Travel to Health

Drug delivery can affect drug pharmacokinetics , absorption, distribution, metabolism, duration of therapeutic effect, excretion, and toxicity.   Nanoparticles  (NPs) are thought to have potential for novel drug delivery and release purposes. Critical considerations for a successful nano based drug delivery system include its ability: To target specific tissues and cell types   Endocytosis  (uptake into the cells) Targeting agent (address tags) To escape from the biological particulate filter   Mononuclear Phagocyte System (clearance of unwanted particulate material) Clearance avoidance  Main NP research question—how is particulate material recognized and cleared? In this article, we will cover the above four highlighted areas. Figure 1. Endocytosis (Credit: Mariana Ruiz Villarreal LadyofHats - Own work) Biological Particulate Filter  Cells of  Mononuclear Phagocytic System  ( MPS ) are cells  responsible for the...

The below scattered charts were drawn with: x-axis : Confirmed Cases per million (Total) y-axis : Deaths per million (Total)  based on the data from [1].  Note that only the top 50 countries with the highest deaths per million are used in the chart. Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 206 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until September 17, 2021. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 227 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 4.6 million. Chart 1.  Scattered chart (x: confirmed cases and y: deaths; Source: [1]) Chart 1 In chart 1, only three countries stand out: USA Brazil Peru Among the three countries, Peru suffered the highest death rate vs confirmed cases, which may be due to combinations of reasons.  For example, Poorer healthcare system More immune-comprised population However, based on [2], Peru's confirmed cases are likely underestimated, which it means tha...

The below is a tweeter thread that Kai Kupferschmidt  (a science journalist and molecular biologist) put together of the conversation between him and Sir Jeremy James Farrar  (a British medical researcher and director of the Wellcome Trust since 2013) on a very important topic: At least in Europe, "what you're witnessing, I think at the moment is the shift from epidemic/pandemic state into an endemic state ”, Farrar said.  “And none of us are really quite sure what that endemic state is going to look like.” Source: Yalemedicine.org Endemic State  But what level of disease and death is deemed acceptable and thus what “endemic” looks like is going to differ from society to society. Farrar has been calling for an honest debate about this:  “I think all countries are going to have to have this debate.” This goes far beyond Europe, of course. “If you are New Zealand, I don't know how you plot your exit from this” Farrar told me. “ China's in an even harder position...

Video 1.   Forest Bathing | Shinrin-Yoku | Healing in Nature | Short Documentary (YouTube link ) Forest therapy , a term refer to immersing yourself in the atmosphere of the forest, can be incorporated as a stress-reduction strategy. [2] The practice began in Japan. Back in the early 1990s the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries coined the term Shinrin-yoku — which translates roughly as forest bathing. The idea that spending time in nature is good for our health is not new. Most of human evolutionary history was spent in environments that lack buildings and walls. Our bodies have adapted to living in the natural world. Video 2.  Trees in the Amazon that make their own rain clouds (YouTube link ) Benefits of Forest Bathing "Forest bathing could be considered a form of medicine,"  Philip Barr  says, a physician who specializes in  integrative medicine  at Duke University. "And the benefits of nature can be accessed so si...

 On 09/02/2021, Professor Akiko Iwasaki has shared her insights on answering the below question: [4] The roles of antibodies vs. T cells in controlling primary infection, reinfection, and vaccine-mediated protection? Figure 1.   COVID-19 vaccines immune activation modes (Source: [5]) Summary of Professor Akiko Iwasaki's Comments Q: If B cells are needed to control primary infection A:  B cells are not necessary for controlling primary SARS-CoV-2 infection.   However, in mice that have neither T cells nor B cells, SARS-CoV-2 persisted with no sign of clearance. Thus, innate immunity is insufficient, and adaptive immunity is required to control primary infection . Which implies that defects in T and B cell immunity predispose people for chronic COVID infection Q: If CD4 (helper) vs. CD8 (killer) T cells are required for clearance of primary SARS-CoV-2 infection A:  Depletion of either CD4 or CD8 had moderate effects on loss of viral control.  How...