Marc Gautier, paciente de Parkinson, recupera su movilidad tras un implante

Un innovador implante medular ha transformado la vida de Marc Gautier, un hombre de 62 años al que se diagnosticó la enfermedad de Parkinson hace casi 30 años. Residente cerca de Burdeos (Francia), Marc tuvo que dejar de trabajar hace tres años debido a graves problemas de movilidad que le hacían caerse entre cinco y seis veces al día, lo que le confinaba sobre todo a su casa. Sin embargo, gracias a un revolucionario dispositivo implantado en su médula espinal, Marc, que antes tenía dificultades para andar, puede ahora subir escaleras y realizar actividades al aire libre de forma independiente.

Marc Gautier: La neuroprótesis que transformó su vida y ofrece esperanza a pacientes de parkinson

Marc Gautier describió vívidamente sus dificultades anteriores: "Prácticamente ya no podía andar sin caerme con frecuencia, varias veces al día. En algunas situaciones, como al entrar en un ascensor, pisaba en el sitio, como si estuviera congelado allí". Ahora, dos años después del implante, cuenta con alegría que ha recuperado las actividades que antes le gustaban, incluido un paseo semanal de seis kilómetros alrededor del lago.

El implante, conocido como neuroprótesis, se dirige a las fibras sensoriales ligadas a los músculos. El Parkinson, una enfermedad degenerativa, es el resultado de una insuficiencia de dopamina en el cerebro, que provoca síntomas físicos como temblores y rigidez. Los tratamientos existentes consisten en la ingesta de dopamina y la estimulación cerebral profunda mediante electrodos, pero pueden perder eficacia con el tiempo. Los enfermos avanzados de Parkinson suelen tener problemas para caminar, lo que afecta a su calidad de vida.

Gracias a la colaboración de científicos suizos y franceses se ha desarrollado este novedoso tratamiento. La neuroprótesis, implantada en la médula espinal de Marc, actúa sobre las fibras sensoriales debilitadas de sus piernas, mejorando el circuito de retroalimentación esencial para un movimiento adecuado. El profesor Grégoire Courtine explicó que, a diferencia de los enfoques convencionales dirigidos a las regiones cerebrales privadas de dopamina, su enfoque en la médula espinal ha demostrado su eficacia en la activación de los músculos de las piernas para caminar.

Marc Gautier, capaz de controlar él mismo la estimulación, experimentó una mejora inmediata de la marcha tras el implante. Tras varias semanas de rehabilitación, volvió a caminar casi con normalidad. Actualmente utiliza la neuroprótesis unas ocho horas al día, y la apaga cuando pasa mucho tiempo sentado o durmiendo.

Entusiasmados por su posible aplicación generalizada, los autores del estudio prevén nuevas pruebas en los próximos 18 meses. Aunque el tratamiento no estará disponible comercialmente hasta dentro de cinco o diez años si tiene éxito, los resultados ofrecen perspectivas prometedoras para aliviar los déficits de la marcha en los pacientes de Parkinson.

El equipo publicó sus hallazgos el lunes 6 de noviembre en Nature Medicine.

Of Love and Hate in the World - Short Essay

Is there too much hate in this world?, what about love? It seems that people hate others for no reason, that they only see enemies and rivals in others, when everyone should be friends despite differing personal interests. Sometimes it seems like no one loves anyone anymore, and just delving into that brings more anguish to the psyche.

Love and hate in the world derive from our ability to communicate properly

It seems that we have forgotten how to love each other. If so, that is our biggest problem, if not, how do we explain all those wars in our history? Love is the only answer, not wars, which, although they are forged among a few, drag a large part of the population of countries into their clutches, thanks to certain current social conditions, and end up doing more damage than expected, even to many people totally unrelated to war interests. They say that war is hell. If so, then there is logic in saying that peace, the consequence of love, is heaven.

It was Jesus who prophesied that the love of many will grow cold due to the multiplication of evil in the world. This sounds like something so big that I would compare it to a wall of interests over which only "the highest" can glimpse what is behind it, and which unfortunately has left many of the "smallest" totally deprived of a panorama that let it know that without that wall the world is a completely different place from the one we have been deprived of.

I still believe in love. I wish more people would start showing concern for the interests of others. Many are of the opinion that it is not easy to like people today, let alone love them, being so "different" from one another. This seems true to some extent, from some perspectives. It seems that some people are very difficult to love and yet loving them or trying to love them (one tries out of love) is the only way to make this world a better place for everyone, a heaven on earth if you will and can call it that. We have to start loving and loving each other, showing it with actions, that's all. Many say there are too many problems in this world to deal with. All that is true, but our biggest problem is the lack of love, which there is because we do not act accordingly to generate radical changes in the system. Without love, we are lost. We cannot survive without love.

Today there is too much competition among people. Not everyone is our rival. We should stop looking for enemies and rivals in other people and start looking for friends and allies. We are all supposed to be one big family in this world.

I still believe in love. I wish more people would start showing concern for the interests of others. Many believe that it is not easy to love people nowadays, much less love them, being so "different" from each other. This seems true up to a point, from some perspectives. It seems that some people are very difficult to love, and yet loving them or trying to (trying for love) is the only way to make this world a better place for everyone, a heaven on earth if you wish or can call it that way. We have to start loving each other, showing it with actions, that's all. Many say that there are too many problems in this world to deal with. All of this is true, but our biggest problem is the lack of love, which there is because we do not act accordingly to generate radical changes in the system. Without love, we are lost. We cannot survive without love.

Today there is too much competition among people. Not everyone is our rival. We should stop looking for enemies and rivals in other people and start looking for friends and allies. We are all supposed to be one big family in this world.

When love is repressed, hate takes its place, said Havelock Ellis. It is very easy to talk about love. Trying to show some love is much more difficult. Let's not just watch, let's take the first step! Let's start building bridges between people, not walls. This world could be a great place if we learned to love each other, starting in our own home, of course.

Let love guide us and give us a good breath of air to start making this world a better place for everyone, tearing down walls, starting with those built in our own house that in a certain way could be losing the status of home due to mostly due to the growing lack of communication due to parents' busy work schedules and the growing lack of real family time, let alone the electronic devices that isolate us from the people around us.

This could be heaven for everyone, regardless of nationality, religion and culture, if we make it clear that there is as little a gap between love and hate as there is between silence and good communication. Between you and your child or between you and your life partner there is as much gap as your desire to talk to improve things.

Source: https://mis-imagenes-con-frases.blogspot.com/2022/12/amor-odio-mundo.html

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Acerca de los impuestos y uso de las bolsas de plástico en Sudáfrica

Desde 2004, el gobierno sudafricano introdujo un impuesto sobre el plástico que obligaba a los clientes sudafricanos a pagar por sus bolsas de plástico para llevar los productos comprados en las tiendas, según politicalanalysis.co.za de marzo de 2021. La medida responde a ciertas necesidades ecológicas modernas. La decisión de hacerlo fue una medida para ayudarnos a ser más conscientes de la huella de carbono que estamos dejando. Los fondos recaudados con el impuesto sobre el plástico se destinan a proyectos e iniciativas centrados en promover una Sudáfrica más ecológica.

About the taxation and use of plastic bags in South Africa

Since 2004, the South African government introduced a plastic tax that made South Africans customers pay for their plastic bags to carry products purchased in stores, according to politicalanalysis.co.za from March 2021. The measure responds to certain modern ecological needs. The decision to do so was a move to help us become more aware of the carbon footprint we are leaving behind. The funds raised from the plastic tax are earmarked for projects and initiatives that focus on promoting a greener South Africa.

Plata y sustancias químicas presentes en el vino y el chocolate se usan para crear revestimiento textil antimicrobiano

Por vez primera, investigadores encontraron una manera rentable y cómoda de aplicar un revestimiento transparente antimicrobiano a base de plata a tejidos nuevos o existentes. Su método utiliza polifenoles, que se encuentran habitualmente en alimentos que manchan la ropa, como el vino y el chocolate. El método de los investigadores permite tratar diversos tipos de textiles y los artículos pueden lavarse varias veces sin perder la propiedad antimicrobiana y, por tanto, antiolores.