- - European weblog on food, health and environment
News - week 9 - 2008
Ormus - Spiritual and Medicinal
Gold With Incredible Healing Potential
Ormus, also known as ORMEs, m-state
elements, white powder gold, or the Philosopher's Stone, was discovered in 1975 by an
Arizona farmer named David Hudson. He discovered some material in his soil that he had
never seen before. He laid it out to dry in the hot Arizona sun so he could have it
analyzed. What happened next was nothing short of amazing: the stuff exploded in a big
flash of light and disappeared! But when he dried it without the use of sunlight it didn't
disappear. Hudson was a very successful farmer and businessman so he could afford to have
an expensive assay of the material done by a professor at New York's Cornell University.
The stuff turned out to contain gold, silver, iron and aluminum, among other things.
However, the gold and silver did not dissolve in fluid, as is usually the case. The iron
and aluminum also did not dissolve in various acids and in their isolated form, but formed
a strange black matter.
A brain circuit that underlies feelings of stress and anxiety shows promise as a new
therapeutic target for alcoholism, according to new studies by researchers at the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health. In
preclinical and clinical studies currently reported online in Science Express, NIAAA
Clinical Director Markus Heilig, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the NIH, Lilly Research
Laboratories, and University College in London.
Gene Variant Predicts Medication
Response in Patients with Alcohol Dependence
Patients with a certain gene variant drank less and experienced better overall clinical
outcomes than patients without the variant while taking the medication naltrexone,
according to an analysis of participants in the National Institutes of Health's 2001-2004
COMBINE (Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence)
Study. About 87 percent of patients with the variant who received naltrexone. experienced
good outcomes, compared with about 49 percent of those who received a placebo. About 55
percent of patients without the variant experienced a good outcome regardless of whether
they received naltrexone or placebo. Good outcome was defined as abstinence or moderate
drinking without related problems, according to an article in the Feb. 4 issue of the
Archives of General Psychiatry.
A nasal vaccine made of ultra-small particles of soybean oil, alcohol, water and
detergents has produced effective immunity against smallpox and HIV in mice, two new
studies by University of Michigan researchers show. The smallpox results could lead to a
safer human smallpox vaccine than the one currently given US soldiers. A second study
shows a nanoemulsion vaccine against HIV can produce mucosal immunity, a likely key
defense against the virus.
Penn researchers engineer first
system of human nerve-cell tissue
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that
living human nerve cells can be engineered into a network that could one day be used for
transplants to repair damaged to the nervous system.
Study looks at new bladder cancer
therapy for patients unresponsive to standard treatment
As many as half of patients with superficial bladder cancer do not respond to the standard
first-line chemotherapy placed into the bladder, according to current multicenter outcomes
data. When this happens, typically, their only option is surgical removal of the bladder.
Now, researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center of NewYork-Presbyterian
Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center are investigating an FDA-approved
metastatic breast-cancer drug called abraxane that may prove a safe and effective
alternative to surgery for these patients.
Bacterial 'battle for survival'
leads to new antibiotic
MIT biologists have provoked soil-dwelling bacteria into producing a new type of
antibiotic by pitting them against another strain of bacteria in a battle for survival.
Heart attack rates fall following
national smoking bans
French researchers announced a striking 15 percent decrease in admissions of patients with
myocardial infarction to emergency wards since the public ban on smoking came into effect
last January. Researchers in Rome found an 11.2 percent reduction of acute coronary events
since the January 2005 smoking ban took effect in Italy. The European Society of
Cardiology wishes to stress the positive impact of smoking bans in all European countries
that have adopted laws banning tobacco use in public places.
Yale scientists create artificial
'cells' that boost the immune response to cancer
Using artificial cell-like particles, Yale biomedical engineers have devised a rapid and
efficient way to produce a 45-fold enhancement of T cell activation and expansion, an
immune response important for a patient's ability to fight cancer and infectious diseases,
according to an advance on line report in Molecular Therapy.
Yale Lab Engineers Virus That Can
Kill Deadly Brain Tumors
A laboratory-engineered virus that can find its way through the vascular system and kill
deadly brain tumors has been developed by Yale School of Medicine researchers, it was
reported this week in the Journal of Neuroscience. Each year 200,000 people in the United
States are diagnosed with a brain tumor, and metastatic tumors and glioblastomas make up a
large part of these tumors. There currently is no cure for these types of tumors, and they
generally result in death within months.
Arctic seed vault opens doors for
100 million seeds
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle,
receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries.
With the deposits ranging from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples
such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties
of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, the first deposits into the seed vault represent
the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in
the world. At the opening ceremony, the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg,
unlocked the vault and, together with the African Nobel Peace Prize-winning
environmentalist Wangari Maathai, he placed the first seeds in the vault. The President of
the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and a host of dignitaries and agriculture
experts from around the globe deposited seeds during the ceremony. A variety of Norwegian
musicians and choirs also performed in the opening ceremony held 130 metres deep inside
the frozen mountain. Built near the village of Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen,
the vault at its inception contains 268,000 distinct samples of seeds—each one
originating from a different farm or field in the world. Each sample may contain hundreds
of seeds or more. In all, the shipments of seeds secured in the vault today weighed
approximately 10 tonnes, filling 676 boxes.
Researchers identify and shut down
protein that fuels ovarian cancer
A protein that stimulates blood vessel growth worsens ovarian cancer, but its production
can be stifled by a tiny bit of RNA wrapped in a fatty nanoparticle, a research team led
by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Hormones produced by the heart eliminated human pancreatic cancer in more than
three-quarters of the mice treated with the hormones and eliminated human breast cancer in
two-thirds of the mice. The treatment has not yet been tried in humans, but clinical
trials are in the planning stages. The research will be presented at a symposium April 9
at the Experimental Biology 2008 conference in San Diego.
Combination vaccine protects
monkeys from ebola and Marburg viruses
An experimental, combination vaccine against ebola and Marburg viruses using virus-like
particles provides complete protection against infection in monkeys. Researchers from the
US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases report their results today at
the 2008 ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting in Baltimore, Md.
Drug for anemic cancer patients
raises risk of death
Millions of cancer patients take drugs to boost their red blood cells and health when they
become anemic after chemotherapy. But a new study by Northwestern University's Feinberg
School of Medicine shows these drugs, called erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, actually
raise patients' risk of death by 10 percent, possibly by stimulating the growth of cancer
cells.
Bacteria mutate for a living, evading antibiotic drugs while killing tens of thousands of
people in the United States each year. But as concern about drug-resistant bacteria grows,
one novel approach under way at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill seeks to
thwart the bug without a drug by taking a cue from nature. Mark Schoenfisch and his lab of
analytical chemists at UNC have created nano-scale scaffolds made of silica and loaded
with nitric oxide (NO) – an important molecule in mammals that plays a role in
regulating blood pressure, neurotransmission and fighting bacterial infections, among
other vital functions. “There was evidence that nitric oxide kills bacteria, but the
difficult part involved storing it in a manner such that it could be delivered to
bacterial cells,” said Evan Hetrick, a doctoral student in Schoenfisch’s lab and
lead author on a paper in the February issue of the American Chemical Society’s
journal ACS Nano.
While the body constantly produces NO, and
can ramp up its production to fight infection, sometimes it can’t produce enough to
mount a sufficient defense. Previous research using small molecules to deliver NO hit
roadblocks – controlling the release of the compound was difficult and the molecules
were potentially toxic to healthy cells in the body. “With silica scaffolds, nitric
oxide stores easily and we could very carefully control the release,” said
Schoenfisch, an associate professor of chemistry in UNC’s College of Arts and
Sciences. Schoenfisch, Hetrick and their colleagues tested their silica scaffolds
head-to-head with small molecules against the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is
commonly found in burn and other wound infections. NO delivered by both methods completely
killed the bacteria. But the silica nanoparticles delivered the NO right to the
bacteria’s doorstep. In contrast, the small molecules released NO indiscriminately,
and the concentration of NO is lost as it makes its way toward bacterial cells. “With
the silica particles, more NO actually reached the inside of the cells, enhancing the
efficacy of the nanoparticles compared to the small molecule. So, the overall amount of NO
needed to kill bacteria is much less with silica nanoparticles,” Schoenfisch said.
“And, with small molecules, you’re left with potentially toxic byproducts,”
Schoenfisch said. Using mouse cells, they proved that the silica nanoparticles
weren’t toxic to healthy cells, but the small molecules were.
Autism's origins - Mother's
antibody production may affect fetal brain
The mothers of some autistic children may have made antibodies against their fetuses'
brain tissue during pregnancy that crossed the placenta and caused changes that led to
autism, suggests research led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center investigators and
published in the February issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology.
Study details link between obesity,
carbs and esophageal cancer
Cases of esophageal cancer (adenocarcinoma) in the US have risen in recent decades from
300,000 cases in 1973 to 2.1 million in 2001 at age-adjusted rates. A new study published
in the American Journal of Gastroenterology shows that these rates in the US closely
mirrored trends of increased carbohydrate intake and obesity from 1973-2001.
The injection of gas into the eye, as is performed in various ophthalmic surgical
procedures, can cause blindness by expanding the eye. This rare but serious problem is
described by a team of anesthesiologists and ophthalmologists from the Essen (Germany)
University Clinic in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch
Arztebl Int 2008; 105(6): 108-12).
GP's databases could identify tens
of thousands with undiagnosed diabetes in UK
Researchers who examined blood test records in a survey of over 3.6 million patient
records held by UK GP surgeries have found thousands of cases of probable undiagnosed
diabetes. This could help identify tens of thousands of people with undiagnosed diabetes
in UK.
LA BioMed study finds hormone
therapy increases frequency of abnormal mammograms, breast biopsies
Combined hormone therapy appears to increase the risk that women will have abnormal
mammograms and breast biopsies, and it may decrease the effectiveness of both methods for
detecting breast cancer, according to a report in the Feb. 25 issue of Archives of
Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Mood markers isolated in blood open
informative window into brain functioning and disease
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have isolated biomarkers in the blood
that identify mood disorders, a breakthrough that may change the way bipolar illness is
diagnosed and treated.
In a paper entitled Leg Disorders in Broiler Chickens: Prevalence, Risk Factors and
Prevention, Toby Knowles and his colleagues at the University of Bristol, the University
of Warwick and The Royal Veterinary College, report that the huge increase in growth rates
of broiler chickens means more than a quarter of these intensively-reared birds have
difficulty walking and suffer from poor leg health. Coincidentally, the paper was
published the day after British supermarket giant, Tesco, announced it was to start
selling super-cheap (groan) whole chickens for as little as £1.99 ($4). This is despite
efforts from celebrity chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver (presenters of
the Channel 4 TV shows Hugh’s Chicken Run and Jamie’s Fowl Dinners,
respectively, Oliver also infamous for his use of the word pukka) to raise awareness of
the terrible living conditions broiler chickens must endure, compared to their free-range
counterparts.
High zinc status in lung cells
slows growth and induces DNA damage-induced gene expression
Researchers at the University of Maryland at College Park have discovered that Normal
Human Bronchial Epithelial cells cultured in medium with elevated zinc level, at the high
end of plasma zinc attainable by oral supplementation, demonstrated inhibition of cell
growth, up-regulation of growth arrest and DNA damage-induced gene (Gadd45) mRNA and
protein expression, and blockage of G2/M cell cycle progression.
An international research team headed by scientists at the University of Bonn has
identified a gene that is responsible for a rare hereditary form of hair loss. The
scientists are the first to identify a receptor that plays a role in hair growth. They now
hope that their research findings will lead to new therapies that will work with various
forms of hair loss.
Compact fluorescent lamps - those spiral, energy-efficient bulbs popular as a device to
combat global warming - can pose a small risk of mercury poisoning to infants, young
children, and pregnant women if they break, two reports concluded yesterday.
For his doctorate, Sverre Ludvig Seierstad investigated the biological consequences of
exchanging the fish oils commonly used in fish feed with vegetable oils. What consequences
might this have on both fish and human health? The research project “Fjord til bord
(Fjord to table)” has been a collaboration between the Norwegian School of Veterinary
Science, the National institute for Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), Nutreco ARC
and Ullevål University Hospital. In collaboration with Ullevål Hospital, heart patients
with atherosclerosis (disease of the cardiac arteries) were placed on three different
diets, using salmon meat containing varying amounts of fish oil and vegetable oil. It was
shown that the fat composition of the salmon meat affected the fatty acid profile of the
patients’ blood and that the advantageous marine omega-3 fatty acids increased
markedly in those patients that ate fish fed on feed containing pure fish oils. It was
also shown that in these patients the levels of marker substances for heart and vessel
disease were much better than in patients eating fish fed pure rapeseed oil.
Antidepressant Drugs Work No Better
than Placebo; Big Pharma Hoax Finally Exposed
This study is sending shockwaves through the medical community. It finally reveals the Big
Pharma hoax behind antidepressant drugs. Through fraudulent science and clever marketing,
drug companies have managed to take a drug that works no better than placebo and turn it
into a multi-billion dollar scam. But the truth is finally out: Taking Prozac is no more
effective than taking a sugar pill! Hundreds of millions of consumers have been fooled by
the quack science supporting modern pharmaceutical medicine.
Initial Severity and Antidepressant
Benefits - A Meta-Analysis of Data Submitted to the Food and Drug Administration
These findings suggest that, compared with placebo, the new-generation antidepressants do
not produce clinically significant improvements in depression in patients who initially
have moderate or even very severe depression, but show significant effects only in the
most severely depressed patients. The findings also show that the effect for these
patients seems to be due to decreased responsiveness to placebo, rather than increased
responsiveness to medication. Given these results, the researchers conclude that there is
little reason to prescribe new-generation antidepressant medications to any but the most
severely depressed patients unless alternative treatments have been ineffective. In
addition, the finding that extremely depressed patients are less responsive to placebo
than less severely depressed patients but have similar responses to antidepressants is a
potentially important insight into how patients with depression respond to antidepressants
and placebos that should be investigated further.
Living with a smoker places companion animals of many species at increase risk for a
variety of cancers and other health problems, many of which are fatal, according to a
press release issued by Oklahoma State University.
Cow Milk Allergy And The Mechanisms
Of Food Allergy
A food allergic reaction occurs as a result of some component of the immune system, which
normally protects us from infectious agents, inappropriately reacting to the proteins in
foods we eat. Food allergic diseases usually occur in the first decade of life and are
directly linked to the maturation of the immune system. In general, clinical symptoms are
not detected at birth and although the production of IgE starts in the eleventh week of
gestation, no specific sensitization to food allergens can be detected in cord blood.
Hillary, Will You Renounce Your
Terrible Ties to Monsanto, Please?
Many years ago, Monsanto bought the patent and manufactured NutraSweet. Maybe they are
concerned about squelching any and all product liability questions that might ensue from
legislation? Monsanto is all over Hawaii with seed experimentation which puts at risk
Native Hawaiian agricultural genetics; their on-going history manufacturing horrible and
deadly chemicals speaks for itself.
Georgia Surgeon Describes
Aspartame-Induced Hand Tremors
I am a physician and truly disturbed by the continued availability of Aspartame in our
food supply. As a resident physician I developed tremors in my dominant hand (right).
These tremors affected my surgical performance to the point of having one of my professors
inquire as to whether or not I had an alcohol problem. I can assure you that I do not, nor
have I ever had a substance abuse problem of any kind.
Pollution fears are misplaced while
toxins thrive indoors
A Danish study of non-smokers aged between 60 and 75 found that the use of an air filter
in the home for only 48 hours improved vascular function in the participants as much as
stopping smoking would do in a smoker. When the high-efficiency particle air (HEPA)
filters were used to clean the air in the apartments of 21 older couples, their
blood-vessel function improved by about 8%.
New study blames heat for leaching
of chemical from plastics
A new study may provide a clearer picture of how a controversial chemical called bisphenol
A leaches out of plastics. Concern over bisphenol A, or BPA, has grown since August, when
a government panel expressed "some concern" that the ingredient — used in
some plastic bottles, dental sealants and linings of metal cans — causes neural and
behavioral problems among children.
A formal investigation has been launched by French authorities against two managers from
drug companies GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur. A second investigation for manslaughter
has also been opened against Sanofi Pasteur MSD.
A new panel of tests aimed at finding out how drugs may damage cells has turned up a
series of interactions that may explain some of the serious side-effects of statin drugs,
researchers said on Sunday.
The amount of dangerous bisphenol A (BPA) that leaches from plastic bottles into the
drinks they contain is most dependent on the liquid's temperature, according to new
research. When both new and used polycarbonate drinking bottles were exposed to boiling
hot water, BPA was released 55 times more rapidly.
Inflammation - What to Eat to
Reduce Your Risk of Many Diseases
Inflammation is a double-edged sword. While it is very critical for the healing of wounds,
it is also a bodily response that can become too much of a good thing. Any infection,
injury or toxicity problem inflicted on our bodies is handled by the inflammatory response
that occurs automatically. Unfortunately, if certain substances in our bodies become
unbalanced, the inflammation switch can come "on" at the wrong time or forget to
go "off" when no longer needed.
Due to great inventions of our science and technology many new medicines have sprung up
promising to cure human beings from each and every disease. Whey proteins are an example
of such inventions. Whey proteins are a type of protein rich drug which can be used in
many ways. These proteins were first discovered in 1980's. Scientists are still making
their researches on these proteins and there results are highly impressive. These days the
main concern for scientists is Whey proteins only.
How Bacteria Gain Resistance To
Multiple Types Of Antibiotics
A team of scientists from the University Paris Descartes has solved the structure of two
proteins that allow bacteria to gain resistance to multiple types of antibiotics,
according to a report in EMBO reports this month.
Video - How do they get fur to make
your winter coat
Radiation From Mobile Phones
Changes Protein Expression In Living People, Study Suggests
A new study completed by the Finnish
Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) on effects of mobile phone radiation on
human skin strengthens the results of the human cell line analyses: living tissue responds
to mobile phone radiation.
EU - Better Training for Safer Food
gets underway for 2008
Between 25 and 29 February, the Directorate
General for Health and Consumer Protection's 'Better Training for Safer Food' initiative
conducts its first training session for 2008 in Bangkok. The event trains participants
from Thailand on the application of the EU's Trade Control Expert System (TRACES). This
system aims to improve procedures for importing animals and products of animal origin
using electronic exchange of import documents and other information.
This falls within a broader training
programme on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed and is one of five programmes for
2008 specifically dedicated to third countries. Others cover food testing, EU food
standards, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) control and assessment of the global
HPAI situation.
Overall, ten programmestake place in the
EU. Those continuing from 2007 cover veterinary checks at Border Inspection Posts, animal
by-products and animal welfare standards, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
principles, plant protection products and zoonoses. New programmes deal with plant health
controls, hygiene and controls of meat, milk, fish and products thereof, as well as
eradication of BSE
and similar diseases. These programmes should train over 4,000 participants globally, via
120 events including workshops, seminars and assistance missions.
For further information on 'Better Training
for Safer Food', please visit:
Study finds spine surgery yields
greater benefits over nonsurgical treatments
A research study by orthopedic spine, back and neck surgeon at Rush University Medical
Center Dr. Howard An and colleagues found that patients who underwent surgery for spinal
stenosis showed significantly more improvement in all primary outcomes than did patients
who were treated nonsurgically.
'Fluorescent' cells give early
warning for eye disease
A new metabolic imaging instrument can accurately detect eye disease at a very early
stage, by looking for fluorescence caused by metabolic stress, researchers report. The
device could be vision-saving because many severe eye diseases do not exhibit early
warning signals before they begin to diminish vision.
Video - The Film About Vaccines You
Simply Must See
As antidepressants start working,
hopelessness lingers
People taking medication for depression typically see a lot of improvements in their
symptoms during the first few months, but lagging behind other areas is a sense of
hopefulness, according to new research from the University of Michigan Health System
Before CT scan, many should take
kidney-protecting drug
As more and more Americans undergo CT scans and other medical imaging scans involving
intense X-rays, a new U-M study suggests that many of them should take a pre-scan drug
that could protect their kidneys from damage.
Childhood obesity leads to higher
rate of problems during surgery
Add this to the growing list of health challenges faced by obese children: A new study
from the University of Michigan Health System finds that obese children are much more
likely than normal-weight children to have problems with airway obstruction and other
breathing-related functions during surgery.
New research to be carried out at The University of Nottingham could have a major impact
on the way that people struggling with low back pain are helped to stay in work. Back pain
is one of the main causes of absence from work in the UK. In 2004-5 approximately 34,000
people in the East Midlands suffered from musculoskeletal disorders affecting their backs,
which they believed were caused or made worse by their current or past work. Now medical
research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign has awarded a three-year primary care
fellowship of almost £132,000 to occupational therapist Carol Coole at The University of
Nottingham, to develop more effective ways in which the NHS can work with employees with
back pain - and their employers - to ensure that back pain doesn't drive them away from
the workplace.
Smoking during pregnancy can put
mothers and babies at risk
Pregnant women who suffer from the high risk condition pre-eclampsia -- which leads to the
death of hundreds of babies every year -- are putting the lives of their unborn children
at significantly increased risk if they continue to smoke during pregnancy.
Bacteria and nanofilters -- the
future of clean water technology
Bacteria often get bad press, with those found in water often linked to illness and
disease. But researchers at The University of Nottingham are using these tiny organisms
alongside the very latest membrane filtration techniques to improve and refine water
cleaning technology.
A rare diagnosis in the operation
room - Kidney atrophy due to duplicated colon in an adult
Lower gastrointestinal system duplications are extremely rare entities in the adult. A
surgical team in Turkey diagnosed and successfully treated a patient with a duplicated
colon which had lead to hydronephrotic kidney.
What are simple ways to judge the
efficacy of 5-fluorouracil in colonic neoplasm?
The outcomes for patients who receive 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy are different. It
seems the efficacy of 5-FU is affected by the intratumoral thymidylate synthase level, so
detecting intratumoral TS levels is very important for patients who are going to receive
5-FU- based chemotherapy. A research group at the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University
recently found a simple way to judge the TS levels of colonic neoplasms.
University of Sydney researchers
find new evidence linking kava to liver damage
A research group from the University of Sydney has found new evidence, using innovative
techniques, to support the growing body of literature that indicates kava may have a
negative effect on the liver. Kava is a plant native to the South Pacific that has been
used as a ceremonial beverage in the region for thousands of years, and, more recently, as
a natural treatment for medical conditions such as anxiety.
May inflammatory bowel disease
mimic gynecological disorders in its clinical presentation
Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, may present with cyclical symptoms more
commonly associated with gynecological conditions such as endometriosis. Crohn's disease
and intestinal endometriosis share many overlapping clinical, radiological and
pathological features that can present a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the
physician. A research group led by Dr. Zafer Teke from Turkey has described a case of
extremely complicated Crohn's disease clinically mimicking small bowel endometriosis.
Stroke risk factors may signal
faster cognitive decline in elderly
Older Americans with the highest risk of stroke, but those who have never suffered a
stroke, also have the highest rate of cognitive decline, researchers reported at the
American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2008.
Premature birth can have serious effects on the development and growth of children. In
many parts of the world, preterm deliveries are increasing in frequency. In a study
published in the February 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics &
Gynecology, researchers from the University of Porto Medical School and the Hospital S.
Joao, Porto, Portugal, found that there was a strong link between physical abuse during
pregnancy and premature births.
Children who do not get enough
sleep sustain more injuries
Lack of adequate sleep can lead to increased injuries among preschool children, new
research shows. This study published in Public Health Nursing shows that the average
number of injuries during the preschool years is two times higher for children who don't
get enough sleep each day as described by their mothers.
Transplantation of kidneys from older donors is followed by increased stiffening of the
recipient's aorta -- which may help to explain the higher rates of cardiovascular disease
and death in patients receiving kidneys from "expanded criteria" donors, reports
a study in the April Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Novel link between excessive
nutrient levels and insulin resistance
For quite some time now, scientists suspected the so-called hexosamine pathway -- a small
side business of the main sugar processing enterprise inside a cell -- to be involved in
the development of insulin resistance. But they could never quite put their finger on the
underlying mechanism. Now, researchers have uncovered the long-missing molecular link: the
enzyme OGT, the last in a line of enzymes that shuttle sugars through the hexosamine
pathway.
Patients' relatives are ignored by
the health system and suffer emotional stress
A research work carried out at the Department of Social Anthropology of the University of
Granada reveals that Spanish hospitals are not adapted to caregivers who look after their
sick relatives. Although these people lighten the workload of health professionals, such
as nurses and health assistants, they often have a sense of inferiority.
Safer and more effective way to
treat Crohn's disease
An international research study, published in the Lancet, has thrown into question the
current method of treating Crohn's disease -- opening the door to a safer and more
effective treatment option for sufferers of the chronic disease.
A regular dip could benefit
fibromyalgia sufferers
Patients suffering from fibromyalgia could benefit significantly from regular exercise in
a heated swimming pool, a study published today in the open access journal Arthritis
Research & Therapy shows. The findings suggest a cost effective way of improving
quality of life for patients with this often-debilitating disorder.
Immune deficiency and balance
disorder result from single gene defect
A genetic defect that causes a severe immune deficiency in humans may also produce balance
disorders, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Iowa, the Jackson
Laboratory and East Carolina University.
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found a previously unknown molecular
pathway in mice that spurs the growth of new blood vessels when body parts are jeopardized
by poor circulation. At present, their observation adds to the understanding of blood
vessel formation. In the future, though, the researchers suggest it is possible that the
pathway could be manipulated as a means of treating heart and blood vessel diseases and
cancer.
Doctors should watch for depression
in arthritis patients
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are twice as likely to experience depression but are
unlikely to talk to a doctor about it, according to researchers at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Gene newly linked to inherited ALS
may also play role in common dementia
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have linked a mutation
in a gene known as TDP-43 to an inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the
neurodegenerative condition often called Lou Gehrig's disease.
Study identifies another strategy
for normalizing tumor blood supply
Manipulating levels of nitric oxide, a gas involved in many biological processes, may
improve the disorganized network of blood vessels supplying tumors, potentially improving
the effectiveness of radiation and chemotherapy.
MGH study identifies enzyme that
protects against intestinal bacterial toxin
A persistent mystery in human medicine is how the lining of the small intestine, through
which nutrients are absorbed, also prevents intestinal bacteria and their toxins from
entering the bloodstream and causing serious infections. A team of researchers from
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has found that a specific intestinal enzyme may be
able to block the action of the bacterial toxin involved in the overwhelming infection
known as sepsis. The findings, which will appear in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, may also explain why patients recovering from serious injury are less
likely to develop infections if they receive gastrointestinal nutrition.
Newly discovered role of thyroid
hormone during pregnancy
Thyroid hormone deficiencies in early pregnancy can cause locomotor underdevelopment in
the child, according to research from the Swedish medical university Karolinska
Institutet. The results bring new insights into brain development and could affect routine
pregnancy testing.
Study shows effects of vitamin D
and skin's physiology
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have found that previtamin D3
production varies depending on several factors including skin type and weather conditions.
The study will appear in the March 2008 issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
The same chemical reaction that causes iron to rust plays a similarly corrosive role in
our bodies. Oxidative stress chips away at healthy cells and is a process, scientists
know, that contributes to a host of diseases and conditions in humans ranging from
Alzheimer's, heart disease and stroke to cancer and the inexorable process of aging.
Study confirms cardiac surgery drug
increases death rate
The largest study to date of a controversial cardiac surgery drug shows it increases death
rates and damages kidney function, according Duke University Medical Center researchers.
Aprotinin, a drug used to limit bleeding, was temporarily suspended from marketing in the
U.S. in November 2007 after a small Canadian study was stopped because similar findings
were discovered. The drug, Trasylol, is manufactured by Baylor AG."We're not
surprised by the results,” says Dr. Andrew Shaw, an associate professor in Duke
Medicine’s department of anesthesiology and the lead author of the paper which
appears in the February 21 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. “It's what
we expected to find.” The Duke study is significant because “it is more than
twice the size of the next largest study of aprotinin,” says Shaw. The prospective
data was collected between 1996 and 2005. “Unlike the highly selected nature of
randomized trial populations, our data represent the every day cardiac bypass surgery
patient population. The data were collected at a time when aprotinin was thought to be
safe.”
New findings show that a specialized virus with the ability to reproduce its tumor-killing
genes can selectively target tumors in the brains of mice and eliminate them. Healthy
brain tissue remained virtually untouched, according to a Feb. 20 report in the Journal of
Neuroscience. With more research, the technique could one day offer a novel way of
treating brain cancer in humans.
Siblings of schizophrenia patients
display subtle shape abnormalities in brain
Subtle malformations in the brains of patients with schizophrenia also tend to occur in
their healthy siblings, according to investigators at the Silvio Conte Center for the
Neuroscience of Mental Disorders at the Washington University School of Medicine. Shape
abnormalities were found in the brain's thalamus. The researchers performed brain MRI
scans in 25 patients with schizophrenia and their non-affected siblings and compared the
scans with those of 40 healthy volunteers and their siblings.
Study suggests antibiotic may
prevent dreaded brain fever
Two researchers from National Brain Research Center suggest that a common antibiotic
called minocycline may prevent children from death due to Japanese encephalitis, or
commonly known as brain fever.
Effective ADHD Treatment Found for
Children with Fragile X Syndrome
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common hereditary form of mental retardation. Many
children with FXS also suffer from attention deficit and/or hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
which complicates social relationships at home and at school. Although stimulant
medication such as Ritalin® is often successfully used to treat children with ADHD,
studies have shown that while it is effective in children with mental retardation, it also
causes side effects such as increased irritability, decreased verbalization and social
withdrawal. A previous study showed that L-acetyl carnitine (LAC), a form of the amino
acid carnitine, significantly reduced hyperactive behavior in FXS boys with ADHD who were
treated with it for one year without causing adverse side effects. The same authors have
now conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study to
determine the effectiveness of LAC in a larger group.
A new gene therapy approach that
attracts and “trains” immune system
cells to destroy deadly brain cancer cells also provides long-term immunity, produces no
significant adverse effects and -- in the process of destroying the tumor -- promotes the
return of normal brain function and behavioral skills, according to a study conducted by
researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Board of Governors Gene Therapeutics
Research Institute. The study was conducted in a recently developed laboratory rat model
of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) that closely simulates outcomes in humans and supports
the translation of this procedure to human clinical trials later this year.
Gastrointestinal bleeding can be fatal -- something which is not known to many alcoholics.
This was the conclusion reached by the Leipzig gastroenterologist Niels Teich and his
colleagues, on the basis of a survey in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt
International.
Researchers at Adelaide's Women's & Children's Hospital and the University of
Adelaide, Australia, have made a world-first discovery that links viral infection with
high blood pressure during pregnancy and preterm birth.
South Australian women who may be suffering from a common hormone problem have the chance
to find out more about the condition and how it can be treated at a free public health
seminar at the University of Adelaide tonight. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) can affect
women from as early as puberty, and can continue through and beyond the reproductive
years. If the symptoms remain untreated, women run a higher risk of heart disease, cancer
and diabetes. "Unfortunately, because of the nature of the syndrome and its symptoms,
many women who have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome don't know that they have it," says
Professor Rob Norman, Director of the University's Research Centre for Reproductive
Health.
Stress hormone impacts memory,
learning in diabetic rodents
Diabetes is known to impair the cognitive health of people, but now scientists have
identified one potential mechanism underlying these learning and memory problems. A new
National Institutes of Health study in diabetic rodents finds that increased levels of a
stress hormone produced by the adrenal gland disrupt the healthy functioning of the
hippocampus, the region of the brain responsible for learning and short-term memory.
Swedish researchers reveal how
development of nervous system is coordinated
Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have identified the signals that govern how the
development of the central and peripheral nervous system is coordinated in time and space.
A research team at Umeå Center for Molecular Medicine has identified the signals that
coordinate the early development of the central and peripheral nervous systems during the
fetal stage. This is of great importance to our understanding of how the central and
peripheral nervous systems are linked together into a functioning system. The human
nervous system consists of the brain and spinal marrow, which constitute the central
nervous system (CNS), and sensory nerve cells that comprise the peripheral nervous system
(PNS). Information from our surroundings-sight, smell, hearing, etc.-are transmitted
from specific sensory nerve cells in the PNS to the central nervous system, where it is
processed and governs our response. These processes require the two nervous systems to be
functionally connected. It is known that this connectivity is established during the fetal
stage, but until now we have not known how the formation of the central and peripheral
nervous systems is coordinated in time and space.
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which are harmless individually in small doses, can
together be a dangerous cocktail. Concurrent exposure to several endocrine-disrupting
substances may, among other things, result in malformed sexual organs. Risk assessments of
chemical substances should therefore take potential cocktail effects into account. These
are the findings of research conducted by the National Food Institute, Technical
University of Denmark."Our studies show that concurrent exposure to several
endocrine-disrupting substances in small doses can increase the frequency of malformations
such as hypospadias even though the doses are harmless individually. It is therefore not
sufficient to establish reference values only by looking at one substance at a time,"
concludes Sofie Christiansen, PhD student at the National Food Institute, Technical
University of Denmark.
Most concerning, to me, has been my cholesterol. In the past year, I've seen my numbers go
down as I exercise more and eat fewer fatty foods. In the past five months, Accutane has
erased that progress, causing my cholesterol to go up 100 points and my triglycerides to
more than quadruple. To combat Accutane's effects, I've now doubled my exercise,
quadrupled my fiber intake, and am taking a triglyceride-lowering drug.
Associate professor of Chemistry Yoshitaka Ishii and his team have isolated an
intermediate structure of the fiber-like amyloid plaques (fibrils) which, they believe,
can be responsible for the nerve cell damage associated with Alzheimer's.
Study Suggests Link Between Smoking
and Alzheimer’s
a new study conducted by Frank M. LaFerla, associate director of the Institute for Brain,
Aging and Dementia at UC Irvine, shows that nicotine may contribute to Alzheimer’s
disease, despite previous research suggesting that nicotine may prevent the crippling
disease.
"The biotechnology industry threatens to set an extremely worrying example if it wins
approval for this potato," said Patrice Courvalin, the head of the Antibacterial
Agents Unit at the medical research center Institut Pasteur in Paris. "We should keep
trying to prevent dissemination of antibiotic resistance rather than to allow products
into the food chain that could potentially make a bad situation even worse."
A woman goes into her local hospital for routine minor surgery to remove a tiny lesion on
her labia. But just before the anaesthetic is administered, her doctor leans over her -
out of earshot of the operating theatre staff.“I’m going to take your clitoris
too,” he whispers.
Researchers believe a deadly fungus first seen on Vancouver Island might be spreading to
British Columbia's Lower Mainland, a heavily populated area that includes Vancouver and
suburbs such as Surrey, Richmond, and Delta.
Green Tea Nutrient EGCG Blocks
Diabetes-Promoting Effects of High Fructose Corn Syrup
While new research suggests that beverages containing high fructose corn syrup may
increase a person's risk of contracting diabetes, the same study has also found evidence
that a chemical in tea vastly counterbalances the cell-damaging effect of the sweetener.
Bayer, Onyx Stop Nexavar Test on
Lung-Cancer Patients
Bayer AG, Germany's biggest drugmaker, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. stopped a study of
the Nexavar cancer drug against lung tumors because the product failed to help patients
live longer than standard treatment.
Abnormal antibodies in maternal blood that bind to fetal brain cells may contribute to the
development of autism, according to two new studies from the MIND Institute at the
University of California, Davis.
Even as mounting evidence suggests the state may harbor more tick-borne illness than
records indicate, patients with symptoms that match Lyme disease say doctors continue to
turn deaf ears to their complaints.
Consuming diet soda might raise the risk of developing serious health problems, according
to a study done by researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of North
Carolina.
Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, and one of the more deadly ones.
Its long-term survival rate--50 percent--hasn't improved in the past 30 years. A
University of Minnesota research team is working on an interdisciplinary project to
improve these statistics, using a mix of medical research and computer science. The
research group analyzes saliva and uses it to help identify proteins, or biomarkers, for
the early detection of oral cancer. The goal is to identify the proteins that lead to oral
cancer and create a method to diagnose the disease in its earliest stages.
Researchers home in on the
connection between obesity and insulin resistance
one out of five Americans has insulin resistance, an obesity-related disorder in which
cells lose their ability to respond to their pancreas's prompting to absorb glucose from
the bloodstream. And insulin resistance often leads to type 2 diabetes. As America gains
weight, the incidence of insulin resistance and diabetes is growing too, with huge health
implications.Understanding the link between obesity and insulin resistance is a goal of
David Bernlohr, professor and head of the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
and Biophysics in the College of Biological Sciences."We would like to know the
molecular mechanism connecting obesity to type 2 diabetes to develop specific molecular
therapies," he says, "or identify drug targets that might be efficient in
treating obesity-linked disease."To that end, Bernlohr, assistant professor Tim
Griffin, and student Paul Grimsrud have been taking an inside look at key molecules within
fat cells.Their starting point is the fact that type 2 diabetes often goes hand in hand
with a condition within cells known as oxidative stress. Oxidative stress leads to the
production of molecules known as reactive aldehydes that alter the structure of proteins.
Could protein alteration be behind insulin resistance?The researchers began their quest
for an answer by looking for altered proteins in the fat cells of lean and obese mice.
Using a special technique they developed, they found that altered proteins were two to
three times as common in the fat cells of overfed obese mice than in those of lean mice.
They also discovered that the concentration of an enzyme called GSTA4, which destroys the
reactive aldehyde 4-HNE, was three to four times lower in the obese mice. When they looked
into what was already known about the enzyme, they discovered that genetically engineered
mice missing the gene for GSTA4 (and so less able than normal mice to destroy 4-HNE) are
diabetic--strong support for their suspicion that 4-HNE's protein-altering ability
contributes to insulin resistance.
Seaweed may help cure diabetes, researchers suggests. Scientists from MicroIslet Inc firm
at San Diego have developed the seaweed coating as a potential cure for diabetes.
Phoenix Tears is a not for profit entity dedicated to the production of Hemp medicines and
providing information about the use of natural Hemp oil, (not Hemp Seed oil) as an
effective treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses.
Women who live in neighborhoods with large amounts of nighttime illumination are more
likely to get breast cancer than those who live in areas where nocturnal darkness
prevails, according to an unusual study that overlaid satellite images of Earth onto
cancer registries.
Smoking causes permanent genetic damage, which explains how lung cancer can develop even
in people who quit the habit years earlier, according to a National Cancer Institute study
A jar of browny-green goo is all it took to end Dr Stephen Minger’s doubtsabout
whether traditional Chinese medicine could teach anything to Western science. When a
colleague walked into the leading stem cell scientist’s lab at King’s College
London with a Chinese remedy that he believed could boost brain cell growth, and asked if
he could test his theory on some neurons that Dr Minger had grown in his lab, he
wasn’t keen.
In an attempt to create greater transparency for consumers, Germany plans to introduce a
new "non-GM" label on food that have not been genetically modified. Deputy
Agriculture Minister Gert Lindem says the non- GM label will apply not only to non-GM
crops but to eggs, meat, and milk from animals raised on non-GM feed.
Hidden Hazards & Costs of
Conventional Food Make Organic a Real Bargain
"The plant and the soil are highly attuned to the microorganisms in it this is the
whole system," said Schaffer. "Plants have an inherent genetic need to protect
themselves against disease, sunlight and pests through antioxidant production. The levels
of protective vitamins, the antioxidants that the plants produce for their own benefit,
are higher in plants not damaged by pesticides and excessive fertilizer. When we eat those
plants, every nutrient in the food literally becomes a medicine for us too."
Wat is MMS? Het werkzame materiaal is chloordioxide. Dus één chlooratoom met twee
zuurstofatomen.De binding tussen chloor en zuurstof is "los", wat betekent dat
als dit molecuul een pathogeen tegenkomt, een zuurstofatoom onmiddellijk dit pathogeen
doodt (meestal anaëroob). Doordat de binding "los" is, is de bestaansduur
slechts uren en valt het langzaam uiteen. Het moet daarom voor gebruik ter plekke
aangemaakt worden en kan niet als chloordioxide bewaard worden.
High Calcium Intake May Not Help
Prevent Fractures
For years, getting a lot of calcium has been portrayed as one of the best things you could
do to prevent osteoporosis and related bone fractures. Small study results supported this
view. But when researchers started to crunch the data from large, prospective studies that
followed people for many years, the benefits weren’t so clear-cut, reports the March
2008 issue of the Harvard Health Letter. The ambiguity led to trials to test what effect
calcium might have on fracture rates. Two studies showed that calcium didn’t prevent
fractures-even when taken in combination with vitamin D. Another study showed that
postmenopausal women who took a calcium-vitamin D combination were no less likely to break
their hip than women who took a placebo pill. And other researchers reported the results
from a meta-analysis of studies on calcium that found no connection between high calcium
intake and lower hip fracture risk.
Ingredient in Yellow Curry Can
Reduce Heart Enlargement and May Prevent Heart Failure
Eating curcumin, a natural ingredient in the spice turmeric, may dramatically reduce the
chance of developing heart failure, researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre of the
Toronto General Hospital have discovered.
Women with Higher Levels of DHEAS
Have Better Cognitive Function
Women with naturally higher levels of the hormone precursor DHEAS were found to have
better cognitive function than women with lower levels, according to a new study appearing
in the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Grant to Study If Early BPA
Exposure Leads to Late Prostate Cancer
Does exposure of baby boys -- in utero or in infancy -- to bisphenol A, a man-made
chemical which mimics natural estrogens, predispose them to prostate cancer later in life?
A five-year, $2.6 million grant to a University of Illinois at Chicago researcher and her
colleague aims to answer this question by shedding light on the mechanism by which it may
occur. Gail Prins, professor of urology at the UIC College of Medicine and lead
investigator on the grant, and her colleague, Shuk-Mei Ho, professor and chair of
environmental health at the University of Cincinnati, established in earlier studies in
animals that perinatal exposure to BPA at very low doses results in increased sensitivity
to estrogen as the male animal ages and an increased risk of developing prostate cancer.
Researchers Examine Animal
Antibiotic Resistance, Possible Human Link
Kansas State University researchers are investigating some pathogens in the animal food
supply that become resistant to antimicrobials used to fight animal disease, and whether
that might lead to more human resistance to the benefits of antibiotics.
Laser Light May Be Able to Detect
Diseases on the Breath
A team of scientists at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder, has shown that by
sampling a person’s breath with laser light they can detect molecules in the breath
that may be markers for diseases like asthma or cancer.
