Many middle-aged and older adults with diabetes are sexually active according to a study of nearly 2,000 people aged 57 to 85 presented in the September 2010 issue of the journal Diabetes Care.
Almost 70 percent of partnered men with diabetes and 62 percent of partnered women with diabetes engaged in sexual activity two or three times a month, comparable to those without diabetes, the study showed.
The disease took a toll, however, on both the desire and the rewards of sexual activity. Men diagnosed with diabetes were more likely to express a lack of interest in sex and to experience erectile dysfunction. Both men and women reported a higher rate of orgasm difficulties, such as climaxing too quickly (men) or not at all (men and women).
"Patients and doctors need to know that most middle age and older adults with partners are still sexually active despite their diabetes," said the study's lead author Stacy Lindau, MD, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of medicine at the University of Chicago. "However, many people with diabetes have sexual problems that are not being addressed."
"Nearly half of the women in this age group do not have a partner," she added. "Women with diabetes are far less likely than women without diabetes to have a partner. Those who have partners were more likely than men to avoid sex because of a problem, and were far less likely than men to discuss a sexual problem with their doctors."
Friday, 27 August 2010
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Drug News: Brain's Painkilling Process - New Facts
When a natural painkiller is stimulated too frquently, then the responding brain cell receptors close down, making it ineffective, states a new study. br>
The study has important implications for drug development.
The natural painkiller, 2-AG, is one of the two major "endocannabinoid" neurotransmitter
he other, anandamide, can be kept at high levels in the brain without losing its therapeutic effects, and researchers had hoped that the same would be true for 2-AG.
"One implication is that maximally elevating 2-AG levels in the brain might not provide a straightforward path to new pain drugs," Nature quoted Dr. Benjamin F. Cravatt III as saying.
"But we remain optimistic that more modest elevations in 2-AG could produce sustained pain relief. Perhaps more importantly, on a basic science level, we've been able to tease apart a key difference between the two major endocannabinoid signaling pathways, since one can maximally elevate anandamide without observing tolerance," he added.
Like the opioid system, the endocannabinoid system was discovered as a result of humans identifying a plant - in this case marijuana (cannabis sativa) - that artificially boosts its activity. Marijuana's main active ingredient, THC, typically reduces pain and anxiety.
Researchers have sought to develop drugs that reproduce such therapeutic effects while leaving out THC's unwanted side effects - which include memory impairment, locomotor dysfunction, and possibly addiction.
Cannabinoid research received a boost in 1990 with the description of the main cannabinoid receptor in the brain, CB1, and a few years later with the discoveries of the body's own (endo-) cannabinoids, anandamide and 2-AG, which exert most of their effects by binding to CB1.
The study has important implications for drug development.
The natural painkiller, 2-AG, is one of the two major "endocannabinoid" neurotransmitter
he other, anandamide, can be kept at high levels in the brain without losing its therapeutic effects, and researchers had hoped that the same would be true for 2-AG.
"One implication is that maximally elevating 2-AG levels in the brain might not provide a straightforward path to new pain drugs," Nature quoted Dr. Benjamin F. Cravatt III as saying.
"But we remain optimistic that more modest elevations in 2-AG could produce sustained pain relief. Perhaps more importantly, on a basic science level, we've been able to tease apart a key difference between the two major endocannabinoid signaling pathways, since one can maximally elevate anandamide without observing tolerance," he added.
Like the opioid system, the endocannabinoid system was discovered as a result of humans identifying a plant - in this case marijuana (cannabis sativa) - that artificially boosts its activity. Marijuana's main active ingredient, THC, typically reduces pain and anxiety.
Researchers have sought to develop drugs that reproduce such therapeutic effects while leaving out THC's unwanted side effects - which include memory impairment, locomotor dysfunction, and possibly addiction.
Cannabinoid research received a boost in 1990 with the description of the main cannabinoid receptor in the brain, CB1, and a few years later with the discoveries of the body's own (endo-) cannabinoids, anandamide and 2-AG, which exert most of their effects by binding to CB1.
New HIV Treatments With New Finding
HIV in rhesus monkeys has been destroyed by a protein called TRIM5a whose key components scientists have identified.
Senior researcher Edward M. Campbell, of Loyola University Health System, said that the finding could lead to new TRIM5a-based treatments that would knock out HIV in humans.
In 2004, other researchers reported that TRIM5a protects rhesus monkeys from HIV. The TRIM5a protein first latches on to a HIV virus, then other TRIM5a proteins gang up and destroy the virus.
Humans also have TRIM5a, but while the human version of TRIM5a protects against some viruses, it does not protect against HIV.
Researchers hope to turn TRIM5a into an effective therapeutic agent. But first they need to identify the components in TRIM5a that enable the protein to destroy viruses.
"Scientists have been trying to develop antiviral therapies for only about 75 years. Evolution has been playing this game for millions of years, and it has identified a point of intervention that we still know very little about," Campbell said.
TRIM5a consists of nearly 500 amino acid subunits. Loyola researchers have identified six 6 individual amino acids, located in a previously little-studied region of the TRIM5a protein, that are critical in the ability of the protein to inhibit viral infection. When these amino acids were altered in human cells, TRIM5a lost its ability to block HIV-1 infection.
By continuing to narrow their search, researchers hope to identify an amino acid, or combination of amino acids, that enable TRIM5a to destroy HIV.
Senior researcher Edward M. Campbell, of Loyola University Health System, said that the finding could lead to new TRIM5a-based treatments that would knock out HIV in humans.
In 2004, other researchers reported that TRIM5a protects rhesus monkeys from HIV. The TRIM5a protein first latches on to a HIV virus, then other TRIM5a proteins gang up and destroy the virus.
Humans also have TRIM5a, but while the human version of TRIM5a protects against some viruses, it does not protect against HIV.
Researchers hope to turn TRIM5a into an effective therapeutic agent. But first they need to identify the components in TRIM5a that enable the protein to destroy viruses.
"Scientists have been trying to develop antiviral therapies for only about 75 years. Evolution has been playing this game for millions of years, and it has identified a point of intervention that we still know very little about," Campbell said.
TRIM5a consists of nearly 500 amino acid subunits. Loyola researchers have identified six 6 individual amino acids, located in a previously little-studied region of the TRIM5a protein, that are critical in the ability of the protein to inhibit viral infection. When these amino acids were altered in human cells, TRIM5a lost its ability to block HIV-1 infection.
By continuing to narrow their search, researchers hope to identify an amino acid, or combination of amino acids, that enable TRIM5a to destroy HIV.
Chinese Herbs Offer Hope for Type 2 Diabetes
A new study has found that emodin, a natural product that can be extracted from various Chinese herbs including Rheum palmatum and Polygonum cuspidatum, shows promise as an agent that could reduce the impact of type 2 diabetes.
The study showed that giving emodin to mice with diet-induced obesity lowered blood glucose and serum insulin, improved insulin resistance and lead to more healthy levels of lipid in the blood. It also decreased body weight and reduced central fat mass.
"If repeated in humans, all of these changes would be beneficial for people affected by type 2 diabetes or other metabolic diseases associated with insulin resistance," says lead author Dr Ying Leng, who works in the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai, China.
Research is increasingly showing that an enzyme known as 11ß-HSD1 plays a role in the body's response to sugar contained in a person's diet, because this enzyme increases glucocorticoids' ability to act.
The research revealed for the first time that emodin is a potent selective inhibitor of 11ß-HSD1, and as a result it effectively limits the effect of the glucocorticoids, and ameliorates diabetes and insulin resistance.
"Our work showed that this natural extract from Chinese herbs could point the way to a new way of helping people with type 2 diabetes as well as other metabolic disorders. To develop it further, researchers would need to develop chemicals that have similar effects as emodin, and see which if any of these could be used as a therapeutic drug," says Leng.
Findings have been published in this month's edition of the British Journal of Pharmacology.
Source-ANI
The study showed that giving emodin to mice with diet-induced obesity lowered blood glucose and serum insulin, improved insulin resistance and lead to more healthy levels of lipid in the blood. It also decreased body weight and reduced central fat mass.
"If repeated in humans, all of these changes would be beneficial for people affected by type 2 diabetes or other metabolic diseases associated with insulin resistance," says lead author Dr Ying Leng, who works in the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai, China.
Research is increasingly showing that an enzyme known as 11ß-HSD1 plays a role in the body's response to sugar contained in a person's diet, because this enzyme increases glucocorticoids' ability to act.
The research revealed for the first time that emodin is a potent selective inhibitor of 11ß-HSD1, and as a result it effectively limits the effect of the glucocorticoids, and ameliorates diabetes and insulin resistance.
"Our work showed that this natural extract from Chinese herbs could point the way to a new way of helping people with type 2 diabetes as well as other metabolic disorders. To develop it further, researchers would need to develop chemicals that have similar effects as emodin, and see which if any of these could be used as a therapeutic drug," says Leng.
Findings have been published in this month's edition of the British Journal of Pharmacology.
Source-ANI
Over Five Million Men Suffer from Andropause
Menopause in men is no more an uncommon notion - experts say more than five million men are affected by it.
Menopause in men, medically known as male hypogonadism, causes symptoms of fatigue, mood swings, decreased desire for sex, hair loss, lack of concentration and weight gain.
It occurs as a result of low testosterone production in male body. Testosterone is the hormone that plays a key role in masculine growth and development. When hormone levels drop, men can experience significant mental and physical changes.
"Unfortunately, we estimate that 95 percent of cases are undiagnosed and therefore untreated. When ignored, symptoms can seriously disrupt one's quality of life," said Robert Brannigan of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Compared to menopause in women, the effects of hormonal change move slowly, with testosterone levels dropping around one percent each year beginning in a man's late thirties, said Brannigan.
This increases with age, and by age seventy, the reduction in a male's testosterone level could be as high as fifty percent or more.
Treatment options for male hypogonadism include hormone replacement therapy (HRT) via absorbable pellet implants, topical gels, patches, and injections. Through HRT, doctors can restore sexual function and muscle strength. In addition, men often experience an increase in energy and an improved overall sense of well-being.
"Because male hypogonadism can significantly impact the quality of one's life, it's important that men pay attention to their body and openly discuss symptoms with their physician in order to prevent overlooking the cause and avoid missing an opportunity for appropriate therapy," he said.
Menopause in men, medically known as male hypogonadism, causes symptoms of fatigue, mood swings, decreased desire for sex, hair loss, lack of concentration and weight gain.
It occurs as a result of low testosterone production in male body. Testosterone is the hormone that plays a key role in masculine growth and development. When hormone levels drop, men can experience significant mental and physical changes.
"Unfortunately, we estimate that 95 percent of cases are undiagnosed and therefore untreated. When ignored, symptoms can seriously disrupt one's quality of life," said Robert Brannigan of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Compared to menopause in women, the effects of hormonal change move slowly, with testosterone levels dropping around one percent each year beginning in a man's late thirties, said Brannigan.
This increases with age, and by age seventy, the reduction in a male's testosterone level could be as high as fifty percent or more.
Treatment options for male hypogonadism include hormone replacement therapy (HRT) via absorbable pellet implants, topical gels, patches, and injections. Through HRT, doctors can restore sexual function and muscle strength. In addition, men often experience an increase in energy and an improved overall sense of well-being.
"Because male hypogonadism can significantly impact the quality of one's life, it's important that men pay attention to their body and openly discuss symptoms with their physician in order to prevent overlooking the cause and avoid missing an opportunity for appropriate therapy," he said.
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