Month: July 2013

Eight foods to keep your skin glowing:

Feeling that your skins are not glowing and tired within? Here are eight  foods and tricks to keep your skin at the pink of its health

  1. Sweet Potato:

Sweet potato contains Beta-carotene, which makes them pale orange, balances skin’s pH, helps combat dryness, and promotes cell resulting in smoother skin.

2. Wild salmon

A study found that eating one serving every five days can prevent actinic keratoses—ugly rough patches that are precancerous.

  • 3. Tomatoes

The fruit’s red pigment, lycopene, is an antioxidant that prevents skin from sun damage. To best absorb lycopene, eat tomatoes with olive oil.

4. Citrus Fruits

Vitamin C is essential to building collagen, makes the skin young-looking. Citrus also contains bioflavonoids, which protect skin from UV rays and prevent cell death.

5. Leafy Greens

Spinach, kale, and other greens contain lutein, which protects skin from sun-induced inflammation and wrinkles.

 6. Stay away from white foods

Avoid white bread, pasta, rice, and other refined grain products? They’re quickly broken down into the ultimate white food: sugar. Once in the bloodstream, sugar bonds with protein and creates advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which cause collagen to become inflamed and stiff, leading to wrinkles.

 7. Avoid pills

“There are many health nutrients in food said Nicholas Perricone, a board-certified dermatologist.”It’s very likely that these unknowns work synergistically for a bigger benefit than what you can find in a supplement.”

8. A bonus drink

According to dermatologist Leslie Baumann, red wine contains skin-friendly grape-seed extract and resveratrol, two powerful antioxidants which makes the skin ever glowing

 

More than 250 people sickened by mystery Stomach Bug: says CDC

 

More than 250 people in six states have been sickened with a stomach bug which may be due to food borne illness, according to the CDC.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating the cyclospora infections, which are often found in tropical or subtropical countries. It causes diarrhea and other flu-like symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control said in a statement that as of July 22, the cyclospora infection causing diarrhea and other flu-like symptoms had been reported in Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Wisconsin, Georgia and Connecticut and New Jersey

The CDC said 10 people have been hospitalized and most of the reported illnesses occurred from mid-June to early July.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating the cyclospora infections, which are most often found in tropical or subtropical countries and have been linked to imported fresh produce in the past.

The agency said it is not yet clear whether the cases from each of the six states are part of the same outbreak.

The illness is usually spread when people ingest foods or water contaminated with feces. The agency said it isn’t yet clear whether the cases from all of the states are linked.

The number of reported illnesses expanded from more than 200 to more than 250 on Tuesday, according to the CDC. The CDC added Georgia and Connecticut to the list of affected states.

The agency said it is investigating additional illnesses and the number of those sickened could grow.

 

New Novel screening methods to treat Autism children

In the recent years, diagnosing an autism child has been a difficult process.  There have been only a test to detect the disorder, and current screening methods tend to rely on analyzing a child’s behavior.

The researchers of Rutgers University and Indiana University have developed a new tool, which can be used to both diagnose and treat children with autism. The new method much more focuses on quality movement.

The new technique uses sensors to analyze an involuntary movements and motor functions in relation to cognitive development. According to the researchers, it is the first diagnostic method for autism to use quantitative criteria. Researchers have detailed their therapeutic tool, helping autistic children learn and communicate more effectively.

Dr. Elizabeth Torres, a computational neuroscientist at Rutgers University told “It gives us a fingerprint of that person we can measure their patterns and measure the change and rate of change.  It is in the rate of change of this pattern that the (autism) mystery lies.”

Torres teamed up with fellow Rutgers colleague Dimitri Metaxas and Jorge Jose, a neuroscientist at Indiana University, to develop their novel sensory screening technique.  Using a motion capture system, the researchers place sensors on an autistic patient’s body that take up to 240 measurements per second.  They then analyze those movements with a new statistical computer program they have developed.

This method records a patient’s involuntary movements that are unconscious and controlled by the peripheral nervous system.   According to Torres, the voluntary movements of children with autism are exponentially different and too extreme to be measured.  However, when it comes to involuntary movements, autistic children are still different but similar enough so that their unconscious movements can be measured with a newly developed set of probability distributions.

The team used this method on 78 children and adults with autism, including those with mild forms of the disorder and autistic children who were nonverbal and low-functioning.  According to the researchers, the screening technique correctly diagnosed the patients every time, and it could even classify different subtypes, identify gender differences and track an individual’s progress through treatment.

According to Torres, it’s the element of self-discovery and internal motivation that makes their therapy more successful than current treatment options, which focus on conditioning children to perform socially acceptable behavior – rather than having them figure it out on their own

Regular bedtimes for children ‘help brain power’

 

A new study suggests that regular bedtimes in children’s are associated with performance on a variety of intellectual tests and this was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

“If the child prefers to go to sleep a little bit later, but it’s done regularly, then it’s OK for them”, said Amanda Sacker, professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.

The study

Researchers looked at information about bedtimes for more than 11,000 children in the United Kingdom. The Millennium Cohort Study followed children when they were aged 3, 5 and 7, and included regular surveys

The study found that, regular bedtimes were linked to better performance this was especially true for 7-year-old girls if they had irregular bedtimes. Boys in this age group did not show the effect. In both girls and boys, non-regular bedtimes at age 3 were linked with lower test scores, but not at age 5.

These results “showed that it wasn’t going to bed late that was affecting child’s development, it was the irregular bedtimes that were linked to poorer developmental scores,” Sacker said.

Researchers found that, in general, children who had irregular bedtimes or went to bed after 9 p.m. tended to come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds than other study participants. These were the children more likely to be from poor homes and have mothers with poorer mental health. They were also less likely to have breakfast and be read to daily.

Implications

There are a few possible explanations for the observations in the study. One is that children with an irregular bedtime may not be getting good quality sleep. Also, the body’s circadian rhythms can be disrupted when a person doesn’t have consistent sleep schedules.

Each day, as environmental stimuli influence changes in the brain, we need sleep to allow fresh learning for the day to come, according to the study. Cognitive impairment and lack of concentration are two possible consequences of limited or disrupted sleep. Given the importance of childhood development, study authors say, low-quality sleep in this critical period could have long-term health effects.

The study supports other research showing that adults also benefit from having consistent bedtimes.

“It not only helps with what’s gone on the day before, but it also sets you in good stead for the day to come,” Sacker said.

That makes it worth finding a consistent time to tuck in the little ones – and yourself

 

FDA seeks possible restrictions on Menthol cigarettes

US health organizations have said menthol cigarettes are more harmful than normal cigarettes, but stopped short of limiting their sale. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would seek possible restrictions for the products.

The agency said that while mint-flavored cigarettes may be just as toxic as others, it was easier to start smoking them and harder to quit.

Menthol cigarettes are one of the growing areas of the tobacco industry. The FDA has commissioned further research into the subject. Menthol cigarettes pose a public health risk than non-menthol cigarettes,” said the preliminary results of the FDA’s study.

It also found the cooling and anesthetic qualities of the menthol made them less harsh – and more appealing to smokers. The report concluded some of the findings from 2011, which suggested that a ban on menthol cigarettes would benefit public health.

But the tobacco industry has said that menthol cigarettes do not need to be subject to different regulations from normal cigarettes.

A group of former health officials, including two cabinet secretaries from the Carter and Bush Senior administrations, denounced the FDA’s inaction.

“The failure of this administration to act undermines the public health and is particularly harmful to vulnerable young Americans and African-Americans,” they said in a joint statement.

According to an earlier study from the US Department of Health only about 25% of white smokers choose menthol cigarettes, while more than 70% of African-American smokers use them.

 

 

Opium: the Natural way for Pain Relief

Of all plants opium poppy, Papaver somniferum is used in the field of medicine, none has been widely employed nor save as many lives and suffering. This plant and its derivatives have been used since ancient times.

Several Narcotics are collectively known as opiates, derive from opium mainly morphine, there are fifty alkaloids are present in opium poppy and the opium poppy is the source of first medicinal compound ever isolated in pure form. That alkaloid morphine was isolated in 1804 by German pharmacist Friederich Serturner. He dubbed the alkaloid morphium, to induce sleep.

Morphine is the most effective and pain-relieving agent in medicine, acting directly upon the central nervous system. When someone is suffering debilitating pain, especially due to injury or surgical procedures, no other substance will relieve pain as well or as quickly.

The second most abundant alkaloid in the opium poppy is codeine, which also possesses pain-relieving properties. Codeine is most widely used as cough relieving agent and is now available only by prescription, as it is both psychoactive and habit-forming.

The opium poppy yields sticky latex that has been employed since antiquity as a mind-altering drug. The latex is prepared in large balls and can be stored for long periods of time. Today, large-scale cultivation of opium poppies for the production of heroin can be found in Mexico, Afghanistan, and throughout Asia. Oddly, heroin was first developed by drug giant Bayer as a cure for morphine addiction. Today there is relatively little morphine addiction, though an estimated 9 million people globally are now addicted to heroin. Technically it is illegal to grow opium poppies in the U.S., are popular ornamental flowers grown widely in America and Canada. Opium poppies are controlled according to the Controlled Substances Act.

The opium poppy, with its globe-shaped seed pod and beautiful flower petals, makes an impressive site, especially when there are thousands of flowering poppies all in one place. It has seen large fields of poppy in Morocco, and the sight is breathtaking and critically valuable to the field of medicine, opium occupies a rare and important place in the human story.

 

Will Eating eggs every day raise cholesterol?

Eating more than two eggs does not lead to higher serum cholesterol in teens, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Granada analyzed the egg intake in adolescents and the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, such as lipid profile, excess fat, insulin resistance and high blood pressure.

“Health professionals insisted that eating eggs increased cholesterol levels, so in recent decades various public health organizations restrict the intake of egg” Alberto Soriano Maldonado, , said.

However, the recent research suggests that increased serum cholesterol is more affected by intake of saturated fats and trans fats – present in red meat, baked goods, etc The results involves nine countries, demonstrated that eating larger amounts of egg is neither linked to higher serum cholesterol nor to worse cardiovascular health, regardless of their physical activity.

“The conclusions, published that an intake of up to seven eggs a week is not an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases,” said Soriano.

Researchers suggest reviewing dietary recommendations; it would be useful to conduct similar research on a sample group with higher egg intake.

“Egg is a cheap food that is rich in very high-quality proteins, minerals, foliates and B vitamins. Thus it can provide a large quantity of nutrients necessary for optimum development in adolescents,” researchers said. A medium-size egg contains 200 milligrams of cholesterol but has more unsaturated fats and has 70 calories.

 

Deadly Cancers Respond to New Treatment Strategy

A way to treat cancers caused by a tumor-driving protein called “myc,” paving the way for patients with myc-driven cancers was found by UC San Francisco researchers.
Myc acts somewhat like a master within cells to promote uncontrolled growth. This has been impossible to target with drugs.

The discovery of biochemical link within tumor cells lead to clinical trials for experimental drug treatments that indirectly target myc and that are being evaluated in human studies, the researchers said.

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists led by Davide Ruggero, PhD, and Kevan Shokat, PhD, used one such drug to stop tumor growth in a mouse model of myc-driven lymphoma and multiple myeloma types of blood cancer.

Their study is published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Previous Drug Therapies Unrestrained myc activity results in poor treatment including death.

Although other cancer-associated proteins have been successfully attacked with targeted therapies in recent years, the myc protein has continued to elude efforts to develop drugs that target it. In the PNAS paper, the UCSF researchers describe how they found a way too.

The researchers discovered that cancerous myc can be thwarted by treatment that targets a specific function performed by another protein, called mTOR. Protein Production in Cancer Is Promising Target Ruggero has for several years been probing the ability of tumor cells to make extraordinary amounts of protein to sustain their rapid growth and immortality. He also explores ways to target this excess protein production in cancer.

“One of the major effects of myc activation is a dramatic increase in the capacity of affected cells to make protein,” Ruggero said “This, in turn, leads to increased cell survival and proliferation, and to unstable genomes that foster additional mutations that turn these abnormal cells into tumor cells.” In his earlier studies that myc not only drives protein production, but also that myc-driven cancer cells become absolutely dependent upon this ability to make abnormal amounts of protein. When he genetically manipulated myc-driven cancer cells to slow protein production, they committed suicide, as abnormal cells are supposed to do for the greater good. Also he added “Tumors become addicted to excessive protein production, and mutant myc itself seems to depends on it,”

In the new study, the UCSF team discovered that mTOR disables a protein that acts as a tumor suppressor, called 4EBP1. The disabling of 4EBP1 releases normal constraints on protein production within the cell.

The researchers targeted mTOR with an experimental drug based on a prototype first designed by Shokat, an expert in designing molecules, called a kinase. Our discovery may provide a novel solution for these patients.”

“We are excited by the work of Dr. Pourdehnad and believe these results are an important advance in understanding the role of myc pathway dysregulation in multiple myeloma, and allow for the development of therapeutic strategies,” said Jeffrey Wolf, MD, a UCSF blood disorder specialist, a sponsor of the research.

The drug used in the study, called MLN0128, is made by Millennium, an independently operated subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., based in Cambridge, Mass., and it is being evaluated in clinical trials to treat a variety of cancers. It had not previously been viewed as a weapon against myc-driven tumors, according to the UCSF researchers.

Currently sold drugs directed against mTOR do not inhibit its ability to target 4EBP1, which Ruggero refers to as a “master regulator” of protein production.

“This is a unique therapeutic approach to make myc druggable in the clinic,” Shokat said

 

FDA warns the flammability risk of sunscreen sprays

The US Food and Drug Administration have warned that applying some sunscreen sprays in an open flame will cause a serious danger of catching fire.

The health agency reported with five such incidents. One person was lighting a cigarette; another was standing too close to a lit citronella candle, and someone else walked near a grill.

These people have applied the sunscreen near open flame and suffered significant burn injuries and they are under emergency treatments.

The products that were involved in these incidents have been banned by the FDA. However there are a number of sunscreen products that contain flammable ingredients such as alcohol.

so people should avoid using such products near open flame, the FDA’s lead medical officer Dr Narayan Nair said, we recommend that after you have applied a sunscreen spray labeled as flammable, avoiding being near an open flame, sparks or an ignition source.”

For this reason, you should avoid applying a product near any source of a flame. The agency also advised consumers to consider daily plans before choosing which sunscreen to apply. If you’re heading to a barbeque or bonfire on the beach, for example, stick with the cream products.

“This recommendation is particularly important when it comes to choosing a product for children,” the FDA added, “since they are frequently active and may get near a flame source.”

For added summer safety, avoid these 5 other grilling mistakes that could be hazardous to your health.

 

How to expose the magic of dietary Supplements

A pediatrician finds childhood vaccines by spending few years an assault on vitamins and dietary supplements.

“If you take dietary supplements of vitamin A, vitamin E, beta carotene [or] selenium every day or excess amount then you will have the risk of heart disease says, a researcher at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Many studies have shown that vitamins and dietary supplements rarely help and often hurt, Offit says. Still a huge number of people believe that supplements will improve their health. So, Offit decided to challenge the false beliefs of “the church of vitamins and supplements.”

Offit says a big problem with this is a 1994 law that the FDA applies to its regulation of medicines. Meanwhile, patients clearly benefit from a range of FDA-approved statin drugs that actually do what garlic supplements claim to do.

These supplements are claimed as “natural,” even though it is not true. For example, almonds are a natural source of vitamin E. But you would have to eat 17 pounds of almonds to get the amount of vitamin E in a single capsule then how it would be a natural thing?”

Many hospitals provide unproved supplements in their list of medicines but he says in his own institution, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, plans to remove nearly all supplements from its list later this month.

More often than not, these claims are simply designed to pressure you into buying right away without stopping and asking yourself some serious questions about just how efficient a product is. You should also note that “limited quantities” is a weasel word, because you could have 100,000,000 units of a product in stock and still claim that the quantities are actually “limited” in some way. If a product is legitimately helpful, people will spread the word around on their own, so there is really no need for a company to use deceptive marketing practices to try to pressure consumers into making a decision right away.