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Huge Number Of Infections Prevented In Intensive Care Units |
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2013-05-15 |
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New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that as many as 200,000 central line-associated... |
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Creative design and expert engineering has helped ComforTrac produce the industrys most state of the art traction devices.
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| HIV gel gets standing ovation |
2010-07-21 |
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The world Aids forum set aside rows about politics and funding on Tuesday, as delegates cheered South African scientists who announced a breakthrough in the quest for a vaginal cream to protect women from HIV.In a packed hall in Vienna, researchers, policymakers and activists gave three standing ovations to a presentation of trial data that some hailed as a landmark in the 29-year war on Aids. Several hundred others watched from a spillover room.The prototype is the first microbicide gel to offer a strong degree of protection against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).The South African team unveiled results, published the day before in the US journal Science, from the second phase of a three-stage trial.Opens up a new frontIf confirmed, the work will open up a new front in a war that has destroyed more than 25 million lives and cast a dark shadow over 33 million people infected by HIV."We are all very excited by the results," Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told a press conference."This is the first time that there has been an unequivocally significant demonstration of the ability to block (HIV) acquisition in women by a microbicide."
Further scrutiny is needed of the gel's safety and effectiveness before it can be released to the public, a process that typically takes several years, experts cautioned.Questions remain about whether its level of protection is good enough or should be boosted, and how the product would perform outside the tightly-controlled conditions of a pharmaceutical trial.'Weapon of mighty proportions'But if these obstacles are overcome, a weapon of mighty proportions could emerge.It would add to the tiny arsenal of options for preventing the spread of HIV. And it would empower women, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, facing coercive sex from an infected partner who refuses to wear a condom."If we implemented the gel in a way similar to the trial we could prevent 1.3 million new infections and 800,000 deaths in South Africa alone over the next 20 years," said Salim Abdool Karim of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa, or CAPRISA, who co-led the research with his wife, Quarraisha."This is good news for women, good news for the field, and a good day for science," Yasmin Halima, director of the Global Campaign for Microbicides, said.Study followed ethical guidelinesThe gel was tested under tight ethical guidelines among 889 women in urban and rural South Africa, who were HIV-free at the start of the project.Half the women received the cream - the first microbicide to contain an antiretroviral drug commonly used to treat HIV-infected people - while the others used a placebo, a harmless but non-active lookalike.Using the gel reduced the risk of HIV infection by 39% overall, but for women who used the cream most consistently the protection was 54%.The formula was also safe, easing a major worry in microbicide research, where two previous trials catastrophically boosted the risk of infection.'One of the greatest trials in history'Jean-Francois Delfraissy, executive director of France's National Agency for Aids Research (ANRS), said the work was "one of the greatest trials in the history of HIV".Even so, there remained no "magic bullet" on prevention, but a panoply of methods, including safe sex and male circumcision, he told AFP.The microbicide was not tested in anal intercourse, where statistical studies suggest the infection risk can be 10 times higher than for vaginal sex, Ward Cates, president of research at Family Health International (FHI), a major US NGOs, told AFP.More than two-thirds of people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. In this region, 60% of new infections occur among women and girls.The 18th International Aids Conference, a six-day event running until Friday, was soured in opening debates over a slump in funding, triggered by the economic recession.Activists rowdily accused President Barack Obama of reneging on Aids pledges, prompting his predecessor, Bill Clinton, to mount a defence of the White House incumbent and urge campaigners to squeeze every dollar at a time of belt-tightening. - (Richard Ingham/Sapa/AFP, July 2010) |
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| Author: Richard Ingham/Sapa/ |
| New Brain Scan Diagnoses Autism In Adults |
2010-09-01 |
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New Brain Scan Diagnoses Autism In Adults UK scientists have developed a new type of brain scan that only takes 15 minutes and can diagnose autism in adults with over 90 per cent accuracy: they hope to develop it so it can be used to screen children for autism spectrum disorders.
Study leader Dr Christine Ecker, a Lecturer in the Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences from the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London, and supervisor Dr Declan Murphy, Professor of Psychiatry and Brain Maturation at the IoP, and colleagues wrote a paper about their pioneering work that is to be published in The Journal of Neuroscience today, 11th of August.
Using an MRI scanner and 3D imaging techniques, Ecker, Murphy and colleagues assessed the structure, shape and thickness of of the brain's grey matter, looking at key measurement markers of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
They studied the brains of 59 male adults aged between 20 and 68 years. 20 of the participants had ASD and 19 had ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder); the other 20 were healthy controls.
The participants first underwent traditional diagnostic assessment, which included taking an IQ test, being interviewed by a psychiatrist and having a physical exam and blood test.
The researchers then tested all the participants with the new brain scan and 3D image method and found it was highly effective in identifying the individuals who had been diagnosed with autism.
They concluded that the method provided a rapid diagnostic tool based on biological markers to detect autism.
Anyone who has experience of ASD knows the huge difference having a rapid test that uses physiological markers as opposed to personality traits to assess whether a person has ASD would make, as Ecker explained to the press:
"It could help to alleviate the need for the emotional, time consuming and expensive diagnosis process which ASD patients and families currently have to endure."
She said she and her colleagues were now looking forward to testing the method for helping children.
Murphy explained that people with autism are affected in different ways:
"Some can lead relatively independent lives while others need specialist support or are so severely affected they cannot communicate their feelings and frustrations at all."
"Simply being diagnosed means patients can take the next steps to get help and improve their quality of life," he said.
However, he cautioned that there are also ethical implications, for instance people who may not suspect they have autism must be handled carefully and sensitively should this method become part of standard clinical practice.
The study comes under the auspices of the AIMS (Autism Imaging Multicentre Study) Consortium, which is funded by the UK's Medical Research Council, with additional assistance from the Wellcome Trust and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
Professor Christopher Kennard, who chairs the MRC's Neuroscience and Mental Health funding board, spoke of the impact that investing in this new method, and others like it, can make:
"We know that an investment like this can dramatically affect the quality of life for patients and their families."
"The more we understand about the biological basis of autism, the better equipped we will be to find new ways of treating those affected in the future," he added.
About 1 per cent of the UK population, in the region of half a million people, are affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a lifelong and disabling condition caused by abnormalities in brain development.
More men than women have ASD (the ratio is one woman to every four men) and current diagnostic methods rely heavily on information gleaned from personal accounts given by patients' close friends and relatives. The process takes a long time involving many experts to interpret the information.
"Describing the brain in autism in five dimensions - MRI-assisted diagnosis using a multi-parameter classification approach."
Christine Ecker et al.
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| Author: Catharine Paddock, P |
| Malaria Mosquito Population Dropping In Many Parts Of Africa, Nobody Is Sure Why |
2011-08-29 |
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Mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite have virtually disappeared in several parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Danish researchers reported in the journal Malaria Journal; they add that the incidence of Malaria in those regions is dropping dramatically, and nobody appears to know what the reason is. The scientists say they have some hypotheses, but cannot tell whether the disease is being eradicated, or whether it is just a case of malaria resting up before coming back with a vengeance.
Dan Meyrowitsch, Associate Professor at the Dept of Health Services Research, the University of Copenhagen, said:
"Many of our fellow malaria researchers think that the fall in countries such as Tanzania, Eritrea, Rwanda, Kenya and Zambia shows that all the control programmes are working, particularly the use of mosquito nets.
"That just isn't the whole story. For more than ten years we have been collecting and counting the number of mosquitoes in Tanzanian villages. The number in our traps fell from 5300 in 2004 to just 14 in 2009, and these were from villages without mosquito nets." Is the malaria decline due to climatic changes?There was a 99% drop in the mosquito population that carries malaria towards the end of the 1990s, which experts put down to a serious fall in rainfall. This present phenomenon could be caused by global climate changes, the authors wrote.
Meyrowitsch said:
"From 2003 to 2009 the volume of precipitation was more stable, but the rain was more chaotic and fell outside the rainy season. And this may have disturbed the natural cycle of mosquito development.
Of course it is great that the number of malaria-related fatalities among children has fallen drastically in the last five or six years, but we need to know why!" "
As the investigators can rule out mosquito nets, they are wondering whether the mosquitoes have become ill, perhaps people have been applying pesticides, or whether it has something to do with the chaotic precipitation patterns that have developed recently.
Meyrowitsch explained:
"Unless we find the answer we will not be able to predict when the malaria mosquitoes will come back, and that could rapidly prove critical." Long periods with no malaria leads to a drop in immunityA large number of people, including children, have not been exposed to malaria over the last six years. They have either lost or never developed immunity to Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria parasite that historically has caused many deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.
If infected mosquitoes suddenly return in large numbers, there is a risk of serious malaria epidemics and many deaths, unless the people and their health authorities are prepared. Some details on this studyHistorically, malaria with the parasite Plasmodium falciparum has been the cause of many deaths and illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa. Huge areas of SSA (sub-Saharan Africa) over the last few years have become virtually disease free, even in areas with no or very little intervention.
The Danish research team set out to determine what temporal changes had occurred in Anopheline populations in two communities of north east Tanzania from 1998 to 2009 - these two communities have historically been highly malaria-endemic ones.
Their research covered two periods, the 1st Period (1998-2001) and the 2nd Period (2003-2009). CDC light traps were used to collect mosquitoes on a weekly bases from 50 family homes. Nearby climate stations were used to gather rainfall data. This data was analyzed to determine whether climate could be linked to mosquito populations.
They gathered data on Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus, two types of mosquitoes that can carry the malaria parasite.
Below are some highlighted results of their findings: - 1st Period (1998-2001)
Anopheles gambiae population dropped by 76.8%
Anopheles funestus population dropped by 55.3% - 2nd Period (2003-2009)
Anopheles gambiae population dropped by 99.7%
Anopheles funestus population dropped by 99.8%
During a 12-month period in 2009 only 14 mosquitoes (of both types) were found, out of 2,368 traps.
The researchers identified a link between a drop in the An. Gambiae mosquito population and a decline in rainfall only during the 1st Period, not the 2nd Period. |
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| Author: Katia Dias |
| Revealing 'Hidden' Differences Of Chromosome Organization |
2011-08-29 |
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Why do different species have dissimilar sets of chromosomes? Why do the differentiated species often conserve apparently identical chromosome complements? Furthermore, why, while chromosome rearrangements can considerably change the course of species evolution, do certain variation among individuals and populations of some species persist indefinitely? Such questions motivate researchers to compare chromosomes in closely related species.
To understand the nature of chromosome changes in the voles Microtus savii, researchers from the Rome State University "Sapienza" launched a molecular cytogenetic study. Three of the five Italian forms of pine voles showed remarkable differences in chromosomal distribution of two molecular markers. Analyzing these data and weighing them against previously obtained genetic information, the authors expect to improve the taxonomy of these rodents and to track the pathway of their chromosomal evolution.
The Italian pine voles have long been known as a "species complex", namely the Microtus savii complex. The group includes five "forms": "savii", "brachycercus", "nebrodensis", "niethammericus", and "tolfetanus", distributed throughout the Apennine peninsula. The most widely dispersed is "savii"; "brachycercus" lives in Calabria, "niethammericus" inhabits the Southeast part of the peninsula, while "nebrodensis" is restricted to Sicily.
These ground voles have evolved at different times either with or without chromosomal rearrangements. Chromosomal distribution of specific genes and DNA sequences can help to distinguish between related species with very similar, apparently identical, chromosomes. By localization of such molecular "markers" on chromosomes, or so-called "physical mapping", researchers find evidence of differences that are normally invisible to the microscope. These differences indicate "hidden" processes of chromosome diversification. |
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| Author: Katia Dias |
| An 'Unconventional' Path To Correcting Cystic Fibrosis |
2011-09-06 |
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Researchers have identified an unconventional path that may correct the defect underlying cystic fibrosis, according to a report in the September 2nd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. This new treatment dramatically extends the lives of mice carrying the disease-associated mutation.
Cystic Fibrosis is caused by a mutation in a gene responsible for the transport of ions across cell membranes. This gene encodes a protein channel, called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator or CFTR, that is normally found on the surfaces of cells lining the airway and intestine. In patients with the disease, the channels don't make it from inside cells to their surfaces along the standard path. As a result ions and fluids fail to move in and out of cells as they should, causing mucus build-up and chronic lung infections.
The new study identifies an unexpected way to send the mutant proteins to the surface where they can restore ion transport. A protein normally localized to membranes inside cells, called GRASP65, is co-opted to escort mutant CFTR channels to the cell surface by following a "detour" route.
"Many have searched for the so-called CFTR correctors that can aid the surface expression of mutant CFTR through conventional trafficking," said Min Goo Lee, senior author of this study. Some molecules have shown promise in the laboratory, but none have led to the development of commercially available therapies so far.
"In this study, we discovered that CFTR surface trafficking can be rescued by an alternative route that former investigators had not expected."
Mice carrying the cystic fibrosis-linked mutation typically live for less than 3 months. In those that produce higher levels of GRASP65, only 1 out of 20 of the CFTR-mutant mice died in those first 3 months. Importantly, the transport of ions by CFTR in the animals' intestinal lining was also restored to more than 60 percent of the level seen in normal, healthy mice.
The findings may ultimately have real treatment implications for those with cystic fibrosis or other genetic diseases stemming from problems with the transport of proteins that are folded incorrectly.
"We made a small step in understanding cell biology," Lee says. "We hope this could turn out to be a giant leap in future clinical medicine, especially for treating human genetic diseases."
In the U.S., cystic fibrosis is the most common deadly inherited disorder, according to PubMed Health. One in 29 Caucasian Americans carry the cystic fibrosis mutation, and those with two copies of the mutant gene will develop the disease. |
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| Author: Katia Dias |
| Infants Trained To Concentrate Show Added Benefits |
2011-09-06 |
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Although parents may have a hard time believing it, even infants can be trained to improve their concentration skills. What's more, training babies in this way leads to improvements on other, unrelated tasks.
The findings reported online on September 1 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, are in contrast to reports in adults showing that training at one task generally doesn't translate into improved performance on other, substantially different tasks. They also may have important implications for improving success in school, particularly for those children at risk of poor outcomes, the researchers say.
"Research suggests that differences in attentional control abilities emerge early in development and that children with better attentional control subsequently learn better in academic settings," said Sam Wass of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, University of London. "The connection is an intuitively obvious one: the better a child is at concentrating on one object, such as a book, and ignoring distractions, for instance people moving around a room, the better that child is going to learn. We show that attentional control abilities can be trained at a much earlier age than had previously been thought possible."
The researchers trained 11-month-old infants to direct their gaze toward images they observed on a computer screen. For example, in one task, a butterfly flew only as long as the babies kept their eyes on it while other distracting elements appeared on screen. Infants visited the lab five times over the course of 15 days. Half of the 42 babies took part in training, while the other half watched TV. Each child was tested for cognitive abilities at the beginning and end of the study.
Trained infants rapidly improved their ability to focus their attention for longer periods and to shift their attention from one point to another. They also showed improvements in their ability to spot patterns and small but significant changes in their spontaneous looking behavior while playing with toys.
"Our results appeared to show an improved ability to alter the frequency of eye movements in response to context," Wass said. "In the real world, sometimes we want to be able to focus on one object of interest and ignore distractions, and sometimes we want to be able to shift the focus of our attention rapidly around a room-for example, for language learning in social situations. This flexibility in the allocation of attention appeared to improve after training."
The fact that the babies' improvements in concentration transferred to a range of tasks supports the notion that there is greater plasticity in the unspecialized infant brain.
"In other words, if we want to substantially alter cognitive development, it may be that the earlier we start, the better," Wass said.
There is one caveat: It remains unclear whether babies' developing and "trainable" brains might tend to lose newfound skills just as readily as they gain them.
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| Author: Katia Dias |
| Drop In Malaria Incidence, Despite Climate Change |
2011-09-19 |
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According to scientific journal PLoS ONE, new research discovered that incidents of malaria cases in the East African highlands have dropped dramatically. 10 years ago, the region experienced a surge in malaria incidents, which researchers associated with climate change.
Lead author Professor David Stern from the Crawford School of Economics and Government at The Australian National University and his team based at Oxford University and in Kenya, carried out a study to evaluate trends in mean temperature and malaria cases across the East African highlands.
Stern said that there has been considerable controversy on whether or not climate changes affected East Africa and if there was a possible association with the rise in malaria incidences.
According to his research published in 2002 in Nature, the region showed no statistically significant trend in temperatures, which led to a heated debate about what caused the region's increase in malaria at the time.
The new research utilizes recently developed statistical tests to a quality controlled temperature series from Kericho in East Africa, which revealed a statistically significant trend when data from the last 15 years was included.
Stern said that the number of malaria cases admitted to the local hospital dropped significantly during the last ten years. Surveys in the area revealed declines in the prevalence of the malaria parasite, which reflects a global decline in the disease.
Stern concluded by saying:
"This research suggests that, while climate change is expected to have many serious impacts, other factors including medical interventions appear to be more important in determining the incidence of malaria."
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| Author: Katia Dias |
| Drop In Malaria Incidence, Despite Climate Change |
2011-09-19 |
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According to scientific journal PLoS ONE, new research discovered that incidents of malaria cases in the East African highlands have dropped dramatically. 10 years ago, the region experienced a surge in malaria incidents, which researchers associated with climate change.
Lead author Professor David Stern from the Crawford School of Economics and Government at The Australian National University and his team based at Oxford University and in Kenya, carried out a study to evaluate trends in mean temperature and malaria cases across the East African highlands.
Stern said that there has been considerable controversy on whether or not climate changes affected East Africa and if there was a possible association with the rise in malaria incidences.
According to his research published in 2002 in Nature, the region showed no statistically significant trend in temperatures, which led to a heated debate about what caused the region's increase in malaria at the time.
The new research utilizes recently developed statistical tests to a quality controlled temperature series from Kericho in East Africa, which revealed a statistically significant trend when data from the last 15 years was included.
Stern said that the number of malaria cases admitted to the local hospital dropped significantly during the last ten years. Surveys in the area revealed declines in the prevalence of the malaria parasite, which reflects a global decline in the disease.
Stern concluded by saying:
"This research suggests that, while climate change is expected to have many serious impacts, other factors including medical interventions appear to be more important in determining the incidence of malaria."
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| Author: Katia Dias |
| In Cardiovascular Disease, Is It The Alcohol Or Polyphenols In Red Wine That Benefits Patients? |
2012-01-19 |
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Observational epidemiologic studies relating wine and alcohol to health all suffer from the fact that they, of necessity, compare people who prefer certain beverages, but not the beverages themselves. While there have been many intervention trials in animals, randomized trials in humans are less common. Randomized crossover trials, in which each subject receives all interventions in sequence, can be especially important as they tend to avoid baseline differences among subjects and can detect effects of different interventions with smaller numbers of subjects.
This study by Chiva-Blanch G et al, just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, included 67 male volunteers in Spain who were considered to be at "high-risk" of cardiovascular disease on the basis of increased BMI, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, or other risk factors. About one half of the individuals were taking ACE inhibitors, statins, aspirin, and/or oral hypoglycemic drugs, so the results of this study may be especially relevant for patients in the real world.
The subjects agreed to not consume any alcohol for a baseline period, then for three one-month periods consumed 30 g/day of alcohol as red wine or as gin, or an equivalent amount of phenolics from dealcoholized red wine. The polyphenol contents of the RW and the DRW interventions were the same. A very high degree of compliance of the subjects with the assigned interventions is evidenced by results of counting numbers of empty bottles of the intervention beverage returned, dietary records, urinary metabolites, etc. Further, there is good evidence that there were no important changes between periods in diet or exercise habits. The effects of each intervention on a large number of adhesion molecules and chemokines that affect inflammation and relate to the development of vascular disease were evaluated.
The key results of the study were that both ethanol and nonalcoholic compounds in red wine have potentially protective effects that may reduce the risk of vascular disease. Specifically, the authors conclude that "the phenolic content of red wine may modulate leukocyte adhesion molecules, whereas both ethanol and polyphenols of red wine may modulate soluble inflammatory mediators in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease."
Specific comments on the study: Most reviewers considered this to be a well-done, comprehensive study. As one reviewer commented: "This is an excellent paper. The results strongly indicate an effect of wine polyphenols on inflammation (in broad and modern terms) and this is just what we expect from the biochemistry and nutritional effects of fruits and vegetables. The effect of ethanol, on the other hand, likely fits a hormetic mechanism, where low doses regularly supplied are protective while high doses in a single shot are worsening the progression of disease." Another reviewer added: "We need more information on separating the effects of beer, wine, and various types of spirits. Some spirits like brandy and whisky can have useful antioxidant effects, so distinguishing effects among different types of beverages may be informative."
Another Forum reviewer commented: "This is a very interesting paper that goes a way towards answering the question whether it is the alcohol or polyphenols in red wine that confer the health benefits. The trial was well conducted and controlled, with very detailed analyses. It would have been interesting to analyse any changes in conventional risk factors after the interventions. It would also have been interesting in the study to determine the effects on vascular function by, for example, brachial artery activity (flow mediated dilatation)."
Given that the effects of both alcohol and polyphenols on physiologic factors (e.g., platelet function, fibrinolysis) are transient, generally lasting for no more than 24 hours, it was appropriate that the subjects in this study were instructed to consume the intervention substance (RW, gin, DRW) on a daily basis. When drinking is moderate, there is no evidence that having "alcohol-free days" is beneficial to health. Indeed, most epidemiologic studies show better health effects from daily consumption rather than from drinking on a few days per week.
Concerns about the present study: One Forum reviewer stated: "This appears to be a carefully designed and well executed study, but I have four concerns: (1) The study has been undertaken in high-risk individuals, more than half of whom are hypertensive, a quarter dyslipidaemic, and a quarter diabetic. It is not described what happened to the conventional risk factors during the interventions. (For example, any improvement in inflammatory markers may have come at the cost of higher blood pressure with the alcohol interventions.) (2) Was there any weight change that could have confounded any of the outcomes? (3) Both polyphenol and alcohol biomarkers were measured - did the change in these biomarkers correlate with the changes in any of the inflammatory markers; i.e., any suggestion of a dose response relationship? (4) Even though at least 30 outcome variables were assessed, the authors do not describe any correction for multiple comparisons."
Another Forum reviewer: "This is a well conducted study, and adds to our understanding of the potential cardiovascular benefits of alcohol and the non-alcoholic compounds of alcoholic beverages. However, in this study more than one-half of the high-risk subjects consumed drugs with known anti-inflammatory effects, which could be a confounding factor. The anti-inflammatory effects of these pharmaceuticals may be responsible for the beneficial results, and may not be related to the RW, DRW and gin interventions." However, others think that this concern is unlikely to be important since this was a crossover study, and there were no changes in lifestyle or medication use between the intervention periods.
The key results of the study were that both ethanol and nonalcoholic compounds in red wine have potentially protective effects that may reduce the risk of vascular disease. Specifically, the authors conclude that "the phenolic content of red wine may modulate leukocyte adhesion molecules, whereas both ethanol and polyphenols of red wine may modulate soluble inflammatory mediators in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease." Thus, this study provides important new mechanistic evidence that the reduced risk of cardiovascular disease among red wine drinkers observed in most epidemiologic studies may result from a combination of both the alcohol and the polyphenols in the wine.
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| Author: Admin |
| South Africa Recalls Millions Of Condoms |
2012-02-03 |
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Health authorities in South Africa have recalled more than a million condoms that were handed out in the lead up to the African National Congress centenary celebrations.
The action was taken after South Africa's HIV group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) issued a warning, having received complaints from the public, that large numbers of faulty condoms appeared to be in circulation in the Bloemfontein area.
8,700 boxes of condoms, with the South African Bureau of Standards stamp, were delivered to guesthouses, hotels, restaurants and bars before the ANC celebrations. Authorities are still investigating complaints that the condoms are porous. The Free State Health Department said the recall, which they estimate at 1.35 million condoms is just a "precautionary measure" and asked the public not to be alarmed.
TAC's Sello Mokhalipi told the BBC that condoms :"Are still out there in large numbers and that is of great concern to us ... The complaints are that the condoms broke during intercourse."
He continued that the TAC conducted its own investigations using some of the condoms handed out during the centenary celebrations and discovered them to be porous :
Free State Health Department spokesperson Jabu Mbalula said the health authority would not be able to make a clear statement on the issue until it had conducted its own tests on the condoms recovered from the handouts.
This is the first time that Free State province, which has a population of 5.5 million people, needed to recall condoms, although it's not the first time that South Africa has had problems of this kind. In August 2007 when 20 million contraceptives were recalled after "hundreds of thousands" were found to be faulty.
South Africa, having one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, has in recent years made a push to promote awareness and condom use.
Written by Rupert Shepherd |
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| Author: Admin |
| Hope For Early Alzheimer's Test In Spinal Fluid |
2012-02-13 |
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New research led by Nottingham University in the UK suggests abnormal levels of seven proteins in spinal fluid could be markers for the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, raising hopes of a test for a disease that is difficult to diagnose at the beginning. The researchers write about their findings in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
Study co-author Dr Kevin Morgan, professor of Human Genomics and Molecular Genetics at Nottingham, told the press on Tuesday that the findings are "a new lead for improving early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease".
An early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease would help people prepare for the future and also enable them to be involved in clinical trials at a much earlier stage of the disease, when treatments are more likely to show positive results, he added.
About 820,000 people in the UK have dementia, of which Alzheimer's disease is the most common form. Dementia often develops slowly and is not always obvious in the early stages. It can be difficult to distinguish from the mild forgetfulness often seen in normal ageing.
Morgan and colleagues compared samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 33 people with Alzheimer's disease, 10 people with mild cognitive impairment, and 20 healthy older people. Mild cognitive impairment is a condition where people have problems with thinking and memory but not to an extent that it interferes with everyday life.
They compiled profiles of the proteins in each sample and then compared them with each other to see if they could find something distinctive in the samples from people with Alzheimer's disease.
The results showed that the samples from people with Alzheimer's diseases tended to have higher levels of four proteins, and lower levels of three other proteins.
A protein called SPARCL1 proved to be the strongest predictor for Alzheimer's. When the researchers tested the samples using only this protein, they could tell whether a person had Alzheimer's disease to an accuracy of 65%.
This accuracy went up to 95% when they tested for abnormal levels of all seven proteins.
The researchers repeated the tests with a new set of CSF samples from 32 healthy people and 30 people with Alzheimer's disease. This time, when they tested for all seven proteins, the accuracy was 85%.
The team now plans to use their findings to develop a blood test for an early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
Morgan said:
"It will also be important to investigate what causes these specific proteins to change as Alzheimer's develops."
By understanding the underlying changes in the biochemistry of Alzheimer's, we have a better chance of developing new treatments, he said, adding that:
"Dementia can only be defeated through research, and I hope these findings could take us a step closer to that goal."
Dr Marie Janson, Director of Development at Alzheimer's Research UK, who part-funded the study, said the findings have "opened up a new avenue for research".
She emphasized how difficult it is to diagnose Alzheimer's, as memory problems can be symptomatic of various conditions.
"This study has the potential to help create a vital tool for doctors to identify patients that need further investigation - but these results must now be followed up in order to achieve that goal," she added.
Funds from the Big Lottery Fund and the EU FP6 Program through BIOPATTERN also supported the work.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD |
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| Author: Admin |
| Extra Vitamin C May Help Lower Blood Pressure |
2012-04-23 |
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April 20, 2012 -- Vitamin C supplements may help to lower blood pressure, a new study suggests.In this review study, scientists analyzed data from 29 different clinical trials and about 1,400 adults aged 22 to 74.The median dose of supplemental vitamin C taken by the study participants was 500 milligrams a day over a median of an eight-week period. In people who had high blood pressure, systolic blood pressure (the top number in a reading) dropped by nearly 5 points, while diastolic pressure (the bottom number) dropped by about 1.7 points."Our research suggests a modest blood pressure lowering effect with vitamin C supplementation," researcher Edgar "Pete" R. Miller III, MD, PhD, says in a news release."But before we can recommend supplements as a treatment for high blood pressure, we really need more research to understand the implications of taking them," says Miller, an associate professor in the division of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.Other studies have suggested a possible link between people with higher intakes of vitamin C from food or supplements and lower blood pressure. But the evidence of this effect from clinical trials has been mixed.Nearly 1 in 3 American adults has high blood pressure, which increases their risk for heart disease and stroke. The condition is typically treated by dietary changes, exercise, not smoking, losing weight, and medication.Modest Blood Pressure ChangesAcross all the studies -- some included healthy adults and others had people with high blood pressure -- taking vitamin C supplements at a dose of about 500 milligrams a day appeared to reduce systolic blood pressure by nearly 4 points and diastolic pressure by about 1.5 points in about two months. Fruits and vegetables, especially red pepper, oranges, grapefruits, and kiwi, are the best dietary sources of this antioxidant-rich vitamin.Adult women are advised to get 75 milligrams of vitamin C daily, and it's recommended that adult men get 90 milligrams of the nutrient daily. The Institute of Medicine’s daily maximum limit that is considered safe is 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C for adult males and adult females. But the scientists say that many of the studies were small, and in some of them, vitamin C was taken in addition to blood pressure medication. They are not yet suggesting that the supplement is a natural alternative to drugs that lower pressure.It's unclear whether taking vitamin C for more than two months will achieve long-lasting changes in blood pressure. "Although our review found only a moderate impact on blood pressure, if the entire U.S. population lowered blood pressure by 3 [points], there would be a lot fewer strokes," Miller says. |
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| Author: Admin |
| The Recipe For Immortality |
2012-11-06 |
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The yearning for immortality dates back at least to ancient times. As human brain size increased rapidly over the past million years, our ancestors began to think increasingly about the inevitability of death and the redemptive possibility of everlasting life. Ancient pharaohs, queens, and kings used every means to ensure their vestigial persistence through future ages. They had themselves enshrined in legends, songs, and poems; they had their remains preserved in vast pyramids. Part of the reason for that yearning may lie in the fact that people already live so long and with such self-awareness. Our species is distinctive in its ability to remember and to predict future events based upon past experience. Before the invention of writing, and even afterward, reliable predictions required the presence of memories in a living person. People well past their reproductive years could add value to their tribe by remembering early warning signs of rare phenomena, such as drought, locusts, and disease. In modern times our learning extends even further. It includes postdoctoral studies and on-the-job training that may continue well into our 60s. Like our ancient predecessors, we enshrine the most important bits of our collective knowledge, only in more sophisticated embodiments: scientific publications, books, music, video, websites. Nevertheless, when people die, their wisdom—the memories and mental processes that produced that knowledge—dies too. Throughout history, death was associated with assaults, sickness, and privation. Now an increasingly common cause of death is aging. As the wealth of nations increases and exposure to toxins and infectious agents drops, aging will become the cause of most disease, debility, and death. At the same time, many more people will remain active beyond the age of 100. So, beyond the fear of death, there are practical reasons to explore extending our healthy years. Scientists have much to learn from the longest-lived humans, many of whom will have their DNA sequenced in the next two years. The effort to extend life—and, even more, to extend life’s youthful, vigorous phase—is a clear opportunity for synthetic biology, the technique of extensively engineering the genome. [George Church is a leading researcher in this emerging field.] The cure for aging will probably require a thorough redo of our genome. |
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| Author: Admin |
| Treatment With Two Osteoporosis Drugs Better at Increasing Bone Density Than Single-Drug Therapy |
2013-05-15 |
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May 14, 2013 — A combination of two FDA-approved osteoporosis drugs with different mechanisms of action was found to increase bone density better than treatment with either drug alone in a small clinical trial. As reported in paper receiving Online First publication in The Lancet, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators found that treatment combining denosumab (Prolia) and teriparatide (Forteo) was superior to single-agent treatment in a 12-month trial in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. The authors note that additional study is required before their findings should be put into clinical practice. Bone density in young adults is maintained by a constant interaction between cells called osteoclasts, which break down bone, and osteoblasts, that form new bone. After a woman goes through menopause, both processes accelerate, but the breakdown or resorption of bone increases more, leading to the overall loss of bone density and osteoporosis, a thinning of the bones leading to increased risk of fractures. While several types of drugs that increase bone density -- teriparatide, which stimulates bone formation, and several that block bone resorption -- have been approved for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, none can reliably restore normal bone strength in most patients or eliminate osteoporosis-related fracture risk. Previous trials combining teriparatide with bisphosphonates, which block breakdown, did not show improvement over treatment with a single drug. But some animal studies combining teriparatide with denosumab, which blocks resorption using a different mechanism, suggested a possible benefit, leading the MGH team to design the current trial. They enrolled 100 postmenopausal women determined to be at high fracture risk, based on their bone density and other risk factors, who were randomly divided into three groups. Over the 12-month study period, one group received a subcutaneous 60 mg dose of denosumab every six months, another group self-administered daily 20-microgram injections of teriparatide, and the third received both drugs at the same dosage schedules. Bone density and blood tests were taken at the outset of the study and after 3, 6 and 12 months, and the final analysis included 94 participants who completed at least one follow-up visit. Participants receiving treatment with both drugs had significantly better results than those receiving just one at several measured sites. For example, bone density measured at the lumbar spine increased 6.2 percent with teriparatide alone and 5.5 percent with denosumab, but combination treatment resulted in a 9.1 percent increase. Similar bone density improvements were seen at the hip. In considering possible reasons for this combination's superiority over combined bisphosphonate and teriparatide, Leder explains that teriparatide actually stimulates both bone formation and resorption and that denosumab may more completely block teriparatide-induced resorption while only partially interfering with the drug's stimulation of bone formation. An associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, he notes that longer studies are required in larger groups of patients to assess the combination's ability to reduce fracture risk and its long-term safety. |
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| Author: Admin |
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Treatment With Two Osteoporosis Drugs Better at Increasing Bone Density Than Single-Drug Therapy |
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2013-05-15 |
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May 14, 2013 — A combination of two FDA-approved osteoporosis drugs with different... |
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The Recipe For Immortality |
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2012-11-06 |
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The yearning for immortality dates back at least to ancient times. As human brain size increased rapidly over the past millio... |
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