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New discovery may help Hirschsprung afflicted children Washington:
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Centre, Philadelphia, have made
a crucial discovery that may help physicians better diagnose and treat
children with Hirschsprung disease. Hirschsprung disease is a hereditary
disorder that affects about one in every 5,000 newborns. It is a debilitating
and sometimes life-threatening ailment that causes severe bowel obstruction.
Developmental biologist Myung K. Shin, and his colleagues have identified
a critical regulatory region for the development of the enteric nervous
system, which plays a vital role in gastrointestinal functions. Genetic
mutations in this region may lead to incomplete development of the enteric
nervous system, often causing Hirschsprung disease. Shin and his colleagues
have isolated a regulatory region affecting the gene for endothelin
receptor B (EDNRB), one of the primary genes known to be mutated in
Hirschsprung disease. "Now it appears that mutations in genomic sequences
involved in regulating EDNRB could explain Hirschsprung disease as well.
Our results in mice strongly suggest that the regulatory region we've
discovered is a prime target for identifying potential regulatory mutations
in patients with Hirschsprung disease. These mutations could explain
some cases of the disease not accounted for by previously known genetic
changes," said Shin. Furthermore, the regulatory sequences discovered
in Shin's studies depend on another Hirschsprung-susceptible gene, SOX10,
and provide an explanation as to why mutations in SOX10 cause Hirschsprung
disease. "The enhancer sequence we have discovered is important for
regulating the EDNRB gene. This sequence is highly conserved between
mice and humans. Learning how EDNRB gene expression is normally regulated
may help clarify how it is misregulated in cancer and help in designing
therapies against these diseases," Shin said. Natural viagra strawberries sales soar (Go To Top) London:
The sale of strawberries has increased by leaps and bounds after
scientists revealed that the fruit is nature's own version of Viagra.
According to the Sun, supermarket chiefs have said that strawberries
are selling like hot cakes from the past few days. In fact, sales of
strawberries are up by 17 per cent following news recently that they
have a similar effect on libido as the anti-impotence drug. Strawberry
planters have also been warned that orders could be tripled by the weekend.
"The research definitely had a passionate effect on shoppers," the report
quoted Lee Harper, a strawberry buyer, as saying. "I can't believe that
I'm carrying an aphrodisiac in my shopping basket but thought I would
buy a few punnets just for a laugh. I hope my husband is amused," said
Georgina Benson, a customer purchasing strawberries at a leading store
in Leeds. Scientists reveal how red wine kills cancer cells (Go To Top) Washington:
A new research conducted by scientists at the University of Virginia
Health System has revealed that a compound found in Red wine called
resveratrol starves cancer cells by inhibiting the action of a key protein
that feeds them. The protein, called nuclear factor- kappa B (NF-kB),
is found in the nucleus of all cells and activates genes responsible
for cell survival. Marty Mayo, assistant professor of biochemistry and
molecular genetics at the University said that the resveratrol in one
glasses of wine three or four times a week is the right amount to block
the protein from feeding cancer cells. The findings were discovered
by Fan Yeung, a post-doctoral fellow at U.Va. Resveratrol is an antioxidant
found in grape skins, raspberries, mulberries and peanuts. Mayo and
his team demonstrated that cancer cells treated with resveratrol died
because they became sensitive to a compound called Tumor Necrosis Factor
alpha (TNFa). Resveratrol initiated a reaction in the NF-kB molecule
that caused the cancer cells essentially to self-destruct in a process
called apoptosis.The use of NF-kB inhibitors like resveratrol also has
important implications for increasing the effectiveness of cancer therapy.
"Researchers are always looking for ways to improve cancer therapy.
Current studies are using compounds similar to TNFa in conjunction with
resveratrol to kill cancer cells," Mayo said. Mayo added that clinical
trials using this approach in patients are showing encouraging results
and this research may explain why this combined therapy is effective. Venus clouds might harbor life: Study London:
Space scientists feel that thick clouds surrounding Venus may be
able to support life. According to the BBC, scientists till now had
ruled out the possibility of life existing on Venus. But now, they feel
that the microbes could survive and reproduce, floating in the thick,
cloudy atmosphere, protected by a sunscreen of sulphur compounds. "Venus
is really a hellish place," said Professor Andrew Ingersoll of the California
Institute of Technology. "If you could get through the sulphuric acid
clouds down to the surface of Venus you'd find it was hotter than an
oven. You could melt lead at the surface of Venus and there'd be no
water," he added. "Current theories suggest that Venus and the Earth
may have started out alike. There might have been a lot of water on
Venus and there might have been a lot of carbon dioxide on Earth," Professor
Ingersoll explained. "We would send a probe to Venus that would drop
probably a collector tethered to a balloon-like floating spacecraft,
it would collect samples of the cloud droplets and then blast off from
the Venusian atmosphere for return eventually to Earth," Grinspoon,
another researcher, was quoted by the report as saying. Colas can lead to esophageal cancer (Go To Top) Washington:
A study by researchers from India has found that soda drinkers,
who represent a huge percentage of the world's population may actually
have an increased risk of developing esophageal cancer. Researchers
at Tata Memorial Hospital in India have found a strong correlation between
the rise in per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks (CSD) in
the past 20 years and the increasing rates of esophageal cancer (ACE).
Based on available data on diet changes, per capita consumption of CSD
rose by more than 450 percent during the past half- century, from 10.8
gallons in 1946 to 49.2 gallons in 2000. At the same time, in the last
25 years, incidence rates of ACE have risen by more than 570 percent
in American white males and continue to increase. The rise in CSD consumption
preceded the rise in cases of ACE by 20 years. A 40 percent increase
for each five-year increase in date of birth, a birth cohort effect
was previously reported. Researchers found published data for a strong
biological basis to explain the increased dose and duration of esophageal
exposure to acid as CSD drinking causes gastric distension that triggers
reflux. Consumption of 350 milliliters of CSD per day corresponds to
53.5 minutes of pH less than four and 53 gallons per year translates
to 32,100 more minutes of acid exposure per year. Moreover, countries
with per capita CSD of more than 20 gallons have seen a rising trend
of ACE cases. "The surprisingly strong correlation demonstrates the
impact of diet patterns on health trends. This study re-emphasizes a
general life style dictum that 'if little is good, a lot isn't better.'
As the rates may continue to rise for another 20 years, we believe that
more epidemiological studies are urgently required to establish the
true association," said Mohandas Mallath, lead author on the study. World's most prolific fornicator copulates 50 times in 3 hrs (Go To Top) Sydney:
Meet the world's most prolific fornicator. According to a new study,
the Australian male scaly cricket has the most frequent sex in the world.
According to ABC Online, the study shows that Male scaly crickets (Ornebius
aperta) can copulate more than 50 times in three to four hours with
the same female, The research, which was published in the Royal Society
journal Biology Letters, suggests that "extreme repeated mating" can
develop in response to female-imposed limits on copulation. In this
case, the limit is due to female crickets removing sperm and eating
it about three seconds after insertion. The new world record puts the
cricket ahead of the previous record holders, lions and tigers. Tigers
can mate up to 50 times a day over five or six days. The researchers
monitored the sexual behavior of crickets in the laboratory. They measured
sperm counts per copulation and then compared the final sperm counts
in both the test subject crickets and in females caught in the wild
that mated in natural conditions. "Male crickets have evolved a way
to stop the female from eating the sperm. Instead of investing all their
sperm in one event, the male crickets transferred very small amounts
of sperm many times," the report quoted Professor Darryl Gwynne, a biologist
at the University of Toronto at Mississauga and one of the paper's authors,
as saying. Gwynne said that females mated with other males and some
of the stored sperm eventually does fertilise their eggs, despite their
seemingly counterproductive eating habits. Assistant Professor William
Brown, a biologist at the State University of New York at Fredonia said
that conflict over sperm use was common in the animal kingdom and had
led to some unique strategies, particularly among insects. "In this
case, the result is extreme mating rates, unrivalled by any other species
in the animal kingdom, as far as we know," he said. Magnetic therapy to brain can treat spinal cord injuries! (Go To Top) Washington:
A preliminary study has shown for the first time that it may be
possible to help people who have suffered partial damage to their spinal
cord by applying a magnetic therapy to their brain. Writing in this
month's issue of Spinal Cord, a team of British doctors have described
how patients with incomplete spinal cord injuries received repetitive
transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), leading to improvements in
their ability to move muscles and limbs, and ability to feel sensations.
rTMS uses an electromagnet placed on the scalp to generate brief magnetic
pulses, about the strength of an MRI scan, which stimulate the part
of the brain called the cerebral cortex. Incomplete spinal cord injuries
are a type of spinal injury where the spinal cord has not been entirely
severed, but the patient has still lost the ability to move or feel
properly below the injury point. Dr Nick Davey from Imperial College
London and Charing Cross Hospital, and one of the study's authors said,
"Through rTMS we may be able to help people who have suffered partial
injuries to the spinal cord recover some of their movement and feeling".
"We think it works by strengthening the information leaving the brain
through the undamaged neurons in the spinal cord. It may work like physiotherapy
but instead of repeating a physical task, the machine activates the
surviving nerves to strengthen their connections," added Davey. rTMS
was a treatment designed to treat psychiatric disorders, and has been
used in treating some of the symptoms of schizophrenia. High testosterone levels linked to prostate cancer (Go To Top)
Washington: Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the National Institute
on Aging have revealed that men over 50 with high blood levels of testosterone
are at increased risk of suffering from prostate cancer. The researchers
have also said that the finding throws some doubt on the safety of testosterone
replacement therapy. They measured several forms of testosterone in
almost 3,000 blood samples collected over a 40-year period from 759
men in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging, of whom 111 were diagnosed
with prostate cancer. According to J. Kellog Parsons, the lead author
of the study, one form of testosterone, called free testosterone, which
is biologically active and can actually be used by the prostate, was
found to be associated with increased prostate cancer risk. "Since testosterone
replacement therapy increases the amount of free testosterone in the
blood, older men considering or receiving testosterone replacement should
be counseled as to the association until data from long-term clinical
trials becomes Šavailable," said Parsons. Moreover, the association
between free testosterone and prostate cancer risk in older men was
not affected by height, weight, percent of body fat, or muscle mass.
Total testosterone levels and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS),
another androgenic hormone, were also unrelated to prostate cancer risk,
while the protein that binds testosterone in blood, called sex hormone-
binding globulin (SHBG) was associated with a slightly decreased risk
for prostate cancer. Depression drug counters irritable bowel syndrome (Go To Top) Washington:
According to a study by the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine,
a drug commonly used to treat depression has been found to be equally
effective in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In a randomized
double-blind, placebo-controlled study, researchers found that Paroxetine
relieved some symptoms of IBS and improved the well-being of people
suffering from IBS. "This study points out the benefits of this drug
as a potential new and improved treatment for IBS, a disease that is
very difficult for physicians to manage," claimed Dr. George Arnold,
the clinical professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh's
School of Medicine and principal investigator in the study. IBS is a
chronic gastrointestinal disorder that affects 14-24 percent of women
and 5-19 percent of men in western populations and is characterized
by abdominal pain, altered bowel habits and abdominal bloating. It generally
has been treated with high-fiber diet, drugs or both. The study found
that the percentage of participants experiencing an improvement in overall
well being was significantly greater (63.3 percent) in the Paroxetine
group than the placebo group (26.3 percent). "This study showed that
in absence of depression, Paroxetine helped irritable bowel syndrome,"
said Dr. Arnold. "This is a medicine that has been in use for some years
and is safe with no long term side effects, which is a problem with
current medications for IBS," he added. Since Paroxetine, a selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitor has a well-recognized effect on depression,
the researchers also performed a separate analysis of participants and
showed that the improvement in well-being held true for non-depressed
patients taking Paroxetine. Eat Walnuts to keep heart disease at bay (Go To Top) Washington:
A new study conducted at the Pennsylvania State University suggests
that Walnuts and some other plant foods contain omega-3 fatty acids
which are good for the heart, reports Web Md. The study lead by Sheila.
G. West involved 13 adults with high cholesterol who were randomly assigned
to eat three different diets for six weeks each, with a two-week break
in between each diet. One diet was the average high-fat, high-cholesterol
American diet. The other two diets were low in saturated fat and cholesterol,
which are more abundant in animal products, and high in polyunsaturated
fatty acids. In both of the high-poly diets, volunteers got half of
their total fat from walnuts and walnut oil. The "regular" high-omega-3
diet contained varying amounts of walnuts and walnut oil -- specifically,
1/4 cup walnuts and 1 tablespoon walnut oil. The "high-dose" omega-3
diet contained walnuts, walnut oil, but flax oil, too. The volunteers
fasted for 12 hours and then had an ultrasound test to measure the response
of their blood vessels to changes in blood flow. Their blood was also
tested for high cholesterol. "Cholesterol levels improved after both
of the intervention diets, in which saturated fat had been replaced
by plant omega-3 fatty acids. But only the higher-dose alpha-linoleic
acid diet improved artery function," West said. |
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