Health & Wellness
© UCLA/Pope lab
This brain scan shows the wavy borders of a dying tumor in white at right. Dying cells leak fluid, causing swelling and water movement linked to a good response to Avastin therapy.
UCLA researchers have uncovered a new way to scan brain tumors and predict which ones will be shrunk by the drug Avastin -- before the patient ever starts treatment. By linking high water movement in tumors to positive drug response, the UCLA team predicted with 70 percent accuracy which patients' tumors were the least likely to grow six months after therapy.
Bronnie McNabb, 57, considers himself lucky. When his aggressive brain cancer returned after chemotherapy and radiation, his UCLA doctor prescribed the off-label use of Avastin, a drug shown to quell cancers in the breast, colon and lung.
One month later, McNabb's tumors had shrunk by 95 percent. Subsequent brain scans show no trace of his cancer at all. The former marathon runner, ordained minister and father of two says he hasn't felt this good since his diagnosis last winter.
Patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have an increased risk of infection, due to both disturbances in their immune responses and treatment with immunosuppressive drugs. Because morbidity and mortality related to influenza are increased in immunocompromised patients, it is recommended that patients with SLE get annual flu shots, which are safe and do not increase disease activity.
Both antibody and cell-mediated responses are involved in the immune response to influenza; in SLE, antibody responses to the vaccine are diminished, but it is not known if the same effect is seen in cell-mediated responses. A new study was the first to examine cell-mediated responses in SLE patients prior to and following influenza vaccination. The study was published in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Led by Albert Holvast, of the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, the study involved 54 patients with SLE and 54 healthy controls who received subunit flu vaccine, out of a total of 78 patients in each group. Patients were randomized 2:1 to receive a flu vaccine or serve as a nonvaccinated control. Patients and controls were followed up at 28 days and three to four months following vaccination, at which time blood was drawn.
Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common joint disorder throughout the world and a leading cause of disability, is characterized by pain, impaired joint mobility, reduction of muscular strength and loss of joint function. Unlike most other common diseases, little is known about its origins, and factors predicting a severe disease course have not been identified. A new study, the first to establish a laboratory marker for the risk of severe OA, found that vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), was a strong predictor of hip and knee joint replacement due to severe OA. The study was published in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Led by Georg Schett of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Erlangen, Germany, the study involved 912 healthy individuals in Bruneck, Italy, 60 of whom underwent hip or knee replacement surgery due to severe OA in a 15-year follow-up period. Subjects underwent a baseline exam in 1990 and followup exams were performed every five years until 2005. Blood samples were analyzed for VCAM-1, a sialoglycoprotein (a combination sugar and protein) expressed on cells in the cartilage and connective tissue.
Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium) is a parasitic flatworm that infects millions of people, mostly in the developing world, and is associated with high incidence of bladder cancer although why is not clear. Now, however, two works by Portuguese researchers just out in The Journal of Experimental Pathology and the International Journal of Parasitology reveal that cells infected in laboratory with S. haematobium, acquire cancer-like characteristics and, when injected into mice develop into tumours.
The research identifies as well the host molecules linked to the carcinogenic changes, suggesting that these could be used as therapeutic targets to prevent bladder cancer. These results help to explain the link between S. haematobium and can be relevant also to other cancer-linked chronic infections, in particular to those linked to infections difficult to treat such as hepatitis C.
© Unknown
A man looks out at sea. Men are better at seeing things in the distance due to their hunter-gatherer past chasing animals, while women are better focusing on things at close range, a British study said Thursday.
Men are better at seeing things in the distance due to their hunter-gatherer past chasing animals, while women are better focusing on things at close range, a British study said Thursday.
In findings which reflect how men's and women's brains have evolved differently over thousands of years, they found that men are better at judging faraway targets.
Researchers tested their theory by asking a group of 48 men and women to use a laser pointer to mark the midpoint of lines on a piece of paper at different distances.
Men were more accurate than women when the paper was placed at a distance of 100 centimetres, while women were more accurate when the target was only 50 cms away, within arm's reach.
Using essential oils to cleanse and heal the body, mind and soul is not a new concept. In fact using different fragrances to alter your state of mind has been used within religious ceremonies for centuries. But today Aromatherapy has become so popular that anything that has a scent is labeled as an aromatherapy product. Many of these so called essential oils are not the real thing, which leads many people to look at aromatherapy very negatively.
But the truth is that using real essential oils in many different forms of aromatherapy can be a very effective healing and relaxation tool. Helichrysum essential oil is known as the "everlasting" or "immortal" essential oil. Unlike most essential oils it can be stored and left in the cupboard for a very long time. Helichrysum essential oil is found mainly in France and Italy. Its rarity makes it one of the most expensive essential oils to buy, but it is also known as one of the best as it has a long list of healing properties.
In ancient times Helichrysum was used along with Frankincense, Myrrh, Spikenard, and Rose to help open the heart and mind to the infinite possibilities of the spiritual life. But now Helichrysum is known to help all sorts of medical ailments from ridding the body of scar tissue and stretch marks to relieving the pain of arthritis and regulating blood pressure.
Exposure to anesthesia more than once before the age of three appears to significantly increase a person's risk of developing learning disabilities in childhood, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Mayo Medical School and published in the journal Anesthesiology.
The researchers examined the medical records of all children born in one of five towns in Olmstead County, Minn., between the years of 1976 and 1982. They compared data on anesthesia exposure before the age of three and the diagnosis of a learning disability before the age of 19 in the 5,357 of these children who had lived in Olmstead County until at least the age of five.
Among children who had been exposed to anesthesia once before the age of three, the risk of learning abilities was the same as among children who had never been exposed. Two anesthesia exposures, however, increased the risk of learning disabilities by 59 percent, while three or more exposures increased the risk by 160 percent.
Medical staff are creating their own 'avatars' in online fantasy games such as World of Warcraft in the hope of treating youngsters addicted to virtual worlds.
Experts have said that some massively multiplayer online games, in which players battle enemies for weapons and rewards, are as addictive as crack cocaine.
Dr Richard Graham, a consultant psychiatrist at the Tavistock Centre in London, is so concerned that he plans to provide online therapy for youngsters who are spending so much time playing these games that they have lost touch with the real world.
Expensive organic food is no better for you than conventionally-grown farm produce, according to the Government's food watchdog.
In the most comprehensive study ever to be carried out into the nutritional content of organic food compared to ordinary fare, scientists found no significant difference in vitamins and minerals.
A separate study found there are no extra health benefits to eating organic food rather than meat, fruits or vegetables grown on intensive farms.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which commissioned the research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, concluded there was no reason to buy expensive organic food for nutritional reasons.
Patients with childhood leukemia have elevated levels of household pesticides in their urine, according to a new study by the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
"In our study, we compared urine samples from children with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) and their mothers with healthy children and their moms," said study researcher Offie Soldin.
"We found elevated levels of common household pesticides more often in the mother-child pairs affected by cancer," said Soldin, an epidemiologist at the center, who led the research published in August's issue of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.
