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An Aspirin a Day Keeps the Cancer Away

By PravdaDecember 8, 2010Health, Science2-acetyloxybenzoic acid, acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin, c9h8o4, cancer, chemo-therapy, death rates, gastro-intestinal, health hazard, medical breakthrough, oesophagus, oxford university, peter rothwell, radio-therapy, reduced doses of aspirin, stomach haemorrhages, type of cancer, volker mintzlaff

Aspirin - to fight cancer. Image credit: Volker Mintzlaff

Or does it? Fresh research from Oxford University seems to reveal that a low dose of aspirin taken over a substantial period of time produces promising results, indicating that the death rates of many types of cancer reduce greatly. In fact, the evidence presented is staggering and if true, would be a medical breakthrough of exponential proportions.

Let us be optimistic, for cancer is a disease which has cut across most families around the globe. Few of us have not lost a grandparent, parent, uncle or aunt to this disease, in some cases even brothers, or worse still, nephews or nieces…or worse still, sons or daughters, grandsons and daughters. Now it seems there is good news which does not involve chemo-therapy or radio-therapy, which create many success stories but also many victims. (more…)

U of T Researcher Discovers Way to Zip Away Chronic Pain

By Guest PostDecember 6, 20101 commentHealthchronic pain, memories of pain, peptide inhibitor, sensation of pain, zip

Peptide inhibitor called ZIP may be instrumental

Research from the University of Toronto suggests that a peptide inhibitor called ZIP could be crucial in zipping away some kinds of chronic pain. (more…)

Biodiversity Loss: Detrimental to Your Health

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2010Environment, Healthanimal extinctions, biodiversity, disease emergence, ecologist, ecosystems, felicia keesing, forests, global biodiversity, hantavirus, Health, infectious diseases, josh rosenthal, lyme disease, pathogens, plant, sam scheiner, species loss, transmission, west nile virus, wildlife

*Infectious diseases on the rise as species disappear*

Plant and animal extinctions are detrimental to your health.

That’s the conclusion of a paper published in this week’s issue of the journal Nature by scientists who studied the link between biodiversity and infectious diseases. (more…)

UCLA Scientists Discover Mechanism that Transforms Healthy Cells into Prostate Cancer

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2010Health, Scienceanimal models, bmi-1, cancer, cancer growth, healthy cells, hormone-withdrawal therapy, malignant cells, owen witte, prostate cancer, prostate cancer cells, prostate stem cells, protein, pten tumor suppressor gene, repair injured cells, rita lukacs, self-renewal activity

Dr. Owen Witte, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Image credit: University of California

A protein that is crucial for regulating the self-renewal of normal prostate stem cells, which are needed to repair injured cells or restore normal cells killed by hormone-withdrawal therapy for cancer, also aids the transformation of healthy cells into prostate cancer cells, researchers at UCLA have found.

The findings, by scientists with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, may have important implications for controlling cancer growth and progression.

Results from the three-year study, done in primary cells and in animal models, were published Dec. 2 in the early online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Cell Stem Cell.

The protein, called Bmi-1, is often up-regulated, or turned on, in prostate cancer. It has been associated with higher-grade cancers and is predictive of poor prognosis, according to previous studies. However, its functional roles in prostate stem cell maintenance and prostate cancer have been unclear, said the study’s senior author, Dr. Owen Witte, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. (more…)

Study Suggests That Being Too Clean Can Make People Sick

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2010Healthallergies, allison aiello, antibacterial soaps, antibody, antimicrobial agent, bisphenol a, bpa, cmv, cytomegalovirus, edcs, endocrine-disrupting compounds, environmental toxicants, erin rees clayton, hay fever, hormones, hygiene hypothesis, immune system, micro-organisms, plastics, toothpaste, triclosan, young people

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Young people who are overexposed to antibacterial soaps containing triclosan may suffer more allergies, and exposure to higher levels of Bisphenol A among adults may negatively influence the immune system, a new University of Michigan School of Public Health study suggests.

Triclosan is a chemical compound widely used in products such as antibacterial soaps, toothpaste, pens, diaper bags and medical devices. Bisphenol A (BPA) is found in many plastics and, for example, as a protective lining in food cans. Both of these chemicals are in a class of environmental toxicants called endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), which are believed to negatively impact human health by mimicking or affecting hormones. (more…)

Will This Be The End of Hamburger Disease?

By Guest PostNovember 28, 2010Health, Sciencebacteria, blood vessels, cow, dairy products, e coli, e coli bacterium, e coli o157:h7, ethanolamine, food contamination, food poisoning, hamburger disease, human infections, intestine, josée harel, kidney failure, meat, nitrogen, projectsafebeef, raw milk, red blood cells, veterinary medicine

E. coli bacteria. Image credit: University of Montreal

Hamburger disease, a debilitating form of food poisoning, may be a thing of the past. New findings from an international research collaboration conducted by the French National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA), involving the Université de Montréal are the first to show how the contaminating E.coli bacterium is able to survive in the competitive environment of a cow’s intestine by scavenging specific food sources. Published in this month’s Environmental Microbiology, and featured in Nature Reviews Microbiology, this study may lead to non-medicinal methods for eradicating this invasive bug.

“We studied E.coli O157:H7, which is the most prevalent species of bacteria associated with larger outbreaks,” says Josée Harel, co-author of the study and director of the Groupe de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses du Porc at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. “These outbreaks have been associated with direct contact with the farm environment and with the consumption of meat, raw milk and dairy products. Reduction or eradication of O157:H7 in cows will lead to a substantial decrease in food contamination and consequential human infections.” (more…)

Passive Smoking Kills 600,000 Every Year

By PravdaNovember 26, 2010Healthafrica, betty mcbride, death, developing world, passive smoking, south asia, the lancet, tobacco, World Health Organisation

More than 600,000 people, including 165,000 children, die every year from passive smoking, a report from World Health Organisation experts says today. The estimates from the first analysis of the true global toll are based on the best available data across 192 countries and the known effects of exposure.

The biggest impact on children is in the developing world. “Two-thirds of these deaths occur in Africa and south Asia,” the authors write in the medical journal The Lancet. “Children’s exposure to second-hand smoke most likely happens at home, according to The Guardian. (more…)

Dealt a Bad Hand: Pathological Gamblers Are Also at Risk for Mental Health Disorders

By Guest PostNovember 23, 2010Culture, Healthalain lesage, montreal, pathological gamblers, personality disorders, psychiatric disorders, richard boyer, risk, statistics, suicide, suicide prevention programs, western world, world health organization

Richard Boyer. Image credit : University of Montreal

Pathological gamblers are risking more than their money, they are also three times more likely to commit suicide than non-betters. A new Montreal inter-university study has shown these gamblers are also plagued by personality disorders. These findings, published in a recent issue of the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, may have implications for developing improved targeted suicide prevention programs.

“The World Health Organization estimates that suicide is one of the top ten causes of death in the Western world,” says study co-author, Richard Boyer a Université de Montréal professor and researcher at the Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin at the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital. “In addition, pathological gamblers account for five percent of all suicides. These staggering statistics motivated us to study the difference between gamblers and non-gamblers.” (more…)

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