Mystery of kidney stone solved

A new study has provided evidence to explain why some people are more prone to developing kidney stones than others.

The discovery by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis opens the door to finding effective drug treatments and a test that could assess a person’s risk of kidney stones.

“Now, we finally have a more complete picture detailing why some people develop kidney stones and others do not,” said senior author Jianghui Hou, PhD, assistant professor of medicine.

“With this information, we can begin to think about better treatments and ways to determine a person’s risk of the condition, which typically increases with age,” Hou stated.

The research was conducted in mice. Because kidneys function the same way in mice as in humans, the new findings can help scientists understand the root causes of kidney stones in patients.

The mouse model used in the study can also serve as a platform for the preclinical testing of novel treatments for the condition, the researchers noted.

Most kidney stones form when the urine becomes too concentrated, allowing minerals like calcium to crystallize and stick together. Diet plays a role in the condition — not drinking enough water or eating too much salt (which binds to calcium) also increases the risk of stones.

But genes are partly to blame. A common genetic variation in a gene called claudin-14 recently has been linked to a substantial increase in risk — roughly 65 percent — of getting kidney stones. In the new study, the researchers have shown how alterations in the gene’s activity influence the development of stones.

Typically, the claudin-14 gene is not active in the kidney. The new research shows that its expression is dampened by two snippets of RNA, a sister molecule of DNA, that essentially silence the gene.

When claudin-14 is idled, the kidney’s filtering system works like it’s supposed to. Essential minerals in the blood like calcium and magnesium pass through the kidneys and are reabsorbed back into the blood, where they are transported to cells to carry out basic functions of life.

But when people eat a diet high in calcium or salt and don’t drink enough water, the small RNA molecules release their hold on claudin 14. An increase in the gene’s activity prevents calcium from re-entering the blood, the study showed.

Hou and his team have found that claudin-14 blocks calcium from entering passageways called tight junctions in cells that line the kidney and separate blood from urine.

Without a way back to the bloodstream, excess calcium goes into the urine. Too much calcium in the urine can lead to stones in the kidneys or bladder. Intense pain develops when a large stone gets stuck in the bladder, ureter or urethra and blocks the flow of urine.

Hou’s research supports the theory that people with a common variation in claudin-14 lose the ability to regulate the gene’s activity, increasing the risk of kidney stones.

He is optimistic, however, that drugs could be developed to target the short stretches of RNA that are intimately linked to claudin 14. Drugs that mimic these so-called microRNAs could keep the activity of claudin-14 in check and reduce the likelihood that stones would form.

Also, it may one day be possible to develop a diagnostic test to measure levels of the claudin-14 protein excreted in urine. Elevated levels would indicate an increased risk of stones, and people could take steps to prevent stones by modifying their diet.

“Many genes likely play a role in the formation of kidney stones,” Hou said.

“But this study gives us a better idea of the way one of the major players work. Now that we understand the physiology of the condition, we can start to think about better treatments or even ways to prevent stones from developing in the first place,” he added.

The research appeared online in the EMBO Journal, published by the European Molecular Biology Organization.

Common diseases in old age

According to the UN, the population of elderly persons is the fastest growing around the world and the number of elderly people by 2050 will be close to 2 billion.

The World Health Organisation has taken the initiative to draw attention to ageing as this imposes many challenges for individuals and authorities, like coping with health care, employment, housing, social security and other issues concerning the elderly.

Aging is an inevitable process and many factors like genes, lifestyles, diet and environment determine longevity. Though life expectancy has increased in modern times thanks to advances in science, technology and medicine, the grinds of daily life take a heavy toll on our bodies.

For most of us, taking care of our health is the last thing on our mind as we are too busy. Eventually negligence takes its toll on our body and manifests itself through a serious illness or in rapid physical deterioration in old age.

As humans grow older, physical conditions decline which lead to many illnesses and ailments. Some of the common health problems affecting the aged are:

Eye Diseases

Senior persons are usually beset with eye problems such as cataract, age-related macular degeneration, etc. Cataract develops in the crystalline lens of the eye, obstructing the passage of light. It can be corrected through surgery or topical treatment.

AMD is caused by damage to the retina due to abnormal blood vessel growth or breakdown of light-sensitive cells.

Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease is an incurable and degenerative disease and is mostly diagnosed in people over the age of 65 years. It is the most common form of dementia with nearly 3 million sufferers worldwide. Alzheimer’s greatly affects a patient’s emotional, mental and behavioral abilities.

Depression

Elderly persons are susceptible to depression due to changes in their lifestyles, loss of loved ones, isolation, etc. It can lead to memory impairment, fatigue, lethargy, and other physical problems.

Cardiovascular disease

Heart disease is caused by disorders of the heart and blood vessels. It is the biggest cause of death worldwide. Around 87% of coronary heart disease deaths are found among 60 years and older. It includes raised blood pressure, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease and heart failure.

Bones and joints diseases

Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced and can lead to an increased risk of fracture. It can occur due to lack of vitamin D, calcium, physical activity, hormonal changes or diseases such as hypothyroidism, hyperparathyroidism.

Arthritis is the inflammation of the joints. There are more than 100 types of arthritis of which Osteoarthritis is the most common. It is a degenerative and chronic condition ranging from very mild to very severe.

Prostrate Enlargement

It is a common disease for male seniors in which the prostrate gland becomes enlarged with age. This causes urination problems like frequent, weak, interrupted flows, etc. It can lead to conditions such as urinary tract infections, kidney or bladder damage, incontinence, and acute urinary retention.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce or respond to insulin. It is incurable but can be controlled through changes in diet, lifestyle ad medication.

Cancer

Cancer is a term for a group of more than a hundred diseases involving unregulated cell growth. Though cancer can affect all age groups, cancers of the prostrate, colon and breast are the most common among the elderly.

Genetic flaw that makes flu a killer infection found

Scientists have identified a genetic flaw that makes flu more fatal in some people, a finding they say may lead to a test that can detect those most at the risk of influenza outbreaks like the swine flu pandemic in 2009-10.


A team of British and American researchers identified a gene, called ITFITM3, which appeared to be a "crucial first line of defence" against flu.

When IFITM3 was present in large quantities, the spread of the virus in lungs was hindered, but when its levels were lower, the virus could replicate and spread more easily, causing more severe symptoms, the researchers found.

The finding helps explain why during the 2009-10 pandemic of H1N1 or "swine flu", the vast majority of people infected had only mild symptoms, while others -- many of them healthy young adults -- got seriously ill and died, they said.

In future, they added, the genetic discovery could help doctors screen patients to identify those more likely to be brought down by flu, allowing them to be selected for priority vaccination or preventative treatment during outbreaks, the Daily Mail reported.

It could also help develop new vaccines or medicines against potentially more dangerous viruses such as bird flu, the researchers said.

Study leader Paul Kellam of Britain`s Sanger Institute said people who carried a particular variant of IFTIM3 were far more likely to be taken into hospital when they got flu than people who carried other variants.

"Our research is important for people who have this variant as we predict their immune defences could be weakened to some virus infections," Kellam said.

"Ultimately as we learn more about the genetics of susceptibility to viruses, then people can take informed precautions, such as vaccination to prevent infection."

The potential antiviral role of IFITM3 in humans was first suggested in studies conducted by Abraham Brass from Massachusetts General Hospital in the US. Using genetic screening, he found that it blocked the growth of flu and other viruses in cells.

In the new study, the team led by Brass and Kellam took the work further by knocking out the IFITM3 gene in mice. They found that once these animals contracted flu they had far more severe symptoms than mice with the IFITM3 gene.

In effect, they said, the loss of this single gene in mice can turn a mild case of influenza into a fatal infection.

The researchers then sequenced the IFITM3 genes of 53 patients who had been hospitalised with seasonal or pandemic flu and found that a higher number of them had a particular variant of IFITM3 compared to the general patient population.

The researchers believe these variant results in a shorter version of the protein or one that is less abundant in cells, leaving patients more vulnerable to flu when they get it.

"Our efforts suggest that individuals and populations with less IFITM3 activity may be at increased risk during a pandemic, and that IFITM3 could be vital for defending human populations against other viruses such as avian influenza," said Brass.

New imaging technique to detect cancer?

A new imaging technique developed at the University of Oxford may be able to detect cancers that have spread to the brain even when tumours are small.

The study, carried out on mice, investigated a new `dye` that shows up in MRI scans, a university release said.

The scientists showed that the dye, or contrast agent, recognises and sticks to a molecule called VCAM-1.

This molecule is present in large amounts on blood vessels associated with cancer that has spread to the brain from other parts of the body.

MRI scans show the distribution of the dye in the brain, enabling much smaller tumours to be detected than can be done using current techniques.

Small tumours can be treated with whole brain radiotherapy or surgery, and there are new chemotherapy treatments in development.

But currently, it is only possible to detect larger secondary brain tumours, and these are more difficult to treat, the release added.

Lead researcher Dr Nicola Sibson of the Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology at the University of Oxford said: "We urgently need to find ways to diagnose these cancers at an earlier stage to improve survival rates. Our research suggests a new possible approach to do just this."

"The next stage is to build on these results and carry out clinical trials. If successful, we hope that early detection using this technique could increase the number of available treatment options for these patients," Sibson added.

Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK`s senior science information manager, said: "This exciting discovery reveals that a single protein could enable doctors to literally paint a picture with a medical dye to detect cancer that has spread to the brain, at a very early stage, when treatment has a greater chance of being successful."

Doctor`s musical pill for people suffering from mental illness

A young psychiatrist has come up with a song to fight stigma attached with people suffering from mental disorders and to create awareness in the society on their plight.

The video song `phool kho gaye` composed and sung by Dr Madhusudan, working with the Safdarjung hospital here, is getting support and appreciation from people, NGOs and fellow doctors.


The composition is aimed at bringing awareness towards the suffering of mentally ill people.

According to Colonel (retd) A K Mehndiratta, president of NGO `Prayatan` which works for the rehabilitation of mentally challenged patients, said the song truly explains the problems faced by such patients and how the stigma and attitude of people forces them to continue to suffer in silence.

"I was deeply concerned about the condition of the people having psychiatric disorders and it was indeed painful to see that many patients either don`t seek treatment at all or stop treatment due the stigma attached to psychiatric disorders and treatment," Madhusudan, a senior resident doctor with the Psychiatry department, said.

"I realised that there was a huge lack of awareness and support in our society towards such patients. Hence, I decided to do something about it and composed a song to sensitise people about the gravity of this issue," he said.

Madhusudan, a gold medallist in psychiatry, has written and sung a variety of songs including one on Delhi Metro.

He has also formed a band called `Leelantrance`.

New mutation behind breast cancer identified

Scientists have discovered a new gene that may increase the risk of breast cancer.


In the study from Finland, mutations in this gene, called Abraxas, were linked to cases of hereditary breast cancer.

Researchers have now identified more than 10 genes that increase breast cancer risk; perhaps the most well-known of these are the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

But only about 20 percent of women with a family history of breast cancer have mutations in BRAC1 or BRAC2 — meaning in many cases, it’s likely other genes are at work.

The mutation does not appear to be common — it was found in 2.4 percent of families with a history of breast cancer. But importantly, the mutation was not found in anyone without breast cancer in the study.

Because the study was conducted in Finland, future studies will need to investigate how common the mutation is in other countries, said study researcher Roger Greenberg, an associate professor of cancer biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

In the future, women with a family history of breast cancer might be tested for the Abraxas mutation, Greenbergsaid.

Greenberg and colleagues found the Abraxas mutation in three of 125 breast cancer patients from families with a history of the condition.

This gene had been suspected to play a role in breast cancer risk because it interacts with BRCA1.

When the researchers looked at an additional 991 breast cancer patients, they found the Abraxas mutation in one woman, who also turned out to have breast cancer in her family.

None of the 868 healthy patients in the study had the Abraxas mutation.

The mutated Abraxas gene prevents cells from fixing damaged DNA, increasing the risk that a cell will become cancerous. The gene may increase the risk of other cancers as well.

Indeed, one patient in the study was diagnosed with both breast and endometrial cancer, and some patients with the Abraxas mutation had family members with lung cancer, lip cancer and lymphoma.

More research is needed to know exactly how much of an increase in breast cancer risk the Abraxas mutation brings. But Greenberg noted women in the study with this mutation were diagnosed around the same age as those with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations — in their mid-40s.

Women with a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 are about five times more likely to develop breast cancer in their lifetimes compared with women who do not have this mutation, according to the National Cancer Institute.

“Identifying more of these mutations will make it easier for patients to know their risk of developing breast cancer,” said Dr. Kristin Byrne, chief of breast imaging at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, who was not involved in the study.

Such genetic information may even help doctors better diagnose breast cancer. Most patients with the Abraxas mutation in the study had a type of breast cancer called lobular carcinoma, which is harder to detect on a mammogram. Knowing that a patient has this mutation might mean doctors use additional screening methods, such as MRI, Dr Byrne added.

The study has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Four cups of coffee daily may help cut diabetes risk

Moderate consumption of coffee - four to five cups of coffee a day - may lower the chances of developing type 2 diabetes compared with those drinking it occasionally or not at all, say researchers.

A major European investigation into the effects of diet and lifestyle on health, found a cut in risk of around 30 per cent from regular consumption of coffee - whether it was caffeinated or decaffeinated.

The findings also reveal that coffee drinking does not appear to increase the risk of heart disease or cancer, the Daily Mail reported.

In total 42,659 people took part in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Germany study, and were followed up for almost nine years on average.

During that time, there were 1,432 cases of type 2 diabetes diagnosed, 394 heart attacks, 310 strokes cases and 1,801 cancer cases.

Drinking more than four cups of coffee a day - caffeinated and decaffeinated - compared with less than one cup was not linked to a higher risk of developing a chronic disease.

A lower risk of 20-30 per cent of developing type 2 diabetes was linked to moderate consumption of both kinds of coffee.

Although caffeine is known to act as a stimulant, it has been unclear how much a driver needs to keep alert during long journeys.

The latest study, carried out by scientists at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, suggests a single cup of caffeinated coffee is all it takes to boost alertness midway through a four-hour motorway drive.

Caffeine acts as a stimulant and is known to combat tiredness during monotonous tasks such as motorway driving.

“This study adds to the growing scientific data that suggests moderate coffee consumption, four to five cups of coffee per day, is safe and does not increase the risk of a range of chronic disease,” said Dr Euan Paul, executive director of the British Coffee Association.

“It is particularly encouraging to see that coffee consumption may lower the risk of type II diabetes given that around 90 per cent of all adults in the UK with diabetes have type 2 diabetes,” Dr Paul added.

The findings were reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Stem cells can repair damaged heart muscle: Study

Scientists have found that infusion of heart`s own stem cells can repair the damage caused to the organ following an attack, a discovery they say could lead to
new treatment strategy for cardiac regeneration.

The study, published in The Lancet, showed that the cells help the organ re-grow healthy muscle after a heart attack, challenging the belief that cardiac scarring is permanent and
that once lost, healthy heart muscle cannot be restored.

In the research, a team led by Prof Eduardo Marban at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles assessed a group of 25 patients, with an average age of 53 years, each of whom had suffered a heart attack.

Patients were treated at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Of these, eight were received standard care while 17 received infusions of
cardiosphere-derived stem cells (CDCs) that were created using the patient`s own heart tissue.
The procedure was less invasive and involved removing pieces of living heart muscle around half the size of a raisin using a catheter under local anaesthetic; this tissue was then used to create the supply of cardiac stem cells.

Each patient then received an infusion of around 12 to 25 million of his or her own stem cells during a second minimally invasive procedure.

Patients who had the stem cell infusion saw their scar size drop from 24 per cent to 12 per cent of the heart on average, while controls saw no reduction in scar size.

"This discovery challenges the conventional wisdom that, once established, cardiac scarring is permanent and that, once lost, healthy heart muscle cannot be restored," said the researchers.

"We show intracoronary infusion of autologous CDCs after myocardial infarction is safe, warranting the expansion of such therapy to phase two study," they added.

The scientists also said that the unprecedented increases they noted "in viable heart muscle, which are consistent with therapeutic regeneration, merit further assessment of clinical outcomes".

Changes in end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, and left-ventricular ejection fraction did not also differ between groups by six months, they pointed out.

Only four patients (24 per cent) in the stem cell group had serious adverse events compared with one control (13 per cent), although of the four events in the stem cell group, only one was regarded as possibly related to the treatment.

In a linked comment, Dr Chung-Wah Siu and Prof Hung-Fat Tse of University of Hong Kong said: "These findings suggest that this therapeutic approach is feasible and has the
potential to provide a treatment strategy for cardiac regeneration after myocardial infarction."

Curcumin may help slow growth of prostate tumour

Curcumin, an active component of the Indian curry spice turmeric, may help slow down the growth of tumour in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), a new study has found.

Karen Knudsen and colleagues from Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Centre, of Cancer Research observed in a pre-clinical study that curcumin suppresses two known nuclear receptor activators, p300 and CPB, or CREB1-binding protein, which have been shown to work against ADT.

ADT aims to inhibit the androgen receptor, an important male hormone in the development and progression of prostate cancer, in patients. But a major mechanism of therapeutic failure and progression to advanced disease is inappropriate reactivation of this receptor. Sophisticated tumour cells, with the help of p300 and CPB, sometimes bypass the therapy.

Thus, development of novel targets that act in concert with the therapy would be of benefit to patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer.

For the study, prostate cancer cells were subjected to hormone deprivation in the presence and absence of curcumin with “physiologically attainable” doses

Previous studies, which found similar results, included doses that were not realistic.

Curcumin augments the results of ADT, and reduced cell number compared to ADT alone, the researchers found. Moreover, the spice was found to be a potent inhibitor of both cell cycle and survival in prostate cancer cells.

To help support their findings, the researchers also investigated curcumin in mice, which were castrated to mimic ADT. They were randomized into two cohorts – curcumin and control. Tumour growth and mass were significantly reduced in the mice with curcumin, the researchers report.

These data demonstrate for the first time that curcumin not only hampers the transition of ADT-sensitive disease to castration-resistance, but also is also effective in blocking the growth of established castrate-resistant prostate tumours.

“This study sets the stage for further development of curcumin as a novel agent to target androgen receptor signalling,” Knudsen said.

“It also has implications beyond prostate cancer since p300 and CBP are important in other malignancies, like breast cancer. In tumours where these play an important function, curcumin may prove to be a promising therapeutic agent,” Knudesn added.

The study has been published in Cancer Research.

Heart failure linked with grey matter loss

Heart failure may also linked to loss of cerebral grey matter and impaired cognitive functions -- which involves all aspects of perception, thinking, reasoning and remembering, a study reveals.

A cross-sectional study of 155 adults consisting of 64 controls (who had no heart disease), 35 with heart failure and 56 with ischaemic heart disease was used to show evidence of cognitive impairment and cerebral grey matter (GM) loss.


Osvaldo Almeida, professor of geriatric psychiatry at the University of Western Australia, said magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allowed the examination of the impact of both heart failure and ischaemic heart disease (reduced blood supply) on cerebral grey matter, the European Heart Journal reported.

MRI was used to assess differences in the volume of GM in different parts of the brain. "It showed that people with heart failure display more widespread and extensive brain changes than adults with ischaemic heart disease," a university statement quoted Almeida as saying.

"It could be possible that patients with heart failure have trouble following complex management strategies, and therefore, treatment messages should be simple and clear," said Prof. Almeida.

According to Almeida, the findings show that heart failure could also affect emotions and mental activity.

"Health professionals and patients need to be aware that problems caused by heart disease are not limited to the heart," added Almeida.

The paper states that depression and cognitive impairment are the most frequent mental health problems among people with heart failure.

Diabetes could cause hearing loss in women

A new study has found that having diabetes may cause women to experience a greater degree of hearing loss as they age, especially if the metabolic disorder is not well controlled with medication.

According to the study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, women between the ages of 60 and 75 with well-controlled diabetes had better hearing than women with poorly controlled diabetes, with similar hearing levels to those of non-diabetic women of the same age.


The study also shows significantly worse hearing in all women younger than 60 with diabetes, even if it is well controlled.

Men, however, had worse hearing loss across the board compared to women in the study, regardless of their age or whether or not they had diabetes.

“A certain degree of hearing loss is a normal part of the aging process for all of us, but it is often accelerated in patients with diabetes, especially if blood-glucose levels are not being controlled with medication and diet,” Derek J. Handzo, D.O., with the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford said.

“Our study really points to importance of patients controlling their diabetes, especially as they age, based on the impact it may have on hearing loss.”

American Diabetes Association said that nearly 26 million people in the US have diabetes, and another 34.5 million have some degree of hearing loss.

Signs of hearing loss include difficulty hearing background noises or hearing conversations in large groups, as well as regularly needing to turn up the volume on a radio or TV.

The study was presented on Jan 26 in Miami Beach at the annual Triological Society’s Combined Sections Meeting.

Molecule key to malaria’s ‘invisibility cloak’ identified

Scientists have identified one of the crucial molecules that instructs the malaria parasite to employ its invisibility cloak to hide from the immune system, and helps its offspring to remember how to ‘make’ the cloak.

The finding by researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute will help to better understand how the parasite causes disease and escapes from the defences mounted by the immune system.

The research team led by Professor Alan Cowman from the institute’s Infection and Immunity division has revealed details about the first molecule found to control the genetic expression of PfEMP1 (Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1), a protein that is known to be a major cause of disease during malaria infection.

“The molecule that we discovered, named PfSET10, plays an important role in the genetic control of PfEMP1; an essential parasite protein that is used during specific stages of parasite development for its survival,” Professor Cowman said.

“This is the first protein that has been found at what we call the ‘active’ site, where control of the genes that produce PfEMP1 occurs. Knowing the genes involved in the production of PfEMP1 is key to understanding how this parasite escapes the defenses deployed against it by our immune system,” he said.

PfEMP1 plays two important roles in malaria infection. It enables the parasite to stick to cells on the internal lining of blood vessels, which prevents the infected cells from being eliminated from the body. It is also responsible for helping the parasite to escape destruction by the immune system, by varying the genetic code of the PfEMP1 protein so that at least some of the parasites will evade detection.
This variation lends the parasite the ‘cloak of invisibility’, which makes it difficult for the immune system to detect parasite-infected cells, and is part of the reason a vaccine has remained elusive.

Professor Cowman said identification of the PfSET10 molecule was the first step towards unveiling the way in which the parasite uses PfEMP1 as an invisibility cloak to hide itself from the immune system.

“As we better understand the systems that control how the PfEMP1 protein is encoded and produced by the parasite, including the molecules that are involved in controlling the process, we will be able to produce targeted treatments that would be more effective in preventing malaria infection in the approximately 3 billion people who are at risk of contracting malaria worldwide,” he noted.

The study has been published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.

Gene causing lung cancer identified

A gene responsible for lung cancer has been identified by scientists here.

Cancer stem cells or tumor-initiating cells (TIC) are responsible for tumor growth, Xinhua reported quoting the researchers. The scientists found a marker, known as CD166, to identify these cells.

The research team, led by Bing Lim, associate director of cancer stem cell biology at the Genome Institute of Singapore, and Elaine Lim, medical oncologist affiliated with Tan Tock Seng Hospital and National Cancer Centre Singapore, discovered several genes that were important for the growth of cancer cells.

They discovered that in abnormal instances when the level of a metabolic enzyme known as glycine decarboxylase rises significantly, it causes changes in the behaviour of the cell, making it cancerous.
The glycine decarboxylase is a normal occurring enzyme in cells, present in small quantities.

The finding, reported in the online issue of Cell Jan 5, is believed to be a huge step towards finding a cure for the disease.

Cure cancer in just two hours

A radioactive "paste" could cure skin cancer in just two hours, say researchers.

It can destroy tumours caused by skin cancers without surgery or conventional radiotherapy.

The treatment, however, is not suitable for malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Experts say there are minimal side effects and the treatment does not even leave a scar, the Daily Mail reported Friday.

The breakthrough therapy, which has been used on 700 patients in Italy with a success rate of up to 95 percent, could be available in Britain within two years.

The new technique can treat basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. These cancers affect 100,000 people in Britain every year, the newspaper said.

The vast majority of those who suffer the less dangerous forms have surgery to remove the affected tissue.

Other treatments include radiotherapy and "freezing" of the tumours if they are small and superficial.

But an estimated three percent of patients have deep tumours that are difficult to remove surgically because they are on sensitive areas such as the eyes, nose or ears. Others cannot have surgery due to age or medical conditions.
These patients are given radiotherapy that often results in serious side-effects.

For the new technique, Italian researchers harnessed rhenium-188, a radioactive isotope that was previously rare and expensive.

But now it is being supplied in quantities large enough to treat thousands of patients a week by nuclear physicists at the British-funded Institut Laue-Langevin in France.

The treatment, which is said to be painless, involves putting a piece of surgical foil on the tumour area, painting on the radioactive paste and removing it one or two hours later.

Researchers believe that the radiation causes healthy skin to re-grow, so there is no scarring.

In the Italian trial, 85 percent of patients were cured after one treatment and up to 95 percent after three treatments.

Oliver Buck, chief executive of the German technology firm ITM which developed the therapy, said: "This means that patients with large and difficult-to-treat tumours not only have hope but keep their quality of life under what would otherwise be dire conditions."

Trials are now being held in Germany and Australia, and Buck believes the treatment could be licensed in Britain within two years.

Soy may not protect against stomach cancer

Estrogen-like compounds that come with a soy-rich diet are sometimes linked to a reduced risk of cancer, but new research from Japan suggests that protection doesn`t extend to stomach cancer.

In a study that tried to tease apart the effects of isoflavones -- also known as phytoestrogens -- found in soy, and other nutrients, like salt, Japanese researchers found no difference in gastric cancer risk between people who consumed a lot of isoflavones and those who consumed the least.

Azusa Hara and her colleagues from the National Cancer Center in Tokyo examined data on about 85,000 people in an existing Japanese study.

The researchers estimated how much isoflavone the study`s participants ate from a list of questions they had answered in the 1990s, then followed the subjects until the end of 2006 to see how many developed stomach cancer.

During the follow-up period, approximately 1,250 of the study`s participants got stomach cancer, but the researchers saw no difference in risk between those who ate the most isoflavone and those who ate the least.

According to Dr. Richard Peek, director of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, estrogen is thought to protect against stomach cancer because the disease is much more common in men, at least until women are post-menopausal -- hinting that younger women`s higher estrogen levels might be protecting them.

Peek said there are also studies on mice that suggest estrogen protects against stomach cancer.

The Japanese team, however, found an increase in stomach cancer risk among women taking hormone therapy who ate the most isoflavone-laden food, compared to those who ate the least.

The women in the study on hormone therapy were more likely to smoke, drink and have a family history of stomach cancer, the researchers note, which could explain the link.

Hara and her colleagues wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that their results are limited by the use of their questionnaire and the fact that they could not account for whether the subjects were also infected with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is also linked to increased stomach cancer risk.

Still another well-known risk factor for gastric cancers is high salt intake.

According to the American Cancer Society, a person in the United States has a one in 114 chance of developing stomach cancer. An estimated 21,500 Americans were diagnosed with it in 2011 and an estimated 10,500 died from it.

Stomach cancers were once the leading cause of cancer deaths in the US until 1930.

"One of the reasons for decline is that people have fridges now, and they use less salt preservatives," said Khaldoun Almhanna, a medical oncologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.

Onions, olive leaf can help tackle obesity

A biomedical professor has found onions, green tea and olive leaf extract can fight obesity and its related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and fatty liver, even when a high-fat and high-carbohydrate diet is indulged in.

Prof Lindsay Brown, from the University of Southern Queensland, tested a range of foods on rats that were being fed an unhealthy diet high in sugar and fat.

He found certain foods helped prevent the growth of inflammatory cells in the animals` fat pads, located in the abdomen, which take fat from the blood stream and store it.

Rats being fed food such as onions, green tea, olive leaf extract, purple carrots and chia seeds had a decreased number of fat cells and lost weight by the end of the study, despite maintaining a poor diet overall.

The rodents were also found with improved liver and heart function.

Brown said that the key message of his research was that people should "eat better rather than eat less".

Onions and olive leaf extract contain a flavonoid called rutin - also found in apples, tea and red wine - that Brown found reversed or prevented metabolic changes in rats fed the high-sugar, high-fat diet.

The findings have been published in the Journal of Nutrition and the Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.

Poor sleep aggravates young diabetics` condition

Young diabetics who struggle to get a good night`s sleep are at greater risk as it worsens blood sugar control and leads to poorer performance and misbehaviour.

"Despite adhering to recommendations for good diabetic health, many youth with Type 1 diabetes have difficulty maintaining control of their blood sugars," said principal study investigator Michelle Perfect of the Univeristy of Arizona.

"We found that it could be due to abnormalities in sleep, such as daytime sleepiness, lighter sleep and sleep apnea. All of these make it more difficult to have good blood sugar control," she said.

The study tracked the sleep health of 50 Type 1 diabetics, aged 10-16 years. Perfect and her colleagues compared that data with a similar control group, without diabetics, the journal Sleep reports.

Type 1 diabetes results from destruction of insulin-producing cells. The lack of insulin causes frequent urination, increased thirst and hunger and weight loss, according to an Arizona statement.

They found that the young diabetics spent more time in a lighter stage of sleep than youth without diabetes, which was related to compromised school performance and higher blood sugar levels.

"Sleep problems were associated with lower grades, poorer performance on state standardized tests, poor quality of life and abnormalities in daytime behaviour," Perfect said.

Perfect and colleagues also found that nearly a third of the youths in their study had sleep apnea, regardless of weight. Sleep apnea -- abnormal pauses in breathing -- is tied to Type 2 diabetes, often referred to as adult-onset diabetes.

These young participants with sleep apnea showed significantly higher blood sugar levels - the same pattern linked to adults.

How HIV hijacks body`s defences `unravelled`

An American scientist has unravelled how the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) appropriates the body`s own defences to promote AIDS, a discovery that could help curb its spread.

Nevin Krogan, associate professor of cellular pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), described how HIV commandeers restriction factors, a class of proteins that have evolved to block viruses such as HIV, to weaken the body`s defences and enhance the virulence of HIV infection.


"One of the keys to HIV`s success is how quickly it can evolve new attack strategies -- and the way in which it uses our own proteins against us is a prime example of that," said Krogan.

"However, now that we`ve shed light on this complex process, we are one step closer to developing new drugs that will help us pull ahead in this evolutionary arms race," said Krogan.

AIDS has killed more than 25 million people around the world since first being identified some 30 years ago. In the US alone, more than one million people live with HIV/AIDS at an annual cost of $34 billion.

Krogan`s experiments show promise for the development of more effective antiretroviral therapies for people with HIV. Further, they have laid the foundation for future research at Gladstone Institute, affiliated with UCSF.

Meditation improves breast cancer survivors’ emotional well-being

Mindfulness-based meditation plays a vital role in improving breast cancer survivors’ health challenges, which they face after treatments, a new study has revealed.

Yaowarat Matchim, a former nursing doctoral student; Jane Armer, professor of nursing and Bob Stewart, professor emeritus of education and adjunct faculty in nursing, found that breast cancer survivors’ health improved after they learned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a type of mindfulness training that incorporates meditation, yoga and physical awareness.

“MBSR is another tool to enhance the lives of breast cancer survivors,” Armer said.

“Patients often are given a variety of options to reduce stress, but they should choose what works for them according to their lifestyles and belief systems.”

The MBSR program consists of group sessions throughout a period of eight to ten weeks. During the sessions, participants practice meditation skills, discuss how bodies respond to stress and learn coping techniques.

The researchers found that survivors who learned MBSR lowered their blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate. In addition, participants’ mood improved, and their level of mindfulness increased after taking the class. Armer says, for best results, participants should continue MBSR after the class ends to maintain the positive effects.

“Mindfulness-based meditation, ideally, should be practiced every day or at least on a routine schedule,” Armer said. “MBSR teaches patients new ways of thinking that will give them short- and long-term benefits.”

Armer says the non-pharmaceutical approach works best as a complement to other treatment options such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.

“Post diagnosis, breast cancer patients often feel like they have no control over their lives,” Armer said.

“Knowing that they can control something—such as meditation—and that it will improve their health, gives them hope that life will be normal again.”

The study has been published in the Western Journal of Nursing Research.

Surgeon pioneers gallbladder removal through belly button

Santiago Horgan, a robotic surgery expert, pioneered the removal of a diseased gallbladder through a patient`s belly button in 60 minutes, reports a study.

It took Horgan just a single incision to do it, with the help of a new surgical system, enabling the patient to return home five hours after the ground-breaking surgery.

The system enables surgeons to reduce the traditional number of incisions from four to six down to one incision that is less than an inch across.


"Our goal is to offer surgery options that reduce discomfort, shorten hospital stays and minimize scarring," said Horgan, also director of the University of California San Diego Centre for the Future of Surgery.

"With the aid of this robotic system, we can accomplish all three. This is a significant advancement for the 750,000 patients who need gallbladder removal each year," said Horgan, according to a university statement.

Intuitive Surgical received FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and approval on the new operating platform specifically for cholecystectomy procedures, the surgical removal of the gallbladder.

"What we have here is a convergence of new technologies and advanced surgical skills," said Mark Talamini, professor and chairman of surgery at California San Diego Health System.

"Instead of multiple incisions, we can operate through one small cut with tools that function with great precision in a narrow space. This is a win-win for the surgeon and patients," he added.