Dr. House
Dr. House
Friday, March 22, 2019
Millions Of US Children In Danger Of Drinking Lead-Contaminated Water At School,
Millions of children” across the US “are in danger of drinking lead-contaminated water – in their own school,” while “at least 24 million children in the U.S. are at risk of losing IQ points due to low levels of lead exposure,” researchers concluded in a report called “Get the Lead Out, published Thursday by the U.S. Public Research Interest Group (USPIRG) Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center.” According to the Daily News, “the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one part per billion (ppb),” but “most schools tested had at least five ppb, and some have much more.” https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-schools-lead-water-report-uspirg-20190321-ti32uaohkvh3zoiowyu7fene2e-story.html
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Exercising For Just 10 Minutes Weekly May Be Associated With A Longer Life
reports that for the study, investigators “relied on health surveys conducted annually between 1997 and 2008 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Included in their analysis were “more than 88,000 survey participants, aged 40 to 85.” The findings were published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. http://time.com/5553504/exercise-to-live-longer/
Children Who Start Puberty Early May Have Higher Risk Of Multiple Sclerosis As Adults Because Of Higher Weight, Study Suggests.
reports that “research has suggested that kids who enter puberty early appear to face an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) as adults,” but the new study suggests “that it’s actually the excess weight these kids carry around that might raise their odds for MS.” The study’s lead author, Dr. Adil Harroud of McGill University Health Center, said, “Although we did see that people who enter puberty at an earlier age were more likely to develop MS, once we factor into their body weight, the results are no longer significant. What seems to be the main driver is not the age of puberty, but rather the individual’s body weight throughout their life.” https://consumer.healthday.com/cognitive-health-information-26/multiple-sclerosis-news-486/extra-pounds-in-childhood-may-mean-higher-ms-risk-in-adulthood-744057.html
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Roundup Was “Substantial” Factor In Man’s Cancer, Jury Says.
reports that “Roundup weed killer was a substantial factor in a California man’s cancer, a jury determined Tuesday.” The jury’s verdict “in federal court in San Francisco came in a lawsuit filed against Roundup’s manufacturer, agribusiness giant Monsanto.” The California man, Edwin Hardeman, “was the second plaintiff to go to trial out of thousands around the country who claim the weed killer causes cancer.” He was “diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015.”
The New York Times (3/19, Zaveri) reports that the “verdict concluded the first of two phases in the federal case about the possible health risks of Roundup and whether Monsanto misled the man, Edwin Hardeman, about those risks.” The case’s second phase, “which begins Wednesday, will focus on whether Monsanto, which was acquired by Bayer AG last year, should be held liable for partly causing Mr. Hardeman’s cancer, said his lawyer, Jennifer Moore.” Hardeman’s attorney “said lawyers would seek to prove that Monsanto manipulated public opinion and science to play down Roundup’s health risks.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/jury-roundup-weed-killer-is-major-factor-in-mans-cancer/2019/03/19/5fe43864-4a99-11e9-8cfc-2c5d0999c21e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4f35ba30eb2f
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Study Ties Common Heartburn Medications to Kidney Disease
YIKES Use of proton pump inhibitors (PPI), a group of drugs that reduce the production of stomach acid, increases the risk of chronic kidney disease by 20 percent and raises the risk of kidney failure by four times. Risks were highest among people at least 65 years old.
The research, published in February in Pharmacotherapy, is one of the first large, long-term studies to examine the effects of PPIs on kidney function. Researchers examined the health data of more than 190,000 patients over a 15-year period.
"This study adds to a growing list of concerning side effects and adverse outcomes associated with PPIs," says David Jacobs, PharmD, PhD, lead investigator and assistant professor of pharmacy practice in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
"Given the increasing global use of PPIs, the relationship between PPIs and renal disease could pose a substantial disease and financial burden to the health care system and public heal. https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/study-ties-common-heartburn-medications-to-kidney-disease-316881?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70907732&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8NvfANyjjI20a-_ZQ2yrws2asQ2Je-3sSU4DU0O-urNJX_gAm2QR2rtKH1CW097m7_t2FnVpHYe65aEOtVITZtWPbNmw&_hsmi=70907732
Dormant Viruses Activate During Spaceflight – NASA Investigates
Overall, four of the eight known human herpes viruses were detected. These include the varieties responsible for oral and genital herpes (HSV), chickenpox and shingles (VZV) – which remain lifelong in our nerve cells – as well as CMV and EBV, which take permanent but uneventful residence in our immune cells during childhood. CMV and EBV occasionally cause mononucleosis, the “kissing disease”. https://www.technologynetworks.com/tn/news/dormant-viruses-activate-during-spaceflight-nasa-investigates-316865?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70907732&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8NvfANyjjI20a-_ZQ2yrws2asQ2Je-3sSU4DU0O-urNJX_gAm2QR2rtKH1CW097m7_t2FnVpHYe65aEOtVITZtWPbNmw&_hsmi=70907732
Monday, March 18, 2019
Friday, March 15, 2019
Softer Foods Have Changed How We Talk
Dental changes allow new sounds
While the teeth of humans used to meet in an edge-to-edge bite due to their harder and tougher diet at the time, more recent softer foods allowed modern humans to retain the juvenile overbite that had previously disappeared by adulthood, with the upper teeth slightly more in front than the lower teeth. This shift led to the rise of a new class of speech sounds now found in half of the world’s languages: labiodentals, or sounds made by touching the lower lip to the upper teeth, for example when pronouncing the letter “f”. https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/softer-foods-have-changed-how-we-talk-316773?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70816604&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--kEZdWLdK5c55ezmF15yVJvxsvk_7xzHhL5a-Uqhw4RxVoHYCzyQDm17fVoxBPSssLtpNCZQo8TQMdHVsGv8fYiPCU1A&_hsmi=70816604
Inactive” Ingredients May Not Be
Most pills and capsules, whether over-the-counter or prescription, include components other than the actual drug. These compounds, known as “inactive ingredients,” help to stabilize the drug or aid in its absorption, and they can make up more than half of a pill’s mass.
While these components are usually considered benign, a new study from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has found that nearly all pills and capsules contain some ingredients that can cause allergic reactions or irritations in certain patients. In most cases, doctors have no idea which of these ingredients will be included in the pills they prescribe to their patients, because there are so many different formulations available for any given medication.
“For most patients, it doesn’t matter if there’s a little bit of lactose, a little bit of fructose, or some starch in there. However, there is a subpopulation of patients, currently of unknown size, that will be extremely sensitive to those and develop symptoms triggered by the inactive ingredients,” says Daniel Reker, a Swiss National Science Foundation postdoc at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and one of the lead authors of the study.
The researchers hope that their study, published in the March 13 edition of Science Translational Medicine, will raise awareness of this issue among patients and health care providers and help to stimulate reforms that could protect patients from drugs that they don’t tolerate well.
“Right now there is an imbalance in the amount of information and understanding out there with respect to the inactive components of medication,” https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/inactive-ingredients-may-not-be-316753?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70816604&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--kEZdWLdK5c55ezmF15yVJvxsvk_7xzHhL5a-Uqhw4RxVoHYCzyQDm17fVoxBPSssLtpNCZQo8TQMdHVsGv8fYiPCU1A&_hsmi=70816604
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Insomnia and Chronic Pain
Our research shows there is a relationship between sleep and pain that is not influenced by underlying psychiatric or sleep disorders," Sethi told MedPage Today. As expected, the researchers found a statistically significant correlation between the Brief Pain Inventory and Insomnia Severity Index (r=0.41; P<0.0001). Each one-point increase in average Brief Pain Inventory scores was associated with a 1.2 point rise in the Insomnia Severity Index.
When the pain-sleep relationship was compared with the presence or absence of an underlying psychiatric disorder, the outcome did not change: the pain-sleep association was similar regardless of psychiatric diagnosis. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/aapm/78510?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2019-03-13&eun=g721819d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEW%20Daily%20Headlines%20Email_TestB%202019-03-13&utm_term=DHE_ShadeTest_1
Are Eyes the Window to Our Mistakes?
To study mistake making in humans, researchers performed an auditory test on 108 participants in a lab. Each participant listened to a series of 20 clicks, some in their left ear and some in their right, over the span of a single second. They then had to decide which ear received the most clicks. Each participant repeated the task 760 times, on average, with the patterns of clicks varying in each trial.
Due to the rapid nature of the task, mistakes in responses were common, with participants giving the wrong answer about 22 percent of the time. Throughout all the trials, researchers were interested in what was going on in participants' eyes – specifically their pupils – when an error was made.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, add to scientific understanding of how pupil size and reactivity may correlate with mistake making, and what that may tell us about what's happening in the brain when we make the wrong choice. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/are-eyes-the-window-to-our-mistakes-316652?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70733502&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_RdK_66DfegVGWFkhguvZIiEFu5sxOZTXDVHAr2PFgRQL_hRrjG48EGQFqmNI9mo9i_jCiG8pz2KOxgDx7s7w7RqB5Rg&_hsmi=70733502
Two Common Household Chemicals Could Harm Sperm In Both Men And Dogs, Study Suggests.
reports a new study suggests “two chemicals found in household products and food,” including “the plasticizer DEHP – used in products such as carpets, flooring, upholstery, clothes, wires and toys – and the industrial chemical polychlorinated biphenyl 153 (PCB153),” could be harmful to “male fertility in both dogs and people.” The findings were published in the Scientific Reports. https://consumer.healthday.com/environmental-health-information-12/chemical-health-news-730/common-household-chemicals-harm-sperm-in-both-men-and-dogs-743428.html
Carriers Of Certain Genetic Variant May Be More Susceptible To Getting Pregnant While Taking Birth Control
WOW reports a new study “suggests some women may inherit genes that break down contraceptive hormones more rapidly, leaving them with hormone levels that are too low to prevent pregnancy.” Researchers found in an analysis of “350 women with an etonogestrel implant in place for at least a year and no more than 36 months” that “women with a certain genetic variant metabolized estrogen and progesterone so quickly that it could put them at risk for pregnancy if they were taking low-dose birth control pills.” The findings were published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
On its website, CNN (3/12, Scutti) reports researchers “focused on a genetic variant called CYP3A7*1C, which is carried by about 5% of the overall population” and refers to the CYP3A7 gene. Those with the gene variant keep producing the enzyme, while most people cease producing the enzyme with age. Dr. Aaron Lazorwitz, co-author of the study and an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said, “That enzyme – and we know this from other studies as well – seems to break down the steroid hormone.” https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/12/health/birth-control-genetic-variant-study/index.html
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Researchers Examine Association Of Muscular Strength And Incidence Of T2D.
reports that even though “strength has been tied to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes [T2D],” just “moderate amounts of muscle strength, but not beyond that, were associated with a 32% reduced risk of developing” the condition, researchers concluded. Currently, “more than 30 million Americans, or about one in 10, have diabetes – and 90% to 95% of them have type 2 diabetes, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/11/health/diabetes-risk-strength-study/index.html
Monday, March 11, 2019
23andMe Upgrades DNA Test To Offer Diabetes Report.
reports genetic testing company 23andMe has revealed “it is upgrading its $99 and up at-home DNA test to include a report on diabetes, with an explanation on both the genetic and lifestyle factors that influence who’s likely to get the disease in their lifetimes.” The new diabetes report is expected to be “the first of its kind,” and was “developed using data from 2.5 million of its users who consented to the research” while previous reports “have relied on information from publicly-available data-sets, as well as 23andMe’s own database.” The new test is likely to expand the company’s user base, given that more than 30 million Americans – “about 9 percent of the population” – have diabetes. The piece adds that the company has a history of “controversy,” including “a dust-up with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which in 2013 ordered it to cease sales and marketing of its tests.” https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/08/23andme-to-offer-diabetes-genetic-testing.html
Birth Control Pills Recalled Over Packaging Error.
reports Florida-based Apotex Corp. has issued a recall of four lots of Ethinyl Estradiol USP birth control pills “because the pills may be mislabeled and lead to unintended pregnancy.” An FDA recall notice says that “as a result of the packaging error, when a patient does not take a tablet due to a missing tablet or a patient takes a placebo instead of an active tablet, it could lead to unintended pregnancy.” The packs impacted by the recall “have an expiration date of August 2020 and the lot numbers 7DY008A, 7DY009A, 7DY010A and 7DY011A,” and were distributed to wholesalers and distributors nationwide. https://triblive.com/news/health-now/birth-control-pills-recalled-for-defective-packaging/
Friday, March 8, 2019
How Long Are You Sleeping For?
It is well understood that regularly getting adequate sleep – 7 to 8 hours per night – is important to health, and both insufficient sleep – 6 or fewer hours – and excessive sleep – 9 hours or more – have been linked to significant health problems. Family studies have suggested that from 10 to 40 percent of variation in sleep duration may be inherited, and previous genetic studies have associated variants in two gene regions with sleep duration. The current study, the largest of its kind to address sleep duration, analyzed genetic data from more than 446,000 participants in the U.K. Biobank who self-reported the amount of sleep they typically received. That genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 78 gene regions – including the two previously identified – as associated with sleep duration. While carrying a single gene variant influenced the average amount of sleep by only a minute, participants carrying the largest number of duration-increasing variants reported an average of 22 more minutes of sleep, compared with those with the fewest, which is comparable to other well-recognized factors that influence sleep duration.
To confirm the accuracy of findings based on self-reported sleep duration, the researchers tested the 78 duration-associated variants in a subgroup of participants who had worn motion-detecting devices called accelerometers for up to a week. Not only were those gene regions supported by objective measurement of sleep duration, but this analysis was also able to associate duration-related variants with factors such as sleep efficiency, instances of waking up during the night and daytime inactivity.
Only a few of the gene regions identified in this study overlap with those identified in the group’s previous studies of insomnia and chronotype. The sites identified in this study showed consistent effects with a previous GWAS of more than 47,000 adults but limited consistency with another GWAS of sleep duration among more than 10,500 children and adolescents, which supports research suggesting that the genetics of sleep duration may be different in children than in adults.
Since both shorter- and longer-than-average sleep duration have been associated with health problems, the team conducted separate GWASs for participants who reported short or long sleep duration. Those studies identified additional genes not identified in the larger group analysis that contributed to either longer or shorter sleep duration. The researchers also found shared genetic links between both short and long sleep duration and factors such as higher levels of body fat, depression symptoms and fewer years of schooling, implying negative effects from both too little and too much sleep. In addition, short sleep duration was genetically linked with traits such as insomnia and smoking, while long-duration variants were linked with schizophrenia, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/how-long-are-you-sleeping-for-316485?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70597978&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--psWTREy59LJtsywQM7DTaZLEnlIGxswwUNc9lDvJsx8GokLoa9qlmYCOUiFEkBK3VlH1pTrH4O1Lt4A9K_Jh8LZyq4w&_hsmi=70597978
High Pathogen Exposure May Reduce Vaccine Efficacy
For example, if you have been vaccinated against the measles, but someone sneezes very close to your face, or you're caring for a sick kid who is sneezing, coughing, etc., are you more likely to get sick? In addition, if you're run down (maybe from chasing that kid the week earlier), are you more likely to get infected even if you've been vaccinated?
Langwig and her lab found in their simulations that vaccines are predicted to be less effective at higher pathogen doses and when individuals in the population have similar susceptibility. These findings were recently published in Scientific Reports.
“Susceptibility, meaning how likely an individual is to get infected, is also important. Individuals that are younger or have poor nutrition can be more likely to get infected, even if they have been vaccinated. We found that populations that have more variable susceptibility have higher vaccine efficacy,” said Langwig, an affiliated faculty member of the Global Change Center, an arm of the Fralin Life Science Institute. What we found was a bit of a shock - there are a very small number of studies that test whether vaccines are effective across multiple pathogen doses. We reviewed almost 6,000 articles and identified only about a dozen studies that had tested vaccines across multiple pathogen doses. Within those few studies, the pattern was generally consistent with our simulation - vaccine efficacy tended to be lower at high pathogen doses,” said Langwig.
They did find that some vaccines did offer complete protection regardless of pathogen dose in several model organisms, suggesting that not all vaccines are less effective when individuals are exposed to high doses. https://www.technologynetworks.com/diagnostics/news/simulation-study-suggests-when-pathogen-exposure-is-higher-vaccine-efficacy-is-lower-316481?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70597978&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--psWTREy59LJtsywQM7DTaZLEnlIGxswwUNc9lDvJsx8GokLoa9qlmYCOUiFEkBK3VlH1pTrH4O1Lt4A9K_Jh8LZyq4w&_hsmi=70597978
Potential Treatment for Heart Damage Caused by Heart Attacks
BHF Professor Michael Schneider and his team are working to develop drugs that could be given in the first few hours following a heart attack to minimise heart muscle death caused by the stress signals. These stress signals actually increase dramatically when the blood supply is restored so, although it is vital to resupply the heart with oxygen and nutrients by reopening the blocked coronary artery, additional treatments to counteract any ‘reperfusion injury’ have been sought for decades. https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/potential-treatment-for-heart-damage-caused-by-heart-attacks-316450?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70597978&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--psWTREy59LJtsywQM7DTaZLEnlIGxswwUNc9lDvJsx8GokLoa9qlmYCOUiFEkBK3VlH1pTrH4O1Lt4A9K_Jh8LZyq4w&_hsmi=70597978
Black Patients May Face Worse Outcomes Than White Patients After Bariatric Surgery,
reports that research suggests “after bariatric surgery, black patients may face worse outcomes than white patients.” In the “retrospective analysis of over 7,100 bariatric surgery patients from Michigan, black patients had a significantly higher chance of having complications compared with white patients.” But, “serious complications (2.5% for blacks vs 1.9% for whites) and rates of mortality (0.10% vs 0.10%) were similar among black and white patients.” The findings were published online in JAMA Surgery. https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/obesity/78438
Intermittent Fasting May Reduce Triglyceride Levels By 40% After Meals Compared To Conventional, Calorie-Restricted Diet,
reports researchers found that “intermittent fasting, as in the 5:2 diet, showed that this approach reduced triglyceride levels by 40% after meals, compared with a conventional, daily calorie-restricted diet in healthy but overweight/obese individuals.” The findings were presented at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference (DUPC) https://login.medscape.com/login/sso/getlogin?urlCache=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWVkc2NhcGUuY29tL3ZpZXdhcnRpY2xlLzkxMDAxOA==&ac=4012019.
High Testosterone Levels Can Increase Risk Of Heart Failure And Blood Clots In Men
reports that investigators found, in “the mendelian randomization study, which included nearly 400,000 middle-age men and women...that for each unit increase of endogenous testosterone predicted by variants of the JMJD1C gene, the risk of heart failure in men increased nearly eight-fold.” The study indicated that “the risk of thromboembolism in men doubled for each unit increase in testosterone...but the risk for myocardial infarction was not significant.” Meanwhile, “in women, testosterone was not associated with significant risk for any cardiovascular outcome.” https://www.medpagetoday.com/cardiology/prevention/78435
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Dog-Walking May Be Associated With Increased Risk Of Bone Fractures In Seniors,
reports a new study suggests that dog-walking for seniors can be risky and is associated with increased rates of bone fractures. Data show that “nearly 8 in 10 who suffered fractures were women, and the most commonly broken bones were hips, wrists and upper arms.” The piece says the reason for the association and an increase between 2004 and 2017 in dog-walking related accidents remains unclear, but points out that “the senior population has grown as a percentage of the U.S. population.” The findings were published in JAMA Surgery.
Additional coverage was provided by the AP (3/6, Tanner), CNN (3/6, Powell), TIME (3/6), Forbes (3/6, Lee), U.S. News & World Report (3/6), and HealthDay (3/6). https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/03/06/dog-walking-can-be-hazardous-seniors-study-suggests/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0179c1e11eae
Postmenopausal Women’s Long-Term Use Of Hormone Replacement Therapy May Increase Alzheimer’s Risk,
reports a new study suggests long-term “use of oral hormone therapy may be associated with a small increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in postmenopausal women.” Researchers assessed nearly 85,000 postmenopausal women aged 70 to 80 who were “diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease between 1999 and 2013.” The study was published in BMJ.
On its website, CNN (3/6, Lamotte) reports researchers “found an additional 9 to 18 per 10,000 women using hormone replacement could be diagnosed each year with Alzheimer’s beyond the number expected to develop the disease.” They also determined that the “association was highest for women who used hormones for 10 years or more and those who used an oral combination of estrogen-progestogen rather than estrogen alone.”
BBC News Online (UK) (3/7) reports that despite the findings, physicians “are urging women not to be alarmed,” with the Royal College of General Practitioners arguing that “the research does not prove that HRT causes Alzheimer’s disease, and women currently taking it should continue to do so.”
The Telegraph (UK) (3/6, Knapton) also reports. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/long-term-use-hormone-therapy-pills-linked-increased-alzheimer-s-n980286
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Taking the Sting Out of Mouth Ulcers
https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/taking-the-sting-out-of-mouth-ulcers-316326?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70515107&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_xPPWeYwJ3hAUfpaVVD920u4Pp9a1MvZj7o_YEET_4tHaS58wnDHeSg4nYTib6L0eXsCRHjahZpII3c9u-faXIOWSBMQ&_hsmi=70515107
The team identified genetic variants associated with the condition by analysing genetic data derived from over 450,000 participants in the UK Biobank and replicated these findings in over 350,000 participants in USA-based data collection 23andMe. They discovered 97 common genetic variations across the genome that predispose people to mouth ulcers. The study went on to look at three further studies, including Bristol's Children of the 90s (ALSPAC) study, which showed confirmatory results. These variations are enriched in genes that have previously been linked to regulation of the body's immune system. "Importantly, our findings also show that several of the genes related to mouth ulcers are in pathways which are already targeted by drugs that are used to treat other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. There is the potential that drugs like these could be used to treat mouth ulcers, although further work is required to demonstrate this."
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Broken Heart? Look to the Brain
Scientists have shown for the first time that the brain is involved in the development of a heart condition called Takotsubo syndrome (TTS). They found that regions of the brain responsible for processing emotions and controlling the unconscious workings of the body, such as heart beat, breathing and digestion, do not communicate with each other as well in TTS patients as in healthy people.
The study is published in the European Heart Journal and the researchers say that although, at this stage, they cannot show that the reduced brain functions definitely cause TTS, their findings suggest that these alterations in the central nervous system may be part of the mechanism involved and they are linked with the onset of TTS in response to stressful or emotional triggers.
TTS is known as “broken heart” syndrome and is characterised by a sudden temporary weakening of the heart muscles that causes the left ventricle of the heart to balloon out at the bottom while the neck remains narrow, creating a shape resembling a Japanese octopus trap, from which it gets its name. Since this relatively rare condition was first described in 1990, evidence has suggested that it is typically triggered by episodes of severe emotional distress, such as grief, anger or fear, or reactions to happy or joyful events. Patients develop chest pains and breathlessness, and it can lead to heart attacks and death. TTS is more common in women with only 10% of cases occurring in men. TTS affects less than 3% of people who suffer a heart attack and tends to occur between the ages of 60-75. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/broken-heart-look-to-the-brain-316289?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70470040&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8g1OgpvsmfReU8hKic7yRcPxOWpjqE-F7Zil__lAB-X87ttFQJtQ4AaQQXwpsK-_gOlytcPF6XEg7PAKISON0NLgpgeA&_hsmi=70470040
How Pumping Iron Could Save Your Life
In a study published in Scientific Reports, researchers from Osaka University have revealed that sarcopenia, or the loss of skeletal muscle mass, is significantly associated with a poor response to treatments for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
These treatments, known as programmed death (PD)-1 inhibitors, are an exciting new class of drugs used to fight many different types of cancer, including NSCLC. They work with the patient’s own immune system, increasing its ability to attack cancer cells. Unsurprisingly, the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors relies heavily on the function of the host’s immune system. At present, only a subset of patients achieve good long-term progression-free survival rates, something the researchers at Osaka University aimed to address.
“Sarcopenia is a well-known risk factor associated with poor outcomes for several cancer types,” says lead author of the study, Takayuki Shiroyama. “Because muscle degradation is associated with a dysregulated immune response, we wanted to investigate how, in lung cancer patients, sarcopenia impacts the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitor therapy.”
To do this, the researchers examined the medical records and treatment outcomes of 42 patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with PD-1 inhibitors. Only patients who had undergone an assessment of skeletal muscle mass prior to treatment were included in the analysis.
“The results were surprisingly emphatic,” explains Atsushi Kumanogoh, senior author of the study. “We found that the treatment outcomes for patients with sarcopenia at the start of therapy were far worse than those without.”
In fact, while 38.1% of non-sarcopenia patients remained in remission 1 year after treatment, only 10.1% of sarcopenia patients showed no sign of tumor progression at the same time point. “Our findings suggest that baseline skeletal muscle mass has a substantial impact on PD-1 inhibitor efficacy. As such, skeletal muscle mass might be useful for predicting whether treatment is likely to be effective.” says Shiroyama.
Given that muscle wasting is a common occurrence in patients with advanced cancer, several new drugs that can increase skeletal muscle mass in cancer patients could be vitally important for future treatment strategies. By increasing muscle mass prior to treatment, a greater number of patients are likely to achieve optimal long-term treatment outcomes from PD-1-inhibitor therapy. https://www.technologynetworks.com/diagnostics/news/muscle-mass-status-indicative-of-cancer-therapy-response-316270?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70470040&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8g1OgpvsmfReU8hKic7yRcPxOWpjqE-F7Zil__lAB-X87ttFQJtQ4AaQQXwpsK-_gOlytcPF6XEg7PAKISON0NLgpgeA&_hsmi=70470040
Eli Lilly To Begin Selling Generic Version Of Popular Insulin At Half Price.
reports that Eli Lilly will start “selling a cheaper version of its most popular insulin, Humalog, in an effort to head off criticism about the rising costs of prescription drugs, the company said Monday.” The drugmaker said it “will begin selling an ‘authorized generic’ of Humalog 100 for $137.35 per vial, a 50 percent discount off the list price.” The article explains that “an authorized generic means that, except for the label, it is identical to the brand-name drug and manufactured in the same facilities.” The new version, “which the company said would be made available as quickly as possible, will be called Insulin Lispro and will be sold through a Lilly subsidiary, ImClone Systems.” The piece adds that this move provides “a compromise to critics who have called on drugmakers to lower their list prices.”
The AP (3/4, Murphy) reports that despite the discount Lilly is offering, “an advocacy group says much bigger changes are needed.” Ben Wakana, “president of the advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs, said in an email that the lower prices were still too high, and Lilly’s move will help ‘only a fraction’ of the patients who need it.” On average, the price of insulin tripled from 2002 to 2013, the American Diabetes Association said. Since then, prices have been increasing by about 10 percent annually, which has led some patients to ration their medication. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/health/insulin-price-humalog-generic.html
Children Who See Social Media Influencers Promote Unhealthy Foods May Be More Likely To Adopt Bad Eating Habits
reports researchers found that “children who see social media influencers promote unhealthy food are more likely to adopt bad diets.” The findings were published in Pediatrics.
Reuters (3/4, Rapaport) reports the researchers “recruited 176 children, ages 9 to 11, and showed them Instagram profiles for two of their age group’s most popular YouTube video bloggers,” and then “the children were randomly assigned to view three types of Instagram profiles: healthy food marketing, junk food promotions, or endorsements unrelated to food.” The researchers then served the children snacks and found that children “who saw junk food promotions consumed 448 calories, compared with 389 calories for children who saw healthy food marketing and 357 for those who didn’t see any food promotions.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/03/04/instagram-social-media-may-cause-kids-eat-unhealthy-study/3052978002/
Experimental Weight Loss Treatment Trials Halted.
reports that drugmakers Novartis and Sanofi have both “halted work on experimental weight-loss treatments, leaving rival Novo Nordisk A/S with little competition in the field.” Sanofi halted a trial on an obesity medicine in diabetes patients, after patients endured “too much nausea and vomiting, according to John Reed, Sanofi’s new research chief.” A drug designed “to block two proteins involved in absorbing sugar in the kidneys” by Novartis was halted during mid-stage tests after it failed to yield enough weight loss results to justify further work. Obesity researchers face scientific hurdles including “the body’s tendency to resist weight loss and minimizing digestive side effects” as well as social ones including “a lack of coverage among insurers and a perception of obesity as a lifestyle problem.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-04/pharma-s-leaner-look-spells-trouble-for-obesity-drug-research?srnd=premium
Children Of Smoking Parents May Have Impaired Bone Health As Adults
reports researchers found that “children of parents who smoke have evidence of impaired bone health in adulthood.” The findings were published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/childhood-exposure-to-passive-smoking-linked-to-impaired-bone-health-in-adulthood/
Monday, March 4, 2019
Calorie Content Of Most Popular Fast Food Restaurants In US May Have Increased Over Past Three Decades
reports researchers found that “the calorie content at the most popular U.S. fast food restaurants has shot up over the past three decades.” The findings were published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. http://time.com/5542516/fast-food-study-calories/
FDA Recalls Blood Pressure Drugs Over Presence Of Carcinogens.
reported that three drug companies have recalled 126 lots of blood pressure drugs, or angiotensis receptor blockers (ARBs), valsartan and losartan this week, after discovering trace amounts of probable carcinogens in them. According to the recall on the Food and Drug Administration’s website. AurobindoPharma USA reportedly identified small amounts of N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) in their valsartan drugs. Meanwhile, Camber Pharmaceuticals Inc. “recalled 87 lots of losartan that contained small amounts of N-Nitroso N-Methyl 4-amino butyric acid, or NMBA.” Camber “says the active drug ingredient was made at Hetero Labs Limited in India, one of two overseas drug factories linked to repeated blood medication recalls since last July.” MacLeods Pharmaceuticals Limited had recalled a lot of losartan earlier in the week. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/03/01/losartan-recall-2019-87-lots-recalled-over-potential-carcinogen/3024360002/
Friday, March 1, 2019
Weekend Lie-ins Won't Repay Your Sleep Debt
Previous research by Wright and others has shown that insufficient sleep can boost risk of obesity and diabetes, in part by boosting the urge to snack at night and decreasing insulin sensitivity – or the ability to regulate blood sugar. Some adverse metabolic health impacts can kick in after just one night of lost sleep, recent CU Boulder research has shown.
Sleeping in on the weekend can help the body recover mildly during those two days, studies suggest. But the effects don’t last.
Weekend recovery
Wright and lead author Chris Depner, an assistant research professor of Integrative Physiology, wanted to determine what happens when people cycle back and forth between a sleep-deprived work week and a few days of catch-up. Both sleep-restricted groups snacked more at night, gained weight and saw declines in insulin sensitivity during the study period. While those in the weekend recovery group saw a few mild improvements (including reduced nighttime snacking) during the weekend, those benefits went away when the sleep-restricted work week resumed.
“In the end, we didn’t see any benefit in any metabolic outcome in the people who got to sleep in on the weekend,” said Depner.
On some measures, the weekend recovery group showed worse outcomes. For instance, in the group which had their sleep restricted the whole time, whole body insulin sensitivity declined by 13 percent. In the weekend recovery group it worsened by 9 to 27 percent, with sensitivity in the muscles and liver scoring worse than the other groups.
“It could be that the yo-yoing back and forth – changing the time we eat, changing our circadian clock and then going back to insufficient sleep is uniquely disruptive,” said Wright. This study demonstrates the importance of getting sufficient sleep on a regular schedule,” said Michael Twery, Ph.D., director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR). “Frequently changing sleep schedules is a form of stress associated with metabolic abnormalities.” https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/weekend-lie-ins-wont-repay-your-sleep-debt-316171?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70380447&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9f7POAqPOArcXdsJ_9pDt0BJdHsk0iQe2Y9uoc1pDIYKX-j1wd4nZsfmn26DAGpfdW8Gj14csz3FqSf2LUSqrWw_eujA&_hsmi=70380447
Ketogenic Diet Improves Surrogate Markers Of NAFLD, Fibrosis In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes,
reports that research indicated “comprehensive continuous care intervention with a ketogenic diet significantly improved surrogate markers of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and advanced fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes after 1 year.” The findings were published in BMJ Open. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/2/e023597
Exposure To Certain Chemical Pollutants In Womb And Early Childhood May Be Linked To Worse Lung Function, Study Suggests.
reports that research suggests “exposure to certain common chemical pollutants, even before birth, may be permanently reducing kids’ lung function.” The study indicated “prenatal exposure to two types of chemicals known as PFAS (for polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances) were associated with a decrease in lung function.” Meanwhile, “nine different early childhood exposures – including crowded housing, schools in dense neighborhoods, and some chemicals that are found in plastics and cosmetics – were also associated with lower lung function.” The findings were published in The Lancet Planetary Health. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-childhood-pollution-lungs/chemical-exposure-in-womb-and-early-childhood-tied-to-worse-lung-function-idUSKCN1QH316
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