Dr. Asa On Call 10-18-10

Here are a couple of recent stories that Dr. Asa will be talking about tonight on "Dr. Asa On Call":


Yale Researchers Find Key Depression Gene – Aol Health
Researchers at Yale University say they've identified a new gene that seems to trigger depression.

The scientists say the gene, MKP-1, might be a key contributor in the development of clinical depression.

"This could be a primary cause, or at least a major contributing factor, to the signaling abnormalities that lead to depression," study lead author Ronald S. Duman, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale, said in a statement.

Duman and his colleagues did genome scans of the brain tissue of 21 deceased people who had been diagnosed with depression and compared them to the genes of 18 people who hadn't been diagnosed with the condition.

They found that one gene, MKP-1, increased more than two-fold in the brains of people who were depressed. That gene blocks a molecular pathway neurons need to survive and function properly, which, when rendered inactive, has been linked to depression and other disorders.

The team also discovered that when MKP-1 is impaired in mice, they become resistant to stress, but when it's activated, they show signs of depression.

University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Dr. Christos Ballas said the study is flawed.

"You can't say this is a gene for depression because it's a gene for only one kind of depression," he told AOL Health. "It's a gene for a specific description of depression."

Ballas said there is evidence that depression is in part genetic, but there are other factors involved in the illness.




New CPR Guidelines: Chest Compressions First – Web Md

New guidelines released today by the American Heart Association recommend that the three steps of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) be rearranged.
The new first step is doing chest compressions instead of first establishing the airway and then doing mouth to mouth. The new guidelines apply to adults, children, and infants but exclude newborns.
The old way was A-B-C -- for airway, breathing and compressions.
The new way is C-A-B -- for compressions, airway, and breathing.
"By starting with chest compressions, that's easy to remember, and for many victims that alone will be lifesaving," says Michael R. Sayre, MD, chair of the emergency cardiovascular care committee for the American Heart Association and co-author of the executive summary of the 2010 AHA guidelines for CPR and emergency cardiovascular care.
The old approach, he says, was causing delays in chest compressions, which are crucial for keeping the blood circulating.
The new guidelines may inspire more people to perform CPR, says Sayre, an associate professor of emergency medicine at Ohio State University, Columbus. "Mouth to mouth is hard if you're not trained," he tells WebMD. ''Anybody can do chest compressions, whether they have had a class or not. Good chest compressions really help save lives. In many cases, there is a reserve of oxygen left in the patient's blood and lungs, from the last breath, and we can take advantage of that oxygen reserve and just do chest compressions."



Bible Verse: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. - James 2:8


Make Sure To Join Dr. Asa Andrew tonight with "Dr. Asa On Call"