Last drugs standing: Key Alzheimer results coming

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Developing nations to get $2.6 bln for family planning

"British Prime Minister David Cameron (L) and Melinda Gates (R) speak with delegates during the London Summit on Family Planning in central London. Rich nations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said they had pledged more than 2.6 billion dollars towards family planning in developing countries at a summit in London Wednesday. (AFP Photo/Carl Court)" title

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In US, painkiller abusers turning to heroin: research

"Ever since the popular painkiller pill OxyContin became harder to crush into powder two years ago, many US drug abusers have turned to heroin instead, researchers said Wednesday. (AFP Photo/Martin Bureau)" title

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Pills to prevent HIV raise many questions: studies

"A pharmacist shows anti-retroviral drugs in 2006 at the Mildmay Centre in Seguku, near Kampala, Uganda. Various trials examining the use of anti-retroviral drugs in healthy heterosexuals as a way to prevent HIV have shown drastically different results, research showed Wednesday. (AFP Photo/Stuart Price)" title

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Staying Motivated

My Weight Loss Journey Who hasn’t had the experience of getting ready for a party, date or just going to work only to discover when putting on those clothes you had in mind to wear, they just won’t fit comfortably anymore! Well that happened to me recently, in fact that is happening to me… By: C4rmen in  Health and Fitness  >  Weight Loss   Mar 07, 2012   2   Likes: 2

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Fiber Intake Linked to a Longer Life and Healthier Arteries

The importance of adequate fiber intake as a part of a healthy diet has been driven home by two studies published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  One study proves that fiber helps you live longer, and the other shows that consistent fiber consumption over many years is linked to healthier arteries.

The first study involved 452,717 European men and women followed for 12 years, comparing fiber intake to causes of death.  Fiber was inversely associated with mortality risk.  For each 10 gram increase in dietary fiber intake there was a 10 percent risk reduction in death from all causes.  Fiber offered a 39 percent risk reduction for digestion-related mortality, a 23 percent risk reduction for respiratory-related mortality, and a 15 percent risk reduction for inflammatory disease mortality. 

A second study of 373 people evaluated their fiber intake over a 24 year period, from ages 13 – 36.  At age 36 the participants had their arteries evaluated for stiffness using ultrasonography.  Those with stiffer carotid arteries had lower intakes of fiber over the 24 years.  This study speaks to the importance of a good diet throughout life and makes the point that a low fiber diet results in measurable adverse decline in the health of arteries at the relatively young age of 36.

Fiber is one of the most lacking components in the Western diet, one of several key nutritional substances that when lacking sets the stage for early disease and a shorter life. 

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Lower iron levels seen in newborns of obese mothers

ScienceDaily (July 9, 2012) — A growing number of studies imply that children born to obese mothers face health problems stemming from the womb. New research from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University and The Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center suggests that low iron status is among these health problems, according to an analysis of maternal hepcidin, a hormone that is key in keeping iron levels balanced.

See Also:Health & MedicineObesityPregnancy and ChildbirthDiet and Weight LossFolic AcidDiseases and ConditionsAnemiaReferenceNutrition and pregnancyBody mass indexMaternal bondFood groups

The study enrolled 15 obese pregnant women with body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 and 15 healthy weight pregnant women with BMIs between 20 and 25 as a control group. Maternal blood draws took place during the second trimester of pregnancy and newborn iron status was measured in cord blood.

The researchers found that being born to an obese mother with elevated hepcidin levels was associated with lower iron status at birth. Obese adults are known to produce higher levels of hepcidin compared to healthy weight adults and the researchers suggest that overproduction of the hormone interferes with the transfer of iron from mother to infant. The results were recently published online by the Journal of Perinatology.

During pregnancy, hepcidin levels are kept at low levels to optimize iron transfer from mother to fetus. "When there is excess hepcidin in a cell, it binds to and inhibits the function of ferroportin, the protein that allows iron to pass through the cell membrane and into the bloodstream," explained senior author Simin Nikbin Meydani, DVM, PhD, director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA).

"The chronic low-grade inflammation that can result from being obese triggers an abnormal immune response, increasing production of proteins that increase hepcidin levels," added Maria Carlota Dao, first author and a doctoral student in the Nutritional Immunology Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA.

Because iron plays a crucial role in the formation of the central nervous system, children born with iron deficiency are at a greater risk for delays in motor and cognitive development.

"The data on the impact of low maternal iron levels on the fetus comes from undernourished populations," said first author Sarbattama Sen, MD, a neonatologist at Tufts Medical Center and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). "To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first study to demonstrate that obesity might hamper iron transfer from mother to child and offers some insight into the mechanism of how it occurs. Future studies, however, are needed to confirm the role of obesity associated with inflammation during pregnancy on hepcidin and iron status of the newborn."

The authors further stress that more research is needed before any changes to dietary guidelines or recommendations to obese pregnant women should be considered. Most prenatal vitamin supplements contain 27 milligrams of iron, the daily amount currently recommended by The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

"During pregnancy, women should try to eat a varied, healthy diet while taking the standard prenatal vitamins recommended by their doctors," Sen adds. "Weight gain goals should be based on a woman's BMI prior to becoming pregnant. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine issued new guidelines on weight gain during pregnancy."

Simin Nikbin Meydani is also a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and is a member of the immunology program faculty at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. Additional authors of this study are Chitra Iyer, MD, a former maternal fetal medicine fellow at Tufts Medical Center and David Klebenov, a TUSM student. .

The authors received funding for this study from the USDA, a Tufts Medical Center Research Grant, the Natalie V. Zucker Foundation for Women Scholars, the Stanley N. Gershoff Scholarship and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) T32 training program.

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Good news about the glycemic index of rice

ScienceDaily (July 9, 2012) — Research analysing 235 types of rice from around the world has found its glycemic index (GI) varies from one type of rice to another with most varieties scoring a low to medium GI.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossDiabetesObesityPlants & AnimalsAgriculture and FoodFoodExtreme SurvivalReferenceBrown riceGlutenBranSouth Beach diet

This finding is good news because it not only means rice can be part of a healthy diet for the average consumer, it also means people with diabetes, or at risk of diabetes, can select the right rice to help maintain a healthy, low GI diet.

The study found that the GI of rice ranges from a low of 48 to a high of 92, with an average of 64, and that the GI of rice depends on the type of rice consumed.

The research team from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and CSIRO's Food Futures Flagship also identified the key gene that determines the GI of rice, an important achievement that offers rice breeders the opportunity to develop varieties with different GI levels to meet consumer needs. Future development of low GI rice would also enable food manufactures to develop new, low GI food products based on rice.

Dr Tony Bird, CSIRO Food Futures Flagship researcher, said that low GI diets offer a range of health benefits.

Dr Melissa Fitzgerald, who led the IRRI team, said GI is a measure of the relative ability of carbohydrates in foods to raise blood sugar levels after eating.

"Understanding that different types of rice have different GI values allows rice consumers to make informed choices about the sort of rice they want to eat," she said.

"Rice varieties like India's most widely grown rice variety, Swarna, have a low GI and varieties like Doongara and Basmati from Australia have a medium GI."

Dr Tony Bird, CSIRO Food Futures Flagship researcher, said that low GI diets offer a range of health benefits.

"Low GI diets can reduce the likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes, and are also useful for helping diabetics better manage their condition," he said.

"This is good news for diabetics and people at risk of diabetes who are trying to control their condition through diet, as it means they can select the right rice to help maintain a healthy, low GI diet."

Low GI foods are those measured 55 and less, medium GI are those measured between 56 and 69, while high GI measures 70 and above.

When food is measured to have a 'high GI', it means it is easily digested and absorbed by the body, which often results in fluctuations in blood sugar levels that can increase chances of getting diabetes, and make management of Type 2 diabetes difficult.

Conversely, foods with low GI are those that have slow digestion and absorption rates in the body, causing a gradual and sustained release of sugar into the blood, which has been proven beneficial to health, including reducing the chances of developing diabetes.

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Hormone curbs depressive-like symptoms in stressed mice

ScienceDaily (July 9, 2012) — A hormone with anti-diabetic properties also reduces depression-like symptoms in mice, researchers from the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio reported July 9.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiabetesMental Health ResearchObesityMind & BrainDepressionMental HealthPsychiatryReferenceAdipose tissueBlood sugarHormoneInsulin-like growth factor

All types of current antidepressants, including tricyclics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, increase the risk for type 2 diabetes. "The finding offers a novel target for treating depression, and would be especially beneficial for those depressed individuals who have type 2 diabetes or who are at high risk for developing it," said the study's senior author, Xin-Yun Lu, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and psychiatry and member of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the UT Health Science Center.

The hormone, called adiponectin, is secreted by adipose tissue and sensitizes the body to the action of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar. "We showed that adiponectin levels in plasma are reduced in a chronic social defeat stress model of depression, which correlates with the degree of social aversion," Dr. Lu said.

Facing Goliath over and over

In the study mice were exposed to 14 days of repeated social defeat stress. Each male mouse was introduced to the home cage of an unfamiliar, aggressive resident mouse for 10 minutes and physically defeated. After the defeat, the resident mouse and the intruder mouse each were housed in half of the cage separated by a perforated plastic divider to allow visual, olfactory and auditory contact for the remainder of the 24-hour period. Mice were exposed to a new resident mouse cage and subjected to social defeat each day. Plasma adiponectin concentrations were determined after the last social defeat session. Defeated mice displayed lower plasma adiponectin levels.

Withdrawal, lost pleasure and helplessness

When adiponectin concentrations were reduced by deleting one allele of the adiponectin gene or by a neutralizing antibody, mice were more susceptible to stress-induced social withdrawal, anhedonia (lost capacity to experience pleasure) and learned helplessness.

Mice that were fed a high-fat diet (60 percent calories from fat) for 16 weeks developed obesity and type 2 diabetes. Administration of adiponectin to these mice and mice of normal weight produced antidepressant-like effects.

Possible innovative approach for depression

"These findings suggest a critical role of adiponectin in the development of depressive-like behaviors and may lead to an innovative therapeutic approach to fight depression," Dr. Lu said.

A novel approach would benefit thousands. "So far, only about half of the patients suffering from major depressive disorders are treated to the point of remission with antidepressant drugs," Dr. Lu said. "The prevalence of depression in the diabetic population is two to three times higher than in the non-diabetic population. Unfortunately, the use of current antidepressants can worsen the control of diabetic patients. Adiponectin, with its anti-diabetic activity, would serve as an innovative therapeutic target for depression treatments, especially for those individuals with diabetes or prediabetes and perhaps those who fail to respond to currently available antidepressants."

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A Vaccine Protects Those Who Skip It

Other experts in infectious diseases agreed that the study demonstrates how important it is to get vaccinated.

"I think it is important to point out to potential vaccine recipients that herd immunity is routinely achieved when greater than 80 percent of the population has been vaccinated," said Robert Rose, professor emeritus of infectious diseases at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. "Thus, it is incumbent upon immune-competent individuals to participate in the vaccine effort in order to protect those who are in one way or another immune-compromised."

HPV is responsible for the most common sexually transmitted infections. There are more than 100 types of HPV, including more than 40 high-risk types of infection that are responsible for causing approximately 70 percent of cervical cancers, genital warts, vaginal and anal cancers and a growing number of head and neck cancers, especially in men.

Since these viruses have the ability to cause such widespread disease, current recommendations from the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices include vaccination against HPV for both males and females ages 9 to 26.

"Substantially decreasing the incidence of this disease by using a preventive vaccine is so exciting, especially when approximately 20 percent of human cancers are caused by an infection," said Dr. Connie Trimble, an OB/Gyn and HPV researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.

Despite the growing body of research supporting HPV vaccination, however, HPV vaccination rates among young people remain low. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates were only around 49 percent for the first out of three required doses. Additionally, while the current HPV vaccine shows effectiveness in reducing the prevalence of the four most high-risk types of infection in Kahn's study, other types of HPV remain prevalent.

Dr. James Turner, member of the Vaccine Preventable Disease Committee at the University of Virginia, said there remains a need to continue to improve and change the vaccine in a way that acts against the types of the virus that remain prevalent in the community.

"I believe manufacturers are in Phase II studies of developing new vaccines that cover up to nine

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Laws that criminalize gays 'hurt HIV treatment'

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HPV Vaccine Reducing Infections, Even Among Unvaccinated: Study

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