There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease
The most common form of dementia may be closely related to another common disease of old-age - type II diabetes, say scientists.
Treating Alzheimer's with the hormone insulin, or with drugs to boost its effect, may help patients, they claim.
The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports insulin could protect against damage to brain cells key to memory.
UK experts said the find could be the basis of new drug treatments.
The most exciting implications are that some diabetes drugs have the potential to be developed as Alzheimer's treatments
Spokesman, Alzheimer's Research Trust
The relationship between insulin and brain disease has been under scrutiny since doctors found evidence that the hormone was active there. More
Study: Diabetes Linked to Cognitive Decline
By ALICE PARK Monday, Jan. 05, 2009
Studies have shown that diabetes may speed up aging-related deficits in mental function and lead to a twofold increase in the risk of dementia. Some researchers have speculated that diabetes could even boost the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Roger Dixon, a psychologist at the University of Alberta in Canada, wanted to learn whether this was true and set out to study exactly how uncontrolled blood sugar affected the brain.
Dixon and his colleagues studied 41 adults with diabetes and 424 healthy adults between the ages of 53 and 90, and reported their findings in the journal Neuropsychology. After testing the participants on memory, recall, verbal fluency, executive functions involving critical thinking and the speed of their mental faculties, researchers found the most significant deficits in diabetes patients on tasks of executive function and speed. These problems showed up in the youngest patients as well as the older ones, and once the cognitive symptoms appeared, they did not seem to worsen or change over time. Although Dixon's study failed to add new information on the question of diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, other experts view these results as useful fodder in the growing field of diabetes research.
"This study in general supports what we understand," says Dr. Alan Jacobson, chief of psychiatric services at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. "It's another study adding to our recognition that Type 2 diabetes portends some type of problem in terms of cognitive function." More
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Leprosy Patients - India's legally untouchables
People with leprosy are legally banned from travelling by train and applying for a driving licence, and leprosy is listed as a ground for a divorce under almost every marriage and divorce law. Some states — Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh — don’t even allow people with leprosy to contest local body and panchayat elections.
“The Special Marriage Act of 1954 declares leprosy incurable, which is ridiculous. The disease is completely curable, with a person getting cured within six to one year. Even infection stops after the first dose of medicine is taken,” said Dr P.K. Gopal, president, National Forum of Leprosy-affected People, for whom the worst humiliation was when he and other delegates at a conference in Chennai were asked to vacate the hotel immediately after the staff discovered it was a leprosy meet.
Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss is quick to admit that many laws discriminate against leprosy-affected people. “Leprosy is less infectious than the common cold and completely curable, yet laws stigmatise as much as people do. As the nodal agency, the Ministry of Health has already taken up the issue of discriminatory acts/laws against leprosy with the concerned ministries, and we are waiting for their response,” he said.
Even with only 87,206 leprosy cases on record at end of March 2008, India accounts for 54 per cent new cases detected globally. Since 1985, multi-drug therapy given free under the NLEP cures leprosy within six months to a year, but social stigma continues because of the visible physical deformities. If treated in the early stages, no deformities occur, but to treat those with deformities, the ministry announced a grant of Rs 5,000 for BPL families to undergo reconstructive surgery for disfigurements in identified hospitals, which would be given an additional Rs 5,000 for each surgery done. Read it all
“The Special Marriage Act of 1954 declares leprosy incurable, which is ridiculous. The disease is completely curable, with a person getting cured within six to one year. Even infection stops after the first dose of medicine is taken,” said Dr P.K. Gopal, president, National Forum of Leprosy-affected People, for whom the worst humiliation was when he and other delegates at a conference in Chennai were asked to vacate the hotel immediately after the staff discovered it was a leprosy meet.
Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss is quick to admit that many laws discriminate against leprosy-affected people. “Leprosy is less infectious than the common cold and completely curable, yet laws stigmatise as much as people do. As the nodal agency, the Ministry of Health has already taken up the issue of discriminatory acts/laws against leprosy with the concerned ministries, and we are waiting for their response,” he said.
Even with only 87,206 leprosy cases on record at end of March 2008, India accounts for 54 per cent new cases detected globally. Since 1985, multi-drug therapy given free under the NLEP cures leprosy within six months to a year, but social stigma continues because of the visible physical deformities. If treated in the early stages, no deformities occur, but to treat those with deformities, the ministry announced a grant of Rs 5,000 for BPL families to undergo reconstructive surgery for disfigurements in identified hospitals, which would be given an additional Rs 5,000 for each surgery done. Read it all
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Weight-loss drug orlistat to be available soon
gets final OTC permission
22 Jan 09
By Lilian Anekwe
The European Commission has granted permission for the 60mg dose of the weight-loss drug orlistat to go on sale over the counter in pharmacies.
Orlistat will be available to all adults with a BMI of 28 kg/m2 or more, under the brand name alli.
The drug’s manufacturer, GSK, said it would run a ‘comprehensive training programme’ to help pharmacy staff provide appropriate advice and support.
Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern and a GP in Nottingham, said: ‘It can work, the risks are minimal, but I don't want to see the public being exploited. They have got to use it with knowledge.
‘This plays a part in the a weight management regime - but lifestyle changes in terms of eating a better diet must come first and last.’
But Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: 'My worry is that a lot of people will take these pills without proper advice and support about dieting and exercise.
'It's all too easy to pop a pill instead of making the lifestyle changes we need to keep our weight under control. This will only work if pharmacists can spend a lot of time giving ongoing advice.' more
22 Jan 09
By Lilian Anekwe
The European Commission has granted permission for the 60mg dose of the weight-loss drug orlistat to go on sale over the counter in pharmacies.
Orlistat will be available to all adults with a BMI of 28 kg/m2 or more, under the brand name alli.
The drug’s manufacturer, GSK, said it would run a ‘comprehensive training programme’ to help pharmacy staff provide appropriate advice and support.
Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern and a GP in Nottingham, said: ‘It can work, the risks are minimal, but I don't want to see the public being exploited. They have got to use it with knowledge.
‘This plays a part in the a weight management regime - but lifestyle changes in terms of eating a better diet must come first and last.’
But Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: 'My worry is that a lot of people will take these pills without proper advice and support about dieting and exercise.
'It's all too easy to pop a pill instead of making the lifestyle changes we need to keep our weight under control. This will only work if pharmacists can spend a lot of time giving ongoing advice.' more
Friday, January 9, 2009
Dementia drug threat to life
Experts have condemned the commonplace prescribing of sedatives to people in the UK with dementia.
It comes as a three-year study published in The Lancet Neurology reports a doubling of the risk of early death in those on the drugs long-term.
As many as 100,000 people in UK care homes with dementia are routinely prescribed anti-psychotic drugs for aggressiveness or agitation.
Ministers said they were reviewing the use of the drugs in dementia care.
Current guidelines state that anti-psychotics can be given to patients who are severely agitated or violent for short periods of time.
However, figures suggest the drugs are overused and are given for an average of one to two years.
Warnings
The latest research is not the first time the dangers of anti-psychotics in dementia patients have been reported. more from BBC
It comes as a three-year study published in The Lancet Neurology reports a doubling of the risk of early death in those on the drugs long-term.
As many as 100,000 people in UK care homes with dementia are routinely prescribed anti-psychotic drugs for aggressiveness or agitation.
Ministers said they were reviewing the use of the drugs in dementia care.
Current guidelines state that anti-psychotics can be given to patients who are severely agitated or violent for short periods of time.
However, figures suggest the drugs are overused and are given for an average of one to two years.
Warnings
The latest research is not the first time the dangers of anti-psychotics in dementia patients have been reported. more from BBC
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Documentary on Orgasm During Childbirth
Some Women Report Having An Orgasm During Childbirth
First thing next month (Friday January 2) will be the primetime debut of a film that has been making the "under the radar" rounds of women and film festivals since May. ABC's 20/20 will air the documentary "Orgasmic Birth", by Debra Pascali-Bonaro, a childbirth educator and a doula, which asks the question: What would happen if women were taught to enjoy birth rather than endure it?
Some women will see this film as a declaration of emancipation from the medicalization of childbirth. Others will see it as yet one more way to raise expectations and make new mothers feel inadequate if they do not experience the "ideal" birth. more
First thing next month (Friday January 2) will be the primetime debut of a film that has been making the "under the radar" rounds of women and film festivals since May. ABC's 20/20 will air the documentary "Orgasmic Birth", by Debra Pascali-Bonaro, a childbirth educator and a doula, which asks the question: What would happen if women were taught to enjoy birth rather than endure it?
Some women will see this film as a declaration of emancipation from the medicalization of childbirth. Others will see it as yet one more way to raise expectations and make new mothers feel inadequate if they do not experience the "ideal" birth. more
Feed a fever, say researchers
'Keep off dieting' to avoid flu
Dieting at this time of year could impair your body's ability to fight the flu virus, a study warns.
US researchers found mice who were put on a calorie-controlled diet found it harder to tackle the infection than those on a normal diet.
The findings, published in the Journal of Nutrition, suggest that contrary to the old adage "starve a fever", those with a temperature should eat well.
Flu cases in England and Wales are currently approaching a nine-year high.
Killer cells need food
The team at Michigan State University found even though the mice on the lower calorie diet received adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, their bodies were still not able to produce the amount of killer cells needed to fight an infection. more
Dieting at this time of year could impair your body's ability to fight the flu virus, a study warns.
US researchers found mice who were put on a calorie-controlled diet found it harder to tackle the infection than those on a normal diet.
The findings, published in the Journal of Nutrition, suggest that contrary to the old adage "starve a fever", those with a temperature should eat well.
Flu cases in England and Wales are currently approaching a nine-year high.
Killer cells need food
The team at Michigan State University found even though the mice on the lower calorie diet received adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, their bodies were still not able to produce the amount of killer cells needed to fight an infection. more
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