Thursday, September 26, 2013

Marijuana affects the index iq

Marijuana affects the index iq.
A supplementary judgement challenges previous research that suggested teens put their long-term brainpower in risk when they smoke marijuana heavily. Instead, the breakdown indicated that the earlier findings could have been thrown off by another ingredient - the effect of poverty on IQ. The author of the unusual analysis, Ole Rogeberg, cautioned that his theory may not hold much water skincare. "Or, it may decay out that it explains a lot," said Rogeberg, a inquiry economist at the Ragnar Frisch Center for Economic Research in Oslo, Norway.

The authors of the incipient study responded to a plea for comment with a joint statement saying they stand by their findings. "While Dr Rogeberg's ideas are interesting, they are not supported by our data," wrote researchers Terrie Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi and Madeline Meier. Moffitt and Caspi are nature professors at Duke University, while Meier is a postdoctoral companion there.

Their study, published in August in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, attracted media prominence because it suggested that smoking pot-belly has more than short-term stuff on how rank and file think. Based on an inquiry of mental tests given to more than 1000 New Zealanders when they were 13 and 38, the Duke researchers found that those who heavily occupied marijuana as teens devastated an average of eight IQ points over that set period.

It didn't seem to matter if the teens later chop off back on smoking pot or stopped using it entirely. In the squat term, people who use marijuana have memory problems and discompose focusing, research has shown. So, why wouldn't users have problems for years?

Monday, September 23, 2013

An Approved Vaccine To Treat Prostate Cancer Has Few Side Effects

An Approved Vaccine To Treat Prostate Cancer Has Few Side Effects.
The newly approved healing prostate cancer vaccine, Provenge, is non-poisonous and has few inconsequential effects, a altered study finds. In April, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine for use in men with advanced prostate cancer who had failed hormone therapy erection. "Provenge was approved based on both protection and clinical data," said guide researcher Dr Simon J Hall, easy chair of urology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

This refuge text shows that there are very restrictive philosophy effects, Hall added. The advantage of the vaccine for patients with metastatic hormone-resistant prostate cancer is that it has fewer faction junk than chemotherapy, which is the only other treatment option for these patients, Hall explained. In addition, Provenge has improved survival over chemotherapy, he added.

The common survival spell for men given Provenge is 4,5 months, although some patients saying their lives extended by two to three years. "This is a newly present treatment, with very restricted side effects, compared to anything else that a man would be inasmuch as in this state," Hall said. Hall was to present the results on Monday at the American Urological Association annual meet in San Francisco.

Data from four look 3 trials, which included 904 men randomized to either Provenge or placebo, showed the vaccine extended survival, improved mark of fixation and had only mild side effects. In fact, more than 83 percent of the men who received Provenge were able to do operate activities without any restrictions, the researchers noted.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Fungus From Pacific Northwest Not So Dangerous

Fungus From Pacific Northwest Not So Dangerous.
The late "killer" fungus spreading through the is ingredient fact but also part hype, experts say. "It's once and for all real in that we've been seeing this fungus in North America since 1999 and it's causing a lot more meningitis than you would envisage in the general population, but this is still a first-rate disease," said Christina Hull, an auxiliary professor of medical microbiology and immunology and of biomolecular chemistry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison effect. Cryptococcus gattii, historically a abiding of more tropical climates, was premier discovered in North America on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1999 and has since made its manner to Washington magnificence and now, more recently, to Oregon.

So "It's a tension that appears to have come from Australia at some quiddity and has adapted to living somewhere cooler than usual," Hull said. From the application of view of sheer numbers, the new C gattii hardly seems alarming. It infected 218 grass roots on Vancouver Island, genocide close to 9 percent of those infected.

In the United States, the dying rate has been higher but, again, few consumers have been infected. "At its peak, we were whereas about 36 cases per million per year, so that is a very scanty number," Hull said. Michael Horseman, an associate professor of pharmaceutics practice at Texas A&M Health Science Center Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy in Kingsville, puts the overall annihilation estimate in the "upper single digits to the discredit teens. It's not quite what I've been reading in the newspapers".

Experts had been anxious because the new fungus seems to have some striking characteristics, unconventional from those seen in other locales. For one thing, the North American C gattii seemed to be attacking otherwise beneficial people, not those with compromised insusceptible systems, as was the case in the past. But closer inspection reveals that not all healthful individuals are vulnerable.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Combination Of The Two Inhalers For Asthma Greatly Reduces The Use Of Corticosteroids

The Combination Of The Two Inhalers For Asthma Greatly Reduces The Use Of Corticosteroids.
Asthma patients typically use two inhaled drugs - one a fast-acting "rescue inhaler" to pedicel attacks and another long-lasting one to proscribe them. However, combining both in one inhaler may be best for some patients, two unusual studies suggest. Patients with soften to bitter asthma who employed a syndication inhaler had fewer attacks than those on two disengage inhalers, researchers report. Both studies tested the supposed SMART (single maintenance and reliever therapy) protocol tryvimax.com. "The SMART administration was more effective as a healing for asthma than the conventional treatment, where you just use a inhaler at a fixed maintenance amount and a short-acting inhaler for the relief of symptoms," said Dr Richard Beasley, impresario of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand in Wellington and escort researcher of one of the studies.

These drugs are a coalition of a corticosteroid (such as budesonide or fluticasone) and a long-acting beta-2 agonist (such as salmeterol or formoterol) and are sold under various identify names including Seretide, Symbicort and Advair. In asthma, curing increases as the simplicity of the condition does, Beasley said. So, this bloc therapy isn't the first choice.

When the asthma is troubled to control with other methods, "we are now recommending the SMART regime," he said. "You take out the patients according to their needs," Beasley said. "This is certainly not what you creation them on - it is something you would use on centrist to severe patients".

In the United States, use of these combination inhalers is also not considered first-line analysis for asthma, according to Dr Len Horovitz, a pulmonary expert at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Patients, however, are currently using these mixture inhalers," he said. If the asthma is regulate to severe, then a combination inhaler is appropriate, said Horovitz, who was not implicated with either new study.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Increased Cost Of Junk Food May Reduces The Consumption Of Harmful Calories

Increased Cost Of Junk Food May Reduces The Consumption Of Harmful Calories.
When the rate of debris viands increases, people overwhelm less of it, a new study has found 4rx box. US researchers monitored the dietary habits and condition of 5115 young adults, elderly 18 to 30, beginning in 1985 to 1986 and continuing through 2005 to 2006.

During those 20 years, a 10 percent lengthen in quotation was associated with a 7 percent decrease in the amount of calories consumed from soda and a 12 percent curtail in the amount of calories consumed from pizza. In addition, a put down overall daily calorie intake, modulate body weight and an improved insulin resistance gull was noted when the cost of soda or pizza was $1 more, and when the outlay of both soda and pizza was an extra dollar each, even greater improvements in these measures of fettle were noted in participants.

The researchers fitted that an 18 percent tax on unhealthy foods would limit consumption by about 56 calories per person per day, which would outrun to a weight loss of about five pounds per man per year, lowering the risk of obesity-related diseases. "In conclusion, our findings suggest that national, confirm or local policies to transform the price of less healthful foods and beverages may be one possible way for steering US adults toward a more healthful diet," Kiyah J Duffey, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a news programme release.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Very Few People Over Age 50 Are Diagnosed By Detection Of Skin Cancer

Very Few People Over Age 50 Are Diagnosed By Detection Of Skin Cancer.
Too few middle-aged and older pale Americans are being screened for lamina cancer, a nice dilemma among those who did not finish extreme school or receive other common cancer screenings, a new writing-room has found nuskha for penis looz only herbal. Researchers analyzed data from 10,486 ashen men and women, aged 50 and older, who took business in the 2005 National Health Interview Survey.

Only 16 percent of men and 13 percent of women reported having a hide exam in the past year. The lowest rates of excoriate cancer screenings were among men and women old 50 to 64, people with some high school drilling or less, those without a history of skin cancer, and those who hadn't had a recent screening for heart of hearts cancer, prostate cancer or colorectal cancer.

So "With those older than 50 being at a higher jeopardize for developing melanoma, our reading results clearly indicate that more intervention is needed in this population," research author Elliot J Coups, a behavioral scientist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and an companion professor of c physic at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said in a dope release from the institute. "Of particular interest is the total of education one has and how that may affect whether a person is screened or not screened for coat cancer.

Is it a matter of a person not knowing the importance of such an examination or where to get such a screening and from whom? Is it a amount of one's insurance not covering a dermatologist or there being no coverage at all? We are optimistic this study leads to further powwow among health-care professionals, particularly among community physicians, about what steps can be bewitched to ensure their patients are receiving word on skin cancer screening and are being presented with opportunities to acquire that examination," Coups said. Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Ethnicity and vitamin d

Ethnicity and vitamin d.
Black Americans who write down vitamin D supplements may significantly disgrace their blood pressure, a creative study suggests. "Compared with other races, blacks in the United States are more odds-on to have vitamin D deficiency and more undoubtedly to have high blood pressure," said lead researcher Dr John Forman, an aide-de-camp professor of medicine at the renal group of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston breast. But amongst the black study participants, three months of supplemental vitamin D was associated with a declivity in systolic blood require (the top number in a blood pressure reading) of up to 4 mm Hg, the researchers found.

And "If our findings are confirmed by other studies, then vitamin D supplementation may be a beneficial means of ration raven individuals lower their blood pressure," Forman said. Dr Michael Holick, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine, said that vitamin D may modulate blood put the screws on by causing blood vessels to relax, allowing for more and easier blood flow.

In addition, because many sombre Americans are faulty in vitamin D, delightful a insert may benefit their health even more, said Holick, who was not involved with the study. "We are now beginning to accept that a lot of the health disparities between blacks and whites are due to vitamin D deficiency, including the jeopardy for type 2 diabetes, nerve disease, cancers and even infectious disease," he said.

Diet and sunlight are two honest sources of vitamin D in humans. However, having dark-colored strip cuts down on the quantity of vitamin D the skin makes, according to the US National Institutes of Health. For the study, published online March 13 and in the April issue affair of the journal Hypertension, Forman's set randomly assigned 250 black participants to one of three doses of vitamin D supplements or an idle placebo.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Raccoon Bite Can Kill Three More People

Raccoon Bite Can Kill Three More People.
Rabies caused the extirpation of an instrument transplant legatee in Maryland, and three other patients who received organs from the same benefactor are getting anti-rabies shots, government health officials announced Friday. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the operation and Maryland haleness officials have confirmed that the patient who died in near the start March contracted rabies from the donated organ skinexfoliator. The relocate was done more than a year ago.

The length of time the patient took to blossom rabies symptoms was much longer than the typical rabies incubation aeon of one to three months, but is consistent with previous reports of dream of incubation periods, officials said in a statement. Both the unit donor and the recipient had a raccoon-type rabies virus, according to the CDC's groundwork analysis of tissue samples. This prototype of rabies infects not only raccoons, but also other wild and domestic animals.

In the United States, only one other child is reported to have died from raccoon-type rabies virus. In 2011, the structure donor became ill, was admitted to a dispensary in Florida and then died. The donor's organs, including the kidneys, affection and liver, were transplanted into recipients in Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Maryland.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Implantable Devices Are Not A Panacea, But The Ability To Relieve Migraine Attacks

Implantable Devices Are Not A Panacea, But The Ability To Relieve Migraine Attacks.
An implantable gubbins unseen in the nape of the neck may exceptional more headache-free days for populace with severe migraines that don't rejoin to other treatments, a new study suggests. More than 36 million Americans get migraine headaches, which are prominent by animated pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and vomiting, according to the Migraine Research Foundation vitoviga. Medication and lifestyle changes are the first-line treatments for migraine, but not person improves with these measures.

The St Jude Medical Genesis neurostimulator is a short, scant swathe that is implanted behind the neck. A battery deck is then implanted elsewhere in the body. Activating the logotype stimulates the occipital nerve and can obscured the pain of migraine headache. "There are a large number of patients for whom nothing mechanism and whose lives are ruined by the daily pain of their migraine headache, and this ruse has the potential to help some of them," said weigh author Dr Stephen D Silberstein, director of the Jefferson Headache Center in Philadelphia.

The study, which was funded by logo industrialist St Jude Medical Inc, is slated for delivery on Thursday at the International Headache Congress in Berlin, and is the largest review to date on the device. The company is now seeking approval for the design in Europe and then plans to submit their data to the US Food and Drug Administration for imprimatur in the United States.

Researchers tested the unusual device in 157 people who had severe migraines about 26 days out of each month. After 12 weeks, those who received the revitalized mark of cadency had seven more headache-free days per month, compared to one more headache-free date per month seen among people in the conduct group.

Individuals in the control arm did not receive stimulation until after the victory 12 weeks. Study participants who received the stimulator also reported less savage headaches and improvements in their quality of life. After one year, 66 percent of populate in the study said they had peerless or good pain relief.

The pain reduction seen in the study did succumb short of FDA standards, which call for a 50 percent reduction in pain. "The emblem is invisible to the eye, but not to the touch," said Silberstein. The implantation ways and means involves neighbourhood anesthesia along with conscious sedation so you are awake, but not fully aware.

There may be some calming pain associated with this surgery, he said. Study co-author Dr Joel Saper, establisher and director of Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, and a colleague of the hortatory board for the Migraine Research Foundation, said this treatment could be an important option for some people with migraines.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

This Is The First Trial Of Gene Therapy For Patients With Heart Failure

This Is The First Trial Of Gene Therapy For Patients With Heart Failure.
By substituting a trim gene for a on the fritz one, scientists were able to in part put the heart's ability to pump in 39 kindness failure patients, researchers report. "This is the maiden time gene therapy has been tested and shown to improve outcomes for patients with advanced pith failure," study lead novelist Dr Donna Mancini, professor of medicine and the Sudhir Choudhrie professor of cardiology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, said in a university hearsay release example here. "The psychotherapy factory by replenishing levels of an enzyme of the utmost importance for the heart to pump more efficiently by introducing the gene for SERCA2a, which is depressed in these patients.

If these results are confirmed in following trials, this course could be an alternative to heart transplant for patients without any other options," she added. Mancini presented the results Monday at the annual gathering of the American Heart Association (AHA) in Chicago. The gene for SERCA2a raises levels of the enzyme back to where the humanitarianism can deliver more efficiently.

The enzyme regulates calcium cycling, which, in turn, is implicated in how well the quintessence contracts, the researchers said. "Heart lead balloon is a defect in contractility related to calcium cycling," explained Dr Robert Eckel, old times president of the AHA and professor of c physic at the University of Colorado Denver.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease Should Reduce The Dose Of Medication For Anemia

Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease Should Reduce The Dose Of Medication For Anemia.
Doctors should use the anemia drugs Procrit, Epogen and Aranesp more cautiously in patients with lasting kidney disease, US robustness officials said Friday. The redesigned foreshadowing comes in retort to statistics showing that patients on these drugs dial a higher risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attack, magnanimity failure, stroke, blood clots and death, the US Food and Drug Administration said education college university aeronautical engineering. "FDA is recommending new, more middle-of-the-road dosing recommendations for erythropoiesis-stimulating agents ESAs for patients with confirmed kidney disease," Dr Robert C Kane, acting intermediary guide for safety in the division of hematology products, said during a announcement conference Friday.

These recommendations are being added to the narcotic label's black box warning and sections of the carton inserts, he said. This is not the first time well-being risks have been linked to these anemia drugs. They have also been tied to increased tumor nurturing in cancer patients and may cause some patients to die sooner.

Also, cancer patients have an increased imperil of blood clots, tenderness attack, heart failure and stroke, according to the FDA. Procrit, Epogen and Aranesp are counterfeit versions of a human protein known as erythropoietin that prods bone marrow to create red blood cells.

The drugs are typically cast-off to treat anemia in cancer patients and to set the need for frequent blood transfusions. Anemia also occurs in patients with lingering kidney disease. Anemia results from the body's unqualifiedness to produce enough red blood cells, which carry the hemoglobin needed to carry oxygen to the cells.

Currently, labels on these drugs remark ESAs should be used to achieve and persist in hemoglobin levels within 10 to 12 grams per deciliter of blood in patients with dyed in the wool kidney disease. These object levels will no longer be given on the label, the agency added. Hemoglobin levels greater than 11 grams per deciliter of blood increases the endanger of stroke, nucleus attack, heart lemon and blood clots and haven't been proven to provide any additional help to patients, according to the FDA.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

New Methods In The Study Of Breast Cancer

New Methods In The Study Of Breast Cancer.
An theoretical blood analysis could succour show whether women with advanced breast cancer are responding to treatment, a prefatory study suggests. The test detects peculiar DNA from tumor cells circulating in the blood. And the experimental findings, reported in the March 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, indication that it could outperform existing blood tests at gauging some women's reaction to treatment for metastatic heart of hearts cancer pillarder.com. That's an advanced form of breast cancer, where tumors have growth to other parts of the body - most often the bones, lungs, liver or brain.

There is no cure, but chemotherapy, hormonal cure or other treatments can disinclined disease progression and ease symptoms. The sooner doctors can direct whether the treatment is working, the better. That helps women escape the side effects of an ineffective therapy, and may empower them to switch to a better one.

Right now, doctors monitor metastatic boob cancer with the help of imaging tests, such as CT scans. They may also use indisputable blood tests - including one that detects tumor cells floating in the bloodstream, and one that measures a tumor "marker" called CA 15-3.

But imaging does not be sure the undamaged story, and it can risk women to significant doses of radiation. The blood tests also have limitations and are not routinely used. "Practically speaking, there's a prodigious difficulty for novel methods" of monitoring women, said Dr Yuan Yuan, an helpmeet professor of medical oncology at City of Hope cancer center in Duarte, Calif.

For the untrained study, researchers at the University of Cambridge in England took blood samples from 30 women being treated for metastatic bust cancer and having conventional imaging tests. They found that the tumor DNA evaluate performed better than either the CA 15-3 or the tumor room probe when it came to estimating the women's treatment response. Of 20 women the researchers were able to follow for more than 100 days, 19 showed cancer development on their CT scans.

And 17 of them had shown rising tumor DNA levels. In contrast, only seven had a rising or slue of tumor cells, while nine had an rise in CA 15-3 levels. For 10 of those 19 women, tumor DNA was on the take to the air an customary of five months before CT scans showed their cancer was progressing. "The take-home essence is that circulating tumor DNA is a better monitoring biomarker than the existing Food and Drug Administration-approved ones," said chief researcher Dr Carlos Caldas.