Angelina Jolie Pitt: She removed her ovaries due to the genetic mutation she inherited

Angelina Jolie Pitt

Only few individuals knew that the actress, filmmaker and activist had her breasts removed two years ago. Angelina Jolie had an insight of been a much higher than usual risk of breasts and ovarian cancer. She has a harmful mutation of the BRCA 1 gene she inherited. According to researchers, mutations in this particular gene give women a 65% lifetime risk for breast cancer and a 39% lifetime risk of ovarian cancer. Jolie’s mother had breast cancer and died of ovarian cancer, and her grandmother also had ovarian cancer. This analysis was what prompts Jolie to remove her breast and ovaries for she said her own particular set of mutation genes gives her an 87% risk. Debbie Martin her aunt, died of breast cancer at age 61, less than two weeks Jolie had a double mastectomy

She took the decision to go for the ovariectomy because study revealed last year that people with certain BRCA1 mutations can cut their risk by as much as 80 percent if they get their ovaries removed by age 35. The researchers said ovary removal should become standard for anyone with so-called BRCA1 mutations.

Ovarian cancer kills 15,000 women a year in the United States. Only 46 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer survive for five years or longer. That’s mostly because the disease usually is detected late, after it has started to spread. Jolie had a blood test for a compound called CA-125. It’s produced by ovarian tumors and is a good way to check to see how well treatment for ovarian cancer is working. It’s not such a good test for finding ovarian cancer in the first place, however. There is no good screening test yet.

The treatment for ovarian cancer usually involves a harsh process, the first step is surgery to remove the ovaries and surrounding affected tissue. That can include the mean parts of the colon and bladder, as well as the uterus, depending on how far the cancer has spread. Chemotherapy is also almost always given, usually the so-called platinum-based drugs such as cisplatin or carboplatin, plus a taxane drug such as paclitaxel. Women may receive the drugs intravenously and also infused into the abdominal cavity.

The side effects include hair loss, nerve damage, nausea, hearing damage and kidney damage. Radiation therapy is also common and it can damage nearby organs and tissues, causing incontinence, rash, upset stomach and pain.

Word of advice: Prevention is better than cure.

Breastfeeding enhances the IQ

Researchers who studied 3,393 infants born in Pelotas, Brazil for 30 years found out that babies who had been breast fed for longer time went to score higher on IQ tests as adults. The study was published by the Lancet Global Health. They collected further information about their educational achievement and income.

Regarding the research, the lead author Dr. Bernado Lessa Horta of Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil said “the effect of breast feeding on brain development and child intelligent is well established, but whether these effects persist into adulthood is less clear”.

The study also provide the first evidence that prolonged breastfeeding not only increases intelligence until at least the age of 30 years but also has an impact both at an individual and societal level by improving educational attainment and earning ability.

Dr. Horta believes breast milk may offer an advantage because it is a good source of long-chain saturated fatty acids which are essential for brain development.

Insulin to be boosted naturally, through a new drug

Scientists have found a new approach to treating diabetes. This approach involves slowing insulin disappearance rather than boosting its supply. This was achieved with the discovery of a molecule that inhibits insulin degradation.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type; it is caused as a result of too little insulin in the bloodstream, which invariably leads to high sugar levels and other health problems. Diabetes is intensive to manage, as many diabetics do daily insulin injections and blood sugar testing. But when it is left out of control, it leads to fatal consequences.

The research was concentrated on the behavior of Insulin degrading enzyme (IDE), as this enzyme is responsible for breaking down insulin. So to put on hold the behavior IDE will eventually prevent the degradation of the insulin, this is a therapeutic approach of interest in treating the disease.

This research was carried out successfully on mice. The mice were given the enzyme inhibitor and then an oral dose of glucose, stimulating the sugar spike experience after eating a meal. The findings were published in Nature

Mosquitoes may eradicate malaria soon

First thing that comes to mind would be “it is not possible”. But it is actually true as reported in the daily mail news. US scientists have engineered a mosquito which cannot be infected by the parasite (plasmodium, a one celled parasite). Series of laboratory tests also shows that, it has a greater chance of survival.

It is believed that the engineered mosquito (it is known as the GM variety), which outlives its unmodified rivals, will dominate in the wild and prevent the spread of the deadly parasite.

Though a senior research fellow in microbiology at the University of Bath Dr. Mark Enwright welcomed the promising research, but he feared the unknown consequences when this engineered mosquitoes are released into the wild.

The research team was led by Dr. Mauro Marelli and their finding was reported in the journal proceedings of the natural Academy of sciences. Adding to their findings, the rate of survival of the genetically engineered mosquito surpasses that of the unmodified ones.

Human embryonic stem cells cloned

A scientist removes the nucleus from a human egg using a pipette. This is the first step to making personalized embryonic stem cells.

Another breakthrough in science, after more than a decade of false starts, National Geographic reports that, Oregon Health and Science University researchers announced they had  cloned human embryos and collected stem cells from them. They also grew the cells into specialized skin and heart cells, a first step toward using them in transplant medicine. The key to the team's success turned out to be the addition of caffeine to the cloning process. Now researchers will seek to discover whether these cells or similar "induced" stem cells, made without embryos, will have the most medical use.