Advancements of Innovations among Vaccinations

Last week, on Tuesday & Wednesday, October 15 & 16, Baruch hosted one of its many blood drives in the Multipurpose room in the Vertical Campus.  It gave students and faculty alike a chance to forever change the lives of unfortunate individuals by donating precious, life-giving blood to those who need it.  I myself participated by donating a pint of blood in about 10 minutes.  Many fellow students both donated and helped participate in the drive itself.  By hosting such events throughout the year, Baruch allows its students and faculty to contribute to the community and the global drive for blood donation.

Tao Integrative Medicine Institute, http://taoinstitute.com/gallery/album1/images/accu.jpg

     Anand Giridharadas discussed back in October 23rd, 2009, how politicians on a global scale rarely address an issue before it becomes a forgone plight and should consider the approach of holistic medicine when tackling the world’s financial situation. Despite criticism of untraditional methods, holistic medicine has been known to concentrate on a general “wellness” before the person deteriorates. Likewise, “experts about the approach’s core tenets” expressed their opinions on how politics could benefit starting with investing and performing actions to prevent a future catastrophe despite “other priorities”, as well as carefully locating the underlying reasons for maladies instead of just suppressing them in a reductive manner. Hereby lies the problem where, “conventional medicine is very unbalanced in placing all its emphasis on external interventions rather than looking to advance that internal capacity to maintain healing,” said Andrew Weil, founder of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. Just like the economy, traditional medicine focuses on the outward appearance and not the inner being where the problem still lies despite the facade. Therefore, it’s safe to say we have “An Economy in Need of Holistic Medicine“. It only goes to show how holistic medicine not only vaccinates the human body of pathogens, but serves as a medium for other interconnections in the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/news/affordable-care-act/2013/10/01/health-care-coverage-business-is-bustling-at-new-york-city-hospital/

The new Obama Care has put many New Yorkers into confusion. Many health insurance have set up stands to help new customer understand the new program. Many people are happy for the chance since now it gives them a more affordable healthcare plan. Many health insurance companies are hoping to lure in more customers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/health/colonoscopies-explain-why-us-leads-the-world-in-health-expenditures.html?_r=2&

Medical care in the U.S. costs more than the average developed country. A hip replacement in the U.S. costs $40,000 whereas in Spain it costs $7,000. An ice pack for ten minutes cost on average $100. Though many would say that this is the cost for better care, researchers have found that the care is the same if not better. An average American citizen pays more than half of this cost, even if they have insurance. So what is costing us an arm and a leg? Many believe is just our medical system over pricing these things. These cost also involve “padded” prices meaning more cost is added to make more money.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/health/13gene.html?pagewanted=all

An insurmountable fight that was discovered as a part of an experiment at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the eight Ivy League schools, were doctors who accidentally cured a man of leukemia. Mr. Ludwig, a corrections officer suffering from a sever form of Leukemia was sure he would die and would have nothing to lose for. He volunteered to partake in a experiment which meant removing masses among masses of T and B cells which were then to be genetically modified and placed back into his body yearning unexpected results. Withing 10 days of the experiment, Mr. William Ludwig felt symptoms that are as they can get, body temperatures skyrocketing, cold chills, and lower blood pressures, he was sure to die. Little did he know that his body was used a the battlefield that would shape the way for the next Civil War. His genetically modified immune cells successfully eliminated traces of cancer; I do not say “all” simply because cancer is known to be extremely resilient hiding in the utmost corners of human tissue known to existence. Ludwig’s doctors have confirmed that his new cells have killed 2 and a half pounds of cancer. Considering how small cells are, you can imagine how much cancer cells live in two pounds of tissue. Though Ludwig can assume most normal responsibilities , his doctors aren’t the most optimistic. They do not claim that Mr. Ludwig is cleared of his cancer, and that they cannot point to the conclusion that his leukemia is permanently cured. Take in note that this was an covert experiment, its secrets not given to the public due to the tale of anecdotal evidence. Essentially this experiment is considered as holistic because it involves the usage of HIV^-1, a virus modified to fight cancer cells, instead of our immune system. The main premise of the experiment is to recognize that cancer cells are, in fact, foreign and are undergoing uncontrolled, unregulated mitosis. Currently, this treatment is only effective for Leukemia because leukemia involves the infection of B-Cells, not T-Cells. By injecting HIV^-1 into T-Cells, we are basically telling our body to attack itself; Genetically modified T-Cells fighting cancerous B-Cells. A major problem with the treatment is that the HIV^-1 infused T-Cells with kill both healthy and cancerous B-Cells as long as the T-Cells exist. To think about it in another way, we saved ourselves, ironically, by completely getting rid of our B-Cells, a major component of our immune system. Though the experiment was a success for Mr. Ludwig, it may not be so for everyone else. This is a step up in medicinal advancements, but one that isn’t a “guarantee”, but rather a risk vs reward.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/science/new-hope-for-hiv-vaccine.html?_r=0

According to this New York Times article, scientist Dr. Picker has tried a classified vaccination used to treat/postpone H.I.V (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) by testing primates, some of our closest relatives.  As part of standard procedure, he moves up the study in accordance with similar mammals like mice to gorillas, and with enough confidence, humans. Because many people don’t know what HIV actually is, I’m going to explain it in the simplest way possible. HIV is classified as a retrovirus and by “retro”. I mean the enzyme/molecule that they have which differentiates them from the standard bell curve. Retroviruses contain an enzyme called “Reverse Transcriptase” which gives them the ability to function with a normal animal cell with somewhat unusual properties.  Firstly, we know that DNA can’t leave the nucleus, so it sends RRNA (Ribosomal RNA) which is a single helix to transcribe the embedded code of DNA into gene expression. When Reverse Transcriptase enters the cell, the cell begins to use RRNA to produce DNA. This new mutated DNA attacks the T-Cells and B-Cells that live in our body which are responsible for the stabilization of the immune system; T meaning thymus, and B meaning bone marrow. The  reduced immune system is unable to fight the simplest of diseases, both bacterial and viral; Thao have’th death de tardusor, or as I would like to say, “Ipse morte moriatur tarda”.  With that matter resolved, we can once again focus on this exhilarating discovery. Like many vaccinations we receive from the doctor annually, Dr. Picker tested the primate variant of H.I.V named “S.I.V”, one that is much weaker, thus building an immunity to that type for that year. Out of the 16 given the vaccination, 9 of them survived 56.25% in other words. Though this number, to the human eye, is horrendous, be sure to emphasize the word”cured” as opposed to the doctor-friendly quota “temporary”. Yes, this is good news, especially for a newly tested vaccination with a 56% success rate in permanent treatment. Remember though, this is S.I.V, the primate variant of H.I.V was given the vaccination, not H.I.V itself. Humans today still need to rely on today’s finest treatments such as pills and bone marrow injections. This may be upsetting, but the research is clear, if we can manipulate the genetic sequence of S.I.V to be prone to antibiotics and vaccinations, it can be done with H.I.V. Though this may no be as easy for humans as it is for primates because human’s genetic sequence compared to that of primates, despite the 99% similarities, is much more complex to map and sort out. According to the article, ample tests for humans should be conducted, tested, and ready within 2016-2017.

Thank you for using Blogs@Baruch!

This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start publishing.

You are using a new WordPress theme that places widgets such as “Recent Posts,” “Recent Comments” and “Archives” in the footer, leaving you maximum space for publishing in this central area. If you prefer to have widgets on the right side of this page, these can be added by going to “Widgets” under the “Appearance” tab in your Dashboard. You can also choose from more than 100 other themes from the “Themes” menu in the Dashboard.