Surgeons banned from conducting human research

Two University of California at Davis surgeons have been banned from doing human research after they injected bacteria into the head wounds of consenting terminally ill patients without university authorization, according to a letter sent from the school to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The university ordered Drs. J. Paul Muizelaar and Rudolph J. Schrot to immediately "cease and desist" doing the procedure last fall, according to the letter, dated Oct. 17, 2011, obtained by theSacramento Bee.Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi has ordered a review into the actions of Muizelaar, who is chairman of the department of neurological surgery at U.C. Davis, and Schrot, an assistant professor.The lack of approval before conducting human research could jeopardize the school's federal funding, said Rosamond Rhodes, director of bioethics education at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine."You are required to comply with federal rules if you are an institution accepting federal funding for research," she said. "Whether or not the project is funded by the federal government, it still has to comply with the rules."A spokesperson for the FDA told ABCNews.com it "cannot confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation."The surgeons said they were given consent by three terminal patients with glioblastomas, tumors that arise from the supportive tissue of the brain, to insert bacteria into their head wounds. The doctors believed the bacteria would create a postoperative infection that could help the patients live longer, according to documents included in the letter to the FDA.The surgeons insisted they were conducting an innovative treatment, not research."There are people who blatantly break the rules that endanger all of their research programs. We certainly didn't blatantly trample any rules," Muizelaar told the Sacramento Bee.Two of the patients contracted sepsis and died as a result of the procedure, according to the university.Harris A. Lewin, vice chancellor for research, wrote that the experimental procedure, which had been conducted on three patients without university or FDA permission, "constituted serious and continuing noncompliance reportable to the FDA."Muizelaar was ordered to hand off his clinical investigations, while Schrot was required to take the FDA's Clinical Investigator Training Course "to assure he possesses requisite knowledge to perform future studies, if and as permitted," the letter stated.On Thursday, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine awarded the university $53 million for research into Huntington's disease, limb ischemia and osteoporosis.

Source:abc News

 

Advanced Cell Technology gets Australian patent for human RPE cells derived from pluripotent stem cells

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, has issued a patent in Australia, patent number 2005325753, “Improved modalities for the treatment of degenerative diseases of the retina.” The patent broadly covers the use of human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells generated from pluripotent stem cells in the manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations of RPE cells, and the use of those preparations to treat patients with degenerative diseases of the retina such as Age-related Macular Degeneration. The patent covers the pharmaceutical formulation of human RPE cells made from a range of pluripotent stem cells, including both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. “We continue to make great progress with our patent estate covering RPE therapies,” said Gary Rabin, chairman and CEO of ACT. “Our ongoing success in securing broad patent protection around the world, including this newly-issued Australian patent, is a testament to our innovative chief scientific officer, Dr Robert Lanza, and the rest of our scientific team.” The efficient production of highly pure RPE cell preparations represents a critical step in the creation of renewable sources of transplantable cells that can be used to target degenerative diseases of the eye such as Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (SMD) and dry Age-related Macular Degeneration (dry AMD). “Our current embryonic stem cell trials pave the way for other pluripotent stem cell therapies,” commented Dr Lanza. “ACT’s cellular reprogramming technologies using iPS cells are in an advanced stage of development, and we hope to be in a position to move toward clinical translation in the not-too-distant future. Since iPS cells can be made from the patient’s own cells such as skin or blood cells they may allow us to expand our cell therapies beyond immune-privileged sites such as the eye without the risk of immune rejection.” Rabin concluded, “We are aggressively pursuing patent protection for a variety of aspects of our programs. Our intellectual property strategy includes both vigilance in pursuing comprehensive coverage from our initial patent filings, such as this new Australian patent, and filing for protection around our scientific team’s various innovations. At the same time we are paying close attention to including within our patent coverage those ways others may wish to adapt our technology for commercial use, such as through the choice of stem cell source, or the use of solid supports or cell suspensions for delivery. Following this strategy, we are establishing both formidable barriers-to-entry for potential competitors, as well as strong potential licensing opportunities for others, translating into solid revenue generation possibilities for the company.” Source:Pharmabiz

Modern Man Burns as Many Calories as Hunter-Gatherer Ancestors

While it is generally assumed that lack of physical activity due to advances in technology may be one of the reasons for the rise in obesity, a new study by American researchers reveals that the amount of calories burnt by modern adults is the same as those of their hunter-gatherer forebears.
The research found that there is no difference between the energy expenditure of modern hunter-gatherers and Westerners, casting doubt on the theory that blames modern lifestyle for the current rise in global obesity.
The research team behind the study, led by Herman Pontzer of Hunter College in New York City, along with David Raichlen of the University of Arizona and Brian M. Wood of Stanford measured daily energy expenditure (calories per day) among the Hadza, a population of traditional hunter-gatherers living in the open savannah of northern Tanzania.
Despite spending their days trekking long distances to forage for wild plants and game, the Hadza burned no more calories each day than adults in the U.S. and Europe.
The team ran several analyses accounting for the effects of body weight, body fat percentage, age, and gender. In all analyses, daily energy expenditure among the Hadza hunter-gatherers was indistinguishable from that of office going people.
The study was the first to measure energy expenditure in hunter-gatherers directly; previous studies had relied entirely on estimates.
These findings upend the long-held assumption that our hunter-gatherer ancestors expended more energy than modern populations, and challenge the view that obesity in Western populations results from decreased energy expenditure.
Instead, the similarity in daily energy expenditure across a broad range of lifestyles suggests that habitual metabolic rates are relatively constant among human populations.
This in turn supports the view that the current rise in obesity is due to increased food consumption not decreased energy expenditure.
The authors emphasize that physical exercise is nonetheless important for maintaining good health.
In fact, the Hadza spend a greater percentage of their daily energy budget on physical activity than other people do, which may contribute to the health and vitality evident among older Hadza.
Still, the similarity in daily energy expenditure between Hadza hunter-gatherers and Westerners suggests that we have more to learn about human physiology and health, particularly in non-Western settings.
"These results highlight the complexity of energy expenditure. It's not simply a function of physical activity," Pontzer said.
"Our metabolic rates may be more a reflection of our shared evolutionary past than our diverse modern lifestyles," Pontzer added.
The study was recently published in the open access journal PLoS ONE.
Source-ANI
 

Simple Injection may Help Cure Blindness

Discovered by a team of University of California, Berkeley, scientists in collaboration with researchers at the University of Munich and University of Washington in Seattle, the chemical temporarily restores some vision to blind mice.
The team is now working on an improved compound that may someday allow people with degenerative blindness to see again.
The approach could eventually help those with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disease that is the most common inherited form of blindness, as well as age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of acquired blindness in the developed world. In both diseases, the light sensitive cells in the retina - the rods and cones - die, leaving the eye without functional photoreceptors.
The chemical, called AAQ, acts by making the remaining, normally "blind" cells in the retina sensitive to light, said lead researcher Richard Kramer, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology. 
AAQ is a photoswitch that binds to protein ion channels on the surface of retinal cells. When switched on by light, AAQ alters the flow of ions through the channels and activates these neurons much the way rods and cones are activated by light.
"This is similar to the way local anesthetics work: they embed themselves in ion channels and stick around for a long time, so that you stay numb for a long time. Our molecule is different in that it's light sensitive, so you can turn it on and off and turn on or off neural activity," Kramer said.
Because the chemical eventually wears off, it may offer a safer alternative to other experimental approaches for restoring sight, such as gene or stem cell therapies, which permanently change the retina. It is also less invasive than implanting light-sensitive chips in the eye.
"The advantage of this approach is that it is a simple chemical, which means that you can change the dosage, you can use it in combination with other therapies, or you can discontinue the therapy if you don't like the results. As improved chemicals become available, you could offer them to patients. You can't do that when you surgically implant a chip or after you genetically modify somebody," Kramer said.
"This is a major advance in the field of vision restoration," said co-author Dr. Russell Van Gelder, an ophthalmologist and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Washington, Seattle.
The blind mice in the experiment had genetic mutations that made their rods and cones die within months of birth and inactivated other photopigments in the eye.
After injecting very small amounts of AAQ into the eyes of the blind mice, Kramer and his colleagues confirmed that they had restored light sensitivity because the mice's pupils contracted in bright light, and the mice showed light avoidance, a typical rodent behaviour impossible without the animals being able to see some light.
Kramer is hoping to conduct more sophisticated vision tests in rodents injected with the next generation of the compound.
The findings have been in the journal Neuron.
Source-ANI
 

Accelerated resolution therapy significantly reduces PTSD symptoms, researchers report

University of South Florida College of Nursing extends study nationwide to military across all service branches

July 27, 2012 (Tampa, FL) – Researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Nursing have shown that brief treatments with Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) substantially reduce symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) including, depression, anxiety, sleep dysfunction and other physical and psychological symptoms. The findings of this first study of ART appear in an on-line article published June 18, 2012 in the Journal Behavioral Sciences.

ART is being studied as an alternative to traditional PTSD treatments that use drugs or lengthy psychotherapy sessions. The talk therapy uses back-and-forth eye movements as the patient fluctuates between talking about a traumatic scene, and using the eye movements to help process that information to integrate the memories from traumatic events. The two major components of ART include minimizing or eliminating physiological response associated traumatic memories, and re-envisioning painful or disturbing experiences with a novel technique known as Voluntary Image Replacement.

For the initial study, USF researchers recruited 80 adult veterans and civilians, ages 21 to 60, in the Tampa Bay area. Before receiving ART, patients were tested for symptoms of PTSD and depression, with the vast majority testing positive, 80 percent for PTSD and 90 percent for depression. After the patients received ART-based psychotherapy, the research team reported a dramatic reversal in symptoms. In as few as one to four sessions, those showing symptoms had decreased to only 17 percent for PTSD and 28 percent for depression. Improvements were also seen in trauma-related growth and self-compassion in just one to four treatments.

"From this initial assessment, ART appears to be a brief, safe, and effective treatment for symptoms of PTSD," the report concludes.

"Early results are very promising," said principal investigator Kevin E. Kip, PhD, professor and executive director of the USF College of Nursing Research Center. "Most people who came in to be treated had very high scores for PTSD, and after treatment, the majority had very large reductions. The treatment also reduced other symptoms, like depression, as well as improved sleep."

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), PTSD has become an epidemic in the United States. Recent NIH statistics show more than 7.7 million American adults and as many as 31 percent of war veterans suffer from PTSD. They experience mild to extreme symptoms, often with greatly impaired quality of life and physical and psychological functioning.

ART is a particularly promising alternative to traditional PTSD treatments, because it uses no drugs, has no serious adverse effects, and can improve symptoms in -few therapy sessions. The compelling results achieved principally with civilians in the first study prompted the USF College of Nursing to seek and facilitate expansion of a second ongoing ART study funded by the U.S. Army. This expanded study encompasses active duty service members, veterans, and reservists across all branches of service at sites around the country.

"As part of RESTORE LIVES at USF, the innovative nursing research being conducted by Dr. Kip and his team demonstrates our commitment to the health and welfare of our nation's military, veterans and their families," said Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, senior associate vice president of USF Health and dean of the College of Nursing. "We are energized that the Department of Defense has agreed to extend the scope of the current study funded by the U.S. Army. The results that the ART studies have shown so far are truly amazing, and offers new hope to those suffering from PTSD."

Earlier this month, the USF research team traveled to Las Vegas to conduct the first mobile ART study with military reservists.

"We are happy about our collaboration with USF College of Nursing," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Raul Rojas, commanding officer for the Naval Operations Support Center (NOSC). "We're honored to be the first West Coast study site for the USF College of Nursing's ART study. "We hope our relationship will help get the word out to those who can benefit from the study."

ART is one of the five sub-studies of the USF College of Nursing's Research to Rehabilitate/Restore the Lives of Veterans, Service Members and their Families (RESTORE LIVES) grant funded and administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) at Fort Detrick, MD.

"All the pieces are coming together, with published results on ART, effectiveness leading to Department of Defense approval to extend the scope of the study, and our first national study site in Las Vegas. It looks like we are closer to getting a more efficient evidence-based treatment into place that will actually eliminate the traumatic response to memories and bring relief to the troops and their families," said co-principal investigator Carrie Elk, PhD, assistant professor and military liaison at the USF College of Nursing.

Source:University of South Florida (USF Health) 

Russian Dead Fetuses: Medicine Always Has ‘Quack Fringe’

Russian officials are baffled by the discovery earlier this week of 248 dead fetuses found stuffed into industrial barrels in a the destitute village of Lyovikha in Siberia.According to the New York Times, a fisherman stumbled across the gruesome scene — tiny, mummified bodies, some as old as 22 to 26 weeks gestation. In 2007, Lyovikha was the site of another horrific discovery: the bodies of 15 women and girls as young as 13, who had been abducted by a prostitution ring.Some have speculated that the bodies of these aborted or premature infants had been part of a human trafficking ring to sell for bogus cosmetic or medical procedures.Stories like these do damage to legitimate medicine, including stem cell research, according to experts, who worry about people buying into false cures. Those hopes only fuel the trade in illegal and unethical practices.“It’s a terrible story … people in distant lands killing embryos,” said Dr. Darwin Prockop, director of the Institute for Degenerative Medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.  ”This has always been true in medicine. Medicine has always had a quack fringe around it.”Health Day has reported that different clinics in China and in Ukraine have claimed to treat thousands of patients with adult stem cells for neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury and Alzheimer’s disease. They claim to have cured everything from autism to cerebral palsy and allergies.Web sites associated with these clinics emphasize benefits and not the risks and the average cost for such procedures, not including airfare and hotel — averaged about $21,500, according to Health Day.There is no science to support the injection of fetal stem cells for cosmetic purposes, and stem cell research is a long and arduous process.“I’m afraid it’s only the beginning of things,” said Prockop. “People are so over-excited about stem cells and believe that they will cure anything. And people are desperate.”Bogus research has cropped up even the United States, he said. A “60 Minutes” episode exposed a “snake oil salesman” in Florida who claimed to be curing those with Parkinson’s disease.Research in the field is promising, but the science is not there yet, according to Prockop.“Stem cells are kind of magical and can potentially grow body parts, but we are trying to do hard work that is safe and effective,” he said. “The only thing we can do is insist that everything goes through the FDA and systemized studies.”Crazy cures are dangerous, said Prockop. “People will get killed with the wrong injections for the wrong things.”But Dr. Insoo Hyun, associate professor of bioethics and philosophy at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, said the arguments between opponents and proponents of stem cell research have given them the “magical” properties that the public has embraced.“Unfortunately, people exploit the mystique and make money,” said Hyun.He said the Russian fetuses were not likely destined for any legitimate stem cell research. In the United States, the aborted fetuses used for adult research are not identified. “All the names were attached and they were discarded into woods,” he said.Still, many illegitimate operations mistakenly believe fetal cells have “rejuvenation” properties for wrinkles or disease, he said. Medical tourism thrives in these false claims.“What the heck were they doing where they were discarded and where did they come from?” said Hyun.  “It’s very bizarre and … people fill in the gaps with their wildest fears.”

Source:abc News

World Hepatitis Day - EASL calls on the United Nations to join the effort to tackle viral hepatitis

Marking World Hepatitis Day, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) calls on the different organizations which make up the United Nations systems to take action to fight against Viral Hepatitis (Hepatitis B and C), a potentially fatal infection of the liver which affects 500 million people. Viral hepatitis is the cause of death of over one million people a year and, around the world, one in every 3 people has been exposed to either the Hepatitis B virus or the Hepatitis C virus. Even more worrying, those infected do not know this and for them the first indication of infection can be the development of liver cancer or liver failure.

EASL acknowledges the progress made in recent years, including the establishment of WHO's Global Hepatitis Programme and welcomes the recent publication of the WHO strategy to prevent and control viral hepatitis infection . However, Professor Mark Thursz, EASL Secretary General, noted that "viral hepatitis needs to be recognised as a serious threat in its own right and measures need to be taken to prevent those not yet infected from becoming infected and to ensure treatment is made available for those who are infected".

EASL laments the impact of the exclusive emphasis on HIV, TB and malaria in policies arising from the Millennium Development Goals. As part of the work he has recently been conducting in Africa, Prof. Thursz met a patient who told him "If I don't catch HIV soon I'll die." Life saving antiviral medications which work against both HIV and HBV are provided by the Global Fund for patients with HIV but denied for patients with HBV. Prof Thursz remarked that "Continuing to ignore viral hepatitis is discriminating and will compromise achievements in sustainable development. UNDP should give viral hepatitis the same priority as HIV, TB and malaria."

Prof. Markus Peck-Radosavljevic, EASL's Vice-Secretary, noted "Viral hepatitis is a global issue. We need WHO to take a more active role in setting standards to control the transmission of infection through medical interventions and blood products. It will be difficult to address the epidemic effectively until WHO establish screening and surveillance protocols in every region"

Source:European Association for the Study of the Liver 

Stroke Affects Women More Than Men: Study

Women have a poorer quality of life after a stroke or mini stroke than men, reveals study.
A total of 496 patients agreed to take part – 379 were stroke patients and 117 had experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA), often known as a mini stroke.
"Stroke is a disease that can affect many aspects of a patient's life" explains co-author Dr Asa Franzen-Dahlin, a nurse researcher from the hospital's Department of Internal Medicine. "Physical problems are easy to identify, but personality changes and cognitive decline – a reduction in the ability to think, concentrate, formulate ideas, reason and remember – are often only noticeable to those closest to the patient."
Key findings included: 

• Response rates were 50% in the stroke group and 40% in the TIA group. Older patients were more likely to complete the questionnaire and were an average of three years older than the stroke patients who did not take part and five years older than the TIA patients who did not take part.
  
• The stroke patients (50% men) ranged from 34 to 93 years, with an average age of 73, and the TIA patients (52% men) ranged from 42 to 94 years, with an average age of 77. Average time between onset and completion of the questionnaire was eight weeks in the stroke patients and six weeks in the TIA patients.
  
• Male stroke and TIA patients tended to be younger than female stroke and TIA patients (72 versus 75 years and 76 versus 78 years respectively).
  
• Women stroke patients were significantly more affected in five of the six quality of life domains – emotion, sleep, energy, pain and mobility - than men. The only exception was social domain. When it came to specific problem areas, men reported more issues with sex than women (34% v 19%). Women reported more problems with housekeeping (56% v 36%) and social areas (33% v 22%) than men.
  
• Female TIA patients were significantly more affected in all quality of life domains than male TIA patients. When it came to specific problem areas, women had more issues with housekeeping (48% v 20%), social (33% v 8%), family (13% v 0%) and leisure time areas (42% v 23%).
  
• Male stroke patients were significantly more affected in certain domains than male TIA patients (total domain, plus emotional, energy and social domains), but there were no significant differences between female stroke and TIA patients.

"Our study shows that female stroke patients are more affected than male stroke patients when it comes to quality of life" concludes co-author Dr Ann Charlotte Laska from the Division of Internal Medicine.
"It also shows that female TIA patients are as badly affected when it comes to quality of life as female stroke patients and need the same level of support after they are discharged from hospital."
Source-Eurekalert
 

Closing Eyes Briefly After Verbal Learning Boosts Memory, Improves Learning l

Want to keep in memory what you just studied? Just sit quietly and close your eyes for a few minutes after learning something verbally. That's the best way to cement new learning, say psychologists.
Psychological scientist Michaela Dewar and her colleagues showed that taking a brief wakeful rest after learning something verbally new can boost memory, and that memory lasts not just immediately but over a longer term.
"Our findings support the view that the formation of new memories is not completed within seconds. Indeed our work demonstrates that activities that we are engaged in for the first few minutes after learning new information really affect how well we remember this information after a week," said Dewar.
In two separate experiments, a total of thirty-three normally aging adults between the ages of 61 and 87 were told two short stories and told to remember as many details as possible. Immediately afterward, they were asked to describe what happened in the story. Then they were given a 10-minute delay that consisted either of wakeful resting or playing a spot-the-difference game on the computer.
During the wakeful resting portion, participants were asked to just rest quietly with their eyes closed in a darkened room for 10 minutes while the experimenter left to "prepare for the next test."
Participants could daydream or think about the story, or go through their grocery lists. It didn't matter what happened while their eyes were closed, only that they were undistracted by anything else and not receiving any new information.
When participants played the spot-the-difference game, they were presented with picture pairs on a screen for 30 seconds each and were instructed to locate two subtle differences in each pair and point to them. The task was chosen because it required attention but, unlike the story, it was nonverbal.
In one study, the participants were asked to recall both stories half an hour later and then a full week later. Participants remembered much more story material when the story presentation had been followed by a period of wakeful resting.
Dewar explained that there is growing evidence to suggest that the point at which we experience new information is "just at a very early stage of memory formation and that further neural processes have to occur after this stage for us to be able to remember this information at a later point in time."
We now live in a world where we are bombarded by new information and it crowds out recently acquired information. The process of consolidating memories takes a little time and the most important things that it needs are peace and quiet.
The finding will appear in an article to be published in the journal Psychological Science, a publication of the Association for Psychological Science.
Source-ANI

 

Higher You Live, Faster You Age

Einstein was right, the higher you live above the sea level, the faster you age. This nature of Einstein's theory has been demonstrated with the world's most accurate clock.
Experts found that time really does run more quickly the higher you are - just as Einstein predicted, The Independent reported Tuesday.
They monitored two atomic clocks positioned just a foot apart in height above sea level.
Einstein had proposed 100 years ago in his theory of relativity that time and space are not as constant as everyday life would suggest.
He suggested that the only true constant, the speed of light, meant that time can run faster or slower depending on how high you are, and how fast you are travelling.
James Chin-Wen Chou and his colleagues from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, conducted the study.
"These precise clocks reveal the effects of gravitational pull, so if we position one clock closer to a planet, you also increase the gravitational pull and time actually runs slower than for another, similar clock positioned higher up," Chou said.
"No one has seen such effects before with clocks which is why we wanted to see if these effects are there. We would say our results agree with Einstein's theory - we weren't expecting any discrepancies and we didn't find any," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Source-IANS
 

Using Viagra For Fun Could Lead to Erectile Dysfunction in Young Men

Young men who use drugs like Viagra and Cialis just for fun are more at risk of developing a psychological dependence on them, making erections without medication difficult.
"Among young, healthy men who used ED medicines recreationally, the more frequent ED medicine use was associated with lower confidence in achieving and maintaining erections, which in turn was associated with lower erectile function," the New York Daily News quoted lead study author Christopher Harte, a postdoctoral fellow at the VA Boston Healthcare System, as telling WebMD.
For his study, Harte looked at data of more than 1,200 men whose average age was around 22.
In the study, 72 were recreational users, reporting no diagnosis of ED from a doctor, while 1,111 didn't use ED drugs.
Twenty-four were prescribed the drugs by their doctors for medical conditions.
Men responded to an online survey about their erectile function, orgasms, sexual desire, and whether or not they used ED drugs and how often.
They also reported their levels of confidence in their ability to get and maintain an erection.
Compared to men who didn't use drugs, recreational users reported lower erectile confidence and overall satisfaction with their erections.
Harte also noted that the decreased confidence was linked negatively with erectile functioning.
While the findings don't explain the connection, Harte suggested that using recreational ED medications may give users "unreasonable standards or expectations about their erectile performance."
The study is published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Source-ANI

 

Accelerated resolution therapy significantly reduces PTSD symptoms, researchers report

Researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Nursing have shown that brief treatments with Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) substantially reduce symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) including, depression, anxiety, sleep dysfunction and other physical and psychological symptoms. The findings of this first study of ART appear in an on-line article published June 18, 2012 in the Journal Behavioral Sciences.

ART is being studied as an alternative to traditional PTSD treatments that use drugs or lengthy psychotherapy sessions. The talk therapy uses back-and-forth eye movements as the patient fluctuates between talking about a traumatic scene, and using the eye movements to help process that information to integrate the memories from traumatic events. The two major components of ART include minimizing or eliminating physiological response associated traumatic memories, and re-envisioning painful or disturbing experiences with a novel technique known as Voluntary Image Replacement.

For the initial study, USF researchers recruited 80 adult veterans and civilians, ages 21 to 60, in the Tampa Bay area. Before receiving ART, patients were tested for symptoms of PTSD and depression, with the vast majority testing positive, 80 percent for PTSD and 90 percent for depression. After the patients received ART-based psychotherapy, the research team reported a dramatic reversal in symptoms. In as few as one to four sessions, those showing symptoms had decreased to only 17 percent for PTSD and 28 percent for depression. Improvements were also seen in trauma-related growth and self-compassion in just one to four treatments.

"From this initial assessment, ART appears to be a brief, safe, and effective treatment for symptoms of PTSD," the report concludes.

"Early results are very promising," said principal investigator Kevin E. Kip, PhD, professor and executive director of the USF College of Nursing Research Center. "Most people who came in to be treated had very high scores for PTSD, and after treatment, the majority had very large reductions. The treatment also reduced other symptoms, like depression, as well as improved sleep."

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), PTSD has become an epidemic in the United States. Recent NIH statistics show more than 7.7 million American adults and as many as 31 percent of war veterans suffer from PTSD. They experience mild to extreme symptoms, often with greatly impaired quality of life and physical and psychological functioning.

ART is a particularly promising alternative to traditional PTSD treatments, because it uses no drugs, has no serious adverse effects, and can improve symptoms in -few therapy sessions. The compelling results achieved principally with civilians in the first study prompted the USF College of Nursing to seek and facilitate expansion of a second ongoing ART study funded by the U.S. Army. This expanded study encompasses active duty service members, veterans, and reservists across all branches of service at sites around the country.

"As part of RESTORE LIVES at USF, the innovative nursing research being conducted by Dr. Kip and his team demonstrates our commitment to the health and welfare of our nation's military, veterans and their families," said Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, senior associate vice president of USF Health and dean of the College of Nursing. "We are energized that the Department of Defense has agreed to extend the scope of the current study funded by the U.S. Army. The results that the ART studies have shown so far are truly amazing, and offers new hope to those suffering from PTSD."

Earlier this month, the USF research team traveled to Las Vegas to conduct the first mobile ART study with military reservists.

"We are happy about our collaboration with USF College of Nursing," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Raul Rojas, commanding officer for the Naval Operations Support Center (NOSC). "We're honored to be the first West Coast study site for the USF College of Nursing's ART study. "We hope our relationship will help get the word out to those who can benefit from the study."

ART is one of the five sub-studies of the USF College of Nursing's Research to Rehabilitate/Restore the Lives of Veterans, Service Members and their Families (RESTORE LIVES) grant funded and administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) at Fort Detrick, MD.

"All the pieces are coming together, with published results on ART, effectiveness leading to Department of Defense approval to extend the scope of the study, and our first national study site in Las Vegas. It looks like we are closer to getting a more efficient evidence-based treatment into place that will actually eliminate the traumatic response to memories and bring relief to the troops and their families," said co-principal investigator Carrie Elk, PhD, assistant professor and military liaison at the USF College of Nursing.

Source:University of South Florida (USF Health) 

The longer you're awake, the slower you get

Lack of sleep can influence the way you perform certain tasks

Boston, MA – Anyone that has ever had trouble sleeping can attest to the difficulties at work the following day. Experts recommend eight hours of sleep per night for ideal health and productivity, but what if five to six hours of sleep is your norm? Is your work still negatively affected? A team of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered that regardless of how tired you perceive yourself to be, that lack of sleep can influence the way you perform certain tasks.

This finding is published in the July 26, 2012 online edition of The Journal of Vision.

"Our team decided to look at how sleep might affect complex visual search tasks, because they are common in safety-sensitive activities, such as air-traffic control, baggage screening, and monitoring power plant operations," explained Jeanne F. Duffy, PhD, MBA, senior author on this study and associate neuroscientist at BWH. "These types of jobs involve processes that require repeated, quick memory encoding and retrieval of visual information, in combination with decision making about the information."

Researchers collected and analyzed data from visual search tasks from 12 participants over a one month study. In the first week, all participants were scheduled to sleep 10-12 hours per night to make sure they were well-rested. For the following three weeks, the participants were scheduled to sleep the equivalent of 5.6 hours per night, and also had their sleep times scheduled on a 28-hour cycle, mirroring chronic jet lag. The research team gave the participants computer tests that involved visual search tasks and recorded how quickly the participants could find important information, and also how accurate they were in identifying it. The researchers report that the longer the participants were awake, the more slowly they identified the important information in the test. Additionally, during the biological night time, 12 a.m. -6 a.m., participants (who were unaware of the time throughout the study) also performed the tasks more slowly than they did during the daytime.

"This research provides valuable information for workers, and their employers, who perform these types of visual search tasks during the night shift, because they will do it much more slowly than when they are working during the day," said Duffy. "The longer someone is awake, the more the ability to perform a task, in this case a visual search, is hindered, and this impact of being awake is even stronger at night."

While the accuracy of the participants stayed the fairly constant, they were slower to identify the relevant information as the weeks went on. The self-ratings of sleepiness only got slightly worse during the second and third weeks on the study schedule, yet the data show that they were performing the visual search tasks significantly slower than in the first week. This finding suggests that someone's perceptions of how tired they are do not always match their performance ability, explains Duffy.

Source:Brigham and Women's Hospital 

BUSM researchers find link between childhood abuse and age at menarche

(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found an association between childhood physical and sexual abuse and age at menarche. The findings are published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Researchers led by corresponding author, Renée Boynton-Jarrett, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at BUSM, found a 49 percent increase in risk for early onset menarche (menstrual periods prior to age 11 years) among women who reported childhood sexual abuse compared to those who were not abused. In addition, there was a 50 percent increase in risk for late onset menarche (menstrual periods after age 15 years) among women who reported severe physical abuse in childhood. The participants in the study included 68,505 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study II, a prospective cohort study.

"In our study child abuse was associated with both accelerated and delayed age at menarche and importantly, these associations vary by type of abuse, which suggest that child abuse does not have a homogenous effect on health outcomes," said Boynton-Jarrett. "There is a need for future research to explore characteristics of child abuse that may influence health outcomes including type, timing and severity of abuse, as well as the social context in which the abuse occurs."

Child abuse is associated with a significant health burden over the life course. Early menarche has been associated with risks such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, cancer and depression, while late menarche has been associated with lower bone mineral density and depression.

"We need to work toward better understanding how child abuse influences health and translate these research findings into clinical practice and public health strategies to improve the well-being of survivors of child abuse," added Boynton-Jarrett.

Source:Boston University Medical Center 

Landmark HIV treatment-as-prevention study shows additional health benefits, cost-effectiveness

WHAT: Further analyses of the landmark NIH-funded treatment-as-prevention study (HPTN 052) have found that providing antiretroviral treatment to HIV-infected individuals earlier, when their immune systems are healthier, delays AIDS-related health events, such as chronic herpes simplex virus and tuberculosis, as well as death. Additionally, researchers found that earlier HIV treatment is also cost-effective because it increases survival, prevents costly opportunistic infections and averts transmission of the virus to uninfected individuals.

The two analyses were presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C. The health benefits talk was presented by Beatriz Grinsztejn, M.D., HPTN site investigator for the Instituto de Pesquisa Clinica Evandro Chagas in Brazil. The cost-effectiveness talk was given by Kenneth A. Freedberg, M.D., MSc, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Program in Epidemiology and Outcomes Research at the Harvard Medical School's Division of AIDS.

Initial results from the HPTN 052 study, announced in 2011, demonstrated that earlier use of antiretrovirals by HIV-infected heterosexuals partnered with uninfected individuals (serodiscordant couples) reduced HIV transmission by 96 percent. In two years of follow-up analysis of 1,761 HIV-infected study participants, researchers compared those who delayed antiretroviral treatment until their CD4+ T-cell counts were an average of 230 cells/ per cubic millimeter (mm³) with those who began antiretroviral treatment sooner (an average CD4 level of 440 cells/ mm³). The delayed group experienced a shorter time to a primary clinical event, including AIDS-defining disease and all types of tuberculosis. In total, there were 91 primary clinical events in the delayed treatment group versus 71 in the immediate group. This included 71 cases of AIDS-defining disease in the delayed treatment group versus 49 in the immediate group, and 34 cases of tuberculosis in the delayed group versus 17 in the immediate group. The trial provides evidence that earlier antiretroviral treatment among the HIV-infected provides significant health benefits.

In a separate modeling analysis designed to predict the clinical impact, costs and cost-effectiveness of the earlier antiretroviral treatment strategy, researchers compared the delayed treatment (CD4 counts of less than 250 cells/mm³) versus earlier treatment (350-550 cells/ mm³) data in South Africa and India. The two countries were selected to show how regional economic differences may or may not affect the conclusions. The researchers designated earlier treatment to be "very cost effective" if its cost-effectiveness ratio was less than one times per capita gross domestic product (GDP). Earlier treatment was deemed "cost effective" if its cost-effectiveness ratio was less than three times per capita GDP. The GDP was set at $8,100 for South Africa and $1,400 for India.

Using this model, they found that in both South Africa and India early ART increases patient survival, prevents costly opportunistic infections—partially offsetting the costs of treatment—averts HIV transmission, and is cost-effective within a five-year span and very cost-effective over a lifetime.

Source:NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 

 

UCLA researchers discover that fluoxetine -- a.k.a., Prozac -- is effective as an anti-viral

UCLA researchers have come across an unexpected potential use for fluoxetine – commonly known as Prozac – which shows promise as an antiviral agent. The discovery could provide another tool in treating human enteroviruses that sicken and kill people in the U.S. and around the world.

Human enteroviruses are members of a genus containing more than 100 distinct RNA viruses responsible for various life threatening infections, such as poliomyelitis and encephalitis. While immunization has all but eliminated the poliovirus, the archetype for the genus, no antiviral drugs currently exist for the treatment of enterovirus infections, which are often severe and potentially fatal. In view of its favorable pharmacokinetics and safety profile of fluoxetine — which is in a class of compounds typically used in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders and some personality disorders — the research team found that it warrants additional study as a potential antiviral agent for enterovirus infections.

Using molecular screening, the UCLA research team from the Department of Pediatrics, the California NanoSystems Institute and the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology found that fluoxetine was a potent inhibitor of coxsackievirus replication. This is one of the viruses that include polio and echovirus that is found in the gastrointestinal tract. Exposure to the virus causes other opportunistic infections and diseases.

"The discovery of unexpected antiviral activity of fluoxetine is scientifically very significant and draws our attention to previously overlooked potential targets of fluoxetine and other psychogenic drugs," said Robert Damoiseaux, scientific director of the Molecular Screening Shared Resource at the California NanoSystems Institute. "Part of our follow-up work will be the discovery of these unconventional targets for fluoxetine and other drugs of the same class and how these targets intersect with the known targets of this drug class."

Paul Krogstad, professor of pediatrics and molecular and medical pharmacology, added that understanding the mechanisms of action of fluoxetine and norfloxetine against coxsackieviruses "will add to our understanding of enterovirus replication and lead to assessment of their potential clinical utility for the future treatment of serious enterovirus infections."

The research team found that fluoxetine did not interfere with either viral entry or translation of the viral genome. Instead, fluoxetine and norfluoxetine markedly reduced the production of viral RNA and protein.

Source:University of California - Los Angeles 

Ayurveda Panchakarma, the latest health trend

First, it was yoga. Then, it was gyms. 'Spinning' as a form of exercise then took over as the new rage. Soon, power yoga, artistic yoga and martial arts infiltrated the fad circles. 
And now, it's the time of the AyurvedaPanchakarma to bask in the limelight. Well-known faces of the city's social circuit seem to be quite taken up by the five detoxification processes (Panchakarma). We've heard of quite a few of them giving it a shot — Neerav and Kinnary Panchamia, Ekta Shah Manjrekar, Channda Patil to name a few.
That people are weight and fitness conscious is a known fact. And when a fitness regime seems to work, word spreads. Panchakarma is the detoxification of the body and mind, we're told.Fashion designer Kinnary Panchamia says, "I had heard a lot about it from friends. When your body is feeling clogged and heavy, this helps it detoxify." Kinnary and her husband Neerav did one of the Panchakarma processes a couple of weeks back. "You can't imagine the toxins that your body can have!" quips Kinnary. While the processes are different, the result is the same — purification, she points out. "The doctors rightly advise you about what process suits you better and what you are ready for. It's a seven-nine day process and it purifies your blood and body," she says.
Kinnary says the primary result is that one's body feels light and functions better. "You feel energised and all the laziness disappears. I feel very positive. Before the process, you're even put on a light diet." Even restaurateur Kunal Shetty agrees. "It's very cleansing. Your energy levels increase and you don't feel like eating junk," he says.
Shubhika Narayan, a marketing manager with a firm, also tried Panchakarma in April this year after her friends did it. "I saw a world of difference in them which is when I realised that it's time to get my act together and focus on my health," she says. It's also more mental than physical, she feels. "You tend to concentrate on what you eat and realise what you're putting your body through. It makes you want to eat right and focus on your self. Today, we all lead lifestyles wherein we don't sleep enough and don't have that push to work out. This gives you that push to be healthy," she adds.
Both Shubhika and Kinnary tried the process in groups. It gets easier when you know your friends are doing it too, they say. "In fact, six of us did it together," Kinnary says.
Another common friend of theirs, Channda Patil, entrepreneur and social worker, says Panchakarma is on the cards for her. "Everybody's doing it! We eat so much junk food and meat that it seems like a good idea to go on a 12-day detoxification process," she says. And, an added advantage is that one also tends to lose weight as all the dirt and toxins are pushed out. "You lose the unnecessary junk stored in the body so it's a win-win situation," she adds. Well, seems like it has quite a grip on the city. 
Courtesy:TOI

Yoga Can Help Stroke Survivors Regain Their Balance

Group yoga can improve motor function and balance in stroke survivors, even if they don't begin yoga until six months or more after the stroke, according to "Post-Stroke Balance Improves With Yoga: A Pilot Study," published online July 26 in the journal Stroke.Forty-seven older adults, three-quarters of whom were male, participated in the study. They were divided into three sections: One section engaged in twice-weekly group yoga for eight weeks; the second section met twice weekly for group yoga and was provided with a relaxation audio recording to use at least three times weekly; and the third section received usual medical care that included no rehabilitation.

The yoga classes, taught by a registered yoga therapist, included modified yoga postures, relaxation and meditation. Classes grew more challenging each week.

Improvement in balance was statistically significant and clinically meaningful. It was also greater than previously found by other post-stroke exercise trials. Study participants reported they increasingly attempted new activities in different, more challenging environments and, while aware of potential fall risk, grew confident in maintaining their balance.

"For patients, like those in our study, natural recovery and acute rehabilitation therapy typically ends after six or, less frequently, 12 months," said Regenstrief Institute investigator Arlene Schmid, Ph.D., OTR, a rehabilitation research scientist with the Center of Excellence on Implementing Evidence-Based Practice at the Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center and assistant professor of occupational therapy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, who led the study. "We found that yoga exercises significantly extended rehabilitation beyond the first year after stroke."

Yoga may be more therapeutic than traditional exercise because the combination of postures, breathing and meditation may produce different effects than simple exercise, according to Dr. Schmid, who plans to further study the effectiveness of group yoga to improve balance, quality of life and participation in everyday activities. She notes that yoga's mind-body connection may be what makes it more powerful and engaging than other strengthening exercise.

Source:Indiana University School of Medicine 

 

 

Aging Negatively Affects Immune System’s Capability to Fight Infections

American researchers have said that they have found out how aging may interfere with the immune system’s ability to fight against infections and respond to vaccines.
The study from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, conducted in ageing mice, showed that administering antioxidants might help reverse this loss of immune function.
"Ageing is known to affect immune function, a phenomenon known as immunosenescence, but how this happens is not clear," said study leader Laura Santambrogio, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology and of microbiology and immunology at Einstein.
"Our study has uncovered several ways in which ageing can worsen the body's overall ability to mount an effective immune response," Santambrogio noted.
All cells generate chemicals called free radicals as a normal part of metabolism. These highly reactive, unstable molecules can readily damage proteins, lipids and other cellular components through oxidation (the reaction between oxygen and substances it comes in contact with).
Cells keep "oxidative stress" in check by producing several enzymes that are scavengers of free radicals. But in ageing, increased production of free radicals coupled with cells' decreased production of antioxidant enzymes cause a build-up of damaged proteins and other molecules that can be toxic to cells.
The current study is the first to examine whether age-related oxidative stress compromises the function of a type of immune cell called dendritic cells.
"Dendritic cells are known as the 'sentinels of the immune system' and alert the rest of the immune system to the presence of microbial invaders," explained Dr. Santambrogio.
"When you are exposed to viruses or bacteria, these cells engulf the pathogens and present them to the immune system, saying in effect, 'There's an infection going on, and here is the culprit-go get it,'" she explained.
Dr. Santambrogio, in collaboration with Einstein colleagues Fernando Macian-Juan, M.D., Ph.D. , and Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D. , isolated dendritic cells from ageing mice and found that oxidation-damaged proteins had accumulated in those cells and had caused harmful effects. For example, oxidatively modified proteins hampered the function of endosomes, the cell's organelle where pathogens are inactivated.
When the mice were injected with a potent antioxidant in the abdominal cavity daily for two weeks, some of the effects of oxidative stress were reversed.
This finding has implications for designing vaccines or therapies for humans, especially the elderly, whose weakened immune systems increase their susceptibility to infections and cancer, and reduces vaccine effectiveness.
"Many elderly people respond very poorly to vaccination, so perhaps a cycle of therapy with antioxidants before vaccination might improve their immune response to vaccines," Dr. Santambrogio stated.
The findings were published online this month in the journal Cell Reports.
Source-ANI
 

Yoga Helps Caregivers of People With Dementia

Practicing a certain form of yogic meditation reduced the stress levels of people who care for those stricken by Alzheimer's disease and dementia, finds study.
Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, Dr. Helen Lavretsky, senior author and a professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and colleagues found in their work with 45 family dementia caregivers that 68 of their genes responded differently after Kirtan Kriya Meditation (KKM), resulting in reduced inflammation.
Caregivers are the unsung heroes for their yeoman's work in taking care of loved ones that have been stricken with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, said Lavretsky, who also directs UCLA's Late-Life Depression, Stress and Wellness Research Program. But caring for a frail or demented family member can be a significant life stressor. Older adult caregivers report higher levels of stress and depression and lower levels of satisfaction, vigor and life in general. Moreover, caregivers show higher levels of the biological markers of inflammation. Family members in particular are often considered to be at risk of stress-related disease and general health decline.
As the U.S. population continues to age over the next two decades, Lavretsky noted, the prevalence of dementia and the number of family caregivers who provide support to these loved ones will increase dramatically. Currently, at least five million Americans provide care for someone with dementia.
"We know that chronic stress places caregivers at a higher risk for developing depression," she said "On average, the incidence and prevalence of clinical depression in family dementia caregivers approaches 50 percent. Caregivers are also twice as likely to report high levels of emotional distress." What's more, many caregivers tend to be older themselves, leading to what Lavretsky calls an "impaired resilience" to stress and an increased rate of cardiovascular disease and mortality.
Research has suggested for some time that psychosocial interventions like meditation reduce the adverse effects of caregiver stress on physical and mental health. However, the pathways by which such psychosocial interventions impact biological processes are poorly understood.
In the study, the participants were randomized into two groups. The meditation group was taught the 12-minute yogic practice that included Kirtan Kriya, which was performed every day at the same time for eight weeks. The other group was asked to relax in a quiet place with their eyes closed while listening to instrumental music on a relaxation CD, also for 12 minutes daily for eight weeks. Blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study and again at the end of the eight weeks.
"The goal of the study was to determine if meditation might alter the activity of inflammatory and antiviral proteins that shape immune cell gene expression," said Lavretsky. "Our analysis showed a reduced activity of those proteins linked directly to increased inflammation.
"This is encouraging news. Caregivers often don't have the time, energy, or contacts that could bring them a little relief from the stress of taking care of a loved one with dementia, so practicing a brief form of yogic meditation, which is easy to learn, is a useful too."
Lavretsky is a member of UCLA's recently launched Alzheimer's and Dementia Care Program, which provides comprehensive, coordinated care as well as resources and support to patients and their caregivers. Lavretsky has incorporated yoga practice into the caregiver program.
Source-Eurekalert
 

New Diabetes Study Detects High Risk for Diabetes in South Asian Population

South Asians (people of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lanka origin) have higher levels of blood sugar than white Europeans independent of risk factors that influence sugar levels, a new diabetes study at the University of Leicester has found.
The study of 4,688 white Europeans and 1,352 South Asians was led by Dr. Samiul A Mostafa, of the University of Leicester, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, and was published in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.
According to the study South Asians had higher levels of three measures of blood sugar: HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar over three months), fasting plasma glucose, and two-hour plasma glucose which are all used for diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. Importantly, these higher levels of sugar markers in South Asians were not accounted for by differences in risk factors that influence diabetes, suggesting they were independently higher.
Dr Mostafa, a Clinical Research Fellow in Diabetes and Endocrinology based at Leicester Diabetes Centre, said: "'We know Type 2 Diabetes is more common in South Asians compared to Europeans and is diagnosed at an earlier age. We are trying to explain reasons why this occurs beyond the well known risk factors of diet and physical activity.
"Our study suggests the main measures of glucose used in diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes are all higher in South Asians independent of risk factors which cause diabetes such as obesity, blood pressure, smoking and gender. This may explain why diabetes diagnosis is higher in South Asians but more research is required. The findings suggest that South Asians should be monitored more closely for type 2 diabetes."
Source-Eurekalert
 

Bone marrow transplant eliminates signs of HIV infection

2 Brigham and Women's Hospital patients have no detectable traces of HIV following transplantation

Two men with longstanding HIV infections no longer have detectable HIV in their blood cells following bone marrow transplants. The virus was easily detected in blood lymphocytes of both men prior to their transplants but became undetectable by eight months post-transplant. The men, who were treated at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), have remained on anti-retroviral therapy. Their cases will be presented on July 26, 2012 at the International AIDS Conference by Timothy Henrich, MD and Daniel Kuritzkes, MD, physician-researchers in the Division of Infectious Diseases at BWH.

"This gives us some important information", said Dr. Kuritzkes. "It suggests that under the cover of anti-retroviral therapy, the cells that repopulated the patient's immune system appear to be protected from becoming re-infected with HIV."

One patient's bone marrow transplant was two years ago, the other was four years ago. Both were performed at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center. Over time, as the patients' cells were replaced by donor cells, traces of HIV were lost. Currently, both patients have no detectable HIV DNA or RNA in their blood. The level of HIV antibody, a measure of exposure to HIV, also declined in both men.

"We expected HIV to vanish from the patients' plasma, but it is surprising that we can't find any traces of HIV in their cells", said Dr. Henrich. "The next step is to determine if there are any traces of HIV in their tissue."

The research team is currently designing studies that would enable them to look for HIV in the tissues. Researchers also plan to study additional HIV-positive patients who have undergone a bone marrow transplant.

Researchers point out that there are two key differences between the Brigham patients and the "Berlin patient", a man who was functionally cured of HIV after a stem cell transplant. In the Berlin patient's case, his donor was specifically chosen because the donor had a genetic mutation that resisted HIV. The Brigham patients' bone marrow transplants were done without any thought to selecting an HIV-resistant donor. Second, the Berlin patient ceased anti-retroviral therapy after his transplant, while the Brigham patients have remained on anti-retroviral therapy.

Source:

Brigham and Women's Hospital 

 

A further step towards preventing diabetes

Research workers at the UNIGE have developed a novel method of identifying molecules that could help to prevent diabetes

Pancreatic beta cells produce insulin, responsible for controlling blood sugar levels and thus essential for our survival. Among the numerous factors that affect the workings of these cells, a protein called Cx36 was identified a few months ago by a research team at the UNIGE. The scientists there had demonstrated that in transgenic mice, suitably modified so as not to produce any Cx36, synchronization of the beta cells ceased and insulin production went out of control. This de-synchronization of insulin secretion is the first measurable sign in people suspected of developing type 2 diabetes. Armed with this knowledge, the research team have set about finding molecules which act directly on Cx36 with the objective of developing a novel therapeutic approach to fighting diabetes.

Paolo Meda, Professor of Cellular Physiology and Metabolism in the University of Geneva's Faculty of Medicine, has set his team a real challenge - study the protein Cx36, present in minute quantities and almost impossible to detect using traditional techniques, and which has a half-life of around three hours!

Over one thousand drugs tested

Sabine Bavamian and Helena Pontes, researchers in Professor Meda's laboratory, set to work on developing a non-invasive system for understanding how Cx36 works. This project has been partly financed by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (USA) and the Swiss National Science Foundation and is using equipment in the Bio-Imaging department of UNIGE's Faculty of Medicine. The two scientists have been able to develop a new model using living cells which produce insulin and Cx36 in culture in order to be able rapidly to test a large number of potentially interesting molecules. With this novel approach, they have been able to analyse some 1040 molecules, enabling them to identify those that stimulate insulin production and those that inhibit it. Such discoveries should enable the roll out of new pharmacological treatment strategies for type 2 diabetes.

And what if animal venoms are not poisons after all?

Although there is now a large number of drugs that are prescribed for diabetics the world over to help alleviate insulin secretion de-synchronization, the majority of them have unfortunate side effects. And thus Professor Meda has decided to use the innovative technique developed by his team to test the effect on Cx36 of very different molecules, produced from animal venom. Such molecules should not give rise to the same type of problem posed by the traditional drugs used currently. The screening, or selection, of the venom should enable carrying out the necessary validation tests, initially in vitro, and then in vivo. «We have some 3 to 5 years work ahead of us, but we have very serious hopes of discovering molecules which act exclusively on Cx36, unlike all the currently identified molecules, with a view to limiting side-effects», explains Professor Meda. In the fight against diabetes, scientists are exploring numerous avenues, some of which are rather surprising.

Source:Université de Genève 

Solving the mystery of how cigarette smoking weakens bones

Almost 20 years after scientists first identified cigarette smoking as a risk factor for osteoporosis and bone fractures, a new study is shedding light on exactly how cigarette smoke weakens bones. The report, in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, concludes that cigarette smoke makes people produce excessive amounts of two proteins that trigger a natural body process that breaks down bone.

Gary Guishan Xiao and colleagues point out that previous studies suggested toxins in cigarette smoke weakened bones by affecting the activity of osteoblasts, cells which build new bone, and osteoclasts, which resorb, or break down, old bone. Weakening of the bones, known as osteoporosis, can increase the risk of fractures and is a major cause of disability among older people. To shed light on how cigarette smoking weakens bones, the scientists analyzed differences in genetic activity in bone marrow cells of smokers and non-smokers.

They discovered that human smokers produce unusually large amounts of two proteins that foster production of bone-resorbing osteoclasts compared to non-smokers. Experiments with laboratory mice confirmed the finding.

Source:American Chemical Society 

How complex penis reconstruction surgery for teen will be done

Luis Canelos, the Peruvian teenager who lost his genitals in a gunshot accident when he was a child, is facing a complex operation.South Florida doctors on Thursday mapped out how they will replace his penis using a combination of skin from his forearm and bone from a cadaver.The surgery, tentatively scheduled for next month, will take two medical teams 24 hours at Holtz Children’s Hospital at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. International Kids Fund Wonderfund, a Jackson Memorial Foundation-run charity that arranges for foreign children to get the medical attention they need, is helping to raise money for the $50,000 cost.“I cannot overemphasize how complex the operation is,” said Dr. Rafael Gosalbez, a pediatric urologist at Miami Children’s Hospital, who will perform the surgery with two other doctors.Luis’ genitals were destroyed by a rifle shot when he was 9. He was left with just a part of his right testicle.To make a new penis, doctors will remove skin from Luis’ left forearm. Using a microscope, they will transfer nerves to enable Luis to experience sensation, said Dr. Christopher J. Salgado, associate professor of surgery and section chief of plastic surgery at the University of Miami. Doctors will then transfer skin from his thigh to his forearm. Luis will sport a cast to allow a smooth recovery.Luis’ remaining testicle — which continued to grow after his accident — eliminates the need to treat him with hormones or testosterone, Salgado added.This sort of operation is “not very common and there are not a lot of institutions that do this,” Salgado said. He said he performs six penile reconstruction surgeries a year.Salgado first met Luis three years ago in Lima, Peru, and he felt compelled to help. Wonderfund arranged for Luis to receive treatment in Miami.After the surgery, Luis will be monitored for two days. Through additional surgery in the future, Luis will eventually be able to father children. One option involves creating a support infrastructure using part of a fibular bone obtained from a cadaver. The other alternative is to insert an artificial pump, which poses the risk of infection.“This is not only about making him physically whole, it’s about giving him back human dignity, self-esteem, a future and maybe even prevent suicide,” said María Luisa Chea, executive director of International Kids Fund Wonderfund.

Source:The Miami Herald

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/25/2914400/how-complex-penis-reconstruction.html#storylink=cpy