March 22, 2009, 9:44 PM CT

Garden pea may help fight high blood pressure

Researchers in Canada are reporting that proteins found in a common garden pea show promise as a natural food additive or new dietary supplement for fighting high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Those potentially life-threatening conditions affect millions of people worldwide.

The study, which will be presented here today at the American Chemical Society's 237th National Meeting, is the first reporting that a natural food product can relieve symptoms of CKD, the scientists say.

Peas long have been recognized as nutritional superstars, with healthful amounts of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins wrapped in a low-fat, cholesterol-free package. The new research focuses on the yellow garden pea, a mainstay pea variety enjoyed as a veggie side-dish and used as an ingredient in dozens of recipes around the world.

"In people with high blood pressure, our protein could potentially delay or prevent the onset of kidney damage," says study presenter Rotimi Aluko, Ph.D., a food chemist at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. "In people who already have kidney disease, our protein may help them maintain normal blood pressure levels so they can live longer".

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for CKD, a condition that has been affecting an increasing number of people in the United States and other countries. Estimates suggest that 13 percent of American adults about 26 million people have chronic kidney disease, up from 10 percent, or about 20 million people, in the 1990s. CKD is difficult to treat, and may progress to end-stage kidney disease that requires kidney dialysis or a kidney transplant. That situation is fostering a search for new ways of treating CKD and preserving kidney function......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

March 18, 2009, 5:14 AM CT

HPV-vaccine may prevent preterm births

Chronic human papilloma virus (HPV)-infections can lead to cellular changes in the cervix that can be a pre-stage to cervical cancer. Surgical therapy of these pre-stages gives an increased risk of preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies. As the HPV-vaccine can prevent pre-stages of cervical cancer, it may therefore reduce the number of preterm births. A new Norwegian study has calculated the benefits of HPV-vaccination.

Cervical cancer development is a step-wise process that begins with minor cell changes caused by HPV infection. Cellular changes can progress and become more serious. Long-term, they can cause cervical cancer if untreated. Serious cellular changes are treated by surgically removing a part of the cervix (conisation). This gynaecological procedure gives an increased risk of a woman giving birth preterm in subsequent pregnancies.

In a newly published study in Acta Obstretica et Gynecologica, Katrine D. Sjøborg and Anne Eskild calculated how a number of preterm deliveries could be avoided by systematic HPV-vaccination. Sjøborg is a consultant at Østfold Hospital and Eskild is based at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Akershus University Hospital.

Calculations in the study are based on the following parameters:

• proportion of pregnant women treated with conisation
........


Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

March 16, 2009, 8:18 PM CT

Seizure depression link

A newly released study published in Epilepsia finds that the prevalence of depression is almost twice as high in people with epilepsy in comparison to the general population. Among those with epilepsy, racial minorities have seven times the odds of depression compared to the majority Caucasian population. The findings also show that 40 percent of depressed respondents with epilepsy were not accessing mental healthcare services.

Data from the 2000 / 2001 Canadian Community Health Survey was used to determine prevalence of epilepsy and depression. 13 percent of those with epilepsy were found to suffer from depression, in comparison to 7 percent of those without the disorder. Epilepsy was also linked to 43 percent higher odds of depression when adjusting for demographic factors. The odds were higher not only for minorities, but also for females, elderly adults and individuals experiencing food insecurity. Minority status and advanced age appear to be unique risk factors for depression in those with epilepsy, as these factors are not linked to depression in the general population.

Prior research indicates that, on average, individuals with epilepsy suffer from a greater number of chronic conditions, have worse self-reported health and experience increased pain. They are also more likely to have a lower quality-of-life, correlation to both health and other factors. Individuals with epilepsy have also been found to exhibit higher levels of recent psychological distress, a greater likelihood for a variety of psychiatric conditions and a higher prevalence of suicidal thoughts. Sufferers also typically have lower incomes, less education and are less likely to have full- or part-time employment......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

March 4, 2009, 6:18 AM CT

Signaling problems within the brain linked to schizophrenia

Schizophrenia could be caused by faulty signalling in the brain, as per new research published recently in the journal Molecular Psychiatry In the biggest study of its kind, researchers looking in detail at brain samples donated by people with the condition have identified 49 genes that work differently in the brains of schizophrenia patients in comparison to controls.

A number of of these genes are involved in controlling cell-to-cell signalling in the brain. The study, which was carried out by scientists at Imperial College London and GlaxoSmithKline, supports the theory that abnormalities in the way in which cells 'talk' to each other are involved in the disease.

Schizophrenia is thought to affect around one in 100 people. Symptoms vary but can include hallucinations, lack of motivation and impaired social functioning. The disorder has little physical effect on the brain and its causes are largely unknown.

Some researchers think that schizophrenia could be caused by the brain producing too much dopamine, partly because drugs that block dopamine action provide an effective therapy for the condition. Another theory is that the coat surrounding nerve cells, which is made of myelin, is damaged in people with schizophrenia. However, the newly released study observed that the genes for dopamine and for myelin were not acting any differently in schizophrenia patients compared with controls......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

March 4, 2009, 6:12 AM CT

Obesity and hormonal imbalance

Hormonal changes and diminished sexual quality of life among obese men are correlation to the degree of obesity, and both are improved after gastric bypass surgery as per a newly released study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

"Prior studies have observed that obesity is corcorrelation to lower sperm count and can be linked to infertility, but we wanted to know if obesity was biologically linked to an unsatisfying sex life, and if so, could it be reversible," said Dr. Ahmad Hammoud, MD, of the University of Utah and main author of the study. "Our results show that the answer to both questions appears to be yes".

For this study, scientists followed 64 men over two years who participated in the Utah Obesity Study, which investigated the two-year morbidity of severely obese men undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery in comparison to controls. Scientists measured weight, BMI (body mass index) and reproductive hormone levels of participants at the beginning of the study and once more two years later. Similarly subjects completed a questionnaire designed to assess the impact of weight on quality of life in obese individuals at the onset of the study and again two years later.

"In our study population, we observed that lower testosterone levels and diminished ratings for sexual quality of life were correlated with increased BMI," said Dr. Hammoud. "Subjects who lost weight through bariatric surgery experienced a reduction in estradiol levels, an increase in testosterone levels and an increase in ratings of sexual quality of life"......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:16:54 GMT

More Zinc Decreases Diabetes Risk In Women

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 5755527 According to a new study from Harvard, increased intake of zinc may decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes in women by 28 percent.

Zinc, one of the most plentiful trace elements in the body, second only to iron, mediates many physiological functions.

It is believed to be essential for maintaining a healthy immune system; recent science suggests the mineral could also influence memory, muscle strength and endurance in adults.

Zinc nutrition in very young children has been related to motor, cognitive and psychosocial function.

The researchers admit that more study is needed to confirm the above findings and to elucidate the mechanisms.

So how do we get zinc in our diet? Click here to find out. Posted by: Gloria Gamat      Read more     Source

February 19, 2009, 6:12 AM CT

Genetic information to help anticoagulation dosing

Doctors can use a patient's genetic information to more accurately prescribe doses of a usually used blood-thinning drug whose potency and side effects vary greatly from one person to the next, reports an international team of medical researchers including scientists from the University of Florida.

Writing in the Feb. 19 issue of The New England Journal (NEJM), scientists describe how they developed a way to use information about a patient's genetic makeup to determine optimal doses of the anticoagulant warfarin, usually referred to as a blood thinner.

An estimated 2 million new patients with heart conditions or other risk factors begin warfarin therapy annually in the United States, making warfarin one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world. It is used to prevent blood clots, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes or death.

"In this study, we used data from the largest, most diverse group of patients to date to develop a method for using genetic information in combination with other patient information to determine the dosage of a very usually used drug," said Julie A. Johnson, who directs the UF Center for Pharmacogenomics and is an associate director of the UF Genetics Institute. "This is one of the top five drugs that cause hospitalizations for adverse effects. The real value will be to patients getting warfarin treatment prescribed for the first time."........ Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:23:57 GMT

146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health

Sugar addiction is a term for the situation where individuals crave sugar-laden sweet foods and find it extremely difficult if not impossible to control their intake.

The attraction to sugar had in the past been considered merely psychological dependence, but recent research has shown that withdrawal symptoms occur during periods of abstinence, a key element of physical dependence. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

February 18, 2009, 5:57 AM CT

Cancer death rates dropping among African Americans but

While death rates from cancer continue to drop among African Americans, the group continues to be diagnosed at more advanced stages and have lower survival rates at each stage of diagnosis in comparison to whites for most cancer sites. The findings come from Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2009-2010, the latest edition of a report produced every two years by the American Cancer Society, the nation's leading voluntary health organization.

The new report says death rates for all cancers combined have decreased faster in African American men than white men, primarily because of rapid declines in the death rates from lung and prostate cancers. While overall cancer death rates have also decreased among African American women, they are dropping at a slower rate than among white women. The slower decline in African American women is largely due to smaller decreases in breast and colorectal cancer death rates.

The report estimates that among African Americans in 2009, there will be about 150,090 new cases of invasive cancer diagnosed and about 63,360 cancer deaths. The most usually diagnosed cancers among African American men will be prostate (34 percent), lung (16 percent), and colon and rectum (10 percent). Among African American women, the most common cancers will be breast (25 percent), lung (12 percent), and colon and rectum (11 percent). Cancer of the lung will be the most common cause of cancer death in both African American men (31 percent) and women (23 percent), followed by prostate cancer in men (12 percent) and breast cancer in women (19 percent). Cancer of the colon and rectum and cancer of the pancreas are expected to be the third and fourth most common causes of cancer death in both men and women......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

February 16, 2009, 10:09 PM CT

Arab American women need Vitamin D supplement

Arab-American women living in southeast Detroit whose conservative dress limits their exposure to sun should be taking a vitamin D supplement to boost their dangerously low serum levels, as per a research studypublished by Henry Ford Hospital researchers.

Scientists observed that all 87 women involved in a small study showed vitamin D levels averaging 8.5 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter) for those who wore western dress to 4 ng/mL for those who wore the hijab, modest dress with a headscarf. A healthy vitamin D level is 30 ng/mL or higher.

Also, the women consumed little dietary sources of vitamin D. Forty-seven women reported drinking any milk on a weekly basis, but the amount they consume isn't significant enough to boost their vitamin D levels, scientists say.

The study is reported in the January/recent issue of Endocrine Practice It is thought to bethe largest study on the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in one of the largest concentrations of Arab Americans in southeast Michigan.

Raymond Hobbs, M.D., a Henry Ford Internal Medicine doctor and main author of the study, described the vitamin D deficiency in the women as "much greater than we would have thought."

"When people live where the weather is colder and they are more covered with clothing, they depend on their diet for their vitamin D," Dr. Hobbs says. "Unfortunately, most food with the exception of oily fish and vitamin D fortified milk has very little vitamin D. The women in our study drank very little milk, fortified orange juice and had decreased sun exposure because of their dress"......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source