Cancer survivors age faster and die younger

Childhood cancer survivors naturally age faster and are more likely to die sooner than those who have not had the disease, according to a new study. The research also showed that survivors are three to six times more likely to develop cancer again. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, found that hormonal/gland disorders (endocrinopathies), heart problems, lower bone mineral density, lung scarring (pulmonary fibrosis) and secondary cancers are more likely to occur in childhood cancer survivors later in life.

Frailty to bones and joints may also occur at an earlier age than the general population due to the damage caused by chemotherapy and radiotherapy to normal healthy tissues. The cancer and harsh treatments diminishes 'physiological reserve', the capacity in organs and biological body systems given to us at birth. These are the body's natural resilience to overcome internal and external biological stressors.

Other findings showed that childhood cancer survivors' estimated life expectancy is 30 percent lower than that of the general population. Also, the risk of frailty among bone marrow transplant recipients is around eight times as high as that of their siblings. Radiation therapy is associated with dementia, memory loss and secondary bone marrow cell and blood cancers, while long-term steroid treatment is linked to a higher risk of cataracts, osteoporosis, nerve damage and infection.
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Diseases caused by pollution were responsible for untimely death

Diseases caused by pollution were responsible for premature deaths across the globe, three times more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined; and fifteen times more than all wars and other forms of violence. It kills more people than smoking, hunger and natural disasters.

In some countries, it accounts for one in four deaths. Pollution kills the poor and the vulnerable. Nearly 92% of pollution-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Children face the highest risks because exposures to chemicals in utero and in early childhood can result in lifelong disease, disability, premature death, as well as reduced learning and earning potential.

Pollution is closely tied to climate change and biodiversity. Fossil fuel combustion in higher-income countries and the burning of biomass in lower-income countries accounts for 85% of airborne particulate pollution.

 Major emitters of carbon dioxide are coal-fired power plants, chemical producers, mining operations, and vehicles. Accelerating the switch to cleaner sources of energy will reduce air pollution and improve human and planetary health.
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Implants that grow with children

Scientists have created medical implants for children which expand in tune with their natural growth.
Children with defects in the heart or other organs have had to undergo numerous heavy-duty operations throughout their lifetime to replace their life-saving implants.

The accommodating implant designed for use in a cardiac surgical procedure called a valve annuloplasty, which repairs a leaking heart. Children who undergo life-saving cardiac surgeries, such as mitral and tricuspid valve repairs, may require several additional surgeries over the course of their childhood to re-repair or replace leaking heart valves.

The growth-accommodating implant is meant to enhance the durability of pediatric heart valve repairs and accommodating a child's growth, decreasing the number of heart surgeries a child must endure.

Beyond cardiac repair, the research team says the tubular, expanding implant design used in their proof-of-concept could also be adapted for a variety of other growth-accommodating implants throughout the body. The implant design consists of two components: a degrading, biopolymer core and a braided, tubular sleeve that elongates over time in response to the tensile forces exerted by the surrounding growing tissue.

The polymer is made of components that exist in the human body, adjusting the polymer's composition can tune the core to degrade predictably over a pre-determined amount of time. This concept could be adapted for many different clinical applications, with exciting potential to be converted into an actively, rather than a passively - elongating structure that could act as a tissue scaffold growth.
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Links between gut bacteria and autism

According to the latest research, gut bacteria could cause spectrum disorder. Pathogens in the stomach alter the brain's development and may increase risk of suffering from the spectrum disorder.

Links between the brain, gut and stress hormone cortisol can influence how messages are passed in the body, which may cause autistic symptoms.

Changes in neurometabolites in childhood can have dangerous effects on brain development. Collection of bacteria, fungi, and viruses living in humans gut may be responsible for the disorder.

Autism may be corrected by changing of diet, taking probiotics and adopting a gluten-free lifestyle which may improve social behaviour and ability to express emotions in autistic people.

Leaky gut releases toxins and even undigested food enter the bloodstream and travel to the brain, which may cause autism symptoms. Probiotics can change this by enhancing the gut's lining.
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The difference between autistic boys and girls

Autism spectrum disorder ASD is a disorder of nervous system that starts in childhood and lasts throughout a person's life. ASD affects communication, interaction and social skills.

According to Caroline Rieffe, a psychologist and his colleagues analyzed the behavior of 68 teenagers, girls and boys, and  discovered that girls responded to emotion different from boys.

Girls are able to follow social actions by observing other children and do what they do. They are involved in social play and play with other children, they make friends easily and love to be with their friends.

Interest of girls with ASD are similar to that of normal girls, the intensity of their interests differentiate them from others.

Genes for autism are located on the X chromosome, girls inherit the genes form both parents while boys inherit one from mother, this shows that the X chromosome that girls inherit from their fathers have an imprinted gene which protects the girls from autism.