Would you be able to recognize signs of a stroke?
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Recently, I saw a patient who was recovering from a stroke. She told me she was having breakfast when she realized something was wrong. She kept dropping her spoon because her fingers could no longer grasp it. She took a drink of her coffee and felt liquid dribbling down her chin. When she looked in the mirror, one side of her face sagged.
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Washington Post
19 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb's long journey back after a gruesome knee injury is almost over
PITTSBURGH — Cole Holcomb listened patiently and politely shook his head. No, the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker isn't interested in reliving the gruesome knee injury that forced him to miss a season-and-a-half. Living through it once was punishment enough. Holcomb was chasing after wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins on a Thursday night game in November 2023 when a diving teammate slammed into Holcomb's left leg, shredding multiple ligaments in his knee. How bad was it? The Amazon Prime crew broadcasting the game showed it in slow motion once and decided that was enough.
Associated Press
21 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb's long journey back after a gruesome knee injury is almost over
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Cole Holcomb listened patiently and politely shook his head. No, the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker isn't interested in reliving the gruesome knee injury that forced him to miss a season-and-a-half. Living through it once was punishment enough. Holcomb was chasing after wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins on a Thursday night game in November 2023 when a diving teammate slammed into Holcomb's left leg, shredding multiple ligaments in his knee. How bad was it? The Amazon Prime crew broadcasting the game showed it in slow motion once and decided that was enough. The road back took longer than Holcomb, an admittedly impatient person, ever imagined. He was cleared to return to practice near the end of last season, but never did pull his No. 55 jersey over his increasingly broad shoulders when it counted. The Fear of Missing Out wasn't helped when he watched the middle of Pittsburgh's defense get gashed repeatedly during a five-game skid that culminated in a blowout loss to Baltimore in the opening round of the playoffs. 'Definitely had some days where, you know, you just want to be out there and it's frustrating,' Holcomb said Tuesday, his forehead beaded with sweat after the fourth of the Steelers' six voluntary organized team activities. 'But you know, it's kind of just one of those take each day, one day at a time and just keep chopping.' While Holcomb's inherent confidence led him to believe he was always going to make it back, he knows nothing was guaranteed. The doctors told him there was a chance he'd never play again. It wasn't merely a scare tactic. 'They basically were emphasizing how important the rehab was going to be,' he said. 'You know, if guys don't take it as serious and they don't put the work in, they won't be able to make it back. But if you put the work in, you do the extra stuff, you come every day, no matter how bad you don't want to, all that kind of stuff, you can come back.' The group Holcomb returns to is not the one he left. Fitting in During his lengthy absence, the Steelers signed Patrick Queen to the richest free agent contract in team history and drafted Payton Wilson, who Holcomb once hosted when Holcomb was at North Carolina and Wilson was a coveted recruit. While Holcomb looks 'more chiseled' as Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick put it, that's not the only way in which he has changed. Watching from the sidelines during games let him take a step back and analyze things in real time that are kind of hard to come by when you're on the field five yards from the line of scrimmage. 'I'm 30 yards back watching the thing and I'm, like 'Oh, I know this, I know this is about to happen,'' he said. 'But it's like, hey, it's easy to see that from back here. But it has definitely helped seeing the forest or the trees kind of thing.' So much so that the 28-year-old could envision going into coaching one day, which his wife, Casey, is 'not too happy about.' There were times last season when Holcomb certainly sounded like one. 'He's very vocal, he tries to help everyone out,' Wilson said. 'He knows a lot about the game. He studies a lot. It's cool to be around that guy to see how he watches film and diagnoses stuff.' Yet whatever coaching Holcomb might get into is for down the road. For now, he is focused on trying to get back to being the player who looked every bit worth the $18 million investment the Steelers made in him when they signed him in March 2023. What's next He's less than thrilled that it took this long. Yet if he's learned anything over the last year-plus, it's that he can't take anything for granted. 'The day (during rehab) you think like, 'OK, I hit this milestone,' well, 24 hours later, that's over, got to get moving on to the next step,' he said. 'I wasn't really like, focusing on like 'How many months is it until I can run' or anything like that. You're like, 'What do I got tomorrow?'' What Holcomb has now is a clean bill of health. Seven weeks from now, he'll be in training camp, where he'll be able to hit somebody hard for the first time in nearly two years. He's already practicing. During a drill last week, Holcomb would hit the blocking sled, then turn his attention to Wilson, who was holding a pad. The goal was for Holcomb to drive his shoulder into the pad. He did that, and in the process momentarily lifted the 240-pound Wilson off the ground a time or two before gently placing him back down. Maybe it was Holcomb sending a message to someone who took his place in the starting lineup. Or maybe Holcomb was just settling accounts. Wilson, after all, opted for N.C. State rather than the Tar Heels, though Wilson insisted it had nothing to do with his weekend spent with Holcomb on the North Carolina campus. 'No, not at all,' Wilson said, then added to laughter, 'It was more so like the 5,000 people that go to games there and that's it.' ___ AP NFL:
Gizmodo
21 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
A Monkey Herpesvirus Could Hold Key to New Cancer Treatment
A cousin of herpes might just help us fight cancer. Scientists have engineered a protein derived from a herpesvirus in monkeys that could enhance the immune system's potency against cancer. Researchers at the University of Michigan detailed their work on the protein in a paper published last month. In experiments with mice, the protein prolonged the life of cancer-fighting T cells, leading to reduced tumor growth. The findings point to a novel way that we can further strengthen immune-related cancer treatments, the researchers say. The protein comes from herpesvirus saimiri, named after the squirrel monkeys (all members of the genus Saimiri) that the virus primarily infects. The researchers had identified the virus as carrying proteins that activate certain pathways in T cells—the immune system's frontline soldiers against infections and cancers—that extended their survivability. They ultimately engineered a modified version of one particular protein from the virus, called tyrosine kinase interacting protein (TIP). They hoped their version of TIP could bind to a protein in T cells that would stimulate the production of other proteins called STAT that could then boost the T cells' longevity and cancer-killing potential. As expected, the protein increased levels of STAT (specifically the protein STAT5) in T cells in a Petri dish. They then tested the protein on mice with melanoma and lymphoma. The T cells of treated mice lived longer and killed tumor cells more effectively, resulting in reduced cancer growth, the researchers found. 'Our findings demonstrate that signaling pathways can be rewired in T cells to sustain their function in solid tumors,' the researchers wrote in the paper, published in Science Immunology. In recent years, scientists have developed a class of treatments that ramp up the immune system's natural ability to recognize and attack cancers, which is broadly known as immunotherapy. So the U-M scientists believe that their protein could be used in combination with existing immunotherapies to keep T cells in tip-top cancer-bashing shape. More broadly, they believe that other organisms or their genes can be tweaked to modify our immune cells to make them better at fighting cancers. The team's protein is still experimental, so it will take plenty more research to know whether it can be safely and effectively used in people. But it may not take too long for other herpesviruses to contribute to cancer treatment. Several research teams have developed modified versions of the herpes simplex 1 virus (the primary cause of cold sores) to directly eradicate tumors. Some of these treatments have already begun to be tested in people, and have shown promise in early clinical trials so far.
