In a joint study, scientists have discovered that the decreased release of the neuro-transmitter acetylcholine, a chemical messenger slows cardiac activity contributing to heart failure.

Heart failure is the result of a combination of conditions like coronary disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and high alcohol or drug consumption. According to the scientists, two opposing divisions of the autonomic nervous system control cardiac activity. The sympathetic nervous system increases the heart rate, while the parasympathetic system by releasing acetylcholine slows it down.

Experts from the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario in collaboration with Brazilian scientists using a genetically-modified mouse line identified a lowered release of the chemical messenger slowed cardiac activity, thus contributing to heart failure.

Robert Gros, a cardiovascular researcher from the Canadian university said that their mouse model showed, even if the sympathetic nervous system is functional, if the parasympathetic system is dysfunctional or under-performs, the end result is still a a sick heart.

One of the striking finds was that heart dysfunction in the study mice was correctable by treating the rodents with an existing drug called Pyridostigmine, which increased acetylcholine levels. However, further study is required though these findings provide a novel opportunity for treating failing hearts.

Currently, the drug Pyridostigmine has been approved for treating certain cases of muscle weakness.

The study's findings have been published online in Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Doctors help people stay healthy and live long but, sadly, their own lifespan gets shortened because of their work. A survey by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has revealed that the longevity of Indian doctors on an average is around 58-59 years. This is almost 10 years less than the average lifespan of the general population.

The IMA's Pune chapter arrived at this conclusion after an analysis of the association's social security scheme (SSS) for 5,500 doctors from Maharashtra and over 11,000 across the country registered with it.

IMA Pune chapter's president, Dr Dilip Sarda, told DNA that their data of the last five years indicated that the average lifespan of a doctor pointed to an alarming trend.

"An average Indian lives up to around 70 years of age," he said. "But doctors on an average live only up to 55 to 59 years. It has also been noticed that most of the early deaths among doctors are sudden and caused by cardiac arrest."

Dr Sarda further said that, every year, 12 to 15 doctors in Maharashtra and around 30 doctors across the country died before they were 60. Stress, a sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise were the main causes of death in these cases, he said.
"They tend to become obese and are under great stress," he said. "Most of them are hypertensive and diabetic. These conditions reduce their chances of living longer."

Dr Sarda blamed doctors for their unhealthy lifestyle. Their sedentary and stress-ridden lifestyle took a heavy toll on their health and was mainly to blame for reduced life expectancy, he said.

The IMA, Pune chapter, has started a yearlong weekly Suryanamaskar session for doctors. It may sound strange to many but the IMA has also organised routine medical examination for medical practitioners.

A vaccine could cut tuberculosis cases among HIV-positive Africans by almost two-fifths, a US study suggests.

The lung infection is the most common cause of death among HIV patients in the continent.

Journal Aids reports that Dartmouth Medical School research involving 2,000 people found significantly fewer TB cases in vaccinated patients.

An expert said the jab could be a cheaper option for countries struggling to find money for extra anti-HIV drugs.

HIV patients are particularly vulnerable to TB because their immune systems are compromised.

The vaccine works by boosting the immune responses of patients who have already been given the BCG vaccine earlier in life.

In itself, the BCG jab may offer some protection against TB, but this is far from certain, and protection may only last a few years after immunisation.

The researchers from Dartmouth Medical School in the US tested it among 2,000 HIV positive patients in Tanzania over a seven-year period.

The number of confirmed TB cases was 39% lower in the vaccinated group.

First vaccine

Professor Ford von Reyn, who led the study, said it was a "significant milestone".

One theory now suggests that patients could be given the booster jab as soon as they are diagnosed with HIV, before antiretroviral drugs are needed.

Alvaro Bermejo, executive director at the International HIV/Aids Alliance, said that the other way of fighting TB in HIV patients might be to give them antiretrovirals earlier, an expensive option compared with a vaccination programme.

He said: "This is a very important finding - it is the first time we are going to have a vaccine which is influential in preventing opportunistic infections in HIV patients.

"TB is a massive problem - a third of people living with HIV in Africa are infected with it.

"The reduction of 39% seen in Tanzania, although not fabulous, is a good result."

A new study by American researchers has shown that changes in body fluid odours can be used to identify presence of lung cancer tumours.

The research by scientists at the Monell Center and collaborators may help in methods to identify potential diagnostic biomarkers for lung cancer in human urine.

Monell biologist Gary K. Beauchamp, a senior author on the study, said: "Cancer tumors result in a change in body-related odours that can be detected both by trained animal sensors and by sophisticated chemical techniques.

"These findings indicate that odour sensing has the potential to improve early diagnostic and prognostic approaches to lung cancer treatment."

The scientists used a controlled animal model to reduce many confounding factors frequently found in human patient studies.

In behavioural studies, sensor mice were first trained to recognize the scent of urine of animals with lung cancer tumours. The trained sensor mice were then able to use urine odour to make a difference between tumour-bearing from healthy animals.

Chemical examination of urine compounds showed that the amounts of several chemical compounds differed significantly between tumour-bearing and healthy mice. Interestingly, the levels of many of these compounds were lessened in tumour-bearing mice rather than increased, which is often expected.

After experimenting more, the researchers were able to identify tumour-bearing from control mice simply by measuring the amounts of these biomarker chemicals in mouse urine and then creating chemical profiles. This chemical classification was accurate enough to identify 47 out of 50 mice as tumour-bearing or healthy.

The findings show that lung cancers produce changes in odorous compounds secreted in urine and that these changes can be detected and used as markers for the disease.

Steven M. Albelda, a senior author on the paper and William Maul Measey Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said: "Finding new ways to screen for early lung cancers in patients at risk, such as smokers, is one of the best ways we have to reduce the high death rate from this disease,"

Albelda added: "Using the same chemical approaches as in this paper, we hope to be able to detect odors in urine of smokers that could be used to identify lung cancer at a very early stage."

The study has appeared online in the journal PLoS One, (ANI)

A low carb diet may not be the best from the viewpoint of nutrition, although it DOES help patients with diabetes or heart disease lower their blood pressure, according to a new study published Jan 25 in Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study showed two groups of patients, one given a low carb diet and another given weight loss aid orlistat, sold as Xenical or Alli for a period of 48 weeks; the participants from both groups lost similar amounts of body weight.

William S. Yancy Jr. of the VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina gave 146 patients with heart disease or diabetes either a low carb diet with less than 20 grams of carbohydrate daily, or 120 mg of orlistat three itmes each day and instruction on eating low calorie and lower fat diet.

At the end of the study, the low carb group lost about 9.5 percent of their body weight while the orlistat group lost about 8.5 percent.

However, the low carb group experienced a 6 percent drop in their systolic blood pressure and a 4.5 point drop in their diastolic pressure. In comparison, the weight loss pill did not lower blood pressure.

Those who adhered to the low carb diet the most strictlyt lost about 14 to 15 percent of their body weight.

Previous studies have shown that low carb diets, such as the one advocated by Dr. Robert Atkins, is effective in short term weight loss; yet, those same studies have shown that it is difficult to maintain the weight loss.