Gel lowers blood clot risk for breast cancer patients

Gel lowers blood clot risk for breast cancer patients

A gel form of a popular drug taken orally to prevent breast cancer has brought cheers for such patients as this can reduce the growth of cancer cells with minimum side effects.

Tamoxifen is an oral drug that is used for breast cancer prevention and as therapy for non-invasive breast cancer and invasive cancer.

Since the gel form of the drug is absorbed through the skin directly into breast tissue, blood levels of the drug are much lower and it minimises dangerous side effects like blood clots and uterine cancer, researchers said.

“Delivering the drug though a gel, if proven effective in larger trials, could potentially replace oral tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention and encourage many more women to take it,” said lead author Seema Khan, a surgical oncologist from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

The gel was tested on women diagnosed with the non-invasive cancer ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in which abnormal cells multiply and form a growth in a milk duct. Because of potential side effects, many women with DCIS are reluctant to take oral tamoxifen.

The new study involved 26 women, ages 45 to 86, who had been diagnosed with DCIS that was sensitive to estrogen. Half the women received the gel which they applied daily and half the oral drug, which they took daily.

The gel minimised exposure to the rest of the body and concentrated the drug in the breast where it is needed. “There was very little drug in the bloodstream in women who used gel which should avoid potential blood clots as well as an elevated risk for uterine cancer,” Khan noted.

The paper was published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

Source; Business standard

How to Have Flawless Skin in a Week

How to Have Flawless Skin in a WeekDetermine your skin type. Is it oily, dry, normal, or combination of either? In order to do this, wash your face, let it dry and leave your face completely untouched for an hour. Inspect by dabbing a tissue between your nose and cheek, called the T-zone:
Normal skin shows neither oil nor flaking skin. It should feel supple and smooth. If you have it, consider yourself lucky!

Oily skin is characterized by the grease on the tissue. It is also common for a person with oily skin to have large pores and a bit of a shine.

Dry skin may feel taut or show flakes of dead skin. It is associated with small pores. Moisturizing is important for this skin type.

Combination skin is most common. It exhibits traits of all three of the above skin types. Usually, the skin is oily in the T-zone and normal to dry elsewhere.

Invest in a cleanser, toner, moisturizer and facial scrub suited to your skin type. (If you’re young there’s no need for a facial scrub.) You might have to test out a couple of brands before you find the perfect one. Talk to an associate at a make up or skin care counter. You will be able to test different formulas. They may even offer samples so you can try a product out for a day or two.
Try to get cleanser, toner, and moisturizer that is non-comedogenic. This just means that it won’t clog your pores, leading to pimples.

If you have a bad case of acne or any other skin problem like eczema, see a dermatologist. They will give you the specific treatment you need. It’s likely that any medication you get from a dermatologist will be prescription strength, too, meaning it will be stronger.

Buy an SPF 15+ sunscreen for daily use. Try for a facial sunscreen with no fragrance or oil. Sunscreen will help block harmful UV-A and UV-B rays that can lead to skin damage and cancers.
Many moisturizers these days have sunscreen built into them. Experiment with different moisturizers to see if the sunscreen works well and the moisturizer keeps your face hydrated.

  • Use your face wash every day. You will not see a difference if you only use it once a week. Use your scrub, which lifts off dead layers of skin, only every few days as to avoid scrubbing off too much skin.
  • Do not use a washcloth, loofah or any other abrasive material to wash your face. Washing with your hands is perfectly acceptable, and will lower the irritation you might otherwise get with an abrasive material.
  • Wash once in the morning and once at night. This is especially important if you have very oily skin, or numerous pimples.
  • Moisturize after every wash. Washing your face with a facial cleanser sucks all the natural oils from your face. Clear, beautiful skin is hydrated skin.

Wash off your makeup. Before going to bed remember to take off any makeup you put on. Washing your face may do the trick, but some makeup may require makeup remover.
Don’t be lazy about taking off makeup. If you’re prone to leaving your makeup on or forgetting to wash your face, invest in some wipes and keep them close to your bed. That way, all you need to do is swipe your face when you’re dead tired.

Eat properly. A great menu is a balanced menu. Remember the food pyramid? Eat fruits and vegetables. Nutritionists recommend eating 3 servings of fruit and 5 servings of vegetables daily. Avoid foods with caffeine and sugar, as well as greasy foods and red meat.

Drink plenty of fluids. Try to drink 8 glasses of fluids, preferably water, every day! Avoid sugary soft drinks, caffeine and coffee. Green/herbal tea is rich in antioxidants, which protect cells in your body from damage.

Exercise. Exercising helps you metabolize. A walk with your dog or some yoga lessons do make a difference! Healthy skin is just another part of a healthy body.
Exercising is also good for relieving stress. Studies show[1] that there’s a link between how stressed you are and how bad your acne is. So if you’re super-stressed all the time, try your favorite form of exercise to get rid of it pronto.

Sleep. Make sure you get your 8 hours every night, perhaps a bit more if you are a teenager. Being well rested gives your body more energy to go about its daily routine, and leaves you feeling even better. Flawless skin doesn’t have big dark circles.
Do this every day, and you will soon begin to see the results.

Source: wiki how

Scorching summer may trigger kidney stone attacks

Scorching summer may trigger kidney stone attacks

As daily temperatures rose, there was a rapid increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for kidney stones.

Hot and humid days may bring more kidney stones as higher temperatures contribute to dehydration that leads to a higher concentration of calcium in the body that promote the growth of kidney stones.

In a study involving 60,000 patients in the US, researchers found that as daily temperatures rose, there was a rapid increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for kidney stones.

“The findings point to potential public health effects associated with global climate change,” said Gregory E. Tasian, a pediatric urologist and epidemiologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

It is likely that higher temperatures increase the risk of kidney stones in those people predisposed to stone formation.

The delay between high daily temperatures and kidney stone presentation was short, peaking within three days of exposure to hot days, the study added.

The team found that as frigid weather keeps people more in indoors, higher indoor temperatures, changes in diet and decreased physical activity may raise their risk of kidney stones.

The authors note that increase in greenhouse gas emissions are projected to raise earth’s average temperatures by 1 to 4.5 degrees Celsius by 2100.

“Kidney stone prevalence has already been on the rise over the last 30 years, and we can expect this trend to continue as daily temperature increase,” Tasian noted.

The paper was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Source: Khaleej Times

Sleeping in bed with parents riskier for younger infants, MDs find

Sleeping in bed with parents riskier for younger infants, MDs find

Newborns were more likely to die while sharing a bed compared with older infants, say doctors who want parents to know about the risks.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes of infant death have known risk factors but researchers wanted to know if the factors differed by age group.

In a total of 8,207 deaths analyzed, the majority of the infants, 69 per cent, were bed-sharing at the time of death, researchers said in Monday’s issue of the journal Pediatrics. In bed-sharing, the infant shares the same sleeping surface with another person.

Younger infants were more likely bed-sharing compared with babies aged four months to just under a year (73.8 per cent vs. 58.9 per cent.)

“The predominant risk factor for younger infants (up to three months of age) is bed-sharing, whereas rolling to prone, with objects in the sleep area, is the predominant risk factor for older infants (four months to 364 days),” Dr. Jeffrey Colvin of Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinic in Kansas City, Mo., and his co-authors concluded.

“Parents should be warned about the dangers of bed-sharing, particularly in 0- to three-month-old infants.” They also suggested that parents should be reminded that cribs should be clear of objects so that if an infant rolls, there is no risk of rolling into something that increases the risk suffocation.

The Canadian Paediatric Society reaffirmed its recommendations for safe sleep environments for infants and children in February.

“The recommended practice of independent sleeping will likely continue to be the preferred sleeping arrangement for infants in Canada, but a significant proportion of families will still elect to sleep together,” the society’s position statement said. “The risk of suffocation and entrapment in adult beds or unsafe cribs will need to be addressed for both practices to achieve any reduction in this devastating adverse event.”

The group noted that evidence suggests bed-sharing with an adult who is extremely fatigued or impaired by alcohol or drugs (legal or illegal) that impair arousal can be hazardous to an infant.

Canadian coroners have also warned about the hazards

Source: cbc news

Organic Produce Has Fewer Pesticides, More Antioxidants

Organic Produce Has Fewer Pesticides, More Antioxidants

New research comes down on the side of organic food, but doesn’t make any claims about health effects

Organically-grown fruits, vegetables and grains have substantially higher levels of antioxidants and lower levels of pesticides than conventionally-grown produce, according to a comprehensive review of earlier studies on the matter.

Organic crops contain 17 percent more antioxidants than conventionally grown crops, according to the study, to be published next week in the British Journal of Nutrition.

“It shows very clearly how you grow your food has an impact,” Carlo Leifert, a professor of ecological agriculture at Newcastle University in England who led the research, told the New York Times. “If you buy organic fruits and vegetables, you can be sure you have, on average, a higher amount of antioxidants at the same calorie level.”

The findings contradict a similar analysis published two years ago by Stanford scientists, who found that there are only minor differences in the nutritional content of organic and conventionally-grown foods.

However, the new study does not claim eating organic food leads to better health. However, many studies have suggested that antioxidants have been linked to a lower risk of cancer and other diseases.

Organic food purchases accounted for just over four percent of the total food market in the United States last year, or $32.3 billion.

Source: Time

Mystery of the 13-year-old girl who kept falling down

Mystery of the 13-year-old girl who kept falling down

Hope Horncastle’s debilitating episodes might once have been dismissed as ‘hysteria’, but doctors are taking her and other young sufferers seriously

For four years, Hope Horncastle, now 16, suffered a mystery condition that confounded her doctors. Her legs would buckle beneath her, her torso would go rigid and she would fall to the ground.

These distressing episodes, called “drop attacks” by doctors, resembled epileptic seizures – except that, unlike epilepsy, in Hope’s case there was no evidence of electrical disturbance in the brain. Despite extensive neurological and other tests, no explanation could be found.

Hope is not alone. More than 5 per cent of children and adolescents referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital’s neurological centre suffer what are officially termed medically unexplained neurological symptoms (MUNS), although the incidence is thought to be far higher in the general population. Most of these patients are girls, with an average age of 13. According to Dr Prab Prabhakar, consultant paediatric neurologist at Great Ormond Street, they tend to experience three different types of symptoms: drop attacks such as Hope’s; loss of movement, vision or hearing; or debilitating but inexplicable pain that sometimes stops them from getting out of bed.

In the past, such episodes might have been labelled as “hysteria” by doctors. Today, they are sometimes referred to as “psychogenic paralysis” or “conversion disorders” (in which a psychological crisis is converted into physical symptoms). Dr Prabhakar argues that “emotive terms” are unhelpful, and that this complex condition should not be dismissed as being “all in the mind”. A study of MUNS patients published in 2012 showed that psychological factors are indeed linked with neurological symptoms in ways that are still not completely understood.

“The symptoms are real in these cases, even though we can’t explain them, and in most cases like Hope’s, persist for at least two years,” he says. “Once we have ruled out any organic cause, we need to look at their impact on the children’s lives.” The symptoms of MUNS, he says, can lead to social isolation and depression.

Source: healcon

TB prevalence reduced: WHO says

TB prevalence reduced

As per WHO estimations, prevalence of tuberculosis per lakh population in India has reduced from 465 in the year 1990 to 230 in year 2012. Tuberculosis mortality per lakh population has reduced from 38 in the year 1990 to 22 in year 2012, according to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on Friday the health minister said, “The estimated proportion of Multi-Drug Resistant TB cases is not increasing. It is less than 3 per cent among new TB cases and between 12-17 per cent among re-treatment TB cases. However, the detection of MDR-TB cases has been increasing due to availability of more diagnostic facilities for MDR-TB and coverage of the entire country by the management of Drug Resistant TB in the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), between 2007 and 2013.”

With effective anti-TB Drug regimens administered under the globally acclaimed DOTS strategy, RNTCP has been consistently achieving more than 85 per cent treatment success rates among New Smear Positive Patients since 2001, according to an official statement.

The anti-TB drug regimens used for treatment of MDR-TB under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme are formulated by national experts in accordance with the WHO Guidelines. The treatment outcomes among MDR-TB patients are comparable with global outcomes, the statement said.

The first-line drugs used for new TB cases under RNTCP are a combination of Rifampicin, Isoniazid, Ethambutol and Pyrazinamide, administered as standardized treatment regimen. Injection Streptomycin is an additional drug given to re-treatment cases, it further said.

RNTCP has also introduced paediatric patient wise boxes, with formulations and doses specifically designed for convenient usage in children, according to the statement.

The main second-line anti-TB drugs for treatment of MDR-TB are Kanamycin, Levofloxacin, Ethionamide, Pyrazinamide, Ethambutol and Cycloserine, the statement added.

Source: India Medical Times

Amoebas Eat Contact Lens Wearer’s Eyeballs

Amoebas Eat Contact Lens Wearer's Eyeballs

Doctors hope a horrifying story out of Taiwan will help drive home the importance of proper hygiene for wearers of contact lenses. A 23-year-old student lost her eyesight after buying contact lenses that were supposed to be worn for one month and leaving them in around the clock for six months, leading to an infection by amoebas that gnawed away the corneas in both her eyes, the China Post reports. The microscopic Acanthamoeba parasite is found in environments including soil, dust, and swimming pools, and doctors believe the woman became infected after using dirty water to clean her face.

The director of ophthalmology at a Taipei hospital explains the situation to the Daily Mail: “A shortage of oxygen can destroy the surface of the epithelial tissue, creating tiny wounds into which the bacteria can easily infect, spreading to the rest of the eye and providing a perfect breeding ground.” As a 2009 study in the Journal of Ophthalmology explained, “Corneal oxygenation is significantly reduced during contact lens overwear, particularly for those who sleep in their lenses overnight.” Further, it found that “the association between [the infection known as] Acanthamoeba keratitis and contact lens wear is firmly established; it may account for up to 95% of the reported cases.” And while such infections are relatively rare, they are hard to detect until the person feels acute pain, by which time it could be too late, Medical Daily notes.

Source: newser

Stress eating could pack on 11 extra pounds a year

Stress eating could pack on 11 extra pounds a year

Researchers sure know how to take the “comfort” out of comfort food.

It seems that experiencing one or more stressful events the day prior to eating just one single high-fat meal — the kind we’re most likely to indulge in when frazzled — slows the body’s metabolism so much that women could potentially experience an 11-pound weight gain over the course of a year, according to a new study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Participants included 58 healthy women, 38 of whom were breast cancer survivors and 20 of whom were similar in terms of demographics.The average age of participants was 53. During two visits with the research team, participants received either a meal high in saturated fat, the so-called “bad fat,” or a meal high in sunflower oil, a monounsaturated fat that is associated with various health benefits. The meal itself was a whopper: 930 calories with 60 grams of fat — about the same as a double-deck burger and medium fries. The researchers used standardized clinical tools to rank stressors and to assess major depressive disorder.

After the participants indulged, metabolic rate, or how efficient these women were at burning calories and fat, was measured. Blood sugar levels, triglycerides, insulin and the stress hormone cortisol were also assessed.

Results showed that on average study participants who reported one or more stressors, such as arguments with co-workers or spouses, disagreements with friends, trouble with children or work-related pressures, during the previous 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories than non-stressed women in the seven hours after eating the high-fat meal.

That difference, say researchers, could result in an 11 pound weight gain in one year. And they also experienced less fat oxidation in which so-called large fat molecules are converted into smaller molecules used as fuel.

“The question we were asking is whether stress affects metabolism, and I was so surprised at the magnitude of the effect,” says Dr. Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, professor of psychiatry and psychology at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study.

It’s no secret that stress makes many of us turn to these high-fat-high-sugar comfort foods. And other studies do show that people who experience stress and other mood disruptions are at higher risk of obesity. The primary reason is overindulgence on high-fat, high-calorie comfort foods.

“We know from other data that we’re more likely to eat the wrong foods when we’re stressed, and our data say that when we eat the wrong foods, weight gain becomes more likely because we are burning fewer calories,” says Kiecolt-Glaser.

Researchers did find that a history of depression alone did not affect metabolic rate, but depression combined with previous stressors led to a steeper immediate rise in a form of fat called triglycerides. High triglyceride levels are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

How stress makes us pack on the pounds is indeed a complicated and still poorly understood process. “The relationship between stress and eating is really complex both from a biological view as well as from a psychosocial view, and there is no nice clear pathway that explains everything that is happening,” says Dr. Leslie Heinberg, Director of Behavioral Services for the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute of the Cleveland Clinic. “But what this study does is give us more information on other potential pathways.”

The study is small and there are limitations. “This was a very controlled, one-time thing, and I do think the 11 pounds a year goes beyond the data,” she says, since people may compensate for their indulgences at later meals in the real world. And self-reported stressors can be squishy, despite efforts to control the differences between say the angst of having to give a speech or having a fight with a co-worker. Another complication was the fact that most study participants were breast cancer survivors, which can add even more stress.

Obesity is still at crisis levels both here in the U.S. and globally. It doesn’t help that humans “. . . are biologically set to put on weight and keep on weight and even with diets, exercise or surgery, we are fighting a big biological tide,” says Heinberg.

“What this (study) and other lab studies show is that there’s more to obesity than a lack of willpower, it’s a complex biological problem.”

If you’re looking for a bright side, TODAY Diet and Nutrition Editor Madelyn Fernstrom notes that the impact of stress is a small fraction of the picture: Most weight gain is caused by overeating, plain and simple.

“The good news is that the 100 calories a day extra can be offset by a 30 minute walk,” she says. “This can mean the difference between weight stability and weight gain.”

Source: today

Group music therapy may help Alzheimer’s patients

Group music therapy may help Alzheimer's patients

With advanced Alzheimer’s disease, language deteriorates and patients spontaneously speak less and less. In a small study from Israel, group music therapy sessions using tailored songs helped people with middle- to late-stage Alzheimer’s strike up communication.

The study may be small, but it nicely demonstrates what music therapists and gerontologists have known for a while, said Alicia Ann Clair, director of the Music Education and Music Therapy Division at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, who wasn’t part of the study.

“It’s one of those things that’s kind of known but has not been researched so it’s great this was done,” Clair told Reuters Health.

In her experience, singing is a great way to engage with some people with advanced dementia. People who may not otherwise be able to communicate may start to spontaneously sing along, otherwise vocalize, make eye contact or simply calm down, she said.

“But (the new study) was done with people who had a history of singing and enjoying it and being part of a singing culture. If you try to do this with non-singers I don’t know if they would engage,” she noted.

For the study, six patients ages 65 to 83 attended group music therapy sessions twice a week for a month. Four of the patients were born in Israel; the other two were born in Eastern Europe and immigrated to Israel in their early teens.

The patients were not able to consent to the study due to their cognitive state, so their legal guardians or main caregivers gave consent. Ayelet Dassa, a music therapist and the lead author of the study, selected 24 songs popular in Israel between 1930 and the late 1950s for the sessions.

“In Israel especially for this group, they came here or were born when the state was becoming independent,” Dassa told Reuters Health. The songs she chose were part of the foundation of the patients’ adult identity, which was tied to their country and their heritage, she said.

The music sessions led to spontaneous conversations about the songs, memories the songs triggered and about the act of singing as a group. Some participants talked about life on the Kibbutz many decades ago, or about learning certain songs in school with their music teachers. Others expressed pride at being able to remember lyrics to the songs and participating as part of a group.

Dassa published the study in the Journal of Music Therapy as part of her doctoral dissertation with the help of her advisor, Dorit Amir, in the music department of Bar Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel. “A large part of the conversation was about how they sang as individuals (and) as a group, and they gave compliments to each other,” she said.

Many were excited to continue singing even after the study was over, Dassa said. “The idea that they are part of something is very important to people with Alzheimer’s,” she said. “They lose their sense of self. Their self esteem is very low.”

The major burden in Alzheimer’s disease is losing communication, which distresses patients and can make families feel isolated or hopeless, she said. In her nearly 20 years of working with these patients as a music therapist, she noticed that singing could act like a bridge over that divide.

She has seen people who couldn’t speak or communicate in any way suddenly start singing, she said. The study was inspired by one particular example: she sang to an older woman who was unable to communicate but would scream a mix of Hebrew and English. The woman couldn’t sing along, but she quieted and made eye contact.

As Dassa finished singing, the patient said, “What a beautiful song.” “I instruct caregivers and families to use singing in their daily care,” Dassa said. “It helps elicit memories and reduce agitation, and helps reduce the resistance to many activities, like taking a shower, eating (and) refusing to take pills on time.”

Families only need basic instruction to get started, she said. But singing may not always help these patients, Clair noted. Though some patients may start talking and commenting on music or about past memories triggered by the music, they will likely still be unable to engage in most conversation about present-day topics.

And while some songs elicit happy memories from the past, others may be linked to unhappy memories. “If you happen to find a piece of music with which there are painful memories associated it could cause distress, so if you’re singing to the loved one and they react by pulling away or grimacing, immediately stop what you’re doing and switch to another song,” Clair cautioned.

Reading aloud is another way to engage patients who may not have a musical background, she said. “What we get down to here is caregivers losing all contact and really being desperate for anything with which they can connect with people they love. They go to visit and there’s nothing to do,” she said. “Singing is something you can do.”

Source: fox news