Parents fail to recognize their children's burgeoning weight
Despite constant warnings about childhood obesity, too many Australian parents are still oblivious to the fact their children are overweight, according to the findings of the national MBF Healthwatch survey.
The disturbing results showed that only 7.9% of children were considered to be overweight by their parents. However, this is a gross underestimation according to the recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report , which showed almost a quarter of all children (aged two to 12) are overweight or obese.
Bupa Australia* Chief Medical Officer Dr Christine Bennett said, "Parents need to be extremely conscious that their failure to recognise these weight problems can be potentially damaging to their children in the long-term.
"Even taking into account recent suggestions that measures of overweight might be including some children on the border, many parents don't pick up on the risk.
"And once children become overweight, it's often extremely difficult for them to shed these excess kilos, particularly if their diet is incorrect and they are living a sedentary lifestyle.
"Therefore, it's incumbent upon us as parents to help ensure our children embrace healthier lifestyles," she said.
Dr Bennett also expressed dismay that parents' inability to recognise weight issues was markedly more pronounced with their sons.
This was typified by the fact that considerably more parents believe their daughters are overweight (10.3%), compared to their male siblings (5.5%).
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166876046.html
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Senate committee passes health bill, first to act
House Democratic leaders are offering a $1.5 trillion plan
The Senate health committee cast a milestone vote Wednesday to approve legislation expanding insurance coverage to nearly all Americans, becoming the first congressional panel to act on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.
The 13-10 party line vote advanced a $600 billion measure that would require individuals to get health insurance and employers to contribute to the cost. Democratic leaders are driving for floor votes in the House and Senate before Congress goes on its August break.
The health committee bill calls for the government to provide financial assistance with premiums for individuals and families making up to four times the federal poverty level, or about $88,000 for a family of four, a broad cross-section of the middle class. The legislation is but one piece of a broader Senate bill still under development.
Source and More
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31921017/ns/politics-capitol_hill/
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Green Paper Funding Proposals "Disastrous" For People With Mental Health Problems
People with mental health problems could find themselves without adequate help and support under proposals set out in today's green paper on adult social care, warns leading mental health charity Rethink.
Plans to make individuals contribute to the funding of their social care services via co-payment schemes and private insurance policies could leave people with mental illness unable to afford the services they need.
This is because it may be difficult for people with mental health problems to stump up the necessary financial contributions. People with mental health problems tend to live on lower than average incomes, with three quarters surviving on benefits alone. Those who are able to work often face workplace discrimination and can find it hard to stay in employment because of their fluctuating health. Moreover, enforcing a system based on private insurance policies is inherently problematic as many insurance companies impose blanket bans on people with a history of mental illness, preventing them from buying cover.
Paul Corry, Rethink's director of public affairs, says: "With more people living in the community for longer, we know that a social care economic crisis is looming and so we welcome the green paper and its debate on future funding. The postcode lottery currently in operation results in too many people missing out on the essential care and support they need.
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157598.php
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Search For an Early ADHD Diagnosis
A new Canadian study of eye movements may aid in understanding childhood brain development and healthy aging.
The tests, developed by Queen’s University researchers, may also help in the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and detecting the early onset of Parkinson’s disease.
“An important aspect of what makes us human is the ability to control our behavior,” says physiology professor Douglas Munoz, who leads the study.
“Our project investigates how the brain provides this control by observing eye movements. Our experiments have been designed to combine high speed eye movement recording with modern brain imaging techniques to identify brain regions that control our behaviour.”
To test this, the team designed a simple yet ingenious experiment. Participants from a wide range of age groups were placed in a magnetic resonance imaging unit that measured their brain activity.
While in the unit, they were shown a series of lights and asked to move their eyes toward or away from the lights. The speed and accuracy of their eye movements were recorded and correlated to the activity being documented in specific areas of their brains.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/15/search-for-an-early-adhd-diagnosis/7120.html
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Technique Gives Insight on Psychopathic Disorders
A research group from the University of Granada has developed a method to analyze the personality of people with psychopathologic disorders by means of their drawings.
The method consists of a series of Graphic Projective Tests (TPG) where patients draw what a psychologist says. Each element of the picture has a meaning and it will give information about conscious and unconscious aspects of the individual.
Dr. José María Cid and colleagues developed a methodology that systematically categorizes all elements that appear in the drawing. This system eases evaluation and interpretation of technical specifications used to determine a personality profile.
Also, it is possible to foresee a diagnosis whose therapeutic action guidelines will be indicated for that person.
This study is the first arranged system of variables supported by a psychological theory easy to evaluate and interpret. That is why it can be used by professionals as well as all those who wish to know a little bit more about themselves.
Researchers have described this methodology in a book titled Personalidad y conflictos en el dibujo (personality and conflicts on drawings), which includes the person test, the person under the rain test and the couple test.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/15/technique-gives-insight-on-psychopathic-disorders/7125.html
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U.S. Homes Losing Battle of the Germs
Study Shows Housecleaning Habits of Americans Leave Something to Be Desired
Your home is loaded with disease-causing germs, including some that migrate from bathrooms, a new study shows.
The study by the Hygiene Council found that Americans and people in seven other countries are losing the battle of the bugs, mainly because we don't clean up well enough, or we don't wipe down the right stuff.
For example, in the U.S., television remote controls are a lot cleaner than kitchen taps or toilet handles, council member Philip M. Tierno Jr., MD, associate professor of microbiology and pathology at the New York University School of Medicine, tells WebMD.
The council was formed in 2006 as a disease-fighting initiative involving public health experts around the world. Sponsored by an educational grant from Reckitt Benckiser, maker of Lysol brand products, its goals are to formulate easy and practical recommendations for better hygiene.
The council sent teams of germ detectives armed with swabs into houses in the U.S., U.K, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia, South Africa, India, and Malaysia. The teams sent samples from the homes to labs for microscopic analysis.
Source and More
http://www.webmd.com/news/20090714/us-homes-losing-battle-of-the-germs
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Stem Cell Decision Opens New Doors, May Spur More Research
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
By: Serena Gordon, U.S. News & World Report
http://www.missouricures.com/
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced last week their new guidelines for stem cell research funding, including allowing some previously ineligible stem cell lines to receive federal grants, provided they were obtained in an ethical manner.
But, will these new rules really expand the field of stem cell research and help find new treatments, possibly even cures, for devastating diseases?
"I think that everybody felt that when President Obama issued the executive order [on stem cell research in March], the most important thing was to expand the ability to investigate more lines," said Story Landis, head of the NIH stem cell task force, and director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. And, estimates place the number of potential new stem cell lines at around 700.
Stem cells -- embryonic and adult -- offer promise in the treatment of numerous diseases, such as macular degeneration, spinal cord injury, Parkinson's disease, type 1 diabetes, Lou Gehrig's disease and heart disease, among others.
Alan Lewis, president and CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said, "At JDRF, we've long been supporters of encouraging stem cell research. Opening up the opportunities to get grant funding is really going to be critical to great progress in diabetes and other diseases."
One good example of how these new guidelines may help researchers is the inclusion of what's known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, Landis said.
"The 21 lines that were eligible under President Bush only included embryos from people who were genetically normal," he said. "But since then, a number of investigators have generated lines from pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) that were determined to carry a gene defect, which is important for studying diseases like cystic fibrosis. In PGD, a couple prepares for in-vitro fertilization, and it's possible to take one cell from a really early embryo to let you know which embryos are fine, and which carries two copies, in this case of a cystic fibrosis gene. While it's been possible to make lines from those embryos prior to this decision, they weren't eligible for federal money before, but they are now."
Added Meri Firpo, an assistant professor at The Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota: "Now everyone can work with these PGD lines, and this will bring a lot more people into doing research with these cells, which may move progress faster."
Under the Bush administration rules, because so few stem cell lines were available for federal research funding, separate laboratories had to be set up, as well as separate accounting systems to ensure that equipment costs and salaries for research paid for by federal money weren't used to conduct research on unapproved stem cell lines. Not surprisingly, some researchers decided to forgo stem cell research because of these restrictions.
However, the actual creation of stem cell lines is still something that can't be done with federal funding, Firpo said. Once the lines have been created -- if they're deemed to have been created in an ethical manner and they pass NIH review -- then the lines can be used for federal research.
Additionally, researchers can't use federal money for research from embryos created solely for research.
"The federal government is opening the door, but the door isn't wide open," said Susan Solomon, chief executive officer of the New York Stem Cell Foundation, a private organization that funds stem cell research.
Whether the NIH ever revisits its decision on controversial techniques for creating stem cells, Solomon said there will always likely be a need for private and state funding for stem cell research because obtaining a federal grant is a slow process.
"We have urgent patient needs right now. Every day that goes by, the clock is ticking for people with chronic illness and the federal government isn't designed to respond to that kind of urgency," she said.
Kevin Eggan, chief scientific officer for the New York Stem Cell Foundation, and an assistant professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University, agreed with Solomon, adding, "Federal money isn't responsive to immediate needs and short timelines. Sometimes, with small, strategic infusions of money, there can be a massively changing shift in research."
More information
For a primer on stem cells, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
What Is Amnesia? What Causes Amnesia?
When people lose their ability to memorize data they have amnesia. Amnesia also refers to an inability to recall information that is stored in memory. In simple terms, amnesia is the loss of memory. The causes of amnesia may be organic or functional.
Organic causes may include brain damage through injury, or the use of specific drugs - usually sedative drugs. Amnesia may be one of the symptoms of some degenerative brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.
Functional causes are psychological factors, such as defense mechanisms.
People with amnesia also find it hard to imagine the future, because our constructions of future scenarios are closely linked to our recollections of past experiences. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis used advanced brain imaging techniques to show that remembering the past and envisioning the future may go hand-in-hand, with each process sparking strikingly similar patterns of activity within precisely the same broad network of brain regions.
Source and More:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9673.php
Organic causes may include brain damage through injury, or the use of specific drugs - usually sedative drugs. Amnesia may be one of the symptoms of some degenerative brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.
Functional causes are psychological factors, such as defense mechanisms.
People with amnesia also find it hard to imagine the future, because our constructions of future scenarios are closely linked to our recollections of past experiences. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis used advanced brain imaging techniques to show that remembering the past and envisioning the future may go hand-in-hand, with each process sparking strikingly similar patterns of activity within precisely the same broad network of brain regions.
Source and More:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9673.php
Monday, July 13, 2009
Manic Monday
Swine flu 'unstoppable', all countries will need vaccine: WHO (Update)
All countries will need access to vaccines against swine flu as the pandemic is "unstoppable," a senior World Health Organisation official said Monday.
A group of vaccination experts concluded after a recent meeting that "the H1N1 pandemic is unstoppable and therefore all countries would need to have access to vaccines," said Marie-Paul Kieny, WHO director on vaccine research.
Health workers should be at the top of the queue for vaccination, since they are required to keep health systems going while people continue to fall sick, she added.
Countries would be free to decide on their national priorities, but other groups should include pregnant women and anyone over six months-old who has chronic health problems.
Children are another group that would need vaccination as they are "amplifiers" of the spread of the disease, particularly when they are gathered in schools, Kieny added.
The WHO official said a swine flu vaccine should be available as early as September.
Experts should also decide during a meeting in September whether the vaccine should be one of the strains incorporated into the next seasonal vaccine for the southern hemisphere.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166701337.html
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Support Grows For New Home Based Service For Challenging Mental Patients
A new national service which will provide comprehensive care and support for challenging mental health patients in their own homes following discharge from hospital is being welcomed by lead clinicians and patient advocates.
Vicky Wadsworth, head of the mental health department at Roebucks solicitors in Blackburn, which acts on behalf of hundreds of patients, said: "There is a huge gap in care provision that this service can help fill.
Health service outreach teams are desperately overstretched and cannot provide the sustained intensive treatment and rehabilitation support that many patients require. In some cases, this means that patients can't be moved on into the community and so remain confined in secure facilities unnecessarily."
Dr Christopher Findlay, a leading community psychiatrist working in Runcorn, said: "There are limits to what Community Mental Health Teams can provide. There are also limited in-patient beds. Any service that offers to work alongside established NHS services to provide intensive safe alternatives to in-patient care is to be welcomed, particularly those that are individually tailored and committed to improved outcomes and the safe social inclusion of patients with mental health difficulties. Working alongside and not replacing existing services is an advantage for responsible clinicians who hope to establish a long term relationship through the journey towards recovery."
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157290.php
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Positive Emotions Increase Resilience, Happiness
Cultivating daily positive emotions can help build resilience and increase a person’s happiness according to new research.
“This study shows that if happiness is something you want out of life, then focusing daily on the small moments and cultivating positive emotions is the way to go,” said Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology in University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s College of Arts and Sciences and the principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory.
“Those small moments let positive emotions blossom, and that helps us become more open. That openness then helps us build resources that can help us rebound better from adversity and stress, ward off depression and continue to grow.”
In the month long study, 86 participants were asked to submit daily report on their emotions, rather than answering general questions like, “Over the last few months, how much joy did you feel?”
Getting those daily reports helped us gather more accurate recollections of feelings and allowed us to capture emotional ups and downs.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/13/positive-emotions-increase-resilience-happiness/7086.html
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New MRI Helps Dementia Diagnosis
A new study may help physicians differentially diagnose three common neurodegenerative disorders in the future.
In this study, Mayo Clinic researchers developed a framework for MRI-based differential diagnosis of three common neurodegenerative disorders: Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and Lewy body disease using Structural MRI.
Currently, examination of the brain at autopsy is the only way to confirm with certainty that a patient had a specific form of dementia. The framework, which is called “STructural Abnormality iNDex” or STAND-Map, shows promise in accurately diagnosing dementia patients while they are alive.
The rationale is that if each neurodegenerative disorder can be associated with a unique pattern of atrophy specific on MRI, then it may be possible to differentially diagnose new patients. The study looked at 90 patients from the Mayo Clinic database who were confirmed to have only a single dementia pathology and also underwent an MRI at the time of clinical diagnosis of dementia.
Using the STAND-Map framework, researchers predicted an accurate pathological diagnosis 75 to 80 percent of the time.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/13/new-mri-helps-dementia-diagnosis/7064.html
All countries will need access to vaccines against swine flu as the pandemic is "unstoppable," a senior World Health Organisation official said Monday.
A group of vaccination experts concluded after a recent meeting that "the H1N1 pandemic is unstoppable and therefore all countries would need to have access to vaccines," said Marie-Paul Kieny, WHO director on vaccine research.
Health workers should be at the top of the queue for vaccination, since they are required to keep health systems going while people continue to fall sick, she added.
Countries would be free to decide on their national priorities, but other groups should include pregnant women and anyone over six months-old who has chronic health problems.
Children are another group that would need vaccination as they are "amplifiers" of the spread of the disease, particularly when they are gathered in schools, Kieny added.
The WHO official said a swine flu vaccine should be available as early as September.
Experts should also decide during a meeting in September whether the vaccine should be one of the strains incorporated into the next seasonal vaccine for the southern hemisphere.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166701337.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Support Grows For New Home Based Service For Challenging Mental Patients
A new national service which will provide comprehensive care and support for challenging mental health patients in their own homes following discharge from hospital is being welcomed by lead clinicians and patient advocates.
Vicky Wadsworth, head of the mental health department at Roebucks solicitors in Blackburn, which acts on behalf of hundreds of patients, said: "There is a huge gap in care provision that this service can help fill.
Health service outreach teams are desperately overstretched and cannot provide the sustained intensive treatment and rehabilitation support that many patients require. In some cases, this means that patients can't be moved on into the community and so remain confined in secure facilities unnecessarily."
Dr Christopher Findlay, a leading community psychiatrist working in Runcorn, said: "There are limits to what Community Mental Health Teams can provide. There are also limited in-patient beds. Any service that offers to work alongside established NHS services to provide intensive safe alternatives to in-patient care is to be welcomed, particularly those that are individually tailored and committed to improved outcomes and the safe social inclusion of patients with mental health difficulties. Working alongside and not replacing existing services is an advantage for responsible clinicians who hope to establish a long term relationship through the journey towards recovery."
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157290.php
___________________________________________________________________________
Positive Emotions Increase Resilience, Happiness
Cultivating daily positive emotions can help build resilience and increase a person’s happiness according to new research.
“This study shows that if happiness is something you want out of life, then focusing daily on the small moments and cultivating positive emotions is the way to go,” said Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology in University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s College of Arts and Sciences and the principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory.
“Those small moments let positive emotions blossom, and that helps us become more open. That openness then helps us build resources that can help us rebound better from adversity and stress, ward off depression and continue to grow.”
In the month long study, 86 participants were asked to submit daily report on their emotions, rather than answering general questions like, “Over the last few months, how much joy did you feel?”
Getting those daily reports helped us gather more accurate recollections of feelings and allowed us to capture emotional ups and downs.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/13/positive-emotions-increase-resilience-happiness/7086.html
___________________________________________________________________________
New MRI Helps Dementia Diagnosis
A new study may help physicians differentially diagnose three common neurodegenerative disorders in the future.
In this study, Mayo Clinic researchers developed a framework for MRI-based differential diagnosis of three common neurodegenerative disorders: Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and Lewy body disease using Structural MRI.
Currently, examination of the brain at autopsy is the only way to confirm with certainty that a patient had a specific form of dementia. The framework, which is called “STructural Abnormality iNDex” or STAND-Map, shows promise in accurately diagnosing dementia patients while they are alive.
The rationale is that if each neurodegenerative disorder can be associated with a unique pattern of atrophy specific on MRI, then it may be possible to differentially diagnose new patients. The study looked at 90 patients from the Mayo Clinic database who were confirmed to have only a single dementia pathology and also underwent an MRI at the time of clinical diagnosis of dementia.
Using the STAND-Map framework, researchers predicted an accurate pathological diagnosis 75 to 80 percent of the time.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/13/new-mri-helps-dementia-diagnosis/7064.html
Friday, July 10, 2009
What Is An Alcoholic? What Is Alcoholism? What Is Alcohol Abuse?
An alcoholic is a person who suffers from alcoholism - the body is dependent on alcohol. An alcoholic is addicted to alcohol. Alcoholism is a chronic (long-term) disease. People who suffer from alcoholism are obsessed with alcohol and cannot control how much they consume, even if it is causing serious problems at home, work and financially. Alcohol abuse generally refers to people who do not display the characteristics of alcoholism but still have a problem with it - these people are not as dependent on alcohol as an alcoholic is; they have not yet completely lost their control over its consumption.
Consuming moderate quantities of alcohol will not usually cause any physical or psychological harm. Unfortunately, for some people social drinking eventually leads to heavier drinking, which can cause devastating health and psychological problems. According to the National Health Service (NHS), UK, approximately 1 in every 13 people in the UK is an alcoholic - a sizable proportion of the UK population drinks excessively. According to the NIH (National Institutes of Health), 15% of people in the United States are problem drinkers, and about 5% to 10% of male drinkers and 3% to 5% of female drinkers could be diagnosed as alcohol dependent. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are at least 140 million alcoholics in the world, and the majority of them are not treated. A US study estimated that about 30% of Americans report having an alcohol disorder at some time in their lives.
Source and More:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157163.php
Consuming moderate quantities of alcohol will not usually cause any physical or psychological harm. Unfortunately, for some people social drinking eventually leads to heavier drinking, which can cause devastating health and psychological problems. According to the National Health Service (NHS), UK, approximately 1 in every 13 people in the UK is an alcoholic - a sizable proportion of the UK population drinks excessively. According to the NIH (National Institutes of Health), 15% of people in the United States are problem drinkers, and about 5% to 10% of male drinkers and 3% to 5% of female drinkers could be diagnosed as alcohol dependent. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are at least 140 million alcoholics in the world, and the majority of them are not treated. A US study estimated that about 30% of Americans report having an alcohol disorder at some time in their lives.
Source and More:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157163.php
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Judge Rejects 'Frivolous' Lawsuit Filed by Stem Cell Opponents
Anti-stem cell activists lost another round in court last month when a Cole County judge dismissed all claims in a lawsuit filed earlier this year.
Among other things, Missouri Roundtable for Life accused elected officials of conspiring against one of Roundtable’s latest attempts to stifle medical research in our state.
Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce not only called the group’s claims “without merit,” she wrote that they “rise to the level of being frivolous.”
That’s strong language coming from a judge, but appropriate. Opponents of stem cell research are looking for any tactic to force their will — no matter the cost to families that are relying on stem cell research to help find treatments for Parkinson’s, sickle cell disease, macular degeneration and other afflictions.
Source and More:
http://www.missouricures.com/site/PageServer
Among other things, Missouri Roundtable for Life accused elected officials of conspiring against one of Roundtable’s latest attempts to stifle medical research in our state.
Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce not only called the group’s claims “without merit,” she wrote that they “rise to the level of being frivolous.”
That’s strong language coming from a judge, but appropriate. Opponents of stem cell research are looking for any tactic to force their will — no matter the cost to families that are relying on stem cell research to help find treatments for Parkinson’s, sickle cell disease, macular degeneration and other afflictions.
Source and More:
http://www.missouricures.com/site/PageServer
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Wacked Wednesday
Mothers of children with autism have higher parental stress, psychological distress
Ask any mother and she'll tell you that raising a preschooler is no easy task. Now imagine what it must be like to bring up a child with autism or a developmental delay.
Researchers at the University of Washington's Autism Center asked mothers about their experiences and found that moms of children with autism had higher levels of parenting-related stress and psychological distress than mothers of children with developmental delay. Children's problem behavior was associated with increases in both parenting-related stress and distress in both groups, but this relationship was stronger in mothers of children with autism.
"Both groups of women are dealing with children who need high levels of care-giving. But there is something about autism that is making a difference and adding stress and psychological distress to these mothers," said Annette Estes, lead author of a new study and associate director of the UW Autism Center.
Surprisingly, the research also found no link between a child's decreased daily living skills and increased parental stress and psychological distress.
"This finding was counterintuitive," said Estes, who is also a research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. "If a child has more needs in getting dressed and in other daily living skills, that means the parents are working harder and seemingly would be under stress. But it is not the hard work that is stressing the mothers. Our findings really pointed to the behavior problems that can occur with autism. Children with autism had significantly higher levels of problem behaviors than children with developmental delay."
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166282302.html
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Link between obesity and diabetes discovered
A Monash University study has proven a critical link between obesity and the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a discovery which could lead to the design of a drug to prevent the disease.
The findings were published today in respected journal Cell Metabolism.
The team, led by Associate Professor Matthew Watt, discovered that fat cells release a novel protein called PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor), which triggers a chain of events and interactions that lead to development of Type 2 diabetes.
"When PEDF is released into the bloodstream, it causes the muscle and liver to become desensitised to insulin. The pancreas then produces more insulin to counteract these negative effects, " Associate Professor Watt said.
This insulin release causes the pancreas to become overworked, eventually slowing or stopping insulin release from the pancreas, leading to Type 2 diabetes."
"It appears that the more fat tissue a person has the less sensitive they become to insulin. Therefore a greater amount of insulin is required to maintain the body's regulation of blood-glucose," Associate Professor Watt said.
"Our research was able to show that increasing PEDF not only causes Type 2 diabetes like complications but that blocking PEDF reverses these effects. The body again returned to being insulin-sensitive and therefore did not need excess insulin to remain regulated."
Associate Professor Watt said identifying the link is a significant breakthrough in explaining the reasons why obesity triggers the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166270497.html
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Post-traumatic stress disorder: Psychological treatments may not prevent PTSD
Psychological interventions intended to prevent the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the early stages after a traumatic experience have not been shown to be effective, Cochrane Researchers have concluded. This systematic review focused on multiple-session treatments for everyone involved, irrespective of the presence of symptoms. Two previous reviews found single session interventions to be ineffective.
"It is important to note that these interventions were for everyone involved in a traumatic event rather than just those who had symptoms, which may account for the results. We found no benefit associated with any of the multiple session interventions studied, and there was some evidence that multiple session interventions may result in worse outcome than no intervention for some individuals," says lead researcher Neil Roberts of the Traumatic Stress Service at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, UK. "Our recommendation is, therefore, that these interventions should not be used as a blanket approach for everyone involved in traumatic events."
PTSD is a condition that affects people who undergo extremely stressful experiences, such as earthquakes, violent crimes and military combat. They may suffer long-lasting psychological difficulties as a result. Experts have been trying to develop effective treatments to prevent PTSD from developing for 25 years, but there is little evidence that those used routinely offer any benefit.
The review encompassed people of all risk levels. Researchers looked at data from eleven studies involving a total of 941 people exposed to traumatic events. These studies offered interventions, which included cognitive behavioural therapy and individual and group counselling, to people whether or not they were experiencing symptoms of PTSD. None of these was effective at preventing PTSD. Patients given the treatments were more likely to report symptoms of PTSD after three to six months than patients who were not.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166252659.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Veterans Call For Greater Improvements For Veteran Services
Services for veterans have improved recently, but many veterans say more improvements still need to be made.
The Detroit News reports: "Services for returning military veterans have improved dramatically in the last two years, including faster assistance for mental health issues, homelessness and job training, a panel of experts on veterans benefits said Monday. But they still aren't where they need to be for the 1 million GIs returning from conflicts across the globe, local veterans told officials. As the U.S. House of Representatives considers this week Veterans Affairs funding for fiscal year 2010, a group of metro Detroit veterans and their families gathered in Berkley on Monday with U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield, and retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark to consider the needs of veterans in Michigan and across the nation." Some of the issues discussed included the VA claim backlog, veteran hiring and the new GI Bill that will take effect Aug. 1. A new veteran appropriations budget bill calls for an 11.5 percent increase in spending for veteran health care services and hiring more workers to address the backlog.
The paper notes: "Dr. John Grabowski, associate chief of staff for mental health at the VA Medical Center in Detroit, said there has been a tremendous expansion of services for veterans in the last two years, including a new program that will work with criminal courts to get veterans into treatment instead of jail. Yet he agreed that one-on-one services for veterans could improve" (Chambers, 7/7).
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156729.php
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Increases In Suicides And Murders Linked To Economic Crisis
An article published Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet reports that the rising rates of suicide and murders in the population are directly associated to the growing unemployment rates originated by the economic downturn. Another effect is the decline in road-traffic accidents. Active labor market programs aiming to maintain and reintegrate workers in jobs could tone down some of these unfavorable effects. The article is the work of Dr David Stuckler, of the University of Oxford, UK, and Professor Martin McKee, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and their team.
It is acknowledged that economic trouble can lead to adverse effects in health because of its impact on mental health, addiction problems, increased stress and suicides. On the other hand, some people argue that recessions can lead people to be healthier, because they engage in more healthy behavior, such as for instance walking instead of driving, and less over-consumption of food and alcohol. In order to find out more about the effects of economic downturns on public health, the authors evaluated how economic changes have affected mortality rates in twenty six European Union (EU) countries in the last thirty years. They identified how governments might reduce adverse effects.
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156690.php
___________________________________________________________________________
Stressful Weight Gain
Stressing out can cause people to gain weight, according to a new study.
This new study is believed to be one of the first of its kind to look at the relationship between weight gain and multiple types of stress—job-related demands, difficulty paying bills, strained family relationships, depression or anxiety disorder—in the U.S. population.
The article will appear in the July 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
“Today’s economy is stressing people out, and stress has been linked to a number of illnesses —such as heart disease, high blood pressure and increased risk for cancer. This study shows that stress is also linked to weight gain,” according to Jason Block, M.D., M.P.H., who conducted the research.
Women’s waistlines are affected by more types of stress, according to the study, “Psychosocial Stress and Change in Weight Among U.S. Adults.”
In addition to weight gain associated with financial problems or a difficult job, women also added pounds when grappling with strained family relationships and feeling limited by life’s circumstances.
For men, the numbers on the scale did not go up when facing difficult family relationships or feeling constrained by life circumstances. Among men, lack of decision-making authority at work and lack of skill discretion was associated with greater weight gain. Skill discretion can be defined as the ability to learn new skills on the job and to perform interesting job duties.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/08/stressful-weight-gain/6974.html
Ask any mother and she'll tell you that raising a preschooler is no easy task. Now imagine what it must be like to bring up a child with autism or a developmental delay.
Researchers at the University of Washington's Autism Center asked mothers about their experiences and found that moms of children with autism had higher levels of parenting-related stress and psychological distress than mothers of children with developmental delay. Children's problem behavior was associated with increases in both parenting-related stress and distress in both groups, but this relationship was stronger in mothers of children with autism.
"Both groups of women are dealing with children who need high levels of care-giving. But there is something about autism that is making a difference and adding stress and psychological distress to these mothers," said Annette Estes, lead author of a new study and associate director of the UW Autism Center.
Surprisingly, the research also found no link between a child's decreased daily living skills and increased parental stress and psychological distress.
"This finding was counterintuitive," said Estes, who is also a research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. "If a child has more needs in getting dressed and in other daily living skills, that means the parents are working harder and seemingly would be under stress. But it is not the hard work that is stressing the mothers. Our findings really pointed to the behavior problems that can occur with autism. Children with autism had significantly higher levels of problem behaviors than children with developmental delay."
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166282302.html
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Link between obesity and diabetes discovered
A Monash University study has proven a critical link between obesity and the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a discovery which could lead to the design of a drug to prevent the disease.
The findings were published today in respected journal Cell Metabolism.
The team, led by Associate Professor Matthew Watt, discovered that fat cells release a novel protein called PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor), which triggers a chain of events and interactions that lead to development of Type 2 diabetes.
"When PEDF is released into the bloodstream, it causes the muscle and liver to become desensitised to insulin. The pancreas then produces more insulin to counteract these negative effects, " Associate Professor Watt said.
This insulin release causes the pancreas to become overworked, eventually slowing or stopping insulin release from the pancreas, leading to Type 2 diabetes."
"It appears that the more fat tissue a person has the less sensitive they become to insulin. Therefore a greater amount of insulin is required to maintain the body's regulation of blood-glucose," Associate Professor Watt said.
"Our research was able to show that increasing PEDF not only causes Type 2 diabetes like complications but that blocking PEDF reverses these effects. The body again returned to being insulin-sensitive and therefore did not need excess insulin to remain regulated."
Associate Professor Watt said identifying the link is a significant breakthrough in explaining the reasons why obesity triggers the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166270497.html
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Post-traumatic stress disorder: Psychological treatments may not prevent PTSD
Psychological interventions intended to prevent the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the early stages after a traumatic experience have not been shown to be effective, Cochrane Researchers have concluded. This systematic review focused on multiple-session treatments for everyone involved, irrespective of the presence of symptoms. Two previous reviews found single session interventions to be ineffective.
"It is important to note that these interventions were for everyone involved in a traumatic event rather than just those who had symptoms, which may account for the results. We found no benefit associated with any of the multiple session interventions studied, and there was some evidence that multiple session interventions may result in worse outcome than no intervention for some individuals," says lead researcher Neil Roberts of the Traumatic Stress Service at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, UK. "Our recommendation is, therefore, that these interventions should not be used as a blanket approach for everyone involved in traumatic events."
PTSD is a condition that affects people who undergo extremely stressful experiences, such as earthquakes, violent crimes and military combat. They may suffer long-lasting psychological difficulties as a result. Experts have been trying to develop effective treatments to prevent PTSD from developing for 25 years, but there is little evidence that those used routinely offer any benefit.
The review encompassed people of all risk levels. Researchers looked at data from eleven studies involving a total of 941 people exposed to traumatic events. These studies offered interventions, which included cognitive behavioural therapy and individual and group counselling, to people whether or not they were experiencing symptoms of PTSD. None of these was effective at preventing PTSD. Patients given the treatments were more likely to report symptoms of PTSD after three to six months than patients who were not.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166252659.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Veterans Call For Greater Improvements For Veteran Services
Services for veterans have improved recently, but many veterans say more improvements still need to be made.
The Detroit News reports: "Services for returning military veterans have improved dramatically in the last two years, including faster assistance for mental health issues, homelessness and job training, a panel of experts on veterans benefits said Monday. But they still aren't where they need to be for the 1 million GIs returning from conflicts across the globe, local veterans told officials. As the U.S. House of Representatives considers this week Veterans Affairs funding for fiscal year 2010, a group of metro Detroit veterans and their families gathered in Berkley on Monday with U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield, and retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark to consider the needs of veterans in Michigan and across the nation." Some of the issues discussed included the VA claim backlog, veteran hiring and the new GI Bill that will take effect Aug. 1. A new veteran appropriations budget bill calls for an 11.5 percent increase in spending for veteran health care services and hiring more workers to address the backlog.
The paper notes: "Dr. John Grabowski, associate chief of staff for mental health at the VA Medical Center in Detroit, said there has been a tremendous expansion of services for veterans in the last two years, including a new program that will work with criminal courts to get veterans into treatment instead of jail. Yet he agreed that one-on-one services for veterans could improve" (Chambers, 7/7).
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156729.php
___________________________________________________________________________
Increases In Suicides And Murders Linked To Economic Crisis
An article published Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet reports that the rising rates of suicide and murders in the population are directly associated to the growing unemployment rates originated by the economic downturn. Another effect is the decline in road-traffic accidents. Active labor market programs aiming to maintain and reintegrate workers in jobs could tone down some of these unfavorable effects. The article is the work of Dr David Stuckler, of the University of Oxford, UK, and Professor Martin McKee, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and their team.
It is acknowledged that economic trouble can lead to adverse effects in health because of its impact on mental health, addiction problems, increased stress and suicides. On the other hand, some people argue that recessions can lead people to be healthier, because they engage in more healthy behavior, such as for instance walking instead of driving, and less over-consumption of food and alcohol. In order to find out more about the effects of economic downturns on public health, the authors evaluated how economic changes have affected mortality rates in twenty six European Union (EU) countries in the last thirty years. They identified how governments might reduce adverse effects.
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156690.php
___________________________________________________________________________
Stressful Weight Gain
Stressing out can cause people to gain weight, according to a new study.
This new study is believed to be one of the first of its kind to look at the relationship between weight gain and multiple types of stress—job-related demands, difficulty paying bills, strained family relationships, depression or anxiety disorder—in the U.S. population.
The article will appear in the July 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
“Today’s economy is stressing people out, and stress has been linked to a number of illnesses —such as heart disease, high blood pressure and increased risk for cancer. This study shows that stress is also linked to weight gain,” according to Jason Block, M.D., M.P.H., who conducted the research.
Women’s waistlines are affected by more types of stress, according to the study, “Psychosocial Stress and Change in Weight Among U.S. Adults.”
In addition to weight gain associated with financial problems or a difficult job, women also added pounds when grappling with strained family relationships and feeling limited by life’s circumstances.
For men, the numbers on the scale did not go up when facing difficult family relationships or feeling constrained by life circumstances. Among men, lack of decision-making authority at work and lack of skill discretion was associated with greater weight gain. Skill discretion can be defined as the ability to learn new skills on the job and to perform interesting job duties.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/08/stressful-weight-gain/6974.html
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tight Rope Tuesday
Childhood Obesity: A National Health Disaster in the Making?
Despite aggressive public efforts to curb the rise in obesity, Americans in most states are becoming more obese with each passing year, according to the most recent in a series of annual reports from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This discouraging trend emphasizes the failure of policies aimed at healthful nutrition and physical activity, and suggests the country is unlikely to achieve the health goals set forth by Healthy People 2010—an effort aimed at reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity to less than 15 percent among adults and to less than 5 percent among children by the year 2010.
The report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, finds that obesity rates for adults in the U.S. rose in 23 states over the past year, and did not decrease in a single state. Sixteen states experienced an increase for the second year in a row, and 11 states experienced an increase for the third straight year. The number of obese adults now exceeds 25 percent in 31 states and exceeds 20 percent in 49 states. To put these numbers into perspective, in 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent, and in 1980, the national average of obese adults was 15 percent.
Source and More
http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/child-health/childhood-obesity-a-national-health-disaster-making-3421.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Death Penalty And Mental Illness: Families Of Victims Speak Out At National Convention; "Double Tragedies" Report Released
For the first time, families of murder victims have joined with families of persons with mental illness who have been executed to speak out against the death penalty.
Double Tragedies, a report being released today at a special session on the first day of the annual convention of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), calls the death penalty "inappropriate and unwarranted" for people with severe mental disorders and "a distraction from problems within the mental health system that contributed or even directly lead to tragic violence."
The report calls for treatment and prevention, not execution. It is available online at http://www.nami.org/doubletragedies.
The report, a joint project of NAMI and Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights (MVFHR), is based on extensive interviews with 21 family members from 10 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
"Family opposition to the death penalty is grounded in personal tragedy," said MVFHR executive director Renny Cushing. "In the public debate about the death penalty and how to respond in the aftermath of violent crime, these are the voices that need to be heard."
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156548.php
___________________________________________________________________________
Dementia On the Rise
Current statistics paint a grim picture of aging beyond the norm as roughly 50 percent of people who reach 85 will become demented.
For many, the knowledge that the mind is not as sharp as it used to be is a source of frustration and embarrassment.
In response, the University of Michigan is sponsoring research designed to better diagnose and treat dementia before it escalates.
“This is an explosive disease,” says Sid Gilman, M.D., director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at University of Michigan Health System, who conducts community research.
“It’s a horrible disease that robs people of their humanity. They forget their families and friends.”
By age 100, the number of demented individuals spikes to 60 percent. Of those who develop dementia, roughly 60 percent will prove to have Alzheimer’s disease. It’s predicted that the current number of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States is roughly 5 million.
By the year 2050, it will grow to about 30 million, presenting a significant financial burden to the healthcare system.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/07/dementia-on-the-rise/6944.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Vegetable Protein Lowers Blood Pressure
Amino Acid in Vegetables May Lower High Blood Pressure
A new study shows that an amino acid known as glutamic acid, which is found in greater amounts in vegetable protein, is associated with lower blood pressure.
This builds on other research linking higher intake of vegetable protein to lower blood pressure.
Researchers say the finding may also help explain in more detail why the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet works at lowering high blood pressure. The DASH diet is low in sodium and high in vegetables, whole grains, and beans, which are also rich sources of vegetable protein.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and glutamic acid was the most common amino acid found in the study. It accounted for 23% of the protein in people who were mainly vegetable protein eaters, and 18% in who were mainly animal protein eaters.
How Vegetables Help Heart
In the study, researchers analyzed data from 4,680 middle-age people participating in an international population study on the effects of dietary nutrients on high blood pressure. Participants were from the U.S., U.K., China, and Japan.
The results, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, showed that a nearly 5% higher intake of glutamic acid as a percent of total protein in the diet was linked to lower average blood pressure. Systolic blood pressure was lower by an average of 1.5 to 3.0 points and diastolic blood pressure was lower by 1.0 to 1.6 points.
Systolic blood pressure is the top number in a blood pressure reading and refers to the force when the heart contracts. Diastolic blood pressure is the lower number in a blood pressure reading and refers to the pressure when the heart is at rest.
Source and More
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20090706/vegetable-protein-lowers-blood-pressure
Despite aggressive public efforts to curb the rise in obesity, Americans in most states are becoming more obese with each passing year, according to the most recent in a series of annual reports from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This discouraging trend emphasizes the failure of policies aimed at healthful nutrition and physical activity, and suggests the country is unlikely to achieve the health goals set forth by Healthy People 2010—an effort aimed at reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity to less than 15 percent among adults and to less than 5 percent among children by the year 2010.
The report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, finds that obesity rates for adults in the U.S. rose in 23 states over the past year, and did not decrease in a single state. Sixteen states experienced an increase for the second year in a row, and 11 states experienced an increase for the third straight year. The number of obese adults now exceeds 25 percent in 31 states and exceeds 20 percent in 49 states. To put these numbers into perspective, in 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent, and in 1980, the national average of obese adults was 15 percent.
Source and More
http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/child-health/childhood-obesity-a-national-health-disaster-making-3421.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Death Penalty And Mental Illness: Families Of Victims Speak Out At National Convention; "Double Tragedies" Report Released
For the first time, families of murder victims have joined with families of persons with mental illness who have been executed to speak out against the death penalty.
Double Tragedies, a report being released today at a special session on the first day of the annual convention of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), calls the death penalty "inappropriate and unwarranted" for people with severe mental disorders and "a distraction from problems within the mental health system that contributed or even directly lead to tragic violence."
The report calls for treatment and prevention, not execution. It is available online at http://www.nami.org/doubletragedies.
The report, a joint project of NAMI and Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights (MVFHR), is based on extensive interviews with 21 family members from 10 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
"Family opposition to the death penalty is grounded in personal tragedy," said MVFHR executive director Renny Cushing. "In the public debate about the death penalty and how to respond in the aftermath of violent crime, these are the voices that need to be heard."
Source and More
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156548.php
___________________________________________________________________________
Dementia On the Rise
Current statistics paint a grim picture of aging beyond the norm as roughly 50 percent of people who reach 85 will become demented.
For many, the knowledge that the mind is not as sharp as it used to be is a source of frustration and embarrassment.
In response, the University of Michigan is sponsoring research designed to better diagnose and treat dementia before it escalates.
“This is an explosive disease,” says Sid Gilman, M.D., director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at University of Michigan Health System, who conducts community research.
“It’s a horrible disease that robs people of their humanity. They forget their families and friends.”
By age 100, the number of demented individuals spikes to 60 percent. Of those who develop dementia, roughly 60 percent will prove to have Alzheimer’s disease. It’s predicted that the current number of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States is roughly 5 million.
By the year 2050, it will grow to about 30 million, presenting a significant financial burden to the healthcare system.
Source and More
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/07/dementia-on-the-rise/6944.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Vegetable Protein Lowers Blood Pressure
Amino Acid in Vegetables May Lower High Blood Pressure
A new study shows that an amino acid known as glutamic acid, which is found in greater amounts in vegetable protein, is associated with lower blood pressure.
This builds on other research linking higher intake of vegetable protein to lower blood pressure.
Researchers say the finding may also help explain in more detail why the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet works at lowering high blood pressure. The DASH diet is low in sodium and high in vegetables, whole grains, and beans, which are also rich sources of vegetable protein.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and glutamic acid was the most common amino acid found in the study. It accounted for 23% of the protein in people who were mainly vegetable protein eaters, and 18% in who were mainly animal protein eaters.
How Vegetables Help Heart
In the study, researchers analyzed data from 4,680 middle-age people participating in an international population study on the effects of dietary nutrients on high blood pressure. Participants were from the U.S., U.K., China, and Japan.
The results, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, showed that a nearly 5% higher intake of glutamic acid as a percent of total protein in the diet was linked to lower average blood pressure. Systolic blood pressure was lower by an average of 1.5 to 3.0 points and diastolic blood pressure was lower by 1.0 to 1.6 points.
Systolic blood pressure is the top number in a blood pressure reading and refers to the force when the heart contracts. Diastolic blood pressure is the lower number in a blood pressure reading and refers to the pressure when the heart is at rest.
Source and More
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20090706/vegetable-protein-lowers-blood-pressure
Monday, July 6, 2009
Manic Monday
Dogs Sniffing Out Health Problems
Catching up on my weekend Web reading, I came across an interesting video from National Geographic, about dogs who sniff out cancer and health problems associated with diabetes.
One of the dogs featured, a collie named Tinker, began whining and barking when his owner, who has diabetes, experienced dangerous drops in blood sugar. Although Tinker wasn’t trained at first, his reactions to the hypoglycemic attacks led to further training as a qualified “hypo alert” dog. The video also features the work of the British research center, Cancer and Bio-Detection Dogs.
The center has 17 rescue dogs at various stages of training that will be paired up with diabetic owners, including many children, reports Reuters.
Source and More
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/dogs-sniffing-out-health-problems/
___________________________________________________________________________
Clinical trial shows quadriplegics can operate powered wheelchair with tongue drive system
An assistive technology that enables individuals to maneuver a powered wheelchair or control a mouse cursor using simple tongue movements can be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently completed clinical trial.
"This clinical trial has validated that the Tongue Drive system is intuitive and quite simple for individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries to use," said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "Trial participants were able to easily remember and correctly issue tongue commands to play computer games and drive a powered wheelchair around an obstacle course with very little prior training."
At the annual conference of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) on June 26, the researchers reported the results of the first five clinical trial subjects to use the Tongue Drive system. The trial was conducted at the Shepherd Center, an Atlanta-based catastrophic care hospital, and funded by the National Science Foundation and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.
The clinical trial tested the ability of these individuals with tetraplegia, as a result of high-level spinal cord injuries (cervical vertebrae C3-C5), to perform tasks related to computer access and wheelchair navigation -- using only their tongue movements.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166097287.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Delirium in hospitalized adults: Situation critical, no relief available
Every year as many as seven million adults in the United States experience delirium during hospitalization. In a systematic review of the scientific literature on delirium prevention and treatment, investigators from Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute and Wishard Health Services found that despite the significant health and financial burdens of delirium for hospitalized adults, no effective way to prevent or treat the condition has been identified.
"Having delirium prolongs the length of a hospital stay, increases the risk of post-hospitalization transfer to a nursing home and doubles the risk of death. We need to identify a safe and effective drug to prevent and treat delirium. With our review we are challenging the scientific community to come up with new therapeutic options," said Malaz Boustani, M.D., senior author of the study which appears in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Boustani is a Regenstrief Institute investigator and associate professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine.
Delirium, experienced by a significant number of older patients in surgical and critical care units and over half of older adults who are hospitalized for broken hips, is a state of confusion in which the individual has undergone a sudden alteration of mental status. Delirium is not dementia, but individuals with dementia are more susceptible to developing delirium during hospitalization than individuals without dementia.
The researchers found that only 13 randomized controlled studies on promising drugs for delirium were conducted from January 1966 to October 2008. These studies identified and evaluated 15 drugs including first and second generation antipsychotics, the drugs currently prescribed by most physicians for patients with delirium. The researchers found that neither older agents nor newer, more expensive medications were effective in preventing delirium. The study also found no difference between antipsychotics in treating delirium. To date, there are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved drugs to prevent or manage delirium according to Dr. Boustani.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166097419.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Mental Health Risks with Popular Stop-Smoking Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that patients taking the popular stop-smoking drugs Chantix and Zyban should be watched closely for signs of serious mental illness. The warning was issued following mounting reports of bizarre behavior, including suicide, among users of the drugs. Pfizer is the maker of Chantix (varenicline), and GlaxoSmithKine is the manufacturer of Zyban (buproprion). Buproprion is also sold under the brand name Wellbutrin, as a treatment for depression.
Both of the drugs will now be required to carry “black box” labels warning that people who take the drugs should be closely monitored for signs of suicidal thoughts, depression, hostility, and other behavioral changes. In addition, both drug companies will be required to conduct clinical trials for the purpose of assessing the mental health risks associated with the uses of the drugs. Unlike the clinical trials leading to the FDA approval of the drugs, the new trials will enroll smokers with underlying psychiatric disorders. Pfizer has already begun enrollment of schizophrenia patients in a trial.
Source and More
http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/mental-health-risks-popular-stop-smoking-drugs-3415.html
Catching up on my weekend Web reading, I came across an interesting video from National Geographic, about dogs who sniff out cancer and health problems associated with diabetes.
One of the dogs featured, a collie named Tinker, began whining and barking when his owner, who has diabetes, experienced dangerous drops in blood sugar. Although Tinker wasn’t trained at first, his reactions to the hypoglycemic attacks led to further training as a qualified “hypo alert” dog. The video also features the work of the British research center, Cancer and Bio-Detection Dogs.
The center has 17 rescue dogs at various stages of training that will be paired up with diabetic owners, including many children, reports Reuters.
Source and More
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/dogs-sniffing-out-health-problems/
___________________________________________________________________________
Clinical trial shows quadriplegics can operate powered wheelchair with tongue drive system
An assistive technology that enables individuals to maneuver a powered wheelchair or control a mouse cursor using simple tongue movements can be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently completed clinical trial.
"This clinical trial has validated that the Tongue Drive system is intuitive and quite simple for individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries to use," said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "Trial participants were able to easily remember and correctly issue tongue commands to play computer games and drive a powered wheelchair around an obstacle course with very little prior training."
At the annual conference of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) on June 26, the researchers reported the results of the first five clinical trial subjects to use the Tongue Drive system. The trial was conducted at the Shepherd Center, an Atlanta-based catastrophic care hospital, and funded by the National Science Foundation and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.
The clinical trial tested the ability of these individuals with tetraplegia, as a result of high-level spinal cord injuries (cervical vertebrae C3-C5), to perform tasks related to computer access and wheelchair navigation -- using only their tongue movements.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166097287.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Delirium in hospitalized adults: Situation critical, no relief available
Every year as many as seven million adults in the United States experience delirium during hospitalization. In a systematic review of the scientific literature on delirium prevention and treatment, investigators from Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute and Wishard Health Services found that despite the significant health and financial burdens of delirium for hospitalized adults, no effective way to prevent or treat the condition has been identified.
"Having delirium prolongs the length of a hospital stay, increases the risk of post-hospitalization transfer to a nursing home and doubles the risk of death. We need to identify a safe and effective drug to prevent and treat delirium. With our review we are challenging the scientific community to come up with new therapeutic options," said Malaz Boustani, M.D., senior author of the study which appears in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Boustani is a Regenstrief Institute investigator and associate professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine.
Delirium, experienced by a significant number of older patients in surgical and critical care units and over half of older adults who are hospitalized for broken hips, is a state of confusion in which the individual has undergone a sudden alteration of mental status. Delirium is not dementia, but individuals with dementia are more susceptible to developing delirium during hospitalization than individuals without dementia.
The researchers found that only 13 randomized controlled studies on promising drugs for delirium were conducted from January 1966 to October 2008. These studies identified and evaluated 15 drugs including first and second generation antipsychotics, the drugs currently prescribed by most physicians for patients with delirium. The researchers found that neither older agents nor newer, more expensive medications were effective in preventing delirium. The study also found no difference between antipsychotics in treating delirium. To date, there are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved drugs to prevent or manage delirium according to Dr. Boustani.
Source and More
http://www.physorg.com/news166097419.html
___________________________________________________________________________
Mental Health Risks with Popular Stop-Smoking Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that patients taking the popular stop-smoking drugs Chantix and Zyban should be watched closely for signs of serious mental illness. The warning was issued following mounting reports of bizarre behavior, including suicide, among users of the drugs. Pfizer is the maker of Chantix (varenicline), and GlaxoSmithKine is the manufacturer of Zyban (buproprion). Buproprion is also sold under the brand name Wellbutrin, as a treatment for depression.
Both of the drugs will now be required to carry “black box” labels warning that people who take the drugs should be closely monitored for signs of suicidal thoughts, depression, hostility, and other behavioral changes. In addition, both drug companies will be required to conduct clinical trials for the purpose of assessing the mental health risks associated with the uses of the drugs. Unlike the clinical trials leading to the FDA approval of the drugs, the new trials will enroll smokers with underlying psychiatric disorders. Pfizer has already begun enrollment of schizophrenia patients in a trial.
Source and More
http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/mental-health-risks-popular-stop-smoking-drugs-3415.html
Harvard Scientists Find Master Human Heart Cell
http://www.missouricures.com/
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
By: Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Boston Globe
Harvard scientists announced today they had discovered a master human heart cell that gives rise to three major types of heart tissue, providing new tools for drug development and an important advance toward the ultimate goal of repairing damaged hearts.
Using human embryonic stem cells, the researchers have unraveled part of the process by which the human heart is built during development -- insights they hope could be used to understand congenital heart disease and create new therapies for cardiovascular disease, the top cause of death in the United States.
"Since these [cells] are entirely human, you can use this system now to study the role of specific genes in human heart disease, and as ways to screen drugs for cardiotoxicity and for therapeutic effect," said Dr. Kenneth R.
Chien, director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and principal faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He is senior author of the paper, published in Nature today.
The work points to new applications for regenerative medicine. For years, attempts to repair damaged heart tissue using different types of cells have come back with "ambiguous, disappointing, marginal, and in certain cases negative" results, Chien said. Locally, for example, Cambridge-based Genzyme Corp. stopped enrolling patients in a clinical trial for a heart cell therapy three years ago because it was deemed to have little chance of success.
Because the new work reveals progenitor cells that naturally create specific types of heart tissue during development, Chien thinks they may have a better chance of repairing damaged hearts.
But the greatest near-term promise of the work may be in routine drug development. It could now be possible to, for example, create large numbers of heart muscle cells to test drugs.
"Add one drug, two drugs, or all combinations of drugs a heart patient would take" to test how effective or toxic compounds are in actual human heart cells, said Christine Mummery, a professor of developmental biology at Leiden University Medical Center who was not involved with the work. "It's really a kind of tool to bring us a step further."
Drug companies are especially interested in such applications. Using the actual human cells affected by a disease -- instead of mice, dogs, or other stand-ins -- could potentially speed up drug development by giving companies a more accurate template for screening potential drugs. Animal cells and other types of assays have been invaluable for testing and screening drugs, but the new cells could give scientists a chance to see how the human cells they are interested in react to drugs.
Such cells could also prevent companies from spending too much time on a drug that ultimately fails. According to John D. McNeish, executive director of Pfizer Regenerative Medicine, one big concern at pharmaceutical companies is that drugs may have a side effect on the heart that only emerges late in the drug development process. Testing the drug on human heart cells might alert scientists to side effects before they begin administering the drug to patients in clinical trials.
"I think this is in many ways a groundbreaking work," McNeish said, because of both its short and long-term implications. "It is fair to say in the future, stem cell technology could develop highly predictive cell-based assays for cardiotoxicity that could one day replace" the current models, such as using cells from cadaver hearts or animals.
GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical company that made a $25 million investment in the Harvard Stem Cell Institute last year, is also interested in using stem cells as drug discovery tools.
"Stem cells would allow pharmaceutical researchers to see the effects of new compounds on human cells, and so ultimately replace current testing on non-human cells, and help improve the accuracy of screening to improve therapeutic efficacy and reduce risks to patients," Aaron Chuang, scientific manager for stem cell research at GSK, wrote in an e-mail.
Chien and his colleagues began their work by searching in fetal human hearts for master cells, grandfather cells that give rise to three major types of tissue.
His team confirmed the presence of master cells in fetal hearts, but found that they decrease in number as the heart develops. They turned to human embryonic stem cells to better understand the cells and their potential applications.
Using stem cells, which are capable of turning into any cell in the human body, they created the master stem cells. Then, they tagged those cells, and confirmed that the master cells gave rise to three types of cells. They also identified a family of "intermediate" cells, each of which is a mother to a single kind of tissue -- giving rise to heart muscle tissue, smooth muscle tissue that contracts to regulate blood flow, or endothelial cells that line blood vessel walls.
Chien is already pushing the work forward. Future plans include turning back the clock of adult cells to create embryonic-like stem cells that could create cardiac master cells. A major question is whether such cells would be equivalent to the ones made from embryonic stem cells. If it works, that could offer the possibility of creating patient-specific cells to model different diseases. Chien is also interested in understanding the role progenitor cells play in congenital heart disease.
But ultimately, he wants to use the basic understanding of the cell to treat heart disease.
"My interest," Chien said, "is taking the disease out."
Learn about other stem cell advances by visiting MissouriCures.com
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