Scientists at the Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in Cancer Genetics Research have identified the molecular mechanisms underlying the onset of common leiomyomata. The results of their research were published in the top medical journal New England Journal of Medicine in early June…
A New York man living in Tulsa went to get a nose job with a well-established Tulsa plastic surgeon and five years later does not have a nose. Dr. Angelo Cuzalina is known across Green County, Okla., for his plastic surgery. The Oklahoma Medical Board does not show any complaints in his history. He is listed as president of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. “I had the first surgery and suffered some breathing problems, nothing too bad, but it made it hard to exercise and sleep,” said Thakkar. He went back, again and again. Between 2006 and 2007 he had eight surgeries. He then left Tulsa until 2011 and came back for more surgeries. He had several infections. Finally, during a surgery, Thakkar says Cuzalina cut off his nose. “He told me that there was an infection in there and since I was on the operating table and unconscious he had to make the decision,” said Thakkar. On August 31st, 2012 Cuzalina sent Thakkar a form stating he will no longer work on him, “… you are considered medically unstable. Because of your ongoing threats and harassment against my staff, my practice, and me personally…”  the statement read. It was around this time Thakkar told FOX23 News, he learned Cuzalina was recording their audio and video without letting Thakkar know that was happening during his visits to the office. The lawsuit filed by Thakkar's attorney, Paul Boudreaux states: “During this period, and in violation of plaintiff’s medical confidentiality and privileges, Cuzalina hired private investigators and attorneys, and secured hidden audio and video recordings of Plaintiff without Plaintiff's permission or knowledge, in violation of the law and Plaintiff's reasonable expectations of privacy.” “In December of 2011, in the medical record he (Dr. Cuzalina) wrote I am suicidal, but at the same time the medication he is giving me it could easily kill a couple human beings,” said Thakkar. The lawsuit details those drugs: “.. prescribed an excessive amount of medication, enough to kill the patient, if taken, including but not limited to Loratab, Ambien, Valilum, and Oxycodone.” “I have more than 3,000 injections, pain pills and stuff so my liver is pretty much fried,” said Thakkar. FOX23 News learned of Thakkar's story on Friday and called to interview with Cuzalina's attorney, Tim Best. After a few conversations, Best said they are not comfortable doing an interview because they need a signed medical release to speak about Thakkar's medical history. Click for more from Fox News 23. source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/07/man-without-nose-files-lawsuit-against-tulsa-plastic-surgeon/
A New York man living in Tulsa went to get a nose job with a well-established Tulsa plastic surgeon and five years later does not have a nose. Dr. Angelo Cuzalina is known across Green County, Okla., for his plastic surgery. The Oklahoma Medical Board does not show any complaints in his history. He is listed as president of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. “I had the first surgery and suffered some breathing problems, nothing too bad, but it made it hard to exercise and sleep,” said Thakkar. He went back, again and again. Between 2006 and 2007 he had eight surgeries. He then left Tulsa until 2011 and came back for more surgeries. He had several infections. Finally, during a surgery, Thakkar says Cuzalina cut off his nose. “He told me that there was an infection in there and since I was on the operating table and unconscious he had to make the decision,” said Thakkar. On August 31st, 2012 Cuzalina sent Thakkar a form stating he will no longer work on him, “… you are considered medically unstable. Because of your ongoing threats and harassment against my staff, my practice, and me personally…”  the statement read. It was around this time Thakkar told FOX23 News, he learned Cuzalina was recording their audio and video without letting Thakkar know that was happening during his visits to the office. The lawsuit filed by Thakkar's attorney, Paul Boudreaux states: “During this period, and in violation of plaintiff’s medical confidentiality and privileges, Cuzalina hired private investigators and attorneys, and secured hidden audio and video recordings of Plaintiff without Plaintiff's permission or knowledge, in violation of the law and Plaintiff's reasonable expectations of privacy.” “In December of 2011, in the medical record he (Dr. Cuzalina) wrote I am suicidal, but at the same time the medication he is giving me it could easily kill a couple human beings,” said Thakkar. The lawsuit details those drugs: “.. prescribed an excessive amount of medication, enough to kill the patient, if taken, including but not limited to Loratab, Ambien, Valilum, and Oxycodone.” “I have more than 3,000 injections, pain pills and stuff so my liver is pretty much fried,” said Thakkar. FOX23 News learned of Thakkar's story on Friday and called to interview with Cuzalina's attorney, Tim Best. After a few conversations, Best said they are not comfortable doing an interview because they need a signed medical release to speak about Thakkar's medical history. Click for more from Fox News 23. source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/07/man-without-nose-files-lawsuit-against-tulsa-plastic-surgeon/
An unnamed source who was at the hospital where Paris Jackson is recovering from a reported suicide attempt was quoted as saying, “She’s going to be OK.” Well, she isn’t going to be just fine—not without the very best psychiatry has to offer.  And that may or may not be enough. How can I say that without having evaluated Paris Jackson in person?   I can say it because I know human beings are not only emotionally sensitive, but also self-searching.  We need to know our authentic life stories and to have a firm grasp on our truth.  This makes us able to survive the real challenges that any life inevitably includes—such as the loss of loved ones, transitions through adolescence to adulthood, relationships that veer into conflict, people who don’t like us and say so, setbacks and challenges and traumas of every conceivable variety. When you are born to a talented musician addicted to plastic surgery, who conceived you with a woman he hardly knew, who appeared in public in costume, behind dark glasses, you are not going to be OK.  When you are born to a man who was accused by multiple people of being a pedophile, who himself spoke and acted frequently like a little boy, who dangled a child out a window several stories off the ground, you are not going to be OK.  You are going to have a long journey in search of your truth, fraught with pain.  And overcoming all of it will be a significant triumph. It is perhaps telling that Paris Jackson, born into Neverland Ranch as a live product of the entertainment industry, would tweet lyrics from songs as a way of trying to express herself.  “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.  Now, it looks as though they’re here to stay.”  Tweeting them is part of the problem, of course.  Who tweets when having survived a reported suicide attempt?
While elderberry from Austria, acai from the Amazon, maqui from Patagonia and sea-buckthorn berry from Northern Asia have all made headlines as super berries packed with nutrition, a lesser known North American berry is gaining ground, poised to hit the nutritional spotlight as a world class super berry: Aronia. Commonly found wild in woodlands and swamps, aronia is also known as chokeberry, due to its astringent flavor. The berries come naturally in three colors – red, purple and black-purple. Aronia melanocarpa, the black-purple species, has a much deeper purple color than blueberries, which are also North American natives. The berry is now cultivated, and that cultivation is expanding in anticipation of the berry’s impending popularity. The deep purple color of Aronia melanocarpa has attracted a lot of scientific attention. Purple fruits by virtue of their color are rich in the category of antioxidants known as anthocyanins. These pigments demonstrate potent cell-protective properties, and are also anti-inflammatory, helping to reduce systemic inflammation – a key factor in the development of chronic diseases. But this is just the start of the benefits offered by aronia. Digging more into the compounds found in this native berry, scientists have found a number of more specific agents, including caffeic acid, cyanidin-3-galactoside, delphinidin, epicatechin, malvidin, and many more. You’ll likely never have to remember these names, but to health researchers, the presence of these compounds in aronia is big news. Combined, these specific agents in aronia are anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-diabetic. They fight the formation of arterial plaque and lower serum cholesterol, and they protect the liver against a host of insults and toxins.  In our ever-increasingly diabetic society, aronia’s compounds help to lower blood sugar and improve the body’s own natural production of insulin. Several of the compounds in aronia are natural cancer fighters, and protect against the development of tumors of the bladder, breasts, colon, lungs, ovaries and skin. In addition, these compounds fight Crohn’s disease, inhibit HIV, reduce uncomfortable symptoms of PMS and fight herpes. Preliminary studies have also shown that aronia may prove helpful in slowing the growth of glioblastoma – a form of fatal brain cancer. Since the 1940s, aronia has been commercially cultivated in Russia, and since the 1950s, it has been a commercial crop in Europe. In 2009 the Midwest Aronia Association formed in Iowa to provide information and resources to farmers who wanted to get involved with commercial farming of this super berry. According to the association, members are now found in California, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada. In the world of berries, antioxidant activity is a major factor in the endless jockeying for position as top berry. Aronia has greater antioxidant activity than cranberry, blueberry, strawberry, cherry, pomegranate, goji and mangosteen. You can think of aronia as the King Kong of antioxidant berries. This awesome antioxidant power gives growers of the berry confidence that super-stardom for aronia is close at hand. Aronia berry products are already in the market, and some have received coveted USDA Organic certification – the highest standard of agriculture purity in effect today. Unlike strawberries and many other fruits, aronia is naturally pest-resistant and does not require the use of agricultural toxins. This spells good news for those who do not want unhealthy chemicals in their fruits. In the contest for ever healthier foods, aronia is surely a winner in the making. With science demonstrating significant benefits to health, farmers planting large acreage and the media increasingly boosting its fortunes, it’s only a short matter of time before aronia, the North American super berry, leaps to prominence in juices, jams, jellies and many other products.Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at& MedicineHunter.com.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/07/aronia-north-american-super-berry-with-cancer-fighting-benefits/
A young man who drank a quart of soy sauce went into a coma and nearly died from an excess of salt in his body, according to a recent case report. The 19-year-old, who drank the soy sauce after being dared by friends, is the first person known to have deliberately overdosed on such a high amount of salt and survived with no lasting neurological problems, according to the doctors in Virginia who reported his case. The case report was published online June 4 in the Journal of Emergency Medicine. Too much salt in the blood, a condition called hypernatremia, is usually seen in people with psychiatric conditions who develop a strong appetite for the condiment, said Dr. David J. Carlberg, who treated the young man and works as an emergency medicine physician at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Hypernatremia is dangerous because it causes the brain to lose water. When there is too much saltin the bloodstream, water moves out of the body tissues and into the blood by the process of osmosis, to try to equalize the salt concentration between the two. As water the leaves the brain, the organ can shrink and bleed, Carlberg said. After the man drank the soy sauce, he began twitching and having seizures, and the friends took him to an emergency room. That hospital administered anti-seizure medication, and he was already in a coma when he was taken to the hospital where Carlberg was working, the University of Virginia Medical Center, nearly four hours after the event. “He didn't respond to any of the stimuli that we gave him,” Carlberg said. “He had some clonus, which is just elevated reflexes. It's a sign that basically the nervous system wasn't working very well.” The team immediately began flushing the salt out of his system by administering a solution of water and the sugar dextrose through a nasal tube. When they placed the tube, streaks of brown material came out. Within a half hour, they pumped 1.5 gallons (6 liters) of sugar water into the man's body. The man's sodium levels returned to normal after about five hours. He remained in a coma for three days, but woke up on his own. For several days afterward, a part of his brain called the hippocampus showed residual effects from the seizures. But a month after the event, he showed no sign of the overdose: He was back at college, and doing well on his exams, doctors reported. A typical quart of soy sauce has more than 0.35 pounds (0.16 kilograms) of salt, the researchers said. Most cases of sodium overdose happen more gradually. In the 1960s and 1970s, doctors actually gave salt to patients suffering from poisoning, to initiate vomiting, until they realized its harmful effects. Though it's rare in the United States, consuming excess salt was a traditional method for suicide in ancient China, according to the case report. Carlberg said he believes the young man survived because the team got his sodium levels down so quickly. “We were more aggressive than had been reported before in terms of bringing his sodium back down to a safer range,” Carlberg said. Reducing sodium levels more slowly has had poor or mixed results in the past, he said. Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/07/soy-sauce-overdose-sends-man-into-coma/
A Seattle woman is attempting to live without food for six months -- planning to sustain herself on water and sunlight alone. Navenna Shine is calling her experiment “Living on Light.” “This is a paradigm for living in which we as human beings do not have to ingest any kind of food whatsoever into our stomachs in order to thrive,” Shine said. Shine, 65, says her experiment is an attempt to follow an obscure group of yogis called The Breatharians, who for thousands of years have claimed they have the ability to live on light alone. “At 'Living On Light' we propose that we have a nutritional source already embedded within our body/mind/spiritual systems that can give us exactly what we need to be healthy and well,” Shine wrote on her website. “Since we do not yet know exactly what that source is I am symbolically calling it Light.” Thursday marked Shine’s 33rd day without food, although she has lost more than 20 pounds. In order to verify that she is indeed sticking to the diet, Shine has placed several cameras throughout her house to keep a record of the experiment.  She also hopes to begin live-streaming her experience within the next few weeks. Click for more from My Fox 8. To follow Shine's updates, visit her Facebook page.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/07/woman-attempting-to-live-on-nothing-but-water-and-sunlight-for-6-months/
Women who use birth control pills are less likely to develop ovarian cancer later in life, a new analysis of past studies suggests. Researchers pooled data from 24 studies and found birth control pill users had a 27 percent lower risk of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And longer use seemed to be tied to more protection. “It reinforces that there is a positive relationship between the use of oral contraceptives and ovarian cancer prevention in the general public,” said Dr. Laura Havrilesky, who led the study at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. “I think it adds some scientific weight to that relationship.” However, the review paper can't prove that using oral contraception lowers a woman's risk of disease - because there could have been other, unmeasured differences between women who took birth control pills and those who didn't, researchers noted. About one in 72 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer during her lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. The disease is often caught at an advanced stage, and the majority of women who are diagnosed will die from ovarian cancer. So researchers are eager to find ways to lower a woman's chance of developing it in the first place. Eating a healthy diet and maintaining a normal weight may be one way to do that. Some studies have suggested that using birth control pills - which contain the hormones estrogen and progestin or progestin only - may also lower a woman's risk over the long run. To clear up that picture, Havrilesky and her colleagues combined data from 24 studies that compared thousands of women who took birth control pills for various lengths of time, at a range of ages, with those who didn't use oral contraception. Any use of birth controls pill was linked to a lower risk of ovarian cancer, they found. Women who were on birth control pills for 10 years or longer were half as likely to develop the disease as those who didn't use them at all, the study team reported Wednesday in Obstetrics & Gynecology. If birth control pills themselves were responsible for that reduced risk, the researchers calculated that 185 women would have to use it for five years to prevent one case of ovarian cancer. But, because none of the studies randomly assigned women to take birth control pills or not - each woman made the decision with her own doctor - it's not clear that the contraceptives, themselves, explain the whole cancer difference. Use caution The researchers said there hasn't been enough time to study how the specific hormone formulations in contemporary birth control pills affect ovarian cancer risk decades down the line. Because of that and other limitations, women should use “considerable caution” when figuring the new findings into their own personal decisions about birth control, they wrote. What's more, other research suggests women who take birth control pills are at a higher risk of developing cervical cancer, said Eduardo Franco, head of cancer epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. “It is the sort of thing that requires a frank conversation between a woman and healthcare provider,” Franco, who wasn't involved in the new research, told Reuters Health. He said the findings are not surprising and that many doctors are convinced birth control pills do lower ovarian cancer risk. “I don't think there's a question of the link,” Franco said. What's important, he added, is “understanding the caveats that come with the reduced risk of ovarian cancer.” “What we've got right now may be the best evidence that we ever are able to have. I don't necessarily think that it is enough to tell a physician to have their patients use oral contraceptives solely for the purpose of preventing ovarian cancer,” Havrilesky told Reuters Health. “But I think it's enough to say this is a possible advantage in women who are considering use of oral contraceptives” for birth control or other medical reasons, she said.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/07/birth-control-pills-tied-to-lower-ovarian-cancer-risk/
The younger and healthier a small business's workforce, the greater its chances of facing a big spike in health-insurance premiums next year. That is because the Affordable Care Act's impact on small employers will split largely on generational and industry lines, putting entrepreneurs like Eileen Hasson, owner of a technology-services firm with mostly male employees in their 20s and 30s, at a disadvantage. Starting in January, insurers will no longer be able to set premiums for small-group plans—which apply to employers with fewer than 50 or 100 employees, depending on the state—based on a firm's industry or the health or gender of its staff. Insurers will still be able to take into account the age of a firm's workers, though to a lesser extent, and whether or not those people use tobacco. The result: the cost of health care will be more evenly spread among small businesses, as employers with mostly young and healthy workers pick up the costs of firms that comprise the opposite. The rebalancing will drive up premiums for some companies in industries with lots of young, healthy workers, such as technology, while moderating rate increases for firms with older and sicker workers, and in higher-risk industries such as industrial manufacturing. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/07/how-new-health-law-could-raise-costs-for-young-healthy-employees/
Some 165 million children worldwide are stunted by malnutrition as babies and face a future of ill health, poor education, low earnings and poverty, the head of the United Nations children's fund said on Friday. Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF, told Reuters the problem of malnutrition is vastly under-appreciated, largely because poor nutrition is often mistaken for a lack of food. In reality, he said, malnutrition and its irreversible health consequences also affect relatively well-off countries, such as India where there is plenty of food, but access to it is unequal and nutritional content can be low. “Undernutrition, and especially stunting, is one of the least recognized crises for children in the world,” Lake said. “It's a horrible thing. These children are condemned.” Stunting is the consequence of undernutrition in the first 1,000 or so days of a baby's life, including during gestation. Stunted children learn less in school and are more likely themselves to live in poverty and go on to have children also stunted by poor nutrition. These in turn increase poverty in affected countries and regions, and drive greater gaps between the rich and the poor, Lake said. “The numbers are phenomenal. In India, for example, about 48 percent of children are stunted, and in Yemen it's almost 60 percent. Just think of the drag on development,” Lake said. “And the key point is that it is absolutely irreversible. You can feed up an underweight child, but with a stunted child, because of the effects on the brain, it has a permanently reduced cognitive capacity by the age of around two years old.” “Nutrition for growth” Lake spoke to Reuters in London ahead of a “Nutrition for Growth” summit on Saturday co-hosted by the British and Brazilian governments and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), at which donor countries are expected to pledge more funding to tackle the problem. The summit coincides with the publication in The Lancet medical journal of a series of studies on the issue, which found that as well as the 165 million children stunted by poor nutrition, nearly half of all deaths among under fives - 3.1 million deaths a year - are caused by malnutrition. UNICEF says it wants to focus global efforts for now on 20 countries - mostly in Africa and Asia - which are home to 70 percent of the world's stunted children. The cost of tackling poor nutrition in these countries is estimated to be about $7 billion a year, Lake said. Saturday's summit aims to secure pledges for about half that amount. Securing those funds and using them effectively to improve nutrition would be “extraordinarily cost-effective”, Lake said, since the negative effects of malnutrition and stunting currently cost an estimated 11 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) economic output in Africa and Asia. Achieving food security - ensuring countries have enough food to go around - however, should not be mistaken for addressing the problem of poor nutrition, he said. “The fact is that India, with 48 percent (childhood) stunting, is considered food secure - but that doesn't mean food is distributed equitably within India. “And in Africa, for instance, if you only eat cassava, then your belly may be full and you may technically have food security, but that doesn't mean you're getting the nutrition needed to prevent stunting.” Lake also stressed that increased funding was only part of the solution and that spending donor funds wisely in trusted community-based programs is essential. Such programs need to cover a range of measures, including promoting more nutritious foods, recommending exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby's life and using micronutrient supplements to boost vitamin A, folic acid, zinc and iron.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/07/malnutrition-condemns-millions-to-stunted-lives-unicef-claims/