Elderly Mothers are in Risk of Autism Child

Elderly mothers are prone to have obstructed labor and giving birth to genetically abnormal child. Dawn’s Syndrome is one of them. Now researchers say they are liable to give birth to child, later diagnosed to be suffering from autism. Autism, a disorder where there is a lot of behavioral problems and automatic movement disorders.

clipped from drppanda.amplify.com Elderly mothers above the age of 35 may give birth to genetically abnormal child. But it is not absolute. Autism a very distressing disease, stresses the parents and the child. Older women are more likely to give birth to a child who develops autism than younger women, but the father’s age is a factor only when moms are younger, a large case-control study showed. In an analysis of nearly five million births and more than 12,000 autism cases, every five-year increase in maternal age at delivery was associated with an 18% greater risk of the child later being diagnosed with autism, according to Janie Shelton, MPH, a doctoral student at the University of California Davis, and colleagues. Mothers who gave birth when they were 40 or older had a 51% increased risk of having a child with autism compared with those who were 25 to 29, the largest age group (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.35 to 1.70), the researchers reported in the February issue of Autism Research. Read more at www.medpagetoday.com

Fake Alli Pills Waring by FDA

Recently, professionals have been asked to prescribe sibutramine, a lipid lowering drug after careful history taking to ascertain patients pre-existing health problems, particularly the heart problems; as the drug can induce a heart attack. Now a fake Alli diet pill containing sibutramine double the recommended dose may cause problem; a warning issued by FDA here.
“Unfortunately, many people with high blood pressure or heart disease are trying to improve their health by losing weight, and we are concerned that such individuals might be exposed to the counterfeit drug,”

clipped from www.cnn.com Fake Alli diet pills can pose health risks Washington (CNN) — Counterfeit capsules of the diet drug Alli that are sold online can pose a serious health risk to some users, a research director from the Food and Drug Administration said Saturday. Testing shows that the counterfeit pills contain excessive amounts of sibutramine, a prescription drug and controlled substance that can place people with cardiovascular disease at risk for higher blood pressure, heart attack or stroke, said Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The fake pills contain at least twice as much sibutramine as would normally be recommended, she said. Analysis also shows that the counterfeit pills lack the active ingredient orlistat found in the authentic Alli product, which prevents a portion of the fat eaten from being absorbed, Alli’s Web site says. Instead, the fat passes directly through the digestive system and is eliminated.

Obesity Drug Toxicity

This is the news about obesity lowering drug. It is always better to go for physical exercise to reduce weight than to sought for some so called short cuts, like drugs for it.

clipped from drppanda.amplify.com Top obesity drug sibutramine being withdrawn A leading obesity drug is being withdrawn from use in the UK amid fears it increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The drug works by altering chemical messages to the brain which control feelings about food. While it is a common obesity drug, the most popular, orlistat, a pill which prevents fat absorption, is much more widely used and is taken by hundreds of thousands of people each year. The regulator acted after a review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended suspending its licence in Europe. This decision still has to be formally ratified by the European Commission. Speaking after the EMA’s decision, Eugene Sun, from Abbott which makes sibutramine, said: “We believe there are many patients who benefit from sibutramine and respectfully disagree with the… recommendation to suspend the medicine. “However, we will act promptly to comply with the committee’s recommendation.”

Fish Oils May Slow Aging

Telomere is the genetic material found in the tail piece of chromosomes, responsible for keeping the integrity of chromosome intact in the face of multiple cell divisions. It may shorten, thereby hampering the repair process. Researchers think that to be reason of aging, and postulate that fish oil containing omega3 fatty acids, may help in keeping the length of telomere intact. This might help in defying aging process.

clipped from drppanda.amplify.com Fish Oils May Slow Genetic Aging Studies have shown that omega-3s appear to be effective for patients with coronary artery disease. Yet the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Some researchers think it may have something to do with anti-inflammatory, triglyceride-lowering, antihypertensive, antiplatelet, or antiarrhythimic effects. Research has shown that the length of telomeres — chromosome caps that have long been compared to the plastic ends of shoelaces — may be a marker of biological age. Biological age is independent of chronological age, and takes into account genetic and environmental stressors that may wreak havoc on cells. The researchers found that baseline omega-3 fatty acid levels were positively correlated with changes in telomere length over five years (P=0.001).

Salt Restriction Can Lower Mortality

The first advice to a hypertensive patient is to lower dietary salt intake. There has been a number of publications in support of salt restriction in diet. The below is a published article in Medpagetoday; will be interesting to read.

clipped from www.medpagetoday.com Health Group Asks for Lower Salt Limits A New York City-based health organization is proposing that restaurants and packaged food manufacturers lower sodium levels by 25% over five years to greatly reduce preventable health risks. The National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI) request would cut the nation’s salt intake by 20%, helping prevent a variety of health complications, including hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, and ultimately mortality, a statement from the group said. Salt intake is a major contributor to hypertension, which can lead to a MI or stroke and is a leading cause of preventable death, killing more than 800,000 people annually, the government estimates. Many national and international health organizations support the proposal, including the American Heart Association, which added in a release that the group would like to see sodium levels on packaged and prepared foods halved in 10 years.

Tea, Coffee Seem to Protect Against Diabetes

Tea and coffee intake has been long studied for antioxidant property; this article says about its protective effect on diabetes, and the possible mode of action.

clipped from www.medpagetoday.com Tea, Coffee Seem to Protect Against Diabetes Drinking lots of coffee and tea every day — even decaf — might keep diabetes away, new research shows. The researchers found a significant inverse relationship between coffee consumption and subsequent risk of diabetes. Each additional cup of coffee consumed in a day was associated with a 7% reduction in the excess risk of diabetes (95% CI 0.91 to 0.95, P<0.001). The findings suggest that the protective effects of tea and coffee may not be solely related to the effects of caffeine, but rather involve a broader range of chemical constituents including magnesium, lignans, and chlorogenic acids, the researchers wrote. Tea catechins, for example, may decrease glucose production in the gastrointestinal system, leading to lower levels of glucose and insulin, and green tea in particular may prevent damage to pancreatic beta cells.

Stem Cells a Promising Target in Breast CA

The Notch pathway is rather new concept; may be helpful in the long run to control recurrences of breast cancer.

clipped from drppanda.amplify.com The Notch pathway is involved in normal mammary development, in communication between cells, and in determining what happens to a cell when it divides, thus “regulating the self-renewal of cancer stem cells,” Chang said in an interview with MedPage Today. She and her team implanted mice with human breast cancer biopsy material that included breast cancer stem cells, then gave them a Notch inhibitor (MRK-003) or a placebo. MRK-003 significantly reduced formation of clusters of tumor cells called mammospheres compared with placebo. Given the proposed mechanism, Notch inhibitors are likely to be developed for upfront use in combination with agents to “debulk” the daughter cells or for chronic administration in the adjuvant setting to prevent recurrence, she speculated. Her group plans a larger Phase II trial, while others are developing agents targeting other cancer stem cell pathways, such as Hedgehog.

Mediterranean diet: Importance of individual components

“The most protective components of the Mediterranean diet are moderate alcohol intake, low intake of meat and meat products, and high intakes of vegetables, fruits, nuts, olive oil and legumes.” I quote from CIMS the benefits of Mediterranean diet. Of course, we can not go there for the diet; but can adopt the some of the diet feasible to have in our region. And that is the essence.

clipped from www.mims.com The study included 23,349 men and women. After an average follow-up of 8.5 years, mortality was 652/12,694 among people with a Mediterranean diet score of 0–4 and 423/10,655 among people with a score of 5 or more. After controlling for confounders, the Mediterranean diet was associated with a significant reduction in mortality of 14% per 2-unit increase in score. Moderate consumption of alcohol contributed 23.5% to this reduction; low consumption of meat and meat products, 16.6%; high consumption of vegetables, 16.2%; high consumption of fruit and nuts, 11.2%; high monounsaturated: saturated fat ratio, 10.6%; and high consumption of legumes, 9.7%. High intake of fish and seafood was associated with a non-significant increase in mortality. High consumption of cereals and low con­sumption of dairy products had little effect. Trichopoulou A, et al. Anatomy of health effects of Mediterranean diet: Greek EPIC prospective cohort study. BMJ 2009;339:26–29.

Saw Palmetto, May Be Effective In Prostate Hyperplasia

Some pharma companies are coming with preparations containing extracts of saw palmetto. The quote below from the researcher below says in affirmative regarding its use. In India some times some herbal products are used for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and patient sometimes feels some response; but we heavily depend on allopathic drugs and surgery.

clipped from www.sciencedirect.com Serenoa repens: The Scientific Basis for the Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Fouad K. Habib, a, aProstate Research Group, School of Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK Medical therapies derived from natural sources have been used for centuries. Many are as effective as synthetic medications. The use of plant-derived medications for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is no exception. In particular, extracts of Serenoa repens (SrE), the fruit of the American dwarf palm, are widely available, and their use is rising throughout the world. Serenoa repens (saw palmetto) extracts are complex mixtures of compounds that act simultaneously on several biologic pathways known to be associated with the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in man. Reversal of the prohyperplastic pathways by the drug accounts for its clinical efficacy in the treatment of BPH.

Facial Wounds Much Higher Among Poorest

The author describes with statistics, that how facial injuries are common in poorest in Scotland. Here in Paradip, Orissa, India; though no statistics is provided, the scenario is no different. It is mostly accidents following alcohol abuse. And We see the same person several times in a year in the same condition.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Men from Scotland’s deprived areas are almost seven times more likely to suffer serious facial wounds than those in wealthier areas, a study suggests. The researchers found that between 2001 and 2006, more than 82,000 people suffered facial scars in Scotland. The paper claims the annual cost of alcohol misuse to Scottish society is an estimated £2.25bn, with the cost to the National Health Service in Scotland put at £405m. The study also highlights a recent run of 249 patients from a Scottish trauma unit which found about 80% of their facial injuries were alcohol-related. “Brief alcohol counselling sessions have been shown to be effective in helping facial trauma patients to cut down their drinking both by ourselves and by other groups around the country.”