FDA approves quick test for lead exposure
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A new blood test that measures lead exposure and gives results in three minutes has won U.S. approval, a Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman said on Monday.
The test, made by privately held Magellan Biosciences Inc., improves on older ones that had to be sent to a laboratory and could take two weeks or more to deliver results, FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro said.
The new test could be especially useful for health-care workers who test children in schools for lead exposure, Bro said. Blood is drawn by pricking a finger.
Study ties sleep apnea to depression
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Sleep-related breathing disorder has a robust association with depression, according to results of a long-term study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Based on their findings, the investigators suggest that medical treatment with CPAP, for example, or behavioral modification of sleep-related breathing disorder, with weight loss, for example, “may help mitigate or prevent depressive symptoms” in these patients.
The findings are from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, which began recruitment in 1988 of subjects between 30 and 60 years old. The subjects were scheduled to undergo overnight sleep studies in a laboratory every 4 years. The study cohort was comprised of 1408 participants with 3202 sleep studies.
Hepatitis B virus capsid-like particles stimulate protective antibody responses
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According to recently published research from Germany, hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid-like particles (CLPs) can display the complete, dimeric outer surface protein C and stimulate production of protective antibody responses against Borrelia burgdorferi infection.
“HBV CLPs, icosahedral assemblies formed by 90 or 120 core protein dimers, hold promise as immune-enhancing vaccine carriers for heterologous antigens. Insertions into the immunodominant c/e1B cell epitope, a surface-exposed loop, are especially immunogenic.
“However, display of whole proteins, desirable to induce multispecific and possibly neutralizing antibody responses, can be restrained by an unsuitable structure of the foreign protein and by its propensity to undergo homomeric interactions,” wrote C. Skamel and colleagues, University of Freiburg Hospital.
Streptococci from children in Nepal share genetic relatedness with isolates from other countries
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Genetically diverse group A streptococci from children in far western Nepal share high genetic relatedness with isolates from other countries.
According to a study from the United States, “The genetic diversity of group A streptococci (GAS) throughout much of the world has not been adequately explored.”
“To assess genetic variation among GAS in western Nepal, 120 noninvasive GAS, collected from eight different villages, were genetically characterized using emm typing, sof sequencing, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). A high level of genetic diversity was observed among these isolates, with 51 genotypes based upon 51 multilocus sequence types (STs), 45 emm sequence types, and 28 sof sequence types,” said Varja Sakota and colleagues at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Microalbuminuria and hypertension rates are higher in youth with type 2 diabetes
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Microalbuminuria and hypertension rates are higher in youth with type 2 diabetes compared to those with type 1 diabetes.
Researchers in Australia conducted a study “to compare the prevalence of diabetes complications and their risk factors in youth with type 1 versus type 2 diabetes.”
M.C. Eppens and colleagues working with the Children’s Hospital “performed a comparative clinic-based study of 1,433 patients with type 1 diabetes and 68 patients with type 2 diabetes aged <18 years from New South Wales, Australia. Retinopathy was assessed by sevenfield stereoscopic retinal photography; albumin excretion rate from three consecutive, timed, overnight urine collections; peripheral neuropathy by thermal and vibration threshold; and autonomic neuropathy by pupillometry. HbA[1c] (A1C) and lipids were measured in all patients and C-peptide in patients with type 2 diabetes.”
Diabetes control related to resident country, disease specifics, and health care features
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Diabetes control is related to resident country, disease characteristics, and health care features.
According to recent research from the United States, “The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of patients’ self-reported well-being, self-management, and diabetes control with factors related to the patient’s health care. This was a cross-sectional survey of national samples of patients with diabetes (n=5,104) from the multinational study of Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs (DAWN). Patients from 13 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America reported their level of well-being, self-management, and diabetes control.”
“Hierarchical multiple regression analysis (blocks are countries, respondent characteristics, and health care features) was used to examine predictors of diabetes-related distress and general well-being, adherence to lifestyle and medical treatment recommendations, and perceived diabetes control and hyperglycemic symptoms,” continued R.R. Rubin and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University.
Glycogen phosphorylase inhibition can impair aerobic muscle function in type 2 diabetes
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Glycogen phosphorylase inhibition can impair aerobic muscle function during prolonged contraction in type 2 diabetic patients.
According to recent research from Sweden, “Glycogen phosphorylase inhibition represents a promising strategy to suppress inappropriate hepatic glucose output, while muscle glycogen is a major source of fuel during contraction. Glycogen phosphorylase inhibitors (GPi) currently being investigated for the treatment of type 2 diabetes do not demonstrate hepatic versus muscle glycogen phosphorylase isoform selectivity and may therefore impair patient aerobic exercise capabilities.”
Alteon research collaborator receives funding for diabetic complications study
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Alteon, Inc., (ALT) announced that one of its collaborators, Mark Cooper, MD, PhD, professor, the Baker Heart Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia, has been awarded a grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to help fund a multinational phase II clinical study of the effect of Alteon’s lead compound alagebrium on renal function in patients with type 1 diabetes and microalbuminuria.
An A.G.E. Crosslink Breaker, alagebrium will be tested for its ability to reverse kidney damage caused by diabetes, and to reverse the protein excretion which is characteristic of diabetic nephropathy.
Female Athletes Limiting Calories More Likely to Get Stress Fractures
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Female college athletes on low-calorie diets could be putting themselves at risk for stress fractures, according to new Saint Louis University research published in this month’s The American Journal of Sports Medicine.
Researchers studied risk factors for exercise-related leg pain, including stress fractures in women participating in four popular fall sports - cross-country running, field hockey, soccer and volleyball.
Women with “disordered eating,” which includes eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia but more generally refers to insufficient caloric intake, were more likely to develop stress fractures as a result of decreased estrogen production, says researcher Mark Reinking, PT, Ph.D., chairman of the department of physical therapy at Saint Louis University’s Doisy College of Health Sciences.
Cataract Surgery to Eliminate Reading Glasses?
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Improvements in the lenses implanted in the eye during cataract surgery have led to a new - and controversial - surgical option for people with presbyopia, a common form of farsightedness that typically develops in middle age. But a new report from Harvard Medical School urges people considering this operation to weigh its risks, as well as its benefits.
The recently developed implantable variable-focus lenses, which enable people to see objects at varying distances by shifting their eyes slightly, are currently FDA-approved only for patients undergoing cataract surgery. But some ophthalmologists are also implanting them into the eyes of people without cataracts in order to correct presbyopia. This requires removing the eyes’ natural lenses, as is done in cataract surgery.
The Aging Eye: Preventing and Treating Eye Disease urges consumers to keep two things in mind before undergoing this surgery for presbyopia. First, it will not be covered by insurance unless you also have cataracts, and the cost can be $5,000 or more for each eye. Second, many ophthalmologists are reluctant to perform this procedure in people without cataracts because of the risks involved in any eye operation, as well as lack of information about long-term safety and effectiveness.
Do You Know the Signs and Symptoms of Prostate Cancer?
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September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) is encouraging men to get educated when it comes to prostate cancer awareness, screening and their treatment options.
This year, an estimated 234,460 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Fortunately, screening for prostate cancer is relatively easy.
Screening for prostate cancer is done through a simple blood test called a PSA test. The PSA blood test will detect a specific hormone called the prostate specific antigen. Your doctor will also administer a painless rectal exam in conjunction with the PSA blood test. Unlike screening tests like a colonoscopy or a mammogram, both these tests can be done by your primary care doctor in his or her office. If either is abnormal, you will need to undergo a biopsy to see if you have cancer.
Physician group warns of plastic surgery risks
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Undergoing cosmetic surgery performed by someone who’s improperly trained can result in scarring, burning and, in some cases, even death, a group of dermatologic surgeons warns.
The American Society of Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) has launched a public safety campaign in response to what it calls the “alarming national trend” of non-physicians performing procedures such as Botox injections, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion and chemical peels.
“What we’re seeing is an overwhelming preponderance at this point of these untrained people getting their hands on these devices and using them,” Dr. Renata Hirsch, a dermatologic surgeon in practice in Boston and ASDS spokesperson, told Reuters Health. “Top offenders are these pseudo medi-spas.”
Mobile phones, how addictive are they?
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People can become very attached to their mobile phones and some may even show signs of addictive behaviour, a British researcher said on Thursday.
In a study that analysed how students feel about their phones, David Sheffield, of the University of Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent, found that some of their reactions were similar to symptoms associated with pathological gambling.
“Mobile phones have become a very significant part of everyday life and their use can have some detrimental effects,” he said.
Hip hop music fans have more sex
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Fans of hip hop music are likely to have had more sexual partners in the last five years while many of those who prefer classical strains will have tried cannabis, according to a study released on Thursday.
Psychologist Adrian North from the University of Leicester surveyed 2,500 Britons to find out how their musical tastes related to their lifestyles and interests.
He said the results showed said it was possible to discover clues about what people were like simply from the music they liked.
Bullying can persist into college
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Bullying often doesn’t stop in high school, but continues into college - and this applies to the bullies as well as their victims, a new study shows.
“There are some serious, long-term consequences to being bullied for a long time,” Dr. Mark Chapell of Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey noted in an interview with Reuters Health, pointing to increased rates of depression and suicidal thoughts as possible results.
Chapell published the first study of bullying in college in 2004. The growing body of research on bullying among adults in the workplace got him interested in looking at the issue in college students, he explained in an interview.
