Calcium, dairy may curb colon cancer risk
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Men with high levels of calcium and dairy foods in their diet have a lower risk of colorectal cancer, research suggests.
Recent studies have generally reported a “modest inverse association between calcium intake and the risk of colorectal cancer,” Dr. Susanna C. Larsson, of Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and colleagues note in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. “However, findings pertaining to specific subsites in the colorectum have been conflicting.”
The researchers studied the association between calcium and dairy foods and colorectal cancer risk in 45,306 Swedish men. The men were between 45 and 79 years of age and free of cancer at baseline.
Two-pronged approach may curb social phobia
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Research suggests that D-cycloserine may be a good adjunct to exposure-based therapy in individuals with social anxiety disorder, a debilitating condition marked by an excessive fear and avoidance of situations in which a person feels he or she will be judged by others, such as public speaking or even eating in front of others.
Exposure therapy, which is commonly used to combat social phobia, relies on extinction to treat the fears underlying the disorder.
Lead investigator Dr. Stefan G. Hofmann of Boston University told Reuters Health that in conducting the study “we argued that D-cycloserine ... which facilitates extinction learning in animals, should also enhance the effects of exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder in humans. Our findings seem to support this notion.”
Why stress exacerbates asthma in kids
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It is known that stress exacerbates the symptoms of asthma in children, but the biological reason for this has been unknown. Now, scientists in Canada have discovered that a stressful home life diminishes the expression of certain proteins on the surface of cells that regulate airway responses and inflammation.
“Collectively, these findings suggest that in children and adolescents with asthma, the quality of home life and family relationships are important determinants of health and well-being and appear to have stronger effects than other life domains, such as academics and peer relationships,” conclude Drs. Gregory E. Miller and Edith Chen, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
They interviewed 39 children with asthma and 38 healthy children, ages 9 to 18, regarding acute and chronic stress over the preceding 6 months. Blood specimens were obtained to measure levels of the so-called glucocorticoid receptor and beta-2-adrenergic receptor.
Czechs confirm first case of H5N1 bird flu strain
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Tests on a dead swan have confirmed the Czech Republic’s first case of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday.
The swan was found near the southern town of Hluboka Nad Vltavou, on the Vltava river.
Neighbours Austria, Slovakia, Poland and Germany have already confirmed cases of the virus.
Carrying multiple babies risky for mom: study
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Women with multifetal pregnancies have a higher risk of pregnancy-related death than those with singleton pregnancies, according to a report in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
“This higher risk was seen across the board, regardless of age, race, marital status and level of education,” lead author Andrea P. MacKay, from the National Center for Health Statistics at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Hyattville, Maryland, told Reuters Health.
In the past 20 years, twin birth rates have increased 55 percent in the United States and other higher order birth rates increased 388 percent, according to the authors.
SARS prepares Toronto for bird flu
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oronto’s deadly brush with the SARS virus three years ago has uniquely prepared the city for the possibility of a bird flu pandemic, health officials say.
Drawing on lessons from the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, city and provincial experts promise new screening measures, emergency plans to treat patients from home and tough laws detailing what health workers must do.
Rules still under government debate could ban travel, fix prices and order health-care professionals to provide necessary services in the event of a pandemic.
Brain development patterns differ in smartest kids
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A new study ties intelligence to the speed of brain changes in childhood and the teen years, rather than the size of the brain itself.
During childhood and adolescence, the cerebral cortex—the outer layer of the brain, which is involved in learning, language, attention and other higher-order skills, and is also known as the gray matter—gets thicker and thicker until it reaches a peak, and then thins out again. In the current study of 629 brain scans from 307 healthy young people, Dr. Philip Shaw of the National Institutes of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland and his colleagues found this process happened more rapidly and dramatically in the most intelligent individuals.
Protein linked to cancer spread identified
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Scientists have identified and blocked the action of a protein linked to the spread of breast, prostate and skin cancer cells to the bones.
The molecule called RANKL is produced in bone marrow. In studies of mice, researchers from Austria and Canada showed that inhibiting the protein could stop the cancerous cells from migrating to the bones.
“RANKL is a protein which tells tumor cells to come to it,” said Professor Josef Penninger, of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
Clinton calls for mandatory AIDS testing while UN discourages Goa
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Bill Clinton is suggesting that mandatory testing for HIV/AIDS be used in countries with high infection rates and the means to provide lifesaving drugs.
The former U.S. president says countries where there is no discrimination against people with the illness and where anti-AIDS drugs are available should now consider universal testing.
Twenty years ago, at the start of the AIDS epidemic, mandatory testing was frowned on because of the stigma attached to the deadly illness and the lack of treatment for those infected.
Diet Drug May Go OTC, Prompting Concern About Broad Use of Diet Pills
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In January 2006, a federal advisory panel recommended that the FDA make the weight-loss medication orlistat (Xenical) available without a prescription. Although the FDA usually takes the panel’s advice, orlistat’s approval is uncertain. Many question the drug’s effectiveness in the broader population; others worry about its side effects, reports the April issue of Harvard Women’s Health Watch.
A new weight-loss solution would be welcome; two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese and at risk for major health problems and early death. But the reasons for weight problems are complex. No pill can melt away fat or keep the pounds off. Yet for people whose health is at risk, drug therapy may increase the odds of success.
Custom made nanoparticles will transform cancer diagnosis and treatment
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Researchers have developed “custom” nanoparticles that promise to provide a more targeted and effective way of delivering anticancer drugs than conventional medications or any of the earlier attempts to fight cancer with nanoparticles.
The special nanoparticles were designed at the molecular level to attack specific types of cancer without affecting healthy cells.
The researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, say the nanoparticles also have the potential to reduce the nasty side effects associated with chemotherapy.
Increase in variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease predicted
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According to the latest research far more people may be at risk of contracting variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD) than previously thought.
vCJD is the human form of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad Cow Disease.
Scientists at the Institute for Animal Health in Edinburgh say a long incubation period for the disease, coupled with an ability to pass it on through blood transfusions and surgical instruments, has the potential to create a “significant public health issue”.
Bird flu infected mink found in Sweden
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According to Swedish authorities a mink has been found with a strain of the H5 bird flu virus.
The National Veterinary Institute says the creature was put down as it probably had the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.
The wild animal was found in the Blekinge area of southern Sweden where several bird flu cases have previously been found and it is thought the mink contracted the disease by eating wild birds which were already infected.
Training People to be Better Parents
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When children’s misbehavior or delinquency creates problems, it’s not enough to deal with the children alone. Mental health professionals recommend behavioral parent training as well, reports the April issue of Harvard Mental Health Letter.
Behavioral parent training teaches parents to substitute systematic for arbitrary discipline. Parents learn how to set rules and define the consequences for disobeying them. They also learn how to negotiate with older children, how to follow through on warnings, and how to identify early signs of trouble and talk to children about these problems.
It is particularly important that parents also respond to good behavior with praise and encouragement, says the Harvard Mental Health Letter. Parents are taught to reward a child’s behavior one action at a time. They learn to point out what the child is doing right before discussing what needs improvement.
Smokers, Drinkers and Men Appear to Develop Colorectal Cancer at Earlier Ages
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Alcohol use, tobacco use and male gender are associated with an earlier onset of colorectal cancer and also with location of tumors, findings that could have important implications for screening, according to a study in the March 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths, according to background information in the article. Screening asymptomatic patients is an important strategy for reducing these deaths, because by the time patients experience symptoms, the cancer may have progressed beyond the point where it can be cured. Generally, physicians recommend that patients begin screening at age 50 years, the authors write. However, physicians might recommend that individuals with certain risk factors, including family history, begin screening at earlier ages. Screening methods include flexible sigmoidoscopy, which involves inserting a flexible optical instrument through the rectum into the lower portion of the large intestine, and colonoscopy, which involves inserting a longer flexible optical instrument through the rectum and into the entire colon, is more expensive, has higher complication rates and usually is performed by a gastroenterologist or surgeon rather than a primary care physician.
