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Alcohol can repair damaged hearts Washington:
While it is widely accepted that red wine helps to keep the heart
healthy, researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia have now
found that alcohol, in moderation, from any source, can also reduce
the damage to affected tissue following a heart attack. Alcohol consumption
is known to help in the production of a molecular adhesive called P-selectins,
which makes the artery walls sticky enough so that the white blood cells
attach themselves to it and prevents the white blood cells from attaching
to the damaged tissue, according to lead researcher Ron Korthuis, professor
and chair of medical pharmacology and physiology. In subjects that were
treated with the alcohol, the tissue affected by the low blood flow
was much healthier and stronger than the untreated tissue. However,
this is not a license to drink. Every time you take a drink of alcohol,
you are killing brain cells, says Korthuis. We are trying to identify
these chemical reactions so that we can develop a drug that would start
this chain reaction, but not have the side effects of alcohol, he added. Citrus fruits can prevent cancer (Go To Top) Washington:
Researchers have found that citrus fruits like orange, tangerines
and grapefruits have essential compounds that fight cancer, obesity
and cholesterol. During a two-day symposium on "Potential Health Benefits
of Citrus", researchers revealed that negative reports about the interaction
of grapefruit and prescription drugs and the current push for low-carb
diets has caused citrus consumption to decline. They said that citrus
fruits contain compounds that may help in prevention of colon cancer,
the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The study
also revealed that freeze-dried grapefruit pulp, similar to whole grapefruit,
reduces the incidence of early colon cancer lesions in an animal model
of the disease. A researcher at Kanazawa Medical University in Japan
showed that nobiletin, a compound found in tangerines, also showed promise
in animal studies for preventing colon cancer. Meteorites may be responsible for evolution of life on Earth (Go To Top) Washington:
Scientists at the University of Arizona have claimed that meteorites
rich in iron content may have been critical to the evolution of life
on earth. The findings, which were delivered at the session of "Astrobiology
and the Origins of Life," stated that meteorites might be the sole reason
for the abundance of phosphorus on Earth, which in turn gave rise to
biomolecules and subsequently into living organisms. "Because phosphorus
is much rarer in the environment than in life, understanding the behavior
of phosphorus on the early Earth gives clues to life's orgin," Matthew
A. Pasek, a doctoral candidate in UA's planetary sciences department
and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory was quoted as saying. The experiments
conducted by Pasek and his team revealed that the rarity of Phosphorus
in nature as compared to the abundance with which it is found on earth,
may be due to the presence of meteorites. Studies conducted on iron-nickel
Phosphide known as schreibersite, found rarely on Earth but in huge
percentage in meteorites revealed that upon its exposure to fresh, de-ionized
water at room-temperature it transformed into a liquid, which upon being
analyzed, using NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance evolved into different
phosphorus compounds vital for the sustainability of life on Earth.
"We saw a whole slew of different phosphorus compounds being formed.
One of the most interesting ones we found was P2-O7 (two phorphorus
atoms with seven oxygen atoms), one of the more biochemically useful
forms of phosphate, similar to what's found in ATP. This allows us to
somewhat constrain where the origins of life may have occurred," he
added. "Iron meteorites have from about 10 to 100 times as much schreibersite
as do other meteorites. I think meteorites were critical for the evolution
of life because of some of the minerals, especially the P2-07 compound,
which is used in ATP, in photosynthesis, in forming new phosphate bonds
with organics (carbon-containing compounds), and in a variety of other
biochemical processes," he further added. Pancreatic stem cells can cure diabetes: Study (Go To Top)
London: Toronto University scientists have said that stem cells
can be a cure for diabetes, thereby eradicating the need for replacing
insulin. The experiments conducted on mice, the findings of which appear
in the journal Nature Biotechnology, has revealed that immature cells
in the pancreas of the mice upon treatment, could be developed into
cells that produce insulin. The scientists believe that their laboratory
discovery will make it possible for them to generate new beta cells
to cure insulin deficiency thereby making it possible to cure people
afflicted with diabetes. "People have been intensely searching for pancreatic
stem cells for a while now, and so our discovery of precursor cells
within the adult pancreas that are capable of making new pancreatic
cells is very exciting," the journal quoted lead researcher Dr. Simon
Smukler as saying. The researchers, however, are optimistic about their
discovery, claiming their feat is as "an encouraging first step." Professor
Anne Cooke, from the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Cambridge,
said it was "an encouraging first step" which could hopefully be followed
through to the production of stable cell populations secreting insulin
in real life conditions. Stem cells can sucessfuly rebuild infarcted hearts (Go To Top) Washington:
American researchers have discovered that embryonic stem cell therapy
can benefit in the rebuilding process of an infarcted heart. Published
in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology,
the study says that the regenerative potential of stem cells in relation
to the muscle layer of the heart wall (or myocardium) has been recently
recognized, but how this might translate into therapeutic uses to repair
the heart has been limited. Using embryonic stem cells, Mayo Clinic
researchers, under the direction of Andre Terzic, transformed these
master cell types into fully functional cardiac cells and transplanted
them into damaged regions of the myocardium, where the cells, which
were stable over an extended period post-therapy, integrated into the
infarct and showed rapid and robust improvements. "Embryonic stem cells,
through differentiation within the host myocardium, can contribute to
a stable beneficial outcome on contractile function and ventricular
remodeling in the infarcted heart," said the researchers. "The stable
benefit of embryonic stem cell therapy on myocardial structure and function
in this experimental model supports the potential for stem cell-based
reparative treatment of myocardial infarction. By regenerating diseased
myocardium and promoting cardiac repair, embryonic stem cells provide
a unique therapeutic modality that has the potential to reduce the morbidity
and mortality of this prevalent heart disease," they added. They recognised
that mechanisms of action, finding the optimum window for therapy, and
determining what the long-term effect of such therapy are some of the
major issues, which need to be resolved. Pumpkin seeds, the new 'Viagra for women'! (Go To Top) Sydney:
Pumpkin seeds have become a rage in Britain after a television show
described them as 'Viagra for women' and supermarkets are now working
overtime to cash on to the new craze. Dr Gillian McKeith recently revealed
on a TV nutrition program about the supposed potential of pumpkin seeds
in increasing libido of women, after which scores of women thronged
supermarkets to buy the 'natural Viagra'. According to a report in The
Daily Telegraph, leading supermarket Sainsbury recorded a whopping 256
per cent increase in the sale of pumpkin seeds. McKeith listed pumpkin
seeds among more than 60 great sex foods, which also included adzuki
beans and wild salmon. She claimed that a regular diet consisting of
'potency foods' enhances libido and fertility to a great extent. "Eat
your way back to a great sex life," the report quoted McKeith as saying. Cannabis found to shrink cancerous brain tumours (Go To Top) London:
A new study conducted by scientists at Complutense University in
Spain suggests that cannabis extracts may shrink brain tumours and other
cancers by blocking the growth of the blood vessels which feed them.
According to New Scientist, Manuel Guzman and colleagues have demonstrated
how the cannabis extracts block a key chemical needed for tumours to
sprout blood vessels. The team tested the effects of marijuana extract,
delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol in 30 mice and found that it inhibited
the expression of several genes related to the production of a chemical
called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF is critical for
angiogenesis, which allows tumours to grow a network of blood vessels
to supply their growth. The cannabinoid significantly lowered the activity
of VEGF in the mice and two human brain cancer patients, the study showed.
According to teammember, Cristina Blazquez, "We saw that the tumours
[in mice] were smaller and a bit pallid. The paleness of the cancer
reflected its lack of blood supply as a result of the treatment. In
the human patients, she says: "It seems that it works, but it's very
early." Doctors invent Spine staples to cure scoliosis in kids (Go To Top) Washington:
Scientists at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre
claim to have developed a "spine staple", that can eliminate the need
for thousands of invasive spine surgeries in children. Doctors claim
that the spine staple to be implanted through a minimally invasive procedure
into children who are at high risk of getting afflicted with scoliosis,
will not only slow down the progression of the curvature with the child's
growth, but compared to standard surgery involving the insertion of
rods and a bone graft to fuse the spine will lead to less blood loss,
pain and hospitalisation. "The spine staple re-directs growth of the
spine - slowing growth on the outside of the curve so that the inside
can catch up. Surgery will be minimally invasive, safe, relatively simple
and at lower cost than current procedures. It will reduce pain and length
of hospital stay. And, it will help surgeons, for whom current techniques
are like building a ship in a bottle," Eric Wall, M.D., an orthopaedic
surgeon at Cincinnati Children's and co-inventor of the staple was quoted
as saying. Reports indicate that surgeons will make three or four, one-inch
incisions on the side of the body, under the arm through which approximately
six spine staples will be inserted through these "portals" and into
the spine, across the growth plates, rendering the use of rods and spine
fusion useless. Ammonia emissions linked to salivary gland cancer (Go To Top) Washington:
Ammonia emissions increase the mortality rates of patients with
salivary gland cancer, a new research reveals. American researchers
at the Naval Health Research Center San Diego have investigated the
associations between ammonia, air pollution, socioeconomic status, and
access to medical care with incidence and mortality rates of salivary
cancer. Ammonia is an agent that has been implicated in cancers of the
stomach but is not known as a risk for salivary gland cancer. The researchers
found that there were 174 deaths from cancer of the salivary glands
in residents of South Carolina and though the annual emissions of air
pollution, such as ammonia, varied widely by county, the emissions were
positively associated with salivary cancer mortality rates in Caucasian
men. Association was also found between ammonia emissions at the level
of the county and age-adjusted mortality rates of salivary gland cancer
in Caucasian men. The findings, since limited to Caucasian men, suggest
that the association could be due to an occupational exposure more common
in Caucasian men, or possibly chance. The research indicates that further
study is needed regarding the association of ammonia and salivary gland
cancer. Botox brings hope for urinary incontinence sufferers! (Go To Top) Washington:
A Swiss study presented at the joint meeting of the American Urogynecologic
Society and the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons has said that injections
of Botox may help people with urge incontinence. Urge of incontinence
is a condition in which the bladder contracts and squeezes out urine
involuntarily. Botox injections reduce muscle contractions that cause
the sudden, undeniable need to urinate felt in urge incontinence. "This
therapy seems to be safe and effective in treating urge incontinence.
This is one of the first pilot studies showing that injections of this
agent," webmd quoted Bernhard Schuessler of the obstetrics and gynecology
at the Cantonal Hospital in Lucerne, Switzerland, as saying. The study
showed that treatment with Botox resulted in a significant increase
in the amount of urine the bladder could hold, a term known as maximum
bladder capacity, which resulted in an ability to delay going to the
bathroom when the first need to void was felt. However, Linda Brubaker,
professor urology at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago said,
"Injections of botulinum toxin are a novel new therapy for urge incontinence.
They appear to help certain people who haven't responded to standard
therapy, but the findings of this study should only be applicable to
a small group of people". |
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