Encouraging Health

A team of researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Centre and Princeton University has discovered that existing anti-obesity drugs can be used to treat infections like flu, hepatitis or HIV.

Metabolism refers to a process by which living things break down nutrients to produce energy. For instance, the breakdown glucose and its conversation via chain reactions into adenosine triphosphate, the energy-storing currency of cellular life.

Glucose can also be converted into fatty acids - the lipid building blocks of human hormones and cell membranes - that are used by influenza, HIV and hepatitis viruses to build their viral cover and hijack human cells.

During the study, the researchers developed a new technique to analyse the mechanisms regarding how such viruses penetrate the metabolic building blocks from their cellular hosts.

They also studied the fluxes or concentration and turnover, of interchangeable molecules within the metabolic reactions that convert sugars into fatty acids.

“Using new fluxomic techniques, our study reveals that viral infection takes control of cellular metabolism and drives, among other things, marked increases in fatty acid synthesis,” Nature magazine quoted Dr. Joshua Munger, assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Rochester Medical Centre, and a study author, as saying.

“We also found that if you target these increases in fatty acid metabolism using existing anti-obesity and anti-metabolism drugs, you inhibit viral replication,” Munger added.

The new technique enabled the researchers to measure the changes in metabolic flux in human cells as they became infected by human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), an enveloped virus of the b-herpes family that infects most human adults and that causes severe disease in those with weakened immune systems.

The team used drugs known to inhibit enzymes that build fatty acids, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FAS), used in the treatment of obesity and high cholesterol, to determine whether HCMV-induced fatty acid production was necessary for enveloped viruses to make copies of themselves.

They found that treatment with TOFA, an ACC inhibitor, led to a more than thousand-fold reduction in HCMV replication, while C75, an inhibitor of FAS, resulted in a more than 100-fold reduction.

From Paxalles: For the first time, researchers have developed a genetically altered animal model for cystic fibrosis (CF) that closely matches the characteristics of the disease in humans. By studying the complex and multi-organ disease process in the pig model, researchers can now better understand how the complications of CF develop, an advancement that may lead to new avenues for research in prevention and treatment.

The study, published in the Sept. 26 edition of “Science,” was funded in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), along with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), both of the National Institutes of Health, as well as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

CF is an inherited disease of the mucus-secreting glands which is caused by mutations in the gene responsible for making the protein cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), important for making sweat, digestive juices, and mucus. CF affects multiple organs, including the lungs, pancreas, liver, intestines, sinuses, and sex organs. In CF, mucus becomes thick and sticky, and builds up in the lungs and in the pancreas, blocking the airways, and disrupting the digestive system, resulting in recurrent, destructive infections and trouble digesting food. Respiratory failure and liver disease are the most common causes of death in CF.

Before now, mice have been the only animal model for CF. However since mice do not exhibit typical symptoms of CF, and the lung and liver diseases found in humans, finding a better model was crucial to furthering CF research.

“This represents a significant advance in research on cystic fibrosis. Until now, no animal model has come close to mimicking the disease as seen in humans. This model offers unprecedented opportunities to understand how the respiratory disease develops during childhood which may lead to novel prevention and therapeutic strategies,” said Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., director, NHLBI.

“By tracking how the lungs of these pigs respond to challenges to their respiratory systems introduced by the environment, we hope to better understand how the complications of CF progress in children,” said Michael J. Welsh, M.D., University of Iowa and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and senior author of the study.

18 deaths in 2008 compared with 124 in 2007

Officials are not sure why the 2008 season is so mild

The West Nile virus season is on track to be the mildest in seven years, with less than a third the number of serious cases as last year’s total, U.S. health officials said.

As of Tuesday, there were 368 severe cases, with 18 deaths, according to preliminary reports. Mississippi and California were hardest hit, together accounting for nearly half the cases.

Most West Nile infections are reported in August and September, so health officials believe the worst of the season is probably over.

It’s not clear why this season has been so mild, said officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s the fewest cases since 2001, when the mosquito-borne virus was still emerging in the United States and was only reported in 10 states.

Mosquitoes often pick up the virus from birds they bite and then spread it to people. Perhaps the weather in some areas of the country was not as favorable for mosquito-breeding as in years past, some experts said.

West Nile virus was first reported in the United States in 1999 in New York, then gradually spread across the country.

About one in five infected people get sick. One in 150 will develop severe symptoms including neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis.

For all of 2007, more than 1,200 cases of severe West Nile illness were reported, and 124 deaths. The peaks occurred in 2002 and 2003, when severe illnesses numbered nearly 3,000 and deaths surpassed 260.

CDC is investigating complaints of rashes, weird hair growths and itches

People who are afflicted by such lesions, fibers and bouts of cognitive haze say they hope their status in the eyes of the medical community is about to change. After two years of deliberation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta — the federal agency that fields an elite corps of disease detectives — is looking into their complaints. The investigation, which will not report its findings until next year, could explain their weird symptoms or reject them as the inventions of sick minds.

Real or imagined?

The syndrome is being referred to as Morgellons. The name appears in a 1674 essay that describes an outbreak of “harsh hairs…unquiet symptoms…coughs and convulsions” among French children, but whether the moniker refers to the same disease is not known. Mary Leitao, a biologist in a town near Pittsburgh, found the term in a 1935 medical journal article when she was looking for an explanation for an eruption on her 2-year-old son’s lip. She went on to found the Morgellons Research Foundation, a Web-based group of self-described patients that now has more than 12,000 members.

CDC is investigating

New diseases emerge more frequently than most people realize. There has been roughly one per year since the 1970s. Some have a huge impact, such as AIDS; it has killed millions, but it surfaced as a strange pneumonia in five gay men in 1981. Others arrive with barely a ripple, such as the Dandenong virus, which killed three Australian women last year after they all received organs from an unknowingly infected donor.

But deciding whether a new disease exists is a long, contentious process of doing interviews, performing physical exams, conducting lab experiments, crunching data with computers, trawling textbooks for past cases and searching for a reasonable explanation if one isn’t immediately obvious. At the end of the process, disease detectives ideally want to end up with an agent — a bacterium, a virus, a genetic trigger or a toxin — that causes the symptoms they are seeing, a set of symptoms that only one thing can cause. An official designation as a disease means that sufferers are taken seriously; tests are devised to help make a diagnosis, treatments can be researched and insurance usually ends up paying for care.

You don’t have to fork out for those brand-name, top-of-the-line skin care products.

Plenty of the cheaper ones provide similar beauteous benefits, according to Dr. Amy Wechsler, dermatologist, psychiatrist, and author of RealAge’s new skin care book, The Mind-Beauty Connection. Read on for her favorites.

The Cheap List
Everyone’s skin is different , so if you use a pricey product that your skin likes and your budget can handle, there’s no reason to switch. But if you want to experiment with drugstore-priced brands, here are a few of Dr. Wechsler’s favorite beauty bargains. She loves (and uses):
Vaseline — it’s a luscious lip moisturizer and protector.

Safflower oil — it’s a super remedy for gator-dry skin, especially on the legs (cracked heels, too).

The Secret to Perfect Summer Legs
If you don’t know a pentapeptide from an antioxidant and, frankly, you don’t care — you just want your gator-dry legs to be soft and silky-smooth — look no farther than your kitchen. The answer lies in that bottle of safflower oil sitting on the shelf. This polyunsaturated oil, beloved by cardiologists for being good for your heart, is just as good for your skin, but from the outside in.

The oil, which is pressed from the seeds of spiky yellow safflowers, is a super moisturizer. “That’s because it’s very high in linoleic acid, a fatty acid that skin normally makes to keep its moisture level up and barrier function intact,” says New York City dermatologist Amy Wechsler, MD, RealAge’s skin expert. Because the body’s linoleic acid production gets sluggish with age, it helps to replace it from the outside.

“In theory, you could use olive oil, too, which is also high in linoleic acid. But you’d smell like a salad!” Wechsler says. Along with being odorless, safflower oil has the advantages of being colorless and cheap. And that’s not all. Safe enough for sensitive skin, it’s so gentle that it’s massaged into the skin of newborn babies at some hospitals.

Although this natural oil is one of Wechsler’s favorite treatments for dry lower legs (where flakiness can be especially persistent), you can use it body-wide — though not when you’re in a mad rush, as it takes time to soak in. “Smooth it on immediately after a bath or shower to seal in the moisture your skin has just absorbed. You can even apply it on your face, as long you don’t get it into your eyes; stop a bit below the lower lid.”

If you’re not sure about moisturizing with pure cooking oil, you can find safflower oil in moisturizers, lip balms, and scrubs. “Look for a product that lists it among the first three ingredients, which means it contains a high concentration of the oil,” says Dr. Wechsler.

Otherwise, just pour some safflower oil into a pretty little squeeze bottle and add it to your toiletries. No one will ever guess you cook with it, too. And your legs will look amazing!

Be good to your skin, from top to toe, with your own personalized skin care routine.

Products Need Warning Labels, Scientist Says; Industry Contends They’re Safe to Drink

Caffeinated energy drinks that promise super alertness — and sometimes imply better sports performance — should carry labels that specify their amount of caffeine, says a Johns Hopkins University scientist.

Drinks with the highest caffeine content should also warn of potential health dangers, says Roland Griffiths, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and senior author of a new report on the beverages.

“Many of these drinks do not label the caffeine content,” he says, and some energy drinks contain as much caffeine as found in 14 cans of soda.

The industry begs to differ, with spokespeople pointing out that most “mainstream” energy drinks contain the same amount of caffeine, or even less, than you’d get in a cup of brewed coffee. If labels listing caffeine content are required on energy drinks, they should also be required on coffeehouse coffee, says Maureen Storey, PhD, a spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association.

Energy Drinks: Caffeine Content
Griffiths and his colleagues contacted more than two dozen makers of energy drinks, asking for caffeine content. Here are some of the findings:

(The caffeine content is in milligrams per serving. Although serving sizes vary, Griffiths contends that most people will drink the entire can, whatever the number of ounces.)

Red Bull: 80 milligrams per 8.3-ounce serving
Tab Energy: 95 mg per 10.5-oz serving
Monster and Rockstar: 160 mg per 16-oz serving
No Fear: 174 mg per 16-oz serving
Fixx: 500 per 20-oz serving
Wired X505: 505 mg per 24-oz serving
In comparison, according to Griffiths:

Brewed coffee: 200 milligrams per 12-oz serving
Instant coffee: 140 mg per 12-oz serving
Brewed tea: 80 mg per 12-oz serving
Mountain Dew: 54 mg per 12 oz. serving
Dr. Pepper: 41 mg per 12-oz serving
Pepsi Cola: 38 mg per 12-oz serving
Coca-Cola Classic: 34.5 mg per 12-oz serving
Canned or bottled tea: 20 mg per 12-oz serving
Some of the energy drinks have lower caffeine contents, Griffith says. Among the lower doses:

Bomba Energy has 75 mg per 8.4-oz serving
Whoop Ass has 50 mg per 8.5-oz serving

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Ritalin, the controversial drug used to calm down hyperactive children, should be avoided wherever possible and not given at all to the under-fives, according to new health guidelines.

Instead, parents should be taught psychological techniques for changing the behaviour of unruly children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), said experts.

Teachers trained in ADHD management were also urged to put their skills into practice in the classroom.

Methylphenidate, better known as the stimulant Ritalin, and other drugs should be reserved for severe cases only after other options have failed, health professionals were told.

The guidelines were issued by the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health.

They aim to provide a blueprint of best practice for identifying and treating children with ADHD in England and Wales and combat excess use of drugs.

Up to 3% of school-age children and young people are affected by the disorder in the UK. It has recently been recognised that around 2% of adults also suffer from the problem. Previously they were often wrongly labelled as having a personality disorder or a psychological condition.

The causes of ADHD are unclear but thought to include both genetic and environmental influences. Diet may be involved and a link with fizzy drinks has been suggested. Problems in the womb or birth trauma could also cause damage in the brain leading to ADHD.

Dr Tim Kendall, a consultant psychiatrist from Sheffield who is joint director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and helped draw up the guidelines, said: “Its easier to prescribe a drug when other options like parent training programmes are not available.”

The guidelines say parent training and education programmes should be offered as a first-line treatment for ADHD, both for pre-school and school age children.

Experiment uses stem cells to reprogram immune system

Studies here and in Europe are aiming to reset immunity for patients with severe scleroderma — work that, if successful, could cast new light on numerous autoimmune diseases, from lupus to multiple sclerosis.

While early reports are promising, it remains experimental, recruitment is slow and a fundamental issue is unsettled: Do doctors need to take the radical step of killing all the bad immune cells, or just suppress their function?

“The notion that more immunosuppression is better is somewhat logical,” says Dr. Ellen Goldmuntz of the National Institutes of Health, which is funding some of the research. “The question’s how best to do it.”

Autoimmune diseases are among medicine’s most frustrating mysteries: What makes an immune system that worked fine for years suddenly run amok, and why are middle-aged women most vulnerable? And arguably most mysterious is scleroderma, where the immune system somehow mistakenly attacks connective tissues that support the skin and internal organs — thickening skin, stiffening joints, destroying blood vessels, and sometimes killing through kidney and lung failure.

About 300,000 Americans have various forms of scleroderma, often confined to the skin. But a third have systemic scleroderma, the most severe form that invades internal organs. Only the cancer drug cyclophosphamide is proven to slow severe scleroderma, but its effects are modest. About half of severely affected patients die in five years.

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Does cancer or any other disease run in your family? Then get with this 3-step program.

Step 1: Eat right. That means a plant-based diet like this:

Getting Off the Cow
Reducing the amount of red meat in your diet can be easy with these tips.

Cutting back on red meat makes good health sense and makes your RealAge younger. Studies show that eating too much red meat can increase your risk of many chronic health conditions. But what kind of nutrition hole is created when you limit red meat in your diet? The truth is, it’s easy to miss out on important nutrients when you cut back on a major food source. So, when you cut back on red meat, make a balanced eating plan to help ensure you don’t shortchange yourself on important nutrients such as protein, vitamins B12 and D, calcium, iron, and zinc.

Step 2: Walk on. Clock at least 30 minutes a day. Here’s an easy way to get started.

Walking Off Fat — Fast!

How the simple act of walking can get your waist where you want it — and quickly

Saying you’re too heavy to exercise is like saying you’re too skinny to eat. Your body needs exercise just the way your body needs food. And walking may be one of the best-kept secrets of weight loss. Many people who have succeeded in losing a lot say that walking every day was a key factor.

No matter how overweight you are, you can do something to start the process of losing fat, strengthening your bones, and relieving your joints of the load that they’re carrying. Just follow our six steps to the perfect walking program, and you’ll be walking off the fat in no time.

Step 3: Decompress. Spend 60 minutes a day destressing. And weekly talk therapy may be key, too. Here’s how to decompress:

1. ID the source of your stress. Some sources of stress are easy to point the finger at, but are they really what’s bothering you? Lashing out at your kids, for example, may be a reaction not to what your kids just did but to an extra assignment piled on at work. The first step to managing stress: pinpointing the true culprit.

2. Focus on the moment. Being mindful — really paying attention to the present, not the past or the future — can help you manage stress. Spend some time every day noticing the things most people tend to ignore — like breathing, bodily sensations, and emotions.

3. Look after your health. Stress is much more manageable when the other aspects of your life — from general health to sleep patterns to eating habits — are in good order. When you don’t get enough sleep, for instance, your body produces more stress hormones, making you more vulnerable to the damaging effects of stress. Evaluate what areas in your life need attention, and work on fixes.

4. Do a Workout. Or walk for 30 minutes, stretch, do yoga — just get up and move! Exercise is one of life’s greatest stress relievers. Try it.

5. Do the opposite. Every emotion has an “urge to act” that goes with it. When we feel afraid or anxious, we avoid things; when we’re depressed or sad, we withdraw; when we’re angry, we’re tempted to lash out or yell. Unfortunately, each of these behaviors actually makes things worse. But if you can do the opposite action, you may make things better. Worried about something? Tackle it instead of ignoring it. Angry at someone? Don’t lash out, be empathetic. Depressed? Go out rather than shutting yourself in.

6. Focus on your muscles. By tensing and relaxing your muscles, you can help relieve some of the physical stress that’s stored in your body. Start at the bottom: Tense the muscles of your feet and then relax them. Tense and relax the different muscle groups of your body one at a time — your legs, stomach, back, neck, arms, face, and head. And breathe.

Over 80% Of The Teachers Surveyed Want More ADHD Training, UK

A new survey has revealed that over half of UK teachers have not had any training about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). With millions of UK children back to school this month, this finding paints a distressing picture for the estimated 5% of school age children in the UK who have ADHD. These results are also particularly concerning as teachers are the most commonly used source of help in the UK for 70% of parents of children with ADHD.

The survey highlighted the lack of support for teachers trying to cope with ADHD in the classroom with almost half of all teachers saying that there is no official management strategy in place at their school.

Although 83% of teachers said that they could recognise the symptoms of ADHD, they did not feel that they were suitably equipped or supported to deal with a child with ADHD. Most had not received sufficient, or any, training in this matter.

“Many children with ADHD get into trouble at school because there is a lack of understanding and support for their difficulties. Improving the skills of teachers is essential. Not only does this affect the child at school, but the manner in which children with ADHD are managed in the classroom also impacts on their social and emotional development outside of school hours “, commented Holly Evans, ADHD Advisory Teacher. “There are techniques that can help teachers manage students with ADHD in the classroom effectively whilst helping these students reach their academic potential”.

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