June 29, 2007, 5:09 AM CT

New Method For Screening Drug-resistant Forms Of Hiv

A growing number of drug-resistant strains of HIV are a threat to the effectiveness of current therapys despite anti-HIV drug cocktails decreasing the number of HIV-related deaths and improving the quality of life for HIV patients. Existing methods of detecting drug-resistant forms of HIV are expensive, time consuming, and often fail to identify small populations of drug-resistant HIV. Now, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have developed a drug resistance screening method that analyzes multiple HIV variants at the same time, while also saving time and money.

By combining two genetic tests, Frederic D. Bushman, PhD, Professor of Microbiology, and his colleagues, rapidly obtained gene sequences from multiple drug-resistant HIV samples at once. The study appeared online this month in Nucleic Acids Research.

There is considerable interest in identifying minor drug resistant variants previous to initiating new treatment, in order to allow therapy with the most effective drugs, explains Bushman. Treatment of HIV infection often fails because viruses mutate to resist drugs. Under the pressure of drug therapy, small populations of resistant viruses can quickly grow to become the majority, resulting in therapy failure due to drug resistance......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 27, 2007, 6:55 PM CT

Autism theory put to the test with new technology

Next time you lose your car keys and enlist the family to help you search, try a little experiment. After your spouse searches an area, go and look in the same place. It will likely feel strange, even irritating to both of you - and thats because you may be fighting an ancient, hard-wired, human behaviour pattern.

The behavioural phenomenon is called inhibition of return and for our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors it made a lot of sense. As Dr. Tim Welsh explains, This behaviour likely developed through evolution to increase search efficiency. Returning to search an area that someone else has already searched doesnt make a lot of sense from a survival point of view because theyve either found the food and eaten it, or theres no food there.

Inhibition of return has been well-documented over the years, but Welsh is interested in measuring exactly how the actions of another individual affect our own, and whether people with autism react differently than the rest of the population. To test this Welsh, a professor in the Faculties of Kinesiology and Medicine, came up with a unique and elegant experiment that uses some cutting-edge technology.

In Welshs set-up, two subjects sit across from each other wearing, liquid crystal goggles. They are told to reach for a lighted target in front of them......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 27, 2007, 6:53 PM CT

'Knockout' technique tested successfully on mice

Allergies, like the common cold and asthma, have basically defied the best efforts of modern medicine to cure them. Now, a doctoral candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Pharmacy has come up with a new approach that offers hope for getting rid of them.

For his efforts, Chilean-born Ido Bachelet, a first cousin of the president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Francesca Levi-Schaffer, has been named the winner of one of this years Barenholz Prizes for Creativity and Originality in Applied Research. The award, named for its donor, Yehezkel Barenholz, the Dr. Daniel G. Miller Professor of Cancer Research at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, was presented recently during the Hebrew University Board of Governors 70th meeting.

Bachelets research has focused on mechanisms that regulate the function of mast cells the villains in triggering allergic reactions. When exposed to allergens, mast cells react violently and release an enormous array of pro-inflammatory substances, of which histamine is a well known example. These substances lead to acute symptoms ranging from stuffy nose, rash, and airway constriction to the lethal shock known from food or venom allergies. Later on, they attract inflammatory cells that will maintain the response, which often persists as a chronic disease......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 27, 2007, 6:34 PM CT

'CARS' imaging reveals clues to myelin damage

Scientists have discovered that calcium ions could play a crucial role in multiple sclerosis by activating enzymes that degrade the fatty sheath that insulates nerve fibers.

Learning exactly how the myelin sheath is degraded might enable researchers to determine how to halt disease progress and reverse damage by growing new myelin, said Ji-Xin Cheng, an assistant professor in Purdue University's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry.

"Eventhough multiple sclerosis has been studied for a number of years, nobody knows exactly how the disease initially begins," he said. "The pathway is not clear".

Purdue scientists used an imaging technique called coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, or CARS, to study how the myelin sheath is degraded by a molecule called lysophosphatidylcholine, known as LPC. The LPC does not cause multiple sclerosis, but it is used extensively in laboratory research to study the deterioration of myelin, which insulates nerve fibers and enables them to properly conduct impulses in the spinal cord, brain and peripheral nervous system throughout the body.

The findings suggest that LPC causes sheath degradation by allowing an influx of calcium ions into the myelin. The increased concentration of calcium ions then activates two enzymes - calpain and cytosolic phospholipase A2 - which break down proteins and molecules in the myelin called lipids......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 27, 2007, 6:18 PM CT

Neuroimaging Study Supports Ancient Buddhist Teachings

Why does putting our feelings into words - talking with a therapist or friend, writing in a journal - help us to feel better? A new brain imaging study by UCLA psychology experts reveals why verbalizing our feelings makes our sadness, anger and pain less intense.

Another study, with the same participants and three of the same members of the research team, combines modern neuroscience with ancient Buddhist teachings to provide the first neural evidence for why "mindfulness" - the ability to live in the present moment, without distraction - seems to produce a variety of health benefits.

When people see a photograph of an angry or fearful face, they have increased activity in a region of the brain called the amygdala, which serves as an alarm to activate a cascade of biological systems to protect the body in times of danger. Researchers see a robust amygdala response even when they show such emotional photographs subliminally, so fast a person can't even see them.

But does seeing an angry face and simply calling it an angry face change our brain response? The answer is yes, as per Matthew D. Lieberman, UCLA associate professor of psychology and a founder of social cognitive neuroscience.

"When you attach the word 'angry,' you see a decreased response in the amygdala," said Lieberman, lead author of the study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Psychological Science......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 27, 2007, 6:06 AM CT

Pitched Debate Over Anemia-Fighting Drugs

The recent issue of Elsevier's Community Oncology takes an in-depth look at the charge that ESAs, generally considered vital to cancer patients' quality of life, are overprescribed for profit. Scientists, oncologists, and critics of oncologists are in a heated debate now over the use of ESAs, or erythropoiesis-stimulating agents-drugs that fight anemia by boosting levels of oxygen-carrying red blood cells and the protein hemoglobin.

A number of cancer patients, suffering from fatigue and symptomatic anemia as side effects of their disease and its therapy, are prescribed ESAs-also known as EPO (epoetin alfa, or Procrit) and DARB (darbepoetin alfa, or Aranesp). New data-mostly from studies of off-label uses-on potentially dangerous side effects such as blood clots, and on survival rates, are prompting some researchers to recommend that the US Food and Drug Administration effectively curtail the use of ESAs. Adding fuel to this debate is the fact that the drugs are costly, and some critics have accused oncologists of overprescribing them, swayed by drug company rebates.

"The question is whether trained oncologists will be allowed to make the best clinical decision for each patient, or whether rationing-which isn't based on scientific evidence but on an economic policy tug-of-war-becomes the standard," says Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Community Oncology. "The current issue of the journal puts the debate in clear focus."........ Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 27, 2007, 5:26 AM CT

Sweden's early baby boom provides lessons for US

Sweden, like much of Scandinavia, is known for its high quality care for elderly adults. Most importantly, the system helps to keep elderly adults independent. With the growing demand brought on by aging baby boomers however, the government has been challenged to maintain this high level of services.

In response, the government has become instead more efficient and surprisingly the proportion of elderly adults with the greatest needs the disabled population receiving no help - has barely declined, as per a research studyled by Temple University researcher Adam Davey in the recent issue of Ageing and Society.

Swedens baby boom happened earlier than in the United States, giving us a sneak peek at what our own future might look like, said Davey. As were faced with an aging population, its important to look to other countries for their successes and models. Davey, a gerontologist, studies issues correlation to aging populations including caregiving networks and retirement trends.

Davey found home and community services for elderly adults in Sweden are now more tightly linked to needs and families have also become more involved, especially for people with low to moderate levels of need. By targeting services towards people with the moderate needs, they can live more independently longer. These services include visiting homemakers and meal delivery services......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 25, 2007, 9:25 PM CT

Intensive-care patients with alcohol problems

More than 300,000 patients receive mechanical ventilation during intensive care per year in the United States, even though the hospital mortality rate for ventilated patients can approach 50 percent. New findings indicate that medical patients with an alcohol-use disorder (AUD) are more likely to require mechanical ventilation, and/or need it for a longer period of time.

Results are reported in the recent issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

Mechanical ventilation is linked to a high economic burden, costing a median $32,000 to $56,000 per patient, with younger patients having higher expenses in comparison to older patients, said Marjolein de Wit, assistant professor of medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, and corresponding author for the study.

She added that the majority of medical patients with a critical illness have multiple comorbidities such as diabetes, renal failure, heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver, and chronic obstructive lung disease. These comorbidities make it more difficult to recover from critical illness. Furthermore, said de Wit, certain critical illnesses such as acute respiratory distress syndrome carry a high mortality largely because of limited therapy availability.

In addition, noted de Wit, AUDs are very common in patients who require admission to the intensive-care unit. The rates of AUD are region dependent and thus vary from hospital to hospital, she said. At my institution, we estimate that more than 40 percent of our medical intensive-care unit patients have AUDs. Other scientists have reported a rate of more than 30 percent in their medical intensive-care unit......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 25, 2007, 8:32 PM CT

Personal comments by physicians

In well-intentioned efforts to establish relationships, some physicians tell patients about their own family members, health problems, travel experiences and political beliefs.

While such disclosures seem an important way to build a personal connection, a University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry investigation of secretly-recorded first-time patient visits to experienced primary care physicians has found these personal disclosures have no demonstrable benefits and may even disrupt the flow of important patient information.

The journal Archives of Internal Medicine publishes the surprising results of the investigation in the June 25 issue. The researchers found doctor self-disclosures in about a third of patient visits. The disclosures were often non sequiturs, unattached to any discussion in the visit and focused more on the physicians needs than the patients needs. The disclosures interrupted the flow of information exchange and valuable patient time in the typically time-pressured primary care visit. Investigators found no examples of a doctor making a statement that led back from the self-disclosure to the patients concern.

Most doctors think self-disclosure is a good idea for building relationships, said Susan H. McDaniel, Ph.D., lead author of the article and a professor of psychiatry and family medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. The health care system now requires doctors to see a number of patients. Visits to the doctor often are short and anything that is a waste of time takes away from getting to what the patient needs......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

June 25, 2007, 8:31 PM CT

Can you hear me now?

Scientists have shown that bone marrow stem cells injected into a damaged inner ear can speed hearing recovery after partial hearing loss. The related report by Kamiya et al, Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation accelerates hearing recovery through the repair of injured cochlear fibrocytes, appears in the recent issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

Hearing loss has a number of causes, including genetics, aging, and infection, and may be complete or partial. Such loss may involve damage to inner ear cells called cochlear fibrocytes, which are fundamental to inner ear function. Some natural regeneration of these cells can occur after acute damage, leading to partial recovery of temporary hearing loss. But could such restoration be enhanced by using bone marrow stem cells, which can differentiate into various tissue-specific cell types".

Dr. Tatsuo Matsunaga of National Tokyo Medical Center pursued this hypothesis by utilizing a well-characterized rat model of drug-induced hearing loss. This model specifically destroys cochlear fibrocytes and leads to acute hearing loss. Eventhough partial recovery occurs over a number of weeks, high-frequency hearing remains extremely diminished. Using this system, the researchers examined whether direct administration of stem cells into the inner ear could restore the cochlear fibrocyte population and aid hearing recovery......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source