The Apprentice 2008

Sir Alan Sugar with series 4 winner Lee McQueen

The 4th series of the apprentice. Yes I admit it... I’m obsessed! :P

So yes this year’s winner was Lee McQueen.... “that’s what I’m tawkin about!” - his catchphrase throughout the whole series. Lovable idiot from this series was Raef Bjayou - actually to be fair he wasn’t an idiot at all and was quite business saavy but everyone just seemed to find him hilariously funny. The actual idiot was Michael, apparently a Jewish guy but he couldn’t tell you the difference between a kosher and a halal chicken (a requirement on one of the tasks – the scavenger hunt in Morocco).

The asian girl this year was Sara, who did show some good business acumen but fell victim to group bullying and eventually got fired. Simon (the army man) was a genuinely a nice guy but again a victim of bullying and this year’s crazy person was Lucinda, who always stood out from the crowd with her erm... colourful dress sense. Evil girls this year were both Jennie’s, must be a common thing and the vain guy was Alex from Bolton; yes I’ll admit I fancied him also! Claire was the serious professional business woman and proved to be a serious contestant for Lee in the final. Despite being a bit of a loud mouth, she seemed to have a similar business style to Ruth Badger from series two of the apprentice.

Regardless of having a disastrous job interview and getting caught telling lies on his CV; I’m glad Lee went onto to win the series as I felt he was the most deserving out of the group and appreciative of the opportunity he was being given. I wish Lee the best of luck in his new job!

Diabetes and your vision

Our vision I think is something that we take for granted and we just naturally assume that it will always be there. Could you just imagine if one day you woke up and couldn’t see anything? How terrifying would that be?! I wouldn’t be able to do everyday things like driving, reading, cooking, some I could manage but with major alterations and restrictions. My point is that our sight is utterly vital in our lives and we should treat it with respect and care for it.

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in loss of sight and even though it is more common in people over the age of 50, it can occur in younger individuals.

The resulting loss of vision occurs when the optic nerve, which relays images from the retina (the light sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye) to the brain, is damaged. It is the second most common cause of blindness according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the first most common cause being cataracts (according to the 2002 estimates).

The reason it is so prevalent is that many people do not realise that they have a problem with their vision and therefore don’t seek any treatment. This is why regular eye checkups are essential and in a small minority of people, despite receiving the appropriate treatment, some people are still not able to fully recover which is a cause for concern.

Current treatment for glaucoma involve issuing eye drops (usually chlromephenicaol) which help prevent the build up of fluid and so in effect stopping any damage from occurring to the optic nerve. With this method of treatment, the cornea (a transparent flap that covers certain components of eye i.e. iris, pupil, etc) represents a huge challenge as the drugs have to be able to penetrate the cornea and for this to happen the molecules have to be of a particular size or chemical composition. However this may be about to change...

In the University of Central Florida, a student was testing cerium oxide nanoparticles (nanoceria) to evaluate their efficiency as a catalyst to be used in oven cleaning fluid. During the course of the experiments, the student thought it would be interesting to apply the use of nanoparticles in a medical setting – random, I know.

The University of Oklahoma undertook initial tests for toxicity, which were then followed by animal studies, after which researchers deemed that nanoceria could be used in the effective transportation of drugs – specifically within the human eye.

Unlike eye drops, nanoceria are able to penetrate the cornea safely and effectively. The combination of nanoceria with hcAII enzyme blockers (which stop the hcAII enzymes from producing fluid) would help to prevent fluid build up and damage to the optic nerve. The combination of the two components would mean that drugs could be delivered effectively to the target site without disrupting any of the surrounding areas.

So nanoceria from an oven cleaning catalyst to an effective drug transportation facilitator molecule. It’s funny how science begins in one area and ends up linking to something entirely different.

Sleeping pill may rouse coma patients

I recently read an article in New Scientist on Zolpidem, a drug primarily used to treat insomnia. In 2000, Ralf Clauss and his research group accidently discovered that the drug temporarily restored partial consciousness and suggested that it could be used to restart activity within dormant brain cells. They began drug trials on three patients who had been in a permanent vegetative state – have regular functions but not detectable awareness - for about three years. They were given daily doses of Zolpidem for up to 6 years and were assessed using the Glasgow Coma Scale - there are 15 points on the scale. Generally 8 points or less indicates a severe brain injury whilst 13 points or more is considered a mild brain injury.

It’s suggested that Zolpidem works by activating GABA receptors in brain and so reawakening dormant brain cells. All three patients in the study showed an improvement via an increase in points on the Glasgow scale, however experts do point out that the patients in the study may not have been in a true vegetative state to begin with – a misdiagnosis. Further misdiagnosis cases are explained in paper 2, whilst paper 1 describes the full results of the Zolpidem drug trial.

Paper 1 – Clauss R, Wally N. Drug induced arousal from the permanent vegetative state. Neuro Rehabilitation. 2006. 21(1): pages 23 – 28.

Paper 2 – Andrews K, Murphy L, Mundy R, Littlewood Clare. Misdiagnosis of the vegetative state: retrospective study in a rehabilitation unit. British Medical Journal. 1996. 31: pages 13 – 16.

Despite some limitations, the study results do look promising. The next step would be to use larger patient groups and see whether the results produced are of any statistical significance. I’ve seen quite a few people eventually lose loved ones after waiting and praying that the individual will awaken from their current comatose state – very few actually do. So fingers crossed that this trial will yield some promising results.