Research

Superbug Strain of E. coli Endangers the Lives of Millions

New research shows how antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli evolved from a single source.A single strain of Escherichia coli, or E. coli, is responsible for millions of bacterial infections in women and the elderly, according to new research released today.

The strain, H30-Rx, has the unprecedented ability to spread from the urinary tract into the blood, giving rise to sepsis, the most lethal form of infection.

The new report suggests that H30-Rx may be responsible for 1.5 million urinary tract infections (UTIs) and tens of thousands of deaths annually in the U.S. alone. Researchers say the strain poses a threat to more than 10 million Americans who suffer from UTIs.
The research, published in the American Society for Microbiology’s journal mBio, shows how this bacteria has evolved from a single strain, allowing it to get around the most potent antibiotics available.

Tracing the E. coli Family Tree
The research was led by Lance B. Price, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. He’s also an associate professor in the Pathogen Genomics Division of the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Ariz.

He and fellow researchers James R. Johnson of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Minnesota, and Evgeni V. Sokurenko of the University of Washington School of Medicine, focused on the ST131 group of E. coli.

ST131 strains are a common cause of bacterial infections, but they have become untreatable with standard antibiotics.

The team used advancing genomic techniques to discover that bacteria in the ST131 strains are genetic clones that have all evolved from a single strain of E. coli. Using whole-genome sequencing—which spells out each molecule in a bacteria’s DNA—researchers analyzed samples of E. coli from patients and animals in five countries gathered between 1967 and 2011. They then created a family tree to trace how the antibiotic-resistant clones evolved.

“Astoundingly, we found that all of the resistance could be traced back to a single ancestor,” Price said in a statement. “Our research shows this superbug then took off, and now causes lots of drug-resistant infections.”
For example, researchers said that a strain known as H30 cloned itself into H30-R. This evolved to become fully resistant to the second-generation antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which was considered a wonder-drug when it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1987. From there, the clones evolved into H30-Rx, which is resistant to even third-generation antibiotics like cephalosporins.

“This strain of E. coli spreads from person to person and seems to be particularly virulent,” Johnson said in a release. “This study might help us develop better tools to identify, stop or prevent its spread by finding better ways to block the transmission of the superbug, or by finding a diagnostic test that would help doctors identify such an infection early on—before it might have the chance to turn lethal.”

Dr. William Schaffner, immediate past-president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and a professor of preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said the new research will change the way problematic strains of E. coli are handled.

“It’s fascinating that they’ve identified a dominant strain of resistant E. coli. We previously thought these strains became resistant independently,” Schaffner, who was not involved in the study, told Healthline. “Resistant E. coli are slowly yet surely becoming a problem for those of us who treat infections.”

Source: health line

Lundbeck hopes to launch new Alzheimer’s drug in 2017

Danish pharmaceutical group Lundbeck said on Monday that it hopes to launch a new Alzheimer’s medicine in 2017 in what would be the first new drug for the condition in more than a decade.

Dementia – of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form – already affects 44 million people worldwide and is set to reach 135 million by 2050, according to non-profit campaign group Alzheimer’s Disease International.

There is currently no treatment that can cure the disease or slow its progression, but Lundbeck’s new drug – known as Lu AE58054 – is designed to alleviate some of the symptoms and improve cognitive function.

As such, it would build on treatments currently on the market rather than competing with more ambitious projects under way at large drug companies, which aim to modify the biology of the disease.

“If the studies that we are currently running end well, then we wi

ll probably be the first company to launch a new Alzheimer’s drug in 10 to 15 years,” Lundbeck Chief Scientific Officer Anders Gersel Pedersen told Reuters.

The Danish company, together with its Japanese partner Otsuka, is currently testing its experimental Alzheimer’s drug in 3,000 patients in four final-stage Phase III clinical studies.

Pedersen said he expected the drug to have annual worldwide sales of considerably more than $1 billion, if it is approved.

“There is a huge market for this kind of medicine, until the day you cure the disease,” Pedersen said.

It is more than a decade since the last drug, Ebixa, also from Lundbeck, was approved to treat Alzheimer’s.

Although there is still no treatment that can effectively modify the disease or slow its progression, a number of companies – including Eli Lilly, Merck & Co, Roche and Johnson & Johnson – are pursuing a variety of approaches to get to the root of the memory-robbing disorder.

Health ministers from the Group of Eight countries last week set a goal of finding a cure or a disease-modifying therapy by 2025 – a target that is seen as ambitious given that scientists are still struggling to understand the fundamental biology of Alzheimer’s. (Editing by Simon Johnson and David Goodman)

Source: US web daily

Scientists develop new technique to diagnose autism in babies

Scientists have developed a new technique to diagnose autism in babies as young as 12 months.

Dr Josephine Barbaro from Australia’s La Trobe University has developed an accurate set of “red flag” markers of the condition, which include a failure by babies to make consistent eye contact, to smile, show their toys to others, to play social games, point and respond when their name is called

Barbaro is training medical experts around the globe in the use of her diagnostic method on children under two years of age.

“All typically developing babies are pre-wired to be social, look at other people’s faces, learn from them and copy what they’re doing. Children with autism are not doing this – and we can now accurately identify this at a much younger age and take action,” Barbaro said.

Barbaro and her team are training doctors in Tianjin in China, as part of an Australia-China Science and Research Fund Group Mission.

They have helped to train 300 doctors monitor children’s development using the early autism identification programme.

Based on these preliminary findings, the Tianjin government has agreed to conduct autism surveillance using Barbaro’s programme for every child born in the city for the next seven years.

The team is also training healthcare workers in Poland, Korea, Japan and Bangladesh.

Source: Times of India

Messy babies make faster learners

Researchers at the University of Iowa released a study showing kids who play with their non-solid food in a highchair learn words for those foods faster. Non-solid foods include things like oatmeal and yogurt.

The study, “Highchair Philosophers,” was recently published in the journal Developmental Science by UI associate professor in psychology Dr. Larissa Samuelson and her team.

“We wanted to see if we put them in the context they’re used to experiencing non-solids, the highchair, does that help them maybe when we try to teach them new words,” Samuelson said.

During the study, researchers assigned non-solid foods made-up names like “kiv” or “wug.” They gave the foods to 16-month old children using the made-up names and asked the kids to identify the foods.

Samuelson said the newest part of the study used highchairs as part of the experiment. The kids seated in the highchair tended to learn the word faster than the kids who were not. They were also the messiest ones. Researchers believe this is because kids know they can get messy in their highchairs and that messiness translates into learning.

“They are amazing learning machines. And to some extent we need to let them do that learning in the best way that they know how, which is playing, exploring, getting their hands in there,” Samuelson said.

Babies have an easier time learning words for solids, because they are recognizable. Things like spoons look the same even if kids throw or knock them around. But non-solid things like pudding can look different depending on its container. The changing shape makes recognizing the food and learning the word difficult.

“What they have to learn is that for some things, I have to attend to shape, other kinds of things, I should attend to material. And that speeds up learning,” Samuelson said.

But not all professionals agree with letting kids get messy at mealtime. Dr. Dyan Hes, medical director at Gramercy Pediatrics in New York City, said that while it’s good for children to touch, poke and play, it can be hard for kids to separate messy time from when they need to behave.

She said parents should let kids get their hands and faces messy, but it shouldn’t be where they learn to eat.

“I think a good way to differentiate is when you put them in a different area, you put a smock on them; they know it’s art time and playtime and not dinner time,” Hes said.

Whether your child is in a highchair or at a play table, parents, slow down on whipping out the wipes and let your kids get messy.

Source: News.nom

FDA Approves New Magnet Device to Treat Migraines

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first device aimed at easing the pain of migraines preceded by aura — sensory disturbances that occur just before an attack.

The Cerena Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator would be obtained through prescription, the FDA said in a statement released Friday. Patients use both hands to hold the device against the back of their head and press a button so that the device can release a pulse of magnetic energy. This pulse stimulates the brain’s occipital cortex, which may stop or ease migraine pain.

“Millions of people suffer from migraines, and this new device represents a new treatment option for some patients,” Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in the statement.

The agency’s approval is based on a trial involving 201 patients who had suffered moderate-to-strong migraine with aura. One hundred and thirteen of the patients tried treating their migraines while an attack was in progress, and it was the testimony of this group that led to the approval of the new device, the FDA said.

More than a third (38 percent) of people using the stimulator said they were pain-free two hours later, compared to 17 percent of patients who did not use the device. A full day after the onset of migraine, nearly 34 percent of device users said they were pain-free, compared to 10 percent of people who hadn’t used the device.

Two experts welcomed the news of the approval.

“The Cerena TMS is another tool in the battle to relieve migraines,” said Dr. Mark Green, director of Headache and Pain Management at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. “Experience with TMS over the past few years have shown that these agents have the potential to reduce the pain of an attack without the use of medications, or in addition to medical treatment.”

Dr. Noah Rosen is director of the Headache Center at North Shore-LIJ’s Cushing Neuroscience Institute, in Manhasset NY. He said that, “although only 20 percent of migraneurs suffer from an aura associated with their headaches, they suffer significantly. Although this device is unwieldy, it may be a preferred choice by those who don’t want [drug] treatment.”

Side effects from the device were rare, the FDA said, but included “single reports of sinusitis, aphasia (inability to speak or understand language) and vertigo.”

The new device is approved only for use by those aged 18 or older, and should not be used by people with suspected or diagnosed epilepsy or a family history of seizures. It should also not be used by anyone with any metal device implanted in the head, neck or upper body, or by people with “an active implanted medical device such as a pacemaker or deep brain stimulator,” the FDA said.

The stimulator, manufactured by eNeura Therapeutics of Sunnyvale, Calif., is not meant to be used more than once every 24 hours, the FDA added. It has also not been tested to see if it is effective against other symptoms of migraine such as nausea or sensitivities to light or sound.

Green called that last point “disappointing,” and added that “the other concern is whether insurance carriers will make the product available [to patients].”

Source: Web md

Severed Hand Saved By Being Sewn To Ankle

Man has severed hand attached to leg to keep it alive, Changsha, Hunan Province, China - 10 Dec 2013

Graphic images show a man’s severed hand attached to his ankle – surgery that saved his limb.

A man who lost his right hand in an accident at work has had it successfully reattached after doctors
grafted it to his ankle for a month.

Xiao Wei underwent reattachment surgery in Changsha, Hunan province, after badly injuring himself in
November.

Initially, doctors said they would be unable to save his limb.

Mr Wei said: “I was just shocked and frozen to the spot, until colleagues unplugged the machine and
retrieved my hand and took me to the hospital.

“I am still young, and I couldn’t imagine life without a right hand.”

However, doctors at a larger hospital offered a solution and opted to sew the hand to the ankle to stop
it dying while they treated his other injuries.

Wei’s doctor told Rex Features: “His injury was severe. Besides ripping injuries, his arm was also
flattened. We had to clear and treat his injuries before taking on the hand reattachment surgery.”

Nearly a month after his hand was severed, Wei had recovered sufficiently to undergo reattachment
surgery.

According to doctors he will need to undergo several other procedures, but they are hopeful that he will
regain full function of his hand.

Source: sky news

IIT Kharagpur students propose mobile app for fast and accurate diagnosis of skin cancers

A group of students from IIT Kharagpur has won the sixth edition of ‘GE Edison Challenge’ for their solution that proposed a hardware software co-designed mobile phone app for fast and accurate diagnosis of skin cancers and related abnormalities, enabling high-precision point-of-care healthcare delivery in resource constrained base of pyramid and rural populations.
As a part of the GE Edison Challenge 2013, which was held at the GE India Technology Centre here, students were required to create “an idea for India and the world” in the field of affordable and accessible healthcare.

The winning team — Team SinCLAIR from IIT Kharagpur that consisted of Debdoot Sheet (team leader), Kausik Basak, Sri Phani Krishna Karri and Tamoghna Ojha — was awarded an incubation prize of Rs 10 lakh.

Sukla Chandra, general manager, GE Global Research Bangalore and director, Patents and Analytics Centre of Excellence, said, “The GE Edison Challenge is a unique initiative to nurture the Edisons of tomorrow. The contest aims to promote the culture of innovation among the science and engineering students of India. It is an opportunity for them to showcase their ideas for a better future. This year’s Challenge was to present solutions for the healthcare industry and I am impressed with the balance of innovative technology and business strategy demonstrated by the teams.”

Team OM from IIT (BHU) Varanasi, which included Sritam Parashar Rout (team leader), Himanshu Gangwar and Aditya Garg, was chosen as the runner-up and won an incubation prize of Rs 5 lakh for their proposed solution that consists of a non-invasive and highly portable method of malignant tumour detection.“This year’s GE Edison Challenge was based on affordable healthcare which is one of most pressing issues in developing countries like India. We challenged teams to address problems in the healthcare system such as lack of access to quality care or affordability of quality care. Teams had to come up with solutions targeting care areas of Maternal and Child Health, Oncology or Cardiology or focus on expanding care access via mobile platform. I was glad to see that all the teams kept the cost parameters and their customers in mind while working on the solutions,” Vikram Damodaran, director, Healthcare Innovation India, GE Healthcare, said.

A panel of internal and external experts evaluated the entries based on technical and commercial feasibility as well as originality of the solution. The presentation abilities of the finalists were also tested to see if they could deliver their message clearly, bring clarity of data and solutions and showcase creativity and imagination in the tools used for presentation.

According to GE India, the GE Edison Challenge is a unique science and engineering competition that challenges the imagination and technical expertise of tomorrow’s inventors.

GE launched this annual contest in 2008 with the aim of finding the best scientific and engineering talent in the country.

The Challenge epitomizes imaginative thinking, analytical skill, technical expertise and entrepreneurial spirit. The competition provides an opportunity for the best and brightest students of India’s finest technical institutions to provide solutions to some of the country’s most pressing issues, a statement by the company said.

Source: India Medical Times

Singing may ease COPD symptoms

 

Researchers found that regular singing helped COPD patients breathe more efficiently and easily.

Patients with COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, may soon get a new prescription from their health care providers: Singing. A new study has found that belting out a tune can help ease the symptoms of COPD and improve breathing for its sufferers.

Globally, about 64 million people suffer from COPD, according to a new report from the BBC. COPD is a lifelong condition that is caused by damage to the air sacs and passages that make up the lungs. For those affected by the disease, every breath is a challenge. The World Health Organization expects COPD to be the third leading cause of death by 2030.

But a new long-term study on COPD from Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent may bring some respite to those with the disease.

The study has found real benefit to COPD patients who practice singing on a regular basis.

Dr. Ian Morrison, a senior research fellow and one of the project’s authors, said: “Lung function improved dramatically, particularly after about five months, once people had got used to what they were doing and changed their breathing habits,” he said. “To get such an improvement really was quite remarkable.”

Why would singing make it easier for people to breathe? Researchers think the act of singing helped COPD patients inhale without anxiety, taking deeper breaths and clearing the lungs more efficiently than they would if they were simply concentrating on their breathing and taking short “gaspy” breaths. Singing allows patients to breathe in a deeper and more relaxed manner.

The study looked at the breathing patterns of 100 patients with varying degrees of COPD. They attended weekly singing sessions over a 12-week period. Breathing was assessed at the beginning and at the end of the study using a spirometer, something similar to a giant breathalyzer. Patients with COPD generally have about 50 percent of the lung capacity as patients without the disease, and they generally continue to lose lung capacity over time.

Researchers hoped to show that weekly singing session halted the progression of the disease and kept patients at the same level of lung capacity as before they began singing. But they actually found that most of the patients in their study improved on the spirometer after the year, showing more lung capacity than they had at the beginning of the study.

“In our study, we not only appeared to halt the decline but people showed a small improvement,” said Morrison.

Source: Twitter

Can parasitic worms or hot baths treat autism?

Some participants in the trial showed improvement in certain symptoms, including a decrease in repetitive behaviors.

Although the remedies may sound unconventional, doctors are currently testing whether infecting people with worms or giving them hot baths could reduce some symptoms of autism.

In small, early clinical trials, the unusual treatments — which involve using parasitic worm eggs to trigger anti-inflammatory signals in the gut, or raising the body temperature to mimic the effects of an infection — lessened the repetitive behaviors and other symptoms of the disorders; even so, scientists say the effects must be replicated before the treatments can be considered safe and effective.

“All three studies are interesting and merit further investigation,” said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park, who was not involved in the studies. “To what extent they can lead to clinical treatment is unclear,” Adesman said. [5 Wacky Things That Are Good for Your Health]

In addition, parents should note that trying such treatments at home, without the guidance of a medical specialist, could be dangerous.

Inflammation and autism
Autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, is a group of developmental brain disorders associated with impairments in social skills, communication problems and repetitive behaviors. The causes of the disorder are not fully understood, but are thought to be complex and varied, and current treatments address only the symptoms.

One theory of what causes autism holds that during pregnancy, activation of the mother’s immune system results in inflammation in the baby, which leads to developmental and behavioral abnormalities. Modern human society, some say, has become hyper-sanitized, ridding humans of exposure to common microbes, and so when exposed to even benign “bugs” their immune systems go on the offense. One of the results is inflammation. Some scientists believe germ-free living may explain the higher incidence of inflammatory disorders, such as asthma and allergies, in developed countries.

Previous research has investigated treatment using parasitic worm eggs, known as Trichura suis ova (TSO), to treat autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, finding the treatment to be effective in small studies. Anecdotal reports suggest that TSO infection may reduce certain symptoms of autism by reducing underlying inflammation. TSO is a common pig parasite, but is generally considered harmless in humans.

Dr. Eric Hollander, a clinical psychiatrist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, decided to test the treatment in people with autism. In the trial, five high-functioning young adults with the condition were randomly assigned to drink a dose of worm eggs mixed in saltwater, while another five high-functioning participants with autism were given a placebo for three months. Then, after a one-month period of no treatment, each group received the opposite drink for three months.

While receiving the worm treatment, the participants showed a decrease in the repetitive behaviors that are common among people with autism, according to preliminary results from five of the patients that Hollander presented on Dec. 12 at a meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (the other five patients are still doing the trial). However, during the worm treatment, the patients did not show improvement in social or communication skills.

More evidence needed
The Food and Drug Administration has not approved the worm treatment for autism. Scientists will need to demonstrate it’s effective in larger trials first, Hollander said. “Clearly more work needs to be done, but this offers a new avenue for treatments,” he told LiveScience.

Worms aren’t the only type of therapy for autism Hollander is exploring. Another theory suggests high levels of stress on the mother during pregnancy can cause autism by leading to a spike in the stress hormone cortisol, which interferes with the development of a specific signaling pathway in the baby’s brain. [7 Ways Pregnant Women Affect Their Babies]

Changes in this signaling pathway might explain why about a third of children with autism experience improvement in their symptoms when they have a fever, according to reports from parents.

In another study Hollander presented today, 15 children with autism, some of whom had a history of improvement due to fever and some of whom didn’t, soaked in a hot tub at 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 Celsius) or 98 F (37 C) for 30 minutes.

The children who had a history of improvement in their autism symptoms after fever showed some improvement in social skills after spending time in the 102-degree hot tub. Exactly why the heat may help remains unclear, but the temperature might affect certain enzymes that control whether genes are turned on or off in the brain, Hollander said.

Adesman called the study “clever” and “intriguing,” but noted that it was unclear whether children who don’t see their autism symptoms improve from fever also benefit from the hot tub therapy.

Elaine Hsiao, a researcher at Caltech who studies autism and immunity said the research “lends support for immune-based therapies for ASD.”

Growing research shows that microbes with the human body modulate brain function and behavior, Hsiao said. It will be important for researchers to figure out how the worm treatment leads to beneficial effects on behavior, whether it’s through changing the immune system, the digestive tract, or other indirect effects, she told LiveScience.

Hollander also presented a third study today, which involved giving 34 high-functioning adults with autism a drug that blocks reuptake of the brain chemical norepinephrine, which may be activating the same brain circuits as fever does. These adults showed improvements in attention and executive function, Hollander reported, though he called for these findings to be replicated as well.

Source: Mother Nature Network

Recycled plastic turned into ‘nanofibers’ to attack fungal infection

Scientists say they have made a “nanomedicine breakthrough” by creating “antifungal nanofibers” from recycled plastic materials that are able to target and attack specific fungal infections. This is according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers from the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), based in the US, and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore, say they created the technology by converting plastic materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – commonly used in plastic bottles – into non-toxic biocompatible materials that act as “antifungal agents.”

Fungal infections are extremely common all over the world and cover a broad number of conditions. Mild fungal infections include athlete’s foot, a rash or a mild respiratory illness. But other fungal infections, such as fungal pneumonia or bloodstream infection, can be severe.

According to the researchers, a person is more likely to develop a fungal infection if they possess an altered immune system as a result of antibiotic treatment, or have conditions such as HIV/AIDS or cancer.

Although there are antifungal drugs available to treat these infections, there is the issue of drug resistance.

The investigators explain that traditional antifungal drugs work by attempting to get into cells to attack the infection. However, the drugs find it difficult to target and break through the membrane wall of the fungi.

They also note that fungi are similar to mammalian cells in terms of metabolism. This means the antifungal drugs that are currently used have difficulty determining the difference between infected and healthy cells.

With these factors in mind, the investigators looked to develop a new antifungal agent that could combat the issue of drug resistance.

How does the technology work?
The scientists transformed PET into completely new antifungal molecules using a hydrogen-bonding process that causes them to self-assemble.

The researchers explain that the way these molecules stick together is “like molecular velcro in a polymer-like fashion to form nanofibers.” They note that this process is important because the antifungal agents only work in their “fiber or polymer-like form.”

Explaining how the agents, or “nanofibers” work, the researchers say they possess a positive charge that is able to specifically target a fungal membrane that is negatively charged, and attach to these alone through “electrostatic interaction.”

Dr. Yi Yan Yang, of IBN and leader of the study, says:

“The ability of these molecules to self-assemble into nanofibers is important because unlike discrete molecules, fibers increase the local concentration of cationic charges and compound mass.

This facilitates the targeting of the fungal membrane and its subsequent lysis, enabling the fungi to be destroyed at low concentrations.”

Nanofibers ‘proved successful in fungi eradication’
The assembly of the antifungal nanofibers was simulated in order to predict which different structures could destroy fungi.

From this, the researchers found that the lowest concentration that stops the visible growth of fungi – known as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) – proved the most effective against a variety of fungal infections.

Further research revealed that the nanofibers erased 99.9% of Candida Albicans (C. albicans) – a fungus that is a cause of oral and genital infections in humans, as well as the third most common bloodstream infection in the US.

The fungi was eradicated after 1 hour of incubation and demonstrated no sign of resistance after 11 treatments.

Comparing these results to traditional antifungal drugs, the researchers note that traditional therapeutics developed resistance after 6 hours and were only able to suppress additional fungal growth.

Further studies also looked at the activity of the nanofibers in mouse models. This was done using a C. albicans biofilm infection linked to use of contact lenses.

The researchers found that the nanofibers were able to significantly reduce the number of fungi, prevented new structural growth of fungi in the cornea, and decreased inflammation in the eye.

Commenting on the findings, Prof. Jackie Y. Ying, executive director of IBN, says:

“A key focus of IBN’s nanomedicine research efforts is the development of novel polymers and materials for more effective treatment and prevention of various diseases.

Our latest breakthrough with IBM allows us to specifically target and eradicate drug-resistant and drug-sensitive fungi strains and fungal biofilms, without harming surrounding healthy cells.”

Source: Medical news today