Biomed freak

approachingsignificance:

Shining light in the ears may alleviate SAD symptoms

Millions of people experience depression and lower levels of energy in the winter due to seasonal-affective disorder (SAD), or the “winter blues.” Since the disorder is thought to arise due to a shortage of natural light, one common form of treatment is light therapy, in which the person sits in front of a bright, full-spectrum light at certain times of day. But the effectiveness of light therapy has been unclear, and now researchers from Oulu, Finland, think they know why: light-sensitive regions of the brain may actually play a larger role in SAD symptoms than those in the eyes. For this reason, they’ve designed earphones that shine light through the ear canal to light-sensitive proteins on the brain’s surface, with encouraging results.

Practical, non-pharmaceutical, and effective? I like it. Maybe a coupling with some CBT?

(via iwanttobeadoctor)

scientificillustration:

Spiracular area of Crane Fly larvae illustrated by Chen Young

1 Tipula (Angarotipula) illustris

2 Leptotarsus (Longurio) testaceus

3 Dolichopeza (Oropeza) walleyi

4 Tipula (Nippotipula) abdominalis

5 Brachypremna dispellens

6 Nephrotoma virescens

a cyst of Giardia lamblia

a cyst of Giardia lamblia

dryeffects:

Giardia lamblia is a flagellated protozoan parasite that colonizes and reproduces in the small intestine causing Giardiasis.

ashleyhennen:

Nabokov’s butterflies.

ashleyhennen:

Nabokov’s butterflies.

(via scientificillustration)

probation:

sylvie LS

(via fuckyeahcardiovascularsystem)

magicalnaturetour:

Beautifully lit macro pictures of insects by Dutch photographer Leon Baas via The Telegraph :)

(via freshphotons)

biomedicalephemera:

The nerves [yellow] and blood vessels [blue and red] within the spongy bone of the jaw.

This is what I have for my icon right now. The buccal plates are partially removed to show the path of the vessels and nerves into the teeth.

Atlas and Text-Book of Dentistry. Gustav Preiswerk, 1906.

Kidney recipients freed from lifelong drugs - health -

sciencenote:

People who get a kidney transplant usually face a life sentence of drugs that suppress their immune systems – otherwise, their body will reject the new organ. A new cellular therapy could change that. Immunosuppressant drugs can have severe side effects, increasing the risk of heart disease, infection, cancer and diabetes. So as well as saving money, dispensing with them would bring major health benefits. Samuel Strober at Stanford University in California and colleagues seem to have worked out how to do it. Following transplant surgery, Strober’s team first give patients ordinary immunosuppressive drugs, such as cyclosporine. They then apply mild radiation to the lymph nodes, spleen and thymus to further weaken the immune system. This kills some but not all of the patient’s white blood cells. They also inject antibodies which temporarily destroy the patient’s most aggressive white blood cells. “We preferentially delete ‘naive T cells’, since they are the main subset of white blood cells that reject grafts,” Strober says.

articulomortis:

Exhibit in Il Museo Anatomico di Napoli, Naples, Italy