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Magnesium Sulphate Protects Babies Against Cerebral Palsy, Review Shows


ScienceDaily
Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:11 UTC
Giving pregnant mothers magnesium sulphate when they are at risk of very preterm birth can help protect their babies from cerebral palsy, according to an international review of research involving the University of Adelaide.

The findings of this review - published January 21 on the international research website The Cochrane Library - could help decrease the incidence of this disabling condition, which affects one in 500 newborn babies overall and one in 10 very premature babies (less than 28 weeks gestation).

Magnesium sulphate therapy involves giving doses of magnesium sulphate to pregnant women via injection.
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Autistic hacker said to be likely to develop "psychotic disorder"

Lisa Jo Rudy
autism.about.com
Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:06 UTC
I am intrigued by the case of Gary McKinnon, the Brit who has admitted to extensively hacking the American governmental and military security systems. Today, the Inquirer described a unique proceeding that could have real and significant implications for adults diagnosed with Asperger syndrome or other autism spectrum disorders:
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Heart - Black

Flashback 'It's abuse and a life of hell'

Julie Bindel
The Guardian
Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:45 UTC
As a world expert on prostitution, Roger Matthews has met women in the trade who have been stabbed, raped and beaten. He tells Julie Bindel why they must be given help to leave the sex industry for good
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Lower Your Blood Pressure With Vitamin C


Mercola.com
Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:17 UTC
Vit C
© A.D.A.M.
A study has linked high blood levels of vitamin C with lower blood pressure in young women.

The study involved almost 250 women. They entered the trial when they were 8 to 11 years old, and over a 10-year period, their plasma levels of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and blood pressure were monitored. Both their systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings, were found to be inversely associated with ascorbic acid levels.

Previous research had already linked high plasma levels of vitamin C with lower blood pressure among middle-age and older adults.

Sources:

* Reuters December 30, 2008
* Nutrition Journal December 17, 2008; 7:35
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Why Some People Can't Put Two And Two Together

Laura Spinney
New Scientist
Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:21 UTC
Board
© Getty Images
Jill, 19, from Michigan, wants to go to university to read political science. There is just one problem: she keeps failing the mathematics requirement. "I am an exceptional student in all other subjects, so my consistent failure at math made me feel very stupid," she says. In fact, she stopped going to her college mathematics class after a while because, she says, "I couldn't take the daily reminder of what an idiot I was."

Last November, Jill got herself screened for learning disabilities. She found that while her IQ is above average, her numerical ability is equivalent to that of an 11-year-old because she has something called dyscalculia. The diagnosis came partly as a relief, because it explained a lot of difficulties she had in her day-to-day life. She can't easily read a traditional, analogue clock, for example, and always arrives 20 minutes early for fear of being late. When it comes to paying in shops or restaurants, she hands her wallet to a friend and asks them to do the calculation, knowing that she is likely to get it wrong.
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Health

Dignitas founder accused of profiting from assisted suicides

Patrick Sawer
Telegraph
Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:02 UTC
Tucked away on a Swiss industrial estate and with a steel door deterring unwanted visitors is the suicide clinic which has sparked controversy across Europe.

It is here that hundreds of terminally ill, paralysed or depressed patients, including around 100 Britons, have come to end their lives with a lethal cocktail of drugs.

The Dignitas clinic, half an hour's drive from Zurich, has aroused strong feeling on both sides of the assisted suicide debate.

While some regard the assisted suicide group as offering a last measure of dignity to those who want to end their suffering, others see its activities as immoral.

Comment: Other articles about the Dignitas clinic:
Assisted suicide to be shown on British television for the first time
Zurich: Euthanasia Center reopens - next to a brothel
'I believe I must end my life while I am still able'


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Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease have Surprisingly High Folate Levels, Study Finds


PhysOrg
Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:00 UTC
Children with newly diagnosed cases of inflammatory bowel disease have higher concentrations of folate in their blood than individuals without IBD, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley. The findings bring into question the previously held theory that patients with IBD are prone to folate - also known as folic acid - deficiency.

"This is exciting work that opens the door to additional research into the role of folic acid and its genetic basis in the development of IBD, especially in young patients," said first author Melvin Heyman, MD, a professor of pediatrics, chief of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, and director of the Pediatric IBD Program at UCSF Children's Hospital.

The study appears in the February 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and is currently available online at Link.
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Blindness is the next target for stem-cell therapy after US opens way to new trials

Mark Henderson
Times Online
Sat, 24 Jan 2009 02:30 UTC
TOL Embryo false color
© Times OnlineA false-colour photo of an eight-cell embryo

British scientists will apply this year to start patient trials of an embryonic stem-cell therapy for the commonest cause of blindness.

If approved, the study will be the second of its kind, after US regulators yesterday cleared the first human trial of the powerful master cells. The US decision to approve the trial of a paralysis treatment by the Geron Corporation will open the way for a team at University College London to test a similar therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on patients.

Pete Coffey, of UCL, who is leading the project, said that the approval of the paralysis trial was "bloody good news".

"It clearly gives a lot of direction to our regulators. It is a precedent of sorts. Our therapy is now very advanced. We are now into the final stages of preclinical work-up. We're already in discussions with the regulatory authorities in the UK, and the fact that Geron's trial is going forward makes the process, I hope, more achievable. We will be making an application later this year, and I would hope we'll go into patient trials some time in 2010 or 2011."
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Protein May Boost Body's Defence System Against Infections And Cancer

Suzanne Morrison
PhysOrg
Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:52 UTC
To boost our immune system, health experts remind us to get a good night's sleep, drink plenty of fluids and eat a well-balanced diet. Researchers at McMaster University have added a new finding to the list of ways in which we can lead healthier lives.

Researchers in McMaster's Institute of Molecular Medicine and Health, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, have discovered that a protein called FimH has the ability to not only fight microbial infections such as the flu, but cancer as well by boosting the body's inborn defense system.

"(FimH) has great potential as an innate microbicide, particularly against infections for which we don't have a vaccine, such as influenza," said lead author Ali Ashkar, associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.

The researchers also found FimH can be effectively added to a vaccine to enhance a person's immune response.
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Researchers Make Breakthrough Against Poxviruses


PhysOrg
Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:28 UTC
Smallpox has a nasty history throughout the world. Caused by poxviruses, smallpox is one of the few disease-causing agents against which the human body's immune system is ineffective in its defense.

A major breakthrough by Junpeng Deng, a structural biologist in the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (DASNR) at Oklahoma State University, and his first-year Ph.D. student, Brian Krumm, may be the first step towards a pharmaceutical medication for smallpox and the emerging human monkeypox.

The human immune system is rendered helpless against poxviruses partly because the viruses block a human immune molecule, interleukin-18 (IL-18), from sending out a signal to the immune system. The body acts as if everything is fine and the deadly disease takes over.

Deng and Krumm joined an ongoing project midway through 2007 and Krumm found what he was looking for in December 2008. They solved a three-dimensional crystal structure of a poxvirus protein in the act of disarming the IL-18.

"We capped a lot of others' research. This is additional information provided," said Krumm, who is credited as the major contributor to the research. "We also show many things through the structure that can't be revealed through traditional molecular biology and immunology."
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