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| Cannabis Use, Effect And Potential Therapy For Alzheimer's, MS and Parkinson's |
Cannabis (marijuana) is the most widely produced plant-based illicit drug worldwide and the illegal drug most frequently used in Europe. Its use increased in almost all EU countries during the 1990s, in particular among young people, including school students. Cannabis use is highest among 15- to 24-year-olds, with lifetime prevalence ranging for most countries from 20--40% (EMCDDA 2006).
Recently there has been a new surge in the level of concern about potential social and health outcomes of cannabis use, although the available evidence still does not provide a clear-cut understanding of the issues. Intensive cannabis use is correlated with non-drug-specific mental problems, but the question of co-morbidity is intertwined with the questions of cause and effect (EMCDDA 2006). Prevention is of importance in adolescents, which is underlined by evidence that early-onset cannabis-users (pre- to mid-adolescence) have a significantly higher risk of developing drug problems, including dependence (Von Sydow et al., 2002; Chen et al., 2005).
The illegal status and wide-spread use of cannabis made basic and clinical cannabis research difficult in the past decades; on the other hand, it has stimulated efforts to identify the psychoactive constituents of cannabis. As a consequence, the endocannabinoid system was discovered, which was shown to be involved in most physiological systems -- the nervous, the cardiovascular, the reproductive, the immune system, to mention a few.
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| New Hope For HIV Patients: Potent Peptides Inhibit HIV Entry Into Cells |
Structure of D-peptide inhibitors bound to an HIV protein mimic in three "pockets" that are essential to the virus' ability to enter cells. Blocking the pockets thwarts entry and reduces infectivity.
Based in part on protein structures determined at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists at the University of Utah have developed new peptides that appear to be significantly more effective at blocking HIV's entry into cells than other drugs in their class. In a paper being published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of October 8, 2007, the researchers say these peptides are sufficiently potent to begin pre-clinical studies as a new class of agents for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
"Our 'D-peptides' offer several potential therapeutic advantages over existing peptide entry inhibitors, which are costly, require high dose injections, and suffer from the emergence of drug-resistance," said University of Utah biochemist Michael S. Kay, lead author on the paper. "In contrast, our D-peptides resist degradation, so they have the potential to be administered by mouth and last longer in the bloodstream. Since these inhibitors have a unique inhibitory mechanism, they should work well in combination with existing HIV inhibitors."
The researchers were particularly interested in developing drugs to bind to an essential "pocket" structure found in all HIV strains that was previously identified as a promising drug target using structures determined at Brookhaven's NSLS. Numerous previous attempts to target this pocket failed to produce potent and non-toxic pocket-specific entry inhibitors. In the current work, the researchers used a high-throughput technique to screen a "library" containing hundreds of millions of peptides to identify the rare peptides that would bind to the pocket structure and inhibit HIV entry.
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| More Than a Pill: Complementary Medicine Can Help with Chronic Pain |
MU study says various methods can complement, not compete with conventional medicine
Mr. Jones has chronic back pain. He cannot sleep, bend or stand for long periods of time because of the pain. He cannot lose weight because the pain keeps him from exercising. Jones is a case study in a publication by a University of Missouri-Columbia occupational therapy professor to show that chronic pain can be treated by more than just a pill.
Some of the pain medications had side effects that made it difficult for Jones to perform his job. Occupational therapy intervened with acupressure, modifications for performing daily activities and adaptive devices, such as a long handle reacher that allowed him to put on socks without bending over.
Within one month, Jones was able to get through the day with improved performance, better sleep and less pain medication. He also was taught how to do modified exercises, yoga and use lumbar support while driving and sleeping.
"It is important to get patients who are inactive because of pain involved in purposeful activities; it also helps reduce the perception of pain," said Guy McCormack, chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science in the MU School of Health Professions.
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| HER-2 Status Predicts Success of Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Treatment, Study Finds |
Researchers have found they can potentially target chemotherapy for breast cancer to only those women most likely to benefit, sparing the majority of patients from unnecessary side effects.
The multicenter study, led by University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers, found women whose breast cancer expressed a protein called HER-2 were most likely to benefit from adding the drug Taxol to the chemotherapy regimen, while women whose tumors were fueled by estrogen but did not express HER-2 did not get any benefit from the added Taxol. About 15 percent to 20 percent of breast cancers express HER-2, and as many as three-quarters of breast cancers are so-called estrogen-receptor-positive.
Results of the study appear in the Oct. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
in the lab "In general, chemotherapy for breast cancer has been a one-size-fits-all approach. Our decision to recommend it is based on whether a woman is at high risk of the breast cancer recurring, without any idea of whether she would benefit from the additional therapy. With this data we hope we will be able to focus chemotherapy on patients whom it's most likely to help," says lead study author Daniel Hayes, M.D., clinical director of the breast oncology program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. Hayes was the lead investigator on the study, which was run by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B through the Breast Cancer Intergroup of North America.
The study looked at tissue samples and data from 1,500 women who had previously participated in a study looking at the benefit of adding Taxol after four cycles of the drugs Adriamycin and Cytoxan, so-called AC chemotherapy. Cancer had spread to the lymph nodes in all of the women, which is a standard indication to recommend chemotherapy. All the women were given AC chemotherapy for four cycles, after which half the women received four cycles of Taxol and the other half did not receive any more chemotherapy. A previous analysis had shown that adding Taxol decreased the chances of cancer recurring and improved survival when all patients were considered, with no consideration of HER-2 status.
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GERD Can Masquerade as Persistent Cough or Even Severe Chest Pain
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Many people may not realize that symptoms such as chronic cough or chest pain can be caused by acid reflux into the esophagus, because they do not experience classic heartburn symptoms or acid regurgitation. Two new studies presented at the 72nd ACG Annual Scientific Meeting highlight the little known connection between gastroesophageal reflux and seemingly unrelated problems.
Researchers at the Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston studied patients in emergency rooms who complained of serious chest pain. They measured and recorded pH levels in the esophagus of 31 patients for two days to determine whether excessive acid caused their chest pain. Researchers found more women than men were being rushed to the emergency room with chest pain that was not related to the heart. Abnormal reflux of acid that would fit the diagnosis of GERD was seen in 57 percent of patients. There are two types of acid reflux, supine, which occurs when the patient is sleeping, and upright which occurs when the patient is awake. In this study, men had more upright reflux, while women experienced both reflux during sleep and while they were awake.
According to lead investigator Dr. Julia J. Liu, "Often the role of acid reflux has been overlooked as a potential factor in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with serious chest pain. But, it is important for patients never to assume their chest pain is caused by GERD until they have been thoroughly evaluated by a physician to rule out heart disease. If they experience persistent chest pain, they should seek emergency medical care."
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| Stanford Analysis Shows Little Difference in Risk Rates for Angioplasty, Bypass Procedures |
Patients with heart disease who undergo coronary angioplasty have an equivalent risk of death and heart attack as patients who undergo coronary bypass surgery, according to Stanford University School of Medicine researchers. The analysis is the largest comparison of bypass surgery and angioplasty, two of the most common major medical procedures performed in North America.
The researchers also found that the survival rates for bypass surgery and angioplasty were similar for patients with diabetes, refuting previous reports that angioplasty was associated with a significantly higher risk of death among diabetic patients.
"It is reassuring that the long-term safety of these two procedures is roughly the same," said senior author Mark Hlatky, MD, professor of health research and policy and of cardiovascular medicine. "Patients and their doctors can have a more informed discussion about which procedure should be done, based on other outcomes that are important to the patient."
The study, which was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and conducted by the Stanford-UCSF Evidence-based Practice Center, is published in the Oct. 16 advance online issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Dietary Calcium Could Possibly Prevent the Spread of Breast Cancer to Bone
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A strong skeleton is less likely to be penetrated by metastasizing cancer cells, so a fortified glass of milk might be the way to block cancer's spread, according to researchers at the ANZAC Research Institute in Concord, Australia. Using a mouse model of breast cancer metastasis, the researchers found that a calcium deficiency may increase the tendency of advanced breast cancer to target bone. Dietary calcium, they reason, might help prevent the spread of breast cancer to bone and serve as an adjuvant treatment during therapy.
Their findings are presented in the Oct. 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
According to the researchers, about 70 percent of patients who develop advanced breast cancer will have secondary tumors in the bone. The spread of cancer to bones leads to cellular processes that physically break down existing bone, leading to further pain and illness. In fact, the breakdown of bone and subsequent bone re-growth forms what senior author Colin R. Dunstan, Ph.D., terms a "vicious cycle" that turns bone into an environment conducive to cancer growth.
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Believe it or not
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Dentist claims breast rubs appropriate.....
A dentist accused of fondling the breasts of 27 female patients is trying to keep his dental license by arguing that chest massages are an appropriate procedure in certain cases. Mark Anderson's lawyer says dental journals discuss the need to massage the pectoral muscles to treat a common jaw problem.
Police say Anderson said during recorded phone calls that he routinely massaged patients' chests to treat temporo-mandibular joint disorder, or TMJ, which causes neck and head pain.
Attorney Robert Zaro told administrative law judge Jonathan Lew at a hearing Thursday that he should let Anderson keep his dental license while disciplinary appeals proceed. Anderson would be supervised by two assistants and would no longer do the chest rubs, Zaro said.
Zaro said Anderson, 48, of Woodland, needs to keep seeing patients so he can feed his seven children and pay for his defense.
The judge made no immediate decision.
Lew suspended Anderson's dental license last month. He was charged with two misdemeanor counts of battery and sexual battery. Yolo County prosecutors are investigating complaints from more than two dozen women who say they also were groped in the examining chair in the last five years.
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Phillips gave Lew three new complaints, including one from a 31-year-old woman who said Anderson fondled her at least six times over two years.
She took to wearing tight shirts with high necklines, "and Anderson would still get in under her shirt and bra," according to a police report. |
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News From MedWatch |
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