RxPG News : Health

Best way to boost adult immunizations is through office-based action, study finds

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Promoting immunizations as a part of routine office-based medical practice is needed to improve adult vaccination rates, a highly effective way to curb the spread of diseases across communities, prevent needless illness and deaths, and lower health care costs, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Increasingly, vaccinations are being offered outside of physician offices at pharmacies, workplaces and retail medical clinics. Even so, office-based medical practice continues to be central to the delivery of recommended vaccinations to adults.

Regardless of where vaccines are actually administered, office-based providers are uniquely positioned to identify patients who need vaccination, to communicate credibly about the benefits and risks of vaccination, and to ensure that vaccination histories are properly maintained, said Katherine Harris, the study's lead author and a senior economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

The RAND study outlines improvements needed to strengthen the role of office-based medical providers to promote vaccination to adult patients. These include creating tools to improve communications between patients and providers about vaccinations, and stronger incentives to encourage health providers to refer patients to community sites that administer vaccinations if they do not offer them.

Diseases that can be readily prevented by vaccines take a heavy toll on adults in the United States despite the wide-spread availability of this generally safe and effective preventive care. The yearly health care and productivity costs blamed on influenza -- a common illness that can be prevented by vaccination -- is as high as $90 billion, depending on the severity of the annual outbreak.

In contrast to childhood vaccination rates, which are generally high, adult vaccination rates remain disappointingly low. Even in the case of influenza, inoculation rates for even those at the highest risk of death do not exceed 70 percent. Vaccines recommended for adults can prevent influenza, pneumococcal sepsis, shingles, hepatitis A and B, pertussis (whooping cough) and the human papillomavirus -- the leading cause of cervical cancer.

Researchers say recent changes in the policy and practice environments provide a unique window of opportunity to improve the delivery of vaccinations to adults. Health care reform legislation promotes preventive care and improves financial access to adult vaccinations.

RAND researchers identified bottlenecks that have stalled delivery of adult vaccinations and propose strategies to overcome these shortcomings. Their effort included a review of past research about adult vaccination, a stakeholder workshop, interviews with experts, and a short telephone survey of adults to learn about the relationship between influenza vaccination and public beliefs and misperceptions about its safety.

The study reports that while medical offices are the location where most adults receive vaccinations, only about one-fourth of physician offices stock all recommended vaccines for adults. Reasons include the fact that some vaccines have a short shelf life and insurance payments for administering adult vaccines may not cover the doctor's costs.

Researchers say one priority is to collect better national information about the patterns of office-based vaccination of adults to pinpoint gaps in practice, which could then be targeted for improvement efforts.

Better guidance should be developed to help health providers effectively promote and administer vaccines, including structured vaccination counseling protocols. Providers also need tools to help them evaluate whether to administer vaccines onsite or refer their patients to community resources such as pharmacies and flu vaccine clinics, according to the study.

Systems also must be developed to credit primary care providers for providing vaccine counseling, whether their patients receive the vaccination on-site or go elsewhere to get it.

'Pep talk' can revive immune cells exhausted by chronic viral infection

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chronic infections by viruses such as HIV or hepatitis C eventually take hold because they wear the immune system out, a phenomenon immunologists describe as exhaustion.

Yet exhausted immune cells can be revived after the introduction of fresh cells that act like coaches giving a pep talk, researchers at Emory Vaccine Center have found. Their findings provide support for an emerging strategy for treating chronic infections: infusing immune cells back into patients after a period of conditioning.

The results are published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

The first author of the paper is Rachael Aubert, a student in Emory's Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis program who completed her doctorate in 2009. Senior author Rafi Ahmed, PhD, is director of the Emory Vaccine Center and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

Ahmed's laboratory has extensive experience studying mice infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Immune responses against LCMV are driven by CD8 or killer T cells, which destroy virus-infected cells in the body. But a few weeks after exposure to LCMV, the mice develop a chronic infection that their immune systems cannot shake off, similar to when humans are infected by viruses like HIV and hepatitis C.

Aubert and her co-workers examined what happened to mice chronically infected with LCMV when they infused CD4 or helper T cells from uninfected mice. After the infusion, the CD8 cells in the infected mice revived and the levels of virus in their bodies decreased by a factor of four after a month. Like coaches encouraging a tired athlete, the helper cells drove the killer cells that were already in the infected mice to emerge from exhaustion and re-engage.

The cell-based treatment was especially effective when combined with an antibody that blocks the molecule PD-1, which appears on exhausted T cells and inhibits their functioning. The antibody against PD-1 helps the exhausted T cells to revive, and enhances the function of the helper cells as well: the combination reduced viral levels by roughly ten-fold, and made the virus undetectable in some mice.

We have not seen this sharp of a reduction in viral levels in this system before, says co-author Alice Kamphorst, a postdoctoral fellow.

The helper cells were all genetically engineered to recognize LCMV, a difference between mouse experiments and potential clinical application. However, it may be possible to remove helper T cells from a human patient and stimulate them so that all the cells that recognize a given virus grow, Kamphorst says.

This is an active area of research and several laboratories are looking at how best to stimulate T cells and re-introduce them, she says.

In addition, she and her co-workers are examining what types of hormones or signaling molecules the helper cells provide the killer cells. That way, that molecule could be provided directly, instead of cell therapy, she says.

The molecule PD-1 was previously identified by Ahmed and colleagues as a target for therapy designed to re-activate exhausted immune cells. Antibodies against PD-1 have been undergoing tests in clinical studies against hepatitis C and several forms of cancer.

Burning more sugar drives super athleticism

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:54:14 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Washington, Dec 1 - Muscle fitness drives super athleticism, especially when their cells efficiently utilise sugar as a fuel source, a study reveals.

Conversely, exercising improves the muscle's ability to take up sugar from the bloodstream and burn it for energy.

On the flip side, conditions that reduce physical activity, such as obesity or chronic disease, reduce the muscle's capacity to burn sugar.

A new study from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute - unravels a mechanism that re-programmes metabolic genes in muscles to boost their capacity to use sugar, the journal Genes & Development reported.

When activated in mice, this metabolic re-programming dramatically improves exercise performance, according to a university statement.

'Essentially, these transgenic mice are capable of storing and burning sugars at rates usually only seen in the trained athlete,' said researcher Daniel P. Kelly.

Kelly's mice are special because they're engineered to produce the protein PPARB/d in their muscle tissue. Previous studies have shown that mice with high PPARB/d levels in their muscles have increased exercise capacity.

Kelly and his team discovered why that is -- the muscles of PPARB/d mice are better than normal mice at taking up sugar from the bloodstream, storing it and burning it for energy.

Research aims to prevent obesity by reaching parents, young children through child care

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) MANHATTAN, KAN. -- A Kansas State University research group is jumping ahead to improve nutrition and physical activity among young children and prevent childhood obesity.

The researchers -- led by David Dzewaltowski, professor and kinesiology department head -- have developed a program called HOP'N Home, which stands for Healthy Opportunities for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Home. The researchers have been working on obesity prevention for more than 15 years. The latest segment of the program partners with the Butler County Health Department and K-State Research and Extension to reach 3- to 5-year-olds and their parents through activities conducted at child care facilities.

Our research has moved to younger and younger age groups because we have found through the public health literature and surveillance that you need to start as young as possible, Dzewaltowski said.

The project works with child care centers to build the capacity of staff to help children and their parents offer more physical activity and more nutritious food options as well as understand the impact of advertising on their food and physical activity choices. The project has been supported by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund.

The project is divided into four phases. The first phase evaluated a 12-week program with the university's Stone House Early Childhood Education Center. The second phase occurred last spring, when the researchers partnered with Butler County Research and Extension to work with four child care providers.

The researchers are currently in the third phase of the project and are working with the Butler County Health Department to develop a training model that helps child care providers deliver the 12-week program. For the final phase, the researchers will partner with agencies such as Child Care Aware of Kansas to make the training model available to child care providers statewide.

We've done rigorous evaluation of the program and we're finding preliminary evidence that some parents are improving the home environment, Dzewaltowski said. The parents are providing more fresh fruits and reporting that they are eating fast food fewer times per week. They are also increasing visits to parks and reporting that their children are asking to play outside more and asking for few cakes, doughnut and muffins.

The project's 12-week program reaches young children through elements such as adult-led activities, dramatic play and snack time. It uses a traffic light, which helps children understand healthy eating through green and yellow foods, called go and slow foods. The program also uses a traffic light to understand physical activity versus sedentary activity as well as media that promote healthy or unhealthy options.

The researchers focus on two types of traffic foods with the 3- to 5-year-olds: healthy go foods that can be eaten all the time and slow foods that should be eaten in moderation. The children learn about these foods by singing a song composed by Teri Holmberg, a Kansas State University instructor of music and certified music therapist.

Daily activities focus on go and slow foods to help children start thinking about healthy eating. For instance, during dramatic play, children use a toy stove to cook pretend fruits and vegetables. At snack time, child care providers prompt the children to think if they are eating a go or slow food. The children also learn the difference between active and sedentary toys.

Literature has suggested that the food industry has been very effective in marketing to young kids to nag their parents, Dzewaltowski said. What we are focusing on is positive nagging, or positive pestering, where kids start to think about asking their parents for healthy foods.

The project also includes a home connection, where the child care providers inform parents through weekly activities and newsletters to help them encourage children to make healthy choices at home.

I am excited about this age group because I think the children are receptive to the programs, but the parents are as well, Dzewaltowski said. Parents of this age group are at a time period where they are aware of the problems, they are hearing the media and they are looking for help.

AMD-like lesions delayed in mice fed lower glycemic index diet

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) BOSTON (November 14, 2011) -- Feeding older mice a lower glycemic index (GI) diet consisting of slowly-digested carbohydrates delays the onset of age-related, sight-threatening retinal lesions, according to a new study from the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University.

The researchers studied middle-aged and older mice that consumed either a higher or lower GI diet. Mice fed the lower GI diet developed fewer and less-severe age-related lesions in the retina than the mice fed the higher GI diet. The lesions included basal laminar deposits, which typically develop after age 60 in the human retina and are the earliest warning sign of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

To our knowledge, we have established the first mature, mammalian model indicating a delay in the development of AMD-like lesions as the result of a lower GI diet, says Allen Taylor, PhD, director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the USDA HNRCA. The only difference between the two groups of mice we studied is the GI of their meals, which suggests that diet alone is enough to accelerate or delay the formation of lesions. These results, coupled with similar observations made by our laboratory in earlier human epidemiologic studies imply that lower GI diets hold potential as an early intervention for preventing onset and progress of AMD.

The dietary glycemic index (DGI) measures the rate at which glucose is delivered to the bloodstream after consuming carbohydrates. Higher GI foods including white bread and white potatoes trigger a rapid delivery of glucose that pushes the body to work overtime to absorb, whereas lower GI foods, like whole grain bread and fruits and vegetables, initiate a slower release of glucose that is more easily processed by cells.

Compared to the mice on the lower GI diet, mice on the higher GI diet demonstrated elevated accumulations of debris known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the whole retina, particularly in the cells of the RPE. The RPE plays a crucial role in maintaining vision and its dysfunction results in the gradual central vision loss that is the hallmark of AMD. AGE accumulation has also been linked to tissue damage in other age-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

We presume the elevated accumulation of AGEs we saw in the retina of the higher GI group is associated with toxicity. The AGEs result from the modification of proteins by excess glucose and this compounds the normal protein damage that happens as we age, says Karen Weikel, first author and a PhD candidate at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. While previous research has linked higher GI diets to AGE accumulation in the blood, ours appears to be the first to show diet-related AGE presence in tissue, such as the retina, which becomes the site of the eye disease.

The research, published online in October in the journal

Low vitamin C levels may raise heart failure patients' risk

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Low levels of vitamin C were associated with higher levels of high sensitivity C-Reactive protein (hsCRP) and shorter intervals without major cardiac issues or death for heart failure patients, in research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

Compared to those with high vitamin C intake from food, heart failure patients in the study who had low vitamin C intake were 2.4 times more likely to have higher levels of hsCRP, a marker for inflammation and a risk factor for heart disease.

The study is the first to demonstrate that low vitamin C intake is associated with worse outcomes for heart failure patients.

Study participants with low vitamin C intake and hsCRP over 3 milligrams per liter (mg/L) were also nearly twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease within one year of follow-up.

We found that adequate intake of vitamin C was associated with longer survival in patients with heart failure, said Eun Kyeung Song, Ph.D., R.N., lead author of the study and assistant professor at the Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, in the University of Ulsan in Korea.

The average age among the 212 patients in the study was 61, and about one-third were women. Approximately 45 percent of the participants had moderate to severe heart failure.

Participants completed a four-day food diary verified by a registered dietitian and a software program calculated their vitamin C intake. Bloods tests measured hsCRP.

Researchers divided participants into one group with levels over 3 mg/L of hsCRP and another with lower levels. Patients were followed for one year to determine the length of time to their first visit to the emergency department due to cardiac problems or death.

Researchers found that 82 patients (39 percent) had inadequate vitamin C intake, according to criteria set by the Institute of Medicine. These criteria allowed the researchers to estimate the likelihood that the patient's diet was habitually deficient in vitamin C based on a four day food diary. After a year follow-up, 61 patients (29 percent) had cardiac events, which included an emergency department visit or hospitalization due to cardiac problems, or cardiac death.

The researchers found that 98 patients (46 percent) had hsCRP over 3 mg/L, according to Song.

Inflammatory pathways in heart failure patients may be why vitamin C deficiency contributed to poor health outcomes, the data suggests.

Increased levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein means a worsening of heart failure, Song said. An adequate level of vitamin C is associated with lower levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. This results in a longer cardiac event-free survival in patients.

The use of diuretics may also play a role because vitamin C is water soluble and diuretics increase the amount of water excreted from the kidneys, said Terry Lennie, Ph.D., R.N., study author and associate dean of Ph.D. studies in the College of Nursing at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

Diet is the best source of vitamin C, Lennie said. Eating the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day provides an adequate amount.

More randomized controlled trials and longitudinal prospective studies are needed to determine the impact of other micronutrients on survival or rehospitalization, Song said.

Sugar-sweetened beverages may increase cardiovascular risk in women

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Drinking two or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day may expand a woman's waistline and increase her risk of heart disease and diabetes, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

In this study, researchers compared middle-aged and older women who drank two or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day, such as carbonated sodas or flavored waters with added sugar, to women who drank one or less daily. Women consuming two or more beverages per day were nearly four times as likely to develop high triglycerides, and were significantly more likely to increase their waist sizes and to develop impaired fasting glucose levels. The same associations were not observed in men.

Women who drank more than two sugar-sweetened drinks a day had increasing waist sizes, but weren't necessarily gaining weight, said Christina Shay, Ph.D., lead author of the study and assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. These women also developed high triglycerides and women with normal blood glucose levels more frequently went from having a low risk to a high risk of developing diabetes over time.

The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) included food frequency surveys in 4,166 African-American, Caucasian, Chinese-Americans and Hispanic adults 45 to 84 years old. At the beginning of the study the participants didn't have cardiovascular disease.

Researchers assessed risk factors in three follow-up exams spanning five years starting in 2002. Participants were monitored for weight gain, increases in waist circumference, low levels of high density lipoproteins (HDL good cholesterol), high levels of low density lipoproteins (LDL bad cholesterol), high triglycerides, impaired fasting glucose levels, and type 2 diabetes.

Most people assume that individuals who consume a lot of sugar-sweetened drinks have an increase in obesity, which in turn, increases their risk for heart disease and diabetes, said Shay, formerly of Northwestern University's Department of Preventive Medicine in Chicago, where the study was conducted. Although this does occur, this study showed that risk factors for heart disease and stroke developed even when the women didn't gain weight.

Women may have a greater chance for developing cardiovascular disease risk factors from sugar-sweetened drinks because they require fewer calories than men which makes each calorie count more towards cardiovascular risk in women, Shay said.

Researchers have yet to determine exactly how sugar-sweetened beverages influence cardiovascular risk factors such as high triglycerides in individuals who do not gain weight, Shay said, but further work is planned to try and figure that out.

Study finds shifting disease burden following universal Hib vaccination

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) [EMBARGOED FOR NOV. 11, 2011] Vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, once the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in children, has dramatically reduced the incidence of Hib disease in young children over the past 20 years, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online (

The Hib vaccine was successful in reducing disease among children 5 years and younger, and now the epidemiology has changed, said lead author Jessica MacNeil, MPH, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who, with colleagues, analyzed data for the current epidemiology and past trends in the invasive disease over the past two decades following the introduction of the Hib vaccine in the mid-1980s. Most H. influenzae disease in the United States is now caused by other, non-type b strains of the bacteria.

The study authors warn that the highest rates of disease from non-b type strains are in the oldest and youngest age groups, those 65 and older and infants less than a year old. Among children younger than 5 years old, young infants are the most likely to be diagnosed with the disease. Many of these cases occur during the first month of life, and among those, premature and low-birthweight babies are the most vulnerable.

The number of adults 65 and older who become ill due to H. influenzae is also high compared to the rest of the population, according to the study authors. Among those in this group who become sick, nearly 25 percent of the cases are fatal. Risk factors for this age group are harder to interpret, the authors note, as clinical outcomes may be due to underlying medical conditions.

American Indian and Alaska Native children continue to have a disproportionately large burden of both Hib and non-b type disease compared to others, the study found, but the reasons behind this are not fully understood. Why these groups continue to be at a higher risk than other populations should be the focus of future studies, MacNeil said. Understanding risk factors for H. influenzae disease in this population, such as household crowding, poverty, and poor air quality, could potentially help prevent transmission.

The study authors found that no substantial serotype replacement has been observed among young children in the U.S., which suggests the current Hib vaccine has been effective in preventing H. influenzae illness in this age group. However, the authors note, the burden of disease seen in older adults is an opportunity that could be addressed in the future with an H. influenzae vaccine for adults.

UT study: Climate change affects ants and biodiversity

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Some people may consider them pests, but ants are key to many plants' survival.

In the eastern US, ants are integral to plant biodiversity because they help disperse seeds. But ants' ability to perform this vital function, and others, may be jeopardized by climate change, according to Nate Sanders, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Sanders and his collaborators have received a grant for nearly $2 million from the National Science Foundation to examine the cascading effects of climate change on ant communities and the ecosystem functions they provide.

Ants are critically important to most ecosystems, Sanders said. They eat other insects, circulate nutrients, increase turnover in the soil, and move seeds around.

Sanders and his colleagues are testing the effects of climate change on ants by heating up patches of forest and tracking how the ants respond. Inside Duke Forest in North Carolina and Harvard Forest in Massachusetts lie 12 five-meter wide, open-top chambers. Air temperature is incrementally increased by half a degree Celsius in each chamber for a total of a six-degree changes and ant behavior observed.

The researchers, led by Katie Stuble from UT and Shannon Pelini at Harvard Forest, noticed dramatic changes in the ants' daily activity in each chamber.

If the temperature increases by just a half a degree Celsius, the most important seed-dispersing ants basically shut down, said Sanders. They do not go out and forage and do the things they normally do.

Stuble observed that, on average, the ants foraged for about 10 hours a day at normal temperatures. When temperatures were raised just a half a degree, the ants stayed in their nests underground and foraged just an hour.

The absence of ants' seed dispersal and nutrient cycling could have profound influence on biodiversity. For instance, it is believed that more than half of the plants in the forest understory of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park rely on ants for seed dispersal. Ants are found in ecosystems everywhere but in Antarctica and Iceland.

The researchers' goal is to provide information about the effects of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystems.

We know that climate change is happening, Sanders said. Lots of models make predictions about how biodiversity is going to respond. It will either respond by adapting, moving or going extinct. If you can't keep up with climate change, you will go extinct.

Sanders and his team will collect data through 2015. He is collaborating with colleagues from Harvard University, North Carolina State University, and University of Vermont. The project began in 2007, with funding from the Department of Energy. The team's papers can be read at

Dirt prevents allergy

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Oversensitivity diseases, or allergies, now affect 25 per cent of the population of Denmark. The figure has been on the increase in recent decades and now researchers at the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC), University of Copenhagen, are at last able to partly explain the reasons.

In our study of over 400 children we observed a direct link between the number of different bacteria in their rectums and the risk of development of allergic disease later in life, says Professor Hans Bisgaard, consultant at Gentofte Hospital, head of the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood, and professor of children's diseases at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

Reduced diversity of the intestinal microbiota during infancy was associated with increased risk of allergic disease at school age, he continues. But if there was considerable diversity, the risk was reduced, and the greater the variation, the lower the risk.

So it makes a difference if the baby is born vaginally, encountering the first bacteria from its mother's rectum, or by caesarean section, which exposes the new-born baby to a completely different, reduced variety of bacteria. This may be why far more children born by caesarean section develop allergies.

In the womb and during the first six months of life, the mother's immune defences protect the infant. Bacteria flora in infants are therefore probably affected by any antibiotics the mother has taken and any artificial substances she has been exposed to.

I must emphasise that there is not one single allergy bacteria, Professor Bisgaard points out.

We have studied staphylococci and coli bacteria thoroughly, and there is no relation. What matters is to encounter a large number of different bacteria early in life when the immune system is developing and 'learning'. The window during which the infant is immunologically immature and can be influenced by bacteria is brief, and closes a few months after birth.

Our new findings match the large number of discoveries we have also made in the fields of asthma and hay fever, Professor Bisgaard explains. Like allergies, they are triggered by various factors early in life.

The researchers gathered their data from a unique material consisting of 411 children whose mothers have asthma. This cohort was monitored, interviewed and tested continually from when the children were born 12 years ago, and the COPSAC group has published articles at regular intervals with new knowledge about allergy and asthma ever since.

Professor Bisgaard acknowledges the irony of something that used to be perceived as a threat to public health, namely bacteria, now turning out to be a fundamental part of a healthy life. He also points out that there may be other couplings, such as between intestinal flora and diabetes or obesity and other lifestyle diseases affecting modern man in the West.

I think that a mechanism that affects the immune system will affect more than just allergies, he concludes. It would surprise me if diseases such as obesity and diabetes are not also laid down very early in life and depend on how our immune defences are primed by encountering the bacterial cultures surrounding us.

On the menu: Research helps future restaurant managers reach out to customers with food allergies

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) MANHATTAN, KAN. -- A Kansas State University research team is serving up improved food allergy education for future restaurant managers and staff.

Junehee Kwon, associate professor of hospitality management and dietetics, and Kevin Sauer, assistant professor of hospitality management and dietetics, are co-principal investigators on a project recently funded by a United States Department of Agriculture Higher Education Challenge Grant for more than $140,000.

We are developing food allergy education materials that educators in hospitality management and dietetics can use to supplement the education of future food service managers, Kwon said.

A recent national study showed that more than 40 percent of people who have a seafood allergy -- one of the most common allergies in the United States -- have experienced an allergic reaction from eating in a restaurant.

This high percentage of allergic reactions may be from hidden allergens in sauces or from mixed dishes coming in contact with a safe food item, Kwon said. Knowing that such cross-contact has occurred may be difficult to determine and declare to the customer. Additionally, restaurant employees may not often understand the true risks of food allergies for their customers.

Consumers with allergies are frustrated, Kwon said. They are actually putting their lives in danger by buying and consuming food prepared by someone else. There is a need for consumer education to make sure the customer clearly communicates what his or her specific needs are to the restaurant staff. But even with that communication, people are still frustrated by the apparent inability of food service operations to assure allergen-free food.

The researchers will use the grant to improve food allergy training for future restaurant and food service managers. They will develop educational materials to assist students in hospitality management and dietetics to be more proactive in working with customers who have food allergies.

However, we realize that just having knowledge about food allergies is not enough, Kwon said. Learning more about how food allergies can really impact someone's life can motivate these future managers to take food allergy precautions more seriously.

To motivate students, the researchers plan to use storytelling methods that feature video testimonials from individuals who have food allergies. These videos are meant to appeal to the students' emotions and show how food allergies have affected someone's life.

For preliminary data collection, we created a short storytelling video and measured students' attitudes toward food allergies before and after watching it, Kwon said. We saw an increase in how the students perceived the severity of the risks associated with food allergies and their motivation to learn more increased.

With the newly funded grant, the researchers will collect more testimonials, record them and incorporate them into new food allergy education curricula. In the future, they hope to expand their scope to work directly with employees and managers currently working in the food service industry.

Kwon and Sauer will also recruit undergraduate researchers for the project, particularly undergraduates involved in the Kansas Bridges to the Future program, the Developing Scholars Program and the Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program.

USDA Higher Education Challenge Grants support projects that address an educational need through a creative or nontraditional approach. Projects have the potential for regional or national influence and can serve as a model for other institutions.

Frequently used weight-loss method is light on evidence

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Although the transtheoretical model stages of change (TTM SOC) method is frequently used to help obese and overweight people lose weight, a newly published Cochrane systematic review indicates there is little evidence that it is effective. The use of TTM SOC only resulted in 2kg or less weight loss, and there was no conclusive evidence that this loss was sustained, says study leader Nik Tuah, who works at Imperial College London.

The transtheoretical model describes a step-by-step way in which individuals move from unhealthy behaviours to healthy ones. The model helps clinicians and patients by showing the sorts of benefits that can be expected for each step in the sequence. The five stages of change that the model anticipates are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance.

A key assumption underlying this model is that people do not start off by being ready to change their behaviours, so any intervention that starts by asking for change is unlikely to be taken up, says Tuah. TTM SOC tries to overcome this by introducing stages that lead people to the place where they can see the need to change their behaviour and are willing to give it a go. Only then do you introduce the active interventions.

Leading a team of researchers, Tuah looked for studies that had investigated the effectiveness of TTM SOC. They identified five appropriate studies involving 1834 people who received an intervention and 2076 people who were placed in control groups. The trials varied in length from six weeks to 2 years. Drawing all the findings together showed that there was no convincing evidence that the intervention produced any significant sustainable weight loss. There was, however, some indication that when TTM SOC was combined with exercise and dieting, people's physical activity or eating habits did change a little.

One of the adverse outcomes noted by a single trial was that some people gained weight while using TTM SOC. None of the trials asked whether TTM SOC improved a person's health-related quality of life, or whether it reduced the risk of them getting ill. Also, none looked at the cost of taking patients through TTM SOC.

Given that obesity and overweight are such important issues, and that TTM SOC is so widely used, it is really important that we do more high quality randomised control trials, preferably with large numbers of people, and follow them for many years. Then we may get a better indication of how well it really works, says Tuah. This review does not necessarily challenge the notion that diet and exercise are effective weight loss strategies, but instead raises questions about how to approach lifestyle changes for individuals who want to adopt them.

NIH modifies 'VOICE' HIV prevention study in women

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A large-scale clinical trial evaluating whether daily use of an oral tablet or vaginal gel containing antiretroviral drugs can prevent HIV infection in women is being modified because an interim review found that the study cannot show that one of the study products, oral tenofovir, marketed under the trade name Viread, is effective.

An independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) recommended that the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (VOICE) study discontinue evaluating tenofovir tablets because the study will be unable to show a difference in effect between tenofovir tablets and placebo tablets. The DSMB found no safety concerns with oral tenofovir, which is currently used to treat HIV, or with the other products that will continue to be investigated as the VOICE study proceeds.

As the trial's primary sponsor, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, concurred with the DSMB's recommendation and will modify the study. Because the trial is continuing, the study data remain confidential and restricted to DSMB analysis. Given that data are unavailable, NIAID cannot speculate about why oral tenofovir did not show an effect among VOICE study participants.

Begun in September 2009, the VOICE study, or MTN-003, involves more than 5,000 HIV-uninfected women in South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The trial was designed to test the safety, effectiveness and acceptability of two different HIV prevention strategies: an investigational microbicide gel containing tenofovir, and oral tablets containing tenofovir either alone or co-formulated with the drug emtricitabine. The tablets, known by the brand names Viread (tenofovir) and Truvada (tenofovir plus emtricitabine), have been taken daily in an approach known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

After its routine review of the study data on Sept. 16, the DSMB recommended that the investigators stop evaluating oral tenofovir because the study would be unable to show that tenofovir tablets have a different effect than placebo tablets at preventing HIV infection among the study participants. The DSMB therefore recommended that the roughly 1,000 women in the oral tenofovir group stop taking the study product. Further, the DSMB recommended that the VOICE study continue as designed to evaluate tenofovir gel and oral Truvada.

The study team will immediately begin to inform all VOICE participants of this new development and will soon begin the orderly discontinuation of the tenofovir tablets. Participants who were taking oral tenofovir will stop using the product at their next scheduled clinical site visit. They will then return eight weeks later for a final set of tests and procedures before exiting the study. At that visit, they will be provided information about where they can continue to receive HIV testing and counseling, contraception and other medical and support services.

NIAID is pleased that the trial will continue to examine the question of whether tenofovir gel and oral Truvada are safe and effective HIV prevention measures for women and thanks all participants in the VOICE study for their significant contribution to furthering HIV prevention research. This study is an important component of NIH's comprehensive HIV prevention research program articulated in the HHS National HIV/AIDS Strategy Operational Plan.

NIAID remains committed to supporting research to develop HIV prevention tools that women can implement. Slightly more than half of all new HIV infections globally occur in women, mostly through unprotected sex with HIV-infected men. A safe and effective microbicide or oral PrEP regimen would be particularly helpful to women when it is difficult or impossible for them to refuse sex or negotiate condom use with their male partners.

Scientists disarm HIV in step towards vaccine

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Researchers have found a way to prevent HIV from damaging the immune system, in a new lab-based study published in the journal Blood. The research, led by scientists at Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University, could have important implications for the development of HIV vaccines.

HIV/AIDS is the third biggest cause of death in low income countries, killing around 1.8 million people a year worldwide. An estimated 2.6 million people became infected with HIV in 2009.

The research shows that HIV is unable to damage the immune system if cholesterol is removed from the virus's membrane. Usually, when a person becomes infected, the body's innate immune response provides an immediate defence. However, some researchers believe that HIV causes the innate immune system to overreact and that this weakens the immune system's next line of defence, known as the adaptive immune response.

In the new study, the researchers removed cholesterol from the membrane surrounding the virus and found that this stopped HIV from triggering the innate immune response. This led to a stronger adaptive response, orchestrated by immune cells called T cells. These results support the idea that HIV overstimulates the innate response and that this weakens the immune system.

Dr Adriano Boasso, first author of the study, from Imperial College London, said: HIV is very sneaky. It evades the host's defences by triggering overblown responses that damage the immune system. It's like revving your car in first gear for too long. Eventually the engine blows out.

This may be one reason why developing a vaccine has proven so difficult. Most vaccines prime the adaptive response to recognise the invader, but it's hard for this to work if the virus triggers other mechanisms that weaken the adaptive response.

HIV takes its membrane from the cell that it infects. This membrane contains cholesterol, which helps to keep it fluid. The fluidity of the membrane enables the virus to interact with particular types of cell. Cholesterol in the cell membrane is not connected to cholesterol in the blood, which is a risk factor for heart disease but is not linked to HIV.

Normally, a subset of immune cells called plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) recognise HIV quickly and react by producing signalling molecules called interferons. These signals activate various processes which are initially helpful, but which damage the immune system if switched on for too long.

In collaboration with researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Milan and Innsbruck University, Dr Boasso's group at Imperial have discovered that if cholesterol is removed from HIV's envelope, it can no longer activate pDCs. As a consequence, T cells, which orchestrate the adaptive response, can fight the virus more effectively.

The researchers removed cholesterol using varying concentrations of beta-cyclodextrin (bCD), a derivative of starch that binds cholesterol. Using high levels of bCD they produced a virus with a large hole in its envelope. This permeabilised virus was not infectious and could not activate pDCs, but was still recognised by T cells. Dr Boasso and his colleagues are now looking to investigate whether this inactivated virus could be developed into a vaccine.

It's like an army that has lost its weapons but still has flags, so another army can recognise it and attack it, he said.

Plant compound reduces breast cancer mortality

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Phytoestrogens are plant compounds which, in the human body, can attach to the receptors for the female sexual hormone estrogen and which are taken in with our daily diet. A number of findings have attributed a cancer protective effect to these plant hormones. At DKFZ, a team headed by Prof. Dr. Jenny Chang-Claude summarized the results of several studies in a meta-analysis last year and showed that a diet rich in phytoestrogens lowers the risk of developing breast cancer after menopause. Now the Heidelberg researchers wanted to find out whether phytoestrogens also have an influence on the course of breast cancer. Prior investigations on this topic had provided contradictory results.

The most important type of phytoestrogens in our Western diet are lignans, which are contained in seeds, particularly flaxseeds, as well as in wheat and vegetables. In the bowel, these substances are turned into enterolactone, which is absorbed by the mucous tissue and which was determined by the Heidelberg researchers as a biomarker in the patients' blood.

From 2002 to 2005, the DKFZ researchers used the MARIE study to take blood samples of 1,140 women who had been diagnosed with postmenopausal breast cancer. After a mean observation time of six years, they related enterolactone levels to clinical disease progression.

The result: Compared to the study subjects with the lowest enterolactone levels, the women with the highest blood levels of this biomarker had an approximately 40 percent lower mortality risk. When the scientists additionally took account of the incidence of metastasis and secondary tumors, they obtained a similar result: Women with the highest enterolactone levels also had a lower risk for such an unfavorable disease progression.

We now have first clear evidence showing that lignans lower not only the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer, but also the mortality risk, says Jenny Chang-Claude. There had been prior studies to determine the lignan intake by means of dietary surveys. But the results of such surveys are often unreliable and, in addition, there are big differences in the way individuals actually process the plant substances into effective metabolic products. Therefore, the Heidelberg team chose the more reliable measurement of biomarkers.

However, Chang-Claude narrowed down the result: The result was significant only for the group of tumors that have no receptor for the estrogen hormone (ER-negative tumors). This gives reason to suspect that enterolactone protects from cancer not only by its hormone-like effect. Indeed, studies of cells and animals had already provided evidence suggesting that the substance also has an influence on cancer growth irrespective of estrogen. Thus, it promotes cell death and inhibits sprouting of new blood vessels.

In order to find out whether enterolactone also inhibits the aggressiveness of estrogen receptors in estrogen-positive tumors, we would need to expand this study to include much larger groups of women, said Jenny Chang-Claude. Moreover, the scientist firmly emphasized: By eating a diet that is rich in wholemeal products, seeds and vegetables, which is considered to be health-promoting anyway, everybody can take in enough lignans. At the present time, we can only discourage people from taking any food supplements.

Phytoestrogens have been the subject of intense scientific debates in past years. On the one hand, the results of several studies of cells as well as epidemiological findings suggest that they have a cancer protective effect. Another observation that may be interpreted in this direction is that Asian women are less frequently affected by breast cancer. Their soy-rich diet contains large amounts of another type of phytoestrogens, isoflavones. On the other hand, scientists fear that isoflavones might imitate the growth-promoting properties of real hormones and, thus, accelerate hormone-dependent tumors such as breast cancer and prostate cancer. It has not yet been finally determined whether lignans in the body imitate the hormone effect or, on the contrary, counteract it, says Jenny Chang-Claude. Our studies will help achieve more clarity in this important question, which also concerns our daily diet.

South Asians more prone to knee arthritis: Expert

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:08:12 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Panaji, Sep 10 - Senior citizens in the Indian sub-continent suffer a 15 percent more severe attack of osteo-arthritis in their knee joints as compared to their counterpart Caucasians from Europe or northern America, a specialist orthopaedic surgeon said here Saturday.

Speaking to reporters while announcing the merger of Ahmedabad-based Shalby Hospitals with Goa's Vrundavan Hospital and Research Centre -, chairman and managing director of Shalby Hospitals, Vikram Shah, also said that the new post-merger entity -- Shalby Vrundavan Hospital -- would focus on knee replacement surgeries in the first phase.

'There is scientific explanation for this, but south Asian elders suffer 15 percent more severe osteo-arthritis attacks in the knee joints than their Caucasian counterparts from Europe and north America,' Shah said.

'Unlike us, Caucasians are more vulnerable to osteo-arthritis of the hip,' Shah added.

Shah further said that the merger, where Shalby Hospitals picked up a 55 percent stake in VHRC, will help the tremendous potential of medical tourism in Goa, as thousands of foreign tourists flock to the state for their summer vacations annually.

'We are certainly looking at that market,' said Shah, who has conducted over 22,000 knee replacement surgeries.

The Shalby Hospital is a 230-bed facility in Ahmedabad employing over 100 doctors and has several other medical establishments in other cities of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kenya.

VHRC, located at Mapusa, 15 km north of here, is a 115-bed facility.

Micronutrient powders reduce anemia and iron deficiency in infants in low-income countries

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Adding a powder that contains several vitamins and minerals, including iron, zinc and vitamin A, to the semi-solid foods taken by infants and children between six months and two years of age, can reduce their risk of anaemia and iron deficiency. This is the conclusion of a new Cochrane Systematic Review.

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies, particularly those of iron, vitamin A and zinc, affect more than two billion people worldwide. Infants and young children are highly vulnerable because they grow rapidly and often have diets low in these nutrients. Micronutrient powders are single-dose packets containing multiple vitamins and minerals in powder form that can be sprinkled onto any semi-solid food immediately before eating at home or at any other place. Thus, this intervention is known as home or point of use fortification.

Led by Luz Maria De-Regil, a team of researchers set out to see whether using micronutrient powders could improve the health of young children. They found eight relevant trials that together involved 3748 children living in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, where anaemia is a public health problem. The studies lasted between two and 12 months and the powder formulations contained between five and 15 nutrients.

Overall, home fortification with the micronutrient powders reduced the risk of having anaemia by 31% and iron deficiency by 51% when compared with no intervention or placebo. The team found, however, that there was little or no evidence that this intervention has an effect on growth, survival or overall developmental outcomes. We still need to know more about possible positive and adverse side effects as only a few trials reported on this, says De-Regil, who is an Epidemiologist at the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

The researchers also found that these powders had a very similar effect to daily iron supplements. However, as they report, We need to treat this result with caution, however, because there was much less data for this comparison.

It seems that micronutrient powders can be helpful for infants and young children aged six to 23 months and living in places that have different amounts of anaemia and malaria, regardless of whether the intervention lasts two, six or 12 months or whether recipients are girls or boys.. Nonetheless, the authors add a word of caution: This intervention involves mixing the powders with homemade food as a vehicle, so it is important to assure that basic sanitation is available and food hygiene and handling is done properly with safe water.

The team believes that we now need more information about the best combination of vitamins and minerals to include in the mix, whether to give it daily or intermittently and for how long to give it to ensure that children receive the maximum benefits.

Pharmacists need to provide better information to teenagers on risks and benefits of medicines

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Hyderabad, India: A large proportion of teenagers regularly and frequently take some form of medication without receiving targeted information about the risks and benefits, according to a review of current research, to be presented at the annual congress of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) tomorrow (Tuesday).

Dr Priya Bahri will tell delegates that 35% of boys and 45% of girls in Europe and the USA take painkillers for headaches every month. In addition, they take a variety of other medicines for things like stomach aches, sleeping disorders, nervousness, asthma, infectious diseases and for pregnancy prevention. Most teenagers take their medicines appropriately, but there is evidence of accidental or intentional inappropriate use or misuse, she says.

At a time when young people want to be independent of their parents and make their own decisions about their bodies and medications, they feel misunderstood by healthcare professionals, have concerns over side effects and may be confused by information coming from a variety of sources such as their friends, their family, the internet, the news, and the healthcare professionals they encounter, says Dr Bahri, who is the pharmacovigilance lead for guidelines and risk communication at the European Medicines Agency (London, UK), but who was speaking in a personal capacity. [1]

Part of teenage life is starting to make your own health choices. The medicines that teenagers use most frequently and largely autonomously include those for asthma, and painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen. Every month in Europe and the USA, about 35% of boys and 45% of girls use painkillers for headaches. Teenagers also use other medicines: every month 32% use them for stomach aches, 6% for sleeping disorders and 6% for nervousness. The prevalence of asthma, one of the most frequent chronic disorders worldwide, is around 10% in teenagers, so most of those with this condition will be taking medication for it, and it is estimated from worldwide data that around a quarter of teenage girls will be taking some form of contraceptive, including hormonal ones. In addition, girls may be invited to receive the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer. However, public discussions in the media over the usefulness and safety of these measures make some feel anxious and confused, she says.

Dr Bahri is investigating how well information about medications are communicated to teenagers, and has found that not only is there very little research into this area, but what there is indicates that healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, need to improve the way they talk to young people and communicate the risks and benefits of medicines.

The HPV vaccination programme is a good example of where healthcare professionals could be better prepared for communication with teenagers, she says. There were several incidents in Europe of HPV vaccination-related anxiety attacks among girls receiving the vaccine. In addition, in many countries in the world, older children and adolescents, rather than young children receive various vaccinations, and may develop concerns over them.

Research has found that although pharmacists know about the importance of talking to teenagers about their medications, they tend not to. This was shown in The Netherlands with the example of isotretinoin, which is sometimes prescribed for teenage acne. Isotretinoin causes birth defects and so can only be taken in conjunction with effective contraception, requiring the physician and pharmacist to initiate a conversation with teenage girls. The study showed that the pharmacists knew they should talk to the girls, but it didn't reveal why the majority of them did not comply fully with their role in the country's pregnancy prevention programme when dispensing isotretinoin. Obstacles to communication is an area where much more research needs to be done, says Dr Bahri.

As a pharmacist myself, I know how difficult these conversations can be, but I would advocate that pharmacists should be looking into their communication behaviour and identifying opportunities and successful methods for initiating caring and non-judgemental dialogue. It is vital that pharmacists overcome our own hesitation to talk; we should start the dialogue and listen to questions and concerns. It is important to help teenagers to care for their health, while being aware of their vulnerabilities as well as their capabilities.

She will tell the congress that pharmacists also need to be aware that increasingly medicines are being advertised on the internet to improve school performance, and they need to monitor this and inform teenagers about the risks.

Good communications with teenagers could also be vital for the well-being of the whole family in some circumstances. This can be the case in developing countries and among disadvantaged groups in the developed world, such as those who have migrated and have poor language skills.

Sometimes, in places where teenagers are the only literate person in the family, they may even bear the responsibility of the health of their siblings and the older members of their families, she says.

Dr Bahri concludes: Effective communications with teenagers at the individual and population level is vital, and pharmacists should consider investigating the use of text messages, social media and other web-based forms of communication with this age group, in addition to more traditional methods. We need to bear in mind that some research in different regions of the world has shown that teenagers still expect most information to come directly from their healthcare providers, but not necessarily from pharmacists.

As pharmacists, we should be prepared to handle the needs and feelings of young people in a sensitive manner, taking into account the fact that they are in a vulnerable phase where a bad experience could influence their current and future health behaviour.

CWRU School of Dental Medicine receives $2.6 million in grants

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is supporting pre- and post-doctoral training programs in dental public health at Case Western Reserve University in an effort to combat disparities in oral health.

Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine received two, five-year grants, totaling nearly $2.6 million. The funding will support efforts to close the gap between those with and those without dental care.

The dental school is located near 10 Cleveland neighborhoods identified by HRSA as having fewer than one dentist for every 5,000 people.

The problem of limited access to dental care isn't going away, says Sena Narendran, associate professor of community dentistry and principal investigator of the new grants.

The first grant received focuses on pre-doctoral training programs and awarded $1.281 million for the school's Family First Program and soon-to-be-established dual degree in Doctor of Dental Medicine and Masters of Public Health. Family First is a collaborative effort of the Departments of Family Medicine and Nutrition, and the school is collaborating with Case Western Reserve School of Medicine's Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics to implement the dual degree program.

The second grant focuses on a post-doctoral training program in dental public health and awards $1.29 million to support a residency program at the School of Dental Medicine. Dental public health residents will have placement in community health centers and public health agencies.

Addressing oral health disparities starts early in Case Western Reserve dental students' education. After their first-year cornerstone experience in the Healthy Smiles Sealant Program that provides free dental exams to the public, as well as cleanings and sealants for second and sixth graders in the Cleveland Municipal School District, second-year dental students engage in an experiential learning program called Family First.

Family First focuses on assessing risk for dental diseases from a whole-family and multigenerational perspective. Students look at factors from eating habits to general health problems in the family. Family First integrates family medicine and nutrition with dental care.

Most members of a family seek care from one dentist, Narendran said.

The Family First learning experience was formalized last year and is a win for both students and families in need of dental care.

Currently 18 families from Cleveland, most with three generations and one with five generations, are being assessed for their dental needs. Student teams from the sophomore dental school class are seeing a total of 72 family members.

Both grants also include partial faculty and administrative support to the programs. The post-doctoral grant will also offer a stipend, tuition, and travel.

Researchers on the trail of a treatment for cancer of the immune system

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Infection with Epstein Barr means that the B cells, which are the primary memory cells of the immune system, are hi-jacked.

When the virus has penetrated, researchers observe an excess of a special bio-antenna, a receptor known as EB12, suddenly sprouting from the surface of the B cells. But why they do so remains a mystery.

The receptors are a vital component of the way cells communicate with their surroundings via hormones and other bio-molecules, for example, but in a body consisting of millions of cells and transmitters it can be hard to determine the part each molecule plays.

It is possible that the large numbers of EB12 receptors could actually be the B cells response to the virus and an attempt to combat the infection. Another possibility is that the EB virus reprogrammes the cell for this explosive growth in the number of EB12 receptors. What we know for certain is that more EB12 receptors assist the B cell infected by the EB virus to multiply more rapidly thus spreading the infection faster, says postdoc Tau Benned-Jensen from the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

No fewer than 95 per cent of us carry the Epstein Barr Herpes virus.

We often encounter it as kids and it is normally harmless. Are we infected later in life EB virus may cause mononucleosis, and it seems to play a part in some forms of cancer, just as HPV affects the risk of cervical cancer. But we have no drugs to combat the Epstein Barr virus, and no vaccines for it.

Under normal circumstances our immune systems can keep the EB virus infection in a latent state and a truce or stand-off may arise between the immune system and the virus, explains Mette Rosenkilde, professor of pharmacology at the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen.

We cannot dispense with the infection and we carry it all life long, but to most of us it is harmless. For people whose immune systems do not function due to disease or because they are suppressed by drugs in conjunction with organ transplants it is a very different matter. Now the Epstein Barr virus is suddenly free to reproduce so uninhibitedly and dramatically that it may lead to cancer, says Mette Rosenkilde.

While researchers know that the B cell EB12 receptors play a part when the cell visits the lymph glands, the immune system's Central Station, we have not yet explained the exact role of the receptor.

So the Danish researchers started by mapping the bio-antenna molecule by molecule and then, as the first in the world, they made a blueprint of a tiny molecule they thought could bind to the B cell EB12 receptor.

When we know what receptors react to, it tells us more about the part they play, Mette Rosenkilde explains, and our tiny molecule, a ligand, blocks the EB12 receptor, preventing it from doing its job.

In time this block may be able to help transplant patients. If we can restrain EB virus reproduction when the immune system is being medically suppressed, we may well be able to avoid cancer, Tau Benned-Jensen says.

On the other hand the EP virus also appears to play a part in other immune diseases such as autoimmune disease, where the ability to adjust the immune system would be beneficial, says Mette Rosenkilde.

And shortly after the Danish researchers published their article on their ligand, the first articles appeared about natural substances in the body, which activate the EB12 receptor and direct the B cell to specific areas in the lymph glands.

Our molecule can inhibit the activation of the new substances, and the next step in our research will be experiments to identify even more biochemical dials to twiddle and to help us develop new drugs, Tau-Benned says.

The discovery has just been published in the

Mount Sinai receives $3.4 million for largest study of personalized medicine in the clinical setting

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Mount Sinai School of Medicine has been awarded a $3.4 million grant over four years from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to begin the largest study of its kind, in which a patient's genomic risk for disease is revealed in a lab, and then entered into an electronic medical record for use in determining treatment in the clinical care setting.

Using DNA and plasma samples provided by patients, Mount Sinai researchers from the Charles R. Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine (IPM) will identify genetic markers of disease for each patient enrolled in the study and input them into Mount Sinai's new electronic medical records system in a safe and secure way. Physicians who are treating these patients in the clinical setting may then electronically access this genomic information and determine susceptibility for heart disease, responsiveness to certain medications, and a personalized course of treatment.

Discovering genetic disease risk markers of major diseases such as heart disease through genome-wide genotyping was a major advance toward personalized medicine, but thus far the genomic information of individual patients has been limited to the laboratory and research setting, said Erwin Bottinger, MD, Director of the Charles R. Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, and the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. This will allow us for the first time to bring that critical individual genetic-disease risk information to the patient setting, which we believe will eventually have a tremendous impact on the practice of medicine.

The study, called the Biorepository for Genomic Medicine in Diverse Communities, is part of a consortium of seven leading genomic medicine institutions called Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE). As a member of the consortium, the IPM team hopes to have enrolled up to 20,000 patients from the Mount Sinai Biobank, which consists of consented patients representing the diverse communities surrounding The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

This grant is a significant achievement for Mount Sinai, propelling us to the forefront of personalized medicine and its application in the clinical setting, said Dennis. S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of The Mount Sinai Medical Center. The future of medicine lies in genomics research and translating it into a patient-care setting. Mount Sinai's commitment to translational research makes us uniquely poised to lead that revolution.

Mount Sinai Biobank patients have provided DNA and plasma samples to aid in genomic and personalized medicine research, allowing Dr. Bottinger's team to validate and customize 288 previously-reported single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as genetic risk markers of major diseases, including heart, kidney, and liver disease, for Mount Sinai's racially and ethnically diverse patient populations. The IPM team is committed to ensuring that this information is made available in culturally appropriate, easy to understand formats, and will have the potential to benefit all patients.

Scientists highlight link between stress and appetite

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Researchers in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine have uncovered a mechanism by which stress increases food drive in rats. This new discovery, published online this week in the journal Neuron, could provide important insight into why stress is thought to be one of the underlying contributors to obesity.

Normally, the brain produces neurotransmitters (chemicals responsible for how cells communicate in the brain) called endocannabinoids that send signals to control appetite. In this study, the researchers found that when food is not present, a stress response occurs that temporarily causes a functional re-wiring in the brain. This re-wiring may impair the endocannabinoids' ability to regulate food intake and could contribute to enhanced food drive.

The researchers also discovered that when they blocked the effects of stress hormones in the brain, the absence of food caused no change in the neural circuitry.

Researchers Jaideep Bains, Ph.D. and Quentin Pittman, Ph.D., looked specifically at nerve cells (neurons) in the region of the brain called the hypothalamus. This structure is known to have an important role in the control of appetite and metabolism and has been identified as the primary region responsible for the brain's response to stress.

Bains explains, These findings could help explain how the cellular communication in our brains may be overridden in the absence of food. Interestingly, these changes are driven not necessarily by the lack of nutrients, but rather by the stress induced by the lack of food.

If similar changes occur in the human brain, these findings might have several implications for human health.

For example, if we elect to pass over a meal, the brain appears to simply increase the drive in pathways leading to increased appetite, explains Pittman. Furthermore, the fact that the lack of food causes activation of the stress response might help explain the relationship between stress and obesity.

These results lay the foundation for future studies to investigate the use of therapies that affect these systems in order to manipulate food intake. They also open the door to studies looking at whether or not the stress brought about by lack of food affects other systems where endocannabinoids are known to play a role.

One thing we can say for sure, is that this research highlights the importance of food availability to our nervous system. The absence of food clearly brings about dramatic changes in the way our neurons communicate with each other, says Pittman.

Scientist urges government ruling on genetically engineered salmon

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A Purdue University scientist is urging federal officials to decide whether genetically engineered salmon would be allowed for U.S. consumption and arguing that not doing so may set back scientific efforts to increase food production.

William Muir, a professor of animal sciences, said that based on data made available by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, AquAdvantage (AA) salmon poses little real risk to the environment or human health. AA salmon were given a gene from Chinook salmon that speeds growth and improves feed efficiency in farm-raised fish. Developed by AquaBounty Technologies, the fish would be spawned in Canada and grown to full size in Panama, both of which are land-based, contained facilities.

We realize that any new technology can have risks, and those risks need to be assessed in a thorough and convincing manner, Muir said. However, once the assessment has been completed and the agency concludes from the weight of evidence that risks of harm, either to the environment or to consumers, is negligible, the next step, which is to allow production and sale of the product, needs to be taken.

Muir and Alison L. Van Eenennaam, an animal genomics and biotechnology Extension specialist at the University of California Davis, made the call for FDA approval in a peer-reviewed commentary in the early online version of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The salmon would be the first genetically engineered animal used as a food in the United States, but it has been tied up in FDA regulatory proceedings since 1995. Muir said that becomes a disincentive for those working to increase food supplies for a growing world population.

This tells us that no entrepreneur is going to invest in these new projects because they can't get them approved, Muir said.

Muir has not received any funding or support from AquaBounty Technologies.

Alan Mathew, head of Purdue's Department of Animal Sciences, served on the FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee, which did not find any significant concerns for AA salmon. He said after considering the issues, he was convinced that the genetically engineered salmon is safe.

We determined there was not added risk. This is generally the same food as farm-raised and wild salmon, Mathew said.

Mathew said crops and animals have been selected for favorable traits for centuries, keeping the value-added genes and eliminating unfavorable ones. He said genetic engineering simply shortens the time it takes to gain those favorable traits.

Our methods are doing it more strategically rather than randomly, Mathew said.

The commentary goes point by point to refute concerns raised by special interest groups over genetically engineered salmon.

One of the most significant environmental concerns about genetically engineered salmon is that if they were introduced into the wild salmon population, they would cause its extinction. This is a theoretical scenario discovered earlier by Muir, which he termed the Trojan gene effect. However, Muir examined fitness data and concluded that AA salmon are less fit than their native counterparts, meaning that natural selection would simply purge them from the wild population.

The Trojan gene effect does not apply in this case, and there is no evidence to support concern for an extinction event, Muir said.

Muir also points out that AquaBounty has developed multiple redundant safeguards to prevent the fish from entering natural populations.

Mannan oligosaccharides offer health benefits to pigs

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Feeding mannan oligosaccharides (MOS) can fine-tune the immune system of pigs, suggests a new University of Illinois study.

When it comes to keeping pigs healthy, there are some potentially powerful tools we can use in the diet besides antibiotics, said James Pettigrew, U of I professor of animal science. We have a tendency to think that we can administer health through a needle, by giving pigs antibiotics, and even through systems like all-in/all-out pig flow. These are important, but there are also many health benefits we can realize through the diet.

MOS is a product made from the cell wall of yeast. It contains carbohydrates that may provide special benefits, Pettigrew said. Previous research showed that it increased the growth rate in newly weaned pigs and changed the microbial populations in the digestive tract.

Tung Che, a postdoctoral research associate in Pettigrew's laboratory, led two studies looking at MOS and its effect on pigs experimentally infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV).

In these studies, researchers evaluated how feeding MOS can modulate immune responses in pigs infected with PRRSV.

We found MOS can enhance immune responses in pigs, but it can also alleviate the overstimulation of the immune system, Che said. MOS increases the total number of immune cells such as leukocytes and lymphocytes in the blood at the early stage of infection.

This could be quite a benefit for producers fighting PRRSV, a respiratory disease that causes a reduction of immune cells.

This is important because the increase in leukocytes and lymphocytes can help the animal to fight not only PRRSV, but also secondary bacterial co-infections that are common with PRRSV, Che said.

Seven days after this PRRSV inoculation, pigs experienced a reduction of fever and had a better feed efficiency, indicating a reduction of ongoing inflammation.

We wanted to find out why MOS enhances the immune system, but at the same time alleviates the overstimulation of the immune system as observed by reduced fever, Che said. So we collected white blood cells and measured gene expression by using a broad microarray technique followed by the more specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).

The results were consistent with the clinical signs and showed that in non-challenged pigs, MOS increased the expression of genes for cell receptors and those involved in immunity.However, in the PRRSV-infected pigs, MOS reduced the expression of cytokine and chemokine genes involved in inflammatory responses. This combination of responses explains the enhanced immune response and the reduction of fever, Che said.

MOS stimulates the immune system and enhances the immune response, except when the immune system is already challenged, Pettigrew explained. MOS actually reduces the inflammatory response in pigs with challenged immune systems. This may be how the product improves growth performance because it redirects nutrients to growth rather than the immune system.

Che said MOS also improves feed efficiency from Day 7 to 14 after inoculation with PRRSV.

PRRSV interferes with the immune response and makes pigs more susceptible to bacterial infections, Pettigrew said. This product seems to counteract this effect. It may even reduce bacterial infections associated with PRRSV, although we did not test that specifically.

This team of researchers is also repeating this experiment with a second generation of MOS-like products to learn more about how this mechanism in MOS works.

We are increasingly concerned about the importance of keeping pigs healthy, so we direct much of our research program to looking at things we can do in the diet to improve the health of pigs, Pettigrew said.

Mannan oligosaccharide modulates gene expression profile in pigs experimentally infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and Mannan oligosaccharide improves immune responses and growth efficiency of nursery pigs experimentally infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus were both published in the

Dopamine also vital for kidney health, lifespan

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:34:35 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Washington, July 20 - Dopamine, a key neurotransmitter active in the brain, is best known for triggering feel good emotions.

Now investigators have shown how dopamine produced outside the brain, in the kidneys, is important for renal function, blood pressure regulation and lifespan.

Neurotransmitters are chemicals which help transmit signals from one neuron to another across synapses or junctions of such brain cells.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre suggest that the kidney-specific dopamine system may be a therapeutic target for treating hypertension and kidney diseases, the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports.

Previous studies had suggested a role for dopamine in regulating kidney function and total body fluid volume, 'but how that mechanism works was not clear,' said Raymond Harris, chief of nephrology and hypertension at Vanderbilt, according to its statement.

Harris and Ming-Zhi Zhang, assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt, eliminated kidney-specific dopamine production in mice by knocking out a dopamine-generating enzyme only in the kidney, and studied the outcome.

They found that mice lacking kidney dopamine had high blood pressure at baseline and became more hypertensive when they consumed a high-salt diet, suggesting they may be a good model of salt-sensitive - hypertension, Harris said.

Alterations in the kidney dopamine system may predispose individuals to hypertension -, he noted.

'These animals retain salt and water when they don't have sufficient dopamine production in the kidney,' Harris said.

--Indo-Asian News service

st/sak/vt

NIH funds Emory-led consortium to advance AIDS vaccine research

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A consortium of leading vaccine researchers at Emory University and partner institutions has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant aimed at developing an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine.

The five-year program project grant of more than $26 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, will fund the Emory Consortium for AIDS Vaccine Research in Nonhuman Primates. The research will be conducted primarily at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory.

Developing a safe and effective preventive HIV/AIDS vaccine is still a critical part of the fight against this challenging disease that affects more than 30 million people worldwide, says Eric Hunter, PhD, who will lead the consortium.

With the vast experience of Emory's vaccine researchers and our partners, I'm confident we can make significant strides in developing a better HIV vaccine. Hunter is a member of the Emory Vaccine Center, a co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

The researchers will study how to develop a vaccine that can prevent the earliest stages of mucosal infection from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in nonhuman primate models. SIV is similar to HIV in humans. The series of research projects is expected to provide a better understanding of how SIV is transmitted sexually and the specific immune responses HIV vaccines must generate in humans to block infection at mucosal sites, prevent the establishment of systemic infection, or dramatically reduce the pathogenic effects of infection.

The consortium's work will build on recent significant discoveries in the AIDS vaccine field. A vaccine trial in Thailand (RV144) completed in 2009 showed a modest degree of protection against HIV in humans. The results gave the vaccine research community hope that a vaccine could elicit antibodies that could at least moderately protect against HIV infection. In order to develop a more effective vaccine, however, researchers need to further explore the specific aspects of the immune response (referred to as correlates of immunity) in animal models as well as in human clinical trials, Hunter explains.

More than 90 percent of all HIV infections worldwide occur via mucous membranes, predominantly through sexual contact. In order to develop an effective vaccine, scientists must understand the viral-host interaction during the initial time of mucosal infection.

By the time HIV-infected individuals begin experiencing the symptoms of acute HIV infection, this critical time of opportunity has passed, says Rama Amara, PhD, co-principal investigator of the consortium and a researcher at the Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes Research Center. Rhesus macaque monkeys provide an effective model for studying mucosal viral infection and ways to stimulate an early protective immune response.

Researchers agree that a successful HIV vaccine will likely need to elicit both effective T-cell and antibody responses. The Emory consortium will work to enhance the quality of antibody responses to HIV infection, building on recent Emory discoveries led by Amara and consortium member Bali Pulendran, PhD, using adjuvants to successfully enhance the effectiveness of vaccines against SIV infection.

Important follow-up questions the team will address include what kind of antigens and delivery system are needed to elicit protective antibodies, where should vaccines be delivered in the body, and how do adjuvants convert a poorly protective vaccine into one that fully protects against infection by the virus?

Your shampoo could be making you fat

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:11:28 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Eating healthy and exercising regularly are good enough for sloughing off the pounds. But what if your body acts otherwise? Doctors have found that chemical compounds in cosmetics disrupt the body's natural weight control system.

Emerging evidence suggests that a more sinister reason than food and activity could be behind obesity. They are the so-called 'chemical calories' lurking in beauty products, including innocuous looking shampoo, body lotions and soap.

Doctors at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York claim that phthalates, chemical ingredients in 70 percent of cosmetics and household cleaning products, have been shown to disrupt the body's natural weight control system.

Exposure to phthalates through daily use may be linked to childhood obesity and weight problems in adults, the scientists warned, reports the Daily Mail.

In their long-term study on girls living in the inner city area of East Harlem, New York, Mount Sinai team measured exposure to phthalates by analysing the children's urine.

'The heaviest girls have the highest levels of phthalates in their urine,' says Prof Philip Landrigan, paediatrician and study author from Mount Sinai. 'It goes up as the children get heavier, but it's most evident in the heaviest kids.'

Phthalates have been widely used as gelling agents in cosmetics, cleaning products and to make plastic bottles for more than half a century, but it has only just come to light that there may be possible health risks.

Another substance, Bisphenol-A -, also present in containers and bottles, has also been found to be rich in 'chemical calories.'

Billed as 'endocrine disruptors,' they are absorbed into the body affecting the glands and hormones that regulate numerous bodily functions.

It's not just girls who seem susceptible to the phthalate effect. In 2007, researchers at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, US, found the same class of chemicals were contributing to abdominal obesity and insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, in men.

Rochester scientists analysed the urine, blood samples and other data of 1,451 men. They found that those with the highest level of phthalates in their urine had more belly fat and insulin resistance.

They suggested that depressed testosterone levels due to chemicals was the underlying cause of their weight gain.

--Indo-Asian News service

St/rn/vt

Lack of clarity about HPV vaccine and the need for cervical cancer screening

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The research will be presented today [Thursday 7 July] at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Academic Primary Care, hosted this year by the Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, University of Bristol.

The HPV vaccination programme, introduced in the UK in 2008, uses HPV vaccine that is effective against the two most common high risk HPV types (16 and 18), and offers 70 per cent protection against cervical cancer. However, vaccinated girls will still need to attend cervical screening in the future to ensure protection against cervical cancer caused by high risk HPV types not included in the vaccine.

Dr Alison Clements and colleagues interviewed parents and vaccination-aged girls about their understanding of the HPV vaccination in relation to vaccine acceptance, and potential future cervical cancer screening behaviour.

They found a lack of clarity amongst both parents and girls about the link between the HPV vaccine and the need for future cervical screening. In some cases parental consent for their daughters to receive the vaccine was based on the false belief that cervical screening would not be necessary. There was also a profound lack of awareness about cervical screening amongst girls of vaccination age.

Dr Clements said: For informed decisions about HPV vaccination to be made, the provision of information about the ongoing need to attend cervical screening is imperative. Our findings have the potential to improve information and educational materials for parents, eligible girls and health professionals. To ensure the uptake of cervical screening is not adversely affected, future invitations for screening will need to stress the importance of attendance regardless of whether the individual has had the HPV vaccination or not.

Hazel Nunn, Cancer Research UK's senior health information manager, said: This is a helpful reminder that renewed efforts are needed to inform girls and their families about the importance of cervical screening in those who have had the HPV vaccination. While the vaccine is very effective at protecting against the two strains of virus which cause most cases of cervical cancer, and one of the biggest steps forward in public health in recent years, it does not protect against all the other strains so the disease can still develop.

Cervical screening can prevent around 34 per cent of cervical cancers in women in their 30s, rising to 75 per cent in women in their 50s and 60s. Women should be reminded of the crucial role of screening in the fight against cervical cancer.

Can soda tax curb obesity?

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) EVANSTON, Ill. --- To many, a tax on soda is a no-brainer in advancing the nation's war on obesity. Advocates point to a number of studies in recent years that conclude that sugary drinks have a lot to do with why Americans are getting fatter.

But obese people tend to drink diet sodas, and therefore taxing soft drinks with added sugar or other sweeteners is not a good weapon in combating obesity, according to a new Northwestern University study.

An amendment to Illinois Senate Bill 396 would add a penny an ounce to the cost of most soft drinks with added sugar or sweeteners, including soda, sweet iced tea and coffee drinks. Related to the purpose of the tax, the legislation excludes artificially sweetened and diet sodas.

After doing the analysis, it really turns out to be the case that obese people like diet soda so much more than regular soda that you can do whatever you want to the price, said Ketan Patel, a fourth-year doctoral student in economics. You're not going to get that much change in obese people's weight because they already drink diet soda.

Patel, who recently presented his paper The Effectiveness of Food Taxes at Affecting Consumption in the Obese: Evaluating Soda Taxes at a U.S. Department of Agriculture conference on food policy in Washington, D.C., said he initially didn't know if the diet soda preference was going to be a large factor in evaluating the effectiveness of the soda tax.

The concern I had was that maybe obese people are less price sensitive, Patel said. So if obese people are less price sensitive, then raising the price through a tax will affect their behavior less.

But that concern became irrelevant since diet drinks are not being considered in the proposed obesity tax.

Beyond its ineffectiveness in reducing obesity, such a tax also would punish consumers that are not overweight or obese, Patel said.

Is there a scenario in which increasing the tax would have an effect on weight? Patel said that could depend on whether people are at a stable weight or whether people are already eating too many calories and therefore their weight will continue to increase. If increasing weights are the status quo, then a tax could prevent people who are currently overweight or normal weight from becoming obese. More research needs to be done on this aspect, however, Patel said.

For this study, Patel used a large data set of sodas price and sales data with individual level data on demographic characteristics and body mass index (BMI) to estimate consumer preferences while allowing for substantial diversity in those preferences. After obtaining estimates of consumer preferences, Patel simulated how a tax would change the choices that consumers make and used the results of the simulation to estimate changes in weight using a weight change model from existing nutrition literature.

In the meantime, however, lawmakers say it does not look likely that the tax will be imposed anytime soon as there is little support for the measure after a recent income tax hike in Illinois.

New male infertility test could 'bring hope to millions'

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:24:14 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A groundbreaking new test for male infertility, which will save time, money and heartache for couples around the world, has been developed by Northern Ireland's Queen's University Belfast.

The medical breakthrough, known as the SpermComet, has resulted from more than a decade's research by Professor Sheena Lewis, who leads the Reproductive Medicine research group at Queen's.

The SpermComet provides unique information that no other test offers.

By measuring damaged DNA in individual sperm, it can predict the success of infertility treatments and fast-track couples to the treatment most likely to succeed, leading to significantly reduced waiting times and improved chances of conception.

Lewis said according to a Belfast statement: 'One in six couples has difficulty in having a family. In 40 percent of cases, the problems are related to the man. Until now, there have been few accurate ways of measuring a man's fertility.'

'Traditionally, the diagnosis of male infertility has relied on semen analysis. This provides the basic information on which fertility specialists base their initial diagnosis.'

'However, its clinical value in predicting male fertility or success with infertility treatment is limited, particularly if the semen analysis results are normal,' he added.

'The SpermComet test is so called because it looks just like a comet in the sky. The head of the 'Comet' is undamaged DNA and the tail is damaged DNA.

'Good quality sperm DNA is closely associated with getting pregnant and having a healthy baby, and the SpermComet Test is the most sensitive test available for sperm DNA testing,' concluded Lewis.

Lewis, in partnership with Queen's venture spinout company, QUBIS, has now set up a new company to market the test, which is already available through a number of fertility clinics in Britain.

Sport doctors say non-alcoholic wheat beer boosts athletes' health

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Many amateur athletes have long suspected what research scientists for the Department of Preventative and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen at Klinikum rechts der Isar have now made official: Documented proof, gathered during the world's largest study of marathons, Be-MaGIC (beer, marathons, genetics, inflammation and the cardiovascular system), that the consumption of non-alcoholic weissbier, or wheat beer, has a positive effect on athletes' health. Under the direction of Dr. Johannes Scherr, physicians examined 277 test subjects three weeks before and two weeks after the 2009 Munich Marathon.

The study focuses on the health risks for marathon runners and the potential positive effects of polyphenols. These aromatic compounds occur naturally in plants as pigment, flavor, or tannins, many of which have been credited with health-promoting and cancer-preventative properties. Unique to this study was the combination of different polyphenols that were tested on the large pool of participants. The research team met the scientific requirements of the study by conducting a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Non-alcoholic Erdinger wheat beer was selected as the test beverage, chosen for its rich and varied polyphenol content and its popularity with marathoners and tri-athletes. The active group drank up to 1.5 liters of the test beverage per day, while a second group consumed an equal amount of an otherwise indistinguishable placebo beverage that contained no polyphenols and was especially produced for the study.

One result from the study was the discovery that, after running a marathon race, athletes experience intensified inflammatory reactions. The immune system is thrown off balance and runners are much more likely to suffer from upper respiratory infections. This heightened susceptibility to illness following strenuous sport activity has been identified as an open window. Furthermore it was shown that non-alcoholic wheat beer containing polyphenols has a positive, health promoting effect on the human body: inflammation parameters in the blood were significantly reduced, and there was a lower frequency of infection with milder symptoms.

Reduced Inflammatory Reaction: Dr. Scherr, who also serves as physician to the German National Ski Team, explains: The analysis of the leukocytes, or white blood cells, which constitute one of the most important parameters for inflammation, revealed values in the active group that were 20% lower than in the placebo group.

Support for the Immune System: Compounds in the test drink had a compensatory or balancing effect on the immune system. Dr Scherr: We were able to prove that it strengthens an immune system that has been weakened by physical stress. It also prevents the system from over-performing.

Prevents Colds: Runners who drank the non-alcoholic wheat beer were up to three times less susceptible to infection than those in the placebo group. Dr. Scherr: Drinking the non-alcoholic test beverage reduces your risk of developing a cold by one third.

Improvement with Upper Respiratory Infections: People in the active group who did succumb to a cold experienced a milder or briefer infection than those in the placebo group. Dr. Scherr: Results showed a Number Needed to Treat (NNT) of eight. That means that for every eight people who had the test drink, one of them was prevented from succumbing to a cold.

In summary, Dr. Scherr explains: The potential for foods containing polyphenols to have a positive effect on athletes' health has already been suggested in several articles. Nevertheless we were ourselves sometimes surprised at how clearly evident this was in the results. We now have scientific confirmation of those assumptions for this test beverage, with its particular combination of polyphenols, vitamins and minerals.

Dr. Scherr presented this study to the approximately 5,000 scientists, physicians, and trainers attending the world's largest congress for sports medicine in Denver (USA) hosted by the American College of Sports (ACSM) at the beginning of June 2011. The study will be published in the January printed edition of the professional journal

Researchers discover biochemical weakness of malaria parasite -- vaccine to be developed

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Every year, 10,000 pregnant women and up to 200,000 newborn babies are killed by the malaria parasite. Doctors all around the globe have for years been looking in vain for a medical protection, and now researchers from the University of Copenhagen have found the biochemically weakness of the lethal malaria parasite, and will now start developing a vaccine to combat pregnancy related malaria.

The malaria parasite travels via the spit of an infected mosquito to the liver of the new host, where it spreads to the red blood corpuscles and starts to reproduce itself.

Pregnant women and children below the age of five years are particularly vulnerable to malaria because of the parasite's survival mechanisms. The parasite has a protein hook designed to attach it to the placenta and this leads to amnesia of the mother who in worst case can die or deliver prematurely. This increases the maternal mortality - and infant mortality, explains Associate Professor Ali Salanti from the University of Copenhagen's Centre for Medical Parasitology who manages the project.

The body's immune system normally attacks any foreign body but since our spleen constantly filters our blood and removes ruined or deform blood cells, the body's natural defense does not need to check the blood. And the malaria parasite exploits this fact.

An infected red blood corpuscle is more stiff than in its normal state and this would usually trigger the spleen to destroy the cell and parasite, but the malaria parasite has an advanced arsenal of protein hooks. With these hooks the parasite attaches itself to the inner side of the blood vessel and even if our immune system succeeds in defeating one hook, the parasite has 60 different hooks, which again differ from one malaria parasite to another.

Researchers have for years been looking for a vaccine which can attack the malaria parasite's specific placenta hook. This is tricky not least due to the fact that the parasite's hooks are long proteins which are difficult to produce artificially in the lab when developing of a vaccine.

After intensive research efforts, the researchers have now succeeded in identifying a fragment of the placenta hook (VAR2CSA) which not only is crucial for the parasite's ability to attach itself to the placenta, but also is possible to produce artificially for a vaccine.

A vaccine must stimulate the immune system to quickly attack something foreign in the body. Therefore, it was a matter of finding the part of the placenta hook, which the parasite cannot manage without and which we could target a vaccine against, says Associate Professor Ali Salanti.

With a grant of 15 million DKK (approximately 3 million USD) from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation and close corporation with two Danish biotech companies, the researchers can now start developing the vaccine and take it through the first trials to test its safety.

Ali Salanti and his colleagues will collaborate with the biotech companies ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies and CMC Biologics A/S to develop a method for mass production of the vaccine.

Once this has fallen into place, the researchers can start up the clinical trials on animals and human beings. If the trials are successful the parasistologists from the University of Copenhagen and their partners will make a significant contribution in reaching the UN's Millennium Development goal number 4 and 5. These two goals encourage every country in the world to work on lowering global child mortality with two thirds and maternal mortality with three quarters.

Adjuvant combo shows potential for universal influenza vaccine

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered how to prime a second arm of the immune system to potentially boost influenza vaccine effectiveness. A combination of two adjuvants, chemicals used to boost the effectiveness of some vaccines, induced CD8, or killer, T cells to join antibodies in response to influenza infection. Since the killer T cells targeted a highly conserved protein that does not change from year to year, the adjuvant strategy suggests potential for a universal flu vaccine.

Most vaccines protect against disease by boosting antibody protection, said lead author post-doctoral fellow Megan MacLeod, PhD. We have shown that the two adjuvants work in concert to generate memory CD8 T cells, which can kill infected cells. We believe that this strategy of stimulating both the cellular and humoral immune responses holds promise for better vaccines.

Vaccines prepare the immune system to respond quickly to an infection with antibodies, Y-shaped molecules that neutralize or otherwise inactivate pathogens.

Aluminum salts, or alum, have been used for nearly a century as an adjuvant to boost the effectiveness of many vaccines. Surprisingly no one is sure even today exactly how it works. The only other adjuvant approved for use in the United States, monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), is used by GlaxoSmithKline to boost the antibody response of some of its vaccines.

Dr. MacLeod, senior author Philippa Marrack, PhD, and their colleagues evaluated the responses of mice immunized with influenza vaccines containing no adjuvant, each adjuvant alone and both together. They engineered the vaccine so that any immune defense would be provided by killer T cells, not antibodies. Several weeks after the immunization, they infected the mice with influenza A virus.

They found that unvaccinated mice lost about 15 percent of their body weight in the first eight days after infection, then regained some of that weight by 20 days after infection. Mice whose vaccines contained either alum or MPL adjuvants lost less weight but did not fully regain their original weight. Mice whose vaccines contained both adjuvants together lost about 5 percent of their original weight and regained it all back rapidly.

The researchers also found that mice receiving vaccines with both adjuvants had the fewest viral particles in their lungs four days after infection.

Further experiments revealed that alum promoted long-lived CD8 memory cells, but that MPL was required to produce activated cells, ready and able to kill. The findings were published in the May 10, 2011, issue of the

Sleep loss can cause testosterone levels to plummet

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:25:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Cutting back on sleep can be quite disastrous for healthy young men - it sends their testosterone levels plummeting, says a study.

Men who slept less than five hours a night for one week in a lab had significantly lower levels of testosterone than when they had a full night's sleep, according to the study.

Significantly, skipping sleep was found to reduce a young man's testosterone levels by the same amount as aging 10 to 15 years, or 10 percent to 15 percent.

Low testosterone has a host of negative consequences for young men, and not just in sexual behaviour and reproduction. It is critical in building strength, muscle mass and bone density.

'Low testosterone levels are associated with reduced well being and vigour, which may also occur as a consequence of sleep loss,' said Eve Van Cauter, professor in medicine, University of Chicago Medical Centre, the US, who led the study, according to a Chicago statement.

At least 15 percent of the adult working population in the US gets less than five hours of sleep a night, and suffers many adverse health effects because of it. Low testosterone is also linked with low energy, reduced libido, poor concentration and fatigue.

The group of young men recruited for the study passed a rigorous battery of tests to screen for endocrine or psychiatric disorders and sleep problems. They were an average of 24 years old, lean and in good health.

They spent three nights in the lab sleeping for up to 10 hours, and then eight nights sleeping less than five hours. Their blood was sampled every 15 to 30 minutes for 24 hours during the last day of the 10-hour sleep phase and the last day of the five-hour sleep phase.

The effects of sleep loss on testosterone levels were apparent after just one week of short sleep. Five hours of sleep decreased their testosterone levels by 10 percent to 15 percent.

The young men had the lowest testosterone levels in the afternoons on their sleep restricted days.

They reported a decline in their sense of well-being as their blood testosterone levels declined. Their mood and vigour fell more every day as the sleep restriction part of the study progressed.

BUSM names Deborah Frank, M.D., inaugural professors in child health and well-being

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) announces the establishment of an endowed Professorship in Child Health and Well-Being in the department of Pediatrics. This anonymously donated endowment reinforces the importance of supporting clinical practice focusing on public policies related to ending hunger and hardship in young children.

The inaugural incumbent of this professorship is Deborah A. Frank, MD. Frank serves as BUSM professor of Pediatrics; director, Grow Clinic for Children at Boston Medical Center (BMC); and founder and principal investigator of Children's HealthWatch, a network of pediatric and public health researchers working to improve child health. A highly respected national authority, she has testified before both the United States and Massachusetts legislatures on the growing national problem of hunger and its effects on children. Frank also leads research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse on the effects of intrauterine exposure to cocaine and other substances on children's long term development. She advocates at hearings and in the media against criminalizing addicted mothers or stigmatizing their children.

Frank has served on numerous committees and advisory boards including the Mayor's Hunger Commission, the Massachusetts Child Hunger Initiative and the Physicians Task Force on Childhood Hunger in Massachusetts. She has received awards in recognition for her work including the 2004 Standing Ovation Award, Massachusetts Human Services Coalition; 2007 Woman of Valor Award, Jewish Funds for Justice; 2008 Woman of Justice Award, Boston Lawyer's Weekly, and more recently in 2010 Dr. Frank received the Massachusetts Health Council Outstanding Leadership Award and the Physician Advocacy Merit Award from the Institute on Medicine as a Profession at Columbia University. Frank is the author of more than 50 papers and articles.

An endowed professorship is one of the most significant means by which BUSM can honor its highly esteemed teachers and researchers. They are important to the mission of BUSM because they offer our school the opportunity to attract highly distinguished faculty, said BUSM Dean Karen H. Antman, MD. Dr. Frank's long-standing commitment to caring for and training others to care for children and to understanding and preventing child hunger makes her a deserving candidate to be the first to hold this professorship. By selecting Dr. Frank for this important honor we show continued commitment to serving the most basic needs of the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society.

A summa cum laude graduate of Radcliffe College and Harvard Medical School, Frank did her residency at Children's Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle and completed a fellowship in Child Development with T. Berry Brazelton at Children's Hospital in Boston. She joined BUSM as a clinical assistant professor of Pediatrics in 1981 when she also established the Failure to Thrive Program at Boston City Hospital, now known as the Grow Clinic for Children at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Frank was named BUSM professor of Pediatrics in 2001.

Clinical trial of malaria vaccine begins in Africa

Wed, 25 May 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The vaccine, RTS,S, developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Biologicals and PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), is currently in phase III clinical trials and has previously reduced episodes of malaria in infants and young children by more than 50%. The Liverpool team, in collaboration with the University College of Medicine, Malawi, are working in Blantyre over the next three years to investigate how to maximise its effectiveness when delivered through the childhood immunisation programme.

Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic infection, resulting in more than 200 million reported cases each year and approximately 800,000 deaths. In Africa a child dies of malaria every 45 seconds and the disease accounts for 20% of all childhood deaths. Scientists will assess the possible benefits of providing the vaccine to newborn babies, similar to the routine programme currently used for other vaccines, such as BCG for tuberculosis, Hepatitis-B and oral polio vaccines.

The team will examine the performance of the vaccine as it is administered to infants at different stages between birth and nine months of age, alongside the standard set of immunisations used in national programmes for young children. Studies have so far suggested that the vaccine could be safely integrated with other vaccines in the World Health Organisation's Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) schedule.

Leading the study from Malawi, Dr Desiree Witte, from the University's Institute of Infection and Global Health, said: Young children are particularly susceptible to infection with malaria and it is important that vaccines are introduced into the immunisation programme as early as possible. There is no licensed vaccine available against malaria and currently the candidate vaccine developed by GSK and MVI, is the most clinically advanced malaria vaccine in the world. The evaluation of different immunisation schedules will help define the programme needed for the vaccine to be administered successfully.

Professor Nigel Cunliffe, also from the University's Institute of Infection and Global Health, added: Over the past few years there have been encouraging results from studies of vaccines aimed at tackling some of the major diseases common to children living in Africa, including diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria. It is hoped that in the near future vaccines against these diseases will become a standard part of the immunisation schedule across the region. It will therefore become increasingly important for us to understand how the vaccines will work when administered alongside each other.

Professor Tom Heikens, Head of the University College of Medicine's Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Malawi, said: As well as developing this important area of research, the work is allowing postgraduate students at the College to gain valuable insight into child health and the medical challenges Malawi faces. Collaborations such as this contribute greatly to identifying the next generation of researchers to take this important area of study forward.

The research is funded by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Belgium.

Egyptian princess was first person with diagnosed coronary artery disease

Tue, 17 May 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Embargo: 17 May 2011 18:00 CET-- The coronary arteries of Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon - as visualised by whole body computerised tomography (CT) scanning - will feature in two presentations at the International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging (ICNC) this week in Amsterdam (15-18 May). ICNC is now one of the world's major scientific event in nuclear cardiology and cardiac CT imaging.

The Egyptian princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon, who lived in Thebes (Luxor) between 1580 and 1550 BC and who is now known to be first person in human history with diagnosed coronary artery disease, lived on a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and a limited amount of meat from domesticated (but not fattened) animals. Wheat and barley were grown along the banks of the Nile, making bread and beer the dietary staples of this period of ancient Egypt. Tobacco and trans-fats were unknown, and lifestyle was likely to have been active.

The coronary arteries of Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon - as visualised by whole body computerised tomography (CT) scanning - will feature in two presentations at the International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging (ICNC) currently taking place in Amsterdam (15-18 May). ICNC is now one of the world's major scientific event in nuclear cardiology and cardiac CT imaging.

Both presentations will be based on findings from the Horus study, in which arterial atherosclerosis was investigated in 52 ancient Egyptian mummies. Results have shown that recognisable arteries were present in 44 of the mummies, with an identifiable heart present in 16. Arterial calcification (as a marker of atherosclerosis) was evident at a variety of sites in almost half the mummies scanned, prompting the investigators to note that the condition was common in this group of middle aged or older ancient Egyptians; the 20 mummies with definite atherosclerosis were older (mean 45.years) than those with intact vascular tissue but no atherosclerosis (34.5 years).

Although relatively common at other vascular sites, atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries was evident in only three of the mummies investigated, but was clearly visualised in Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon (in whom calcification was present in every vascular bed visualised).

The CT scan image below shows that the princess, who died in her 40s, had atherosclerosis in two of her three main coronary arteries. Today, said Dr Gregory S Thomas, director of Nuclear Cardiology Education at the University of California, Irvine, USA, and co-principal investigator of the Horus study, she would have needed by-pass surgery.

Overall, it was striking how much atherosclerosis we found, said Dr Thomas. We think of atherosclerosis as a disease of modern lifestyle, but it's clear that it also existed 3500 years ago. Our findings certainly call into question the perception of atherosclerosis as a modern disease.

If, however, the princess enjoyed a diet deemed to be healthy and pursued a lifestyle probably active, how could this disease of modern life affect her so visibly? Dr Thomas and his co-principal investigator Dr Adel Allam of Al Azhar University, Cairo, suggest three possibilities.

First, that there is still some unknown risk factor for cardiovascular disease, or at least a missing link in our understanding of it. Dr Allam noted a likely effect of genetic inheritance, pointing out that much of the human predisposition to atherosclerosis could be secondary to their genes. He similarly raised the possibility that an inflammatory response to the frequent parasitic infections common to ancient Egyptians might predispose to coronary disease - in much the same way that immunocompromised HIV cases seem also predisposed to early coronary disease. Nor can a dietary effect be excluded, despite what we know of life in ancient Egypt. Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon was from a noble family, her father, Seqenenre Tao II, the last pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty.

So it's likely that her diet was not that of the common Egyptian. As a royal, she would have eaten more luxury foods - more meat, butter and cheese. Moreover, foods were preserved in salt, which may also have had an adverse effect.

Despite the suggestion of a genetic, inflammatory or unknown effect, Drs Thomas and Allam were keen not to discount those risk factors for heart disease which we do know about. Indeed, even in the study's apparent association of atheroma with increasing age, there was a pattern of prevalence consistent with our own epidemiology today. Recent studies have shown that by not smoking, having a lower blood pressure and a lower cholesterol level, calcification of our arteries is delayed, said co-investigator Dr Randall C Thompson of the St Luke's Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City, USA. On the other hand, from what we can tell from this study, humans are predisposed to atherosclerosis, so it behoves us to take the proper measures necessary to delay it as long as we can.

Rigorous study confirms video game playing increases food intake in teens

Tue, 17 May 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that almost 18% of US teens are obese. Although most experts agree that our growing obesity epidemic is driven by both inadequate physical activity and excessive caloric intake, implementing solutions is extraordinarily difficult. One area that has caught the attention of health researchers is the observation that trends in video game playing parallel obesity rates on a population basis. Furthermore, several studies have documented a positive association between how much time a child plays video games and his or her chance of being obese. However, correlation does not necessarily imply causality, and controlled intervention studies are required to test whether playing video games causes children to increase their food intake and/or decrease their energy expenditure. In the first such study of this kind, Canadian and Danish researchers tested their hypothesis that video game playing is accompanied by increased spontaneous food intake.

This study is an especially important piece of the scientific puzzle in this arena because it went beyond simply simultaneously documenting the relationship between video game playing and food intake in kids, said Shelley McGuire, PhD, American Society for Nutrition spokesperson. Instead, it actually studied the same group of children during two separate, experimentally-administered periods of rest and video-game play, and then used gold-standard methods to measure important outcomes such as food intake, energy expenditure, and feelings of hunger and appetite. Consequently, the results can be used with a high degree of confidence to suggest that playing virtual soccer can affect food intake. Very interesting! Given our current obesity crisis in kids, I will be curious to follow the results of follow-up studies. For instance, do violent games or educational games have the same effect as sports-related games?

Healthy, normal-weight male teens (mean age: ~17 y) were studied in this crossover intervention trial consisting of two 1-h periods. In one period, subjects rested (control period); in the other, they played video games. For both study periods (which occurred at 10:30 AM), the youth reported to a research laboratory after an overnight fast and were provided with a standardized breakfast (8:00 AM). During the intervention periods, blood samples were collected every 10 min, and energy expenditure was assessed by using indirect calorimetry. Immediately thereafter, each participant was offered full access to a spaghetti lunch. Food intake and measurements of hunger, satiety, fullness, and appetite were assessed.

Blood glucose concentrations increased more when playing video games than during the control period, but there was no differential effect on insulin or ghrelin (a hormone thought to signal the sensation of hunger to the brain). Energy expenditure was 21 kcal/h higher during video game play than during the resting condition. However, subjects ate 80 more kilocalories after playing the video games than they did after the control period. This resulted in a net positive energy of 163 kcal during the entire day when video games were played compared with when subjects rested, despite the fact that the subjects reported similar appetite ratings during these periods.

The authors concluded that their results provide preliminary evidence that male teens playing video games for 1 h consume more calories in the short-term than they do after 1 h of rest. Moreover, overconsumption of food after playing video games occurs without changes in perceived hunger and appetite. Additional studies are needed to determine the long-term effects on weight gain and health.

Hosagunda, India joins the international Sacred Seeds project

Fri, 13 May 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) (ST. LOUIS, MO. USA): Sacred Seeds, a non-profit organization committed to preserving both sacred medicinal plant species and the ancient wisdom about their therapeutic and sustainable use, is pleased to announce that Sri Uma Maheshwara Seva Trust (Hosagunda), in the state of Karnataka, India, has become a foundational garden in the international Sacred Seeds movement. Developed to help stem the loss of biodiversity and health practices that depend on biodiversity, Sacred Seeds is helping local communities and institutions create gardens around the world that contain plants traditionally used for primary health care as well as nutritionally important species to improve local diets. These gardens serve as living genetic repositories helping to preserve the diversity of healing plants used by humankind. Sacred Seeds foundational gardens serve as vanguards of integrative ethnobotanical conservation and models for other communities across the globe.

It was also announced that Semillas Sagradas at Finca Luna Nueva in Costa Rica and Hosagunda have become sister gardens in the family of Sacred Seeds Sanctuaries. They, along with all of the Sacred Seeds gardens, are united in a shared devotion to the highest principles of plant conservation and traditional botanical wisdom.

Tom Newmark, chairman of Sacred Seeds and co-founder of Semillas Sagradas in Costa Rica, welcomed Hosagunda to our international family of medicinal plant sanctuaries. He further noted that the great Ayurvedic and Sidha medical systems of India have brilliantly appreciated the healing power of medicinal plants for thousands of years, and Sacred Seeds is delighted that Hosagunda will represent those healing traditions in our family of plant sanctuaries.

CMN Shastry, managing trustee of Hosagunda, expressed his hope that Hosagunda's programs will inspire similar projects around the world. Hosagunda, he observed, is a Sacred Forest rich with archeological relics of religious and cultural significance. We are reintroducing native herbal species of sacred and medicinal uses to create a living expression of ancient traditional medicine. By joining the international Sacred Seeds movement, we will study best practices from other sanctuaries and we hope inspire other cultures to integrate medicinal gardens with archeological restoration.

The Sacred Seeds Project is administered by the William L. Brown Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Dr. Rainer Bussmann, director and William L. Brown Curator of Economic Botany, expressed his enthusiasm about the addition of Hosagunda to the Sacred Seeds Project. Hosagunda is one of the few remaining fragments of forest in the densely populated agricultural landscape of Karnataka. With its 600 acres of sacred forest and temples, Hosagunda forms a real Eco-Spiritual Center, and is a wonderful example of conservation by revitalizing local traditions. We are thrilled to have it as part of Sacred Seeds.

Antibodies help protect monkeys from HIV-like virus, NIH scientists show

Thu, 05 May 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) WHAT: Using a monkey model of AIDS, scientists have identified a vaccine-generated immune-system response that correlates with protection against infection by the monkey version of HIV, called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). The researchers found that neutralizing antibodies generated by immunization were associated with protection against SIV infection. This finding marks an important step toward understanding how an effective HIV vaccine could work, according to scientists who led the study at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Scientists administered the SIV vaccine to half of the 129 monkeys in this study and a placebo vaccine to the other half. The scientists then gave each monkey up to 12 doses of one of two forms of SIV through rectal injection to simulate sexual exposure to the virus. The vaccine regimen did not protect the monkeys that received one form of SIV, but it reduced the rate of infection by 50 percent in the monkeys that received the other form of the virus.

To learn how the vaccine worked, the study team examined a variety of immune responses and certain genetic factors in the monkeys that the vaccine protected. The scientists found that SIV neutralizing antibodies and the activation of white blood cells known as helper CD4+ T cells correlated with the protective effect. Also, monkeys that expressed two copies of a gene known to help limit SIV replication were better protected by the vaccine than monkeys that did not, demonstrating that genetic factors can contribute to protection.

This study provides evidence that neutralizing antibodies are an important part of the immune response needed to prevent HIV infection. The ability of the vaccine regimen to protect monkeys from SIV infection is comparable to the results seen in the RV144 trial with 16,000 adult volunteers in Thailand; RV144 was the first HIV vaccine study to demonstrate a modest protective effect, reducing the rate of HIV infection by 31 percent. The new research also provides an animal model to better understand the immune basis for vaccine protection against lentiviruses, a subclass of viruses that includes HIV and SIV. This knowledge will help guide strategies for the future development of AIDS vaccines.

The SIV vaccine regimen used in this study was similar to an HIV vaccine regimen currently being tested in humans in the NIAID-funded clinical trial known as HVTN 505. Both vaccine regimens consist of priming with a vaccine made from DNA that encodes immunodeficiency virus proteins, followed by boosting with an inactivated cold virus (adenovirus) that contains immunodeficiency virus proteins.

Systematic effort helps hospital raise employee flu vaccination rates

Wed, 04 May 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A systematic effort to improve flu vaccination rates for healthcare workers has increased flu vaccinations rates from 59 percent to 77 percent at the University Health System (UHS) in San Antonio. A report detailing their interventions to increase vaccination was published in the June issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

UHS raised its healthcare worker vaccination rate from 59 percent in 2009 to 77 percent in 2010 through quality improvement tools including vaccine kits to individual units, Grand Round presentations, enhanced staff awareness and a dashboard of vaccination rates of each program was promoted on the staff intranet. The increase places the UHS well above national average for healthcare worker vaccination, which tends to hover below 50 percent.

The vaccination push was spearheaded by a quality improvement team with a goal of reaching a vaccination rate of 80 percent. The team developed a list of possible reasons for low immunization rates, and created a set of interventions to combat them.

Under the improvement program, a vaccination kit was provided to each hospital unit so workers could take it without leaving their work area. Multiple educational conferences on the importance of vaccination were held, and a flu information website and blog were added to the health system's website. Hospital newsletters featured articles about immunization, including photographs of hospital leaders being vaccinated. The vaccination campaign was also promoted on telephone hold messages and computer screen savers. To monitor progress, vaccination rates by unit were sent to unit directors weekly and were available to all employees on the website.

The quality improvement tools and techniques the team used led to a significant improvement of the vaccination rate, said Dr. Jose Cadena, a member of the team and an author of the journal report. Our methodology allowed us to adapt and modify interventions over time, adjusting to challenges and opportunities for improvement that emerged.

Making sure healthcare workers are vaccinated is a major public health initiative. Vaccination of healthcare workers helps save patients' lives and reduces the spread of influenza in healthcare settings. It also protects the individual worker from falling ill during influenza outbreaks and from missing work, which further impacts patient care.

Mathematical models have shown that [healthcare worker] influenza vaccination could lead to a 40 percent decreased risk of patients acquiring influenza in the healthcare setting, which makes influenza vaccination a patient safety issue, Dr. Cadena and his colleagues write.

While the vaccination effort was successful in raising immunization rates substantially, it still fell short of its 80 percent goal. Making vaccination a condition of employment, as recommended recently by several professional societies including the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, may be required to achieve higher rates of vaccination, Dr. Cadena said.

Vitamin E can fight fatty liver disease in kids

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:17:57 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A specific form of Vitamin E can improve the most severe form of fatty liver disease in some children.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - is the most common chronic liver disease among US children. It ranges in severity from steatosis - to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH -.

The symptoms of NAFLD and NASH are identical. They are very bland and non-specific. They can occur at any adult age and, in children, usually appear after 10 years of age.

Fatty liver increases a child's risk of developing heart disease and liver cirrhosis. The only way to distinguish NASH from other forms of fatty liver disease is with a liver biopsy.

Using liver biopsies, researchers found that after 96 weeks of treatment, 58 percent of the children on Vitamin E no longer had NASH, compared to 41 percent of the children on metformin -, and 28 percent on placebo.

Vitamin E was better than placebo because it significantly reduced enlargement and death of liver cells, reports the Journal of the American Medical Association.

'These results suggest that Vitamin E improves or resolves NASH in at least half of children, which we previously showed to be true in adults,' said Stephen P. James, director of the digestive diseases at National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases -, which funded the study.

Weight loss may reverse the disease in some children, but other than dietary advice, there are no specific treatments. Excess fat in the liver is believed to cause injury by increasing levels of oxidants, compounds that damage cells, according to an NIDDK statement.

The Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children - trial studied whether Vitamin E - or metformin could improve fatty liver disease.

Most children with fatty liver disease are overweight and resistant to insulin, a critical hormone that regulates energy. Boys are more likely to be affected than girls.

Nasal spray vaccines more effective against flu

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Nasal vaccines that effectively protect against flu, pneumonia and even bioterrorism agents such as Yersinia pestis that causes the plague, could soon be a possibility, according to research presented at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Harrogate. Professor Dennis Metzger describes how including a natural immune chemical with standard vaccines can boost their protective effect when delivered through the nose.

The respiratory tract is a major entry site for various viral and bacterial pathogens. However there are few approved vaccines that can provide optimal protection against them due to the low immune response at muscosal surfaces such as the nasal passage.

Combining standard vaccines for respiratory pathogens with the immune chemical, interleukin-12 (IL-12) and delivering them intranasally to mice has been shown to induce high levels of protection. Vaccines against various respiratory pathogens were tested, including influenza virus, pneumococcal bacteria and Yersinia pestis - a Category A Biothreat. IL-12 is a natural immune chemical, known as a cytokine. It is a powerful stimulator of the immune response through its interactions with other immune chemicals and the white blood cells that produce them.

Professor Metzger from Albany Medical College, New York explains the significance of the findings. Infectious agents still account for around 25% of deaths worldwide and the major killers are acute respiratory infections. However, it is difficult to induce immunity at the site of entry and so standard vaccines are only partially protective, he said. Intranasal vaccination gets around this problem by inducing immunity in the pulmonary passage. This prevents initial infection as well as systemic complications. Up until now, nasal vaccination has only resulted in sufficient immune responses for very specific types of vaccine. We now have evidence that this method could work for a wide range of vaccines when IL-12 is included in formulation, said Professor Metzger.

Nasal vaccines could have a number of other advantages over vaccines that must be injected. Vaccination via a nasal spray is a non-invasive procedure that is easier than administering vaccines by injection. In addition our results have shown that antibodies induced by intranasal vaccination are effective not only in preventing infection but can also protect the pulmonary tract in a therapeutic manner after pathogen exposure, explained Professor Metzger. In the case of a bioterrorism threat or an influenza pandemic, this is significant. The next step is to perform clinical trials to determine whether including IL-12 with intranasal vaccines are effective in the human population.

Working 11 hours can up heart attack risk by 67 percent

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:58:04 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, April 5 - People who spend more than 11 hours a day at work increase their chances of having a heart attack by 67 percent, a study has found.

A team from University College London looked at more than 7,000 civil servants over a period of 11 years and established how many hours they worked on an average a day.

They also collected information, including the condition of their heart, from medical records and health checks. Over the period, 192 had suffered a heart attack, reports the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study found that those who worked more than 11 hours a day were 67 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those who had a 'nine to five' job, according to the Daily Mail.

Said Mika Kivimaki, who led the study: 'We have shown that working long days is associated with a remarkable increase in the risk of heart disease.'

The researchers say their findings could potentially prevent thousands of heart attacks a year as they would help physicians get a better idea of how likely a patient was to have one.

Patients already at high risk - by being obese or smoking, for example - could be encouraged to cut down on their working hours.

Around 2.6 million in Britain alone have heart disease, in which the organ's blood supply is blocked by the build-up of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries. It claims 101,000 lives every year in the country.

Study shows hunger hitting closer to home

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A new study on hunger entitled Map the Meal Gap is the first study to identify the county-level distribution of over 50 million food-insecure Americans.

Until now, we could only compare the data by state, said Craig Gundersen, University of Illinois associate professor of agricultural and consumer economics and executive director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory who led the data analysis on the project. Having this data by county has the potential to redefine the way service providers and policy makers address areas of need.

Gundersen explained that the term meal gap refers to the additional number of meals the food insecure population in the selected area requires to meet their food needs. On the national level, the average cost of a meal is $2.54. The study shows this shortfall represents an estimated $21.3 billion on an annual basis.

Per person this is only about $56 more each month on average to address the shortages in their food budget, Gundersen said.

Among the key findings of the study is that there are 44 counties in the United States that fall into the top 10 percent categories for both food insecurity and food prices. These counties struggle with multiple stressors, including high food insecurity, high poverty, high unemployment and above-average food costs, Gundersen said. At the time the most recent data were collected, on average, one in every four persons in these counties was food insecure and 27 percent lived at or below poverty. The counties are typically rural and one-third are majority African American.

This study also demonstrates the distribution of food-insecure persons who are not eligible for food assistance programs. In Illinois, for example, 41 percent of the almost 2 million people who are identified as being food insecure are also ineligible to receive federal assistance from SNAP, which is limited to people with incomes up to the 130 percent level of federal poverty. (SNAP, The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, was formerly known as the Food Stamp Program.)

A summary of the findings, an interactive map of the United States showing data for each county, and the full report are available on Feeding America's website at www.feedingamerica.org. The study was funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the Nielsen Co.

The executive summary of the report features additional information that describes how Latinos and American Indians are disproportionately affected by high rates of hunger and high food prices.

Gundersen is also working with James Ziliak of the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research to coordinate a research program on childhood hunger with $5.5 million from the USDA.

In order to address the problem of hunger in our communities, we have to understand it, Gundersen said. The results from Map the Meal Gap will help researchers to better identify the populations and develop strategies to reach those who are most in need of food assistance.

Religious young adults become obese by middle age

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) CHICAGO --- Could it be the potato salad? Young adults who frequently attend religious activities are 50 percent more likely to become obese by middle age as young adults with no religious involvement, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. This is the first longitudinal study to examine the development of obesity in people with various degrees of religious involvement.

We don't know why frequent religious participation is associated with development of obesity, but the upshot is these findings highlight a group that could benefit from targeted efforts at obesity prevention, said Matthew Feinstein, the study's lead investigator and a fourth-year student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. It'spossible that getting together once a week and associating good works and happiness with eating unhealthy foods could lead to the development of habits that are associated with greater body weight and obesity.

Previous Northwestern Medicine research established a correlation between religious involvement and obesity in middle-age and older adults at a single point in time. By tracking participants' weight gain over time, the new study makes it clear that normal weight younger adults with high religious involvement became obese, rather than obese adults becoming more religious.

The research is being presented at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Scientific Sessions 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The study, which tracked 2,433 men and women for 18 years, found normal weight young adults ages 20 to 32 years with a high frequency of religious participation were 50 percent more likely to be obese by middle age after adjusting for differences in age, race, sex, education, income and baseline body mass index. High frequency of religious participation was defined as attending a religious function at least once a week.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index of 30 or higher. A woman who is 5'5 and 180 pounds has a BMI of 30, for example.

The men and women in the study were part of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) multi-center study, supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Obesity is the major epidemic that is facing the U.S. population right now, said senior study author Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. We know that people with obesity have substantial risks for developing diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer, and of dying much younger. So, we need to use all of the tools at our disposal to identify groups at risk and to provide education and support to prevent the development of obesity in the first place. Once the weight is on, it is much harder to lose it.

The authors caution that their findings should only be taken to mean people with frequent religious involvement are more likely to become obese, and not that they have worse overall health status than those who are non-religious. In fact, previous studies have shown religious people tend to live longer than those who aren't religious in part because they tend to smoke less.

Here's an opportunity for religious organizations to initiate programs to help their congregations live even longer, Feinstein said. The organizations already have groups of people getting together and infrastructures in place that could be leveraged to initiate programs that prevent people from becoming obese and treat existing obesity.

Feinstein noted Northwestern is leading such an educational intervention in a church on Chicago's West Side where members are taught how dietary changes and increased physical activity can lower cardiovascular disease risk factors such as obesity, cholesterol and high blood pressure. Church-based interventions have shown promising results, he said.

Load up on fiber now, avoid heart disease later

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) CHICAGO --- A new study from Northwestern Medicine shows a high-fiber diet could be a critical heart-healthy lifestyle change young and middle-aged adults can make. The study found adults between 20 and 59 years old with the highest fiber intake had a significantly lower estimated lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease compared to those with the lowest fiber intake.

The study will be presented March 23 at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Scientific Sessions 2011 in Atlanta, Ga. This is the first known study to show the influence of fiber consumption on the lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease.

It's long been known that high-fiber diets can help people lose weight, lower cholesterol and improve hypertension, said Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, corresponding author of the study and chair of the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The results of this study make a lot of sense because weight, cholesterol and hypertension are major determinants of your long-term risk for cardiovascular disease.

A high-fiber diet falls into the American Heart Association's recommendation of 25 grams of dietary fiber or more a day. Lloyd-Jones said you should strive to get this daily fiber intake from whole foods, not processed fiber bars, supplements and drinks.

A processed food may be high in fiber, but it also tends to be pretty high in sodium and likely higher in calories than an apple, for example, which provides the same amount of fiber, Lloyd-Jones said.

For the study, Hongyan Ning, M.D., lead author and a statistical analyst in the department of preventive medicine at Feinberg, examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative sample of about 11,000 adults.

Ning considered diet, blood pressure, total cholesterol, smoking status and history of diabetes in survey participants and then used a formula to predict lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease.

The results are pretty amazing, Ning said. Younger (20 to 39 years) and middle-aged (40 to 59 years) adults with the highest fiber intake, compared to those with the lowest fiber intake, showed a statistically significant lower lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease.

In adults 60 to 79 years, dietary fiber intake was not significantly associated with a reduction in lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease. It's possible that the beneficial effect of dietary fiber may require a long period of time to achieve, and older adults may have already developed significant risk for heart disease before starting a high-fiber diet, Ning said.

As for young and middle-aged adults, now is the time to start making fiber a big part of your daily diet, Ning said.

The study suggests that starting a high-fiber diet now may help improve your long-term risk, Ning said.

Allergy vaccine is nothing to sneeze at

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Monash University researchers are working on a vaccine that could completely cure asthma brought on by house dust mite allergies.

If successful, the vaccine would have the potential to cure sufferers in two to three doses.

Allergies to house dust mites is a leading cause of asthma and the respiratory condition affects more than 2 million Australians and costs more than $600 million in health expenditure each year.

Currently, people allergic to house dust mites must continually clean their environments to remove the microscopic creatures from soft furnishings to avoid an allergic attack. Medications can bring relief for some sufferers, but must be taken regularly. Others respond less well to medications.

Professor El Meeusen, who is working with Professor Robyn O'Hehir, both from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Services, believes that a vaccine for people with house dust mite allergies will have a range of health and financial benefits for patients and the government.

We are aiming to develop a vaccine that can be completely delivered in two to three doses. That means a person suffering from a house dust mite allergy will be able to breathe easily from their final dose, Professor Meeusen said.

Allergies cost the Australian economy approximately seven billion dollars every year. The potential reduction in cost to the patient and to the government by eradicating a common allergy such as this is immense.

Professor O'Hehir has also made significant gains in developing a vaccine for people with peanut allergies. Currently there is no specific treatment for peanut allergy with avoidance and emergency treatment of anaphylaxis with adrenaline as the only options. Allergen immunotherapy is available for selected patients with house dust mite allergy but typically injections need to be given regularly for three to five years.

This method of immunisation is quite precarious, because modern medicine still isn't entirely sure how it really works, Professor Meeusen said.

The immunisation is administered in small doses. Too much can cause anaphylactic shock. It's a very fine line.

Laboratory testing has shown that a genetic predisposition exists to be allergic to more than one allergen.

We have already found that being allergic to peanuts also represents the likelihood of developing an allergy to house dust mites, Dr Meeusen said.

In humans it is difficult to look at how the very early stages of allergy occur, because you don't get to see the patient until it is well developed in their allergic response. Our testing enables us to look at the very first time that our models are exposed to the allergen.

From there, the scientists can see which models are going to develop an allergy and which are not, to determine the difference between them.

This research involves using the scientist's knowledge of normal vaccines for infectious diseases to better understand how allergy vaccines work in order to develop more effective and safer products.

Sea grant awards more than $1.1 million for research under EPA's Long Island Sound study

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) STONY BROOK, NY, March 8, 2011 - The Sea Grant programs of Connecticut and New York have awarded Long Island Sound Study research grants valued at $1,130,832 to six projects that will look into some of the most serious threats to the ecological health of Long Island Sound, a water body designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as an Estuary of National Significance.

Research results from five two-year projects and a one-year pilot project are expected to provide valuable information to resource managers throughout the Long Island Sound watershed. Most projects involve nitrogen, known to be the biggest driver of low oxygen conditions in the Sound. The research also addresses emerging issues of red tide and the effects of climate change on the Sound's ecosystem.

The focus of many of the projects is on nitrogen-- its sources, impacts, and removal processes-- with the overall goal of improving the water quality of Long Island Sound for the benefit of its coastal communities and businesses, said Dr. James Ammerman, director of New York Sea Grant.

A study by Shimon Anisfeld and Gaboury Benoit at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies will examine characteristics of constructed wetlands and wet ponds (manmade retention basins) to find out if and under what conditions they are effective at reducing the amount of nitrogen that enters Long Island Sound via stormwater. The results will help in future Best Management Practice designs to improve water quality.

Two geoscientists at Stony Brook University (SBU), Gilbert Hanson and Teng-Fong Wong, will examine the source, transformation, and fate of nitrogen as it travels from shallow groundwater aquifers to two harbors on Long Island's north shore. The information will be important to municipalities evaluating the potential impacts of on-site wastewater disposal systems. In another project, University of Connecticut (UConn) marine scientists Jamie Vaudrey and Charles Yarish will look at the impacts of nitrogen on habitats in some of the many small embayments that surround the Sound in Connecticut and New York. They will assess the uncertain ability of these habitats to support eelgrass under conditions of eutrophication and changing climate. Eelgrass is ecologically and economically valuable, particularly as bay scallop habitat.

A project led by Darcy Lonsdale and Christopher Gobler at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at SBU will look at how increasing populations of gelatinous zooplankton, such as comb jellies and jellyfish, might affect hypoxia and food webs in the Sound.

Harmful algal blooms, increasing globally, have negative effects on fisheries and economies. In a separate project, SBU's Gobler will determine possible anthropogenic causes of fundamental changes in the Sound that may encourage toxin-producing algal bloom events. The blooms can cause PSP and DSP, two different types of shellfish poisoning that impact human health.

Finally, in a small-scale pilot project, Craig R. Tobias, UConn Department of Marine Sciences, and Bongkuen Song, University of North Carolina at Wilmington Biology Department, will team up to quantify seasonal removal rates of nitrogen in tidal reaches of a Connecticut estuary. The results will be mapped and provide clues to whether hot spots for these processes persist over time and space or are transient. This information will help inform future management choices.

Nitrogen plays an invaluable role in society as fertilizer, but we know that too much nitrogen in coastal waters such as Long Island Sound can degrade water quality and contribute to harmful algal blooms, said Mark Tedesco, director of the EPA Long Island Sound Office which manages the Long Island Sound Study partnership, and provided the funds for the Sea Grant- administered research projects.

Since 2000, the Long Island Sound grant program has awarded 26 grants to scientists whose work helps meet the needs of decision-makers to improve the management of Long Island Sound, for a total of 32 projects.

The range of projects we are funding reflects the complexity of the problems we are facing, and will contribute to providing a strong scientific basis in support of management decisions for healthy ecosystems, said Dr. Sylvain De Guise, director of Connecticut Sea Grant. The results will help to conserve the Sound for current and future generations.

Research sheds light on fat digestibility in pigs

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Producers and feed companies add fat to swine diets to increase energy, but recent research from the University of Illinois suggests that measurements currently used for fat digestibility need to be updated.

It's critical that we gain a better understanding of the energy value of fat, said Hans H. Stein, U of I professor in the Department of Animal Sciences. If we don't know the true energy value of fat, we can't determine if it's economical to add to the diet.

In a recent experiment, Stein and his team of researchers studied how different types of diets affect endogenous losses of fat (fat excreted from pigs that did not originate from the diet). They measured endogenous losses of fat to determine the true digestibility of both intact and extracted corn oil. The intact corn oil was provided in the form of corn germ, and the extracted fat was provided as liquid corn oil.

Endogenous losses differed depending on the type of fat in the diet, he said. The intact fat was less digestible than extracted fat.

We believe that the main reason intact fat is less digestible than extracted fat is that it is easy for the enzymes to gain access to the fat in corn oil. In contrast, the corn germ is encased in the feed ingredient among the fiber complexes, which makes it difficult for enzymes to access and digest it, Stein said.

His team also discovered that measuring fat digestibility at the end of the ileum results in a more accurate value than measuring the total tract digestibility of fat.

The microbes in the hindgut can synthesize fat, Stein explained. This fat is not absorbed in the hindgut; it's just excreted in the feces. Because of this, it's easy to underestimate the amount of fat that was absorbed in the small intestine by the pig.

Stein said this research has opened new doors for swine nutrition.

We knew that the concentration of fat in the diet affects the value that is determined for apparent digestibility, Stein said. However, by correcting these values for the endogenous losses, we can calculate the true digestibility of fat fed to pigs.

Results of the research indicate that more information on fat digestibility is needed to ensure that diets are formulated economically.

We now know that fat digestibility should be determined as ileal digestibility rather than total tract digestibility to avoid the influence of the microbes in the hindgut of pigs, he said. We also know that for practical feed formulation, it is more accurate to use values for true ileal digestibility than for apparent ileal digestibility because these values are not influenced by the level of fat in the diet.

However, Stein said we still don't know many of the factors that influence fat digestibility in different feed ingredients and we do not have good data for the true ileal digestibility of fat in most of our feed ingredients. A better understanding of how fat is utilized by the pig after absorption is also needed. Stein believes follow-up research should focus on addressing these questions and determining the energy value of the different sources of fat used in swine diets.

New vaccine technology protects mice from hepatitis C virus

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Immunology: Three percent of the world's population is currently infected by hepatitis C. The virus hides in the liver and can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer, and it's the most frequent cause of liver transplants in Denmark. Since the virus mutates strongly, we have no traditional vaccine, but researchers at the University of Copenhagen are now the first to succeed in developing a vaccine, which provides future hope for medical protection from this type of hepatitis.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) has the same infection pathways as HIV, says Jan Pravsgaard Christensen, Associate Professor of Infection Immunology at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

Approximately one newly infected patient in five has an immune system capable of defeating an acute HCV infection in the first six months. But most cases do not present any symptoms at all and the virus becomes a chronic infection of the liver.

Poorly treated donor blood and dirty needles are sinners

Every year three or four million more people become infected and the most frequent path of infection is needle sharing among drug addicts or tattoo artists with poor hygiene, such as tribal tattoo artists in Africa and Asia. Fifteen percent of new infections are sexually transmitted, while ten percent come from unscreened blood transfusions.

According to Allan Randrup Thomsen, Professor of Experimental Virology, Egypt is one country with a high incidence of HCV. This is particularly due to lack of caution in the past with regards to screening donated blood for the presence of this virus, he says.

China, Brazil, South East Asia and African states south of the Sahara also have a high incidence, while the disease is also spreading through Eastern Europe, especially Romania and Moldova.

HCV mutates too fast for traditional vaccines

The new vaccine technology was developed by Peter J. Holst, a former PhD student now a postdoc with the Experimental Virology group, which also includes Professor Allan Randrup Thomsen and Associate Professor Jan Pravsgaard Christensen.

The technology works by stimulating and accelerating the immune system, and showing the body's defence mechanisms of the parts of the virus that are more conserved and do not mutate as fast and as often, such as the molecules on the surface of the HCV.

Basically, traditional vaccines work by showing the immune defences an identikit image of the virus for which protection is desired. Antibodies then patrol all entrances with a copy of this image and are able to respond rapidly if the virus attempts to penetrate. But the influenza virus mutates its surface molecules and in the course of a single season it takes on a new guise so that it no longer resembles the original identikit image and the vaccine loses its efficacy.

Professor Randrup explains, Mutations of the surface are Darwin at work, so to speak. The virus tries to outwit the immune defences and if it succeeds we get ill, and our response is new vaccines.

Associate Professor Pravsgaard Christensen says, Viruses like HCV mutate so rapidly that classical vaccine technology hasn't a chance of keeping up. But the molecules inside the virus do not mutate that rapidly, because the survival of the virus does not depend on it.

New vaccine technology gives immune system information about virus' stable parts

According to Professor Randrup, the body's natural defences usually don't see these internal virus molecules until the virus has taken residence in the body.

Our cells constantly show random samples of their contents to the immune defence patrols, and if there are enough foreign bodies among them, the alarm is triggered, says Professor Randrup.

The cells display fragments of the surface molecules and internal genes from the virus, and if you show the immune defences a kind of X-ray of the inner genes, they will respond. Actually, the response is extremely potent, and one of the things it does is summon the specialised CD8 killer cells.

We took a dead common cold virus, an adenovirus that is completely harmless and which many of us have met in childhood, Associate Professor Pravsgaard Christensen explains.

We hid the gene for one of the HCV's internal molecules inside it. At the same time we attached a special molecule on the internal molecule so that when the cells of the mouse body tried to take a sample, they would extract a more extensive section. The immune defences would then be presented with a larger section of the molecule concerned. You may say that the immune defences were given an entire palm print of the internal genes instead of just a single fingerprint.

This strategy resulted in two discoveries from the team. Firstly, the mice were vaccinated for HCV in a way that meant that protection was independent of variations in the surface molecules of the virus. Secondly, the immune defences of the mice saw such an extensive section of the internal molecule that even though some aspects of it changed, there were still a couple of impressions the immune defences could recognise and respond to.

The new technology to be tested in monkeys

Another virus that mutates its surface molecules with extreme rapidity is HIV. It changes skin in the space of 24 hours, and like HCV, we do not yet have a cure or a vaccine. The researchers think that HIV originally migrated to man from monkeys in the 1930s, when it was the simian Immunodeficiency virus that still circulates among a number of species of wild African monkeys.

The Danish Medical Research Council (DMRC) has given postdoc Peter Holst a grant to test our technology for a SIV vaccine for macaque monkeys in the US, says Associate Professor Pravsgaard Christensen.

The University of Copenhagen is also currently negotiating the sale of the patent for the process so that the technology can be developed for use in human vaccines.

The discovery of an effective HCV vaccine has just been published in the

Hershey scientists improve methods for analysis of healthful cocoa compounds

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Two scientific publications report on improved methods for determining the amounts of flavanol antioxidants in cocoa and chocolate. The research, sponsored by The Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition, was a collaboration between scientists at The Hershey Company and other scientific laboratories.

Scientists at Planta Analytica (Danbury, CT) isolated and separated cocoa flavanol antioxidants on a large scale. The Hershey scientists and collaborating scientists at the Pennsylvania State University-M.S. Hershey Medical Center (Hershey, PA) teamed up to determine the purity of these flavanols by HPLC and by Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectroscopy. The isolated compounds were then used as standards in the determination of flavanol cocoa antioxidants in a cocoa powder and a dark chocolate.

We believe this represents the first large scale purification of standards for flavanol antioxidant determination said Dr. Jeffrey Hurst of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition. Prior to this, only dimers were commercially available. With a full series of standards, our flavanol determinations are not only more accurate, but the values are much higher, between 40% to 100% higher, than previously published methods using proprietary standards. This also means that standards are commercially available to various laboratories. This collaborative work was published in the online journal

In other research published in the Journal Association of Official Analytical Chemists, scientists from The Hershey Company and Brunswick Laboratories (Newton, MA) reported on the development of a new method for determining total procyanidins. This method is a colorimetric test based on the specific reaction of dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMAC) with flavanols. The method measures flavanol monomers, including EGCG, as well as higher flavanol polymers. The method which is standardized using a commercially available flavanol dimer, was validated at two Brunswick Laboratories facilities and at Hershey with all three laboratories providing comparable results at the 95% confidence level. The specific reaction of DMAC with the flavanols has been known since the 1950s. This method is a simple and quick way to measure total procyanidins in cocoa and chocolate said Dr. Mark Payne of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition. Compared to the HPLC method, which separates individual compounds, this method gives one number, which importantly includes polymers of flavanols beyond ten.

These reports are part of an ongoing series of publications, by Hershey and its collaborators, designed to improve upon the methods to determine flavanol antioxidants from cocoa and chocolate, said Dr. David Stuart, of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition. We want to make these methods generally available to the chocolate industry initially, with the intent of having uniformly agreed upon methods of determining the level of these important molecules.

These new methods can be used in research and other applications involving dietary intake of cocoa and chocolate, clinical interventions and food standardization.

Saint Louis University findings: Don't pitch stockpiled avian flu vaccine

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) ST. LOUIS -- A stockpiled vaccine designed to fight a strain of avian flu that circulated in 2004 can be combined with a vaccine that matches the current strain of bird flu to protect against a potential pandemic, researchers from Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development have found.

The findings suggest public health officials can get a jump on fighting a pandemic caused by avian flu virus because they won't have to wait for a vaccine that exactly matches the current strain of bird flu to be manufactured. They can begin immunizing against the bird flu by giving an injection of a vaccine made from a related, yet mismatched strain of flu to prime the body for a second shot of a vaccine that matches the current strain.

A cornerstone of pandemic planning is the development of effective vaccines against avian influenza infection, said Robert Belshe, M.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University and the lead author of the paper.

The results of the present study confirm the usefulness of vaccination with an H5 strain that isn't the current dominant strain.

Avian flu -- or H5N1 -- is a highly infectious and deadly virus that circulates in birds and has the potential to genetically mutate and jump between species to infect humans. Because people lack immunity to the virus, public health officials are concerned that the virus can spread quickly to become a pandemic outbreak.

In anticipation of a bird flu pandemic, in 2004 the U.S. government stockpiled 20 million doses of vaccine against the Vietnam strain of avian influenza, which then was the dominant strain of the virus. But the avian flu changes quickly and since then, a different strain of bird flu, known as the Indonesia strain, has replaced the Vietnam strain as the prominent circulating avian flu.

Researchers studied both the vaccine against the Vietnam strain and an investigational vaccine designed to protect against the Indonesia strain in 491 healthy adults. They measured the body's immune response to different combinations of the two avian flu vaccines. They also looked at how long to wait between giving the first and second doses of vaccine.

They found that two doses of vaccine are needed to provide protection against the avian flu. Giving the stockpiled Vietnam avian flu vaccine as the first dose primed the body's system so that a follow up dose of the investigational Indonesia avian flu vaccine triggered a heighten immune response. The immune response to both strains of avian influenza became more robust as the injections of vaccine were spaced further apart.

The longer 180-day interval between priming and boosting vaccine doses gave the best antibody responses, although in a fast-moving pandemic, this is unlikely to be an option, Belshe said.

The most surprising thing we discovered was the value of time. It's incredible how much stronger response you get at six months. There's something going on there that we know nothing about and is a very interesting area for future research.

Other areas of future of research include studying the vaccines in children and adults and examining the use of adjuvants, substances that stimulate the immune response to produce more antibodies so less vaccine is needed, Belshe added.

Public health officials might consider immunizing those who are at risk of serious side effects from influenza with the stockpiled avian flu vaccine, he said.

The vaccine could prime the body's immune system to mount a defense if the person is exposed to the avian flu virus and could be a powerful weapon in the fight against a pandemic, Belshe said.

Want more efficient muscles? Eat your spinach

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) After taking a small dose of inorganic nitrate for three days, healthy people consume less oxygen while riding an exercise bike. A new study in the February issue of Cell Metabolism traces that improved performance to increased efficiency of the mitochondria that power our cells.

The researchers aren't recommending anyone begin taking inorganic nitrate supplements based on the new findings. Rather, they say that the results may offer one explanation for the well-known health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and leafy green vegetables in particular.

We're talking about an amount of nitrate equivalent to what is found in two or three red beets or a plate of spinach, said Eddie Weitzberg of the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. We know that diets rich in fruits and vegetables can help prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes but the active nutrients haven't been clear. This shows inorganic nitrate as a candidate to explain those benefits.

In fact, up until recently nitrate wasn't thought to have any nutritional value at all. It has even been suggested that this component of vegetables might be toxic. But Weitzberg and his colleague Jon Lundberg earlier showed that dietary nitrate feeds into a pathway that produces nitric oxide with the help of friendly bacteria found in our mouths. Nitric oxide has been known for two decades as a physiologically important molecule. It opens up our blood vessels to lower blood pressure, for instance.

The new study offers yet another benefit of nitrate and the nitric oxides that stem from them. It appears that the increased mitochondrial efficiency is owed to lower levels of proteins that normally make the cellular powerhouses leaky. Mitochondria normally aren't fully efficient, Weitzberg explained. No machine is.

Questions do remain. The new results show that increased dietary nitrate can have a rather immediate effect. But it's not yet clear what might happen in people who consume higher levels of inorganic nitrate over longer periods of time. Weitzberg says it will be a natural next step to repeat the experiment in people with conditions linked to mitochondrial dysfunction, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, to see if they too enjoy the benefits of nitrates.

Among the more consistent findings from nutritional research are the beneficial effects of a high intake of fruit and vegetables in protection against major disorders such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, the researchers concluded. However, the underlying mechanism(s) responsible for these effects is still unclear, and trials with single nutrients have generally failed. It is tempting to speculate that boosting of the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway may be one mechanism by which vegetables exert their protective effects.

As an interesting aside, Weitzberg says that the benefits of dietary nitrates suggest that powerful mouthwashes may have a downside. We need oral bacteria for the first step in nitrate reduction, he says. You could block the effects of inorganic nitrate if you use a strong mouthwash or spit [instead of swallowing your saliva]. In our view, strong mouthwashes are not good if you want this system to work.

Insects that deter predators produce fewer offspring

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Scientists studied the defences used by caterpillars that transform into large white butterflies, called Pieris brassicae. The insects regurgitate semi-digested cabbage leaves to make them smell and taste unpleasant to predators. The team found, however, that frequent use of this defence reduces the caterpillars' growth rate and the number of eggs they produce. It remains unclear why their defences affect them in this way, but the loss of nutrition from frequent regurgitation is thought to play a part.

Caterpillars are a target of pest control, as they destroy food crop by eating the leaves of cabbages and other vegetable crop. This new study, however, suggests that natural predators, such as farmland birds, do not necessarily have to consume large numbers of insects, to have a significant effect on the size of the population. Researchers found that 40% of caterpillars that defended themselves from predators by regurgitating food, died before transforming into a butterfly, despite successfully surviving the initial attack.

The study also showed that on average large caterpillars have 60 eggs, but those that used their defences against daily predator attacks produced approximately 30 eggs. It is thought that this effect could be widespread amongst herbivorous insects, suggesting that predators may have a larger impact on reducing the population of agricultural pests than previously thought.

Dr Mike Speed, from the University of Liverpool's Institute of Integrative Biology, explains: Research has shown that large insects produce more eggs than smaller ones. This is commonly assumed to always be the case, but we have found that those that regurgitate food as a defence against predators, have fewer eggs, similar to the numbers of offspring smaller insects have. We also found that these insects grow at a slower rate and even those that successfully change into a butterfly, are smaller than normal.

Dr Andrew Higginson, from the University of Glasgow, said: Interestingly, the caterpillars that grew at a slower rate were not forced, as a result of the attack, to metamorphose prematurely. They could have fed for longer, grown larger and produced more offspring, despite the daily use of their defences, but they appear to 'choose' to change into a smaller butterfly. More study is required to understand why they do this, but it could be that the threat of a fatal attack is too large for them to remain at the larval stage for too long and prompts them to transform into a butterfly early.

Dr Speed added: This work demonstrates that it is important to maintain the diversity of predators such as wild birds, particularly in areas where large numbers of insects can destroy food crop. We now need to look at the defence mechanisms of a variety of insects to understand if other species react in similar ways.

Genetic study of bedbugs may help identify pesticide resistance genes

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:08:01 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) OhioState University entomologists have conducted the first genetic study of bedbugs, paving the road to the identification of potential genes associated with pesticide resistance and possible new control methods for the troublesome insect, whose sudden resurgence in the United States has led to a public health scare.
The discovery was reported Jan. 19 in the online journal PLoS ONE.
"While bedbugs are poised to become one of the major household pests across the United States in the coming years, we know very little about their genetic makeup and their mechanisms of resistance to insecticides," said Omprakash Mittapalli, corresponding author of the study and an assistant professor of entomology with the university's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster.
"This is the first study to elucidate the genetic make up of the insect and to obtain fundamental molecular knowledge regarding potential defense pathways and genes that may be involved in metabolic resistance to commonly used pesticides."
A minor nuisance since World War II as a result of the widespread use of DDT and other long-lasting residual insecticides, bedbug (Cimex lectularius) numbers have increased in the past decade as much as 500 percent in North America and other parts of the world — costing billions of dollars to homeowners and businesses annually and requiring the use of large quantities of pesticides, many of them ineffective.
Reasons behind the spike in bedbug infestations include a boom in international travel, increased exchange of used furniture, a shift from powerful but dangerous insecticides such as DDT to more selective control tactics, and the development of resistance among bedbug populations to currently used pesticides — pyrethroids in particular.
"The common assumption today is that pesticide resistance in bedbugs results from point mutations in certain genes," Mittapalli explained. "However, the role of detoxification and antioxidant enzymes in pesticide resistance of bedbugs is poorly understood.
Enzymes such as Cytochrome P450s and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) have been shown in other insects to act as detoxification agents, allowing the insects to get rid of toxic compounds such as insecticides and not be killed by them. Our study looked closely at those groups of enzymes in bedbugs."
For the study, Mittapalli and his team employed 454 sequencing technology, which has recently enabled the application of functional genomics to a broad range of insect species previously unexplored at the molecular level. They analyzed both laboratory-reared bedbugs susceptible to insecticides (the Harlan strain) and pesticide-exposed bedbugs collected from a Columbus, Ohio apartment in 2009 and 2010.
This analysis led to the identification of 35,646 expressed sequence tags, or ESTs, which are instrumental in gene discovery and sequencing work. Before this study was conducted, less than 2,000 ESTs for C. lectularius had been filed in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases. This information alone is expected to advance additional genetic studies of bedbugs and comparative molecular analyses of blood-feeding insects.
"From the database we created, we profiled the transcript level for a cytochrome P450 (CYP9) and a GST (Delta-epsilon) in different developmental stages (early-stage nymphs, late-stage nymphs and adults) of pesticide-susceptible and pesticide-exposed bedbugs," Mittapalli said. "We found higher transcript levels for CYP9 in all developmental stages in pesticide-exposed populations compared to pesticide-susceptible populations. We also found higher transcript levels of Delta-epsilon in the late-instar nymphs of pesticide-exposed bedbug populations."
Further studies — including gene silencing, or "knocking down," the CYP9 and Delta-epsilon candidate genes to confirm that they are indeed involved in pesticide resistance — are still needed.
"The insecticides being used right now are based on the idea that resistance in bedbugs is caused by point mutations in genes," Mittapalli pointed out. "But we are finding out that the mode of resistance could be attributed to a combination of changes in the bug's genetic makeup (such as mutations) as well as transcriptomic adjustments leading to differential gene expression. Pinpointing such defense mechanisms and the associated genes could lead to the development of novel methods of control that are more effective."

Researchers unzip MRSA and discover route for vaccine

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) University of Rochester Medical Center orthopaedic scientists are a step closer to developing a vaccine to prevent life-threatening methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections following bone and joint surgery.

Other MRSA vaccine research has failed to produce a viable option for patients because of the inability to identify an agent that can break through the deadly bacteria's unique armor. Most other research has targeted the surface of the bacteria, but the URMC team discovered an antibody that reaches beyond the microbe's surface and can stop the MRSA bacteria from growing, at least in mice and in cell cultures.

The Orthopaedic Research Society invited URMC researchers to present their findings on Jan. 16, 2011, at the ORS annual meeting in Long Beach, Calif. The team is led by Edward M. Schwarz, Ph.D., professor of Orthopaedics and associate director of the URMC Center for Musculoskeletal Research. John Varrone, a second-year graduate student in Schwarz's lab, will discuss the data at ORS and the ongoing search for attractive molecular candidates for use in a vaccine.

Staph infection is the leading cause of osteomyelitis, a serious bacterial infection of the bone. Up to half of these infections are due to MRSA, a particular strain of staph known as a superbug because of its antibiotic resistance. MRSA causes nearly 500,000 hospitalizations and 19,000 deaths a year in the United States. Although improvements in surgical techniques and use of prophylactic antibiotics prevents some MRSA infections, osteomyelitis is expected to remain a serious problem in the future as people live longer and request more joint replacements and reconstructive surgery.

Management of MRSA infections due to bone and joint surgery is very challenging, Schwarz said, and therefore a vaccine to prevent the infection is badly needed.

It is difficult to pin down the source of most post-surgical MRSA infections, but the health and financial consequences are severe. Hospital stays can last up to six months. Standard treatment includes removing the MRSA-colonized prosthetic joint replacement, then an extensive washing and draining of the infected area in an attempt to clear out all bacteria before it seeds in nearby tissue and bone. Antibiotic spacers are usually placed near the joint for six to eight weeks.

A second joint replacement is an option only if the antibiotic-spacer treatment is successful and the health of the patient remains stable. However, the re-infection rate is very high (40 to 50 percent) and remains a risk for months or even years after the initial assault. In some cases the patient never fully regains the use of the infected joint, said Regis O'Keefe, chief of Orthopaedics at URMC and an expert in the treatment of MRSA.

It's essential that we have mechanisms in place to prevent this awful infection, O'Keefe said. We are very excited about our vaccine research. It'll have a phenomenal impact on individuals locally and across the country if we are successful.

Quick school cafeteria lines could lead to healthier food choices

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Middle schools soon might add fast cafeteria lines to their menu of tools to help students eat healthier, according to Penn State researchers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded $40,000 from the Economic Research Service to Amit Sharma, assistant professor; Martha Conklin, associate professor, hospitality management; and Lisa Bailey-Davis, senior instructor of public health sciences, College of Medicine.

The project will use economic concepts to study the effect of fast cafeteria lines on healthy lunch choices for middle school students, Sharma said.

Students have only a little over 30 minutes to eat lunch, and that includes time spent in the lunch line, Sharma said. Our idea is to create a conducive environment where it is more convenient for students to make healthier food choices.

Sharma said convenience is the key. When students are pressed for time and face multiple food choices, they usually pick foods that are familiar and popular.

Those choices, as you can imagine, usually aren't the most healthy ones, Sharma said.

To limit the time spent in line, the researchers worked on designing a fast service lane option for school cafeterias with limited food choices, called meal deals. Students can select a main dish from limited options, for instance, but most of the side selections would be predetermined. Sharma expects that the strategy will reduce the time that students spend in the lunch lane and encourage them to chose fast lanes more often. The researchers will test the fast service lane at a local middle school.

The researchers will first collect information from students, parents, administrators and food service personnel about how students currently make food choices and which choices are the most popular. From that data, they will develop the food combinations for the fast service lane.

We have to strike the right balance when we create the meal deals, said Sharma. The food choices should be exciting enough for the students, but also healthy.

Once the food combinations are selected and the fast service lane is in place, the researchers will collect data on fast lane use and food combination sales for two or three weeks. The sales of the meal deals will continue for a week after the experiment to determine if students continue to make healthy food choices.

If we can counter those unhealthy choices, we can slowly have the students choose healthier foods rather than food that might be unhealthy, Sharma said.

Middle school students make ideal candidates for the experiment because previous research suggests they are beginning to develop the cognitive capacity to make choices, such as decisions on food and health, according to Sharma. Students also face more health and diet options at this age.

Sharma said it is important that the fast service lane concept fits the school district budget, as well.

Obviously, for the program to work, it has to be affordable, said Sharma. If the fast lane meals incur significant costs for the food service, we will have to go back to the drawing board and find the solutions that are more financially viable.

Widespread vitamin D deficiency a concern in Asia

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bone health experts attending the 1st Asia-Pacific Osteoporosis Meeting in Singapore this week have flagged vitamin D deficiency as a major concern in the region, particularly in South Asia where the problem is especially severe and widespread across the entire population.

Dr. Nikhil Tandon, Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences of New Delhi, India highlighted the results of various studies which show severe deficiency across India and Pakistan in all age groups, as well as insufficiency in populations of South-East and East Asia. A lack of exposure to sunshine, genetic traits and dietary habits are all factors which influence vitamin D levels. In certain regions, vitamin D deficiency can also be attributed to skin pigmentation and traditional clothing, as well as air pollution and limited outdoor activity in urban populations, he stated.

Vitamin D is primarily made in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight, with limited amounts obtained from food sources. However, in people with low sunlight exposure vitamin D is principally obtained from nutritional or supplemental sources. In the elderly, vitamin D deficiency is linked to reduced physical performance and increased risk of fall-related fractures. In children, severe vitamin D deficiency results in inadequate mineralization of bone, leading to growth retardation and bone deformities known as rickets. As well, there is evidence that children born to mothers who are vitamin D deficient during pregnancy may have reduced bone mass, which could in turn be a risk factor for osteoporosis later in life.

At a Vitamin D Roundtable held in conjunction with the meeting, nutrition and bone health experts discussed the importance of encouraging further studies on vitamin D status and risk factors in countries where data are scarce. The group is developing interactive vitamin D maps based on published data of 25(OH)D serum levels, the biomarker used to measure vitamin D status in the blood. Chair of the Roundtable, Professor Robert Josse, Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto, Canada commented, The maps will track vitamin D levels by region and different population groups, giving a valuable overview of the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency around the world. The global maps are innovative tools that will help identify problem areas, encourage awareness and stimulate research studies. By facilitating global comparisons, the maps should provide an incentive for health authorities to implement strategies to improve vitamin D status in the population.

Vitamin D deficit doubles risk of stroke in whites, but not in blacks

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Low levels of vitamin D, the essential nutrient obtained from milk, fortified cereals and exposure to sunlight, doubles the risk of stroke in whites, but not in blacks, according to a new report by researchers at Johns Hopkins.

Stroke is the nation's third leading cause of death, killing more than 140,000 Americans annually and temporarily or permanently disabling over half a million when there is a loss of blood flow to the brain.

Researchers say their findings, to be presented Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago, back up evidence from earlier work at Johns Hopkins linking vitamin D deficiency to higher rates of death, heart disease and peripheral artery disease in adults.

The Hopkins team says its results fail to explain why African Americans, who are more likely to be vitamin D deficient due to their darker skin pigmentation's ability to block the sun's rays, also suffer from higher rates of stroke. Of the 176 study participants known to have died from stroke within a 14-year period, 116 were white and 60 were black. Still, African Americans had a 65 percent greater likelihood of suffering such a severe bleeding in or interruption of blood flow to the brain than whites, when age, other risk factors for stroke, and vitamin D deficiency were factored into their analysis.

Higher numbers for hypertension and diabetes definitely explain some of the excess risk for stroke in blacks compared to whites, but not this much risk, says study co-lead investigator and preventive cardiologist Erin Michos, M.D., M.H.S., an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart and Vascular Institute. Something else is surely behind this problem. However, don't blame vitamin D deficits for the higher number of strokes in blacks.

Nearly 8,000 initially healthy men and women of both races were involved in the latest analysis, part of a larger, ongoing national health survey, in which the researchers compared the risk of death from stroke between those with the lowest blood levels of vitamin D to those with higher amounts. Among them, 6.6 percent of whites and 32.3 percent of blacks had severely low blood levels of vitamin D, which the experts say is less than 15 nanograms per milliliter.

It may be that blacks have adapted over the generations to vitamin D deficiency, so we are not going to see any compounding effects with stroke, says Michos, who notes that African Americans have adapted elsewhere to low levels of the bone-strengthening vitamin, with fewer incidents of bone fracture and greater overall bone density than seen in Caucasians.

In blacks, we may not need to raise vitamin D levels to the same level as in whites to minimize their risk of stroke says Michos, who emphasizes that clinical trials are needed to verify that supplements actually do prevent heart attacks and stroke. In her practice, she says, she monitors her patients' levels of the key nutrient as part of routine blood work while also testing for other known risk factors for heart disease and stroke, including blood pressure, glucose and lipid levels.

Michos cautions that the number of fatal strokes recorded in blacks may not have been statistically sufficient to find a relationship with vitamin D deficits. And she points out that the study only assessed information on deaths from stroke, not the more common brain incidents of stroke, which are usually non-fatal, or even mini-strokes, whose symptoms typically dissipate in a day or so. She says the team's next steps will be to evaluate cognitive brain function as well as non-fatal and transient strokes and any possible tie-ins to nutrient deficiency.

Besides helping to keep bones healthy, vitamin D plays an essential role in preventing abnormal cell growth, and in bolstering the body's immune system. The hormone-like nutrient also controls blood levels of calcium and phosphorus, essential chemicals in the body. Shortages of vitamin D have also been tied to increased rates of breast cancer and depression in the elderly.

Michos recommends that people maintain good vitamin D levels by eating diets rich in such fish as salmon and tuna, consuming vitamin-D fortified dairy products, and taking vitamin D supplements. She also promotes brief exposure daily to the sun's vitamin D-producing ultraviolet light. And to those concerned about the cancer risks linked to too much time spent in the sun, she says as little as 10 to 15 minutes of daily exposure is enough during the summer months.

If vitamin supplements are used, Michos says that daily doses between 1,000 and 2,000 international units are generally safe and beneficial for most people, but that people with the severe vitamin D deficits may need higher doses under close supervision by their physician to avoid possible risk of toxicity.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) previously suggested that an adequate daily intake of vitamin D is between 200 and 600 international units. However, Michos argues that this may be woefully inadequate for most people to raise their vitamin D blood levels to a healthy 30 nanograms per milliliter. The IOM has set up an expert panel to review its vitamin D guidelines, with new recommendations expected by the end of the year. Previous results from the same nationwide survey showed that 41 percent of men and 53 percent of women have unhealthy amounts of vitamin D, with nutrient levels below 28 nanograms per milliliter.

Mother Nature and bioterrorists: Rochester battles both with $11.9 million award

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Flu viruses are a great threat, whether they stem from Mother Nature or are modified by human hands to create a deadly bioweapon. The University of Rochester Medical Center will tackle both scenarios head on with a five-year contract, totaling approximately $11.9 million, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contract will further research into how we can use computer modeling to find ways of boosting human immune responses against and identify new areas of investigation into treatments for a variety of potentially lethal viruses.

This type of research is extremely important because it is going to make the United States better, stronger and faster at developing new vaccines and therapies for flu infections that we don't yet have vaccines for, said Martin Zand, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Biodefense Immune Modeling and medical director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Programs at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Throughout the five year contract, researchers will design mathematical models and simulation tools to study how the immune system responds to flu vaccines, attempting to uncover why some people have a good response to a vaccine and others don't. Using data from mice and humans, they hope to use these models to simulate different flu scenarios and test medical interventions that might be developed to limit the extent of a dangerous flu infection in people.

The wonderful thing about models is that we can get some idea of how a virus might evade the immune system, how the immune system might respond, and how we can enhance the immune response without ever having to create or live through a pandemic or bioterrorist attack, Zand noted.

The contract is a five-year renewal of the Center for Biodefense Immune Modeling at the Medical Center, which was initially funded with a $10 million contract in 2005 as part of NIAID's Modeling Immunity for Biodefense program. Researchers spent the past five years developing models of different flu infections, and now they will use this knowledge to further model and study animal and human immune responses to new and existing flu vaccines.

In addition to the modeling and experimental work, the contract will fund development of new mathematical approaches and software tools that will be made available to the entire research community.

NIAID also awarded contracts to three other centers as part of the Immune Modeling for Biodefense program: Mount Sinai Medical Center School of Medicine, Duke University and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

This particular NIH program differs from past NIH-funded immunology research by its emphasis on mathematical modeling, combined with cutting-edge immunology experiments and the development of new computational tools for immunology research. Such approaches allow scientists to look at the behavior of the whole immune system over time, as opposed to getting a snapshot of one or two points in time, such as after someone is vaccinated or infected with the flu. Researchers believe this more comprehensive and mathematically-based approach will yield greater understanding of how the flu and other viruses attack the body, how the immune system reacts and how we might be able to intervene.

Using models and simulations is commonplace in many industries, such as the auto and airline industries, where manufacturers test designs before they actually produce cars and planes, said Hulin Wu, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Biodefense Immune Modeling and professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the Medical Center. Biomedical research has adopted this same way of doing business, using models to gather information that will help scientists design the most effective vaccines and therapies in the shortest amount of time.

Wu added that models are essential because many immunology experiments can't be done in a lab: We can't infect people with a new strain of the flu virus, but we can use a mathematical model of a human in the computer to learn more about the virus and test potential therapies.

Biomedical research that integrates methods and techniques from mathematical modeling, biocomputing, biostatistics and bioinformatics is an emerging discipline known as systems biology, and is helping fuel biomedical science discoveries in the new century. Wu and Zand are utilizing a systems biology approach to help guide their research.

An example of a study Wu and Zand will begin this year involves collecting blood samples from small groups of people each day, for 11 days after they receive the seasonal flu vaccine. Each day, these samples will be analyzed in a battery of cutting-edge cell, protein and gene expression tests. The research team will do a similar study in mice and compare the human and animal data to garner valuable information about where antibodies or immune cells are and when, what genes are expressed in different places and what cellular markers are present following vaccination: This detailed data will then be used to create models that predict responses to current and future flu vaccines in mice and hopefully one day in people.

Gastric bypass alters sweet taste function

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Gastric bypass surgery decreases the preference for sweet-tasting substances in obese rats, a study finding that could help in developing safer treatments for the morbidly obese, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery is the most common effective treatment for morbid obesity, said Andras Hajnal, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Neural and Behavioral Science and Surgery. Many patients report altered taste preferences after having the procedure.

This surgery involves the creation of a small gastric pouch and bypassing a portion of the upper small intestine. Unlike other weight-reduction methods, it produces substantial and durable weight loss and significant improvements in obesity-related medical conditions including diabetes.

Study results in obese rats suggest that post-surgery changes in the gastrointestinal anatomy affect change in the brain that relate to taste.

Obese rats given gastric bypass surgery showed a reduced preference for high concentration sucrose water when compared to obese rats that did not have surgery. Researchers observed a similar decrease in preference with other sweet-tasting substances, but not for salty, sour or bitter substances. Researchers observed no change in preference in lean rats that had gastric bypass surgery.

The obese rats used do not have the ability to produce the receptor for feeling satiated shortly after a meal because they lack the gut hormone CCK-1. As a result, these rats consumed larger meals and, over time, became obese and developed type-2 diabetes. Interestingly, previous studies lead by the Penn State investigators found an increased sweet preference in these rats, which is also often seen in people struggling with weight management.

It appears that an uncontrolled appetite may get further boost from altered taste functions during development of obesity and diabetes, Hajnal said. How much of this vicious circle is due to changes in the neurons inside the brain, which receive taste sensations from the tongue and report to the higher order motivational brain centers, we don't know.

The researchers recorded the activity of 170 taste-responsive neurons in the brain. These showed a shift in the neurons' firing activity similar to the behavioral response, which was measured in lick rates of the rats within a ten-second time period. Neurons in the obese rats' brain responded more vigorously to higher-concentration sucrose water placed on the tongue when compared to lean rats. These effects were reversed by gastric bypass surgery and matched the response of lean rats -- a preference for lower concentration sucrose.

The rats that had gastric bypass surgery lost weight comparable to humans who received the surgery -- 26 to 30 percent of their weight -- and maintained the loss for a long period of time after surgery. Following surgery, the obese rats also showed a higher tolerance for glucose, indicating improvement in diabetes.

This supports the applicability of this rat model of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass to humans and also suggests that the observed taste changes following the surgery were not related to 'human factors' such as awareness and compliance to dietary and behavioral interventions, Hajnal said.

The researchers published their findings in the October issue of the

Restaurant Customers Willing To Pay More For Local Food

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Not only are restaurant patrons willing to pay more for meals prepared with produce and meat from local providers, the proportion of customers preferring local meals actually increases when the price increases, according to a team of international researchers. A recent study of how customers perceive and value local food shows that restaurant patrons prefer meals made with local ingredients when they are priced slightly higher than meals made with non-local ingredients, said Amit Sharma, assistant professor, School of Hospitality Management, Penn State. The research will appear in the fall/winter issue of the International Journal of Revenue Management. In the experiment, researchers first set prices for both non-local and local selections on the menu of a student-led restaurant at $5.50. When the price was the same for non-local and local food, customers showed no significant preference for either option. However, when the local food selection was priced at $6.50, or 18 percent higher than the non-local option, a higher proportion of the customers picked the meal made with local foods and ingredients, said Sharma, who worked with Frode Alfnes, associate professor, department of economics and resource management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences. This is partly good news for restaurants, said Sharma. It shows that customers were willing to pay slightly more for a local dish, with the emphasis on 'slightly.' Customer preference for premium-priced local food has its limits, however, Sharma warned. Once researchers raised the price of the local option to $7.50, or 36 percent higher than the non-local alternative, a higher proportion of customers chose the regular menu. Value cues--signals that attract increased attention from consumers--may influence the customers' preference for the higher-priced local option. The results indicate that the main value cue of local food for customers is its freshness. The higher price of the local dish was an indicator of higher value, said Sharma. So, customers were comfortable with a slightly higher price for the local food. Sharma said the research could help restaurant owners decide how to set prices for local foods and estimate whether the potential to charge higher prices will compensate for the additional costs associated with adding local food to the menu. The study helps restaurants make decisions on whether it makes sense to offer local foods, said Sharma. If local foods are a natural fit for some of these restaurants, then it would definitely be a good strategy to price the food higher because there is an indication of value with fresh food. Sharma said another important finding of the research was that customers indicated they had no preference between restaurants that offered local foods and ones that did not. The study of 322 customers was conducted at a training restaurant on a Midwest university that serves between 45 and 85 customers each day. Researchers designed a real-time choice experiment to meet several challenges they anticipated from conducting an in-restaurant experiment. Customers who dine at a restaurant are less inclined to fill out long questionnaires. To avoid bias, the researchers asked questions only after the customers chose their food. We literally put the customers in the situation and let them choose, said Sharma. Then we asked them why they made the choices they did. The project was funded by the Leopold Centre for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.

Eating mostly whole grains, few refined grains linked to lower body fat

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) BOSTON (October 20, 2010) - People who consume several servings of whole grains per day while limiting daily intake of refined grains appear to have less of a type of fat tissue thought to play a key role in triggering cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Researcher Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University observed lower volumes of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in people who chose to eat mostly whole grains instead of refined grains.

VAT volume was approximately 10 % lower in adults who reported eating three or more daily servings of whole grains and who limited their intake of refined grains to less than one serving per day, says first author Nicola McKeown, PhD, a scientist with the Nutritional Epidemiology Program at the USDA HNRCA. For example, a slice of 100% whole wheat bread or a half cup of oatmeal constituted one serving of whole grains and a slice of white bread or a half cup of white rice represented a serving of refined grains.

McKeown and colleagues, including senior author Caroline S. Fox, MD, MPH, medical officer at The Framingham Heart Study of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), examined diet questionnaires submitted by 2,834 men and women enrolled in The Framingham Heart Offspring and Third Generation study cohorts. The participants, ages 32 to 83, underwent multidetector-computed tomography (MDCT) scans, to determine VAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) volumes.

Visceral fat surrounds the intra-abdominal organs while subcutaneous fat is found just beneath the skin. Prior research suggests visceral fat is more closely tied to the development of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors including hypertension, unhealthy cholesterol levels and insulin resistance that can develop into cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes, explains co-author Paul Jacques, DSc, director of the Nutritional Epidemiology Program at the USDA HNRCA and a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. Not surprisingly, when we compared the relationship of both visceral fat tissue and subcutaneous fat tissue to whole and refined grain intake, we saw a more striking association with visceral fat. The association persisted after we accounted for other lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol intake, fruit and vegetable intake, percentage of calories from fat and physical activity.

Published online September 29 by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the present study builds on prior research that associates greater whole grain intake with reduced risk of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. However, because these studies are observational, future research that specifically investigates whole grain intake and body fat distribution in a larger, more diverse study population is needed to identify the mechanism that is driving this relationship, Jacques adds.

Additionally, in the present study, the authors observed that participants who consumed, on average, three daily servings of whole grains but continued to eat many refined grains did not demonstrate lower VAT volume. Whole grain consumption did not appear to improve VAT volume if refined grain intake exceeded four or more servings per day, says McKeown, who is also an assistant professor at the Friedman School. This result implies that it is important to make substitutions in the diet, rather than simply adding whole grain foods. For example, choosing to cook with brown rice instead of white or making a sandwich with whole grain bread instead of white bread.

2 studies present new data on effects of alcohol during pregnancy

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Scientific data continue to indicate that higher intake of alcohol during pregnancy adversely affects the fetus, and could lead to very severe developmental or other problems in the child. However, most recent publications show little or no effects of occasional or light drinking by the mother during pregnancy. The studies also demonstrate how socio-economic, education, and other lifestyle factors of the mother may have large effects on the health of the fetus and child; these must be considered when evaluating the potential effects of alcohol during pregnancy.

A very large population-based observational study from the UK found that at the age of 5 years, the children of women who reported light (no more than 1-2 units of alcohol per week or per occasion) drinking did not show any evidence of impairment on testing for behavioral and emotional problems or cognitive ability. There was a tendency for the male children of women reporting heavy/binge drinking during pregnancy (7 or more units per week or 6 or more units per occasion) to have poorer behavioural scores, but the effects were less clear among female offspring.

A second study, published in Pediatrics, based on a population in Western Australia examined the associations between dose, pattern, and timing of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and birth defects and found similar results, that there was no association between low or moderate prenatal alcohol exposure and birth defects.

Data from a randomly selected, population-based cohort of non- indigenous women who gave birth to a live infant in Western Australia (WA) between 1995 and 1997 (N = 4714) were linked to WA Midwives Notification System and WA Birth Defects Registry data. Information about maternal alcohol consumption was collected 3 months after birth for the 3 month period before pregnancy and for each trimester separately.

Low alcohol consumption was defined as less then 7 standard drinks (10g) a week, and no more than 2 drinks on any one day. Women who consumed more than 70g per week were classified as heavy drinkers and women consuming more than 140g were classified as very heavy drinkers.

The study results indicate that the prevalence of birth defects classified as ARBDs by the IOM was low. Compared with abstinence, heavy prenatal alcohol exposure in the first trimester was associated with increased odds of birth defects classified as ARBDs (adjusted odds ratio: 4.6 [95% confidence interval: 1.5-14.3]), with similar findings after validation through bootstrap analysis. There was no association between low or moderate prenatal alcohol exposure and birth defects.

Overall, current scientific data indicate that while drinking during pregnancy should not be encouraged, there is little evidence to suggest that an occasional drink or light drinking by the mother is associated with harm. Heavy drinking, however, is associated with serious developmental defects in the fetus.

High death and disability rates due to fractures in Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Preliminary findings from an upcoming new report by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) show alarming projections and reveal the poor state of post-fracture care in the Russian Federation and many other countries in the region. The findings were announced today at a press conference in St. Petersburg at the IOF Summit of Eastern European and Central Asian Osteoporosis Patient Societies.

Osteoporosis, a disease of the bone which leaves people at increased risk of fracture, is most common in the older population. Population projections for most countries in the region predict that by 2050 there will be a decrease of the total population, but a significant increase (up to 56%) in the percentage of people aged 50 and over. As a result, in the Russia Federation alone the number of people with osteoporosis is expected to increase by a third by 2050.

Despite the major public health burden of osteoporosis-related fractures, the disease suffers from severe under recognition - mainly due to the lack of solid epidemiological and economic data which would help convince health authorities of the urgency of osteoporosis prevention. There are no formal hip or fragility fracture registries in most countries within the region and data on vertebral fractures, the most common osteoporotic fracture, are completely lacking. IOF President John Kanis stated, It is clear from the key findings that governments need to support wide scale epidemiological studies to collect data on the incidence of osteoporotic fractures.

DXA technology, diagnostic equipment which provides the most accurate method of diagnosis, is usually only accessible in main cities - yet in about one-third of the countries, more than 40% of the population lives in a rural area. In most countries, drug treatment for those at high risk of fracture is not, or is only partially, reimbursed - effectively making treatment unaffordable for the majority of citizens.

Low levels of calcium and vitamin D intake impact negatively on bone health. The average daily calcium intake in nearly all countries outlined in the report falls far below the FAO/WHO recommendations. In addition the majority of populations in the region suffer from severe vitamin D insufficiency. This not only affects fracture rates, but also causes rickets. In recent years the incidence of rickets (pediatric vitamin D deficiency) among Russian infants has ranged from 54% to 66% in some regions.

Although older people who sustain a hip fracture are at increased risk of death and suffer long term disability throughout the world, the report indicates that this problem is far more severe in the Russia Federation and in many other countries of the region. Professor Olga Lesnyak, Vice-President of the Russian Association on Osteoporosis and author of the report, called for action, There is an urgent need for health care providers to improve post hip fracture surgical care, she said. While in Western Europe most hip fracture patients receive operative treatment (the optimal standard of care), in the Russian Federation there is an extremely low rate of surgical treatment. Consequently there is high mortality rate after a hip fracture, reaching up to 45-52% during the first year after fracture in some Russian cities. Of the surviving hip fracture patients, 33% remain bed-ridden and 42% are capable of only very limited activities. Only 9% are able to return to the same level of daily activity as they had before their fracture.

IOF Chief Operating Officer Judy Stenmark stated, Wider and more equitable access to diagnostic tests and appropriate medication are required to stem the growing tide of fractures in the region.

Veterinarian says natural foods not always best for pets

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) MANHATTAN, KAN. -- While natural food is a rising trend among humans, pet owners should be careful before feeding similar types of food to their pets, according to a Kansas State University veterinarian.

All too often pet owners assume that because certain foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are healthy for them, they are also healthy for their pets, said Susan Nelson, K-State assistant professor of clinical services.

Natural and veggie-based pet foods are based more on market demand from owners, not because they are necessarily better for the pet, she said.

Natural pet food isn't necessarily unhealthy for pets, and there are good brands on the market. But cats and dogs have specific nutritional needs that some of these foods may not provide, Nelson said.

For instance, a natural dog food may provide antioxidants through fruits and vegetables, but it may be deficient in other nutrients the dog needs. If pet owners opt for natural pet food, it's important to make sure pets still receive a well-balanced diet, she said.

Before buying any pet food that is labeled natural, owners should make sure it comes from a reputable company. Nelson said the Association of American Feed Control Officials, or AAFCO, sets guidelines for the production, labeling and distribution of pet food and sets minimum standards for the nutritional adequacy of diets.

To ensure that food contains the proper nutrients a pet needs, pet owners should only buy pet food that has at least one of the two AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements on its label, Nelson said. The association's standards determine whether a pet food company's product is complete and balanced for a specific life stage according to one of two criteria: the diet's formula meets the minimum nutrient requirements established by the association or the diet has undergone association feeding trials.

Feeding trials, while not perfect, generally give the best assessment on how well the food performs for a specific life stage, Nelson said. Owners should look closely at the feeding statement on the label, as some foods are intended for intermittent feeding or only for specific life stages, and they could be detrimental to a pet if fed long-term.

Nelson said it is important to differentiate between terms such as natural, organic and holistic. Organic and holistic currently have no specific definitions for pet foods under the Association of American Feed Control Officials guidelines. Organic is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for human food, but the department has no definition of natural foods for humans.

The feed control association defines natural products as those that don't contain any chemically synthesized ingredients except vitamins or minerals. The labels for natural products containing any of these ingredients must state: Natural with added vitamins, minerals and other trace nutrients. Consumers should be wary of any pet food company that claims to have organic or holistic food because they don't exist by the association's definition, Nelson said.

Consumers should also pay attention to food ingredients. For instance, cats and dogs should not eat onions or garlic. While flaxseed oil can provide fatty acids for dogs, cats can't use it for this purpose. Any manufacturer that uses these ingredients should be avoided, Nelson said.

Most reputable companies have a veterinary nutritionist on hand, Nelson said. These companies also conduct nutritional research and have their own internal quality control in place.

Because dry pet food needs preservatives, there is often debate about whether artificial or natural preservatives are better. Studies show that synthetic preservatives seem to work better and aren't bad for pets at the levels contained in the food. However, market demand is for using vitamins E and C because they are natural preservatives.

As with any pet diet, pet owners who opt for natural pet food should keep an eye on their pets to make sure the food is not negatively affecting them, Nelson said.

Assuming the diet you have chosen meets AAFCO minimum standards of nutritional adequacy, and if your pet looks healthy, has good coat quality, is in good body condition, has good fecal consistency and is able to do its job, the diet is probably adequate for him, she said.

Male maturity shaped by early nutrition

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) EVANSTON, Ill. --- It seems the old nature versus nurture debate can't be won. But a new Northwestern University study of men in the Philippines makes a strong case for nurture's role in male to female differences -- suggesting that rapid weight gain in the first six months of life predicts earlier puberty for boys.

Males who experienced rapid growth as babies -- an indication that they were not nutritionally stressed -- also were taller, had more muscle and were stronger, and had higher testosterone levels as young adults. They had sex for the first time at a younger age and were more likely to report having had sex in the past month, resulting in more lifetime sex partners.

The researchers think that testosterone may hold the key to understanding these long-term effects.

Most people are unaware that male infants in the first six months of life produce testosterone at approximately the same level as an adult male, said Christopher W. Kuzawa, associate professor of anthropology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and author of the study. We looked at weight gain during this particular window of early life development, because testosterone is very high at this age and helps shape the differences between males and females.

The study provides more evidence that genes alone do not shape our fate.

The environment has a very strong hand in how we turn out, Kuzawa said. And this study extends that idea to the realm of sex differences and male biology.

The study found men, on average, tend to be taller and more muscular than females, and the magnitude of that difference appears to be the result of nutrition within the first six months of an infant male's life, according to the study.

There is a perennial question about how important heredity is versus the environment as shapers of who we turn out to be, said Kuzawa. In the last 20 years, a lot has been learned about a process called developmental plasticity -- how the body responds early in life to things like nutrition and stress. Early experiences can have a permanent effect on how the body develops, and this effect can linger into adulthood. There is a lot of evidence that this can influence risk of diseases like heart attack, diabetes and hypertension -- really important diseases.

Kuzawa and his collaborators applied the same framework in this study and found evidence that male characteristics -- such as height, muscle mass and testosterone levels as opposed to disease characteristics -- also relate back to early life developmental plasticity.

Another way to look at it is that the differences between the sexes are not hard wired, but are responsive to the environment, and in particular to nutrition, Kuzawa said.

Testosterone has long been known to increase muscle mass and puts a person on a higher growth trajectory to be taller. The Northwestern study suggests that the age of puberty also is influenced by events in the first six months of life.

The study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Wenner Gren Foundation, was conducted among a group of 770 Filipino males aged 20 to 22 who have been followed their entire lives. Since 1983 a team of researchers in the United States and the Philippines (including Kuzawa for about the last 10 years) has been working to understand how early life nutrition influences adult health, such as risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Rapid Weight Gain After Birth Predicts Life History and Reproductive Strategy in Filipino Males was published Sept. 13 in the

Talented bacteria make food poisoning unpredictable

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) While we are often exposed to bacteria in our food which could cause food poisoning, we don't always become ill - why should this be so?

Professor Colin Hill who is presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham today describes how bacteria use different tricks to aid their survival inside the body, helping to explain why food poisoning can be so unpredictable.

One of the biggest challenges faced by food-borne bacteria is acid. Acidic conditions, particularly in the stomach and in the gut will kill most microbes found in contaminated food.

Professor Hill's group at University College Cork has revealed that Listeria bacteria, which may be found in soft cheeses and chilled ready-to-eat products, can overcome harsh acidic conditions by exploiting key food ingredients. Listeria that survive are able to cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, particularly in the elderly and pregnant women.

Certain food constituents such as the amino acid, glutamate, can help the bacteria neutralise acid, allowing the bacteria to pass through the stomach unscathed. Professor Hill explains the significance of this. People who consume foods that are contaminated with Listeria and are also high in glutamate, such as soft cheese or meat products, have a higher chance of developing serious infection than someone eating the same quantity of bacteria in a low-glutamate food, he said. Of course this is further complicated by the fact that a contaminated, low-glutamate food could be eaten in combination with a high-glutamate food such as tomato juice, which could also increase the risk of infection.

Listeria can also take advantage of food processing and storage conditions to help them survive. Bacteria that are exposed to low pH before entering the body may adapt to become more acid-tolerant and therefore better equipped to deal with acidic conditions in the body. For example, Listeria contaminating naturally acidic foods such as cheese may be more likely to cause infection than Listeria carried at a more neutral pH in water.

Professor Hill explains how his group's work could help reduce the incidence of Listeria infections. The number of cases of listeriosis has nearly doubled in the last decade in Europe. This is because the bacterium is so good at overcoming the challenges it faces in food and in the body, he said. Our studies show that consuming Listeria in one food may be quite safe, while eating the same amount in another food might be lethal. By understanding the role of the food matrix we may be able to identify and eliminate high-risk foods from the diet of susceptible people.

Americans struggle with long-term weight loss

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Only about one in every six Americans who have ever been overweight or obese loses weight and maintains that loss, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

While that number is larger than most weight-loss clinical trials report, the majority of Americans are still unable to lose weight and keep it off. Identifying those who lose weight and successfully maintain that loss may aid health professionals in developing approaches to help others maintain weight loss, the researchers say.

Two-thirds of the United States adult population is overweight, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of at least 25, or obese, a BMI of at least 30. Obesity rates, which doubled between 1980 and 2004, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. The recommendation is often to lose at least 5 to 10 percent of initial body weight with these conditions.

Weight loss and weight maintenance programs need significant changes in their effectiveness and availability to affect these numbers, note the researchers.

It is important for health professionals to understand the true prevalence of long-term weight loss, as it may help to change the underlying beliefs and influence clinical practice, said Jennifer Kraschnewski, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine and public health sciences. Studies have shown that physicians may not believe offering weight loss advice and counseling is a worthwhile activity in clinical practice. An awareness of our findings may encourage health professionals to pursue weight loss counseling for overweight patients.

Previously, data came from either published clinical trials or the National Weight-Control Registry, comprised only of those able to lose at least 30 pounds and keep it off for a year. The registry does not represent the entire population, so it is not useful for providing estimates of long-term weight loss in the country.

Penn State College of Medicine researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999-2006, a nationwide survey evaluating the health and nutrition of a representative portion of the population. Participants of this survey self-reported weight status and history.

Researchers calculated BMI for each individual and determined if they achieved 5, 10, 15 or 20 percent long-term (long than one year) weight loss maintenance. The sample included 14,306 people: 52.3 percent men and 47.7 women. One-third stated a current goal of losing weight, with 82.6 percent classified as overweight or obese.

Thirty-six percent of the sample had maintained a weight loss of at least 5 percent of their initial body weight. This is a higher rate than clinical trials, which have shown only 10 to 20 percent of individuals able to maintain a loss of at least five percent. This difference may be that while those who participate in clinical trials are a selected population, the numbers in the current study include unintentional weight loss, or the current study captures temporary weight gain that is typically lost at specific instances, such as the so-called freshman 15.

In the sample, women, adults age 75 to 84, non-Hispanic whites and those with less than a high school education showed stronger longer-term weight management.

Identifying a significant percentage of the population that is succeeding in some weight loss may be an important target population for weight maintenance programs, Kraschnewski said. Although the amounts lost are modest, if a substantial number of individuals achieved such losses, it would have a significant public health effect. Particularly, those individuals who have lost at least five percent and kept it off -- one in three Americans who have ever been overweight -- may represent a unique opportunity to reach a target population who has had some success but could benefit from greater weight loss efforts.

Other key findings of this study:

Co-products and cornstalk residue can cut cow feed costs by a dollar a day

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) University of Illinois researchers recently discovered that feeding co-products and cornstalk residue in the winter can save cow-calf producers up to $1 per day per cow as compared to feeding hay.

Feed costs continue to be the number one detriment to profitability in cow-calf operations. With feed comprising 60 percent of a producer's costs, any measures producers take to minimize expenses can make the difference between profit or no profit at the end of the year.

Most feed costs occur in the winter when cows can't graze and utilize pasture, said Dan Shike, U of I assistant professor of animal sciences. Typically cow-calf producers feed large round bales because they are easy, but that can be pretty expensive, especially when prices hit record highs like they did in 2008. Feeding harvested and stored feeds is a common practice, but it's also costly.

As ethanol production increases, so has the availability of corn co-products. Shike said more corn residue such as cornstalks are also being used as an energy source.

Cornstalk bales are an adequate source of energy, but they are low in protein and need to be supplemented, especially when fed to cows in early and peak lactation, he said.

Researchers conducted two experiments on a herd of Angus and Simmental cows at the Orr Research Center in Baylis, Ill., and discovered many ways producers can save money. The cows calved between January and March and were evaluated from calving until breeding.

The first experiment compared new co-products developed from improved fractionation processes. The study compared free-choice cornstalk residue with 14.3 pounds of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), free-choice cornstalk residue with 9.7 pounds of corn bran and 4.8 pounds of DDGS, free-choice cornstalk residue with 11.2 pounds of corn bran and 3.3 pounds of high-protein (HP) DDGS (a low-fat distillers grain with 40 percent or more crude protein content), and free-choice hay.

We wanted to find the most economical way to feed cows in the winter without sacrificing performance, Shike said. Our study revealed that producers could save about $1 a day per cow when feeding a combination of cornstalk residue and co-products as compared to hay.

Feeding methods and delivery systems formed the basis of the second experiment. Researchers compared free-choice cornstalk residue and 14.3 pounds of DDGS, a total mixed ration of 14.1 pounds of ground cornstalk residue and 14.3 pounds of DDGS, a total mixed ration of 9.9 pounds of ground cornstalk residue and 16.5 pounds of HP-DDGS, and free-choice hay.

Again our goal wasn't to find performance differences in this study, Shike said. We fed diets that should achieve similar performance results. In this experiment, we wanted to find the most economical delivery method within various herd sizes ranging from 50 to 350 cows.

In a 50-cow herd, the least expensive winter feeding strategy is to offer free-choice cornstalk residue and handfeed DDGS, he said. If producers use a tractor to feed DDGS instead of buckets, they are better off to feed free-choice hay. Feeding total mixed rations requires more equipment which in turn increases cost for the producer.

In a 100-cow herd, handfeeding with buckets is not the most practical, but it's the cheapest. With this size of a herd, producers can use a tractor to deliver DDGS to the cattle at a more economical price per day than free-choice hay.

The major savings occurs in a bigger cow herd with more than 200 cows. The total mixed rations at $2.33 per cow a day become even more comparable to feeding free-choice cornstalk residue and DDGS at $2.21 per cow a day. In contrast, the free-choice hay is $3.21 per cow a day.

We thought one of the advantages of grinding cornstalk residue was reducing wasted feed as compared to free-choice hay, Shike said. But whatever we saved in unwasted stalks did not compensate for the added equipment cost to have both a grind and mix wagon as compared to a conventional feeding wagon. Even though those treatments were close, putting out a bale of cornstalks and feeding DDGS was always a little cheaper than grinding them together.

The key to profitable cow-calf production is to keep feed costs at a minimum. This information will help producers of various herd sizes not only select which feedstuffs to use, but also which delivery method best fits their operation, reducing feed costs and maximizing profitability.

Our goal is to help producers identify which feedstuffs and delivery methods best fit their operation, resulting in the lowest possible feed cost for their operation and the most profitability, Shike said. This will vary whether they are a smaller or larger operation. Regardless, producers have options and can increase their profitability using combinations of co-products.

Despite the heat, it's time to start planning winter feeding strategies, he said.

If you decide to wait until February to decide to feed cornstalks, they will be hard to find, Shike said. Now is a great time to contact area corn producers to identify who will have cornstalk bales for purchase. It appears we are on track for a substantially earlier harvest which will allow for a nice window to bale high-quality cornstalks this fall.

It's also a good time to price co-products depending on what you have available for storage, he added. Prices tend to go up in the winter, and it's best to have stored feeds in order before the winter sets in.

Cow vaccines go vroom

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) In much of Africa, a herd of cattle is more than just cows. It's a savings account, protein store, dowry, funeral fund, symbol of wealth, and hedge against drought. For many smallholder farmers, the loss of even a single cow to disease can spell ruin.

Yet a grievous number of cattle in sub-Saharan Africa get sick: one estimate puts annual losses from disease at $40 billion, some twenty-five percent of the total value of livestock production in the region.

John Barlow, professor of animal sciences at the University of Vermont, thinks the cows in the university's research herd may be able to help.

Many cattle diseases in sub-Saharan Africa might be prevented if we had better vaccines, he says, but the way we have traditionally created vaccines is expensive and takes a lot of time.

That's why he's leading an international project that aims to better understand the molecular workings of cow immune systems -- and accelerate the development of vaccines for two critical cattle diseases: East Coast fever and foot-and-mouth disease.

Barlow and his colleagues in Kenya, Denmark and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are supported by a new three-year grant from the National Science Foundation.

In the first year, we will be studying the cattle in the University of Vermont herd to understand the diversity of their immune function genes, Barlow says.

Then, applying this knowledge, the team will use a new technology that has been accelerating human vaccine development, but, until now, hasn't been applied to cows: so-called MHC tetramers. These synthetic molecules allow researchers to quickly get a view of what proteins in the invading virus or parasite are likely to spark a strong immune response in the host animal.

These proteins are the key vaccine candidates, says Barlow -- and can be tested in lab cell lines.

The MHC -- or major histocompatibility complex -- is a large family of genes found in most vertebrate animals, including cows. It plays a key role in regulating T-cells, that, in turn, help the organism recognize and attack a wide range of foreigners -- like the foot-and-mouth virus or the parasite the carries East Coast fever. To accomplish this complex task, the MHC itself is a complex set of protein molecules that vary dramatically between individuals -- which is part of the reason some individuals catch a disease while others don't.

We want to understand the diversity of those molecules within cattle populations, says Barlow. The tetramer technology provides synthetic MHC proteins that act much like the real ones. This allows researchers to largely sidestep the traditional method of infecting an animal with the disease, waiting for the infection, and then extracting tissue.

Tetramer technology allows us to efficiently and cheaply evaluate the T-cell response, to either natural infections or vaccines, using core research facilities at the University of Vermont medical school, says Barlow. This technology will be combined with several others, including advanced bioinformatics techniques to sort through the soup of genetic data. All of which promises to provide basic science insights needed for faster and more accurate development of vaccines in developing countries.

Barlow is quick to point out that none of the cows in the UVM herd will be exposed to any diseases -- they're just providing the resource that a highly inbred research herd allows when trying to look at the range of genetic responses. Then, in later years in the project, we'll start to test vaccines in herds in Africa, he says.

We can get the data we need without having to expose many animals to the actual diseases, says Barlow's colleague Bill Golde at the USDA's Plum Island Animal Disease Center. The sequestered animals at this center will be the only ones tested with the actual diseases once promising vaccine candidates have been identified.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious virus passed from animal to animal. It hasn't been seen in the United States since 1929. The U.S.D.A. and U.S. cattle interests have every intention of keeping it that way, but it is common in parts of Africa and Asia.

We're studying foot-and-mouth because it's a very small virus that is relatively easy to investigate and there is a strong motivation from the perspective of U.S. global disease control, says Barlow. And for Sub-Saharan Africa it would be good if they could control it since it will improve their ability to export meat once it's controlled there.

In contrast, East Coast fever is caused by a large parasite with a large genome and complex lifecycle. It is hugely important to the smaller shareholder farms in Africa as it kills many cattle, says Barlow. Farmers there are very interested in eradicating and controlling both these diseases.

This goal may be easier to reach because only a few popular breeds dominate herds around the globe resulting in limited genetic diversity in cows. This means that the tetramer technology is likely to be even more illuminating and powerful in cattle than in human immunology.

We're doing basic science on the molecular level, says Barlow, to give the developing world better vaccines.

NIH launches effort to define markers of human immune responses

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A new nationwide research initiative has been launched to define changes in the human immune system, using human and not animal studies, in response to infection or to vaccination. Six U. S.-based Human Immune Phenotyping Centers will receive a total of $100 million over five years to conduct this research.

Funding for the centers is provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Support for the first year of this initiative will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Recognizing the differences in immune system activity before, during and after exposure to an infectious agent or vaccine will help in the development of safer, more effective therapeutics and vaccines, says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. This research effort also will contribute to the ongoing evolution in our ability to study the immune system.

Investigators will analyze samples from well-characterized groups, including children, the elderly and people with autoimmune diseases such as lupus. These groups represent diverse populations with respect to age, genetics, gender and ethnicity. The research teams will examine immune system elements of these populations before and after exposure to naturally acquired infections or to vaccines or vaccine components. The profile that will emerge of the body's response to vaccination will be based on the most sophisticated and comprehensive assays currently available. This will enable new approaches to examining vaccine safety, not just of individual vaccines but of the processes of immunization in general.

Their studies will focus on immune responses to vaccines against specific viruses and bacteria, such as influenza and pneumococcus, as well as to infection with West Nile virus. The investigators will take advantage of technological developments and advances in creating databases and developing mathematical models to identify and analyze the complex changes in immune profiles.

Each awardee will contribute to the establishment of a centralized infrastructure to collect, characterize and store human samples and analyze the large data sets that will be generated. Eventually, the centers will gather the information from this effort into a centralized Web-based database they will make available to the scientific community to promote and support human immunology research.

This research effort represents a major expansion of efforts to define the principles of human immune regulation, instead of relying on findings from animal models that have limitations and cannot always be extrapolated to people, says Daniel Rotrosen, M.D., director of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation at NIAID. The knowledge gained also will improve our understanding of the range of vaccine responses in particular subpopulations, including newborns, young children, the elderly, patients taking immunosuppressive medications and those with underlying diseases of the immune system, such as allergy and autoimmune diseases.

The following six core institutions and principal investigators will participate in the inaugural program:

UR discovers new way to boost vaccines, seeks patent

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) As the medical community searches for better vaccines and ways to deliver them, a University of Rochester scientist believes he has discovered a new approach to boosting the body's response to vaccinations.

Richard P. Phipps, Ph.D., found that the same molecules used in drugs that treat diabetes also stimulate B cells in the immune system, pushing them to make antibodies for protection against invading microorganisms.

The University of Rochester Medical Center has applied for international patent protection for this discovery.

Phipps believes further research will show that low doses of insulin-sensitizing drugs might be useful as vaccine adjuvants, particularly for people with weakened immune systems who cannot produce a proper antibody response. This would include some infants, the elderly, and patients with chronic health problems that lower immunity.

Currently the only widely approved vaccine adjuvant in the United States is alum. A vaccine adjuvant is a substance added to a vaccine to improve the body's immune response. Various forms of aluminum salts have been used for 70 years. (Adjuvants are added to some vaccines but not all. For example, live viral vaccines given during childhood and seasonal flu vaccines do not contain adjuvants.)

The search is always on for new adjuvants and safe adjuvants, said Phipps, a Dean's Professor of Environmental Medicine and professor of Medicine, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Microbology and Immunology, Pediatrics and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. We are excited that we've identified a potentially important new and effective adjuvant.

Phipps' discovery grew from years of NIH-funded research investigating a protein called PPAR gamma and its ligands, which are present inside B cells and are involved in inflammation and in regulating the properties of immune cells and cancer cells. The way B cells evolve, or differentiate, is central to the body's immune response.

A closer examination of the role of PPAR gamma in relation to B cell function showed that PPAR levels increase upon B cell activation, according to a study published in 2009 by Phipps' laboratory in the Journal of Immunology.

Thus, researchers theorized that any molecule that binds to and activates PPAR gamma would, in turn, improve B cell secretion of antibodies. Researchers tested both natural and synthetic PPAR gamma ligands and discovered that the synthetic molecules used to create anti-diabetic drugs such as Actos and Avandia stimulated human and mouse B cells to better produce antibodies.

The drawback, Phipps said, is the possibility that too much stimulation would cause the immune system to overreact, triggering autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Additional research is needed to better understand this process.

Penn State, government, industry helping children pick healthier foods

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A new initiative to improve children's nutrition education and increase the amount of healthy foods available in schools is a collaboration among Penn State researchers; Pennsylvania's Departments of Health, Education, and Agriculture; Pennsylvania food manufacturers and food distributors; and school districts across the state.

The project, led by Penn State and supported for two years by an $800,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeks to improve children's understanding of nutrition and help them make smarter food choices. The funds come through the Pennsylvania Department of Health as part of the CDC's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.

Researchers will increase the amount of nutrition information available in schools and at home, including innovative menu labeling systems for use in cafeterias across Pennsylvania. These menu systems will be age appropriate and will target everyone from kindergarteners to high school seniors. Children will have a baseline level of nutrient information, which will help them make healthier choices. Then, in conjunction with school districts and foodservice providers, Penn State will test the effectiveness of the labeling system.

Penn State, with its tradition in nutrition and food innovation, was the perfect partner to develop and implement these initiatives, said Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Everette James, who is playing a significant role in the project. The College of Health and Human Development and the Center for Food Innovation are centered on how to improve nutrition for children in Pennsylvania. The health of children is already important to schools and now we're making it the top priority.

A major focus of the project is finding effective ways to share nutrition information with parents. Peter Bordi, associate professor of hospitality management and principal investigator on the project, plans to take a multimedia approach by using the Internet, new technologies and old technologies such as informational handouts.

What may work for one school district may not work for another, said Bordi. This component is designed so that parents can sit down and teach their children to make healthier choices -- in practice, not in theory, says Secretary James.

Penn State's Center for Food Innovation, directed by Bordi, will work with foodservice organizations to ensure that children have access to healthy, affordable foods in schools. The research team will identify ten foods that meet or exceed nutrition guidelines for both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Prices of these foods' prices will be reduced to be more competitive with other foods in the schools.

Progress made in addressing food marketing to children, but challenges remain

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) STOCKHOLM, Sweden: The last six years have seen significant progress in efforts to curb the marketing of unhealthy food to children, with an increasing number of governments taking on the issue, but considerable challenges remain, a leading expert on the topic said today (Tuesday).

At the International Congress on Obesity in Stockholm, Tim Lobstein presented an analysis of the European policy landscape, undertaken as part of the European Commission's effort to gather evidence to support policy making on the marketing of foods to children.

For many years, public health experts have argued that the marketing of calorie-packed food and drinks to children contributes to the global obesity problem, but the issue has gained more traction over the last few years as concern over the scale of childhood obesity and has grown and as efforts to combat it have progressed.

An increasing number of countries are trying to address this issue, with some introducing regulations addressing television advertising during children's programming or the use of familiar personalities or fictional characters to promote products during that television time slot. There is real progress, but the challenges are numerous, said Lobstein, director of policy at the International Association for the Study of Obesity, which coordinated the European Union PolMark study. Firstly, most countries do not address advertising to children by the calorie content or other nutrient quality of the food product and marketing channels beyond broadcast advertising have been largely ignored. Secondly, our research has shown that there's a certain amount of anarchy at the moment and concluded that the terms need to be set by government, not the industry itself, because although they appear to be willing, there's chaos within the details, with a lot of contradiction in what industry is offering.

Internationally, several countries are considering strong measures, Lobstein noted. Brazil is developing legislation on broadcast advertising, Thailand has legislation to limit the quantity of advertising to children, Korea and Malaysia have a ban on junk food marketing to children, while South Africa, Colombia and Chile have a draft law in waiting, he said.

In Europe, two-thirds of countries now have, or are proposing, statements on food marketing to children in their national health plans.

That is a big shift, Lobstein said. Six years ago, there were only about two or three countries out of the 50 or so in European region doing this, so this decade has seen a rapid increase in awareness by government policy makers, who are increasingly writing it into their strategies.

Also, the UK took a lead in 2006 by banning ads for specific types of food during children's viewing hours. This was considered a major step, Lobstein said, because it introduced a legal definition of junk food, using a formula based on the nutrient profile of food products.

In the United States, a federal interagency working group established last year is developing proposals for voluntary nutritional standards for food and drink marketed to children and adolescents under the age of 18. The final proposals are scheduled to be submitted in a report to the U.S. Congress by July. Lobstein also noted that U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama's childhood obesity initiative does not rule out the possibility of regulation if voluntary measures prove insufficient.

He said the passage of a resolution - without dissent - at the annual meeting of member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva in May is another mark of progress. The resolution urged countries to implement recommendations contained in a report on restricting food and drink marketing to children and instructed WHO to provide technical support. A general resolution endorsing a set of recommendations doesn't look dramatic, but it consolidates the progress made so far. If they had tried to debate the recommendations one-by-one, they may have found countries unwilling to endorse them and that would have unravelled quite a lot of the work that has been done to get this far, Lobstein said.

One of the major challenges is that voluntary action has some impact, but not enough, Lobstein said. Food companies are making pledges and showing that they are sticking to those, but the pledges have loopholes. They don't all stick to the same criteria around the definition of marketing, what age group of children and what foods are covered. Companies have been pushing the boundaries into children's social marketing networks, school playgrounds, text messaging to mobile phones and so on, undermining any likely parental controls. We need a system that supports, rather than hinders, the efforts of parents to prevent obesity in their children. You cannot expect the industry to reform itself when so much money would be lost, he said.

In a separate presentation at the conference, Brazilian researcher Fabio Gomes reported an analysis of advances and setbacks in his country's effort to address food marketing. The Brazilian government is proposing statutory regulation that would require health warnings to be included in advertisements for food. Gomes said that challenges in Brazil include weak consumer criticism and the abandonment of early government proposals for a watershed for advertising to children. Also, while multinational companies have made pledges on the issue in the United States and in Europe, they have not made their pledges or self-regulation rules effective in Brazil, he said. We are in a deaf dialogue in Brazil, said Gomes, a nutritionist and senior analyst at the National Cancer Institute of Brazil.

Lobstein said it is less important whether measures are voluntary or statutory. What matters, he said, is that governments need to agree a clear set of targets that include cross-border marketing applied to products based nutrient profiling, a timeline and monitoring to ensure progress is being made.

Defensin-1 in honey can work as antibiotic

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:34:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bees make a protein called defensin-1 that they add to honey, which could one day be used to treat burns and skin infections and to develop new drugs that could combat antibiotic-resistant infections.

'We have completely elucidated the molecular basis of the antibacterial activity of a single medical-grade honey, which contributes to the applicability of honey in medicine,' said Sebastian A.J. Zaat, researcher in medical microbiology at the Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam.

'Honey or isolated honey-derived components might be of great value for prevention and treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria,' Zaat said.

To make the discovery, Zaat and colleagues investigated the antibacterial activity of medical-grade honey in test tubes against a panel of antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing bacteria. 3

They developed a method to selectively neutralise the known antibacterial factors in honey and determine their individual antibacterial contributions.

Ultimately, researchers isolated the defensin-1 protein, which is part of the honey bee immune system and is added by bees to honey.

After analysis, the scientists concluded that the vast majority of honey's antibacterial properties come from that protein.

This information also sheds light on the inner workings of honey bee immune systems, which may one day help breeders create healthier and heartier honey bees, said a release of Academic Medical Centre.

'We've known for millennia that honey can be good for what ails us, but we haven't known how it works,' said Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of FASEB Journal, which published these findings.

'Now that we've extracted a potent antibacterial ingredient from honey, we can make it still more effective and take the sting out of bacterial infections,' he said.

A key mechanism links virgin olive oil to protection against breast cancer

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The researchers decoded a complete cascade of signals within breast tumour cells activated by virgin olive oil, and concluded that benefits include decrease in the activity of the oncogene p21Ras, changes in protein signaling pathways, stimulation of tumour cell death and prevention of DNA damage. The study was carried out in an experimental model and researchers have already begun a new study with human cell lines.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in Western countries. Research carried out with animal models demonstrate that a diet rich in fats is directly related to the incidence of cancer. Some types of fats however can play a protective role against the development of these tumours. Such is the case of virgin olive oil, rich in oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated fatty acid, and containing several bioactive compounds such as antioxidants. A moderate and regular intake of virgin olive oil, characteristic of the Mediterranean diet, is associated with low incidences of specific types of cancer, including breast cancer, as well as with having a protective role against coronary diseases and other health problems.

The study carried out by UAB researchers decoded the mechanisms operating within the tumour cell and induced by the intake of olive oil, in comparison to those activated by corn oil, rich in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which increase the aggressiveness of tumours.

Scientists demonstrated that virgin olive oil is associated with higher incidences of benign breast tumours and at the same time with a decrease in the activity of the p21Ras oncogene, which spurs uncontrolled cell proliferation and stimulates the growth of tumours. In addition, olive oil suppresses the activity of some proteins, such as the AKT, essential for the survival of cells since they prevent apoptosis, the cell's suicide programme. Between proliferation and apoptosis in tumour cells, these effects tip the balance towards cell death, thereby slowing the growth of tumours.

Another result obtained by researchers is the protection of DNA in the cell nucleus. Cells from animals fed a diet rich in virgin olive oil contained less DNA lesions than those fed a control diet.

Scientists of the UAB Breast Cancer Study Multidisciplinary Group (GMECM) have spent over twenty years working to determine the effects fats have on breast cancer, and in particular the effects of virgin olive oil. Previous studies of the group revealed the beneficial effects of this component of the human diet on the clinical conduct of mammary tumours and on their histological grade (malignancy). Scientists also described several molecular mechanisms producing these effects and in 2004 the same group was the one to identify the four genes involved in the effects dietary fats have on experimental breast cancer. The mechanism recently discovered was published in the journal

South Asians more prone to heart attacks than whites

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:13:35 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The incidence of coronary heart disease - is higher among the South Asian communities of Britain than the white population, a new research by the British Heart Foundation and Oxford University has revealed.

The prevalence of CHD is highest in Indian - and Pakistani - men, it says.

The details of the new research were released Monday exclusively to the BBC Asian Network which broadcast a half hour programme on the subject the same evening.

Cardio-vascular diseases cause more than a third of all deaths in England and Wales in a year. A quarter of these deaths are of the South Asian communities, the research says.

Though binge drinking is low in the South Asian communities, the prevalence of smoking is quite high. Twenty per cent of all Indians men here smoke. So do 40 per cent of Bangladeshi men. It ranges from two per cent among Bangladeshi women to 26 per cent among the Irish.

The results of the research are published by the Heart Foundation under the title, 'Stroke Statistics; European Cardiovascular Disease Statistic: Regional and Social Differences in Coronary Heart Disease; Diet, Physical Activity and Obesity'.

The study could not find any satisfactory reasons for the CHD affecting South Asian more even though their Body Mass Index - was found to be much lower than the local white population, while the ethnic groups fared better than the white population in terms of physical activity, lower cholesterol, balanced diet and controlled blood pressure.

According to the researchers, since the above-mentioned normal risk factors for CHD did not apply much to the South Asians, the reasons for high prevalence of the disease among them could be due to 'differences in genetic make-up and differences in cultural and social practices between ethnic groups that might influence their risk of developing cardiovascular disease'.

On the issue of timely treatment of South Asians with CHD, the study says that 'at present, very few people from ethnic minority groups attend cardiac rehabilitation programmes'.

The study finds the reason for this inequality in treatment and rehabilitation: 'Until recently, regular coding of ethnic data in the National Health Service - was either inconsistent or not practiced.' Since 2001 it has been a requirement to ethnically code all admissions to NHS hospitals and thus by 2007-08 only 15 per cent of ethnic admissions were found not coded. This means the NHS does not have records of many South Asian CHD patients for follow-up treatment.

The study also finds that admissions of South Asian CHD patients to NHS hospitals for surgical treatment are lower than that of white patients. Even in case of revascularization and admission to heart rehabilitation programmes, the study shows the admissions of the ethnic groups is less than that of the white population.

The medical director of the British Heart Foundation, Prof. Peter Weissberg says that the publication of this new research 'is timely as the government and political parties in England consider the next steps for tackling health inequalities in the coming decade'.

The research was conducted by researchers Prof. Peter Scarborough, Asha Kaur, Kate Smolina and Mike Rayner of the department of public health, Oxford University and Prachi Bhatnagar, and Kremlin Wickramasinghe of the Foundation's Health Promotion Research Group.

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More than skin deep, tanning product of sun's rays

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) People who remain pale and never tan can blame their distant ancestors for choosing to live in the northern reaches of the globe and those who easily achieve a deep tan can thank their ancestors for living in the subtropical latitudes, according to Penn State anthropologists.

The variation of ultraviolet radiation, especially in the middle and high latitudes is great, said Nina Jablonski, professor of anthropology and chair of Penn State's anthropology department. Tanning has evolved multiple times around the world as a mechanism to partly protect humans from harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation.

Jablonski, working with George Chaplin, senior research associate in anthropology and an expert in geographic information systems, looked at the way the sun illuminates different parts of the Earth. They looked at levels and angles of incidence of both ultraviolet A and B radiation at various latitudes. Ultraviolet B radiation is much more variable than ultraviolet A as latitude increases due to atmospheric scattering of the light and absorption by oxygen.

Ultraviolet B radiation produces vitamin D in human skin. Ultraviolet radiation can, however, destroy folate. Folate is important for the rapid growth of cells, especially during pregnancy where its deficiency can cause neural tube defects.

What we now recognize is that some of the medical problems seen in darkly pigmented people may be linked at some level to vitamin D deficiency, said Jablonski. Things like certain types of cancer in darkly pigmented people and in people who use a lot of sunscreen or always stay inside could be partly related to vitamin D deficiency.

Scientists have understood for years that evolutionary selection of skin pigmentation was caused by the sun. As human ancestors gradually lost their pelts to allow evaporative cooling through sweating, their naked skin was directly exposed to sunlight. In the tropics, where human ancestors evolved and where both ultraviolet radiations are high throughout the year, natural selection created darkly pigmented individuals to protect against the sun.

Past arguments about the selective value of dark pigmentation focused on the protective effects of melanin against sunburn, skin cancer, and overproduction of vitamin D. These factors can no longer be considered significant selective pressures, the Jablonski and Chaplin report in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Sunburn and most skin cancers do not alter an individual's ability to procreate, so they are not selection factors. The human body also has a mechanism to prevent overproduction of vitamin D.

Previously, the researchers concluded that dark skin pigmentation in the tropics protects people from folate destruction by ultraviolet B, but, because levels of ultraviolet B are high year round, the skin can still allow enough in to manufacture vitamin D.

As humans moved out of Africa, they moved into the subtropics and eventually inhabited areas up to the Arctic Circle. Ultraviolet radiation in these areas is neither consistent nor strong. North or south of 46 degrees latitude, which includes all of Canada, Russia, Scandinavia, Western Europe and Mongolia, there is insufficient ultraviolet B through most of the year to produce vitamin D. Populations in these areas evolved to have little skin pigmentation.

In the latitudes between 23 and 46 degrees, an area that encompasses North Africa, South America, the Mediterranean and most of China, ultraviolet B radiation is much more variable. Heavily pigmented skin in the winter would block the development of vitamin D, and lightly pigmented skin during the summer would allow destruction of folate.

We actually demonstrate that in those middle latitudes where highly fluctuating levels of ultraviolet radiation occur throughout the year, tanning has evolved multiple times as a mechanism to partly protect humans from harmful effect of the sun, said Jablonski.

The tanning process evolved for humans who by and large were naked all the time. As the ultraviolet B radiation began to increase in the early spring, the skin would begin to gradually darken. As the sun became stronger, the tan became deeper. During the winter, as ultraviolet B waned, so did the tan, allowing Vitamin D production and protecting folate.

The researchers note that the ability to tan developed in a wide variety of peoples and while the outcome, tanablity, is the same, the underlying genetic mechanisms are not necessarily identical. They also note that depigmentated skin also developed at least three times through different genetic mechanisms.

Implications for today focus on the fact that depigmented people now live in tropical and subtropical areas where besides getting sunburned they run the risk of losing folate. Highly pigmented people live in higher latitudes where they may become vitamin D deficient, especially if they use sunscreens.

It is a conspiracy of modernity, said Jablonski. The rapidity at which we can move long distances and live far away from our ancestral homelands. The fact that we can live and work indoors. All this has happened within the last 500 years and especially within the last 200 years.

FDA should adopt risk-based approach to food safety

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's abilities to discover potential threats to food safety and prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness are hampered by impediments to efficient use of its limited resources and a piecemeal approach to gathering and using information on risks, says a new report by the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council.

To more proactively tackle food safety problems, FDA should implement a risk-based approach in which data and expertise are marshaled to pinpoint where along the production, distribution, and handling chains there is the greatest potential for contamination and other problems, the report says. The agency would then be able to direct appropriate amounts of its resources and attention to those high-risk areas and increase the chances of catching problems before they turn into widespread outbreaks, said the committee that wrote the report.

The report offers FDA a blueprint for developing a risk-based model. It also outlines several organizational steps the agency should take to improve the efficiency of its many food safety activities, such as increasing coordination with state and other federal agencies that share responsibility for protecting the nation's food supply. In addition, the report says Congress should consider amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to explicitly provide the authority FDA needs to fulfill its food safety mission.

As recent illnesses traced to produce underscore, foodborne diseases cause significant suffering, so it's imperative that our food safety system functions effectively at all levels, said committee chair Robert Wallace, professor, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City. FDA uses some risk assessment and management tactics, but the agency's approach is too often reactive and lacks a systematic focus on prevention. Our report's recommendations aim to help FDA achieve a comprehensive vision for proactively protecting against threats to the nation's food supply.

FDA is responsible for ensuring the safety of approximately 80 percent of the nation's food supply, including seafood, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables. Although it is not the sole organization overseeing food safety -- the U.S. Department of Agriculture handles meat, poultry, and egg products, and state and local agencies share in conducting food production facility inspections, surveillance, and investigations of outbreaks -- recent outbreaks of foodborne illness led to a congressional request for a review of gaps in FDA's food safety system.

The agency has been criticized for not adequately monitoring and inspecting food suppliers and distributors and for not taking a proactive approach to food safety overall. However, given that FDA is responsible for more than 150,000 food facilities, more than 1 million restaurants and other retail food establishments, and more than 2 million farms, as well as millions of tons of imports, it lacks the resources to sufficiently monitor the entire food supply, the committee noted.

A risk-based approach would give FDA's food safety officials the strategic vision needed to evaluate and plan for food safety concerns rather than tackling problems on a case-by-case basis, the report says. Without good information, agency officials cannot identify where its resources are needed most or determine which policy interventions are most effective. FDA has insufficient analytical expertise and infrastructure to gather, manage, and use data effectively. The agency should identify its data needs and review its policies for sharing data with other agencies and organizations.

The federal government should establish a centralized food safety data center outside of the regulatory agencies to collect information and conduct rapid, sophisticated assessments of food safety risks and appropriate policy interventions. This center would go a long way toward developing much-needed capacity and would reduce interagency competition for resources, the committee said. It could also serve as an intermediate step toward consolidating food safety activities within a single agency, which many individuals and organizations have called for.

To enhance its efficiency, FDA should explore alternative approaches to regulating food safety, such as delegating food facility inspections to the states, the report says. FDA should establish national standards for the intensity and frequency of these facility reviews and help states and local municipalities bring their safety programs up to those standards. Once all programs are standardized, FDA should train and certify state inspectors with the goal of turning over the majority of inspections to them under the agency's supervision. This change would build on current practices in which roughly 60 percent of inspections are already conducted by state inspectors under contract with FDA. This integration and leveraging of resources would increase the quality of inspections and eliminate duplication of effort, the committee said.

Despite the dramatic developments in food production and distribution that have occurred over the years, the main statutory provisions under which FDA carries out its food safety responsibilities remain largely unchanged. Although various provisions give the agency broad discretion and flexibility through which it has been able to control potential problems, there are instances in which FDA lacks specific authority, which can make its actions vulnerable to court challenge. Congress should examine how the legislation could be revised to detail FDA's authorities in facility registration, preventive controls, risk-based inspection, mandatory recall, reporting of adulteration, and banning of food imports if the public's health is at risk, among other areas.

Obesity remains an economic issue, Seattle obesity study finds

Mon, 24 May 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Ensuring access to healthy, affordable foods is a top priority in tackling the obesity epidemic in the United States. Over the course of the last six months, the Institute of Medicine, United States Department of Agriculture, The White House and First Lady Michelle Obama have taken an interest in improving access to affordable and nutritious foods.

Here in Seattle, Adam Drewnowski, UW professor of epidemiology, and his team are tackling the same issue. Remember the fat zip codes that predicted obesity rates from a few years ago? Drewnowski and his team were the brains behind that, as well as last summer's study which showed that grocery prices in Seattle varied greatly between one supermarket chain and another.

Now, researchers at the UW Center for Public Health Nutrition, UW Urban Form Lab and the Nutritional Sciences Program in the School of Public Health are asking: Who buys what foods, why, where, and for how much?

The answers might surprise you. Most studies have used distance to the nearest supermarket as the best predictor of whether people have good diets and better health. But Drewnowski and team say that's not true. Six out of seven people shopped for food outside their immediate neighborhood, he said The closest supermarket for most people was less than a mile away, but people chose the market that was more than three miles away. Driving further to save money on groceries is common. For that reason, physical proximity to a supermarket may not, by itself, assure a healthy diet. Money does matter, Drewnowski said.

Areas where access to healthy affordable foods is scarce have become known as food deserts. Seattle, however, is well-supplied with supermarkets, grocery stores, farmers markets and other vendors, said Drewnowski. We do not see evidence of significant food deserts, he said. In comparison with other areas in the state, public transportation is also prevalent and accessible, so people can take a bus to a supermarket or grocery store with relative ease.

Researchers combined a telephone survey, modeled on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System, with new geo-coding techniques and methods of spatial analysis for the new study.

Economic access has also become a primary research focus in public health nutrition, including the work by Drewnowski and team. Supermarket chains have specific demographics--consumers differ by age, education, income, health, and even obesity rates. The county-wide obesity rate in 2007 was 19.8 percent, but our research found that the obesity rate was only four percent among Whole Foods and PCC shoppers, said Drewnowski. Consumers who shop at most area supermarket chains have obesity rates at 25 percent and higher. Clearly, not all supermarkets are the same and economic access is determined by price.

UW researchers recently discussed the Seattle Obesity Study results at Shopping for Health conference, which brought together public health agencies, academicians, supermarket representatives and policymakers from Seattle, King County and Washington state. Additional findings include:

Food insecurity leads to adverse health consequences in pregnancy

Sat, 22 May 2010 14:39:32 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A recent research study has shown that food insecurity, a person's inability to obtain adequate amounts of food due to resource constraints, can lead to greater weight gain and increased complications during a woman's pregnancy.

"Prior studies have shown that women living in food insecure households are more likely to experience health complications," said Craig Gundersen, a University of Illinois associate professor of agricultural and consumer economics and co-author of the study. "An area that hadn't been closely examined is the impact of food insecurity on pregnant women."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, 14.6 percent of households were food insecure at some time during 2008, up from 11.1 percent in 2007. This is the highest recorded prevalence rate of food insecurity since 1995, when the first national food security survey was conducted.

"In the United States, we are very concerned about issues related to food insecurity," Gundersen said. "We are of course concerned about people going hungry and not having enough to eat. We are also concerned about the negative health consequences associated with food insecurity."

For the study, a total of 810 low- and middle-income pregnant women were surveyed during January 2001 to June 2005. Women were surveyed at the beginning of their pregnancy and a follow-up survey was administered after the birth of their child.

"We looked at the effect of food insecurity on a variety of health factors related to pregnancy," Gundersen said. "We found that food insecurity is associated with a higher body mass index, greater weight gain during pregnancy, and a higher risk for the development of gestational diabetes. These health issues are a concern as they can lead to assorted negative medical conditions."

Gundersen said an important federal program is already in place to address food insecurity in the United States. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, provides assistance to low-income individuals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that the number of Americans receiving food stamps reached 39.68 million in February 2010, the highest number since the program began in 1962.

"Food insecurity is a growing concern for many U.S. citizens," Gundersen said. "The expansion of the SNAP program could offer major health benefits for people struggling to afford nutritious foods during these difficult economic times."

IOM report recommends framework to evaluate science behind health claims for foods and drugs

Wed, 12 May 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should apply the same rigor to evaluating the science behind claims of foods' and nutritional supplements' health benefits as it devotes to assessing medication and medical technology approvals, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. There are no scientific grounds for using different standards of evidence when evaluating the health benefits of food ingredients and drugs given that both can have significant impacts on people's well-being, said the committee that wrote the report. It recommended a new framework the agency can use to consistently and transparently judge the appropriateness and validity of the scientific benchmarks used in studies that companies provide to support health and safety claims for their products.

Because it can be time-consuming and difficult to test products against actual clinical outcomes -- such as whether they cure or reduce the risk of a disease -- companies often conduct studies measuring effects on biomarkers, which are used as biological yardsticks or substitutes for clinical outcomes. For example, tumor size is used as a way to measure a cancer drug's effectiveness. Blood level of harmful cholesterol is often used as a biomarker for the risk of heart disease, and drug and food companies make claims about the heart health benefits of their products based on their ability to lower cholesterol levels, even if the products have not been shown to actually decrease heart disease.

FDA has been hampered in its ability to assess the proliferation of health claims being made by food and supplement manufacturers in part because it lacks a process broadly accepted across the regulatory, food, and medical communities to evaluate biomarkers as valid and appropriate measurements to substitute for clinical outcomes. The committee's proposed three-part framework gives the agency a way to consistently and rigorously assess the selection and use of biomarkers across the food, device, and drug areas.

In addition, the report calls on Congress to boost the agency's authority to require further studies of drugs and devices after they are approved if their approval is based on studies using biomarkers as surrogate clinical outcomes. And Congress should give FDA the authority to conduct studies of how well consumers understand food and supplement health claims and require manufacturers to make changes if needed to promote greater clarity.

Many people naturally assume that the claims made for foods and nutritional supplements have the same degree of scientific grounding as those for medications, and this committee thinks that should in fact be the case, said committee chair John Ball, executive vice president, American Society for Clinical Pathology, Chicago. Without changes in the way biomarkers are used and assessed, however, health care providers, regulators, and consumers will not be able to reliably collect or judge information to support claims.

The proposed framework entails validating that a biomarker can be accurately measured, ensuring that it is associated with the clinical outcome of concern, and confirming that it is appropriate for the proposed use. Committee members demonstrated the kinds of information and lessons the framework can provide by doing several case studies, looking at tumor size as a biomarker for cancer, blood level of beta-carotene as a surrogate for cancer and cardiovascular disease risk, and cholesterol level as an indicator of heart disease, among others.

The report calls for Congress to enhance FDA's abilities to study how health-related information can be communicated more effectively to consumers to help them better understand the science behind claims they see on packaging. The typical consumer is not aware that claims for food ingredients and supplements are often made based on studies using biomarkers instead of actual health outcomes, and that this introduces a measure of uncertainty.

FDA also needs the resources and authority to act on claims when they are found to cause confusion or to exceed regulatory limits. A report issued by Rep. Henry Waxman's office noted that FDA enforcement of food and supplement health claims declined by more than 50 percent from 2000 to 2005. However, recent actions by the FDA indicate it is engaging in heightened enforcement of food labeling, including health claims.

Social context may be a better indicator of obesity disparities than race

Thu, 06 May 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) When analyzing obesity disparities among women, socioeconomic status and social context may be more important than race, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions. The authors examined race disparities in obesity among black and white women living in the same social context with similar income and compared these estimates to national data. Nationwide, black women were twice as likely to be obese when compared to white women. However, the researchers found that obesity rates were comparable in a sample of white and black women living in similar social and environmental conditions. The results are featured in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

In a national sample not accounting for race differences in social context, black women had twice the chance of being obese as compared to white women, Sara Bleich, PhD, lead author and assistant professor in the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management. To date, efforts to explain the disparity in obesity prevalence have primarily focused on individual level factors and little research has focused on social context as a possible explanation. When we examined poor, urban women exposed to the same environment, race disparities in obesity virtually disappeared.

Bleich, along with colleagues from the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions examined race disparities in obesity among black and white women living in the same social context with similar income in Baltimore. Using the data from the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities-Southwest Baltimore (EHDIC-SWB) study, a cross-sectional face-to-face survey of the adults ages 18 and older, researchers compared estimates to national data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to determine if the race disparity in obesity was attenuated among women living in the same social context. Obesity was calculated from self-reported height and body weight and logistic regression was used to examine the association between race and obesity.

Accurately accounting for social and environmental exposures is particularly important for the study of obesity disparities given the growing literature linking individual body weight to a host of environmental factors, both positively and negatively associated with body mass index, said Thomas LaVeist, PhD, senior author of the study and director of the Bloomberg School's Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions. Developing policies that focus on modifying social aspects of the environment may reduce disparities in obesity among low-income women living in urban communities.

Creating new healthy ingredients by innovative milling techniques and processes for cereal grains

Wed, 05 May 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The bioactive compounds of cereals are concentrated in the peripheral layers of the grains (bran) but most of them have a low bio-accessibility. In the HEALTHGRAIN project of the European Union, new tools for process monitoring were developed that support commercial implementation of innovative milling techniques including partial grain debranning, fine grinding and classification of grain fractions, resulting in flours and ingredients with enhanced nutritional properties.

The wheat grain is a heterogeneous structure with bio-active compounds unevenly distributed within its different parts. The bioactive compounds (fibres, micronutrients and phytochemicals) are mostly concentrated in the grain outer layers, each having its own compositional profile. Therefore levels of bioactive compounds in whole meal flour are at least two times higher than those in white flour. However, some of the bioactive compounds have a low bio-accessibility in peripheral layers as they are trapped in strong cell wall structures which resist conventional milling. They can also be localized close to undesirable contaminants such as microbes, mycotoxins, pesticide residues, heavy metals. Therefore novel technologies have been developed for the transformation of the grains to better exploit their nutritional potential and to ensure food safety requirements.

In order to develop new dry processing techniques, new tools based on new insights in grain tissue composition, structure and properties have been obtained. Biochemical markers of the different grain tissues (pericarp, intermediate layers, aleurone layers, germ) have been identified and allow to determine the tissue composition of the technological fractions and deduce the behaviour of the different grain parts upon fractionation operations. More rapid methods for fractionation monitoring using spectral signature of tissues are on the way. New mechanical devices coupled with microscopy and microspectroscopy have been developed to determine the local properties of tissues and of their interfaces to help the development of fractionation with improved resolution. Especially, the effects of temperature, water content and enzymatic pre-treatments have been investigated.

A way to enrich cereal products with bioactive compounds is to manufacture flours with high levels of selected parts of the outer layers. To remove the very outermost layers, partial debranning of grains in using friction (peeling) or abrasion (pearling), was combined with milling (grinding and sieving) to produce flours with tailored tissue composition and thus controlled in content of bioactive compounds, as monitored by the marker methodology. Flours made from peeled grains, peeled and pearled grains and grains with removed outermost layer and crease parts exhibited high contents of bioactive compounds and improved nutritional effects as compared to common flours.

Another way of exploiting cereal potential is to use the miller's bran, a by-product of the milling industry, as a source of healthy ingredients. Careful limited grinding and sieving of the bran allowed to prepare a concentrate of aleurone cells and aleurone layer, where most of the bioactive compounds of the grain are located. Further purification by electrostatic classification yielded practically pure aleurone cells that exhibited excellent nutritional properties.

Another approach used ultrafine grinding of the bran in ambient or cryogenic conditions, to provoke a full dissociation of the material at a sub-cellular level. This resulted in an increase in bioactive compounds bioaccessibility. Classification of the fine particles in using a electrostatic separator made it possible to prepare fractions of very contrasted compositions in starting from bran. One of these ingredients, concentrated in fine aleurone particles, showed a good accessibility of anti-oxidants and mineral compared to bran and untreated aleurone. These technologies have been experimented at large-scale by industrial partners, to determine their feasibility and economics.

The work was conducted by INRA, in close collaboration with difent partners in charge of analyses (VTT, KU Leuven, University of Helsinki, University of Uppsala, Puratos, TNO), development of analytical equipment (Branscan) and industrial demonstration and cost evaluation (Barilla, Buhler, SD-Tech).

New and improved gluten-free foods developed for patients with celiac disease

Wed, 05 May 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A wide range of gluten free cereals have been studies in detail as part of the HEALTHGRAIN project of the European Union, and their impact on product quality has been assessed. Enzyme technology, bioprocessing as well as high-pressure processing technology have been successfully applied to improve the quality, safety and nutritional attributes of gluten free cereal products.

In genetically susceptible individuals, the ingestion of gluten and related proteins triggers an immunemediated enteropathy known as Coeliac Disease (CD). Recent epidemiological studies have shown that 1 in 100 people worldwide suffer from CD. Such a rate establishes CD as one of the most common food intolerances. Coeliac patients eating wheat or related proteins such as hordeins (barley) or secalins (rye) undergo an immunological response, localized in the small intestine, which destroys mature absorptive epithelial cells on the surface of the small intestine.

Currently, the only way that CD can be treated is the total lifelong avoidance of gluten ingestion. Therefore, CD suffers have to follow a very strict diet and avoid any products which contain wheat, rye or barley. Some authors also include oats. Avoidance of these cereals leads to a recovery from the disease and significant improvement of the intestinal mucosa and its absorptive functions. Coeliac patients are not in position to eat some of the most common foods such as bread, pizzas, biscuits or drink beer.

Due to the unique properties of gluten, it is a big challenge for food scientists to produce good quality gluten free products. The majority of products currently on the market are in general of very poor quality. Therefore part of the HEALTHGRAIN project focused on the development of nutritious and tasty gluten free breads.

The areas covered during the project were a detailed characterisation of gluten free cereals and the assessment of these cereals as potential ingredients for gluten free breads. The characterizations ranged from a detailed chemical characterisation to rheological evaluation of the resulting doughs, structural properties of the doughs and breads using advanced microscopic methods as well as pilotscale baking trials and sensory evaluation. Novel methods to improve the quality of gluten free cereal products were also covered; one example being the use of specially selected Lactic acid bacteria with properties such as antifungal activity, exopolysaccharide production and enzyme production. The use of specifically selected Lactic acid bacteria can significantly improve the quality and shelf-life of gluten free breads.

One of the major problems associated with gluten free products is their texture. Part of the project was therefore to investigate the influence of a range of enzymes such as transglutaminase, glucose oxidase and protease on wide range of gluten free cereals. It was shown that enzymes can play an important role in improving the structure of gluten free bread, but the enzymes showed different interactions with the various gluten free flours.

New inhalable measles vaccine may lead to vaccines for other diseases

Wed, 05 May 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A team of researchers led by the University of Colorado at Boulder believe a dry powder, inhalable vaccine developed for measles prevention and slated for human clinical trials later this year in India will lead to other inhalable, inexpensive vaccines for illnesses ranging from tuberculosis to cervical cancer.

The inhalable measles vaccine, developed by a team led by CU-Boulder chemistry and biochemistry Professor Robert Sievers, involves mixing supercritical carbon dioxide with a weakened form of the measles virus. The process produces microscopic bubbles and droplets that are dried to make the inhalable powder, which is dispensed into the mouths of patients using a small, cylindrical plastic sack with an opening like the neck of a plastic water bottle.

According to the World Health Organization, measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children. In 2008 there were an estimated 164,000 measles deaths in children worldwide -- nearly 450 deaths a day -- and India accounts for about two-thirds of global measles deaths in infants and children. Clinical trials are the next vital step in making this vaccine widely available, he said.

One of our primary goals of this project is to get rid of needles and syringes, because they frighten some people, they hurt, they can transmit diseases and there are issues with needle disposal, he said. With the new technology, the inhaled powder is sent directly into the lungs, a good target since measles attacks through the respiratory tract, said Sievers. A person taking a deep breath from the sack is effectively vaccinated.

Sievers will give a presentation on the subject at the Eighth European Conference on Supercritical Fluid Applications to be held May 9-12 in Graz, Austria.

Phase One of the clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the measles inhalant product are slated to start this summer in Pune, India, and will involve about 180 people, said Sievers. Phase Two of the India clinical trials are expected to involve a larger number of patients.

Sievers, also a fellow at CU's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, said the measles vaccine development idea grew out of atmospheric chemistry research he and his students were conducting. The team was attempting to determine the chemistry of specific air pollutants in particular regions of the world and how people inhale and process tiny airborne droplets of pollutants.

As part of the measles project, Sievers and his students and colleagues invented and patented a device known as the Carbon Dioxide Assisted Nebulization with a Bubble Dryer, or CAN-BD, in which two mixed streams of fluid are rapidly expanded to atmospheric pressure where the tiny bubbles and droplets are dried by mixing them with warm nitrogen. The resulting, inhalable-sized vaccine bits are embedded in micro-particles of sugars and amino acids, he said.

Aktiv-Dry is a Boulder spinoff company Sievers co-founded in 2002 with Professor John Carpenter of the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy and Brian Quinn, current president of Aktiv-Dry. The company, which employs about 10 people including former CU-Boulder students, currently is developing CAN-BD for the marketplace.

This project came out of the University of Colorado, and Aktiv-Dry is partially owned by the university through the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office, said Sievers. I've had 40 CU-Boulder students who have earned their doctorates under me through the years, and it was those students and their work that really positioned us at the right time to gain significant funding for this project.

The $20 million Aktiv-Dry research effort is funded by the Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative, which was created by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the Foundation for The National Institutes of Health. Sievers' project addresses one of the 14 Grand Challenges -- the needle-free administration of vaccines by pulmonary or nasal aerosols.

David H. McAdams, a CU-Boulder doctoral student in the chemistry and biochemistry department working with Sievers, said he switched his academic focus from atmospheric chemistry particle analytics to participate in the measles project. I saw an opportunity to use the analysis of such particulates to benefit mankind and to help save children by using inhalable vaccines.

The CU team recently tested the durability of the inhalant vaccine by shipping a batch from the Serum Institute of India to CU-Boulder, then shipping the same batch two months later to the East Coast and back to Boulder. The vaccine proved to be stable throughout the shipping process, indicating it likely would be effective under challenging environmental conditions encountered in developing nations, Sievers said.

The cost of an inhalant dose for measles developed by Sievers and his team is about 26 cents -- roughly the cost for an injectable form of the dose. As a practical matter, said Sievers, the treatment of patients with novel technologies should not be more expensive than standard treatment costs.

The new technology could potentially be used to deliver tiny antibiotics particles to treat people with multi-resistant tuberculosis, said Sievers. While the antibiotic inhalant would likely be combined with oral doses and injections, the use of CAN-BD would direct the antibiotic directly to the lungs where the disease is focused, said Sievers.

Another potential use for the CAN-BD technology is treating human papilloma virus, a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer. More women in India today die of cervical cancer than from breast cancer, which is a much bigger killer in the United States, he said. Current treatment for papilloma virus is a three-dose injection regimen that costs about $300 -- a cost Sievers and his group would like to lower significantly for it to be distributed to women who need it in developing nations.

Children living in apartments with nonsmoking adults still exposed

Sat, 01 May 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The majority of children living in apartments are exposed to secondhand smoke, even when they don't live with smokers. This study from the University of Rochester Medical Center is the first to examine whether housing type is a potential contributor to children's exposure to cigarette smoke. The abstract was presented this morning at the Pediatric Academic Society Meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

Among children who lived in an apartment, 84 percent had been exposed to tobacco smoke, according to the level of a biomarker (cotinine) in their blood that indicates exposure to nicotine found in tobacco, and this included more than 9 of 10 African-American and white children. Even among children who lived in detached houses, 70 percent showed evidence of exposure.

We are starting to understand the role that seepage through walls and through shared ventilation may impact tobacco smoke exposure in apartments, said Karen Wilson, M.D., MPH, author of the study and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Golisano Children's Hospital. We see that children are being exposed in ways we are not picking up, and it's important, for their health, that we figure out where this exposure is taking place, and work to eliminate it. Multi-unit housing is one potential source, but a very important one.

Previous studies have shown that children with cotinine levels indicating tobacco smoke exposure have higher rates of respiratory diseases, decreased cognitive abilities and decreased antioxidant levels.

The study analyzed data from almost 6,000 children between 6- and 18-years-old in a national database (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2006) to see if there was any relationship between their smoke exposure and their housing type. Apartment living was associated with a 45 percent increase in cotinine levels for African American children and a 207 percent increase for white children. About 18 percent of U.S. children live in apartments, and many of these children are living in subsidized housing communities where smoking is more prevalent.

Wilson said many parents are trying to limit their children's tobacco smoke exposure by not allowing smoking in their apartments, but they say they can smell tobacco smoke coming from other apartments or from common areas. Last summer, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released a memo recommending that their housing developments enact smoke-free policies. A smoking ban within multi-unit, subsidized housing could further reduce the tobacco smoke exposure for children and reduce smoking rates among residents.

Better vitamin D status could mean better quality of life for seniors

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) According to legend, it was The Fountain of Youth that the famed Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was seeking when he landed on the Floridian coast in 1513. It has long been said that he who drinks from the Fountain will have his youth restored. Without a doubt, the quest for eternal youth is as ancient as any pursuit. However, although we are now living longer than ever, there is now growing concern that quantity of years is not nearly as important as quality of those years. Indeed, as we experience the many joys of living longer, we also must deal with myriad consequences accompanying this aging trend. For instance, osteoporosis, arthritis, and other serious and often painful bone and joint diseases are much more common as we get older. And, not surprisingly, seniors often struggle daily with what was once the simple task of getting around. Hence, the obvious question in today's society concerning our longevity is What choices can we make to help ease these inconveniences of aging?

One area of particular interest is the role that diet plays in keeping bones and muscles strong from infancy to old age. For instance, a limited number of studies point to the possibility that optimal intake of vitamin D (the sunshine vitamin) might help keep our muscles strong and preserve physical function. Although there are only few longitudinal studies investigating this relationship, their findings have been mixed. To help understand this diet-health association, Dr. Denise Houston from the Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest University and her collaborators studied the relationship between vitamin D status and physical function in a group of relatively healthy seniors living in Memphis, TN and Pittsburgh, PA. Their results will be presented on Sunday, April 25 as part of the scientific program of the American Society for Nutrition, composed of the world's leading nutrition researchers, at the Experimental Biology 2010 meeting in Anaheim.

This study was part of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study initially designed to assess the associations among body composition, long-term health conditions, and mobility in older adults. For Houston's segment of the investigation, she studied 2788 seniors (mean age: ~75 years) for 4 years. At the beginning of the study, they assessed vitamin D status by analyzing each person's blood for 25-hydroxyvitamin D, a precursor for activated vitamin D. At baseline and then 2 and 4 years later, the research team then determined whether circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D was related to the participants' physical function. Specifically, they looked at how quickly each participant could walk a short distance (6 meters) and rise from a chair five times as well as maintain his or her balance in progressively more challenging positions. Each participant was also put through a battery of tests assessing endurance and strength.

When the results were tabulated, participants with the highest levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D had better physical function. And, although physical function declined over the course of the study, it remained significantly higher among those with the highest vitamin D levels at the beginning of the study compared to those with the lowest vitamin D levels. The scientists were not surprised to learn that, in general, vitamin D consumption was very low in this group of otherwise healthy seniors. In fact, more than 90% of them consumed less vitamin D than currently recommended, and many were relying on dietary supplements.

The good news: higher circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D is related to better physical function in seniors. But it's impossible to tell from this type of research whether increasing vitamin D intake will actually lead to stronger muscles and preserve physical function. This is partly due to the fact that our bodies can make vitamin D if they get enough sunlight. So, it is possible that the participants with better physical function had higher vitamin D status simply because they were able to go outside more often. Indeed, the ominous chicken-or-the-egg question can only be answered by carefully controlled clinical intervention trials. Nonetheless, it is possible that getting more vitamin D from foods (like fortified milk and oily fish) or supplements will help maintain youth and vitality as we enjoy longer lifespans. As Houston points out: Current dietary recommendations are based primarily on vitamin D's effects on bone health. It is possible that higher amounts of vitamin D are needed for the preservation of muscle strength and physical function as well as other health conditions. However, clinical trials are needed to definitively determine whether increasing 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations through diet or supplements has an effect on these non-traditional outcomes.

Will vitamin D research lead us to The Fountain of Youth? Probably not. But paying attention to how much vitamin D we get is likely important at every age and will help enhance the quality component of life as we enter our senior years.

OB/GYN offices may offer ideal venue for improving vaccine rates among women

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) DURHAM, NC -- Obstetrician/gynecologist offices may be the ideal venue for boosting vaccination rates among women, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center. They reported today on a successful pilot program focused on providing HPV (human papillomavirus) and Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccines to non-pregnant and post-partum women.

The researchers say the program, funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, could be a model for ob/gyn clinics across the country to increase much-needed immunizations among eligible adults.

Ob/gyns don't typically think of themselves as vaccinators, says Geeta Swamy, MD, Director of Obstetrics Clinical Research at Duke, who presented the findings today at the CDC National Immunization Conference in Atlanta. Even though we vaccinate pregnant women against a variety of diseases that are screened for during pregnancy, we still tend to think of vaccinations as happening at the offices of pediatricians, primary care physicians and family practitioners. But many women seek medical care from their gynecologists, even after they have children. Their annual gynecologist visit is a good opportunity to discuss preventive care which includes vaccinations.

The North Carolina pilot program was set up to improve HPV vaccination rates among non-pregnant women. Preliminary data from one clinic shows that non-pregnant women were already being offered HPV, but when post-partum women were offered the vaccine, the rate of vaccination jumped from 0 to 44 percent. These women would not have been vaccinated if this program was not in place, Swamy said.

Even more significant was the increase in women who received the Tdap vaccine. Nearly 600 women received the vaccine of the 1000 who were offered it, she said. None had been offered it before.

Reaching women who had not been vaccinated is important because rates of pertussis have been on the rise for the last five years despite CDC recommendations that adults and adolescents receive the newer, single dose if they had not received a tetanus shot within the past two years.

Although the disease is not as serious in adolescents and adults, it is life-threatening among infants who aren't fully immunized until at least one year of age. A recent CDC report found mothers were the primary source of infection in 32 percent of infant pertussis cases. Ideally we aim to vaccinate women before they conceive, but any post partum woman should get the vaccine if their last tetanus shot was two years ago or more, says Swamy. If we can vaccinate new moms, we can provide a cocooning effect that protects their infants from this deadly disease.

Swamy believes the program could easily be implemented in ob/gyn offices nationwide as more emphasis is being placed on preventive care. We should be thinking of preventive medicine as something that's done at almost any medical encounter, and not just limiting it to the primary care field. It should be provided by all doctors where it's feasible and within the scope of their care.

Keeping the weight off after a very low-energy diet

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Simple advice can reduce the risk of weight regain after a very-low-energy diet: the secret to keeping the weight off is to switch back to normal food gradually, reveals a dissertation from the Sahlgrenska Academy, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, which also contains new research results for patients who have undergone obesity surgery.

For 12 weeks a group of just over 260 patients swapped their normal food for a very-low-energy diet in the form of soups and milkshakes. 169 of the patients lost a lot of weight, averaging 16 per cent of their body weight. They were then divided into two groups so that they could switch back at different rates from the very-low-energy diet to energy reduced portions of normal food. One group completed the refeeding in a week, while the other took six weeks.

After ten months the patients with the six-week refeeding period had gained 4 per cent in weight from their minimum weight, while the patients with the one-week refeeding period had gained eight per cent, says Lena Gripeteg, researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

Very-low-energy diets have been used for many years in the health service to achieve rapid and safe weight loss in obese patients. While this treatment method is well-studied, there is a risk that patients will gain weight when they start to eat normal food again.

We therefore want to look at the importance of different treatment advice on the transition from the very-low-energy diet back to normal food, and assess what actually works, says Gripeteg. A simple tip that seems to work for patients is to revert slowly to normal food after losing weight on a very-low-energy diet.

Her dissertation also includes research results from the current national SOS (Swedish Obese Subjects) study, which has followed 2,010 patients who have undergone surgical treatment for obesity and 2,037 matched control patients for up to 20 years. It shows that men who have undergone obesity surgery are less likely to need a disability pension, while obese women are just as likely to need a disability pension whether they lose weight or not.

On the basis of this study, we can't explain why there is a difference in the sexes, says Gripeteg. It may well be that the underlying health problems differ between women and men, which could explain why there is a significant improvement in the ability to work in men, but no effect in women after surgical obesity treatment.

Studies find treating vitamin D deficiency significantly reduces heart disease risk

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Preventing and treating heart disease in some patients could be as simple as supplementing their diet with extra vitamin D, according to two new studies at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray, Utah.

Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute last fall demonstrated the link between vitamin D deficiency and increased risk for coronary artery disease. These new studies show that treating vitamin D deficiency with supplements may help to prevent or reduce a person's risk for cardiovascular disease and a host of other chronic conditions. They also establish what level of vitamin D further enhances that risk reduction.

Study findings will be presented at the American College of Cardiology 59th annual scientific session in Atlanta at 3:30 pm, EST, on March 15, 2010. PLEASE NOTE EMBARGO REQUIREMENTS.

Vitamin D replacement therapy has long been associated with reducing the risk of fractures and diseases of the bone, says Dr. J. Brent Muhlestein, MD, director of cardiovascular research at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute. But our findings show that vitamin D could have far greater implications in the treatment and reduction of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions than we previously thought.

For the first study, researchers followed two groups of patients for an average of one year each. In the first study group, over 9,400 patients, mostly female, reported low initial vitamin D levels, and had at least one follow up exam during that time period. Researchers found that 47 percent of the patients who increased their levels of vitamin D between the two visits showed a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease.

In the second study, researchers placed over 31,000 patients into three categories based on their levels of vitamin D. The patients in each category who increased their vitamin D levels to 43 nanograms per milliliter of blood or higher had lower rates of death, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure, high blood pressure, depression, and kidney failure. Currently, a level of 30 nanograms per milliliter is considered normal.

Heidi May, PhD, a cardiovascular clinical epidemiologist with the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, and one of the study's authors, says the link between low levels of vitamin D and increased risk for a variety of diseases is significant.

It was very important to discover that the 'normal' levels are too low. Giving physicians a higher level to look for gives them one more tool in identifying patients at-risk and offering them better treatment, says Dr. May.

Dr. Muhlestein says the results of these studies will change the way he treats his patients.

Although randomized trials would be useful and are coming, I feel there is enough information here for me to start treatment based on these findings, he says.

Treatment options in this case are simple, starting with a blood test to determine a patient's vitamin D level. If low levels are detected, supplements and/or increased exposure to sunlight may be prescribed.

Increasing vitamin D intake by 1000 to 5000 international units (IU) a day may be appropriate, depending on a patient's health and genetic risk, says Dr. Muhlestein. He says supplements are the best source of vitamin D because they are relatively inexpensive and can be found at almost any supermarket or drug store. Most supplements provide an average of 400 IU per tablet.

While exposure to 20-30 minutes of sunlight can provide up to 10,000 IU, Dr. Muhlestein says it is important to use sunscreen and avoid the hottest parts of the day in order to avoid sunburn and the harmful UV rays associated with skin cancer.

Multicenter study finds little effect of soy isoflavones on bone loss in postmenopausal women

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) AMES, Iowa -- A previous six-month study by Iowa State University researchers had indicated that consuming modest amounts of soy protein, rich in isoflavones, lessened lumbar spine bone loss in midlife, perimenopausal women. But now an expanded three-year study by some of those same researchers does not show a bone-sparing effect in postmenopausal women who ingested soy isoflavone tablets, except for a modest effect at the femoral (hip) neck among those who took the highest dosage.

The multi-center clinical trial of 224 postmenopausal women -- led by D. Lee Alekel, professor of nutrition and interim associate director of the Nutrition and Wellness Research Center (NWRC) at Iowa State, and supported by the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, one of the research institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- was the longest ever conducted on the effects of soy isoflavones on bone mineral density (BMD). It compared the effects of either ingesting daily 80-mg daily or 120-mg soy isoflavone tablets, compared to placebo tablets on BMD and other health outcomes.

Iowa State NWRC researchers collaborated with research physiologist Marta D. Van Loan and her colleagues at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Western Human Nutrition Research Center, located at the University of California, Davis. The primary results of their study were published in the January issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Our six-month preliminary study, published in 2000, indicated that soy protein, rich in isoflavones, exerted the greatest impact in slowing the loss of bone mineral density in the lumbar spine, Alekel said. But we believed that we needed to replicate these results in a study with a greater sample size and longer duration, which is what we did with this three-year intervention.

In this longer study, we had sufficient power to detect change, she continued. We monitored adverse events, had excellent compliance throughout, and accounted for potential confounding factors.

NWRC research staff members Laura Hanson, Jeanne Stewart and Kathy Hanson also joined Kenneth Koehler and C. Ted Peterson from statistics as part of the eight-member ISU team that conducted the research.

The researchers ran statistical analyses to determine change in BMD at the lumbar spine, total proximal femur (hip), femoral neck and whole body. They accounted for treatment, age, whole body fat mass and bone removal (using a biochemical marker).

While the 120-mg dose soy isoflavones did reveal a small protective effect on femoral neck bone BMD, researchers found no significant effect of treatment on lumbar spine, total hip, or whole-body BMD.

This trial used isoflavones extracted from soy protein, compressed into tablet form, consumed over the course of three years, which is very different than either providing soy protein or soy foods, Alekel said. In our recent study, we did not demonstrate an important biological effect on BMD or bone turnover.

The new study calls into question the value of postmenopausal women consuming soy isoflavone tablets to help lessen bone loss and minimize the effect of osteoporosis.

The preponderance of studies that have been published -- particularly the longer term, more carefully conducted studies, like our own -- have shown little to no biological effects of soy isoflavones on BMD, she said. This field of research has attracted 'believers,' making it difficult to convince them otherwise. They may continue to believe what they want to believe, rather than what the evidence shows.

And when it comes to minimizing the consequences of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, Alekel urges a more holistic approach.

People in general, would like an easy fix. We would all like soy isoflavones to be that magic pill, but this study has found that they are not, she said.

Results from other health outcomes from this research have been published in six manuscripts to date, with six additional manuscripts underway. The NWRC research team will continue to study factors that influence bone mineral density and health outcomes in postmenopausal women.

Antioxidants aren't always good for you and can impair muscle function, study shows

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Antioxidants increasingly have been praised for their benefits against disease and aging, but recent studies at Kansas State University show that they also can cause harm.

Researchers in K-State's Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory have been studying how to improve oxygen delivery to the skeletal muscle during physical activity by using antioxidants, which are nutrients in foods that can prevent or slow the oxidative damage to the body. Their findings show that sometimes antioxidants can impair muscle function.

Antioxidant is one of those buzz words right now, said Steven Copp, a doctoral student in anatomy and physiology from Manhattan and a researcher in the lab. Walking around grocery stores you see things advertised that are loaded with antioxidants. I think what a lot of people don't realize is that the antioxidant and pro-oxidant balance is really delicate. One of the things we've seen in our research is that you can't just give a larger dose of antioxidants and presume that there will be some sort of beneficial effect. In fact, you can actually make a problem worse.

David C. Poole and Timothy I. Musch, K-State professors from both the departments of kinesiology and anatomy and physiology, direct the Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory, located in the College of Veterinary Medicine complex. Researchers in the lab study the physiology of physical activity in health and disease through animal models. Copp and Daniel Hirai, an anatomy and physiology doctoral student from Manhattan working in the lab, have conducted various studies associated with how muscles control blood flow and the effects of different doses and types of antioxidants.

Abnormalities in the circulatory system, such as those that result from aging or a disease like chronic heart failure, can impair oxygen delivery to the skeletal muscle and increase fatigability during physical activity, Copp said. The researchers are studying the effects antioxidants could have in the process.

If you have a person trying to recover from a heart attack and you put them in cardiac rehab, when they walk ona treadmill they might say it's difficult, Poole said. Their muscles get sore and stiff. We try to understand why the blood cells aren't flowing properly and why they can't get oxygen to the muscles, as happens in healthy individuals.

Copp said there is a potential for antioxidants to reverse or partially reverse some of those changes that result from aging or disease. However, K-State's studies have shown that some of the oxidants in our body, such as hydrogen peroxide, are helpful to increase blood flow.

Musculoskeletal problems ail computer workers

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:46:24 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Those who work for long hours on computers become victims of weak backs and shoulders, an affliction that doctors believe has multiplied over the years.

'Gurgaon is an IT hub and the problem is definitely severe here. I have seen a nearly 10 fold increase in the number of shoulder and back ache patients. They are falling flat on weak shoulders,' said I.P.S. Oberoi, a senior orthopaedic doctor at the Artemis Health Institute in Gurgaon.

'Nearly two years back, we used to get some 20 to 30 patients a month but now the number has gone up to 300. A resounding majority of them are computer professionals and those exposed to a computer for more than three-four hours a day,' Oberoi told IANS.

He said it starts with shoulder pain and leads to severe backache. Even medical studies have found the same result.

A new study by doctors at the Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital here has found that an overwhelming 76 percent of computer professionals in Delhi and its adjoining satellite towns have developed 'musculoskeletal problems'.

'This is a significant proportion and denotes that the occupational health of people working in the computer industry should be emphasised as a field of concern in public health,' the study underlines.

The subjects of this study were software developers, call centre executives and data entry operators.

The study says that long periods of work in front of a computer are causing these shoulder and back problems. 'They are also prone to eye strain and injuries of the hand and wrists.'

'Yes, the problem is increasing. It's an emerging field and much study needs to be done. Our study subjects are people who have worked in the computer industry for at least six months,' Richa Talwar, lead researcher of the study, told IANS.

Her study also found that nearly 76 percent of these computer professionals who are working as software developers, call centre workers and data entry operators too have some sort of visual problem.

P.K. Dave, an orthopaedic doctor and former director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences -, said that the working condition of computer professionals are very sedentary.

'The problem is too bad these days. Many of these professional have a wrong sitting posture and are over exposed to computer screens,' Dave, currently serving at Rockland Hospital here, explained.

'Unfortunately those who are coming for medical help are in the highly productive age group. Generally 30-40 age group are what I have seen as the worst sufferers,' said the Padma Shri awardee.

Explaining the problem, Oberoi said these computer professionals' hands are almost static while working.

'In the entire body, just the portion above the wrist works and the rest is static. They punch keyboards or hold the mouse for long hours. The problem begins here and it goes to the shoulder and finally they develop a weak back. They are falling flat on weak shoulders and sometimes victims can't even move their hands in pain,' he elaborated.

Doctors said that as the NCR region is an IT hub, the problem is quite visible and growing. An improved sitting posture, regular exercise, good nutrition and a firm no to junk food can help victims avoid the problem.

Eating less may help you live longer

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:05:57 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Going back for a second dessert after your holiday meal might not be the best strategy for living a long, cancer-free life, a new study has confirmed.

University of Alabama-Birmingham - researchers have shown exactly how restricted calorie diets, specifically in the form of restricted glucose -, help human cells live longer.

This discovery could help lead to drugs and treatments that slow human ageing and prevent cancer.

'Our hope is that the discovery that reduced calories extend the lifespan of normal human cells will lead to further discoveries of the causes for these effects in different cell types...,' said Trygve Tollefsbol, researcher at the Centre for Aging and Comprehensive Cancer Centre UAB.

'We would also hope for these studies to lead to improved prevention of cancer as well as many other age-related diseases through controlling calorie intake of specific cell types,' he added.

Tollefsbol and colleagues used normal human lung cells and pre-cancerous human lung cells that were at the beginning stages of cancer formation.

Eating less may help you live longer

Both sets of cells were lab grown and received either normal or reduced levels of glucose. As the cells grew over a period of a few weeks, researchers monitored their ability to divide, and tracked how many cells survived over this period.

They found that the normal cells lived longer, and many of the precancerous cells died, when given less glucose. Gene activity was also measured under the same conditions, said a UAB release.

'Western science is on the cusp of developing a pharmaceutical fountain of youth,' said Gerald Weissmann, medical expert and editor-in-chief of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology - Journal, which published these findings.

IOM report on national vaccine plan

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) WASHINGTON -- While vaccines help prevent many diseases in the United States, we lack immunization protection against several serious illnesses, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine that identifies priority areas for updating the National Vaccine Plan. The revised plan should include a strategy to accelerate development of high-priority vaccines, said the committee that wrote the report. In addition, it should emphasize the importance of expanding funding for safety research and monitoring, and include the development of a national communications strategy to clarify the importance of vaccines and bolster public confidence in the immunization system.

The National Vaccine Plan aims to provide centralized coordination of the various components involved in protecting Americans from vaccine-preventable illnesses and vaccine-related adverse reactions. The immunization system engages many partners -- including multiple government agencies and departments, vaccine researchers, manufacturers, public health officials, health care providers, and the public -- in identifying vaccine needs, researching and developing new products, assessing safety, and getting people immunized. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a draft update to the plan in 2008 and requested that IOM conduct an independent assessment of issues that merit priority attention.

The updated plan should call for a greater proportion of vaccine research and development to be directed at specific goals, such as producing vaccines against diseases for which there are none or developing a single vaccine that would work against all influenza viruses, the committee said. The majority of vaccine research and development stems from the focus and interests of individual researchers rather than a set of priority targets identified through a centralized planning process.

Given the absence of a framework to set a national vaccine-safety research agenda, the National Vaccine Plan should call for expanded funding for safety research and include establishing a permanent group to advise the government on safety issues, the report says. Little vaccine research supported by the National Institutes of Health appears to be geared toward safety, the committee noted. Moreover, as the number and kinds of vaccines have increased, funding to monitor safety has not. The monitoring system has successfully caught problems such as a rare but severe intestinal injury linked to a discontinued rotavirus vaccine, but the Immunization Safety Office within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needs more resources to do its work. A new vaccine safety advisory group could guide efforts to address potential safety concerns and the development of a research agenda with clear priorities.

Noting that a proliferation of misinformation about vaccines' effectiveness and safety has contributed to diminished public understanding of and confidence in the value of immunization, the committee called for the National Vaccine Plan to include the development of a national communications strategy that engages the latest techniques and methods, such as social networking. Outreach efforts by federal agencies and other public health groups have been disjointed and reactive and not as effective as they should be, the committee said. The effort should boost health care providers' abilities to talk about the benefits and risks of vaccines with patients as well as increase the public's understanding of vaccines.

The National Vaccine Plan should also include a strategy to eliminate financial barriers to immunization, such as lack of health plan coverage for all recommended vaccines and insufficient reimbursements that do not cover all of a clinic's costs of providing vaccines, the report added. Certain subgroups, such as the elderly and people with lower incomes, tend to have greater difficulty getting the vaccines they need. The plan also should promote the use of health information technology to monitor disease incidence, rapidly detect potential safety signals, and measure vaccine coverage. Tracking patients' immunization status should be an integral part of electronic health records, the report says.

The National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO), which Congress intended to coordinate vaccine activities across government agencies, requires a heightened profile and more resources to carry out its role and to implement the National Vaccine Plan, the committee said. The HHS secretary should clarify NVPO's role as the central coordinator for critical immunization activities and give it the necessary funding to fulfill this role.

Coordination is at the heart of the National Vaccine Plan, and it needs to be strengthened, said committee chair Claire V. Broome, adjunct professor, department of global health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta. While the immunization system has functioned well through the years, we may have missed opportunities, for example, to expand our use of cutting edge vaccine science or to use new communication methods to get accurate information on vaccines to the public. The National Vaccine Plan and the National Vaccine Program Office can provide the central coordination needed, given sufficient resources and support from HHS.

You may damage knees if you're an exercise freak

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:51:39 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) If you are a middle-aged man or woman and tend to over- exercise, then you may unwittingly damage your knees, increasing chances of osteoarthritis, a new study says.

'Our data suggest that people with higher physical activity levels may be at greater risk for developing knee abnormalities and, thus, at higher risk for developing osteoarthritis,' said Christoph Stehling.

Stehling is a research fellow in radiology and biomedical imaging at the University of California, San Francisco -.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that causes pain, swelling and stiffness. It affects 27 million adults in US, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The UCSF study involved 236 participants who had not reported previous knee pain and were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health Osteoarthritis Initiative.

The participants comprised 136 women and 100 men, aged between 45 and 55 years, within a healthy weight range.

They were categorised as low, middle, and high-activity groups based on their responses to the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly - questionnaire.

PASE is a standard test that scores an older individual's physical activity level, based on the type of activity and the time spent doing it.

Several factors contribute to the final PASE score, but a person whose activity level is classified as high typically might engage in several hours of walking, sports or other types of exercise per week, as well as yard work and other household chores.

Subsequent MRI analysis indicated a relationship between physical activity levels and frequency and severity of knee damage, says a UCSF release.

The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America -.

American adults receiving flu vaccine at about the same rate as in 2008, study finds

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:00:00 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) American adults are not being vaccinated against the seasonal flu any more often than they were last year, despite increased public discussion of the importance of influenza vaccines resulting from the worldwide outbreak of the H1N1 virus, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

As of the middle of November, about 32 percent of all U.S. adults and 37 percent of adults recommended to receive a flu vaccination had been inoculated against the seasonal influenza, according to the study.

Researchers also found that 17 percent of all adults and 19 percent of those recommended for vaccination intended to receive the seasonal flu vaccine by the end of the vaccination season.

It does not appear that the increased public discussion of the role of influenza vaccines has had a significantly impact on the public's behavior, said Katherine Harris, the study's lead author and a senior economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. Most of the results from our latest survey look much like those from last year,

Health officials recommend the seasonal flu vaccine for about 70 percent of American adults, including people over age 50, those with high-risk medical conditions, health care workers and those who care for children under age 5. There are different recommendations for the H1N1 flu vaccine, which protects against the pandemic influenza strain.

One difference from last year noted by new survey is that adults began getting the seasonal flu vaccine earlier this year. Uptake of the seasonal vaccine during September was nearly three times as high -- about 9 percent in 2009 versus 3 percent in 2008. Yet, vaccine uptake through mid-November this year was comparable to uptake during the same period last year.

In addition, about half of health care workers had been vaccinated by the middle of November this year, roughly the same proportion that was vaccinated during the entire season last year. However, 40 percent of health care workers reported they had no intention of being vaccinated despite the risk of transmitting influenza to patients.

The findings are from a representative national survey conducted during the middle of November that asked more than 5,000 adults about their vaccination status and related issues. The survey is the latest in a series done by RAND and supported by GlaxoSmithKline, a manufacturer of flu vaccine.

Researchers say the study was designed to help inform public health officials and others about progress toward vaccinating adults prior to the end of the vaccination season while action can still be taken to improve uptake.

The study found that 29 percent of adults stated that they did not have the time to get vaccinated. In addition, seasonal flu vaccine availability may be a significant reason more adults have not been vaccinated. Among those intending to be vaccinated, about 38 percent said there was no vaccine available when they tried to get inoculated.

This finding highlights one of the public health challenges that we face in a year when a pandemic flu has made an appearance, Harris said. The early surge of uptake was attributed to additional awareness about seasonal flu vaccination in a pandemic year. It's important to keep this early interest in mind when planning for future pandemics.

Other finding from the study include: