New hepatitis drug may be more effective
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Entecavir, a new drug designed to battle frequently fatal hepatitis B, is more effective than a rival drug, according to a pair of research studies financed by the drug’s manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
The two studies on long-term liver disease, published in this week’s issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, found that entecavir, also known as Baraclude, does a better job than GlaxoSmithKline’s drug, Epivir (lamivudine).
China delegate suggests euthanasia experiments
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An adviser to China’s parliament has suggested that the country allow regions to “experiment” with euthanasia as a step toward legalizing mercy killing nationwide, Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
A survey done in several areas of the country showed more than 80 percent of people supported euthanasia for those with incurable, painful illness, with approval rates especially high among the elderly, Zhao Gongmin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
“Conditions are not yet ripe for national-level legislation on euthanasia,” Zhao, a member of parliament’s advisory body, was quoted as saying on the sidelines of the ongoing parliament session in Beijing.
Acupuncture appears effective for lower back pain
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Acupuncture improves lower back pain, compared with no treatment, German researchers report. However, they found that a minimal intervention consisting of superficial needle placement at non-acupuncture points resulted in similar improvements.
Past studies have yielded inconclusive results concerning the effectiveness of acupuncture to treat lower back pain. To further investigate, a team lead by Dr. Benno Brinkhaus, from the Charite University Medical Center in Berlin, evaluated nearly 300 patients in what the researchers believe is the largest trial to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture for lower back pain.
Stroke-prevention drug underutilized in minorities
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Despite its proven efficacy in reducing the risk of stroke in patients with abnormal heart rhythm, the blood thinner warfarin is less commonly given to racial minorities, even though their risk of stroke is higher than that of whites, a new study shows.
Furthermore, only about half of older patients in the United States hospitalized with abnormal heart rhythm, also referred to as atrial fibrillation, are prescribed warfarin when they are discharged, according to a report in the journal Stroke. Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of blood clot. By “thinning” the blood, warfarin can prevent the formation of these clots, which are the most common cause of strokes.
Birth defects from mom’s West Nile infection rare
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Birth defects appear to be uncommon in infants born to women infected with West Nile virus (WNV) during pregnancy, according to a new report.
“The current study’s findings are overall reassuring in that the majority of the women for whom there was information delivered apparently healthy infants with normal growth and development,” Dr. Daniel R. O’Leary from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado told Reuters Health.
O’Leary and colleagues studied 77 pregnant women with WNV illness. Twenty-five women were believed to have been infected during the first trimester, 27 in the second trimester, and 24 in the third trimester. Time of infection was unknown for 1 woman.
Dogs bite babes and toddlers more often
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According to a new study, dog bites in children occur frequently and the breed of dog, behaviour of dog owners, children, and parents are all influencing factors.
Dogs bite very young children more often, and the researchers say that children 1 year of age or younger have the highest risk of being bitten, while children up to age 10 have a higher risk than older individuals.
In the study Dr. Johannes Schalamon and associates at the Medical University of Graz, reviewed the cases of 341 children treated for dog bites at a trauma center in Austria over a 10-year period.
Scientists fight leukaemia with ‘natural killer’ cells
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Scientists at the University of the West of England and the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the Bristol Children’s Hospital have just won funding for a two-year project aimed at improving the outcome of bone marrow stem-cell transplants in young leukaemia patients.
After a stem cell transplant there is a significant risk that grafted donor white blood cells, known as T-cells, will attack the recipient and may cause a fatal complication called graft versus host disease (GvHD). In Bristol a monoclonal antibody called Campath is used to kill donor T-cells, reducing the chance of GvHD. A side effect of Campath therapy is delayed recovery of the immune system after the transplant which may be associated with leukaemic relapse.
Pregnancy diet has lifelong effects for baby
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University of Nottingham researchers are targeting Europe’s biggest killer diseases - by focusing on the diet of unborn babies.
Poor nutrition in the womb and in the first months of infancy can condemn an individual to a life of poor health including higher risks of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Scientists believe a baby is ‘programmed’ for a lifetime of good or poor health in its first few months by the type and amount of nutrition they receive.
Learn the Signs and Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer
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More than 148,000 people will learn that they have colorectal cancer this year, making it the third leading cancer in both men and women in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. While a family history of colon cancer, a diet high in fat and red meat, and a history of polyps in the colon, ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s Disease are major risk factors associated with colorectal cancer, the disease can be cured and often prevented if people are screened properly.
Colorectal cancer generally affects men and women equally and it becomes more prevalent as you age. It can be detected very early on if, beginning at age 50, you follow the proper screening schedules, including a yearly fecal occult blood test, where your stool is checked for blood; a sigmoidoscopy every five years to look inside the rectum and colon for polyps or other abnormal areas; a double-contrast barium enema every five years where X-rays are taken of your intestines; and a colonoscopy that looks inside the rectum and the entire colon for polyps every 10 years. If pre-cancerous polyps are detected, they can be removed to prevent colorectal cancer.
China says it’s caring for Henan AIDS villagers
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An official from a poverty-stricken area of China where some believe hundreds of thousands of villagers have HIV/AIDS said on Wednesday the number is less than 8,000 and they are doing well with government help.
International groups estimated that a botched blood-selling scheme in the 1990s had infected a million villagers with HIV in the impoverished central province of Henan, where the municipality of Zhu Madian was worst hit.
Song Xuantao, the Communist Party chief for Zhu Madian, told reporters that of a population of 8.3 million, only 7,800 HIV carriers had been found in a 2003 screening. All were being offered free treatment and were receiving allowances.
Coffee good or bad for you? It depends on your genes!
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According to a new study, depending on your genes, the caffeine in coffee is either good for you or bad for you.
The link between coffee intake and the risk of heart attacks is a controversial issue.
Scientists know that coffee, a major source of caffeine, is metabolized by the enzyme, cytochrome P450 1A2, and some individuals who have that particular gene are “rapid” caffeine metabolizers, whereas those with a different variation of the gene are “slow” caffeine metabolizers.
Steroid useful in HIV, dangerous to the healthy
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An oral anabolic steroid can restore the muscle and fat tissue often lost to HIV/AIDS, but the side effects highlight the dangers that steroids pose to healthy people who abuse them, according to researchers.
Their study of 262 HIV-positive men found that the steroid, called oxandrolone, helped treat the substantial weight loss, or wasting, that can arise as a complication of HIV/AIDS. After 12 weeks, men who took the oral drug everyday showed gains in both weight and muscle tissue.
The side effects of treatment included an increase in LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol, and a drop in “good” HDL cholesterol. Some men also developed signs of liver toxicity.
Most Americans still skip colon cancer screening
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Three out of four Americans aged 50 to 70 aren’t getting regular colon cancer screening, according to a survey sponsored by the maker of a new screening test for the disease.
Colon cancer is currently the second leading cancer killer in the United States, with 60,000 Americans expected to die from the disease this year.
The American Cancer Society recommends that everyone get a colonoscopy to test for colon cancer at age 50. But 26 percent of the 1,200 people surveyed said their doctor had never discussed colon cancer screening with them, and 24 percent said they didn’t get screened because they had no symptoms of the disease. Twenty-eight percent said they didn’t want to have a colonoscopy.
Pre-eclampsia kidney disease link
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Pre-eclampsia is a complication in pregnancy occurring in approximately eight percent of all pregnancies. It is characterised by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine. It generally develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Medical doctor and researcher Bjoern Egil Vikse from the Department of Medicine at University of Bergen (UiB) is the first author of an upcoming article in the March issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Vikse explains that there were two reasons for becoming involved in this work. The first was that a collegaue had previously found a strong correlation between pre-eclampsia and a later incidence of cardiovascular disease. The second is that UiB researchers have a unique research tool. They have access to two large databases: one is a birth registry; the other is a kidney biopsy registry. This enables them to use large, well-documented data pools in their work.
Treat Diabetes - Lose Weight, Too!
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Diabetics’ use of Byetta (Amylin Pharmaceuticals) has boomed since the glucose-regulating prescription drug was introduced last year as the first in a class of medicines for type 2 diabetes called incretin mimetics. The big appeal? Many people not only have better regulation of their blood sugar, but they lose weight, too. UAB endocrinologist Fernando Ovalle, M.D., said, “Byetta slows down the gastrointestinal transit time and therefore makes people feel full after eating. The biggest side effect may be nausea, but it’s usually transient.”
The injectable drug also facilitates insulin production in response to a meal and helps suppress glucagon levels. UAB doctors participated in some of the clinical studies of the drug and use it in clinics.
