GENERAL INFORMATION by Shamna .M
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People With Type 1 Diabetes at
Risk of Thyroid Disease
People who have type 1 diabetes are
more likely than others to develop an autoimmune thyroid condition.They will
develop an underactive thyroid, a condition called Hashimoto's disease. About
10 percent of the time, the thyroid issue is an overactive thyroid, called
Graves' disease. Thyroid problems are often diagnosed through routine annual
blood tests and untreated thyroid problems can affect blood sugar levels in
people with type 1 diabetes. Sometimes
people with type 1 diabetes gain weight from taking insulin, but unexplained
weight gain can also be due to an underactive thyroid. The classic symptoms of
an underactive thyroid are decreased energy, hair loss, inappropriate weight
gain, feeling cold, constipation, dry skin, heavy periods and difficulty
concentrating. Some of the symptoms also overlap with a diagnosis of
depression. Symptoms of an overactive thyroid, which are often mistaken for
other conditions, include trouble concentrating, heat intolerance, frequent
bowel movements, excessive sweating, increased appetite, unexpected weight
loss, restlessness, a visible lump in the throat (goiter), nervousness and
irregular menstrual periods, according to the U.S. National Library of
Medicine. Autoimmune thyroid disease is usually managed with a daily pill and
researchers said that it's important to try to take this pill at the same time
every day and to not eat for about 45 minutes after taking it.
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DNA Test Shows Promise in Guiding
Advanced Breast Cancer Care
A
preliminary study suggests that an experimental blood test could help show
whether women with advanced breast cancer are responding to treatment. The test
detects abnormal DNA from tumor cells circulating in the blood. And the new
findings, reported in the March 14 issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine, hint that it could outperform the existing blood tests at gauging
some women’s response to treatment for metastatic breast cancer.
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Study Confirms Slight Rise in
Paralysis Risk after Swine Flu Shot
People who were vaccinated against
the 2009 H1N1 swine flu virus had a slightly increased risk of a paralysis
disorder, according to a new study, but the benefits of vaccination greatly
outweighed the risks. Researchers analyzed data from 23 million people in the
United States who received the vaccine during the 2009 outbreak -- the largest
mass vaccination in recent U.S. history -- and found that they had a small
excess risk of developing Guillain-Barre syndrome. The disorder of the nervous
system results in temporary or longer-term paralysis, and sometimes causes
death. The researchers found that 77 people developed Guillain-Barre syndrome
up to 91 days after receiving the H1N1 vaccine. They concluded that there were
1.6 excess cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome in every 1 million people
vaccinated, according to the study, which was published online March 12 in the
journal The Lancet.
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A Cheap, Old Heart Drug May Help
Elderly Heart Failure Patients
Everything old is new again, even in
medicine, with a just-released study finding that an older, inexpensive drug
may help keep heart failure patients out of the hospital. Largely abandoned after a
1997 study found that it did not lower heart failure patients' death rates, a
re-analysis of that data found that digoxin (also known as digitalis) may
lower rates of 30-day hospital readmissions by more than one-third.
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Drug May Ease Angina in People
With Type 2 Diabetes
A new study finds that the
drug Ranexa (ranolazine) may help reduce chest pain in people with type 2 diabetes. The drug is approved in the United States for treatment of
chronic angina (chest pain), but this is the first study to evaluate
it in patients with diabetes, heart disease and angina, according to the researchers. People with
diabetes are at increased risk for heart disease, and people with heart disease
and diabetes are more likely to have angina than those without diabetes, the
researchers noted.
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Petroleum Jelly Tied to Vaginal
Infection Risk in Study
A small study suggests that women
who use petroleum jelly vaginally may put themselves at risk of a common infection
called bacterial vaginosis. Prior studies have linked douching to ill effects,
including bacterial vaginosis, and an increased risk of sexually transmitted
diseases and pelvic inflammatory disease. But little research has been
conducted on the possible effects of other products some women use vaginally. When
the researchers tested the women for infections, they found that those who'd
used petroleum jelly in the past month were more than twice as likely as
non-users to have bacterial vaginosis. Bacterial vaginosis occurs when the
normal balance between "good" and "bad" bacteria in the
vagina is disrupted. The symptoms include discharge, pain, itching or burning
-- but most women have no symptoms, and the infection usually causes no
long-term problems. Still, bacterial vaginosis can make women more vulnerable
to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. It also sometimes leads to
pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause infertility.
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Mini-Organ Would Mimic Pancreas
to Treat Type 1 Diabetes
A new bioengineered, miniature organ
dubbed the BioHub might one day offer people with type 1 diabetes freedom from
their disease. In its final stages, the BioHub would mimic a pancreas and act
as a home for transplanted islet cells, providing them with oxygen until they
could establish their own blood supply. Islet cells contain beta cells, which
are the cells that produce the hormone insulin. Insulin helps the body
metabolize the carbohydrates found in foods so they can be used as fuel for the
body's cells. The BioHub also would provide suppression of the immune system
that would be confined to the area around the islet cells, or it's possible
each islet cell might be encapsulated to protect it against the autoimmune
attack that causes type 1 diabetes. The first step is to load islet cells into
the BioHub and transplant it into an area of the abdomen known as the omentum.
These trials are expected to begin within the next year.
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Drugs May Help Relieve Restless
Legs Syndrome
A
new review confirms that people suffering from restless legs syndrome may find some relief by taking
one of several drugs approved to treat the condition, which include Requip(ropinirole), levodopa, Neurontin (gabapentin) and Lyrica (pregabalin). The researchers reported that
they reduce symptoms of the syndrome in more than 60 percent of patients. The
first two drugs raise dopamine levels in the body, and the last two drugs
reduce the amount of calcium reaching brain cells and trigger the production of
other chemicals that help reduce pain. Dopamine is a brain chemical that
regulates movement and mood.
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Researchers Describe First
'Functional Cure' of HIV in Baby
Researchers
announced that a baby born two-and-a-half year ago in Mississippi with HIV is the first case of a so-called "functional
cure" of the infection. Standard tests can no longer detect any traces of
the AIDS-causing virus even though the child has discontinued HIV medication. The
child was not part of a study but, instead, the beneficiary of an unexpected
and partly unplanned sequence of events that once confirmed and replicated in a
formal study might help more children who are born with HIV or who at risk of
contracting HIV from their mother eradicate the virus from their body. Normally,
mothers infected with HIV take antiretroviral drugs that can almost eliminate
the odds of the virus being transferred to the baby. If a mother doesn't know
her HIV status or hasn't been treated for other reasons, the baby is given
"prophylactic" drugs at birth while awaiting the results of tests to
determine his or her HIV status. This can take four to six weeks to complete.
If the tests are positive, the baby starts HIV drug treatment.
The mother of the baby born in
Mississippi didn't know she was HIV-positive until the time of delivery. But in
this case, both the initial and confirmatory tests on the baby were able to be
completed within one day, allowing the baby to be started on HIV drug treatment
within the first 30 hours of life.
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Tattoos Can Pose Health Hazards,
Doctor Warns
Allergic reaction to the tattoo
pigments is one of the most common problems associated with tattooing.
Infections also can pose a serious threat to health. Along with localized
bacterial infections, there have been reports of people being infected with
syphilis and hepatitis B and C due to non-sterile tattooing practices,
Shinohara said.
Skin cancer is another potential
risk associated with tattoos because they can make it hard to detect
cancer-related changes in moles. If you get a tattoo, make sure it's not placed
over an existing mole.
A tattoo can also cause a reaction
that creates a bump that resembles a type of skin cancer called squamous cell
carcinoma. Because it is hard to distinguish from skin cancer, the bump could
lead to potentially unnecessary and expensive skin cancer treatment, including
surgery, Shinohara said.
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More Evidence That Smoking Raises
Breast Cancer Risk
A new research indicates that cigarette
smoking appears to increase the risk of breast cancer, especially when women
start smoking early in life. For years, experts have questioned whether
cigarette smoking is directly linked with breast cancer risk or whether the
association is complicated by the fact that many women who smoke also drink
alcohol, which has also been tied to breast cancer risk. Studies have produced
conflicting results. When the U.S. Surgeon General last reviewed the issue in
2004, the report concluded that there was no cause-and-effect relationship
between smoking and breast cancer risk. Now, researchers analyzed data from
more than 73,000 women, have found strong evidence for a link between cigarette
smoking and breast cancer.
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No Risks to Pregnancy Seen With
Morning Sickness Drug
A large new study suggests that the drug
Ondansetron commonly used to treat severe cases of morning sickness does not
appear to be linked to birth defects or other risks to the baby, a large new
study suggests. The findings are based on records from more than 600,000 Danish
women who were pregnant between 2004 and 2011. Of those women, about 0.3
percent received prescriptions for ondansetron. About half had nausea and vomiting severe enough that they had been
hospitalized. The researchers found that there was no evidence that the
medication increased the risks of miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm delivery or
major birth defects. Of women given the morning-sickness drug in the first
trimester, for example, just over 1 percent had a miscarriage, versus almost 4
percent of women who did not take the medication. And in both groups, 3 percent
of moms had a baby with a major birth defect, such as a heart defect or malformations
of the brain or spine, including spina bifida.
Experimental Vitiligo Treatment Shows Promise in Mice
Experimental Vitiligo Treatment Shows Promise in Mice
A new study in Mice suggests that a
genetically modified protein could provide the first effective treatment for
the skin condition vitiligo. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder in which the
immune system becomes overactive and kills the pigment cells that give skin its
color. Researchers at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
developed a genetically modified protein that reversed vitiligo in mice and had
similar effects on human skin tissue samples. Findings from animal studies do
not always hold up in human trials, however. A protein called HSP70i plays a
major role in the autoimmune response that causes vitiligo. The researchers
genetically modified an amino acid in the protein in order to create a mutant
version of HSP70i. This version replaces normal HSP70i and reverses the
autoimmune response that causes vitiligo, the study authors explained in a
Loyola news release. When the mutant HSP70i was given to mice with vitiligo,
their salt-and-pepper fur turned black, giving them a normal appearance. The
mutant protein had a similar effect on human skin samples, according to the
study, published in the current issue of the journal Science
Translational Medicine.
Blood Thinners May Boost Survival for Prostate Cancer Patients: Study
A small study suggests that men with
advanced prostate cancer might live longer when they are taking blood-thinning
medication. Prostate cancer patients who were also taking a blood thinner,
usually to stave off a blood clot, had a 39 percent increase in overall
survival over men who were not taking these drugs, report researchers from the
Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore. But the
study authors and outside experts caution that blood thinners can't be
prescribed routinely to cancer patients, as they confer risks including
bleeding, although men who need an anticoagulant might also find it beneficial
in terms of prostate cancer. The new study included almost 250 men with
advanced or spreading prostate cancer who were receiving chemotherapy. Of
these, 11.7 percent were also taking a blood thinner to prevent potentially
fatal blood clots that could detach and reach their lungs, known as a pulmonary
embolism. The men taking blood thinners -- heparin and warfarin were included
-- survived for about 21 months, compared to slightly more than 17 months for
men who were not taking blood thinners. The finding was surprising, because the
researchers thought venous thromboembolism would negatively affect overall
survival. But how or even if the blood-thinning medications could confer a
survival edge is unknown. The study only shows an association, it does not show
that it's the blood thinners themselves that made the difference.
MRSA 'Super Bug' Prevalent in Nursing Homes, Study Finds
A new study of nursing homes in southern
California found a drug-resistant and potentially deadly skin infection in 20
out of 22 facilities tested. Researchers say the findings point to the need for
more attention to the spread of drug-resistant infections, such as
community-associated strains of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus
(MRSA). Community-associated strains initiate in the general outside world
instead of a hospital or other health care setting. The strain of MRSA in
question can lead to bloodstream infections, abscesses and pneumonia, and those
in nursing homes are especially susceptible because nursing homes encourage
socializing, the measures needed to combat MRSA infection may differ from those
used by hospitals. In the study, published in the March issue of Infection
Control and Hospital Epidemiology, researchers from University of
California, Irvine, tested residents of 22 Orange County nursing homes between
2008 and 2011. At each facility, they swabbed the noses of 100 residents and as
many as 100 new admissions. Of those with MRSA, one-quarter had the
community-acquired strain. It was more common in nursing homes with a greater
number of patients younger than 65. This may be because younger people are more
active and more likely to be exposed to MRSA in places like gyms, military
facilities and child-care centers. Also, the super bug was less common at
admission than later on, suggesting that residents are transmitting it. The
community-acquired strain of MRSA was also more common in nursing homes with
more Hispanic residents. Researchers think Hispanics may be at higher risk
because of factors related to their culture or their genetics. It wasn't more
common among nursing homes with poorer residents.
PostCancer Chemotherapy Tied to Slight Rise in Risk for Leukemia
Chemotherapy can be a lifesaver for
thousands of cancer patients, but a new study suggests that it might slightly
raise the odds for a type of leukemia later in life. They have also found that
over the past 30 years, the risk for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has increased
for patients who underwent chemotherapy for certain forms of cancer,
particularly non-Hodgkin lymphoma. On the other hand, the researchers from the
U.S. National Cancer Institute said other cancer survivors may have a reduced
risk for AML due to a change in chemotherapy agents that occurred decades ago.
Vitamin D Loss Attributed to Obesity
A
new study indicates that obesity can lead to vitamin D deficiency. British
researchers looked at data from about 165,000 people, and found that a 10
percent rise in body-mass index (BMI) was linked with a 4 percent drop in
concentrations of vitamin D in the body. BMI is a measurement of body fat based
on height and weight. The investigators noted that the link between BMI and
vitamin D levels was found in men and women, as well as in younger and older
people. The findings suggest that a higher BMI leads to lower levels of vitamin
D circulating in the body, while a lack of vitamin D has only a small effect on
BMI, according to the authors of the study, published Feb. 5 in the
journal PLoS Medicine.
Diabetes Drug Byetta May Offer 'Modest' Weight Loss for Very Obese
Teens: Study
A small study found that the
drug Byetta, approved for adults with type 2 diabetes, appears to help severely obese teens lose some weight. Researchers
assigned 26 teens, ages 12 to 19, either to injections of Byetta (exenatide) or placebo injections twice daily.
After three months, those who got the drug had a nearly 3 percent greater
reduction in their body mass index (BMI, a measure of height versus weight)
compared to those on placebo.
Calcium Supplements May Raise Men's Death Risk from Heart Disease
A
new study suggests that men taking calcium supplements may be running a nearly
20 percent increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Both men and
women take calcium supplements to prevent bone loss. In this study of calcium
intake, the risk of dying from heart disease was higher for men but not for
women.
Epilepsy Drug in Pregnancy Linked to Autism Risk in Study
Women taking the epilepsy drug
valproate (Depakote) while pregnant are at increased risk of having children
with autism and other developmental problems, according to a small British
study. Valproate is prescribed for epilepsy as well as certain psychiatric
disorders and migraines. Other studies have shown its use during pregnancy is
associated with birth defects and, more recently, lower IQ in school-age
children. The American Academy of Neurology advises against valproate use
during pregnancy, and some experts believe it should not be used by women of
childbearing age.
