9 July, 2013

Sugar helps light-up cancer in MRI scanners

Researchers have made a breakthrough for detecting cancer by imaging the sugar consumption with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 

The new breakthrough may help provide a safer and simpler alternative to standard radioactive techniques and enable radiologists to imagetumours in greater detail. 

The new technique, called 'glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer' (glucoCEST), is based on the fact that tumours consume more glucose (a type of sugar) than normal, healthy tissues in order to sustain their growth. 

The researchers found that sensitising an MRI scanner to glucose uptake caused tumours to appear as bright images on MRI scans of mice. 

Lead researcher Dr Simon Walker-Samuel, from the UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging (CABI) said that GlucoCEST uses radio waves to magnetically label glucose in the body. 

He asserted that this can then be detected in tumours using conventional MRI techniques. 

Walker-Samuel said that the method uses an injection of normal sugar and could offer a cheap, safe alternative to existing methods for detecting tumours, which require the injection of radioactive material. 

Professor Mark Lythgoe, Director of CABI and a senior author on the study, said that they can detect cancer using the same sugar content found in half a standard sized chocolate bar. 

The study has been published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

09.07.2013

Boost your brain power!

Distracted and forgetful? Here are simple ways to stay more alert and improve memory.

Learn to sing or play an instrument

Music has long been associated with a host of benefits. And learning how to play an instrument or even singing is a challenging workout for your brain, giving it a much-needed boost. So, find out what interests you and pursue it.

Take a break

Breaking your head to find a solution but failing abysmally? Step back, take a break and focus on something else.

Chew some gum

Experts say that chewing gum helps reduce the formation of bacteria and improves jaw muscles; it also makes you feel more alert. Chewing on some mint-flavoured gum reduces feelings of tiredness and improves memory.

Have some dark chocolate

Instead of munching on bars of regular chocolate, have some dark chocolate, which contains flavanoids. They are brain-boosting chemicals, which enhance cognitive skills by creating new neurons in your brain. They improve the ability to make new memories and increasing blood flow to the brain.

Work it out

Doing high-energy cardio gives your brain a high like nothing else. So, if you want to improve cognitive functions like task switching, paying attention and sharper memory, give exercise a shot.

Play video games

While this may seem a dubious inclusion in this list, research says that playing video games exercises your mind, improves memory, alertness and the ability to switch between tasks more quickly.

Look at nice pictures

Find babies or animals cute? Look at their pictures! Experts say even looking at pictures that make you feel good and bring a smile to your face, can do wonders for your alertness levels.

Let your mind wander

It is okay to let yourself daydream sometimes. When you allow your mind to wander a bit, it gives your brain a much needed break. And researchers say the human mind becomes more active and better at problem-solving when they daydream a bit.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

09.07.2013

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing
George Bernard Shaw