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Oct 19
Vaccine candidate reduces risk of malaria by half in trial
Preliminary results from a large-scale Phase III trial of RTS,S show that the malaria vaccine candidate can provide young African children with significant protection against clinical and severe malaria.

The results were announced Wednesday at a malaria forum hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle.

The trial, conducted at 11 trial sites in seven countries across sub-Saharan Africa, showed that three doses of RTS,S reduced the risk of children experiencing clinical malaria and severe malaria by 56 percent and 47 percent, respectively. This analysis was performed on data from the first 6,000 children aged 5 to 17 months, over a 12-month period following vaccination.

Clinical malaria results in high fevers and chills. It can rapidly develop into severe malaria, typified by serious effects on the blood, brain or kidneys that can prove fatal.

The results were also published online Tuesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. The clinical trial is scheduled to continue through 2014 and will include tests on more than 15,000 children, from infancy on up.

"This potentially translates into tens of millions of malaria cases in children being averted," Tsiri Agbenyega, who heads malaria research at a Ghanaian hospital that was one of the 11 research sites, said during a conference call from Seattle. "This is remarkable when you consider there has never been a successful vaccine against" a parasite.

"The results are encouraging, but we still have a way to go," said Agbenyega.

Half the world's population is at risk of malaria. The disease is responsible for close to 800,000 deaths each year, most of whom are children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is far harder to make a vaccine against parasites like malaria than to make one against a virus. The malaria parasite changes shape as it moves from blood to liver and back to the blood, and each form has different surface proteins.

Oct 18
Up to 40% of cancers 'caused by viruses'
Scientists have claimed that up to 40 per cent of cancers are caused by viruses, a finding which could soon pave the way for new vaccines against the diseases and therapies to cure them.

A team at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden says it has found a viral link with medulloblastoma, the most common form of childhood brain tumour.

It follows the discovery two years ago that Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive skin cancer, often follows infection by the polyomavirus which is common among animals and can spread to humans.

Moreover, the hepatitis B and C bugs have been often found to cause liver cancer, and the human papilloma virus is linked to cervical cancer. It's claimed that prostate cancers could be caused by viruses too, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

Nobel Prize winner Harald zur Hausen, who jointly discovered the link between cervical cancer and HPV in the 1980s, said that he expected more discoveries to follow and suggested that viruses could be involved in cancer of the skin, breast, gut and lungs.

But scientists warn it could take a long time and huge investment before vaccines are developed.

Alan Rickinson, professor of cancer studies at Birmingham University, said: "If we can understand how these viruses work we could prevent people from contracting them and even create therapies that use the patient's own immune system to destroy infected or cancerous cells."

The process still confounds the experts as viruses work by invading cells and making them produce more viruses. But this process then kills the cell which should mean it cannot become cancerous.

One theory is that cancer-causing viruses can remain hidden in cells for years, preventing the cell from repairing mutations.

Oct 17
2,500 dengue cases recorded
The dengue count has crossed 2,500 cases and 25 patients have died because of the vector-borne disease. Authorities of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital confirmed that 20 patients have died.

While three patients have died in Christian Medical College and Hospital, two have succumbed to the disease in SPS Apollo Hospital.

However, the health department officials continue to play ostrich and admit that only 200 patients have been admitted in the city. They deny that any patient has died yet.

Oct 15
Weight Loss Surgery Lowers Heart Risks
Weight loss surgery lowers patients' risks for heart disease, according to a new review of the medical literature.

Based on three studies, the 10-year risk of suffering a heart attack dropped from more than six percent before the procedure-also known as bariatric surgery-to less than four afterwards.

"The bariatric community has recognized the remarkable metabolic benefits of weight loss surgery for several years, so we were not too surprised by the findings reported in this study," said lead researcher Dr. Helen M. Heneghan in an email to Reuters Health.

"However, these findings may surprise cardiologists and physicians who treat obese patients for weight-related illnesses on a daily basis, yet are less familiar with the dramatic metabolic effects of bariatric surgery."

Heneghan, from Ohio's Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues reviewed 52 studies involving 16,867 patients who had weight loss surgery.

After the procedures, patients shed about half their excess weight on average, according to the new report, which appears in the American Journal of Cardiology.

In 68 percent of the cases, patients saw their high blood pressure either disappear or dip, and diabetes improved in three-quarters of them as early as three months after the surgery, lasting at least up to 13 years of follow-up.

In the only study that reported on deaths from heart attacks, surgery appeared to cut the rate by half-from 1.2 percent to 0.65 percent.

"We hope that after reading this review, physicians will recognize that their obese patients with cardiovascular risk factors or established cardiovascular disease would benefit immensely from weight loss surgery," Heneghan said.

Two of the five authors of this study reported financial associations with companies that manufacture equipment used in bariatric surgery.

Oct 14
Among all fruits, guava and mango are richest in antioxidants: NIN study
The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, recently conducted a study on 14 fresh fruits and 120-130 foods so as to compile a database on the antioxidant activity on most commonly consumed foods in India.

The study was conducted on most commonly consumed fresh fruits in India such as guava, pine-apple, Indian plum, mango (ripe), apple, chiku, watermelon, custard apple, grapes (green), orange, papaya (ripe), pomegranate, sweet lime and banana.

"This was the first-of-its kind research carried and interestingly, out of 14 fresh fruits, we found that mango and guava were rich in antioxidants," Dr Sreeramulu, scientist, endocrinology and metabolism division, NIN, Hyderabad, informed FnB News in a telephonic talk.

Ramulu said that the data available on most commonly consumed foods and fresh fruits were scanty on antioxidant activity (AOA) that had also received less attention so far in the country, hence it was pertinent to determine the AOA in such foods.

He said that the findings were quite interesting as the research indicated that fruits which were rich sources of nutrition and that were rich in antioxidants helped scavenge the free radicals that destroy tissues.

In the study, guava came in at the top with antioxidant activity ranging from as high as 496 mg/100 gm to as low as 22 mg/100 gm in pineapple. He further said that antioxidants play a crucial role in preventing cellular damage which was the most common reason for ageing, cancer and other degenerative diseases.

Initially for the study, three samples of each variety of fresh fruit were purchased from each of the three local markets, pooled and considered as a single sample of that market. Total quantity of each pooled sample was 250-300 gm. Adequate care was then taken to avoid unripe, damaged and overripe fruits.

Fruits purchased from the market were cleaned and edible portions were cut into small pieces and extracted with acidified aqueous methanol. Briefly, edible portions of total sample were powdered in a domestic blender where fresh fruits were directly taken into polytron homogeniser and extracted. Extraction and analysis of antioxidant activity and total phenolic content was done separately in three market samples.
Ramulu mentioned that epidemiological studies suggest that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of degenerative diseases and that the current lifestyle caused overproduction of free radicals and reactive oxygen species.
Therefore, natural antioxidants protect from oxidative stress and associated diseases and play an important role in healthcare whereby, plant foods were the primary source of natural antioxidants. Fruits and vegetables are important dietary sources of antioxidant polyphenols to humans.

"As compared to fresh fruits, polyphenolic content and AOA of dryfruits are expected to be high due to their low moisture content with increased shelf life. In recent times, natural antioxidants have attracted considerable interest among nutritionists, food manufacturers and consumers because of their presumed safety and potential therapeutic value," he pointed out.

Oct 13
Seeing the world of those who cannot
Life cannot be felt or enjoyed without vision. This was the observation made by over 50 participants who took part in the "Experience Blindness" event that was organised at Brookefields Mall in the city on Sunday.

To mark the World Sight Day celebrations 2011, Sankara Eye Centre in association with Rotary Coimbatore Central, Suryan FM and Brookefields had organised the event. Participants were blindfolded with a black cloth and were asked to form a chain. The idea was to make the participants feel how visually-impaired people manage.

Sverre Sveum Moen, a software consultant from Norway, who is in the city on a cultural exchange programme, said that it was challenging to face life without vision. He added that efforts must be taken globally to eradicate blindness and encourage people donate eyes.

R.V. Ramani, Founder and Managing Trustee of Sankara Eye Centre, said that vision was God's gift to behold the beauty of nature. He added that the people should make sure that all human beings are blessed with eyesight and said that to be blind is not fair, if it can be prevented by quality treatment. B.K. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and S.V. Balasubramaniam, Chairman, Sankara Eye Centre also spoke.
Global attention

World Sight Day is observed annually to draw the global attention on blindness, visual impairment and rehabilitation of the visually impaired. The World Health Organisation and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness is on a global effort to prevent blindness with the theme, "Vision 2020: The Right to Sight".

Oct 13
'First ever' fall in global TB
The number of people falling ill with tuberculosis has declined for the first time, according to the World Health Organization.

New figures show the global death toll has also fallen, to its lowest level in a decade, with major headway made in China, Brazil, Kenya and Tanzania.

But the WHO warns that a lack of funds threatens progress, especially in relation to multi-drug resistant TB.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said there was no cause for complacency.

According to the WHO, the figures represent a significant milestone in the battle against a disease that infects one third of the world's population, although only a small proportion become sick as a result.

The number of people who died from tuberculosis peaked at 1.8 million people in 2003; by 2010 this had declined to 1.4 million.
Challenges ahead

Spectacular progress was made in China, said the WHO, where the death rate fell by almost 80% between 1990 and 2010. In Kenya and Tanzania there has also been a substantial decline in the last decade after a peak linked to the HIV epidemic.

"This is major progress. But it is no cause for complacency," the UN Secretary-General said in a statement.

"Too many millions still develop TB each year, and too many die. I urge serious and sustained support for TB prevention and care, especially for the world's poorest and most vulnerable people."

Money is the key to the current progress, said the WHO, particularly domestic funding in larger countries like Brazil.

But the organisation warned that substantial challenges lie ahead, with a projected gap in funding of $1bn for 2012.

Another problem is the multi-drug resistant form of the disease.

A new rapid test is revolutionising diagnosis but there is a concern that only a small percentage of the people diagnosed with multi-drug resistant TB are receiving treatment.

Oct 07
Low iron diet cuts brain disease risk
New Delhi: Just the right amount of iron is needed for proper cell functioning but an excess could trigger brain diseases like Alzheimer`s and Parkinson`s, new research says.

Men have more iron in their system than women, which may explain why they develop these age-related degenerative diseases at a younger age.


Women lose iron through blood loss during menstruation, so a lesser number of them have these diseases, according to a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) study, the journal Neurobiology of Aging reports.

George Bartzokis, professor of psychiatry at the UCLA and colleagues compared iron levels in women who had their uterus removed (hysterectomy) before menopause and thus did not menstruate and lose iron, with levels in postmenopausal women who had not gone through the procedure.

They found the women who had undergone hysterectomy had higher levels of iron in their brains than the women who hadn`t, compared to that of the men, according to a UCLA statement.

"But there are things postmenopausal women and especially men can do to reduce their iron levels through relatively simple actions," Bartzokis said.

"These include not overloading themselves with over-the-counter supplements that contain iron, unless recommended by their doctor; eating less red meat, which contains high levels of iron; donating blood; (taking) curcumin or green tea, that may have positive health consequences," Bartzokis said.

Researchers used an MRI technique that can measure the amount of ferritin iron in the brain (ferritin is a protein that stores iron).

They examined 39 postmenopausal women, 15 of whom had undergone a hysterectomy. They looked at three white-matter and and five gray-matter regions of the brain. Fifty-four male subjects were also imaged for comparison.

The researchers found that 15 of the women who had hysterectomy had concentrations of iron in the brain`s white-matter regions that did not differ from the men`s levels.

Further, both the women who had a hysterectomy and the men, had significantly higher amounts of iron than the women who had not undergone a hysterectomy.

IANS

Oct 05
Thinness inherited by children
Researchers say thinness inherited by children

Children whose parents are thin are three times more likely to be slim than children whose parents are overweight, a British study suggests.

Children and teens who are apparently healthy can be categorized as underweight in developed countries, and parents are often concerned about how to feed a son or daughter who is thin. Researchers at University College London did the first known study to investigate how thinness might be transmitted between generations.Researchers at University College London did the first known study to investigate how thinness might be transmitted between generations. Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters

But low weight may simply represent the low end of the healthy distribution of weight.

To find out more, researchers at University College London did the first known study to investigate how thinness might be transmitted between generations.

The study in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine showed a strong family influence on pediatric thinness, based on the results of a health survey from 2001-06 that measured heights and weights of 7,000 families.

Lead author Dr. Katriina Whitaker of UCL Epidemiology & Public Health and her co-authors found:

When both parents were in the thinner half of the healthy weight range, the chance of the child being thin was 16.2 per cent.
7.8 per cent when both parents were in the upper half of the healthy weight range.
5.3 per cent with two overweight parents.
2.5 per cent for children with two obese parents.

About 5.7 per cent or 402 of the 7,078 children and teenagers in the study were categorized as thin according to the International Obesity Task Force.

The study suggests children of thinner parents are likely to be genetically predisposed to have a lower body weight.

'As long as thinner infants stay on track ... and especially if their parents are thin, there may be no cause for concern regarding the weight of those children and adolescents and no need for parents to change their feeding practices,' the study's authors concluded.

This study was funded by a grant from Cancer Research UK.

Oct 04
Indian-American identifies 'wake-up' gene
Wonder why you wake up in the morning effortlessly, even without the shrill alarm?

A team led by Indian-American scientist, Satchidananda Panda, has identified a new 'wake-up' gene that activates the biological clock from its restful state every morning.

"The body is essentially a collection of clocks," said Panda, associate professor at the Salk Institute Regulatory Biology Lab, who led the research with Luciano DiTacchio, post-doctoral research associate, reports the journal Science.

"We roughly knew what mechanism told the clock to wind down at night, but we didn't know what activated us again in the morning," added Panda, who did his B.Sc from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, at Bhubaneswar in India.

"Now that we've found it, we can explore more deeply how our biological clocks malfunction as we get older and develop chronic illness," said Panda, according to a Salk statement.

The discovery may help explain the genetic underpinnings of sleeplessness, ageing and chronic illnesses, such as cancer and diabetes, opening the way to potential cures.

Salk researchers and their collaborators described how the gene KDM5A encoded a protein, JARID1a, that served as an activation switch to maintain our circadian rhythm.

The discovery fills in a missing link in the molecular mechanisms that control our daily wake-sleep cycle. The central player of our biological clock is a protein called PERIOD (PER). The number of PER proteins in each of our cells rises and falls every 24 hours.

Our cells use the level of PER protein as an indicator of the time of the day and tell our body when to sleep or be awake.

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