Graphic by Azma Mulundika

Social media platforms and news organizations in Zambia have been bustling over President Edgar C. Lungu encouraging citizens to use traditional home remedies such as steaming in the fight against COVID-19 since 13 January 2021.

Steam inhalation has been a traditional home remedy used to help treat ailments such as colds and flus across the world for many years. However, it has recently became a topic of interest in conversations about COVID-19 treatments, with many studies being conducted about it and numerous journal articles being published on it. Tanzania also recently joined Zambia in using steam therapy as a way to combat the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Having so many people advocate for this treatment has raised many questions about its effectiveness.

In a study conducted by Giancarlo la Marca and colleagues, it was briefly stated that “High temperature can cause irreversible denaturation of proteins and loss of SARS CoV and SARS CoV-2 infectivity” when heated at 56 degrees in liquid environments. Based on this information, 10 asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic – presenting few symptoms – health care professionals, who had tested positive for the virus, were instructed to use steam inhalation at a temperature between 55 and 65 degrees for at least 20 minutes within one hour. The primary results showed that viral shedding (spreading of the virus) was reduced after four days and the treatment was “Beneficial in halting SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in the upper airway mucosae during the initial stages of infection.” However, if the virus already spread to the lower respiratory tract or internal airway, steam inhalation would be ineffective “Since steam cannot reach the bronchial tree, bronchi and lungs.” A separate article by Marc Cohen also claims that heat therapy can assist the body’s first line defense which is the innate immune system (includes the mucus lining in the respiratory tract) and second line defenses which are the respiratory defenses (the phagocytes cells that destroy foreign materials, bacteria, and dead cells by ingesting them). Steam inhalation helps do this by keeping the mucosal barrier moist and mimicking the effects of a fever which activates the body’s immune system.

There are people, however, who may not be able to use steam inhalation. According to Doctor Moses Simuyemba, a medical doctor, public health specialist, and academic, people with pre-existing conditions such as asthma are generally discouraged from using steam inhalation as it can add to breathing difficulties. Because it is also common practice to incorporate different ingredients into steaming routines, Doctor Simuyemba advises people with severe allergies to simply use plain water without the addition of other ingredients. It is very important to note, however, that steam inhalation is only being used as a treatment to provide relief for COVID-19 symptoms and not as a cure. “We are not using steaming as an actual treatment for COVID” says Elizabeth Machipisa, a medical doctor under the Ministry of Health in Zambia. COVID-19 patients are categorized according to three main levels of severity, mild, moderate, and severe. Patients with mild cases are able to benefit from steam inhalation with fewer drugs while patients with moderate cases are encouraged to use steam inhalation alongside prescribed medication.

According to Doctor Machipisa, there is no specific cure for COVID-19 and patients with more severe cases are kept in hospital on full medication, without the use of steam inhalation. The medication does not treat the virus as a whole but rather specific aspects of the virus. For instance, according to Doctor Simuyemba, patients with severe or critical cases of COVID-19 are susceptible to pneumonia because “With severe illness, you have other infections taking advantage of that situation” and the antibiotics prescribed are used to treat the pneumonia and not necessarily the virus. This is because antibiotics are mostly used to treat diseases and not viruses. Doctor Machipisa lists the anti-inflammatories colchicine and dexamethasone as the two main drugs being used in the treatment of COVID-19, as well as the antibiotic azithromycin. These drugs are accompanied with supportive drugs such as vitamin C and zinc sulfate to make up what she refers to as “The conventional treatment for COVID”.

Other recommended medications according to the Ministry of Health in Zambia guidelines are the antibiotics Amoxil and sceptrin and anti-inflammatory drugs ibuprofen and aspirin. However, some citizens prefer to take a more herbal route by adding different herbs, leaves, roots, and essential oils to their steaming routines. A study conducted by Dâmaris Silveira and colleagues, aimed at determining if herbal medication can be used as adjuvant treatment for COVID-19, provided a risks and benefits assessment for “Selected herbal medications traditionally indicated for “respiratory diseases.””  The study contrasted typically recommended medications such as paracetamol and ibuprofen with herbal medicines such as lemongrass, garlic and eucalyptus. The conclusion of the study was that while it may not be a cure, “Several herbal medicines have safety margins superior to those of reference drugs.” which means that, amongst other things, patients are less likely to suffer from the unwanted side effects of pharmaceutical drugs.

Aside from physical relief, steam inhalation also seems to provide non-physical benefits. In the article by Marc Cohen, “Heat-based treatments also offer psychological benefits and enhanced mental wellness by focusing attention on positive action.” According to Doctor Simuyemba a home-based treatment such as steam inhalation allows people to feel more in control of their situation and less stressed or anxious which helps improve their overall well-being and “When your overall well-being is improved what happens is your immunity is better. Stress, anxiety and so on ultimately reduce your immunity and make you more susceptible to infection.” Doctor Simuyemba re-emphasizes that steam inhalation is not a cure, but in order to acquire its full benefits consistency is key.

Source: Robophilosophy

Northwestern University in Qatar hosts a talk about science journalism with prominent German journalist and researcher Lioba Suchenwirth on March 16, 2021.

The talk was initiated by Professor Jairo Lugo-Ocando of Northwestern University for his Science and Health and journalism class. The virtual event was initially met with technical difficulties as the guest was unable to join the Zoom meeting when the time arrived. After numerous attempts to join, the technical issue was resolved by having the guest host to the meeting herself. The meeting was attended by science and health journalism students, the professor as well as Louise Tracy R. Malinis, an administrative assistant of the university. The event took place during the Science and Health journalism allocated class time slots and the students were happy to take a break from lectures to attend the talk which was mandatory for them as it would affect their attendance scores.

Lioba Suchenwirth, who currently works for the German Aerospace Center in the Institute for Robotics and Mechatronics in the public relations Department, prepared a detailed PowerPoint presentation about her work, shared part of her life story, and answered students’ questions at the end of the session. Eden Wagari, a communications junior, found this event to have been successful in piquing her interest the science communication. “I thought it was going to be boring. As a communications major, I was only taking this class as something to count towards my degree requirements but now I’m considering the possibilities of working in this field” she says.

The talk could not have come at a more opportune moment as most of the students in the science and health class are sophomores preparing for their journalism residencies in the spring semester of 2022. The residency requires students to have a basic understanding of what field they would like to work in and where. Unfortunately, Lioba had bad news for the students and informed them that the German Aerospace Center was typically reluctant in hiring interns due to the fact that a lot of the work they do is classified. She informed students that aside from this, their nationalities would also unfortunately play a role in whether they could intern for the aerospace center or not. Lioba did, however, state that though it was unlikely she would still look into the possibility of the Aerospace Center taking in interns and would get back to them.

Graphic by Azma Mulundika

Strange myths surrounding the use of contraceptives in Malawi and Uganda discussed in podcast released by Africa Science Focus on April 7, 2021.

According to the research that was discussed in the podcast, though there is a rising demand for contraceptives in sub-Saharan Africa, there’s still a number of factors that prevent women from gaining access to modern forms of birth control. But the biggest of these factors is myths about the effects of contraceptives on men and women. Research done in Malawi found that there is a belief among the rural population that contraceptives can accumulate in the womb and cause a woman to be barren and another myth that women taking contraceptives can affect her husband’s sexual drive by lowering it significantly.

Dr Chilufya Tasila, virologist at the Ministry of Health in Zambia, debunks these claims. She explains that there is no research to back up any of these myths and adds that “These myths tend to come up in rural areas where there is a severe lack of education on such topics.” Dr Tasila goes on to explain that men are hardly ever included in conversations about contraceptives and other forms of family planning, “It is as important to educate the man about these things [contraceptives] as it is to educate the woman.” The podcast further discusses how husbands also tend to be a huge barrier in women’s decisions about contraceptives and reports that these myths have resulted in some cases of gender-based violence against women who choose to use contraceptives in countries like Uganda. Dr Effie Chipeta from the Malawi College of Medicine, an interviewee in the podcast, discloses that research in Malawi is still being conducted about these myths and the information found will be provided to the Ministry of Health in order for them to prepare and organize more educational talks on the subject.

Aside from myths about contraceptives, there are a number of other factors that affect the usage and accessibility of contraceptives according to Dr Chipeta. These include lack of education, distance between consumers and facilities that provide contraceptives, low supply of contraceptives in some areas, and social and cultural values such as the desire for large numbers of children.

Source: Farmdrop

The world’s first ever underground farm aims to feed 10 billion people by the year 2050 according to information that was released by the University of Cambridge on their website on March 29, 2021.

The underground farm is located 33 meters below London’s Clapham High Street in an abandoned World War Two air raid shelter. The farm was founded by Richard Ballard and Steve Dring in 2015 in collaboration with the University of Cambridge. This unusual project, referred to as ‘Growing Underground’ , is a ‘smart farming’ venture which means it is managed by one or more technologies, such as robots or AI, in order to optimize human labor and maximize quality and quantity.

The farm is managed and monitored by what is being referred to as a ‘digital twin’ which is a virtual representation of a real object, in this case a farm, that collects data and updates in real time by observing and learning from the original object. In 2016 “Melanie Jans-Singh from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering began installing sensors in the tunnels to capture everything you might ever want to know about how this garden grows.” The information collected and reflected by the digital twin includes details about light, temperature, and water. According to the article, this data not only provides information on how to manage the current farm but also provides a road map to opening another one.

Growing Underground aims to contribute to the UK’s goal of having net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050 and meeting the World Resources Institute’s prerequisites for feeding 10 billion people sustainably by the year 2050 according to the statistics and information provided on their website. So far, the venture is proving to be successful as the farm yields a harvest approximately every 10 days, crops grow up to 50% faster than they normally would on a regular farm, and all this is achieved without the use of pesticides and less water.  The produce from the underground farm is also sold commercially and can be purchased online via the project’s website called Farmdrop.

Treatments and cures to various diseases and illness do not come up out of nowhere. Research and experimentation have to go into ensuring these treatments work before they are given out as solutions to problems. However, the ethics of these experimentations are often questionable. There is no win-win situation but the ratio of good to bad should never be 1:1 or 50/50. The 1970 Monkey head transplant conducted by Robert Joseph White may not have been entirely successful, but scientists did learn a little more about transplanting.

The experiment was conducted on monkeys where the heads of rhesus monkeys were severed and transplanted on the bodies of other rhesus monkeys to find out whether head transplants could be possible. This type of monkey was used because it best replicated the human nervous system. Conducting experiments on animals is common practice in the science community and this obviously does not sit well with animal rights activists but then again that begs many questions. Who should these experiments be conducted on? Certainly not plants because there are aren’t enough similarities between the two and if not animals then that only leaves humans. If so, whose life is more valuable between that of animal and that of human? And if both lives are equally valuable and we say experiments should not be conducted on either, how then are we supposed to find cures to new diseases, pandemics, viruses, epidemics and plagues?

There has always been a dark side to science. There have been many scientific experiments that resulted in a lot of suffering and unnecessary deaths. Examples include the Tuskegee syphilis study (1932- 1972), project MKUltra, Dr. Leo Stanley San Quentin Prison Experiments, University of California Experiments on Newborns, mustard gas experiment, Josef Mengele’s (Angel of death) Human Experiments, Nazi Human Experiments, and Unit 731. There have also been accidents that that have had lifelong consequences such as the Chernobyl Disaster which had left a negative impact on the environment, wildlife as well as the survivors who suffered physical and psychological effects as they were more prone to trauma, radioactive poisoning, cancer and having children with birth defects. All these tragedies were an unnecessary part of history and did nothing but give evidence to how evil and careless mankind can be.

While all these catastrophes are horrendous, there is a lot of good that has come out of science which has been achieved through animal and human experimentation. These are necessary steps in the advancement of science (especially medical science). Even animal rights activists can agree that veterinarians cannot treat animals without out animal experimentation.  Thankfully there is a little more transparency in today’s age which has resulted in better collaboration between members of the public and scientists. People are able to donate their bodies to science after death and are also able to volunteer for human experimentation such as in the case of the recent testing for the Covid vaccine. Better technology as well as understanding of the human body also mean fewer casualties during these experiments. So, to what extent are human experiments necessary? Personally, I believe anything that does not aim to cure anything is unnecessary. There is no need for super humans, animals or weapons.

Source: The Scientist 

Recent study released January 13, 2021 by the BMJ proves SNP chip testing produce false positives for rare pathogenic variants such as those found in breast cancer.

Direct to consumer home base genetic testing kits have been gaining popularity over the years as they encourage more awareness among consumers about genetic diseases. However, these tests kids have been a subject of scrutiny as they have been many reports of there in accuracies. The danger of these test kids comes in when consumers take their results too medical practitioners in order to seek out treatment for genetic disorders they may not have. The study released by the BMJ found that “SNP chips are extremely unreliable for genotyping very rare pathogenic variants and should not be used to guide health decisions without validation.”

However, this is not the first time that these genetic test kits have been proven to be inaccurate. An article published by The Scientist in 2019 found that direct to consumer (DTC) genetic testing kits displayed false positives of up to 85% when testing for rare [genetic] variants. Dr Chimuka Mbala, a researcher at CIDRZ (Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia), says that it is generally not encouraged for the public to do any form of self-testing especially when it comes to serious conditions such as genetic disorders. “Given the fact that there is so much evidence that these genetic tests kits are dysfunctional, it is also irresponsible of medical practitioners to take the results of these tests from patients without conducting or encouraging further testing themselves.” Another article published by Nature.com in 2018 40% of variants in a variety of genes were false positives in direct-to-consumer testing. The article concluded that the “Results demonstrate the importance of confirming DTC raw data variants in a clinical laboratory that is well versed in both complex variant detection and classification.”

Yet another article published by Science Magazine in 2010 found results similar to those in  the study by the BMJ. According to the article, the article found the test results of the small group of patients differed from the patients’ calculated family history half the time. According to Mbala, “This is just the downside of science sometimes you try things, and they don’t work. It can take a while until there is proper research to back up certain theories. Science is always a trial-and-error process.”

Source: Iberdrola

Environmental issues meet economic crisis as Oxford University launches the world’s first ever Conservation Venture Studio called OXGAV in a bid to “Solve the planet’s most pressing economic problems, all of which are conservation issues.” according to news released on Oxford University’s website on February 9, 2021.

OXGAV is a collaboration between, University of Oxford, Global Accelerated Ventures and Oxford University Innovation The aim of the project is to find solutions to the impact that climate change has on the economy. According to an article by Iberdrola, climate change is now considered to be one of the greatest threats to the stability of the global economy. The article explains how different disasters such as hurricanes and droughts can cause devastating effects on the economy because natural disasters often cause multimillion dollar damages at the least. An article about climate change published by the World Bank stated that if climate change remains “Unchecked, it will push 132 million people into poverty over the next 10 years.”

The OXGAV project is also heavily focused on conservation and conservation issues and has a goal of helping economies adjust to climate change. Dr Robert Montgomery, a Professor of Conservation Science from Michigan State University assumed the role of managing director of OXGAV and Geraldine Portelli, Director of Business Development EU at Global Accelerated Ventures, assumed that of project manager

New discoveries in gene editing technology, Crispr, could help doctors and scientists understand and cure diseases as well as human genetic mutations

Recent developments in a study conducted by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, who were awarded the 2020 Nobel prize in Chemistry, of Crispr Cas9, concluded that it can be used as a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA – the molecule that carries genetic instructions) repair mechanism. Crispr Cas9 is a technology that allows the editing of genetic data either by adding or modifying the DNA. The protein, Cas9, is vital for targeting and cutting out foreign DNA such as that of DNA viruses, for example, the human papillomavirus (HPV) and Hepatitis B.

With this understanding Crispr can not only be used to cure diseases but also to fix genetic mutations such as sickle cell anemia. In 2019, Victoria Gray became the first US citizen to undergo Crispr gene editing to treat her sickle cell disease. The treatment was successful and is being used on other patients suffering from the same condition.

Using gene editing technology to cure such conditions in somatic cells has been widely adopted by scientists, researchers, and doctors. However, there are still ethical questions surrounding the use of Crispr in germ cells, which are reproductive cells. According to a lecture by Jennifer Doudna detailing the findings of Crispr Cas9, released by the Nobel Prize website on Tuesday December 8^th, 2020, using Crispr in germ cells can have lasting effects on the human race. This is because when editing DNA in somatic cells, which are the basic cells that make up an organism, the effects are not heritable and only affect the individual, but this is not the case for germ cells. Doudna explains that “If genome edits are introduced into a germ cell, they have the potential to be heritable and to introduce changes that become part of not only an individual but all of that individual’s progeny.”

There have been scandals surrounding Crispr research in reproductive cells. According to an article by Scientific American, in November 2018, biophysicist He Jiankui, announced that he had altered embryos using gene editing “To make them less susceptible to contracting HIV.” The biophysicist who worked at a local university was fired, fined, and sentenced to three years in prison as his action were deemed risky and unethical. According to an article by Nature, his actions resulted in the shortening of the lifespans of the children born from his edited embryos.

Graphic by Azma Mulundika

A study conducted and released by Muthanna Samara and colleagues on 19^th November 2020, has shown that political disputes have damaging effects on the physical and mental health of children in the Middle East.

According to the study, which mainly focused on children from Kuwait, many children suffer from varying mental health issues ranging from PTSD, depression, and anxiety to behavioral problems, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder.

According to the study these conditions are brought about by a number of different things. One of the main issues discussed has to do with parenting, and the fact that some children grow up in homes where their parents are unaffectionate due to traumatic experiences with wars and conflicts. Another reason that is given for the mental health crisis amidst children in the Middle East has to do with poverty and lack of resources.

Yemen was used as an example to explain this as it recently went through what was described as one of the worst Humanitarian crises and that have been seen in recent years. The study claims that toxic stress can even affect a child’s physical development saying it can “Disrupt development of the brain and other organs and increase psychopathology as well as cognitive and emotional impairment”.

The study recognizes the lack of mental health professionals in the Middle East and to solve this issue the study heavily emphasizes the training of not only health care professionals and workers but also parents, teachers, and paraprofessionals in first and second level interventions when it comes to dealing with mental health situations.

 

Source: Edmonds News

A recent review of studies conducted by multiple organizations and institutions, released October 13^th, 2020, revealed that clown doctors or medical clowns could possibly have a positive effect on children and adults suffering from acute conditions and chronic disorders.

A study review led by Luís Carlos Lopes-Júnior showed that most studies conducted about the effectiveness of clowns in aiding the tensions of receiving grievous medical attention can have a number of positive psychological, emotional, and even physical effects.

The studies that were reviewed were from six different countries and after some rigorous quality checks, results yielded positive outcomes and showed that the presence of a clown during medical treatment can result in less pain, stress, distress, fatigue, and especially anxiety. The studies even proved to be effective on children and adolescents receiving chemotherapy.

The review did, however, raise the question of how effective medical clowns are on adolescents, as “adolescents are prone to conceal their feelings and might show more behavioral control”. It also made mention of how this form of treatment may not be effective on patients who suffer from coulrophobia. Glamour Magazine found that the 2017 hit film, It, awakened the ‘paralyzing’ phobia across America.

In the end, the review questions whether or not it is the presence of clowns that brings about relief to children and adults or whether health workers could play the same role and bring about the same or better relief results if dressed in a friendlier manner. The review also suggests that the studies still need more refining and among other things, could be made more conclusive with the use of larger sample sizes.