Justice-for-All? Amy Price PhD

Illusory statements and human error can set context that overthrows justice. In my life I have seen the guilty walk and the innocent executed based on what passes for science. Probability and statistics are used as weapons promoting authority over individuals unlearned in the field with little regard for the human carnage and heartbreak that follows.
Want to see the power of optical illusions? They are not as powerful as those that can be created by illusory context. Illusions are the gap between perception and processing, they operate in all senses and we are all susceptible
I recently enjoyed a forensics experiment where we were given a cursory fingerprinting class and then were given prints to compare for accuracy. There is a commonly held 16 points of accuracy that until recently was used to determine probability...plenty of room for error, even though Sir Francis Galton says mathematically the chances of identical fingerprints are 60 billion +.
I was interested in the case of a Scottish police officer who because of mistaken identity, lost her job, reputation and was driven to near bankruptcy because her accusers needed to be right more that they cared about justice. The officer later settled for 1.75 million pounds without the agency admitting guilt. I shudder to think how little she would have recovered for personal use after all the 3 ds (denial,delay and) were exercised. In fact those that brought faulty evidence were later exonerated by the department. Of course a 273 page document explaining how to do it better was produced but I doubt the officer gets royalties...
Dr Itiel Dror shared in an interview with the BBC how he engaged forensic specialists in a study where he linked context with perception during fingerprint analysis. There was a large error rate. The video and study is worth viewing. He shows how the stage can be set for seasoned professionals to make errors
In another case a Lawyer was held in Oregon as a terror suspect, his life was derailed and finally with the words "regrettably there was an error" he was released. I doubt that fixed much for him or bought him back time that was stolen in the prime of his life. He will likely be remembered as the 'Terror Suspect" rather than for other contributions he makes.
In the experiment most of us correctly identified these prints as not matching his. What went wrong? Try it for yourself

What is the take home message? Before you render judgement or accusation really listen with a mind to hear. Your 'facts' may be clouded by context and false perception. At any rate we can choose a blame free course where together we fix the things that are broken and produce unity instead of destruction

Parkinson's Disease Stem Cell Sequel

By Amy Price PhD

I found an interesting addition to the Parkinson's post's in the form of an article from Nature. Many thanks from helpful individuals at the Open University in the UK for passing this on.

In the article in Nature Suchowersky O. Transplantation therapy for Parkinson disease: the good, the bad and the enigmatic. Nature clinical practice. Neurology. 2008 Sep;4(9):465
Parkinson disease (PD) affects an estimated 1 million cases in North America . Motor symptoms in PD initially
respond well to dopaminergic replacement medications, but because PD progresses the drugs gradually lose effectiveness after about 10 years resulting in gait dysfunction and complications such as dyskinesias
PD is not just a disorder of the dopaminergic system but involves other neurotransmitter systems which inform autonomic dysfunction, mood disorders, fatigue, pain, sleep disorders and cognitive function. Dopaminergic cell replacement, even if successful is thought capable of treating only motor symptoms.
Over 20 years ago, transplantation of fetal ventral mesencephalic cells into the putamen was
performed on a small sample of participants with reportedly good results. Regrettably further studies with larger participant pools failed to confirm the initial reports (Freed CR et al. [2001] N Engl
J Med 344: 710–719). PET and pathological analyses revealed adequate survival of grafted
neurons, and there was untreatable runaway dyskenesia. However clinical benefit was seen in
a small subset of patients, 16 years on autopsy results are available Mendez et al. showed survival of
grafts without PD pathology for 14 years in five patients (Mendez I et al. [2008] Nat Med14: 507–509). Another patient showed good clinical improvement l 5 years plus, before gradual worsening of motor function and development of gait and balance problems (Kordower JH et al. [2008] Nat Med 14: 504–506). Autopsy results from this patient 14 years after transplantation showed great graft survival but grafted neurons had pathological
changes typical of PD, including Lewy bodies and activated microglia (cell scavengers) were seen in large numbers
Liet al. reported similar graft pathology in three patients up to 16 years after transplantation (Li JY et al. [2008] Nat Med 14: 501–503). These results indicate that for stem cell therapy to be effectual long term in D research needs to be initiated to investigate the spread to youn grafted neurons and determine strategies to resolve this issue. I would hope that advancement in the area of Adult Stem Cell research will make this possible in the near future.

I am finding the stem cell story is not so new. I did hear about a very young women stricken with metasticized spinal cancer who was treated at Sloan Kettering with grown out adult stem cells taken from her own bone marrow over fifteen years ago. She is now a successful professional with no trace of malignancy in her body. I also remember twenty five years ago in Canada I knew three terminal patients who underwent adjustments to the bone marrow transplant protocol that involved growing out their own bone marrow cells. One person enjoyed a year free from blood cancer and then relapsed but the other two lived. It is strange that when I go to Pub Med , Google Scholar or even the University library there is no trace of this research performed for "humanitarian reasons"

There is also a lot of interest in the London Project where stem cell trials are close to human trials for those with macular degeneration. Pfizer is quoted as expected to announce backing of stem cell therapy, apparently with joint labs in Cambridge Mass and Cambridge UK but on the Pfizer site I didn't see this in place.

Individuals are reporting encouraging success for adult stem cell treatment where they are thier own donors particularly for orthopedic and cardiac applications. These treatments are largely privately funded. It would be great to see this in the mainstream covered by insurance and available for people regardless of income levels

A Pill For Memory? Piracetam Revisited

By Amy Price PhD

One significant problem in traumatic brain injury is that secondary cell death occurs when the injured cells block the path for the other cells to get oxygen. One product that is used extensively in other countries but not the USA is Piracetam. It is interesting that research in pub med is showing promise for efficacy in human trials. There have been rat, rabbit, and fruit fly trials available for years but there is a lot that can differ between these and seeing actual human benefit.

I used this product to good effect many years ago without side effects and am encouraged to see studies supporting its effectiveness. The alternatives available to many people with TBI as far as psychotropic meds to restore some measure of function are concerned can sometimes have unexpected reactions or be of no effect.

Piracetam has been shown to alter the physical properties of the plasma membrane by increasing its fluidity and by protecting the cell against hypoxia. It increases red cell deformability and normalizes aggregation of hyperactive platelets according to Winnicka K, Tomasiak M, Bielawska A (2005) They are saying treatment with piracetam improves learning, memory, brain metabolism, and capacity by the interaction of this molecule with the membrane phospholipids to restore membrane fluidity . The draft below is from smart publications

The positive therapeutic effects of piracetam on cognitive (memory, attention, executive functions) and motor (coordination) functions as well as the speed of cognitive and motor performance were demonstrated in a study done by Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2008 for adolescents who sustained TBI's.

Its efficacy is documented in cognitive disorders and dementia, vertigo, cortical myoclonus, dyslexia, and sickle cell anemia according to Winblad B (2005).

The results of a meta-analysis Waegemans T, Wilsher CR, Danniau A, Ferris SH, Kurz A, Winblad B. (2002) demonstrate a difference between those individuals treated with piracetam and those given placebo, both as significant odds ratio and as a favourable number needed to treat. While there may be problems in meta-analyses and the interpretation of the statistical results, the results of this analysis provide compelling evidence for the global efficacy of piracetam in a diverse group of older subjects with cognitive impairment.

This post does not in any way constitute any medical advice or recommendation. These posts are educational only to share with others some of the direction research is taking. Any medical information gained online should be supported and endorsed by your own doctor.

References:

[The consequences of closed traumatic brain injury and piracetam efficacy in their treatment in adolescents]
Zavadenko NN, Guzilova LS.
Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2008;108(3):43-8. Russian.
PMID: 18427539 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles

Piracetam--an old drug with novel properties?
Winnicka K, Tomasiak M, Bielawska A.
Acta Pol Pharm. 2005 Sep-Oct;62(5):405-9. Review.
PMID: 16459490 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles

Piracetam: a review of pharmacological properties and clinical uses.
Winblad B.
CNS Drug Rev. 2005 Summer;11(2):169-82. Review.
PMID: 16007238 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles

Clinical efficacy of piracetam in cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis.
Waegemans T, Wilsher CR, Danniau A, Ferris SH, Kurz A, Winblad B.
Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2002;13(4):217-24.
PMID: 12006732 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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More Than a Wheel Chair

I recently enjoyed a great flight with a group called Paralysed Veterans of America. People of all shapes, sizes and conditions along with dedicated physicians and carers formed a mighty team. These men were on their way to Aspen to ski and they were fun to be with. Even with missing legs,arms, spine injury, blindness, deafness or brain injury their zest for life and care for others was an example of power and unity at work.

The conversation was full of hope for new treatments, medications, regenerative medicine and ways to improve life for their fellow man. They do research,create equipment to make life easier, and help others navigate paperwork so families can put their lives back together

As we talked I learned they do more than ski and race cars. They have lobbied congress on behalf of all of us who are disabled so we are able to use commercial transportation, be treated with courtesy and receive the assistance to get from one location to another. Getting the luggage and extra equipment a disability brings from the customs hall to the next flight, or negotiating airplane steps can appreciate the complications well timed assistance can bring.If you encounter problems travelling with a disability this site can show you what to do They mentor the newcomers on the way out of the old life before the trauma into a destiny where life is not over or lessened it is just different. I heard no useless platitudes like "Get over it, others are worse off" but rather things like "Buddy have you tried this?" or "It will get better, I will go with you".

I was empowered by the raw courage in the face of obstacles others had deemed impossible and their group willingness to give life another chance. Most of these men face daily pain, memories they can not lose and disability yet their indomitable spirits did not quit and they helped each other.

I saw courage and dignity more clearly than in a military parade or in troops ready for action...these men showed us how to live after the party is over and they did it well.

To find out more about them or to donate to make these kind of trips possible see this link I like to remember that their gift of service and the price they paid allows me to walk in freedom. Life is all about giving back to the foundation. When each of us does our part the foundation will be there for us and those who come after us

Parkinson's Adult stem cell Breakthrough and more

More about Parkinson’s and stem cells….Keeping you posted as I learn too… The photo showing where damge occurs is from web MD (2002)

Would you be surprised that the technology to implant neural tissue in humans to alleviate Parkinson’s Disease was available as early as 2001 and in case studies has produced more successful remission than any drug on the market and with fewer side effects?

Michel F. Levesque, M.D., F.R.C.S.(C), F.A.C.S.Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Associate Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the UCLA School of Medicine, and member of the UCLA Brain Research Institute applied for Phase 11 FDA approval in several years ago. This was granted but sponsor complications and new rules by the FDA have put this phase on hold until Levesque and company can jump through the new hoops and negotiate more sponsors. This is tragic for Parkinson’s patients who could die or degenerate significantly before help is available.

It seems that the FDA would apply the same standard to our own cells that they do to foreign drugs. Pharmaceuticals take a ten year, 750,000 million dollar investment on average to bring to market and to start to make a profit. I do wonder about the stability of stem cell companies that have not counted the cost or prepared a strategy and stored up ammunition for battle. What did they think was going to happen? Nevertheless it makes one long for the days when scientists bit the bullet and practiced on themselves and family members. The results produced their own script. It seems today the trend is to scorn the establishment while begging to get into ‘the inner circle’. This cannot in all fairness be blamed on the FDA but rather on the inconsistencies of human nature and the need to belong. It is tragic that ethics and human decency for ‘the little people’ are tossed aside in the parade of blind ambition that ignores the simple concept that if you take away from the foundation (those that have supported your growth) the structure will destroy you…but I digress, on with the story….

It does seem strange that it is a woman’s ‘right’ to terminate a child but it is not an individual’s right to choose their own stem cells. The right to terminate brings death and is endorsed but the right to life through the harvesting of our own stem cells is denied by an outside source.

It is not like the FDA is even particularly good at culling out the problem children in the industry or adding to medical knowledge. A simple Google search on major drugs and problems in approved FDA pharmaceuticals is an eye opener in politics and commerce rather than the mainstream of patient safety for which they purport to represent.

Levesque and his colleagues did a successful case study with a man suffering from Parkinson’s in 2001 and yet in 2009 Parkinson’s patients are still dying needlessly. The FDA is still a bureaucracy which people are distracted into attacking while Scientists followed by the masses line up on the adult stem cell or embryonic bandwagon instead of putting partisan economics and politics aside to join together as scientists to promote healing and answers for those without hope.Here is a little about the study below:
“MATURE NEURONS DERIVED FROM THE PATIENT’S OWN BRAIN CAN BE TRANSPLANTED BACK SAFELY AND IMPROVE SYMPTOMSWe recently presented the clinical outcome of our autologous method at the International Congress of Parkinson’s disease and Movement Disorders in Rome. In accordance with our institutional review board, we transplanted a patient with advanced Parkinson’s disease with differentiated neurons derived from an initial needle biopsy. At three years post-operatively, the overall Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) improved by 81% while “on” medication and 83% while “off” medication. We demonstrated here the long-term clinical remission of Parkinson’s disease symptoms in a single patient.Because of their biocompatibility, safety and potential integration into the host striatum, autologous adult neural stem cells and stem cell-derived neurons represent an effective alternative to current cell therapy aimed at the restoration of dopamine neuronal loss in Parkinson’s disease. Under the guidance and supervision of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) office of Cellular, Tissues and Gene Therapies and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Treatment (CBER) we are about to begin Phase II trials using this promising cell therapy.
CONCLUSION
Degenerative and traumatic disorders of the brain represent an enormous burden to the patient, their family and health care providers. The current debate between the embryonic stem cell proponents and those who are opposed to their use distracts from other avenues with promising outcome, such as adult stem cell therapy. It also overlooks other important issues of resource allocation between basic and clinical research, health insurance, and patient care. Scientific knowledge has rapidly progressed in the last five years (written in 2004) and stem cell research and therapy remains a very promising field for treatment of neurological disorders. In a recent biotechnology industry meeting, a presentation had the approximate title: “Businesses are from Mars, Academics are from Venus”. What was forgotten there is that patients are from planet Earth and this is what should guide our efforts “ (Levesque, 2004)For the complete story read here and for an update on where things are today check out this link

Love S et al., Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor induces neuronal sprouting in human brain, Nature
Medicine 11, 703-704, July 2005
Slevin JT et al., Improvement of bilateral motor functions in patients with Parkinson disease through the unilateral intraputaminal infusion of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, Journal of
Neurosurgery 102, 216-222, February 2005
Gill SS et al.; “Direct brain infusion of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in Parkinson disease”;
Nature Medicine 9, 589-595; May 2003 (published online 31 March 2003)

Dyslexia FMRI implicates Cerebellum

Dyslexic individuals seem to struggle with pattern learning. Reading is like pattern learning on steroids. Recent research compares a group of adult dyslexics with a control group of normal readers in the learning of a simple sequencing task. Participants pressed one of four buttons that corresponded to a visual stimuli that appeared in a predictable pattern during an fMRI scan. Previous studies had found that dyslexics are worse at learning this simple sequence and the researchers were interested in the differences in brain activity between the two groups.

The study found that there was a notable difference in brain activity between dyslexics and non-dyslexics. Significantly the cerebellum was more active in the dyslexics than it was in the non-dyslexics.

Research suggests that the cerebellum plays a key role in learning by comparing what the brain expects to happen with what actually happens. As the subjects learn the sequence, the difference between expected and actual results diminishes and the work load on the cerebellum reduces. In the non-dyslexic brains, the cerebellum is more efficient at this process so sequence learning and the corresponding drop off in cerebellum activity occurs sooner.

It is of interest that expert learners such as chess champions and experts at logic games can play with a lot less cognitive loading, thus freeing up other processing resources for memory, attention and learning. Even for experts this takes hours of practise. Perhaps a focus on effective categorization and efficient filtering rather than endless attention and working memory games could produce skills that would transfer to new areas of learning.

Gain Ground by Building Brain Potential

By Amy Price PhD

Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States: 50,000
die; 235,000 are hospitalized; and 1.1 million are treated and released from an
emergency department. The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an
emergency department or who receive no care is unknown.

Major causes of TBI are: Falls (28%); Motor vehicle-traffic crashes
(20%); Struck by/against events (19%); and Assaults (11%). TBI costs the USA
approximately 60 billion dollars per year in care and lost productivity (Statistics supplied by BIAA)

Helmets are often proposed as a cure all. The problem is according to the statistical breakdown above over 50% of related injuries would occur from non helmet activities. Better immediate care and follow up would lessen the severity of impairment for a large proportion of survivors

TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, language, learning, emotions, behavior, and/or sensation. It can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other brain disorders that become more prevalent with age.

Survivors report the areas they most need help are: Improving memory and problem solving; Managing stress and emotional upsets; Controlling one's temper; and improving social and employment skills.
A mind is a terrible thing to lose...if you have sustained a head injury all is
not lost help is available .The links above in blue contain help and information.

We are often asked how do I find a good treating professional? Ask your local brain injury association. Word of mouth is good. Check with healthcare facilities, neighbors and friends. Find a professional who will work with you or your family member to get results rather than just tell you to learn to adjust to the problem.

Many individuals have run out of health care options. They ask what can be done at home. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article about how people can be pro-active in retraining their brains. There is continuing research going on in this area. If you have a strategy or treatment that you have found helpful please let us know.

Here is a place where you can try brain games for free. This site is monitored by scientists from Stanford university who are collecting brain function data for a mega study.

Jig saw puzzles can help with spatial function. You can try these free from a simple six piece
puzzle to a 247 piece challenger. Crossword puzzles can help with language and reasoning

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. - Albert Einstein