Children exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke have an increased risk of developing lung cancer in adulthood, even if they never smoked.

Results of this study are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, as part of a special tobacco focus in the December issue.

This year alone, more than 219,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer; more than 159,000 will die from it and some of those may be people who have never smoked. Studies to date have shown that exposure to secondhand smoke in adulthood has detrimental health effects, but data are limited on one’s risk of developing lung cancer when exposed as a child.

What makes this study different from previous research is that it was conducted in two independent cohorts and included a molecular analysis of gene variants of innate immunity – the mannose binding lection-2 gene, or MBL2 gene. The MBL2 gene is known to affect susceptibility to respiratory diseases.

Using the ongoing National Cancer Institute-Maryland Lung Cancer study (624 cases; 348 controls), Curtis C. Harris, M.D., chief of the Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis at NCI, and colleagues collected information on secondhand smoke history among men and women. They used DNA for genotyping the MBL2 gene. Then, to compare, Harris, Ping Yang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues used results from a Mayo Clinic study (461 never smokers; 172 cases; 289 controls).

Harris and colleagues found an association between childhood exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and increased risk of lung cancer in adulthood. Furthermore, MBL2 activity was associated with an even more increased risk among those who were exposed to secondhand smoke in childhood.

Based on the results of this study, Harris said “children should not be exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke due to the long-term health implications they can face in adulthood.” He added that these results warrant further investigation in a larger study population.

Source
American Association for Cancer Research

To find a cure for cancer, haemophilia and other diseases, researchers need to be looking for complex, interacting genetic factors, according to the authors of a new study.

A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by researchers at the Centenary Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) and The Australian National University (ANU), has exposed a greater level of genetic complexity for diseases than was originally thought.

The researchers looked at two disorders of kidney function – iminoglycinuria and hyperglycinuria. These disorders, first described 50 years ago, are conditions where large amounts of individual amino acids (the building blocks of proteins in our body) are wasted by the kidney.

Professor John Rasko, Head, Gene and Stem Cell Therapy program at Centenary Institute and Cell and Molecular Therapies at RPA, says although up to one in every thousand babies has this disorder at birth, it usually resolves in the first year of life. For those individuals in whom it continues to occur, it is generally thought not to cause medical problems but previous cases have been linked to high blood pressure, kidney stones, deafness and problems in the brain.

“Iminoglycinuria was observed to occur in families and the pattern of inheritance suggested that the cause might be due to an inherited abnormality of a specific pump on the surface of kidney cells,” Professor Rasko explains.

The teams from Centenary Institute, RPA and ANU have now unravelled the genetic explanation by showing that not one, but up to four different pumps present in the kidney determine whether or not this particular abnormality occurs.

“The study demonstrates that in some cases mutations occur only in one gene, while in other cases mutations in two or even three different genes are observed, and that the disorders can arise due to mutations in a group of genes carrying out related functions,” says Professor Stefan Broer, School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at ANU.

“From the point of view of understanding complex diseases in humans, it suggests we need to integrate much greater levels of complex genetic information to reach a clear understanding.”

Professor Rasko says that these findings provide a foundation to improve our understanding of common human diseases, and greater potential to develop effective gene therapies to reduce the impact of diseases on patients.

“Gene therapies, whereby cells can be modified and then re-introduced into the body without the genetic mutations that cause illness, provide enormous potential to help cure diseases including haemophilia, cancer and cardiovascular disease,” Professor Rasko explains.

“A crucial ingredient of successfully developing gene therapies is a thorough understanding of all the genetic factors at play in disease. This discovery takes us one step closer to understanding the complex factors at work in these serious diseases.”

###

To find a cure for cancer, haemophilia and other diseases, researchers need to be looking for complex, interacting genetic factors, according to the authors of a new study.

A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by researchers at the Centenary Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) and The Australian National University (ANU), has exposed a greater level of genetic complexity for diseases than was originally thought.

The researchers looked at two disorders of kidney function – iminoglycinuria and hyperglycinuria. These disorders, first described 50 years ago, are conditions where large amounts of individual amino acids (the building blocks of proteins in our body) are wasted by the kidney.

Professor John Rasko, Head, Gene and Stem Cell Therapy program at Centenary Institute and Cell and Molecular Therapies at RPA, says although up to one in every thousand babies has this disorder at birth, it usually resolves in the first year of life. For those individuals in whom it continues to occur, it is generally thought not to cause medical problems but previous cases have been linked to high blood pressure, kidney stones, deafness and problems in the brain.

“Iminoglycinuria was observed to occur in families and the pattern of inheritance suggested that the cause might be due to an inherited abnormality of a specific pump on the surface of kidney cells,” Professor Rasko explains.

The teams from Centenary Institute, RPA and ANU have now unravelled the genetic explanation by showing that not one, but up to four different pumps present in the kidney determine whether or not this particular abnormality occurs.

“The study demonstrates that in some cases mutations occur only in one gene, while in other cases mutations in two or even three different genes are observed, and that the disorders can arise due to mutations in a group of genes carrying out related functions,” says Professor Stefan Broer, School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at ANU.

“From the point of view of understanding complex diseases in humans, it suggests we need to integrate much greater levels of complex genetic information to reach a clear understanding.”

Professor Rasko says that these findings provide a foundation to improve our understanding of common human diseases, and greater potential to develop effective gene therapies to reduce the impact of diseases on patients.

“Gene therapies, whereby cells can be modified and then re-introduced into the body without the genetic mutations that cause illness, provide enormous potential to help cure diseases including haemophilia, cancer and cardiovascular disease,” Professor Rasko explains.

“A crucial ingredient of successfully developing gene therapies is a thorough understanding of all the genetic factors at play in disease. This discovery takes us one step closer to understanding the complex factors at work in these serious diseases.”

###

Source: Erin Sharp

Research Australia

A class of anti-retroviral drugs commonly used to treat HIV, particularly in Africa and low income countries, can cause premature ageing, according to research published in the journal Nature Genetics. The study shows that the drugs damage DNA in the patient’s mitochondria – the ‘batteries’ which power their cells.

The findings may explain why HIV-infected people treated with antiretroviral drugs sometimes show advanced signs of frailty and age-associated diseases such as cardiovascular disease and dementia at an early age.

Nucleoside analogue reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) – of which the most well known is Zidovudine, also known as AZT – were the first class of drug developed to treat HIV. They were a major breakthrough in the treatment of the disease, greatly extending lifespan and leading the condition to be seen as a chronic, rather than terminal, condition.

In high income countries, such as Europe and North America, the older NRTIs are used less commonly now due to concerns over toxicity and side-effects when taken over a long period of time. However, as they are now off-licence and hence relatively cheap, the drugs have proved to be an important lifeline for people infected with HIV in Africa and low income countries.

Professor Patrick Chinnery, a Wellcome Senior Fellow in Clinical Science from the Institute of Genetic Medicine at Newcastle University, says: “HIV clinics were seeing patients who had otherwise been successfully treated but who showed signs of being much older than their years. This was a real mystery. But colleagues recognised many similarities with patients affected by mitochondrial diseases – conditions that affect energy production in our cells – and referred them to our clinic.”

Mitochondria are the ‘batteries’ in our cells which provide them with the energy to carry out their functions. During natural human ageing, these mitochondria acquire mutations, though it is unclear whether these mutations are a cause of ageing or a consequence.

In an attempt to understand what was happening at a cellular level, Professor Chinnery and colleagues studied muscle cells from HIV-infected adults, some of whom had previously been given NRTIs.

The researchers found that patients who had been treated with NRTIs – even as long ago as a decade previously – had damaged mitochondria which resembled that of a healthy aged person.

“The DNA in our mitochondria gets copied throughout our lifetimes and, as we age, naturally accumulates errors,” explains Professor Chinnery. “We believe that these HIV drugs accelerate the rate at which these errors build up. So over the space of, say, ten years, a person’s mitochondrial DNA may have accumulated the same amount of errors as a person who has naturally aged twenty or thirty years. What is surprising, though, is that patients who came off the medication many years ago may still be vulnerable to these changes.”

Co-author and HIV specialist, Dr Brendan Payne, a Medical Research Council fellow from the Department of Infection and Tropical Medicine at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, believes that despite the side effects caused by NRTIs, they are still important drugs and the risks are relative.

“These drugs may not be perfect, but we must remember that when they were introduced they gave people an extra ten or twenty years when they would otherwise have died,” he says. “In Africa, where the HIV epidemic has hit hardest and where more expensive medications are not an option, they are an absolute necessity.”

Notes:

Professor Chinnery and colleagues are now looking at ways to repair or stall some of the damage caused by the medication and believe that focusing on exercise – which appears to have a beneficial effect on patients with mitochondrial diseases – may help.

The study was funded by the Medical Research Council, the British Infection Society, the Newcastle Healthcare Charity, the UK NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Aging and Age-related Disease and the Wellcome Trust.

Source:
Craig Brierley

Wellcome Trust

Baby boomers appear to be driving a dramatic rise in suicide rates among middle-aged people, a new study finds. The journal Public Health Reports published the analysis by sociologists Ellen Idler of Emory and Julie Phillips of Rutgers University.

“The findings are disturbing, because they’re a reversal of a long-standing trend,” Idler says.

The suicide rate for the U.S. population overall has been declining for decades, Idler notes. And people aged 40-59, in particular, have long had a moderate suicide rate.

The baby boomers, people born between 1945 and 1964, have broken that pattern. By 2000, most people aged 40 to 59 were baby boomers and the suicide rate started climbing steadily for these middle-age ranges. The authors found significant increases of more than 2 percent per year for men, and more than 3 percent per year for women, from 1999 to 2005. (By 2005, all middle-aged people were baby boomers.)

The post-1999 increase has been particularly dramatic for those who are unmarried and those without a college degree, the analysis showed. For example, from 2000 to 2005, the suicide rate jumped nearly 30 percent for men and women aged 50 to 59 with some college but no degree. Middle-aged people with a college degree appeared largely protected from the trend.

The baby boomers also experienced higher suicide rates during their adolescence and young adulthood, doubling the rate for those age groups at the time. Their suicide rate then declined slightly and stabilized, before beginning to increase again in midlife.

“You might think that the higher rates in adolescence would lead to lower rates later because the most suicide prone people would be gone but that doesn’t appear to be the case,” Idler says. “Clinical studies often show that knowing someone who committed suicide is considered a risk factor for later doing it yourself, and that may be one factor here. The high rates in adolescence could actually be contributing to the high rates in middle age.”

Higher rates of substance abuse and the onset of chronic diseases are among other possible factors in the rising baby boomer suicide rate. “As children, the baby boomers were the healthiest cohort that had ever lived, due to the availability of antibiotics and vaccines,” Idler says. “Chronic conditions could be more of a rude awakening for them in midlife than they were for earlier generations.”

Traditionally, midlife has been considered a time when people are at their peak of social integration. “We need to pay attention to this new increase in suicides, during a period of life previously thought to be stable and relatively protected from suicide, and in an age group now occupied by extraordinarily large numbers of people,” Idler says.

Data for the study were drawn from the National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. Preliminary data from 2006 and 2007, the latest time that statistics are available, indicate that the upward pattern in midlife suicide is continuing, Idler says.

Source:
Beverly Clark
Emory University

As the 2006 training camp begins
the Washington Redskins are the first team in the NFL to apply a new
invisible defense — the advanced antimicrobial protection of SportsAide.

“With bacterial staph infections like MRSA becoming more prevalent
outside of the hospital setting and becoming more of an issue in amateur
and professional sports, we wanted to take an aggressive approach to
protect our players,” said Bubba Tyer, Redskins Director of Sports
Medicine. “We are fortunate to have an owner in Dan Snyder and coach in Joe
Gibbs that believe in being proactive when it comes to protecting the
team.”

SportsAide is a state-of-the-art antimicrobial treatment for sports
equipment and facilities that controls the growth of a wide range of all
known bacteria, mold, fungi and algae.

There is now an active antimicrobial layer of SportsAide protecting the
athletic training rooms, locker rooms, strength and conditioning center and
player equipment at the Gerald S. Snyder Training Facility at Redskins
Park.

“Using this high tech defense is just one step in keeping an
environment safe from these types of infections,” added Tyer. “It is
important for everyone to be educated in simple steps that can be taken and
really aid in the fight against picking up these types of bacteria like …
wash your hands often, shower after workouts and practice, and avoid
sharing towels, razors, and daily athletic gear.”

“Unlike conventional disinfectants that wash away and dissipate
quickly, SportsAide durably bonds to the surface, actively fighting
microorganisms 24/7,” said SportCoatings president Art McWood. “Investing
in SportsAide is investing in peace-of-mind that lasts for years.”

SportsAide is one of a trio of products in the Sports Antimicrobial
System by SportCoatings: TurfAide(TM), SportsAide(TM) and SportsAide(TM)
Fabric Conditioner. TurfAide provides antimicrobial protection to synthetic
turf systems; SportsAide protects athletic facilities and equipment; while
SportsAide Fabric Conditioner provides antimicrobial protection, stain
releasers and odor control to sports laundry like towels and uniforms.

The technology powering SAS is the AEGIS Microbe Shield(R) which has
been safely used in consumer goods and medical applications for more than
30 years. Registered with the EPA, it imparts an invisible layer of
antimicrobial protection that will not leach any chemicals or heavy metals
into the environment and will not rub off onto a player’s skin.

“What makes the AEGIS Microbe Shield unique is that it functions
through a physical mode-of-action versus the chemical poisoning associated
with traditional antimicrobials,” said Curtis White, Chairman and CEO of
AEGIS. “This physical mode-of-action prevents microbes from adapting to the
shield so there is no ability for ‘super bugs’ to develop resistance.”

Extensive warranties and service agreements are available on SAS
applications to ensure the active antimicrobial layer remains intact.

A division of the Coatings Specialist Group (CSG), SportCoatings is the
world leader in sports coatings offering a wide array of products that
enhance, restore and maintain synthetic sports surfaces. For more
information about SportCoatings or the Sports Antimicrobial System, log
onto csgsport.

SportCoatings
csgsport

NCDs (non-communicable diseases), mainly heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory disease, are responsible for two out of every three deaths worldwide and the toll is rising. A landmark global alliance between leading scientists and four of the world’s largest NGOs brings together evidence from a 5-year collaboration with almost 100 of the world’s best NCD experts and proposes a short-list of five priority interventions to tackle this increasing global crisis. Reducing tobacco and salt use, improving diets and physical activity, reducing hazardous alcohol intake, and achieving universal access to essential drugs and technologies have been chosen for their health effects, cost-effectiveness, low costs of implementation, and political and financial feasibility.

Just 5 months ahead of the UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on NCDs, only the second of its kind to focus on a global disease issue and with the potential to stimulate action globally as well as nationally, The Lancet NCD Action Group and the NCD Alliance* launch a clear set of commitments Online First in The Lancet that they would like to see from the meeting.

“The most important outcome of the UN HLM on NCDs will be sustained and strong high-level political support for a framework of specific commitments to tackle the NCD crisis”, explain the authors. The aim is to reduce NCD death rates by 2% per year which will avert an estimated 36 million deaths over 10 years.

Despite numerous national and international policies, strategies, and plans to tackle NCDs progress has been slow-partly, say the authors, because of the “pressing nature” of other global health issues.

In the lead up to the UN meeting, the authors call on heads of state and governments to commit to a coordinated set of feasible actions and interventions for which specific and timed targets and indicators can be developed, and against which progress can be measured.

The top priority must be to reduce tobacco use followed by lowering salt intake, say the authors. Key to the success of this intervention will be the accelerated implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to achieve the proposed goal, “a world essentially free from tobacco by 2040″, where less than 5% of the population uses tobacco; achieving this goal would prevent at least 5.5 million premature deaths over 10 years.

By 2025, they would like to see salt intake reduced to less than 5 g per person. They point out that reducing global salt consumption by just 15% through mass-media campaigns and reformulation of processed foods and salt substitution could prevent an estimated 8.5 million deaths in just 10 years.

Importantly, the costs of these interventions will be small, say the authors. The yearly cost to implement tobacco control and salt reduction will be less than US 50 cents per person per year in countries like India and China. The total package of priority interventions will require a new global commitment of about $9 billion per year.

Key to the immediate delivery of these interventions is a set of priority actions-securing broad political leadership at the highest levels nationally and internationally, support for strengthening health systems (with a strong focus on primary care), building international cooperation and consensus for priority interventions (particularly primary prevention), and establishing independent monitoring systems and accountability mechanisms for assessing progress.

*Note
The Lancet NCD Action Group is an informal collaboration of academics, practitioners, and civil society organisations. The NCD Alliance is made up of four key international NGOs-the International Diabetes federation, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Union for International Cancer Control, and the World Heart Foundation-representing 880 member associations in 170 countries.

Abstract.

Source
The Lancet

After five animals were confirmed to be infected with the Bluetongue virus the UK government has declared an outbreak. This is the first time bluetongue has appeared in the United Kingdom. An official from Defra (Department for the Environment, Foods and Rural Affairs) said the disease is now circulating among the local animal and midge population.

The five confirmed infected animals were in Suffolk, eastern England. Authorities say that the animals have been culled.

Nobody knows how the disease arrived in the UK. It has been suggested that generally warmer weather may be a factor. Authorities are said to be hoping for a cold winter, which should eradicate the disease. Since July this year there have been almost 3,000 cases of bluetongue in Northwestern Europe.

A 20km Control Zone has been set up around the area where the five cases were identified. According to Defra, ruminant animals will be able to move around inside the Bluetongue Control Zone, but not out of it. A 150km Bluetongue Protection Zone which covers parts of the counties from Lincolnshire to Sussex will also be in place – ruminant animals will be able to move around inside that area, but not out of it. Defra informs that these Bluetongue zones will replace the Bluetongue Temporary Control Area which was set up on September 25th.

What is Bluetongue?

Bluetongue is a disease which affects all ruminant animals, such as cattle, deer, sheep, goats and camlids – humans and horses are not affected. Sheep are more severely affected than other animals. Cattle are the main mammalian reservoir of the virus.

The virus spreads through certain types of biting midges.

History of the disease

We are not sure how long it has been around. It was first described in South Africa, and is now recognized in most tropical and sub-tropical countries. Widespread outbreaks have occurred in the following countries since 1999: Greece, Italy, France (Corsica), Spain (Balearic Islands). There have also been cases in Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Yugoslavia and Kosovo – it normally does not reach as far north as these countries, but seems to have made its way there via North Africa and Turkey. In 2007 outbreaks were confirmed in Germany, Belgium, France, The Netherlands and Luxembourg – indicating the virus survived these countries’ winters successfully.

Clinical Signs of Bluetongue (How to spot it)

Depending on the species, clinical signs can vary. Although symptoms are more severe in sheep, occasionally cattle can show signs of the disease.

Sheep – Clinical Signs

– Eye, nasal discharge
– Drooling resulting from ulcerations in the mouth
– Fever
– Swelling of the neck, head and mouth
– The animal has a limp (lameness)
– Hemorrhages into or under the skin
– Inflammation at the coronary band (junction of the skin and the horn of the foot)
– Difficulty breathing
– Sheep mortality in a flock may reach 70%. Surviving animals might lose condition, resulting in a reduction in wool production and meat

Cattle – Clinical Signs
It is not uncommon for cattle to show no signs. With cattle the disease cannot be diagnosed on clinical grounds, laboratory testing is required.

– Nasal discharge
– Swelling around the neck and the head
– Runny eyes (conjunctivitis)
– Swelling of the mouth
– Ulceration in the mouth
– Swollen teats
– Lethargy, fatigue
– Drooling

Cause of Bluetongue

It is caused by a virus of the Orbivirus genus of the family Reorvirades. There are 24 known serotypes.

Biting midges (Culicoides) transmit the virus. One animal cannot directly infect another animal. When the midge bites an infected animal, the virus passes to the midge in the blood meal – the virus then multiplies in the midge. When the midge bites another animal, it infects that animal.

– How to spot the disease (PDF)
– Photos of clinical signs
– Photo of a midge (culicoides)
– Guidance on the disease vector and potential mitigation measures (PDF)
– defra

The Department of Health and Children and the HSE reminded people to be extra vigilant during the current cold spell and to check on vulnerable people who could be at risk. Cold weather can be a problem for anyone, especially older people, children, people with a disability and those with long-term illness.

The majority of health services around the country are operating as normal despite the adverse weather conditions. Notwithstanding the challenges faced, particularly by community based health services in some of the worst affected areas, services are being provided by the HSE with the support of staff and other agencies.

The risk of slips and falls on icy footpaths is likely to continue in the days ahead. Ice and snow is likely to lead to an increase in the number of people presenting with sprains and fractures as a result of slips and falls on icy roads and footpaths. The HSE is advising the public to reduce the risk by wearing non-slip shoes or boots, walking slowly and keeping your hands out of your pockets to help protect you in the case of a slip or fall.

The HSE is reminding people that the elderly and vulnerable may need additional support during this adverse weather. People should pay a visit to elderly neighbours to ensure that they have adequate food, heating and prescription medicines. The elderly can be particularly prone to hypothermia and pneumonia when temperatures dip so ensuring they have enough heat and hot food and regular hot drinks is particularly important to their wellbeing at this time.

The HSE is also asking people to please contact their hospital Out Patient Department if they are unable to attend an out patient appointment due to road conditions. Having advance notice that a patient is unable to attend helps the hospital staff plan accordingly to ensure that services can be provided to other patients. A list of contact information for hospitals around the country is available here.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health and Children said: “It is important that we all take the recommended precautions during this severe cold weather. Check up on friends, relatives and neighbours who may be more vulnerable to cold weather”.

The HSE website and information line has advice on keeping warm and well during the cold conditions. Information leaflets on ‘Slips, Trips and Falls’ and ‘Keep Warm, Keep Well This Winter’ are available to download here or from the HSE’s information line, 1850 24 1850. Contact details for urgent and emergency care services including out of hours services are also available on the HSE website and from the HSE Infoline. Further information is also available here. An information booklet which will gives advice, information and support schemes to help keep warm and well this winter can be downloaded from this site.

HSE Advice to the Public

– Wear well-fitting shoes with non-slip soles if you have to go out but try to limit walking during the current cold weather. Boots with rubber soles and solid ankle support are essential to prevent slips and falls on the ice.

– Keep your hands out of your pockets when out walking.

– If you have a fall, even a minor one, make sure you visit your doctor for a check up.

– Check in on elderly neighbours. Call in regularly on elderly friends, neighbours and relatives to see if they need help staying warm, have enough food, heat and prescription medications. Help older people to stay warm by ensuring that they are wearing layers of clothes, eating regular hot meals, drinking plenty of fluids.

– Food is fuel – eating well will help keep you warm.

– Clear the ice from your footpath and around your house and assist less capable neighbours in doing the same.

– Keep active by walking around the house regularly.

– Wear several layers of light clothes instead of one thick layer. Wear clothes made from wool, cotton or fleecy synthetic fibres.

– Keep your main living room at around 18 – 21oC (64 -70oF), and the rest of the house at least 16oC (61oF). If you cannot heat all the rooms you use, keep the living room warm throughout the day (21Вє C if active, 24Вє C if inactive).

– Close the curtains in the evening and heat your bedroom before going to bed and make sure the room is warm before you get up in the morning.

Treating strains and sprains

– The initial treatment for both injuries is the same:

– Rest the injured part

– Apply ice or a cold pad to the injured area

– Comfortably support the injury using a bandage or soft padding

– Elevate the injured part

If you suspect a broken bone

– Support the limb

– Leave the casualty in the position found. Secure and support the injured part. You can use rolled up blankets, cushions, clothes or whatever you have handy.

– Assess the severity of the injury and decide how to get the injured person to hospital. For example if they have an arm injury, you may be able to drive them to the nearest Emergency Department or Minor Injury Unit. If you suspect a broken leg or a spine or neck injury call 999.

-Treat for shock if required. Look for signs of shock including pale, cold and clammy skin, rapid then weak pulse, fast and shallow breathing, sweating and complaints of nausea and thirst. If you suspect shock, lie the casualty down and raise their legs above the level of their heart. Make sure you keep the casualty warm.

Remember to listen or watch news and weather bulletins, and to take the precautionary advice given by organisations such as An Garda SГ­ochГЎna, Met Eireann, the Road Safety Authority and Local Authorities as well as the HSE.

Source:

Department of Health and Children, Ireland

Dr. Leonel Fernandez Liriano, Professor of Medicine at Pontifical Catholic University School of Medicine (PCUSM), announced nine month follow up results for the first patient treated with engineered stem cells in a clinical study of primary pulmonary hypertension. The stem cells are extracted from patients’ own blood and trained to become new blood vessels.

Zannos Grekos, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Cardiology at Nova Southeastern University and head of the international team that developed the stem cell treatment protocol, says, “It goes against traditional theory that we should try to fix the existing pulmonary vasculature, but we are generating new blood vessels with impressive results.” According to Grekos, the clinical study is a collaborative effort amongst physicians at Regenocyte Therapeutic, a Florida-based stem cell clinic; researchers from TheraVitae, a biotechnology company in Tel Aviv, Israel; and physicians from Regenocyte’s Dominican Republic division. The patient’s base line and follow up testing is being conducted in part by Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida.

Patient Karl Wagner, age 46 of Macon, Georgia, underwent the Adult Stem Cell therapy in February 2008. Wagner says since being diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, he was on a rapid decline. “I was being managed by medication, but still had violent chest pains, heart palpitations, extreme fatigue, and severe shortness of breath…I could barely do anything with my daughters and was on oxygen almost all the time. Doctors at Mayo Clinic gave me a three year prognosis.”

Dr. HГ©ctor JosГ© Rosario, Professor of Cardiology at PCUSM and Director of Cardiovascular Therapy for Regenocyte’s Dominican division, says Wagner’s reduction in pulmonary artery mean pressure from 41mmHg (severe pulmonary hypertension) to 24 mmHg (normal) is extremely encouraging, and to date, the other patients in the study are following the same pattern.

“This is the first time medical science has successfully reversed the disease process in pulmonary hypertension, a previously untreatable condition with a very grim prognosis,” Rosario states.

“Using advanced engineered stem cell technology and innovative delivery methods,” Grekos explains, “we’ve been able to harness the regenerative power of stem cells and literally replace the damaged blood vessels in the lungs of the pulmonary hypertension patients.”

Wagner’s saturations are now consistently high, and he no longer needs to be supplemented with oxygen or considered for a lung transplant. “I feel great,” he says, “and have a normal life again. I take my girls to school every morning and work all day…my quality of life is ten-fold what it used to be. I also am off almost all of my medications and the doctors at Mayo Clinic have given me a new prognosis.”

Athina Kyritsis, M.D. and chair of Regenocyte’s Scientific Advisory Board, says the work announced today is based upon several years of Regenocyte’s clinical experience in the treatment of cardiac and vascular disease using Autologous Adult Stem Cell therapy. “In treating diseases like Cardiomyopathy and Peripheral Vascular Disease, we’ve had consistent success in generating viable heart tissue and growing new vessels; with the increased circulation, healing of wounds, and improvement in ejection fractions, it seemed a natural progression to approach pulmonary hypertension in the same manner. I believe we have only begun to discover what Adult Stem Cells can accomplish in altering the course of diseases now thought to be untreatable.”

About the Alliance for the Advancement of Adult Stem Cell Therapy and Research

The Alliance for the Advancement of Adult Stem Cell Therapy and Research is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use of adult stem cells in the research and treatment of life-altering diseases. This alliance also strives to ensure treatment for those who qualify and could not otherwise afford to receive it. To become a supporting member, please call (239) 498-9187.

About Regenocyte

Regenocyte Therapeutic is one of the only clinically treating Adult Stem Cell Therapy centers in the world today. An experienced team of Board Certified physicians use cutting edge technology, paralleling that of Universities and major medical facilities, to prolong and improve the quality of life of patients living with diseases including Congestive Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy, Peripheral Artery Disease, Coronary Artery Disease, Kidney Disease, Ischemic Heart Disease, Pulmonary Disease, and Early Senile Dementia. For patient information or consultation, call 866-216-5710.

Regenocyte

In order to maintain muscle strength with age, cells must rid themselves of the garbage that accumulates in them over time, just as it does in any household, according to a new study in the December issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press journal. In the case of cells, that waste material includes spent organelles, toxic clumps of proteins, and pathogens.

The researchers made their discovery by studying mice that were deficient for a gene required for the tightly controlled process of degradation and recycling within cells known as autophagy. Those animals showed profound muscle atrophy and muscle weakening that worsened with age.

“If there is a failure of the system to remove what is damaged, and that persists, the muscle fiber isn’t happy,” said Marco Sandri of the University of Padova in Italy. Damaged and misfolded proteins pile up along with dysfunctional mitochondria, distended endoplasmic reticulum, free radicals, and other aberrant structures. Eventually, some of those muscle cells die, and “the muscles become weaker and weaker with age.”

The muscle wasting observed in the mice seems to bear some resemblance to certain forms of muscle-wasting diseases, Sandri said. He now suspects that this kind of mechanism may offer insight into some of those still-unexplained conditions, as well as the muscle weakening that comes with normal aging (a condition known as sarcopenia).

Researchers knew before that excessive autophagy could also lead to muscle loss and disease. The new findings highlight the importance of maintaining a normal level of autophagy to clear away the debris and keep muscles working properly. Although the discovery seems to make perfect sense in retrospect, it wasn’t what Sandri’s team had initially anticipated.

“We thought if you reduced autophagy it might protect against atrophy,” he said. “Instead, it’s the opposite. We realized, OK, of course, if you don’t remove the damage, it triggers weakness.”

The findings may have clinical implications, he says. There has been interest in developing therapies to block proteins’ degradation for treating certain muscle-wasting disorders. But in some cases, at least, “it may be better to activate autophagy and remove the garbage in the cells,” Sandri said. The researchers think similar treatments might combat aging sarcopenia as well, noting that another study has shown a decline in the efficiency of autophagy during aging.

The researchers include Eva Masiero, Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Padova, Italy, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padova, Italy, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Lisa Agatea, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padova, Italy; Cristina Mammucari, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Bert Blaauw, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padova, Italy, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Emanuele Loro, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padova, Italy; Masaaki Komatsu, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan; Daniel Metzger, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, INSERM, Illkirch-Cedex, France; Carlo Reggiani, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Stefano Schiaffino, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; and Marco Sandri, Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Padova, Italy, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padova, Italy, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.

Source:
Cathleen Genova
Cell Press