Sunday, August 31, 2008
Treatment For Hearing Loss? Scientists Grow Hair Cells Involved in Hearing
ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2008) — Oregon Health & Science University scientists have successfully produced functional auditory hair cells in the cochlea of the mouse inner ear. The breakthrough suggests that a new therapy may be developed in the future to successfully treat hearing loss. The results of this research was recently published by the journal Nature.
Read more
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Earwax protects and lubricates ear canal: New guideuidelines for its removal
Earwax: Too Much of a Good Thing?
New Guidelines Set for Safely Removing Excess Earwax
By Kelley Colihan
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Aug. 29, 2008 -- The body is a miraculous mechanism. Consider the once-lowly earwax. People used to try to remove it. Now, we now know that earwax has a job to do.
Think of it kind of like the oil in your car, except it doesn't ever have to be changed.
Earwax is created by a mixture of secretions from glands that line the ear canal, sloughed-off skin cells, and bits of hair.
It acts as a cleaning agent, which also protects and lubricates part of the sensitive ear canal.
Normally, excess wax eases its way out of your ear without any prompting on your part, helped along by the movement of your jaw.
That's when it can be cleaned out a bit, but it's advised that you not go looking for it and only clean out earwax once it emerges on its own.
So, although earwax is essentially good, too much of it can cause problems.
Read More
New Guidelines Set for Safely Removing Excess Earwax
By Kelley Colihan
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Aug. 29, 2008 -- The body is a miraculous mechanism. Consider the once-lowly earwax. People used to try to remove it. Now, we now know that earwax has a job to do.
Think of it kind of like the oil in your car, except it doesn't ever have to be changed.
Earwax is created by a mixture of secretions from glands that line the ear canal, sloughed-off skin cells, and bits of hair.
It acts as a cleaning agent, which also protects and lubricates part of the sensitive ear canal.
Normally, excess wax eases its way out of your ear without any prompting on your part, helped along by the movement of your jaw.
That's when it can be cleaned out a bit, but it's advised that you not go looking for it and only clean out earwax once it emerges on its own.
So, although earwax is essentially good, too much of it can cause problems.
Read More
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Thatcher's Daughter Dishes on Mom's Memory Loss
Is It Alzheimer's or Dementia? Margaret Thatcher's Loss Stirs Sympathy, Indignation
Dubbed the "Iron Lady," Britain's hard-nosed former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was revered for her nimble command of world events and her quick verbal repartee.
But today, in a soon-to-be-published memoir, her daughter Carol describes an 82-year-old woman -- the world leader once feared and admired -- as humbled by memory lapses so severe she doesn't even know that her longtime husband has died.
Serving as prime minister from 1979 to 1990, she had been an intellectual powerhouse, reportedly sleeping just four hours a night. Her daughter Carol Thatcher, a television personality, said she first noticed her mother's memory problems in 2000.
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Dementia -- a Latin word for "irrationality" -- is an umbrella term for more than 100 diseases that affect the brain in old age, according to the National Institutes for Health. An estimated 2 million to 4 million Americans have some form of the disease.
Perhaps the most highly publicized case was that of former President Reagan -- Thatcher's conservative political soul mate. He went public with his diagnosis in a televised statement in 1994, a decade before he died of the disease.
Read more
Baroness Margaret Thatcher, 82, and her daughter Carol Thatcher, 55, who has written a memoir... 
(Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Serving as prime minister from 1979 to 1990, she had been an intellectual powerhouse, reportedly sleeping just four hours a night. Her daughter Carol Thatcher, a television personality, said she first noticed her mother's memory problems in 2000.
----------------------
Dementia -- a Latin word for "irrationality" -- is an umbrella term for more than 100 diseases that affect the brain in old age, according to the National Institutes for Health. An estimated 2 million to 4 million Americans have some form of the disease.
Perhaps the most highly publicized case was that of former President Reagan -- Thatcher's conservative political soul mate. He went public with his diagnosis in a televised statement in 1994, a decade before he died of the disease.
Goldwater, Heston Also Sufferers
Other powerful figures who suffered from dementia were Hollywood icon and Reagan friend Charlton Heston, as well as 1964 Republican presidential contender Barry Goldwater and professional boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.Read more
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Obesity In Elderly A Ticking Time Bomb For Health Services
ScienceDaily (Aug. 22, 2008) — Research carried out at the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England has discovered that obesity in later life does not make a substantial difference to risks of death among older people but that it is a major contributor to increased disability in later life – creating a ticking time bomb for health services in developed countries.
'Good' Fat to Prevent Obesity
Study Identifies Protein That Produces 'Good' Fat: Finding May Lead To Ways To Treat, Prevent Obesity
ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2008) — A study by researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center has shown that a protein known for its role in inducing bone growth can also help promote the development of brown fat, a "good" fat that helps in the expenditure of energy and plays a role in fighting obesity.
"Obesity is occurring at epidemic rates in the U.S. and worldwide and that impacts the risk and prognosis of many diseases," said Yu-Hua Tseng, Ph.D. an Assistant Investigator in the Joslin Section on Obesity and Hormone Action and lead author of the paper published in the August 21 issue of Nature. "We hope this study can be translated into applications to help treat or prevent obesity."
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
New Reasons To Avoid Grapefruit And Other Juices When Taking Certain Drugs
The researchers have reported at the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society that they have new evidence to show that grapefruit and other common fruit juices, including orange and apple, can substantially decrease the absorption of certain drugs, including some that are prescribed for fighting life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, cancer, organ-transplant rejection, and infection, the researcher says potentially wiping out their beneficial effects.
Read it all from ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2008)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Many Think God's Intervention Can Revive the Dying
Survey: Many Americans believe God's help can revive dying patients, despite medical evidence
By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO August 18, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press
An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle."
More than half of randomly surveyed adults — 57 percent — said God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment would be futile. And nearly three-quarters said patients have a right to demand such treatment.
"Sensitivity to this belief will promote development of a trusting relationship" with patients and their families, according to researchers. That trust, they said, is needed to help doctors explain objective, overwhelming scientific evidence showing that continued treatment would be worthless.
Pat Loder, a Milford, Mich., woman whose two young children were killed in a 1991 car crash, said she clung to a belief that God would intervene when things looked hopeless.
While doctors should be prepared to deal with those beliefs, they also shouldn't "sugarcoat" the truth about a patient's condition, Loder said.
Being honest in a sensitive way helps family members make excruciating decisions about whether to let dying patients linger, or allow doctors to turn off life-prolonging equipment so that organs can be donated, Loder said.
Read it all here
By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO August 18, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press
An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle."
More than half of randomly surveyed adults — 57 percent — said God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment would be futile. And nearly three-quarters said patients have a right to demand such treatment.
"Sensitivity to this belief will promote development of a trusting relationship" with patients and their families, according to researchers. That trust, they said, is needed to help doctors explain objective, overwhelming scientific evidence showing that continued treatment would be worthless.
Pat Loder, a Milford, Mich., woman whose two young children were killed in a 1991 car crash, said she clung to a belief that God would intervene when things looked hopeless.
While doctors should be prepared to deal with those beliefs, they also shouldn't "sugarcoat" the truth about a patient's condition, Loder said.
Being honest in a sensitive way helps family members make excruciating decisions about whether to let dying patients linger, or allow doctors to turn off life-prolonging equipment so that organs can be donated, Loder said.
Read it all here
Diabetes drug Byetta causes deaths: FDA Warns
Several deaths were reported with the medication of diabetes drug, Byetta, marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co.
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it has received six new reports of patients developing a dangerous form of pancreatitis while taking Byetta. Two of the patients died and four were recovering.
Regulators stressed that patients should stop taking Byetta immediately if they develop signs of acute pancreatitis, a swelling of the pancreas that can cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The FDA warned that it is very difficult to distinguish acute pancreatitis from less dangerous forms of the condition.
The FDA announcement updated an October alert about 30 reports of Byetta patients developing pancreas problems. None of those cases were fatal, but Byetta's makers agreed to add information about the reports to the drug's label.
Byetta competes against blockbuster drugs from GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Takeda Pharmaceuticals in the $24 billion global market for diabetes medications, according to health care research firm IMS Health.
More than 700,000 patients with type 2 diabetes have used the injectable drug since it was launched in June 2005.
Read it full
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it has received six new reports of patients developing a dangerous form of pancreatitis while taking Byetta. Two of the patients died and four were recovering.
Regulators stressed that patients should stop taking Byetta immediately if they develop signs of acute pancreatitis, a swelling of the pancreas that can cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The FDA warned that it is very difficult to distinguish acute pancreatitis from less dangerous forms of the condition.
The FDA announcement updated an October alert about 30 reports of Byetta patients developing pancreas problems. None of those cases were fatal, but Byetta's makers agreed to add information about the reports to the drug's label.
Byetta competes against blockbuster drugs from GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Takeda Pharmaceuticals in the $24 billion global market for diabetes medications, according to health care research firm IMS Health.
More than 700,000 patients with type 2 diabetes have used the injectable drug since it was launched in June 2005.
Read it full
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