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Sedentary jobs, helping the obesity epidemic Drive

2011-05-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

as Americans sit - literally - in more sedentary jobs, they're packing on the pounds, and it is this inertia which is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic, new research suggests.

Look at the computer for hours rather than hoeing the fields means that us are 120 to 140 burning less calories per day than they were 50 years ago.

Therefore promote any type of physical activity should be more important in this war the weight, according to a study in the Edition online may 25 in the journal PLoS ONE.

"It is calories in and calories out, and we're more calories in that we take, said Dr. Robert Graham, a primary care physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York."

Led an inclination towards calories in two-thirds of American adults are now overweight or obese.

Although dietary habits and exercise have been studied to the obesity epidemic, these researchers, from Biomedical Research Centre Pennington in Baton Rouge, Louisiana), stated that a large part of the responsibility for the extra weight was put on the caloric intake.

This is because the amount of recreational physical activity has not really changed over the years.

But what physical requirements of work, where so many people spend most of their days?

These researchers cross-referenced U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on the prevalence of different jobs with a large national database which includes information on body weight.

Fifty years ago, about half of private-industry jobs involved United States a kind of physical activity, things such as agriculture, mining, construction and manufacturing. Today, this number is less than 20%, with the dominance of jobs in the retail, education and business sale.

The authors estimate that less than 100 calories out each day would lead to weight gain in what the U.S. population has seen since the 1960s.

However, if Americans were following federal guidelines for physical activity (150 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes of more vigorous activity), these additional calories would have been levelled.

Only one in four Americans made the recommended exercise level, the authors reported.

"We need to encourage physical activity most, particularly given that us sit more during the day that we has 100 years," says Keri Gans, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association and the author of the diet of Small Change.

"The requirements of daily life are in competition with exercise," said Graham. "We have just in time for it to do."

Gans recommends that people move to work even if they have what amounts to an employment office. That could take the stairs when you can walk on the counter of a co-travailleur when you can and taking a walk at lunch. And if your company happens to have a gym or exercise program, by all means, you will participate.

Oil of fish during pregnancy may not stimulate the vision of babies

2011-05-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - moms who take fish oil supplements may be not much done to sharpen the vision of their baby, a new study suggests.

The fly of some previous research findings that suggested Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), found in fish oil, improves vision in premature infants who receive supplements in their first months of life.

DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid involved in the brain and Visual development. Given that the substance crosses the placenta, primarily more later during the pregnancy, preterm Miss on a large part of their prenatal supply.

Therefore extra DHA after birth could help make up for this.

In the new study, Australian researchers looked at whether prenatal fish oil helps improve vision in infants born at term.

They have tested Visual acuity in 185 4 - month - olds whose mothers had been assigned at random to take rich in DHA fish oil capsules or placebo (capsules of vegetable oil) daily progestogen until delivery.

Overall, there was no benefit of DHA on the vision of newborns, the researchers report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

It is not clear why supplements have an impact, despite the benefits seen in premature infants given DHA after birth.

But one reason may be that preterm need the extra DHA, while babies born at term get all that they need for normal Visual development while still in the womb, according to Dr. Maria Makridesthe principal investigator of the study.

"I think that if women are better nourished and have a good scheme varied, then DHA supplementation during pregnancy to improve visual development for their unborn baby is not necessary," Makrides, women and children Health Research Institute of North AdelaideEn Australiatold Reuters Health in an e-mail.

Researchers are still studying if there could be other benefits to the development of infants. But studies have so far are mixed.

In a study published last year, the Makrides team found no evidence this oil of fish during pregnancy babies relaunched cognitive and language skills at the age of 18 months (see history of Reuters Health, October 19, 2010).

Makrides said that this and other studies are highlighting the fact that in term infants born to mothers well fed generally do well development delay - and it can be difficult to improve with DHA supplements.

There may be other benefits of fish during pregnancy oil. Some studies have suggested that it may reduce the risk of preterm birth, for example, but it is still on this issue.

In General, experts recommend that pregnant women strive to 200 milligrams of DHA per day. Certain prenatal vitamins now wear the fatty acid, which is also present in fish, especially the more fatty such as salmon, mackerel and tuna.

However, since the fish may be contaminated with mercury, doctors advise pregnant women to limit to two meals of fish per week. They should also choose fish have Omega-3, but which are likely to have low mercury levels, such as salmon, canned light tuna and shrimp.

Some fish - shark, swordfish, mackerel King and Tile - should be completely avoided during pregnancy because they may have high concentrations of mercury.

Makrides, stated that his team continues to follow children in this study to see if the oil of fish during pregnancy makes no cognitive difference and four language skills at the age.

As for the Visual development, fish oil has any benefit for infants born at term, it would be more evident in early life.

"At the end of childhood," Makrides said, "it would be much more difficult to find differences between groups, such as Visual development would be well advanced."

Bu the vulnerable: antipsychotics atypical among children and the elderly

2011-05-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

Pharmaceutical companies have recently paid out the largest legal settlements in U.S. history - including the largest criminal fines ever imposed on corporations - for illegally marketing antipsychotic drugs. The payouts totaled more than $5 billion. But the worst costs of the drugs are being borne by the most vulnerable patients: children and teens in psychiatric hospitals, foster care and juvenile prisons, as well as elderly people in nursing homes. They are medicated for conditions for which the drugs haven't been proven safe or effective - in some cases, with death known as a known possible outcome.

The benefit for drug companies is cold profit. Antipsychotics bring in some $14 billion a year. So-called "atypical" or "second-generation" antipsychotics like Geodon, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Abilify and Risperdal rake in more money than any other class of medication on the market and, dollar for dollar, they are the biggest selling drugs in America. Although these medications are primarily approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which combined affect 3% of the population, in 2010 there were 56 million prescriptions filled for atypical antipsychotics.

In a presentation this week at an American Psychiatric Association meeting, Dr. John Goethe, director of the Burlingame Center for Psychiatric Research in Connecticut, reported that over the last 10 years, more than half of all children aged 5 to 12 in psychiatric hospitals were prescribed antipsychotics - and 95% of these prescriptions were for second-generation antipsychotics. Many of these children didn't have a condition for which the drugs have been shown to be helpful: 44% of youngsters with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 45% of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were treated with them.

Pharmacologically, the ADHD prescriptions make no sense: FDA-approved drugs for the condition raise levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, while antipsychotics do they opposite, lowering them.

Geothe also noted another study that showed that the number of office visits by children and teens that included antipsychotic drug prescriptions rose 600% from 1993 to 2002. "The obvious second-generation bias is very apparent in these data, as is the irrational use of antipsychotics for indications such as PTSD and ADHD for which there is no controlled evidence whatsoever that these are safe or effective treatments," says Dr. Bruce Perry, senior fellow at the ChildTrauma Academy in Houston. (Full disclosure: Dr. Perry is my co-author on two books.)

The situation may be similar in state-run juvenile detention systems. Late last week, an exposé by the Palm Beach Post revealed that antipsychotics were among the top drugs purchased by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), and were largely used in kids for reasons that were not approved by the government - for instance, sleeplessness or anxiety. The Post reported:

In 2007, for example, DJJ bought more than twice as much Seroquel as ibuprofen. Overall, in 24 months, the department bought 326,081 tablets of Seroquel, Abilify, Risperdal and other antipsychotic drugs for use in state-operated jails and homes for children.
That's enough to hand out 446 pills a day, seven days a week, for two years in a row, to kids in jails and programs that can hold no more than 2,300 boys and girls on a given day.

Among the psychiatrists hired by the state to evaluated incarcerated kids, about a third received drug company money, the Post reported. Those 17 psychiatrists wrote 54% of the prescriptions for antipsychotics; the 35 doctors who did not take such payments wrote the rest. In other words, one-third of doctors - all of whom were paid by drug companies - wrote more than half of all antipsychotic prescriptions for the state's locked-down youth.

The statistics on children in foster care are equally alarming. Youth in foster care are not only three times as likely to be medicated as comparable low-income youth on Medicaid, but more than half are treated with antipsychotics. It is not likely that all or even most of these children have a condition for which antipsychotics have been approved by the government to treat.

Among the problems with unnecessary use of antipsychotic medications is that they can cause serious, sometimes irreversible, damage. Atypical antipsychotics are associated with weight gain and may double users' risk of Type 2 diabetes. Recent research also suggests that they may shrink the brain and there is little data on how they affect brain development during the teen years, when the brain grows more than at any other time but infancy. Indeed, youth are more vulnerable than any other group to the drugs' worst side effects (excluding death).

"The majority of antipsychotic medication use in children and adolescents has not been limited to the few age groups or conditions for which there is credible evidence of efficacy and safety," says Perry. "There is no reason to expect irrational prescribers to change their bad habits."

He adds that many experts would argue that if doctors began prescribing antipsychotics "responsibly and cautiously" - that is, being mindful of the lack of efficacy data and the evidence of harm - the rate of prescriptions in children would drop by 90%.

Meanwhile, rates of prescriptions for patients at the other end of the lifespan are also out of control. In nursing homes, 14% of residents have been given at least one prescription for a second-generation antipsychotic, according to a government investigation. A full 88% of these prescriptions are given to people with dementia, despite the fact that these drugs may double the risk of death in these patients (there is a black box warning on the drug to this effect). The investigation estimated that $116 million Medicare dollars have been spent filling antipsychotic prescriptions that never should have been written.

So why are these drugs so widely prescribed? Aggressive drug company marketing is only one part of the story. A key reason they are overused in institutional settings is that they are sedating, making patients easier to manage. Secondly, unlike other sedative drugs, they are not associated with misuse (with the possible exception of Seroquel, which has fans among some addicts). In fact, most people resist taking antipsychotics, which is why overmedication is much more common in settings where people are locked-in and compliance can be forced.

(More on TIME.com: U.S. Aims to Reduce Overdose Deaths, But Will the New Plan Work?)

The second point - that these drugs are not considered addictive - by itself probably accounts for a big part of why drug companies have been able to get away with so much misleading marketing and the resultant overprescribing. Although prescribing of traditional sedatives like benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax), which are vulnerable to misuse, is limited by their status as controlled substances, few people enjoy misusing antipsychotics (side effects like weight gain, pleasurelessness, movement disorders and low energy and motivation are not generally sought by recreational drug users), so they can be prescribed for unapproved uses like behavior control and sleep-inducement in children and the elderly.

In other words, addiction is basically seen as a worse side effect than death. The fact that the most vulnerable youth and elderly often cannot advocate for themselves has made it easier to sweep the problem under the rug.

Fortunately, there is at least one bright spot in this depressing picture. The main patent on Risperdal expired in 2007, and those for Zyprexa and Seroquel expire this year. Geodon's patent expires next year, while Abilify's comes up in 2015. When most drugs go off-patent, drug companies' marketing pressure - and profits - will subside, perhaps keeping children and the elderly safer from inappropriate medication.

NIH stops to the study of niacin to prevent crises cardiac

2011-05-27T04:16:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - a drug that stimulates the good popular cholesterol not a go to prevent heart attack or stroke, leading authorities to abruptly stop an important study Thursday.

Disappointing results imply niacin super-strength, a type of vitamin b that many physicians prescribe already as a potential heart protection. Study failed mark the latest setback in the quest to exploit the good cholesterol against bad type.

"This sends a little to the drawing board", said Dr. Susan Shurin, cardiovascular Chief at the National Institutes of Health.

The wrong kind of cholesterol, called LDL, is the main source of artery clogs. Popular statin drugs, sold under such names as Zocor and Lipitor, generic shapes, are the pillars by lowering LDL. Yet many Statin users still have heart attacks, because LDL is not history.

Cholesterol HDL, the good kind, helps combat accumulation artery carrying fats in the liver to be disposed of. It is one of the reasons that people with too little HDL are also at risk of heart disease. If scientists are checking if giving HDL-stimulate statin drugs could provide cardiac patients added protection.

The latest study tested Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan, a form of niacin extended-release is a dose more than found in food supplements. The drug has been sold for years, and previous studies have shown that it increases levels of HDL. But nobody knew if that translates in heart attacks.

Researchers enrolled more than 3 400 Statin users to the United States and the Canada who had heart disease stable and controlled LDL, but was at risk due to low concentrations of HDL and too much a different bad fat triglyceride. They received Niaspan or a dummy pill to add to their daily medicine.

As expected, Niaspan users saw their rise of levels of HDL and their levels of drop of more than risky triglycerides people taking a statin alone. But the treatment of the combination does not reduce heart attacks, stroke, or the need for compensation artery as angioplasty procedures, said the NIH.

This conclusion "" unexpected and striking contrast with the results of previous tests, "said Dr. Jeffrey Probstfield, Washington University, who helped conduct the study."

But he led the NIH to stop the study 18 months in advance.

Adding the decision was a small increase of strokes in users high-dose niacin — 28 among those 1,718 given Niaspan, compared to 12 among the users of 1,696 placebo. The NIH said that it was not clear if this small difference was simply a coincidence. previous studies have shown no risk of stroke of niacin. In fact, some of the strokes occurred after Niaspan users stop taking this drug.

What is the message for cardiac patients?

Users Statin that have very low LDL levels, like those in this study have not need an additional prescription for niacin, said Dr. Robert Eckel, cardiologist of the University of Colorado and spokesperson for the American Heart Association who was not involved in the study.

But it is not clear if niacin would have no effect on people at high risk or those who do not yet have a diagnosis of heart disease, but take niacin as preventive, said study co-leader Dr. William Boden, of the University at Buffalo.

"We cannot generalize these findings... for patients that we investigate," he said.

Eckel said it is "really hard to envision exactly what will happen in offices of physicians" in coming weeks as they discuss the niacin with patients. The NIH has urged people not to stop high-dose niacin without consulting a physician.

Neither the conclusions stop hope that raise HDL finally will be panoramic, Eckel said. While two other drugs were not so, it closely monitors some much higher HDL-boosters, including a drug from Merck & Co., called anacetrapib, which are being developed.

Legislators run scared of reforming Medicare

2011-05-27T03:18:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON- a democratic victory in a reliable Republican district House of representatives this week has legislators cops to reform Medicare, greatly reducing the chances of a global agreement to reduce the deficit in the long term.

Rarely in recent years was a special election unique, off the coast of the year - such as in a district of the House Tuesday in the State of New York - raised these earthquakes of policies at the national level or have had these efforts to bring us federal debt under the control of the negative impact.

Democrat Kathy Hochul won a solidly Republican district after hammering his opponent to save a Republican plan in the House, to scale back Medicare costs. Medicare is a federal program which is the biggest single driver of deficit, but most voters want left intact.

Without a sincere effort to curb the growth of Medicare, which provides health insurance, to elderly and disabled US $ 47 million it will run short of money in 13 years.

Remained unchanged, Medicare, social security retirement program and the program of insurance of federal State of Medicaid for the poor would consume 100 percent of all tax revenues by 2047, according to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office.

Republicans recaptured control of the House in 2010 in part by Democrats accusing bar to slash Medicare and interfere with the doctor-patient relationship under health reform law signed year last by President Barack Obama. The Act is often derided by opponents as "obamacare."

Democrats believe that the political situation has been changed.

At issue is a Republican proposal put forward in April by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan would fundamentally reshape Medicare into an agreement in which seniors receive government benefits to help pay for private health insurance.

The impartiality that Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Ryan budget would eventually double Medicare small expenditure for the elderly.

Polls show that while voters want action to bring down the deficit - defined for $ 1.4 billion this year, overwhelmingly that they oppose any changes to Medicare.

Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney, regarded as the major candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, have backed away from Ryan plan.

Although the Senate Republicans appear to be maintained by Ryan plan in a vote Wednesday, some have conceded that their vote was the unity of the party more than real support to overhaul Medicare. The Senate under democratic control defeated the proposal by Ryan passed to the House by a vote of 57 to 40, with five Republican senators voting against it.

"ARTICLE OF FAITH".

Republican Senator Bob Corker said there was no Republicans of the Senate who considers an "article of faith".

A Republican strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Republicans would rather campaign the year next to the high unemployment rate that "tell voters why they want to dismantle Medicare.".

"The Republican budget is a political responsibility and toxic for the GOP," Democratic Senator Patty Murray said, referring to the nickname of Grand Old Party of Republicans. Competition of the House on Tuesday "remembered as a turning point in the next election."

With the Democrats having now every policy encourages not to address the costs of Medicare and wishing to avoid the problem of many Republicans, said analysts election on Tuesday was also a decisive moment - and non-positive - for the long-term deficit.

"It is amazing what can have a ripple effect, a special election", David Gergen, a political analyst and Adviser to four Presidents of the United States, told Reuters.

"The election of New York the makes more difficult to reach a global agreement on the reduction of the deficit - before the elections in 2012 and what happens after 2012 is therefore uncertain." This makes it more likely that they could kick the can on the road, in 2013 or 2014. ?

With the largest insurance and one of the fastest growing budget components, the important deficit reduction simply cannot be achieved without some savings in the programme.

Recent elections have shown what a politically explosive issue Medicare is - and the part that attempts to change the fact at his peril.

In 2010, Democrats accused Republicans of wanting to "death panels" for the elderly in their health care proposals. The benefits of the bitter struggle on the right lead healthcare helped helped new big Republican wins the legislative elections last November.

This week, a non-profit group Liberal, in an attack on the Ryan plan, has published an advertisement showing an old woman thrown a cliff of her wheelchair - an image that could be taken up by the Democrats, as the 2012 elections draw approach.

Republicans are the image of these efforts are "mediscare" tactical.

Ryan, speaking at a financial Summit in Washington said Obama and Democrats had decided of "shamelessly distort and demagogue Medicare,"and warned that without reform,"it went bankrupt and we will go in a debt crisis."

Former President Bill Clinton, who waited to be re-elected for a second term to address the reform social, warning the Democrats against the use of insurance for "political gains in the short term."

Now, freed from the political constraints of Office, Clinton flatly said fellow Democrats: "we have to deal with these things." You can't have healthcare devour the economy. ?

Lists of the side effects of the Prescription Meds continued growth: study (HealthDay)

2011-05-27T02:16:00.000-07:00

(Thursday, May 26, HealthDay News) - lists of the side effects of prescription drugs on drug labels, packaging and advertisements have proliferated to an average of 70 by drug, a new study reports.

Warnings on side effects have been designed to inform physicians and consumers of the potential hazards, but this expansion may have had more to do with concerns over disputes rather than real health problemssay the authors of the study, which argue that the information could be presented much more effectively.

"Having a high number of side effects on the label of a drug should not suggest that the drug is dangerous." In fact, much of this labelling has less to do with toxicity real to protect manufacturers from possible prosecution, "principal investigator study author Dr. Jon Duke, Regenstrief Institute and Assistant Professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine"said in a press release from the University.

An analysis of more than 5,600 tags drugs and side effects more than 500 000 concluded that prescription drug labels include an average of 70 different adverse potentials - a number which jumps to 100 of the side effects of some commonly prescribed drugs.

Some drugs in the upper range listed even 525 reactions.

Duke pointed out that the large number of listed side effects could overburden physicians to browse this information to make informed decisions about medications for their patients.

For the study, published in issue 23 May of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers have compiled a list of prescriptions drug types who were most likely to have a high number of marked side-effects. These drugs include antidepressants, antiviral drugs and new treatments for restless legs syndrome and Parkinson's disease.

Despite the enormous amount of information found in the labelling of current drugs, Duke argued that data could be useful if presented properly.

"With the current technology, drug labels could be processed long static documents from dynamic resources capable of providing custom patient information." "These labels could take into account medical conditions of the individual patient and to highlight the side effects that may be particularly dangerous," he said.

"We cannot stop the growing wave of drug information, but we can do a better job of presenting effectively to health care providers," Duke found.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides additional information on side effects of drugs.

New drug extends survival for men with advanced prostate Cancer

2011-05-27T00:56:00.000-07:00

for men with advanced hormone-resistant prostate cancer who have failed also chemotherapy, the new drug Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) with the steroid prednisone appears to boost survival, researchers report.

Based on current clinical trial data, Zytiga has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in April. It works by inhibiting the production of the hormone male testosterone, that promotes the growth of cancer cells. In this regard, the drug mimics the hormone therapy.

Zytiga "extends overall survival in this patient population which had very limited treatment options after chemotherapy" researcher principal Dr. Fred Saad, Chief of Urology at the hospital Notre-Dame de Montréal, said at a press conference of Monday morning.

The men in the combination of drugs had a mean survival of 14.8 months, compared to 10.9 months for men taking placebo.

"Abiraterone represents an option of valuable treatment for patients with metastatic castration [hormone] - resistant of the prostate which had been previously treated with chemotherapy, very easy to manage, treatment-related toxicity in" Saad said.

The study was published in issue 26 May of the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings were also presented may 16 at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, in Washington, D.C.

The study focused on the 1,195 men prostate cancer that has not responded to hormone therapy and that he had no prior chemotherapy. Researchers, hospitals of 147 in 13 countries, randomly men to take Zytiga more prednisone or placebo.

The combination of drugs was well tolerated and has given rise within fatigue, back pain and spinal compression taking men, compared to placebo, Saad said.

The most common side effects in people taking prednisone and Zytiga were lower white blood cell, a retention, rates of low potassium, abnormal liver function tests, blood pressure and heart problems, the researchers noted.

A one month supply 120 pills of Zytiga costs $ 5,000, said Kelly McLaughlin, a spokesman of Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc., manufacturer of the drug and a promoter of the study.

"This study tells us that there is a form of hormonal treatment, abiraterone, who works among people who had chemotherapy and hormonal treatment standard," said expert Dr. Anthony D'Amico of prostate cancer, head of the apparatus Genitourinary Oncology at Brigham and women's Hospital in Boston.

"It will provide people with the disease late with an opportunity for a prolonged survival that they had not before." "I can't say that it is a term of home because it is only a few months improved,", he added.

Aggressive prostate cancer may be able to make its own testosterone, cancer cells need to grow. "Zytiga blocks that", said D'Amico.

"This drug offers longer life and better quality of life in men with very advanced prostate cancer," said D'Amico. "There are studies now to see if this medication will improve the rate of healing in men with advanced, but not [metastatic cancer that has spread to other organs], prostate cancer,", he added.

Prostate Cancer studies find advantage in daily acetaminophen and walks Brisk

2011-05-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

POP a Tylenol and take a brisk walk for protection against prostate cancer? This is what the results of two new studies published this week suggested.

In the first study, published Monday in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, biomarkers and prevention, scientists have found that men who took a daily dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol) for five years had a 38% lower risk of developing cancer of the prostatecompared with men. In addition, daily acetaminophen has been associated with an of 51% reduced risk of developing an aggressive form of the disease. The men who took acetaminophen for less than five years saw no protective benefit.

Previous research has shown that taking aspirin or other drugs anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) every day can reduce the risk of prostate cancer. The authors believe that the same may be true of acetaminophen; While not an NSAID, it has anti-inflammatory properties.

For the study, researchers looked at data 78,485 men who participated in the longitudinal Cancer Prevention study II Nutrition cohort, answering questions on the use of food and pharmaceutical plan every two years from 1992. During the period of follow-up, there were 8,092 cases of prostate cancer - much less in the group who took acetaminophen daily for five years.

The second study, published Tuesday online research on Cancer, involved 1,455 men who had already been achieved in prostate cancer stage. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Harvard School of Public Health, then the men from 2004 to 2009 and found that those who engaged in regular brisk walking after diagnosis were significantly less likely to see their progression of the disease.

Men who walked fast - at a rate of approximately 3 miles per hour or faster - at least three hours per week were 57% less likely to experience of the progression of the disease (including high levels of PSA)(, secondary treatment of bone metastases and prostate cancer-related deaths), compared with men who walked less and more slowly.

"The important point is the intensity of activity," Erin Richman, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, said in a statement. "The March must be rapid for men to experience an advantage."

Researchers have said that the effect of speed walking remains independent of age, diagnosis, type of treatment and characteristics of the disease. Average age of patients at diagnosis was 65. The findings are consistent with previous research, which suggests that physical activity can help reduce the risk of deaths from the disease in some cases of prostate cancer.

Why the association? Reports MedPage Today:

Richman and his colleagues have noted that brisk walking may reduce resistance to insulin, which reduces bioavailable,-1 (IGF1) insulin-like growth factor and increases adiponectin levels, which are all associated with the decrease in the risk of prostate cancer advanced or fatal in vitro and in vivo.
Another potential source of reduction is inflammation reduced due to low circulation of Interleukin-6, high levels of which "predicts risk of 73% increased to die of cancer of the prostate in men of normal weight."wrote the researchers.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. According to the National Cancer Institute, men about 32,050 die of cancer of the prostate in 2010 and 217,000 new cases were diagnosed. More than 2.2 million of men to the United States with prostate cancer.

Study: 6.5% of adults active enough to work

2011-05-26T22:38:00.000-07:00

ATLANTA - if you think that you do enough physical activity to work for you keep healthy, you are probably wrong.

Health researchers that only about 6.5 percent of American adults meet physical activity guidelines, while they work. And those that do are disproportionately Hispanic men with less than a high school diploma.

The national estimate - the first of its kind - was reported Thursday in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publication, morbidity and mortality Weekly Report. It is based on a national telephone survey 2007.

Somewhere between 45% and 65% of adults say they have enough outside of work to respond to the recommendations of the Government for physical activity, after previous studies.

Optimistic rock on Avastin in cancer of the ovary

2011-05-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

ZURICH - Roche Holding AG, the world leader in Oncology medicines, struck an optimistic tone about the Outlook of its key Avastin drug approval in ovarian cancer prior to a meeting important industry next month.

Head of pharma group that Pascal Soriot told journalists Thursday he was confident Avastin will win European approval and it was also relatively optimistic for win U.S. drug support.

"In Europe... we are confident because generally in Europe you can get approval on the basis of data of good progression-free survival," Soriot said.

"In the United States, we still wait until the data are fully mature to see what the overall survival data are similar and get a good sense of the FDA response, but I must say that we have seen so far... we made relatively optimistic that we have a good chance at the United States.". Thus, "he says.

Application for Avastin, used to treat a range of tumours, has fallen over recent quarters after the drug was struck by the movements of the two sides of the Atlantic health authorities to limit its use in breast cancer.

Roche now rely on the use of the vendor of billions of dollars to treat cancer of the ovary to stimulate growth future sales and intends to submit for the approval of the United States, later this year once he gave overall survival. She has already filed for approval in Europe.

"We will demonstrate that avastin has an essential role to play in cancer of the ovary," Soriot said before the Conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) earlier this month next to Chicago.

"Overall superb new data showing our pipeline progresses." We hope that the shift in the perception of Avastin, "Soriot said, referring also data on lung and skin cancer drugs that will be presented at the ASCO."

OPPORTUNITY BUSINESS

Roche will present data impact on MetMAb of lung cancer and was to produce this treatment for approval in 2014, Soriot said, adding that Roche also sought to develop the drug in other diseases such as breast cancer.

Doctors and investors will be also eyes studies on vemurafenib, a drug to treat the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Soriot, said the business opportunity of vemurafenib has been limited to the skin cancer metastatic because the smaller number of patients in this parameter, but there is more potential sales if it were to be developed in the adjuvant.

The Group has yet to decide on setting prices of treatment and has therefore not yet a peak estimate sales for it.

Drug of rock, which develops with private holding Plexxikon and ipilimumab, an experimental drug developed by the US group Bristol - Myers Squibb, are giving hope to patients who already had a few treatment options.

Soriot said there was a place for both agents and it looks vemurafenib as the first line of treatment in patients who are positive BRAF.

"Ipilimumab is a different officer." It is a compound based on the immune system to treat cancer. It is a drug which can potentially be given to all patients, while vemurafenib can only be given to patients who are positive BRAF, which is approximately 50% of patients with cancer melanoma, "Soriot said."

"It is important to keep in mind that the percentage of patients who respond really well to ipilimumab is relatively limited." These patients have a strong response, but it is a small percentage, probably 10 per cent of the patients, who meet, "he says.

Spanish poet honors overlooked hero of the Warsaw Ghetto

2011-05-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

MADRID - largest second poetry prize of the Spain was awarded this year to a volume honoring the heroines overlooked, including Irena Sendler, who saved 2,500 Jewish children by their smuggling of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Sendler has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for peace in 2007, a year before his death. She lost to former US Vice-President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change.

"It is quite clear that it could have been truly worthy recipient of the award (Nobel Prize), no question, said Fatima Frutos, winner of the poetry Kutxa Ciudad de Irun 2011 Prize, ahead of an international field of 204"

"The visibility of women must be justified, those that have been considered secondary, who had no recognition but deserve that and much more."

Frutos also recalls Artemisia Gentileschi, a prominent painter of 17th century Italian and Spanish of the 19th century writer Carolina Coronado, which is struggling to achieve recognition in the fields then dominated by men.

Moreover, it honours, among others, Carl von Weizsaecker, a nuclear physicist of the 20th century, who would later become a philosopher.

"I start with the stories and build their lyricism and poetry, to assert their verse by verse," she said. "It is not only about giving visibility to invisible women, but also to the geniuses of the 20th century whose work has yet to shake up the consciences of the 21st century."

The volume of the recipient of the "Andromeda Encadenada" (encha?né Andromeda) takes its title from the Greek mythological Princess who was chained to a rock, but figure that Frutos sees as a source of inspiration rather than a victim.

It follows his 2009 volume "De Carne y hambre" (of flesh and hunger), which won the international prize of the erotic poetry of Ateneo Guipuzcoano.

"The myth allows me to discover other women as she who, in real life, through extreme, but nevertheless came through, if not euphoric, then at least optimistic and stronger,"Frutos say.""

"Andromeda" also adopts a perspective of pan-European topical with poems dedicated to the 18th century German philosopher Novalis or lyric poet of the 19th century studied.

"Now there are many reasons to defend European culture, the European ideal, the feeling that there is no European first or second class, but that we all in this together," she said.

Frutos main inspiration as a writer was Miguel Hernandez, a Spanish poet who died in prison in 1942, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

"Hernandez were inoculated we poison blessed poetry so that we can grow without rancor but with force to advance social justice," said Frutos, who works as an agent of the equality of the local government.

The price of Irun is the second valuable most award for poetry in Spain and is open to all writers in Spanish. When she collects the award on May 28, Frutos devote to his grandmother, who took her reciting poems by Hernandez, she had learned by heart, because she cannot read or write.

"She wakes without rancor with poetry." She knew how hard-hearted me with as to hands and cover me with stanzas by great writers, "she said."

"I am a poet because of it." It must be said that an illiterate woman who lived in poverty also knew how to raise an international poet laureate. ?

Skin Cancer foes declared may 27 "Don't fry day" (HealthDay)

2011-05-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

on Friday, the beginning of the end of week Memorial Day, is also "Don ' T fry day," once for skin safety experts remind Americans about the dangers of overexposure to the Sun.

Melanoma, the potentially deadly form of skin cancer is the most common cancer in young adults in the late twenties, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Council for the prevention of Skin Cancerwho have joined forces to offer advice to save lives on the caution in the Sun. The main cause of skin cancer: overexposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV).

"Many people still don't realize that exposure to the Sun without protection can lead to cancer of the skin and other health problems," said Gina McCarthy, agency Administrator assistant for the EPA Office of Air and radiation, in a press release. "Simple steps, such as using a sunscreen, wear sunglasses or a hat, can protect us and our families, while still enjoying the outdoors."

Skin cancer, the most common type of cancer in the United States, affects more than 2 million U.S. dollars - every year more breast cancer, prostate, lung and colon combined, said the EPA. Every hour, an American dies of cancer of the skin, the Agency noted.

Although the UV rays are dangerous year round, the risks are greatest in the summer months when people spend more time outdoors, McCarthy said.

To limit exposure to harmful UV rays, expert proposes to you:

Cover you. One of the most effective ways to reduce the exposure to the harmful rays of the Sun is to wear a shirt, hat and sunglasses and Sunscreen SPF 15 +. Find a shady place. It is best to stay out of direct light from the Sun during peak hours, from 10 h to 16 h being aware of the UV index. Get involved in outdoor activities, check the UV index to identify the time more risky for overexposure to the Sun.

Charity pulls smart stunt on pregnancy Bruni rumours (Reuters)

2011-05-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

DEAUVILLE, France (Reuters) - at a glance of smart advertising, charity leader traded on rumours of possible pregnancy of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to try to save the lives of babies in developing countries.

Before the Summit of the G8 rich countries who made the cut infant mortality a major theme in recent years, World Vision activists delivered a basket to the first lady of France with a kit of easily available in France delivery.

"What are simple products that any woman in Europe or North America can obtain at the pharmacy, but are inaccessible for many women in the developing world", Geraldine Ryerson-Cruz of the charity World Vision of Britain told Reuters.

Ryerson-Cruz said his charity is fighting to try to ensure that children around the world have the same chance of survival than the "first baby" French would have.

The French presidential palace has confirmed the pregnancy of Bruni, but the father of the President of the last week, Nicolas Sarkozy told a German newspaper that Bruni expects a child.

In the historic Villa Strassburger, World Vision activists delivered a basket with vitamins for pregnant women, a kit of safe delivery and hygiene supplies.

The basket was alcohol, surgical gloves, a razor blade for cutting the umbilical cord and sterilization baby care products.

Friday, Bruni will host first ladies of African nations participating in the Summit.

"As a French woman, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is 150 times more likely to survive pregnancy and childbirth than a woman in the former French colony, Chad," Ryerson-Cruz said in an interview.

Ryerson-Cruz said that baby of the Bruni is also 52 times more likely to survive until the age of five as a baby with Chad, which has one of the worst years of child mortality in the world.

Sarkozy welcomed the leaders of the eight richest countries of the world to the posh seaside seaside Deauville Thursday and Friday. Several North Africa and sub-Saharan African heads of State will also attend the meeting.

Ryerson-Cruz said that estimates of Global Vision that mainly thanks to the initiatives of the g-8 in recent years the number of preventable deaths by the vaccination of children around the world declined approximately $ 4 million to approximately 8.1 million in 2010, 12.4 million in 1990.

Childhood treatments related to gastrointestinal problems

2011-05-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

children who are treated successfully for cancer are more at risk of developing severe mild gastrointestinal problems on the road, a new study concludes.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco analyzed the self-reported gastrointestinal (GI) problems of 14,358 patients surviving at least five years after the treatment of cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia, tumors of the brain or bone tumours.

More than 40 per cent have experienced some type of problem of IM - including ulcers, the disease of the esophagus, indigestion, polyps, chronic diarrhea, colitis, gallstones and jaundice - in two decades of their treatment, researchers have discovered.

In addition, people with cancer at a later age and who had to undergo a more rigorous treatment (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery) were more likely to experience problems IM long term, according to the study of the may issue of Gastroenterology.

About one in 500 young adults in the United States is a survivor of childhood cancer, the study authors noted in a press release UCSF.

"While doctors continue to learn more about pediatric cancer and its treatment long term consequences, it is essential that we provide care of comprehensive follow-up that adequately addresses the complications can meet the cancer survivors.""," study lead author Dr. Robert Goldsby, specialist of pediatric cancer hospital for children of Benioff UCSF and Director of the UCSF Cancer of childhood survivors program, said in the press release.

"These are serious issues that can have a real impact on the quality of life of the person," added Goldsby.

Skeptical voters the Republican health insurance proposal

2011-05-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

a Republican budget plan called for radical changes to Medicare took a Basinger in the US Senate, a day after voters in the State of New York expressed their disagreement in electing a Democrat.

On Wednesday the Senate under democratic control voted 57 to 40 against the budget proposal, which last month had passed the House of representatives Republican-controlled by a wide margin.

Although the outcome of the vote on Wednesday was determined in advance, five Republican Senators had joined their democratic colleagues in voting against the plan, which could radically alter Medicare, the popular program sponsored by the Government-health care for the elderly.

The vote followed a victory upset Tuesday for Democrat Kathy Hochul in a special election in the district of Congress New York 26th.

The election is triggered to occupy the normally safe Republican seat, left vacant by Chris Lee, who resigned after a gossip Web site published a photo featured bride Congressman responding to a personal ad.

Real drama of the election, was however, see how voters would react Republican proposals controversial to help trim the budget deficit growing transforming Medicare into a voucher program.

As the rest of his party, the Republican Jane Corwin campaigned in the district of New York State essentially rural, Western in support of health insurance reform.

Hochul campaigned against them - and won.

More immediate election reverberations were felt in Washington, where Democrats now see Republicans as deeply vulnerable on health insurance in the legislative elections and presidential 2012 next year.

Democratic Leader Harry Reid Senate called a vote on Wednesday to force Republicans to go to the folder for or against the Medicare budget plan.

Four centrist Republicans, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Scott Brown of Massachusetts, voted with the Democrats against the Republican regime.

Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, Member of the ultraconservative ' tea party "and has also voted with the Democrats because he said that budget-cutting was not going far enough."

The budget plan calls cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and most importantly, a reduction in costs for Medicare and Medicaid, which provides health insurance for the poor citizens of the country. Opinion polls show that the two programs are extremely popular with voters.

Republicans were quick respond to voices, reprimand the Democrats to ignore the growing debt of the country's long-term impact.

"The President identified the problem more than a year ago, when he says that." almost any deficit long-term and debt we face relates Medicare and Medicaid,'"the Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, said.

"But Democrats in the Senate today showed that don't want to even talk about." They rejected every single proposal to deal with, "said McConnell.

"They are so focused on an election which is almost two years later that they may not see the crisis facing us", he added.

Democrats, on the other hand, contentedly on the protection of Medicare.

"The promise of Medicare is the following: If you work hard and contribute, America will ensure that you are protected retreat from difficulties to provide health care,"said Reid."."

"The Republican budget would break this promise", he added. "It would make life much more difficult and painful for America's seniors." It is as simple and as serious as that. ?

Scrambling to react to the vote on the budget of the Senate on Wednesday, the author of the plan original budget in the House, representative Paul Ryan, has published a video detailing what he said, were the "facts" on health insurance and its reforms.

Accusing Democrats of ignoring Medicare, funding issues, he said Republicans are trying to save the program, not kill it.

"Instead, to work with us, the leaders of the Democratic Party have chosen to play politics with the safety of the health of seniors in America," said Ryan.

Democrats, however, felt sure that they had found a powerful stick with which to beat the Republicans as they head after the first term of the Obama.

Rub salt in the wounds, Democrats released a "memo" Republicans in Congress, saying: "Revamping your"message"hide the facts." The Republican budget end Medicare as we know it... and the American people fooled by thinking otherwise. ?

Combo of Paxil, Pravachol may raise the sugar in the blood

2011-05-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

taken in combination, two drugs commonly prescribed antidepressant Paxil and the cholesterol-lowering Pravachol drugs seem increases significantly the blood glucose, a new study concludes.

The increase is more apparent - and for - in the diabetic whose blood sugar is already too high, the researchers noted.

"This interaction may affect up to 1 million Americans who would be on these two drugs and who get a bump in their blood glucose may be unnecessary," said researcher principal Dr. Russ Altman, Professor of biological, genetic engineering and medicine at Stanford University.

It is possible that the blood sugar spike triggered a diagnosis of diabetes type 2 patients, Altman said, "and we could avoid this diagnosis if they had not been on these drugs", he said. "This is speculative, but it is possible."

No single drug raises sugar in the blood and the researchers said they cannot yet explain the effect of the combination. Also, combinations of other antidepressants and cholesterol not stimulate glucose levels. "This is not what we would call a"class"effect", Altman explained.

Paxil (paroxetine) is in a class of drugs known as inhibitors of the reuptake of serotonin (SSRIS) and Pravachol (Pravastatin) belongs to a group of drugs called statins. "We looked at all the other pairs of SSRIS and Statins and there were a couple who has shown a small bump in glucose, but there is nothing to do with the humpback seen Paxil and Pravachol," Altman said.

For the study, published online may 25 in clinical and therapeutic Pharmacology, researchers have used a technique called data mining, analysis of large databases in the hope of finding information which, although not immediately obviousis gleaned by combining the data in a new way.

In this case, team Altman used the data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System, more data from the universities of Harvard, Stanford and Vanderbilt to identify the associations would not apparent doctors dealing with individual patients.

Using this method, researchers have identified 135 non-diabetic patients taking both drugs whose blood sugar increased of 19 milligrams per deciliter after the start of treatment. They have also identified 104 diabetic whose blood sugar increased an average of 48 mg/dl while taking the two drugs.

With levels of sugar in the blood of 126 mg/dl or two tests are considered diabetic. Levels of 100 mg/dl to 125 mg/dl are considered prédiabétiques.

By extrapolating these results to the whole of the population of the United States, the Altman team believes that of 33 million people taking Paxil or Pravachol, 500 000 to 1 million hold together.

To verify whether their conclusions were simply associations which could be explained by other factors, researchers have experimented with drugs in mice.

The mice were exposed to two drugs after receiving a diet rich in fat, high calorie to pre-diabetic. No single drug has increased sugar in the blood, together they have increased sugar in the blood of about 128 mg/dl to 193 mg/dl, the researchers found.

"It was just like humans in our data base, said Altman." So, this seems to be a real biological effect. "This could give us an overview of the mechanisms of diabetes."

Altman warns that people taking this drug combination should not respond.

He has said "people on an antidepressant should not mess with because depression is a very serious illness". It would be reasonable to see a doctor and see if your blood glucose have been difficult to control, he said. He said "if it was, then I think the thing to change would be the Statin,".

Dr. Ronald b. Goldberg, Professor of medicine at the Institute for research of diabetes at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that it was "" an interesting conclusion and could be clinically important. ""

"People with diabetes have an increased risk of depression." they are all recommended to be on Statins, "said Goldberg. "Then, it can worsen glycemic control in diabetic people."

But Goldberg thinks that it is too early to change clinical practice based on this study only. "This must be confirmed in a clinical trial," he said.

Commitment capacity can begin early childhood (HealthDay)

2011-05-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

the ability of men and women of power staying and a high level of commitment in their relationships back to their childhood and adolescence, a new study concludes.

78 Persons aged 20 or 21 and their heterosexual partners on their level of commitment to their relationship, the researchers asked.

Researchers have already given on participants when they were between the ages of 16 and 2, including how loving and attentive, their mothers were while they were for toddlers, and how they dealt with a conflict with a friend as teenagers.

The researchers found that toddlers who were well treated by their mother and were best resolve conflicts adolescents tend to be committed in adult relationships.

People who stick, however, may be successful alone step taking a relationship together, researchers will be added.

Those who had similar commitment feelings - if these feelings were strong or weak - are more likely to stay together in the long term than the two persons whose level of commitment does not fit.

The study is published in the June issue of psychological Science.

In the study, couples were invited to tell how they tried to resolve a major conflict in their relationship and what they agreed for the most part. The researchers assessed their levels of hostility and feelings of despair on the relationship, and how couples tried to appease the other.

The study found that couples with different levels of commitment were the antagonists. When combined with a weak link, a strong link is losers and become the underdog with less influence. On the reverse, two weak links in a relationship can tolerate everything also low expectations.

The researchers concluded learn them that study findings open a window on the human understanding of how people to love. "Like children, you learn how to manage your own needs and those of the people you care about," said Mr. Minda writing of St. Olaf College in a press release from the Association for psychological Science. "You will learn: can I come forward with a problem." What can I expect from the other person? "And how can I do this so that everyone wins"?

Skin Cancer foes declared may 27 "Don't fry day"

2011-05-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

on Friday, the beginning of the end of week Memorial Day, is also "Don ' T fry day," once for skin safety experts remind Americans about the dangers of overexposure to the Sun.

Although the UV rays are dangerous year round, the risks are greatest in the summer months when people spend more time outdoors, McCarthy said.

To limit exposure to harmful UV rays, expert proposes to you:

Combo of Paxil, Pravachol may raise the sugar in the blood (HealthDay)

2011-05-26T04:03:00.000-07:00