MTHFR garners enough attention these days that the gene should run for office. Furthermore, it would have a great career in politics since it is accustomed to being blamed for everything medical under the sun anyway. This time Chinese researchers linked it to Essential Hypertension in a meta-analysis of other studies comparing the risk of…
The Open Access medical journal, Clinical Epigenetics, is publishing a study indicating that epigenetics not only influences heart disease and diabetes (as has been shown in numerous other research studies), but also impacts lung health. Krauss-Etschmann et al searched for correlations between environmental influences and rates of asthma and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) in…
pillI grew up in the waning Golden Age of antibiotics. They had swept onto the medical scene decades before, rescuing lives from previously hopeless infections. Then they entered more everyday life of strep throats and bladder infections, bringing relief and comfort to many common illnesses. However, the power and wonder began to wane as resistance…
Scientists recently published some research findings that might make you sleepy. But before you close your eyes and start your “zzzz”‘s, have you ever asked yourself how some people you know seem to live on 5 to 6 hours of sleep per night without any ill effects, while you need 8 to avoid brain fog? …
I just wanted to share a quick post about legislation effecting Direct Primary Care in the state of Oklahoma. State Senators there passed Senate Bill 560 protecting patients from losing direct primary care membership agreements in the workplace or such agreements from being considered as insurance. Next it goes to the house. Rep. David Derby is…
Several terms are bantered about in the field of medicine regarding what medical professionals do for their patients: cure, heal, rehabilitate, relieve, manage, prevent, and a few others. These all portray the best of medicine, that which returns a person to health or prevents their ever leaving a state of health. But… when we examine…
Research constantly uncovers new links between epigenetics and disease. Recently a Harvard PhD, Dr. Liming Liang released findings linking about 30 different methylated genes to asthma risk. Medicine has long recognized a link between a type of immune cell called an eosinophil with asthma and other allergic diseases. Some very expensive drugs were developed, hoping…
(This 2 part post was written by a good friend who worked in a missionary agency, helping missionaries make decision about their health insurance coverage. While some details apply primarily to missionaries, most of the principles can be applied to our lives regardless of location. In a sense, we are all missionaries and should consider…
The great battle between nature and nurture continues. Social scientists, biologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, even theologians have debated for centuries what determines a person’s unique humanness. The field of genetics fired a seemingly victorious salvo against nurture as science discovered sections of DNA called “genes” which decided hair color, eye color, height, and even the presence…
(This 2 part post was written by a good friend who worked in a missionary agency, helping missionaries make decision about their health insurance coverage. While some details apply primarily to missionaries, most of the principles can be applied to our lives regardless of location. In a sense, we are all missionaries and should consider…