and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease as well as more severe airflow obstruction than those who are exposed to only one type of smoke according to the results of a new population-based study conducted by researchers in Colombia.
For nonnative mammals such as humans they may experience life-threatening acute mountain sickness when visiting high-altitude regions.
and a cancer causing agent found specifically in tobacco smoke--known as NKK--as measured by their metabolites cotinine and NNAL.
Dr Chatterjee's research uses an approach called TILLING (Targeting Induced Lesions In The Genome) an established non-GM method for creating
#Bird flu in live poultry markets are the source of viruses causing human infectionson 31 march 2013 the Chinese National Health and Family planning Commission announced human cases of novel
H7n9 influenza virus infections. A group of scientists led by Professor Chen Hualan of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has investigated the origins of this novel H7n9 influenza virus
and published their results in Springer's open access journal Chinese Science Bulletin (Springeropen). Following analysis of H7n9 influenza viruses collected from live poultry markets it was found that these viruses circulating among birds were responsible for human infections.
These results provide a basis for the government to take actions for controlling this public health threat.
The novel H7n9 influenza virus was identified in China as the agent that causes a flu-like disease in humans resulting in some deaths.
Of these samples 20 were positive for the presence of H7n9 influenza viruses. All of the positive samples originated from live poultry markets in Shanghai.
The analysis of these novel H7n9 influenza virus isolates showed that that the six internal genes were derived from avian H9n2 viruses
HA receptor-binding specificity is a major molecular determinant for the host range of influenza viruses.
which is characteristic of the HA gene in human influenza viruses. This finding implies that H7n9 viruses have acquired partially human receptor-binding specificity.
and culling of poultry in affected areas should be taken during this initial stage of virus prevalence to prevent a possible pandemic.
and skin cancers and has been associated with other conditions as well including heart disease type 2 diabetes cognitive deficits and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Breastfeeding is known to offer wide-ranging preventive health benefits for babies reducing their risk for infections
and allergies and providing the perfect balance of nutrients to help infants grow into strong and healthy toddlers.
#Potential flu pandemic lurks: Influenza viruses circulating in pigs, birds could pose risk to humansin the summer of 1968 a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong kong.
This strain known as H3n2 spread around the globe and eventually killed an estimated 1 million people.
A new study from MIT reveals that there are many strains of H3n2 circulating in birds
and have the potential to generate a pandemic if they leap to humans. The researchers led by Ram Sasisekharan the Alfred H. Caspary Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT also found that current flu vaccines might not offer protection against these strains.
There are indeed examples of H3n2 that we need to be concerned about says Sasisekharan who is also a member of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
From a pandemic-preparedness point of view we should potentially start including some of these H3 strains as part of influenza vaccines.
The study which appears in the May 10 issue of the journal Scientific Reports also offers the World health organization
Influenza evolutionin the past 100 years influenza viruses that emerged from pigs or birds have caused several notable flu pandemics.
When one of these avian or swine viruses gains the ability to infect humans it can often evade the immune system which is primed to recognize only strains that commonly infect humans.
since the 1968 pandemic but they have evolved to a less dangerous form that produces a nasty seasonal flu.
In 2009 a strain of H1n1 emerged that was very similar to the virus that caused a 1918 pandemic that killed 50 million to 100 million people.
This value indicates the percentage of these genetic regions identical to those of the 1968 pandemic strain
and helps determine how well an influenza virus can evade a host's immune response. The researchers also took into account the patterns of attachment of the HA protein to sugar molecules called glycans.
since 2000 that could potentially cause a pandemic. Of these 549 came from birds and 32 from pigs.
The researchers then exposed some of these strains to antibodies provoked by the current H3 seasonal-flu vaccines.
One of the amazing things about the influenza virus is its ability to grab genes from different pools he says.
Sasisekharan and colleagues are now doing a similar genetic study of H5 influenza strains. The H3 study was funded by the National institutes of health and the National Science Foundation Story Source:
and air quality and ameliorate infectious diseases. Lead author of the study Dr Leydimere Oliveira said:
On surveillance in the war against cancerpredicting outcomes for cancer patients based on tumor-immune system interactions is an emerging clinical approach
when it comes to the most deadly types of breast cancer. We know that one function of our immune system is to detect
and destroy pre-malignant cells before they can become cancer said lead author Lance D. Miller Ph d. associate professor of cancer biology at Wake Forest Baptist.
and a tumor develops. This unresponsiveness can be temporary and the immune system can remain alerted to the fact that there's a problem.
Immune cells can stand post along the borders of the tumor and even infiltrate the tumor core where they may gain a better position for eventual attack.
We now have technologies that allow us to quantify aspects of this interaction and from that information we can make predictions about cancer outcomes Miller said.
The study published online ahead of print last month in the journal Genome Biology. This approach is known as gene expression profiling
and by studying the expression profiles of 2000 human breast tumors Miller and his team identified several immune gene signatures that reflect the abundance
and anti-tumor properties of different types of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. They found that in certain aggressive types of breast cancer such as basal-like
or triple negative disease these immune signatures were highly predictive of cancer recurrence years after initial treatment.
Strikingly the patients who seemed to benefit the most were those with highly proliferative and clinically aggressive disease Miller said.
while low immune gene expression predicted for a high likelihood of cancer recurrence. An important next step Miller said will be translating this into a diagnostic test that may help doctors make more informed treatment decisions.
Knowing a tumor's immunogenic disposition could help oncologists know whether to prescribe more or less aggressive treatment regimens
For doctors like Bayard Powell M d. chief of hematology and oncology at Wake Forest Baptist's Comprehensive Cancer Center new drugs designed to enhance anti-tumor immune responses are beginning to play a major
role in the treatment of certain forms of cancer. At Wake Forest Baptist we are now fighting cancer with state-of-the-art therapies including immunotherapeutics Powell said.
How a tumor's immunogenic disposition influences the effectiveness of immunotherapeutic drugs is an important question that could lead to valuable new strategies in personalized medicine.
Co-authors include: Jeff W. Chou Ph d. Mark C. Willingham M d. Jimmy Ruiz M d. James P. Vaughn Ph d. Purnima Dubey Ph d. and Timothy L
Stephen J. Hamilton-Dutoit M d. Aarhus University Hospital Institute of Pathology Denmark; Jonas Bergh M d. Ph d. Karolinska Institute Sweden;
Dietary nicotine may hold protective keynew research reveals that Solanaceae--a flowering plant family with some species producing foods that are edible sources of nicotine--may provide a protective effect against Parkinson's disease.
and tomatoes may reduce risk of developing Parkinson's. Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder caused by a loss of brain cells that produce dopamine.
Symptoms include facial hand arm and leg tremors stiffness in the limbs loss of balance and slower overall movement.
Nearly one million Americans have Parkinson's with 60000 new cases diagnosed in the U s. each year and up to ten million individuals worldwide live with this disease according to the Parkinson's disease Foundation.
Currently there is no cure for Parkinson's but symptoms are treated with medications and procedures such as deep brain stimulation.
Previous studies have found that cigarette smoking and other forms of tobacco also a Solanaceae plant reduced relative risk of Parkinson's disease.
or if people who develop Parkinson's disease are simply less apt to use tobacco because of differences in the brain that occur early in the disease process long before diagnosis. For the present population-based study Dr. Susan Searles Nielsen
and colleagues from the University of Washington in Seattle recruited 490 patients newly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at the university's Neurology Clinic or a regional health maintenance organization Group Health Cooperative.
Vegetable consumption in general did not affect Parkinson's disease risk but as consumption of edible Solanaceae increased Parkinson's disease risk decreased with peppers displaying the strongest association.
Researchers noted that the apparent protection from Parkinson's occurred mainly in men and women with little or no prior use of tobacco
which contains much more nicotine than the foods studied. Our study is the first to investigate dietary nicotine
and risk of developing Parkinson's disease said Dr. Searles Nielsen. Similar to the many studies that indicate tobacco use might reduce risk of Parkinson's our findings also suggest a protective effect from nicotine or perhaps a similar but less toxic chemical in peppers and tobacco.
The authors recommend further studies to confirm and extend their findings which could lead to possible interventions that prevent Parkinson's disease.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wiley. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and soy foods may be more effective in preventing prostate cancer when they are eaten together than
In our study we used mice that were engineered genetically to develop an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
and soy had no cancerous lesions in the prostate at study's End all mice in the control group--no soy no tomato--developed the disease said John Erdman a U of I professor of food science and nutrition.
Eating tomato soy and the combination all significantly reduced prostate cancer incidence. But the combination gave us the best results.
Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men but the disease has nearly a 100 percent survival rate
In older men it is often a slow-growing cancer and these men often choose watchful waiting over radiation
In countries where soy is eaten regularly prostate cancer occurs at significantly lower levels Erdman noted.
and one to two servings of soy foods daily could protect against prostate cancer Zuniga said.
When you eat whole foods you expose yourself to the entire array of cancer-fighting bioactive components in these foods Erdman said.
although low in genistein was still very effective at reducing cancer incidence. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Illinois College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental sciences (ACES.
These findings published May 8 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation suggest micrornas could be targeted for the development of new medical interventions aimed at improving muscle fitness in people with chronic illness or injury.
This information is relevant to our efforts to improve muscle fitness in many health conditions such as aging cancer and heart failure.
These findings may also prove useful for our active members of the military who become'detrained'during injury
and recovery time said Daniel P. Kelly M d. director of Sanford-Burnham's Diabetes and Obesity Research center and senior author of the study.
and his team worked with Steven R. Smith M d. director of the Florida Hospital--Sanford-Burnham Translational Research Institute for Metabolism and Diabetes.
We're now conducting additional human studies to further investigate the ERRÎ-microrna circuit as a potential avenue for improving fitness in people with chronic illness
or injury Kelly said. For example next we want to know what happens to this circuit during exercise and
Some studies have shown that trained dogs can detect cancerous tumours such as lung cancer by smelling a person's breath.
#Biomechanical performances of old-fashioned leather and modern football helmets comparedresearchers at the Center for Injury Biomechanics at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Virginia compared the relative safety afforded by two 1930-vintage leather football helmets
and head injury risks at the severity level of subconcussive injury. Rowson and his coauthors state that they offer biomechanical analysis based on helmet testing methodologies that compare relative helmet performance.
The pandemic of CBSD now underway is particularly worrisome because agriculture experts have been looking to the otherwise resilient cassava plant
and eliminate this plague said Claude Fauquet a scientist at the International Center for Tropical agriculture (known by its Spanish acronym CIAT) who heads the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21).
Infections can claim 100 percent of a farmer's harvest without the farmer's knowledge.
and the African continent witnessed several major CMD epidemics over the past decades the most recent and devastating
Great success was achieved in combating the CMD pandemic through developing and disseminating varieties that were resistant to CMD.
But by a cruel twist of nature both improved and local varieties all succumbed to the'new'pandemic of CBSD.
and other destructive viruses like the smallpox of cassava--formidable diseases but threats we can eradicate
A combination of these two pesticides types had a stronger impact suggesting the combined soup of pesticides could be causing more serious harm.
But harm is only evident over a period of two weeks in bumblebees and is seen when you look at entire colonies.
#Risks of H7n9 infection mappeda map of avian influenza (H7n9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious diseases of Poverty today.
and to advise on ways to prevent infection. As of today there have been confirmed 127 cases of H7n9 in Mainland china with 27 deaths.
A lack of information about the virus and its mode of transmission has led to public concerns that H7n9 could be a pandemic waiting to happen.
and distribution of potentially infected poultry we are able to produce a time line of the estimated risk of human infection with H7n9.
The preliminary results of our study made a prediction of bird flu risk which could explain the pattern of the most recent cases.
By extending the model we will be able to predict future infection risks across central and western China
which will aid in surveillance and control of H7n9 infections. Since the effect of poultry-to-poultry infection is understood not really it may become necessary to regulate the activity of poultry markets.
Prof Xiao-Nong Zhou from the Chinese Center for disease control and Prevention who was involved also in this study commented We are continuing to work on research into the sources of infection of H7n9 and the mode of transmission.
However so far there is no evidence of the sustained human-to-human transmission required for a pandemic to occur.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Biomed Central Limited. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Mechanism for how grapes reduce heart failure associated with hypertension identifieda new study appearing in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry demonstrates that grapes are able to reduce heart failure associated with chronic high blood pressure (hypertension) by increasing the activity of several genes responsible for
An estimated 1 billion people worldwide have hypertension which increases the risk of heart failure by 2 to 3-fold.
Heart failure resulting from chronic hypertension can result in an enlarged heart muscle that becomes thick and rigid (fibrosis)
and unable to fill with blood properly (diastolic dysfunction) or pump blood effectively. Oxidative stress is correlated strongly with heart failure
and deficiency of glutathione is observed regularly in both human and animal models of heart failure. Antioxidant-rich diets containing lots of fruits
and vegetables consistently correlate with reduced hypertension. In this study conducted at the University of Michigan Health System hypertensive heart failure-prone rats were fed a grape-enriched diet for 18 weeks.
The results reproduced earlier findings that grape consumption reduced the occurrence of heart muscle enlargement and fibrosis and improved the diastolic function of the heart.
Furthermore the mechanism of action was uncovered: grape intake turned on antioxidant defense pathways increasing the activity of related genes that boost production of glutathione.
Our earlier studies showed that grapes could protect against the downward spiral of hypertensive heart failure
but just how that was accomplished--the mechanism--was known not yet said lead investigator E. Mitchell Seymour Ph d. The insights gained from our NIH study including the ability of grapes to influence several genetic pathways related to antioxidant defense provide further evidence
and also look at the impact of whole grape intake compared to individual grape phytonutrients on hypertension-associated heart failure.
and dietary supplement approaches for prevention of heart disease stemming from chronic hypertension. The NIH grant is allowing the team at the University of Michigan Medical System to expand its work in this important area
and walking under or felling these trees can cause illness. In Papua new guinea figs are believed to be the haunt of evil spirits
Figs are also a source of traditional medicine with sap being used to treat a variety of illnesses from intestinal upsets to heart problems and malaria.
#Dustless chalk may cause allergy and asthma symptoms in students with milk allergy, study findsmany of today's schools
and school teachers opt for dustless chalk to keep hands and classrooms clean. But according to a study published in the May issue of Annals of Allergy Asthma
& Immunology the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) this choice in chalk may cause allergy
and asthma symptoms in students that have a milk allergy. Casein a milk protein is used often in low-powder chalk.
When milk allergic children inhale chalk particles containing casein life-threatening asthma attacks and other respiratory issues can occur.
Chalks that are labeled as being anti-dust or dustless still release small particles into the air said Carlos H. Larramendi MD lead study author.
when the particles are inhaled by children with milk allergy coughing wheezing and shortness of breath can occur.
Milk allergy affects an estimated 300000 children in the United states according to the ACAAI. Although it has been believed the majority of children will outgrow milk allergy by age three recent studies contradict this theory showing school aged children are affected still.
However 80 percent of children with milk allergy will likely outgrow it by age 16.
Chalk isn't the only item in a school setting that can be troublesome to milk allergic students said James Sublett MD chair of the ACAAI Indoor Environment Committee.
Milk proteins can also be found in glue paper ink and in other children's lunches.
Parents with milk allergic children should ask to have seated their child in the back of the classroom where they are less likely to inhale chalk dust advises Sublett.
A plan for dealing with allergy and asthma emergencies should also be shared with teachers coaches and the school nurse.
The above story is provided based on materials by American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI.
and certain vegetables--combined with anti-aging supplements--improved blood vessel function in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2013 Scientific Sessions.
The blood vessel abnormality or endothelial dysfunction occurs when cells lining the interior wall of blood vessels malfunction.
It's a serious condition that's often one of the first signs of heart disease.
which in turn can reverse high blood pressure diabetes and obesity. Despite the study's findings consumers shouldn't eliminate tomatoes
and prostate cancers and low levels can cause skin lesions diarrhea and other symptoms. The risks of arsenic in rice were highlighted recently in the national press
In regions of the world where rice is the major component of the human diet the health of entire communities of people can be impacted negatively by arsenic contamination of rice.
or it may be a result of environmental contamination. Despite the health risks arsenic in rice poses to millions of people around the world there are currently no effective agricultural methods in use to reduce arsenic levels.
#Substances in honey increase honey bee detox gene expressionresearch in the wake of Colony Collapse Disorder a mysterious malady afflicting (primarily commercial) honey bees suggests that pests pathogens
so beekeepers can enhance their bees'ability to withstand pathogens and pesticides. Although she doesn't recommend that beekeepers rush out
These dietary deficiencies have an enormous negative impact on global health resulting in increased susceptibility to infection
and diseases as well as increasing the risk of significant mental impairment. During the next four decades an expected additional two billion humans will require nutritious food.
and zinc deficiencies because their plant-based diets are not a sufficiently rich source of these essential elements the biologists write.
promote muscle repairmany diseases--obesity Type 2 diabetes muscular dystrophy--are associated with fat accumulation in muscle.
what happens in diseases such as diabetes and muscular dystrophy the researchers injected glycerol into healthy mice to induce fat accumulation in the muscle.
When Type 1 pericytes were injected into the disease model they formed fat not muscle. When Type 2 pericytes were injected into the disease model nothing happened.
Funding for the study was provided by a PUSH grant from the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center
The research was supported by an IBB Hamill Innovations Grant the Robert A. Welch Foundation the National Science Foundation and the National institutes of health through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases.
and blood pressure for individuals with specific genetic polymorphismsyour genetic makeup can help determine how well your body will respond to weight loss efforts aimed at controlling high blood pressure a new study confirms.
and Dentistry of New jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical school may help clarify how hypertension develops and progresses in certain individuals
Results were published in the current issue of Hypertension 2013; 61: 857-863. The Trial of Nonpharmacologic Interventions in the Elderly (TONE) looked at 21 polymorphisms that have been identified as relating to hypertension obesity
and diabetes mellitus to see what impact weight loss and sodium-reduction programs would have on blood pressure.
Polymorphisms are the elements of a person's DNA that make it different from another's
The TONE study identified several polymorphisms that relate to weight sensitivity with regard to hypertension according to principal investigator John B. Kostis MD John G. Detwiler professor of cardiology professor of medicine and pharmacology
or other topics unrelated to hypertension weight loss or sodium reductionregardless of the intervention participants'levels of antihypertensive medication remained the same throughout to remove medication changes as a variable.
However in 2004 researchers contrary to popular assumptions revealed that isoprene was involved likely in the production of particulate matter tiny particles that can get lodged in lungs lead to lung cancer and asthma and damage other tissues not to mention the environment.
#Early dialogue between parents, children stems teen smokingearly substantive dialogue between parents and their grade-school age children about the ills of tobacco and alcohol use can be more powerful in shaping teen behavior
The aim of this specialist was to find potatoes which brought together the features of the South american varieties (their colour resistance to pathogens
The four clones show certain resistance to the pathogens analysed such as the potato virus Y as well as the Pectobacterium atrosepticum bacteria
#Tart cherries linked to reduced risk of strokefor the millions of Americans at risk for heart disease
or diabetes a diet that includes tart cherries might actually be better than what the doctor ordered according to new animal research from the University of Michigan Health System.
and glucose was considered promising by doctors who prescribed them for patients with metabolic syndrome--a collection of risk factors linked to heart disease
and glucose metabolism and when modified can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. PPAR agonists among them medications such as Actos (pioglitazone) act in a similar way but cardiovascular side effects have limited their use.
and diabetes says E. Mitchell Seymour Ph d. supervisor of the Cardioprotection Research Laboratory. While prescribed drugs improve the outlook for certain risk factors they've also shown to have undesirable side effects.
if a tart cherry-rich diet might provide similar cardiovascular benefits without the risk of heart attack or stroke.
#Vets and medical doctors should team up to tackle diseases transmitted from animals to humansa new study at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp analyses the impact of animal brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis (BTB) on animals
The World health organization (WHO) ranks them as major zoonoses infectious diseases transmitted between species. The research maps risk factors for transmission of these diseases from animals to humans indicating that closer collaboration between medical doctors
The study concludes that it is crucial to address the interlinks between humans animals and the environment to control animal brucellosis and BTB.
While contagion is extremely unlikely in industrialised countries the largest part of the world's population lives in areas where animal brucellosis
and bovine tuberculosis are not under control. Hence ITM calls for increased collaboration between animal and human health specialists in a so called One Health approach.
We should not forget that more than 60%of human pathogens originate from animals. But raising awareness about these relatively unknown diseases is also crucial from an economic perspective.
Boukary studied brucellosis and BTB in over 1100 households keeping livestock. He collected nearly 5000 blood samples for brucellosis and tested almost 400 cattle for BTB.
Such a large scale approach involving animal and human health specialists is still a rarity. Results show that around 13%of herds included animals infected with brucellosis.
It was found that animals below the age of one were more likely to fall ill than animals aged 1-4 years.
Around one in hundred cows were found to be infected with BTB. Analysis of samples taken at the abattoir of Niamey showed that cows were affected significantly more by BTB than other categories of cattle.
Human brucellosis and tuberculosis from animal originin humans brucellosis induces undulating fever sweating weakness anemia headaches depression as well as muscular and bodily pain testicular inflammations in men and spontaneous abortion
Human tuberculosis from animal origin can affect the lungs but is located often in others part of the body.
While contagion is extremely unlikely in industrialised countries the largest part of the world's population lives in areas where animal brucellosis
and bovine tuberculosis are not under control. Future studies at ITM will analyse the impacts of these diseases in humans in more detail.
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