- - European weblog on food, health and environment
News - Week 38 - 2008
Curcumin's anti-inflammatory powers
are unproven
Curcumin supplements are hitting store shelves as the compound found in turmeric is being
touted as a possible treatment to Alzheimer's and cancer. But scientists agree more
research is needed.
Fluoride can increase the risk of disorders affecting the teeth, bones, the brain, and
the thyroid glands, according to Scientific American editors. Fluoride alters endocrine
function, especially in the thyroid the gland that produces hormones regulating growth and
metabolism.
Turmeric, an Indian staple, has
long had medicinal uses
The active component of turmeric turns out to be the best blocker yet of a natural
chemical called TNF, or tumor necrosis factor, which contributes to cancers and arthritis
and is resistant to chemotherapy drugs, said Bharat B. Aggarwal, professor of cancer
medicine in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas M.D.
Anderson Cancer Center, who has studied the spice for a decade. "You don't even need
tens of thousands of dollars of TNF blockers," Aggarwal said. "Turmeric does
exactly the same thing." Turmeric is also being studied for its ability to help treat
Alzheimer's disease. The prevalence of Alzheimer's among adults in India aged 70 to 79 is
among the world's lowest. It is 4.4 times less than the rate in the United States.
Massive cancer gene search finds
potential new targets in brain tumors
An array of broken, missing, and overactive genes — some implicated for the first
time — have been identified in a genetic survey of glioblastoma, the most common and
deadly form of adult brain cancer, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and
the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, together with their collaborating investigators at
18 institutions and organizations. The large-scale combing of the brain cancer genome
confirms the key roles of some previously known mutated genes and implicates a variety of
other genetic changes that may be targets for future therapies.
Schoolgirls are suffering severe allergic reactions to the cervical cancer vaccine
Gardasil at a far greater rate than for other common vaccines, an Australian study has
found.
Can Glutamine Enable the Critically
Ill to Cope Better With Infection?
Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are among the most dangerous complications that can occur in
the hospital. According to the recent Epic2 - National Evidence-Based UK Guidelines, 3 in
every 1000 patients acquire a BSI.
GMO's are made by manipulation of extremely deadly viruses, such as Ebola. Monsanto
spends millions of dollars each month to "sugar" coat and hide the truth of what
they are doing or what is really behind how GMO's are made. This video straight-forwardly
explains the scientific facts how Monsanto manufactures their GMO's (Genetically Modified
Organisms) by removing all the corporate propaganda, the "smoke & mirrors"
if you will.
Michael Greger - Stopping Cancer
Before It Starts
Michael Greger, M.D., is a physician, author, and internationally recognized
professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. Dr. Greger has been
invited to lecture at countless universities, medical schools and conferences around the
world, including the Conference on World Affairs, the International Bird Flu Summit, and
the National Institutes of Health. (http://www.drgreger.org/bio.html) He held this
presentation in 2006/7 as part of Dr. McDougall's Advanced Study Weekends Series.
The United States holds the world record of 21 captive orcas. In order to justify the
capture, confinement, and captive breeding of orcas, amusementparks present them to the
paying audiences as ambassadors, and with the support of the US National Marine Fisheries
Service -- a branch of the US Department of Commerce -- the claim is routinely made that
the killer whale and dolphin shows serve the purpose of being 'educational.'
Today, Lolita is the last survivor of 45 orcas known to have been taken from Washington
waters during the 1960's and 1970s. The six other young orcas that were captured during
the same capture operation survived an average of less than five years in captivity.
Lolita and many others dolphins has been imprisoned for 33 years for a crime she did not
commit. She deserves to return home.
Dr. Ann M. Haiden - Inerts in the
Spray are Harmful
The Light Brown Apple Moth Aerial Spray Campaign: The Health Hazards of Particles,
Toxins, Inflammatory Cascades and Genomic Predisposition" - Dr. Ann M. Haiden,
Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and 2-hydroxy-4-n-octylbenzophenone are of particular
concern. BHT is used in animal studies to induce lung damage and cancer in areas of the
respiratory system that are reachable by the planned spray. BHT is activated into a more
potent toxin and then cleared by the major detoxification enzymes cytochrome P450 and
glutathione-S-transferase, which are variable in the population.2 The effects of inhaled
BHT in humans have not been studied. The benzophenone in the spray has not been tested but
other benzophenones have been found to be stronger endocrine disturbers than bisphenol-A,
a very concerning chemical.
About 2.4 million cases of tobacco-related cancers were diagnosed in the United States
from 1999 to 2004, with lung and bronchial cancer accounting for almost half of these
diagnoses, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In the most comprehensive assessment to date, the study marks the first time CDC has
reported on all tobacco-related cancers for more than 90 percent of the
population.“The data in this report provides additional, strong evidence of the
serious harm related to tobacco,” said Sherri Stewart, Ph.D., in CDC?s Division of
Cancer Prevention and Control, who is lead author of the study. “We?ve long known
tobacco was associated with lung and laryngeal cancer, but this study gives us even
greater clarity. The rates for these two cancers were highest in areas with the highest
prevalence of tobacco use.”The Surgeon General has found tobacco use causes these
cancers; lung and bronchial, laryngeal, oral cavity and pharyngeal, esophageal, stomach,
pancreatic, kidney and renal pelvis, urinary bladder, cervical and acute myelogenous
leukemia (AML).
California Assembly passes bill to
ban Teflon chemical
California State Assembly has approved legislation to ban a toxic Teflon chemical from
food wrappers and packaging, which is linked to health risks including cancer, The
Environmental Working Group, a not-for-profit environmental health advocate reported on
August 27.
Liver-Damaging Effects of
Cholesterol Drug Zetia Hidden by Merck, FDA Documents Reveal
Documents on the FDA Web site reveal that pharmaceutical companies Merck and
Schering-Plough conducted numerous safety studies on the popular cholesterol drug Zetia
but did not publish the results, which suggested that the drug may cause liver damage when
mixed with statins. Zetia is a trade name for the drug ezetimibe, also marketed under the
names Ezetrol and Ezemibe.
Since the ministers of the 27 countries in the EU failed to agree on import laws of
genetically modified products, after a ten year period these products will be permitted
for import.
Bisphenol A May Affect Brain,
Behavior, Prostate in Children
A report today by the National Institutes of Health's National Toxicology Program finding
that bisphenol A may alter brain development and behavior and increase the risk of
prostate cancer in children, infants and fetuses is in direct contradiction to last
month's assessment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the chemical is safe at
current levels of exposure.
Best way to treat malaria - Avoid
using same drug for everyone, scientists say
A team of scientists employing a sophisticated computer model pioneered at Princeton
University and Resources for the Future has found that many governments worldwide are
recommending the wrong kind of malaria treatment. Despite the availability of many drugs
and therapies to treat malaria, many countries' national policies recommend using what is
known as a single first-line therapy -- that is, using one drug repeatedly with many
patients. Writing in the Sept. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, a team led by Maciej Boni, who conducted the research as a postdoctoral fellow
at Princeton and scholar at Resources, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, reports that
countries could cut the death rate and forestall the development of drug resistance if a
variety of different drugs were distributed to patients. This approach, known as multiple
first-line therapies or MFT, could be put into place by making sure different drugs cost
about the same, so that patients would not be forced into buying the cheapest available
drug but would choose from a random pool. Or it could be applied by clinic physicians who
could simply alternate their choices for drugs they prescribe to patients.
Common cholesterol-lowering statin drugs such as Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor or Mevacor
deplete one of the brain's critical antioxidant protectors called coenzyme Q10 and put
memory at risk, said neurologist Larry McCleary.
Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory
Syndrome of the Brain
In summary, experience with these 6 cases illustrates the diverse and sometimes
diagnostically challenging presentation of IRIS. Distinction from other entities should
begin with vigilance in all patients with HIV/AIDS. In many cases, brain biopsy provides
an important resource for identifying IRIS and diseases that mimic it.
Study to Explore the Link Between
Periodontal Treatment and Medical Costs for People With Diabetes
Researchers from the Delta Dental Research and Data Institute and the University of
Michigan School of Dentistry are studying the impact that periodontal (gum) treatment may
have on the medical costs of people with diabetes. Analyzing seven years of dental and
medical claims data from Chrysler employees and their dependents, researchers will
determine if medical costs were lower for those with diabetes who also had treatment for
periodontal disease (inflammation of the gums). The healthcare business of Thomson Reuters
-- a global information services company -- is contributing to the data analytics and
methodologies for the study.
Gene and Protein Expression
following Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields from Mobile Phones
The precise role of transcriptomics and proteomics in the screening of bioeffects from
exposure to RF fields from mobile phones is still uncertain in view of the lack of
positively identified phenotypic change and the lack of theoretical, as well as
experimental, arguments for specific gene and/or protein response patterns after this kind
of exposure.
Effects of Maternal Exposure to
Di-(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate during Fetal and/or Neonatal Periods on Atopic Dermatitis in
Male Offspring
Conclusion - Maternal exposure to DEHP during neonatal periods can accelerate atopic
dermatitis-like skin lesions related to mite allergen in male offspring, possibly via T
helper 2 (TH2) -dominant responses, which can be responsible, at least in part, for the
recent increase in atopic dermatitis.
Fluoride Induces Endoplasmic
Reticulum Stress and Inhibits Protein Synthesis and Secretion
These data suggest that F– initiates an ER stress response in ameloblasts that
interferes with protein synthesis and secretion. Consequently, ameloblast function during
enamel development may be impaired, and this may culminate in dental fluorosis.
In Vitro Biologic Activities of the
Antimicrobials Triclocarban, Its Analogs, and Triclosan
Carbanilides, including TCC, enhanced hormone-dependent induction of ER- and AR-dependent
gene expression but had little agonist activity, suggesting a new mechanism of action of
endocrine-disrupting compounds. TCS, structurally similar to noncoplanar ortho-substituted
polychlorinated biphenyls, exhibited weak AhR activity but interacted with RyR1 and
stimulated Ca2+ mobilization. These observations have potential implications for human and
animal health. Further investigations are needed into the biological and toxicologic
effects of TCC, its analogs, and TCS.
The Effect of Supplementation with
Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Markers of Oxidative Stress in Elderly Exposed to
PM2.5
Supplementation with n-3 PUFA appeared to modulate the adverse effects of PM2.5 on these
biomarkers, particularly in the fish oil group. Supplementation with n-3 PUFA could
modulate oxidative response to PM2.5 exposure. The mechanisms of particulate matter (PM)
-induced health effects are believed to involve inflammation and oxidative stress.
Increased intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) appears to have
anti-inflammatory effects.
Video documentary on Monsanto Corporation's abuse of Percy Schmeiser, one small farmer
out of thousands across the globe being terrorized by this multi-national mega company.
Monsanto has head quarters in almost every country, large or small. They do this to
cirumvent the laws that may stop or impead their research. They also invest countless
millions in manipulation of governments and elected officials. To drive this point home,
the top personal of Monsanto were/or currently part of the US government (FDA, Supreme
Court, Sec. of Agriculture, ETC.) Monsanto has started a culture of scientific
manipulation, much like that of buying a common prostitute off the street, Monsanto
"buys" off the universities by way of huge, strictly enforced, "research
grants" worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. If a scientist's research discover
ANYTHING that could adversely affect Monsanto (who supports the university by their
research "grants"), the scientists are told by the College/Lab/University to
immediately stop or "find" a method to support a favorable result. If they
refuse, said researcher is terminated.
The New Era of Medicine is Here! In this documentary, you are going to hear firsthand
from experts ... about this exciting shift in medicine, learn all about natural health,
witness actual sessions, from Naturopathy to revolutionary energy work, including:
Homeopathy, Herbalism, Herbalism, Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Rolfing, CST, CranioSacral
Rherapy, Bodytalk, PSYCH-k, EFT, REIKI, QI GONG, Lifestyle, Feng Shui Meditation,
Reflexology, Wellness Education, Lymphatic Drainage, Bowen Therapy. Become very familiar
with how your health may reflect more about your life than you know. The wisdom offered in
this film amplifies a deeper knowing within, and is empowering people around the world!
Premature children four times more
likely to have behavioural disorders
A team led by the University’s Department of Psychology and Warwick Medical School
examined the behaviour of 200 six-year-old children who had been born below 26 weeks
gestation, known as ‘extremely pre-term’. The researchers attempted to contact
the family of every child born in the UK and Ireland at 25 weeks or earlier, between March
and December 1995. From a possible 308 children who survived the first 6 years, the
parents of 241 responded to the study. The team compared the behaviour of these extremely
pre-term children with a control group of a similar age. They used reports filed by
parents and teachers to test whether extremely pre-term children had more pervasive
behaviour problems (described by both teachers and parents). The researchers found 30.6%
of pre-term children were hyperactive, compared to 8.8% in the full-term group, and 33.3%
of pre-term children displayed attention problems, compared to 6.8%.
Will the 'bare below the elbows'
rule for doctors cut infection rates or just patient confidence?
Should surgeons be bare below the elbows and tie less or are new UK dress rules for
doctors compromising their professional image without sufficient evidence that
hospital-acquired infections will be reduced? That's the question posed by urology
consultant Mr Adam Jones from the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, UK, in the September
issue of BJU International. Charting the history and attire of surgeons from the early
nineteenth century, he points out that it is hard to find significant evidence that the
'bare below the elbows' rule outside the operating theatre will reduce hospital-acquired
infections like MRSA and C.difficile. "The evidence for the roles of ties, shirt
cuffs, rings or watches in infection is hard to find and mostly in obscure medical
journals" says Mr Jones. "Indeed similar levels of bacterial contamination have
been reported on doctors' stethoscopes and pens." However, research has shown that
patients don't like to see surgeons walking around in what they perceive as casual
clothing - they feel more confident in their professional competence when they see them in
white coats.
Fluctuations in serotonin transport
may explain winter blues
Why do many Canadians get the winter blues? In the first study of its kind in the living
human brain, Dr. Jeffrey Meyer and colleagues at the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health (CAMH) have discovered greater levels of serotonin transporter in the brain in
winter than in summer. These findings have important implications for understanding
seasonal mood change in healthy people, vulnerability to seasonal affective disorders and
the relationship of light exposure to mood.CAMH's scientific team discovered that the
serotonin transporter levels were significantly higher in all investigated brain regions
in individuals studied in fall/winter, compared to those studied in spring/summer in a
study of healthy subjects. Serotonin transporters remove serotonin so this discovery
argues that there is more serotonin removal in the fall/winter as compared to
spring/summer. Also, the higher serotonin transporter binding values occurred at times
when there is less sunlight. This is the first time scientists have found differences in
serotonin transporter levels in the brain in fall/winter versus spring/summer. Serotonin
is involved in regulating physical functions such as eating and energy balance, and
emotional functions like mood and energy levels. These phenomena vary across the seasons
and the molecular background for why this happens was previously unknown. For this study,
Dr. Jeffrey Meyer and his team used a world-leading positron emission tomography (PET)
technology (originally created at CAMH by Dr. Alan Wilson) to detect these seasonal
variations in serotonin transporter binding (the process that removes serotonin) in the
living human brain and correlations between serotonin binding and duration of daily
sunshine. As Dr. Meyer explains, this is "an important lead in understanding how
season changes serotonin levels. This offers an explanation for why some healthy people
experience low mood and energy in the winter, and why there is a regular reoccurrence of
depressive episodes in fall and winter in some vulnerable individuals. The next steps will
be to understand what causes this change and how to interfere with it."
Virus Weaves Itself into the DNA
Transferred from Parents to Babies
Parents expect to pass on their eye or hair color, their knobby knees or their big feet to
their children through their genes. But they don’t expect to pass on viruses through
those same genes. New research from the University of Rochester Medical Center shows that
some parents pass on the human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) to their children because it is
integrated into their chromosomes. This is the first time a virus has been shown to become
part of the human DNA and then get passed to subsequent generations. This unique mode of
congenital infection may be occurring in as many as 1 of every 116 newborns, and the
long-term consequences for a child’s development and immune system are unknown.
“At this point, we know very little about the implications of this type of infection,
but the section of the chromosome into which the virus appears to integrate is important
to the maintenance of normal immune function,” said Caroline Breese Hall, M.D.,
professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and
author of the study which publishes in Pediatrics this month. “With further study, we
hope to discern whether this type of infection affects children differently than children
infected after birth.” HHV-6 causes roseola, an infection that is nearly universal by
3 years of age. The typical roseola syndrome produces several days and up to a week of a
high fever and may have variable other symptoms including mild respiratory and
gastrointestinal symptoms. With roseola, just as the fever breaks, the child may briefly
develop a rash. A congenital infection of HHV-6 – or one that is present at birth
– produces high levels of virus in the body but scientists (doctors) do not know
whether it produces any developmental or immune system problems.
Common painkillers lower levels of
prostate cancer biomarker
Common painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen appear to lower a man's PSA level, the blood
biomarker widely used by physicians to help gauge whether a man is at risk of prostate
cancer.But the authors of the study, which appears online Sept. 8 in the journal Cancer,
caution that men shouldn't take the painkillers in an effort to prevent prostate cancer
just yet. "We showed that men who regularly took certain medications like aspirin and
other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDS, had a lower serum PSA level,"
said first author Eric A. Singer, M.D., M.A., a urology resident at the University of
Rochester Medical Center. "But there's not enough data to say that men who took the
medications were less likely to get prostate cancer. This was a limited study, and we do
not know how many of those men actually got prostate cancer."Singer's team studied
the records of 1319 men over the age of 40 who took part in the 2001-2002 National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a health census conducted by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. The team looked at the men's use of NSAIDs such as aspirin
and ibuprofen, as well as the painkiller acetaminophen, and at their PSA levels. A man's
level of PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, is one of many clues that physicians watch to
gauge a man's risk of getting prostate cancer. The team found that men who used NSAIDs
regularly had PSA levels about 10 percent lower compared to men who did not. The team made
a similar observation with acetaminophen, but the result was not statistically significant
due to the lower number of men in the study taking the medication.While it might be easy
to assume that a lowered PSA level automatically translates to a lowered risk of prostate
cancer, the authors stress that it's too soon to draw that conclusion.
'Healthy' individuals may be at
risk for heart disease
In the face of a growing obesity epidemic in the United States, researchers at Wake Forest
University Baptist Medical Center have new study results that indicate that how much fat a
person has is not as important as where that fat is located when assessing risk for
cardiovascular events and metabolic disease. "We are facing an obesity epidemic,
which obviously affects many things – metabolic abnormalities, cardiovascular
disease, etc.," said Jingzhong Ding, M.D., lead researcher and an assistant professor
of gerontology. "Now we are finding out that where the fat is distributed is of high
importance." The findings of the study, funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute and the National Institutes of Health, will appear in the September issue of the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a publication of the American Society for
Nutrition. For the study, researchers used cardiac and CT scans to measure multiple fat
depots in 398 white and black participants from Forsyth County, N.C., ages 47-86. They
found that the amount of fat a person had deposited around organs and in between muscles
(nonsubcutaneous fat) had a direct correlation to the amount of hard, calcified plaque
they had. Calcified plaque itself is not considered risky, but it is associated with the
development of atherosclerosis, or the presence of less stable, fatty deposits in the
blood vessels that can lead to heart attack and stroke. "Our hypothesis was that this
kind of fat is quite different from subcutaneous fat, or fat just below the skin,"
Ding said. "Subcutaneous fat may not be as bad as having fat deposited around organs
and in between muscles."
A new study from the September issue of the journal Chest shows that an athlete's ability
to sweat may do more than keep the body cool. It also may prevent the development of
exercise-induced asthma, a common respiratory condition among trained athletes.
Calculating how breast cancers will
respond to tamoxifen
A discovery by Australian scientists could help clinicians decide which women with breast
cancer will make good candidates for anti-oestrogen therapies, such as tamoxifen, and
which will not. Over 12,000 Australian women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year,
roughly 70% of which will have cancers treatable with tamoxifen. Unfortunately, 30% or
more of these women may not respond well to such anti-hormone therapy long-term.Work done
by a research team headed by Associate Professor Liz Musgrove and Professor Rob Sutherland
of Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research has correlated expression of certain
functionally-related oestrogen-regulated genes with predictable clinical outcomes. This
expanded knowledge about oestrogen action and endocrine resistance should allow clinicians
to make better, more informed, choices in the future.
New studies on the Mediterranean
diet confirm its effectiveness for chronic disease prevention
Scientists of the Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos (Institute of
Nutrition and Food Technology) of the University of Granada (UGR, Spain) have been doing
research into the positive effects of Mediterranean diet's ingredients on health. Among
these works, there is a new research line about pancreatic cancer cells. Emilio Martínez
de Victoria Muñoz, director of the Institute, points out that in the study 'Influence of
the ingredients of the Mediterranean diet on a cell line on pancreatic cancer cells'
(UGR-Junta de Andalucía) they have manipulated the composition of the cell membrane
providing olive oil, fish oil or an antioxidant typical of olive oil, analysing how such
cells defend themselves from the aggressions which cause pancreatic alterations".The
objective is to expose olive oil compounds (such as oleic acid) and fruit and vegetable
antioxidants to "membranes of a pancreatic cancer cell line in such a way that they
become more or less resistant to harmful stimulus which cause diseases such as cancer or
pancreatitis".This way, the research work intends to correlate the composition of
cell membranes with more or less resistance to suffering from different types of disease.
The conclusions suggest that feeding and changes in membrane composition affect cell
function and can therefore influence the prevention of certain diseases.
New project uses nanoparticles to
tackle Alzheimer's disease
A new EU-funded project is exploring the use of nanoparticles in the diagnosis and
treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The five-year NAD ('Nanoparticles for the therapy and
diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease') initiative has a budget of €14.6 million and is
financed by the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). It brings together researchers
from a variety of disciplines working in 19 organisations in 13 countries. The NAD project
will design a range of nanoparticles that are able to cross the blood-brain barrier to get
to the main site of the disease. Attached to these nanoparticles will be molecules that
are able to recognise and destroy the amyloid plaques. Initial studies will be carried out
on transgenic mice; if these prove successful, tests will be carried out on human
subjects.
For those of you who have watched the documentary "Run from the Cure", this
should answer any questions about producing your own oil. I recommend that people grow
their own hemp either in a small indoor grow system or outdoors. Growing it yourself will
eliminate the high cost associated with buying hemp from drug dealers. The cost of hemp
can vary greatly from dealer to dealer and so can the quality of the hemp. For anyone new
to growing hemp a good book or video on the subject is a necessity.
Research at the University of Haifa
identified a protein essential in long term memory consolidation
New research at the University of Haifa identified a specific protein essential for the
process of long term memory consolidation. This is the latest of several discoveries that
are leading us towards a better understanding of one of the most complex processes in
nature – the process of memory creation and consolidation in the human brain. This
latest research was published recently in the prestigious journal Nature Neuroscience.The
human brain constantly receives sensory stimuli from the outside world - sounds, tastes,
visuals, touch and smells. A very small fraction of these stimuli which are recorded in
short term memory actually become part of our long term memory. Previous studies in the
laboratory for "Molecular Mechanisms of Learning and Memory" at the University
of Haifa identified a protein linked to the quality of long term memories. In the current
study, the researchers were looking to understand how long term memories are
stabilized.The research team led by Prof. Kobi Rosenblum, Head of the Department of
Neurobiology and Ethology at the University of Haifa, and PhD student Alina Elkobi
together with Drs. Katya Belelovsky and Liza Barki and in cooperation with Dr. Ingrid
Ehrlich from the Friedrich Miescher Institute at the University of Basel, Switzerland,
searched for a protein which is present during the process of memory formation and is
actually an essential factor in the process.Using taste learning in mice, the researchers
found learning-related induction of the protein PSD-95 in the brain cortex "taste
center" during the process of memory creation. However, when the mice were exposed to
known tastes, PSD-95 was not induced in this center of the brain cortex.
Widespread use of nanoscale silver will challenge regulatory agencies to balance important
potential benefits against the possibility of significant environmental risk, highlighting
the need to identify research priorities concerning this emerging technology, according to
a new report released today by the Project. But existing information about the impact of
silver on the environment offers a starting point for some assessments of nanosilver, the
report argues. The issue of assessing the risks posed by nanoscale silver was highlighted
after the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) San Francisco office earlier this
year imposed a landmark fine of over $200,000 on a California company selling computer
keyboards and mouses coated with nanosilver. EPA issued the fine on the grounds that the
products should have been registered under federal pesticide law because of the
company’s germ-killing claims.
A new drug therapy may represent a tremendous step forward in the treatment of some 70,000
cystic fibrosis (CF) patients worldwide, Dr David Sheppard from the University of Bristol
told an audience at the BA Festival of Science in Liverpool today [9 September].Speaking
at the conference, Dr Sheppard said; ‘The early results with VX-770 suggest that drug
therapies which target defects at the root of the disease have the potential to improve
greatly the quality of life of CF patients.’At the moment there is no cure for CF
– a common single-gene disorder in the UK. The disease, which affects about 8,000
people in the UK and 70,000 people worldwide, is due to a defective gene that causes ducts
and tubes in the body to become blocked by thick, sticky mucus. This mucus affects the
lungs, pancreas, the intestines, the liver and the reproductive organs.One of the most
recognisable symptoms of CF is ‘salty sweat’, caused by the failure of the sweat
ducts to reabsorb salt. Existing treatments only alleviate symptoms, for example,
physiotherapy to clear the air passages, antibiotics for lung infections and enzymes to
aid the digestion of food.
Researchers Seeking to Identify
Alzheimer’s Risk with New Biomarkers Make Significant Progress by Focusing on a
Specific Blood Marker
A simple blood test to detect whether a person might develop Alzheimer’s disease is
within sight and could eventually help scientists in their quest toward reversing the
disease’s onset in those likely to develop the debilitating neurological condition,
Columbia University Medical Center researchers announced today. Building on a study that
started 20 years ago with an elderly population in Northern Manhattan at risk or in
various stages of developing Alzheimer’s disease, the Columbia research group has
yielded ground-breaking findings that could change the way the disease is treated or
someday prevent it. These findings suggest that by looking at the blood doctors may be
able to detect a person’s predisposition to developing the dementia-inducing disease
that robs a person of their memory and ability carry out tasks essential to life.
Diet may eliminate spasms for
infants with epilepsy
Infantile spasms are a severe and potentially devastating epilepsy condition affecting
children aged typically 4-8 months. In a new study appearing in Epilepsia, researchers
have found that the ketogenic diet, a high fat, low carbohydrate diet more traditionally
used for intractable childhood epilepsy, is an effective treatment for this condition
before using drugs. The study is the first description of the ketogenic diet as a
first-line therapy for infantile spasms.
The Cancer Genome Atlas reports
first results, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center collaborates
Investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and University of Southern
California, members of the TCGA team, studied 2000 genes. They reported findings on the
MGMT gene, first linked to GBM in 1998 by Johns Hopkins investigators who found it was
altered by a cellular process known as methylation. In 2002, they discovered that the gene
alteration makes brain cancer cells more responsive to anticancer drugs known as
alkylating agents. While brain cancer patients with the MGMT alteration respond better to
the commonly-used alkylating agent temozolomide, the new TCGA research found that
treatment also appears to cause mutations in other genes, known as mismatch repair genes,
essential to DNA repair. These mutations, they believe, lead to recurrence of the cancer,
and these recurrent tumors contain unusually high numbers of gene mutations, making them
resistant to treatment. The investigators stress that treatment with temozolomide and
radiation therapy is still the most effective therapy for glioblastoma patients.
Single fathers should never be prevented from seeing their children. Even in the toughest
family conflicts, interaction should always continue between father and child according to
sociologist Germain Dulac, a researcher at the Université de Montréal’s
Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Violence Against Women and Families. “Every
father, even the worst delinquent, must see his child once in a while. It’s
beneficial for both parties,” says Dulac, who has studied the male condition for 20
years and analyzed the impact of broken relationships. In cases of violence or incest,
visits must obviously be highly supervised by social workers and other specialists. Yet
preventing contact between father and child would be a mistake, Dulac insists.
“Support groups have often proven that fathers turn out better if they stay in touch
with their child.”
The probability of someone cheating during the course of a relationship varies between 40
and 76 percent. "It's very high," says Geneviève Beaulieu-Pelletier, PhD
student at the Université de Montréal's Department of Psychology. "These numbers
indicate that even if we get married with the best of intentions things don't always turn
out the way we plan. What interests me about infidelity is why people are willing to
conduct themselves in ways that could be very damaging to them and to their
relationship." The student wanted to know if the type of commitment a person has with
his or her loved ones is correlated to the desire of having extra-marital affairs.
"The emotional attachment we have with others is modeled on the type of parenting
received during childhood," she says. According to psychologists, people with
avoidant attachment styles are individuals uncomfortable with intimacy and are therefore
more likely to multiply sexual encounters and cheat. But this has never been proved
scientifically, which is what Beaulieu-Pelletier attempted to do in a series of four
studies. The first study was conducted on 145 students with an average age of 23. Some 68
percent had thought about cheating and 41 percent had actually cheated. Sexual
satisfaction aside, the results indicated a strong correlation between infidelity and
people with an avoidant attachment style.
Protein 'switch' suppresses skin
cancer development
The protein IKKalpha (IKK?) regulates the cell cycle of keratinocytes and plays a key role
in keeping these specialized skin cells from becoming malignant, researchers at The
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Sept. 9 issue of Cancer
Cell. "We have shown that IKK? acts as a sentry, monitoring and, when necessary,
halting proliferation of these important cells. In the first mouse model of its kind, we
also found that deleting IKK? spontaneously induced squamous cell carcinomas by activating
the epidermal growth factor receptor pathway," said senior author Yinling Hu, Ph.D.,
assistant professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Carcinogenesis at the Science Park -
Research Division in Smithville, Texas. "These results provide new therapeutic
targets for prevention of skin cancer." Keratinocytes originate in the basal layer of
the epidermis to replace skin cells at the surface that have been shed. As keratinocytes
gradually move up through the skin layers, they differentiate and eventually form the top
layer of the skin, which is composed of squamous cells. The cycle ends through terminal
differentiation, in which cells lose their ability to reproduce by dividing in two. They
eventually die. Hu and colleagues reported in research last year that a reduction in IKK?
expression promotes the development of chemically induced papillomas and carcinomas, which
are benign and malignant tumors of the epithelium respectively. Epithelial cells make up
the outer layers of skin and the inner linings of many organs, including the lungs and the
gastrointestinal, reproductive and urinary tracts. Most cancers originate in organ
epithelial cells. The researchers also demonstrated that an intact IKK? gene is required
to suppress skin cancer development. Downregulation of IKK? has been noted in a variety of
human squamous cell carcinomas, including those of the skin, esophagus, lungs, and head
and neck.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and their collaborators at Tufts
University and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have identified a common genetic
influence on B12 vitamin levels in the blood, suggesting a new way to approach the
biological connections between an important biochemical variable and deficiency-related
diseases. "The news here is the discovery of a robust genetic predictor of vitamin
B12 levels," said David Hunter, the Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention
and director of the Program in Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology at HSPH and senior
author of the study. "This is an example of the way we're going to understand more
about how levels of vitamins and other nutrients in the body are partially determined by
genetic factors as well as by what we eat." Other studies have found rare gene
mutations with dramatic effects on people's ability to digest, absorb, and use vitamin
B12. This paper found more common variations of a gene that has a much smaller effect by
itself, but it may belong to an important biological pathway whose careful study may lead
to clinically useful strategies and therapeutic intervention. The researchers first found
the gene, called FUT2, in a genome-wide scan of 1,658 women of European ancestry who
participated in the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) project. They
replicated the findings in another 1,059 women from the Nurses' Health Study.
Brush your teeth to reduce the risk
of heart disease
Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. However, many people with
cardiovascular disease have none of the common risk factors such as smoking, obesity and
high cholesterol. Now, researchers have discovered a new link between gum disease and
heart disease that may help find ways to save lives, scientists heard today (Tuesday 9
September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this
week at Trinity College, Dublin. In recent years chronic infections have been associated
with a disease that causes "furring" of the arteries, called atherosclerosis,
which is the main cause of heart attacks. Gum disease is one of the most common infections
of humans and there are now over 50 studies linking gum disease with heart disease and
stroke. "A number of theories have been put forward to explain the link between oral
infection and heart disease," said Professor Greg Seymour from the University of
Otago Dunedin, New Zealand. "One of these is that certain proteins from bacteria
initiate atherosclerosis and help it progress. We wanted to see if this is the case, so we
looked at the role of heat shock proteins." Heat shock proteins are produced by
bacteria as well as animals and plants. They are produced after cells are exposed to
different kinds of stress conditions, such as inflammation, toxins, starvation and oxygen
and water deprivation. Because of this, heat shock proteins are also referred to as stress
proteins. They can work as chaperone molecules, stabilising other proteins, helping to
fold them and transport them across cell membranes. Some also bind to foreign antigens and
present them to immune cells.
The PhD defended by Juan Carlos Gómez-Esteban at the University of the Basque Country
analysed the results of the clinical research undertaken at the Movement Disorders Unit at
Cruces Hospital since 1998. It involved a study of the most efficacious surgical
operations undertaken and pharmaceutical drugs used to treat these disorders as well
genetic studies carried out to date. The field of movement disorders is one of the most
complex branches of neurology. The volume of knowledge acquired is so large that it has
needed a number of neurologists to sub-specialise in the matter and multidisciplinary
units have been created to tackle problems such as the diagnosis of Parkinson’s
Disease and of atypical Parkinsonisms, the choice of the most suitable surgical therapies
and pharmaceutical drugs or the carrying out of genetic studies. Thus is 1998 the Movement
Disorders Unit at Cruces Hospital in Bilbao was created with neurologists, neurosurgeons,
neurophysiologists, anaesthetists, neuropsychologists and radiologists. Since its
creation, more than 100 surgical operations have been carried out, the majority on
patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Currently it is a centre of reference for
functional surgery in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (CAPV), and even
receives patients from other autonomous communities. The PhD the neurologist Juan Carlos
Gómez-Esteban presented at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Results of
clinical research at a movement disorders unit, brings together a number of different
lines of research undertaken at the Cruces Hospital Movement Disorders Unit between 1998
and 2007. Mr Gómez-Esteban graduated in Medicine and General Surgery and his PhD, having
received excellent ratings cum laude, was led by Dr. Juan José Zarranz Imirizaldu and Dr.
Elena Lezcano García, both from the Department of Neurosciences of the Faculty of
Medicine and Odontology at the UPV/EHU.
A University of Navarra study has
revealed that the consumption of fruits and legumes aids in losing more than 6% of body
weight
Foods rich in compounds with antioxidant capacity, such as fruits and legumes, help to
lose more than 6% of body weight when they are included in low-calorie diets for
nutritional treatment of obesity. This conclusion was derived from the doctoral research
of the biologist Ana Belén Crujeiras, a researcher of the Department of Diet, Physiology
and Toxicology of the University of Navarra. In addition to the effects associated with
weight loss, Dr. Crujeiras added that another consequence of this diet is an improvement
in cholesterol levels thanks to dietary fiber, and a reduction in body fat. This is due to
“protection against oxidative stress, a mechanism which underlies the development of
pathologies associated with obesity, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative
diseases, diabetes, and even cancer,” she indicated.
A severe migraine attack can be as disabling as quadriplegia or dementia*, and yet many
non-sufferers still see it as nothing more than a headache that a victim should be able to
shake off. 'Migraine Awareness Week' (7th to 13th of September) aims to change these kind
of perceptions as well as helping sufferers achieve success in managing their migraine.
Migraines are among the oldest diseases known to man with conditions dating back to
3000bc, and the word "Migraine" originates from Greek roots meaning "half
head". This is because, usually this type of headache starts on one side of the head.
Towards the middle of the 19th century, a person suffering from a headache would be given
opium, but often this did more harm than good.
This video, featuring Dr Catherine Hood, looks at how migraines have been treated in the
past, and how they are treated now.
Conspiracy for Fat America &
High-Fructose Corn Syrup
The connection between high fructose corn and obesity, fast food, Coke, Pepsi &
diabetes. RADHlA is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, C.C.N. She is also a Certified
BioNutritional Analyst. She has a Ph.D. in pastoral counseling and a M.Ed. in nutrition.
She is a professional member of the International and American Association of Clinical
Nutritionists, (I.A.A.C.N), and the American Naturopathic Medical Association (A.N.M.A.).
New advances in treatment of a type
of cirrhosis patients of which are 90% women
The scientific journal Gastroenterology published the work by a team from the Centro de
Investigación Médica Aplicada (CIMA) at the University of Navarra on a type of
non-alcoholic cirrhosis. The main author of the research, January Salas, together with
other scientists from the Molecular Genetics Laboratory, discovered tat the lack of
protein AE2 causes a biliar cirrhosis syndrome in animals which is very similar to that
observed in patients con primary. biliar cirrhosis This liver disease chronic and
progressive, affects about 1,000 patients annually in Spain, 90% of which are female,
especially middle-aged women. Despite being associated with autoimmunity phenomena,
patients do not respond to immunosupressors, and so the only partially effective treatment
to date is ursodeoxicholic acid, a biliar salt that increases the production of
bicarbonate-rich bilis. Thanks to this treatment, today many of the liver transplants that
this disease has required up to now can be avoided.
Three million people suffered the winter vomiting bug last year, we were told. But that
figure should have come with a health warning of its own, says Michael Blastland, in the
final lesson of his six-part primer on understanding statistics in the news.
Why Schools Should Remove
GE-Tainted Foods from Their Cafeterias
Before the Appleton Wisconsin high school replaced their cafeteria's processed foods with
wholesome, nutritious food, the school was described as out-of-control. There were weapons
violations, student disruptions, and a cop on duty full-time. After the change in school
meals, the students were calm, focused, and orderly. There were no more weapons
violations, and no suicides, expulsions, dropouts, or drug violations. The new diet and
improved behavior has lasted for seven years, and now other schools are changing their
meal programs with similar results.
Cortisol and fatty liver -
Researchers find cause of severe metabolic disorders
A healthy body stores fat in the form of so-called triglycerides in specialized fatty
tissue as an energy reserve. Under certain conditions the delicate balance of the lipid
metabolism gets out of control and fat is accumulated in the liver, leading to the dreaded
fatty liver. This increases the risk of many metabolic diseases, such as the metabolic
syndrome known as "deadly quartet". This combination of fatty liver, obesity,
diabetes and hypertension is regarded as the primary cause of life-threatening vascular
events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. It was still unknown which conditions
cause the body to deposit fat in the liver. However, scientists knew that the body's own
glucocorticoid hormones such as cortisol promote the development of fatty liver. This can
be observed, for example, in a condition known as Cushing syndrome. Cortisol levels in
affected patients are permanently raised – often caused by malignant tumors. This, in
turn, leads to high blood sugar levels and patients frequently develop fatty liver.
Long-term cortisone therapies such as those used for treating chronic inflammatory
diseases such as asthma also cause the triglyceride level in the liver to rise to
dangerous levels. Dr. Stephan Herzig, head of the Junior Research Group "Molecular
Metabolic Control" at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches
Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), and his team have now published the mechanism by which the
body's own glucocorticoid hormones contribute to this disruption of the lipid metabolism.
The researchers in Herzig's team specifically switched off the cortisol receptor in the
livers of mice, thus blocking the hormone's effect. As a result, the triglyceride level in
the livers of the experimental animals dropped considerably. Investigations have revealed
that, in the absence of the cortisol receptor, large amounts of the HES1 protein are
produced in the livers of these animals. HES1 activates a number of enzymes that break
down fat and, thus, counteracts fat accumulation in the liver. If, on other hand, normal
mice are treated with cortisol, their HES1 levels in the liver drops, while triglyceride
levels rise. Further experiments have shown that the cortisol receptor in this newly found
metabolic pathway act directly on a switch of the HES1 gene and, thus, switches it off
completely. "We have discovered a key mechanism here that plays a crucial role in
many pathologic metabolic disorders," explains Stephan Herzig. "It has been
obvious for some time that there is an association between the body's own cortisol or
therapeutically administered cortisone and the development of fatty liver. Now we also
know what the interconnections look like at a molecular level."
ISU study finds link between a
mother's stress and her child becoming overweight
A mother's stress may contribute to her young children being overweight in low income
households with sufficient food, according to a new Iowa State University study that is
published in the September issue of Pediatrics, the professional journal of the American
Academy of Pediatrics. The study analyzed data collected from 841 children in 425
households in the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Receptor activation protects retina
from diabetes destruction
Diabetes can make the beautifully stratified retina look like over-fried bacon. A drug
known for it pain-relieving power and believed to stimulate memory appears to prevent this
retinal damage that leads to vision loss, researchers say."The effects of this drug
on retinal health are phenomenal," says Dr. Sylvia Smith, retinal cell biologist and
co-director of the Vision Discovery Institute in the Medical College of Georgia School of
Medicine. She's comparing retinal images from a diabetic mouse model treated with (+)-
pentazocine to one that wasn't. Even to the untrained eye, the differences are dramatic.
Bottled water demand may be
declining, according to new research
The US bottled water market is slowing down after years of steady growth, suggesting that
international awareness campaigns may be curbing consumer demand. While bottled water
continues to expand in global popularity, the US market is expected to grow 6.7 percent
this year, the smallest increase this decade, according to data collected by the Beverage
Marketing Corporation.
A study published in the April 2008 issue of International Journal of Andrology suggests
that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a toxic chemical commonly present in the
polycarbonated plastic and epoxy resins used for food and beverage containers, may
increase risk of type 2 diabetes, a condition that affects nearly 24 million Americans
suffer diabetes.
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has again expressed 'some concern' about the
effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on the brain, behaviour, and prostate gland in foetuses,
babies, and children at current exposure levels. The 3 September assessment comes only
weeks after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that BPA is safe at
typical exposure levels from food and drink. The chemical mimics oestrogen, and is
commonly found in baby bottles, children's cups and cans.
No Efficacy Benefits Seen With
Rosuvastatin Against Placebo in GISSI-HF Trial of Symptomatic Chronic Heart Failure
Rosuvastatin 10 mg daily shows a good safety profile but no benefit over placebo for
patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) of any age, aetiology, or systolic function,
according to a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial presented here at the
European Society of Cardiology 2008 Congress (ESC 2008).
Fish oil better than statins at
protecting heart patients
One study showed daily supplementation of omega-3 polysaturated fatty acids found in fish
oil helped reduce risk of deaths and hospitalizations of people with heart failure while
another revealed a cholesterol lowering statin was useless when it came to preventing
heart failure.
People with lower levels of vitamin D in their blood may be at greater risk of developing
type 2 diabetes, according to research published in the journal Epidemiology this month.
Genetics, stress linked to
childhood allergies, researchers say
Genetics and emotional stress are two factors which contribute to common allergies such as
hay fever among children, according to two separate studies by German researchers. In one
study of 3,000 school pupils in Munich, geneticists discovered evidence that a genetic
deficiency in the protein filaggrin in skin cells contributes to common eczema-like skin
allergies.
Atypical evening cortisol profile
induces visual recognition memory deficit in healthy human subjects
The present study has demonstrated a correlation between elevation of cortisol at the
evening, and deterioration of visual object recognition memory. However, high evening
cortisol levels have no effect on spatial memory. This study suggests that atypical
evening salivary cortisol levels have an important role in the early deterioration of
recognition memory. The loss of recognition memory, which is vital for everyday life, is a
major symptom of the amnesic syndrome and early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore,
this study will promote a potential physiologic marker of early deterioration of
recognition memory and possible diagnostic strategy for Alzheimer's disease.
Childhood Obesity is a growing national health problem. This program will present an
overview of the condition and strategies for prevention and management.
Strange Days on Planet Earth:
Plastic Plague
Far out at sea and deep in the nation's heartland, experts are discovering the
disturbing consequences of a hitchhiker in our waters---plastic. On the remote islands in
the Pacific, a team of researchers is trying to solve the mystery of why albatross chicks
with full bellies are starving. Many miles away another team is finding more plastic than
plankton in giant garbage patch of ocean called the North Pacific Gyre. Could these two
events be related? What's equally worrisome, is the menacing wake plastic pollution leaves
on fresh water and consequently, our health. Scientists in Missouri are finding a
gender-bending chemical called bisphenol A in local streams who's source may be plastics.
They are also finding this nasty compound leaching out of commonly used plastic products
(including baby bottles).
How to Get Fat Without Really
Trying!
ABC's Peter Jennings reports the food industry's and the federal government's roles in
our obesity epidemic.
In a special on the dangers of the artificial sweetener aspartame, Dr. Betty Martini
was joined by a panel of experts throughout the evening. Aspartame, which she described as
addictive, can cause a number of problems that people might not realize stem from its
consumption, including headaches, dizziness, mood change, and joint pain. Its effects can
be slow and subtle, but quite serious-- sometimes leading to miscarriages and seizures,
she said.
Consumer representative James Turner spoke about the history of aspartame and its pathway
to approval. A public inquiry held in 1980 ruled it shouldn't be marketed because of its
association with brain tumors, but Donald Rumsfeld (who served as head of the
pharmaceutical company G. D. Searle at the time) managed to engineer its approval, he
recounted.
Stephen Fox, a consumer advocate, discussed efforts to get aspartame rescinded from the
market, and suggested a new FDA commissioner was needed to carry this through. He
recommended the documentary, Sweet Misery: A Poison World (available on Google Video).
Psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Walton noted that aspartame is paradoxically associated with
obesity, as it increases appetite and cravings for carbohydrates. When interviewed for a
60 Minutes story in 1996 (view here) he pointed out studies which touted its safety were
all funded by the industry and independent studies all found problems.
Dr. H.J. Roberts, the author of Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic said the negative
effects of the sweetener can be cumulative, especially when combined with other toxins
such as fluoride. Martini recommended natural sugar alternatives such as Just Like Sugar
and stevia (in its pure form).
Can sleeping pills do more harm than good? Join us for this provocative and informative
program exploring the new class of "improved" sleeping pills. According to
recent research by Daniel Kripke, M.D., professor of psychiatry at UCSD School of
Medicine, sleeping pills may increase depression and lead to a higher incidence of certain
diseases. Sleeping pills may actually shorten people's lives.
Cryopreservation techniques bring
hopes to cancer victims and endangered species
Emerging cryopreservation techniques are increasing hope of restoring fertility for women
after diseases such as ovarian cancer that lead to destruction of reproductive tissue. The
same techniques can also be used to maintain stocks of farm animals, and protect against
extinction of endangered animal species by maintaining banks of ovarian tissue or even
nascent embryos that can used to produce offspring at some point in the future. Until now
these clearly related fields of research concerning preservation of animal and human
ovarian tissue have been largely separate, but are now coming together to reinforce each
other, following a highly successful workshop on cryopreservation of ovarian tissue,
organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF). The human and animals cryopreservation
fields have much to teach each other, and progress in both is likely to be accelerated as
a result of growing collaboration, according to the ESF workshop’s convenor Claus
Yding Andersen.
Abuse of painkillers can predispose
adolescents to lifelong addiction
No child aspires to a lifetime of addiction. But their brains might. In new research to
appear online in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology this week, Rockefeller University
researchers reveal that adolescent brains exposed to the painkiller Oxycontin can sustain
lifelong and permanent changes in their reward system – changes that increase the
drug's euphoric properties and make such adolescents more vulnerable to the drug's effects
later in adulthood. The research, led by Mary Jeanne Kreek, head of the Laboratory of the
Biology of Addictive Diseases, is the first to directly compare levels of the chemical
dopamine in adolescent and adult mice in response to increasing doses of the painkiller.
Kreek, first author Yong Zhang, a research associate in the lab, and their colleagues
found that adolescent mice self-administered Oxycontin less frequently than adults,
suggesting that adolescents were more sensitive to its rewarding effects. These adolescent
mice, when re-exposed to a low dose of the drug as adults, also had significantly higher
dopamine levels in the brain's reward center compared to adult mice newly exposed to the
drug. Together, these results suggest that adolescents who abuse prescription pain killers
may be tuning their brain to a lifelong battle with opiate addiction if they re-exposed
themselves to the drug as adults," says Kreek. "The neurobiological changes seem
to sensitize the brain to the drug's powerfully rewarding properties."
A potential approach to treatment
of hepatitis B virus infection
Researchers at Beijing Institute of Biotechnology found that hepatitis B virus infection
can be treated with therapeutic approaches targeting host cell proteins by inhibiting a
cellular gene required for HBV replication or by restoring a response abrogated by HBV.
This provided a potential approach to the prevention and treatment of HBV infection.
Is yakult helpful in the treatment
of irritable bowel syndrome?
A research article to be published on August 28, 2008 in the World Journal of
Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team was led by Peter Gibson and
his colleagues at Monash University, Box Hill Hospital. The pilot trial was undertaken to
determine whether a probiotic could have an effect on SIBO. Currently, SIBO is managed by
antibiotics and/or elemental diets, the side effects and practicalities of which make them
undesirable options. Probiotics may provide a safe alternative. The results of the pilot
trial warrant a well powered, double blind, placebo-controlled trial. The effect of
probiotics on SIBO had not previously been investigated, but after taking Yakult(R) daily
for 6 wk, there was a significant shift in the time of first rise on the lactulose breath
test indicating a reduction in SIBO. If these findings are confirmed by further research,
Yakult(R) may be a safe and effective alternative for the management of this patient
group.
Protein found that regulates gene
critical to dopamine-releasing brain cells
Researchers have identified a protein they say appears to be a primary player in
maintaining normal functioning of an important class of neurons – those brain cells
that produce, excrete and then reabsorb dopamine neurotransmitters. These molecules
command numerous body functions, ranging from management of behavior and mood to control
of movement, and one day may hold the key to why and how some people develop
Parkinson’s and other brain diseases. In the September 10 issue of the Journal of
Neuroscience, the scientists say that this protein, which they call the Nurr-1 interacting
protein (NuIP), interacts with, and helps regulate the activity of the Nurr1 gene. That
gene has long been known to be essential to development and maintenance of dopaminergic
neurons. Efforts to control Nurr-1 have been underway by pharmaceutical drug developers,
because these neurons are the ones that die in Parkinson’s disease and which are,
conversely, over-active in schizophrenia. Now NuIP may also provide a good drug target for
these and other neurological disorders caused by faulty dopamine transmission, says the
study’s lead investigator, Howard J. Federoff, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President
for Health Sciences and Executive Dean of the School of Medicine at Georgetown University
Medical Center. “We do not know yet whether this is true, but one can speculate that
small molecules that may either facilitate, stabilize, or otherwise regulate the action of
NuIP on Nurr1 may be relevant in a therapeutic context,” says Federoff, a
neuroscientist who did much of this research at the University of Rochester School of
Medicine and Dentistry before coming to Georgetown in 2007. His three other co-authors are
from Rochester.
Eating fish while pregnant, longer
breastfeeding, lead to better infant development
Both higher fish consumption and longer breastfeeding are linked to better physical and
cognitive development in infants, according to a study of mothers and infants from
Denmark. Maternal fish consumption and longer breastfeeding were independently beneficial.
"These results, together with findings from other studies of women in the U.S. and
the United Kingdom, provide additional evidence that moderate maternal fish intake during
pregnancy does not harm child development and may on balance be beneficial," said
Assistant Professor Emily Oken, lead author of the study. The study, which appeared in the
September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was conducted by
researchers from the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention of Harvard Medical
School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and the Maternal Nutrition Group from the
Department of Epidemiology at Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark. These
findings provide further evidence that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and compounds
in breast milk are beneficial to infant development. The study team looked at 25,446
children born to mothers participating in the Danish Birth Cohort, a study that includes
pregnant women enrolled from 1997-2002. Mothers were interviewed about child development
markers at 6 and 18 months postpartum and asked about their breastfeeding at 6 months
postpartum. Prenatal diet, including amounts and types of fish consumed weekly, was
assessed by a detailed food frequency questionnaire administered when they were six months
pregnant. During the interviews mothers were asked about specific physical and cognitive
developmental milestones such as whether the child at six months could hold up his/her
head, sit with a straight back, sit unsupported, respond to sound or voices, imitate
sounds, or crawl. At 18 months, they were asked about more advanced milestones such as
whether the child could climb stairs, remove his/her socks, drink from a cup, write or
draw, use word-like sounds and put words together, and whether they could walk unassisted.
The children whose mothers ate the most fish during pregnancy were more likely to have
better motor and cognitive skills. For example, among mothers who ate the least fish, 5.7%
of their children had the lowest developmental scores at 18 months, compared with only
3.7% of children whose mothers had the highest fish intake. Compared with women who ate
the least fish, women with the highest fish intake (about 60 grams - 2 ounces - per day on
average) had children 25% more likely to have higher developmental scores at 6 months and
almost 30% more likely to have higher scores at 18 months. Longer duration of
breastfeeding was also associated with better infant development, especially at 18 months.
Breastmilk also contains omega-3 fatty acids. The benefit of fish consumption was similar
among infants breastfed for shorter or longer durations.
Calcium during pregnancy reduces
harmful blood lead levels
Pregnant women who take high levels of daily calcium supplements show a marked reduction
in lead levels in their blood, suggesting calcium could play a critical role in reducing
fetal and infant exposure. A new study at the University of Michigan shows that women who
take 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily have up to a 31 percent reduction in lead levels.
Women who used lead-glazed ceramics and those with high bone lead levels showed the
largest reductions; the average reduction was about 11 percent, said Howard Hu, chair of
the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Public Health. Hu is the
principal investigator of the study and one of the senior authors on the paper, which is
available online in Environmental Health Perspectives, the official journal of the U.S.
National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. Hu, who is also affiliated with the
University of Michigan School of Medicine, said this is the first known randomized study
examining calcium supplementation on lead levels in pregnant women. "We and others
have previously shown that during pregnancy, mothers can transfer lead from their bones to
their unborn -- with significant adverse consequences--making maternal bone lead stores a
threat even if current environmental lead exposures are low," Hu said. "This
study demonstrates that dietary calcium supplementation during pregnancy may constitute a
low-cost and low-risk approach for reducing this threat."
Early stage colon cancer
characterized by inactivation of gatekeeper gene
The absence or inactivation of the RUNX3 gatekeeper gene paves the way for the growth and
development of colon cancer, Singapore scientists report in the Sept. issue of the journal
Cancer Cell. Previous studies have shown that RUNX3 plays a role in gastric, breast, lung
and bladder cancers. The inactivation of RUNX3 occurs at a very early stage of colon
cancer, according to the Singapore scientists' studies with human tissue samples and
animal models. Because the inactivation of RUNX3 is relatively easy to detect, and it is
possible that inactivated RUNX3 can be reactivated, this new research may prove to be a
crucial step in the development of an early diagnostic test as well as a therapeutic
target for colon cancer. Prior to these new findings, scientists knew that a tumor
suppressor gene called APC is disrupted in most cases of human colon cancer. APC
disruption activates bete-catenin and TCF4, a protein complex that plays an important role
in cancer development. For decades, this has been considered the molecular basis for colon
cancer. These latest findings are the first to show that the activity of beta-
catenin/TCF4 also is inhibited by RUNX3. The Singapore scientists are based at the
National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the Institute
of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), one of the 14 research institutes under the
country's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). In an earlier research,
the same team of researchers reported that RUNX3 is a major tumor suppressor of gastric
cancer.
Penn Researchers Identify Natural
Tumor Suppressor
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a key
step in the formation – and suppression – of esophageal cancers and perhaps
carcinomas of the breast, head, and neck. By studying human tissue samples, they found
that Fbx4, a naturally occurring enzyme, plays a key role in stopping production of
another protein called Cyclin D1, which is thought to contribute to the early stages of
cancer development. When mutations block production of Fbx4, Cyclin D1 is not broken down,
and subsequently contributes to cancer’s advance. Fbx4 acts like a bouncer, stopping
trouble before it starts by breaking down Cyclin D1 before it can affect the body.
“Cyclin D1 was identified nearly 20 years ago and after that, it became apparent that
it was overexpressed in a high percentage of tumors,” says J. Alan Diehl, PhD,
Associate Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson
Family Cancer Research Institute. “But its expression didn’t correlate to
mutations within Cyclin D1, so we were looking for a protein that regulates accumulation.
That’s Fbx4.” For this study, researchers screened 116 esophageal tumors and
found 16 mutations.
World’s largest-ever study of
Near-Death Experiences
The AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation) study is to be launched by the Human
Consciousness Project of the University of Southampton – an international
collaboration of scientists and physicians who have joined forces to study the human
brain, consciousness and clinical death. The study is led by Dr Sam Parnia, an expert in
the field of consciousness during clinical death, together with Dr Peter Fenwick and
Professors Stephen Holgate and Robert Peveler of the University of Southampton. Following
a successful 18-month pilot phase at selected hospitals in the UK, the study is now being
expanded to include other centres within the UK, mainland Europe and North America.
“Contrary to popular perception,” Dr Parnia explains, “death is not a
specific moment. It is a process that begins when the heart stops beating, the lungs stop
working and the brain ceases functioning – a medical condition termed cardiac arrest,
which from a biological viewpoint is synonymous with clinical death. “During a
cardiac arrest, all three criteria of death are present. There then follows a period of
time, which may last from a few seconds to an hour or more, in which emergency medical
efforts may succeed in restarting the heart and reversing the dying process. What people
experience during this period of cardiac arrest provides a unique window of understanding
into what we are all likely to experience during the dying process.” A number of
recent scientific studies carried out by independent researchers have demonstrated that
10-20 per cent of people who go through cardiac arrest and clinical death report lucid,
well structured thought processes, reasoning, memories and sometimes detailed recall of
events during their encounter with death.
Novel tuberculosis vaccine in
Germany in clinical phase
or the first time in more than 80 years a promising live vaccine against tuberculosis has
passed into the clinical phase in Germany: Since Monday of this week the new vaccine,
which goes by the designation "VPM1002", has begun safety testing on volunteers
in a Phase I clinical trial in Neuss, Germany. It is based on a highly safe vaccine that
was introduced in 1921. However, the vaccine has been genetically developed to an extent
where it is significantly more effective at preventing infection with tuberculosis
bacteria than its predecessor. So far, VPM1002 has proved to be extremely effective and
safe in animal models. „ This good protection now has to be proven in humans for the
vaccine to be ready for the final approval," explains the Chief Executive Officer of
Vakzine Projekt Management GmbH (VPM), Bernd Eisele.VPM coordinates application-oriented
development of vaccines. The organisation is a public-private partnership established by
the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Helmholtz Centre for Infection
Research in 2002. „ We ensure that the outstanding results of basic science are
actually used for the good of mankind and make their way into use," says the Clinical
Project Manager Hans von Zepelin. In this, the superb contacts enjoyed by VPM within
German science prove a great aid, as the Scientific and Technical Services Manager at the
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Rudi Balling, states: "VPM knows exactly
where promising projects can be found. With their assistance we, the researchers, can show
that our ideas are helping people to stay healthy."
National study finds post-traumatic
stress disorder common among injured patients
Suffering a traumatic injury can have serious and long-lasting implications for a
patient's mental health, according to the largest-ever U.S. study evaluating the impact of
traumatic injury. Researchers from the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center,
the University of Washington, and the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found
that post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were very common among patients
assessed one year after suffering a serious injury. They also found that injured patients
diagnosed with PTSD or depression were six times more likely to not have returned to work
in the year following the injury.The study followed 2707 injured patients from 69
hospitals across the country, and found 20.7% had post-traumatic stress disorder and 6.6%
had depression one year after the injury. Both disorders were independently associated
with significant impairments across all functional outcomes: activities of daily living,
health status, and the return to usual activities, including work. Patients who had one
disorder were three times less likely to be working one year after injury, and patients
with both disorders were five to six times less likely to have returned to work.
Researchers associate aberrations
in a specific region of chromosome 1q21.1 with a broad range of disorders and levels of
impairment in children
Researchers have discovered a submicroscopic aberration in a particular region of human
chromosome 1q21.1 that appears to be associated with a variety of developmental disorders
in children. The aberration can manifest itself as unexplained mild or moderate mental
retardation, growth retardation, learning disabilities, seizures, autism, heart defects,
other congenital abnormalities, cataracts, small head size, unusual facial features, hand
deformities, or skeletal problems. Some people who have the aberration are only slightly
affected or apparently unaffected, others are more seriously impaired. The multinational
research was led by Dr. Heather C. Mefford, acting assistant professor of pediatrics at
the University of Washington, and Dr. Andrew J. Sharp. Marie Curie Fellow in the
Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Mefford
practices medical genetics at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle
and the UW Medical Center Medical Genetics Clinic. The results will be published in the
Sept. 11 New England Journal of Medicine in an article titled, "Recurrent
Rearrangements of Chromosome 1q21.1 and Variable Pediatric Phenotypes." The results
are discussed in an accompanying editorial by David H. Ledbetter of Emory University in
Atlanta. Deletions and duplications of large sections of the human genome have long been
known to cause disease or make a person susceptible to disease. Recent technological
advances, called microarrays, are enabling scientists to test large numbers of people to
determine the presence or absence of submicroscopic imbalances in small sections of their
chromosomes. Using these new advances, the researchers checked for the presence of
microdeletions and microduplications in a specific region of chromosome 1q21.1 in groups
of patients with unexplained mental retardation, autism, or congenital abnormalities, and
compared their findings with similar testing of a group from the general population. In
these 4,737 controls from the general population, no microdeletions were found, and only
one had duplication of the entire region.
Prostaglandins are ephemeral, infinitesimal signalers self-regulating every cell in the
body, including those subserving mood and immunity. At first they were perceived as a
master switch, but now are believed to regulate every component of cellular microanatomy
and physiology, including those of the organelles, cytoskeleton, proteins, enzymes,
nucleic acids and mitochondria. Prostaglandins are responsible, paradoxically, for cell
function and dysfunction. Excessive prostaglandin synthesis depresses immune function and
may induce cancer. An ideal anticancer agent would inhibit prostaglandins in such a manner
as to shut down the pathogenesis of cancer.
Fewer College Kids Smoking, But
Industry Tactics a Threat
Fewer U.S. college students (1 in 5) are smoking than ever before, but college and
university leaders need to take a stand against aggressive tobacco industry marketing
tactics to ensure student smoking rates don't increase, a new American Lung Association
report finds.
Researchers Test First Universal
Newborn Screening for Fragile X Syndrome
ush University Medical Center will be launching the first systematic newborn screening
program for the genetic mutation that results in fragile X syndrome – the single most
common known genetic cause of autism and mental retardation. For the first time, a blood
test has been developed that can identify the fragile X mutation using small drops of
blood collected from infants after birth. The test developed by researchers at UC Davis in
Sacramento Calif., and validated by researchers at Rush, is part of a $2.3 million study
funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). All newborns at Rush and UC Davis will
undergo the screening with the goal of screening as many as 30,000 infants during the next
five years. The NIH-funded study will lay the groundwork for universal newborn screening
of all infants in the U.S. for early detection of the fragile X mutation.“The study
will allow families to learn in early infancy whether their child will have the
disorder,” said Dr. Elizabeth Berry-Kravis, one of the world’s leading experts
on fragile X and related conditions, pediatric neurologist at Rush and study
co-investigator. “This new test could potentially pave the way for early
identification and intervention for all children diagnosed with fragile X.”
Michael Greger has taken on the formidable task of reviewing and synthesizing the many
factors contingent upon chicken production that have brought us to the influenza threat
the world now faces. Drawing upon scientific literature and media reports at large, Dr.
Greger explores the hole we have dug for ourselves with our own unsavoury practices.
Indeed, while governments and the poultry industry are quick to blame migratory birds as
the source of the current H5N1 avian influenza virus, and to view pandemics as natural
phenomena analogous to, say, sunspots and earthquakes, in reality, human choices and
actions may have had—and may continue to have—a pivotal role in the changing
ecology. Now that anthropogenic behaviour has reached unprecedented levels with a
concomitant pronounced zoonotic skew in emerging infectious diseases of humans, H5N1 seems
like a cautionary tale of how attempts to exploit nature may backfire. The use of
antibiotics as farm meal growth promoters leading to antibiotic-resistance in humans or
the feeding of meat or bone meal to cattle leading to mad cow disease are cases in point:
profitable in the short term for animal agriculture, but with the potential for unforeseen
and disastrous consequences. Intensified, industrial poultry production has given us
inexpensive chicken, but at what cost to the animals and at what heightened risk to public
health?
When Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution was first published, the President of the American College
of Nutrition said, "Of all the bizarre diets that have been proposed in the last 50
years, this is the most dangerous to the public if followed for any length of time.When
the chief health officer for the State of Maryland, was asked "What's wrong with the
Atkins Diet?" He replied "What's wrong with... taking an overdose of sleeping
pills? You are placing your body in jeopardy." He continued "Although you can
lose weight on these nutritionally unsound diets, you do so at the risk of your health and
even your life."The Chair of Harvard's nutrition department went on record before a
1973 U.S. Senate Select Committee investigating fad diets: "The Atkins Diet is
nonsense... Any book that recommends unlimited amounts of meat, butter, and eggs, as this
one does, in my opinion is dangerous. The author who makes the suggestion is guilty of
malpractice."
Heart Failure - Diary of a Third
Year Medical Student
The sharing of anecdotes can be emotionally powerful, but often cannot give a sense of
perspective. For example, I witnessed doctors do terrible things to people. But was it
just that doctor, that department - or was it most doctors, most hospitals? Finding myself
so often in hospital libraries, I started searching out evidence that I was not alone,
evidence that others had seen what I saw, felt what I now feel. I discovered thousands of
studies of medical education. There were whole journals dedicated to studying medical
training. I extracted what I found to be most poignant and relevant from this vast
literature and assembled these broader perspectives into appendices which I refer to
throughout the book. I rely on these expert witnesses - prominent figures inside and
outside of medicine - to supplement my personal experiences.
Key Component of Debilitating Lung
Disease Identified
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a close correlation between the decline
in a key component of the lung’s antioxidant defense system and the progression of
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in humans. COPD is a degenerative condition
that decreases the flow of air through the lungs as the lung’s air sacs are damaged.
A study of lung tissue samples from COPD patients by scientists at the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health found that expression of the regulating gene NRF2 was
significantly decreased in smokers with advanced COPD compared to smokers without COPD.
The study is published in the September 15, 2008, edition of the American Journal of
Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The study team was led by Shyam Biswal, PhD, an
associate professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Environmental Health
Sciences and the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine. According to Biswal, NRF2 (nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-related
factor 2) works as a “master gene” to turn on numerous antioxidant and
pollutant-detoxifying genes to protect the lungs from environmental pollutants, such as
cigarette smoke. Biswal previously identified that disruption of NRF2 expression in mice
caused early onset and severe emphysema, which is a major component of COPD in human.
However, the status of this critical pathway in humans with COPD was unclear.
Rheumatoid arthritis is often a more painful experience for women than it is for men, even
though the visible symptoms are the same. Scientists are now saying that doctors should
take more account of these subjective differences when assessing the need for medication.
This and other findings are being presented at a congress currently in progress on gender
medicine arranged by Karolinska Institutet. For reasons yet unknown, rheumatoid arthritis
is roughly three times more common amongst women than men. Moreover, several studies also
suggest that rheumatoid arthritis eventually impairs the life quality of female suffers
more than it does that of male sufferers. Here, too, the underlying reasons are unclear,
but scientists have speculated that the medicines used affect women and men differently.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet are now to present a study that gives vital clues as
to why the prognosis is gender-specific. They have shown that men who undergo standard
therapy for rheumatism respond significantly better than women having the same treatment
– both objectively, such as in the degree of swelling in the joints, and subjectively
in terms of their own experience of the disease. "Purely objectively, the drug had a
somewhat better effect on the men than on the women," says associate professor Ronald
van Vollenhoven, who led the study. "But the greatest difference was of a subjective
nature. The women in the study felt sicker even when their joints showed the same
improvements."
You know it’s good for you in other ways, but could eating your broccoli also help
patients with chronic lung disease? It just might. According to recent research from Johns
Hopkins Medical School, a decrease in lung concentrations of NRF2-dependent antioxidants,
key components of the lung’s defense system against inflammatory injury, is linked to
the severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in smokers. Broccoli is known
to contain a compound that prevents the degradation of NFRP. The findings were published
in the second issue for September of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care
Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.COPD is the fourth-leading cause of
death in the U.S. and affects more than 16 million Americans. In this study, researchers
examined tissue samples from the lungs of smokers with and without COPD to determine if
there were differences in measured levels of NRF2 expression and the level of its
biochemical regulators, including KEAP1, which inhibits NRF2, and DJ-1, which stabilizes
it. Dr. Biswal had previously shown that disruption in NRF2 expression in mice exposed to
cigarette smoke caused early onset of severe emphysema. When compared to non-COPD lungs,
the lungs of patients with COPD showed markedly decreased levels of NRF2-dependent
antioxidants, increased oxidative stress markers, a significant decrease in NRF2 protein
with no change in NRF2 mRNA levels (indicating that it was expressed, but subsequently
degraded), and similar KEAP1 levels, but a marked decrease in the level of DJ-1.
“NRF2-dependent antioxidants and DJ-1 expression was negatively associated with
severity of COPD,” wrote principle investigator, Shyam Biswal, Ph.D., an associate
professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences and
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
“Therapy directed toward enhancing NRF2-regulated antioxidants may be a novel
strategy for attenuating the effects of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of
COPD.”
Researchers Develop Nano-Sized
‘Cargo Ships’ to Target and Destroy Tumors
Scientists have developed nanometer-sized ‘cargo ships’ that can sail throughout
the body via the bloodstream without immediate detection from the body’s immune radar
system and ferry their cargo of anti-cancer drugs and markers into tumors that might
otherwise go untreated or undetected.
OU Cancer Institute Scientists
Identify New Cancer Stem Cell Marker
After years of working toward this goal, scientists at the OU Cancer Institute have found
a way to isolate cancer stem cells in tumors so they can target the cells and kill them,
keeping cancer from returning.A research team led by Courtney Houchen, M.D., and Shrikant
Anant, Ph.D., discovered that a particular protein only appears in stem cells. Until now,
researchers knew of proteins that appeared in both regular cancer cells and stem cells,
but none that just identified a stem cell.The group has already begun work to use the
protein as a target for a new compound that once developed would kill the stem cells and
kill the cancer. By targeting the stem cells, scientists and physicians also would be able
to stop the cancer from returning.Houchen and Anant are focusing on adult cancer stem
cells because of the major role they play in the start of cancer, the growth of cancer,
the spread of cancer and the return of cancer.
Risk of breast cancer mutations
underestimated for Asian women, Stanford study shows
Oncologist Allison Kurian, MD, and her colleagues at the Stanford University School of
Medicine were perplexed. Computer models designed to identify women who might have
dangerous genetic mutations that increase their risk of breast and ovarian cancer worked
well for white women. But they seemed to be less reliable for another ethnic
group.“We’ve been repeatedly surprised when Asian women who the models predicted
would probably not have the mutations do in fact have them,” said Kurian. She
recently showed that in a head-to-head comparison between whites and Asians, two of the
most commonly used models failed in predicting the presence of mutations in almost half of
the Asian women studied.“Doctors and patients should have a higher level of suspicion
when using these prediction models in Asian women, because they under-predicted the true
number of clinically important mutations,” said Kurian. “We may have to consider
more subtle patterns of family cancer history when considering genetic testing in this
ethnic group.”
Marauding molecules cause the tissue damage that underlies heart attacks, sunburn,
Alzheimer’s and hangovers. But scientists at the Stanford University School of
Medicine say they may have found ways to combat the carnage after discovering an important
cog in the body’s molecular detoxification machinery.The culprit molecules are oxygen
byproducts called free radicals. These highly unstable molecules start chain reactions of
cellular damage—an escalating storm that ravages healthy tissue. “We’ve
found a totally new pathway for reducing the damage caused by free radicals, such as the
damage that happens during a heart attack,” said Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, professor
of chemical and systems biology and the senior author of a study reporting the new
findings. The research appears in the Sept. 12 issue of Science. Before the study,
scientists knew that heart muscle could be preconditioned to resist heart attack
damage—for instance, moderate drinkers tend to have smaller, less severe heart
attacks than teetotalers. But scientists didn’t understand how pre-conditioning
worked. To figure out how alcohol protects heart muscle from free-radical damage,
Mochly-Rosen’s team tested alcohol pretreatment in a rat heart-attack model. They
compared the enzymes activated during the attacks to those switched on with no alcohol.
Enzymes are the “doers” of the cellular machinery, catalyzing all of the
biochemical reactions that form the basis of life. Surprisingly, the treatment activated
aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), an obscure alcohol-processing enzyme. Alcohol
pretreatment increased the enzyme’s activity during heart attack by 20 percent,
leading to a 27 percent drop in the associated damage.
New cannabis-like drugs could block
pain without affecting brain, says study
A new type of drug could alleviate pain in a similar way to cannabis without affecting the
brain, according to a new study published in the journal Pain on Monday 15 September.The
research demonstrates for the first time that cannabinoid receptors called CB2, which can
be activated by cannabis use, are present in human sensory nerves in the peripheral
nervous system, but are not present in a normal human brain. Drugs which activate the CB2
receptors are able to block pain by stopping pain signals being transmitted in human
sensory nerves, according to the study, led by researchers from Imperial College London.
Previous studies have mainly focused on the other receptor activated by cannabis use,
known as CB1, which was believed to be the primary receptor involved in pain relief.
However, as CB1 receptors are found in the brain, taking drugs which activate these
receptors can lead to side-effects, such as drowsiness, dependence and psychosis, and also
recreational abuse. The new research indicates that drugs targeting CB2 receptors offer a
new way of treating pain in clinical conditions where there are currently few effective or
safe treatments, such as chronic pain caused by osteoarthritis and pain from nerve damage.
It could also provide an alternative treatment for acute pain, such as that experienced
following surgical operations. The new study showed that CB2 receptors work to block pain
with a mechanism similar to the one which opiate receptors use when activated by the
powerful painkilling drug morphine. They hope that drugs which target CB2 might provide an
alternative to morphine, which can have serious side effects such as dependency, nausea
and vomiting.
In the first investigation of toxic fire retardants in parents and their children,
Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that toddlers and preschoolers typically had 3
times as much of these hormone-disrupting chemicals in their blood as their mothers.
Laboratory tests – conducted for EWG by one of the world’s leading scientific
authorities on fire retardants – found that in 19 of 20 U.S. families, concentrations
of the chemicals known as PBDEs were significantly higher in 1.5- to 4-year-old children
than their mothers. In total 11 different flame retardants were found in these children,
and 86 percent of the time the chemicals were present at higher levels in the children
than their mothers.
