Tag Archives: cancer

‘Undruggable’ cancer may be druggable after all: New target identified

The gene, SALL4, gives stem cells their ability to continue dividing as stem cells rather than becoming mature cells. Typically, cells only express SALL4 during embryonic development, but the gene is re-expressed in nearly all cases of acute myeloid leukemia and 10 to 30 percent of liver, lung, gastric, ovarian, endometrial, and breast cancers, strongly suggesting it plays a role in tumor formation. In work published in the New England Journal of Medicine, two HSCI-affiliated labs — one in Singapore and the other in Boston — show that knocking out the SALL4 gene in mouse liver tumors, or interfering with the activity of its protein product with a small inhibitor, treats the cancer. "Our paper is about liver cancer, but it is likely true about lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, many, many cancers," said HSCI Blood Diseases Program leader Daniel Tenen, who also heads a laboratory at the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore)…

Napping: Helpful or harmful to your sleep?

As kids, we did everything we could to avoid taking a nap. But as adults, some days we would do anything just to get one. We recently received this question from a viewer:                 Dear Dr. Manny, Do afternoon naps help or disturb sleep later on in the night? Thanks, Jamie Your body’s clock creates a feeling of sleepiness between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. – and also a little in the afternoon. The longer you stay awake, the more likely you are to go into deeper stages of sleep when you finally do lay down at night. Scientists think this is caused by a buildup of a neurotransmitter in the brain called adenosine, which increases with each waking hour. Taking a nap causes the brain to get rid of adenosine rapidly, so you may have a harder time falling asleep later on in the night. However, there are some benefits to taking short naps during the day. Studies show that people who took midday naps performed up to 20 percent better in memory exercises than those who didn’t. Researchers believe sleep may help clear out the hippocampus – the part of the brain responsible for short-term memory – to make room for new information. But napping for too long can leave you feeling groggy, so try to keep your cat naps to about 20 minutes or less. Do you have a health question for Dr. Manny? Send it to DrManny@foxnews.com.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/02/do-afternoon-naps-disturb-sleep-later-on-at-night/

‘Gene signature’ test diagnoses benign thyroid growths

"We have developed a ‘gene signature’ that effectively identifies benign thyroid nodules," said Hernan Gonzalez, MD, PhD, associate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago. "This test is potentially useful to identify patients who do not require surgery." The thyroid gland, located in the front of the neck, secretes thyroid hormone…

Exposure to BPA in developing prostate increases risk of later cancer: Ubiquitous plasticizers may have long-term health effects

Prins presented her findings at the ENDO 2013 meeting in San Francisco June 17. "This is the first direct evidence that exposure to BPA during development, at the levels we see in our day-to-day environment, increases the risk for prostate cancer in human prostate tissue," said Prins, professor of physiology and director of the andrology laboratory in urology at the UIC College of Medicine. The increased risk can be traced to prostate stem and progenitor cells which become "sensitized" to estrogen early in development through exposure to BPA — which mimics estrogen in the body. …

Vitamin D supplementation may delay precocious puberty in girls

Among girls, puberty generally begins between the ages of 10 and 14. Boys undergo these changes later, usually between 12 to 16 years of age. Precocious puberty is diagnosed in girls when sexual development begins before the age of 8; in boys, it is diagnosed when these changes occur before age 9. Recently, medical research has linked vitamin D deficiency to a number of diseases, including cancer, obesity and autoimmune disease. …

Australian woman develops French accent after being injured in car accident

After a serious car accident, an Australian woman has fully recovered from her injuries, except for one very bizarre side effect: She now speaks with a French accent. Leann Rowe’s ordeal began eight years ago, when she woke up in Melbourne’s Austin Hospital after her accident with a broken back and jaw. As her jaw began to heal, Rowe regained her ability to speak, but she noticed that she was slurring her words.  Eventually the slurring transformed into a French accent – which has yet to leave. Rowe said she has never been to France and doesn’t have any French friends – though she did study French in school. Rowe suffers from an extremely rare condition known as Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS), which causes people to develop an accent different from their native way of speaking, the Herald Sun reported.  Between 1941 and 2012, there have only been 62 recorded cases of FAS worldwide.  The condition occurs when certain tissues in the brain associated with speech are damaged. While her new ability may seem exciting to some, Rowe said the condition has made her feel depressed and anxious. Click for more from the Herald Sun.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/17/australian-woman-develops-french-accent-after-being-injured-in-car-accident/

Medical assessment in the blink of an eye

There are many routes to making snap judgments (not all of them particularly useful). One of these is our ability to get the "gist" of an entire image by analyzing the whole scene at once, based on interpretation of global properties and image statistics, not focusing on specific details.That seems to be what medical experts can do. They are not perfect in a fraction of a second but they do far better than random guessing when classifying medical images as normal or abnormal even though, in that blink of an eye, they cannot tell you where the problem might be located. …

Venezuela considers prohibiting bottle feeding for infants

Venezuela's Congress will discuss legislation this week that would prohibit bottle feeding of infants to try to encourage breast feeding and reduce the use of baby formula, said a lawmaker of the ruling Socialist Party. Legislator Odalis Monzon said the proposal would “prohibit all types of baby bottles” as a way to improve children's health. “We want to increase the love (between mother and child) because this has been lost as a result of these transnational companies selling formula,” Monzon said on state television on Thursday. She said the Law for the Promotion and Support for Breast-Feeding, passed in 2007, did not establish any sanctions for using formula. However, she did not say what the sanctions might be if the proposed change to prohibit bottle feeding is passed by Congress, where the Socialist Party has a majority. Monzon said, however, that exceptions would be allowed, such as in the case of the death of a mother, or for women with limited breast milk production, as determined by the health ministry. She did not respond to phone calls seeking details, including how long babies would be breast-fed. Such legislation would likely raise the ire of opposition sympathizers who say the government of the late President Hugo Chavez excessively extended the reach of the state into the lives of private citizens. “People are free to feed their children as they see fit,” said Ingrid Rivero, a 27-year-old mother in Caracas. “My daughter stopped breast feeding after seven months. What can I do?

Number of new primary care physicians in US ‘abysmally low’

Fewer doctors in the United States are choosing to become primary care physicians – especially in rural areas of the country, Medical Daily reported. In fact, the rate at which U.S. medical schools are producing primary care physicians is “abysmally low,” said Dr. Candice Chen, from the George Washington University School of Public Health and Human Services. Chen and her fellow researchers studied a group of nearly 9,000 doctors who graduated from more than 750 different residency sites between 2006 and 2008. Less than a quarter of these doctors chose to become primary care physicians after their residencies, and less than one in 20 chose to work in rural areas of the country, according to Medical Daily. Additionally, 198 of the 759 medical institutions studied failed to graduate a single doctor who went on to practice in a rural area. “If residency programs do not ramp up the training of these physicians, the shortage in primary care – especially in remote areas – will get worse,” Chen told reporters. “The study's findings raise questions about whether federally funded graduate medical education institutions are meeting the nation's need for primary care physicians.” Some experts believe the country's medical education system will need to change to fix the shortage. An editorial published in the New York Times suggested that the U.S. educate future doctors for free to eliminate the large debt most medical students incur. The program would be funded by issuing penalties to any doctor who chose to pursue a specialty outside of primary care. Click for more from Medical Daily.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/17/number-new-primary-care-physicians-in-us-abysmally-low/

Meet the man who claims he doesn’t need food

It may seem a little hard to digest, but a man who hasn’t eaten three solid meals a day in months claims he has stumbled upon the secret to good health — and it doesn’t involve calorie counting and exercise. But Rob Rhinehart isn’t on a fad diet or starving himself in a bid to lose weight. He simply wanted to revolutionize his life when he created what he says is a formula which gives his body the exact amount of vitamins and minerals it needs to survive. Spurned on by a poor diet and lack of time to shop and prepare food, the 24-year-old began researching what his body needed, down to the biochemical level, and made Soylent — a drink mixture of vitamins and minerals which includes calcium, potassium, zinc, vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K. “I was really tired of eating poorly and wondered why it had to be difficult to obtain healthy food,” he said. “I started seeing food on a biochemical level and developed a new form that is much more efficient and scalable by including only the necessary components — and was surprised to find it worked.” He swapped his favorite pizzas, burgers and other foods with his Soylent formula for a month and says he begun to enjoy food for the first time as he learned how to eat for pleasure instead of greed. Mr Rhinehart, who now has Soylent for 90 percent of his meals, said he believed his formula could be the ideal replacement for unhealthy fast food, or for time-poor people who wanted to avoid the stress of shopping and cooking. Not to be confused with the 1973 sci-fi film Soylent Green in which most of the population lives off rations including one aptly called Soylent Green, Mr Rhinehart’s says his formula may be just as effective in helping solve food shortages. He admits to still having the occasional craving for a big hearty meal, but says he mostly wants healthy, fresh tasting flavors. “I still eat, but I have not been to the grocery store, cooked, or cleaned a dish in months,” he said. “I enjoy my favorite foods a few times per week, mostly out with friends on the weekends, which is really all I crave.” Mr Rhinehart insists his diet is far from boring. “I assumed I would quickly get tired of the taste but this does not happen,” he writes in his blog. “It’s really nice to always be full and healthy, and still enjoy food just for fun when I want to.” And he reckons even the biggest foodie could learn to eat less using a mix of Soylent and prepared meals as people would be left with more time to enjoy the things they want. “People will find a good balance of Soylent meals and regular meals to ensure maximum enjoyment of food and health. I think it could vastly improve our relationship with food and agriculture,” he said. But nutritionists warn that such a formula-type diet is not only restrictive, but unsustainable. Sydney-based nutritionist Susie Burrell said while supplements could be developed to replace the contents of a meal, the reality was that humans enjoyed sitting down to meals. “While technically you can develop supplements that replace the nutrients content of a meal, which can be used to support weight loss or feed those who do not have access to food, the reality is that human beings like to eat, which is why dietary restriction and meal replacements are not proven to work long term,” she said. “Claiming such a product can solve the nutrition issues of the world is a simplistic view of very complex issues including obesity, malnutrition, food security, eating behaviour and basic nutrition.” Nutrition consultant Tracie Hyam said Mr Rhinehart may think he’s learning to eat properly, but that it actually wasn’t the case. “Meal-replacement shakes can definitely have a place in a weight-loss program or plan, but in the long-term the shakes will not deliver a healthy eating habit for him,” she said, adding there were a lot of other reasons such a diet was far from ideal. “If his digestive system isn’t used to chewing or digesting food, that one meal a week out with friends might be a big shock to the system,” she said. “Food in moderation, and definitely nutritious food, is there to be enjoyed. So replacing most meals of the day, is really taking away that enjoyment.” Click for more from news.com.au. source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/17/meet-man-who-doesnt-need-food/