Month: December 2013

Exposure to Dogs May Keep Kids from Developing Allergies

Exposure to “dog dust,” or the dried flakes of skin that fall from Fido, may protect against developing allergies and asthma in later life by altering intestinal bacteria, a new study in mice suggests.

The dust appears to contain bacteria that, when present in an animal’s gut, affects the production of immune cells in the animal’s airway.

“Perhaps early life dog exposure introduces microbes into the home that somehow influence the gut microbiome, and change the immune response in the airways,” said study researcher Susan Lynch, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Past research has shown that exposure to pets, particularly dogs, during infancy may prevent people from developing allergies, and other work has found that bacteria in the gut can affect allergies and asthma. The new study adds to the research because it links these ideas showing that the reason exposure to dog dust may prevent allergies is that the dust affects the population of gut microbes.

In the study, Lynch and her colleagues exposed mice to dust from a dog owner’s home, and then tested the mice’s immune response to cockroach allergens and ovalbumin (a component of egg whites), two substances that commonly trigger asthma attacks. They found that mice exposed to dog dust had fewer immune cells in the airway that respond to allergens, compared with mice not exposed to dog dust.

The findings, detailed online today (Dec. 16) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, hint at a mechanism for how dog exposure may protect against allergies or asthma.

“It seems to be that early life exposure to dogs, and cats to a lesser extent, can protect against asthma allergens,” Lynch told LiveScience, though she stopped short of recommending exposing infants to dogs

Source: Healcon

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

Woman in Madhya Pradesh delivers 10 babies

In an extremely rare case, a 28-year-old woman in Madhya Pradesh delivered 10 babies – but all

stillborn, a doctor said on Monday.

Anju Kushwaha from Koti village in Satna district was being taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial
hospital, 125 km away in neighbouring Rewa district, after she went into labour but she delivered nine
stillborn babies on the way.

A doctor attending to the woman said the medical team was awestruck when Anju’s husband Sanjay presented
before them the nine stillborn babies.

When the medical team examined her, they found one more foetus was in the woman’s womb. It was delivered
early on Monday but again turned out to be stillborn, said the hospital’s assistant superintendent SK
Pathak.

The doctors said it was a case of miscarriage followed by “hyper stimulation syndrome”, where fertility
drugs stimulate the ovaries to produce many egg sacs.

The woman is keeping well, doctors said.

Source: NDTV

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

Oakland girl declared brain dead three days after having tonsils removed

The family of Jahi McMath wants answers after the 13-year-old girl suffered complications soon after having her tonsils out. ‘She wasn’t able to talk, and she started to write notes to her mother saying I’m swallowing too much mucus, mom — am I OK? Mom — I feel like I’m choking,’ her uncle says. The family is hoping for a Christmas miracle by keeping Jahi on life support.

She was just supposed to have her tonsils out, and now her heartbroken family wants answers.
Jahi McMath, 13, was declared brain dead on Thursday, three days after undergoing surgery at Children’s Hospital Oakland. Despite the tragic development, the family is holding out hope and refusing to take Jahi off life support.
“It’s shock, it’s disbelief,” uncle Omari Sealey told the San Jose Mercury News. “You never think something like this will happen to you.”

Jahi, an eighth grader at E.C. Reems Academy of Technology and Arts in Oakland, underwent the tonsils procedure on Dec. 9 in order to improve her sleep apnea. After the surgery she asked for a popsicle and seemed OK, but just 30 minutes later she started choking on her own blood, NBC reported.
“She wasn’t able to talk, and she started to write notes to her mother saying I’m swallowing too much mucus, mom — am I OK? Mom — I feel like I’m choking,” Sealey told the Mercury News. “And she began to write these notes because she couldn’t talk because there was so much blood — it wasn’t mucus — it was blood. But my sister, the mother, was too afraid to let her know that it was blood and not mucus.”
Jahi went into cardiac arrest and was revived, but was declared brain dead two days later, family members told the Mercury News. They are urging the hospital to investigate what they believe to be shoddy emergency care.

‘here catch them with the cup so we can measure them,'” mom Nailah Winkfield told ABC.
Grandmother Sandra Chatman, a surgical nurse at a different hospital, was stunned by the lack of attention that Jahi received.
“I went in and I said ‘is this normal, do you guys find this to be normal?,'” Chatman told ABC. “And they said ‘I don’t really know,’ and I said ‘well then get a doctor.'”

Sealey told NBC that family members believe “an error was committed by the hospital, either before, during, or after surgery. I absolutely believe that somewhere along the way, there was a protocol that wasn’t followed, or there was a surgical error.”
Hospital spokeswoman Melinda Krigel said in a statement: “We’re very sad about this outcome, about what’s happened to her, but at this point I have no information on the details of the surgery. We will certainly investigate what happened. In any surgery there are risks and there can be unexpected, unanticipated complications.”

The family is hoping for a Christmas miracle by keeping Jahi on life support, even though doctors say she is brain dead.
“My little girl in there, my little niece, is in there with her own heartbeat, which lets me know that she is alive,” Sealey told NBC.

source: Daily news

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

How to Keep Your Kitchen Germ-Free

Most of us practically live in our kitchens, but if we’re not careful bacteria can take up residence there too, says cleaning pro Laura Dellutri, author of Speed Cleaning 101. “It’s the busiest germ factory in your house.” Here, how to fight back.Countertop

The problem: You bake a cake and spill some batter with raw egg in it, and don’t get it all wiped up. Later you make a turkey sandwich on the same spot.

Fix: Use a disinfecting wipe or spray after any food prep to kill lingering bacteria. To truly banish the yucky stuff, the cleanup-product label should say that it kills 99.9% of germs and bacteria, Dellutri says.

Faucet filter
The problem: You bump the dirty dishrag against the faucet as you’re rinsing it out, or dirty water or food splashes up on it. Bacteria can grow, and so can lime-scale residue if you have hard water.

Fix: Take out the filter and soak it in white vinegar overnight once a week.

Cutting board
The problem: It’s used for everything from chopping scallions to slicing roast beef.

Fix: After washing with hot soapy water and rinsing, spray the board with a mixture of one teaspoon of bleach to 16 ounces of water that you keep in a clearly labeled spray bottle. Then rinse the board with hot water or toss it in the dishwasher on high.

The “cleanest” boards? Dellutri says glass or plastic are best because they’re nonporous and most resistant to germs. If you love wood, choose the dishwasher-safe kind that’s been treated with Microban, an antimicrobial compound. Whatever the material, throw out your board if it’s very worn or has lots of knife-cut indentations on it; they can trap bacteria.

Dish towel
The problem: You rinse your pieces of chicken and wipe your hands on the towel before continuing to cook. Salmonella alert!

Fix: During food prep with raw meat, use paper towels (not cloth) and toss them. And wash hands immediately with soap and water.

Knife block
The problem: You use a knife to clean a piece of fish, then rinse it and return it—wet—to the knife block. That can cause mold, which can grow in just 24 to 48 hours.

Fix: Scrub your knives with dish-washing liquid and hot water, then wipe them thoroughly with a dry cloth before putting them into the knife block. Better yet, keep your knives in a drawer or on a magnet strip.

Sink
The problem: All the stuff you rinse in the sink—shrimp, the turkey—leave behind bacteria, juices, and blood.

Fix: Disinfect with bleach and water right after you’ve cooked with raw meat, eggs, or poultry.

Sponge
The problem: You use it to wipe up everything from crumbs to meat juices—and then put it back in a holder or on the edge of the sink.

Fix: Clean your sponges every few days by soaking them in a bowl of water with one teaspoon of bleach. Or zap the dirty sponge in the microwave (place it in a bowl and cover it with water) for two to three minutes. (Don’t do this if the sponge has a metal scrubber side).

Those leftovers
The problem: While you’re busy cleaning the kitchen, the leftovers sit out too long.

Fix: Stick ’em in the fridge right away. If they’re warm, leave the lid off to chill faster. Food that’s between 40 and 140 degrees F allows bacteria to grow much faster; the goal is to get leftovers below 40 degrees as quickly as possible. After reheating, stir, and use a thermometer to make sure they’re 165 degrees, the temp at which bacteria is killed
Source: Healthy Living

 

Heavy marijuana use may alter brain structure and harm memory

Teens who are heavy marijuana users show abnormal changes in their brain structures that are associated with having schizophrenia, a new study has found.

Researchers from the Northwestern University found that chronic smokers, those who smoked marijuana daily for about three years, showed changes in their brain structures related to working memory and performed poorly on memory tasks.

Researchers observed the brain abnormalities and memory problems during the individuals’ early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking marijuana, which could indicate the long-term effects of chronic use.

Memory-related structures in their brains appeared to shrink and collapse inward, possibly reflecting a decrease in neurons.

The study showed the marijuana-related brain abnormalities are correlated with a poor working memory performance and look similar to schizophrenia-related brain abnormalities.

Of the 15 marijuana smokers who had schizophrenia in the study, 90 per cent started heavily using the drug before they developed the mental disorder, researchers said.

Marijuana abuse has been linked to developing schizophrenia in prior research.

This is the first study to target key brain regions in the deep subcortical gray matter of chronic marijuana users with structural MRI and to correlate abnormalities in these regions with an impaired working memory.

Working memory is the ability to remember and process information in the moment and – if needed – transfer it to long-term memory.

The younger the individuals were when they started chronically using marijuana, the more abnormally their brain regions were shaped, the study found.

The findings suggest that these regions related to memory may be more susceptible to the effects of the drug if abuse starts at an earlier age.

“The study links the chronic use of marijuana to these concerning brain abnormalities that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it,” said lead study author Matthew Smith, an assistant research professor in psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Source: Indian Express

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

Road Crashes Found to be Americans Biggest Killers While Abroad

Americans traveling abroad are faced with larger health threats including road crashes, a new study finds.

Between 2003 and 2009, more Americans have died abroad from crashes that involved cars or motorcycles than from homicide and other terrorist events, the researchers involved in the study wrote in the journal Injury Prevention. “Money spent on public health interventions related to homicides has apparently been spent successfully,” said Dr. David Bishai, lead author of the study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“But there is a gap in funding now,” he added. “What gets travelers abroad isn’t so much infectious disease or homicide – it’s road safety. The U.S. Department of State spends approximately $51.6 billion annually to protect its citizens both abroad and at home, but health risks during international travel can be very tricky. Bishai and his team measured deaths per one million visits to a country by American travelers. During the six-year study period, the U.S. Department of State data showed a total of $5.417 unnatural deaths among Americans while traveling abroad.

The top-five countries for international deaths were Colombia, with 13.7 international deaths per million American visits, the Dominican Republic with 11 deaths per million; Thailand and Morocco, each with 5.5 international deaths per million visits and the Philippines, with a rate of 21 per million visits. With the exception of the Philippines, more Americans died from road crashes in all of the 160 countries surveyed than from homicide.

Thailand has the most number of traffic fatalities with 16.5 deaths per million visits, followed by Vietnam with 15 fatal road accidents per million visits. “People will go to Vietnam and ride on a motorcycle because it’s the way to get around,” Bishai said.

Source: parent herald