INFOVALLEY Newsletter 2013

4th Issue - March 2013

About Breast Cancer

This 3D medical animation outlines the progression of breast cancer and describes the stage classifications based on the extent of the disease.

Breast self-examinations help women know how their breasts normally look and feel in case of any changes. The goal, with or without breast self-exams, is to report any breast changes to a doctor or nurse right away. Fast action and proactive behavior can help save lives. You can find some suggestive ways to conduct a breast self-exam here.

Article from Gynecologic Oncology: Breast Cancer - Early Detection

Some facts contribute to higher risk of causing breast cancer e.g. marital and maternal status: More common in spinsters, or if married then have not given birth to children, or if given birth then have not breast fed their offspring and many other facts. - ABC of Breast Cancer

Are You Afraid of Cholesterol?

Since we are living in a fast paced world, many of us tend to neglect the significance of taking good care of our health. As we age, our body needs the urgency for medical check up. Whenever any of us see the word “CHOLESTEROL” in the report, we are inclined to think that it is something bad to our body. To tell the truth, cholesterol is not necessarily bad for our body because there are two types of cholesterol; namely good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. Typically, cholesterol is a fat formed by the liver and is fundamental for usual body operation. It exists in the external coat of each cell in our body and has numerous functions. These functions aid the regular function of our body.

Before one starts to be afraid of cholesterol, it is better to learn the significance of good cholesterol to our body. Firstly, cholesterol builds and maintains cell membranes which are the outer layer of each cell. These cell membranes have permeability which is essential for determining which molecules can pass into the cell and which cannot. This helps to eliminate unwanted molecules from entering the cells. Moreover, cholesterol aids in the production of bile. We have read in books that sunshine provides Vitamin D to our body but has anyone wondered how is it possible for the sunshine to convert to Vitamin D? Well, with the aid of cholesterol, it is possible because it converts sunshine to vitamin D. Furthermore, it is also imperative for the body to enhance metabolism of fat soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E, and K. With all these functions in hand, there isn’t any necessity to be afraid of cholesterol unless you have LDL.

Now you may ask what LDL is. LDL is the acronym for low density lipoprotein. People often refer to it as bad cholesterol. LDL carries cholesterol from the liver to cells. If too much is carried, too much for the cells to use, there can be a harmful buildup of LDL. This can increase the risk of arterial disease if levels rise too high. Most human blood contains approximately 70% LDL but this may vary, depending on the person. Too much LDL can cause the arteries to become blocked, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Blocked arteries occur when excess LDL and other fatty substances attach themselves to the walls of the arteries, causing them to become narrower, meaning that blood cannot pass through as easily. Over time, partially blocked arteries also become hardened and inflamed, increasing the risk of breakage. All this increases the risk of a range of vascular diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. When there is bad cholesterol, the good comes along. HDL (high density lipoprotein) is often referred to as good cholesterol. Experts say HDL prevents arterial disease. Moreover, HDL does the opposite of LDL. It takes the cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver. In the liver it is either broken down or expelled from the body as waste. 

In addition, high cholesterol itself doesn't cause any symptoms. This means that we could have high cholesterol and not know about it. The only way to know our cholesterol level is to have it tested. Once receiving the results, it is not necessarily something devastating because level of bad cholesterol in body can be reduced or controlled if we follow a balanced diet, live a healthy lifestyle and obviously by following the instructions from doctors. High cholesterol level becomes deadly only when we refuse to change our habits that contributes to the increase in cholesterol in our body.

In a nutshell, living a healthy lifestyle is everyone’s dream. Daydreaming about it but living an unhealthy lifestyle, for example, smoking, eating food which is high in cholesterol and not exercising regularly will never help in avoiding ourselves from getting high cholesterol. Cholesterol is not something to be afraid of because as stated above good cholesterol does play a vital role in our body. It is our responsibility to restrict the increase in bad cholesterol in our body. Prevention is always better than cure. Therefore, start preventing from getting high bad cholesterol since a very young age instead of trying to reduce it after getting affected. We only live once. 

Why waste it by being afraid of something that we can restrain?

References
• Grundy SM, et al. (2001). Executive summary of the third report of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). JAMA, 285(19): 2486-2497.
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2005). Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol With TLC (NIH Publication No. 06-5235). Available online: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/chol/chol_tlc.pdf


By Khamsigan a/l/ Munretnam, Molecular Research Scientist

Are you Afraid of Cholesterol?

During my university years, one of my friends used to frustrate his parents by throwing away egg yolks and eating only the whites. He thought that he was reducing the risk of heart disease by avoiding cholesterol. How about you? Are you afraid of cholesterol or having high cholesterol? Are you throwing away egg yolks because you think they're bad for your health?

Let’s learn more about cholesterol. Cholesterol is a chemical compound that is naturally produced by the body and is structurally a combination of lipid (fat) and steroid. Cholesterol is a building block for cell membranes and for hormones like estrogen and testosterone. The main sources of dietary cholesterol are meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products. Organ meats, such as liver, are especially high in cholesterol content, while foods of plant origin contain no cholesterol.

Cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance that you need to be healthy. High cholesterol itself does not cause heart disease. People who have low blood cholesterol have the same rates of heart disease as people who have high blood cholesterol. The cholesterol found in your blood comes from two sources: cholesterol in food that you eat and cholesterol that your liver makes from other nutrients. The amount of cholesterol that your liver produces varies according to how much cholesterol you eat. Normally, liver produces 75% of the cholesterol that circulates in our blood. The other 25% comes from food. If you eat a lot of cholesterol, your liver produces less. After a meal, dietary cholesterol is absorbed from the intestine and stored in the liver. If you don't eat much cholesterol, your liver produces more. This is why a low cholesterol diet does not typically decrease a person's blood cholesterol by more than a few percent.

Types of Cholesterol

There are two types: Bad" and "Good" Cholesterol. Particles called lipoproteins carry cholesterol in the blood. There are two kinds of lipoproteins you need to know about: LDL and HDL.

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol makes up the majority of the body's cholesterol. LDL is known as "bad" cholesterol because having high levels can lead to a buildup in the arteries and result in heart disease. It is very important to keep LDL levels low. LDLs are produced by the liver and carry cholesterol and other lipids (fats) from the liver to different areas of the body, like muscles, tissues, organs, and the heart. 

High-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol absorbs cholesterol and carries it back to the liver, which flushes it from the body. High levels of HDL, or "good" cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are lipoproteins that carry cholesterol from the liver to organs and tissues in the body. They are formed by a combination of cholesterol and triglycerides. VLDLs are heavier than low density lipoproteins, and are also associated with atherosclerosis and heart disease.

What Boosts Your Risk?

Several health factors, lifestyle and genetic factors can make you more likely to develop high cholesterol:

• Condition

– Age: everyone's risk for high cholesterol increases with age. Women's LDL ("bad" cholesterol) levels rise more quickly than do men's.

– Diabetes: Having diabetes can also make you more likely to develop high cholesterol. Diabetes affects the body's use of a hormone called insulin. This hormone tells the body to remove sugar from the blood. With diabetes, the body either doesn't make enough insulin, can't use its own insulin as well as it should, or both. This causes sugars to build up in the blood.

• Behavior

– Diet: Certain foods raise your cholesterol levels. These foods tend to contain saturated fats, trans fatty acids (trans fats), dietary cholesterol, or triglycerides.

– Weight: being overweight can raise LDL, lower HDL, and raise total cholesterol levels.

– Physical inactivity: Not getting enough exercise can make you gain weight, which can lead to increased cholesterol levels.

• Heredity

High cholesterol can run in families. People who have an inherited genetic condition, called familial hypercholesterolemia, have very high LDL cholesterol levels beginning at a young age.

Diseases linked to high cholesterol

Diseases linked to high cholesterol

• Coronary heart disease: If your cholesterol is too high, it builds up on the walls of your  arteries. Over time, this buildup (called plaque) causes hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis).

• Stroke can result if the blood supply to part of the brain is reduced. 

• Peripheral vascular disease: High cholesterol also has been linked to peripheral vascular disease (PAD), which refers to diseases of blood vessels outside the heart and brain. 

• Type 2 diabetes is another disease linked to high cholesterol because diabetes can affect the different cholesterol levels. 

• High blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol also are linked.

• Leriche syndrome: there is a block in the lower part of the aorta just before the starting point of the common iliac arteries leading to Claudication, Impotence and Decreased pulses

Diseases linked to low cholesterol

• American researchers found that low cholesterol predicts an increased risk of dying from diseases of the stomach, the intestines and the lungs. Most of such diseases are infectious.

• Low Cholesterol Predisposes To HIV And AIDS

• Low cholesterol levels have been shown to increase the risk for cancer.

• Low cholesterol over the long term may lead to depression, increased risk of stroke, and numerous problems related to hormonal imbalances. If you are not getting enough vitamin D from your diet, having low cholesterol may lead to vitamin D deficiency, as sunlight creates vitamin D in your body by acting on cholesterol found in your skin.

• Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome: children with this syndrome are born with very low cholesterol because an enzyme that is necessary for the body’s synthesis of cholesterol does not function properly.

The Positive Roles of Cholesterol

Actually, cholesterol is essential for survival and plays many vital roles in the body.

• Cholesterol is integral part of membranes and membrane integrity depends on the obligate presence of cholesterol.

• Cholesterol is required for the synthesis of several hormones including the sex hormones.

• Vitamin D is synthesized in the body from cholesterol and it is now known that the roles of vitamin D go beyond bone formation.

• Bile salts are essential for the digestion of the fats consumed and this compound is also produced from cholesterol.

• Cholesterol is anti-inflammatory.

• Cholesterol’s presence is required for the normal functioning of the serotonin receptors. Since serotonin is a mood elevator, low cholesterol levels produce aggressive behaviour and mood swings.

Now the question is do you need Cholesterol? Definitely, you do. The cholesterol is an essential biological molecule present in our body and survival without this compound, is not possible.

The cholesterol is required to form the bile acids and salts, required to digest the fats which you consume. A wide variety of steroid hormones are produced, with the cholesterol as the precursor. It also leads to the formation of vitamin D, required for keeping your bones healthy. So, don’t be afraid of cholesterol. It is a problem only when you have more than what is needed by you.

The essential point is we need to keep ourselves healthy and not just get treated when we our cholesterol levels go badly. I am working as a Bioinformatician in INFOVALLEY since more than four years and was involved in the FH project which resulted in a high density FH1536 chip which is able to diagnose the molecular basis of Hypercholesterolemia, screening for at risk individuals, prognostic about the heart attack and stroke and also advise the doctor the most appropriate medicine. FH genotyping screening can be undergone by subjects of all ages.

Reference:

http://www.medicinenet.com/cholesterol/page2.htm#what_is_cholesterol

http://www.ravnskov.nu/the%20benefits%20of%20high%20C.htm

http://vnsatakopan.hubpages.com/hub/Does-Cholesterol-Deserve-All-the-Blame-it-Gets

http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm#a

http://drbenkim.com/articles-cholesterol.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/cholesterol_levels_pictures_slideshow/article.htm

By Kavitha IS, Bioinformatician

11 New Reasons Why You Should Not Drink Soft Drinks Anymore

Here are the 11 new reasons why you should not drink sugary (and non-sugary) soft drinks anymore

Soft drinks are ubiquitous nowadays. You can find them in every convenient store, and you get them from automatic vending machines, and they’re the beverages of choice in all fast-food chains. We all know that soft drinks give you extra calories and make a lot of dentist very rich. But, they are much more than that. I have collected some recent scientific discoveries about soft drinks that will make you think twice before ordering a can of soft drink: 

Soft drinks increase your risk of heart attack: One sugary beverage a day increases your risk of having a heart attack by 20 percent over a period of 22 years.

Soft drinks alter your metabolism, make it more difficult for you to burn fat and lose weight: The finding was based on the study of 11 healthy men and women who drank an equivalence of 140 grams of sugar every day for four weeks. 

Soft drinks have carcinogens: 4-methylimidazole, a coloring compound and a carcinogen, was found in Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. 

Diet soft drinks also increase risk of heart attack and stroke: This was based on the study of adults who drank diet soda daily, and their risk of heart attack and stroke was 44% higher. 

Soft drinks make you lose your mind: BVO, a preservative and flame-retardant for plastic, was found in citrus soft drinks. BVO has been shown to cause nerve disorders and memory loss. 

Soft drinks are associated with asthma: Based on the study of 16,907 people in Australia, a heightened risk for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among those who drank more than 0.5 liter of soft drinks daily.

Soft drinks help you deposit more fat than beverages with the same amount of calories: A group of obese and overweight people were assigned to drink daily either 1 liter of sugary soft drinks or milk (equal amount of calories), water or diet coke for six months. The group consuming sugary drinks got more fat in liver and muscles. 

Even teen violence is associated with soft drinks: The more soft drinks a teenager drinks, the more likely he will commit violence according to a study done in 2011.

Diet soft drinks make you gain weight: Drinking two or more diet soft drinks a day increases your waist size five times more than people who avoided the stuff altogether.

Soft drinks speed up aging: Dark cola contains high level of phosphate, and a study in mice showed that high level of phosphate accelerated aging and shortened lifespan by a quarter.

BPA in soft drinks interfere with your hormones: The epoxy resin used to prevent interaction between the acids in soft drinks and the metal in cans may interfere with your hormones, and may lead to abnormalities in fetuses and adult obesity.

So, are you worried after reading these end-of-the-world facts? Most of the conclusions above were drawn from the studies of people who drank a lot of soft drinks daily. As the old wisdom goes, moderation is the key to a healthy, happy, and long life!

Sources: http://www.businessinsider.com/11-reasons-never-to-drink-soda-again-2012-8

by Dr Ler Lian Wee, Senior Scientist

About Cholesterol

The word "cholesterol" comes from the Greek word chole, meaning "bile", and the Greek word stereos, meaning "solid, stiff". 


Let's read some articles regarding CHOLESTEROL. 

1. Cholesterol by Dr Trisha Macnair

2. What is Cholesterol? What causes High Cholesterol?

Outsider Oestrogens

Health article by Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar.

Are Girls Attracted to Smarter Boys: Evolution of Brain by Sexual Selection

Humans have evolved as the most dominant and intelligent species on this planet earth. Once upon a time few million years ago they lived in caves & forests. Gradually they evolved to communicate by verbal tones & gestures. The human population was on the horizon to distinguish themselves from the rest of the species that exists on this planet.

They started living in community, built small huts. They had get together, they sung, they danced and even they played music and now the humans have built the sky scrapers touching the sky, the machines to dig the earth down beyond the sea bed and flying machines to orbit around the earth.

All these fine skills & analytics require advanced brain function of insight & cognition. The brain has evolved drastically from other species. Now the question...why did it evolve so drastically and distinctively?

HANDICAP THEORY 

Before I explain why, lets see the physiological aspects of the Brain.
Weight: 1400 G Approx.
Oxygen: 20% utilization
Glucose: 40% utilization
Physiologically brain is a very expensive organ utilizing more glucose and oxygen.
ITS A COSTLY WASTE FOR AN ORGAN TO SURVIVE.

    An Example: The peacock's tail.

The peacock's tail is bright and colorful. The brightest and colorful peacock will be chosen by the peahen for mating (Bright and colorful feathers reflect the good health of the peacock) with an intention to have a healthy progeny.

But the long tail hinders the flight ability of the peacock and more prone to be hunted easily by predators.

ITS A COSTLY WASTE FOR AN ORGAN TO SURVIVE.

The bottom line SURVIVAL OF THE SEXIEST IN SEXUAL SELECTION among peacocks.

Evolution of brain is implied as evolution of intelligence. The higher motor functions, thought process, insight, soft skills contribute to be a good musician, a good writer, a scientist, a knowledge worker.

Man developed these qualities basically to interact and to impress his partner during the primitive age by playing music, dancing, verbal conversation ultimately converging to selection of a smart mate for a smarter progeny:

The bottom line SURVIVAL OF THE SMARTEST IN SEXUAL SELECTION among humans.

So guys get smarter to attract girls.

By Dr. Hemanth S Naik, Senior Medical Research Scientist