Immune Response Against Skin-dwelling Viruses Stops Cancer

Viruses get a bad rap as potential cancer-causers, but at least one class of viruses that commonly live on human skin - so-called "low-risk" human papillomaviruses - appear to play an unwitting role in protecting us against skin cancer according to a new study published in Nature. Patients who have immune systems that are suppressed from diseases or medical therapy are at greatly increased risk for cancers linked to viral infections, particularly squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin. Although multiple studies have tried to show a link between human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and SCC, none have been able to show that HPVs actually drive the development of these common skin cancers, say Shawn Demehri, MD, PhD investigator in the Center for Cancer Immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) department of Dermatology and the MGH Cancer Center, and colleagues. Instead, working with experimental models and tissue samples from human skin cancer, they found that the presence of "commensal" papillomaviruses - low-risk forms of HPV that dwell on the skin of a large majority of people - appears to have an indirect protective rather than harmful effects against SCC. "This is the first evidence that commensal viruses could have beneficial health effects both in experimental models and also in humans, and it turns out that this beneficial effect has to do with cancer protection. The role of these commensal viruses, in this case papillomaviruses, is to induce immunity that then is protecting patients from skin cancers," he says. https://www.technologynetworks.com/cancer-research/news/immune-response-against-skin-dwelling-viruses-stops-cancer-326626?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=78793302&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9FyKGcjw68GgKrX9Kkb1qNHTItm60pPw9PPOkjLw2hsqYMp-LqWQlrQlx6TBvlk03jhArzOBT3bQZaboOrpq1FOfJtKA&_hsmi=78793302

Bariatric Surgery May Reduce Skin Cancer Risk In People With Obesity

reports researchers found “bariatric surgery cut skin cancer risk in people with obesity.” The findings were published in JAMA Dermatology. https://www.medpagetoday.com/dermatology/skincancer/83042

Reresearch Indicates Teens Who Take Oral Contraceptives More Likely To Experience Depressive Symptoms

reports a study of 1,010 girls and women over nine years showed “teenage girls who use birth control pills are more likely to cry, sleep too much and experience eating issues than their peers who don’t use oral contraceptives.” While “research has shown that adolescents who use birth control pills are more prone to be at risk for depression in adulthood,” the investigators “sought to examine something more subtle – depressive symptoms, which include increased crying, sleeping too much, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts.” The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry. https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/30/health/teens-birth-control-pills-depressive-symptoms-trnd/index.html

Patients With T2D May Be More Likely To Carry Candida Albicans In Their Root Canals, Study Indicates

reports researchers found that “patients with a long-term history of [T2D] carried Candida albicans in their dental root canals more frequently when they have a primary endodontic infection.” The findings were published in the European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. https://www.infectiousdiseaseadvisor.com/home/topics/mycoses/people-with-diabetes-more-commonly-have-candida-fungus-present-in-teeth-root-canals/

FDA Releases Report On Drug Shortages

An analysis in the report found that two-thirds of 163 drugs in short supply in recent years were available as generics, generally at low cost.” The drugs “were older, too, on the market for a median of almost 35 years.” However, “quality-control problems at manufacturing facilities were responsible for more than half of recent drug shortages, the task force also found.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/health/drug-shortages-generics.html

Salt May Be Involved In Weight Gain,

https://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/salt-and-sodium-news-591/too-much-salt-might-make-you-gain-weight-750780.html

Healthcare Workers Among The “Hardest Hit” By Sleep Deprivation, Study Suggests

“The number of working Americans who get less than seven hours of sleep a night is on the rise. And the people hardest hit when it comes to sleep deprivation are those we depend on the most for our health and safety: police and health care workers.” A recent study published in the Journal of Community Health “found the prevalence of inadequate sleep, defined as seven hours or less, increased from 30.9% in 2010 to 35.6% in 2018.” Meanwhile, 45 percent of healthcare workers “reported not getting seven hours a night. For many, the norm was six or even just five hours.” https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/28/773622789/working-americans-are-getting-less-sleep-especially-those-who-save-our-lives