A Quarter Of People Living With HIV In The UK Are Still Undiagnosed

A Quarter Of People Living With HIV In The UK Are Still Undiagnosed30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

The number of people living with HIV in the UK increased to approximately 96,000 in 2011, according to latest figures published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) slowly destroys the body's immune system, and can potentially develop into AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). If left untreated, HIV increases the risk of developing life threatening infections or cancers.

While there has been a steady decline in the number of people diagnosed late in recent years, of the 6,280 new cases in 2011, almost half (47%) were late diagnoses. A late diagnosis increases a person's risk of dying within a year by tenfold. In addition, up to a quarter of those with the disease are completely unaware of the fact that they have it and are at a serious risk of spreading HIV around the country.

The report indicates that 1.5 per 1000 people in the UK are infected with HIV, with more than half of those diagnosed in 2011 being men who had sex with men (MSM). One in 12 MSM in London and one in 20 in the country are infected with HIV (47 per 1,000). The black African community are also at a higher risk.

According to Dr Valerie Delpech, HPA head of HIV surveillance:

"These figures are a reminder of how vital safe sex programmes remain. Promoting HIV testing and condom use is crucial to tackling the high rates of transmission, late diagnosis and undiagnosed HIV still seen in the UK. National HIV Testing Week is a great opportunity to encourage people to get tested. We also encourage clinicians to take every opportunity to offer the test to those in higher risk groups and, in high prevalence areas, to all general medical admission and new GP registrants."


She adds:
"The good news is that with the excellent services and treatments available nowadays, if diagnosed and treated early someone with HIV can look forward to a normal lifespan, as well as protecting their sexual partners from infection. That's why it is vitally important that anyone who has been at risk gets an HIV test, and that those in higher risk groups get screened regularly."


How to Prevent HIV


Always engage in safe sex and be sure to use a condom correctly.
Never share injecting equipment such as needles or syringes.
Avoid having a lot of sexual partners.
If you belong to a high risk group (MSM or black Africans) make sure you are screened frequently.


HIV Research and Findings



According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over half of young americans with HIV don't know they have it.

Researchers from George Mason University recently discovered a groundbreaking new way to fight HIV by aiming at a cellular target that HIV depends on to exist, and then shutting it down.



Written by Joseph Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Promising New Way To Make Stem Cells Aid in Fight Against Heart Disease

Promising New Way To Make Stem Cells Aid in Fight Against Heart Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


A patient-safe and effective method to produce stem cells using blood has been found, raising hope that in the future, these stem cells made from a patient's own cells could be used to treat cardiovascular disease, suggests new research published in the journal Stem Cells: Translational Medicine.

The study was funded by Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council (MRC), and the British Heart Foundation (BHF), and summarizes a technique for scientists to obtain the cells they need to produce induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (3) from a normal blood sample.

In earlier studies, scientists found it difficult to pinpoint an appropriate type of cell in the blood that is capable of modifying into a stem cell, and many times made iPS cells from tissues or skin, which can call for a biopsy or other surgical procedure.


A group of scientists from the University of Cambridge, led by Dr. Amer Rana, grew participants' blood in the lab and separated "late outgrowth endothelial progenitor cells" (L-EPCs) to turn into iPS cells. The iPS cells can then be changed into any other cell in the body, including heart cells or blood vessel cells. These cells are used to study disease, and eventually, scientists want to grow them into tissue to fix the harm caused by circulatory and heart diseases.

Dr. Amer Rana explains:

"We are excited to have developed a practical and efficient method to create stem cells from a cell type found in blood. Tissue biopsies are undesirable, particularly for children and the elderly, whereas taking blood samples is routine for all patients. Researchers can freeze and store the blood cells, and then turn them into iPS cells at a later stage, rather than having to transform them as soon as they are sourced, as is the case for other cell types used previously. This will have tremendous practical value prolonging the 'use by date' of patient samples."

The authors point out that iPS cells have good potential for the treatment and study of cardiovascular diseases. Because iPS cells are produced from the patient's own body, they can be used to study diseases, and in the future, be able to fix harmed tissues without backlash from the body's immune system.

Having the ability to make iPS cells using blood samples can make it easier for scientists to move this technology forward. However, the authors emphasize that there are still many kinks to work out before this method becomes feasible to treat patients.

Dr Paul Colville-Nash, regenerative medicine Programme Manager at the MRC, concludes:

"iPS cell technology offers an exciting new approach to building lab-based models of disease, which can be used to understand illness and test new drugs, as well as the possibility for cell replacement therapy in the longer term. Being able to produce iPS cells from an easy to obtain source such as blood should further support the rapid progress being made in this field and enhance the application of this technology to the fight against human disease."

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Many Couches In U.S. Contain Toxic Chemicals

Many Couches In U.S. Contain Toxic Chemicals30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

Several couches in the U.S. are sold with potentially toxic chemical flame retardants that have been associated with cancer, neurological damage, and hormone disruption.


This finding was published in the journal Environmental Science - Technology and came from a team of experts from Duke University.


"Tris" was one of the chemicals found in the couches. It is a chlorinated flame retardant, and based on animal studies, is known to cause cancer.


"Tris was phased out from use in baby pajamas back in 1977 because of its health risks, but it still showed up in 41 percent of the couch foam samples we tested," explained Heather Stapleton, associate professor of environmental chemistry at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.

In order to abide by California Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117), an increasing number of manufacturers are treating their couches' foam padding with chemical flame retardants.


TB 177 aims to lower the amount of deaths and injuries from fires that accidentally get started in homes. It says that all residential furniture that is sold in California should be able to resist a 12-second exposure to an open flame without catching on fire.

The statewide standard has actually become a national standard over the years because of the California market's economic significance.

The manufacturer, in the majority of cases, may not even be aware of what chemicals were used in the couch. This is because most padding foams are purchased from a vendor, who receives the chemicals to treat it from another vendor. The names of the flame retardants, therefore, either get lost through this process or the law protects them as proprietary.


Stapleton and her team examined 102 polyurethane foam samples from sofas that Americans bought for their homes between 1985 and 2010.


Not only was Tris detected, but the flame-retardant pentaBDE (penta brominated diphenyl ether) was also found in 17% of the foam samples. PentaBDE is prohibited in 12 states in the U.S. and in 172 countries. The U.S. manufacturers phased it out on their own free will in 2005.


Research from last year found that although pentaBDE was banned, it was still found in baby utilities, such as high chairs, strollers, and car seats.

Since pentaBDEs are long-lasting chemicals, they can travel into the environment over time, and eventually, gather in living things. Previous research has shown that these substances can interrupt endocrine activity and even have an effect on thyroid regulation and brain development..

Early exposure to pentaBDEs has been associated with:
lowered IQ
impaired motor development
impaired behavioral development
low birth weight


In the couches that were bought before 2005, the flame retardants detected were Tris and PentaBDE. After 2005, Tris was the flame retardant that was found most often.

Two new flame-retardant chemical mixtures were recognized by the scientists, after examining sofas that were purchased more recently, which had very little data available on their health risks.


Stapleton said:
"Overall, we detected flame-retardant chemicals in 85 percent of the couches we tested and in 94 percent of those purchased after 2005. More than half of all samples, regardless of the age of the couch, contained flame retardants that are potentially toxic or have undergone little or no independent testing for human health risks.

If a couch has a California TB 117 label, you can all but guarantee it contains chemical flame retardants. But this is where labeling requirements get confusing:  the lack of a TB 117 label on a couch does not guarantee the absence of chemical flame retardants. It's not that cut-and-dried."

In recent years, there have been several new proprietary chemical flame retardants established, making it a challenge for researchers to name all of them and determine their existence in consumer merchandise.

Written by Sarah Glynn
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Daily Bread May Protect From Cardiovascular Disease

Daily Bread May Protect From Cardiovascular Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

Eating bread everyday is a good way of preventing the development of cardiovascular diseases, a study carried out by researchers from the University of Barcelona found.

Professor Rafael Llorach Ramon Cajal led a study that identified the health benefits of eating bread and how its consumption is linked to a healthier lipid profile, resulting in overall better cardiovascular health.

A healthier lipid profile means that a person has lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) and higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol).

The researchers were able to analyze the effects of daily bread (white and whole wheat) consumption across a sample of 275 elderly volunteers who were at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Their findings showed that those who ate bread on a daily basis had healthier lipid profiles and lower insulin levels than those who didn't - meaning that they were at a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

The researchers also identified the metabolite involved in lipid metabolism (related to PPAR-alfa activity) which caused the change in lipid levels. This was found to be higher among those who ate whole wheat bread.



Daily bread consumption appears to protect from cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance

Professor Rafael Llorach said

"the data obtained in the study indicates that daily bread consumption, especially wholemeal bread, as an element of a balanced diet, is associated with a healthier lipid profile and lower insulin blood concentrations".

Co-director and head of the Research Group on Biomarkers and Nutritional and Food Metabolomics, Cristina Andrés-Lacueva, added

"the metabolomics study drove us to identify the positive effects that bread consumption has on the lipid profile".

Bread consumption must be daily, not sporadically, for cardiovascular benefits

An important point to note about this study is that healthier lipid profiles were found among those who consumed bread daily, not sporadically. It also revealed that lower insulin levels were found among those who consumed bread daily, helping to prevent the development of insulin resistance (when cells are unable to respond to insulin) which is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Andrés-Lacueva concludes

"This is a really important data, when the body does not answer in a correct way to the insulin's action, glucose cannot reach the inner part of cells and it is accumulated in blood".

Paediatric Legislation: Challenges And Impact On Drug Development, 20-21 March 2013, London

Aspirin Tied To Lower Risk For Liver Cancer And Death From Liver Disease

Aspirin Tied To Lower Risk For Liver Cancer And Death From Liver Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


A new study from the US finds that use of aspirin is tied to a reduced risk for hepatocellular

carcinoma, the most common type of primary liver cancer, and also to a reduced risk of death from chronic liver disease.

Vikrant V. Sahasrabuddhe, from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues, write about their findings in

the 28 November online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, JNCI.

Hepatocellular carcinoma occurs mainly in people with chronic liver disease. Some studies suggest the cancer could be a result of the chronic inflammation in

liver disease affecting cellular processes.

NSAIDs as Cancer Preventers

Because of their anti-inflammatory properties, and their widespread use to prevent heart problems and cerebrovascular diseases like stroke, researchers are

investigating the potential of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as cancer preventers.


However, a recent study published in JNCI in August, suggests while the

evidence is encouraging, the cancer-protective effect of NSAIDs is not as large as previously thought, and not enough to outweigh the risks (primarily of serious

bleeding in the gut), and concludes it is too early to recommend people start taking them to ward off cancer.


What the Researchers Did

In the meantime, although more studies are looking at the potential anti-cancer effect of NSAIDs, the link to risk for liver cancer and death from chronic liver

disease remains unclear, say the authors of this new JNCI paper, where they describe how they carried out an observational study of 300,504 men and

women aged 50 to 71 years.

The participants, who were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study, had reported their use of aspirin and other NSAIDs and

were followed for 10 to 12 years.

The researchers were able to link the NSAID use data from these participants to registered diagnoses of 250 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 428 cases of

chronic liver disease.


What They Found

When they analyzed the links they found participants who used NSAIDs had a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and a reduced risk of death from chronic

liver disease compared to participants who did not use the drugs.

But when the researchers differentiated between aspirin and non-aspirin NSAIDs, there were some marked differences.

Participants who used aspirin showed a 41% reduced risk for hepatocellular carcinoma and a 45% reduced risk of death from chronic liver disease.

Whereas participants who used non-aspirin NSAIDs showed no reduced risk for for hepatocellular carcinoma, and a 26% reduced risk of death from chronic liver

disease.

Sahasrabuddhe and colleagues write:

"Aspirin, in particular, when used exclusively or with other non-aspirin NSAIDs showed a consistent protective effect related to both HCC

[hepatocellular carcinoma] incidence and CLD [chronic liver disease] mortality, regardless of the frequency or exclusivity of use."

If confirmed, these associations with the use of aspirin "might open new vistas for chemoprevention of HCC and CLD," they conclude.


Experts Say Fine to Look at NSAIDs, But Also Need to Improve Established Approaches

In an accompanying editorial, researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa in Canada, note that the

known causes of chronic liver disease and primary liver cancer are use of alcohol, and hepatitis B and C virus infections, and there have also been suggestions

of a link with diabetes and obesity.

"We already have cheap, readily available interventions," they write, citing examples such as vaccines for hepatitis B and C virus, although "effective

strategies for reduction of HBV and HCV are not always available or fully applied."

"Also, alcohol abuse and obesity are complex and multifactorial challenges that require interventions at the individual and system levels," they add, concluding

that while we should continue to explore the potential for new drug strategies like NSAIDs, we should not lose sight of the need to improve established practices

and interventions.


Written by Catharine Paddock PhD








Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

A Quarter Of People Living With HIV In The UK Are Still Undiagnosed

A Quarter Of People Living With HIV In The UK Are Still Undiagnosed30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

The number of people living with HIV in the UK increased to approximately 96,000 in 2011, according to latest figures published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) slowly destroys the body's immune system, and can potentially develop into AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). If left untreated, HIV increases the risk of developing life threatening infections or cancers.

While there has been a steady decline in the number of people diagnosed late in recent years, of the 6,280 new cases in 2011, almost half (47%) were late diagnoses. A late diagnosis increases a person's risk of dying within a year by tenfold. In addition, up to a quarter of those with the disease are completely unaware of the fact that they have it and are at a serious risk of spreading HIV around the country.

The report indicates that 1.5 per 1000 people in the UK are infected with HIV, with more than half of those diagnosed in 2011 being men who had sex with men (MSM). One in 12 MSM in London and one in 20 in the country are infected with HIV (47 per 1,000). The black African community are also at a higher risk.

According to Dr Valerie Delpech, HPA head of HIV surveillance:

"These figures are a reminder of how vital safe sex programmes remain. Promoting HIV testing and condom use is crucial to tackling the high rates of transmission, late diagnosis and undiagnosed HIV still seen in the UK. National HIV Testing Week is a great opportunity to encourage people to get tested. We also encourage clinicians to take every opportunity to offer the test to those in higher risk groups and, in high prevalence areas, to all general medical admission and new GP registrants."


She adds:
"The good news is that with the excellent services and treatments available nowadays, if diagnosed and treated early someone with HIV can look forward to a normal lifespan, as well as protecting their sexual partners from infection. That's why it is vitally important that anyone who has been at risk gets an HIV test, and that those in higher risk groups get screened regularly."


How to Prevent HIV


Always engage in safe sex and be sure to use a condom correctly.
Never share injecting equipment such as needles or syringes.
Avoid having a lot of sexual partners.
If you belong to a high risk group (MSM or black Africans) make sure you are screened frequently.


HIV Research and Findings



According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over half of young americans with HIV don't know they have it.

Researchers from George Mason University recently discovered a groundbreaking new way to fight HIV by aiming at a cellular target that HIV depends on to exist, and then shutting it down.



Written by Joseph Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Promising New Way To Make Stem Cells Aid in Fight Against Heart Disease

Promising New Way To Make Stem Cells Aid in Fight Against Heart Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


A patient-safe and effective method to produce stem cells using blood has been found, raising hope that in the future, these stem cells made from a patient's own cells could be used to treat cardiovascular disease, suggests new research published in the journal Stem Cells: Translational Medicine.

The study was funded by Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council (MRC), and the British Heart Foundation (BHF), and summarizes a technique for scientists to obtain the cells they need to produce induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (3) from a normal blood sample.

In earlier studies, scientists found it difficult to pinpoint an appropriate type of cell in the blood that is capable of modifying into a stem cell, and many times made iPS cells from tissues or skin, which can call for a biopsy or other surgical procedure.


A group of scientists from the University of Cambridge, led by Dr. Amer Rana, grew participants' blood in the lab and separated "late outgrowth endothelial progenitor cells" (L-EPCs) to turn into iPS cells. The iPS cells can then be changed into any other cell in the body, including heart cells or blood vessel cells. These cells are used to study disease, and eventually, scientists want to grow them into tissue to fix the harm caused by circulatory and heart diseases.

Dr. Amer Rana explains:

"We are excited to have developed a practical and efficient method to create stem cells from a cell type found in blood. Tissue biopsies are undesirable, particularly for children and the elderly, whereas taking blood samples is routine for all patients. Researchers can freeze and store the blood cells, and then turn them into iPS cells at a later stage, rather than having to transform them as soon as they are sourced, as is the case for other cell types used previously. This will have tremendous practical value prolonging the 'use by date' of patient samples."

The authors point out that iPS cells have good potential for the treatment and study of cardiovascular diseases. Because iPS cells are produced from the patient's own body, they can be used to study diseases, and in the future, be able to fix harmed tissues without backlash from the body's immune system.

Having the ability to make iPS cells using blood samples can make it easier for scientists to move this technology forward. However, the authors emphasize that there are still many kinks to work out before this method becomes feasible to treat patients.

Dr Paul Colville-Nash, regenerative medicine Programme Manager at the MRC, concludes:

"iPS cell technology offers an exciting new approach to building lab-based models of disease, which can be used to understand illness and test new drugs, as well as the possibility for cell replacement therapy in the longer term. Being able to produce iPS cells from an easy to obtain source such as blood should further support the rapid progress being made in this field and enhance the application of this technology to the fight against human disease."

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Many Couches In U.S. Contain Toxic Chemicals

Many Couches In U.S. Contain Toxic Chemicals30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

Several couches in the U.S. are sold with potentially toxic chemical flame retardants that have been associated with cancer, neurological damage, and hormone disruption.


This finding was published in the journal Environmental Science - Technology and came from a team of experts from Duke University.


"Tris" was one of the chemicals found in the couches. It is a chlorinated flame retardant, and based on animal studies, is known to cause cancer.


"Tris was phased out from use in baby pajamas back in 1977 because of its health risks, but it still showed up in 41 percent of the couch foam samples we tested," explained Heather Stapleton, associate professor of environmental chemistry at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.

In order to abide by California Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117), an increasing number of manufacturers are treating their couches' foam padding with chemical flame retardants.


TB 177 aims to lower the amount of deaths and injuries from fires that accidentally get started in homes. It says that all residential furniture that is sold in California should be able to resist a 12-second exposure to an open flame without catching on fire.

The statewide standard has actually become a national standard over the years because of the California market's economic significance.

The manufacturer, in the majority of cases, may not even be aware of what chemicals were used in the couch. This is because most padding foams are purchased from a vendor, who receives the chemicals to treat it from another vendor. The names of the flame retardants, therefore, either get lost through this process or the law protects them as proprietary.


Stapleton and her team examined 102 polyurethane foam samples from sofas that Americans bought for their homes between 1985 and 2010.


Not only was Tris detected, but the flame-retardant pentaBDE (penta brominated diphenyl ether) was also found in 17% of the foam samples. PentaBDE is prohibited in 12 states in the U.S. and in 172 countries. The U.S. manufacturers phased it out on their own free will in 2005.


Research from last year found that although pentaBDE was banned, it was still found in baby utilities, such as high chairs, strollers, and car seats.

Since pentaBDEs are long-lasting chemicals, they can travel into the environment over time, and eventually, gather in living things. Previous research has shown that these substances can interrupt endocrine activity and even have an effect on thyroid regulation and brain development..

Early exposure to pentaBDEs has been associated with:
lowered IQ
impaired motor development
impaired behavioral development
low birth weight


In the couches that were bought before 2005, the flame retardants detected were Tris and PentaBDE. After 2005, Tris was the flame retardant that was found most often.

Two new flame-retardant chemical mixtures were recognized by the scientists, after examining sofas that were purchased more recently, which had very little data available on their health risks.


Stapleton said:
"Overall, we detected flame-retardant chemicals in 85 percent of the couches we tested and in 94 percent of those purchased after 2005. More than half of all samples, regardless of the age of the couch, contained flame retardants that are potentially toxic or have undergone little or no independent testing for human health risks.

If a couch has a California TB 117 label, you can all but guarantee it contains chemical flame retardants. But this is where labeling requirements get confusing:  the lack of a TB 117 label on a couch does not guarantee the absence of chemical flame retardants. It's not that cut-and-dried."

In recent years, there have been several new proprietary chemical flame retardants established, making it a challenge for researchers to name all of them and determine their existence in consumer merchandise.

Written by Sarah Glynn
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Daily Bread May Protect From Cardiovascular Disease

Daily Bread May Protect From Cardiovascular Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

Eating bread everyday is a good way of preventing the development of cardiovascular diseases, a study carried out by researchers from the University of Barcelona found.

Professor Rafael Llorach Ramon Cajal led a study that identified the health benefits of eating bread and how its consumption is linked to a healthier lipid profile, resulting in overall better cardiovascular health.

A healthier lipid profile means that a person has lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) and higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol).

The researchers were able to analyze the effects of daily bread (white and whole wheat) consumption across a sample of 275 elderly volunteers who were at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Their findings showed that those who ate bread on a daily basis had healthier lipid profiles and lower insulin levels than those who didn't - meaning that they were at a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

The researchers also identified the metabolite involved in lipid metabolism (related to PPAR-alfa activity) which caused the change in lipid levels. This was found to be higher among those who ate whole wheat bread.



Daily bread consumption appears to protect from cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance

Professor Rafael Llorach said

"the data obtained in the study indicates that daily bread consumption, especially wholemeal bread, as an element of a balanced diet, is associated with a healthier lipid profile and lower insulin blood concentrations".

Co-director and head of the Research Group on Biomarkers and Nutritional and Food Metabolomics, Cristina Andrés-Lacueva, added

"the metabolomics study drove us to identify the positive effects that bread consumption has on the lipid profile".

Bread consumption must be daily, not sporadically, for cardiovascular benefits

An important point to note about this study is that healthier lipid profiles were found among those who consumed bread daily, not sporadically. It also revealed that lower insulin levels were found among those who consumed bread daily, helping to prevent the development of insulin resistance (when cells are unable to respond to insulin) which is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Andrés-Lacueva concludes

"This is a really important data, when the body does not answer in a correct way to the insulin's action, glucose cannot reach the inner part of cells and it is accumulated in blood".

Paediatric Legislation: Challenges And Impact On Drug Development, 20-21 March 2013, London

Aspirin Tied To Lower Risk For Liver Cancer And Death From Liver Disease

Aspirin Tied To Lower Risk For Liver Cancer And Death From Liver Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


A new study from the US finds that use of aspirin is tied to a reduced risk for hepatocellular

carcinoma, the most common type of primary liver cancer, and also to a reduced risk of death from chronic liver disease.

Vikrant V. Sahasrabuddhe, from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues, write about their findings in

the 28 November online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, JNCI.

Hepatocellular carcinoma occurs mainly in people with chronic liver disease. Some studies suggest the cancer could be a result of the chronic inflammation in

liver disease affecting cellular processes.

NSAIDs as Cancer Preventers

Because of their anti-inflammatory properties, and their widespread use to prevent heart problems and cerebrovascular diseases like stroke, researchers are

investigating the potential of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as cancer preventers.


However, a recent study published in JNCI in August, suggests while the

evidence is encouraging, the cancer-protective effect of NSAIDs is not as large as previously thought, and not enough to outweigh the risks (primarily of serious

bleeding in the gut), and concludes it is too early to recommend people start taking them to ward off cancer.


What the Researchers Did

In the meantime, although more studies are looking at the potential anti-cancer effect of NSAIDs, the link to risk for liver cancer and death from chronic liver

disease remains unclear, say the authors of this new JNCI paper, where they describe how they carried out an observational study of 300,504 men and

women aged 50 to 71 years.

The participants, who were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study, had reported their use of aspirin and other NSAIDs and

were followed for 10 to 12 years.

The researchers were able to link the NSAID use data from these participants to registered diagnoses of 250 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 428 cases of

chronic liver disease.


What They Found

When they analyzed the links they found participants who used NSAIDs had a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and a reduced risk of death from chronic

liver disease compared to participants who did not use the drugs.

But when the researchers differentiated between aspirin and non-aspirin NSAIDs, there were some marked differences.

Participants who used aspirin showed a 41% reduced risk for hepatocellular carcinoma and a 45% reduced risk of death from chronic liver disease.

Whereas participants who used non-aspirin NSAIDs showed no reduced risk for for hepatocellular carcinoma, and a 26% reduced risk of death from chronic liver

disease.

Sahasrabuddhe and colleagues write:

"Aspirin, in particular, when used exclusively or with other non-aspirin NSAIDs showed a consistent protective effect related to both HCC

[hepatocellular carcinoma] incidence and CLD [chronic liver disease] mortality, regardless of the frequency or exclusivity of use."

If confirmed, these associations with the use of aspirin "might open new vistas for chemoprevention of HCC and CLD," they conclude.


Experts Say Fine to Look at NSAIDs, But Also Need to Improve Established Approaches

In an accompanying editorial, researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa in Canada, note that the

known causes of chronic liver disease and primary liver cancer are use of alcohol, and hepatitis B and C virus infections, and there have also been suggestions

of a link with diabetes and obesity.

"We already have cheap, readily available interventions," they write, citing examples such as vaccines for hepatitis B and C virus, although "effective

strategies for reduction of HBV and HCV are not always available or fully applied."

"Also, alcohol abuse and obesity are complex and multifactorial challenges that require interventions at the individual and system levels," they add, concluding

that while we should continue to explore the potential for new drug strategies like NSAIDs, we should not lose sight of the need to improve established practices

and interventions.


Written by Catharine Paddock PhD








Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

A Quarter Of People Living With HIV In The UK Are Still Undiagnosed

A Quarter Of People Living With HIV In The UK Are Still Undiagnosed30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

The number of people living with HIV in the UK increased to approximately 96,000 in 2011, according to latest figures published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) slowly destroys the body's immune system, and can potentially develop into AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). If left untreated, HIV increases the risk of developing life threatening infections or cancers.

While there has been a steady decline in the number of people diagnosed late in recent years, of the 6,280 new cases in 2011, almost half (47%) were late diagnoses. A late diagnosis increases a person's risk of dying within a year by tenfold. In addition, up to a quarter of those with the disease are completely unaware of the fact that they have it and are at a serious risk of spreading HIV around the country.

The report indicates that 1.5 per 1000 people in the UK are infected with HIV, with more than half of those diagnosed in 2011 being men who had sex with men (MSM). One in 12 MSM in London and one in 20 in the country are infected with HIV (47 per 1,000). The black African community are also at a higher risk.

According to Dr Valerie Delpech, HPA head of HIV surveillance:

"These figures are a reminder of how vital safe sex programmes remain. Promoting HIV testing and condom use is crucial to tackling the high rates of transmission, late diagnosis and undiagnosed HIV still seen in the UK. National HIV Testing Week is a great opportunity to encourage people to get tested. We also encourage clinicians to take every opportunity to offer the test to those in higher risk groups and, in high prevalence areas, to all general medical admission and new GP registrants."


She adds:
"The good news is that with the excellent services and treatments available nowadays, if diagnosed and treated early someone with HIV can look forward to a normal lifespan, as well as protecting their sexual partners from infection. That's why it is vitally important that anyone who has been at risk gets an HIV test, and that those in higher risk groups get screened regularly."


How to Prevent HIV


Always engage in safe sex and be sure to use a condom correctly.
Never share injecting equipment such as needles or syringes.
Avoid having a lot of sexual partners.
If you belong to a high risk group (MSM or black Africans) make sure you are screened frequently.


HIV Research and Findings



According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over half of young americans with HIV don't know they have it.

Researchers from George Mason University recently discovered a groundbreaking new way to fight HIV by aiming at a cellular target that HIV depends on to exist, and then shutting it down.



Written by Joseph Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Promising New Way To Make Stem Cells Aid in Fight Against Heart Disease

Promising New Way To Make Stem Cells Aid in Fight Against Heart Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


A patient-safe and effective method to produce stem cells using blood has been found, raising hope that in the future, these stem cells made from a patient's own cells could be used to treat cardiovascular disease, suggests new research published in the journal Stem Cells: Translational Medicine.

The study was funded by Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council (MRC), and the British Heart Foundation (BHF), and summarizes a technique for scientists to obtain the cells they need to produce induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (3) from a normal blood sample.

In earlier studies, scientists found it difficult to pinpoint an appropriate type of cell in the blood that is capable of modifying into a stem cell, and many times made iPS cells from tissues or skin, which can call for a biopsy or other surgical procedure.


A group of scientists from the University of Cambridge, led by Dr. Amer Rana, grew participants' blood in the lab and separated "late outgrowth endothelial progenitor cells" (L-EPCs) to turn into iPS cells. The iPS cells can then be changed into any other cell in the body, including heart cells or blood vessel cells. These cells are used to study disease, and eventually, scientists want to grow them into tissue to fix the harm caused by circulatory and heart diseases.

Dr. Amer Rana explains:

"We are excited to have developed a practical and efficient method to create stem cells from a cell type found in blood. Tissue biopsies are undesirable, particularly for children and the elderly, whereas taking blood samples is routine for all patients. Researchers can freeze and store the blood cells, and then turn them into iPS cells at a later stage, rather than having to transform them as soon as they are sourced, as is the case for other cell types used previously. This will have tremendous practical value prolonging the 'use by date' of patient samples."

The authors point out that iPS cells have good potential for the treatment and study of cardiovascular diseases. Because iPS cells are produced from the patient's own body, they can be used to study diseases, and in the future, be able to fix harmed tissues without backlash from the body's immune system.

Having the ability to make iPS cells using blood samples can make it easier for scientists to move this technology forward. However, the authors emphasize that there are still many kinks to work out before this method becomes feasible to treat patients.

Dr Paul Colville-Nash, regenerative medicine Programme Manager at the MRC, concludes:

"iPS cell technology offers an exciting new approach to building lab-based models of disease, which can be used to understand illness and test new drugs, as well as the possibility for cell replacement therapy in the longer term. Being able to produce iPS cells from an easy to obtain source such as blood should further support the rapid progress being made in this field and enhance the application of this technology to the fight against human disease."

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Many Couches In U.S. Contain Toxic Chemicals

Many Couches In U.S. Contain Toxic Chemicals30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

Several couches in the U.S. are sold with potentially toxic chemical flame retardants that have been associated with cancer, neurological damage, and hormone disruption.


This finding was published in the journal Environmental Science - Technology and came from a team of experts from Duke University.


"Tris" was one of the chemicals found in the couches. It is a chlorinated flame retardant, and based on animal studies, is known to cause cancer.


"Tris was phased out from use in baby pajamas back in 1977 because of its health risks, but it still showed up in 41 percent of the couch foam samples we tested," explained Heather Stapleton, associate professor of environmental chemistry at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.

In order to abide by California Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117), an increasing number of manufacturers are treating their couches' foam padding with chemical flame retardants.


TB 177 aims to lower the amount of deaths and injuries from fires that accidentally get started in homes. It says that all residential furniture that is sold in California should be able to resist a 12-second exposure to an open flame without catching on fire.

The statewide standard has actually become a national standard over the years because of the California market's economic significance.

The manufacturer, in the majority of cases, may not even be aware of what chemicals were used in the couch. This is because most padding foams are purchased from a vendor, who receives the chemicals to treat it from another vendor. The names of the flame retardants, therefore, either get lost through this process or the law protects them as proprietary.


Stapleton and her team examined 102 polyurethane foam samples from sofas that Americans bought for their homes between 1985 and 2010.


Not only was Tris detected, but the flame-retardant pentaBDE (penta brominated diphenyl ether) was also found in 17% of the foam samples. PentaBDE is prohibited in 12 states in the U.S. and in 172 countries. The U.S. manufacturers phased it out on their own free will in 2005.


Research from last year found that although pentaBDE was banned, it was still found in baby utilities, such as high chairs, strollers, and car seats.

Since pentaBDEs are long-lasting chemicals, they can travel into the environment over time, and eventually, gather in living things. Previous research has shown that these substances can interrupt endocrine activity and even have an effect on thyroid regulation and brain development..

Early exposure to pentaBDEs has been associated with:
lowered IQ
impaired motor development
impaired behavioral development
low birth weight


In the couches that were bought before 2005, the flame retardants detected were Tris and PentaBDE. After 2005, Tris was the flame retardant that was found most often.

Two new flame-retardant chemical mixtures were recognized by the scientists, after examining sofas that were purchased more recently, which had very little data available on their health risks.


Stapleton said:
"Overall, we detected flame-retardant chemicals in 85 percent of the couches we tested and in 94 percent of those purchased after 2005. More than half of all samples, regardless of the age of the couch, contained flame retardants that are potentially toxic or have undergone little or no independent testing for human health risks.

If a couch has a California TB 117 label, you can all but guarantee it contains chemical flame retardants. But this is where labeling requirements get confusing:  the lack of a TB 117 label on a couch does not guarantee the absence of chemical flame retardants. It's not that cut-and-dried."

In recent years, there have been several new proprietary chemical flame retardants established, making it a challenge for researchers to name all of them and determine their existence in consumer merchandise.

Written by Sarah Glynn
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Daily Bread May Protect From Cardiovascular Disease

Daily Bread May Protect From Cardiovascular Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

Eating bread everyday is a good way of preventing the development of cardiovascular diseases, a study carried out by researchers from the University of Barcelona found.

Professor Rafael Llorach Ramon Cajal led a study that identified the health benefits of eating bread and how its consumption is linked to a healthier lipid profile, resulting in overall better cardiovascular health.

A healthier lipid profile means that a person has lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) and higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol).

The researchers were able to analyze the effects of daily bread (white and whole wheat) consumption across a sample of 275 elderly volunteers who were at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Their findings showed that those who ate bread on a daily basis had healthier lipid profiles and lower insulin levels than those who didn't - meaning that they were at a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

The researchers also identified the metabolite involved in lipid metabolism (related to PPAR-alfa activity) which caused the change in lipid levels. This was found to be higher among those who ate whole wheat bread.



Daily bread consumption appears to protect from cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance

Professor Rafael Llorach said

"the data obtained in the study indicates that daily bread consumption, especially wholemeal bread, as an element of a balanced diet, is associated with a healthier lipid profile and lower insulin blood concentrations".

Co-director and head of the Research Group on Biomarkers and Nutritional and Food Metabolomics, Cristina Andrés-Lacueva, added

"the metabolomics study drove us to identify the positive effects that bread consumption has on the lipid profile".

Bread consumption must be daily, not sporadically, for cardiovascular benefits

An important point to note about this study is that healthier lipid profiles were found among those who consumed bread daily, not sporadically. It also revealed that lower insulin levels were found among those who consumed bread daily, helping to prevent the development of insulin resistance (when cells are unable to respond to insulin) which is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Andrés-Lacueva concludes

"This is a really important data, when the body does not answer in a correct way to the insulin's action, glucose cannot reach the inner part of cells and it is accumulated in blood".

Paediatric Legislation: Challenges And Impact On Drug Development, 20-21 March 2013, London

Aspirin Tied To Lower Risk For Liver Cancer And Death From Liver Disease

Aspirin Tied To Lower Risk For Liver Cancer And Death From Liver Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


A new study from the US finds that use of aspirin is tied to a reduced risk for hepatocellular

carcinoma, the most common type of primary liver cancer, and also to a reduced risk of death from chronic liver disease.

Vikrant V. Sahasrabuddhe, from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues, write about their findings in

the 28 November online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, JNCI.

Hepatocellular carcinoma occurs mainly in people with chronic liver disease. Some studies suggest the cancer could be a result of the chronic inflammation in

liver disease affecting cellular processes.

NSAIDs as Cancer Preventers

Because of their anti-inflammatory properties, and their widespread use to prevent heart problems and cerebrovascular diseases like stroke, researchers are

investigating the potential of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as cancer preventers.


However, a recent study published in JNCI in August, suggests while the

evidence is encouraging, the cancer-protective effect of NSAIDs is not as large as previously thought, and not enough to outweigh the risks (primarily of serious

bleeding in the gut), and concludes it is too early to recommend people start taking them to ward off cancer.


What the Researchers Did

In the meantime, although more studies are looking at the potential anti-cancer effect of NSAIDs, the link to risk for liver cancer and death from chronic liver

disease remains unclear, say the authors of this new JNCI paper, where they describe how they carried out an observational study of 300,504 men and

women aged 50 to 71 years.

The participants, who were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study, had reported their use of aspirin and other NSAIDs and

were followed for 10 to 12 years.

The researchers were able to link the NSAID use data from these participants to registered diagnoses of 250 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 428 cases of

chronic liver disease.


What They Found

When they analyzed the links they found participants who used NSAIDs had a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and a reduced risk of death from chronic

liver disease compared to participants who did not use the drugs.

But when the researchers differentiated between aspirin and non-aspirin NSAIDs, there were some marked differences.

Participants who used aspirin showed a 41% reduced risk for hepatocellular carcinoma and a 45% reduced risk of death from chronic liver disease.

Whereas participants who used non-aspirin NSAIDs showed no reduced risk for for hepatocellular carcinoma, and a 26% reduced risk of death from chronic liver

disease.

Sahasrabuddhe and colleagues write:

"Aspirin, in particular, when used exclusively or with other non-aspirin NSAIDs showed a consistent protective effect related to both HCC

[hepatocellular carcinoma] incidence and CLD [chronic liver disease] mortality, regardless of the frequency or exclusivity of use."

If confirmed, these associations with the use of aspirin "might open new vistas for chemoprevention of HCC and CLD," they conclude.


Experts Say Fine to Look at NSAIDs, But Also Need to Improve Established Approaches

In an accompanying editorial, researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa in Canada, note that the

known causes of chronic liver disease and primary liver cancer are use of alcohol, and hepatitis B and C virus infections, and there have also been suggestions

of a link with diabetes and obesity.

"We already have cheap, readily available interventions," they write, citing examples such as vaccines for hepatitis B and C virus, although "effective

strategies for reduction of HBV and HCV are not always available or fully applied."

"Also, alcohol abuse and obesity are complex and multifactorial challenges that require interventions at the individual and system levels," they add, concluding

that while we should continue to explore the potential for new drug strategies like NSAIDs, we should not lose sight of the need to improve established practices

and interventions.


Written by Catharine Paddock PhD








Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

US Births Dip To Lowest On Record

US Births Dip To Lowest On Record30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


The birth rate in the United States dipped to a record low in 2011, led by a steep fall in children born to immigrant women, says a new report from the

Pew Research Center in Washington, released on Thursday.

The report uses preliminary figures for 2011 from the National Center for Health Statistics that show the overall birth rate in the US was 63.2 per 1,000 women

of child-bearing age.

According to Pew, that rate is the lowest since at least 1920, the earliest year with reliable records.


Foreign-Born Women Showing Biggest Fall In Birth Rate

The overall US birth rate fell by 8% from 1007 to 2010.

The birth rate for women born in the US fell by 6% over the same period, but for foreign-born women it plunged 14%, with Mexican immigrant women showing

the steepest fall at 23%.

The downturn in births to immigrant women reverses a trend where foreign-born mothers were accounting for a growing share of US births.

In 1990, foreign-born mothers accounted for 16% of US births. This rose to 25% in 2007, before falling back to 23% in 2010.

From Baby Boomers to Great Recession

The most recent peak in US birth rates was when the Baby Boomers were born, reaching 122.7 in 1957, nearly double today's rate.

After the Baby Boomer peak, the rate declined through to the mid-1970s, then flattened out to around 65 to 70 births per 1,000 women, until falling again after

2007, which the authors describe as the start of the Great Recession.


The start of the Great Recession also saw a sharp drop in the number of US births, which had been rising since 2002. This decrease was also led by immigrant

women.

Between 2007 and 2010, the overall number of babies born in the US fell by 7%, largely due to a 13% all in births to immigrant mothers. In contrast, births to

US-born women fell by only 5% in that period.


Immigrants Will Continue to Play Important Role in US Population Growth

However, despite the recent fall in rates and numbers, mothers born outside the US still account for a disproportionate share of the country's newborns, as has

has been the case for the last 20 years.

For instance, in 2010, only 13% of the US population was born outside the US, and only 17% of women of childbearing age in the US are immigrants, but 23%

of births in that year were to mothers from that group.

Population projections from Pew suggest immigrants will continue to play an important role in the growth of the US population.

They suggest that by 2050, 82% of US population growth will be driven by immigrants arriving in the country since 2005, and their descendants.

"Even if the lower immigration influx of recent years continues, new immigrants and their descendants are still projected to account for most of the nation's

population increase by mid-century," says the report.



The total number of US births in 2011 is estimated to be 3.95 million.








Written by Catharine Paddock PhD









Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

KRAS and BRAF Mutation Screening In Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Costly In Relation To Benefits

NSAID Use Linked To Reduced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk And Mortality Due To Chronic Liver Disease

Combined RB And PTEN Loss Identifies DCIS Primed For Invasive Breast Cancer

Aspirin Tied To Lower Risk For Liver Cancer And Death From Liver Disease

Aspirin Tied To Lower Risk For Liver Cancer And Death From Liver Disease30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


A new study from the US finds that use of aspirin is tied to a reduced risk for hepatocellular

carcinoma, the most common type of primary liver cancer, and also to a reduced risk of death from chronic liver disease.

Vikrant V. Sahasrabuddhe, from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues, write about their findings in

the 28 November online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, JNCI.

Hepatocellular carcinoma occurs mainly in people with chronic liver disease. Some studies suggest the cancer could be a result of the chronic inflammation in

liver disease affecting cellular processes.

NSAIDs as Cancer Preventers

Because of their anti-inflammatory properties, and their widespread use to prevent heart problems and cerebrovascular diseases like stroke, researchers are

investigating the potential of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as cancer preventers.


However, a recent study published in JNCI in August, suggests while the

evidence is encouraging, the cancer-protective effect of NSAIDs is not as large as previously thought, and not enough to outweigh the risks (primarily of serious

bleeding in the gut), and concludes it is too early to recommend people start taking them to ward off cancer.


What the Researchers Did

In the meantime, although more studies are looking at the potential anti-cancer effect of NSAIDs, the link to risk for liver cancer and death from chronic liver

disease remains unclear, say the authors of this new JNCI paper, where they describe how they carried out an observational study of 300,504 men and

women aged 50 to 71 years.

The participants, who were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study, had reported their use of aspirin and other NSAIDs and

were followed for 10 to 12 years.

The researchers were able to link the NSAID use data from these participants to registered diagnoses of 250 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 428 cases of

chronic liver disease.


What They Found

When they analyzed the links they found participants who used NSAIDs had a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and a reduced risk of death from chronic

liver disease compared to participants who did not use the drugs.

But when the researchers differentiated between aspirin and non-aspirin NSAIDs, there were some marked differences.

Participants who used aspirin showed a 41% reduced risk for hepatocellular carcinoma and a 45% reduced risk of death from chronic liver disease.

Whereas participants who used non-aspirin NSAIDs showed no reduced risk for for hepatocellular carcinoma, and a 26% reduced risk of death from chronic liver

disease.

Sahasrabuddhe and colleagues write:

"Aspirin, in particular, when used exclusively or with other non-aspirin NSAIDs showed a consistent protective effect related to both HCC

[hepatocellular carcinoma] incidence and CLD [chronic liver disease] mortality, regardless of the frequency or exclusivity of use."

If confirmed, these associations with the use of aspirin "might open new vistas for chemoprevention of HCC and CLD," they conclude.


Experts Say Fine to Look at NSAIDs, But Also Need to Improve Established Approaches

In an accompanying editorial, researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa in Canada, note that the

known causes of chronic liver disease and primary liver cancer are use of alcohol, and hepatitis B and C virus infections, and there have also been suggestions

of a link with diabetes and obesity.

"We already have cheap, readily available interventions," they write, citing examples such as vaccines for hepatitis B and C virus, although "effective

strategies for reduction of HBV and HCV are not always available or fully applied."

"Also, alcohol abuse and obesity are complex and multifactorial challenges that require interventions at the individual and system levels," they add, concluding

that while we should continue to explore the potential for new drug strategies like NSAIDs, we should not lose sight of the need to improve established practices

and interventions.


Written by Catharine Paddock PhD








Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

US Births Dip To Lowest On Record

US Births Dip To Lowest On Record30 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


The birth rate in the United States dipped to a record low in 2011, led by a steep fall in children born to immigrant women, says a new report from the

Pew Research Center in Washington, released on Thursday.

The report uses preliminary figures for 2011 from the National Center for Health Statistics that show the overall birth rate in the US was 63.2 per 1,000 women

of child-bearing age.

According to Pew, that rate is the lowest since at least 1920, the earliest year with reliable records.


Foreign-Born Women Showing Biggest Fall In Birth Rate

The overall US birth rate fell by 8% from 1007 to 2010.

The birth rate for women born in the US fell by 6% over the same period, but for foreign-born women it plunged 14%, with Mexican immigrant women showing

the steepest fall at 23%.

The downturn in births to immigrant women reverses a trend where foreign-born mothers were accounting for a growing share of US births.

In 1990, foreign-born mothers accounted for 16% of US births. This rose to 25% in 2007, before falling back to 23% in 2010.

From Baby Boomers to Great Recession

The most recent peak in US birth rates was when the Baby Boomers were born, reaching 122.7 in 1957, nearly double today's rate.

After the Baby Boomer peak, the rate declined through to the mid-1970s, then flattened out to around 65 to 70 births per 1,000 women, until falling again after

2007, which the authors describe as the start of the Great Recession.


The start of the Great Recession also saw a sharp drop in the number of US births, which had been rising since 2002. This decrease was also led by immigrant

women.

Between 2007 and 2010, the overall number of babies born in the US fell by 7%, largely due to a 13% all in births to immigrant mothers. In contrast, births to

US-born women fell by only 5% in that period.


Immigrants Will Continue to Play Important Role in US Population Growth

However, despite the recent fall in rates and numbers, mothers born outside the US still account for a disproportionate share of the country's newborns, as has

has been the case for the last 20 years.

For instance, in 2010, only 13% of the US population was born outside the US, and only 17% of women of childbearing age in the US are immigrants, but 23%

of births in that year were to mothers from that group.

Population projections from Pew suggest immigrants will continue to play an important role in the growth of the US population.

They suggest that by 2050, 82% of US population growth will be driven by immigrants arriving in the country since 2005, and their descendants.

"Even if the lower immigration influx of recent years continues, new immigrants and their descendants are still projected to account for most of the nation's

population increase by mid-century," says the report.



The total number of US births in 2011 is estimated to be 3.95 million.








Written by Catharine Paddock PhD









Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

KRAS and BRAF Mutation Screening In Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Costly In Relation To Benefits

NSAID Use Linked To Reduced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk And Mortality Due To Chronic Liver Disease

Combined RB And PTEN Loss Identifies DCIS Primed For Invasive Breast Cancer

Topical Simvastatin Shown To Accelerate Wound Healing In Diabetes

Unsafe Levels Of Flame Retardants In House Dust; Link To Cancer, Learning Problems, Hormone Disruption

Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Challenged By Complications After Joint Replacement Surgery

Advances And Challenges In Improving The Quality Of Cancer Care

Epigenetic Study Suggests Immune System Could Play A Central Role In AMD

Majority Of Parents Interested In Genetic Risk Assessment For Siblings Of Children With Autism

Cancer Screening Via Blood Test And Gene Sequencing

Fracture Risk Predictable From History Of Falls

Fracture Risk Predictable From History Of Falls29 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

A new UK study finds that when clinicians are aware of a patient's fall history, they are better able to predict whether he or she will fracture a

bone.

You can read how researchers from the University of Southampton arrived at this conclusion in an early "in press" issue of a paper that was published online in

the journal Bone.

Lead author Mark Edwards is a Clinical Research Fellow at Southampton's MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit. He says in a statement:

"Nearly 60% of all hospital admissions due to fractures in England are the result of a fall."

"Fracture prediction is extremely important to allow us to target treatments to those at greatest risk: assessing falls history provides us a further tool with which

to do so," he adds, having remarked earlier that, "in a clinical setting, asking whether a patient has fallen is quick and easy".

The chances that a person will fracture a bone when they fall depends on how strong their bones are and how heavily they fall (the forces that are applied to the

bones).

Bone strength depends on bone density: the lower the density, the higher the risk of fracture. However, bones usually only break when inflicted with trauma

(banged very hard), which in most cases is as a result of a fall.

Fracture risk assessment tools like the FRAX model exist, and they help clinicians assess, with quite a high level of accuracy, a patient's risk of fracture. Such

tools require data on known risk factors like gender, age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, diseases, and family history, with or without bone

density.

But not all such tools take into account the individual patient's fall history.

So for their study, Edwards and colleagues used data fom the Hertfordshire Cohort, a group of studies on men and women born in the English county of

Hertfordshire between 1911 and 1939, that aims to find out as much as possible about how their inbuilt makeup (their genome) and their environment affect

their health and aging.

The Hertfordshire Cohort is based at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton. The Director of the Unit is Professor Cyrus

Cooper, senior author of the Bone study.

The data set includes information on factors that affect fracture risk, such as gender, age, height, weight, smoking, alcohol, family history, and rheumatoid

arthritis. It also contains information about previous fractures and falls, as well as bone density. And during follow ups, participants also reported any new

fractures.

Equipped with this data, the researchers looked at how well the risk factors were able to predict the fractures reported at follow up.

When they looked at the risk factors similar to the ones used in the FRAX model, they found a good level of fracture prediction. And they were not surprised

when the accuracy improved further by the addition of bone density data.

But they were quite surprised that accuracy was even further improved, especially for male participants, for whom predictive capacity went up another 6%,

by the addition of fall history data.

And conversely, in more than 80% of men who had not fallen at all during the follow up, and also had no fractures, adding fall history to the model correctly

reduced their predicted fracture risk.

Cooper says these findings show the value that data from "well-characterized population cohorts such as the Hertfordshire Cohort Study" bring to clinical

decision-making.

"The enhanced fracture risk prediction facilitated through use of our findings will help reduce the ever-growing burden of fractures in the elderly," he

adds.





Written by Catharine Paddock PhD









Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Gastric Bypass Surgery Helps Diabetes But Does Not Cure It

Gastric Bypass Surgery Helps Diabetes But Does Not Cure It29 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

Gastric bypass surgery for patients with type two diabetes, in most cases, is either remitted or relapses within five years, researchers from the Group Health Research Institute reported in the journal Obesity Surgery.


The authors explained that after gastric bypass surgery, diabetes symptoms may disappear for some patients - in many cases before they lose a lot of weight. Does this mean, therefore, that gastric bypass surgery is a "cure" for diabetes? Not necessarily, they wrote, after gathering and analyzing data from the largest community-based study that looked at the long-term outcomes after bariatric surgery among diabetes patients.

For two thirds of the participants in the study, their diabetes initially disappeared after gastric surgery - however, symptoms returned within five years among one third of them. They added the proportion of patients whose diabetes never went away after surgery, and found that 56% had no long-lasting diabetes remission.

When diabetes did go away, it stayed away for several years - an important benefit.

Experts know that bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery) is much more effective in reducing heart disease and stroke risk than medications, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic recently explained. They reported their findings in the journal Heart (October 2012 issue). Their study involved very obese patients, including those with and without diabetes.

Who receives the most benefit from gastric surgery?

Lead researcher, David E. Arterburn, MD, MPH, explained that those with less severe diabetes symptoms tended to benefit the most from gastric surgery - they were the ones most likely to experience remission after the operation, and for longer.

Dr. Arterburn said:
"Gastric surgery isn't for everyone. But this evidence suggests that, once you have diabetes and are severely obese, you should strongly consider it, even though it doesn't seem to be a cure for most patients."

The study, which was carried out at multiple sites, followed 4,434 patients at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, and HealthPartners for a total of 14 years (1995-2008). All of the patients had type 2 diabetes, which was either uncontrolled or controlled with medication. They were also obese enough to be considered possible candidates for gastric bypass surgery.

Dr. Arterburn said "Diabetes is an increasingly common disease that tends to keep getting worse relentlessly."

Over 25 million adults in the USA have diabetes - this figure is expected to jump to 50 million by 2050. Approximately 5% of all healthcare spending in the country goes towards treating people with diabetes. Diabetes increases the risk of strokes, heart attacks, kidney disease, blindness and death.

Dr. Arterburn said that prevention is the best medicine for diabetes, by far. Once the disease sets in, it is extremely hard to get rid of.

Lifestyle change attempts do not appear to alter long-term health risks of diabetes

Most intensive lifestyle change attempts at achieving remission have been disappointing for several reasons.

In a recent NIH (National Institutes of Health) study, called "Look AHEAD", which involved intensive lifestyle changes for diabetes patients, the whole thing had to be halted. Even though patients had improved diabetes type 2 risk factors, such as a loss of body weight, improved fitness, better blood pressure readings, blood sugar and lipid levels, the risks of strokes, heart attacks and death were not reduced.

Dr. Arterburn said:

"No wonder so many were excited to learn that diabetes can remit after gastric surgery - even, in some cases, before any significant weight loss - and many were hoping that gastric surgery might be a 'cure' for diabetes. Our study is the first major evidence that diabetes often recurs after gastric bypass surgery."

He added that a long period of remission after surgery has several positive effects, including a much lower risk of diabetes complications, less kidney and eye damage, and fewer strokes, heart attacks and deaths.

Dr. Arterburn and team are currently funded by the NIH to confirm whether those with initial long-term remission after surgery have better long-term outcomes, even though symptoms eventually come back.

Why does the diabetes come back after gastric bypass surgery?

The researchers are not sure why the diabetes eventually relapses. It could be due to gradual weight gain, or some underlying progression of the disease. They found that there was not a close link between patients' weight before and after surgery and diabetes remission or relapse.

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center found that 67% of diabetes patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery achieved "complete remission".

Written by Joseph Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Moderate Exercise Immediately Boosts Memory

Moderate Exercise Immediately Boosts Memory29 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;


A short surge of condensed exercise boosts the compression of memories in both elders in good mental shape as well as those with slight cognitive impairment, according to new research by a team of scientists from UC Irvine's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning - Memory.

Previous studies have aimed towards exploring the advantages of a long-term exercise program on cognitive function and total health while progressing with age. However, the current research was the first to analyze the direct effects of a short surge of exercise on memory.

A study done in 2011 by a group of researchers from University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois, Rice University, and Ohio State University, established that just one year of exercise in older adults can improve spatial memory by reversing the shrinkage of the hippocampus. These results proved that aerobic exercise is directly connected to improvement of memory function.

The investigators conducted a study with adults between the ages of 50 and 85 years with and without memory issues, and had them look at pictures of pleasant things such as animals and nature. Afterwards, they rode a stationary bicycle for six minutes at 70 percent of their maximum capacity.

An hour following the exercise, the volunteers took a surprise recall test on the images they viewed earlier. Outcomes revealed a remarkable increase of memory by exercise in both cognitively impaired and healthy adults, in contrast to participants who did not ride the bike.

Researcher Sabrina Segal said:

"We found that a single, short instance of moderately intense exercise particularly improved memory in individuals with memory deficits. Because of its implications and the need to better understand the mechanism by which exercise may enhance memory, we're following up this study with an investigation of potential underlying biological factors."
She thinks the boost in memory could be explained by the exercise prompting the release of norepinephrine, a chemical messenger in the brain, well known to contribute to memory modulation.

The authors' hypothesis is built on earlier research which showed that rising norepinephrine levels through pharmacological alteration enhances memory, and that inhibiting norepinephrine impairs memory.

In recent studies, Segal and her research team found that levels of salivary alpha amylase, a biomarker that mirrors norepinephrine activity within the brain, greatly increased in subjects after exercise. This connection was extremely powerful in participants with memory problems.

Segal concluded:

"The current findings offer a natural and relatively safe alternative to pharmacological interventions for memory enhancement in healthy older individuals as well as those who suffer from cognitive deficits. With a growing population of the aged, the need for improvement of quality of life and prevention of mental decline is more important than ever before."

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald
Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Negative Thoughts Bothering You? Just Toss Them In The Trash

Negative Thoughts Bothering You? Just Toss Them In The Trash29 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

In order to get rid of unwanted, negative thoughts, just write them down on a piece of paper and throw it in the trash.


Previous research from earlier this year found that people can even erase emotional memories from their brains.

The finding, published in the journal Psychological Science, came from a study which showed that throwing their thoughts away in the trash allows people to toss out those thoughts in their mind as well. However, if people kept the piece of paper in their pocket to protect it, they had a higher chance of using their thoughts to make judgments.


"However you tag your thoughts - as trash or as worthy of protection - seems to make a difference in how you use those thoughts," explained Richard Petty, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.


Variations of this concept are used in certain kinds of psychological therapy by having patients try to mentally discard their unwanted thoughts. However, until now, no research had confirmed this strategy, according to Petty.

Petty said:
"At some level, it can sound silly. But we found that it really works - by physically throwing away or protecting your thoughts, you influence how you end up using those thoughts. Merely imagining engaging in these actions has no effect."

The results indicate that thoughts can be dealt with as solid objects, which is obvious in how we speak. "We talk about our thoughts as if we can visualize them. We hold our thoughts. We take stances on issues, we lean this way or that way. This all makes our thoughts more real to us." Petty added.

Three experiments were conducted in this study by Petty and her colleagues, Pablo Briñol, Margarita Gascó and Javier Horcajo, all of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain.

There were 83 high school students from Spain involved in the first trial, which they believed was about body image. The subjects were given three minutes to write down either positive or negative thoughts about his or her body.

They then had to look back at what they had written down. Half of the participants examined their thoughts and then threw the paper away in the trash, "because their thoughts did not have to remain with them." The other group had to look at their thoughts and then see if they made any spelling or grammar mistakes.

Next, the students were asked to rate their attitudes on their bodies on three 9-point scales: like-dislike, bad-good, unattractive-attractive.

The experts discovered that whether the participants had negative or positive thoughts made a difference for those who kept the paper and looked for errors. After a couple of minutes, the people who wrote down positive comments had better attitudes about their bodies than those who wrote negative comments.

The students who tossed their thoughts into the garbage showed that those thoughts had no influence in how they rated themselves, demonstrating that whether they wrote down positive or negative feelings did not matter.

"When they threw their thoughts away, they didn't consider them anymore, whether they were positive or negative," Petty said.

The second experiment involved 284 students who were asked to write either negative or positive thoughts about the Mediterranean diet. Most people consider this diet to be good, it stresses the importance of consuming large amounts of veggies, fruits, legumes and unrefined cereals, with the basic fat as olive oil.

The participants either left the paper on their desk, threw the paper in the trash, or put the paper in their pocket, purse, or wallet so they protect it.

Their attitudes toward the diet were rated by all subjects, and they were also asked how likely they were to use the diet.

The results were similar to the first study. The people who had their paper at the desk showed to be more influenced by them in their evaluations about the diet compared to those who threw the paper in the trash.

On the other hand, the subjects who kept their thoughts protected in their pocket or wallet were even more influenced than those who had the paper on their desk.

Participants who put their positive thoughts about the diet in their pocket, the authors explained, gave the diet better ratings compared to those who kept their positive thoughts on the desk. The people who kept their negative thoughts in their pocket had more negative ratings for the diet than those who kept their thoughts on the desk.

"However you tag your thoughts - as trash or as worthy of protection - seems to make a difference in how you use those thoughts."

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Fracture Risk Predictable From History Of Falls

Fracture Risk Predictable From History Of Falls29 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

A new UK study finds that when clinicians are aware of a patient's fall history, they are better able to predict whether he or she will fracture a

bone.

You can read how researchers from the University of Southampton arrived at this conclusion in an early "in press" issue of a paper that was published online in

the journal Bone.

Lead author Mark Edwards is a Clinical Research Fellow at Southampton's MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit. He says in a statement:

"Nearly 60% of all hospital admissions due to fractures in England are the result of a fall."

"Fracture prediction is extremely important to allow us to target treatments to those at greatest risk: assessing falls history provides us a further tool with which

to do so," he adds, having remarked earlier that, "in a clinical setting, asking whether a patient has fallen is quick and easy".

The chances that a person will fracture a bone when they fall depends on how strong their bones are and how heavily they fall (the forces that are applied to the

bones).

Bone strength depends on bone density: the lower the density, the higher the risk of fracture. However, bones usually only break when inflicted with trauma

(banged very hard), which in most cases is as a result of a fall.

Fracture risk assessment tools like the FRAX model exist, and they help clinicians assess, with quite a high level of accuracy, a patient's risk of fracture. Such

tools require data on known risk factors like gender, age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, diseases, and family history, with or without bone

density.

But not all such tools take into account the individual patient's fall history.

So for their study, Edwards and colleagues used data fom the Hertfordshire Cohort, a group of studies on men and women born in the English county of

Hertfordshire between 1911 and 1939, that aims to find out as much as possible about how their inbuilt makeup (their genome) and their environment affect

their health and aging.

The Hertfordshire Cohort is based at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton. The Director of the Unit is Professor Cyrus

Cooper, senior author of the Bone study.

The data set includes information on factors that affect fracture risk, such as gender, age, height, weight, smoking, alcohol, family history, and rheumatoid

arthritis. It also contains information about previous fractures and falls, as well as bone density. And during follow ups, participants also reported any new

fractures.

Equipped with this data, the researchers looked at how well the risk factors were able to predict the fractures reported at follow up.

When they looked at the risk factors similar to the ones used in the FRAX model, they found a good level of fracture prediction. And they were not surprised

when the accuracy improved further by the addition of bone density data.

But they were quite surprised that accuracy was even further improved, especially for male participants, for whom predictive capacity went up another 6%,

by the addition of fall history data.

And conversely, in more than 80% of men who had not fallen at all during the follow up, and also had no fractures, adding fall history to the model correctly

reduced their predicted fracture risk.

Cooper says these findings show the value that data from "well-characterized population cohorts such as the Hertfordshire Cohort Study" bring to clinical

decision-making.

"The enhanced fracture risk prediction facilitated through use of our findings will help reduce the ever-growing burden of fractures in the elderly," he

adds.





Written by Catharine Paddock PhD









Copyright: Medical News TodayNot to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Gastric Bypass Surgery Helps Diabetes But Does Not Cure It

Gastric Bypass Surgery Helps Diabetes But Does Not Cure It29 Nov 2012-nbsp;-nbsp;-nbsp;

Gastric bypass surgery for patients with type two diabetes, in most cases, is either remitted or relapses within five years, researchers from the Group Health Research Institute reported in the journal Obesity Surgery.


The authors explained that after gastric bypass surgery, diabetes symptoms may disappear for some patients - in many cases before they lose a lot of weight. Does this mean, therefore, that gastric bypass surgery is a "cure" for diabetes? Not necessarily, they wrote, after gathering and analyzing data from the largest community-based study that looked at the long-term outcomes after bariatric surgery among diabetes patients.

For two thirds of the participants in the study, their diabetes initially disappeared after gastric surgery - however, symptoms returned within five years among one third of them. They added the proportion of patients whose diabetes never went away after surgery, and found that 56% had no long-lasting diabetes remission.

When diabetes did go away, it stayed away for several years - an important benefit.

Experts know that bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery) is much more effective in reducing heart disease and stroke risk than medications, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic recently explained. They reported their findings in the journal Heart (October 2012 issue). Their study involved very obese patients, including those with and without diabetes.

Who receives the most benefit from gastric surgery?

Lead researcher, David E. Arterburn, MD, MPH, explained that those with less severe diabetes symptoms tended to benefit the most from gastric surgery - they were the ones most likely to experience remission after the operation, and for longer.

Dr. Arterburn said:
"Gastric surgery isn't for everyone. But this evidence suggests that, once you have diabetes and are severely obese, you should strongly consider it, even though it doesn't seem to be a cure for most patients."

The study, which was carried out at multiple sites, followed 4,434 patients at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, and HealthPartners for a total of 14 years (1995-2008). All of the patients had type 2 diabetes, which was either uncontrolled or controlled with medication. They were also obese enough to be considered possible candidates for gastric bypass surgery.

Dr. Arterburn said "Diabetes is an increasingly common disease that tends to keep getting worse relentlessly."

Over 25 million adults in the USA have diabetes - this figure is expected to jump to 50 million by 2050. Approximately 5% of all healthcare spending in the country goes towards treating people with diabetes. Diabetes increases the risk of strokes, heart attacks, kidney disease, blindness and death.

Dr. Arterburn said that prevention is the best medicine for diabetes, by far. Once the disease sets in, it is extremely hard to get rid of.

Lifestyle change attempts do not appear to alter long-term health risks of diabetes

Most intensive lifestyle change attempts at achieving remission have been disappointing for several reasons.

In a recent NIH (National Institutes of Health) study, called "Look AHEAD", which involved intensive lifestyle changes for diabetes patients, the whole thing had to be halted. Even though patients had improved diabetes type 2 risk factors, such as a loss of body weight, improved fitness, better blood pressure readings, blood sugar and lipid levels, the risks of strokes, heart attacks and death were not reduced.

Dr. Arterburn said:

"No wonder so many were excited to learn that diabetes can remit after gastric surgery - even, in some cases, before any significant weight loss - and many were hoping that gastric surgery might be a 'cure' for diabetes. Our study is the first major evidence that diabetes often recurs after gastric bypass surgery."

He added that a long period of remission after surgery has several positive effects, including a much lower risk of diabetes complications, less kidney and eye damage, and fewer strokes, heart attacks and deaths.

Dr. Arterburn and team are currently funded by the NIH to confirm whether those with initial long-term remission after surgery have better long-term outcomes, even though symptoms eventually come back.

Why does the diabetes come back after gastric bypass surgery?

The researchers are not sure why the diabetes eventually relapses. It could be due to gradual weight gain, or some underlying progression of the disease. They found that there was not a close link between patients' weight before and after surgery and diabetes remission or relapse.

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center found that 67% of diabetes patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery achieved "complete remission".

Written by Joseph Nordqvist
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