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Binge drinking effects on the developing adolescent brain
Original broadcast date: June 7, 2009 We tend to associate rapid developmental changes in cognition, socialization and behaviour with infants, toddlers and children. Parents try to promote positive changes and maximize their child’s potential by avoiding potentially hazardous materials, substances and poor food choices that could have a negative impact on their child’s development. However,…
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Lice on mice makes the immune system nice!
Original broadcast date: June 7, 2009 It may not be for the squeamish but in our hygiene-centric universe, the thought of parasites contributing to human health seems foreign and for some, repulsive. Recent research presents interesting biological mechanisms within this host-parasite relationship that can regulate or influence our immune system. In the April 22, 2009…
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Detecting how well a cancer treatment is working in real time
Original broadcast date: May 31, 2009 How well can cancer specialists, oncologists, assess how well a particular treatment is destroying a tumour? It is true that there are methods to make this determination but it could take weeks of observation before knowing whether the tumour has shrunk. Is it possible to develop a means of…
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Blood allergy testing overrestricts children's diets
Original broadcast date: May 31, 2009 How sensitive and specific are blood tests for food allergies? Are children’s diets being overly restricted on the basis of these tests? A study abstract published in the February 2009 edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology sought to answer these questions. Dr. David Fleischer, M.D., Division…
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Monitoring cancer treament response in real time
Original broadcast date: May 31, 2009 How well can cancer specialists, oncologists, assess how well a particular treatment is destroying a tumour? It is true that there are methods to make this determination but it could take weeks of observation before knowing whether the tumour has shrunk. Is it possible to develop a means of…
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Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
Original broadcast date: May 18, 2009 What are abdominal aortic aneurysms? What simple tests can be done to screen for them and what age group is most susceptible? What new surgical approaches are available to treat them? Dr. Prasad Jetty, assistant professor at the University of Ottawa and a vascular surgeon at the Ottawa Hospital…
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Traveller's diarrhea vaccine in development
Original broadcast date: May 18, 2009 Of great concern to many travelers is the prevention of infectious diseases such as typhoid, hepatitis A and B, malaria, and enterotoxigenic E. coli among others. Another common form of traveler’s diarrhea caused by the bacteria campylobacter jejuni is becoming resistant to antibiotic therapy. A research group from the…
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The second brain that controls our gut
Original broadcast date: May 10, 2009 When we talk of the human nervous system, we tend to think about the brain, spinal cord and the nerves that emanate from it to spread throughout the body. What is becoming clearer is that there is what some call a “second brain” that controls the functions of the…