Month: January 2014

New breakthrough brings Muscular Dystrophy Defect drug closer to reality

Researchers have revealed an atomic-level view of a genetic defect that causes a form of muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy type 2.

The scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have used this information to design drug candidates with potential to counter those defects and reverse the disease.

“This the first time the structure of the RNA defect that causes this disease has been determined,” lead author Matthew Disney said. “Based on these results, we designed compounds that, even in small amounts, significantly improve disease-associated defects in treated cells.”

Myotonic dystrophy type 2 is a relatively rare form of muscular dystrophy that is somewhat milder than myotonic dystrophy type 1, the most common adult-onset form of the disease.

Both types of myotonic dystrophy are inherited disorders that involve progressive muscle wasting and weakness, and both are caused by a type of genetic defect known as a “RNA repeat expansion,” a series of nucleotides repeated more times than normal in an individual’s genetic code.

The repeat binds to the protein MBNL1, rendering it inactive and resulting in RNA splicing abnormalities-which lead to the disease.
Using information about the RNA’s structure and movement, the scientists were able to design molecules to improve RNA function.

The new findings were confirmed using sophisticated computational models that show precisely how the small molecules interact with and alter the RNA structure over time.
Those predictive models matched what the scientists found in the study-that these new compounds bind to the repeat structure in a predictable and easily reproducible way, attacking the cause of the disease.

The study is published in journal ACS Chemical Biology. (ANI)

Source: Yahoo news

Fibre rich diet may ward off asthma

A new study has revealed that eating a diet rich in fibre can protect against allergic asthma by triggering changes in the immune system.

Benjamin Marsland from the University Hospital of Lausanne in Switzerland and colleagues found that levels of dietary fibre, found in fruit and vegetables, can influence the balance of microbes in the gut in ways that make the airways more or less prone to the inflammation seen in allergic airway diseases, New Scientist reported.

The researchers, who looked at how the immune and inflammatory responses of mice varied with the fibre in their diet, found that when the mice were exposed to an extract of house dust mites, those fed with less fibre had double the number of a specific type of immune cell associated with asthmatic inflammation in their airways, than those on a standard diet.

It was found that mice given additional fibre supplements on top of a standard diet showed a reduction in these immune cells, but only if the supplement was easily fermentable in the gut.

The study was published in Journal Nature Medicine.

Source:  Zee news

Birth control type tied to time between pregnancies

Women using intrauterine devices (IUDs) and other types of long-term reversible birth control after having a baby are less likely to get pregnant again quickly, a new study suggests.

Women who used those methods were four times more likely to wait more than 18 months between pregnancies compared to those relying on condoms, researchers found.

The World Health Organization endorses a two-year period between birth and a woman’s next conception.

Still, one third of all repeat pregnancies in the U.S. occur within 18 months of the previous child’s birth. And a growing body of evidence shows this close timing increases the risk a baby will be born early or at a low birth weight.

The time between pregnancies “cannot be explained only by the mother’s preferences,” Heike Thiel de Bocanegra said.

She and her colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco investigated the link between access to birth control or family planning services and pregnancy spacing.

In the current study of 117,644 California women who’d had at least two children, 64 percent waited 18 months or more between pregnancies and the rest did not.

All women included in the study filed claims through the state’s Medicaid program for the poor, called Medi-Cal, or through health providers offering state-funded family planning services.

The researchers matched data on claims for contraceptives to California’s birth registry.

“We assumed that access to contraception . . . would improve birth spacing,” Dr. Anitra Beasley wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

“This study actually examines this assumption,” she said.

Beasley, who studies family planning at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, was not part of the current research.

Women who used long-acting reversible contraception, including IUDs or implants, were four times more likely to wait at least 18 months to conceive again, compared to those who only used “barrier” contraceptives like condoms or spermicide.

More than half of women started using birth control pills, the ring or the patch after giving birth. They were twice as likely to wait at least 18 months between pregnancies as condom users.

Those relationships stood firm even when the researchers looked at possible influences like the mother’s race, education, age and whether she was born in the U.S., according to the report published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Women in the study counseled by a certified family planning service provider were 67 percent more likely to wait 18 months between pregnancies, compared with women who utilized Medi-Cal services only.

“Low-income women are sometimes seen only once after giving birth,” Thiel de Bocanegra said.

“Some women receive contraception – some do not,” she said.

Women in the study received four months worth of covered contraceptives, on average. That number was dragged down by the one third of women in the study who had no contraceptive claims at all.

For Meredith Matone, a researcher with PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the study’s large size helps build a better understanding of how public health initiatives work in the real world.

“The results we find in clinical trials do not always translate well when implemented on a large scale, where they are subject to challenges that include provider performance, patient compliance and operational hurdles,” Matone wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

“Under health care reform, there are opportunities to continue to support such evidence-based public health programs for families,” said Matone, who was not involved in the new research.

“Health care providers should know that the optimal pregnancy interval is 18 months or more, and should encourage the use of highly effective contraception during this period,” Thiel de Bocanegra said.

“Pediatricians can help, too, by asking the mother what type of contraception she is using,” she said.

USDA allows more meat, grains in school lunches

The Agriculture Department says it’s making permanent rules that allow schools to serve larger portions of lean meat and whole grains in school lunches and other meals.

Guidelines restricting portion size were originally intended to combat childhood obesity, but many parents complained their kids weren’t getting enough to eat. School administrators say that rules establishing maximums on grains and meats are too limiting and make it difficult to plan daily meals.

The department eliminated limits and on meats and grains on a temporary basis more than a year ago. On Thursday officials made the rule change permanent.

The change was announced by Kevin Concannon, an undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.

He says the department has delivered on its promise to give school nutritionists more flexibility in meal planning.

Source: USA Today

 

Shingles dramatically increases heart disease, stroke risk

If you’ve had shingles before the age of 40, you could be at an increased risk for heart disease and stroke.

According to Counsel & Heal, researchers followed individuals for an average of 6.3 years after they had contracted shingles. The study found that participants who had shingles before age 40 were 50 percent more likely to have a heart attack than people who did not have the disease; they were also 74 percent more likely to have a stroke.

Given these findings, lead researcher Dr. Judith Breuer of University College London recommended that anyone with shingles be screened for heart and stroke risk factors.

“The shingles vaccine has been shown to reduce the number of cases of shingles by about 50 percent,” Breuer told Counsel & Heal.

Current shingles vaccination recommendations are for anyone over the age of 60. Researchers have yet to determine the role of vaccination in younger individuals, Breuer said.

Source: Fresh news US

Obesity Rates Triple In Developing World

Statistics show the problem of obesity now affects almost twice as many people in poor countries than in rich ones.

The number of overweight and obese people has reached almost one billion in the developing world – overtaking rates in industrialised countries, a report has found.

The report by the UK’s Overseas Development Institute said the number of obese people has more than tripled in the developing world since 1980.

In 2008, more than 900 million people in poor countries were classed as overweight compared with around 550 million in high-income countries – almost twice as many.

Steve Wiggins, the report’s author, said: “The statistics are quite sensational, it is a tripling of the number of people who are considered overweight and obese in the developing world since 1980.

“That takes the number to more than 900 million and that is more than the number of overweight and obese people that we have in the high-income countries, which is probably around 570 million, something like that.

“It is a very rapidly emerging problem and it is now of a very large size.”

Rates of obesity are still rising in richer countries, but not at the same rate as in the developing world.

Two countries with particularly high obesity rates are China and Mexico, where the numbers of overweight people have almost doubled since 1980.

In South Africa, obesity has risen by a third and now has a higher rate than the UK.

North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America all have similar overweight and obesity rates to Europe.

Explaining the developing world’s obesity epidemic, Mr Wiggins said: “It is associated with incomes and urbanisation and a more sedentary lifestyle, so it is those emerging countries which have done the best at raising their incomes.

“It’s the middle-income countries, it is the Chinas, it is the Mexicos, which are the countries which are seeing the highest rates of overweight and obesity at the moment.”

The report predicts that if current rates continue there will be a huge increase in people suffering certain types of cancer, diabetes, strokes and heart attacks.

It also warns that governments are not doing enough to tackle the crisis, partly due to politicians’ reluctance to interfere at the dinner table, the powerful farming and food lobbies and “a large gap” in public awareness as to what constitutes a healthy diet.

Countries singled out for praise in tackling obesity are Denmark and South Korea.

In Denmark, laws against trans-fatty acids have made Danish McDonalds among the healthiest in the world, while in South Korea the government launched a large-scale public education campaign 20 years ago which has turned around obesity rates.

Mr Wiggins said: “A few decades ago the government of Korea said we must encourage our traditional foods, which are low in fats and oils, high in vegetables, high in sea food and so on.

“And there was a lot of public education, a lot of training and a sense that Korean food is good for you.”

Source: Sky News

4 ways to embrace your age

When I was 13, I wanted to look like Cheryl Tiegs. It was the late ’60s and she was the epitome of beauty. She was tall, thin and blond. Standing at 5 feet 0, with dark brown eyes, dark brown hair and strong eyebrows, I couldn’t have looked any more different, and I spent a lot of time feeling bad about what I wasn’t. Then I saw Ali MacGraw in the movie Love Story. Those eyes, that hair, those thick eyebrows—I finally recognized the possibility of my own beauty.

Today I am troubled by society’s definition of beauty. I’m not sure how it started, but there is a whole breed of older women who look nothing like the women I grew up admiring (my grandmother, Helen Hayes, Jessica Tandy). It seems that everywhere I turn, there are women who have altered and erased everything Mother Nature gave them. The sad thing is that most of them don’t look any younger than their untouched peers. Why do so many women want to get rid of the features that make them unique in favor of a cosmetic-surgery-enhanced, cookie-cutter look?

We have a choice. We can buy into these images or we can make the conscious decision not to. True beauty isn’t about looking like a supermodel (remember—they’re freaks of nature) or a twenty-something Barbie doll. True beauty is about accepting and feeling good about who you are. I hope some of the things I’ve learned will help you see your own beauty.

Stop obsessing

Instead of worrying about your “flaws” and the things you don’t like about yourself, focus on what’s right. I can’t tell you how many times women come to my makeup counter so fixated on the size and shape of one feature that they overlook everything else. When a woman asks me how to make her nose look smaller, I point out her amazing smile and show her how to enhance her lips with the right lipstick and gloss. More often than not, she is pleasantly surprised by what she sees.

Live in the present

We waste too much energy feeling bad that we don’t look like we used to instead of appreciating what we look like now. It makes no sense to obsess that you can’t pass for 30 now that you’re 40, because at 50 you’ll look back at photos from 10 years ago and realize how young and fresh you were. I hated my arms when I was a teenager and often wore long-sleeve shirts. Now I see pictures of myself from those days and think that my arms looked just fine. I would have saved myself a lot of adolescent angst if I had made the best of what I had at the time, rather than trying to fight it.

Go with the flow

There’s something incredibly beautiful about a woman with lines on her face, and I think we should start using the word living instead of aging. Lines are proof that we’ve lived life. We get them when we laugh and when we express ourselves. Take them all away and you end up looking like a plastic-faced mannequin. Tip: A little concealer and blush can do wonders.

Take charge of yourself

Focus on being healthy, strong and fit. Commit to making smart food choices and exercising regularly. This requires work, and it’s not a quick fix, but you’ll look and feel better over the long term. I’m 56 years old and I’m still learning that there’s a lot I can do to be the best version of myself. I encourage you to make 2014 the year when you commit to pursuing your own best self!

Source: news.nom.co

Special needs kid: 10 elementary solutions for healthy teeth

If your child has autism, a developmental check or a disability, we know that brushing, flossing, and dentist visits can be unequivocally challenging. Yet, verbal hygiene is crucial, generally since studies uncover special needs children are some-more expected than standard kids to have cavities and other dental problems.

Cavities, resin illness and verbal trauma

Special needs kids mostly have problem brushing effectively, since they might have deformed teeth or they don’t have a earthy or mental ability to be means to do it by themselves.

“They have an accumulation of house and germ all over a teeth and gums,” pronounced Dr. Steven G. Goldberg, contriver of a DentalVibe Injection Comfort System. So when food gets stuck, a germ feeds on it – causing cavities, resin illness and periodontal disease.

Kids who have wild movements, or children who punch their cheeks, lips, or tongues since their teeth do not accommodate properly, might also have verbal trauma.

Certain drugs with a high sugarine calm can means distended gums. Likewise, if a child uses a feeding tube, or cooking high sugarine dishes since of a disaster to thrive, he or she is some-more receptive to gingivitis, inflammation of a gums, and tartar, according to Dr. Rebecca Slayton, arch dental executive and chair of a National Children’s Oral Health Foundation’s systematic advisory board.

In addition, some kids who are orally antithetic and don’t like certain dishes and textures or a kick of brushing and a ambience of toothpaste are also some-more expected to have dental problems, Slayton said.

If your child has special needs, here are 10 ways we can keep his or her teeth healthy during home and make dentist visits stress-free.

1. Make brushing easy

For kids who need assistance brushing, put a toothbrush in a bicycle hoop so “they have something big, thick and squashy to reason onto,” Goldberg said. Brushing should always be supervised, and if floss doesn’t work, use a H2O pick. If your child bites, place compress on a behind teeth and afterwards brush.

2. Keep it fun

The progressing brushing becomes a pleasing experience, a easier it will be to make it a habit, according to Fern Ingber, boss and CEO of a National Children’s Oral Health Foundation: America’s ToothFairy. Try to brush when your child is many cooperative, and confuse him or her with song or something pleasant.

3. Start early

Your child’s initial revisit to a dentist should be a certain experience, so be certain to get there by age 1 or when a initial teeth erupt.

4. Find a good dentist

Most pediatric dentists work with special needs kids, though it’s critical to find one who is patient, will take time to explain all to your child, and work with we to make certain your child is comfortable. “If we get a merciful doctor, it will be a good experience,” Goldberg said.

5. Call ahead

When we make a dentist’s appointment, yield a staff with information about your child and his specific needs. A heads-up can concede them to set adult a bureau and make certain additional staff will be on palm to help. If your child can’t lay in a chair, a dentist can also find an alternative.

6. Do paperwork beforehand

Ask a bureau to send all of a paperwork forward of time, and move a duplicate of your word label with we so we can save time and give your child a courtesy he or she needs.

7. Bring a comfort object

Kids don’t know what to design during a initial dentist visit, so move a favorite blanket, toy, or toothbrush so they’re not afraid.

8. Prepare

Talk to your child about what to design during a dentist – from a chair that tilts behind to a collection a dentist uses. You can also ready by putting your child in your path and brushing his or her teeth. “They get used to a feeling of someone else touching their mouths and hovering over their heads. It’s a frightful feeling unless you’re used to it,” Goldberg said.

9. Use a right words

Ask a dentist previously what difference and phrases we should learn your child so if a dentist says, “open your mouth,” he or she know what to do.

10. Wipes, gels, and rinses

According to a investigate in a Journal of Dental Research, immature children who used xylitol wipes were significantly reduction expected to rise cavities. If we have to discharge your child’s remedy during night and you’ve already brushed his or her teeth, purify a mouth purify with xylitol wipes, Slayton suggests. Also, ask a dentist about an antimicrobial rinse or tradition trays with peroxide gel, dual methods that can assistance forestall cavities and resin illness too.

Source: Health medicine network

China says child deaths not linked to hepatitis vaccine

Chinese health authorities said they have found no link between a hepatitis B vaccine and the deaths of nine children who had received those shots, state media said on Friday.

China has been investigating 17 deaths following inoculation with a hepatitis B vaccine, made by Shenzhen-based BioKangtai, from Dec. 13 and 31. The news alarmed many Chinese Internet users, who called on the government to make more information public.

Many Chinese people are suspicious that the government tries to cover up bad news about health problems, despite assurances of transparency. In 2003, the government initially tried to cover-up the outbreak of the SARS virus.

Nine of the cases have nothing to do with the vaccines, state news agency Xinhua cited the director of the disease control bureau of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Yu Jingjin, as saying at a press conference.

A preliminary analysis of the eight other cases have also found no link between the deaths and the vaccines, but the cause of the deaths will be confirmed only after autopsies, Yu said.

Li Guoqing of the China Food and Drug Administration said at a press conference that no problems had been found with BioKangtai vaccines in production practices or product quality, according to Xinhua.

BioKangtai said in a statement in December that it rigorously followed safety rules but that they were testing the batches suspected of causing the deaths.

China has been beset by a series of product safety scandals over the past few years.

At least six children died in 2008 after drinking milk contaminated by the industrial chemical melamine, and there have also been reports of children dying or becoming seriously ill from faulty encephalitis, hepatitis B and rabies vaccines.

Source: Reuters

Avoid Confusing Thyroid Symptoms With Menopause

Many middle-aged women experiencing menopausal-like symptoms may be experiencing thyroid-related problems. They are often difficult to tell apart but lab tests may help with the diagnosis.

Millions of women with menopausal-like symptoms may be suffering from undiagnosed thyroid disease. These non-specific symptoms consist of fatigue, depression, mood swings, weight gain, irregular menstrual periods, and sleep disturbances.

These are frequently associated with menopause, especially when they occur in women who are in their 40s.

However, only one out of four of these women who have described these menopause-like symptoms with a physician are actually tested for thyroid disease.

Perimenopausal Symptoms

It is common for women in their late 40s to their early 50s to expect the symptoms of menopause. This perimenopausal stage is the period when the signs and symptoms of menopause have not stabilized. Menopause is defined as the complete cessation of menstrual periods and loss of fertility. Before this occurs, a woman may undergo a long transition stage, called perimenopause, which may start as early as their mid-30s, although most women experiences changes in their mid to late 40s. This transition period may last for five to ten years, during which, one may undergo these signs and symptoms:

Irregular menstrual periods
Longer or shorter periods
Heavy menstrual flow or spotting
Absent periods
Menstrual cramping
Breast tenderness
Premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, which consists of fatigue, irritability, food cravings, and depression
Sleep problems

Hot flushes alternating with intermittent coldness

Weight gain

Menopause is a natural stage in a woman’s life that begins with a gradual decline in estrogen levels and ends with cessation of menses and with the ovaries failing to release eggs.

Symptoms related to these hormonal changes may come and go, some days being better than others are, especially during the long perimenopausal stage. For some women, undergoing these changes may be very challenging and they may feel that these are unnatural or perhaps related to some other health condition. They may seek medical consultation for vague symptoms, for which they may not get satisfactory treatment.

However, the diagnosis of menopause is usually made retrospectively, since it is established only a year after menses disappear.

Source: steady health