A New Drug Against Severe Malaria

A New Drug Against Severe Malaria.
The decease class among children with severe malaria was nearly one-fourth lower when they received a new drug called artesunate than when they got the canon treatment of quinine, a new study shows. The finding suggests that artesunate should repay quinine as the malaria treatment of choice for severe malaria worldwide, the researchers said. Malaria, a c murrain that is transmitted via the bite of an infected mosquito, can quickly become life-threatening if left-hand untreated, according to the World Health Organization.

The new study included 5425 children with dangerous falciparum malaria - the most dangerous of four types of malaria affecting humans - in nine African countries. Of the children, 2713 were treated with artesunate and 2713 with quinine. There were 230 deaths (8,5 percent) in the artesunate bring and 297 deaths (11 percent) in the quinine group, the contemplation authors reported. That means the imperil of extermination was 22,5 percent lower for children who received artesunate. The investigators also found that side gear such as coma and convulsions were less frequent among those given artesunate.

The study authors, Nicholas White of Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, and colleagues from the AQUAMAT reflect on group, also noted that while artesunate is more overpriced to buy, quinine is more expensive to administer. "A major factor restricting the deployment of artesunate has been unavailability of a commodity satisfying international good manufacturing standards. The most widely in use product, assessed in this study, does not yet have this certification, which has prevented deployment in some countries. This barrier must be rout speedily so that parenteral artesunate can be deployed in malaria-endemic areas to save lives," White's span wrote in a news release.

Many Supplements Contain Toxins That Are Not Claimed In The Description

Many Supplements Contain Toxins That Are Not Claimed In The Description.
A Congressional exploration of dietary herbal supplements has found intimation amounts of lead, mercury and other encumbered metals in nearly all products tested, plus myriad illegal fettle claims made by supplement manufacturers, The New York Times reported Wednesday, 27 May. The levels of critical metal contaminants did not exceed established limits, but investigators also discovered troubling and perhaps unacceptable levels of pesticide residue in 16 of 40 supplements, the newspaper said. One ginkgo biloba fallout had labeling claiming it could to Alzheimer's disease (no effective treatment yet exists), while a product containing ginseng asserted that it can enjoin both diabetes and cancer, the report said.

Steve Mister, president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a following group that represents the dietary supplement industry, said it was not surprising that herbal supplements contained drop amounts of heavy metals, because they are routinely found in soil and plants. "I dont believe this should be of concern to consumers," he told the Times. The report findings were to be presented to the Senate on Wednesday, two weeks before chat begins on a major food safety bill that will likely village more controls on food manufacturers, the Times said.

The newspaper said it was given the report in advance of the Senate hearing. How durable the bill will be on supplement makers has been the subject of much lobbying, but the Times celebrated that some Congressional staff members doubt manufacturers will find it too burdensome.

American Teenagers Are Turning To Emergency Departments Because Of Ecstasy More Often

American Teenagers Are Turning To Emergency Departments Because Of Ecstasy More Often.
The legions of US teens who twine up in the emergency cubicle after taking the club drug Ecstasy has more than doubled in recent years, raising concerns that the hallucinogen is back in vogue, federal officials promulgate Dec 2013. Emergency room visits related to MDMA - known as Ecstasy in crank form and Molly in the newer powder form - increased 128 percent between 2005 and 2011 surrounded by people younger than 21. Visits rose from about harshly 4500 to more than 10000 during that time, according to a report released Tuesday by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

And "This should be a wake-up bidding to everyone, but the tough nut to crack is much bigger than what the data show," said Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of The Partnership at Drugfree full stop org. "These are only the cases that roll into the emergency rooms. It's just the suggestion of the iceberg". The SAMHSA study comes on the heels of a string of Ecstasy-related deaths. Organizers closed the Electric Zoo music entertainment in New York City one day first in August following two deaths and four hospitalizations caused by Ecstasy overdoses.

The deaths came a week after another sophomoric man died from Ecstasy overdose at a rock show in Boston. Ecstasy produces feelings of increased vim and vigour and euphoria, and can distort a person's senses and perception of time. It innards by altering the brain's chemistry, but research has been inconclusive regarding the effects of long-term abuse on the brain.

However, joy abuse can cause potentially harmful physical reactions. Users can become dangerously overheated and wisdom rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure and dehydration, all of which can lead to kidney or heart failure. Alcohol also appears to be a factor. One-third of the danger room visits involving Ecstasy also twisted alcohol, a combination that can cause a longer-lasting euphoria, according to SAMHSA.

The Use Of Petroleum Jelly Can Lead To Bacterial Infection

The Use Of Petroleum Jelly Can Lead To Bacterial Infection.
Women who use petroleum jelly vaginally may put themselves at hazard of a proletarian infection called bacterial vaginosis, a nugatory study suggests. Prior studies have linked douching to ill effects, including bacterial vaginosis, and an increased danger of sexually transmitted diseases and pelvic fervid disease. But little research has been conducted on the possible effects of other products some women use vaginally, said Joelle Brown, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the brand-new study.

She and her colleagues found that of 141 Los Angeles women they studied, half said they'd cast-off some fount of over-the-counter product vaginally in the past month, including sexual lubricants, petroleum jelly and indulge oil. Almost as many, 45 percent, reported douching. When the researchers tested the women for infections, they found that those who'd second-hand petroleum jelly in the dead month were more than twice as likely as non-users to have bacterial vaginosis.

Bacterial vaginosis occurs when the normal deliberate between "good" and "bad" bacteria in the vagina is disrupted. The symptoms include discharge, pain, itching or blazing - but most women have no symptoms, and the infection usually causes no long-term problems. Still, bacterial vaginosis can institute women more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

It also at times leads to pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause infertility. The new findings, reported in the April event of Obstetrics & Gynecology, do not prove that petroleum jelly exactly increased women's risk of bacterial vaginosis. But it's possible, said Dr Sten Vermund, commander of the Institute for Global Health at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn.

Petroleum jelly might inspire the growth of bad bacteria because of its "alkaline properties," explained Vermund, who was not tangled in the study. "An acidic vaginal environment is what protects women from colonization from odd organisms". He noted that many studies have now linked douching to an increased risk of vaginal infections. And that may be because the preparation "disrupts the natural vaginal ecology".

Implantable Devices Are Not A Panacea, But The Ability To Relieve Migraine Attacks

Implantable Devices Are Not A Panacea, But The Ability To Relieve Migraine Attacks.
An implantable plot covert in the nape of the neck may excellent more headache-free days for people with severe migraines that don't respond to other treatments, a unknown study suggests. More than 36 million Americans get migraine headaches, which are marked by perfervid pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and vomiting, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. Medication and lifestyle changes are the first-line treatments for migraine, but not one and all improves with these measures.

The St Jude Medical Genesis neurostimulator is a short, all skin and bones strip that is implanted behind the neck. A battery bunch is then implanted elsewhere in the body. Activating the device stimulates the occipital nerve and can crepuscular the pain of migraine headache. "There are a large number of patients for whom nothing works and whose lives are ruined by the circadian pain of their migraine headache, and this device has the potential to help some of them," said scan author Dr Stephen D Silberstein, director of the Jefferson Headache Center in Philadelphia.

The study, which was funded by monogram manufacturer St Jude Medical Inc, is slated for debut on Thursday at the International Headache Congress in Berlin, and is the largest study to date on the device. The partnership is now seeking approval for the device in Europe and then plans to submit their data to the US Food and Drug Administration for sanction in the United States.

Researchers tested the new device in 157 populace who had severe migraines about 26 days out of each month. After 12 weeks, those who received the restored device had seven more headache-free days per month, compared to one more headache-free day per month seen amongst people in the control group.

Individuals in the control arm did not receive stimulation until after the anything else 12 weeks. Study participants who received the stimulator also reported less severe headaches and improvements in their dignity of life. After one year, 66 percent of people in the study said they had ripping or good pain relief.

The pain reduction seen in the study did fall short of FDA standards, which whoop for a 50 percent reduction in pain. "The device is invisible to the eye, but not to the touch". The implantation course of action involves local anesthesia along with conscious sedation so you are awake, but not fully aware.

There may be some forbearing pain associated with this surgery. Study co-author Dr Joel Saper, collapse and director of Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, and a associate of the advisory board for the Migraine Research Foundation, said this therapy could be an important option for some bodies with migraines.

US Population Is Becoming Fatter And Less Lives

US Population Is Becoming Fatter And Less Lives.
Being too fruitful can cut your life, but being too skinny may cut longevity as well, a new study suggests. Using figures on almost 1,5 million white adults culled from 19 separate analyses, researchers from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that 5 percent of the US people can be classified as morbidly paunchy - a number five times higher than previously thought. With a body volume index (BMI) of 40 or higher, the morbidly obese had a death velocity more than double that of those of normal weight, according to study author Amy Berrington de Gonzalez.

BMI is a period of body fat based on height and weight. Those with BMIs between 25 and 30 are considered overweight, while BMIs over 30 are considered obese. The study, which sought to found an optimal BMI range, showed it to be between 20 and 25 in those who never smoked, and 22,5 to 25 in those who did.

Two-thirds of American adults are classified as either overweight or obese. "We were focusing mostly on cheerful BMI - over 25 - and the objective was to make plain the relationships between weight and longevity rather than expect to find anything completely new," said Berrington de Gonzalez, an investigator with the National Cancer Institute's allotment of cancer epidemiology and genetics in Bethesda, Md.

Although her band did not calculate the number of life years potentially confounded due to obesity, they determined the highest death rates for this group were from cardiovascular disease. About 58 percent of analyse participants were female, and the median baseline age was 58.

New Non Invasive Test For Detection Of Tumors Of The Colon Is More Accurate Than Previously Used

New Non Invasive Test For Detection Of Tumors Of The Colon Is More Accurate Than Previously Used.
A additional noninvasive check-up to read pre-cancerous polyps and colon tumors appears to be more accurate than advised noninvasive tests such as the fecal occult blood test, Mayo clinic researchers say. The researching for a highly accurate, noninvasive alternative to invasive screens such as colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy is a "Holy Grail" of colon cancer research. In a prior trial, the new try was able to identify 64 percent of pre-cancerous polyps and 85 percent of full-blown cancers, the researchers reported.

Dr Floriano Marchetti, an subordinate professor of clinical surgery in the division of colon and rectal surgery at University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the untrodden study could be an important adjunct to colon cancer screening if it proves itself in further study. "Obviously, these findings requisite to be replicated on a larger scale. Hopefully, this is a good start for a more reliable test".

Dr Durado Brooks, leader of colorectal cancer at the American Cancer Society, agreed. "These findings are interesting. They will be more fascinating if we ever get this kind of data in a screening population".

The study's lead researcher remained optimistic. "There are 150000 rejuvenated cases of colon cancer each year in the United States, treated at an estimated price of $14 billion," noted Dr David A Ahlquist, professor of c physic and a consultant in gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "The hallucinate is to eradicate colon cancer altogether and the most realistic approach to getting there is screening. And screening not only in a motion that would not only detect cancer, but pre-cancer. Our test takes us closer to that dream".

Ahlquist was scheduled to endowment the findings of the study Thursday in Philadelphia at a meeting on colorectal cancer sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research. The redesigned technology, called the Cologuard sDNA test, innards by identifying specific altered DNA in cells shed by pre-cancerous or cancerous polyps into the patient's stool.

If a DNA distortion is found, a colonoscopy would still be needed to confirm the results, just as happens now after a unquestionable fecal occult blood test (FOBT) result. To see whether the test was effective, Ahlquist's group tried it out on more than 1100 frozen stool samples from patients with and without colorectal cancer.

The check was able to detect 85,3 percent of colorectal cancers and 63,8 percent of polyps bigger than 1 centimeter. Polyps this extent are considered pre-cancers and most likely to progress to cancer.

Use Of Smokeless Tobacco Increases The Risk Of Cancer, Stroke, Heart Attack

Use Of Smokeless Tobacco Increases The Risk Of Cancer, Stroke, Heart Attack.
Many smokers in the United States and its territories also use smokeless tobacco products such as snuff and munch tobacco, a grouping that makes quitting much more difficult, a redone federal weigh shows. Researchers analyzed data from the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and found that the classify of smokers who also use smokeless tobacco ranged from 0,9 percent in Puerto Rico to 13,7 percent in Wyoming. "The take up arms against tobacco has taken on a new dimension as parts of the outback report high rates of cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco use among adults. The modern development data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal disturbing trends in smoking commonness as more individuals use multiple tobacco products to satisfy their nicotine addiction," American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said in a assertion released Thursday.

And "No tobacco offshoot is safe to consume. The health hazards associated with tobacco use are well-documented and a latest American Heart Association policy statement indicates smokeless tobacco products heighten the risk of fatal heart attack, fatal stroke and certain cancers". Among the 13 states with the highest rates of smoking, seven also had the highest rates of smokeless tobacco use.

In these states - Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia - at least one of every nine men who smoked cigarettes also reported using smokeless tobacco. The rates in those states ranged from 11,8 percent in Kentucky to 20,8 percent in Arkansas. The claim with the highest pace of smokeless tobacco use amidst of age masculine smokers was Wyoming (23,4 percent).

Infection With Ascaris Eggs Relieves Symptoms Of Ulcerative Colitis

Infection With Ascaris Eggs Relieves Symptoms Of Ulcerative Colitis.
The specimen of a mankind who swallowed parasite eggs to treat his ulcerative colitis - and really got better - sheds light on how "worm therapy" might help heal the gut, a callow study suggests. "Our findings in this case report suggest that infection with the eggs of the T trichiura roundworm can alleviate the symptoms of ulcerative colitis," said weigh leader P'ng Loke, an aide professor in the department of medical parasitology at NYU Langone Medical Center. A accommodating parasite, Trichuris trichiura infects the large intestine.

The findings could also lead to additional ways to treat the debilitating disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) currently treated with drugs that don't always industry and can cause serious side effects, said Loke. The contemplation findings are published in the Dec 1, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

Loke and his side followed a 35-year-old man with severe colitis who tried worm (or "helminthic") psychoanalysis to avoid surgical removal of his entire colon. He researched the therapy, flew to a heal in Thailand who had agreed to give him the eggs, and swallowed 1500 of them.

The man contacted Loke after his self-treatment and "was essentially symptom-free". Intrigued, he and his colleagues sure to follow the man's condition.

The study analyzed slides and samples of the man's blood and colon web from 2003, before he swallowed the eggs, to 2009, a few years after ingestion. During this period, he was practically symptom-free for almost three years. When his colitis flared in 2008, he swallowed another 2000 eggs and got better again, said Loke.

Tissue captivated during lively colitis showed a large number of CD4+ T-cells, which are immune cells that produce the inflammatory protein interleukin-17, the yoke found. However, tissue taken after worm therapy, when his colitis was in remission, contained lots of T-cells that commission interleukin-22 (IL-22), a protein that promotes wound healing.

Colonoscopy Decreases The Potential For Colorectal Cancer On The Right Side Of The Colon Also

Colonoscopy Decreases The Potential For Colorectal Cancer On The Right Side Of The Colon Also.
In joining to reducing the jeopardize of cancer on the hand side of the colon, new research indicates that colonoscopies may also reduce cancer endanger on the right side. The finding contradicts some previous research that had indicated a right-side "blind spots" when conducting colonoscopies. However, the right-side forward shown in the new study, published in the Jan 4, 2011 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, was slightly less effective than that seen on the progressive side. "We didn't really have robust data proving that anything is very good at preventing right-sided cancer," said Dr Vivek Kaul, acting manager of gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "Here is a typescript that suggests that risk reduction is dulcet robust even in the right side. The risk reduction is not as exciting as in the left side, but it's still more than 50 percent.

That's a miniature hard to ignore". The news is "reassuring," agreed Dr David Weinberg, chairman of c physic at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, who wrote an accompanying leader on the finding. Though no one study ever provides definitive proof "if the observations from this study is in fact true, then this gives strong support for current guidelines". The American Cancer Society recommends that normal-risk men and women be screened for colon cancer, starting at epoch 50.

A colonoscopy once every 10 years is one of the recommended screening tools. However, there has been some think as to whether colonoscopy - an invasive and precious procedure - is truly preferable to other screening methods, such as compliant sigmoidoscopy. Based on a review of medical records of 1,688 German patients aged 50 and over with colorectal cancer and 1,932 without, the researchers found a 77 percent reduced imperil for this breed of malignancy among people who'd had a colonoscopy in the past 10 years, as compared with those who had not.