Killer disease in Cambodia stumps experts

"A doctor checks a child at Kantha Bopha children's hospital in Phnom Penh. Medical experts are scrambling to respond to what the Cambodian health ministry and World Health Organization have labelled an "undiagnosed syndrome" that has claimed the lives of at least 56 boys and girls, mostly toddlers, since April" title

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Killer Abs: Rapid Fat Loss Revealed

July 2, 2012 by admin

Rapid Fat Loss?

There is no magic pill nor exercise that can make you lose weight speedily in a healthy manner. The best way to lose belly fat and get those six-pack abs is through proper diet and exercise.

Abs Workout

There are different abs preparation and abs training techniques that will help achieve washboard abs. Usually abdominal muscles consist of three layers. In the food pyramid, fruits and vegetables are given a large proportion in nutrition. Following the food pyramid will rule out eating junk food like burger, hot dogs, french fires and the like. Great care and excellent techniques are required to strengthen the abdominal muscles. Aiming for a perfect body figure, well shaped body or flat abs takes handwork and lots of self discipline and self sacrifices.

Exercise Routines

The truth is, its not only about trimming and getting rid of fat, it should be more on strengthening the abs muscle.

With this few, well-chosen abs exercises, for sure your dream for flat belly and six packs will not be out of your reach.

FLR comes to the rescue

William D. One can follow a flexible fat loss system to improve general health and attain that dream figure.

Fat Loss Revealed (FLR) Program in capsule:

- Does not condemn the use of food supplement but shows the acceptable ones.
- Good results can be seen in as short period as 12 weeks so you are constantly motivated.

Exercises You can Do At Home

- Plank (Hover) Exercise.
- Long Arm Crunch.
- Bicycle Crunch Exercise.

.Exercise regularly, have a daily schedule. Of course, it’s not necessary to perform all of abs exercise.

To order, just visit fatlossrevealed website.
www.fatlossrevealed.com

Weight Loss

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Vietnam asks WHO to help identify killer disease

Vietnam has asked international health experts to help investigate a mystery illness that has killed 19 people and sickened 171 others in an impoverished district in central Vietnam, an official said Friday.

The infection has mostly affected children and young people. It begins with a high fever, loss of appetite and a rash that covers the hands and feet. Patients who are not treated early can develop liver problems and eventually face multi-organ failure, said Le Han Phong, chairman of the People's Committee in Ba To District in Quang Ngai province.

Nearly 100 people remain hospitalized, including 10 in critical condition. Patients with milder symptoms are being treated at home. The illness responds well to treatment if detected early, but 29 patients have been reinfected, Phong said.

The Ministry of Health sent a team of health officials to the area earlier this month, but they were unable to determine the cause of the illness. The ministry has since asked the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help investigate.

A WHO spokesman said the Geneva-based body hadn't yet received the request from Vietnam.

"We can't investigate without an official request," said Tarik Jasarevic.

The ailment was first detected last April, but the number of cases had died down by October. A fresh spate of infections started last month, with 68 cases and eight deaths reported between March 27 and April 5, Phong said.

Most of the patients are from Ba Dien village in Ba To. It is one of the poorest districts in the province and home to many from the Hre ethnic minority.

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Oregano Oil as a Pain Killer

Oregano oil is best known as a safe and effective natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal compound, especially helpful for sinus and respiratory issues.  A new study shows that it also has direct anti-pain signaling within nerves.

The study involves the active component of oregano oil, carvacrol.  Researchers used a toxic nerve irritant to induce swelling, fluid retention, and nerve pain in mice.  They found that carvacrol treatment was able to prevent pain and fluid retention, turning down a key inflammatory signal (TNFa Cytokine involved with systemic inflammation and regulation of immune cells. It is able to induce cell death, and inhibits tumorigenesis and viral replication. When dysfunctional it is associated with a number of disease processes.). 

This data documents a potent mechanism by which oregano oil can lower pain.

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Scientists find gene that can make flu a killer

Reuters – 2 hrs 19 mins ago LONDON (Reuters) - A genetic discovery could help explain why flu makes some people seriously ill or kills them, while others seem able to bat it away with little more than a few aches, coughs and sneezes.

In a study published in the journal Nature on Sunday, British and American researchers said they had found for the first time a human gene that influences how people respond to flu infections, making some people more susceptible than others.

The finding helps explain why during the 2009/2010 pandemic of H1N1 or "swine flu", the vast majority of people infected had only mild symptoms, while others - many of them healthy young adults - got seriously ill and died.

In future, the genetic discovery could help doctors screen patients to identify those more likely to be brought down by flu, allowing them to be selected for priority vaccination or preventative treatment during outbreaks, the researchers said.

It could also help develop new vaccines or medicines against potentially more dangerous viruses such as bird flu.

Paul Kellam of Britain's Sanger Institute, who co-led the study and presented the findings in a telephone briefing, said the gene, called ITFITM3, appeared to be a "crucial first line of defence" against flu.

When IFITM3 was present in large quantities, the spread of the virus in lungs was hindered, he explained. But when IFITM3 levels were lower, the virus could replicate and spread more easily, causing more severe symptoms.

People who carried a particular variant of IFTIM3 were far more likely to be taken into hospital when they got flu than people who carried other variants, he added.

"Our research is important for people who have this variant as we predict their immune defences could be weakened to some virus infections," Kellam said.

"Ultimately as we learn more about the genetics of susceptibility to viruses, then people can take informed precautions, such as vaccination to prevent infection."

MICE EXPERIMENTS HELPED MAKE BREAKTHROUGH

The potential antiviral role of IFITM3 in humans was first suggested in studies conducted by Abraham Brass of the Ragon Institute and Gastrointestinal Unit of Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States. Using genetic screening, he found that it blocked the growth of flu and other viruses in cells.

Teams led by Brass and Kellam then took the work further by knocking out the IFITM3 gene in mice. They found that once these animals contracted flu they had far more severe symptoms than mice with the IFITM3 gene.

In effect, they said, the loss of this single gene in mice can turn a mild case of influenza into a fatal infection.

The researchers then sequenced the IFITM3 genes of 53 patients who had been hospitalised with seasonal or pandemic flu and found that a higher number of them had a particular variant of IFITM3 compared to the general patient population.

The researchers believe this variant results in a shorter version of the protein or one that is less abundant in cells, leaving patients more vulnerable to flu when they get it.

"Our efforts suggest that individuals and populations with less IFITM3 activity may be at increased risk during a pandemic, and that IFITM3 could be vital for defending human populations against other viruses such as avian influenza," said Brass.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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Scientists find gene that can make flu a killer

Reuters – 2 hrs 19 mins ago LONDON (Reuters) - A genetic discovery could help explain why flu makes some people seriously ill or kills them, while others seem able to bat it away with little more than a few aches, coughs and sneezes.

In a study published in the journal Nature on Sunday, British and American researchers said they had found for the first time a human gene that influences how people respond to flu infections, making some people more susceptible than others.

The finding helps explain why during the 2009/2010 pandemic of H1N1 or "swine flu", the vast majority of people infected had only mild symptoms, while others - many of them healthy young adults - got seriously ill and died.

In future, the genetic discovery could help doctors screen patients to identify those more likely to be brought down by flu, allowing them to be selected for priority vaccination or preventative treatment during outbreaks, the researchers said.

It could also help develop new vaccines or medicines against potentially more dangerous viruses such as bird flu.

Paul Kellam of Britain's Sanger Institute, who co-led the study and presented the findings in a telephone briefing, said the gene, called ITFITM3, appeared to be a "crucial first line of defence" against flu.

When IFITM3 was present in large quantities, the spread of the virus in lungs was hindered, he explained. But when IFITM3 levels were lower, the virus could replicate and spread more easily, causing more severe symptoms.

People who carried a particular variant of IFTIM3 were far more likely to be taken into hospital when they got flu than people who carried other variants, he added.

"Our research is important for people who have this variant as we predict their immune defences could be weakened to some virus infections," Kellam said.

"Ultimately as we learn more about the genetics of susceptibility to viruses, then people can take informed precautions, such as vaccination to prevent infection."

MICE EXPERIMENTS HELPED MAKE BREAKTHROUGH

The potential antiviral role of IFITM3 in humans was first suggested in studies conducted by Abraham Brass of the Ragon Institute and Gastrointestinal Unit of Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States. Using genetic screening, he found that it blocked the growth of flu and other viruses in cells.

Teams led by Brass and Kellam then took the work further by knocking out the IFITM3 gene in mice. They found that once these animals contracted flu they had far more severe symptoms than mice with the IFITM3 gene.

In effect, they said, the loss of this single gene in mice can turn a mild case of influenza into a fatal infection.

The researchers then sequenced the IFITM3 genes of 53 patients who had been hospitalised with seasonal or pandemic flu and found that a higher number of them had a particular variant of IFITM3 compared to the general patient population.

The researchers believe this variant results in a shorter version of the protein or one that is less abundant in cells, leaving patients more vulnerable to flu when they get it.

"Our efforts suggest that individuals and populations with less IFITM3 activity may be at increased risk during a pandemic, and that IFITM3 could be vital for defending human populations against other viruses such as avian influenza," said Brass.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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