Smoking can cause chronic lower back pain

Canadian researchers have linked smoking to chronic lower back pain. In the study, boffins identified a higher rate of chronic lower back pain among people who smoke every day, reports News.com.au .

According to Professor Michael Cousins, the research suggests that smoking interferes with pain transmitters, causing osteoporosis. The condition resulted in chronic lower back pain which could also trigger a "downward spiral" in a person's life, he warned.

"Chronic pain is now regarded as a disease in its own right," said Prof Cousins, who is director of the Pain Management Research Institute at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital.

"Patients with it rapidly progress into a downward spiral of physical, psychological and environmental changes, resulting in major deterioration of all life activities, in their work, family and community roles,” he added.

Prof Cousins commented on the study published in the journal Clinical and Investigative Medicine, and included more than 73,000 people aged 20-59.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

J-K govt to begin recruitment of doctors

In a move aimed at sending a strong message to the striking doctors, J-K government today issued a notification inviting applications for the posts of registrars and demonstrators in hospitals.

As per the notification issued by principal government medical college (GMC) Srinagar and Jammu, the government has asked the candidates to appear for on-the-spot recruitment on October 26.

Meanwhile, junior doctors blamed the government for failure of the talks saying instead of taking concrete steps to redress their grievances, the government gave mere assurances and insisted on its demand to end the strike.

"The government had assured to refer the issue to pay anomaly committee in first week of September and to complete all financial exercises by September 30 after proper consultation with all associations of doctors," junior doctors said.

Source:www.ptinews.com

High protein diet ‘shrinks the brain’

The research team from the US, Canada and the UK were focusing on triggers for brain plaque formation and monitored the effects of four different food regimes on rodents which were genetically modified to develop a severe form of early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Previous studies into AD pointed towards a low-calorie, low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruit and fish, possibly delaying its onset or slowing its progression. In the new study, the mice were fed either a regular diet; a high fat/low carbohydrate diet; a high protein/low carb version or a high carb/low fat option.

The researchers then looked at the brain and body weight of the mice, as well as plaque build up and differences in the structure of several brain regions that are involved in the memory defect underlying AD.

Unexpectedly, mice fed the high protein/low carb diet were found to have brains five per cent lighter than the others. Regions of their hippocampus, a major component of the brain, were less developed than in their counterparts.

The researchers will investigate the tentative theory that a high protein diet may leave neurones more vulnerable to AD plaque. The study will now be expanded to look at mice, which were not genetically altered, and investigate the implications for humans.

The study has been published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Molecular Neurodegeneration .

Coming soon, womb transplants

The first-ever successful womb transplant will be carried out within two years, believe British scientists. The boffins have worked out how to transplant a womb with a good blood supply, implying it lasts long enough to carry a pregnancy to term.

If something like this really does happen, then it could offer an alternative to adoption or surrogacy for women whose wombs have been damaged by diseases such as cervical cancer, reports The Independent.

Richard Smith, consultant gynaecological surgeon at Hammersmith Hospital in London, presented his latest research on rabbits at a US fertility conference. Smith along with his team has set up a charity, Uterine Transplant UK. They say the first human transplant could be carried out within two years if they raise enough funds.

In their study, five rabbits received a womb using a "vascular patch technique", which connected major blood vessels. Of the five, two rabbits lived to 10 months and tests after death showed the transplants were a success

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Infant sucking habits may affect speech

Soothers, bottles and finger sucking may hamper a child’s speech development if the habit goes on too long, a new study indicates.

The study, which involved almost 130 children aged three to five years, found that persistent sucking habits increased the risk of speech disorders.

The researchers found that children who sucked their fingers or who used a soother for more than three years were three times more likely to develop speech impediments.

However, the study also found that by delaying bottle-feeding until the child was at least nine months old reduced the risk of speech disorders.

“These results suggest extended sucking outside of breastfeeding may have detrimental effects on speech development in young children,” the researchers said.

Previous research has also suggested that breastfeeding is beneficial to developing co-ordinated breathing, swallowing and speech articulation.

The study was published in the US journal Pediatrics.

Source:www.irishhealth.com

Gene defect 'linked to diabetes'

Scientists have discovered evidence that a genetic defect, which boosts the expression of a key gene, may be responsible for type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, where the body attacks and destroys its own insulin-producing cells. It often starts in childhood and can lead to many complications. There is no cure yet but prevention therapies are on horizon.

Now, an international team led by Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia has found in mice that a genetic irregularity may play a major role in the development of type 1 diabetes -- if it works the same way in humans.

In their research, the scientists isolated irregular DNA from mice that spontaneously develop Type 1 diabetes. They also demonstrated that it increases production of very high levels of the immune stimulating molecule interleukin 21, the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' reported. In fact, the genetic irregularity occurs in the "promoter region" of the IL-21 gene. In the world of genetics, the promoter region operates like the fuse on a bomb. In the same way as you need to light the fuse to set off a bomb, you need to activate the promoter region to transcribe a gene.

Source:www.hindustantimes.com

Coffee good for chronic hepatitis C patients

The study, led by Neal Freedman of National Cancer Institute (NCI), found that patients with hepatitis C related cirrhosis who did not respond to treatment benefited from increased coffee intake. No effect on liver was observed in patients who drank black or green tea.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects approximately 2.2 percent of the world's population, including three million Americans. A centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites HCV as the leading cause of liver transplantation in US, accounting for 8,000 to 10,000 deaths, annually.

This study included 766 participants enrolled in the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) trial who had hepatitis C-related cirrhosis and failed to respond to standard treatment of the anti-viral drugs peginterferon and ribavirin, according to an NCI release.

Participants were seen every three months during the 3.8-year study period to assess clinical outcomes. Liver biopsies were also taken at 1.5 and 3.5 five years to determine the progression of liver disease.

"Results from our study suggest that patients with high coffee intake had a lower risk of disease progression," said Freedman.

These findings will appear in the November issue of "Hepatology" .

Source://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

White wine 'erodes teeth'

“White wine rots your teeth… and brushing makes it worse,” claimed the Daily Mail today. The newspaper said that white wine is more damaging to your teeth than the effects of red wine, wearing the tooth enamel away more quickly.

The research behind this story soaked a number of extracted teeth in different wines for up to 24 hours, which found that white wines caused more tooth erosion and calcium loss than red wine. Although this scientific study was well-conducted, it does not represent real life as teeth would never be soaked in wine for up to 24 hours, and wine would not normally be held in the mouth for extended periods of time. As the study was carried out on extracted teeth in the laboratory, it is also not possible to fully appreciate the effects that saliva, diet and nutritional intake may have upon tooth erosion or helping to prevent it.

The ill-effects of brushing suggested by the Daily Mail was not part of this study. The researchers only suggested that excessive brushing to remove red wine stains can remove further tooth enamel. Thoroughly brushing your teeth with a soft toothbrush and flossing twice a day, in addition to regular dental check-ups, is the best way to keep teeth healthy.

Source:www.nhs.uk

Researchers Hope Soundwaves may Help Find Early Dental Decay

A tool that can use sound waves to identify early stages of tooth decay by measuring the mineral content of teeth

Tooth decay begins by acid-forming bacteria eating away at the enamel, causing minerals to leach from it, softening, and weakening the tooth. Sometimes dentists can identify this demineralisation by seeing a change in the colour of the tooth, or by looking at x-rays. They also use sharp probes that test the hardness of the enamel, and find where the rot has set in, but all such probes can be painful and cause unnecessary damage to the teeth.

But PhD researcher David Hsiao-Chuan Wang, from the University of Sydney, and colleagues are now developing a less invasive new technique to measure mineral content of teeth, using sound waves generated by laser pulses.

Laser pulses aimed at the tooth set up a series of high frequency sound waves (ultrasound) that travel through the enamel surface, penetrating it to different depths.

As a soundwave moves through a demineralised part of the tooth, it changes its speed, which can be detected. Each soundwave penetrates to different depths of the enamel, depending on its wavelength, enabling a profile of the tooth to be built up, showing where decay has begun.

The researchers first tested the system on different known materials, before testing it on extracted human tooth. They still have to test the system on teeth in patients, but firstly they need to develop a convenient handheld device and obtain ethics permission to trial it in humans.

Wang said that a prototype of the hand-held device could be ready in two years. He said that the new technique could add to the range of tools available for dentists to identify early stages of decay, as long as it is affordable

The study has been published in the journal Optics Express.

People in authority suffer from psychological problems

TORONTO: People wielding power at workplace are more likely to suffer from psychological and physical problems.

A University of Toronto study, which used data from a survey of 1,800 American workers in different occupations and sectors, revealed previously undocumented evidence about the ups and downsides of power at workplaces.

People with job authority are defined as those who direct or manage the work of others, have control over others, pay, and can hire or fire others.

Sociology professor Scott Schieman and doctoral student Sarah Reid of the Toronto University said people who wield authority have certain benefits but there are negatives too. "In most cases, the health costs negate the benefits."

"Power at work does have drawbacks, and the negative impact on personal health - both emotional and physical - is one of them," says Schieman, lead author of the study.

People with work authority report significantly higher levels of interpersonal conflict with others, says Schieman. These findings appeared online in Social Science and Medicine.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

India heading for diabetes explosion

MONTREAL: India leads the world in the looming epidemic of diabetes, the 20th annual World Diabetes Congress of the International Diabetic Federation (IDF) was told here on Monday.

In its annual report, the IDF said India currently has the highest number of 50.8 million people suffering from diabetes, followed by China with 43.2 million and the US with 26.8 million. The report projected 58.7 million diabetes cases in India by 2010 - almost 7 per cent of its adult population.

By 2030, over 8.4 per cent of the Indian adult population will suffer from diabetes, thanks to the increasing life expectancy and urbanisation, the report said.

Warning Indian policy makers, the report said, "Evidence suggests that in more affluent parts of the country, the rural prevalence is higher than in less affluent rural areas, indicating that increasing economic growth will raise diabetes prevalence in India even more than these possibly conservative estimates have indicated.''

The rampaging diabetes will impose a huge economic burden on India and other countries, it added. Apart from losing billions in lost productivity, the report said, India will also be spending $2.8 billion annually on diabetes control measures by 2010.

There are estimated to be 285 million diabetes cases worldwide, accounting for seven per cent of the world's population. Diabetes, along with cardiovascular disease, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases, accounts for 60 per cent ff all deaths worldwide.

"Diabetes imposes a large economic burden on the individual, national healthcare system and economy. Healthcare expenditures on diabetes are expected to account for 11.6 per cent of the total healthcare expenditure in the world in 2010,'' the report said.

"Estimated global healthcare expenditures to treat and prevent diabetes and its complications are expected to total at least $376 billion in 2010.''

Addressing the congress, Martin Silink, outgoing president of the International Diabetic Federation, said the epidemic of diabetes will increase from 7 million new cases a year in 2007 to 10 million new cases this year.

The epidemic is getting out of control, said incoming IDF president Jean-Claude Mbanya. He said if the trend continues unchecked, there will be 435 million people with diabetes worldwide by 2030.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Green tea lowers blood cancer risk

Drinking about 5 cups of green tea a day may lower your risk of developing certain blood cancers.

Drinking green tea has been associated with lower risk of dying and heart disease deaths. Several biologic studies have reported that green tea constituents have antitumor effects on hematologic malignancies. However, the effects in humans are uncertain. To explore the association between green tea consumption and risk of blood cancer, researchers identified 19,749 men and 22,012 women from Japan, aged between 40 and 80 years, with no previous history of cancer. The researchers gathered information on the diets and green tea drinking habits of participants and followed them for development of blood and lymphoid system (a major component of the body's immune system) cancers. The researchers also took into consideration factors like age, gender, education, smoking status and history, alcohol use, and fish and soybean consumption.

During 9 years of follow up, 157 blood, bone marrow, and lymph system cancers developed in the study group. It was found that the overall risk for blood cancers was 42 percent lower among study participants who drank 5 or more, versus 1 or fewer, cups of green tea daily. Drinking 5 or more cups of green tea daily was also associated with 48 percent lower risk for lymphoid system cancers.

The researchers also observed reduced risk for blood-related cancers among obese study participants, who are considered to have higher risk of these cancers.

Further studies are needed to confirm the health benefits of drinking green tea, and to determine whether daily consumption might prevent certain other cancers.

Source:http://doctor.ndtv.com

Vitamin pills can cause cancer

Professor Martin Wiseman, medical and scientific adviser for the World Cancer Research Fund, has pointed out that people who regularly take vitamin and mineral supplements instead of eating a balanced diet are at greater risk.

“Many people think they can reduce their cancer risk by taking supplements, but the evidence does not support this,” the Daily Express quoted Wiseman as saying.

“Just because a dietary pattern that provides a relatively high level of a particular nutrient might protect against cancer, it does not mean that taking it in tablet form will have the same effect. In fact, at high doses the effect of these micronutrients is unpredictable and can be harmful to health,” Wiseman added.

Research suggests that vitamins A and E can actually cause illness.

Speaking about the effect of vitamin overdose, Wiseman said: “Some people may be doing themselves more harm than good. There are studies that show high doses of some supplements can increase risk of some cancers. There is convincing evidence that taking beta-carotene supplements actually increases the risk of lung cancer in current smokers.”

“The evidence about the difficulty in predicting the effect of high-dose supplements is getting stronger all the time. For example, in 2007 we concluded that taking selenium supplements probably reduces risk of prostate cancer. But a recent study unexpectedly found no evidence that it reduces risk, so my personal interpretation would be that the jury is still out on this,” Wiseman added.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

'Gene therapy' to treat Parkinson’s disease

Scientists from French Atomic Energy Commission’s Institute of Biomedical Imaging in Orsay are using gene therapy to treat Parkinson’s disease.

Currently, the remedy used for Parkinson’s disease involves replacing dopamine – the neurotransmitter that is depleted in patients with the disease – by administering the dopamine precursor levodopa, or L-DOPA.However, over a period of several years, this treatment has debilitating physical and psychological side effects.

During the study, lead researcher and neurosurgeon Stephane Palfi tested gene therapy as a potential treatment.

At first, they gave macaque monkeys a harsh neurotoxin that caused the animals to develop bodily tremors, unstable posture and severe joint rigidity – hallmarks of advanced Parkinson’s disease. The researchers then injected the monkeys’ brains with three genes essential for synthesizing dopamine.

The study showed significant improvements in motor behaviour of the monkeys after just two weeks, without any visible adverse effects.

“We don’t see any problems in these monkeys,” Nature quoted Palfi as saying. The monkeys did not show any jerky, uncontrolled movements that often occurs prolonged oral L-DOPA treatment. One animal even exhibited sustained recovery more than 3.5 years later.

Initial results of the study conducted over human patients have also shown promise.

Palfi’s team has already tested two different doses of the three-gene-containing virus in six human patients, and is now investigating an intermediate dose that matches that used in the monkeys, with corrections for brain size.

The study results are published in journal Science Translational Medicine1.

Source:www.newspostonline.com

New test to detect bowel cancer - from outside your body

More than 1.5 million people who are most at risk from bowel cancer have ignored a simple test that could spot an early symptom of the disease - one of the deadliest cancers but which is treatable in nine out of ten cases.

Presently for detecting bowel cancer Colonoscopy or Barium meal (or enema) is performed. During a colonoscopy, either under a local or general anaesthetic, an endoscope is used for viewing the interior of the colon. Whereas in barium meal (or enema), the element barium lines the stomach wall enabling X-rays to reveal the bowel but it, too, is unpleasant and not as effective as detecting cancerous polyps.

But the latest procedure - a virtual colonoscopy - is pain and anaesthetic-free. A virtual colonoscopy, or CT colonography as it is properly known - which uses a computerised tomography to produce a 3D image of the bowel from outside the body.

The only discomfort for patients of the virtual colonoscopy is that the colon needs to be inflated and so several litres - the average is four - of carbon dioxide are pumped through a pipe inserted in the rectum.

That study, led by Professor Steve Halligan, a clinical radiologist at University College Hospital London, is likely to say that not only is it safer and more comfortable than the existing way, it is also equally effective.

Source:www.dailymail.co.uk

Stem cell miracle by Kolkata docs

Stem cell transplants from a single donor are not new. But, in what could be a pathbreaking initiative in the field of bone marrow transplant, doctors at a private hospital in Kolkata have conducted a stem cell transplant (SCT) using the umbilical cord blood of three different donors.

The first ever multiple-unit SCT in the country was conducted on an 18-year-old Aman Khandelwal who was in an advanced stage of aplastic anaemia, a blood disorder in which the bone marrow stops producing blood cells and platelets.

When Aman was brought to NSCBCRI in September. By then, his condition was so severe that he was bleeding from his eyes and gums. "We immediately decided to go for multiple-unit SCT. At such an advanced stage, this was the only resort. Though there were risks involved, they were worth taking," said NSCBCRI medical director Dr Ashis Mukhopadhayay. The doctors got reference of a same type of transplant in a cancer research institute in Seattle on advanced leukemia patients, which emboldened them.

A crack team of doctors was formed, which included Ritwik Pandey, Pinaki Ranjan Gupta, Ujjal Roy, S K Biswas and M Guin. Doctors Deepa Choudhury, Prasenjit Choudhury and Kushabrati Ghosh provided the three units of cord blood. Aman was admitted on September 27 and the transplant was done over three days. The total cost of treatment? Rs 5 lakh.

"In patients with severe aplastic anaemia, there is about 50% chance of rejection in case of single-unit SCT. The risk of multiple-unit SCT is that the patient has a chance of developing graft-versus-host diseases. But this can be taken care of with proper medication," said Mukhopadhyay.

Aman will stay in hospital for three weeks. He is expected to be able to get back to school in another six months.

"I miss school immensely. My heart is always at the basketball court and the cricket field. Wish me luck, so that I could go back to school again," said the Class XI student.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Expectant mums warned to ensure folic acid is active

Medications that block folic acid during pregnancy double the risk of congenital malformations to the unborn baby such as spina bifida, it has been found.

New research from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, revealed that taking medications which reduce the actions of folic acid during the first trimester of pregnancy increase the risk of foetal abnormalities.

The study discovered that exposure to folic acid antagonists in the early stages of pregnancy can result in greater vulnerability to neural tube, cardiovascular and urinary tract defects.

Osteopath Christian Bates, from the Perrymount Natural Health Clinic, said: "Up to 25 per cent of the population do not convert folic acid into its active form, the one the body actually uses, very efficiently.

"These people will do much better actually taking a supplement of the active form, folinic acid."

Natural sources of folate include broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, peas, chickpeas and brown rice.

Source:www.kiddicare.com