Nations are united in medical research

By Joel A. Moskowitz M D

Joel A. Moskowitz

LA JOLLA, California — Experimental Biology is the name of the multidisciplinary conference that has attracted 17,000 registrants from all over the world to the San Diego Convention Center.   I was privileged to attend this vital assemblage of the newest developments in matters of human health.  AAA (not the automobile club) but the American Association of Anatomists is one of six international life science disciplines which constitute Experimental Biology.  Others are the American Physiological Society;  The American Society for Biology and Microbiology; American Society for Investigative Pathology; American Society for Nutrition; and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Not only for specialists, the conference offers topics for the layman.  For example, those who advocate fresh fruits and vegetables for optimum nutrition may not be telling the whole story.  Fresh may not be best – canned may be better.

Human textiles?  Think woven donor cells making up synthetic blood vessels (used in dialysis).

Most women have more chemicals on their sink and in their medicine cabinets than I had in my days majoring in Biochemistry in college.  A study in progress at Dominican University in California shows that breast cancer cells become increasingly aggressive when exposed to a common environmental contaminant.  Cadmium, a ‘heavy metal’  is commonly found in cosmetics may be linked to accelerating  breast cancer growth. Alcohol consumption has been long blamed for a role in breast cancer. Evidence that this is true has been found.

On a welcome note is the finding that dark chocolate may be a cardiovascular preventive.  It is alleged to lower blood pressure, and improve blood lipid levels.   From Long Island University research finds a potential treatment for prostate cancer – elements from pizza oregano!

UCSD Medicine reports a discovery of a certain body chemical helpful in predicting the prognosis in Chronic lymphatic lymphoma – opening avenues for treatment. Searches for beneficial anti-oxidants in fruits and vegetables have been disappointing. But Mexican researchers point at avocado oil as therapeutic.

From my Alma mater, The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, comes a way of attenuating the cognitive dysfunction (aka Alzheimer’s Disease) by intravenous vaccination.

Biological science is the study of life.  It promises to have greater impact on our lives in the future.  These researchers: multinational and   multidisciplinary are truly the  United Nations bonded together with one purpose:  to improve human health.

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Moskowitz is a freelance writer based in La Jolla.  He may be contacted at joel.moskowitz@sdjewishworld.com