All the News That’s Fit: Robotic drug delivery, redhead pain threshhold and sneezing at sunlight

For The Union-Tribune

I, robot

Typically, less than 1 percent of intravenous drugs reach the target tissue. Researchers at the University of Oxford and University of Michigan hope to change that using drug-carrying microrobots and magnets.

The microrobots are two-sided particles composed of a gel that can carry medicines, and magnets that enable their control. In an experiment mimicking a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, performed in a pig intestine and supported by simulations, researchers introduced the microrobots intravenously by catheter, then created an external magnetic field to direct them to the internal target site.

When the gel dissolved, it delivered a dye that the team detected to ensure that the chemical cargo arrived at its intended location. They also tested a delayed release version, with some gels dissolving over longer periods of time. After delivery, the magnetic particles were directed back to the catheter and retrieved.

Body of knowledge

Research suggests redheads may require slightly more anesthesia for operations and procedures. The reason may be a gene mutation called MC1R, which influences how the body responds to pain and anesthesia. MC1R also plays a role in producing melanin, the pigment that determines hair color. Mutations in this gene can lead to red hair.

Get me that. Stat!

The state with the lowest rate of teenage suicide is New York, at 5.1 deaths per 100,000 adolescents ages 15 to 19. The state with the highest is Montana, at 36.3 per 100,000. The national average is 10.5 per 100,000.

Phobia of the week

Consecotaleophobia — fear of chopsticks

Food for thought

Just as the name suggests, coal tar is a thick, dark liquid that is a by-product of producing coke (the high-carbon fuel) and coal gas. It’s a type of creosote that obviously should not be eaten.

On the other hand, coal tar has a long history as a medicine. It has antifungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-itch properties, and it is found in medicated shampoos and treatments for psoriasis and head lice.

Tartrazine is a derivative of coal tar and is found in food as a coloring, better known as Yellow No. 5. It’s used to brighten up ice cream, candies, pastries, energy and sports drinks, popcorn, jams and jellies and other processed foods like cereals, noodles and potato chips.

Health concerns about petroleum-based food dyes like Yellow No. 5 are decades old. The Food and Drug Administration this year announced a series of measures to fade them out of the nation’s food supply. There are a lot of them: Citrus Red No. 2, Orange B, Green No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1 and Blue No. 2

Best medicine

I had a neck brace fitted years ago and I’ve never looked back.

Hypochondriac’s guide

Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Opthalmic Outburst, or ACHOO syndrome, is characterized by uncontrollable sneezing in response to the sudden exposure to bright light, typically intense sunlight. This type of sneezing is also known as photic sneezing.

Roughly one in four individuals who already have a prickling sensation in their nose will sneeze in response to sunlight, but “pure” photic sneezing is far less common.

Most sneezes are triggered by contact with infectious agents or after inhaling irritants, but the cause of photic sneezing is not fully understood. It may involve an overexcitability of the visual cortex in response to light, leading to a stronger activation of the secondary somatosensory areas.

Observation

“Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you’ll be a mile from them and you’ll have their shoes.”

— American humorist Jack Handey (1949-)

Medical history

This week in 1961, statistical evidence linking heavy smoking with heart disease was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association by doctors Daniel J. Nathan and David M. Spain, who had studied 3,000 men.

They found that for smokers of more than 40 cigarettes daily and aged under 51 years, their chance of having coronary heart disease almost doubled. Among those studied who had coronary heart disease, 57 percent of heavy smokers suffered heart attacks compared with only 31 percent of light smokers.

The doctors said it remained an “open question” whether the statistics were proof that heavy smoking was a cause of hardening of coronary arteries. Indeed, the findings prompted only a four-sentence article on page 3 in The New York Times. It would be another three years before the U.S. Surgeon General would issue his landmark report demonstrating smoking was a leading cause of preventable disease and death.

Self-exam

Connect these tissues with their function.

1. Tendon

2. Ligament

3. Cartilage

a} This tissue provides support and stability to bones.

b) This tissue connects muscles to bones.

c) This tissue connects bones to bones.

Answers: 1b; 2c; 3a.

Last words

“Dictionary.”

— English dialectologist Joseph Wright (1855-1930), who not coincidentally compiled the most comprehensive dictionary of English dialects ever published

LaFee is vice president of communications for the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute.