Precision Medicine and Public Health (from Precision Medicine and the Reinvention of Human Disease)
Excerpted fromPrecision Medicine and the Reinvention of Human DiseaseDespite having the most advanced healthcare technology on the planet, life expectancy in the United States is not particularly high. Citizens from most of the European countries and the highly industrialized Asian countries enjoy longer life expectancies than the United States. According to the World Health Organization, the United States ranks 31st among nations, trailing behind Greece, Chile, and Costa Rica, and barely edging out Cuba [42]. Similar rankings are reported by the US Central Intelligence Agency [43]. These findings lead us to infer that acc...
Source: Specified Life - February 6, 2018 Category: Information Technology Tags: cancer cancer vaccines precision medicine prevention public health Source Type: blogs

EBV and myeloma stem cells. Chapter 3
This study tells us there are two ways in which a virus, nothing more than a “parasite,” can infect its host cell: 1. actively, by causing “a lytic infection characterized by the release of new progeny virus particles, often upon the lysis of the host cell,” (lysis refers to the destruction of a cell, the host cell in this case), or 2. inactively, which occurs when the virus just sleeps, without reproducing itself. “Reactivation” occurs when a sleeping virus wakes up and reproduces, stimulated by internal or external factors…but that gets into too much detail, so let’s skip that part. Here’s anot...
Source: Margaret's Corner - January 23, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll EBV Epstein-Barr myeloma Source Type: blogs

EBV and myeloma stem cells. Chapter 2.
One thing Dr. Biswas discovered is that the subset of EBV-positive (as opposed to the EBV-negative) myeloma cells are the blasted stem cells, which have CD19 on their surface. What does that mean? Simply that we’re not talking about plasma cells here, but about B-cells that have the ability to REPRODUCE themselves, turning into plasma cells (which do not have that ability, btw). Confused? Well then, let’s have a look at something different. On page 12, Dr. Biswas discusses the 90% percentage that I mentioned in my previous post. While EBV “is benign in acute stages and latent in chronic stages […], in some cas...
Source: Margaret's Corner - January 18, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll Dr. Sunetra Biswas EBV myeloma Source Type: blogs

TWiV 374: Discordance in B
On episode #374 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiVniks consider the role of a cell enzyme that removes a protein linked to the 5′-end of the picornavirus genome, and the connection between malaria, Epstein-Barr virus, and endemic Burkitt’s lymphoma. You can find TWiV #374 at microbe.tv/twiv. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - January 31, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology 5'-tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase activation-induced cytidine deaminase AID Burkitt Burkitt's lymphoma c-myc cancer coxsackievirus Epstein-Barr virus hypermutation malaria oncogene picornavirus Plasmodium f Source Type: blogs

USMLE Questions – Characteristic Disease Findings
The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is designed to emphasize knowledge of clinical scenarios and clinical pearls, even on Step I. Listed below are some commonly encountered disease findings and characteristics. Feature Disease 45, X chromosome Turner’s syndrome 5-HIAA increased in urine Carcinoid syndrome Aganglionic rectum Hirschsrpung’s disease Apple-core sign on barium enema Colon cancer Arched back (opisthotonos) Tetanus Argyll-Robertson pupil Syphilis Ash leaf on forehead Tuberous sclerosis Auer rods  Acute myelogenous leukemia Austin Flint murmur Aortic regurgitation...
Source: Inside Surgery - January 18, 2013 Category: Surgeons Authors: Editor Tags: Surgpedia USMLE diseases findings VMA water hammer pulse Source Type: blogs