September 7, 2006, 8:15 PM CT
Breakthrough in Liver Diagnosis technique
That is exciting news from Mayo Clinic. Scientists based in Mayo Clinic have recently devised a new technique for safely performing biopsy of the liver. This new technology uses a painless and safe technique instead of the conventional needle biopsy of the liver. These findings are reported in the current issue of general of radiology.
"This is potentially an important diagnostic advance, since conventional imaging techniques, such as CT, MRI and ultrasound are not capable of identifying liver fibrosis prior to the onset of cirrhosis," says Richard Ehman, M.D., Mayo researcher and lead investigator on the study.
The healthy liver is very soft compared to most other tissues and especially compared to a liver with cirrhosis, which is rock hard. The development by Dr. Ehman and his colleagues applies vibrations to the liver and then utilizes a modified form of MRI to obtain pictures of the mechanical waves passing through the organ. The imaging can be accomplished in as little as 20 seconds. The wave pictures are then processed to generate a quantitative image of tissue stiffness -- called an elastogram.
Researchers compared results of the process on 12 patients with biopsy-proven liver fibrosis with those of 12 healthy participants. This pilot trial of MRE showed strikingly elevated stiffness in patients with fibrosis and that the stiffness increased with the progression of the condition.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
September 7, 2006, 6:04 PM CT
What Is Health?
Health is the functional and/or metabolic efficiency of an organism, at any moment in time, at both the cellular and global levels. In any organism, health is the ability to efficiently respond to challenges (stressors) and effectively restore and sustain a "state of balance," known as homeostasis. Sickness is merely the absence of health. All organisms, from the simplest to the most complex, reside on a spectrum between 100% health and 0% health.
One widely accepted definition of health is that of the World Health Organization (WHO). It states that "health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (WHO, 1946). In more recent years, this statement has been modified to include the ability to lead a "socially and economically productive life." The WHO definition is not without criticism, as some argue that health cannot be defined as a state at all, but must be seen as a process of continuous adjustment to the changing demands of living and of the changing meanings we give to life. The WHO definition is therefore considered by a number of as an idealistic goal rather than a realistic proposition.
The LaLonde report suggested that there are four general determinants of health which he called "human biology", "environment", "lifestyle", and "healthcare organization"[1] Thus, health is maintained through the science and practice of medicine, but can also be improved by individual effort. Physical fitness, weight loss, healthy eating, stress management training and stopping smoking and other substance abuse are examples of steps to improve one's health. Workplace programs are recognized by an increasingly large number of companies for their value in improving health and well-being of their employees, and increasing morale, loyalty and productivity at work. A company may provide a gym with exercise equipment, start smoking cessation programs, provide nutrition, weight or stress management training. Other programs may include health risk assessments, health screenings and body mass index monitoring.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
September 6, 2006, 9:39 PM CT
Two Bacterial Muscle Infections
Researchers in Houston, Texas have found two bacterial muscle infections common in tropical countries becoming more frequent occurrences along with the emergence of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA), according to a study published in the Oct. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.
Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, is a common bacterium found on the skin or in the nose of a quarter to a third of all people. Usually harmless, staph can cause skin infections such as pimples and boils and, less frequently, serious infections of surgical wounds or the bloodstream, and pneumonia. For years, infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus have been treated by inexpensive antibiotics in the penicillin and cephalosporin family.
Some years ago, strains resistant to these drugs, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) appeared in hospitalized patients. Recently, however, newer forms of MRSA began to strike healthy people who have not been recently hospitalized or undergone invasive medical procedures. These community-acquired strains appear to be readily transmitted from person to person and can cause serious skin and soft tissue infections as well as invasive infections such as bone or joint infections or pneumonia. Failure by physicians to suspect this kind of drug-resistant staph can lead to treatment with the wrong antibiotic.........
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September 6, 2006, 8:27 PM CT
340 or moe Immunotherapy Drugs in making
Research and Markets has announced the addition of Immunotherapy in Oncology: Drug Pipeline Update 2006 to their offering.
The immunotherapy field in cancer has never been more potent than it is right now, including block buster drugs like Avastin, Erbitux, and Rituxan. Antibodies are making the headlines but cancer vaccines are not far away. The recent approval of Gardasil, a cervical cancer vaccine, will certainly become a strong representative of its kind. Future challenges for the industry lie in discovering strong antigens, effective immunomodulators and developing suitable delivery technologies.
Today, there are more than 200 companies developing more than 340 immunotherapy drugs in more than 600 clinical trials targeting around 40 different cancer indications. Top five cancer indications in the field are: Melanoma, Breast, Lung, Prostate, and Colorectal.
Read more below how Immunotherapy in Oncology: Drug Pipeline Update is organized:
Investigators Includes more than 200 principal scientists and many more collaborators.
Drug name & Synonyms Lists commercial, generic and code names for drugs. In several hundreds of synonym names.
Developmental stage Contains more than 340 drugs in development:........
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September 6, 2006, 7:52 PM CT
molecule in age-related macular degeneration
Robert Salomon and his graduate students Kutralanathan Renganathan and Liang Lu of Case's Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, found that the molecule, Carboxyethylpyrroles (CEPs), attaches to proteins found in the eye, triggering the uncontrolled growth of blood cells.
The Case researchers teamed up with Quteba Ebrahem Jonathan Sears, Amit Vasanji, John Crabb and Bela Anand-Apte and Xiaorong Gu (a Salomon group alumna), of Cleveland Clinic, to complete the study titled Carboxyethlpyrrole oxidative protein modifications stimulate neovascularization: Implications for age-related macular degeneration."
The results of their collaborative work were published in the recent Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
AMD is a progressive disease that results in the severe loss of vision. The early stages of AMD are characterized as "dry," with the disease advancing to the "wet form" as the retina, the part of the eye responsible for central vision, becomes infused with fluid from leaky new blood vessels, during a process called neovascularization. The unchecked blood vessel growth, or angiogenesis, in the retina accounts for 80% of the vision loss in the advanced stages of AMD.
The retina cells that detect light contain polyunsaturated fatty lipids that are exquisitely sensitive to damage by oxygen. Even in healthy eyes, these cells are renewed every ten days. The researchers at Case and Cleveland Clinic used a method developed by Salomon to specifically detect and measure the amount of CEPs found in the eye.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
September 5, 2006, 5:06 AM CT
Older Fathers More Likely To Have Autistic Children
Children of men age 40 and older have a significantly increased risk of having autism spectrum disorders compared with those whose fathers are younger than 30 years, as per an article in the recent issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Typically autism is characterized by social and language abnormalities and repetitive patterns of behavior, as per background information in the article. Autism and related conditions, known collectively as autism spectrum disorders, have become increasingly common, affecting 50 in every 10,000 children as compared with five in 10,000 two decades ago. This increase is partially due to higher levels of awareness and changes in diagnosis processes, but could also reflect an increase in occurence rate of autism, as per the authors. Older parental age has previously been associated with abnormalities in the brain development of children; however, few studies have effectively examined the effect of mothers' and particularly fathers' ages on autism.
Abraham Reichenberg, Ph.D., of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, and his colleagues reviewed this association in children born during the 1980s in Israel. All men and three-fourths of the women born in these years were assessed by the draft board at age 17, during which time any psychiatric disorders were recorded. Dr. Reichenberg and his colleagues obtained draft board information and the age of the father for 318,506 individuals; age of the mother was available for 132,271 of those.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
September 5, 2006, 5:03 AM CT
Alcohol During Pregnancy
Individuals whose mothers drink three or more glasses of alcohol at any one occasion in early pregnancy have an increased risk of developing alcohol disorders by 21 years of age, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Exposure to maternal drinking during early childhood has been linked to difficulties in thinking, learning and memory, as well as mental and behavioral problems. However, few studies have examined the link between drinking during pregnancy and a child's later risk for alcohol dependence and other disorders, as per background information in the article. Animal studies have provided extensive evidence of a link between exposure to alcohol before birth and early acceptance of alcohol. "Similar results replicated in human studies would carry considerable implications for public health intervention," the authors write. "First, such studies would suggest that even small quantities of alcohol exposure, if consumed in a single session, may cause in utero neurodevelopmental changes that in turn may lead to the early onset of alcohol disorder in youth. Second, they would provide support for the role of a biological origin of alcohol disorders".
Rosa Alati, Ph.D., from The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia, and his colleagues explored whether maternal exposure to alcohol during pregnancy increased a child's risk of developing alcohol disorders in 2,138 participants who were followed from birth to age 21. A group of 7,223 mothers was originally interviewed at their first prenatal doctor visit, between 1981 and 1984 in Brisbane, Australia. The mothers and children were assessed at birth and again 6 months and 5, 14, and 21 years later. Before pregnancy, in early (first 18 weeks) and late (last three months) pregnancy, and when their children were age 5 and 14, the mothers were asked how often they drank alcohol and the number of drinks consumed on any one occasion. Children were reviewed for alcohol disorders at age 21.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
September 4, 2006, 10:20 PM CT
Prevention Of Methamphetamine Abuse
New research supported in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, shows that prevention programs conducted in middle school can reduce methamphetamine abuse among rural adolescents years later. Because methamphetamine addiction leads to problems with social interactions and a wide range of medical conditions, research into early interventions such as this is critical to protecting the Nation's youth. The paper is published in the recent issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
"We now have evidence that prevention programs can be important tools to protect adolescents from the devastating effects of methamphetamine use, and we will continue to explore the effectiveness of other drug abuse prevention programs," says Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health. "These findings are part of our ongoing effort to support scientific research that can have practical applications in community settings".
"Previous preventive interventions have shown effects in reducing adolescents' abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, but this is the first study to examine the effects of a preventive intervention on methamphetamine abuse among youth," says NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "The results of this research indicate the effectiveness of prevention programs on lifetime or annual methamphetamine abuse".........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
September 4, 2006, 8:07 PM CT
Sperm Banking For Younger Cancer Patients
Cancer has no age or sex discrimination. When it strikes teenage boys the issue of sperm preservation becomes very important. Teenage boys being treated for cancer should be encouraged to bank their sperm so they might enjoy a family life in the future.
Dr Guy Makin, at the School of Medicine's Division of Human Development and Reproductive Health, suggests giving better quality information on sperm banking to patients as young as 13, as well as training medical professionals to discuss the issue with them.
Several types of chemotherapy can damage the sperm-producing portion of the testes, while radiation of the testicular area can also lead to infertility, For this reason, infertility is very common among male survivors of childhood cancer.
Patients as young as 13 are capable of producing semen samples with normal sperm counts and these can be frozen for future use.
A 2002 study found 77 percent of childless male cancer patients aged 14 to 40 said they would like to father children in the future, they note. But the same investigation found just half of these patients had been given the option of banking sperm, and less than a quarter had done so successfully.
To investigate what obstacles exist to sperm banking among these patients, Dr Makin and his team surveyed 55 males aged 13 to 21 at their cancer diagnosis who had undergone potentially infertility-producing treatment and had been offered the option of banking their sperm at the Teenage Cancer Trust Young Oncology Unit at the Christie Hospital in Manchester.........
Posted by: Emily Permalink Source
September 3, 2006, 8:12 AM CT
Drazner To Lead UT Southwestern Program
Dr. Mark Drazner, a nationally recognized heart failure expert, has been named medical director of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Dr. Drazner, associate professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern, has been a key member of the heart transplant team for nine years, specializing in treating patients with congestive heart failure and caring for patients before and after transplantation. He also has been instrumental in achieving UT Southwestern's tremendous survival rates for heart-transplant patients, which consistently rank in the top 10 in the nation and are the best in Texas.
Dr. Drazner succeeds Dr. Clyde Yancy, who served as medical director since 1993. The Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation program is a key component of UT Southwestern's Heart, Lung and Vascular Center, a collaborative effort between UT Southwestern faculty and community physicians who unite to bring their clinical and surgical expertise to patients needing cardiac, pulmonary or vascular care.
"Dr. Drazner is a talented, compassionate and highly skilled clinician," said Dr. John Warner, assistant professor of internal medicine, director of the Heart, Lung and Vascular Center. "He has been an integral part of our team for almost a decade now and we are extremely pleased that he has accepted this position. We look forward to his leadership".........
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