Award Supports Excellence in Musculoskeletal and Rheumatic Disease Education
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At the core of the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation’s mission is to attract the best and brightest trainees into a career in rheumatology. To do this, the REF has an extensive portfolio of awards and grants that provide support during critical career stages. One special award, the ACR REF Clinician Scholar Education Award, supports unique individuals who serve as excellent role models for future rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals.
The REF is pleased to announce the newest class of Clinician Scholar Educator Award Recipients. The 2010 recipients are:
Eugene Kissin, MD
Boston University
A Competency Based Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Curriculum
Childhood Obesity
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It was the launch event of ‘Lets Beat It Together’ at the Moreton Community Centre in Maryland Lane today, and was officially opened by the Deputy Mayor. I was invited to attend so went with Cllr Chris Blakeley.
The aim of the event, organised by Slimming World, was to raise awareness of childhood obesity and the outcome if we do not make changes to our lifestyles. There were about 50 people present, with displays from Slimming World, the British Heart Foundation, NHS Wirral, showing ideas how to produce healthy meals on a budget; highlighting changes to a youngsters lunch box to include more healthy snacks and with the help of local leisure centres – how to encourage more activity in our lives. There was a salsa class, yoga exercises and face painting.
Stress Headache Relief
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A matter that causes significant amounts of health issues among modern Americans is considered to be stress.Stress headache is considered to be one such issue.Although stress headaches may sound relatively simple, in addition to the current effects many long term health problems are associated with it. These stress headaches will be able to put the individual in psychological disorders as well as physical disorders.He/she will find it very difficult if not nearly impossible, to carry the daily responsibilities at work due to the ineffectiveness caused in the person’s day to day life.
Stress headaches can occur on a daily basis or in an episodic course.Tension headaches and daily headaches are terms that are used to refer to these stress headaches.Mostly amongst middle aged women these kinds of headaches are common and will cause extremely irritating effects.
tarting off gradually these stress headaches will eventually grow in to a part of the individual?s life and will become a major problem.However, these stress headaches will tend to be moderate or mild and they will hardly develop into a more severe state.Symptoms of stress headaches can be identified as headache in early morning, muscle pains, chronic fatigue, occasional dizziness, loss of concentration, difficulty in falling asleep and sleeping and also loss of hearing or vision.
Diabetes linked to birth defects, but obesity is not
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A study published in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology has cleared obesity as a condition that causes birth defects, but the news was not so good for diabetics.
The 13 year study looked at the pregnancies of 41,902 women whose weight was at or near obesity to determine if extra pounds were indicative of increased incidence of birth defects. The results of the study showed that obesity in and of itself showed “no significant independent association between maternal obesity” and birth defects.
The study went on to conclude that “diabetes was significantly associated with the increase in the rate” of birth defects.
Cellular Communication in the Cancer Microenvironment
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Writing in the journal Genes & Development, Dr. Johanna Joyce and colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center lend new insight into the mechanism by which tumor-associated macrophages promote malignant progression.
Innate immune cells, including macrophages, comprise a large fraction of the cellular environment that infiltrates tumors – the so-called “tumor microenvironment.” Tumors have a dynamic relationship with their microenvironment, communicating via secreted factors to modulate cellular growth and cancer progression.
In their paper, Joyce and colleagues delineate how tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) promote tumor growth and invasion. The researchers found that macrophage cells infiltrating pancreatic, mammary and lung tumors produce high levels of the proteases cathepsin B and S (Cts B and S), which enhances tumor growth and invasion. Interestingly, the researchers discovered that increased Cts B and S activity is stimulated by the tumors, themselves – through the release of interleukin (IL)-4.
Cell-Enriched Fat Grafts Improve Long-Term Graft Retention in Breast Reconstructive Surgery
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In a study published in the journal Annals of Plastic Surgery, researchers examine the science behind cell-enriched autologous fat grafting and its application to cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. The results demonstrate a doubling in graft retention in cell-enriched grafts and provide insight into the mechanisms behind this improvement. The results reinforce both commercial observations and interim data from the RESTORE 2 clinical study that was presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December 2009.
The preclinical results described in the paper support the potential clinical utility for cell-enriched fat grafts in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. The key results include:
Long term retention of cell-enriched autologous fat grafts was increased two-fold over controls.
Democratic US Sen Lautenberg diagnosed with cancer
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Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, 86, has been diagnosed with lymphoma of the stomach and will undergo chemotherapy over the next few months, his office said on Friday.
“We expect a full and complete recovery for Senator Lautenberg,” said one of his doctors, James Holland, at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
The five-term liberal New Jersey senator is not up for re-election until 2014. He serves on committees including those overseeing federal spending and the environment.
WHO may declare post-peak pandemic phase next week
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Flu experts will advise next week whether the world is in a post-peak phase of the H1N1 pandemic, signalling infections are falling in most countries but new waves may still occur, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.
The U.N. agency declared last June that the new virus was causing the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years and raised the alert level to the maximum 6.
The WHO’s emergency committee, comprising 15 experts, will review the situation by teleconference on Tuesday but will not declare an end to the pandemic, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said.
Exercise can lower breast cancer risk
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Consistent observational epidemiologic evidence suggests that physical activity is associated with re- duced postmenopausal breast cancer risk. High endogenous estrogen and androgen levels are fairly consistently associated with an increase in breast cancer risk, whereas increased sex hormone– binding globulin (SHBG) levels are associated with a decrease in risk. This trial found that previously sedentary postmenopausal women can adhere to a moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise program that results in changes in estradiol and SHBG concentrations that are consistent with a lower risk for postmenopausal breast cancer.
This study, the Alberta Physical Activity and Breast Cancer Prevention Trial, was a randomized controlled trial of exercise was conducted in 320 postmenopausal, sedentary women age 50 to 74 years. Participants were randomly assigned to a 1-year aerobic exercise intervention of 225 min/wk or to a control group who maintained their usual level of activity.
Baseline, 6-month, and 12-month assessments of hormone levels, namely estrone, estradiol, androstenedione, and testosterone were quantified. Women in the intervention group exercised an average of 3.6 d/wk for 178 min/wk.
Vitamin D Halts Growth of Breast Cancer Tumors
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For the past 18 months, I’ve been working on building a new research library consisting of over 1200 books on natural health topics. Through some rather advanced technologies that took me far longer to build than I originally anticipated, I’m now able to locate and collect, within minutes, paragraphs on any combination of topics from among these 1200 books.
For example, today I wanted to research “Vitamin D” and “Breast Cancer.” This produced a collection of well over 650 quotations on the subject from the various sources in my private library. A small sampling of those results are shown below.
The information you’ll find in here is fascinating! You’ll learn that vitamin D cream can be rubbed directly on tumors to make them vanish. You’ll also learn how resveratrol can be used to amplify the results of vitamin D. There are also explanations on how vitamin D can be used to greatly reduce breast cancer cases in America, Canada, the UK and elsewhere.
Metastatic Breast Cancer: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
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In women, breast cancer is the common type of cancer and it is affecting one out of eight women. At any time, this cancer may develop and the risk increases with developing of cancer as the women get older. In most of the post-menopausal women, it is common and with the increase in age will increase the risk as well.
When the breast cancer is spread beyond the breast, then it is said to be in metastatic state. This means that cancer has traveled from breast to another part of the body. The cells of cancer will travel through blood vessels or lymphatic system.
Causes
As of today, the breast cancer like any other forms of cancer is considered as one of the final outcomes of multiple hereditary and environmental factors. The risk of breast cancer will be increased by 70% in young people by inhaling the secondhand smoke and primarily menopausal women are affected by this.
Aspirin May Boost Breast Cancer Survival
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A new study of more than 4,000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer shows that taking aspirin appears to significantly increase survival and reduce the risk of recurrence.
Click here to find out more!
“Women who took aspirin were 50 percent less likely to die from breast cancer [during the study follow-up period] than those who did not take it,” said study author Dr. Michelle Holmes, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, in Boston.
The study is published online Feb. 16 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The 50 percent reduction is the overall finding when comparing to users to nonusers, she said. “Statistically, the women who took it more days per week had a higher risk reduction,” Holmes noted. For instance, those who took it six to seven days a week had a 64 percent reduction in risk of death during the follow-up. For some reason, those who took aspirin two to five days a week had an even greater risk reduction, 71 percent, Holmes found.
International Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer Reaches 10 Year Milestone
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2010 marks the 10th anniversary of the only international conference dedicated to the critical issues of young breast cancer survivors and those who care about them. Nearly 1,000 young breast cancer survivors, caregivers and medical professionals from around the world are expected to attend the 10th Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer, to be held Friday, Feb. 26-Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta, Ga.
One in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer is younger than 45 when diagnosed, yet their emotional and medical concerns are different than those of women over age 45, as is the impact of their diagnosis on family, friends, partners, colleagues and children. Fertility concerns and the possibility of treatment-induced early menopause are just two examples of the issues young women face.
A joint effort by Living Beyond Breast Cancer and Young Survival Coalition, this three-day event is a must for premenopausal women diagnosed with breast cancer.
New seasonal flu vaccine to contain H1N1 strain
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The coming year’s seasonal flu vaccine in the northern hemisphere should include protection against three strains of flu, including the pandemic H1N1 virus, the World Health Organization recommended on Thursday.
The composition of the vaccine, announced at the end of a closed-door four-day meeting of influenza experts that is closely followed by the world’s vaccine makers, means governments that have stockpiled doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine may now use them for part of the seasonal flu vaccine mix.
Some countries, including Germany, France and the United States, cut back their orders of the H1N1 swine flu jab after people were slow to take them up. The fact that people needed only one dose, and not two as originally thought, also contributed to oversupply.
Mayo Clinic Reports its First Lung Transplantation by Donation After Cardiac Death
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Lung transplantation is a well-known therapy for patients with end-stage lung disease, but, as with other patients waiting for organs for transplantation, there are more recipients waiting than donors available. A potential solution for patients with end-stage lung disease is donation after cardiac death (DCD). Mayo Clinic reports its - and Minnesota’s - first lung transplantation from DCD in the February issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources including excerpts from an interview with Dr. Cassivi describing the research are available on the Mayo Clinic News Blog. Please see the end of the release for details.
While brain death has become the most widely used criteria for organ donation over the past few decades, the earliest organ donations were from deceased donors following cardiac death, says Stephen Cassivi, M.D., Mayo Clinic thoracic surgeon and lead study author.
