Health & WellnessS


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Lupus Not Identical in Twins

Tina Hesman Saey
Science News
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:33 UTC
Pattern of chemical tags on DNA linked to the autoimmune disease

Lupus can tell identical twins apart by the distinguishing marks the pairs carry on their DNA.

Fewer DNA methylation marks may leave one twin vulnerable to the inflammatory autoimmune disease, even while the other sibling remains healthy, a new study appearing online December 22 in Genome Research shows.

The finding suggests that environmental factors determine whether genetically susceptible twins will contract lupus, or systemic lupus erythematosus, which is characterized by the immune system attacking the body's own cells.

Researchers have previously identified at least 17 different genes involved in lupus. If genes alone were responsible for determining whether a person gets lupus, then every time one identical twin got the disease, the other should too.
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Big Pharma Kills Yet Another Celebrity: Brittany Murphy on Multiple Prescriptions at Time of Death

Mike Adams
Natural News
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:00 UTC
It's not normal to die at age 32 of a heart attack. To make that happen, you normally have to be taking chemical substances of some kind, either recreational drugs or prescription drugs. Actress Brittany Murphy, who died this last weekend from a heart attack, was reportedly taking prescription drugs to treat the symptoms of the flu (not to actually treat the flu itself, mind you, just the symptoms of the flu). She was found collapsed in her shower after her heart gave out.

If prescription drugs are the cause, this would be just the latest celebrity death caused by pharmaceuticals. Other celebrity deaths recently caused by pharmaceuticals include:

- Heath Ledger

- Patrick Swayze

- Bernie Mac

- Michael Jackson

- Farrah Fawcett
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Testing group data shows swine flu waning in U.S.

Maggie Fox
Reuters
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:06 UTC
child_tamiflu
© Reuters/Nacho DoceA boy looks at a woman holding out a box of Tamiflu as she talks with journalists outside a school in Lisbon July 7, 2009
Results from flu tests show the pandemic of swine flu is definitely on the downswing in the United States, researchers at Quest Diagnostics said Friday.

The report supports what U.S. health officials have said -- the H1N1 is ebbing across much of the United States, having reached a second peak in October.

"Children ages five to 14 continue to experience the highest percentage of H1N1 positive test results compared to negative results, with a positivity rate close to 40 percent. By comparison, nearly 80 percent of children in this age group tested positive for the virus in late October," Quest said in a statement.

The company analyzed 170,000 flu tests taken between May and December to map out two peaks in the U.S. epidemic -- one in April and one at the end of October.

"Between this peak week and December 9, testing rates fell by 75 percent. In the most recent week reported, December 9, testing rates were equivalent to volumes experienced in late August, when the second wave began," the company said.
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Amino Acid N-Acetylcysteine Eases Compulsive Behavior Such as Hair Pulling

David Gutierrez
Natural News
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:09 UTC
A supplement of the amino acid N-acetylcysteine may ease the symptoms of compulsive hair pulling, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Minnesota School of Medicine and published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
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Maine to consider cell phone cancer warning

Glenn Adams
Associated Press
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:33 UTC
Augusta, Maine - A Maine legislator wants to make the state the first to require cell phones to carry warnings that they can cause brain cancer, although there is no consensus among scientists that they do and industry leaders dispute the claim.

The now-ubiquitous devices carry such warnings in some countries, though no U.S. states require them, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. A similar effort is afoot in San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom wants his city to be the nation's first to require the warnings.

Maine Rep. Andrea Boland, D-Sanford, said numerous studies point to the cancer risk, and she has persuaded legislative leaders to allow her proposal to come up for discussion during the 2010 session that begins in January, a session usually reserved for emergency and governors' bills.
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How Diabetes And Obesity Are Ravaging America Today

Dr. Mark Hyman
Huffington Post
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:50 UTC
Do you fear for your health or feel exhausted all the time? Are you overweight? Or do you just have too much belly fat? Do you suffer from diabetes, monitor your blood sugar all the time, have serious blood sugar and insulin imbalances, or have elevated cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglyceride levels? If so, you may find this remarkable story of one my patient's very interesting.

One evening, after a lecture in New York, a man approached me about becoming my patient. He was rotund, with a round, ruddy face, a booming voice, and a gentle manner. Everything about him was large--his appetite, his belly, and his heart.
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Traits Of People With Rare Accelerated Aging Syndrome Identified By Researchers

Kristen Holland Shear
Medical News Today
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:00 UTC
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have provided the most extensive account to date of the unique observable characteristics seen in patients with an extremely rare premature aging syndrome.

The findings, reported online and in the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, suggest that patients with atypical progeroid syndrome (APS) should not be lumped together with those diagnosed with two similar but more well-defined accelerated aging disorders called progeria and mandibuloacral dysplasia (MAD).

"Before this paper, APS was not recognized as a distinct disease," said Dr. Abhimanyu Garg, professor of internal medicine in the Center for Human Nutrition at UT Southwestern and the study's lead author. "Although APS is extremely rare, we believe it should be a distinct entity, particularly since it seems to be less severe than either of the related disorders, and the patients show unique clinical features and metabolic abnormalities."

There are currently 24 reported cases of APS worldwide, including the 11 evaluated in the recent UT Southwestern study.
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Omega-3 Deficiencies Linked to Mental Disorders


Press TV
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:29 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
Deficiencies in omega-3 fatty acids may place individuals at an increased risk of developing mental disorders, a new study finds.

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids that cannot be produced by the body and are supplied from food intake. Oily fish like salmon, walnuts and ground flax seeds are rich sources of these fatty acids.

While the cardioprotective benefits of these fats had long been recognized, the new study, however, is the first to report their benefits to brain health.

According to the study published in Behavioral Neuroscience, two omega-3 fatty acids known as docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid play a critical role in maintaining the health of the nervous system.
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Mental Illness Common in Male and Female Killers

Ian Munro
The Age
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:00 UTC
A study of killers in Victoria has identified startling links between mental illness and homicide, with four out of every five women who kill found to have suffered a mental disorder before offending.

Among men who kill, one in three was diagnosed with a mental disorder.

Mental health problems across both groups included depression and personality disorders, but most common was schizophrenia, which was diagnosed for 38 of the 435 killers. Men with schizophrenia were found to be eight times more likely to kill, and women with schizophrenia 29 times more likely to kill, than non-sufferers.

The findings come as the former clinical director of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Paul Mullen, said Victoria had gone too far in de-institutionalising mental health.

Now a Monash University professor emeritus of forensic psychiatry, he said the push for ever shorter hospital stays meant many people with serious disorders such as schizophrenia were not adequately treated.
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Daily Pot Smoking May Hasten Onset of Psychosis


ScienceDaily
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:00 UTC
Progression to daily marijuana use in adolescence may hasten the onset of symptoms leading up to psychosis, an Emory University study finds. The study was published in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The researchers analyzed data from 109 hospitalized patients who were experiencing their first psychotic episode. The results showed that patients who had a history of using marijuana, or cannabis, and increased to daily pot smoking experienced both psychotic and pre-psychotic symptoms at earlier ages.

"We were surprised that it wasn't just whether or not they used cannabis in adolescence that predicted the age of onset, rather it was how quickly they progressed to becoming a daily cannabis user that was the stronger predictor," said Michael Compton, lead author and assistant professor of psychiatry in the Emory School of Medicine.
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