Health
Reading this page could add years to your life!.
News about "Disease" is now on this page.
. . See Health news from 04 & before.
"New-Diseases" is now on this page.
Diseases" is now on this page.
June 18, 03; but I'll keep this story atop: British scientists are working on a new pill that combines six compounds --aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, three blood pressure medications and folic acid-- in one tablet called the Polypill which they say could cut the risk of heart disease by more than 80%. "Because the ingredients are, or are about to be, off patent, this could be an extremely cheap and simple pill." [you can do the aspirin/folic acid yourself...]
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July 9, 09: In recent years, as the American population has become generally more overweight, brands from the luxury names to the mass retail chains have scaled down the size labels on their clothing. "You may actually be a size 14 and, according to whatever particular store you're in, you come out a size 10."
. . Photographs of fast food hamburgers from 50 years ago reveal that the serving size back then would seem like a "joke portion" now.
July 9, 09: The results of a 20-year-long study on caloric restriction in rhesus monkeys provides the strongest evidence yet that a low-calorie diet produces life-extending metabolic changes in primates -even, perhaps, in people.
. . Fed a diet that provided adequate nutrition on 30% fewer calories than is considered normal, the monkeys have largely escaped the ravages of heart disease, cancer and other age-related diseases.
. . Despite the uncertainty, its estimated that several thousand people already practice caloric restriction, with several hundred doing so within carefully monitored studies. But such dietary limitation may prove undesirable or impossible for most people. Instead, scientists want to find drugs that mimic the effects of caloric restriction, and over the last decade have described some of its underlying biology.
. . Caloric restriction appears to trigger energy-saving metabolic changes, activating metabolic pathways involved in regulating cell growth and repair. These pathways are targeted by several drugs currently under development, including resveratrol, which has protected animals from age-related diseases and is now being tested as a diabetes treatment. Another intriguing drug is rapamycin, an immune system suppressor that -though unproven and likely unsafe for human use as a longevity enhancer- has dramatically extended the lives of elderly mice.
. . Just five of the 38 restricted monkeys have died from age-related causes, compared to 14 of 38 in the control group.
June 11, 09: The U.S. Senate backed a historic plan giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sweeping power over cigarettes and other tobacco products.
June 9, 09: Middle-aged adults who get too little sleep are more likely to develop high blood pressure, U.S. researchers said.
June 8, 09: A natural bleach produced by the body appears to play a key role in marshalling the immune system to fight off infection and heal wounds. US scientists, working on zebrafish, which have similar genes to humans, found a burst of hydrogen peroxide is released following a tissue injury. This seems to be the signal for white blood cells to converge at the site of damage and begin the healing process.
Apr 28, 09: Our fear of high-fructose corn syrup seems to have arisen from some very real concerns over the health effects of fructose, one of its principal components. The ingestion of glucose, another basic sugar, is known to stimulate the release of body chemicals that regulate food intake. Fructose, on the other hand, does little to suppress your appetite, and it seems to be preferentially associated with the formation of new fat cells. A growing body of research has led some scientists to wonder whether the increased consumption of fructose over the past few decades might be responsible for rising rates of obesity.
. . Despite its name, HFCS doesn't contain much more fructose than table sugarthe product refined from beets or sugar cane. The stuff we put in our coffee, called sucrose, is a mixture of 50% fructose and 50% glucose, while the corn syrup used in soft drinks is 55% fructose and 42% glucose.
. . We'd do well to avoid the all-natural sweeteners in health-food products and fruit drinks, which often include concentrated apple or pear juices. These are almost two-thirds fructose -and might be significantly worse for your health than HFCS.
The major argument for designating HFCS as an artificial product relies on the long list of chemicals used to convert corn starch into fructose and glucose. (Two of those chemicals can transfer trace quantities of mercury into the finished product.) At least one part of the process makes incidental use of a toxic, synthetic fixing agent called glutaraldehyde.
Apr 22, 09: Could lice be the secret to preventing asthma? Research on mice shows that those carrying the most lice had calmer immune systems than uninfested rodents, and they said their finding may have implications for studying the causes of asthma and allergies in people.
. . The study, published in the BioMed Central journal BMC Biology, adds to evidence supporting the so-called hygiene hypothesis, which holds that the rise in asthma and allergies can be linked to hyper-clean living.
. . The idea is that if the immune system is not properly primed in childhood, immune cells can improperly react to harmless triggers such as pollen or bits of dander. Bacterial and viral infections do not seem to be the priming factor, but researchers have been focusing lately on parasites.
Apr 15, 09: Cholesterol-lowering drugs cut the risk of strokes by about a fifth, according to a pooled analysis of 24 past clinical studies involving 165,000 people.
Apr 10, 09: A sparse form of fat that helps keep newborns warm is more common in adults than previously thought and that discovery that could lead to a new way to lose weight, researchers said.
Mar 31, 09: A cheap five-in-one pill can guard against heart attacks and stroke, research suggests. The concept of a polypill for everyone over 55 to cut heart disease by up to 80% was mooted over five years ago, but slow progress has been made since. Now a trial in India shows such a pill has the desired effects and is safe and well-tolerated by those who take it.
. . The polypill used in the latest study combines five active pharmacological ingredients widely available separately --aspirin, a statin to lower cholesterol and three blood pressure-lowering drugs-- as well as folic acid.
. . the components in their "Polycap" capsule made by Cadila Pharmaceuticals, could potentially halve strokes and heart attacks in average, middle-aged people. On a global scale, this would save tens of millions of lives.
. . WHAT'S IN IT?
. . Aspirin to thin the blood
. . A statin drug to lower cholesterol
. . Three blood pressure-lowering drugs:
. . ACE inhibitor
. . Diuretic
. . Beta-blocker
. . Folic acid to reduce the level of homocysteine in the blood which is another risk factor for heart disease.
Mar 26, 09: Two new techniques using different approaches to see molecular changes inside people's bodies could lead to faster, more detailed imaging scans that better detect health problems, researchers said.
Mar 24, 09: People who eat the most red meat and the most processed meat have the highest overall risk of death from all causes, including heart disease and cancer, U.S. researchers reported.
Mar 20, 09: The drug MDMA --better known as the illegal recreational drug "Ecstasy"-- may help people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recover, a Norwegian research team suggests.
Mar 20, 09: U.S. researchers have found a gene responsible for turning a plate of pasta into fat, offering new clues about how the body metabolizes carbohydrates and how they contribute to obesity. The gene, called DNA-PK, appears to regulate the process in the liver that turns carbohydrates into fat.
. . When they bred mice with a disabled version of this gene, the mice stayed slim even when fed the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet.
. . "The DNA-PK disabled mice were leaner and had 40% less body fat compared with a control group of normal mice." And they had lower levels of blood cholesterol, which can reduce the risk of heart disease.
Mar 18, 09: A drug used to increase alertness and boost mental acuity may be addictive, according to a study that undercuts the idea that modafinil is a safer alternative to Ritalin or amphetamines.
Mar 17, 09: Scientists say a recently discovered hormone could form the basis of an effective and less risky fertility treatment.
Mar 16, 09: Mental powers start to dwindle at 27 after peaking at 22, marking the start of old age, US research suggests. Professor Timothy Salthouse of Virginia Uity found reasoning, speed of thought and spatial visualisation all decline in our late 20s. Therapies designed to stall or reverse the ageing process may need to start much earlier, he said. His seven-year study involved 2,000 healthy people aged 18-60.
Feb 27, 09: Ever wonder why sharks get several rows of teeth and people only get one? Some geneticists did, and their discovery could spur work to help adults one day grow new teeth when their own wear out.
. . Also intriguing: All the mice born without this gene, called Osr2, had cleft palates severe enough to kill. So better understanding of this gene might play a role in efforts to prevent that birth defect.
Feb 26, 09: By closely monitoring people with disrupted sleep patterns, researchers have documented the metabolic disarray produced by working at night and sleeping during the day. As soon as their circadian rhythms became separated from a day-night cycle, test subjects' levels of key metabolic hormones went haywire -the most compelling evidence yet that shift work isn't just an inconvenience, but an occupational hazard. Scientists have known that people who work night shifts -about 15 million people in the United States are unusually prone to heart disease, bone fractures, cancer, diabetes and obesity.
. . To create circadian disruption, Scheer's team put test subjects on a 28-hour cycle for eight days, each day waking them four hours later than on the previous day. The researchers took hourly blood samples when test subjects were awake, and monitored their blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and oxygen consumption around the clock.
. . The subjects' bodies soon produced less leptin, a hormone secreted from fatty tissue that signals a body to stop eating by triggering feelings of satiety. They experienced increases in blood glucose and insulin, which are linked to diabetes. Levels of cortisol, a hormone released during periods of stress and linked to nearly every disorder in which night work has been implicated, shot up. Test subjects' blood pressure also rose.
Feb 25, 09: Direct connections from brains to computers may someday help free paralyzed people from the constraints of their bodies. They're already used to reverse deafness and blindness. But as they become more refined, brain-machine interfaces will almost certainly be used for non-therapeutic purposes and with that expansion comes profound ethical questions.
. . First-generation neuroelectronics are already on the market in the form of hearing aids 150,000 people have straight-to-brain cochlear implants and deep-brain stimulators are used to treat Parkinson's, epilepsy and even depression. Retinal implants to replace damaged eyes are in development, as are systems that enable paraplegics to control computers by thinking.
. . Though incredible, these technologies may someday seem rudimentary. Scientists predict that future implants will be made from engineered tissue and organic nanomaterials rather than metal, and allow for a literally seamless union of man and machine. Brain-machine interfaces could be used for entertainment or work; the U.S. military already wants to implant them in soldiers.
. . Brain-machine implants could challenge people's sense of themselves. "The questions that I think do matter involve permanent changes in self-image and preferences", he said. "People with a notion of authentic self are troubled by notions of brain-machine interfaces and pharmaceuticals. And we will begin to trample the notion of authentic self." Hughes said the same question is raised by mood-altering drugs and chemicals that can change -or even eliminate- sex drives.
. . But to Charles Rubin, a political scientist at Duquesne U, comparing neuroelectronics to antidepressants is misleading. The more seamless the union between man and machine, said Rubin, "the less I am a user of the 'machine' and the more I become the machine."
. . Antidepressant drugs, already known to cause sexual side effects, may also suppress the basic human emotions of love and romance. That SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors -the most common type of antidepressant- cause sexual dysfunction is common knowledge. Of the 31 million adults in the United States who take the SSRIs, about 30% are believed to experience sexual dysfunction.
. . But a new theory suggests that SSRI antidepressants may also subtly alter the fundamental chemistry of love and romance, snuffing the first sparks between two people otherwise destined to become lovers, and preventing couples from bonding. "There's every reason to think SSRIs blunt your ability to fall and stay in love", said Helen Fisher, a Rutgers U biological anthropologist who has pioneered the modern science of love.
. . For some people, of course, sexual side effects are an acceptable price to pay for curing debilitating depression. But as antidepressant use becomes more common, extending beyond full-blown clinical depression to disorders like anxiety and, in some cases, insomnia, the possibility of love-stunting is troubling.
. . SSRI antidepressants work by boosting circulating levels of serotonin, a mood-regulating neurotransmitter that also inhibits desire. The drugs also decrease dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in a wide range of cognitive and behavioral processes, among them desire and arousal. The new research suggests that dopamine may also play a part in romance.
. . During sex, a cocktail of hormones is released that appears to play important roles in fostering romantic attachment within the brain. Take away sex, and romantic love can dwindle. But this is just part of the problem, say Fisher and U of Virginia psychiatrist James Thomson.
. . Dopamine also appears central to the neurobiology of romantic love and attachment, conditions that Fisher believes to be affected by -but ultimately distinct from- sexual love and its effects. She and Thomson say that SSRIs may do more than cause sexual dysfunction: They also suppress romance.
. . "There are all sorts of unconscious systems in our brain that we use to negotiate romantic love and romantic attraction", said Thomson. "If these drugs cause conscious sexual side effects, we'd argue that there are going to be side effects that are not conscious."
. . According to Fisher, humans have three distinct but interconnected love-related brain systems: one for sex, another for attachment and another for romantic love. This is still hypothetical -nobody knows exactly what love does in the brain- but Fisher has been a pioneering researcher on romantic love's neurobiology, and dopamine indeed appears important.
. . When couples have just fallen in love, the mere sight of the other causes a jump in dopamine-related brain activity. If they manage to stay in love, with the early flush giving way to long-term affection, those brain patterns stay active.
. . Reduced dopamine levels, however, are an inevitable effect of SSRIs. Reduce dopamine, say Fisher and Thomson, and the possibility of love itself is reduced.
. . Though biologically plausible, definitive evidence for this has yet to be found. The only study to specifically test the hypothesis was conducted by Saint Mary's U psychologist Maryanne Fisher, who found that women taking antidepressants tended to have muted reactions when showed pictures of attractive men. The effect was small, however, and the study has not been reproduced.
. . U of California at Los Angeles psychiatrist Andrew Leuchter acknowledged that increasing serotonin can decrease dopamine, but has not seen difficulties in forming emotional attachments among his patients. "I've seen people who have great difficulty with their emotional attachments, who think they've fallen out of love or want to isolate themselves, come alive again," said Leuchter, who receives funding from antidepressant drugmakers. "I'm not sure the syndrome [Fisher and Thomson] describe exists."
. . Thomson and Fisher, on the other hand, report the opposite: antidepressant takers who've lost the capacity for romantic feeling. Clinical studies of antidepressant side effects do little to settle this debate. They've focused on sexual problems, which are far easier to measure than subtle effects on something so ephemeral as a spark.
. . Thomson recommended that psychologists investigating romance ask test subjects whether they take antidepressants. He also suggests that the possibility of romantic stunting be considered when deciding whether antidepressants should be prescribed to a child or young adult.
. . "Does it impact the development of those areas of the brain involved in love and sexuality? Does it impair the feelings and behaviors of romantic love and sexuality and the learning processes, which might be required to bring those areas of the brain online?" said Thomson. "We don't know."
. . Said Fisher, "We want to know about the side effects of other drugs. Why not know about the side effects of these drugs, which affect our reproductive future?"
. . Another alternative could be drugs that don't boost serotonin. Bupropion, also known as Wellbutrin, increases levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, another neurotransmitter; it's been associated with far lower levels of sexual dysfunction, but doesn't work for everyone.
. . Drug companies are currently designing next-generation antidepressants that raise dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine levels simultaneously, and might have fewer romantic side effects. However, none of these drugs are yet on the market, and projected side effects remain hypothetical.
. . "Any drug in development is always better than anything out there", said Leuchter. "And then, once they hit the market, nothing is perfect."
Feb 25, 09: Scientists believe they have found a way to grow teeth in the laboratory, a discovery that could put an end to fillings and dentures. The US team from Oregon have located the gene responsible for the growth of enamel, the hard outer layer of teeth which cannot grow back naturally.
Feb 25, 09: A British company's new technique for reading DNA could move medicine a step closer to an affordable gene scan for every patient. Oxford Nanopore Technologies announced that it had successfully tested a system that can read DNA directly. That approach cuts out the expensive equipment, chemicals and lab time needed for current scanning methods.
Feb 23, 09: The NHS has some new advice for people struggling to schedule a fitness routine into their daily lives --a workout between the sheets. According to the NHS Direct website, "sexercise" can lower the risk of heart attacks and helps people live longer. Endorphins released during orgasm stimulate immune system cells, which also helps target illnesses like cancer, as well as wrinkles, it states.
. . "The longer the sperm hang around in the male reproductive tract, they begin to degenerate, die, and release free radicals, which will then damage other sperm. "It's a chain reaction --the fresh sperm coming down the tubes enter an environment of free radicals and get damaged."
. . Like much of the body, the sex organs in men and women present a "use it or lose it" scenario. In endocrinology, the production of hormones oxytocin and prolactin --which occurs during sex-- will also be reduced. Studies have shown better track performance in post-orgasmic female runners.
Feb 9, 09: A team tested the levels of two hormones, cortisol and oxytocin, in 15 couples before and after holding hands and kissing. They found that kissing reduced the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in both sexes. But levels of oxytocin, a hormone linked to social bonding that they expected to be boosted by kissing, only rose among the men. Romantic love has also been shown to have a close link to neurological activity, with scans showing that it has similar effect to cocaine on our brains.
Feb 3, 09: Patients receive the equivalent of 600 chest X-rays when they get CT scans for heart disease and not enough clinics are using known ways to reduce this exposure, researchers reported.
Feb 3, 09: Spiking and sinking levels of a hormone that prepares a pregnant woman for the strain of childbirth may hold the key to why some women suffer postpartum depression, researchers said.
Jan 28, 09: Three new studies shed light on the way the brain forms, stores and retrieves memories. Experts say they could have implications for people with certain mental disorders.
. . When did it happen? Newly born brain cells, thousands of which are generated each day, help "time stamp" memories, according to a computer simulation. These cells do not record an exact, absolute date --such as January 28, 2009-- but instead encode memories that occur around the same time similarly. In this way, the mind knows whether a memory happened before, after or alongside something else. Neuroscientists believe that if the same neurons are active during two events, a memory linking the two may be formed.
. . What about remembering things in the long run? Research this week supports the idea that different brain structures are involved in forming short-term and long-term memories.
. . The authors took brain images of participants as they answered questions about events that happened in the last 30 years. The hippocampus, a brain region known to be involved in short-term memory, and related structures were most active when participants recalled recent events. Activity in these regions declined for events older than one year, and remained low for events 13 to 30 years old.
. . Meanwhile, as memories got older activity increased in the frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices, located on the surface of the brain, researchers found. That means these regions may serve as long-term memory storage.
Reducing what you eat by nearly a third may improve memory, according to German researchers.
Jan 20, 09: Some medicines routinely given to premature babies expose them to potentially harmful levels of chemicals, UK research suggests.
Jan 14, 08: People with a high caffeine intake are more likely to hallucinate than those who drink little coffee, research suggests.
Jan 13, 08: Here's another thing that smoking while pregnant can do --it can damage both the mother's and the baby's thyroid function, British researchers reported.
. . Cigarette smoke has been shown to cause babies to be born smaller, to make newborns more likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome, and even to affect the rates of cleft lips, heart defects and other problems.
. . Good thyroid function is key to maintaining a pregnancy, and some pregnant women suffer from thyroid imbalances. This, in turn, affects metabolism and the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight and impaired brain development.
. . They measured thyroid hormone levels in the umbilical cords of babies born to smoking mothers and found that smoking-related changes in thyroid function also affected the newborn. But among women who quit while pregnant, thyroid hormone levels were comparable to levels found in nonsmokers, which Vaidya said suggests the thyroid changes can quickly clear up.
Jan 6, 08: Cigarette sales in France dropped to a record low in 2008. BAT cited bans on smoking in bars and public places as well as high prices as factors. The average price of a packet was 5.30 euros last year, up from 2.96 euros a decade earlier.
Jan 5, 08: Merck's popular osteoporosis drug Fosamax and other similar drugs may carry a risk for esophageal cancer, a Food and Drug Administration official said.
Jan 5, 08: There is no evidence that products widely promoted to help the body "detox" work, scientists warn. The charitable trust Sense About Science reviewed 15 products, from bottled water to face scrub, and found many detox claims were "meaningless".
. . The investigation was kicked off by a campaign to unpick "dodgy" science claims --where companies use phrases that sound scientific but do not actually mean anything. In the majority of cases, producers and retailers were forced to admit that they had simply renamed processes like cleaning or brushing, as detox, the scientists said.
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