Cancer in Children & Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Cancer in Children & Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: Current Research Aspects (Disability Studies: Cancer Etiology, Diagnosis and Treatments)

By Daniel Satgé and Joav Merrick
Nova Science Publishers Inc,  2011

In recent years, it has become clear that cancer is a major health concern for people with an intellectual disability. In the general population it is estimated that one in four people will develop cancer and that more than half of those diagnosed will die from the disease. Recent research has revealed that cancer is not less frequent in people with an intellectual disability and some tumours are more common. This population has different risk factors for developing cancer and different needs for both medical and psychosocial care provision. Consequently, medical surveillance, diagnosis procedures and treatments often have to be modified to suit this population. This book presents and discusses research on topics such as adapted care for people with intellectual disability and cancer, general aspects of cancer surveillance, cancer in persons with Down syndrome and also cancer in persons with other syndromes.

La pesante eredità dell’ “eredità mendeliana”

La pesante eredità dell’ “eredità mendeliana”.
Roberto Taramelli

È ampiamente noto che Gregorio Mendel è considerato il fondatore della moderna genetica la quale è attualmente una branca delle Scienze Biologiche che si prefigge di conoscere e isolare i determinanti ereditari che stanno alla base dei più svariati fenotipi (dal comportamento individuale alle patologie non infettive e degenerative tipiche delle nostre società post-industriali).
È interessante ricordare che il frate moldavo si interessava di migliorare alcune specie di piante  da lui coltivate e per poter far ciò necessitava di una più ampia comprensione dei meccanismi che stanno alla base dell’ibridazione (come allora veniva chiamata l’eredità).

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The wisdom of the body

The wisdom of the body: future techniques and approaches to morphogenetic fields in regenerative medicine, developmental biology and cancer, by M. Levin (Regen. Med. (2011) 6(6), 667–673). “This article discusses an unconventional perspective: morphogenetic fields (information-bearing global patterns in chemico-electrical properties that guide growth and form) as a profound unifying concept cen­tral to biology and medicine”. Indeed, this paper address some relevant, even generally neglected issues in different field of biology and medicine: chronic degenerative pathologies, cancer, developmental processes as well as inborn errors. The key central argumentation lies on the “strategic” role played by biophysical cues in driving biological functions. Such forces are entangled into the “field”, to which cells and tissues belong, and contribute in shaping its boundaries. The integrity of such field is needed in order to maintain the correct patterning of tissues and organs . “This means we must learn to understand the key aspects of the morphogenetic field that controls pattern formation, including its biochemical, bioelectrical, physical and planar polarity aspects”. This kind of argumentation are in support of a new paradigm in biology research, suggesting  how inadequate the current theoretical, gene-based, framework is. We are looking forwards how and when that approach might foster new insights and contribution in the field of carcinogenesis.

Spazio. Scenari di competizione

The volume addresses the issue of space according to a multidisciplinary perspective. It combines the roots of history and society to technical knowledge, which in its scientific evolution has been able to find new answers to the need for human progress. After the end of East-West polarity, in fact, the space has been the site of the competition and international cooperation project between Powers, old and new