21

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: What is the effect of disinfectant on HIV?

« on: 30/08/2016 20:51:08 »

Do you have access to any pictures of what a dead (HIV)virus exposed to the environment compared to a dead virus from disinfectant would look like.  Would they look the same?? As you can tell, I didn't take many courses in microbiology. I can not convince a student that they are wasting their time using lysol on  doors, shopping carts, etc.  when dealing with HIV.  She thinks it will KILL it more!

Unfortunately I do not know of any such comparison. What your student needs to realize is that HIV is an extremely fragile virus outside of the host. Once it's inactivated via environmental and/or external degradation.... there is no reactivating. Period.

22

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: What is the effect of disinfectant on HIV?

« on: 30/08/2016 17:40:17 »

Thanks for the reply..........So in other words, using a disinfect wouldn't do anymore to KILL hiv than the environment would do, it would just speed up the process.  Basically the disinfectant after a week is a waste of disinfectant??

Precisely.

HIV on a door knob couldn't survive in an oxidative environment for more than a few hours, so using a disinfectant after that few-hour timeframe would serve little purpose

23

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: What is the effect of disinfectant on HIV?

« on: 30/08/2016 05:01:52 »

What more to the virus would using a disinfect do to "kill" the virus, that environmental exposure wouldn't do itself.....lets say after a week of being out of the body? 

Basically if a person is OCD about the HIV virus, is it even worth covering everything (door
knobs, shopping carts, etc) with disinfectant in trying to destroy the virus
MORE than it already is?

A disinfectant would merely kill HIV in a shorter timeframe.

Now in the context of the proposed scenario, it wouldn't matter either way, as HIV wouldn't survive on a door knob or similar surface for more than a few hours [at best]

24

Physiology & Medicine / Re: How to stimulate endocannabinoid synthesis and uptake?

« on: 31/07/2016 13:12:46 »

Does THC administration stimulate endocannabinoid synthesis and uptake?

Yes.

Biochemical Pharmacology
1 November 2004, Vol.68(9):1691–1698, doi:10.1016/j.bcp.2004.07.007
On-demand activation of the endocannabinoid system in the control of neuronal excitability and epileptiform seizures.

Neurons intensively exchange information among each other using both inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters. However, if the balance of excitation and inhibition is perturbed, the intensity of excitatory transmission may exceed a certain threshold and epileptic seizures can occur. As the occurrence of epilepsy in the human population is about 1%, the search for therapeutic targets to alleviate seizures is warranted. Extracts of Cannabis sativa have a long history in the treatment of various neurological diseases, including epilepsy. However, cannabinoids have been reported to exert both pro- and anti-convulsive activities. The recent progress in understanding the endogenous cannabinoid system has allowed new insights into these opposing effects of cannabinoids. When excessive neuronal activity occurs, endocannabinoids are generated on demand and activate cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptors. Using mice lacking CB1 receptors in principal forebrain neurons in a model of epileptiform seizures, it was shown that CB1 receptors expressed on excitatory glutamatergic neurons mediate the anti-convulsive activity of endocannabinoids. Systemic activation of CB1 receptors by exogenous cannabinoids, however, are anti- or pro-convulsive, depending on the seizure model used. The pro-convulsive activity of exogenous cannabinoids might be explained by the notion that CB1 receptors expressed on inhibitory GABAergic neurons are also activated, leading to a decreased release of GABA, and to a concomitant increase in seizure susceptibility. The concept that the endogenous cannabinoid system is activated on demand suggests that a promising strategy to alleviate seizure frequency is the enhancement of endocannabinoid levels by inhibiting the cellular uptake and the degradation of these endogenous compounds.

25

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Should cannabis legalization allow cultivation for your own use?

« on: 17/07/2016 13:52:22 »

So we are supposed to say to a mother who has lost a child "Sorry it appears he got the dose wrong".

Again, your ignorance speaks volumes.

There's no chance in "getting the dose wrong" because there's no need for me to measure out doses of marijuana to avoid cognitive impairment - like countless others, I utilize THC to enhance cognitive function.... not to impede it.

~

26

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Should cannabis legalization allow cultivation for your own use?

« on: 17/07/2016 00:28:52 »

Should THC levels in cannabis be regulated under federal legalization?

Will never happen for two reasons:

1. Every marijuana product sold would have to be run through HPLC or GC-MS analysis, and the cost would be astronomical.

2. Even if they could overcome the economic hurdle, there would be no way to enforce it outside of marijuana dispensaries.

27

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: Is homosexuality genetic?

« on: 09/07/2016 19:56:51 »

The correlation between fraternal-birth-order and sexual-orientation shows male-homosexuality can have a biological origin ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternal_birth_order_and_male_sexual_orientation

I couldn't disagree more. The study in which that conclusion was drawn from comes with an admission from the authors that the results were likely affected by selection bias. It doesn't belong in a peer-reviewed journal.

Nonetheless, the notion that homosexuality is genetically-originated is laughable at best, and will never be scientifically-validated.... ever.

28

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: Are drug nanoparticles harmful in the same way that pollutants are?

« on: 07/07/2016 15:09:35 »

Drug nanoparticles may cause a health risk if the chemical composition of the NPs are biologically active agents.

The pharmaceutically-derived nanoparticles in question would need to meet the following criteria for them to pose an environmental health hazard:

1. They'd have to be cytotoxic.

2. They'd have to be released into the environment at large enough quantities to pose a health hazard.

29

Physiology & Medicine / Re: What is the biological mechanism of intracellular anandamide trafficking?

« on: 26/06/2016 12:18:48 »

Does cellular uptake and diffusion (trafficking) of anandamide mediate its antidepressant activity on prefrontal cortex neurons?

Anandamide doesn't elicit any appreciable antidepressant activity in vivo, due to its extremely short half-life, rapid hydrolysis and extensive catabolism by FAAH - which is why pharmaceutical approaches target the blockade of anandamide hydrolysis.

30

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Is chronic Fatigue Syndrome treatable?

« on: 09/06/2016 15:32:27 »

CFS is a factitious syndrome that is commonly applied when the modality of the symptoms are unknown. I'd argue that your son's chronic exhaustion is primarily due to the hemotrophic bacteria's effects on his immune system. Have you had a metabolic panel performed? What are his WBC/RBC values? How's his liver function?

31

Physiology & Medicine / Re: What would a week long diet of cabbage and cheese do to our body?

« on: 09/06/2016 12:26:41 »

Why cabbage & cheese?

Is this a common prison diet or something?

32

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: Is the novel zika virus engineered?

« on: 07/04/2016 12:56:42 »

could vaccination during pregnancy cause teratogenic effect (microcephaly)?

Tdap is an “inactivated” vaccine. The pertussis fraction is purified from B. pertussis bacterium where it is then inactivated. However, live attenuated viral and/or bacterial vaccines are generally contraindicated in pregnancy due to risk of teratogenic/embryotoxic effects such as microencephaly, exencephaly, anencephaly, ect.

33

Complementary Medicine / Re: Naturally Boosting Your Liver

« on: 22/02/2016 01:02:59 »

The most effective/clinically-recognized hepatoprotective supplements available:

1. N-acetylcysteine [NAC]

2. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid [TUDCA]

3. Polyenephosphatidylcholine [PPC]