Month: September 2013

Girls who eat peanut butter improves breast health later in life

Girls who eat more peanut butter could improve their breast health later in life.

That’s according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard Medical School. The research shows that girls ages 9 to 15 who regularly ate peanut butter or nuts were 39 percent less likely to develop benign breast disease by age 30. Benign breast disease, although noncancerous, increases risk of breast cancer later in life.

“These findings suggest that peanut butter could help reduce the risk of breast cancer in women,” said senior author Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, associate director for cancer prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

The research was published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Colditz also is the Niess-Gain Professor in Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. He led the study with Catherine Berkey, MA, ScD, a biostatistician at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

The findings are based on the health histories of 9,039 U.S. girls enrolled in The Growing Up Today Study from 1996 through 2001. Later, from 2005 through 2010, when the study participants were 18 to 30 years old, they reported whether they had been diagnosed with benign breast disease that had been confirmed by breast biopsy.

The researchers found that participants who ate peanut butter or nuts two times each week were 39 percent less likely to have developed benign breast disease than those who never ate them. The study’s findings suggest that beans, lentils, soybeans and corn also may help prevent benign breast disease, but consumption of these foods was much lower in these girls and thus the evidence was weaker.

Past studies have linked peanut butter, nut and vegetable fat consumption to a lower risk for benign breast disease. However, participants in those studies were asked to recall their high school dietary intakes years later. This new study is the first to use reports made during adolescence, with continued follow-up as cases of benign breast disease are diagnosed in young women.

Because of the obesity epidemic, Colditz recommended that girls replace high-calorie junk foods and sugary beverages with peanut butter or nuts.

Source : http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/25897.aspx

Wristband can help you track your health goals

If you want to learn more about your lifestyle habits, a new wristband and app called UP, made by the technology company Jawbone, might be able to help.

Users wear the wristband, which syncs to their smart phones, throughout the day to monitor how many steps they take, how long they sleep, what they eat everyday – and even what their mood is like.

If users are idle for too long, the app will give them a nudge to get them moving again. Additionally, the app can help people wake up at the optimal time every morning.

The band costs $130 and offers customized health tips at the end of each day.

While users should still speak with their doctors about their overall health goals, this app is a good way help people monitor their progress along the way

Source: Fox news.com

Jekyll-and-Hyde’ protein – key to stopping cancer metastasis

One of the deadliest aspects of a cancerous tumor is its ability to grow and spread, assimilating and destroying healthy cells throughout the body.  Controlling this lethal expansion, known as metastasis can be a difficult endeavor. But now, researchers have revealed that a notoriously fickle protein may be the key to stopping cancer’s rapid development.

Displaying ‘mood swings’ that researchers compare to those of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the protein E2F sometimes boosts tumor cell growth and at other times suppresses it.  According to the researchers at Oxford University who discovered E2F, they have found a way to block the abnormal protein’s change into the deadly “Mr. Hyde” – a move that results in cancer cell death.

In a study published in the journal Molecular Cell, the researchers explained E2F’s dual nature for the first time and how it can be an extremely effective target for new cancer treatments.

“We discovered this protein originally in the early 1990s, and since then we’ve discovered quite a lot (about it),” study author Nick La Thangue, a professor in the department of oncology at Oxford, told FoxNews.com.  “It’s a target, regulated by a tumor suppressor gene… and the pathway has been shown to be abnormal in virtually all tumor cells, which drives the proliferation forward.”

According to La Thangue, when E2F is functioning properly, it is a crucial tool for cell regulation.  As Mr. Hyde, the protein helps healthy cells grow, but when a cell becomes damaged or sick, the protein reverts to Dr. Jekyll and signals for the cell to die.  This process is called apoptosis, and it helps to prevent the buildup of DNA errors or the development of cancer.

However, when cancer cells do start to grow in the body, the gene that encodes E2F becomes mutated, and the protein loses its ability to foster cell death. Instead, it remains permanently in its “Mr. Hyde” state, enhancing the cancer cells’ ability to flourish.  La Thangue noted that while E2F is found in all cells of the body, tumor cells have much larger amounts of the protein.

In their study, the researchers explained that E2F’s double nature is controlled by two slightly different enzymes.

“It’s an enzyme modification, and it’s quite an unusual modification called arginine methylation,” La Thangue said. “It’s actually quite amazing stuff, because there are two different types of arginine methylation, and they differ by a small amount of chemistry.  One form provides a (molecular label) that makes the cell proliferate, and the other makes it die.”

The enzymes attach these molecular labels on different part of E2F, and they act as flags that either signal cell proliferation or signal cell death.  In cancer cells, the enzyme responsible for cell proliferation is hyperactive and ultimately overpowers the enzyme for cell death.

Upon understanding this biological mechanism, La Thangue said he and his colleagues have identified drug compounds that target the overactive enzyme, which he hopes to use to develop an effective new chemotherapy treatment for the future.

“We have a program aimed at developing small molecule drugs that target this enzyme,” La Thangue said.  “While it’s not coming out tomorrow, at the same time, it’s not 10 years away.  I’d say we’re a few years away until we move to clinical trial.”

La Thangue is confident that this new drug could be extremely beneficial for patients, as it could finally control metastasis in nearly all cancers.

“One of the beauties of this is that it’s a pathway which is abnormal in the vast majority of human tumors,” La Thangue said.  “It’s not tumor cell specific; it’s very generic.”

Source: http://www.samachar.com/

Obese kids have precursors to atherosclerosis and diabetes

A recent research reveals that obese children have blood vessel damage, insulin resistance which are precursors to atherosclerosis and diabetes.

Professor Grethe Tell (Norway), ESC prevention spokesperson, said that in one in 10 school-aged kids are overweight.
Tell said that bad habits have an impact on young hearts and the effects carry on until adulthood and regular exercise and a healthy diet need to be part of daily life from childhood and it’s essential that kids do not take up smoking.

Dr Mangner’s research1 found that obese children had early stages of atherosclerosis, which is when arteries become clogged with fatty materials such as cholesterol. Atherosclerosis greatly increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Obese children also had insulin resistance as a pre-stage to diabetes and higher systolic blood pressure.

He said that it is worrying that young obese kids already have early signs of atherosclerosis, which puts them at increased risk of developing heart disease in later life.

He said that on top of that they also show early signs of diabetes and it is crucial that kids are active and eat healthily to avoid becoming obese and sentencing themselves to a life of ill-health.

Other research followed 2,552 subjects aged 25-39 years from the Framingham study for 30 years and found that obesity in young adults increases the risk of CVD or diabetes by 23 percent.

Nearly the same increased risk was observed in normal weight adults with CVD risk factors (hypertension or dyslipidemia). Risk of CVD and diabetes was highest (45 percent) in obese young adults with risk factors, and lowest (13 percent) in those with normal weight and no risk factors.
Read more: Medindia

 

New ‘pacemaker’ device could treat sleep apnea

Pacemaker

A pacemaker-like device implanted just under the collar bone can improve sleep in patients with central sleep apnea, scientists say.

The small implant being studied for the treatment of central sleep apnea is showing significant promise, according to Dr William Abraham, director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Unlike the more common obstructive sleep apnea, in which the airway gets blocked during sleep and causes pauses in breathing, central sleep apnea is more dangerous because the brain’s signals to tell the body to breathe get interrupted.

“Central sleep apnea affects more than a third of heart failure patients and is known to make the condition worse,” Abraham said.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have good treatments available for this type of apnea. Currently, positive airway pressure devices are used, but many patients don’t tolerate it well,” he said.

“One of the concerning features of central sleep apnea is that these patients don’t fit the usual profile of obstructive sleep apnea,” said Dr Rami Khayat, a sleep medicine expert and director of Ohio State’s sleep heart program.

“They generally don’t snore, so they’re tougher to diagnose, and the symptoms of sleepiness and fatigue overlap with symptoms associated with heart failure,” Khayat said.

Abraham and other researchers at 11 centers around the world tested the feasibility, safety and efficacy of a new transvenous phrenic nerve stimulator made by the US-based company Respicardia Inc.

The device resembles a pacemaker in that it delivers a regular signal to stimulate the diaphragm to breathe during sleep.

In the pilot study, 47 patients were implanted with the device and evaluated for six months. The implant was placed below the collar bone and a transvenous stimulator lead was positioned near the phrenic nerve.

After a one-month healing period, the device was turned on and programmed to the patient’s sleep habits.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/new–pacemaker–device-could-treat-sleep-apnea/1173555/

 

Women develop heart disease 10 yrs later than men

 

A new research has revealed that a biological ability to compensate for the body’s reduced response to insulin could help explain why women typically develop heart disease 10 years later than men.
Lead author, Sun H. Kim, MD, MS, of Stanford University School of Medicine, said that among men and women ages 50 or younger with comparable levels of insulin resistance, their study found women experienced fewer complications than men did.

She said that this ability to deal with the fallout from insulin resistance was no longer present when we examined women who were 51 and older.

Kim asserted that this gender difference may illuminate the ‘female advantage’ – a phenomenon where the onset of cardiovascular disease tends to happen a decade later in women than in men.

The cross-sectional study also examined insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease risk in 468 women and 354 men.

Among participants ages 50 or younger, women had lower blood pressure and fasting blood sugar levels than their male counterparts.

In addition, women had lower levels of triglycerides, fats in the blood that can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

The study has been published in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM).

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Women-develop-heart-disease-10-yrs-later-than-men/articleshow/23046807.cms

Finger sweat reveals depressed person`s suicidal tendencies

A simple measurement of the sweat gland activity of a depressed person can nearly accurately determine if they have suicidal propensity, a new research has claimed.

Lars-Hakan Thorell, associate professor in experimental psychiatry at Linkoping University, one of the researchers behind the study, said that blood pressure, blood circulation and activity in the sweat glands of the fingers can reveal if a person is suicidal.

In the German-Swedish study, 783 depressed in-patients in Germany were tested for hyporeactivity – reduced ability to react to various stimuli. A suicidal depressed person reacts differently to environmental changes, compared to a healthy person.

The test found that hyporeactivity was present in up to 97 per cent of depressed patients who later committed suicide, compared to just 2 per cent of the depressed patients who were not hyporeactive.

But the study also shows there is no relation between the severity of depression and hyporeactivity.

Hyporeactivity can be measured by the test person listening to a pattern of tones, while the body’s reactions are measured via sensors on the fingers. The first time they hear a tone, virtually all people react. This is a general orientation reaction which occurs automatically.

But when the tone is heard again, the reaction decreases amongst some people: the hyporeactive.

The study has been published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research

Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2013/09/25/Finger_sweat_can_reveal_depressed_persons_suicidal_tendencie/#/related_news

Social deprivation increases mortality risk in type 1 diabetes

Levels of social deprivation, as well as how well a patient controls their blood sugar, is an independent risk factor for mortality in people suffering from type 1 diabetes, a new study has revealed.

Research from Diabetes Clinical Academic Group at King’s Healthcare Partners, UK, and presented by Dr Stephen Thomas, Dept of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT), London, analysed blood sugar control (HbA1c levels), demographics and health resource utilisation data collected over a 10 year period for a cohort of 1038 patients with type 1 diabetes attending two inner city London specialist diabetes outpatient clinics.

All patients attending the service in 2002 with HbA1c data, a measure of blood glucose control, available for each year from 2002 to 2004 and with ongoing follow-up within the clinics until 2010 were included. Economic status was determined using the index of multiple deprivation (IMD) a weighted deprivation score derived from a national dataset based on postcode of residence.

The group had a mean age at baseline of 42 years and had had diabetes for a mean of 18 years. The average baseline HbA1c between 2002 and 2004 was 8.1 percent. In total, 37 deaths occurred by 2012 (3.6 percent cumulative mortality).

Those who died were on average older with a higher mean baseline HbA1c (9.1 percent) Having a baseline HbA1c over 9.0 percent carried a cumulative 10-year morality that was significantly increased at 9 percent. Those who died were more likely to be socially deprived, with 61 percent of deceased patients having scores in the poorest 20 percent of the population range (mean IMD score 32 points deceased vs 24 points for patients still alive).

Age, HbA1c and deprivation were all independent risk factors for death of patients with type 1 diabetes.

Source: ANI

Better use of antibiotics could be key to fighting ‘superbugs’

Better use of antibiotics could help fight the infection Clostridium difficile – the super bug.

A team from the University of Leeds, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and Oxford University, mapped all cases of Clostridium difficile (C.diff) in Oxfordshire over a three-year period (2008 to 2011).

C. diff causes severe diarrhoea, cramps and sometimes life-threatening complications, and has traditionally been thought to be transmitted within hospitals from other sick C.diff patients.

The research found that less than one in five cases of the so called ‘hospital superbug’ were likely to have been caught from other hospital cases of C.diff, where the focus of infection control measures has been.

By assessing the genetic variation between C.diff cases, the team identified those cases that were matched and were likely to be linked. By adding hospital records and the community movements of each case, they worked out if that transmission was likely to have happened as a result of hospital or patient contact.

Source: sify.com

Omega-3 fatty acids not tied to women’s mental sharpness

Women who consume plenty of omega-3 fatty acids may not have better thinking and memory skills as a result, according to a new study.

Some researchers have suggested that fatty acids found in fish and fish oil supplements might protect against memory loss.

But studies trying to test that theory have been “all over the place,” said Dr. Jennifer G. Robinson from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, senior author of the new report.

“There’s nothing really convincing, (in) one direction or the other,” she told Reuters Health.

To address the uncertainty, she and her colleagues analyzed data collected as part of the large Women’s Health Initiative trial focused on hormone replacement therapy.

For the new study, they compared women’s fatty acid levels to their performance on six years’ worth of thinking and memory tests.

The study included 2,157 women ages 65 to 80, and Robinson’s team looked at their levels of two omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The researchers also adjusted for the effects of hormone therapy in the women who were taking it.

On seven kinds of thinking and memory tests, Robinson and her colleagues found no differences between the one-third of women with the lowest omega-3 levels and the one-third with the highest levels.

That was after also taking into account other health and lifestyle factors, like whether women smoked and how much they exercised.

The tests measured women’s short-term memory for numbers and pictures and their ability to recognize shapes that are flipped or rotated, for example.

Scores on those exams did decline gradually over time, but there was no link between a woman’s omega-3 levels and how far or fast her scores fell, the study team reports in Neurology.

Robinson said Women’s Health Initiative participants tended to be healthy and well-educated, which may have bolstered their “cognitive reserve” and protected against memory loss – even without extra omega-3 fatty acids. It’s possible, she added, that the fatty acids would make a bigger difference among less-advantaged women.

Or, it may be that researchers would have to measure fatty acids over longer periods of time to see a link with thought processing. The blood levels used here probably only reflect diet over several months, she said.

“It’s just one snapshot, one point in time,” Robinson said. “The feeling as we look at all these chronic diseases … is it’s really what happens over your lifetime that’s important in terms of diet and physical activity.”

Alan Dangour, who has studied fatty acids and memory at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said omega-3s are important for brain development early in life. But after that, the data get a bit fuzzier.

“There is no good evidence to support the consumption of omega-3 supplements to promote or maintain cognitive health in later life,” Dangour, who wasn’t involved in the new research, told Reuters Health in an email.

“However, omega-3 fatty acids are an important part of the diet and may have other health benefits,” he said.

Source: Zee News