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Genetic Variant May Control Lung Function and Risk of COPD


ScienceDaily
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:00 UTC
Researchers have discovered evidence that suggests a genetic variant may be associated with better preserved lung function among children with asthma and adults who smoke.

The study also found an association between the genetic variant and a lowered risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults who smoke. COPD is a lung disease most common among smokers, which makes it difficult to breathe.

The study is published online by The New England Journal of Medicine on Dec. 16. Antonello Punturieri, M.D., Ph.D., of the NHLBI's Division of Lung Diseases and other researchers found that a DNA single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP, was associated with better preserved lung function among children with asthma and in former or current smokers. The study also found a lower risk for developing COPD in adults who smoke. A SNP is a single base pair in a person's DNA which often varies among individuals. Adult patients with this SNP had a 35 percent reduction in the risk of onset of COPD.
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Breakthrough on Causes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease


ScienceDaily
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:00 UTC
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© University of AdelaideDr. Nicola Eastaff-Leung.
New research by the University of Adelaide could help explain why some people are more prone to Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and other autoimmune diseases.

A critical imbalance of the regulatory cells required to control the immune system has been revealed among people suffering inflammatory bowel disease.

In a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Immunology this month, Pathology researcher Dr Nicola Eastaff-Leung reveals that people suffering Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis have fewer numbers of regulatory cells and more "attack" cells that cause inflammation.

"All the food that we eat is foreign to our body," Dr Eastaff-Leung says. "In healthy people the immune system has a mechanism to tolerate these foods and not react. But some people do not have enough of these regulatory cells and their body overreacts and goes into attack mode. That is where the inflammation occurs," she says.
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Better Earth

Study: Sunshine States Are Happiest

Randolph E. Schmid
Time
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:00 UTC
People in sunny, outdoorsy states - Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida - say they're the happiest Americans, and researchers think they know why. A new study comparing self-described pleasant feelings with objective measures of good living found these folks generally have reason to feel fine.

The places where people are most likely to report happiness also tend to rate high on studies comparing things like climate, crime rates, air quality and schools.

The happiness ratings were based on a survey of 1.3 million people across the country by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It used data collected over four years that included a question asking people how satisfied they are with their lives.

Economists Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., compared the happiness ranking with studies that rated states on a variety of criteria ranging from availability of public land to commuting time to local taxes.
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Celiac Disease - Sprue

Carolyn Sayre
The New York Times
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:57 UTC
The Overlooked Diagnosis of Celiac Disease
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© ADAM incCeliac sprue is an inflammatory condition caused by intolerance to gluten, a substance found in wheat and other grains. The inability to digest and process this substances may lead to inflammation of the intestines, vitamin deficiencies due to lack of absorption of nutrients,and bowel abnormalities. Gluten may be found in many foods,especially processed foods and baked goods. Breads,cakes,desserts that use thickeners,alcoholic beverages (except wine),cereals and pastas may all contain gluten.

It took three decades to figure out what was making Donna Sawka so sick.

Her symptoms - bloating, chronic diarrhea and weight loss - began early in childhood, and they only became worse as she aged.

Nine years ago, after developing severe anemia, a specialist told Ms. Sawka that she had celiac disease. The digestive disorder causes damage to the small intestine when gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, is ingested.

People with the disease need to follow a strict gluten-free diet for the rest of their lives to avoid serious complications like osteoporosis and lymphoma, an immune system cancer.

Ms. Sawka, 48, of Fairless Hills, Pa., said she "was overwhelmed" upon learning she had the disease.

"I kept thinking about everything I wouldn't be able to eat," she went on.
"I couldn't even receive communion at church."

Ms. Sawka's reaction is a familiar one at the support group she attends. It takes the average patient 10 years to receive a diagnosis. And according to specialists, they are the lucky ones.

Studies show that 3 million Americans, or 1 in every 133 people, have celiac disease. But 95 percent of them have yet to learn they have it, according to the National Institutes of Health.
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Health

Disordered Eating May Affect 10 to 15 Percent of Women


Science Daily
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:32 UTC
Several maladaptive eating behaviors, beyond anorexia, can affect women. Indeed, some 10 to 15 percent of women have maladaptive eating behaviours and attitudes according to new study from the Université de Montréal and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

"Our results are disquieting," says Lise Gauvin, a professor at the Université de Montréal Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. "Women are exposed to many contradictory messages. They are encouraged to lose weight yet also encouraged to eat for the simple pleasure of it."

Some 1,501 women took part in the phone survey on eating disorders and disordered eating. Not one participant was classified as anorexic. The average age of these urban-dwelling participants was 31, the majority of respondents were non-smokers and university graduates.
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Health

Wii Fit May Not Help Families Get Fit


Science Daily
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:28 UTC
The Nintendo Wii Fit many people are considering as Christmas gifts may be great entertainment, but a University of Mississippi study indicates the console has little effect on family fitness.

The study was conducted by Scott Owens, UM associate professor of health and exercise science. When Owens began the study in fall 2008, he wanted to see if the Nintendo Wii Fit video game console could help families get more physical activity. Obesity is a nationwide problem, and Owens is interested in the potential of video games to increase exercise and ultimately improve family fitness.

The six-month study followed eight families in the Oxford area who were loaned a Nintendo Wii Fit to use for three months. The study was broken into two parts so that each family's physical activity was charted during three months without a Nintendo Wii Fit in the home and three months with the game system in the home.
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Health

Rate of Autism Disorders Climbs to 1 Percent Among 8-Year-Olds


Science Daily
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:00 UTC
Autism and related development disorders are becoming more common, with a prevalence rate approaching 1 percent among American 8-year-olds, according to new data from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The study is a partnership between UAB, the CDC and 10 other U.S. research sites. It shows that one in 110 American 8-year-olds is classified as having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a 57 percent increase in ASD cases compared to four years earlier.

The new findings, published Dec. 18 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), highlight the need for social and educational services to help those affected by the condition, said Beverly Mulvihill, Ph.D., a UAB associate professor of public health and co-author on the study.

ASDs are a group of developmental disabilities such as autism and Asperger disorder that are characterized by delays or changes in childhood socialization, communication and behavior.
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Radar

Bottled water sales slow amid backlash

Jennifer Alsever
Microsoft National Broadcasting
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:14 UTC
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© Karen Bleier / AFP-Getty Images fileA debate over water is boiling over in the United States and elsewhere amid growing environmental concerns about bottled water and questions about safety of tap water.
Consumer backlash begins to bite, but recession also likely to blame

Heather Lewis was wracked with guilt when she realized she was addicted to the bottle.

Bottled water, that is.

At her worst, she said she went through five plastic bottles of water a day nearly every day for two years.

"It was appalling," said Lewis, an architect from Louisville, Colo. "I felt like Aquafina's trained monkey."
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Bad Guys

Get a Flu Shot, Get a Pizza Party


wxyz.com
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:13 UTC
The Detroit Health Department is fighting swine flu with pepperoni. When kids return to school after the holiday break, each class has the opportunity to get a free pizza party - if they sign up for the shots.

It's a simple fact--kids don't like vaccinations - even when they can get them in a spray.

Their parents, like Leslie Ethridge however, are often eager to get their kids protected, "Your children get 20 some odd inoculations, this is just another one, so if it's available you should get the shot."
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Bad Guys

Big Pharma Paid $500,000 to Chicago Psychiatrists Who Used Children As Guinea Pigs

Ethan Huff
NaturalNews
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00 UTC
A federal lawsuit has been filed against pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca for its role in paying Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Michael Reinstein nearly $500,000 over the course of a decade to conduct research and to promote its anti-psychotic drug, Seroquel. Reinstein is being accused of wrongfully preying on thousands of mentally-ill patients in order to rake in profits for AstraZeneca.

Reinstein has a long history of working with AstraZeneca, receiving regular payments for speeches he would make across the country promoting the drug. AstraZeneca was also paying a for-profit research company, Uptown Research Institute, who in turn was paying Reinstein consulting fees for his services.

Cited in the lawsuit was the fact that Reinstein would continually prescribe roughly double the amount of drugs other psychiatrists would prescribe for the same conditions. When patients would report their pain and suffering due to the tremendous side effects of such drugs and their abnormally high dosages, Reinstein would largely ignore their concerns.
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