health tips/ dentition

HEALTH WISE PERSONAL HEALTH FITNESS DIET AND WEIGHT ISSUES A step close to artificial livers PROMETHEUS, the mythological who stole fire from the gods, was punished for this theft by being bound to a rack, Each day, an eagle swept down and fed on his liver, which then grew back to be eaten again the next day. Modern scientist know there I a grain of truth to the tale, says MIT engineer Sangeeta Bhatia The liver can indeed regenerate itself if part of it is removed. However, researchers trying to exploit that ability in hopes of producing artificial liver tissue for transplantation have repeatedly y been stymied Mature liver cells, know as hepatocytes, quickly lose their normal function when removed from the body. “it’s a paradox because we know liver cells are capable of growing, but somehow we can’t get them to grow” outside the body, says Bhatia, the John and Dorothy Wilson profession of +Health Science and Technology and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, a senior associate member of the Broad Institute and a member of MIT”s Koch Institutes for integrative Cancer Research and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. Now, Bhatia and colleague have taken a step toward that goal. In a paper appearing in the June 2 issue of +Nature Chemical Biology, they have identified a dozen chemical compounds that can help liver cells not only maintain their normal function while grown in a lab dish, but also multiply to produce new tissue. Cells grow this way could help researchers develop engineered tissue to treat many of the 500 million people suffering from chronic liver diseases such as hepatitis C, according to the paper is Jing ( Meghan) Shan, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology. Member of Bhatia’s lab collaborated with researchers from the Broad Institute, Harvard Medical School and the University of Wisconsin. Bhatia has previously developed away to temporarily maintain normal liver-cell function after those cells are removed from the body, by precisely intermingling them with mouse fibroblast cells. For this study, Institute of Health and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the research team adapted the system so that the liver cells could, in layers with the fibroblast cells, in small depressions in a lab dish. This allowed the researchers to perform large –scale rapid studies of how 12,500 different chemicals affect liver-cell growth and function. The liver has about 500 functions, divided into four general categories: drug detoxification, energy metabolism, and protein synthesis and bile production. +David Thomas, an associate researchers working with Total Golub at the Institute, measured expression levels of 83 liver enzymes representing some of the most finicky functions to maintain. After screening thousands of liver cells eight identified 12 compounds that helped the cells maintain those functions, promoted liver cell division, or both. Two of those compounds seemed to work especially well in cells from younger donors, the researchers -including +Robert Schwartz, an IMES post-doc, and Stephen Duncan, a professor of Wisconsin –also tested them in liver cells generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Scientist have tried to create hepatocytes form iPSCs before, but such cells don’t usually reach a fully mature state. However, when treated with those two compounds, the cells matured more completely. Bhatia and her team wonder whether these compounds might launch a universal maturation program that could influence other types of cells as well. Other researchers from iPSCs. In future studies, the MIT team plans to embed the treated liver cells on polymer tissue scaffolds and implant them in mice, to test whether they could be used as replacement liver tissues. They are also pursuing the possibility of developing the compounds as drugs to help regenerate patients’ own liver tissues, working with Trista North and Wolfram +Goessling of Harvard Medical School. Taking Care of Sensitive Teeth If the taste of ice-cream or a sip of coffee is sometimes painful or if brushing or flossing makes you wince occasionally, you may have a common problem called “sensitive teeth’’ Some of the cause include tooth decay, a cracked tooth, worn tooth enamel, worn filling and tooth roots that are exposed as a result of aggressive tooth brushing, gum recession and periodontal (gum) disease. When you have sensitive teeth, activities such as brushing, flossing, and eating and drinking can cause sharp, temporary pain in your teeth. Or Sensitive teeth are typically the result of worm tooth enamel or exposed tooth roots. Sometimes, however, tooth discomfort is Cause by other factors, such as cavity, cracked or chipped tooth, or a side effect of a dental producer, such as bleaching. Many people suffer from sensitive teeth and it can start at any time. It is more common in people aged between 20 and 40, although it can affect people in their early teens and when they are over 70. Women are more likely to be affected than men. Sensitive teeth often occurs when enamel on the outside of the tooth, or the tissue between the tooth and gum called cementum , wears way, exposing small tubes that connect nerves inside the tooth to triggers outside of the tooth, experts say. Toothbrush abrasion: Brushing too hard and brushing from side to side, can cause enamel to be worn away, particularly where the teeth meet the gum. The freshly exposed dentine may then become sensitive. The current study included 37 general dental practices in Washington, Orange, Idaho, Montana and Utah. A total of 787 adults were surveyed. The results appear in the March issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association. Understand that if you love to drink soda and citrus juices, cutting back is the best option, but drinking these drinks through straw will lessen the contact of enamel- wearing acid with your teeth. Also, expert say drinking cold or hot drink s through a straw will keep these common causes of pain off your teeth. Other Causes include the following: 1 Dental erosion: This is loss of tooth enamel caused by attack of acid from acidic food and drinks. If enamel is worn away the dentine underneath is exposed, which may lead to sensitivity. 2