Asthma Common Among Olympic Athletes

HealthDay – 3 mins 8 secs ago THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Asthma and airway hyper-responsiveness are the most common chronic conditions among Olympic athletes, affecting about 8 percent of the competitors, according to a new study.

The Australian researcher suggested the conditions may be linked to the athletes' intense training, particularly those who participate in endurance sports or winter sports. The inhalation of cold air contributes to airway damage.

Airway hyper-responsiveness involves marked narrowing of the airways in response to some kind of outside trigger.

"Inhaling polluted or cold air is considered an important factor which might explain the cause in some sports, but not in all," explained study author Kenneth Fitch, of the University of Western Australia, in a university news release. "The quality of inhaled air could be harmful to the airways, but does not cause the same effect in all sports."

Fitch counted the number of athletes with asthma and airway hyper-responsiveness from the five Olympic games between 2002 and 2010. He identified the athletes by tracking the use of inhaled beta-2 agonists, an anti-asthma drug commonly used by top athletes.

In 2001, the International Olympic Committee recognized the increased use of the drug between 1996 and 2000, and issued a new rule requiring athletes to provide proof of their condition to safeguard the health of Olympic athletes, not as an anti-doping measure, according to the news release.

Fitch noted that athletes with asthma have routinely beaten their opponents. He added, however, there is no proof that treatments for the condition improved their performance. He suggested that training harder than other athletes could help explain why many athletes develop asthma or airway hyper-responsiveness as adults.

The study was published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute provides more information on asthma.

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Opioid receptors as a drug target for stopping obesity

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2012) — New research demonstrates that blocking the delta opioid receptor in mice created resistance to weight gain and stimulated gene expression promoting non-shivering thermogenesis.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossObesityFitnessMind & BrainDieting and Weight ControlOpiumNutrition ResearchLiving WellReferenceDetox dietSouth Beach dietCalorie restricted dietAdipose tissue

Imagine eating all of the sugar and fat that you want without gaining a pound. Thanks to new research published in The FASEB Journal, the day may come when this is not too far from reality. That's because researchers from the United States and Europe have found that blocking one of three opioid receptors in your body could turn your penchant for sweets and fried treats into a weight loss strategy that actually works. By blocking the delta opioid receptor, or DOR, mice reduced their body weight despite being fed a diet high in fat and sugar. The scientists believe that the deletion of the DOR gene in mice stimulated the expression of other genes in brown adipose tissue that promoted thermogenesis.

"Our study provided further evidence that opioid receptors can control the metabolic response to diets high in fat and sugar, and raise the possibility that these gene products (or their respective pathways) can be targeted specifically to treat excess weight and obesity," said Traci A. Czyzyk, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Physiology at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Scientists studied mice lacking the delta opioid receptor (DOR KO) and wild type (WT) control mice who were fed an energy dense diet (HED), high in fat and sugar, for three months. They found that DOR KO mice had a lean phenotype specifically when they were fed the HED. While WT mice gained significant weight and fat mass on this diet, DOR KO mice remained lean even though they consumed more food. Researchers then sought to determine how DOR might regulate energy balance and found that DOR KO mice were able to maintain their energy expenditure levels, in part, due to an increase in non-shivering thermogenesis. This was evidenced by an increase in thermogenesis-promoting genes in brown adipose tissue, an increase in body surface temperature near major brown adipose tissue depots, and the ability of DOR KO mice to maintain higher core body temperatures in response to being in a cold environment.

"Don't reach for the ice cream and doughnuts just yet," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "We don't know how all this works in humans, and of course, a diet of junk food causes other health problems. This exciting research identifies genes that activate brown adipose tissue to increase our burning of calories from any source. It may lead to a safe diet pill in the future."

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Common Skin Cancer a Chronic Condition, Study Says

HealthDay – 3 mins 1 sec ago THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Here's yet another reason to go easy on the tanning this summer: A new study affirms that basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, should be viewed as a chronic disease.

That's because once most people have a single occurrence, they are at risk of getting another.

"Basal cell carcinoma has generally been viewed as something that comes up, is treated and cured," said Dr. Martin Weinstock, a study co-author and professor of dermatology at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University in Providence, R.I. "For someone with an isolated lesion, that's a reasonable way of looking at it. But most people are constantly at risk of this and will be getting more."

The study confirmed what was commonly understood about the disease: a prior history of basal cell carcinoma is the greatest risk for another lesion. But the research found that eczema may also predict a recurrence among those at high risk for the disease. Those with a family history of eczema had a 1.54 times greater risk than those without.

Older age, sun sensitivity, intense sun exposure before age 30, and use of certain blood pressure-lowering medications (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers) were also associated with increased risk.

Why would eczema, a chronic skin disorder that involves scaly and itchy rashes, be associated with basal cell carcinoma? Weinstock said it's unclear. "There may be some differences in these people's immune systems compared to people without eczema," he said, noting that other investigators need to confirm the findings.

Having other types of skin cancer or actinic keratoses (scaly or crusty growths caused by sun damage) did not appear to raise the chances for basal cell carcinoma.

The study was published online July 19 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It involved more than 1,100 people, nearly all men, all veterans, with a median age of 72.

On average, each participant had more than three instances of basal cell cancer or squamous cell cancer (another type of skin cancer) before participating in the research. During the study period, 44 percent developed new basal cell cancers, and those with the most basal cell cancers in the five years before the study had the most recurrences.

Study participants with more than five prior basal cell cancers were nearly four times as likely to develop a new one as those with one or no prior skin cancers. And their risk was twice as high as those with three previous skin cancers, the study found.

Now the most common cancer in the United States, basal cell carcinoma begins in the outer layer of the skin, often as a small white or flesh-colored bump that grows slowly and sometimes bleeds. While these cancers rarely spread, they must be removed or treated, usually in a physician's office with local anesthetic.

Weinstock said researchers are eager to find a preventive medication to guard against the recurrence of basal cell carcinoma. Last year a team he led concluded that topical tretinoin did not prevent new basal cell cancers in high-risk patients. Now he is involved in a study looking at whether 5-Fluorouracil, a compound used to treat actinic keratoses, may prevent basal cell cancer when given intravenously.

Dr. Jean Tang, an assistant professor in the department of dermatology at Stanford University School of Medicine who is familiar with the study, said the most important thing for patients to know is that if you have had a basal cell carcinoma, you have a 44 percent chance of getting another.

"This study doesn't change any clinical guidelines or recommendations," she added. Current advice still stands: "Get an annual skin assessment by your dermatologist," she said.

More information

To learn more about skin cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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Health Highlights: Aug. 2, 2012

HealthDay – 2 mins 30 secs ago Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

FDA Approves Ingestible Medical Sensor

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has approved an ingestible medical sensor that reports vital information on a patient's health back to his or her doctor.

The device, from Proteus Digital Health Inc., is only about the size of a grain of sand and had already been approved by European health officials last year, CBS News reported. Once swallowed, it sends out information on whether patients are taking their medications as instructed, as well as data on vital signs.

The sensor is designed so that it can be placed inside a pill or other consumable and it is powered by stomach fluid, CBS said. It transmits information to a patch on the patient's stomach, and that data is then relayed to a cell phone app to the patient and, with his or her permission, to their caregiving team.

"About half of all people don't take medications like they're supposed to," Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla,Calif., told the journal Nature.

"This device could be a solution to that problem, so that doctors can know when to rev up a patient's medication adherence," said Topol, who is not affiliated with the device's maker.

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Free Contraception, Well-Woman Visits Tied to Health Care Reform Begin

Starting Wednesday, up to 47 million American women can now gain free access to contraception, well-woman visits, STD screening and other benefits linked to the Affordable Care Act, CBS News reported.

"Women deserve to have control over their health care," Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote on a blog posted on Healthcare.gov. "Too often, they have gone without preventive services, worrying about what even a $20 insurance co-pay would mean to their families' budgets and choosing to pay for groceries or rent instead. But now, thanks to the health care law, many women won't have to make that choice."

Starting Aug. 1, women will not have provide a co-pay for well-woman visits (including annual check-ups or more if doctors deem necessary); contraceptives and contraception counseling; HPV testing every three years for women aged 30 or over; annual sexually transmitted disease counseling, including HIV screening/counseling; domestic violence screening and counseling; screening for gestational diabetes and breast-feeding support, supplies and counseling.

The new benefits currently only apply to women who are enrolled in a health insurance plan, CBS News notes, although more uninsured women are expected to be included as health care reform is fully implemented.

The free services that kick in Wednesday join other no-fee, preventive health measures, such as mammography screening, cervical cancer screenings (via the Pap smear) and prenatal services, that are already covered by the Affordable Care Act.

Not everyone supports the changes, however. According to CBS News, Catholic groups have filed 12 lawsuits in 43 courts across the country to block the provision to supply contraception free of charge.

"The implementation of this policy marks the beginning of the end of religious freedom in our nation," Christen Varley, executive director of Conscience Cause, said in a statement.

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When Parents Get Active, So Do Kids: Study

HealthDay – 5 mins ago THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Parents who want to increase the amount of exercise their children get should become more active themselves, according to a new study.

"It has long been known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," study author Kristen Holm, an assistant professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, said in a news release. "

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Jewish communities to coordinate debate on circumcision

"An eight day-old baby is held during his circumcision ceremony in Haifa in 2006. Austria's Jewish community (IKG) said Monday it was working jointly with its German and Swiss counterparts to keep religious circumcision legal, after repeated calls for an end to the practice. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)" title

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HPV Test Beats Pap Long-Term: Study

HealthDay – 13 hrs ago MONDAY, July 30 (HealthDay News) -- Testing for HPV, the human papillomavirus linked to cervical cancer, can predict which women will stay cancer-free for a decade or more, a new study shows.

While both a positive HPV test and an abnormal result on a traditional Pap smear predicted which women would get precancerous lesions within two years of testing, the HPV test continued to predict which women were at risk for 10 to 18 years later, said study co-author Dr. Attila Lorincz, a professor of molecular epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London.

"HPV DNA testing detects more cervical precancers than the Pap test, and women who are negative for high-risk HPV DNA have improved protection from the risk of cervical cancer," Lorincz said.

The study, which looked at nearly 20,000 women receiving routine Pap tests and HPV testing at Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Ore., is published in the July 30 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The research does not suggest one test should replace the other, Lorincz stressed, but confirms the importance of both screenings. The main aims of the study, he said, "were to see how many extra cases of precancer can be discovered by the additional use of HPV DNA testing as compared to routine Pap testing."

The findings, he said, support recently revised guidelines suggesting that HPV testing, if negative, can allow for longer intervals between Pap testing for women over the age of 30. The findings also suggest that an alternate strategy, using HPV testing first, may work well, the researchers said.

According to American Cancer Society guidelines, the preferred screening for healthy women aged 30 to 65 is to do a Pap and HPV test every five years. Women under 30 are often infected with HPV, but clear it spontaneously. That is why the guidelines for the roles of HPV and Pap testing combined are for women aged 30 and older.

As more research is done, guidelines may change, said study co-author Dr. Andrew Glass, senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research. "It is likely that HPV testing will be more and more common and may in the future replace routine Pap testing," he said.

Both the Pap test and the HPV test are done on samples of cells taken from the cervix. The Pap detects cell changes on the cervix that could become cancer if not treated appropriately.

HPV tests look for DNA, or genetic material, of the virus that can lead to precancerous changes.

In the study, women over 30 with a positive HPV at the start were more likely to have a precancer or cancer during the 10- to 18-year follow-up than those who had an abnormal Pap.

Women who tested positive for the two strains of HPV most strongly linked with cervical cancer were more likely to have precancer during the follow-up than HPV-negative women, regardless of their initial Pap test result.

Having a negative HPV more strongly predicted who would remain cancer-free than the Pap did, the investigators found.

The researchers also looked at the effect of lengthening the screening interval from three years to five in women over 30 who had negative HPV and normal Pap tests. Doing this did not increase the risk of precancer and cancers appreciably.

Both tests are commonly covered by insurance plans, sometimes requiring a co-payment. The typical cost for each test is about $40 to $70, according to Lorincz.

The study finding "confirms the fact that you don't have to do a Pap smear every year in healthy women over 30," said Dr. Mark Wakabayashi, director of the division of gynecologic oncology at the City of Hope, in Duarte, Calif.

However, he stressed the importance of checking in with a doctor. "But you have to talk to someone who understands who does need a yearly Pap," he said. "This

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Watch: Spinal Cord Injuries: Life Changes in an Instant

NYPD Officer Talks Man Out of Bridge...More Popular VideoUK's All-Male Synchronized Swim Team Left Out...U.S. Bridges, Roads Being Built by Chinese...Mitt Romney: Fallout Continues in PolandOlympic Games 2012: French Beat Michael...James Holmes Charged With 24 Counts of MurderIn The NewsU.S.PoliticsEntertainmentWeird and WackySpinal Cord Injuries: Life Changes in an InstantThe Miami Project aims to find a cure for paralysis.07/30/2012Share:

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The men's 100 meters: How fast could they go?

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Does nature or nurture make a top sprinter?

Reuters – 3 hrs ago LONDON (Reuters) - The dominance of Jamaicans and Americans of west African and Caribbean descent in world class sprinting has sparked intense debate about whether running at speeds that push the limits of what is humanly possible is all in the genes.

It is an idea that has its attractions. After all, it does seem baffling that the tiny island nation of Jamaica with a population reaching barely 2.8 million can consistently produce world-beating sprinters, while the whole of Europe can hardly register more than a handful of athletes in the top 100.

Yet sports scientists and geneticists say pinning sprinting success purely on nature rather than nurture is overly simplistic and ignores a wealth of cultural and societal factors that are equally important to beating the clock.

"What we know about genes in sport is that genetic make-up accounts for about 50 percent of variability in baseline performance," said Ken van Someren, director of sports science at the English Institute of Sport.

"What that basically tells is that sports performance is a combination of both nature and nurture."

SPRINTING GENES?

Bengt Saltin, a professor of human physiology at the University of Copenhagen's Muscle Research Centre in Denmark, says the balance of fast twitch to slow twitch muscles is key.

Fast twitch fibers produce the same amount of force for each contraction as slow muscles, but they get their name because they can fire far more rapidly - making them better for explosive, fast and forceful sports such as the 100m final.

And while training and practice can obviously improve muscle performance, evidence suggests slow twitch fibers cannot be converted into fast twitch, meaning that what athletes have is what their genes gave them.

"If you don't have at least 70 to 80 percent fast twitch muscle fibers, I'd say it's unlikely you could be among them (the world's top sprinters)," Saltin told Reuters.

"But if you have that kind of level you could probably do well - and if you have 80 to 90 percent that's even better."

A flurry of excitement about the idea of genes for athletics prowess took off in 2003 when Australian scientists found that a gene called ACTN3 has certain variants which may give the muscles of elite athletes a performance advantage.

Their study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, found that ACTN3 could give sprinters a boost because it gave extra power to fast twitch muscles.

Studies show this version of ACTN3 - dubbed the "sprint gene" - is more common in Jamaicans and other people of West African descent than in people of European ancestry.

Scientists are keen to point out, however, while the "right" kind of genotype is likely to be more prevalent among successful sprinters, for example, than among the general population, there is also likely to be wide variation between genetic profiles of those at the top of the sport.

"The closer towards elite you get, and the closer towards the limits of performance, so genetic make-up may well put some sort of glass ceiling there," said van Someren.

"But there is no single gene that accounts for speed and power, or for sprinting. From what we know so far it appears to be a really complex interaction of lots of genes.

So it's impossible to say there's a west African genotype for sprinting, or an east African genotype for endurance running. Genes only play a part."

BEYOND THE GENOME

Scientist say any gene-centered explanation also dismisses the importance of a whole host of psycho-social and cultural factors that are likely to be major contributors to the success of Jamaican sprinters.

Track and field holds a position of high respect in Jamaica. The annual school athletics championships, known as Champs, is a major national event whose significance ranks with the Super Bowl for Americans or the FA Cup final for the English.

Experts also note Jamaica's investment in an infrastructure and training system to pick out and nurture potential elite track athletes, a culture that idolizes sprint heroes, and a powerful desire among young Jamaicans to use sport to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

"They have role models and opportunities, it's a fun, sociable and competitive event from a very early age, and it has great rewards, both financial and social," said van Someren.

Daniel MacArthur, one of the researchers who published the 2003 paper linking ACTN3 and sprinting performance, says he regrets the study has led to far too much emphasis being put on what some like to see as an evolutionary advantage.

"It is almost certainly true that Usain Bolt carries at least one of the 'sprint' variants of the ACTN3 gene," he wrote in a science blog about the issue. "But then so do I - along with around 5 billion other humans worldwide.

"That doesn't mean you'll see me in the 100 meter final in London in 2012. Unfortunately for me, it takes a lot more than one lucky gene to create an Olympian."

(Editing by Alastair Himmer)

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Training the brain for a mind-blowing 100 final

Reuters – 2 hrs 49 mins ago LONDON (Reuters) - It is hard to believe a race that lasts barely 10 seconds can seriously mess up your mind but when it is the Olympic 100 meters final, there is little doubt it can.

Intrusive thoughts about failure and humiliation can plague sprinters for months before a race. The constant stress then starts to interfere with hormones in the brain, making sleep, concentration and training suffer.

As Jamaicans Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt know well, one false start can wreck hopes before a race has even begun and haunt the psyche for years.

While endless honing of fitness and form is crucial for the world's fastest human beings, it may be brain training that makes the difference between glory and defeat.

"By the time they reach this level, elite athletes are fit, they're fast, they've done their homework, they know who they're up against. So it's hardly ever a skills issue," said Pieter Kruger, a London-based sports psychologist who has worked with many elite athletes including the 2012 British Olympic team.

"At this point it becomes about the application of skills under pressure - that's where the psychology comes in."

On the face of it, the men most likely to be lining up for the 100 final on Sunday August 5 seem very different.

Sprint king Bolt, a laid back, light-hearted showman, is rarely lacking in confidence and appears far more relaxed than compatriot Powell - a known worrier who has struggled to get over pre-race nerves in the past.

America's fastest man Tyson Gay is softly spoken and humble, keen to avoid bold predictions and pre-race posturing.

He has found the psychological aspects of training, especially when coming back after an injury, particularly tough.

"When you're a little bit banged up it plays on you mentally a lot because you realize you only need to be 100 percent, feeling good, for one race - and that's the final," he said.

Powell knows he must ignore his rivals and focus on his own performance.

"I should just stay composed and run to the finish line," he told Reuters earlier this year. "You don't want any doubts in your head.

CONTROL THE CONTROLLABLES

Sports psychologists agree that is exactly the right approach but is far easier said than done.

"One of the worst things athletes have to deal with is something called anticipatory anxiety," explained Kruger.

"These are very intrusive thoughts. They start in the weeks leading up to a big race and they're often very much focused on outcome goals - in other words 'I need to win, I've spent four years training for this, I don't want to fail'."

If athletes cannot get a grip on these fears, they build to a point that produces a state of almost continual stress, triggering a constant secretion of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline in the body.

"That can really interfere with sleep patterns, recovery, training, rest - and when we're talking about milliseconds of difference between a first and a fifth place, all these things become incredibly important," said Kruger.

What team psychologists and coaches need to do is help athletes redirect those thoughts towards the process rather than the outcome, so their minds are focused on how to run their best race, not on obsessing about whether or not they can win.

"It's about controlling the controllables," said Kruger. "You can't control the outcome but you can control everything else in the process."

In a list of the top 10 questions an athlete must be able to answer correctly, American 400 meters great Michael Johnson said a crucial one is "What really matters right now?"

The answer? "The only thing that matters is the race you are about to run. The focus required to compete at this level and under this pressure requires an athlete to be totally in the moment".

Damon Burton and Thomas Raedeke, authors of "Sports Psychology for Coaches" suggest sprinters should have a clear race plan, possibly with cue words for each phase, and should mentally rehearse their race until it becomes second nature.

"Thinking too much is the worst possible thing they can do psychologically," said Burton, a professor of sport psychology at University of Idaho in the United States.

"You want sprinters in that situation to keep their minds clear, stick to a routine, react to the gun, and just do what they can do as best as they possibly can," he said in a telephone interview.

"The worst thing is if they start having nagging self doubts in the back of their minds."

So far at least, Bolt seems to have got that message.

"I have no worries," he told Reuters on Thursday. "It is not over-confidence. I know what I can do."

(Editing by Justin Palmer)

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Ugandans try to avoid touching amid ebola outbreak

"Officials from the World Health Organization wear protective clothing last week as they prepare to enter Kagadi Hospital in Kibale District, about 200 kilometres from Kampala, where an outbreak of ebola virus started. President Yoweri Museveni on Monday confirmed that Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases, has reached Kampala for the first time. (AFP Photo/Isaac Kasamani)" title

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