What are superfoods?

My Dear Sexy Readers,

Thank you all for the amazing feedback I got from you on the different social networks about my latest article "What's a gluten-free diet?".

Right after the holiday season, we all love a good detox program to purify our body and soul from all our Christmas sins. Some of us take the plunge and go for the latest fad diet. Whereas others feel they got the whole Healthy Diet with particular attention to superfoods.

But what are those Superfoods everyone seem to talk about these days? And most importantly is there any truth, medical or theoretical evidence that these foods are Super?

What are Superfoods?

Superfoods are nutrient-rich foods that are considered to be especially beneficial for our health and well-being.

Superfood Berries

However the name 'Superfood' has been disputed by many saying that it is a non-medical term used in marketing with little scientific evidence for it. The term itself has been prohibited in the European Union since 2007 unless it is accompanied by a medical notice approved by an medically and scientifically accredited name or organisation.

What are these superfoods?

Berries, nuts and seeds in general, dark green vegetables (such as spinach, kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli), citrus fruits, fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines, vegetables with bright, dark, or intense colors (such as beets and their greens, and sweet potatoes), many legumes (peanuts, lentils, beans, raw cocoa), and whole grains as a group.

You might say, 'Well, if these are good foods to begin with, foods that could be part of a healthy diet, what's wrong with naming them Superfoods?'

Tweet This - If these are good foods, part of a healthy diet, what's wrong with naming them Superfoods?

And in essence, there's nothing wrong with it if these are actually eaten as part of a healthy diet and not popped in your mouth in a pill form!!!

Green tea leaves from Chengdu

For example, green tea is well known for its superfood quality as it is a superoxidant and contains B vitamins, folate (naturally occurring folic acid), manganese, potassium, magnesium, and caffeine. Many weight loss supplements include green tea extracts but there is currently insufficient scientific evidence that consumption of green tea or its specific extract EGCG has any health benefit.  The FDA itself sent a warning letter in 2013 about false advertising and health claims concerning the effects of green tea consumption.

Why are they called Superfoods?

Many Superfoods contain natural chemicals that have been shown to have positive health effects in laboratory studies. These include antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

It’s certainly true that a healthy diet can help to reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes but it is unlikely that any single food will make a major difference on its own.  

Cancer Research UK note that Superfoods are often promoted as having an ability to prevent or cure diseases, including cancer; they caution, 'you shouldn’t rely on Superfoods to reduce the risk of cancer. They cannot substitute for a generally healthy and balanced diet'.

Fighting Cancer with Superfoods?

From HERE

There is some lab data that show that some of these ingredients can affect cancer cells in a laboratory setting, including killing them and stopping them from growing. But unfortunately jumping to the conclusion that eating those nutrient-rich foods can affect your cancer outcome is a biiiiiiig leap!

First of all, your body is a complex organism and the interactions between the food we eat and our bodies are much more complex than those between a purified chemical and cells in a tube.
Secondly, food is itself complex: An isolated chemical may behave very differently in a test tube than when it is eaten as part of food.
Last but not least, dose as always is of paramount importance. Even eating very large portions of a ‘superfood’ might not provide enough of a specific ingredient to a sufficient amount to have any effect on our health. For example, garlic contains a nutrient alleged to help reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. But you'd have to eat up to 28 cloves a day to match the doses used in the lab!

Is it bad though?

As part of a healthy diet, the short answer is not at all. With everything though, dosing and pacing are essential. You won't get a quick fix by gorging yourself on Superfoods, you won't cure any disease and your disease risk may not be that much reduced if you are already on a healthy diet. If anything, an exclusive diet might put you at risk of deficiency of other essential nutrients.
Some foods when eaten in large quantities can put you at risk of toxicities - think fish and mercury - for example, some seaweeds contain natural toxins which are thought by some to increase risk of cancer and liver damage.

Do you like your Superfoods? Do you include them in your diet on purpose?

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

References and further reading

Wikipedia
Cancer Research UK - Superfoods
NHS - Superfoods

What's a gluten-free diet?

My Dear Sexy Readers,

First of all, I would like to wish you a fantastic New Year!!!!

A lot of people may feel that January is a good month to work on their New Year resolutions.

One of these may be to go gluten-free to help their body cope with the excess food they have accumulated during the holiday season.

Many of you will hopefully detect that the above sentence contains 3 non evidence-based facts*, but as I typed it, I felt strangely liberated like I could do something that would cancel out my overindulgence and Christmas sins!

I'm a greater believer though in knowing the truth and understanding our body (HERE), how it works (HERE and HERE) and how things we ingest (HERE, HERE or HERE) or slather on it do to us (HERE and HERE).

So if you'd like to know the scientific truth about gluten and gluten-free diets that supermarkets, unscrupulous nutritionists and restaurant owners purposefully don't share with you, please keep on reading... (Well, yes of course it's a new and very lucrative business...)

What is Psoriasis?

My Dear Sexy Readers,

I don't know about you my Sexy guys but I feel like once Halloween is done and dusted we are overwhelmed with special events in November!

But for now, let's talk about this week's awareness campaign!

This week (1-8 November) is not about cancer, it's about raising awareness for a condition that affects millions of us around the world: PSORIASIS.

What is Ebola?

My Dear Sexy Readers,

Here is Seran's first official post:


As of 2014, an epidemic of the Ebola Virus Disease has engulfed West Africa, killing 1 in 2 people who have caught the virus. Ebola seems like the disease from nightmares. Asides from the high mortality rate from the disease, it also causes horrific symptoms including bleeding from virtually every orifice of the body- including the mouth, genitals and eyes.

…And it’s got the potential to become even worse.

We currently don’t have a cure for Ebola and we’ve been finding it difficult to contain Ebola for a variety of social, political and economic reasons.

I’ve created a quick infographic explaining these points in a bit more detail…

…In short, however, the ‘big deal’ about Ebola is that it’s very deadly!

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Seran

What is Diabetes?

My Dear Sexy Readers,

I've been working on the second installment of #MyBodyDoesWhat series which will be a new infographic on Pancreas (Previous ScienceSoSexy infographics)! Little did I know that beginning of June was Diabetes week. How timely am I? - Well, I'm 2 weeks too late, but it could be worse, right?! (If you don't know what Pancreas and Diabetes have in common, keep reading ;)

8th - 14th June was the week chosen to raise awareness to this common life-long health condition. This year, using the different social media platforms, the word was #ican! An initiative to show help and support to anyone with diabetes by gathering examples of things that this condition will never let you stop from doing. Check out their live story stream over HERE.

3.2 million people are diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and an estimated 630,000 people have the condition, but don’t know it. In the world, the diabetic population stands at 365 million people, representing around 8.5% of the global population.

Diabetes is when our body either doesn't make enough insulin (produced by our pancreas) or cannot use its own insulin properly to help get the sugar (coming from food or our liver) to move from our blood into the cells of our body, causing build up of that sugar in our bloodstream.

The Insulin binds to its Receptor and makes the Glucose transporter move to the cell surface where it can open up a passage to let the Glucose come inside the cell. If there's no insulin or the receptor doesn't recognize or respond to it, the Glucose is stuck in the blood and accumulates = Diabetes

There are 2 types of diabetes
Type 1 is when the body doesn't produce insulin. It requires insulin to treat, is typically developed as a child or young adult, and is a disease that destroys pancreatic cells meaning no insulin production is possible.

Type 2 is when the body doesn't produce enough insulin or the insulin produced is not working properly. It is considerably more common and typically affects people over the age of 45, who are also overweight.

If you have followed my first #MyBodyDoesWhat infographic, you know that I'm going to use this series to explore what our body does because seriously it is freakishly genius. I think I should know more about it so I thought I would share with my Sexy Readers whatever info I gather! My second installment on Pancreas is basically "in the making" stage.

In the meantime, if you would like to share your own experience with fellow readers, feel free to hit the comments box, so

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

Further reading
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/

Designer babies #Pint2014 Review by Debbie

My Dear Sexy Readers,

I'm sure you are all sexilly aware by now of Pint Of Science festival that happened this year all over the world between the 19th and 21st of May (my review on the liver talk, my review on the probiotics talk). You can also look up #pint2014 on here or on your favourite platform.

Because so many talks were happening at the same type all across my city - London - it was impossible to be everywhere, so I asked a few friends to report to me on what they learnt down their local pub ;)

May I introduce to you Sexy Debbie who went to the Imperial College Union Bar to a talk entitled 'Creating Life: Test Tubes and Ethics'. Here is her review, and don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments box:

"When does life begin? Who has the right to decide on the fate of an embryo? Is genetic enhancement necessarily a bad thing? These are hotly debated issues surrounded by controversies and impassioned views. They are not easy questions and they have no easy answers, yet they are just some of the many contentious issues faced by the field of medical ethics and reproductive science.

At a sold-out Pint of Science event I was lucky enough to be in the audience for Mr Stuart Lavery and Professor Raanan Gillon’s talks on ‘Creating life: test tubes and ethics’, in the unlikely surroundings of the pub. Mr Stuart Lavery is the director of IVF Hammersmith, one of the world’s largest IVF units, and Professor Raanan Gillon is Emeritus Professor in Medical Ethics at Imperial College London. Together they are two of the world’s foremost professors in the field of medical ethics and reproductive science.

IVF Hammersmith has pioneered the reproductive technology of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, whereby couples undergoing IVF can have their embryos screened for genetic diseases so that only embryos free from the genetic mutations will be implanted. On a scientific level, the procedure is ground-breaking. By removing just one cell from an 8-cell stage embryo, enough DNA can be extracted for genetic screening and the embryo will continue to develop unharmed. At IVF Hammersmith, every member of lab staff has been genetically screened so that if any of their cells accidentally fall into the vials they are working with their DNA will be detected and not confused with that of the embryo.

'All parents hope for a healthy baby'

All parents hope for a healthy baby and will do what they can to help minimise any risks, giving up smoking, alcohol and caffeine for example. Selecting an embryo that is not predisposed to a genetic disease is another means of increasing the chance of having a healthy baby. The concerns and objections tend to arise based on the fate of the embryos that do have genetic mutations and when the possibilities of what the technology is capable of are considered.





Preimplantation genetic diagnosis currently screens for specific serious genetic diseases. This isn’t because that is all that the science is capable of, this is because that is all that is legal in the UK. It is possible to screen embryos for risk factors for particular diseases, such as the risk gene for breast cancer. Would it be right to select against embryos that may get a disease when they equally may not get it? Likewise, it is possible to select for a female or male embryo, to screen for eye colour or hair colour, and even to genetically modify the DNA of the embryo and develop so-called designer babies. As more genes are identified, personality traits could also be screened for. What is the line? Who should decide where to draw it? Should legislation be the same across different countries? Should legislation be in place at all, should public committees be used to make ethical decisions or should parents have the right to decide?

As much as the right of the parents is respected, this was over-ridden in the case of a deaf couple who requested for their IVF embryos to be screened for the deaf gene. They felt they could raise a deaf child better than a hearing child, but it was decided that this did not value the welfare of the child and so the request was rejected. The process of reaching ethical verdicts such as this was explained by Professor Raanan Gillon, who described four principles that provide a moral framework within which to make ethical decisions.

This was a fascinating evening full of discussion and debate. I came away with many more questions than I started with. Clearly the development of reproductive technologies has increased the options for couples at risk of having a child with a serious genetic disorder. However, the use of techniques such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis is expanding, creating new ethical and legal dilemmas in need of regulation and legal frameworks.

How often do you get to discuss such hot topics in the pub with two world experts?! Thanks Pint of Science, I will definitely be back again next year!"

Useful links/further reading 
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis
A guide to preimplantation genetic diagnosis
IVF Hammersmith
Pint of Science
Professor Raanan Gillon Imperial College profile

I hope you all Sexy Readers enjoyed Debbie's review on this super hot topic and let me know what you think in the comments :)

Stay tuned for Sexy Phil and his review on the Big Bang Theory talk by none other than Prof John Ellis, one of the most famous theoretical physicist of our time (a real - slightly older - Sheldon if you like ;))!

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

What are Probiotics? #Pint2014

My Dear Sexy Readers,

We are all so conscious about what we ingest, what we put on and in our body, but still... Liver diseases, Obesity and Type II diabetes are on the increase!

Last week I went to a pub talk on Probiotics. That's right, I went down to the pub, and I listened to a scientist talk about her research using Probiotics to relieve liver disease. 

If you have followed my recent posts (HERE and HERE), you know that #Pint2014 was in full swing 19th-21st May all over the world! An international Science festival happening over 3 nights in the UK, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Australia and in the US! 

I already covered the first pub talk I went to, which was on the liver. 
That same evening, Dr Jane Macnaughtan was sharing with us the latest results on her research sponsored by Yakult (Oh yes, but before you say anything, Yakult didn't commission the research, the research lab contacted Yakult for advice and funding). 

Why is this important? Because more and more, I see scientific articles claiming that this or that disease is controlled by the bugs residing in our gut linings, that they are the real brain in our body. 

So I'll start with some basic info, and I will include Dr Jane talk in "quotes".

Our gut bacteria

Humans are now thought as super-organisms on the basis of the genetic potential encoded within our resident microbial populations in addition to our own genome. 

"If our body is composed of about 10 trillion cells, we also contain 100 trillion bacteria!"

There are varying levels of bacteria living all over and in our bodies - mostly in our intestines.
They are known as commensal bacteria, which under normal circumstances cause no harm. 

It has been noted that although there is a great inter-individual variation in the composition of the gut microbiota, there are conserved set of encoded functions shared between individuals referred to as the core gut microbiome.  

Functions of this microbiome are thought to confer the greatest benefit to the host and are probably essential for the correct functioning of the gut.

Benefits:

• Modulation of the host immune system  from early life
• Protection against potential pathogens by depriving polluting and dangerous bacteria of food and inhibiting their growth.
• Production of essential vitamins and hormones
• Digestion of sugars and regulation of fat storage

Other functions include:
They facilitate the process by which food and wastes move through the system to avoid constipation, they look after the mucus membranes by stimulating the production of proteins that lubricate and protect our 'inside' skin, they secrete nutrients that are used for tissue repair, they improve the balance of friendly flora to reduce the risk of bladder or vaginal infections. 

However, our natural prebiotic levels are easily damaged by factors such as poor diet, stress, alcohol, hormonal fluctuations, cigarettes, surgery and drugs. 

"'All Diseases begin at the gut' - Hippocrates"

Many diseases have been associated with a dysfunctional microbiota: Obesity; Type II Diabetes; Cardio Vascular Diseases; infection with Clostrodium difficile; Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) (bowel diseases), Asthma, Eczema, Liver disease, Colorectal Cancer.

"Bacterial DNA fragments can be found in the blood of patients suffering from cirrhosis and are representative of its severity."

"The role of gut bacteria in liver disease include the metabolic breakdown of alcohol into acetaldehyde which damages the gut and liver, and the bacterial migration from the gut to other organs."

"Different strategies exist to modulate the Gut-Liver axis: Antibiotics but the whole resistance problem arises, or Probiotics which have shown to reduce inflammation."

It is evident that the gut microbiota plays a large role in intestinal health and disease and therefore manipulation or modulation is a clinical option. According to a review by Walsh in 2014, this modulation of the gut microbiota could be achieved by:

1. Diet: the amount, type and balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fat have a profound impact on the gut microbiota.



From Walsh et al 2014. Beneficial Modulation of the gut microbiota.

2. Antimicrobials: research is ongoing as to choose the best characteristic of antibiotics and avoid strain resistance.
3. Probiotics
4. Faecal microbiota transplantation: 'It does what it says on the tin' - most commonly used to treat recurrent C.difficile infection but could be extended to IBD, IBS, obesity,..

What are Probiotics?

They are living microscopic organisms, also called micro-organisms. Most often they are bacteria (friendly bacteria), but they may also be other organisms such as yeasts. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines probiotics as "live micro-organisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host".

Each group of bacteria has different species and each species has different strains. This is important because different strains have different benefits for different parts of your body. For a list of these, please visit this website for info (no affiliation/sponsor, your clicks from there are your responsability and the subsequent info does not necessarily represent my views.)

"Strains of probiotics work differently and could be interchanged but we don't know if it would work because not all combinations have been tested scientifically so we generally stick to what the trial results have shown."

The most common probiotic bacteria come from two groups, sometimes mixed together: Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Lactobacillus Casei Shirota is what's in Yakult.The name of the strain "Shirota" comes from Dr Shirota (Yakult's founder) who isolated this strain.

Note = Did you Know that Yakult is the universal language Esperanto translation of Yoghurt?

4 flavours of Yakult

For a probiotic to successfully exert its benefit on the host's gut microbiota it should be able to remain viable during storage and also be capable of surviving, and potentially colonizing the host's intestinal environment.

Studies on special mice have shown so far that a diet supplemented with probiotics are beneficial to treat/prevent obesity, type II Diabetes, liver damage, IBS, IBD, C. difficile infection.

"We tested a diet supplemented with 3 bottles of Yakult/day on 8 human patients who had severe liver damage with activated innate immunity response ie. abnormal levels of neutrophils (serve as a biomarker). After 4 weeks of supplemented diet, no patient experienced side effects and all showed normal blood levels of neutrophils... A new study is underway to see how long this effect lasts (on 92 patients; randomized, double blind, 6-months study)."

As a conclusion, I think it was quite extraordinary to learn about the amazing effects of these probiotics.
Now, of course, I'm not saying you should rush to the shop and buy Danone bifidus or Yakult.

What we know is that with our Western diet, our gut is highly susceptible to imbalance, and it wouldn't be stupid to take some probiotics once in a while, especially after a good night out ;).

If you are suffering from bowel disease or Diabetes, please do not take this as a medical advice, I am not "medically" trained, I'm just a scientist, so please do see your GP.

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

References and further reading 
Pint Of Science - Dr Jane Macnaughtan
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Probiotics

American Gastroenterological Association
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24681100 - Kindly provided by future Dr Nirmesh Patel

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20920376 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24583612

Pint of Science 2014 Programme

My Dear Sexy Readers,

If there is one festival not to be missed in 2014, and that will actually be good for your ears, it really is  Pint Of Science!!!

Pint Of Science 19-21 May 2014
I mentioned this event a while ago and promised I would update you on their programme, well here we are, the programme has been finalized and it promises to be absolutely epic!! I think this year, they really went all out, even though this is only their second year running, with evening talks happening in 21 cities in 6 countries over 3 days,!!!
I mean, WOW, imagine the injection of Science that is going to be shot all over the world at the same time!!!!!!
So, there's absolutely no way anyone can miss this massive event!! From a Journey to Antarctica, Curiosity Rover on Mars, to Dark matter and Studies on Twins or on Mum's diet during pregnancy, you WILL find something that is right up your street... right up your street (!)!

How to do?

The US Pint of Science talks map

First Choose your country by clicking on one of these links: USA, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Australia or France or click on one of the maps and go for the TICKETS tab, you'll then be able to go to your city of choice:
San Diego, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Tampa, London, Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Bristol, York, Bath, Glasgow, Dublin, Lausanne, Genève, Sydney, Paris, Brest, Lyon or Bordeaux!

You then will have the choice of talks between:

Matters of the Mind - Understanding our bodies - Chemistry and Physics - Planet Earth!

For example, in London, on the subject Matters of the Mind:
On the right hand side, I can choose my favourite pub and see what talks are happening and when.
OR I could choose a topic and could travel to that pub on the night I choose.
The pub closest to mine is the Horse, which will host talks from scientists from King's College and among these, on Monday I could go to "What drives us mad?" and "Smart drugs and students: what's really going on in UK universities?"

UK, London, Planet Earth subject

OR if I'm not fussed about locations or subjects, this link is a whole list of talks for me to see directly what's available when and where regardless of the subject.
You can do this for each city, in your country.

Basically there's absolutely no reason whatsoever not to go, there will be talks on about anything that's going on right now in our/your university!!

I don't get Science, never have, never will
In case, you are worried you're not gonna understand and you're gonna waste your time, fear not, all the doctors and professors have been invited on the basis that they can translate their work into normal words. This is the whole point of this festival so do not hesitate to stand up and say "It's still complicated, could you please translate it further" because if you don't get it, it's not your fault, trust me, it's the speaker's fault! And no matter how eminent the guy is in his field, he's still a human and should be able to talk to you like any other human, ah ah!!! And let's not forget, these talks are happening in pubs, so just order an extra pint of lager, Science is like Languages, you can talk the lingo after the 2nd one,... or 5th ;)

Wherever you are in the world, there's a good chance the Pint Of Science festival is happening in a pub near you!
If you are in the UK, check out this map, it will tell you exactly where and what is happening!!

If you get to go to one of these talks, let me know - I can only go to the London ones so I'd be interested to know how good all the other talks were-  take pictures, write me a note, I will feature your sexy feedback right here on Science So Sexy,

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

Virus, Bacteria - How do Antibiotics work?

My Dear Sniffy, still Sexy though, Readers,

By this time, you probably have all suffered from the sore throat that prevents you from sleeping or the cough that seems to empty your lungs, the sinuses under immense pressure that make your eyes watery, the sneezing, the shivering, the headaches, etc...

So naturally, you call your doctor/GP/clinic and request an urgent appointment because, quite honestly, you feel so shit, it can't be normal, you need medicines, and lots of them!!!

How many times, then, didn't I hear "my GP is crap, he only gave me paracetamol!", "I went to see another one, he gave me antibiotics, so see? The first one is obviously not qualified".
Yes, it's true, in the UK, your GP won't tell you to take some guafenisin, imodium or motilium or suck on Strepsils like doctors do 'on the continent' and you need to seek advice at the Pharmacy or on Google.
Although I don't particularly agree with the kind of self medication policy in this country, it does help to dis-engorge clinics for more serious cases.
So in case you wonder, here is a factsheet on bacteria and viruses and why there's no point taking Antibiotics when you have a cold:

Note: If you don't feel like reading, why not check my Pinterest infographic, just hover your pointer over here.

Note2: Ever wondered how Amoxicillin works, check it out in our Did You know Series!

What's the difference between virus and bacteria?
When do we need antibiotics?

Bacteria

A bacterium is a single cell microbe. The content of this single cell is much simpler than the content of a human cell. For example, because their DNA is not contained in a defined vesicle, they are called prokaryotes. As opposed to our eukaryotic cells where the DNA is contained inside the nucleus.

They are categorised according to the fact that they have an outer membrane or not  (gram negative or positive respectively) and to their shape (spheres, rods, spirals, commas and corkscrews).

Their size can vary from 50 nm (0.05 micrometers = 0.00005 centimeters) to 2 micrometers in diameter or width for the spherical ones and from 1 to 10 micrometers for the long one.

(A micrometer is the size of a pin head, it is also 10 times smaller than a centimeter)

How do bacteria infect our body and what does the body do about it?

Bacteria love our bodies, our fluids are so rich in vitamins, sugars and other nutrients, they can find everything in there to grow and survive. We can be infected by bacteria by contact with them, through infected water, food, dust, air liquid droplets or through our wounds for example.

The points of entry are also our natural barriers such as our skin when we are sweating, our eyes and lacrymal glands, our nose and our nasal hair and the runny nose; and if through the mouth, the acidity of our stomach or the natural bacterial flora from our intestines will fight for us.

Unfortunately, some of them are stronger than our first defences and will continue their invasion and stimulate therefore our second line of defence, our immunity.

Immunity

Our immunity can be triggered by different mechanisms and our defensers can be macrophages (they eat the invaders and take a sample to show the rest of our defense lines what the body is fighting against), phagocytes (they are whole cells whose job is to eat the invaders), cytokines (messengers that will warn the rest of the immunity who's the culprit) or lymphocytes (cells that will fight the invaders or will control the cells that will fight the baddies). They will work altogether, sort of like -community officers - police officers - the army- would.

Following an infection, the signs are: The tissues in the area are red and warm, as a result of the large amount of blood reaching the site. They are also swollen, again due to the increased amount of blood and proteins that are present. The area is painful, due the expansion of tissues, causing mechanical pressure on nearby nerve cells, and also due to the presence of pain mediators.

The battle ends when all phagocytes have eaten and digested all the invaders. You can see their action when you are rejecting the pus or mucus - of different shades, depending on who's at fault!

Virus

Virus particles (known as virions) consist of two or three parts: i) the genetic material made from either DNA or RNA, which are long molecules that carry genetic information; ii) a protein coat that protects these genes; and in some cases iii) an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein coat when they are outside a cell.
The shapes of viruses range from simple helical and icosahedral forms to more complex structures.

Example of virus structure

In general, viruses are much smaller than bacteria. Most viruses that have been studied have a diameter between 20 and 300 nanometres. Some filoviruses have a total length of up to 1400nm; their diameters are only about 80nm.

How does a virus infect our body and what does the body do about it?
Through coughs, sneezes, vomit particles, bites from infected animals or insects, exposure to infected bodily fluids, a virus can enter our body.

Viruses can't multiply on their own, they have to invade a 'host' cell and take over its machinery in order to be able to make more virus particles: they consist of genetic materials (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protective coat of protein. They are capable of latching onto cells and getting inside them, and making the host cell use their DNA to spread themselves (here below, a specific example with the HIV retrovirus).

The cells of the mucous membranes, such as those lining the respiratory passages that we breathe through, are particularly open to virus attacks because they are not covered by protective skin.

The human body does have some natural defenses against a virus. A cell can initiate RNA interference when it detects viral infection, which works by decreasing the influence of the virus's genetic material in relation to the cell's usual material. The immune system also kicks into gear when it identifies a virus by producing antibodies that bind to the virus and render it unable to replicate. The immune system also releases T-cells, which work to kill the virus.

How do Antibiotics work?

Antibiotics are given as anti-bacteria medicine. They either kill the bacteria or stop the multiplication of bacteria. They are also working against parasites and fungi.
Choosing an antibiotic will kill the desired bacteria, but not the cells in your body. Each different type of antibiotic affects different bacteria in different ways. For example, an antibiotic might inhibit a bacterium's ability to turn glucose into energy, or its ability to construct its cell wall. When this happens, the bacterium dies instead of reproducing. At the same time, the antibiotic acts only on the bacterium's cell-wall-building mechanism, not on a normal cell's.

Antibiotics do not work on viruses because viruses are not alive. A bacterium is a living, reproducing lifeform. A virus is just a piece of DNA inserted into a living cell to reproduce more of the viral DNA. Therefore, there is nothing to "kill".

Bacterial resistance to Antibiotics

The most serious concern with antibiotic resistance is that some bacteria have become resistant to almost all of the easily available antibiotics. These bacteria are able to cause serious disease and this is a major public health problem. Important examples are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and multi-drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

What to do to prevent Antibiotic resistance?

Solutions are to minimise unnecessary prescribing and overprescribing of antibiotics for example. Making sure to complete the entire course of the prescribed antibiotic is important so that it can be fully effective and not breed resistance. And of course, we must practise good hygiene and use appropriate infection control procedures.

See you Soon for more Sexy, less Sniffy, Science,

References
http://www.humanillnesses.com/original/At-Ca/Bacterial-Infections.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/medication/question88.htm
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Infections_bacterial_and_viral

Happy Valentine's day!

My Dear Sexy Readers,

Special gift for you coming directly from a previous lab of mine, a friend took this image of cells, the final figure showing a beautiful heart ;)

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

Banking your baby's umbilical cord

My Dear Sexy readers,

It has become on of those talks you HAVE TO HAVE when you fall pregnant:  

(Please note, I have included a LINK to a Petition that I am supporting. If you are interested, feel free to jump over there first from HERE)

Will I store my baby's umbilical cord?
Why? How? It's gross! and where? In my fridge?
Don't worry, if you do decide to do it, you have a few options and storing it at home is NOT one of them!
A few companies have now set up in the UK to help you store your precious in state of the art containers.
So now to the Why?

Special Amazon offers on baby products ends soon: 

Cord blood contains stem cells which are cells that haven't decided what to transform themselves into.

For example, cord blood contains mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and very small embryonic like stem cells (VSELs), all of which may be usable in stem cell treatment and increase the therapies available to your child. The cord tissue also contains MSCs in addition to unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSCs), vascular endothelial stem cells and perivascular stem cells, which are also expected to have great therapeutic benefit in the future. (Excerpt from Cells 4 Life website)

Cell types produced from MSCs

So with a little help from scientists, those stem cells could be fed with a few nutrients to help them differenciate into a specific cell type.
Those differenciated cells can then be used to treat someone who has a disease or a condition. This is called regenerative therapy because by introducing those cells into our body, it can kickstart the repair programme needed!
This type of therapy is in its infancy but already scientists have witnessed the phenomenal potential that it brings. For example, check out this article about a little girl who was cured using her cord blood stem cells that her parents got stored
Please check out this link to see a list of diseases that are being studied and case studies where stem cells therapies have been successfully applied.

Is it ethical?
It's not controversial at all like it used to be with embryonic stem cells because cord blood stem cells are usually thrown away, there is no life in it, baby used it for 9 months and once (s)he's born, (s)he doesn't need it anymore.
Keeping it could save that baby's life if, by an unfortunate twist of fate, (s)he develops a disease that is, by a fortunate twist of life, treatable with stem cells!

Who do I ask?
Not many women, and nurses/midwives for that matter, know that you can donate your baby's umbilical cord to the UK NHS bank! Instead, your baby's umbilical cord just ends up in the bin! WHAT A WASTE!!! Don't you think?

Even fewer people know that you can keep it for your own use when/if it will be needed!
I myself did it using the company Cells 4 Life. It is relatively non expensive, the price could scare a few I admit, when you add this cost to all the other bills that are required for a newborn!
But if you look at it as an investment, my baby is insured for £100/year for 25 years! And that is Priceless - and quite cheap! Isn't your Sky or phone bill 10x more? Even my house insurance is 3x more!

In London, there is an NHS trust in Barking/Havering and Redbridge that is thinking about refusing private procurement of umbilical cord blood! Why should it be their choice?

Think about all the women living in that area who won't get to decide what to do with their child's umbilical cord!!!! Please do come over HERE and sign my petition against it!!! THANK you for them

LINK to Petition: https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/barking-havering-and-redbridge-hospital-allow-private-procurement-of-umbilical-cord-blood

What more?
The company I used not only allows you to keep the cord blood but also the tissue, and store it as a whole as opposed to purified and reduced cord blood like other companies do. For more information on this, please do check out their website.
Now, some people might say it could be a lot of money wasted and we don't even know if it's working, there are not many diseases treated by this kind of therapy, etc...
I reply AS YET!
This science is at the beginning, every day scientists are discovering new and exciting facts and the list of diseases and conditions treatable is growing! Imagine in 25 years? In 50 years? When your child will need them? By then the list might be extraordinary, but if you haven't banked those cells at the birth, you or he won't be able to use them in the future!

The opportunities to save lives are there, to potentially save your child's life!

Also, let me take this opportunity to remind you of Cosy Science café as their last talk was about regenerative medicine :)

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

Please note that Although Cells4Life is now a Sponsor of SSS, this article has not been requested and my views are mine only.

The complexity behind hair colour genetics

My Dear Sexy Readers,

Today, we are looking at something that my new mummy friends have been talking about very often. Why is my kid blond when we are all so dark?

The most amazing example of genetic inheritance was this Asian mummy friend who has the most beautiful blond hair blue-eyed daughter!

So how does this work exactly?

How does the genetics behind hair colour work?

Well genetics are not as simple as what we learnt at school. It's not just a matter of  one dominant over one recessive gene. It's more like a combination of on/off activation of different genes! That is why there are so many different hair color. Also, as no science fact is set in stone and not much is known in exact details, there might be some regulation or influence of other different genes as well as accompanying compounds influencing them.

The colours

The actual colour comes from a pigment called melanin. We already approached this subject when we talked about the Eye colour.

There are two types of melanin called Eumelanin and Pheomelanin:

*Eumelanin gives the black and brown colour,

-Black eumelanin, little of it causes grey hair whereas lots of it gives black hair. 

-Brown eumelanin, little of eumelanin gives blond hair, lots of it gives dark brown hair.

*Pheomelanin gives a orange to yellow pigment which combined to the eumelanin level gives a reddish colour to the hair.

The amount we develop is influenced by the genes we inherit from both parents but several genes play a role in the final shade:

The genetics

Note: For basics in genetics, please feel free to check out SSS post over HERE

You inherit 23 chromosomes from your  mum and 23 from your dad. We therefore get each gene twice, which can be slightly different from mum to dad. Those alternatives of a gene are called alleles. So we get 2 alleles for each gene.

The genes for hair colour are multiple, there is not just one! There are located on 2 different chromosomes 19 an 15. So in total we get genes from our parents that are just ON or OFF. In this case, there are not alleles OR can be alleles because they contain SNPs.

(SNPs or Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms are the most common types of genetic variations)

On the other hand and in addition to these, the Red hair gene is located on chromosome 16 and is a recessive gene passed down as an allele as the result of many SNPs. 

As an example, let's imagine Dad is dark brown hair BBBBBBbb and mum has darkish blonde hair Bbbbbbbr. Baby could be anything between BBBBBBBr and will be darker than dad or bbbbbbbb and will be blonder than mum, could even be bbbbbbbr and have light strawberry hair. Also, I find that Light and Dark are very subjective concepts. For example I consider myself a brunette because I used to be much fairer, but people will mostly see me as blonde!

Note:  The eye colour genes are located close to these and are usually inherited together in linkage ie people with blonde hair would usually have blue eyes. Key word here being Usually!

Final shade?

As many of us have noticed, our hair colour changes over time. We might be born with blond hair and turn out very dark later on. My son was born with dark brown hair, is now a young toddler with dark blond hair and will probably grow up to be a very handsome dark brown hair gentleman ;) Who knows?

The hair colour can also change depending on stress and hormonal levels. 

Gene switches just get turned ON and OFF!

Aren't we all? 

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

References

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2001-03/984769893.Ge.r.html

http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythredhair.html 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/science/11angi.html?_r=2&ref=science&oref=slogin&

http://www.myredhairgene.com/index.html

Wikipedia