Light to Moderate Drinking Reduces Risk of Cardiac Events, Death
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Older adults who consume one to seven alcoholic beverages a week may live longer and have a reduced risk for cardiac events than those who do not drink - an association that appears independent of the anti-inflammatory effects of alcohol, according to a report in the July 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Alcohol may worsen some chronic diseases and the overall effect of drinking on survival is not clear, according to background information in the article. However, several studies have shown that alcohol may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and heart failure and contribute to a lower death rate. Light to moderate alcohol intake has been shown to reduce levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, compounds that circulate in the blood due to inflammation. Therefore, researchers have suspected that the mechanism linking alcohol to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease may be related to inflammation.
New training technique is proving successful in helping excessive drinkers curb their alcohol abuse
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A new training technique developed in the UK is proving successful in helping excessive drinkers curb their alcohol abuse.
Researchers funded by the Economic and Social Research Council have experimentally tested a computer-based training programme which helps abusive drinkers pay less attention to alcohol, feel more in control of their drinking and drink less.
Researchers at the University of Wales found that excessive drinkers cut down significantly on their drinking following their participation in this project’s newly developed Alcohol Attention-Control Training Programme (AACTP). Moreover, excessive drinkers were found to have maintained this improvement at a three-month follow-up assessment.
Scientists slow vision loss with vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid and other antioxidant chemicals
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Scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully blocked the advance of retinal degeneration in mice with a form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by treating them with vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid and other antioxidant chemicals.
“Much more work needs to be done to determine if what we did in mice will work in humans,” said Peter Campochiaro, the Eccles Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “But these findings have helped to solve a mystery.”
In patients with RP, rod photoreceptors die from a mutation, but it has not been known why cone photoreceptors die. After rods die, the level of oxygen in the retina goes up, and this work shows that it is the high oxygen that gradually kills the cones. Oxygen damage is also called “oxidative damage” and can be reduced by antioxidants. So for the first time, scientists have a treatment target in patients with RP, added Campochiaro. His team’s findings appeared in the July online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Global early warning system for zoonoses launched
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A global early warning system for animal diseases transmissible to humans (zoonoses) was formally launched this week by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Global Early Warning and Response System (GLEWS) is the first joint early warning and response system conceived with the aim of predicting and responding to animal diseases including zoonoses worldwide. This system builds on the added value of combining and coordinating the tracking, verification and alert mechanisms of OIE, FAO and WHO.
Antibiotics should not used to treat a runny nose
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Antibiotics should not be given to patients with acute purulent rhinitis (a runny nose with coloured discharge), a familiar feature of the common cold, concludes a study published on the British Medical Journal website.
General practitioners often prescribe antibiotics for respiratory tract infections when nasal discharge is purulent. Most guidelines recommend against their use for this condition, but this advice is based on one study that showed no effect.
So researchers in New Zealand searched the scientific literature for trials comparing antibiotics with placebo for acute purulent rhinitis (duration less than 10 days).
Researchers identify potential ovarian cancer stem cells
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Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have identified potential ovarian cancer stem cells, which may be behind the difficulty of treating these tumors with standard chemotherapy.
Understanding more about the stem-like characteristics of these cells could lead to new approaches to treating ovarian cancer, which kills more than 16,000 U.S. women annually and is their fifth most common cause of cancer death.
The report will appear in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Patent issued for method to manufacture Immtech’s drug candidate compounds
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Immtech Pharmaceuticals has announced that The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent related to the manufacturing of Immtech’s drug candidate compounds.
Immtech has an exclusive, worldwide license under this patent, based on Immtech’s license agreement with the Company’s consortium of scientists. The patent, entitled “Process for the synthesis of bis-aryl diamidoxime compounds,” claims a method for making drug candidate compounds, such as Immtech’s pafuramidine maleate (DB289). The patent names scientists from both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Georgia State University as inventors.
Study Suggests Emergence of New Most Common Form of Heart Failure
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Data from a 15-year period show that the prevalence of a particular type of heart failure - heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, also known as diastolic heart failure - is increasing. This type of heart failure now accounts for more than half of heart failure cases, according to Mayo Clinic research published in the July 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. An editorial accompanies this research, as well as another study on the same topic.
Nearly 5 million Americans are living with heart failure. Heart failure refers to symptoms of shortness of breath, exercise intolerance and fluid retention, which occur when heart function is impaired.
Heart failure may be associated with reduced pumping function as measured by the ejection fraction (systolic heart failure) or reduced relaxing function with preserved ejection fraction (diastolic heart failure). These two types of heart dysfunction cause exactly the same symptoms. Measurement of heart function, usually with an echocardiogram, is needed to distinguish between the two forms of heart failure.
Leukemia gene normally has mammary gland function
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A gene critical for normal mammary gland function during nursing helps trigger highly lethal leukemias when it undergoes a mutation that fuses it to another gene, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The discovery of the gene’s normal function and that its only major role involves the mammary glands suggests that drugs that might be developed in the future to treat it could also be given to leukemia patients with few serious side effects.
A high sugar content, low caffeine drink does not alleviate sleepiness but may worsen it
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An hour after consuming a high sugar, low caffeine drink you will tend to have slower reactions and experience more lapses in concentration than if you had simply drunk a decaffeinated, nil carbohydrate drink.
This was the finding of research performed at the University of Loughborough and published in this month’s Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental.
Ten healthy adults had volunteered to restrict their sleep to 5 hours on the day before participating in the trial. An hour after eating a light lunch they were given either an energy drink (42g sugar + 30mg caffeine) or an identically tasting zero-sugar drink. They then performed a monotonous 90-minute test during the afternoon ‘dip’ that assessed their sleepiness and ability to concentrate.
Rapid flu test curbs diagnostic testing in the ER
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A point-of-care rapid influenza test used during the flu season in the pediatric emergency department of a children’s hospital was sensitive and specific for influenza infection, and led to less diagnostic testing, a Tennessee-based team of doctors found.
“Influenza is one of the common causes of illness during the winter,” lead researcher Dr. Katherine A. Poehling pointed out in remarks to Reuters Health. “We found that rapid influenza tests were associated with fewer tests being ordered in the emergency department.”
To investigate the impact of such testing, Poehling and colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, conducted a study during the influenza seasons between 2002 and 2004. Surveillance days were randomly allocated to use or non-use of the test. Rapid results were compared with results of standard culture or another method of detecting viruses called PCR.
Smoking in pregnancy tied to kids’ behavior issues
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There seems to be a link between maternal smoking during pregnancy and behavioral problems in preschool-age children.
A study published in the journal Child Development found that two-year-olds whose mothers smoked regularly while they were pregnant were significantly more likely to exhibit an abnormal pattern of behavior over time compared to age-matched toddlers who were not exposed to cigarette smoke before birth.
While many toddlers exhibit mild behavioral problems during the “terrible twos,” the behavior problems of cigarette-exposed toddlers significantly increased between 18 and 24 months of age compared to the milder, more stable patterns of non-exposed toddlers.
Outlook on life is formed in childhood
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A new study published in the recent issue of the Journal of Personality finds a correlation between adult pessimism and childhood in a low socioeconomic status (SES) family.
By connecting socioeconomic status to pessimism, which in turn has in earlier studies shown to be related to physical and mental health, the current study provides critical information for policy makers and parents concerned with preventing the development of less adaptive coping strategies of children
Meningitis Vaccine May Help Protect Small Children
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A new systematic review suggests that a certain kind of vaccine may help to protect babies and small children from a devastating killer: meningococcal meningitis.
However, this particular vaccine is not approved for use in the United States, and while it may boost immunity, no randomized controlled studies so far have proven its actual clinical effectiveness.
The review looks at serogroup C conjugate meningococcal vaccines (MCC) and their possible role in helping to prevent bacterial meningitis and its complications. Such vaccines are already widely used in Great Britain, Canada and Spain.
Antibodies show promise in treating Alzheimer’s
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Researchers say infusing human antibodies into people with Alzheimer’s disease appears to help stop the disease from getting worse and may even help the patients improve.
A research team at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center gave six of eight patients intravenous immunoglobulin or IVIg for 18 months and they appeared to develop better brain function.
Dr. Norman Relkin, who led the study says the results suggests that IVIg can exert long-term benefits for the treatment of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s.
