Tart cherry juice good for cyclists

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Researchers have said that cyclists who drank Montmorency tart cherry juice concentrate before a three-day simulated race experienced less inflammation and oxidative stress compared to those who drank another beverage.

A research team led by Dr. Glyn Howatson with PhD student Phillip Bell at Northumbria University gave 16 well-trained, male cyclists about 1 ounce (30 ml) of Montmorency tart cherry juice concentrate mixed with water (equivalent to 90 whole Montmorency tart cherries per serving), or a calorie-matched placebo, twice a day for seven days.

On days five, six and seven, the participants performed prolonged, high-intensity cycling intervals – exercise that was designed to replicate the demands of a three-day race.

The researchers collected blood samples and found that markers of inflammation and oxidative stress were significantly lower in the cyclists who consumed the tart cherry juice concentrate compared to those who did not.

At one point during the trial, oxidative stress was nearly 30 percent lower in the tart cherry group compared to the other group.

Strenuous exercise can cause temporary inflammation and oxidative stress that can lead to muscle damage, muscle soreness and reduced capacity to recover quickly, explains research lead Glyn Howatson, Ph.D., laboratory director at the Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation at Northumbria University. He attributes the recovery benefits shown in the study to the natural compounds in Montmorency tart cherries. One of the natural compounds found in Montmorency tart cherries is anthocyanins.

The study has been published in the journal Nutrients.

Source: Times of India

Tanzania: TB Cases Reported On the Rise

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The government has explained its strategies for the envisaged expansion of medical treatment services for tuberculosis (TB) following a reported increase in the number of cases.

Tabling his ministry’s budget estimates for the financial year 2014/2015, the Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Seif Rashid, told the National Assembly that data have it that the number of TB patients is on the increase and people above 45 years of age are highly affected. “For the first time the TB Prevalence Survey was conducted last year.

It showed that the disease remains a threat with 295 people affected out of 100,000. People above 45 years of age are highly affected as compared to youths,” he said.

Dr Rashid noted further that the government will continue with efforts to take TB treatment services to lesser hospitals from the Kibong’oto Hospital which is a specialized medical centre for TB treatment.

He added that TB services will be put up in mining areas as the study indicates that miners are in a risky environment when they contact the disease which is airborne.

Dr Rashid noted that Gene-Xpert machines will be distributed around the country to increase hospitals’ capacity of diagnosing TB patients. In another development, the minister said that the ministry’s efforts in collaboration with its stakeholders have managed to reduce HIV/ AIDS prevalence rate to 5.3 per cent in 2012 from 5.8 in 2008.

“This achievement has been registered following various efforts and campaigns geared at counselling and voluntary tests,” he said.

He noted that by December 2013, the number of people who had tested has increased from 11,640 in 2009 to 20,469,241 which is equal to an average of an increase of 2,000,000 per annum.

“The increase in number is a vivid demonstration that the society is highly motivated and informed on the need to understand their health status,” he said.

Dr Rashid noted that 457,901 HIV/AIDS patients were tested for TB out of which 5,413 patients or 1.2 per cent were discovered to have contracted TB and were put into treatment.

Source: All Africa

Critics Want FDA to OK New Sunscreen Ingredients

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Rigel’s patients can’t buy similar products in the United States because they contain sun-filtering compounds — classified as over-the-counter drugs in the United States and Canada but cosmetics elsewhere. These compounds don’t yet have FDA approval, even though in some cases they’ve been used for decades in other countries.

“There’s no good reason why the FDA hasn’t approved these,” says Rigel, a past president of the American Academy of Dermatology and a clinical professor at NYU Langone Medical Center.
“As a physician, it’s frustrating to me that we can’t seem to get an answer about when the FDA will approve these ingredients that have already been proven safe in Europe.”

The eight sun filters awaiting FDA approval “have the potential to be different and better,” Rigel says. They tend to last longer and lend themselves to more “elegant” formulations than some of the goopy sunscreen products on the U.S. market, he says.
If it seems like there’s no shortage of sunscreen choices on store shelves, you might be surprised to learn the FDA hasn’t approved a new active sunscreen ingredient since before 2002. That year, the agency published regulations aimed at streamlining the review of over-the-counter drugs, such as sun filters, with track records in other countries.

Under a different review process, though, the FDA in 2006 allowed L’Oreal to market Anthelios SX, a daily moisturizer that contains a sun filter used in products sold in Europe and Canada since 1993. The approval only applies to Anthelios SX products sold by L’Oreal brands.
“The FDA remains committed to allowing sunscreens containing additional ingredients to be made available to consumers if there are enough data to show that they are generally recognized as safe and effective for use in over-the-counter sunscreens,” the agency says in a statement to WebMD. “The FDA recognizes the public health importance of sunscreen use and has prioritized reviewing the safety and effectiveness of additional sunscreen ingredients as quickly as possible, given the agency’s resources.”

Waiting Game
Manufacturers of the eight different sun-filtering compounds have applied to the FDA for approval under the 2002 “time and extent” regulations. This is another way to approve over-the-counter drugs sold outside the U.S., says Michael Werner. He’s a Washington, D.C., lawyer who advises the PASS (Public Access to Sunscreen) Coalition.
“Time” refers to having been marketed continuously for at least 5 years in the same country, while “extent” refers to marketing a sufficient quantity.

The time and extent regulations allow applicants, when requesting FDA approval, to use data from other countries to demonstrate safety and effectiveness, Werner says. “That’s why it requires at least 5 years of continuous marketing in other countries.“

Source: web md

Research chemist who ‘discovered’ Ecstasy dies aged 88

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A world-renowned chemist famous for rediscovering a decades old recipe for the psychedelic drug ecstasy has died aged 88.

Alexander Shulgin died at his home in a remote part of northern California on Monday.

His wife, Ann, said that terminal liver cancer was the cause. She announced his death on Facebook, saying that his going “was graceful, with almost no struggle at all.”

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Known to some as the ‘Godfather of Ecstasy’, Shuglin created over 200 chemical compounds for use in psychotherapy – often testing the extremely psychoactive substances on himself and his wife.

He his most widely known, however, for dusting off a decades-old chemical recipe for 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine, or MDMA – the ‘active ingredient’ in the drug ecstasy.

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MDMA been forgotten for almost 65 years since its initial discovery in 1912 and the drug had never been tested on humans until Shuglin began clinical trials on himself.

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His research into the drug and its properties has led some scientists to believe that it could be introduced as a possible treatment for some mental health conditions and terminal cancer patients.

Source: itv

New York doctors reconstruct Kenyan child’s face after flesh-eating bacteria

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A young girl from a remote Kenyan village has regained her confidence and smile after living in the U.S. for a year and undergoing a series of operations to help rebuild her face.

When she younger, Saline Atieno’s face was ravaged by a rare flesh-eating bacteria that made it difficult for her to speak, eat and even breathe.
Last Saturday, a smiling and confident Saline, 12, returned home to Kenya after undergoing ten surgeries to reconstruct her face.

She is the first child to have had her life dramatically changed by the Smile Rescue Fund For Kids, a charity dedicated to helping children with facial deformities deemed virtually ‘untreatable’.
It was setup by Dr. Leon Klempner, an orthodontist on the cleft palate team at Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook, New York.

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After making numerous mission trips to provide free surgeries to repair cleft palates or other facial deformities in children around the world, he wanted to do more to help those children with the most severe deformities.

‘On every mission I’ve gone on there’s always been one or two kids turned away because they are too severe to be able to treat and that’s always bothered me,’ Klempner told

Saline was just 3-years-old when she was diagnosed with Noma. The flesh-eating bacteria develops in the mouth and ravages the faces of its victims by destroying the soft and bone tissues of the face.
‘Noma attacked her face, ate through her skin, through her upper jaw, destroyed her nose and destroyed her palate…That’s the medical part,’ said Klempner.

‘The social part is she was basically a recluse, she had no friends, she didn’t go to school.’

She first came to the attention of Dr. Klempner in 2010, but it took three years of fundraising and navigating bureaucratic barriers before Saline finally arrived in the U.S. for treatment last June.
At first she was shy and afraid, and unwilling to show her face in public or look people in the eye.

‘We had to reconstruct a nose, an upper lip and a palate – and that was one big cavity, one big hole,’ Dr. Alexander Dagum, chief of the plastic and reconstructive surgery division at Stony Brook, told Fox.

Saline’s appearance began to improve, her doctors and host family noticed a marked improvement in both her health and self-esteem. She even grew six inches and learned to speak English.

‘Here everyone is welcoming her, telling her she is beautiful, I think that all really played a part of getting her to come out of her shell,’ said Jennifer Crean, who hosted Saline in her home for three months.
Saline had her tenth major surgery – to create a nose – in April and then on May 31 she flew back to Kenya. She is now able to breathe normally, speak more clearly and eat without spilling food and drink from her mouth.

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Her risk for future infections has also decreased significantly now that the open cavity in her face has been closed. She may need a few corrective procedures to minimize scarring in the future.
‘No words can adequately express how I feel. You have not only taught me your language, and fixed my face, you have taught me how it feels to be taken care of and unconditionally loved. I never expected that. Goodbye- for now,’ she told Dr. Klempner before leaving.

Saline will be enrolled in a private boarding school in Kenya, where she will receive an education, a bed to sleep in and three meals per day – all funded by the Smile Rescue Fund.
‘She’s touched our lives and exposed us to what exists elsewhere and instilled this sense of gratitude in those of us that have been involved with her,’ said Dr. Klempner.
‘She’s been an inspiration to us and really a gift, she’s enriched our lives.’

With Saline’s journey almost at an end, Dr. Klempner is in the process of screening more children to bring to the U.S. for similar reconstructive surgeries.

Source: daily mail

 

Cameroon Steps Up War On Malaria Amid Worsening Floods

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Cameroon is seeking ways to mobilise its citizens to support a government-led campaign against soaring malaria deaths, as worsening floods aggravate health risks.

Government officials in the central-west African country say regular flooding due to erratic rains is partly responsible for the recent spike in deaths from vector-borne diseases, because standing water encourages malaria-carrying mosquitoes to breed.

“The increase in the death rate from malaria in Cameroon is disturbing indeed, especially at a time when efforts to combat the disease in African were yielding positive results. The Cameroon government, however, is sparing no efforts to reverse the trend,” Alim Hayatou, secretary of state in charge of epidemics and pandemics, told the launch of a nationwide campaign against vector-borne diseases in March.

Hayatou said the 2014 campaign aims to step up official efforts to reduce the death rate from malaria by at least 75 percent before 2018, and to alleviate its heavy social and economic burden on the population.

The annual death toll from malaria in Cameroon jumped from less than 2,000 in 2011 and 2012 to over 3,200 in 2013, according to statistics from Malaria No More, an international NGO fighting the disease in Africa.

Government officials, health experts and environmentalists are unanimous on the need for a joint push to keep malaria at bay.

Against this backdrop, the government – alongside partners including UNICEF, Plan Cameroon and Malaria No More – announced a boost to the anti-malaria campaign K.O. PALU (Kick Out Malaria) with a door-to-door distribution of treated mosquito nets to families, especially with pregnant women and children, accompanied by environmental education.

PLASTIC BAG BAN

According to Cameroon’s minister of public health, André Mama Fouda, Cameroon saw the distribution of free treated mosquito nets rise from 33 percent of the population in 2011 to 66 percent in 2013. But the death rate has paradoxically increased, indicating the need to accompany net handouts with messages about the environment and good hygiene practices.

“Exerting unprecedented control over the unfriendly behaviour of people towards the environment is key to succeeding in the fight against malaria and other vector-borne diseases,” the minister said.

In 2013, the government banned the production, sale and use of non-biodegradable plastic bags – which health and environment experts say have clogged up drains and gutters, contributing to floods.

“The reckless littering of…plastics on streets and waterways are some of the barriers to efforts to fight floods, because they block drainage facilities,” Tansi Laban of the ministry of environment and nature protection told Thomson Reuters Foundation in Yaounde.

“Worse still, many households and companies dispose of plastic bags by burning them, which emits toxic gases that harm the atmosphere and increase the level of dioxins and carbon dioxide in the air, resulting in ozone layer depletion. This leads to global warming and climate change,” the official added.

The government delegate to Douala City Council, Fritz Ntone Ntone, said at the malaria campaign launch that the council had completed a drainage project to channel run-off water during heavy rains into the River Wouri, in response to persistent flooding and pollution of some areas. The project, which began in January 2013 and ended this March, cost the council some 785 million FCFA ($1.57 million).

The cities of Douala in the Littoral Region and Mokolo in the Far North Region, which suffered heavy floods in 2012 and 2013, accounted for over 40 percent of malaria deaths last year, pointing to the negative effects of weather extremes for public health, experts say.

The problems of regular flooding and poor drainage need to be addressed to prevent mosquitoes breeding, said Olivia Ngou, Cameroon country director of Malaria No More.

Environmentalists have blamed Douala’s tendency to flooding on the exploitation of mangrove forests near the coast by fishermen who cut down trees to smoke fish, leaving the shore bare of vegetation and removing protection against storm surges and sea-level rise.

NETS NOT USED

Statistics from the public health ministry show that children younger than five and pregnant women are the groups most vulnerable to malaria, registering over 40 percent of deaths in 2013. More than 1.6 million Cameroonians are affected by the disease each year.

The government is concerned that the population is not collaborating sufficiently with the anti-malaria drive. Last June, on World Environment Day, environment minister Pierre Hélé expressed regret that climate change was playing out in people’s lives,  yet few paid attention to ways of averting the potential risks.

Some climate change projects have either failed to take off, or have been poorly or partially implemented due to corruption and administrative bottlenecks, he said. The minister cited the planned construction of a canal to stop flooding in Douala, which was announced by the government in 2012 but has yet to begin amid allegations over mismanagement of funds.

Health workers say many people have malaria nets but do not use them because of excessive heat in the city due to overcrowding and rising temperatures linked to greenhouse gas emissions from local industry in
the country’s commercial capital.

Isaac Ebong, a doctor at Laquantini hospital in Douala, told Thomson Reuters Foundation that patients complain the nets are too warm to sleep under.

WHO SUPPORT

The World Health Organization (WHO) country representative in Cameroon, Charlotte Faty Ndiaye, said at the anti-malaria campaign launch her agency stood poised to help the government, as in previous years.

“WHO is always ready to work with government and civil society organisations to improve the health of the population. Thanks to efforts by WHO, some 337 million cases of malaria were prevented between 2001 and 2012,” she said.

Malaria is an entirely preventable and treatable mosquito-borne illness, according to the WHO.An estimated 3.4 billion people are at risk of malaria worldwide, according to a 2013 WHO report. Of these, 1.2 billion are at high risk, in areas where more than 1 malaria case occurs per 1,000 people.

Globally, there were an estimated 207 million cases of malaria in 2012,  and an estimated 627,000 deaths. The report said 90 percent of all malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa

Source: Thomson reuters foundation

Zimbabwe: Diarrhoea Outbreak Hits Chinhoyi

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A diarrhoea outbreak has hit Chinhoyi with about 1 000 cases recorded in the last three weeks, amid fears that the bug could result in fatalities.

The outbreak, which is being blamed on the rota virus, started about three weeks ago.

About 309 cases were recorded last week, with 202 of them being children under the age of five.

The seriously affected have been admitted at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital, while others are being given the oral rehydration solution.

Makonde district medical officer Dr Paradzai Mudzengerere confirmed the outbreak and said a comprehensive awareness campaign was underway.

“We have seen an increase in the number of diarrhoeal cases in recent weeks and we attribute that to the onset of the winter season where the rota virus is very active,” he said.

Government has come up with an immunisation programme to deal with the rota virus which thrives in low temperatures.

The programme was carried out about two months ago and more than 60 percent coverage was recorded in Chinhoyi.

Source: All Africa

Offer vegetables early and often to fussy toddlers, study says

Offer vegetables early and often to fussy toddlers, study says

Children can learn to eat new vegetables if they are introduced regularly before the age of two, suggests a University of Leeds study.

Even fussy eaters can be encouraged to eat more greens if they are offered them five to 10 times, it found. The research team gave artichoke puree to 332 children aged between four and 38 months from the UK, France and Denmark. One in five cleared their plates while 40% learned to like artichoke.

After 24 months children become reluctant to try new things and start to reject foods” Prof Marion Hetherington University of Leeds. The study also dispelled the popular myth that vegetable tastes need to be masked in order for children to eat them.

During the study, each child was given between five and 10 servings of at least 100g of artichoke puree. The puree was either served straight, or sweetened with added sugar, or vegetable oil was mixed into the puree to add energy.

The researchers found there was little difference in the amount eaten over time between those who were fed the basic puree and those who had the sweetened one, suggesting that making vegetables sweeter does not encourage children to eat more. Overall, they did find that younger children ate more artichoke than older children in the study.

Prof Marion Hetherington, study author from the Institute of Psychological Sciences at Leeds, said this was because children become picky and wary at a certain age. “If they are under two they will eat new vegetables because they tend to be willing and open to new experiences. “After 24 months, children become reluctant to try new things and start to reject foods – even those they previously liked.”

Most children in the study were found to be “learners” (40%), who ate more artichoke over time. Twenty-one per cent consumed more than three-quarters of their serving each time and were labelled “plate-clearers”. “Non-eaters” made up 16% of the children because they ate less than 10g even when it was offered for a fifth time, while the rest did not conform to any one group.

Prof Hetherington said her research, which is published in the journal PLOS ONE and funded by the EU, offered some valuable guidance to parents who want to encourage healthy diets in their children. “If you want to encourage your children to eat vegetables, make sure you start early and often. “Even if your child is fussy or does not like veggies, our study shows that five to 10 exposures will do the trick.”

Globe artichoke was chosen as the vegetable in the study because parents said it was one of the vegetables they were least likely to cook. NHS guidelines are to start weaning children on to solid foods at six months.

Source: bbc news

Pregnant women’s wine intake could cause pancreatic problems in infants

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A study has warned against use of Resveratrol supplements, which is a plant compound found in the skin of red grapes and in peanuts and berries, among other plants by pregnant women.

The study revealed that a widely available dietary supplement that had been considered safe – and that some claim provides anti-ageing and other health benefits – caused significant developmental abnormalities in the pancreas of offspring of pregnant monkeys who were given the supplement.

The supplement form of the compound has been available in pharmacies and health food stores for years, with claims that it has a wide range of health benefits.

The compound is thought to be an anti-oxidant and an anti-inflammatory, and some animal studies do confirm some benefits. All previous studies had found it to be safe in humans.

Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University’s Oregon National Primate Research Center and the University of Colorado-Denver were focusing on some of those potential benefits when they began studying the compound in monkeys.

The research indicated that resveratrol did provide some real benefits in the pregnant monkeys, including improved blood flow through the placenta to the fetus. Placental abnormalities contribute to many of the pregnancy complications and health issues with babies of obese women who eat an unhealthy Western diet.

But the researchers also found an effect that surprised them – resveratrol had a significantly negative effect on the development of the pancreas in the monkey fetus. The pancreas is critical for the body’s regulation of blood glucose.

The study has been published in the FASEB Journal.
Source: zee news

Speaking more than one language can keep your brain young!

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If you speak more languages than one, it is good not only for your social image but also for the health of your brain, a research said. Bilingualism has a positive effect on cognition later in life. Individuals, who speak two or more languages, even those who acquired the second language in adulthood, may slow down cognitive decline from ageing, the research found. ‘Our study is the first to examine whether learning a second language impacts cognitive performance later in life while controlling for childhood intelligence,’ said lead author Thomas Bak from University of Edinburgh.

Bilingualism is thought to improve cognition and delay dementia in older adults. While prior research has investigated the impact of learning more languages than one, ruling out ‘reverse causality’ has proven difficult. ‘The crucial question is whether people improve their cognitive functions through learning new languages or whether those with better baseline cognitive functions are more likely to become bilingual,’ Bak asked. For the current study, researchers relied on data of 835 native speakers of English who were born and living in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Some 262 participants reported to be able to communicate in at least one language other than English. ‘The findings indicate that those who spoke two or more languages had significantly better cognitive abilities,’ the researchers added. The strongest effects were seen in general intelligence and reading. The effects were present in those who acquired their second language early as well as late. ‘These findings are of considerable practical relevance. Millions of people around the world acquire their second language later in life. Our study shows that bilingualism, even when acquired in adulthood, may benefit the aging brain,’ Bak concluded. The study was published in the journal Annals of Neurology.

Can speaking two languages save you from dementia?

It’s a great thing that we Indians speak so many different languages. Most of us speak two or more languages and that apparently cuts down our risk of developing dementia! A new study has shown that people, who speak more than 1 language, tend to develop dementia up to 5 years later than those who are monolingual.

A team of scientists examined almost 650 dementia patients and assessed when each one had been diagnosed with the condition. The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Edinburgh and Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad (India). They found that people who spoke two or more languages experienced a later onset of Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and frontotemporal dementia.

The bilingual advantage extended to illiterate people who had not attended school. This confirms that the observed effect is not caused by differences in formal education. It is the largest study so far to gauge the impact of bilingualism on the onset of dementia – independent of a person’s education, gender, and occupation and whether they live in a city or in the country, all of which have been examined as potential factors influencing the onset of dementia. The team of researchers said that further studies are needed to determine the mechanism, which causes the delay in the onset of dementia

source: health