August 2011

Meningitis is an acute contagious disease causing inflammation of the outer covering of the brain (meninges); it is caused by several microorganisms (viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic).

Causative agents:

• Viral etiology (herpes viruses, Adenovirus, Arbovirus)
• Bacterial (Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Haemophilus, etc).
• Fungal (Cryptococcus)
• Parasitic (Naegleria)

The modes of transmission of pneumonia are usually droplet contact and contact with nasopharyngeal secretions.

The signs and symptoms are:

• Fever sometimes with chills
• Headache, severe with photophobia and irritability
• Signs of Meningeal irritation are Kerning’s sign-(knee), Nuchal rigidity (the neck is stiff when you flex it), opisthotonus (arching of the back), brudzinski’s sign (nape) (when you flex the neck, the knee will follow)

Signs of increase intracranial pressure are: altered level of consciousness, projectile vomiting, papilledema, dilated pupils, increase BP and widened pulse pressure, bradycardia (slow heart rate), irregular breathing pattern and headache.

The signs of increase ICP (intracranial pressures in infants are: bulging fontanels, high-pitched cry, increase head circumference and widened cranial sutures

Diagnostic Examinations are: Lumbar puncture (must have informed consent), blood culture and cranial CT scan

The medical management for this disease are: Mannitol (the patient’s blood pressure should be check first before taking this drug), Antibiotics (penicillin, 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins, etc), Corticosteroids (Dexamethasone), and Anticonvulsants (Diazepam, Phenobarbital, etc.)

The nurse will assess your patient for signs of increase ICP (intracranial pressure), seizures, and fever.
Provide adequate rest for the patient, keep room quiet and dim.
Do not leave your patient alone
The nurse will teach you how to maintain the fluid and electrolyte balance of the patient.

Diet should be high in protein, high caloric in small frequent feedings.

Ulcerative colitis: Why you should know about this condition

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a debilitating condition that affects a considerable number of Australians and is associated with reduced quality of life and significant direct and indirect costs. Being aware of this condition and how it might affect you is important for reducing the impact it has in the long term. Timely diagnosis enables an individualised treatment plan to be developed, which can alleviate the symptoms of active disease, improve your quality of life and prevent relapses or disease progression which might require hospitalisation.

Diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms as well as the findings of endoscopy (looking at the walls of your colon with a camera on a thin tube) and biopsy (taking a tissue sample from your colon). However, ulcerative colitis mimics the symptoms of other gastrointestinal conditions, particularly Crohn's disease, which can complicate the diagnosis. Lack of awareness of the condition also contributes to missed and delayed diagnoses, which in turn increase the physical and financial burden of ulcerative colitis. So pay attention to your bowel, and if you have symptoms that might indicate ulcerative colitis, make an appointment to see your doctor straight away.

Dr Miles Sparrow, Consulting Gastroenterologist at the Alfred Hospital in Victoria, says that we have to become more comfortable talking about gastrointestinal problems.

"One of the main barriers to awareness of ulcerative colitis in Australia is the taboo nature of the primary symptom: bloody diarrhoea. We need to change people's reluctance to talk about symptoms such as bloody diarrhoea so that ulcerative colitis can be diagnosed and treated effectively," said Dr Sparrow.

Already common and becoming more so

Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes symptoms such as rectal bleeding and faecal urgency. The condition affects 16,000–33,000 Australians at any given time, and over 800 new cases are diagnosed each year. Ulcerative colitis is more prevalent in Australia than epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory heart disease. According to Dr Sparrow, it is amazing that IBD isn't more widely recognised.

"Inflammatory bowel diseases affect about as many people in Australia as diabetes and a significant proportion of these are young and active," he said.

In fact, about 10% of ulcerative colitis cases are recorded in individuals less than 18 years old and the incidence in children and adults appears to be increasing. It is estimated that prevalence of the condition will increase by 25% by 2020, at which time 41,000 Australians are expected to be affected by ulcerative colitis of varying severities.

You really want to diagnose this disease early!

The severity of the condition can be determined based on symptoms and other findings and may be classified as:

* Mild (also called proctitis): < 4 stools daily (with or without blood), and no evidence of other toxic effects (e.g. fever, tachycardia, anaemia or increased erythrocyte sedimentation)

* Moderate (also termed left-sided colitis): > 4 stools daily with minimal additional toxicity;

* Severe (also termed extensive): > 6 bloody stools per day with signs of additional toxicity;

* Fulminant (also termed pancolitis): > 10 stool per day, continuous rectal bleeding needing blood transfusion, abdominal tenderness and distension, systemic toxicity and dilated colon.

It's pretty obvious that having ulcerative colitis diagnosed and treated at the mild or moderate stage is far better than waiting and experiencing the more severe symptoms of the disease.

However, these symptoms are also characteristics of other gastrointestinal conditions, particularly Crohn's disease, which your doctor will consider before diagnosing UC. Colonoscopy (a type of endoscopy specifically for your colon) and biopsies are required to diagnose ulcerative colitis and exclude other conditions. A "she'll be right" attitude to gastrointestinal problems is a dangerous approach to take and you should see your GP sooner rather than later.

"People need to be made aware that if they have diarrhoea for longer than two weeks, they probably do not have infectious gastroenteritis; they may instead have an inflammatory bowel disease. It is also important to understand that there is a significantly increased risk of bowel cancer for people who have ulcerative colitis," said Dr Sparrow.

A severely debilitating, lifelong condition

Ulcerative colitis is a severely debilitating condition.

"Physical symptoms such as fatigue, abdominal pain and bloody diarrhoea all take their toll and can lead to absenteeism and depression," according to Dr Sparrow.

Ulcerative colitis is associated with greater disability and loss of life than chronic back pain, epilepsy and mental retardation, amongst other conditions. It is responsible for reduced economic productivity and quality of life as well as increased health care expenses.

However, diagnosing the disease early can reduce the impact UC will have on your life. Among individuals with mild disease, 66% will achieve remission with medication (most commonly with drugs called aminosalicylates) and 80% who keep taking their medication will remain symptom-free. Approximately 5–10% of patients with mild disease will go on to develop a more severe form of ulcerative colitis.

Moderate disease is also typically treated with medication such as aminosalicylates. Severe disease, however, usually requires hospitalisation and may involve a range of treatments. These include blood transfusion (to replace blood lost through rectal haemorrhage), enteral nutrition (feeding through a tube) and alternate medications that may have more serious side effects than aminosalicylates.

Fulminant UC does not respond to any of the abovementioned treatments and requires surgical removal of the entire or part of the colon (total or partial colectomy). This treatment is needed by about one third of patients who have had UC for more than 20 years, but even this treatment isn't successful all the time. In many cases, UC can reoccur or the individual will need ongoing medication to control the symptoms, both of which are associated with considerable cost.

Costly to you and the health system

Ulcerative colitis is associated with significant direct and indirect costs; in 2005, the cost of UC in Australia was $258 million. Lost productivity (e.g. absenteeism, early retirement, educational interruption) accounted for approximately $138 million, while an estimated $34.1 million was directed to health expenditures for UC. Approximately half of that amount was used in the provision of hospital services, which are needed for patients with severe acute disease. Despite this, ulcerative colitis does not attract a high level of federal funding.

"This means there are less people and resources dedicated to the study and treatment of the condition in Australia and this subsequently affects awareness of ulcerative colitis amongst health professionals," said Dr Sparrow.

Diagnose, treat and keep treating

These costs, as well as the debilitation experienced by individuals with UC, could be considerably reduced with improved diagnosis and treatment. In the past you had two options for treatment: rectal suppositories and enemas, or an oral medication regimen requiring multiple doses per day. Not surprisingly, neither were popular and a lot of UC sufferers found it hard to keep taking their medication, particularly when the disease wasn't active and they didn't have symptoms. Fortunately, new formulations of aminosalicylate oral medications are now available that allow once-daily dosing and are as effective as suppositories and enemas, making it much easier to keep UC symptoms at bay.

"The once-daily formulations make it easier for patients to keep taking their medication once remission has been achieved and this helps to maintain remission," said Dr Sparrow.

Lack of public and professional awareness of UC impairs effective diagnosis and treatment and contributes to missed diagnoses and poor outcomes. Improving diagnosis and treatment has great potential to improve the lives of people living with UC.

Before reading this article, did you know what ulcerative colitis was? And now that you've learnt how common and severe UC is, are you surprised that you didn't know what it was? With awareness of UC, and the knowledge that effective treatment is available, you can take action if this disease should ever affect you or someone close to you.

source: virtualmedicalcentre

Probiotics Help Alleviate Depression, Anxiety Consuming probiotic-rich foods such as yogurt and dairy drinks have been shown to improve digestive health, but new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals probiotics may benefit brain health by significantly alleviating stress, anxiety and depression.

Researchers at the University College Cork examined the effect of feeding a lactic bacteria named Lactobacillus rhamnosus JB-1 in rats. They found rats that consumed the gut bacteria displayed significantly less behavior linked with stress, anxiety and depression compared to mice who did not consume the probiotic. Bacteria-fed mice also had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone corticosterone in response to stressful situations.

The researchers also showed that regular feeding with the Lactobacillus strain caused changes in the expression of receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA in the mouse brain, which is the first time that it has been demonstrated that potential probiotics have a direct effect on brain chemistry in normal situations. The authors also established that the vagus nerve is the main relay between the microbiome (bacteria in the gut) and the brain. This three way communication system is known as the microbiome-gut-brain axis and these findings highlight the important role of bacteria in the communication between the gut and the brain, and suggest that certain probiotic organisms may prove to be useful adjunct therapies in stress-related psychiatric disorders.

The findings support a recent study conducted at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center that concluded improving probiotic microflora in the intestines may be an important key to treating mental health conditions. The researchers found probiotics play a role in producing, absorbing, and transporting neurochemicals, such as serotonin, dopamine and nerve growth factor, which are essential for healthy brain and nerve function.

Sources: University College Cork: Probiotic bacteria lessens depression

Green Tea’s EGCG Boosts Immunity, Fights Inflammation

The Chinese have known the healing power of green tea for generations. Many believe that the unprocessed tea leaves can help to prevent or even cure many chronic diseases including heart disease, cancer and dementia.

Volumes of scientific evidence now provide compelling proof that the active polyphenol found in green tea (EGCG) has the power to increase the number of regulatory immune support T-cells. T-cells play a crucial role in the suppression of autoimmune diseases including the terminal condition ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Research published in the journal Immunology Letters demonstrates that regular consumption of green tea can help your innate immune system to operate at peak efficiency to fight invading pathogens.

Green Tea Polyphenols Fight Autoimmune Disorders

Autoimmune diseases occur as the result of an imbalance in the immune system that results in the body mounting an attack against itself. Immune T-cells are critical in providing a defensive shield that can protect against cancer proliferation and a host of diseases where the body recognizes healthy cells and organs as foreign. T-cells also help to control systemic inflammation and can dampen the inappropriate response to normal cells seen in autoimmune conditions.

Scientists conducting this study found that EGCG found in green tea was responsible for a significantly higher number and frequency of regulatory T-cells found in the spleen and lymph nodes, helping to control the immune response. They found that EGCG did not directly affect the genetic DNA, but did influence gene expression that determines how the genetic material is switched on or off as a response to food consumption. Epigenetic regulation is a rapidly emerging science that explains the extensive health benefits seen with a natural diet.

EGCG From Green Tea Extinguishes Inflammatory Flames, Prevents Cancer Development

Emily Ho, associate professor and research author from the Oregon State University Department of Nutrition commented with reference to EGCG, “This appears to be a natural, plant-derived compound that can affect the number of regulatory T-cells, and in the process improve immune function.” Researchers found a dual role for green tea polyphenols include boosting T-cell production and fighting cellular inflammation. Both mechanisms are critical in fighting conditions exacerbated by chronic inflammation such as cancer and heart disease as well as autoimmune disorders.

Studies that involve regular consumption of naturally occurring foods and extracts are rapidly mounting to explain the importance of the foods we eat on our genetic health. Genes are expressed immediately following each meal and directly influence the progression of disease and the prevention of most chronic conditions.

Researchers conducting this study concluded, “Epigenetic regulation can be potentially exploited in generating suppressive regulatory T cells for therapeutic purposes, and is of significant clinical importance for the suppression of autoimmune diseases.” Although this study did not publish the dietary equivalent of green tea used to achieve their results, similar studies have recommended consuming 2 to 4 cups of green tea daily or 500 mg of a standardized EGCG extract for optimal health benefits.

source: stopagingnow

Periodontal disease may aggravate respiratory disease Respiratory infections, such as pneumonia and the exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, involve the aspiration of bacteria from the oropharynx into the lower respiratory tract, the study authors noted.

If periodontitis enhances the risk of respiratory disease, dentists and periodontists could play a significant role in overall prevention, they added.

The researchers, from two dental schools in India, looked at a group of 100 hospitalized patients with respiratory disease at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Kerala between April 2004 and November 2004. They also included 100 age-, sex-, and race-matched controls, all new patients at the outpatient clinic in the department of periodontics at the same hospital.

The researchers considered the patients' age, sex, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle. Socioeconomic status variables included education and monthly household income, while lifestyle characteristics included a history of smoking and past dental treatment.

The study authors compared standardized measures of oral health, including the gingival index, plaque index, and simplified oral hygiene index. They also recorded probing depths and clinical attachment levels at four sites per tooth.

Patients with respiratory disease had significantly poorer periodontal health, gingival inflammation, deeper pockets, and higher clinical attachment levels compared with the controls, the researchers found.

"The findings of the present analysis substantiate a potential association between periodontal disease and respiratory disease, indicating a positive correlation between poor periodontal health and the risk of developing respiratory disease," the authors wrote.

Dentists and periodontists could play a significant role in preventing respiratory disease by increasing efforts to prevent periodontitis and arresting the progression in already afflicted patients, they added.

Evidence growing

These findings are unique because the researchers actually performed periodontal exams on patients, according to Frank Scannapieco, DMD, a professor and the chair of the department of oral biology at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine who has also conducted research in this area (Journal of Periodontology, January 2001, Vol. 72:1, pp. 50-56).

"It's difficult to do a periodontal exam on patients who are in the hospital because of severe respiratory disease," he told DrBicuspid.com.

Although these findings are not particularly surprising, they do add another layer to existing evidence, he added. However, the link between the two conditions has not been established in a definitive manner and more research is required, he noted.

For example, a study that shows the effect of dental treatment on the disease would be useful, but that would be very expensive and would require a lot of patients, Dr. Scannapieco explained.

The study authors also noted the need for further research, including prospective longitudinal studies comparing respiratory disease rates in institutionalized patientswith and without periodontal disease and interventional studies to assess the effect of periodontal therapy on respiratory disease in these patients.

This area of research has come a long way in the past few decades, Dr. Scannapieco said. When he first started doing research on the link between periodontal disease and respiratory condition in the 1980s, it was difficult to get funding because people did not realize the seriousness of this connection.

Now people understand these connections more and there is more awareness, he said.

"One of the main problems we have is that medical and nursing professions do not teach much about oral health," Dr. Scannapieco said. "It would be very useful if they could become more knowledgeable about oral health."

source: drbicuspid

Nutritional test before starting optimal high-energy diet plan

The system I like best so far for identifying what type of diet is most likely to give you the most energy was developed by my good friend Glen Depke, N.D., and is called nutritional typing. Depke, a traditional naturopath and the chief nutritionist at the Mercola Optimal Wellness Center in Illinois, has developed a terrific basic questionnaire that you can use to determine whether you are a “veggie type”, a “mixed type”, or a “protein type”. He has generously allowed met to reproduce that questionnaire here. It’s a simplified version of the nutritional typing test they use at the Mercola Center.

Take the test, and use the results to determine where you should start for your optimal high-energy diet plan, realizing that you may have to tweak it depending on your needs. Nonetheless, the two sample diet plans below should give you a great place to start once you know which type you are.

NUTRITIONAL TYPING TEST
Choose your answer and keep a tally of your score according to the number of points assigned.

1. If you had to be at your best throughout the morning with high physical, mental, and emotional energy and did not have a chance to have anything but water from breakfast to lunch, which meal would you choose for breakfast?

• Yogurt mixed with fruit – 2
• Steak and eggs with a small amount of has brown + 2
• Almost any food would work for me O

2. Do you crave salt or snacks with salt, such as potato chips?
• Yes + 1
• No -1
• At times but not consistently O

3. Do you do well with a juice or water fast? (If you’ve never done one, take a guess at how you might feel.)
• No + 2
• Yes -2
• Can fast if need be O

4. If you had to be at your best throughout the afternoon with high physical, mental, and emotional energy and did not have a chance to have anything but water from lunch to dinner, which meal would you choose for lunch?
• Large salad with a small chicken breast -2
• Beef tenderloin with a small spinach salad +2
• Almost any food would work for me O

5. If eating dessert, what would you prefer? (Remember, this is based only on your desire, not what you think is better or worse for you. What would you eat if no one were looking?)
• Cheesecake +2
• Mixed berries with low-fat yogurt -2
• Almost any desert would appeal to me O

6. If you had to be at your best throughout the evening with high physical, mental, and emotional energy and did not have a chance to have anything but water from dinner to bedtime, which meal would you choose for dinner?
• Rib-eye steak with cauliflower topped with cheese sauce +2
• Tilapia with a large Ceaesar salad -2
• Almost any food would work for me O

7. How would you react if you were forced to skip a meal ?
• I would have no problem -2
• I would react very poorly +2
• I could skip a meal if necessary but would really prefer not to O

8. If you drank a glass of fruit juice on an empty stomach, how would you react ?
• Poorly +2
• I would respond well -2
• This would have no noticeable effect on me O

Add up your score to determine your estimated nutritional needs.
-15 to -5 Veggie type
-6 to +5 Mixed type
+6 to +15 Protein type

If you’re a veggie type, it would be best to include higher amounts of vegetables in your diet, cut back on red meat, focus on lighter fish and white meat fowl, and use fat sparingly.

If you’re a protein type, increase quality organic red meat (I recommend only grass-fed meat), wild-caught fatty fish, and dark meat fowl in your diet and consume higher amounts of quality fats and slightly lower amounts of quality fats and slightly lower amounts of vegetables.

If you fall into the middle, you’re probably a mixed type. Start with an assortment of quality meats and vegetables and a fair amount of fat.

FDA: Cancer drug shortages getting worse Since 2010, the number of drugs either in short supply or not available at all has risen dramatically, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Most of these are generic drugs given by injection and used in hospitals to treat serious conditions such as breast and testicular cancer. These shortages are putting patients at risk and compromising their care, experts say.

"FDA has been monitoring shortages for the last six years, and in 2010 we saw a large spike in shortages, which was a large jump from the year before," said Valerie Jensen, associate director of the Drug Shortage Program in FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "That's what we are continuing to see in 2011. We are still seeing these large numbers of injectable drug shortages."

Dr. Richard Schilsky, past president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said "this is very serious, particularly the shortage of cancer drugs."

"Patients are being called everyday by their oncologist being told that they have to delay their treatment because the drug isn't available," Schilsky noted. "We have had to set priority lists of which patients are going to get treatment, because we don't always have an adequate drug supply. And it varies week-to-week; sometimes day-to-day."

There are several reasons for these ongoing shortages, Jensen said. Most are due to problems in manufacturing, ranging from contamination to late delivery of raw materials. Other problems include misprints in the drug's label or packaging and increased demand, she said.

Some people believe the FDA is causing part of the problem by not quickly inspecting plants to allow them to start producing the drug again, but Jensen challenged that notion.

"If the company is having a quality issue, the company doesn't have to wait for an FDA inspection to restart the manufacture," Jensen explained. The agency attempts to work with the companies to get drugs back into the market or tries to locate other sources for these drugs, she added.

However, Jensen noted that since most of these drugs are generic, companies don't make much money on them and may, in some cases, opt to discontinue them.

Joseph M. Hill, director of federal legislative affairs at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, said that, "from our members' perspective, it is kind of a crisis."

"We are seeing a shortage of critical drugs in the areas of cancer therapy, pain medications, including anesthetics, and some nutritional products. Some of these are products that people cannot do without," he said.

Another reason for the shortages, may be that companies are using them to increase prices, Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, said.

"There is a pattern here. The drugs for which there is a shortage are the generic drugs, where the ability to make money is not as great," he said. "If the drug is off the market, they can reprice it."

While many of these delays are due to real manufacturing problems, "there are instances where I am certain that manufacture was stopped because they wanted to raise the price," Brawley said.

However, David Belian, a spokesman for the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, said that companies are not taking drugs off the market to raise prices.

"Shortages have been caused by everything from an insufficient supply of available raw materials to meet demand, to inadequate and delayed communications about shortages, both within the supply chain and also within and among the FDA's enforcement and drug shortages personnel," he said.

"FDA enforcement actions that delay or deter the production of certain products have also had an impact, as have changes in clinical practices that have altered volume production and use, as well as wholesaler stockpiling of critical medications," Belian said.

There are about a dozen commonly used cancer drugs that have been in and out of short supply for a year, Schilsky said. These include Doxil (doxorubicin), which is made exclusively by Janssen Products LP and used off-label to treat breast cancer.

"For some drugs there may be alternatives, but for some diseases there are not good substitutes," Schilsky said. "Some of these drugs are lifesaving drugs for patients. There is the potential that this could result in bad outcomes."

Another example of a drug that is in short supply is the leukemia drug cytarabine, where three makers of the drug are all experiencing delays.

"This is one of the bedrock treatments for acute leukemia and there is no suitable substitute for that," Schilsky said. "Patients with leukemia are patients who can't wait, they need treatment and they need it now."

Another chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, which is essential in the treatment of testicular cancer, is also in short supply. While the drug can be substituted in some disease, for testicular cancer it is the "curative therapy and the best possible therapy," Schilsky said. "Patients' lives are on the line here."

source: yourlife.usatoday

How Diet Foods Can Make You Fat Too?

Generalizing about healthy food can snowball into a major disaster. Taking diet advice at face-value means you are playing a risky game of fat roulette. You have cut back on the chocolates, thrown out the biscuits, raided the nearest health food store, and had bran for breakfast, a salad for lunch and sushi for dinner- that is supposed to be making you lose the pounds right? But the menu you are hooked on to can be a fat landmine! Find out how straightforward diet oversights can disrupt low-calorie foods, doubling your fat intake and affecting your waistline.

A cereal saboteur, Granola seems harmless compared to eggs swimming in hollandaise sauce. But granola is no champion's breakfast. A cup of it contains about 560 calories and around 28 grams of fat- and all this before adding the milk. Though, undoubtedly nutritious and fibrous, it contains a high quantity of sugar and oil making it extremely high in fat.

Instead, try eating granola in smaller quantities and switch to low fat, sugar-free muesli or eat nuts.

Diet Drinks

That single sip of sugar-free versions of your favourite fizz drinks could be your waistline's worst enemy! It is prove that people who drink artificially sweetened beverages gain more weight than those who didn't perhaps because artificial sweeteners trigger appetite.

If you cannot get rid of the zero-calorie soda glued to your palm, then try reserving diet soda as an occasional teat and get your fizz in the form of sparkling mineral water.

Smoothies

If you are one of those who substitute breakfast for a smoothie, think again. You might be pushing your calorie limit and adding o
n hundreds of extra calories by supplementing your meals with sugary fruit drinks. While smoothies and juices count towards your daily intake of calories, a fresh piece of fruit is a much wiser choice as though smoothies are packed with nutrients, they are also packed with a surprising amount of sugar. So tick to that one cup of fresh fruits.

Vegetable Crisps

The rainbow hued chips are viewed by many people as the healthier substitute to their potato equivalents. Often, veggie chips are not much healthier as they contain corn flour or potato with a small amount of vegetable powder or puree mixed in mostly. In the processing of these chips, the essential nutrients such as Vitamin A and C are lost, so they don't offer much when it comes to nutrition.

Try switching to crisps that have an all vegetable list, stick to one helping or portion. The best way is to make your own vegetable chips at home.

Salad

Once believed to be the saving grace of dieters, Salads now seem to be a saboteur. Salads are generally offered as the healthy options but we seem to have forgotten what salads are all about- the greens. Though salads contain vegetables, fruits and other healthy ingredients, they are usually obscured under a layer of sugary and oily salad dressing - high in fat and calories.

The slimming alternatives include thinking vegetables while choosing a healthy salad, avoiding calories by drizzling light dressings on your salad or completely skipping the dressings.

source: siliconindia

Genetic cause found for rare congenital disease Study: Exome sequencing identifies NBEAL2 as the causative gene for grey platelet syndrome.
By: Albers C.A. et al. (20 authors total)
In: Nature Genetics

What this study set out to do:

The study authors set out to identify genes responsible for gray platelet syndrome.

How they went about it:

The exomes of four unrelated individuals with gray platelet syndrome were sequenced. Due to the autosomal recessive nature in which this rare condition is inherited, the researchers looked for at least two novel mutations per individual in the same gene.

Outcome:

All four of the sequenced individuals had at least two novel mutations, which were predicted to have functional consequences, in the Neurobeachin-like 2 gene (NBEAL2). This gene is located on chromosome 3p21 – a region previously established as linked to gray platelet syndrome. Additional functional work was conducted in the Zebrafish which support the involvement of the NBEAL2 protein in disease aetiology.

Conclusion:

The study authors identified novel mutations in NBEAL2, a gene involved in the formation of α-granules and that “this discovery may lead to the development of safer antiplatelet drugs for use in the treatment of individuals with heart attack and stroke”.
Our view:

This study along with two others also published in the journal Nature Genetics by Kahr et al. and Gunay-Aygun et al. highlight the growing use of modern genomic technologies in identifying genes involved in rare conditions such as gray platelet syndrome. No mutations in this gene were identified in over 600 individuals from the 1000 Genomes Database and a further 100 ethnically matched controls raising the possibility of a diagnostic genetic test.

However, no correlations were made between genotype and phenotype other than to say that individuals with homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the NBEAL2 gene had gray platelet syndrome. Until such links are made, the test would not provide prognostic information, potentially limiting utility.

Why do some people get old so suddenly?

A major factor in premature aging is free radicals damage. This is particularly true of the skin. Eating foods high in antioxidants that fight free radicals damage can help the skin and body look and feel younger longer.

Stress is another huge factor. Those who handle stress well will typically look 10 years younger than those who let stress and worry overwhelm them. Developing stress-reducing habits at your age would be a great hedge against premature aging, as would upping your diet with healthy antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies.

The other factor I've seen in the older age group is that losing a mate seems to accelerate aging at an alarming rate. I've seen people who looked a decade older just a year after losing their life partner.

Benefits of Exercising With Your Mate

Here’s a twofer, from an energy standpoint.

Exercise with your mate.

Not only will you reap all the mind and body rewards of physical activity (in case you need reminding of the myriad health and energy benefits of exercise, but you’ll also foster a stronger relationship with the person you love. And if you make a habit of exercising together, studies show, you each stand a better chance of sticking to a routine.

You also stand a better chance of upping your sexual and romantic energy, which is not exactly a bad side benefit. When I interviewed the great sociologist and writer Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D., author of Prime: Adventures and Advice on Sez, Love, and the Sensual Years, she quickly drew the connection between energy and relationships: “One major source of depression is when you relationship or marriage is not doing well”, she gold me. “And that take away from the ability to mobilize energy”. The remedy? “Exercise together!”

“Many people don’t get those energizing endorphins going if they aren’t physical with each other”, Schwartz told me. “Endorphins are a class of brain chemicals that make you feel joy. And once you get them going, it’s enormously helpful for getting the whole romance thing going”.

CHOOSE YOUR ACTIVITY
The exercise you pick should depend on your goals, fitness abilities, and preferences. If the two of you have different athletic abilities, find a middle-ground activity (this is especially important when one spouse is overly competitive). Playing doubles in tennis, going tandem – kayaking or cycling – and hiking at a pace that works for both of you are all great ways to pair mismatched strengths. (Even walking together could do it – plus it’s a great way to start a powerful conversation.

My girlfriend and I like to hike in the nearby mountains 9with our highly competitive dogs). Getting away from our hectic lives, even for just an hour, is time for us to catch up, discuss life’s mundane details, plan great things for our future, or silently share the sounds of nature. All that, plus breathtaking views and a heart-pumping workout.

Winter activities such as ice skating, snow-shoeing, and skiing can be great ways to bond. (But be forewarned – relationships can hit an icy patch when a downhill newbie is taught to ski by a significant other. Take lessons, and whatever you do, do not follow your significant other down an expert slope unless you know you’re ready. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but Black Diamonds – or worse, Double Black Diamonds – offer nothing but pain to a beginner).

You can also practice togetherness at the gym while exercising at your own pace on side-by-side cardio machines. Take a yoga class, pair up for salsa lessons, or get into swimming. Doesn’t matter. Get your heart rate up and your (Mutual) energy will soar. Your romantic life won’t be too shabby either.

Every relationship needs a little variety, so share an athletic challenge – try rock climbing, rafting, or mountain biking. Challenging activities excite our brains, help build new neural pathways, and slow the aging process.

Exercising together promotes good health, reduces stress, increases energy, makes you look and feel better, strengthens your relationship, and may improve your sex life.

What’s not to like?

It Doesn’t Always Work Out the Way You Hope!

A male graduate student I know was working on a research project in Japan, where he found himself developing a crush on one of his fellow grad students. She, however, didn’t seem to be the slightest bit interested in him.

So he hatched a good-natured plot. He was familiar with the research that showed how raising adrenaline levels together often has a positive romantic effect, so he decided to ask her to go with him on an adventure – a rickshaw ride through the streets of Tokyo. She eagerly agreed.

Afterward, excited from the new experience, she turned to him and told him how great the ride had been.

And then added breathlessly, ‘And that rickshaw driver was so handsome!”

Liver Enzymes can Predict Pre-diabetes and Diabetes

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease includes a number of conditions affecting the liver, ranging from accumulation of fat in the liver to more serious inflammatory changes resulting in steatohepatitis, fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease has been associated with diabetes. A study was conducted in Germany to study the association between increase in liver enzymes and fatty liver, and the presence of pre-diabetes and diabetes.

The study was conducted on 3009 individuals that included 1556 females and 1453 males aged between 32 to 81 years.

A person in the study was said to be pre-diabetic if certain blood glucose tests were abnormal, that is, the person showed impaired glucose tolerance test (IGT) or fasting blood glucose (IFG), or both. Some of the participants had known or newly diagnosed diabetes. Blood glucose levels, HbA1c and C-reactive protein levels were estimated in all participants.

Liver function was estimated by checking for liver enzymes like gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT), glutamate-oxalacetate transaminase (GOT) and alkaline phosphatase (AP). The fatty liver index, that is, Bedogni Fatty Liver Index (FLI), was also calculated and a score of greater or equal 60 points was considered as positive for fatty liver disease.

Other information on socio-demographic variables, smoking habits, physical activity, medication use, alcohol consumption, household characteristics, educational attainment and physical activity were also collected. The participants were also examined for waist and hip circumferences measurements, body mass index, blood pressure and had to undergo blood testing.

Among the participants included in the study, 229 participants reported known diabetes, 106 had newly diagnosed diabetes, 107 had IFG, 309 had IGT, 69 were had both IFG as well as IGT, and 74 could not be classified (due to inconsistent information regarding diabetes status or glucose tolerance test could not be successfully conducted due to various reasons).

The researchers found that liver enzymes were increased in people with pre-diabetes and diabetes. More specifically, GGT and GPT were significantly increased in all participants with pre-diabetes and the diabetes. The other liver enzymes were increased only in some groups: GOT was not significantly increased in persons with known diabetes and unknown status, but all other groups. AP was significantly increased in persons with IFG, IGT, newly diagnosed diabetes and known diabetes, but not in the group of participants who had IFG/IGT and the group with unknown glucose tolerance status.

The study also inferred some other findings. Briefly, these are:

• Glucose disturbances occurred in older individuals

• More males suffered from glucose disturbances

• A number of individuals with less than 10 years education had IGT, newly diagnosed diabetes or known diabetes.

• People suffering from pre-diabetes and diabetes had higher body mass index, waist, hip circumference and high blood pressure.

• Pre-diabetics had a higher value of total cholesterol.

• People with glucose disturbances had higher values of triglycerides, CRP, HbA1c and uric acid.

• People with known diabetes had lower alcohol intake

• Smoking was less common in patients with IFG

• People with known diabetes were physically less active during their leisure time

Patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes had higher incidence of fatty liver, as estimated using the fatty liver index. People taking diabetes medication showed a decreased association between diabetes and fatty liver, indicating a beneficial effect of diabetes medication on fatty liver.

The study thus indicates that increase in liver enzymes and fatty liver is associated not only with diabetes, but also with pre-diabetes, as defined by an impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance, or both. These enzymes could thus be used as inexpensive and easily available early indicators of abnormal glucose metabolism.

Reference:

1. Association between Markers of Fatty Liver Disease and Impaired Glucose Regulation in Men and Women from the General Population: The KORA-F4-Study; Ina Maria et al; Plos One 2011.

Source-Medindia

World-first Research Offers Hope to Rare Cancer Patients A milestone research project involving 30,000 Australians is being launched at Cancer Council Victoria today to provide hope to those with rare cancers. The Forgotten Cancers Project is the first epidemiological-based research project in the world focusing on less common cancers.

Statistics show over half of all cancer deaths are due to less common cancers. This is despite the five most commonly occurring types - breast, bowel, prostate, melanoma and lung - accounting for 61 per cent of cancer diagnoses in Victoria.

The Forgotten Cancers Project aims to understand the causes of less common and /or underresearched cancers, and establish ways to prevent them and detect them earlier, leading to reduced mortality rates.

Cancer Council Victoria CEO, Mr Todd Harper, said The Forgotten Cancers Project is exciting because the same research approach successfully pioneered for the five most common cancers would be applied.

“We hope this project will result in a major scientific resource that can be used for future long-term projects by scientists worldwide to test new ideas, methodologies and hypotheses.”

“By discovering which lifestyle factors and which genetic factors increase the risk of cancer, we also hope in the long-term to be able to use the information to develop prevention campaigns to reduce people’s risk.”

Australians over 18 years of age, who have been diagnosed with one or more of the 15 targeted cancers: non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukaemia, multiple myeloma, kidney, bladder, stomach, brain, liver, oesophagus, pancreas, uterus, thyroid, gallbladder, small intestine and bone cancer, are invited to participate in the study. If eligible, a nominated family member not affected by the same cancer may also be invited to take part.

Cancer Epidemiology Centre Deputy Director, Assoc Prof Gianluca Severi, said the 15 target cancers had been selected for specific reasons.

“We might know some causes of some of the cancers but not a lot. We know some have very poor survival and we really need to find out more about them so we can try to prevent them. And we’ve selected cancers for which we hope there may be genetic causes that we will be able to identify through analysing people’s DNA.”

Participants will be asked to complete an online questionnaire about topics such as lifestyle factors, family history of cancer, medical history and occupational history. They will also be asked to give DNA from either saliva or blood samples.

“We need 1000 people with each type of cancer, and a matching number of relatives, in order to build sufficient information for our research platform.”

Dr Severi said he hoped people would understand the importance for a project of this scale and encouraged Australians to support the initiative.

“Due to the very low incidence of some cancers, such as small intestine for example, we’re really going to need as many people as possible with a diagnosis to come forward.”

“What’s really exciting is that once we’ve filled our quota for one of the cancers, we can then open the doors and select another cancer to start building up the resource.”

With an ageing population, and the fact that cancer occurs more commonly in older people, the number of cancer patients is expected to increase by up to 30 percent over the next 10 years.

source: au.ibtimes

How Gut Health Impacts Your Brain And Beauty By Ashley Neglia

Research has already shown a connection between the belly and the brain (there's a reason it's called "gut instinct"), but new studies suggest that the food we eat and the bacteria residing within our gut may be powerful enough to alter our cognitive behavior.

These links between mind and body are helping researchers delve even deeper into viewing health and beauty more holistically.

According to researchers, changes in naturally occurring bacteria within the stomach may pack enough punch to otherwise affect brain chemistry. The new findings may not only help explain why certain gastrointestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, often occur concurrently with anxiety or depression, but also why some psychiatric illnesses, such as late onset autism, are associated with abnormal bacteria content.

Given our guts are home to about 100 trillion bacteria, it makes sense that a disruption of this complex symbiotic relationship could send shockwaves throughout the body, ultimately affecting the mind.

When researchers at McMaster University disrupted the normal bacterial balance in the stomachs of mice, the mice manifested certain behavioral changes, in some cases becoming less cautious or anxious. What's more, they exhibited an increase in a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which may be connected to depression and anxiety.

Giving even more clout to this gut and mind meld, another study found that probiotics could help the gut produce certain neurochemicals, which after being delivered to the brain via the blood, can affect gastrointestinal and psychological health.

"Until recently the idea that probiotic bacteria administered to the intestine could influence the brain seemed almost surreal," Professor Gregor Reid, from the University of Western Ontario, said in a commentary piece about the study. But not everyone's surprised by these new findings.

"It makes sense to me," said Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a UCLA professor of neurosurgery and physiological science who studies the effects of food, exercise and sleep on the brain. "Bacteria play an important role in digestion, and the digestion of food actually can generate a chemical, which can affect the immune system and reach the brain."

But don't go thinking your probiotic supplement can alter your brain just yet. Not everyone in the health community is convinced that probiotics are powerful enough to affect behavior.

"There is not enough reliable evidence demonstrating the ability of probiotics to enhance cognitive functioning," said nutrition expert Keri Glassman. "We may see the gut-mind connection in the future, but currently there is not enough supportive research."

While the jury may still be out on whether what we eat (or what's already in our stomachs) can really affect our cognitive behavior, Glassman points out that there are certain foods that can still help boost our moods.

Oatmeal, for example, is a complex carbohydrate that causes the brain to produce serotonin, or the "feel good hormone," said Glassman. Chocolate, on the otherhand, contains caffeine, a stimulant that promotes brain function and fosters the release of mood-enhancing endorphins, she adds.

And while the effects of munching on a piece of chocolate or tucking into a bowl of oatmeal may not be strong enough to alter your innate behavior, they may be able to put a smile on your face when you've got a case of the Mondays. Well, the chocolate, anyway.

source: huffingtonpost

Non-Cardiac Causes of Heart Pain

If you experience sharp pain at the left side of your chest, for about 30 seconds then disappears, not necessary it's a heart attack.

Generally, chest pain has many possible causes, all of which deserve medical attention. Basically, the causes of chest pain fall into two major categories — cardiac and non-cardiac causes.

Many conditions unrelated to your heart can cause chest pain, such as:

* Heartburn - Abdomen acid that washes up from your stomach into the tube (esophagus) that runs from your throat to your stomach can cause heartburn — a painful, burning sensation behind your breastbone (sternum).

* Panic attack. But you experience periods of intense fear accompanied by chest pain, rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing (hyperventilation), profuse sweating and shortness of breath, you may be experiencing a panic attack — a form of anxiety.

* Pleurisy. It is the sharp, localized chest pain that's made worse when you inhale or cough occurs when the membrane that lines your chest cavity and covers your lungs becomes inflamed. It is where Pleurisy may result from a wide variety of underlying conditions, including pneumonia and, rarely, autoimmune conditions, such as lupus. The autoimmune disease is one in which your body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue.

* Costochondritis. In this state — also known as Tietze's syndrome — the cartilage of your rib cage, particularly the cartilage that joins your ribs to your breastbone, becomes inflamed. The outcome is chest pain when you push on your sternum or on the ribs near your sternum.

* Pulmonary embolism - This reason of chest pain occurs when a blood clot becomes lodged in a lung (pulmonary) artery, blocking blood flow to lung tissue. It's uncommon for this life-threatening condition to occur without preceding risk factors, such as recent surgery or immobilization.

* Additional lung conditions - A distorted lung (pneumothorax), high blood pressure in the arteries carrying blood to the lungs (pulmonary hypertension) and asthma also can produce chest pain.

* Sore muscles - Constant pain syndromes, such as fibromyalgia, can produce persistent muscle-related chest pain.

* Upset ribs or pinched nerves – An injured or broken rib, as well as a pinched nerve, can cause chest pain.

* Swallowing disorders – These disorders of the esophagus, the tube that runs from your throat to your stomach, can make swallowing difficult and even painful. One kind is esophageal spasm, a condition that affects a small group of people with chest pain. So when people with this condition swallow, the muscles that normally move food down the esophagus are uncoordinated and this outcome in painful muscle spasms.

An additional swallowing disorder that also affects a small group of people with chest pain is achalasia (ak-uh-LA-zhuh). During this condition, the valve in the lower esophagus doesn't open properly to allow food to enter your stomach. In its place food backs up into the esophagus, causing pain.

* Shingles - This disease of the nerves caused by the chickenpox virus can produce pain and a band of blisters from your back around to your chest wall.

* Gallbladder or pancreas problems - Gallstones or inflammation of your gallbladder (cholecystitis) or pancreas can cause acute abdominal pain that radiates to your chest.

By Dr. Dave

Difference between a pacemaker and a defibrillator? What is the difference between a pacemaker and a defibrillator?

High salt, low activity bad for brain health

Research has shown consuming too much salt and being inactive leads to heart disease, but now a new study shows the same combination also can be bad for brain health.

Canadian researchers studied the salt intake and physical activity levels of 1,262 healthy men and women ages 67 to 84 over three years and found those with the highest levels of sodium (3,091 milligrams a day and greater) and the lowest levels of exercise tended to show poorer cognitive performance than those with a low sodium intake and an active lifestyle. The findings were published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

"These findings are important because they help people know they can be proactive in retaining healthy brains as they age," says Carol Greenwood, one of the study's lead researchers and a professor at the Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care at the University of Toronto. "Baby Boomers especially need to know that sitting on the couch watching television for long periods of time and eating salty snacks is not good for them."

Four million to 5 million adults in the USA have some form of dementia, and those numbers are expected to soar as Baby Boomers grow older.

Among other findings: Sedentary older adults showed no cognitive decline over the three years if they had low sodium intake.

One teaspoon of salt is equal to 2,000 milligrams. In the study, low and medium sodium intake were defined as not exceeding 2,263 and 3,090 milligrams respectively.

"This is one of the first studies that looks at sodium," says Deborah Barnes, a dementia expert at the University of California-San Francisco, who was not associated with the study. "It's another important point about diet. You need to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and stay away from processed foods."

Hold the salt

Daily

recommended sodium limits:

2,300

milligrams or less for many people

1,500

milligrams or less for people who are 51 and older and those of any age who are African American or have hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

Source: FDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Bill Clintons follows vegan diet to reverse heart disease Earlier before one year, former President of U.S, Bill Clinton successfully lost weight for his daughter Chelsea’s wedding. Now, Clinton told CNN that he has given up eating meat, fish and dairy products in order to reverse his heart disease and to improve his heart health.

“It’s turning a ship around before it hits the iceberg, but I think we’re beginning to turn it around,” he told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Bill Clinton is following a vegan diet after his heart health issues-reports CBS News.

It is stated that the 65 year old Bill Clinton has lost 20 pounds of weight.

Bill Clinton admitted that he had taken extra cholesterol without knowing it and told that his diet now he is adopting might be considered vegan diet.

Experts said that it is not clear whether Bill Clinton is taking egg or not.

They said that vegan diet is strictly comprised of only vegetables and it does not include any diet coming through animal like meat, fish, poultry, dairy products and eggs.

Fiber Diet Effective To Boost Energy

The Institute of medicine recommends 20 to 35 grams a day (but if you ask me, the higher number is way better). Are you ready for the amount the average American consumes? Between 4 and 11 grams daily.

If you want to correct that, and you start increasing your fiber intake (highly recommended) with food, supplements, or both, remember to drink plenty of water and add the extra fiber slowly. A big increase all at once can cause a lot of gas, and a big increase without enough water can cause constipation – neither of which are energy-friendly! Add the fiber gradually by eating more nuts, seeds, grains (if you tolerate them), bran, vegetables, and fruits.

And if you need more reasons to increase your fiber, consider this: Fiber and the compounds produced by its fermentation in the gut stabilize insulin levels, help control LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and may help protect the lining of the intestines from the formation of polyps. Those fiber by-products also help increase the absorption of dietary minerals and stimulate components of the immune system from cells to antibodies.

Insoluble fiber from plant cell walls includes substances such as lignins and lignans (both of which are found in flaxseeds) and cellulose. Top food sources include vegetables, unprocessed bran, nuts, seeds, certain vegetables, the skins of some fruits, wheat germ, and whole grains (but read the label for fiber content, because there are a lot of imposters out there).

Soluble fiber (pectins, gums, mucillages, etc.) is found in legumes, oats, some fresh and dried fruit (espcially berries and prunes) vegetables (broccoli), and psyllium husks. Resistant starch-starch that resists digestion – can be found in legumes, under-ripe bananas, and whole grains.

According to the Linus Pauling Institute, the five top fiber-rich foods are:

1. Legumes (15 to 19 grams per cup)

2. Wheat bran (17 grams per cup)

3. Prunes (12 grams per cup)

4. Asian pears (10 grams each!)

5. Quinoa (9 grams per cup)

Raspberries and blackberries are both fiber heavyweights as well, weighing in at 8 grams and 7.4 grams, respectively, per serving.

A high-fiber diet is one of the dietary keys to high energy. Add that fiber and your body will thank you. I can almost hear your grandmother saying, “I told you so!”.

Fiber helps control blood sugar. When your blood sugar is out of control, so is your energy.

What causes blockage of urine flow?

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) — also known as nodular hyperplasia, benign prostatic hypertrophy or benign enlargement of the prostate (BEP) — refers to the increase in size of the prostate in middle-aged and elderly men.

As the urethra (the tube carrying urine out of the bladder through the penis) travels through the prostate, enlargement of the prostate slows urine flow and when severe can totally block urine flow.

Symptoms

* Urinary hesitancy (delay in starting urine flow)
* Frequent urination
* Increased risk of urinary tract infections
* Urinary incontinence
* Urinary retention

The hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone) regulates prostate size and the ability of the valve controlling flow out of the urethra to relax and open.

In men, stress incontinence is common following prostate surgery.

TREATMENT
Recommended Supplements

Zinc and vitamin A

Optimize zinc intake (15-25 mg a day) and vitamin A (2,000-5,000 units a day).

Amino acids

Take amino acids such as alanine, glycine and glutamic acid (1,000-2,000 mg a day).

Multi-nutrient powder

All of the above are present in high dose in a good multi-nutrient powder.

Saw palmetto

Saw palmetto 160 mg twice a day can be as effective, or more so, than medications after 6 weeks.
Exercise

Take walks

Walking 2-3 hours a week was associated with a 25% decreased risk of BPH.

Medications

Proscar, Hytrin, and Flomax

Proscar, Hytrin, and Flomax are 3 common ones. Though not necessarily more effective than the natural remedies, they may work more quickly and may be combined with the natural therapies.

Gene That Worsens Risk Factors for Heart Disease, Diabetes Identified A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has discovered how a gene known as SIRT3 contributes to a suite of health problems sweeping across America, offering new insight into how to combat these potentially fatal conditions.

In a paper being published today in Molecular Cell, Gladstone Senior Investigator Eric Verdin, MD, describes how SIRT3, when switched off, accelerates the build-up of fats throughout the body. This can lead to obesity, high blood pressure and a decreased ability to process sugar—the combination of which is known as the "metabolic syndrome." Metabolic syndrome significantly increases one's risk for developing heart disease and diabetes.

"Estimates indicate that one-third of Americans have the metabolic syndrome, and more develop it each year," said Warner Greene, MD, PhD, who directs virology and immunology research at Gladstone, a leading and independent biomedical-research organization. Dr. Greene is also a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), with which Gladstone is affiliated. "By showing how the absence of SIRT3 can exacerbate obesity, Dr. Verdin's group offers important clues concerning new ways to alleviate the symptoms of this American epidemic."

To better understand the origins of obesity and this associated syndrome, Dr. Verdin and his colleagues deactivated, or turned off, the SIRT3 gene in laboratory mice. They then fed the mice a high-fat diet and observed the animals' response at a molecular level.

Normally, SIRT3 sets off a complex chain of events to transform fat into energy at the cellular level. But deleting the SIRT3 gene disrupted this chain, and fat deposits weren't broken down as they should have been.

source: medindia.net

Scientist finds molecule to block breast cancer spread An Indian origin scientist and his colleagues have discovered a molecule that blocks the development and spread of breast cancer.

According to the researchers, the “naturally-occurring molecule” “clamps” on to a cancer-causing protein, preventing it from working.

It is now hoped a drug could be developed to mimic the molecule, which was first discovered in bacteria. The research was carried out at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute.

One of the main challenges is to stop the cancer before it spreads to other parts of the body, making it far harder to treat. But now, scientists have identified a molecule known as thiostrepton that stops a protein FOXM1, which is found in increased levels in breast cancer cells, from working.

It attaches to certain areas of DNA and turns on genes that regulate the growth and division of cells, producing tumours. It then causes those tumours to spread, even triggering the growth of blood vessels to supply them with nutrients.

Although designing drugs is a huge challenge, the discovery will allow researchers to create molecules that mimic thiostrepton but are even more effective at blocking the effects of FOXM1.

“This naturally-occurring molecule doesn’t have all the right properties to be used as a treatment itself,” the Daily Express quoted the lead author of the research, Professor Shankar Balasubramanian, as saying.

“But this exciting discovery paves the way for the design of more potent and selective drugs based on the structure of thiostrepton,” added Balasubramanian.

The research has been published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

source: dna

Home Remedies For Sciatic Nerve Pain

Sciatic nerve pain (commonly called just sciatica) is usually experienced as a shooting or burning pain in the low back or buttock that radiates down the back of the leg.

Causes of sciatica include:

* Compression of the sciatic nerve in the lower spine or buttock from a herniated (slipped) disc
* Spinal stenosis (narrowing of the space around the spinal cord)
* Traumatic injury
* Arthritis of lower spine

In many cases, no obvious cause can be found.

Common "home remedies" for sciatica include:

* Losing excess weight
* Applying ice
* Stretching and exercising, with the goal of strengthening the muscles of the abdomen and low back
* Avoiding sitting too long, especially on a hard surface
* Changing your mattress to one that is firmer and more supportive
* Massage
* Yoga

Avoid staying in bed too long. Prolonged best rest is unhelpful and may even make things worse.

Standard medical approaches to treatment include:

* Rest, balanced with stretching and exercise (often with a physical therapist)
* Pain relievers, such as ibuprofen, naproxen or acetaminophen
* Drugs for nerve pain, such as amitriptyline (Elavil) or gabapentin (Neurontin)
* Injections of corticosteroids near the area of the compressed nerve
* Surgery to repair a slipped disc or to decompress spinal stenosis (though surgery is generally considered a treatment of last resort and only in cases in which a surgically correctable abnormality is present)

Psoriasis May Increase Stroke Risk The skin condition psoriasis may increase the risk of stroke and atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart beats irregularly, a new Danish study says.

In some cases, patients with psoriasis had nearly 3 times the risk of experiencing these conditions compared with people without psoriasis. The risk was greater in patients with severe psoriasis.

The findings add to a growing body of research linking psoriasis with heart and blood vessel problems, including an increased risk of heart attack and death from cardiovascular disease.

"In recent years, psoriasis has certainly taken the step from a disease affecting appearance to a systemic disease and cardiovascular risk factor," said study researcher Dr. Ole Ahlehoff, a cardiologist at Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte.

Patients with psoriasis should be monitored for indicators of cardiovascular disease, including heart arrhythmias, Ahleoffsaid.

And these patients may be candidates for interventions that will reduce cardiovascular disease risk, including lifestyle modifications, such as quitting smoking and getting more exercise, and in some cases, medications, Ahlehoff said.

Future studies should investigate whether treating psoriasis reduces patients' cardiovascular disease risk, he said.

Psoriasis and the heart

Psoriasis is common and causes skin redness and irritation, according to the NationalInstitutes of Health. In those with the condition, skin cells rise to the skin's surface too quickly, which doesn't leave enough time for the old skin cells to fall off, leading to build up of dead skin cells. The condition may be triggered by abnormal signals from the body's immune system.

Ahlehoff and colleagues counted the cases of atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke in the entire adult and adolescent population of Denmark — about 4.5 million people — from 1997 to 2006, using a national database. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel to the brain becomes blocked.

The researchers identified about 36,700 patients with mild psoriasis and about 2,800 with serve psoriasis during that time period.

Patients younger than 50 with psoriasis had about a 3-fold increased risk of atrial fibrillation, and a 2.8-fold risk of stroke, compared with those who didn't have psoriasis. Older patients and those with mild psoriasis had a smaller, but still significant, increase in their risk of stroke and atrial fibrillation.

The results held even after the researchers took into account factors that could affect the findings, including age, gender, medical treatment and procedures, and level of income.

Behind the link

Psoriasis patients are thought to be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease for two reasons, said Dr. Robert Kirsner, a professor of dermatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who was not involved with the new study.

One is that, as a group, they tend to have more cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, smoking and high lipid levels.

The other is that an increase in inflammation in the body links the conditions, Kirsner said.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease, or a condition in which the immune system is in a constant state of alert, Ahlehoff said. This type of inflammation is also thought to play a role in stroke and atrial fibrillation, Ahlehoff said.

Kirsner said the study provides additional support for inflammation as being a factor in psoriasis that increases patients' vascular disease risk.

The study was published online Aug. 12 in the European Heart Journal.

source: myhealthnewsdaily

What’s the best source of energy in the human body?

If you answered carbohydrates, you’re probably not alone. And, don’t take this the wrong way, you’re dead wrong.

Think about it. Your body stores roughly 1,800 calories of carbohydrates in the form of glucose and glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrates). It also stores, on, I don’t know, about eight gazillion calories of fat.

Doesn’t it make sense that the most energetic people in the world are those that tap into that virtually unlimited source of biological energy?

Of course it does.

When a marathoner “hits the wall”, it means he or she has run out of carbohydrates. However, experienced marathoners have trained their bodies to tap into their fat stores more effectively, because that source of fuel is virtually unlimited. They’ve literally become what’s called “better butter burners”. That’s why they can run longer than mere mortals.

So for optimal energy, you need to eat fat. But that doesn’t mean scarifying down fried potatoes from the fast food burger joint. To supercharge your energy batteries you also need to eat the right fat.

AVOID EATING UNDER OUTDATED STANDARDS
So if fat is so essential for our energy (not to mention for our health, but don’t get me started), how did we ever come to fear this valuable macronutrient? To this day, when it comes to fats, most of use are still boring under some of the most misguided and out-of-date information on the planet.

I’ll give you a perfect example. The other day my tennis partner and I were playing a doubles match against two guys, one of whom also happens to be the other team’s captain. After the first hour, the captain was running out of energy, not surprising because the match was brutal and we were playing in 980F (370C) heat in the California San Fernando Valley. On one of the breaks, the captain reached into his bag and brought out some cookies.

“I tell everyone to eat these to keep their energy up”, he told me, “but I make sure to tell them to get the low-fat kind!”

How ironic. This is exactly the opposite of what you want to do if you want to keep your energy up.

It’s time to set the record straight. Read on.

GET OVER THE FEAR OF FAT
Back in the 1970s and 80s, some well-meaning people came up with the theory that the reason Americans were getting too fat was that they were eating too much fat. Waistlines were expanding and heart disease was increasing. The good folks in charge of making health policy recommendations decided that eating fat made you fat. In short order, everyone got on board with what appeared to be the obvious solution: Stop eating fat.

Wrong.

I’ll never forget when I first began to question this so-called conventional wisdom. I was working at Equinox Fitness Clubs in New York with the legendary ultra-marathoner and exercise physiologist Stu Mittleman. Ultramarathoners, by the way, are folks who run marathons as warm-ups. USA Today once called ultramarathoner “the ultimate road warriors”, as their event is typical a six-day run of 100 miles. Stu held a number of record in the Ultramarathon. We used to see him running every morning in Central Park, where he routinely did twenty miles a day. When asked why he ran twenty miles a day, he would answer”, “Cause that’s all I have time for”.

Which should give you some idea about Stu’s energy.

Stu was big on eating butter and eggs.

Especially in the morning.

At the time, that wsa nutritional heresy. But as Stu explained, fat is your best source of energy. If you want to effortlessly get through your day, you have to become one of those better butter burners. You have to train your body to use fat, not carbohydrates, as your primary energy source, because, as noted, you store a ton of its at any given time. So doesn’t it make sense to train your body to use fat for energy?

To this day, Stu never eats more than about 40 percent of his calories from carbs, the rest coming from protein and fat.

So how did we ever go so wrong on our advice on fat? What were we thinking ?

Well, look. It’s not like the experts got together and saids, “Hey, what can we do to really screw up everyone’s heath?” Experts are well-meaning people (at least they usually are). They sincerely wanted to help us get on the right track. Taking a page form recent historic events, we might say that their hearts were in the right place, but they had bad intelligence. Their information was just plain wrong. As professor Harlan Onsrud put it in Science magazine, “Most of us would have predicted that if we can get the population to change its fat intake…. We would see a reduction in weight. Instead, we have seen the exact opposite”.

And that’s exactly what happened. Although the percentage of calories from fat in the American diet has actually gone down over the past couple of decades, obesity has gone up. An up. An up. And folks, it’s not because we’re eating fat. Fat is not the enemy, and cutting fat out of the diet is not the solution. Especially if you want to be at your energetic best.

So we, the experts, were wrong about cutting out fat. In fact, for many people, particularly those who have type 2 diabetes or are at risk for it, a low-fat diet can be the wrong approach. Fat helps make you feel satiated. Many fats – omega-3s from fish, for example – have anti-inflammatory properties. Some saturated fats, such as those found in coconut oil, have antiviral properties.

When you remove fat from the diet, you generally replace it with something else, usually carbs, which sends many people on a bumpy roller coaster ride of mood swings, blood sugar dips, insulin spikes, and increased fat storage. (Of course, this doesn’t apply when the carbs you’re eating are very, very high in fiber, but unfortunately that’s not the case when yo’re eating most breads, pastas, and the majority of commercial cereals).

The death knell to the idea that fat alone was the enemy of health, weight, and energy was sounded recently by professor Walt Willet of Harvard University, arguably the most prestigious nutrition researcher of our time and the lead researcher on both the Nurses Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. In these studies, Willett and his colleagues examined the eating habits of more than 100,000 people over three decades. Here’s what he said: “We have found virtually no relationship between the percentage of calories form fat and any important health outcome”.

In other words, fat doesn’t make you fat. It doesn’t make you sick. And it definitely doesn’t rob you of your energy.

Quite the opposite.

What does seem to matter a lot though, is the type of fat and the type of carbohydrate eaten (see “Good” Versus “Bad” Fats below).

Bottom line: Fat is the best source of sustained energy in the human body. It makes you feel satiated, helps manage your blood sugar, and keeps your energy thank full. But you want to make sure you’re eating the right kinds. The best advice: Get a nice mixture in your diet of saturated fats (coconut oil, eggs), omega-3s (fish and flaxseed), and omega 9s (macadamia nut oil, extra-virgin olive oil), and some omega-6s (evening primrose oil, black currant oil, borage oil).

And if, like my tennis opponent, you’re tempted to fall back into the anti-fat camp, remember this: If your colories are at the appropriate level for optimal energy (and for weight management), the percentage of calories from fat are of absolutely no importance.

Fat Around Heart Causes Clogged Arteries

Study Shows Fat Stored Around the Heart May Be a Predictor of Heart Disease

Fat packed around the heart may predict narrowed arteries, even in people who have don't have symptoms of heart disease, a new study shows.

Studies suggest that where people tend to store their extra calories as fat may be at least as big a threat to health as how much total fat they have.

There's mounting evidence that people who are genetically programmed to store fat in the area around the heart and under the breastbone in the chest, where it sits in close proximity to the heart, may face a higher risk of heart disease compared to people who store fat in other areas.

The new study, which is published in the journal Radiology, used specialized imaging techniques to measure fat that surrounds the heart in 183 men and women.

The scans were also able to see the beginnings of plaques, or blockages, in the coronary arteries, the vessels that carry blood to the heart muscle.

Researchers found that the amount of fat stored around the heart and in the chest was a stronger predictor of the heart's health than overall size or the amount of belly fat a person had.

"If you look at the fat around their hearts, it is better at predicting the disease than the fat in the stomach or other areas that we traditionally look at," says study researcher David A. Bluemke, MD, PhD, director of radiology at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Fatty tissue releases inflammatory chemicals that may speed the development of atherosclerosis, says study researcher Jingzhong Ding, PhD, an associate professor of internal medicine and geriatrics at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"We think that the fat, because it releases lots of these different kinds of chemicals, has a detrimental effect on surrounding organs and tissues," Ding tells WebMD.

Chest Fat and Heart Health

For the study, which was funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, researchers recruited middle-aged adults who had never been diagnosed with heart disease.

The average age of people in the study was 61. Their average body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight and height, was about 28. The average waist size was 39 inches for men and 35 inches for women.

Using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging scans (cardiac MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans, researchers found that the more fat a person had in their chest, the more abnormal their arteries looked.

That relationship persisted, even when researchers subtracted the influence of other factors, like BMI, waist size, and coronary artery calcium scores.

But the link between chest fat and heart disease was stronger for men than for women.

Researchers say that may be because estrogen protects most women from developing heart disease until after menopause.

"The development of coronary artery disease in women usually takes about 10 years longer," Bluemke says. "At a particular age range, men will be more advanced."

He says further research, with more refined imaging techniques, will be needed to demonstrate the same relationship in women.

Until researchers know more, people who are worried about their risk of heart disease may take comfort in the results of another small study, which found that overall weight loss may help reduce chest fat, too.

The study, published in May in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that 32 women who lost weight over five months lost about 17% of the fat around their hearts, whether they did it with diet alone or diet and exercise.

source: webmd

Leukemia Tumors: Amazing Breakthrough in the Treatment

This microscopy image provided by Dr. Carl June on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011 shows immune system T-cells, center, binding to beads which cause the cells to divide. The beads, depicted in yellow, are later removed, leaving pure T-cells which are then ready for infusion to the cancer patients.

U.S. researchers say they've been able to modify a patient's immune system T cells, turning them into “serial killer” cells which zero in on cancer and obliterate it.

It’s being called a breakthrough in the treatment of a form of leukemia, a hard to treat and usually fatal blood cancer.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is marked by a slow increase in immune system white blood cells, called B lymphocytes. These B cells, as they're known, are manufactured by the bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside bones that also manufactures red blood cells.

Eventually, the healthy blood cells are crowded out by the proliferating B cells, the patient experiences bone marrow failure, and - without a bone marrow transplant - dies.

A transplant of healthy bone marrow from a donor has been the only treatment and potential cure for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. But it is very difficult to find a match and many people with CLL die while waiting. Even with a transplant, experts say only about half of CLL patients survive the procedure.

Three CLL patients who had run out of treatment options were selected for an experiment at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers genetically engineered another one of their immune system cells, the T lymphocytes, to attack cancerous B cells.

Carl June, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the school’s Abramson Cancer Center, was the study’s lead author.

“The actual trial exceeded our wildest outcome and imagination actually," says Carl June, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, who was the study’s lead author, "because what we found is all three patients have had a remarkable anti-tumor response and that literally pounds of leukemia have been eradicated in all three patients.”

Two of the three CLL patients had a complete remission of their disease and there was a significant improvement in the third.

source: voanews

Ovarian cancer gene discovered Scientists have discovered a rare genetic fault that raises a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer six-fold. It has been hailed as the most important discovery in the field in the last ten years, and offers hope for new treatments.

'This landmark discovery is another piece of the jigsaw deepening our understanding of the disease. We hope this will have a significant impact in providing more personalised treatments for patients based on their genetic make-up', said Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, who funded the project.

The team, from the UK's Institute of Cancer Research, compared the genomes of more than 900 families affected by breast and ovarian cancers with more than 1000 controls. They found eight mutations in one gene, called RAD51D, which is known to be involved in DNA repair.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide, and affects around 6,500 women in the UK each year. It can develop without displaying clear symptoms and is often only discovered when the cancer has spread elsewhere. Due to this fact up to 70 percent of patients die within five years of diagnosis.

The risk of developing ovarian cancer increases from one in 70 women, to one in 11 if they have a faulty RAD51D. 'At this level of risk, women may wish to consider having their ovaries removed after having children to prevent ovarian cancer occurring', said study author Professor Nazneed Rahman.

He continued: 'There is also hope on the horizon that drugs specifically targeted to the gene will be available'. The discovery highlights the potential efficacy of a new class of anti-cancer drugs called PARP inhibitors. They are already showing promise in clinical trials for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers related to mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, both of which also play a part in the DNA repair process.

'It's incredibly exciting to discover this high risk gene for ovarian cancer', said Professor Nic Jones, chief scientist at Cancer Research UK. 'We believe the results of this research will help inform personalised treatment approaches and give doctors better information about risks of cancer to tell patients'.

The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics.

source: bionews.org

Flagging energy could signal a faulty foundation

Call me crazy, but I’m certainly not the only person who things so. I asked a dozen of the academic boldface names in my Brain Trust Contact List what would be the first thing they’d look for when a patient or client complained of flagging energy. Every one-every single one-said sleep problems.

That’s not sexy, hip, trendy, or fun, but, unfortunately, it’s 100 percent true.

Good sleep habits are the structural foundation of energy. If that structure is weak, then eating well, exercising regularly, managing stress, and following all the other strategies offered in this site will be like spackling and painting the cracks on the wall of a house with a faulty foundation. It might look good for a while, but the house will still be crumbling underneath. Unless you attend to the cause of those cracks, you’ll never have a sound structure.

Keep depriving your body of the sleep it needs (and serves) and eventually – like the house with the faulty foundation – it’ll simply collapse.

FATIGUE-RELATED DISASTERS
The media and the public seem to be finally waking up to the importance of sleep and the role it plays along with stress management, good nutrition, and regular exercise in the energy equation. And not a moment too soon.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating whether the pilots of a go! Airliner in Hawaii overshot their intended destination and failed to respond to repeated calls from air traffic control because they were asleep in the cockpit. I don’t know about you, but when I think of a high-energy airline pilot, I don’t picture him or her nodding off in the cockpit.

Underscoring the concern about pilot fatigue was a story that appeared in The Christian Science Monitor shortly after that incident. The paper obtained a series of confidential safety report made by pilots, listing potentially dangerous fatigue-related incidents. ‘They range from failure to level off at assigned altitude to inadvertent taxiing onto active runways to actually failing asleep at the flight controls. In one report, a captain who accidentally crossed onto an active runway wrote that his copilot tried to warn him, but he was tired and didn’t listen”.

Fatigue-related errors have been a factor in some of the biggest disasters of recent times, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Three-Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear accidents, and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

Although those cases are some of the most dramatic consequences from sleep loss, millions of us operate with some level of impairment and energy depletion because we don’t get adequate sleep. Sleep affects how we work, how we relate to other people, how we make decisions, and how we feel in general.

“Our culture has forgotten what it means to be awake”, said Robert Stickgold, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep Science. “I think we spend most of our days a little bit groggy and a little bit inefficient”. You think?

Cheating sleep makes you more prone to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety. It resets our internal clock, throwing off our endocrine, immune, and metabolic systems. And, oh yeah, lack of sleep makes you dull and fat. By getting adequate sleep, you’ll perform better and feel better, and your energy levels will soar.

Isn’t it about time we remember what it means to be awake?

Good sleep habits are the structural foundation of energy. If that structure is weak, then following all the other strategies offered in this site will be like spackling and painting the cracks on the wall of a house with a faulty foundation.

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