humans, evolved over time to hide from the immune system.
The human immune system and the viruses hosted by our bodies are in a continual dance for survival--viruses ever seek new ways to evade detection, and our immune system devises new methods to hunt them down. Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV), says Bjorkman, Caltech's Delbrück Professor of Biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator, "is the definition of a successful virus--it thrives but it doesn't affect the host."

HCMV is carried by eight in 10 people. Although it generally harms only those who are immunocompromised, it has also been linked with brain tumors like the one for which Ted Kennedy recently had surgery. Understanding how HCMV survives may help in the development of a vaccine, as well as in the fight against other viruses with similar evasive tactics.

"We are interested in mechanisms taken by viruses to escape our immune system," says Caltech biology postdoc and HHMI associate Zhiru Yang. She and Bjorkman published their findings on HCMV survival mechanisms in the July 15 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They describe the underpinnings of a viral cloaking device, partly made of stolen goods from healthy cells, that helps HCMV to move undetected through the body.

For 20 years, Bjorkman's lab has been dedicated to understanding class 1 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins and the immune response, most recently related to AIDS research. MHC proteins carry peptides, small pieces that are chopped up from the cell's internal proteins, to the cell's surface. If a cell has been infected, MHC presents viral peptides to signal T cells to kill it. So some viruses evolved to evade T cells by keeping MHC from reaching the cell surface. In turn, the immune system recruited other hunters to search for cells that don't show MHC proteins.

Sometime along its treacherous evolutionary path, HCMV stole a class 1 MHC molecule from its host and modified it for supreme stealth. "This is a decoy," Bjorkman says. She and Yang analyzed the structure of the mimic, called UL18, to compare how similar it is to the real thing. They found that despite a mere 23 percent match in genetic sequences, UL18 looks almost exactly the same as a true class 1 MHC.

The same immune cells that search for missing MHC proteins are designed to bind to them when they find them, thereby inhibiting an immune response. Yang and Bjorkman found that UL18 happens to bind 1,000 times tighter to these inhibitory receptors than real MHC molecules do. "This is exactly what the virus wants--to avoid being recognized by T cells, but to engage inhibitory receptors to turn off immune cells," Yang notes. "Only a small number of UL18 molecules are required to have the same inhibitory effect as a large number of MHC class I molecules."
"What I find astounding is that the virus stole this gene and kept it almost identical but improved upon its binding," Bjorkman says.

UL18 didn't stop there. "It also binds peptides--that's unique to this MHC mimic. We don't know why," Bjorkman adds. The peptide is obscured from killer cells by yet another shield, Yang says. In a trait it shares with HIV proteins, HCMV's UL18 covers itself with carbohydrates, which are unrecognizable to the immune system. A real class 1 MHC molecule has one site for adding carbohydrates; the fake has 13, Bjorkman notes. The only place where it's not covered is where it binds to the inhibitory receptor.

All its efforts have made UL18 virtually undetectable. "It's a good example of a viral protein that evolved from its host ancestor to block unwanted interactions," Yang says. "The more we understand that, the more effectively we can fight viruses that hide out," Bjorkman adds.
This study was supported by HHMI.

* Cleaning Infected Blood

Biologists Develop Machine To Remove Viruses From Blood

Infectious disease experts designed a machine called the hemopurifier. It works much like a dialysis machine, using thin fibers to capture and remove viruses from the blood it filters. The machine requires the drawing of blood through an artery, which is sent through a tube into the machine, then back into the body. It can treat a number of illnesses.

Every day, 14,000 people are infected with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDs. There's no cure, but now a breakthrough -- a machine that could clean blood, keeping more and more people alive longer.

"I remember lying in bed thinking, 'I am going to die. I'm going to die. I feel so sick.' And I remember thinking laying in that bed, 'And I know exactly what it is,'" HIV patient John Paul Womble, told Ivanhoe. HIV could kill Womble. He watched his father die from the virus and now he is living the rest of his life with it. "I've got to live as healthy as I can, but this virus is not going to control me," he says. Now, a machine could help clean Womble's infected blood and keep him healthier, longer.

"It's designed to mimic the natural immune response of clearing viruses and toxins before cells and organs can be infected," Jim Joyce chairman and CEO of Aethlon Medical in San Diego, told Ivanhoe. Developed by infectious disease and biodefense experts, the hemopurifier works like a dialysis machine. Antibodies on these spaghetti-like fibers capture and remove viruses as blood filters through it.

"Your entire circulation flows through the cartridge about once every eight minutes," Joyce explains. The entire process takes less than a few hours. It could help patients infected with HIV, hepatitis C, as well as people with the measles, mumps and the flu. "The cartridge is able to selectively capture viruses."

A larger version of the machine would be used in a hospital, but a smaller one could be taken to emergencies. It could be a life-safer against the avian flu or bio-weapons like Ebola and small pox, giving people a chance to survive a deadly attack, whether it's from a terrorist or a virus.

"I don't have to be afraid," Womble says. "I have a virus. I've got to do something about that virus. I've got to treat that virus. I've got to live as healthy as I can." The hemopurifier is also a leading treatment candidate to protect United States civilian and military populations from bioterror threats and emerging pandemic threats like the bird flu and dengue fever that are untreatable with drugs and vaccines.

REMOVING VIRUSES FROM BLOOD: The hemopurifier uses antibodies to remove viruses as blood filters through it. It is designed to filter out viruses and toxins before they attack organs. The method is very similar to dialysis, and can be used to help patients with HIV, Hepatitis C, the measles, mumps, the flu, and more. It can also begin working before doctors identify the cause of the illness.

WHAT IS DIALYSIS? Hemodialysis is often used as a treatment for end stage renal disease (ESRD), or kidney failure, in which blood is removed from the body, filtered through an artificial kidney and then the cleaned blood is returned to the body. In the US, hemodialysis is the most common treatment for people who have kidney failure. However, dialysis is also a painful, expensive procedure, and while it cleans the blood well enough to maintain existence, it does little to improve a patient's overall quality of life. Also, data shows that if patients get a transplant before they get to the point of dialysis, they do better in the longer term.
Note: This story originally produced for the American Institute of Physics series