Yet, but deserves Watch not quite a threat MERS

It for more than 10 years the respiratory disease severe acute respiratory syndrome (better) called known as SARS Kong first appeared in southern China and Hong. Caused by a type of virus called a coronavirus, sat down SARS in two dozen countries, including several in North America, South America and Europe, more than 700 people to kill. There were no reported cases of SARS since 2004. But this virus quickly enough moves and serious enough that in the year 2012, the Centers for disease control and prevention declared that she was presented a serious threat to public health and safety.

In the same year, public health and infectious disease experts took a new viral respiratory disease, which was caused by a coronavirus, but in contrast to the SARS caused. The first cases of this disease occurred in Saudi Arabia, so that Middle East respiratory syndrome - named MERS or MERS-CoV (for coronavirus). MERS are symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. So far, about one-third of the people with confirmed cases of MERS have died.

Until recently, most cases of MERS in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula occurred. But in this month two cases of MERS has been confirmed in the United States. Both people with MERS had traveled from Saudi Arabia in the United States. One has been completely restored and on the other hand, a service provider, who had traveled from Saudi Arabia goes well.

Now considered it does appear as if the MERS virus not easy to spread from person to person. It is very likely to go from someone who the MERS to someone who lives with or cares for them. The CDC, along with other organizations of public health following the MERS, does not believe that MERS is a serious health threat at this time. However, as we say"go," there are reports that two employees in the health sector, a patient of MERS have developed maintained flu-like symptoms. Neither available nor a confirmed case of MERS, but test results are still pending. Track the spread of MERS is crucial, because it is possible that the virus start to can to spread more easily from person to person.

Expressed at the recent meeting of the World Health Organization Emergency Committee on MERS-CoV members concern about the effect of the MERS on public health is growing. Because currently there is "no evidence of sustained transmission from person to person", but not the criteria of the situation still meet for a public health emergency international group.

Health officials are for each reach, who may have had close contact with someone with a confirmed case of MERS, including family members and even people that flights had close contact during the airline may. It aims to people for symptoms observe and look at, see their doctors to promote.

The sudden emergence of novel or also known and infectious diseases around the globe is not new. There was a recent outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Guinea and Liberia. Polio makes an appearance in Syria, Cameroon, Kenya and other countries. What is relatively new is that the world has become much smaller in the last 60 years. International travel is frequent, fast and easy - and viruses can hardy tourists.

What should you do? First, outbreak or not, follow common sense safety precautions. Wash your hands regularly, sure, if you are someone who the sick eighth and so good you can minimize, close contact with (E.g. dishwasher parts not or drinking glasses). If you are sick, do the same - and cough into your elbow, wash your hands often and use disposable tissues when sneezing or blowing your nose. Secondly, if you traveled recently have and feel sick, see your doctor promptly. Finally, if you are planning travel, check out the CDC website for lots of good advice, including information on possible health risks, such as infectious diseases.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full text RSS feed | Amazon Wordpress | Wallet RFID blocking sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Important decisions, which often with poor leadership for people with limited mental abilities

Dr. Stephen Weatherhead says, that the implementation of the mental capacity act by health and social care professionals often is insufficient.

He supervised, research conducted by Irram Waji is published in the journal of social care and Neurodisability. Research shows gaps in training and misunderstandings in the implementation of the complexities of the law.

Stephen said: "with an ageing population and more people survive serious physical injury, this law seems almost everyone at some point." "Whether Alzheimer's disease, autism or brain are injuries, people the mental capacity to decide where you live or whether hospital treatment is missing."

He said that professionals often varied between help to empower or to be too restrictive, if decisions.

"For example, if a lady with Alzheimer's, says she wants to leave, if she actually four grandchildren, what to do about their two grandchildren? This lady had forgotten the other two so somebody has to help you make this decision."

He said, specialized training is required to ensure that our experts know the subtle provisions of the Act.

"We need to go further than just made sure know and trust;" We must also ensure that the people know and sure apply confidence and uphold the principles of empowerment, on which the law was founded."

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full text RSS feed | Amazon Wordpress | Wallet RFID blocking sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Clarified the role of calcium in familial Alzheimer's disease, on new Therapeutics

Now, on the same team, under the direction of J. Kevin Foskett, PhD, Professor of Physiology and a student, Dustin shilling, has determined that the hyperactivity of the calcium channels alleviated FAD-like symptoms in mice models of the disease to suppress. Their findings appear this week in the Journal of neuroscience.

Current therapies for Alzheimer's disease are drugs, the treatment of the symptoms of cognitive and dementia and medication, the pathology to treat Alzheimer's disease are experimental. These new observations suggest that approaches by modulating calcium signaling could be examined on the basis of, Foskett says.

The two proteins called, PS1 and PS2 (Presenilin 1 and 2), interact with a calcium release channel, the inositol-Trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), in the endoplasmic reticulum. Mutant PS1 and PS2 to increase the activity of the IP3R, in turn increased calcium in the cell. "We set out to answer the question: is increased calcium signal by the Presenilin-IP3R interaction, at the development of familial Alzheimer's disease symptoms, including dementia and cognitive deficits?" Foskett says. "" "And with views of the results of these experiments, the answer is a clear 'Yes.'"

Robust phenomenon

Excessive intracellular calcium signaling is a robust phenomenon seen in cells expressing FAD verursachender mutant Presenilins, in both human cells in culture and in mice. The team put two BLAND looking mouse models for these connections. In particular, they found that this receptor in the brain, to 50 percent signals in neurons of the cortex reduce the expression of the IP3R1, the dominant form and hippocampus in both mouse models normalized observed excessive calcium.

In addition observed with 3xTg mouse-animals FAD mutation containing Presenilin 1 with one, as well as the mutated human Tau protein and APP gene expression gebracht-- the team that the reduced expression of IP3R1 deeply amyloid plaque accumulation in brain tissue and Hyperphosphorylation of Tau protein, a decreased biochemical hallmarks of advanced Alzheimer's disease. Reduced expression of IP3R1 saved also defective electrical signalling in the memory deficits in the 3xTg mice, and hippocampus, as well as conduct tests measured.

"Our results show that excessive calcium signaling, the Presenilin mutations in familial Alzheimer's disease is, is mediated by the IP3R and contributes to the symptoms of illness in animals", Foskett says. "With this, you know now the IP3 pathway could accommodate a potential therapeutic target molecule for patients mutations in the Presenilins in connection with AD are considered."

The hypothesis of "Calcium dysregulation"

"The" calcium dysregulation "hypothesis for inherited, early onset familial Alzheimer's disease by früheren research results in the laboratory Foskett proposed. Alzheimer's disease affects more than 5 million Americans, 5 percent who have familial form. The hallmark of the disease is the accumulation of tangles and plaques of amyloid beta protein in the brain.

"The ' amyloid hypothesis", which postulates, that the primary defect is an accumulation of toxic amyloid in the brain has long used, to explain the cause of Alzheimer's disease "Foskett says. 2008 neuron study the cells that the disease-causing mutant showed in his laboratory carried out of PS1 form processing of amyloid-beta that depends on the interaction of the IP3R PS proteins, increased. This observation combines dysregulation of calcium within cells with the production of amyloid, a characteristic feature in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

Clinical studies for AD have set up largely in the reducing amyloid in the brain. So far, says Foskett, these studies have non-therapeutic benefits to demonstrate. One idea is that the intervention in the disease process started too late. Accordingly, clinical trials in progress using anti-amyloid FAD asymptomatic patients now because it is known that they will eventually develop the disease while predicting who will develop the common form of AD is much less certain.

"There was an assumption that FAD simply display with an earlier, more aggressive occur, is," Foskett says. "But we do know whether the etiology of the FAD pathology is identical to that for general viewing. The relevance of the search results for the understanding of the common AD is not so clear. It is important, in my opinion is to recognize that the AD could be a range of diseases, lead together end-stage diseases. "FAD could therefore an orphan disease, and it is important to effective treatments, especially for these patient-those who are on the IP3R and calcium signal."

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full text RSS feed | Amazon Wordpress | Wallet RFID blocking sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Early menopause increases risk of heart failure, especially for smokers

Research, already pointed to a relationship between early menopause and cardiovascular disease-usually atherosclerotic heart disease. But this study by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, is the first, a connections with congestive heart failure, the inability of the heart to demonstrate the body's needs pump tailored to enough blood. It is the first large scale (including more than 22,000 women after menopause) and long-term study linking early menopause and cardiovascular disease-made possible by the Swedish national patient register, almost all Sweden inpatient and outpatient diagnoses; captured Sweden's cause of death register; and health surveys of about 90,000 women in the Swedish mammography cohort.

The authors analysis of the data showed that women in the menopause naturally went at this early age a rate of congestive heart failure about 40% higher than in women who went the usual age is between 50 and 54 in the menopause. (The average 51) And for any increase of a year-old menopause, the rate of heart failure was 2% lower.

Smokers have been known to go on average one year earlier than non-smokers in menopause, but explain that you had not quite early menopause heart failure connection, since women who had smoked earlier in their lives, and stop also an increased rate of heart failure with early menopause. Moreover, have had women who smoked, even if she had left earlier, a higher risk of heart failure, when the menopause just early - went at the age of 46 to 49.

"Menopause, early or late, always a good time to further steps is to heart disease risk reduction through movement, healthy nutrition, weight loss and not smoking, says Managing Director NAMS Margery Gass, MD."Thought-provoking study should encourage more research, as early menopause and heart failure are linked. "The factors that cause the heart failure also ovarian failure?"

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full text RSS feed | Amazon Wordpress | Wallet RFID blocking sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Are partially hydrogenated oils and trans fat the same thing?

Partially hydrogenated oil is not the same as trans fat. The term “partially hydrogenated” means that hydrogen gas has been bubbled up into an oil to increase its degree of saturation and shelf life. The process of hydrogenation causes several chemical changes to occur in the oil. One of these changes (only one, but an important one) is the creation of trans fat.

There is some naturally occurring trans fat in many foods—but not nearly as much as we get from partially hydrogenated oils. Some of us get about 20 grams of trans fat per day solely from consumption of these oils. From natural foods, we would only get a few grams. A food label can claim “Zero grams of trans fat” even when there is partially hydrogenated oil in the product, because a product is legally considered “trans fat free” as long as there is less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving size. Trans fats are definitely harmful to our health in large amounts, and processed products containing hydrogenated oils are not ones that we recommend consuming.

Source: Are partially hydrogenated oils and trans fat the same thing?

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.

View the original article here

Read More

Not quite a threat yet, but MERS merits watching

It has been over 10 years since the respiratory illness called severe acute respiratory syndrome (better known as SARS) first appeared in southern China and Hong Kong. Caused by a type of virus called a coronavirus, SARS spread to two dozen countries, including several in North America, South America, and Europe, eventually killing more than 700 people. There have been no known cases of SARS since 2004. But this virus moved quickly enough and was serious enough that in 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared that it presented a severe threat to public health and safety.

That same year, public health and infectious disease experts took note of a new viral respiratory disease that was also caused by a coronavirus, though different from the one that causes SARS. The first cases of this illness occurred in Saudi Arabia, so it was named Middle East Respiratory Syndrome—MERS or MERS-CoV (for coronavirus). Symptoms of MERS include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. So far, roughly one-third of the people with confirmed cases of MERS have died.

Until recently, most cases of MERS occurred in countries in the Arabian Peninsula. But this month, two cases of MERS have been confirmed in the United States. Both of the people with MERS had traveled to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. One is fully recovered and the other, a health care provider who had traveled from Saudi Arabia, is doing well.

As of now, it appears that the MERS virus doesn’t spread easily from person to person. It is most likely to go from someone who has MERS to someone who lives with or cares for them. The CDC, which is following MERS along with other public health organizations, does not believe that MERS poses a serious health threat at this time. However, as we “go to press,” there are reports that two health care workers who cared for one of the MERS patients have developed flu-like symptoms. Neither one has a confirmed case of MERS yet, but test results are still pending. Tracking the spread of MERS is critical because it is possible that the virus may start to spread more easily between humans.

At the most recent meeting of the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee on MERS-CoV, members expressed growing concern about the effect of MERS on public health. However, because there is currently “no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission,” the situation doesn’t yet meet the criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Health care officials are reaching out to anyone who may have had close contact with anyone with a confirmed case of MERS, including family members and even folks who may have had close contact during airline flights. The goal is to encourage those individuals to watch for symptoms and consider seeing their doctors.

The sudden emergence of novel, or even well-known, infectious diseases across the globe is not new. There has been a recent outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Guinea and Liberia. Polio is making an appearance in Syria, Cameroon, Kenya, and other countries. What is fairly new is that the world has become much smaller in the past 60 years. International travel is common, fast, and relatively easy—and viruses can be hardy tourists.

What should you do? First, outbreak or not, follow common sense precautions. Wash your hands regularly, be mindful when you are around someone who is sick, and minimize close contact as best you can (for example, don’t share utensils or drinking glasses). If you are sick, do the same—and cough into your elbow, wash your hands often, and use disposable tissues when sneezing or blowing your nose. Second, if you have recently traveled and start to feel ill, see your doctor promptly. Finally, if you are planning to travel, check out the CDC website for lots of good advice, including guidance on potential health risks such as infectious diseases.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

For women on osteoporosis drug “holiday,” bone testing at one year offers little benefit

For women with osteoporosis who are embarking on a “holiday” from taking a bone-building drug, the message from a study released today is “Bon voyage—see you in two years or so.”

After menopause, loss of bone (osteoporosis) can lead to crippling fractures of the hip and spine. Drugs called bisphosphonates—alendronate (Fosamax) was the first on the market in the mid-1990s—slow bone loss. But after taking these drugs for a number of years, the balance can begin to tip from help to harm. Bisphosphonate pills can cause burning in the esophagus, especially if they aren’t taken exactly as directed. In addition, a small number of bisphosphonate users have developed bone loss in the jaw and, counterintuitively, broken their legs.

Thus was born the bisphosphonate drug holiday, where after three to five years a woman stops taking the drugs for a while. During that time, a reservoir of bisphosphonate that had become part of the bones slowly trickles out. This helps preserve bone strength and lowers the chance of fracture. It takes a decade for the stored-up bisphosphonate in the body to decline by half.

“For many women, stopping therapy—a drug holiday—is appropriate,” says endocrinologist Dr. David Slovik, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical editor of Osteoporosis: A guide to prevention and treatment, a Harvard Medical School Special Health Report. “What we have not had a good grasp on is when to restart treatment if need be.” That’s where the new report, published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, comes in.

Checking in

After a woman starts a drug holiday, her doctor monitors her bone density, a measure of bone strength. If and when it starts to decline, she might then start taking a bisphosphonate again.

As part of the Fracture Intervention Trial Long-term Extension (FLEX), women older than 60 with low bone mineral density who had taken alendronate for four or five years were slotted at random into one of two groups. One group continued to take alendronate for five more years, while the other group took an inactive placebo pill. Doctors checked their bone density one to three years later.

Over the course of the five-year trial, about one in five of the women taking the placebo broke a bone. Their age and bone density when they started taking the placebo was enough to predict who would be the most likely to have fractures. Measuring bone density after one year added no information that would have helped doctors identify who was at risk and perhaps should start taking a bisphosphonate again.

“It doesn’t surprise me that there wasn’t a tremendous change in bone density after a year,” Dr. Slovik says. “Unless someone goes on a drug known to accelerate bone loss, you would not see much of a change in that period in most women.” Drugs that speed bone loss include anti-inflammatory steroid drugs like prednisone and some cancer drugs.

A reason why bone health may not decline in the first year or so of a drug holiday is that stored bisphosphonate is being released from the bones—the equivalent of an internal time-release medication tablet.

How often to test?

Dr. Slovik advises women on drug holidays to consider testing every two years. That involves a dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) test, which uses x-rays to measure the density of bone. Blood tests can also pick up a spike in chemicals released as bone starts to break down.

Women covered by Medicare can get a DXA test every two years. For younger women, the frequency of testing is largely at their doctors’ discretion.

Osteoporosis risk—and, therefore, a decision about if and when a woman should have her bone density checked—is a sliding scale. Women who had a fracture in the past and have low bone density when starting bisphosphonate therapy tend to lose bone density more quickly and are therefore at highest risk of breaking a bone. They may be advised against taking a drug holiday.

“Older age and hip density at discontinuation of treatment are the major factors,” Dr. Slovik says. “This study is saying that bone density testing a year later doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Are partially hydrogenated oils and trans fat the same thing?

Partially hydrogenated oil is not the same as trans fat. The term “partially hydrogenated” means that hydrogen gas has been bubbled up into an oil to increase its degree of saturation and shelf life. The process of hydrogenation causes several chemical changes to occur in the oil. One of these changes (only one, but an important one) is the creation of trans fat.

There is some naturally occurring trans fat in many foods—but not nearly as much as we get from partially hydrogenated oils. Some of us get about 20 grams of trans fat per day solely from consumption of these oils. From natural foods, we would only get a few grams. A food label can claim “Zero grams of trans fat” even when there is partially hydrogenated oil in the product, because a product is legally considered “trans fat free” as long as there is less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving size. Trans fats are definitely harmful to our health in large amounts, and processed products containing hydrogenated oils are not ones that we recommend consuming.

Source: Are partially hydrogenated oils and trans fat the same thing?

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.

View the original article here

Read More

For women on osteoporosis drug “holiday,” bone testing at one year offers little benefit

For women with osteoporosis who are embarking on a “holiday” from taking a bone-building drug, the message from a study released today is “Bon voyage—see you in two years or so.”

After menopause, loss of bone (osteoporosis) can lead to crippling fractures of the hip and spine. Drugs called bisphosphonates—alendronate (Fosamax) was the first on the market in the mid-1990s—slow bone loss. But after taking these drugs for a number of years, the balance can begin to tip from help to harm. Bisphosphonate pills can cause burning in the esophagus, especially if they aren’t taken exactly as directed. In addition, a small number of bisphosphonate users have developed bone loss in the jaw and, counterintuitively, broken their legs.

Thus was born the bisphosphonate drug holiday, where after three to five years a woman stops taking the drugs for a while. During that time, a reservoir of bisphosphonate that had become part of the bones slowly trickles out. This helps preserve bone strength and lowers the chance of fracture. It takes a decade for the stored-up bisphosphonate in the body to decline by half.

“For many women, stopping therapy—a drug holiday—is appropriate,” says endocrinologist Dr. David Slovik, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical editor of Osteoporosis: A guide to prevention and treatment, a Harvard Medical School Special Health Report. “What we have not had a good grasp on is when to restart treatment if need be.” That’s where the new report, published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, comes in.

Checking in

After a woman starts a drug holiday, her doctor monitors her bone density, a measure of bone strength. If and when it starts to decline, she might then start taking a bisphosphonate again.

As part of the Fracture Intervention Trial Long-term Extension (FLEX), women older than 60 with low bone mineral density who had taken alendronate for four or five years were slotted at random into one of two groups. One group continued to take alendronate for five more years, while the other group took an inactive placebo pill. Doctors checked their bone density one to three years later.

Over the course of the five-year trial, about one in five of the women taking the placebo broke a bone. Their age and bone density when they started taking the placebo was enough to predict who would be the most likely to have fractures. Measuring bone density after one year added no information that would have helped doctors identify who was at risk and perhaps should start taking a bisphosphonate again.

“It doesn’t surprise me that there wasn’t a tremendous change in bone density after a year,” Dr. Slovik says. “Unless someone goes on a drug known to accelerate bone loss, you would not see much of a change in that period in most women.” Drugs that speed bone loss include anti-inflammatory steroid drugs like prednisone and some cancer drugs.

A reason why bone health may not decline in the first year or so of a drug holiday is that stored bisphosphonate is being released from the bones—the equivalent of an internal time-release medication tablet.

How often to test?

Dr. Slovik advises women on drug holidays to consider testing every two years. That involves a dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) test, which uses x-rays to measure the density of bone. Blood tests can also pick up a spike in chemicals released as bone starts to break down.

Women covered by Medicare can get a DXA test every two years. For younger women, the frequency of testing is largely at their doctors’ discretion.

Osteoporosis risk—and, therefore, a decision about if and when a woman should have her bone density checked—is a sliding scale. Women who had a fracture in the past and have low bone density when starting bisphosphonate therapy tend to lose bone density more quickly and are therefore at highest risk of breaking a bone. They may be advised against taking a drug holiday.

“Older age and hip density at discontinuation of treatment are the major factors,” Dr. Slovik says. “This study is saying that bone density testing a year later doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Not quite a threat yet, but MERS merits watching

It has been over 10 years since the respiratory illness called severe acute respiratory syndrome (better known as SARS) first appeared in southern China and Hong Kong. Caused by a type of virus called a coronavirus, SARS spread to two dozen countries, including several in North America, South America, and Europe, eventually killing more than 700 people. There have been no known cases of SARS since 2004. But this virus moved quickly enough and was serious enough that in 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared that it presented a severe threat to public health and safety.

That same year, public health and infectious disease experts took note of a new viral respiratory disease that was also caused by a coronavirus, though different from the one that causes SARS. The first cases of this illness occurred in Saudi Arabia, so it was named Middle East Respiratory Syndrome—MERS or MERS-CoV (for coronavirus). Symptoms of MERS include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. So far, roughly one-third of the people with confirmed cases of MERS have died.

Until recently, most cases of MERS occurred in countries in the Arabian Peninsula. But this month, two cases of MERS have been confirmed in the United States. Both of the people with MERS had traveled to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. One is fully recovered and the other, a health care provider who had traveled from Saudi Arabia, is doing well.

As of now, it appears that the MERS virus doesn’t spread easily from person to person. It is most likely to go from someone who has MERS to someone who lives with or cares for them. The CDC, which is following MERS along with other public health organizations, does not believe that MERS poses a serious health threat at this time. However, as we “go to press,” there are reports that two health care workers who cared for one of the MERS patients have developed flu-like symptoms. Neither one has a confirmed case of MERS yet, but test results are still pending. Tracking the spread of MERS is critical because it is possible that the virus may start to spread more easily between humans.

At the most recent meeting of the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee on MERS-CoV, members expressed growing concern about the effect of MERS on public health. However, because there is currently “no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission,” the situation doesn’t yet meet the criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Health care officials are reaching out to anyone who may have had close contact with anyone with a confirmed case of MERS, including family members and even folks who may have had close contact during airline flights. The goal is to encourage those individuals to watch for symptoms and consider seeing their doctors.

The sudden emergence of novel, or even well-known, infectious diseases across the globe is not new. There has been a recent outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Guinea and Liberia. Polio is making an appearance in Syria, Cameroon, Kenya, and other countries. What is fairly new is that the world has become much smaller in the past 60 years. International travel is common, fast, and relatively easy—and viruses can be hardy tourists.

What should you do? First, outbreak or not, follow common sense precautions. Wash your hands regularly, be mindful when you are around someone who is sick, and minimize close contact as best you can (for example, don’t share utensils or drinking glasses). If you are sick, do the same—and cough into your elbow, wash your hands often, and use disposable tissues when sneezing or blowing your nose. Second, if you have recently traveled and start to feel ill, see your doctor promptly. Finally, if you are planning to travel, check out the CDC website for lots of good advice, including guidance on potential health risks such as infectious diseases.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Too little sleep, and too much, affect memory

When it comes to memory, sleep is a Goldilocks issue: both too much and too little aren’t good. Aim for “just right,” says a new report from the Harvard-based Nurses’ Health Study.

“Our findings suggest that getting an ‘average’ amount of sleep, seven hours per day, may help maintain memory in later life and that clinical interventions based on sleep therapy should be examined for the prevention of [mental] impairment,” said study leader Elizabeth Devore, an instructor in medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in a news release.

A group of women taking part in the Nurses’ Health Study were asked about their sleep habits in 1986 and 2000, and were interviewed about memory and thinking skills three times over a later six-year period. Devore and her colleagues observed worse performance on brain testing among women who slept five hours or fewer per night or nine hours or more, compared with those getting seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Their findings were published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The researchers estimated that undersleepers and oversleepers were mentally two years older than the women who got seven to eight hours of shut-eye a night.

Beyond memory

Although this study couldn’t prove that getting too little or too much sleep causes memory and thinking problems, it’s in line with other work showing the potentially harmful effects of poor sleep. Previous research has linked poor sleep with higher risks of heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, and depression.

How might sleep affect memory? People who are persistently sleep deprived are more likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, and narrowed blood vessels. Each of these can decrease blood flow inside the brain. Brain cells need a lot of oxygen and sugar, so blood flow problems could affect their ability to work properly.

Poor sleep could affect the brain in another way. Sleep-deprived mice develop more deposits of a protein called beta amyloid in the brain compared with mice allowed to sleep normally. In humans, beta amyloid deposits in the brain are linked to declines in memory and thinking and also increase the risk of dementia.

What about people who sleep too much? People who spend more than nine or 10 hours a night in bed often have poor sleep quality. So for both too little and too much sleep, the important number may be the hours of quality sleep.

Another possibility is a two-way street between sleep and memory: sleep quality may affect memory and thinking, and the brain changes that cause memory and thinking problems may disturb sleep.

Getting better sleep

Here are 12 tips for getting better sleep:

• Establish a regular bedtime and a relaxing bedtime routine—examples might include taking a warm bath or listening to soothing music.
• Use your bed only for sleeping or lovemaking. Avoid reading and watching television in bed.
• If you can’t fall asleep after 15 to 20 minutes, get out of bed and go into another room. Do something relaxing, such as reading quietly with a dim light. Don’t watch television or use a computer, since the light from their screens has an arousing effect. When you feel sleepy, get back into bed. Don’t delay your scheduled wake-up time to make up for lost sleep.
• Get plenty of exercise. Build up to 45 minutes of moderate exercise nearly every day. Get your exercise early in the day. Try some easy stretching exercises or yoga to relax your muscles and your mind at bedtime.
• Whenever possible, schedule stressful or demanding tasks early in the day and less challenging activities later. This helps you wind down at the end of your day.
• Don’t go to bed hungry, but don’t eat a big meal right before getting into bed. If you want a bedtime snack, keep it bland and light.
• Limit caffeine and consume none after 2 p.m.
• To decrease middle-of-the-night urination, don’t drink any fluids after dinner.
• Avoid alcohol after dinnertime. Although many people think of it as a sedative, it can get in the way of quality sleep.
• Be sure your bed is comfortable and your bedroom is dark and quiet. Consider a sleep mask or earplugs.
• Don’t take long naps during the day. If you need a nap, restrict it to 20 to 30 minutes in the early afternoon.

Practice relaxation breathing. Use slow breaths, especially when you exhale.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Association between small-vessel disease, Alzheimer pathology studied

AD is believed to be caused by the buildup of amyloid protein in the brain and tau tangles. Previous studies have suggested that SVD and vascular risk factors increase the risk of developing AD. In both SVD and vascular dementia (VaD), signs of AD pathology have been seen. But it remains unclear how the interaction between SVD and AD pathology leads to dementia.

Authors examined the association between SVD and AD pathology by looking at magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based microbleeds (MB), white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and lacunes (which are measures for SVD) along with certain protein levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which reflect AD pathophysiology in patients with AD, VaD and healthy control patients. The authors also examined the relationship of apolipoprotein E (APOE) ?4 genotype, a well-known risk factor for AD.

The presence of both MBs and WMH was associated with lower CSF levels of Aß42, suggesting a direct relationship between SVD and AD. Amyloid deposits also appear to be abnormal in patients with SVD, especially in (APOE) ?4 carriers.

"Our study supports the hypothesis that the pathways of SVD and AD pathology are interconnected. Small-vessel disease could provoke amyloid pathology while AD-associated cerebral amyloid pathology may lead to auxiliary vascular damage," researchers conclude.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Diets rich in antioxidant resveratrol fail to reduce deaths, heart disease or cancer

"The story of resveratrol turns out to be another case where you get a lot of hype about health benefits that doesn't stand the test of time," says Richard D. Semba, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the study described May 12 in JAMA Internal Medicine. "The thinking was that certain foods are good for you because they contain resveratrol. We didn't find that at all."

Despite the negative results, Semba says, studies have shown that consumption of red wine, dark chocolate and berries does reduce inflammation in some people and still appears to protect the heart. "It's just that the benefits, if they are there, must come from other polyphenols or substances found in those foodstuffs," he says. "These are complex foods, and all we really know from our study is that the benefits are probably not due to resveratrol."

The new study did not include people taking resveratrol supplements, though few studies thus far have found benefits associated with them.

Semba is part of an international team of researchers that for 15 years has studied the effects of aging in a group of people who live in the Chianti region of Italy. For the current study, the researchers analyzed 24 hours of urine samples from 783 people over the age of 65 for metabolites of resveratrol. After accounting for such factors as age and gender, the people with the highest concentration of resveratrol metabolites were no less likely to have died of any cause than those with no resveratrol found in their urine. The concentration of resveratrol was not associated with inflammatory markers, cardiovascular disease or cancer rates.

Semba and his colleagues used advanced mass spectrometry to analyze the urine samples.

The study participants make up a random group of people living in Tuscany where supplement use is uncommon and consumption of red wine -- a specialty of the region -- is the norm. The study participants were not on any prescribed diet.

Resveratrol is also found in relatively large amounts in grapes, peanuts and certain Asiatic plant roots. Excitement over its health benefits followed studies documenting anti-inflammatory effects in lower organisms and increased lifespan in mice fed a high-calorie diet rich in the compound.

The so-called "French paradox," in which a low incidence of coronary heart disease occurs in the presence of a high dietary intake of cholesterol and saturated fat in France, has been attributed to the regular consumption of resveratrol and other polyphenols found in red wine.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Having a sense of purpose may add years to your life

The research has clear implications for promoting positive aging and adult development, says lead researcher Patrick Hill of Carleton University in Canada:

"Our findings point to the fact that finding a direction for life, and setting overarching goals for what you want to achieve can help you actually live longer, regardless of when you find your purpose," says Hill. "So the earlier someone comes to a direction for life, the earlier these protective effects may be able to occur."

Previous studies have suggested that finding a purpose in life lowers risk of mortality above and beyond other factors that are known to predict longevity.

But, Hill points out, almost no research examined whether the benefits of purpose vary over time, such as across different developmental periods or after important life transitions.

Hill and colleague Nicholas Turiano of the University of Rochester Medical Center decided to explore this question, taking advantage of the nationally representative data available from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study.

The researchers looked at data from over 6000 participants, focusing on their self-reported purpose in life (e.g., "Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them") and other psychosocial variables that gauged their positive relations with others and their experience of positive and negative emotions.

Over the 14-year follow-up period represented in the MIDUS data, 569 of the participants had died (about 9% of the sample). Those who had died had reported lower purpose in life and fewer positive relations than did survivors.

Greater purpose in life consistently predicted lower mortality risk across the lifespan, showing the same benefit for younger, middle-aged, and older participants across the follow-up period.

This consistency came as a surprise to the researchers:

"There are a lot of reasons to believe that being purposeful might help protect older adults more so than younger ones," says Hill. "For instance, adults might need a sense of direction more, after they have left the workplace and lost that source for organizing their daily events. In addition, older adults are more likely to face mortality risks than younger adults."

"To show that purpose predicts longer lives for younger and older adults alike is pretty interesting, and underscores the power of the construct," he explains.

Purpose had similar benefits for adults regardless of retirement status, a known mortality risk factor. And the longevity benefits of purpose in life held even after other indicators of psychological well-being, such as positive relations and positive emotions, were taken into account.

"These findings suggest that there's something unique about finding a purpose that seems to be leading to greater longevity," says Hill.

The researchers are currently investigating whether having a purpose might lead people to adopt healthier lifestyles, thereby boosting longevity.

Hill and Turiano are also interested in examining whether their findings hold for outcomes other than mortality.

"In so doing, we can better understand the value of finding a purpose throughout the lifespan, and whether it provides different benefits for different people," Hill concludes.

Preparation of the manuscript was supported through funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant T32-MH018911-23), and the data collection was supported by Grant P01-AG020166 from the National Institute on Aging.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More

Rising CO2 and Our Food Supply

In the not so distant future rising carbon dioxide levels could drain many of the world's most important foods of their key nutritional value new research suggests.

The warning published in Nature stems from a review of the latest data on global CO2 levels. The investigators caution that global industrialization will continue to push carbon dioxide levels up. And as levels rise much of the iron, zinc, and protein currently found in such basic crops as rice, wheat, and soybeans may decline, according to the researchers.

For example the researchers found that wheat grains grown at higher CO2 levels contained nearly 9% less zinc and 5% less iron. Higher CO2 was also correlated with less protein - up to nearly 8% less.

The hardest hit: citizens of less-developed nations, where nearly 2 billion people rely on staple crops for much of their dietary iron and zinc and where vitamin deficiency is already a major cause of disease and death.

I'm Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, with the latest breakthroughs from the world of medicine.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Wordpress | rfid blocking wallet sleeves

View the original article here

Read More