or obese, study participants who took 500 milligrams of Vitamin c daily saw equal improvement in blood vessel tone key measure of cardiovascular health as did those who took up a three-month regimen of brisk walking five to seven times a week, investigators at the University of Colorado at Boulder
while 20 took the Vitamin c supplements may also limit the uptake of its findings by public health officials,
As a result, these subjects were increased at risk of developing high blood pressure and suffering heart attacks and strokes.
The study's lead author, Caitlin Dow, said the findings were particularly important for people who cannot exercise because of injury or physical limitations."
a postdoctoral fellow at Colorado who conducts research on nutrition and vascular biology. Dow underscored that engaging in regular physical activity appears to have broader effects lowering"bad"cholesterol,
"If we can improve different measures of risk for disease without changing weight, it takes a little bit of the pressure off some people,
While Vitamin c"certainly isn a new cure, "she added, "it important to know what other lifestyle changes we can offer people who can exercise."
The most common complaints with high doses of Vitamin c are diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps and other gastrointestinal disturbances.
which has not be replicated, has found that in postmenopausal women with diabetes, taking a daily 300-mg Vitamin c supplement was associated significantly with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.
High Vitamin c intakes also may contribute to the formation of kidney stones, especially in individuals with renal disorders i
#Cancer Tech: New Devices Could Speed up Treatment Treating cancer is sometimes a process of trial and error,
because any given drug or drug combination does not work the same for all patients.
while doctors seek the right chemicals to beat back a tumor. Now, two research teams say they have found ways to speed up the process by allowing doctors to try multiple treatments at once:
One is an implantable device, and the other is a special injection device. In Seattle, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research center and the company Presage Biosciences designed a device called CIVO that includes up to eight needles arranged in an array.
The device can be used to inject multiple drugs into tumors that are close to the surface of a person's skin.
First, the needles are loaded with drugs, pressed into the tumor and then withdrawn, with each needle leaving behind a columnlike trail of a drug that spans the full depth of the tumor.
Then one to three days later, researchers can remove a piece of the tumor and examine the cells to see the effect of each drug
whether it killed the tumor cells, slowed their growth or had no effect. That analysis can tell doctors
whether a certain drug or set of drugs will be more effective.""Ordinarily, when I write a prescription,
I have no way to know if the cancer is resistant"to the drug that's being prescribed,
said Dr. James Olson, a pediatric oncologist at Fred Hutchinson and the senior author of the CIVO report, published today (April 22) in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Top 10 Cancer-Fighting Foods With CIVO, doctors"can compare drug A to drug B,
"Olson said. The device could also be a boon to drug development, as it allows for controlled experiments that don't require flooding a patient's system with experimental chemotherapy drugs,
he said. So far, the device has been tested on mice, 20 dogs and four human patients.
The four human patients all had lymphomas, which are cancers of the lymph system, and had enlarged lymph nodes.
The patients said they had very little pain with the injections, according to the report. Meanwhile, researchers at MIT have built a cylindrical device the size of a rice grain that is riddled with microscopic tubes.
Each tube can contain a different drug, and the device can carry up to 30 drugs, according to the researchers'report,
also published today in Science Translational Medicine. Unlike CIVO the cylinder is designed to be implanted into the tumor,
and then diffusion allows the drugs to move from the tubes into the surrounding cancerous tissue.
A biopsy of the tumor is taken a day or two later a doctor removes the cylinder
and a small amount of the cancer tissue around it. As with CIVO, the aim is to let doctors look at the cancerous tissue,
to see which drugs worked better or which ones didn't work at all.""It's a way to predict
whether the patient will respond to the drug or not,"said Robert Langer, a professor of bioengineering and chemical engineering at MIT who is one of the senior authors on the report.
So far, the implant has been tested only in mice, so it will likely take longer than CIVO to get into clinical testing.
But the implant offers a way to attack cancers that are deeper in the body and thus less accessible to injections.
Langer said his team is putting together study proposals for clinical trials. Olson said the ability to test out drugs using such devices could make chemotherapy more comfortable for patients
because doctors will know early on whether certain drugs will work for a given patient. That would make it less likely that patients would have to endure ineffective chemo treatments with all of their associated side effects
and would also save time in the process, Olson said. Even knowing that no drug will help a patient could be a good thing,
because then doctors could make him or her comfortable, and the patient would avoid enduring the side effects of drugs that wouldn't end up treating the cancer."
"Some drugs make patients sick, "he said.""It would be great if we could do nothing more than prevent that."
"The Seattle researchers'work was funded by the National institutes of health and Presage Biosciences, and the MIT researchers'work was funded by the National Cancer Institute and Massachusetts-based biotech company Kibur Medical.
Follow Live Science@livescience, Facebook & Google+.+Original article on Live Science e
#Nepal Earthquake: Health Threats Loom Over Survivors The aftermath of the Nepal earthquake brings a risk of disease outbreaks including measles and diarrheal diseases among the survivors,
and humanitarian agencies are rushing to bring aid to help. The 7. 8-magnitude earthquake that hit the region Saturday (April 25) has had a devastating impact,
with an estimated 7 million people affected, including 2. 8 million children, according to the United nations children's fund (UNICEF).
As many as 1. 5 million people in the Kathmandu Valley are now spending their nights outdoors,
either because their homes have been destroyed or they are afraid to spend the night in their homes,
Such a large congregation of people living out in the open can increase not only the risk of diseases spreading,
"If you have people living in very close proximity to each otherhen diseases can spread much faster,
Diarrheal and respiratory diseases are some of health experts'main concerns in the earthquake's aftermath."
"You're more at risk for something like a measles outbreak,"under these conditions, Tidey said.
said Dr. David Milzman, a professor of emergency medicine at Georgetown University School of medicine.""Even more than food, you need clean water,
Top 10 Deadliest Natural disasters in History The organization is also providing people with oral rehydration salts
and zinc supplements to help prevent diarrheal diseases. The rehydration salts are added to water and provide electrolytes to help people hydrate,
Tidey said. The zinc supplements help with immune function and the transport of water in the body, according to the World health organization.
including the equipment needed to keep vaccines at the right temperature, UNICEF is working to make sure the country's vaccines are stored properly,
and assessing the population to see if people may need to be vaccinated to prevent measles spread,
Tidey said. One challenge after disasters like the Nepal earthquake is just providing people with the care they would normally need in their daily lives."
"Every day, people get ill and get sick, "Milzman said. But now, after the earthquake"it will be difficult just to continue business as usual,
"Milzman said. For example, people who need dialysis or daily medications may not be able to access them."
"You're going to have a lot of secondary spikes in illness, because people reliant on medical care can't get it,
"Milzman said. Still, several organizations are working to provide survivors with essential items and medical supplies.
The Red cross says it has 19,000 relief kits, which contain clothing, kitchen sets, personal hygiene items and more, available in Nepal.
And the World health organization has distributed medical supplies that can meet the needs of 40,000 people for three months,
the agency said Sunday (April 26). Disasters can also make it harder for women to breastfeed their infants,
such as special tents, Tidey said. Another big challenge for the humanitarian relief effort will be getting access to remote areas in Nepal,
Some remote villages still have not received assistance, two days after the earthquake, according to the New york times. Although the 2010 Haiti earthquake presented challenges, the Nepal earthquake is in some ways more challenging because of its remote location,
#Nepal Earthquake Destroys Historic Temples The massive earthquake that killed more than 5, 000 people in Nepal over the weekend also left dozens of historic buildings in ruins.
experts are already taking stock of the long-term cultural and architectural damage in the wake of the natural disaster."
I am aggrieved deeply by the magnitude of human loss caused by the earthquake in Nepal,"Irina Bokova,
"Bigger Earthquake Coming on Nepal's Terrifying Faults Several buildings in the seven UNESCO monument zones in Kathmandu Valley the cultural heart of Nepal were destroyed when the 7. 8-magnitude
earthquake struck 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday (April 25. There was extensive damage to the medieval temples that line the UNESCO-designated Durbar Squares
nine-story Dharahara Tower, built in 1832. The watchtower had reopened recently to the public, according to The New york times,
and it was filled with tourists climbing the spiral staircase at the time of the earthquake.
The Dharahara Tower had been rebuilt once before after it was damaged during the magnitude-8. 0 earthquake that struck on Jan 15, 1934,
and killed more than 10,000 people. Rebuilding and restoration efforts across Nepal will be huge tasks.""I hope to see it in my lifetime,
because Nepal does not have the money to do it by itself,"Michael Hutt, a professor at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, told The Guardian."
"It is a desperate place politically: very fragile, poorly resourced and heavily dependent on international aid. The resources are not there to do this restoration work,
and they are going to need a lot of help.""A group of organizations, including the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation
The interactive database is designed to compile reports and images of the damage caused to cultural heritage sites in Nepal n
#4d Implant Saves Babies with Breathing Problems Three baby boys with life-threatening breathing problems are alive today thanks to a 4d biomaterial,
a medical implant designed to change shape over time, that helped them keep breathing, researchers say."
"Today, we see a way to cure a disease that has been killing children for generations,
"said Dr. Glenn Green, a pediatric otolaryngologist at the University of Michigan's C. S. Mott Children's Hospital and the senior author of a new report on the boys'cases.
The researchers said that 4d biomaterials could one day help not only patients with respiratory ailments,
but also those with disorders involving the heart, bones, muscles or gut.""The possibilities are really limitless,
a research fellow and resident surgeon at the University of Michigan Health System, told Live Science.
The researchers made the implants using a 3d printer. Three-dimensional printers can create items from a wide variety of materials:
plastic, ceramic, glass, metal and even more unusual ingredients such as living cells. The machines work by depositing layers of material,
just as ordinary printers lay down ink, except 3d printers can also lay down flat layers on top of each other to build 3d objects.
Advances in 3d printing have enabled the rapid production of medical devices that are customized for individual patients, such as hearing aids, dental implants and prosthetic hands.
However, devices made of rigid materials are often unsuitable for young patients who can quickly outgrow the implants.
Recently, scientists began developing techniques to try to accomplish 4d printing which involves 3d printing items that are designed to shape-shift after they are printed.
The three infant boys who were implanted with the new device all had the same life-threatening condition a severe form of a disease called tracheobronchomalacia,
The disease causes the windpipe to regularly collapse preventing normal breathing. There was no cure, and at the time these children received their implants,
their life expectancies were estimated at days to weeks, Green said.""It is hard to convey how very sick these children were said,
"Green. All three boys had been in the intensive care unit for months. During that time, to stay alive,
and were on artificial ventilators but still, they sufferedrepeatedly suffered of breathing problems and needed to be resuscitated.
when the doctors implanted the new device. Gionfriddo had turned blue when he was a newborn
"The researchers used CT SCANS of the infants to develop 3d printed airway splints whose length, diameter,
An image made from a CT SCAN of one of the patients. Pin It Images from a patient CT SCAN were used to generate a 3d model of the patient airway."
"We can print tens or hundreds of the exact same splint design, no matter how complicated the geometry is,
a biomedical engineer at the University of Michigan, told Live Science.""This is very important for quality and design control,
"This is the first time 3d printing has been used to create a medical implant for treating a life-threatening disease,
narcotics or paralytics to keep them breathing.""Holidays are spent not in the hospital anymore, "Green said."
"Instead of lying flat on their backs for weeks on end, these children are learning to sit and stand and run.""
""I honestly don't think we can ever thank Dr. Green and his team in Michigan enough,
and their windpipes eventually will have no signs of the disease that nearly killed them as newborns.
doctors told us he may not make it out,"Kaiba's mom, April Gionfriddo, said in a statement."
"The doctors received emergency clearance from the FDA to perform these procedures as a last resort. The researchers are now pursuing a clinical trial for the 4d biomaterials for patients with less severe forms of tracheobronchomalacia."
"We've been meeting with the FDA to have a plan set up to have 30 children as part of a clinical trial,
The scientists detailed their findings online today (April 29) in the journal Science Translational Medicine e
#Nepal Earthquake Photos: Odd Effects of Kathmandu Temblor European space agency's (ESA) Sentinel-1a radar satellite passed over Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday (April 29.
Image Credit: Contains Copernicus data (2015)/ ESA/DLR Microwaves and Radar Institute/GFZ/e-GEOS/INGVSA SEOM INSARAP study) Moving up Nepal Insar By analyzing the satellite images,
the researchers found a swath of land measuring 75 miles long by 30 miles wide (120 kilometers by 50 kilometers) lifted upward by up to 3 feet during the magnitude-7. 8
Image Credit: ESA SEOM Insarap Study Norut/PPO. labs/Univ Leeds) Mountains shift Nepal Insar The German Aerospace Center (DLR) used the satellite radar data
to create a regional aid map and calculate how the ground shifted during the earthquake.
In the DLR map, areas that moved upwards are blue and regions that dropped down (away from the satellite) are coded yellow and red.
Image credit: DLR/EOC) Rainbow fringes Interferogram of Kathmandu, Nepal, before and after the earthquake.
The Sentinel-1a interferogram (created by combining radar images taken on April 17 and April 29) over Kathmandu, Nepal.
The colors show deformation in the earth caused by the 7. 8-magnitude earthquake. The eastest"fringes"cross the city,
Image Credit: Contains Copernicus data (2015)/ R. Grandin/IPGP/CNRS) Near the Tibetan Plateau Combining two Sentinel-1a radar scans from 17 and 29 april 2015,
this interferogram shows changes on the ground that occurred during the 25 april earthquake that struck Nepal.
Combining two Sentinel-1a radar scans from 17 and 29 april 2015, this interferogram shows changes on the ground that occurred during the 25 april earthquake that struck Nepal.
An overall area of 120x100 km has moved half of that uplifted and the other half,
Image Credit: Contains Copernicus data (2015)/ ESA/Norut/PPO. labs/COMETSA SEOM INSARAP study) Grading map Based on imagery from the Worldview-3 satellite acquired on April 28,
this"grading map"shows topographic features and crisis information around Kathmandu, Nepal, after the 7. 8-magnitude earthquake struck on April 25.
Based on imagery from the Worldview-3 satellite acquired on April 28, this"grading map"shows topographic features and crisis information around Kathmandu, Nepal,
after the 7. 8-magnitude earthquake struck on April 25. Mount everest shrinking Mount everest Before & After Earthquake This side-by-side comparison shows Mount everest before and after the earthquake.
The 7. 8-magnitude quake on April 25 shook Everest and triggered a terrifying avalanche. In the April 28 image (left there are no major changes visible from the earthquake
and avalanche due to fresh snow cover and clouds over Everest, according to NASA. The April 23 photo was captured by Landsat 8,
which is operated by NASA and the United states Geological Society (USGS). The April 28 image was taken by NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory) Emitted light Kathmandu Satellite Image-Emitted Light This satellite image shows the city of Kathmandu and its surrounding areas after the April 25 earthquake.
The Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership satellite, operated by NASA and the National oceanic and atmospheric administration, detected a decrease in emitted light over Kathmandu, based on a comparison between images taken pre-earthquake, on April 22, 2015,
and after the earthquake, on April 26, 2015. The red and yellow colors indicate areas with the largest decrease in emitted light possibly because of electrical outages and damage to key infrastructure
according to NASA. Image Credit: Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPORT) team/Marshall Space flight Center) Nepal districts affected Satellite Photo of Nepal Districts After Earthquake This satellite image shows 11 districts in Nepal
that were affected by the earthquake. The Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership satellite was used to compare image of the region before and after the earthquake,
and detected a decrease in emitted light over Kathmandu and its surrounding region. Image Credit:
Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPORT) team/Marshall Space flight Center F
#Major 7. 3-Magnitude Earthquake Aftershock Hits Nepal A 7. 3-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal this morning (May 12), toppling buildings and killing at least a dozen people.
The temblor was centered 11 miles (18 kilometers) southeast of Kodari, Nepal, and 47 miles (76 km) east-northeast of the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu.
This was the largest aftershock yet of the April 25 temblor, a magnitude-7. 8 earthquake (called the Gorkha earthquake) located about 90 miles (150 km) to the west of this aftershock, according to the U s. Geological Survey.
The May 12 earthquake occurred due to faulting associated with the Main Himalayan Thrust where the India plate is slamming into the Eurasia plate to the north.
This area has a history of powerful earthquakes: Before the April 25 temblor, four magnitude-6 or larger earthquakes within 155 miles (250 km) of this area in the past century, according to the USGS. One such event, a magnitude-6. 9
quake killed nearly 1, 500 people in August 1988. The largest of these, a magnitude-8. 0 earthquake known as the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake, ruptured a large part of the fault to the south of the May 12 quake
and caused around 10,600 fatalities, the USGS reported. Like the April 25 earthquake, this one was relatively shallow,
occurring just 9. 3 miles (15 km) belowground; the shallower a quake the more shaking at the surface, geologists say.
Earth scientists had anticipated major aftershocks and even larger earthquakes in the area. In fact, a recent study found that smaller aftershocks strike within the main earthquake rupture,
whereas the biggest aftershocks tend to strike at the edge of where the original earthquake occurred.
And that was the case for this one, which hit on the eastern edge of the April 25 rupture zone.
Follow Jeanna Bryner on Twitter and Google+.+Follow us@livescience, Facebook & Google+.+Original article on Live Science e
#Simple Chemical Stops Prion Disease Mad cow, scrapie and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease are all diseases of the brain that debilitate before they kill,
and have no cure, or even many good treatment options beyond supportive care. But now, researchers in Switzerland say it's possible to block the misfolded proteins called prions that cause these diseases,
by using a compound that biologists have used to track other molecules. Prions are a distinct type of protein they can self-replicate,
said Adriano Aguzzi, professor of neuropathology at the University of Zurich, who led the study.
When a prion comes into contact with a normal protein it makes the normal protein alter its shape,
and become a prion, too. Mad cow and scrapie affect cows and sheep, respectively, and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD) affects people.
In the new study, Aguzzi's team used chemicals called luminescent conjugated polythiophenes, which are fluorescent compounds that researchers often use to stain tissue samples,
so they can see what's happening in cells. The team first infected mice with a prion disease, then injected them with polythiophenes.
They found that some polythiophenes extended the mice's survival by more than 80 percent, compared with control mice that were injected not with polythiophenes.
This meant some mice survived up to 140 days after infection if they got the polythiophene before being infected with prions,
and up to 100 days if they were treated once infected.""I was surprised pretty it worked so well,
"Aguzzi said. Infectious prions get into the brain after people or animals eat food that is contaminated with them.
Eventually, the proteins replicate to the point where they form plaques that can kill brain cells, and give the brain the"spongy"appearance that is characteristic of prion diseases (the diseases are called formally transmissible spongiform encephalopathies).
10 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain Exactly how prions kill the cells is still under some debate,
In the study, Aguzzi said the team did extensive computer simulations of how the molecules interact before they injected them into the animals
The work builds on experiments done by Beat Meier, a researcher at Switzerland's Federal Institute of technology,
Peter Nilsson, a chemical biologist at Linköping University in Sweden, was experimenting with conductive plastics,
Computer simulations showed that the polythiophenes could indeed fit into a space found on one end of a prion,
whether polythiophenes could be given safely to people their toxicity is known not yet, and even further away are tests studying
However, the new findings show that there's a pathway to making molecules that could stop the diseases prions cause
Best Places to See'Shooting stars'This Week The annual Perseid meteor shower is typically the most spectacular"shooting star"display for people in the Northern hemisphere,
Your own backyard You don't need any special equipment to see the Perseids. For the best viewing experience, face northeast under dark skies
because light pollution will wash out the fainter meteors. And be sure to give your eyes time to adjust to the dark.
National or State Parks If you're looking for a place far away from light pollution, a National or State Park is a great start.
The National park service website has listings of all U s. National and State Parks. Public observatories Although most astronomical observatories are reserved for professional research,
In Los angeles, Griffith Observatory is dedicated solely to public education. Even though a telescope is needed not to view a meteor shower
Meteor experts Bill Cooke, Danielle Moser and Rhiannon Blaauw, all from NASA Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space flight Center, will also provide onair commentary.
You can tune in to the NASA TV webcast on Space. com . If you miss the Perseids this time around,
"These data unequivocally demonstrate that human irisin exists, "the researchers wrote in the Aug 13 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.
when researchers at Harvard Medical school found that both mice and people produced the hormone during exercise.
They said that the antibodies used in the original study were not specific, meaning that they reacted to other proteins in the blood besides irisin.
The researchers identified irisin in blood samples from both sedentary individuals and people who underwent 12 weeks of aerobic training.
The level of irisin was 3. 6 nanograms per milliliter in sedentary people and 4. 3 nanograms per milliliter in those who underwent the training."
"Our paper definitively confirms that irisin circulates and is altered with exercise in humans, "said study researcher Bruce M. Spiegelman, a professor of cell biology and medicine at Harvard Medical school.
These measurements show that, although irisin is present in small amounts in the blood, its concentration is similar to that of other important hormones, such as insulin
Keith Baar, an associate professor at the University of California, Davis who has studied the gene for irisin
Alisa Blazek, a graduate student at The Ohio State university's Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental biology, agreed."
it can help us to design therapeutics, and learn how effective our exercise or physical therapy programs are. o
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