FDA taking another look at mercury in seafood

seafood

The Food and Drug Administration is updating its advice for pregnant women on the appropriate levels of mercury in seafood. Commissioner Margaret Hamburg says the agency won’t require mercury labels on seafood packages.

In a wide-ranging interview Friday with The Associated Press, Hamburg said the agency will update guidance on mercury in different varieties of seafood and what that means, a long-awaited move aimed at helping women better understand what to eat when they’re pregnant.
“It’s an advisory, not an effort to mandate labeling,” Hamburg said. “Different seafood products do contain different levels of mercury, and so different seafood products can be rated in terms of levels of mercury.”

Eating fish is part of a heart-healthy diet, and many types are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids that are important for brain development.
But fish also can absorb small amounts of mercury, a neurotoxin, from streams and oceans — and a small number of varieties harbor higher levels.

For most people, accumulating mercury from eating seafood isn’t a health risk. But for a decade, the FDA has warned that pregnant women, those who may become pregnant, and young children avoid certain types of high-mercury fish because of concern that too much could harm a developing brain.

Consumer groups have sued the agency, saying the warnings weren’t clear enough about what to avoid, and seeking labeling to help so that shoppers wouldn’t have to remember which products are OK during pregnancy or for youngsters.

“We can’t ask consumers to memorize two different lists of fish,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, one of the groups that sued.

DeWaal said the new advisory will be an improvement if it gives consumers better information, especially if that information could be kept at fish counters in grocery stores and retail outlets.
The seafood industry says the government shouldn’t look at mercury by itself, but at the benefits of seafood. Jennifer McGuire of the National Fisheries Institute says the original FDA guidelines warning against some types of fish for pregnant women just served to decrease overall seafood intake.

“That would be very concerning if there was a ‘good fish, bad fish’ list,” she said.

The government’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines incorporated FDA’s warnings to say that pregnant or breastfeeding women should consume 8 to 12 ounces of a variety of seafood per week. But it said they should not eat tilefish, shark, swordfish and king mackerel because of the mercury content and it advised limiting white albacore tuna to six ounces a week.
On other food-related issues, Hamburg said deciding which businesses will have to post calorie labels has been “one of the more complex undertakings of my tenure as FDA commissioner.”

The food industry is closely watching FDA to see which establishments are included in final menu labeling rules, which are expected this year. Congress required the labels in 2010 health overhaul, and supermarkets and convenience stores have lobbied aggressively since then to be excluded. But the restaurant industry says that all establishments serving prepared foods should have to post the labels.

She said the increasing amount of caffeine in a whole range of foods “has gotten our attention and concern” and that the agency needs to better understand the role of the stimulant in non-traditional products, especially on children. She said the science is not absolutely clear about its effects.

The agency is investigating the safety of energy drinks and energy shots, prompted by consumer reports of illness and death. FDA is also looking at caffeine in food as manufacturers have added caffeine to candy, nuts and other snack foods in recent years.
On genetically modified foods, Hamburg reiterated her support for voluntary labels, and said a “considerable amount of scientific study” does not suggest the kinds of public health concerns that some consumers have worried about. Advocates for GM labeling have been pushing state laws that require the labels.

As such, she says she does not believe FDA should have to do a mandatory safety review of all engineered foods. FDA now reviews the safety of GM animals, but has a voluntary review for companies that want to sell modified crops for consumption.

Source: news press now

 

13-pound tumor removed from man’s face

stefan-zoleik

Doctors have removed a tumour weighing almost a stone from the face of a Slovakian man. In 2004, Stefan Zoleik developed a thankfully rare condition called Madelung disease, which caused fat tumours to grown on his face.
One of them grew from ear to ear under his chin causing people to stop and stare at him in the street.

‘Everybody was turning and looking at me,’ Mr Zoleik told Reuters the news agency. ‘It was very unpleasant. It also bothered me all the time when I moved my head.’

Finally, Igor Homola, a surgeon, spent five hours cutting away the growth and Mr Zoleik is more than happy with the resuts saying: ‘This is amazing, much better than it was before, which was horrible. ‘I don’t even feel any pain now.’

Mr Zoleik spent 10 years living with the swelling, caused by a rare disease called Madelung that sees fat fibres grow wildly across his face

Mr Zoleik is very happy with the results of the surgery which removed a tumour weighing nearly a stone from his face

source: daily mail

Man charged with stealing $350,000 worth of human skin from hospital

skin theft

A southeastern Pennsylvania man has been charged with stealing more than $350,000 worth of human skin over a period of several years.

Fifty-four-year-old Gary Dudek of Wallingford was arrested Monday and charged with theft, receiving stolen property and tampering with records.

Authorities say he worked until September as a sales representative for a Massachusetts-based regenerative medicine firm and could order skin grafts for Mercy Philadelphia Hospital.

The Philadelphia Daily News reports that authorities allege that Dudek ordered more than 200 grafts without authorization from November 2011 to July that the hospital never received.

Philadelphia police said they do not know the motive or what happened to the grafts.

Defense attorney Eugene Tinari told WCAU-TV that the case should be handled as a civil matter, and the criminal charges are “draconian.”

Source: fox news

Study reveals stress degrades sperm quality

stress degrades

Psychological stress is harmful to sperm and semen quality, affecting its concentration, appearance, and ability to fertilize an egg, according to a study led by researchers Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and Rutgers School of Public Health. Results are published online in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, infertility affects men and women equally, and semen quality is a key indicator of male fertility.

“Men who feel stressed are more likely to have lower concentrations of sperm in their ejaculate, and the sperm they have are more likely to be misshapen or have impaired motility,” says senior author Pam Factor-Litvak, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. “These deficits could be associated with fertility problems.”

The researchers studied 193 men, ages 38 to 49, enrolled in the Study of the Environment and Reproduction at the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in Oakland, California, between 2005 and 2008. The men completed tests to measure work and life stress on subjective scale (how they felt overall) and objective scale (life events behind the stress). They also provided semen samples. Technicians at the University of California, Davis, used standard methods employed in fertility testing to assess the samples for semen concentration, and sperm appearance and motility.

Measured subjectively or objectively, life stress degraded semen quality, even after accounting for men’s concerns about their fertility, their history of reproductive health problems, or their other health issues. Workplace stress was not a factor, however the researchers say it may still affect reproductive health since men with job strain had diminished levels of testosterone. Being without a job did not improve matters. Unemployed men had sperm of lower quality than employed men, regardless of how stressed they were.

It is not fully understood how stress affects semen quality. It may trigger the release of steroid hormones called glucocorticoids, which in turn could blunt levels of testosterone and sperm production. Another possibility is oxidative stress, which has been shown to affect semen quality and fertility.

“Stress has long been identified as having an influence on health. Our research suggests that men’s reproductive health may also be affected by their social environment,” says Teresa Janevic, PhD, the study’s first author and an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
While several previous studies have examined the link between stress and semen quality, the current paper is the first to look at subjective and objective measures of stress and find associations with semen concentration, and sperm appearance and motility.

Source: science daily

Now, a ‘smart cap’ to map brain functions

640_electroencephalograph

The functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), most commonly used in brain mapping method, may not be ideal for children and patients with implanted electrical devices such as pacemakers, cochlear implants and deep brain stimulators. The magnetic fields used in the method may disrupt either the function or safety of these devices.

Researchers have now developed a “smart cap”, a new brain scanning system that shines tiny lights onto the head and works just as well as magnetic brain scanner.

The instrument uses a technology called diffuse optical tomography (DOT) and works by detecting light transmitted through the head and capturing the dynamic changes in the colours of the brain tissue.

The new DOT instrument covers two-thirds of the head and for the first time can image brain processes taking place in multiple regions and brain networks.

“When the neuronal activity of a region in the brain increases, highly oxygenated blood flows to the parts of the brain doing more work and we can detect that,” Joseph Culver from Washington University was quoted as saying.

The researchers validated the performance of DOT by comparing its results to fMRI scans, Daily Mail reported.

The study appeared in the journal Nature Photonics.

Source: chennai online

New genetic cause of male reproductive birth defects revealed

birth-defects

Researchers have defined a previously unrecognized genetic cause for two types of birth defects found in newborn boys.

Lead author Dr. Dolores Lamb, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine at Baylor, professor and vice chair for research of urology and molecular and cellular biology at Baylor, asid cryptorchidism and hypospadias are among the most common birth defects but the causes are usually unknown.

Cryptorchidism is characterized by the failure of descent of one or both testes into the scrotum during fetal development. In the adult man, the testes produce sperm and the male hormone, testosterone. Hypospadias is the abnormal placement of the opening of the urethra on the penis.

Both birth defects are usually surgically repaired during infancy.

Lamb and colleagues used a method of genome wide screening (essentially a molecular karyotype) called array comparative genomic hybridization to study children with these defects. The method looks specifically at changes in chromosomal regions that have undergone duplication or deletions too small to see under a microscope, termed copy number variations.

These genomic changes can alter gene dosage (gene gains or losses) resulting in a change in cell function.

In its analysis, the team showed that the cause of these birth defects in a subset of children with these defects of testis and penile development resulted from a change in the number of copies of a gene, VAMP7.

The role of VAMP7 gene duplication in causing these male birth defects was important because of the type of protein family it belongs to – it is a SNARE (Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor activating protein receptor) protein (a large protein superfamily consisting of more than 60 members in yeast and mammalian cell), Lamb said.

The report has been published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Source: yahoo news

5 reasons why grapes are good for you

grapes bunch

Most of us love eating grapes. This juicy fruit is a rich source of vitamins A, C, B6 and folate. Grapes are a powerhouse of flavonoids and antioxidants, which help in reducing the damage caused by free radicals and slow down the process of ageing.

The best part about this ‘Queen of fruits’ is that they can be consumed in many ways – like grape juice, in wines etc.

Here are a few health benefits of the wonder fruit:

  • Grape juice is the best home remedy to treat migraine pains.
  • Research suggests that grape seed can be combined with chemotherapy to improve treatment for bowel cancer.
  • Adding grapes to your diet can help you lessen that excruciating knee pain.
  • Studies suggest that eating grapes helps lower blood pressure and improve heart function.
  • Grapes help in aiding digestion process thereby preventing dyspepsia.

Source: Zee news

 

 

WHO urged to stop controlling and suppressing use of e-cigarettes

ecigarette

A letter signed by more than 50 researchers and public health specialists has urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to “resist the urge to control and suppress e-cigarettes”.

The letter says that the devices – which deliver nicotine in a vapour – could be a “significant health innovation”. But the UK’s Faculty of Public Health says it is too early to know whether benefits outweigh potential risks. The WHO said it was still deciding what recommendations to make to governments.

The open letter has been organised in the run-up to significant international negotiations on tobacco policy this year. Supporters of e-cigarettes, who argue the products are a low-risk substitute for smoking, fear they might become subject to reduction targets and advertising bans.

There has been a big growth in the market for e-cigarettes, but the Department of Health says they are not risk-free. Critics said that not enough is known about their long-term health effects. A recent report commissioned by Public Health England said e-cigarettes required “appropriate regulation, careful monitoring and risk management” if their benefits were to be maximised.

The letter has been signed by 53 researchers – including specialists in public health policy and experts such as Prof Robert West, who published research last week suggesting that e-cigarettes are more likely to help people give up smoking than some conventional methods.

Source: business standard

Five surprising health benefits of Pumpkin!

pupmkin

Many of us don’t know the wondrous health benefits of pumpkin. In fact, this big orange orb is jam-packed with nutrients and is one of nature’s nutritional powerhouses. Pumpkin is considered as a storehouse of many anti-oxidant vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E. It is also a rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium and phosphorus.

Here are the five reasons why you should indulge in this ‘superfood’ pumpkin.

Good for eyes: Eating pumpkin can help protect the eyes from cataracts and degeneration due to its vitamin A content.

Good for skin: Pumpkin is good for the skin. It is packed with skin-protecting beta-carotenes that can boost your beauty routine. Pumpkin can help diminish fine lines and wrinkles because of its rich content of essential fatty acids. The vitamin C in pumpkin helps the skin to maintain its beautiful glow and elasticity, while the alpha -carotene found in this healthy food cuts back the aging process.

Helps loose weight: Pumpkin contains no saturated fats or cholesterol and is very low in calorie. Rich in dietary fiber, the vegetable is a great food for cholesterol controlling and weight loss programs.

Good for teeth and bone: Pumpkin is also good for bones and teeth health due to its rich magnesium content in the pulp and the seeds. So have pumpkin to avoid tooth decay and cavities.

Fight diseases: Pumpkin has lots of disease-fighting properties. Having this vegetable can help prevent heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, etc. It is also believed to protect from age-related muscular disease (ARMD) in the old age.

Source: Zee news

Cure for dry eye closer to reality

eye-drops-dry-eye-syndrome

A tiny silicone plug, planted quickly and pain-lessly in a tear duct of the eye, could be the cure for a condition suffered by more than four million people in Britain.

The plug, less than 2mm in diameter, slows down the loss of tears that results in dry eye syndrome, a painful, debilitating condition suffered by one in five people aged over 50. Researchers at Glasgow University have discovered that once in place, the plug ensures that enough tears are kept in the eyes to lubricate them and reduce the risk of damage.

If left untreated, dry eye syndrome can damage the outer protective tissue of the cornea – the surface of the eye – leading to infection with a risk of permanent scarring and even some damage to sight. Although tears, or lacrimal fluid, are mostly associated with crying and laughter, they are produced by the eye around the clock.

Tiny glands surrounding the eye continually create new tears that then are spread over the surface by blinking. The fluid is mostly a salt solution, but also contains compounds that fight bacteria and help make the eye immune to infection.

With every blink, a film of tears spreads over the eye, making the surface smooth and enabling good vision. Once the fluid has passed over the surface, the used tears drain out through two small holes in the corner of the eyelids nearest the nose, and from there into the nose and throat. That is why your nose runs when you cry. So efficient is the process that most people are only aware it exists when something goes wrong. Unfortunately, that is an increasing number of people.

In dry eye syndrome, either the tear glands make insufficient tears, or the fluid drains away too quickly. As a result, it is spread too thinly over the eye to lubricate it properly. In some cases the problem is the result of being born with inadequate tear ducts. Dry eyes can also be a side effect of other diseases, or the use of some types of medication. People with large eyes are more vulnerable to the condition, too. But the biggest cause is the natural ageing process. By the age of 60, the volume of lubricating tears is less than half the level at 18.

For those who suffer with dry eyes, the symptoms can be severe and include a chronic stinging, gritty, burning, and itching feeling. Some people describe the pain as like the sensation of having hot grit under the eyelid.

Sometimes the eye can appear red, but often there is no outward sign of pain and discomfort.

‘People with dry eye may have a sensation that the eye is dry, but they may also experience irritation, burning, and sore eyes, and a sensation of having a foreign body in the eye,’ says David Crystal, an Edinburgh-based optometrist and one of several optometrists throughout the country who is starting to use the plugs.

The incidence of dry eye has nearly doubled over the last seven years and lifestyle changes implicated include air conditioning, dehumidifiers, hairdryers, car wind-screen demisting, air pollution, and contact lenses.
Activities that reduce the rate of blinking, such as driving, and TV and computer screen watching, may also have played a part in the increase.

The specially designed plugs for the tear ducts are designed to make the best use of what tears there are. Each eye has two ducts, but the one on the lower lid is responsible for draining away 70 per cent of the fluid, and it is into this duct that the plug is fitted, one in each eye. The plug, which can be put into place with the help of a drop of local anaesthetic applied on a cotton-wool bud, reduces the amount of tears that drains away.

‘It is like heightening the dam and raising the reservoir levels. In effect, you create a reservoir of tears and, as a result, your eyes are bathed with your own natural tears without the bother of constantly supplementing the tear film with artificial tears,’ says David Crystal.

‘The insert can easily be removed if the dry eye condition improves at a later date. These inserts, which are so tiny they cannot be seen once they are in place, are also ideal in cases of dry eye caused by contact lenses.’ The procedure, which costs around £220, can result in improvements within days.

William Erskine, aged 59, of Duddingston, Edinburgh, had suffered for years with dry eye and had tried almost every alternative, including a number of over-the-counter oils and ointments.

‘I know exactly when it started. It was 35 years ago in Edinburgh Castle on a windy night. My eyes became dry, red hot and prickly and then just stayed like that,’ he says.

‘I tried all kinds of things but nothing worked. It was very painful, especially when I was working in an emergency highways team in bad weather in 12-hour shifts.

‘After so long, you begin to wonder whether you will ever get any relief. Earlier this year I had these silicone plugs put in and the results have been amazing. For the first time in 35 years year I have got peace – no more dry eyes.’

Source: daily mail