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Hundreds of mutated genes are involved in cancer and could provide potential targets for drug researchers, scientists participating in the Cancer Genome Project say.
The team looked at genes taken from 200 samples of breast, stomach, colorectal and other cancers for the study in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
The researchers focused on a small part of the cancer genome, a set of genes called kinases that regulate key functions in cells such as growth and cell division.
When a kinase mutates, healthy cells start dividing out of control without dying like normal — the hallmarks of cancer.
Originally posted by AlphaAnuOmega
I didn't understand what you were getting at, sorry about that.
Originally posted by marg6043
In other words sofi, we either mutate to accommodate for the foreign forced environmental changes made by us humans
or the weakest die while the stronger adapt. . .
I wonder what kind of changes new generations of humans will come out with to be able to survive, perhaps new type of bloods or immunity to cancer.
Anything on that yet?
Originally posted by TheAvenger
I suspect the increased use of alkyl halides in the past century has been a major contributor to cancer.
people live longer now
Chemicals affect genes, lead to obesity
Environmental chemicals found in everyday plastic and pesticides may influence the incidence of obesity, says a scientist at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
He studied the effect of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including bisphenol-A, using lab mice.
Vom Saal said he found that when fetuses are exposed to these chemicals, their gene function is changed, altering their metabolic system.
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Before birth, exposure to chemicals may tip scale
Exposure before birth to chemicals that mimic potent hormones may be predisposing people to gain weight, a panel of scientists said at this year's American Association for the Advancement of Science conference.
and did a poor job of diagnosis.
Public health agency linked to chemical industry
For nearly a decade, a federal agency has been responsible for assessing the dangers that chemicals pose to reproductive health. But much of the agency's work has been conducted by a private consulting company that has close ties to the chemical industry, including manufacturers of a compound in plastics that has been linked to reproductive damage.
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Group Warns Some Plastic Baby Bottles Are Toxic
The California Environment Research and Policy Center says toxic chemicals can leak out from certain baby bottles, reports CBS station KOVR-TV in Sacramento, Calif.
Originally posted by soficrow
Why on earth do you focus on one single organic chemical?!?
Do you really believe the physicians of yesteryear did a better job of diagnosis than we do today with our modern diagnostic tools? Not likely.
Distinguishing Between Clinical Guidelines and Covered Services
There are two steps in determining medical necessity. The first step is to determine whether services are covered or noncovered. Once the determination has been made that the service is covered, the second step is to judge whether the service is medically necessary or not medically necessary. Medical necessity issues underscore the importance of clear physician documentation.[3]
Covered services may be diagnostic or preventive. Medicare reimburses for very few preventive services.
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What is medical necessity?
The dilemma is due to several factors, the first of which is definitional. There are almost as many definitions of medical necessity as there are payors, laws and courts to interpret them. Generally speaking, though, most definitions incorporate the principle of providing services which are "reasonable and necessary" or "appropriate" in light of clinical standards of practice. The lack of objectivity inherent in these terms often leads to widely varying interpretations by physicians and payors, which, in turn, can result in the care provided not meeting the definition. And last, but not least, the decision as to whether the services were medically necessary is typically made by a payor reviewer who didn’t even see the patient.
Claims for services which are not medically necessary will be denied, but not getting paid isn’t the only risk. If Medicare or other payors determine that services were medically unnecessary after payment has already been made, they treat it as an overpayment and demand that the money be refunded, with interest. Moreover, if a pattern of such claims can be shown and the physician knows or should know that the services are not medically necessary, the physician may face large monetary penalties, exclusion from Medicare program, and criminal prosecution.
Medicare and other payors have taken the position that medical necessity is implicit in every claim for payment, and that the physician is expected to know the rules of medical necessity and abide by them. However, the notion of medical necessity is not adequately defined or uniformly interpreted in a manner which allows physicians to understand their rights and responsibilities. Nonetheless, to avoid denials, refunds, monetary penalties and exclusion from participation in payor programs, the physician must take the time and trouble to deal with this elusive concept.
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'Medical Necessity' Definition Could Set Harmful Precedent
The new definition contains four parts, all of which must be met for the patient to receive care.
* "Part 1—[A medical item or service] must be required in order to diagnose or treat an enrollee's medical condition."
NHLP argues that the requirement to diagnose or treat could eliminate preventive screening, such as pap smears and blood tests for lead, and preventive care, such as immunizations.
The definition could also exclude services such as personal care and home health aid services for elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and therapy services for children with cerebral palsy.
Pain medications, such as those used to ease the suffering of terminally ill individuals, could be excluded because they are used to treat a symptom rather than a medical condition.
***
Medicare uses medical necessity as a way to determine if they should pay for goods or services. They consider medical necessity to include that which is reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of illness, injury, or to improve the function of a malformed body member.
Medicare has a number of policies, including National Coverage Determinations (NCDs) and Local Medical Review Policy (LMRP) (also known as Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs)), which line out what is and is not covered. In a small number of cases, Medicare may even determine if a method of treating a patient should be covered on a case-by-case basis. Even if a service is accepted as reasonable and necessary, coverage may be limited if the service is provided more frequently than allowed under standard policies or standards of care. Often a Letter of Medical Necessity has to be written to justify the need for the equipment.
The potential to live longer is there if people will live a heathy lifestyle.
Originally posted by soficrow
Why on earth do you focus on one single organic chemical?!?
Alkyl Halides are any carbon radical which has been chemically combined with chlorine, bromine, fluorine or iodine or combinations thereof. There are at least tens of thousands of them, including CFCs, chloroform, tetrachloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride and methylene chloride to name a few..
(alkyl halide)
# noun: organic compound in which halogen atoms have been substituted for hydrogen atoms in an alkane
halogen. group VIIA; group 18.
An element of group VIIA (a. k. a. Group 18). The name means "salt former"; halogens react with metals to form binary ionic compounds. Fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), and astatine (At) are known at this time.
alkane An organic molecule containing carbon and hydrogen atoms in straight or branched chains, where all of the carbon-carbon bonds are single bonds. One of three major classes of aliphatic hydrocarbons.
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saturated hydrocarbons or - Alkanes are chemical compounds that consists only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) (i.e. hydrocarbons), wherein each of these atoms are linked together exclusively by single bonds (i.e. they are saturated compounds).
...Alkanes are not very reactive and have little biological activity. Alkanes can be viewed as a molecular scaffold upon which the interesting biologically active/reactive portions (functional groups) of the molecule can be hung upon.
Originally posted by TheAvenger
No, I'd say it's way over 1,000,000 synthetic chemicals in the past 100 years.
As far as a healthy lifestyle, ...To the extent possible, avoid whatever chemicals in the environment that concern you.
Soficrow, ...Still you question every comment, huh? You are a tough room. )
latent virus Virus integrated within host genome but inactive: may be reactivated by stress such as ultraviolet irradiation.
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retrovirus
1. endogenous retrovirus: A retrovirus that has become dormant and exists as DNA copies in every cell in the body of its host and is passed down from generation to generation.
2. retrovirus: Any virus in the family Retroviridae that has RNA as its nucleic acid and uses the enzyme reverse transcriptase to copy its genome into the DNA of the host cell's chromosomes. Many cancers in vertebrates are caused by retroviruses.