The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew
Pediatricians play a key role in preventing and treating food-related allergic reactions among school-aged children, and can help implement plans concerning the way food allergies are managed in the school setting, according to a clinical report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Food allergies are estimated to affect about one in 25 school-aged children. Research suggests that as many as 18% of children with food allergies experience a reaction while in school, indicating that the school environment is an important place to help prevent and treat allergic responses. Food allergy is also a common trigger of anaphylaxis, a possibly life-threatening reaction to a particular food.
Published in the December issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the report includes:
Advice for pediatricians on diagnosing and documenting any potential life-threatening food allergies, including identifying any food that might truly be life-threatening.
Developing and writing down age-appropriate management and emergency response plans and including children, parents, and school officials in the planning process.
Determining whether a health care professional, such as a nurse, is available to help the child in the event of a reaction at school.
Prescribing self-injectable epinephrine and, if schools permit and if age-appropriate, allowing children to carry their own epinephrine in the event of an emergency, such as outside of the school cafeteria, because delays in treatments have been linked to fatalities.
Teaching children and their families how to use and store medication properly.
Informing children, families, and schools how to identify signs of anaphylaxis and how to best respond to expedite treatment.
Understanding the school’s anaphylaxis response protocols. The report notes that 25% of anaphylaxis cases that occur in schools are among children without a previous diagnosis of food allergy.
Building Partnerships
“Partnerships with students, families, school nurses, school physicians, and school staff are important for individualizing effective and practical care plans,” the authors write.
The report did not include infants, toddlers, and preschool age children, since these children are cared for in a variety of settings and would require their own set of prevention and treatment guidelines.
According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, an advocacy group, an estimated 3 million children have food allergies. Eight foods account for 90% of all food allergies in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (such as almonds and walnuts), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. Food allergies account for more than 300,000 ambulatory care visits per year among children.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Eating Orange and Dark Green Veggies Linked to Longer Life
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Your parents knew what they were talking about when they told you to eat your vegetables, though they probably should have specified which ones.
A new study has found that diets rich in orange and dark green veggies like carrots, green beans and sweet potatoes may result in less disease and a longer life.
Researchers believe that the potential for a longer, disease-free life is due to the alpha-carotene in those foods, which, like beta-carotene, is a carotenoid antioxidant and may stop oxidative damage to cells and DNA.
"Because of the multiple constituents within these vegetables, there is a plethora of benefits of getting them in the natural food forms and eating plenty of them," nutritionist Douglas Husbands told AOL Health. "That should be one of the foundations of people if they want to live a healthy and long life."
Dark green vegetables like beans, spinach, kale, bok choy, swiss chard and collard greens are rich in folates and many other essential nutrients, Husbands said -- and eating them doesn't only boost your own health but that of future generations.
"They work to turn on many good genes and turn off many bad genes," he said. "Studies are continuing to show that dark green vegetables most definitely can influence a healthier life and potentially a longer life also. The research on this is just overwhelming."
Dr. Chaoyang Li of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his colleagues based their findings on the previously-established link between good health -- including less cancer and heart disease -- and eating certain fruits and vegetables.
Li told Reuters Health that his team wanted to find out specifically what components in vegetables have benefits and how they work. Recent studies have suggested that beta-carotene pills have no concrete positive effects, he said.
The researchers looked at data on more than 15,000 people participating in a wide-scale national nutrition survey. The subjects had given blood samples, as well as information on their medical histories and lifestyles at the start of the 14-year study.
By the end of the study period, almost 4,000 participants had died. Li and his colleagues determined that the more alpha-carotene the subjects had in their systems at the beginning of the survey, the lower their chances of disease and death, Reuters reported. Those with the highest amounts of the antioxidant in their blood had as much as a 39 percent lower risk of dying than participants with the lowest levels of alpha-carotene.
The findings, published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, stayed the same even after researchers took other risk factors into account, including age and smoking. They also remained steady when the rates of death due to cancer and heart disease were analyzed.
But the study results don't provide solid evidence that alpha-carotene is what leads to a longer life and less disease, according to the authors.
"Alpha-carotene may be at least partially responsible for the risk reduction," Li told Reuters. "However, we are unable to rule out the possible links of other antioxidants or other elements in vegetables and fruits to lower mortality risk."
Could Fruits and Vegetables Save Your Life? How to Steam Vegetables Girl, 7, Must Eat Only Fruits, Vegetables or Risk Brain Damage Husbands said it isn't just alpha-carotene that is responsible for the health benefits seen in the research.
"You can't simplify it or (see) one carotenoid as a magic bullet because you're going to get spurious results," he told AOL Health. "It's the mix."
Howard Sesso of the Harvard School of Public Health said it's difficult to differentiate between the benefits of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene since carrots and some of the other vegetables in question tend to contain both.
"Alpha-carotene has a lot of overlapping chemical properties with beta-carotene, as well as the same perceived mechanisms of effect," he told Reuters Health. "It's hard to disentangle the two from each other. They tend to travel together."
Li said there have been previous lab experiments showing that alpha-carotene is a more potent preventer of brain, skin and liver cancer than its beta relative, according to Reuters.
No matter what is behind the findings, Sesso said they're hopeful.
"We don't know how this is going to translate into practice yet, but it is encouraging," he said. "If nothing else, these results reinforce the point that there is likely little downside to increasing your fruit and veggie intake."
And there is little debate about the enormous health benefits of vegetables, particularly the dark green and orange variety, according to Husbands.
"That's some of the cheapest health care people can buy," he said.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Your parents knew what they were talking about when they told you to eat your vegetables, though they probably should have specified which ones.
A new study has found that diets rich in orange and dark green veggies like carrots, green beans and sweet potatoes may result in less disease and a longer life.
Researchers believe that the potential for a longer, disease-free life is due to the alpha-carotene in those foods, which, like beta-carotene, is a carotenoid antioxidant and may stop oxidative damage to cells and DNA.
"Because of the multiple constituents within these vegetables, there is a plethora of benefits of getting them in the natural food forms and eating plenty of them," nutritionist Douglas Husbands told AOL Health. "That should be one of the foundations of people if they want to live a healthy and long life."
Dark green vegetables like beans, spinach, kale, bok choy, swiss chard and collard greens are rich in folates and many other essential nutrients, Husbands said -- and eating them doesn't only boost your own health but that of future generations.
"They work to turn on many good genes and turn off many bad genes," he said. "Studies are continuing to show that dark green vegetables most definitely can influence a healthier life and potentially a longer life also. The research on this is just overwhelming."
Dr. Chaoyang Li of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his colleagues based their findings on the previously-established link between good health -- including less cancer and heart disease -- and eating certain fruits and vegetables.
Li told Reuters Health that his team wanted to find out specifically what components in vegetables have benefits and how they work. Recent studies have suggested that beta-carotene pills have no concrete positive effects, he said.
The researchers looked at data on more than 15,000 people participating in a wide-scale national nutrition survey. The subjects had given blood samples, as well as information on their medical histories and lifestyles at the start of the 14-year study.
By the end of the study period, almost 4,000 participants had died. Li and his colleagues determined that the more alpha-carotene the subjects had in their systems at the beginning of the survey, the lower their chances of disease and death, Reuters reported. Those with the highest amounts of the antioxidant in their blood had as much as a 39 percent lower risk of dying than participants with the lowest levels of alpha-carotene.
The findings, published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, stayed the same even after researchers took other risk factors into account, including age and smoking. They also remained steady when the rates of death due to cancer and heart disease were analyzed.
But the study results don't provide solid evidence that alpha-carotene is what leads to a longer life and less disease, according to the authors.
"Alpha-carotene may be at least partially responsible for the risk reduction," Li told Reuters. "However, we are unable to rule out the possible links of other antioxidants or other elements in vegetables and fruits to lower mortality risk."
Could Fruits and Vegetables Save Your Life? How to Steam Vegetables Girl, 7, Must Eat Only Fruits, Vegetables or Risk Brain Damage Husbands said it isn't just alpha-carotene that is responsible for the health benefits seen in the research.
"You can't simplify it or (see) one carotenoid as a magic bullet because you're going to get spurious results," he told AOL Health. "It's the mix."
Howard Sesso of the Harvard School of Public Health said it's difficult to differentiate between the benefits of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene since carrots and some of the other vegetables in question tend to contain both.
"Alpha-carotene has a lot of overlapping chemical properties with beta-carotene, as well as the same perceived mechanisms of effect," he told Reuters Health. "It's hard to disentangle the two from each other. They tend to travel together."
Li said there have been previous lab experiments showing that alpha-carotene is a more potent preventer of brain, skin and liver cancer than its beta relative, according to Reuters.
No matter what is behind the findings, Sesso said they're hopeful.
"We don't know how this is going to translate into practice yet, but it is encouraging," he said. "If nothing else, these results reinforce the point that there is likely little downside to increasing your fruit and veggie intake."
And there is little debate about the enormous health benefits of vegetables, particularly the dark green and orange variety, according to Husbands.
"That's some of the cheapest health care people can buy," he said.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Acetaminophen Not Linked to Liver Damage in Kids
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew:
A review of the medical literature indicates that despite a reported association between liver toxicity and acetaminophen use, the risk of children developing any kind of liver damage after taking the everyday painkiller at recommended dosing is less than 0.01%.
Acetaminophen overdosing is associated with liver toxicity in children and adults, but in this study, researchers led by Eric J. Lavonas, MD, from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, wanted to evaluate the risk of standard acetaminophen doses. Looking at data on 32,414 children, from newborns to young adults, they found that not a single child who took acetaminophen therapeutically showed signs of liver disease, received antidotes or transplantation, or died.
Combing the Medical Literature
Using medical data sources dating back to 1950, Lavonas and his team included 62 clinical studies and case reports in their analysis. The trials occurred in both the industrialized and developing worlds, and children treated in private practices, hospitals, intensive care units, and clinics. The children were treated with a standard dose of acetaminophen that did not exceed 4 grams during a 24-hour period -- a dose that is in line with FDA recommendations for children. In most cases, acetaminophen was used to treat pain, such as postoperative pain or infection. Children received acetaminophen orally, by intravenous infusion, as a suppository, and by feeding tube.
Liver complications were reported in 10 children out of the entire study population. Among this group, two children who discontinued acetaminophen use were found to have had acute viral hepatitis. The findings were published in the December issue of Pediatrics.
Acetaminophen is, for many people, a medicine cabinet staple. The drug has been available over-the-counter in pediatric formulations since 1959. According to the authors, it is the most common pain reliever administered to American children. Every week, an estimated 11.1% of the 73.7 million children in the U.S. receive acetaminophen.
The authors note that the question of causality, particularly with greater doses of acetaminophen, remains unclear. However, the overall risk of liver toxicity to children who take doses that fall within FDA recommendations appears quite low. “Few reports contain sufficient data to support a probable causal relationship,” the researchers write.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa On Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
A review of the medical literature indicates that despite a reported association between liver toxicity and acetaminophen use, the risk of children developing any kind of liver damage after taking the everyday painkiller at recommended dosing is less than 0.01%.
Acetaminophen overdosing is associated with liver toxicity in children and adults, but in this study, researchers led by Eric J. Lavonas, MD, from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, wanted to evaluate the risk of standard acetaminophen doses. Looking at data on 32,414 children, from newborns to young adults, they found that not a single child who took acetaminophen therapeutically showed signs of liver disease, received antidotes or transplantation, or died.
Combing the Medical Literature
Using medical data sources dating back to 1950, Lavonas and his team included 62 clinical studies and case reports in their analysis. The trials occurred in both the industrialized and developing worlds, and children treated in private practices, hospitals, intensive care units, and clinics. The children were treated with a standard dose of acetaminophen that did not exceed 4 grams during a 24-hour period -- a dose that is in line with FDA recommendations for children. In most cases, acetaminophen was used to treat pain, such as postoperative pain or infection. Children received acetaminophen orally, by intravenous infusion, as a suppository, and by feeding tube.
Liver complications were reported in 10 children out of the entire study population. Among this group, two children who discontinued acetaminophen use were found to have had acute viral hepatitis. The findings were published in the December issue of Pediatrics.
Acetaminophen is, for many people, a medicine cabinet staple. The drug has been available over-the-counter in pediatric formulations since 1959. According to the authors, it is the most common pain reliever administered to American children. Every week, an estimated 11.1% of the 73.7 million children in the U.S. receive acetaminophen.
The authors note that the question of causality, particularly with greater doses of acetaminophen, remains unclear. However, the overall risk of liver toxicity to children who take doses that fall within FDA recommendations appears quite low. “Few reports contain sufficient data to support a probable causal relationship,” the researchers write.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa On Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Most Shocking Health Stories of 2010
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Chilean Miners Survive 69 Days Below GroundOn August 5, the historically unstable San Jose gold and copper mine in northern Chile caved in while 33 miners were working. The miners were widely assumed dead, but on August 22, a note was pulled up through a borehole: We are OK in the refuge, the 33 said. Against all odds, the men were alive 2,000 feet below the surface. But it could take several months to reach them. From then on, the miners, who had spent 17 days rationing out spoonfuls of tuna fish and milk, captivated the world with their remarkable survival skills and discipline. For more than two months, they lived in a 165-square-foot cavern below the earth as Chilean President Sebastian Pinera called in experts from across the world to assist in the delicate rescue process. Using a thin tube to send supplies like nutrient-packed gels, food, water, medication, oxygen, and even empanadas and cigarettes, doctors and health officials nursed the men back to health. Psychologists above monitored the miners and talked to them about their anxiety and fear on a telephone. On October 12, as the entire world tuned in, the miners ascended one by one in a special capsule over the course of 24 hours. Three miners had immediate surgery for dental problems, while others were treated for tooth infections and corneal problems. One miner recovered from pneumonia, while two others had a respiratory condition from breathing in silica dust. But all expect a full physical recovery.
Baby Smokes 40 Cigarettes a Day but Manages to QuitTwo-year-old Indonesian toddler Aldi Suganda soared to international fame when a video of him chain-smoking cigarettes went viral. The pudgy toddler was filmed expertly holding a cigarette between his index and middle finger and exhaling. Soon, people from around the world were in an uproar, and the story expanded: The kid really did have a habit to the tune of 40 cigarettes a day and threw violent temper tantrums when he couldn't get his fix. His fish merchant parents had allowed Aldi to wander the market as they worked. One day, they found their then 11-month-old smoking "like an adult," according to his mother. Anti-smoking organizations note that while Aldi's case is dramatic, many children in Indonesia smoke due to the government's lack of health education and lax oversight of tobacco company advertising. After news crews arrived at their door, Aldi's parents enrolled the child in a smoking cessation program. In September, officials announced that Aldi had quit smoking.
Bret Michaels' Brain HemorrhageOn April 12, Bret Michaels -- former Poison lead singer and bandanna-wearing reality TV star -- was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Just two weeks later on April 23, the rocker began complaining of an excruciating headache after a day of vomiting. In fact, the headache was a symptom of a massive brain hemorrhage, which landed Michaels in the ICU in critical condition. Michaels, a diabetic, emerged from the ordeal in good sprits, blogging that there were "hot nurses taking care of me." Then on May 2, Michaels felt numbness and pain on a side of his body and was diagnosed with a hole in his heart, which is treatable. Since his release from the hospital, Michaels has reconciled with his on-again, off-again girlfriend and the mother of his children. The man who has made a career of being a player says he's considering marriage because he feels he has been given a "second chance."
Rash of Cancer Hoaxes -- and an Acid HoaxAshley Anne Kirilow, pictured right, shaved her head, plucked her eyebrows, starved herself to look like a cancer patient and founded a bogus cancer research charity to take in $30,000. Jessica Vega tricked friends, family and even her new husband into believing she had terminal leukemia, apparently in order to score a free wedding dress, honeymoon and jewelry. Carol Lynn Schnuphase drugged her healthy 12-year-old son and shaved his head so that he appeared to have cancer. Bethany Storro said a stranger threw acid in her face but later admitted the disfiguring attack was self-inflicted. The year has been a big one for health hoaxes -- usually the result of mental illness or sociopathic tendencies, experts theorize. "This could be a combination of self-mutilation and Munchausen syndrome," AOL Health's Mental Health Specialist Dr. Daniel Carlat said of Storro. "Prisons are filled with people like this," Dr. Neil I. Bernstein said of Kirilow, noting that antisocial personality disorder is a likely diagnosis for such a person. The afflicted repeatedly break the law; disregard the safety of others; lie, steal or fight constantly; and generally violate social norms to take advantage of the system. Neither Carlat nor Bernstein treats any of those accused of health hoaxes.
Mom-to-Be Cut in Half to Remove CancerCanadian Janis Ollson, pictured right, was called a "miracle mom" after she survived an experimental operation during which she was literally cut in half and sewn back together while she was pregnant. Three years ago, while pregnant with her second child, Ollson was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a form of untreatable bone cancer. She had suffered extreme back pain that she and doctors assumed was sciatica. Since the cancer was diagnosed after it had spread through her bones, surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., determined that they would need to remove her leg, lower spine and half of her pelvis -- a procedure performed only on cadavers before. The doctors' main challenge was how to put Ollson back together again and they succeeded. Ollson went forward with the surgery, receiving a prosthetic leg and pelvis. She snowmobiles; grocery shops; drives an ATV; and uses a wheelchair, crutches or a walker to get around. "There's some purpose to all this whether I know it or not," she told the Winnipeg Free Press.
Gay Teen Suicide EpidemicIn September 2010, at least six gay youth -- some as young as 13 -- committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied. Perhaps the most well-known case concerns Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University who jumped off a bridge after learning that his sexual encounter with another man had been streamed live on the Internet by his roommate. Though LGBT teens have long been far more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, the September suicides led to public outrage directed at bullies, gay-shaming churches, and unsupportive school administrators and parents. "Stigmatizing someone for being gay is like criticizing them for having brown hair," Carlat told AOL Health. "It is really a relic of another era." Journalist Dan Savage began an online campaign called "It Gets Better," aimed at decreasing the sense of isolation and hopelessness many young LGBT people experience. LGBT adults were encouraged to produce and upload home videos that repeated a single message: Life gets better; don't end yours now.
First Full Face Transplant a SuccessA Spanish farmer had accidentally blown off his entire face in a gun accident five years ago, but surgeons in Barcelona successfully gave him an entirely new set of features. Oscar, 31, who did not reveal his last name, had been unable to eat solid foods, speak or breathe independently since 2005. In March, he underwent a 24-hour surgery, during which doctors transplanted a donor face, including a jaw, nose, muscles, teeth, eyelids and nose onto Oscar's head. The surgery was the first of its kind (previous face transplants have been partial). In July, Oscar appeared at a press conference to reveal his masklike new face. Though in the preliminary stages of an estimated 18 months of physical therapy and recovery, Oscar could drink liquids, eat soft foods and speak -- and he even grew beard hair on his new chin. He was ready to do "little things, like walking down the street without anyone looking at him or sitting down for a meal with his family," his sister said.
More Than a Half Billion Eggs Recalled Due to Salmonella ConcernsConsumers were disgusted by the factory-farming truths that August's large-scale egg recall brought to light. The contaminated eggs had come out of Iowa -- mainly from the major distributor Wright County Egg -- and had sickened nearly 2,000 people across the country. News reports showed that Wright County Egg, which supplied wholesalers throughout the country, had a troubling past. The owner, Austin "Jack" DeCoster, has sold salmonella-tainted eggs before, causing a 1987 outbreak at a New York City hospital that sickened 500 chronically ill and elderly patients, killing nine. His company has been accused of providing unsafe working conditions, committing environmental violations, harassing workers, hiring illegal immigrants and violating health codes. During the recent recall, investigators found salmonella in bone meal used in feed for young birds. Some of DeCoster's farms had manure piles, dead rodents, dead maggots and flies. Workers failed to follow anti-contamination protocol. But jaded experts doubted that any significant changes would be implemented after the initial outrage. "Food tends to be the poor stepchild for the FDA," Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, told AOL Health. "There have been numerous outbreaks over [the] last five or six years that focused congressional attention, but we've been waiting over a year for the Senate to act."
Health Effects of Haiti's EarthquakeThe January 12 earthquake devastated Haiti, an already-fragile country, killing and severely injuring hundreds of thousands and rendering 1.5 million people homeless in the dense, impoverished capital of Port-au-Prince. But afterwards, things got even worse for the survivors, as a major public health crisis descended. Because much of Haiti's already unsteady infrastructure (including hospitals) was destroyed in the quake, patients with abrasions and broken bones, which would be easily fixed in a more developed country, were at risk for infection, blood clots and death. Those with more severe conditions often went without medical care for days or weeks, and people with limbs that may have been salvaged with quick, efficient care often were forced to undergo amputations. Doctors and medical supplies were unable to make their way through destroyed roads. Drinking water was contaminated, and sanitation systems were broken, allowing raw sewage to flow freely. Malnutrition, dehydration, fever and diarrhea swept the makeshift camps, where many shelters were constructed of salvaged plastic and sticks. People living in the shelters were particularly vulnerable to mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and dengue fever during the rainy season; one doctor in a Brazilian field hospital reported a 1,000 percent rise in malaria cases after the earthquake. Currently, a cholera outbreak threatens to sweep through the tent cities, where, 10 months after the earthquake, nearly 1.3 million people still live.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Chilean Miners Survive 69 Days Below GroundOn August 5, the historically unstable San Jose gold and copper mine in northern Chile caved in while 33 miners were working. The miners were widely assumed dead, but on August 22, a note was pulled up through a borehole: We are OK in the refuge, the 33 said. Against all odds, the men were alive 2,000 feet below the surface. But it could take several months to reach them. From then on, the miners, who had spent 17 days rationing out spoonfuls of tuna fish and milk, captivated the world with their remarkable survival skills and discipline. For more than two months, they lived in a 165-square-foot cavern below the earth as Chilean President Sebastian Pinera called in experts from across the world to assist in the delicate rescue process. Using a thin tube to send supplies like nutrient-packed gels, food, water, medication, oxygen, and even empanadas and cigarettes, doctors and health officials nursed the men back to health. Psychologists above monitored the miners and talked to them about their anxiety and fear on a telephone. On October 12, as the entire world tuned in, the miners ascended one by one in a special capsule over the course of 24 hours. Three miners had immediate surgery for dental problems, while others were treated for tooth infections and corneal problems. One miner recovered from pneumonia, while two others had a respiratory condition from breathing in silica dust. But all expect a full physical recovery.
Baby Smokes 40 Cigarettes a Day but Manages to QuitTwo-year-old Indonesian toddler Aldi Suganda soared to international fame when a video of him chain-smoking cigarettes went viral. The pudgy toddler was filmed expertly holding a cigarette between his index and middle finger and exhaling. Soon, people from around the world were in an uproar, and the story expanded: The kid really did have a habit to the tune of 40 cigarettes a day and threw violent temper tantrums when he couldn't get his fix. His fish merchant parents had allowed Aldi to wander the market as they worked. One day, they found their then 11-month-old smoking "like an adult," according to his mother. Anti-smoking organizations note that while Aldi's case is dramatic, many children in Indonesia smoke due to the government's lack of health education and lax oversight of tobacco company advertising. After news crews arrived at their door, Aldi's parents enrolled the child in a smoking cessation program. In September, officials announced that Aldi had quit smoking.
Bret Michaels' Brain HemorrhageOn April 12, Bret Michaels -- former Poison lead singer and bandanna-wearing reality TV star -- was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Just two weeks later on April 23, the rocker began complaining of an excruciating headache after a day of vomiting. In fact, the headache was a symptom of a massive brain hemorrhage, which landed Michaels in the ICU in critical condition. Michaels, a diabetic, emerged from the ordeal in good sprits, blogging that there were "hot nurses taking care of me." Then on May 2, Michaels felt numbness and pain on a side of his body and was diagnosed with a hole in his heart, which is treatable. Since his release from the hospital, Michaels has reconciled with his on-again, off-again girlfriend and the mother of his children. The man who has made a career of being a player says he's considering marriage because he feels he has been given a "second chance."
Rash of Cancer Hoaxes -- and an Acid HoaxAshley Anne Kirilow, pictured right, shaved her head, plucked her eyebrows, starved herself to look like a cancer patient and founded a bogus cancer research charity to take in $30,000. Jessica Vega tricked friends, family and even her new husband into believing she had terminal leukemia, apparently in order to score a free wedding dress, honeymoon and jewelry. Carol Lynn Schnuphase drugged her healthy 12-year-old son and shaved his head so that he appeared to have cancer. Bethany Storro said a stranger threw acid in her face but later admitted the disfiguring attack was self-inflicted. The year has been a big one for health hoaxes -- usually the result of mental illness or sociopathic tendencies, experts theorize. "This could be a combination of self-mutilation and Munchausen syndrome," AOL Health's Mental Health Specialist Dr. Daniel Carlat said of Storro. "Prisons are filled with people like this," Dr. Neil I. Bernstein said of Kirilow, noting that antisocial personality disorder is a likely diagnosis for such a person. The afflicted repeatedly break the law; disregard the safety of others; lie, steal or fight constantly; and generally violate social norms to take advantage of the system. Neither Carlat nor Bernstein treats any of those accused of health hoaxes.
Mom-to-Be Cut in Half to Remove CancerCanadian Janis Ollson, pictured right, was called a "miracle mom" after she survived an experimental operation during which she was literally cut in half and sewn back together while she was pregnant. Three years ago, while pregnant with her second child, Ollson was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a form of untreatable bone cancer. She had suffered extreme back pain that she and doctors assumed was sciatica. Since the cancer was diagnosed after it had spread through her bones, surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., determined that they would need to remove her leg, lower spine and half of her pelvis -- a procedure performed only on cadavers before. The doctors' main challenge was how to put Ollson back together again and they succeeded. Ollson went forward with the surgery, receiving a prosthetic leg and pelvis. She snowmobiles; grocery shops; drives an ATV; and uses a wheelchair, crutches or a walker to get around. "There's some purpose to all this whether I know it or not," she told the Winnipeg Free Press.
Gay Teen Suicide EpidemicIn September 2010, at least six gay youth -- some as young as 13 -- committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied. Perhaps the most well-known case concerns Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University who jumped off a bridge after learning that his sexual encounter with another man had been streamed live on the Internet by his roommate. Though LGBT teens have long been far more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, the September suicides led to public outrage directed at bullies, gay-shaming churches, and unsupportive school administrators and parents. "Stigmatizing someone for being gay is like criticizing them for having brown hair," Carlat told AOL Health. "It is really a relic of another era." Journalist Dan Savage began an online campaign called "It Gets Better," aimed at decreasing the sense of isolation and hopelessness many young LGBT people experience. LGBT adults were encouraged to produce and upload home videos that repeated a single message: Life gets better; don't end yours now.
First Full Face Transplant a SuccessA Spanish farmer had accidentally blown off his entire face in a gun accident five years ago, but surgeons in Barcelona successfully gave him an entirely new set of features. Oscar, 31, who did not reveal his last name, had been unable to eat solid foods, speak or breathe independently since 2005. In March, he underwent a 24-hour surgery, during which doctors transplanted a donor face, including a jaw, nose, muscles, teeth, eyelids and nose onto Oscar's head. The surgery was the first of its kind (previous face transplants have been partial). In July, Oscar appeared at a press conference to reveal his masklike new face. Though in the preliminary stages of an estimated 18 months of physical therapy and recovery, Oscar could drink liquids, eat soft foods and speak -- and he even grew beard hair on his new chin. He was ready to do "little things, like walking down the street without anyone looking at him or sitting down for a meal with his family," his sister said.
More Than a Half Billion Eggs Recalled Due to Salmonella ConcernsConsumers were disgusted by the factory-farming truths that August's large-scale egg recall brought to light. The contaminated eggs had come out of Iowa -- mainly from the major distributor Wright County Egg -- and had sickened nearly 2,000 people across the country. News reports showed that Wright County Egg, which supplied wholesalers throughout the country, had a troubling past. The owner, Austin "Jack" DeCoster, has sold salmonella-tainted eggs before, causing a 1987 outbreak at a New York City hospital that sickened 500 chronically ill and elderly patients, killing nine. His company has been accused of providing unsafe working conditions, committing environmental violations, harassing workers, hiring illegal immigrants and violating health codes. During the recent recall, investigators found salmonella in bone meal used in feed for young birds. Some of DeCoster's farms had manure piles, dead rodents, dead maggots and flies. Workers failed to follow anti-contamination protocol. But jaded experts doubted that any significant changes would be implemented after the initial outrage. "Food tends to be the poor stepchild for the FDA," Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, told AOL Health. "There have been numerous outbreaks over [the] last five or six years that focused congressional attention, but we've been waiting over a year for the Senate to act."
Health Effects of Haiti's EarthquakeThe January 12 earthquake devastated Haiti, an already-fragile country, killing and severely injuring hundreds of thousands and rendering 1.5 million people homeless in the dense, impoverished capital of Port-au-Prince. But afterwards, things got even worse for the survivors, as a major public health crisis descended. Because much of Haiti's already unsteady infrastructure (including hospitals) was destroyed in the quake, patients with abrasions and broken bones, which would be easily fixed in a more developed country, were at risk for infection, blood clots and death. Those with more severe conditions often went without medical care for days or weeks, and people with limbs that may have been salvaged with quick, efficient care often were forced to undergo amputations. Doctors and medical supplies were unable to make their way through destroyed roads. Drinking water was contaminated, and sanitation systems were broken, allowing raw sewage to flow freely. Malnutrition, dehydration, fever and diarrhea swept the makeshift camps, where many shelters were constructed of salvaged plastic and sticks. People living in the shelters were particularly vulnerable to mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and dengue fever during the rainy season; one doctor in a Brazilian field hospital reported a 1,000 percent rise in malaria cases after the earthquake. Currently, a cholera outbreak threatens to sweep through the tent cities, where, 10 months after the earthquake, nearly 1.3 million people still live.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Heightened Sense of Smell Linked to Obesity
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
We all know our noses can often lead us into temptation when it comes to food.
Would you really eat all that popcorn at the movie theater if that buttery smell was not wafting out into the street? But for people who are obese, sense of smell may play a bigger role than we realize in causing them to eat too much.
A new study from researchers at the University of Portsmouth in Great Britain has demonstrated that people with a higher body mass index also have a much more heightened sense of smell compared to thin people, particularly following a full meal. The research, published in the journal Chemical Senses last month, may help explain why overweight people eat more.
Leady study author Dr. Lorenzo Stafford says that that keener sense of smell may lead an overweight person to keep eating even though he or she is already full. The study included 64 volunteers asked to take tests in smelling ability both before and after eating a complete meal.
Dr. Lisa M. Davis, vice president of research and development with Medifast Inc., a physician-developed weight-loss system, reviewed the British study and told AOL Health that while it might seem counterintuitive, that heightened sense of smell following food consumption may actually help most people know that they are full so they stop eating.
"But for those with a higher BMI, greater olfactory sensitivity to the smell of food may actually foster the continuation of eating, as opposed to causing them to stop eating like individuals with a healthy BMI," Davis adds. "Obese consumers with a higher BMI have more of a drive to eat high fat, high sugar and highly palatable foods, which is consistent with a heightened taste sensitivity for these foods."
Davis goes on to explain that the opioid receptors in the brain drive the palatability of food, while dopaminergic receptors drive motivation for obtaining good tasting food to eat. "Studies have shown that obese individuals tend to have a dysfunction among these regulatory systems," she says.
But all of this begs the question as to whether obesity is driving the heightened sense of smell or whether the heightened sense of smell is driving one to eat more, leading to obesity. Davis says it's not a question she can answer, "but it makes a fascinating area of future research."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
We all know our noses can often lead us into temptation when it comes to food.
Would you really eat all that popcorn at the movie theater if that buttery smell was not wafting out into the street? But for people who are obese, sense of smell may play a bigger role than we realize in causing them to eat too much.
A new study from researchers at the University of Portsmouth in Great Britain has demonstrated that people with a higher body mass index also have a much more heightened sense of smell compared to thin people, particularly following a full meal. The research, published in the journal Chemical Senses last month, may help explain why overweight people eat more.
Leady study author Dr. Lorenzo Stafford says that that keener sense of smell may lead an overweight person to keep eating even though he or she is already full. The study included 64 volunteers asked to take tests in smelling ability both before and after eating a complete meal.
Dr. Lisa M. Davis, vice president of research and development with Medifast Inc., a physician-developed weight-loss system, reviewed the British study and told AOL Health that while it might seem counterintuitive, that heightened sense of smell following food consumption may actually help most people know that they are full so they stop eating.
"But for those with a higher BMI, greater olfactory sensitivity to the smell of food may actually foster the continuation of eating, as opposed to causing them to stop eating like individuals with a healthy BMI," Davis adds. "Obese consumers with a higher BMI have more of a drive to eat high fat, high sugar and highly palatable foods, which is consistent with a heightened taste sensitivity for these foods."
Davis goes on to explain that the opioid receptors in the brain drive the palatability of food, while dopaminergic receptors drive motivation for obtaining good tasting food to eat. "Studies have shown that obese individuals tend to have a dysfunction among these regulatory systems," she says.
But all of this begs the question as to whether obesity is driving the heightened sense of smell or whether the heightened sense of smell is driving one to eat more, leading to obesity. Davis says it's not a question she can answer, "but it makes a fascinating area of future research."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Number of Uninsured Americans Nears 47 Million
The following artilce will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call, with Dr. Asa Andrew:
The government says the number of uninsured Americans is now nearly 47 million, up about 7 percent from 2006. And a large percentage of people say they have put off health care for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
However, the rate of uninsured has not increased significantly in recent years. That's in part because the population has also been growing and because the proportion of uninsured children has been shrinking.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report this week on the uninsured based on tens of thousands of in-person interviews for the years 2006 through early 2010. The number of people who said they were uninsured at the time they were interviewed is up from almost 44 million in 2006.
People also were asked if they had been without health insurance at some point in the previous year. About 59 million said yes.
Last year, more than 40 percent of uninsured adults said they recently skipped some medical care because of cost.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
The government says the number of uninsured Americans is now nearly 47 million, up about 7 percent from 2006. And a large percentage of people say they have put off health care for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
However, the rate of uninsured has not increased significantly in recent years. That's in part because the population has also been growing and because the proportion of uninsured children has been shrinking.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report this week on the uninsured based on tens of thousands of in-person interviews for the years 2006 through early 2010. The number of people who said they were uninsured at the time they were interviewed is up from almost 44 million in 2006.
People also were asked if they had been without health insurance at some point in the previous year. About 59 million said yes.
Last year, more than 40 percent of uninsured adults said they recently skipped some medical care because of cost.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Exercise May Cut Endometrial Cancer Risk
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Exercising 150 minutes or more every week may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer by a third, according to a study.
Researchers led by Herbert Yu, MD, MSc, PhD, associate professor at Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn., compared 668 women with endometrial cancer with 665 women of the same age who did not have the disease. Women answered questionnaires about their lifestyles, environment, and physical and recreational activities.
Based on the survey results, the researchers found that:
Women who exercised 150 minutes a week or more had a 34% reduction in endometrial cancer even after adjusting for other factors such as body mass index (BMI), a measurement of height and weight.
When looking at BMI and activity levels, women who were active and had a BMI of 25 or less showed an even greater reduction at 73%.
Women who were of a normal weight but inactive had a 55% lowered risk, whereas women who were overweight and active had a 38% reduced risk.
The findings were presented at the Ninth Annual American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference held in Philadelphia.
Researchers said the results suggest that both exercise and BMI levels affect endometrial cancer risk and that they also reaffirm earlier findings showing an independent association between exercise and a lowered risk for endometrial cancer.
The CDC recommends adults ages 18 to 64 get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups on two or more days a week.
Endometrial cancer is a cancer that forms in the lining of the uterus. The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 43,470 new cases and 7,950 deaths from endometrial cancer in the U.S. in 2010.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Exercising 150 minutes or more every week may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer by a third, according to a study.
Researchers led by Herbert Yu, MD, MSc, PhD, associate professor at Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn., compared 668 women with endometrial cancer with 665 women of the same age who did not have the disease. Women answered questionnaires about their lifestyles, environment, and physical and recreational activities.
Based on the survey results, the researchers found that:
Women who exercised 150 minutes a week or more had a 34% reduction in endometrial cancer even after adjusting for other factors such as body mass index (BMI), a measurement of height and weight.
When looking at BMI and activity levels, women who were active and had a BMI of 25 or less showed an even greater reduction at 73%.
Women who were of a normal weight but inactive had a 55% lowered risk, whereas women who were overweight and active had a 38% reduced risk.
The findings were presented at the Ninth Annual American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference held in Philadelphia.
Researchers said the results suggest that both exercise and BMI levels affect endometrial cancer risk and that they also reaffirm earlier findings showing an independent association between exercise and a lowered risk for endometrial cancer.
The CDC recommends adults ages 18 to 64 get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups on two or more days a week.
Endometrial cancer is a cancer that forms in the lining of the uterus. The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 43,470 new cases and 7,950 deaths from endometrial cancer in the U.S. in 2010.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Family History Underused as Predictor of Future Illness
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call " with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Make Grandma spill the beans: Uncovering all the diseases that lurk in your family tree can trump costly genetic testing in predicting what illnesses you and your children are likely to face.
It may sound old-fashioned, but a Cleveland Clinic study comparing which method best uncovered an increased risk of cancer helps confirm the value of what's called a family health history.
All it costs is a little time questioning your relatives, yet good family health trees are rare. A government survey estimated less than a third of families have one -- and time-crunched doctors seldom push their patients to remedy that.
"I view family health histories as back to the future," says Dr. Charis Eng, a cancer geneticist at the Cleveland Clinic's Genomic Medicine Institute. "It's the best kept secret in health care."
Holiday gatherings can be a good chance to gather the information, as can reunions or even funerals. The U.S. Surgeon General operates a free website -- https://familyhistory.hhs.gov -- that helps people create a family health history and share it electronically with relatives and their doctor.
However you do it, get the scoop on both sides of the family, says another study of 2,500 women. Researchers found that women not only know less about the health of their paternal relatives, they tend to dismiss the threat of breast cancer if it's on Dad's side.
"It's a risk no matter what," says Dr. Wendy Rubinstein of Chicago's NorthShore University Health System, who presented the research last week at a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
Far too often, a family health history consists of whatever you happen to jot down on that clipboard in the doctor's waiting room. Mom hasn't confided her soaring cholesterol? Can't recall what killed Aunt Mary? Don't realize that the hunched back of Grandma and her sisters could foreshadow your osteoporosis? Or maybe Dad never mentioned that in his 40s he survived the prostate cancer that killed his own father.
Looking for patterns of familial illness can predict someone's brewing health risks, so gaps can be a problem.
How does a good history compare with those online genomic testing services -- sold without a doctor's prescription for hundreds of dollars -- that analyze DNA glitches and predict people's predisposition to various diseases?
To find out, the Cleveland Clinic's Eng recruited 44 people -- 22 patients in her family cancer clinic and their spouses -- for a family health history and a saliva test from one of those genomic services, Navigenics, to calculate their risk for colon cancer and breast or prostate cancer.
Both approaches classified about 40 percent of participants as having above-average risk - but they picked the same people only about half the time. For example, the genomic screening missed all nine people with a strong family risk of colon cancer, five of whom Eng's clinic gave extra scrutiny to prove they carried a specific gene mutation.
"A patient might have done this testing and been very reassured and not come to medical care," she told last week's geneticists' meeting.
On the other hand, Navigenics listed eight men at risk for prostate cancer when their family history predicted a risk no higher than average.
Why the difference? No matter the brand, genomic screening takes a broad look at DNA variations, including some that scientists aren't sure play a big role. Yet it often doesn't include high-profile gene mutations that are linked for specific diseases and can require more specialized testing, Eng explains.
Navigenics didn't return a call for comment.
"Family history remains the best genetic tool we have, but health care providers are not taking advantage" of it, says Dr. Maren Scheuner of the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Los Angeles, who is leading a pilot project to add family cancer histories to the VA's electronic medical records at two area clinics.
Popularity may be growing. The surgeon general's office counts nearly 30,000 new visitors a month to its "My Family Health Portrait" Web site since summer, about a third of whom return, suggesting they're compiling an electronic family health tree.
Chicago's Rubinstein, who is testing a next-generation tool, found that women's newly created family health histories include much more information than was in their regular medical charts -- even if they did need a nudge about the paternal side.
"It's not uncommon to think, 'I look like one parent, that affects the illness I'm going to get,'" Rubinstein says. "Generally that's not the case."
Because genes seldom are destiny, a family health tree also should reflect shared environmental or lifestyle factors that can further affect an inherited risk, says James O'Leary of the nonprofit Genetic Alliance, which just won government funding to help spread family health histories to community health centers that serve the poor.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or online at www.drasa.com
Make Grandma spill the beans: Uncovering all the diseases that lurk in your family tree can trump costly genetic testing in predicting what illnesses you and your children are likely to face.
It may sound old-fashioned, but a Cleveland Clinic study comparing which method best uncovered an increased risk of cancer helps confirm the value of what's called a family health history.
All it costs is a little time questioning your relatives, yet good family health trees are rare. A government survey estimated less than a third of families have one -- and time-crunched doctors seldom push their patients to remedy that.
"I view family health histories as back to the future," says Dr. Charis Eng, a cancer geneticist at the Cleveland Clinic's Genomic Medicine Institute. "It's the best kept secret in health care."
Holiday gatherings can be a good chance to gather the information, as can reunions or even funerals. The U.S. Surgeon General operates a free website -- https://familyhistory.hhs.gov -- that helps people create a family health history and share it electronically with relatives and their doctor.
However you do it, get the scoop on both sides of the family, says another study of 2,500 women. Researchers found that women not only know less about the health of their paternal relatives, they tend to dismiss the threat of breast cancer if it's on Dad's side.
"It's a risk no matter what," says Dr. Wendy Rubinstein of Chicago's NorthShore University Health System, who presented the research last week at a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
Far too often, a family health history consists of whatever you happen to jot down on that clipboard in the doctor's waiting room. Mom hasn't confided her soaring cholesterol? Can't recall what killed Aunt Mary? Don't realize that the hunched back of Grandma and her sisters could foreshadow your osteoporosis? Or maybe Dad never mentioned that in his 40s he survived the prostate cancer that killed his own father.
Looking for patterns of familial illness can predict someone's brewing health risks, so gaps can be a problem.
How does a good history compare with those online genomic testing services -- sold without a doctor's prescription for hundreds of dollars -- that analyze DNA glitches and predict people's predisposition to various diseases?
To find out, the Cleveland Clinic's Eng recruited 44 people -- 22 patients in her family cancer clinic and their spouses -- for a family health history and a saliva test from one of those genomic services, Navigenics, to calculate their risk for colon cancer and breast or prostate cancer.
Both approaches classified about 40 percent of participants as having above-average risk - but they picked the same people only about half the time. For example, the genomic screening missed all nine people with a strong family risk of colon cancer, five of whom Eng's clinic gave extra scrutiny to prove they carried a specific gene mutation.
"A patient might have done this testing and been very reassured and not come to medical care," she told last week's geneticists' meeting.
On the other hand, Navigenics listed eight men at risk for prostate cancer when their family history predicted a risk no higher than average.
Why the difference? No matter the brand, genomic screening takes a broad look at DNA variations, including some that scientists aren't sure play a big role. Yet it often doesn't include high-profile gene mutations that are linked for specific diseases and can require more specialized testing, Eng explains.
Navigenics didn't return a call for comment.
"Family history remains the best genetic tool we have, but health care providers are not taking advantage" of it, says Dr. Maren Scheuner of the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Los Angeles, who is leading a pilot project to add family cancer histories to the VA's electronic medical records at two area clinics.
Popularity may be growing. The surgeon general's office counts nearly 30,000 new visitors a month to its "My Family Health Portrait" Web site since summer, about a third of whom return, suggesting they're compiling an electronic family health tree.
Chicago's Rubinstein, who is testing a next-generation tool, found that women's newly created family health histories include much more information than was in their regular medical charts -- even if they did need a nudge about the paternal side.
"It's not uncommon to think, 'I look like one parent, that affects the illness I'm going to get,'" Rubinstein says. "Generally that's not the case."
Because genes seldom are destiny, a family health tree also should reflect shared environmental or lifestyle factors that can further affect an inherited risk, says James O'Leary of the nonprofit Genetic Alliance, which just won government funding to help spread family health histories to community health centers that serve the poor.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or online at www.drasa.com
U.S. Adult Obesity Rate Expected to Climb to 42 Percent
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
While recent estimates have claimed that as many as a third of Americans are obese, that isn't the worst of it. According to a new study out of Harvard University, the U.S. population is going to keep getting fatter until 42 percent of adults can claim the title of "obese." And the reason for the increase may be as simple as who we hang out with.
Obesity is defined as weighing 20 percent or more above ideal body weight or having a body mass index of 30 or higher. BMI is figured by taking a person's weight in pounds times 703 and dividing it by height in inches squared. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not only are a third of Americans obese, but another third are overweight, which is defined as a BMI of 25 or more.
Researchers at Harvard concluded that people who socialize with people who are obese are more likely to become obese as well. The study used mathematical modeling with data from the Framingham Heart Study to determine that obesity appears to spread, almost the same way an infectious disease does. The research was published in the most recent issue of PLoS Computational Biology.
"We don't know what's at work here," lead study author Alison Hill, a graduate student in biophysics at Harvard, told AOL Health. "This study opens up an interesting new area." Hill says there's a lot of room for speculation, including the idea that people may adopt the habits of friends or that socializing with overweight people shifts a person's own sense of what represents a social norm.
The only problem with that kind of reasoning is that slimness doesn't have the same contagious effect, according to the study. Hill is quick to note, however, that her background is mathematical modeling, and she has no expertise in the biological factors that lead to obesity.
Dr. Michael Wolfe, chairman of the Department of Medicine at MetroHealth in Cleveland, doesn't buy the idea that this study will hold up scientifically. "I'm a basic scientist for a reason," he told AOL Health. "In these kinds of studies, you'll find the exact opposite next week." He feels it's true that one's social network will influence one's size, regardless of whether that network is thin or fat.
"If everyone around you is obese, it becomes more socially acceptable to be obese," he explains. "Aberrant behavior is more acceptable when others do it."
So does this study mean you should dump your fat friends? Well, not exactly. "A more positive way to look at it is that it's in your own best interest to help your friends lose weight," says Hill. That means if you and your girlfriends typically bond over pizza and ice cream, perhaps a few shared laps around the park might serve all of you better.
Hill said she would also like to emphasize that the social factors that lead to obesity don't appear to be nearly as significant as environmental factors. That means that regardless of how big your friends are, your own eating and exercise habits, genetic make-up and overall health still play the biggest role in what numbers you'll see when you step on that scale.
Wolfe says we all need to make an effort to fight our basic biology, which has designed us to be absorbers and storers of fat. "If you're full, stop eating," he says. "Put your utensils down between bites. Eat more slowly. And never waste calories on drinks."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
While recent estimates have claimed that as many as a third of Americans are obese, that isn't the worst of it. According to a new study out of Harvard University, the U.S. population is going to keep getting fatter until 42 percent of adults can claim the title of "obese." And the reason for the increase may be as simple as who we hang out with.
Obesity is defined as weighing 20 percent or more above ideal body weight or having a body mass index of 30 or higher. BMI is figured by taking a person's weight in pounds times 703 and dividing it by height in inches squared. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not only are a third of Americans obese, but another third are overweight, which is defined as a BMI of 25 or more.
Researchers at Harvard concluded that people who socialize with people who are obese are more likely to become obese as well. The study used mathematical modeling with data from the Framingham Heart Study to determine that obesity appears to spread, almost the same way an infectious disease does. The research was published in the most recent issue of PLoS Computational Biology.
"We don't know what's at work here," lead study author Alison Hill, a graduate student in biophysics at Harvard, told AOL Health. "This study opens up an interesting new area." Hill says there's a lot of room for speculation, including the idea that people may adopt the habits of friends or that socializing with overweight people shifts a person's own sense of what represents a social norm.
The only problem with that kind of reasoning is that slimness doesn't have the same contagious effect, according to the study. Hill is quick to note, however, that her background is mathematical modeling, and she has no expertise in the biological factors that lead to obesity.
Dr. Michael Wolfe, chairman of the Department of Medicine at MetroHealth in Cleveland, doesn't buy the idea that this study will hold up scientifically. "I'm a basic scientist for a reason," he told AOL Health. "In these kinds of studies, you'll find the exact opposite next week." He feels it's true that one's social network will influence one's size, regardless of whether that network is thin or fat.
"If everyone around you is obese, it becomes more socially acceptable to be obese," he explains. "Aberrant behavior is more acceptable when others do it."
So does this study mean you should dump your fat friends? Well, not exactly. "A more positive way to look at it is that it's in your own best interest to help your friends lose weight," says Hill. That means if you and your girlfriends typically bond over pizza and ice cream, perhaps a few shared laps around the park might serve all of you better.
Hill said she would also like to emphasize that the social factors that lead to obesity don't appear to be nearly as significant as environmental factors. That means that regardless of how big your friends are, your own eating and exercise habits, genetic make-up and overall health still play the biggest role in what numbers you'll see when you step on that scale.
Wolfe says we all need to make an effort to fight our basic biology, which has designed us to be absorbers and storers of fat. "If you're full, stop eating," he says. "Put your utensils down between bites. Eat more slowly. And never waste calories on drinks."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
FDA Clears Cymbalta to Treat Chronic Lower Back Pain, Osteoarthritis
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew:
The antidepressant Cymbalta has gotten the go-ahead to be prescribed for persistent back pain and osteoarthritis, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The FDA approved the drug on Thursday for chronic musculoskeletal pain, including pain in the lower back and that caused by osteoarthritis.
"Up to three quarters of the population experience chronic pain at some time in their lives," Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "This approval means that many of those people now have another treatment option."
Cymbalta first emerged in 2004 as a medication for major depressive disorder. Since then, about 30 million people in the United States have used it.
After its release as an antidepressant, Cymbalta was also approved as a treatment for fibromyalgia, generalized anxiety disorder and diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
More than 600 patients participated in randomized clinical trials on the effectiveness of Cymbalta, or duloxetine hydrochloride, in alleviating lower back pain and symptoms of osteoarthritis. By the end of the study, the subjects taking the drug reported a significant reduction in back pain compared with those who were given placebos, the FDA said.
The most common side effects of Cymbalta are nausea, dry mouth, insomnia, drowsiness, dizziness, fatigue and constipation. Other, more serious, side effects have been seen in less than 1 percent of patients, including liver damage, hives, rashes and other allergic reactions, depression, pneumonia, suicide and suicidal thoughts, according to the agency.
Currently there are few drugs on the market that treat chronic musculoskeletal pain, all of which carry the risk of severe side effects. For some patients, none of the existing treatments are effective in treating their pain.
The FDA said Cymbalta, made by drug giant Eli Lilly and Co., should be taken in a 60 milligram capsule once a day and needs to be swallowed whole rather than crushed or mixed with food or liquids.
Any unpleasant reactions to the drug can be reported to the FDA's MedWatch hotline at 1-800-FDA-1088, or online at www.fda.gov/medwatch/how.htm.
Consumers and health care professionals are encouraged to report adverse events to the FDA's MedWatch program at 800-FDA-1088 or online at www.fda.gov/medwatch/how.htm.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
The antidepressant Cymbalta has gotten the go-ahead to be prescribed for persistent back pain and osteoarthritis, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The FDA approved the drug on Thursday for chronic musculoskeletal pain, including pain in the lower back and that caused by osteoarthritis.
"Up to three quarters of the population experience chronic pain at some time in their lives," Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "This approval means that many of those people now have another treatment option."
Cymbalta first emerged in 2004 as a medication for major depressive disorder. Since then, about 30 million people in the United States have used it.
After its release as an antidepressant, Cymbalta was also approved as a treatment for fibromyalgia, generalized anxiety disorder and diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
More than 600 patients participated in randomized clinical trials on the effectiveness of Cymbalta, or duloxetine hydrochloride, in alleviating lower back pain and symptoms of osteoarthritis. By the end of the study, the subjects taking the drug reported a significant reduction in back pain compared with those who were given placebos, the FDA said.
The most common side effects of Cymbalta are nausea, dry mouth, insomnia, drowsiness, dizziness, fatigue and constipation. Other, more serious, side effects have been seen in less than 1 percent of patients, including liver damage, hives, rashes and other allergic reactions, depression, pneumonia, suicide and suicidal thoughts, according to the agency.
Currently there are few drugs on the market that treat chronic musculoskeletal pain, all of which carry the risk of severe side effects. For some patients, none of the existing treatments are effective in treating their pain.
The FDA said Cymbalta, made by drug giant Eli Lilly and Co., should be taken in a 60 milligram capsule once a day and needs to be swallowed whole rather than crushed or mixed with food or liquids.
Any unpleasant reactions to the drug can be reported to the FDA's MedWatch hotline at 1-800-FDA-1088, or online at www.fda.gov/medwatch/how.htm.
Consumers and health care professionals are encouraged to report adverse events to the FDA's MedWatch program at 800-FDA-1088 or online at www.fda.gov/medwatch/how.htm.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Gene Variant Linked to Depression in Alcohol-Dependent Individuals
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew:
A study highlighting the co-occurrence of alcohol dependence and depressive symptoms was presented here at the American Society of Human Genetics 60th Annual Meeting by first author Darlene A. Kertes, PhD, from the Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Dr. Kertes described the high level of co-occurrence between depression and alcohol dependence; in people who have one disorder, the risk of developing the other is 2 to 4 times higher. This comorbidity is important clinically, as evidenced in the higher relapse frequency of alcohol-dependent individuals who also experience symptoms of depression.
The causes of this comorbidity are not well understood, although there is considerable overlap between the biologic systems involved in alcohol dependence and in severe depression. For example, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) participates in responses to both physical and psychological stressors.
In the study by Dr. Kertes and colleagues, an initial set of 120 genes, with previous evidence of associations with addiction, anxiety, or depression, was screened in an alcohol-dependent population (from the Irish Affected Sib-Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence). The functions of these 120 genes included involvement in neurotransmission (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and glutamate), the biology of stress, cell signaling, and pharmacokinetics.
The researchers then focused on 19 genes with at least a "nominally significant" association in the screening, testing their association with depressive symptoms in an independent population of alcohol-dependent participants from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). The COGA participants (n = 847) were recruited from treatment facilities, and age distribution was similar to that of the Irish study. Markers in 12 of the 19 genes assessed demonstrated an association with symptoms of depression.
When the test groups were evaluated for depressive symptoms, scores were distributed similarly in both populations (a U-shaped, not a normal, distribution). Symptom distribution was also similar in the 2 groups, supporting the validity of directly comparing the 2 populations.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
A study highlighting the co-occurrence of alcohol dependence and depressive symptoms was presented here at the American Society of Human Genetics 60th Annual Meeting by first author Darlene A. Kertes, PhD, from the Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Dr. Kertes described the high level of co-occurrence between depression and alcohol dependence; in people who have one disorder, the risk of developing the other is 2 to 4 times higher. This comorbidity is important clinically, as evidenced in the higher relapse frequency of alcohol-dependent individuals who also experience symptoms of depression.
The causes of this comorbidity are not well understood, although there is considerable overlap between the biologic systems involved in alcohol dependence and in severe depression. For example, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) participates in responses to both physical and psychological stressors.
In the study by Dr. Kertes and colleagues, an initial set of 120 genes, with previous evidence of associations with addiction, anxiety, or depression, was screened in an alcohol-dependent population (from the Irish Affected Sib-Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence). The functions of these 120 genes included involvement in neurotransmission (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and glutamate), the biology of stress, cell signaling, and pharmacokinetics.
The researchers then focused on 19 genes with at least a "nominally significant" association in the screening, testing their association with depressive symptoms in an independent population of alcohol-dependent participants from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). The COGA participants (n = 847) were recruited from treatment facilities, and age distribution was similar to that of the Irish study. Markers in 12 of the 19 genes assessed demonstrated an association with symptoms of depression.
When the test groups were evaluated for depressive symptoms, scores were distributed similarly in both populations (a U-shaped, not a normal, distribution). Symptom distribution was also similar in the 2 groups, supporting the validity of directly comparing the 2 populations.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Jellyfish Cells Used to Diagnose Hard to Find Cancers
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew
Most of us never think of jellyfish except as an annoying marine creature with stingers that may catch us unaware at the beach. But scientists in Great Britain believe that the luminous proteins within the cells of jellyfish that make them glow could help in the fight against cancer by offering earlier diagnoses of the disease, the BBC reported.
But how? Basically, researchers based at the Yorkshire Cancer Research Laboratory at the University of York have discovered that when proteins from luminous jellyfish cells are injected into humans the cancer cells essentially "light up," making them visible to a special camera that can then identify the presence and location of tumors within the body.
"Cancers deep within the body are difficult to spot at an early stage," lead researcher Professor Norman Maitland says, "and early diagnosis is critical for the successful treatment of any form of cancer." Early diagnoses may be more possible if Maitland's initial research can be put into practice in the future.
Maitland claims his work is actually building on earlier research by American chemists Roger Tsien with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Osamu Shimomura with Boston University Medical School, and Martin Chalfie with Columbia University, who together won a Nobel Prize in 2008, in part for Shimomura's work in taking luminous cells from the crystal jellyfish and then isolating the luminescent GFP protein from those cells. Tsien told AOL Health this afternoon that he could not comment on Maitland's work without a published study to review. He did remark however, that "there are some major fundamental obstacles to the approach as it has been described [in press reports], and without a proper scientific paper, it is impossible to tell whether the Maitland lab has somehow overcome these problems."
The Yorkshire team reportedly used an altered form of the GFP protein to make it show up red or blue instead of green, inserted it into viruses designed to hone in on cancer cells, and then found that the protein lights up as the viruses grow and spread within the cancer cells. The research shows it might be possible to replicate the technique in humans one day, allowing for earlier detection of cancerous tumors that are not currently visible to modern imaging equipment.
Dr. Ravindra Pandey, a research professor at the State University of New York and professor of cellular stress biology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, told AOL Health he thinks the research coming out of Great Britain holds great promise. "This may enable us to find tumors that are deeply seated," he says, pointing out that current technology, such as MRIs, allow for good resolution but aren't very sensitive.
Pandey thinks these fluorescent proteins might be especially useful in determining the location and size of brain tumors, where surgeons often have difficulty determining the margins of a tumor and can fail to remove all the cancer cells as a result.
"When a specially developed camera is switched on, the proteins just flare up, and you can see where the cancer cells are," Maitland said.
The only problem is the special camera required for the task is made by only one company based in the U.S., and a single camera costs around $800,000. Maitland is working to raise money to purchase one of the cameras and hopes his new method of cancer detection will be ready for clinical trials within five years.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Most of us never think of jellyfish except as an annoying marine creature with stingers that may catch us unaware at the beach. But scientists in Great Britain believe that the luminous proteins within the cells of jellyfish that make them glow could help in the fight against cancer by offering earlier diagnoses of the disease, the BBC reported.
But how? Basically, researchers based at the Yorkshire Cancer Research Laboratory at the University of York have discovered that when proteins from luminous jellyfish cells are injected into humans the cancer cells essentially "light up," making them visible to a special camera that can then identify the presence and location of tumors within the body.
"Cancers deep within the body are difficult to spot at an early stage," lead researcher Professor Norman Maitland says, "and early diagnosis is critical for the successful treatment of any form of cancer." Early diagnoses may be more possible if Maitland's initial research can be put into practice in the future.
Maitland claims his work is actually building on earlier research by American chemists Roger Tsien with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Osamu Shimomura with Boston University Medical School, and Martin Chalfie with Columbia University, who together won a Nobel Prize in 2008, in part for Shimomura's work in taking luminous cells from the crystal jellyfish and then isolating the luminescent GFP protein from those cells. Tsien told AOL Health this afternoon that he could not comment on Maitland's work without a published study to review. He did remark however, that "there are some major fundamental obstacles to the approach as it has been described [in press reports], and without a proper scientific paper, it is impossible to tell whether the Maitland lab has somehow overcome these problems."
The Yorkshire team reportedly used an altered form of the GFP protein to make it show up red or blue instead of green, inserted it into viruses designed to hone in on cancer cells, and then found that the protein lights up as the viruses grow and spread within the cancer cells. The research shows it might be possible to replicate the technique in humans one day, allowing for earlier detection of cancerous tumors that are not currently visible to modern imaging equipment.
Dr. Ravindra Pandey, a research professor at the State University of New York and professor of cellular stress biology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, told AOL Health he thinks the research coming out of Great Britain holds great promise. "This may enable us to find tumors that are deeply seated," he says, pointing out that current technology, such as MRIs, allow for good resolution but aren't very sensitive.
Pandey thinks these fluorescent proteins might be especially useful in determining the location and size of brain tumors, where surgeons often have difficulty determining the margins of a tumor and can fail to remove all the cancer cells as a result.
"When a specially developed camera is switched on, the proteins just flare up, and you can see where the cancer cells are," Maitland said.
The only problem is the special camera required for the task is made by only one company based in the U.S., and a single camera costs around $800,000. Maitland is working to raise money to purchase one of the cameras and hopes his new method of cancer detection will be ready for clinical trials within five years.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Sleep Loss Is Harder on Social Butterflies
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew
If you've ever rolled your eyes when the social butterflies in your circle -- the ones who go out every night after work -- complain of chronic tiredness, you might be in for a surprise. It may not be sleep deprivation and late night habits alone that make them tired. It could be their personality type.
A new study suggests that extroverts suffer more following sleep deprivation than introverts do, at least in cases where they're socially engaged. The research, published in the most recent issue of the journal Sleep, indicates that extroverts deprived of sleep are less alert than their more introverted counterparts when both engage in social activities. The study also found that sleep deprived extroverts and introverts performed about the same on wakefulness tests when both types were socially isolated.
The research was conducted using 48 volunteer subjects who were forced to stay awake for 36 hours under the scrutiny of researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The subjects were divided into groups based on personality tests determining if they were extroverts or introverts and then subjected to either socially enriched or socially impoverished environments. "Extraverts exposed to social environments were more vulnerable to subsequent sleep deprivation than were introverts," the study authors concluded.
Researchers aren't sure why extroverts who are socially active have more trouble with wakefulness, but they did have a few theories, including the idea that social engagement may fatigue the same areas of the brain responsible for alertness. Since introverts tend not to be as socially engaged as extroverts, they may not experience the same level of brain activity when engaged in social activities. It's possible introverts might also naturally shy away from the stimulation of a social environment.
Dr. Vidya Krishnan, associate director of the MetroHealth Center for Sleep Medicine in Cleveland, though not involved in the study, commented on the research, noting that when extroverts are socially active, there may be a part of their brains that is more active metabolically than it is in introverts.
"When you're being socially active, your mind is more active," she told AOL Health. "You're using more memory and concentration, and you're probably walking around a lot more." Introverts may just not get that same kind of stimulation from group activities, she said.
Researchers at Walter Reed were particularly interested in how personality type might make one better suited for tasks that often involve sleep deprivation, including military duties requiring long periods of wakefulness as well as shift work.
"It's interesting to know that there are certain people less affected by sleep deprivation," Krishnan adds. "I see a lot of shift workers who have trouble coping with sleep deprivation. If we can find predictors of who's going to have trouble with sleep deprivation, it may be helpful for preventing sleep problems to begin with."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or long onto www.drasa.com
If you've ever rolled your eyes when the social butterflies in your circle -- the ones who go out every night after work -- complain of chronic tiredness, you might be in for a surprise. It may not be sleep deprivation and late night habits alone that make them tired. It could be their personality type.
A new study suggests that extroverts suffer more following sleep deprivation than introverts do, at least in cases where they're socially engaged. The research, published in the most recent issue of the journal Sleep, indicates that extroverts deprived of sleep are less alert than their more introverted counterparts when both engage in social activities. The study also found that sleep deprived extroverts and introverts performed about the same on wakefulness tests when both types were socially isolated.
The research was conducted using 48 volunteer subjects who were forced to stay awake for 36 hours under the scrutiny of researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The subjects were divided into groups based on personality tests determining if they were extroverts or introverts and then subjected to either socially enriched or socially impoverished environments. "Extraverts exposed to social environments were more vulnerable to subsequent sleep deprivation than were introverts," the study authors concluded.
Researchers aren't sure why extroverts who are socially active have more trouble with wakefulness, but they did have a few theories, including the idea that social engagement may fatigue the same areas of the brain responsible for alertness. Since introverts tend not to be as socially engaged as extroverts, they may not experience the same level of brain activity when engaged in social activities. It's possible introverts might also naturally shy away from the stimulation of a social environment.
Dr. Vidya Krishnan, associate director of the MetroHealth Center for Sleep Medicine in Cleveland, though not involved in the study, commented on the research, noting that when extroverts are socially active, there may be a part of their brains that is more active metabolically than it is in introverts.
"When you're being socially active, your mind is more active," she told AOL Health. "You're using more memory and concentration, and you're probably walking around a lot more." Introverts may just not get that same kind of stimulation from group activities, she said.
Researchers at Walter Reed were particularly interested in how personality type might make one better suited for tasks that often involve sleep deprivation, including military duties requiring long periods of wakefulness as well as shift work.
"It's interesting to know that there are certain people less affected by sleep deprivation," Krishnan adds. "I see a lot of shift workers who have trouble coping with sleep deprivation. If we can find predictors of who's going to have trouble with sleep deprivation, it may be helpful for preventing sleep problems to begin with."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or long onto www.drasa.com
Parkinson's May Be Caused by Energy Crisis in the Brain
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Parkinson's disease may stem from an energy crisis in the brain, years before symptoms appear.
If the research pans out, it points to a possible new approach for Parkinson's: Giving a boost to a key power switch inside brain cells in hopes of slowing the disease's inevitable march instead of just treating symptoms.
"This is an extremely important and interesting observation that opens up new therapeutic targets," says Dr. Flint Beal of New York's Weill Cornell Medical College, who wasn't involved with the new study.
Beal said scientists already are planning first-stage tests to see if a drug now used for diabetes might help Parkinson's, too, by targeting one of the implicated energy genes.
At issue are little power factories inside cells, called mitochondria. Increasingly, scientists suspect that malfunctioning mitochondria play some role in a list of degenerative brain diseases.
After all, brain cells are energy hogs, making up about 2 percent of body weight yet consuming about 20 percent of the body's energy. So a power drain could trigger some serious long-term consequences.
"It could be a root cause" of Parkinson's, says Dr. Clemens Scherzer of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University.
About 5 million people worldwide, and 1.5 million in the U.S., have Parkinson's, characterized by increasingly severe tremors and periodically stiff or frozen limbs. Patients gradually lose brain cells that produce dopamine, a chemical key to the circuitry that controls muscle movement. There is no cure, although dopamine-boosting medication and an implanted device called deep brain stimulation can help some symptoms.
No one knows what causes Parkinson's. To find genetic clues, Scherzer gathered an international team of researchers to comb studies of more than 300 samples of brain tissue - from diagnosed Parkinson's patients, from symptom-free people whose brains showed early Parkinson's damage was brewing, and from people whose brains appeared normal. They even used a laser beam to cut out individual dopamine-producing neurons in the most ravaged brain region, the substantia nigra, and examine gene activity.
The team found 10 sets of genes that work at abnormally low levels in Parkinson's patients, genes that turned out to play various roles in the mitochondria's energy production, Scherzer recently reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Especially compelling, the genes also were sluggish in people with presymptomatic, simmering Parkinson's.
And all the gene sets are controlled by what Scherzer calls a master regulator gene named PGC-1alpha - responsible for activating many other genes that maintain and repair those mitochondrial power factories.
So might revving up PGC-1alpha in turn boost underperforming mitochondrial genes and protect the brain? To see, the researchers tested dopamine-producing neurons from rats that were treated in ways known to cause Parkinson's-like damage. Sure enough, boosting the power switch prevented that damage.
This genetic evidence supports years of tantalizing hints that mitochondria are culprits in Parkinson's, says Dr. Timothy Greenamyre of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
He ticks off the clues: A rare, inherited form of Parkinson's is caused by a mutated gene involved with mitochondrial function. A pesticide named rotenone that can kill dopamine cells and trigger Parkinson's symptoms in animals also is toxic to mitochondria. So is another Parkinson's-triggering chemical named MPTP.
Now with Scherzer's study, "it's going to be harder and harder for people to think that mitochondria are just a late player or an incidental player in Parkinson's disease," Greenamyre says.
The crux of all that complicated neurogenetics: A diabetes drug named Actos is among the compounds known to activate part of that PGC-1alpha pathway, and Weill Cornell's Beal says it's poised for an initial small trial in Parkinson's.
Separately, a nutrient named Coenzyme Q10 is believed important in mitochondrial energy production, and Beal is leading a study to see if high doses might help Parkinson's. Results are due in 2012.
But Scherzer issues a caution: The average Parkinson's patient has lost about 70 percent of his or her dopamine-producing neurons by the time of diagnosis. So if blocking a brain energy drain is going to do any good, scientists may have to find ways to spot brewing Parkinson's much earlier.
"I don't think you can turn back the clock," he says.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him on "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Parkinson's disease may stem from an energy crisis in the brain, years before symptoms appear.
If the research pans out, it points to a possible new approach for Parkinson's: Giving a boost to a key power switch inside brain cells in hopes of slowing the disease's inevitable march instead of just treating symptoms.
"This is an extremely important and interesting observation that opens up new therapeutic targets," says Dr. Flint Beal of New York's Weill Cornell Medical College, who wasn't involved with the new study.
Beal said scientists already are planning first-stage tests to see if a drug now used for diabetes might help Parkinson's, too, by targeting one of the implicated energy genes.
At issue are little power factories inside cells, called mitochondria. Increasingly, scientists suspect that malfunctioning mitochondria play some role in a list of degenerative brain diseases.
After all, brain cells are energy hogs, making up about 2 percent of body weight yet consuming about 20 percent of the body's energy. So a power drain could trigger some serious long-term consequences.
"It could be a root cause" of Parkinson's, says Dr. Clemens Scherzer of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University.
About 5 million people worldwide, and 1.5 million in the U.S., have Parkinson's, characterized by increasingly severe tremors and periodically stiff or frozen limbs. Patients gradually lose brain cells that produce dopamine, a chemical key to the circuitry that controls muscle movement. There is no cure, although dopamine-boosting medication and an implanted device called deep brain stimulation can help some symptoms.
No one knows what causes Parkinson's. To find genetic clues, Scherzer gathered an international team of researchers to comb studies of more than 300 samples of brain tissue - from diagnosed Parkinson's patients, from symptom-free people whose brains showed early Parkinson's damage was brewing, and from people whose brains appeared normal. They even used a laser beam to cut out individual dopamine-producing neurons in the most ravaged brain region, the substantia nigra, and examine gene activity.
The team found 10 sets of genes that work at abnormally low levels in Parkinson's patients, genes that turned out to play various roles in the mitochondria's energy production, Scherzer recently reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Especially compelling, the genes also were sluggish in people with presymptomatic, simmering Parkinson's.
And all the gene sets are controlled by what Scherzer calls a master regulator gene named PGC-1alpha - responsible for activating many other genes that maintain and repair those mitochondrial power factories.
So might revving up PGC-1alpha in turn boost underperforming mitochondrial genes and protect the brain? To see, the researchers tested dopamine-producing neurons from rats that were treated in ways known to cause Parkinson's-like damage. Sure enough, boosting the power switch prevented that damage.
This genetic evidence supports years of tantalizing hints that mitochondria are culprits in Parkinson's, says Dr. Timothy Greenamyre of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
He ticks off the clues: A rare, inherited form of Parkinson's is caused by a mutated gene involved with mitochondrial function. A pesticide named rotenone that can kill dopamine cells and trigger Parkinson's symptoms in animals also is toxic to mitochondria. So is another Parkinson's-triggering chemical named MPTP.
Now with Scherzer's study, "it's going to be harder and harder for people to think that mitochondria are just a late player or an incidental player in Parkinson's disease," Greenamyre says.
The crux of all that complicated neurogenetics: A diabetes drug named Actos is among the compounds known to activate part of that PGC-1alpha pathway, and Weill Cornell's Beal says it's poised for an initial small trial in Parkinson's.
Separately, a nutrient named Coenzyme Q10 is believed important in mitochondrial energy production, and Beal is leading a study to see if high doses might help Parkinson's. Results are due in 2012.
But Scherzer issues a caution: The average Parkinson's patient has lost about 70 percent of his or her dopamine-producing neurons by the time of diagnosis. So if blocking a brain energy drain is going to do any good, scientists may have to find ways to spot brewing Parkinson's much earlier.
"I don't think you can turn back the clock," he says.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him on "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
