Gilead Sciences' Truvada: Promises to prevent HIV/AIDS infection

There’s certainly very good news for the humanity as prevention drug has been emerged for one of the most deadly disease, HIV or AIDS – a monster eating thousands of lives every year around the globe.  

Gilead Sciences' Truvada: Promises to prevent HIV/AIDS infection

According to details; the advisory team of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has endorsed on Thursday the first drug, named as Truvada, shown to prevent HIV infection – the virus responsible of causing AIDS. Although FDA is not bound to follow the advisory team’s decision, but in normal circumstances it does. FDA’s final decision is expected in the mid of next month. 

The FDA advisory team recommended approval of the daily pill Truvada for healthy people who are at high risk of contracting HIV, including gay and bisexual men and heterosexual couples with one HIV-positive partner. 

Even though the Truvada got an important endorsement; but the FDA team has some reservations about the drug, like:

·         Whether Truvada might lead to the reduced use of condoms, the most dependable protection against HIV,

·         The effectiveness of Truvada in women, who have shown much lower rates of protection in studies.

Truvada first came in spotlight three years ago, back in 2010, when government researchers proved that the drug could stop people from contracting HIV. 

The researches kept on studying the effect of the drug and after three years they reached the points where they conclude that daily doses decrease the risk of infection in healthy gay and bisexual men by 42%, when accompanied by condoms and counseling. 

Last year another study was conducted  which fetched even better results concluding that Truvada reduced infection by 75% in heterosexual couples in which one partner was infected with HIV and the other was not.

Report Tags: HIV, AIDS, HIV Infection, Truvada, Gilead Sciences, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, USA, Health, AIDS Drug, AIDS prevention,

SOURCE:

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-fda-hiv-20120511,0,5295464.story

Impotency drug Viagra brings new hopes for patients suffering heart ailment

The impotency drug Viagra has new promises in healthcare field as the scientists have discovered its surprisingly positive effects for the patients with diastolic heart failure by causing too-stiff heart chamber walls to become more elastic.

Impotency drug Viagra brings new hopes for patients suffering heart ailment

According to a latest study published in the journal Circulation, explains how Viagra might benefit patients suffering with diastolic heart failure.

Patients with such condition have unusually stiff ventricles, the heart's major pumping chambers, which do not fill sufficiently with blood. This leads to blood "backing up" in the lungs and causing breathing difficulties.

Scientists discovered that Viagra triggers an enzyme that causes a protein in heart muscle cells to relax. The positive result was observed in dogs with diastolic heart failure within minutes of the drug being administered.

"We have developed a therapy in an animal model that, for the first time, also raises hopes for the successful treatment of patients", said research leader Professor Wolfgang Linke - from the Ruhr Universitat Bochum (RUB) in Germany.

Viagra has same kind of effect on blood vessels, that’s why it was originally developed as a treatment for high blood pressure and heart disease. Viagra’s active component, ‘Sildenafil’, reduces an enzyme involved in the mechanism that normalizes blood flow. However, the enzyme serves somewhat different in different parts of the body.

Contrary to their first belief the British scientists behind Viagra discovered that it didn’t help in a great way to the patients with high blood pressure; but it had an amazing effect on men with erectile dysfunction. The drug effectively restrains the enzyme ‘phosphodiesterase’ (PDE) in the penis, increasing blood flow to the organ.

Professor Linke's team found that it worked on the same enzyme in heart cells. This had the effect of causing a cardiac muscle protein called titin to become more elastic.

"The titin molecules are similar to rubber bands," said the professor. "They contribute decisively to the stiffness of cardiac walls."

Painkiller Abuse and Overdose Lead to 3 times High Fatality Rate Over a Decade

NEW YORK – Human Killers or painkillers…??

Human Killers or painkillers

The latest report issued by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is an eye-opening document stating that the number of deaths have increased three times over a decade due to the over-dosage of powerful painkillers. It’s an epidemic trend but one that can be stopped with precautionary measures on urgent basis, a U.S. health official said.

Almost 15,000 deaths were recorded, including actor Heath Ledger, due to prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and methadone. The stunning number is almost four times of the deaths caused by narcotics in 1999.

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Dr. Thomas Frieden, said, “such painkillers are meant to help people who have severe pain, but they are, however, highly addictive.”

The report further mentions almost 5% of Americans ages 12 and above said they've abused painkillers, using them without a prescription or doctor’s consultation, in the last year. In 2008-09 surveys, Oklahomans reported the maximum rate of drugs abuse; while Nebraska and Iowa were on the lowest side.

Sources and References

USA Today

New York Daily News

Smoking Kills -- 40 million excess deaths predicted by 2050 due to smoking habits

Washington, Oct 5: Smoking could cause 40 million excess deaths among smokers, who also suffer from tuberculosis (TB), by 2050, new research says.

40 million excess deaths predicted by 2050 due to smoking habits

Once smokers develop the disease, they are more likely to die from it, meaning that smoking can single-handedly undermine the goal to reduce TB mortality by half between 1990 and 2015, says the research.

The study, led by Sanjay Basu from the University of California, San Francisco, used a maths model to determine the effect of smoking on future TB rates, the BMJ (British Medical Journal) reports.

It shows that from 2010 to 2050 smoking could lead to 40 million excess TB deaths worldwide - from 61 to 101 million.

They also conclude that if current smoking trends continue, the number of excess TB cases could rise from 256 to 274 million - 18 million new cases in total.

"Aggressively lowering the prevalence of tobacco smoking could reduce smoking attributable deaths from tuberculosis by 27 million by 2050," Basu said, according to a California statement.

Nearly one-fifth of the world's population smokes and that most cigarettes are smoked in countries with high TB prevalence. Given this, the authors wanted to predict how much impact smoking will have on future TB rates.

Researchers found that smoking may have a substantial impact on future TB rates because a moderate increase in individual risk translates into a large population-level risk.

EXTRA SHOT: With respect to the topic I got an interesting news from entertainment world which is worth sharing here.

Bollywood's super star Shahrukh Khan, who is a big smoker, vows to stop smoking after the release of his upcoming superhero flick "Ra.One". Read Complete story below:



Bollywood Buzzzzzz. 

Breakthrough in cancer treatment - - Genetically engineered T cells eradicate cancer cells in patient's body

In a potential breakthrough in cancer research, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have genetically engineered patients' T cells — a type of white blood cell — to attack cancer cells in advanced cases of a common type of leukemia.

A microscopic image shows two T cells binding to beads, depicted in yellow, that cause the cells to divide. After the beads are removed, the T cells are infused into cancer patients. (Dr. Carl June / Penn Medicine)

Two of the three patients who received doses of the designer T cells in a clinical trial have remained cancer-free for more than a year, the researchers said.

Experts not connected with the trial said the feat was important because it suggested that T cells could be tweaked to kill a range of cancers, including ones of the blood, breast and colon.

"This is a huge accomplishment — huge," said Dr. Lee M. Nadler, dean for clinical and translational research at Harvard Medical School, who discovered the molecule on cancer cells that the Pennsylvania team's engineered T cells target.

Findings of the trial were reported Wednesday in two journals.

Before reading further just watch the video below:

To build the cancer-attacking cells, the researchers modified a virus to carry instructions for making a molecule that binds with leukemia cells and directs T cells to kill them. Then they drew blood from three patients who suffered from chronic lymphocytic leukemia and infected their T cells with the virus.

When they infused the blood back into the patients, the engineered T cells successfully eradicated cancer cells, multiplied to more than 1,000 times in number and survived for months. They even produced dormant "memory" T cells that might spring back to life if the cancer was to return.

On average, the team calculated, each engineered T cell eradicated at least 1,000 cancer cells.

Continue Reading ........... Link given below:

HERE.

High Levels of CXCL5 Found in Sun-burnt Skin Samples - - UK Researchers Found Clues to Sunburn Pain

High Levels of CXCL5 Found in Sun-burnt Skin Samples

A chemical in the body that triggers pain from sunburn has been pinpointed by UK experts in a discovery that could lead to new painkillers.

Scientists hope one day to be able to knock out the substance with drugs, helping people who suffer from chronic pain.

Tests on volunteers showed CXCL5, as it is called, is produced when skin is burnt by UV rays from the sun.

The research is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.



Exposure to ultraviolet light from sunlight causes premature skin aging, cancer and other skin changes.

UVB affects the outer layer of skin, and is the main agent responsible for sunburn.

In the study, scientists at King's College London exposed small patches of the 10 volunteers' skin to UVB.

Areas of sunburn were produced which became increasingly tender over a few days.

The scientists took small samples of sun-burnt skin and screened them for hundreds of known pain molecules. They discovered unusually high levels of CXCL5.

Study leader Professor Steve McMahon from the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases at King's College said: "These findings have shown for the first time the important role of this particular molecule in controlling pain from exposure to UVB irradiation.

"But this study isn't just about sunburn - we hope that we have identified a potential target which can be utilised to understand more about pain in other inflammatory conditions like arthritis and cystitis.

"I'm excited about where these findings could take us in terms of eventually developing a new type of analgesic for people who suffer from chronic pain."

Dr David Bennett, a neurologist at King's College Hospital, added: "We intend to extend this approach to other types of pain and in particular to study patients suffering from chronic pain with the hope that this will speed up the process of turning science into effective treatments for patients."


Source: BBC

New Research Finds Phenominal Breakthrough in Cure of Stress-related Disorders

Anxiety and Stress kills.....

A team of neuroscientists at the University of Leicester, UK, in collaboration with researchers from Poland and Japan, has announced a breakthrough in the understanding of the 'brain chemistry' that triggers our response to highly stressful and traumatic events.

The discovery of a critical and previously unknown pathway in the brain that is linked to our response to stress is announced today in the journal Nature. The advance offers new hope for targeted treatment, or even prevention, of stress-related psychiatric disorders.

About 20% of the population experience some form of anxiety disorder at least once in their lives. The cumulative lifetime prevalence of all stress-related disorders is difficult to estimate but is probably higher than 30%.

Dr Robert Pawlak, from the University of Leicester who led the UK team, said: "Stress-related disorders affect a large percentage of the population and generate an enormous personal, social and economic impact. It was previously known that certain individuals are more susceptible to detrimental effects of stress than others. Although the majority of us experience traumatic events, only some develop stress-associated psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety or posttraumatic stress disorder. The reasons for this were not clear."

Dr Pawlak added that a lack of correspondence between the commonness of exposure to psychological trauma and the development of pathological anxiety prompted the researchers to look for factors that may make some individuals more vulnerable to stress than others.

"We asked: What is the molecular basis of anxiety in response to noxious stimuli? How are stress-related environmental signals translated into proper behavioural responses? To investigate these problems we used a combination of genetic, molecular, electrophysiological and behavioural approaches. This resulted in the discovery of a critical, previously unknown pathway mediating anxiety in response to stress."

The study found that the emotional centre of the brain – the amygdala – reacts to stress by increasing production of a protein called neuropsin. This triggers a series of chemical events which in turn cause the amygdala to increase its activity. As a consequence, a gene is turned on that determines the stress response at a cellular level.

"We then examined behavioural consequences of the above series of cellular events caused by stress in the amygdala," said Dr Pawlak. "Studies in mice revealed that upon feeling stressed, they stayed away from zones in a maze where they felt unsafe. These were open and illuminated spaces they avoid when they are anxious."

"However when the proteins produced by the amygdala were blocked – either pharmacologically or by gene therapy – the mice did not exhibit the same traits. The behavioural consequences of stress were no longer present. We conclude that the activity of neuropsin and its partners may determine vulnerability to stress."

Neuropsin was previously discovered by Professor Sadao Shiosaka, a co-author of the paper. This research, for which the bioinformatics modelling was done by Professor Ryszard Przewlocki and his team, has for the first time characterized its mechanism of action in controlling anxiety in the amygdala.

The study took four years to complete, during which scientists from the Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmacology collaborated with colleagues from the Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester, the Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, Poland and Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan. The work was supported by the European Union, the Medical Research Council and Medisearch – the Leicestershire Medical Research Foundation. The first author, Benjamin Attwood, sponsored by Medisearch, took 3 years off from his medical studies curriculum to complete the necessary experiments. He commented: "It has been a thoroughly absorbing project to uncover how our experiences can change the way we behave. Hopefully this will lead to help for people that have to live with the damaging consequences of traumatic experiences."

Dr Pawlak added: "We are tremendously excited about these findings. We know that all members of the neuropsin pathway are present in the human brain. They may play a similar role in humans and further research will be necessary to examine the potential of intervention therapies for controlling stress-induced behaviours."

"Although research is now needed to translate our findings to the clinical situation, our discovery opens new possibilities for prevention and treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder."

Daily Intake of Diet Soda May Led to Increased Risks of of Having a Stroke or Heart Attack

In an International Stroke Conference; a recent study was presented by the American Stroke Association establishing the possible link between ‘Diet Soda’ and an increased risk of having a stroke or heart attack.  

According to the study, which started in 2003, over 2,500 people were inquired about their soda intake and their health was examined over the years. Reportedly more than 550 cardiovascular events took placed during that period, and those who told drinking diet soda on daily routine had a 60% increased rate of these events including strokes and heart attacks.

After adjusting for other factors which may boost the probability of heart troubles – the researches still found that the threat was 48% higher for the diet soda drinkers.

What came from the study was a link, not necessarily a cause and effect.

After the bad rap that aspartame -- a main ingredient in many diet sodas -- has gotten, we are unsure as to how this is information is any more useful that what we've already heard. Diet soda is bad. So is regular soda and anything else we actually enjoy consuming, for that matter. Thanks, science!

The self-report based study fails to give us any real reason to stop drinking Diet Coke. How many of you have ever been less than truthful on health based survey? Hmm?

As the vice-chairman of the stroke-meeting conference committee put it, "You try to control for everything, but you can't." 

Sex Addicts Affraid of Relationships - - Important Study About Out-of-control Sexual Behaviours (UCSB)

Sex addicts feel endangered by relationship and are more apprehensive about romantic relationships than the rest of the population, a New Zealand study has found.

The survey of more than 600 people found those who indulged in compulsive sexual behaviour felt anxious and insecure about relationships and tried to avoid becoming too emotionally attached to others.

Massey University said the study, conducted by psychology honors student Karen Faislander under the supervision of a practicing clinical psychologist and an academic specialist, was the first of its type in New Zealand.

Faislander said sex addiction, which made headlines this year with revelations about Tiger Woods' love life, was a complex condition that had not been researched as thoroughly as areas such as substance abuse or depression.

She said the term "sex addict" first emerged in the early 1980s and there were 29 other terms in scientific literature that described the condition, including sexual compulsivity, excessive sexual desire disorder and hyper-sexuality.

The preferred contemporary term is out-of-control sexual behaviours (UCSB).

"It's widely misunderstood and stigmatized," Faislander told AFP.

"There's no known effective treatment. We don't know what causes it or how we treat it."

Because of the embarrassment people feel discussing the subject; Faislander's study used an anonymous online survey to quiz 621 people about their sex lives. 407 identified themselves as sex addicts while 214 were not.

The survey asked if they engaged in online sex, prostitution, sex in public or with multiple partners, as well as examining areas such as alcohol use and feelings of self worth.

"The UCSB group reported higher rates of insecure styles of attachment, characterized by a perspective of relationships as threatening, and feelings of either anxiety towards or avoidance of closeness or intimacy," the study found.

In contrast, non-sex addicts found intimacy desirable and rewarding, felt secure in relationships and regarded their partners as trustworthy.

Faislander said studies estimated 3-6% of the population had the condition in the US, where sex addiction clinics have sprung up in recent years treating stars such as Woods, actor David Duchovny and comedian Russell Brand.

She said no such treatment was available in New Zealand, where self-help groups including Sex and Love Addicts and Sexaholics Anonymous use 12-step programs based on those pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous.

While Faislander's study was not peer reviewed, she hopes to gain a doctorate in clinical psychology and conduct further research on treating out-of-control sexual behaviours (UCSB).

5-Point Increase in BMI Lead You 31% Closer to Death - - Even a Bit Overweight is Riskier Revealed by New Study

Your risk of death rises steadily with every overweight pound you gain, a huge study funded by the National Institutes of Health confirms.

A recent study, funded by National Institutes of Health, confirms that every extra pound of weight, someone gains, is a step towards the risk of his/her death. 

Risk of death rises by threatening 31% with every 5-point increase in BMI, a measure of body mass based on weight and height. Most importantly this conclusion prevails even if one is not used to smoke an apparently enjoying good health.

Data is being presented here; shows clearly that how close an increase in BMI can take you to the death risk! The data below; compares the increase in BMI with the normal BMI i.e. 22.5 to 24.9.

* A BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 increased death risk by 13%

* A BMI of 30.0 to 34.9 increased death risk by 44%

* A BMI of 35.0 to 39.9 increased death risk by 88%

* A BMI of 40.0 to 49.9 increased death risk by 251%

The above-mentioned figures are for men and women who do not smoke and who have no underlying disease.

Being underweight may also increase death risk, but it's not clear whether underlying, undetected disease might account for this finding.

Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, DPhil, of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues stated:

"We conclude that for non-Hispanic whites, both overweight and obesity are associated with increased all-cause mortality," they conclude. "All-cause mortality is generally lowest within the BMI range of 20.0 to 24.9."

Red Onions: Natural Fighter Against Heart Problems

As per Chinese researchers, regular consumption of red onions is quite effective in preventing the risk of heart disease in human body by removing the bad cholesterol responsible for triggering the fatal condition.

Commenting on the study findings, lead-study author, professor Zhen Yu Chen at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, said in a press statement that despite various studies carried out on the benefits of onions to humans “a little is known of how their consumption interacts with human genes and proteins involved in cholesterol metabolism within the body.”

So they decided to conduct this research in order to distinguish this very interaction of “onions with enzymes in an attempt to explore the underlying cholesterol-lowering mechanism.”

Read More

Exercise Brisk Cut-down The Risk - - Latest Study (British Journal of Sports Medicine) Found The Phrase True for Cancer

Exhausting exercise for just half an hour a day can shrink a person’s risk of dying from cancer, says a new study.

Jogging, swimming, rowing and games like squash or football all lead to a lower risk of developing cancer and dying from it.

However, the study found people must exercise for at least 30 minutes a day to gain any benefit, reports The Daily Express.

The study’s boffins, from the universities of Kuopio and Oulu in Finland, believe that strong physical activity is best for diminishing the risk of cancer, especially of lung and gastrointestinal cancers.

They say: “The intensity of leisure-time physical activity had a strong and independent association with cancer mortality.

“It should be at least moderate so the beneficial effect of physical activity for reducing overall cancer mortality can be achieved.”

To reach the conclusion, researchers followed 2,560 men aged from 42 to 61 from eastern Finland with no history of cancer and tested them to measure the intensity of their exercise.

The study has been published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Good Night's Sleep: A Lifesaver - - Six to Eight Hours Sleep At Night is The Best to Live Long

Getting a good night's sleep could be a lifesaver.

Those of us who manage between six and eight hours of shut-eye a night are more likely to live longer and have better health, a study has found.

Researchers say the best length for a nightly sleep is around seven hours - the time spent in bed by most Britons.

Their findings provide the most convincing evidence yet of a link between too little sleep and an increased risk of early death.

Around one third of the UK adult population regularly sleeps five hours or less a night.

Researchers from the University of Warwick and the Federico II University in Naples studied the nightly habits of thousands of people and found poor sleepers are 12 per cent more likely to die prematurely than those who get six to eight hours.

Long sleepers could also be in trouble if they regularly exceed nine hours a night.

While over-sleeping does not in itself increase the risk of death, it can be a significant marker of an underlying serious illness.

The findings published in journal Sleep today coincide with the release of a separate American study that found older people tend to sleep better - the opposite of what was previously thought.

Breakthrough in Breast Cnacer Treatment - - New Test Predicts Who Get Invasive Breast Cancer

In a major breakthrough which may prevent needless surgery, scientists claim to have developed a test that can predict whether women treated for an early form of breast cancer will develop dangerous tumours later in life.

Sufferers are often advised to undergo mastectomies, that is, removal of their breasts as a precaution. Now, an international team has devised the test that can successfully predict whether after initial treatment, the sufferers had a high or low risk of developing invasive cancer, the Daily Mail reported.

"Women will have much more information, so they can better know their risk of developing invasive cancer. It will lead to a more personalised approach to treatment.

"As many as 44 per cent of patients may not require any further treatment, and can rely instead on surveillance," Prof Karla Kerlikowske of California University , who led the research, was quoted as saying.

If a test is developed for wider use, doctors would be able to advise women about the need for extra treatment such as radiotherapy or hormonal drugs, say the scientists. The scientist, writing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute , found that three biomarkers -- proteins and other molecules in breast tissue -- that can identify which women have double the risk of invasive cancer in later years.

It could benefit women with ductal carcinoma in situ -- cancer in cells lining the milk ducts that has not spread.

Laughter is The Best Medicine, New Study Reveals - - Laughercise: The Subtitute of Exercise and Gym Workout

Cracking up with laughter has similar effects on the body as a gym workout, a study has shown.

Sessions of mirth - dubbed 'Laughercise' - enhance mood, reduce stress hormones, boost the immune system and lower blood pressure and levels of 'bad' cholesterol, say researchers.

And like physical exercise, they also appear to stimulate appetite, offering a potential way to help malnourished patients who are off their food.

Californian scientist Dr Lee Berk said the effects of laughter mirrored those of repetitive exercise.

Volunteers watched two 20-minute videos - one distressing and one humorous. There was a week between viewings to ensure the effects did not overlap.

The researchers measured blood pressure and levels of two appetite hormones, leptin and ghrelin.

No significant effect was seen after volunteers viewed the distressing video. But watching the humorous clip caused changes in blood pressure and led levels of leptin to decrease as those of ghrelin went up.

Similar effects are seen straight after moderate physical exercise, and are accompanied by an increase in appetite.

Dr Berk said: 'The value of the research is that it may provide healthcare providers with new insights and understandings, and thus further options for patients who cannot use physical activity to normalise or enhance their appetite.'

Many elderly patients suffer from 'wasting' due to reduced appetite as a result of depression and lack of physical activity.

Such patients may be able to use 'Laughercise' to help them regain their appetite, say the scientists.

A similar loss of appetite is often seen in elderly patients after the death of a spouse, and people in chronic pain.

Dr Berk added: 'It's fascinating that positive emotions resulting from behaviours such as music playing or singing, and now mirthful laughter, translate into so many types of biological mechanism optimisations.

'As the old biblical wisdom states, it may be true that laughter is a good medicine.'

Sugary Products and Processed Food Can Lead to High Cholestrol Levels - - Research Published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association

We've all heard that a diet high in fat can raise cholesterol levels; now new research finds so can a diet high in sugar and processed food.

The new research, detailed in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, finds that those who eat a high amount of added sugars in prepared foods tend to have lower levels of HDL cholesterol (or "good cholesterol") and higher levels of triglycerides, another form of fat that circulates in the blood. Both lipids are important risk factors for heart disease.

The study looked at the nutritional data and blood test results of 6,000 adult men and women between 1999 and 2006. The study volunteers were divided into five groups according to the amount of added sugar and sweeteners they ate and drank each day. (The study did not look at natural sugars found in fruit and juices, only added sugars and sweeteners.)

The highest-consuming group consumed an average of 46 teaspoons of added sugars per day. The lowest-consuming group consumed an average of about three teaspoons daily.

On average, the volunteers ate 21 teaspoons a sugar a day, which adds up to 359 calories, representing about 16 per cent of their total daily calories.

The researcher found that average HDL cholesterol levels were lower among those volunteers who ate and drank higher amounts of added sugars:

In fact, among those who consumed the most sugar (10 per cent or more of their calories came from sugar), the odds that they'd have low HDL cholesterol levels were 50 to 300 per cent higher compared to those who ate the least amount of sugar.

They also found that higher consumption of added sugars was associated with higher triglyceride levels and higher ratios of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol.

The authors note that most Americans are consuming a lot more sugar than they did 30 years ago. Much of this sugar comes from sweeteners used by the food industry in processed or prepared foods to increase the "desirability" of these foods, the authors write.

They say this is the first large study of its kind to examine the link between sugar and cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Study co-author Dr. Miriam Vos, and assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory School of Medicine says it's time that people "start looking at how much added sugar they're getting and finding ways to reduce that."

Her co-authors note it's also important to better understand the effect added sugars have on heart health "because added sugars are a potentially modifiable source of calories," they write in the study.

The authors note that there is not a clear understanding of how sugar could affect cholesterol levels. But they note that high amounts of fructose, which is processed in the liver, can cause the organ to increase production of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol.

They also note that the consumption of large amounts of added sugars is a relatively new phenomenon, having only begun with large-scale sugar production in the mid-19th century.

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, the director and founder of Ottawa's Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa who was not involved in the research, speculates that humans probably weren't designed to consume large amounts of sugar.

"It's perhaps indicative of the fact that we're not built to process this amount of sugar that we see negative consequences to its consumption," he told CTV News.

He says it's not surprising that food makers add sugar to foods that most of us don't think of as sweet, such as soups, spaghetti sauce, muffins and just about every condiment, from ketchup to mayonnaise.

"It's a cheap way to make food taste better and making food taste better helps sell more food," he says.

Freedhoff notes that sugar can often appear many times on a food label, under a number of different names such as:

• Sucrose
• Fructose
• Dextrose
• Corn syrup
• Molasses
• Evaporated cane juice
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Maltodextrin
• Polydextrose

He suggests that the easiest way to asses the product's sugar content is to read the actual sugar content on the Nutrition Facts panel.

"Four grams is a teaspoon" he notes, adding, "Obviously, less is more when it comes to sugar."

Smokers Have lower IQs Than Non-smokers: Latest Study Published in Britain - - Smoking Also Affects Intellectual Performance

Doctors believe that the decision to smoke is linked to a lower intellectual capacity. Research published in Britain suggests that smokers have lower IQs than non-smokers.

The researchers found that the lowest IQs were those who smoked more cigarettes per day. Besides causing damage to health are known, smoking also affects intellectual performance.

An article published in the British journal Addiction, “one of the most prestigious on smoking, highlights another risk factor, according to the survey, youth less intelligent are more likely to start smoking.

It was made a research with 20 thousand servicemen of the armed forces of Israel, aged between 18 and 21 years. The IQ of them was within the range considered normal, but, while non-smokers had a mean IQ of 101, those who smoked was 94.

The researchers found that the lowest IQs were those who smoked more cigarettes per day. A controversial conclusion.

The doctor Sergio Ricardo dos Santos notes that having parents or friends who smoke may be more decisive than the intelligence to the smoking habit. He remembers that the geniuses of music, like Mozart, were smoker. But he warned: the IQ of those who smoke may decrease with time.

Long Term Breast Cancer Study Reveals That "Old is Gold" - - Tamoxifen And Evista Cut Women's Risk of Developing Breast Cancer

WASHINGTON—A long-term study comparing two popular drugs that help to prevent breast cancer suggests the older one is significantly more effective over time.

But both tamoxifen and Eli Lilly & Co.'s newer Evista cut high-risk women's risk of developing breast cancer, according to results presented Monday at a meeting here of the American Association for Cancer Research. Tamoxifen, while more effective, also brought increased risk of side effects.

The federally funded study followed 19,490 women for almost seven years during and after their treatment with tamoxifen, an off-patent drug used to treat cancer, and Evista, which was developed as an osteoporosis drug and is generically known as raloxifene.

The drugs are used to fend off breast cancer in post-menopausal women at high risk of the disease. Only 5% to 20% of the tens of thousands who could benefit from the medicines use them, according to researchers.

In 2006, earlier published results of the study, known as STAR, found that both drugs cut the risk of breast cancer by 50% in high-risk, postmenopausal women. In those results, women taking tamoxifen had increased risk of certain side effects, such as blood clots.

Monday's findings suggest tamoxifen is significantly better than raloxifene at preventing breast cancer several years after treatment, which generally lasts about five years. Over the longer time period, tamoxifen cut the risk of invasive breast cancer by 50%, while raloxifene's effectiveness dropped to 38%. Raloxifene did match tamoxifen in preventing noninvasive breast cancer.

Raloxifene users continued to have significantly fewer side effects, including blood clots and uterine cancer, compared with those who took tamoxifen.

"Tamoxifen is still a little bit better," said D. Lawrence Wickerham, who presented the data and helps leads a federally funded research network on breast and colorectal cancer. But "raloxifene remains an effective way to prevent breast cancer and does it with far less toxicity," said Dr. Wickerham, who serves as a consultant to Eli Lilly.

Unless women have a known risk for blood clots or uterine cancer, they can consider both drugs as breast-cancer prevention options, according to Dr. Wickerham. Raloxifene may be particularly beneficial for those post-menopausal women with fragile bones because it offers them a "two-for-one benefit," he said.

But not all experts agree that raloxifene is just as good an option as tamoxifen.

"Tamoxifen is more protective than raloxifene," said Mary Daly, chairwoman of clinical genetics Fox Chase Cancer Center site in Philadelphia, who ran the study at that site. "Raloxifene is falling behind. The longer we follow these women, the more that divide will grow."

These drugs work by acting like the hormone estrogen in some organs and by blocking the effect of estrogen in others. In the breast, both block estrogen's action, which prevents the progress of breast cancer or pre-malignant changes in the breast.

However, in the lining of the uterus, tamoxifen acts like estrogen. This may be the reason women taking it experience higher rates of endometrial cancer.

Tamoxifen stays in the body much longer than does raloxifene, which might be the reason for the difference in the drugs' effectiveness, said researchers.

Patricia Ganz, another study investigator and director of cancer prevention and control research at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, said she would incorporate the new findings into her practice by leaning toward tamoxifen for preventing breast cancer in high-risk women, those with a family history of the disease or who have had a biopsy to look at abnormally growing cells, or those with no uterus.

But if a woman had an elevated risk of blood clots or couldn't tolerate the side effects of tamoxifen, Dr. Ganz said she would suggest raloxifene.

"The updated results of the STAR trial provide important information to help guide patients and health-care professionals in weighing the risks and benefits of medications available to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer," said Teeresa Shewman, a spokeswoman for Eli Lilly. "Lilly stands behind the safety profile and efficacy of Evista."

Eric Winer, director of the breast oncology center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who wasn't involved in the study, agrees that there are more women in the U.S. who could benefit from these treatments than currently use them if they understood more about them.

"It doesn't mean that everyone should take it," said Dr. Winer. But, women "deserve to hear more."

Stretching Before Exercise is Counter-productive And Potentially Harmful - - Revealed by Fitness Experts

If you are among those people who do stretching before workout, you should stop, fitness experts say.

While many people take it for granted that they should start their workout routines with some stretching for 20 to 30 seconds to loosen their muscles, most fitness experts now agree that stretching before exercise is counter-productive, potentially harmful and can cause tears to the muscle tissue.

Stretching Before Workout Tighten the Muscles

Traditional stretches, like when people bend over to touch their toes or stretch their legs, often cause the muscles to tighten rather than relax. Experts say that when people stretch to the maximum, they are more likely to pull a muscle.

According to experts at US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, during stretching, the body thinks it is at risk of being overstretched, therefore, it contracts and become tenser -making a person slower and increasing the possibility of injuries. (Telegraph, 16 April 2010)

Combing through more than 100 papers about stretching studies, experts at Disease and Prevention Center found that people who stretched before exercise were no less likely to suffer injuries such as a pulled muscle, which stretching is supposed to prevent. According to them, bending down to touch the toes with straight legs can overstretch the lower back muscles and stress the vertebrae. Adding a twisting movement to the toe-touch can also cause damage to the joints.

In 2008, a study conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, revealed that athletes who did stretching before working out generated less force from their leg muscles than when they did not stretch at all. Other studies have also found that stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 percent. (New York Times, 31 October 2008)

Warm-ups Must Begin With Light Jogging

Instead of stretching, experts recommend warming up with aerobic activity, light jogging or sport-specific exercise, like kicking for football or playing tennis. Light movement increases the heart rate and blood flow to the muscles, warming up the body temperature. While it is true that stretching helps with flexibility, people should only do it after a workout, or at the end of the day.

It is mistakenly believed that stretching helps muscles to stretch further. The new findings reveal that stretching causes muscles to contract even tighter in an attempt to prevent injury. Although the extent to which warm-ups and stretching prevent injury, still not clear, fitness experts have been clear that stretching alone before exercise does little or nothing to help.

Lauric Acid Found in Coconut Oil and Human Breast Milk Key to Acne Cure and Fight Spots

A face cream made from breast milk and coconut oil could cure acne, a new study claims.

A natural product found in both coconut oil and human breast milk – lauric acid – may offer treatment for acne, says a scientist.

The bioengineering graduate student from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering developed a “smart delivery system” – published in the journal ACS Nano in March – capable of delivering lauric-acid-filled nano-scale bombs directly to skin-dwelling bacteria (Propionibacterium acnes) that cause common acne.

Bioengineering graduate student Dissaya “Nu” Pornpattananangkul will present her most recent work on this experimental acne-drug-delivery system at Research Expo, the annual research conference of theUC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

Ph.D. student Dissaya “Nu” Pornpattananangkul is developing a smart system of drug delivery.

Lauric-acid-based treatments could avoid these side effects, the UC San Diego researchers say.

“It’s a good feeling to know that I have a chance to develop a drug that could help people with acne,” said Pornpattananangkul, who performs this research in the Nanomaterials and Nanomedicine Laboratory ofUC San Diego NanoEngineering professor Liangfang Zhang from the Jacobs School of Engineering.

The new smart delivery system includes gold nanoparticles attached to surfaces of lauric-acid-filled nano-bombs. The gold nanoparticles keep the nano-bombs (liposomes) from fusing together. The gold nanoparticles also help the liposomes locate acne-causing bacteria based on the skin microenvironment, including pH.

Once the nano-bombs reach the bacterial membranes, the acidic microenvironment causes the gold nanoparticles to drop off. This frees the liposomes carrying lauric acid payloads to fuse with bacterial membranes and kill thePropionibacterium acnes bacteria.

“Precisely controlled nano-scale delivery of drugs that are applied topically to the skin could significantly improve the treatment of skin bacterial infections. By delivering drugs directly to the bacteria of interest, we hope to boost antimicrobial efficacy and minimize off-target adverse effects,” said Zhang. “All building blocks of the nano-bombs are either natural products or have been approved for clinical use, which means these nano-bombs are likely to be tested on humans in the near future.”