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Bacteria used to fight sleeping sickness

2012-02-19T10:15:00.001+07:00

By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News

The sleeping sickness parasite gets into the bloodstream

Scientists believe they have found a way to beat sleeping sickness using a bacterium against the tsetse fly host that spreads the disease to humans.

In the same way that we have friendly bacteria in our intestines, the tsetse fly harbours bacteria in its midgut, muscle and salivary glands.

Experts in Belgium have genetically modified these "good bugs" so they attack the culprit parasite carried by the fly.

But work is needed to hone the process.

The latest findings are published in the open access journal Microbial Cell Factories.

The disease

Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis, is a potentially fatal disease that plagues many regions of Africa.

Although the number of people being infected with the disease has been going down thanks to better diagnosis and treatment, there were still more than 7,000 new cases recorded in 2010.

The parasite causing sleeping sickness is transmitted to humans through the bite of the infected tsetse fly.

This causes fever, headaches, aching joints and itching. Then follows the second stage of disease as the parasites cross the blood-brain barrier to infect the central nervous system.

The person then becomes confused, poorly co-ordinated and experiences the sleep disturbances which give the disease its name.

Without treatment, sleeping sickness is fatal.

But current therapies often have unpleasant side-effects.

Alternatives

The drug most commonly used to treat the condition is a derivative of arsenic developed more than 50 years ago. And the treatment can be excruciatingly painful and potentially fatal. Often described by patients as "fire in the veins," between 5% and 20% of those treated die of complications from the injected drug.

And so scientists are seeking alternatives.

The Belgium team at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp have focused on finding a way to destroy the sleeping sickness parasite - trypanosome - that the tsetse fly carries.

They found bacteria called Sodalis glossinidius, which naturally live in the fly and can be used to mount an attack from the inside.

Altering the genes of the bacteria led it to release fragments of antibodies known as nanobodies against the parasite.

With more work, the researchers hope to be able to produce targeted nanobodies which could kill or block the development of trypanosome.

Dr David Horn of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said: "This is a neat and promising concept. The goal now will be to develop a deliverable toxin, not necessarily a nanobody, which exhibits anti-trypanosomal activity in the fly."

Immunice for Immune Support

Skin transformed into brain cells

2012-02-01T15:36:00.001+07:00

By James Gallagher
Health and science reporter, BBC News

Skin cells have been converted directly into cells which develop into the main components of the brain, by researchers studying mice in California.

The experiment, reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, skipped the middle "stem cell" stage in the process.

The researchers said they were "thrilled" at the potential medical uses.

Far more tests are needed before the technique could be used on human skin.

Stem cells, which can become any other specialist type of cell from brain to bone, are thought to have huge promise in a range of treatments. Many trials are taking place, such as in stroke patients or specific forms of blindness.

One of the big questions for the field is where to get the cells from. There are ethical concerns around embryonic stem cells and patients would need to take immunosuppressant drugs as any stem cell tissue would not match their own.

An alternative method has been to take skin cells and reprogram them into "induced" stem cells. These could be made from a patient's own cells and then turned into the cell type required, however, the process results in cancer-causing genes being activated.

“We are thrilled about the prospects for potential medical use of these cells”

Prof Marius Wernig Stanford University School of Medicine

Direct approach

The research group, at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, is looking at another option - converting a person's own skin cells into specialist cells, without creating "induced" stem cells. It has already transformed skin cells directly into neurons.

This study created "neural precursor" cells, which can develop into three types of brain cell: neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

These precursor cells have the advantage that, once created, they can be grown in a laboratory into very large numbers. This could be critical if the cells were to be used in any therapy.

Brain cells and skin cells contain the same genetic information, however, the genetic code is interpreted differently in each. This is controlled by "transcription factors".

The scientists used a virus to infect skin cells with three transcription factors known to be at high levels in neural precursor cells.

After three weeks about one in 10 of the cells became neural precursor cells.

Lead researcher Prof Marius Wernig said: "We are thrilled about the prospects for potential medical use of these cells.

"We've shown the cells can integrate into a mouse brain and produce a missing protein important for the conduction of electrical signal by the neurons.

"More work needs to be done to generate similar cells from human skin cells and assess their safety and efficacy."

Dr Deepak Srivastava, who has researched converting cells into heart muscle, said the study: "Opens the door to consider new ways to regenerate damaged neurons using cells surrounding the area of injury."

How to improve memory

Fat, pregnant or both?

2011-12-29T23:07:00.001+07:00

By Bridget Benelam
Nutritionist with the British Nutrition Foundation
BBC News

Pregnant women need only increase their food intake by a relatively small amount rather than "eating for two"

"I'm not fat, I'm pregnant!" Actually, some women may be both but there are currently no UK guidelines to help midwives and women define how much is too much when it comes to weight gain during pregnancy.

In this week's Scrubbing Up, Bridget Benelam from the British Nutrition Foundation says there needs to be clear advice on weight control for pregnant women.

Nearly half of women of childbearing age are overweight or obese in the UK and this means there are increasing numbers of obese pregnant women. But spotting those mothers whose bumps are due to fat as well as baby is difficult, not least because there are no UK guidelines on how much weight women should gain during pregnancy.

Pregnancy weight gain varies and depends on many things - including the weight of the baby, the amount of amniotic fluid and the mother's increased blood volume - as well as body fat. Some additional fat is stored during pregnancy to provide a reserve for breast feeding when the baby is born.

But excessive weight gain during pregnancy carries health risks for the mother and child. It also makes the delivery of the baby more difficult, with caesarean sections and forceps deliveries more common. All this puts a strain on an already stretched maternity service.

Despite the common idea that women need to "eat for two" when pregnant, there is actually only a small number of extra calories needed in pregnancy.

No extra calories are needed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy and only an extra 200kcal per day are required during the last 12 weeks, the equivalent of two small slices of bread.

In a survey of over 6,000 women carried out by the Royal College of Midwives and NetMums last year, 61% said their midwife did not have enough time to discuss their concerns about weight management and nutrition, meaning many women may embark on pregnancy without having discussed how to manage their weight at this important time.

What is a healthy pre-pregnancy weight?

Experts assess obesity using a scale called BMI or body mass index
This is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared
A BMI between 18.5 and 25 is ideal
A BMI of 25-30 is overweight
A BMI of 30 or more is obese

And whilst there is a clear need for readily available advice, guidance is lacking.

Current recommendations in England from NICE (National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence ) do not address the issue of how much weight gain is healthy in pregnancy. Indeed, they flag up the need for UK-specific guidance.

These guidelines, issued in 2010, do say that women who are overweight or obese should be encouraged to lose weight before trying for a baby.

However, they say once a woman is pregnant, she should not be encouraged to diet to lose weight as this may harm the health of the growing baby and so women should follow a healthy diet and be physically active.

But what does this mean in practice?

In the US, guidelines go further.

The Institute of Medicine sets out what is a healthy weight gain - 25 to 35 pounds (11.5 to 16kg) during pregnancy for women at a normal weight for their height.

And it says overweight and obese women should gain less weight during pregnancy than lean women. For example, no more than 20 pounds (9kg) for the most obese.

Pregnancy is a window of opportunity where women are particularly interested in looking after their health and that of their growing baby.

Getting the right help and advice about weight control to pregnant women (and those planning a pregnancy) could help to reduce the risks to both mums and their babies, and also help mitigate the strain that obesity in pregnancy puts on the health service.

But midwives need support in delivering this advice on weight control, something they may never have been trained to provide. Arming them with clear guidance would be a good place to start.

Male & Female surfers looking to lose weight

Sun 'stops chickenpox spreading'

2011-12-22T23:28:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Where you live could be a factor in developing chickenpox

Exposure to sunlight may help impede the spread of chickenpox, claim researchers.

The University of London team found chickenpox less common in regions with high UV levels, reports the journal Virology.

Sunlight may inactivate viruses on the skin, making it harder to pass on.

However, other experts say that other factors, including temperature, humidity, and even living conditions are equally likely to play a role.

The varicella-zoster virus is highly contagious, while it can be spread through the coughs and sneezes in the early stages of the infection, the main source is contact with the trademark rash of blisters and spots.

Pollution

UV light has long been known to inactivate viruses, and Dr Phil Rice, from St George's, University of London, who led the research, believes that this holds the key why chickenpox is less common and less easily passed from person to person in tropical countries.

It could also help explain why chickenpox is more common in the colder seasons in temperate countries such as the UK - as people have less exposure to sunlight, he said.

He examined data from 25 earlier studies on varicella-zoster virus in a variety of countries around the world, and plotted these data against a range of climatic factors.

This showed an obvious link between UV levels and chickenpox virus prevalence.

Even initially confusing results could be explained - the peak incidence of chickenpox in India and Sri Lanka is during the hottest, driest and sunniest season.

However, Dr Rice found that, due to atmospheric pollution, UV rays were actually much lower during this season compared with the rainier seasons.

He said: "No-one had considered UV as a factor before, but when I looked at the epidemiological studies they showed a good correlation between global latitude and the presence of the virus."

Professor Judy Breuer from University College London said that while UV could well be contributing to the differences in the prevalence of chickenpox between tropical and temperate regions, there were other factors which needed to be considered.

She said: "Lots of things aside from UV could affect it - heat, humidity and social factors such as overcrowding.

"It's quite possible that UV is having an effect, but we don't have any firm evidence showing the extent this is happening."

Healthy blood sugar range

WHO issues Europe measles warning

2011-12-04T19:35:00.001+07:00

BBC News

Measles is usually a mild illness - but can be fatal

European countries need to act now to tackle measles outbreaks, the World Health Organization warns.

The WHO report says there were over 26,000 measles cases in 36 European countries from January to October 2011.

Western European countries reported 83% of those cases, with 14,000 in France alone.

In England and Wales, there were just under 1,000 confirmed measles cases in that period - compared with just 374 in the whole of 2010.

Altogether, measles outbreaks in Europe have caused nine deaths, including six in France, and 7,288 hospitalisations.

France has now launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about the need for MMR vaccination.

Jean-Yves Grall, the Director-General for Health in France, said: "France can simply not afford to have deaths, painful and costly hospitalisations, disruptions to work and school from a completely vaccine-preventable disease."

Ninety per cent of European cases were amongst adolescents and adults who had not been vaccinated or people where it was not known if they had been vaccinated or not.

And measles from Europe has been linked to outbreaks in several other countries including Brazil, Canada and Australia.

'Potential danger'

Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe, said: "The increase in measles in European countries reveals a serious challenge to achieving the regional measles elimination goal by 2015.

“Measles is a highly infectious and potentially dangerous illness which spreads very easily.”

End Quote Health Protection Agency spokeswoman

"Every country in the European region must take the opportunity now to raise coverage amongst susceptible populations, improve surveillance and severely reduce measles virus circulation before the approaching measles high season."

A spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency, which covers England and Wales, said: "Anyone who missed out on MMR as a child will continue to be at risk of measles, which explains why we are continuing to see cases in a broad age range."

"We are again reminding parents and young adults of the importance of immunisation. We cannot stress enough that measles is serious and in some cases it can be fatal."

"Measles is a highly infectious and potentially dangerous illness which spreads very easily. Whether you stay here in the UK or travel abroad it is crucial that individuals who may be at risk are fully immunised."

Skin Problems, sensitive skin

Sea salt health claims 'flawed'

2011-11-21T17:57:00.000+07:00

By Helen Briggs
Health editor, BBC News

Don't add salt to your food, say health experts

Rock and sea salt is no different from ordinary table salt, despite claims it is natural and more healthy, say consumer groups.

Research for Which? and Consensus Action on Salt and Health found no difference in chemical content between regular salt and costly gourmet brands.

Manufacturers dispute the report saying it does not give the full picture.

Most UK adults eat too much salt, far above the recommended guideline of about a teaspoon a day.

Eating a diet high in salt is linked with high blood pressure, a risk factor for stroke, heart failure and heart disease.

The research analysed the chemical content of several gourmet brands of sea and rock salt, and compared this with ordinary table salt.

“This report is not giving a full picture by not going into the other things in either sea salt or the additives in table salt”

End Quote David Lea-Wilson Co-owner of the Anglesey Salt Company

They say all contain almost 100% sodium chloride and are equally damaging to health in large quantities.

Celebrity chefs should not be encouraging people to sprinkle sea salt on food, the report claims, as you can get all the salt you need from a balanced diet.

Professor Graham MacGregor of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine is chairman of Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH).

He said it was "disgraceful" that chefs still encouraged people to use so much sea and rock salt.

He told the BBC: "The most important message is that you don't need to add a chemical [sodium chloride] to your food.

"Food without salt tastes much better. There's quite enough already present in fruit, vegetables, meat and fish."

Cheaper option

The report says brands claiming some salts are more natural and contain essential minerals are confusing the public.

An online survey of 1,358 members of Which? found around one in three admitted thinking that rock and sea salts were healthier than table salt.

Which? chief policy adviser Sue Davies said: "Many of us are trying to reduce the amount of salt in our diet, but our research shows that people are needlessly spending more money on 'premium' salt as they often believe it's healthier than traditional table salt.

"Given that most of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy, the cheapest - and healthiest - option would be to stop adding extra salt to food altogether.

"Which? is calling on food manufacturers to reduce the amount of salt in their foods, and we'll be monitoring their progress over the coming months."

David Lea-Wilson, co-owner of the Anglesey Sea Salt Company, which makes Halen Mon Pure White Sea Salt, disputed the research.

He told the BBC: "This report is not giving a full picture by not going into the other things in either sea salt or the additives in table salt."

Romi Alexander of So Natural, which supplies Himalayan Crystal Salt, said: "Table salt is a highly refined, processed white substance that's devoid of nutrients."

Diabetes blood sugar levels

Vegetarians 'avoid more cancers'

2011-11-11T10:56:00.000+07:00

BBC News

About half of the participants were vegetarians

Vegetarians are generally less likely than meat eaters to develop cancer but this does not apply to all forms of the disease, a major study has found.

The study involving 60,000 people found those who followed a vegetarian diet developed notably fewer cancers of the blood, bladder and stomach.

But the apparently protective effect of vegetarian did not seem to stretch to bowel cancer, a major killer.

The study is published in the British Journal of Cancer.

Researchers from universities in the UK and New Zealand followed 61,566 British men and women. They included meat-eaters, those who ate fish but not meat, and those who ate neither meat nor fish.

VEGETARIANS GOT NOTABLY FEWER OF THESE CANCERS:

Stomach

Bladder

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Multiple myeloma

Overall, their results suggested that while in the general population about 33 people in 100 will develop cancer during their lifetime, for those who do not eat meat that risk is reduced to about 29 in 100.

Special protection?

The researchers said they found marked differences between meat-eaters and vegetarians in the propensity to cancers of the lymph and the blood, with vegetarians just over half as likely to develop these forms of the disease.

In the case of multiple myeloma, a relatively rare cancer of the bone marrow, vegetarians were 75% less likely to develop the disease than meat-eaters.

At the moment these findings are not strong enough to ask for particularly large changes in the diets of people following an average balanced diet

Professor Tim Key
Report author

The reduction was less notable for fish-eaters with these cancers. The reasons, researchers said, were unclear, but potential mechanisms could include viruses and mutation-causing compounds in meat - or alternatively that vegetables confer special protection.

There were also striking differences in rates of stomach cancer. Although the numbers of cases were small, fish-eaters and vegetarians were about a third as likely to develop the disease as meat-eaters.

Previous research has already implicated processed meats in stomach cancer, so these findings were not entirely surprising. It is thought N-nitroso compounds found in these meats may damage DNA, while the high temperatures they are cooked at may also produce carcinogens.

But the same reduction for vegetarians was not found with cancers of the bowel, one of the most common forms of the disease. The vegetarians in the group in fact had a slightly higher rate of cancers of the colon and the rectum, although not significantly so.

But the relative risk for fish-eaters and vegetarians of cervical cancer was twice that of meat-eaters. The number of cases was small, and could be down to chance but the researchers said it was possible that dietary factors influenced the virus behind cervical cancer.

Professor Tim Key, the lead author, said it was impossible to draw strong conclusions from this one single study.

"At the moment these findings are not strong enough to ask for particularly large changes in the diets of people following an average balanced diet."

Vegetarian diets tend be lower in fat and higher in fibre, but they can require careful planning to ensure necessary protein and vitamins - notably B12, which is mainly derived from animal products - are taken in sufficient amounts.

'Complex process'

A spokesperson for Cancer Research UK, which funded the research, said: "These interesting results add to the evidence that what we eat affects our chances of developing cancer. We know that eating a lot of red and processed meat increases the risk of stomach cancer.

"But the links between diet and cancer risk are complex and more research is needed to see how big a part diet plays and which specific dietary factors are most important.

Myeloma UK said this was the first data of its kind for the bone marrow cancer "and for that reason we are treating it with caution.

"Dietary advice to myeloma patients remains aligned with national guidance - that they should eat a healthy, balanced diet high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in saturated fat, salt and red and processed meat."

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, Science and Research Programme Manager for the World Cancer Research Fund, said: "The suggestion that vegetarians might be at reduced risk of blood cancers is particularly interesting.

"However, this finding should be treated with caution since not much is known about the link between diet and these types of cancer. Further studies of vegetarians are needed before we can be confident this is actually the case."

Body detoxification

English-style diet 'could save 4,000' in rest of UK

2011-11-04T10:09:00.001+07:00

By Helen Briggs
Health editor, BBC News website

Should there be a junk food tax?

Eating like the English could save 4,000 lives a year in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, a study claims.

People in England eat more fruit and vegetables and less salt and fat, reducing heart disease and some cancers, say Oxford University experts.

A tax on fatty and salty foods and subsidies on fruit and vegetables could help close the diet divide, they add.

The British Heart Foundation says the study shows inequalities in the nations that must be addressed by authorities.

Death rates for heart disease and cancer are higher in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland than in England, according to official figures.

“This research isn't about bragging rights to the English or tit-for-tat arguments ”

End Quote Victoria Taylor Senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation

Diet is known to be an important factor. Last year researchers estimated that more than 30,000 lives a year would be saved if everyone in the UK followed dietary guidelines on fat, salt, fibre, and fruit and vegetables.

Now, the same experts - from the Department of Public Health at the University of Oxford - have turned their attention to differences within the UK.

They looked at whether deaths from heart disease, stroke and 10 cancers linked with poor diet could be prevented in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, if everyone switched to the typical English diet.

They say the diet in England is far from perfect - but should be achievable in other UK countries.

Over the three years studied there were nearly 22,000 excess deaths in total. Scotland had 15,719, Wales 3,723 and Northern Ireland 2,329.

Hamburger tax

Lead researcher Dr Peter Scarborough of the Health Promotion Research Group said: "The chief dietary factor that is driving this mortality gap is fruit and vegetables.

The data

The researchers looked at deaths from heart disease, stroke and 10 cancers in all four UK countries from 2007 to 2009
They estimated calorie intake and 10 components in the diet - including fruit and veg intake, fat, and salt - in all four UK countries
The data showed people in Scotland and Northern Ireland ate more saturated fat and salt, and fewer fruit and vegetables, every day than people in England, while differences between England and Wales were smaller
Over the three years studied there were nearly 22,000 excess deaths in total. Scotland had 15,719, Wales 3,723 and Northern Ireland 2,329
Changing the diet to a typical English one would save about 11,000 of these lives - or just under 4,000 a year - with the biggest impact in Wales and Northern Ireland

"Consumption of fruit and vegetables in Scotland is around 12% lower than in England, and consumption in Northern Ireland is about 20% lower than in England. Consumption levels in Wales are similar.

"Other important factors are salt and saturated fat consumption, which are lower in England than in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland."

The researchers believe one way to tackle the "mortality gap" is to bring in food taxes.

Denmark recently introduced a tax on foods high in saturated fat, while other countries are toying with the idea of taxing fizzy drinks or high-calorie foods.

Dr Scarborough told the BBC that while the study did not consider the effectiveness of policies and interventions, the area should be investigated.

He said: "Junk food taxes and subsidies of fruit and veg could be a very important tool in addressing health inequalities in the UK."

Comments from around the UK

Northern Ireland: Spokesperson for the Department of Health, Social Security and Public Safety: "Hopefully this research helps get the message out to the general public that we have to take responsibility for our own health and that our diet has a real impact on the quality and longevity of our lives."
Wales: A Welsh government spokesperson said: "Our efforts remain focused on educating people about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, such as a healthy diet, regular exercise and sensible drinking in an effort to reduce obesity and therefore the risk of heart disease, and we have a number of initiatives already in place, such as Change4Life and the MEND and food co-op programmes, aimed at addressing these issues."
Scotland: A Scottish government spokesperson said: "Overall, Scotland's cancer mortality rates are decreasing - down almost 12% over the past 10 years - and through our Heart Disease and Stroke Care Action Plan, we are continuing to work to reduce the number of Scots dying from these preventable conditions.

The researchers say they used the English diet as their model not because it is particularly healthy, but because it is regarded as an achievable goal.

Victoria Taylor, senior dietician at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This research isn't about bragging rights to the English or tit-for-tat arguments about how healthy our traditional dishes might be.

"This is a useful exercise in comparing influential differences in diet across the UK, namely calorie intake and fruit and veg consumption. However, saying the rest of the UK should follow England's lead to cut heart deaths isn't a foolproof solution; a quarter of English adults are obese and only 30% eat their five-a-day.

"The findings have thrown up some clear inequalities in the four nations and our governments must do everything they can to create environments that help people make healthy choices."

What is a healthy blood pressure

Raw vegetables and fruit 'counteract heart risk genes'

2011-10-14T13:30:00.002+07:00

By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News

Experts already recommend eating at least five portions of fruit and veg a day for good health

People who are genetically susceptible to heart disease can lower their risk by eating plenty of fruit and raw vegetables, a study suggests.

It says five or more daily portions should be enough to counteract culprit versions of a gene on chromosome 9, thought to be possessed by a fifth of people of European ancestry.

Healthy diets appeared to weaken its effect.

The US researchers investigated more than 27,000 people for their work.

The findings were published in Plos Medicine journal.

These participants came from from around the globe, including Europe, China and Latin America.

The results suggest that individuals with high risk 9p21 gene versions who consumed a diet packed with raw vegetables, fruits and berries had a similar risk of heart attack as those with a low-risk variant of the same gene.

Five a day

Foods that count:

Fresh fruit and vegetables
Frozen fruit and vegetables
Dried fruit, such as currants, dates, sultanas and figs
Tinned or canned fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables cooked in dishes such as soups, stews or pasta dishes
A glass (150ml) of unsweetened 100% fruit or vegetable juice
Smoothies
Beans and pulses; these only count as one portion a day, no matter how many you eat

Researcher Prof Sonia Anand, of McMaster University, said: "Our results support the public health recommendation to consume more than five servings of fruits or vegetables as a way to promote good health."

The scientists, who also included staff from McGill University, say they now need to do more work to establish how diet might have this effect on genes.

Judy O'Sullivan of the British Heart Foundation said the findings should serve as a reminder that while lifestyle and genes could increase heart risk, the way the two interacted with each other was also very important.

"The relationship between the two is often very complicated and we don't yet have all the answers, but the message appears to be very simple - eating lots of fruit and vegetables is great news for our heart health."

Ayurtox for Body Detoxification

Soil bacterium helps kill cancers

2011-09-07T08:26:00.001+07:00

By Caroline Parkinson
Health editor, BBC News website
A bacterium found in soil is a showing promise as a way of delivering cancer drugs into tumours.

Spores of the Clostridium sporogenes bacterium can grow within tumours because there is no oxygen.

UK and Dutch scientists have been able to genetically engineer an enzyme into the bacteria to activate a cancer drug.

Clostridium sporogenes cannot grow where there is oxygen

Experts said it would be some time before the potential benefits of the work - presented to the Society of Microbiology - were known.

The work is being presented to the society's autumn conference at the University of York.

The spores grow only within solid tumours, such as breast, brain and prostate tumours and not in other tissue in the body, where oxygen is present.

Healthy tissue 'unscathed'

Researchers have been investigating the possibilities of clostridium "vectors" to deliver cancer drugs for decades.

“This is a totally natural phenomenon, which requires no fundamental alterations and is exquisitely specific”

End Quote Professor Nigel Minton University of Nottingham

The scientists from the University of Nottingham and Maastricht University were able to genetically engineer an improved version of an enzyme into C.sporogenes.

In animal tests, a drug was also injected into the bloodstream which becomes active only when it is triggered by this enzyme.

It then destroys only the cells in its vicinity - the tumour cells.

Professor Nigel Minton, who led the research, said: "Clostridia are an ancient group of bacteria that evolved on the planet before it had an oxygen-rich atmosphere and so they thrive in low oxygen conditions.

"When Clostridia spores are injected into a cancer patient, they will only grow in oxygen-depleted environments, ie the centre of solid tumours.

"This is a totally natural phenomenon, which requires no fundamental alterations and is exquisitely specific.

"We can exploit this specificity to kill tumour cells but leave healthy tissue unscathed."

The team are now planning to work with other researchers on patient trials, due to start in 2013.

Nell Barrie, senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "Finding ways to target treatments to cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed is a key aim of researchers around the world.

"But it's a difficult problem to solve, especially because every cancer is different. This particular approach hasn't yet been tested in patients so it will be some time before researchers know whether it will offer real benefits."

Healthy colon and body cleanse

Exercise should be 'standard part of cancer care'

2011-08-10T18:53:00.001+07:00

BBC News

All patients getting cancer treatment should be told to do two and a half hours of physical exercise every week, says a report by Macmillan Cancer Support.

Being advised to rest and take it easy after treatment is an outdated view, the charity says.

Research shows that exercise can reduce the risk of dying from cancer and minimise the side effects of treatment.

The Department of Health says local initiatives can get people moving.

Macmillan's report, Move More, says that of the two million cancer survivors in the UK, around 1.6 million are not physically active enough.

Adult cancer patients and cancer survivors should undertake 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week, the reports says, which is what the Department of Health guidelines recommend.

In the report, the American College of Sports Medicine also recommends that exercise is safe during and after most types of cancer treatment and says survivors should avoid inactivity.

“It doesn't need to be anything too strenuous, doing the gardening, going for a brisk walk or a swim, all count”

End Quote Ciaran Devane Macmillan Cancer Support

Getting active, the report says, can help people overcome the effects of cancer and its treatments, such as fatigue and weight gain.

"The evidence review shows that physical exercise does not increase fatigue during treatment, and can in fact boost energy after treatment."

"It can also lower their chances of getting heart disease and osteoporosis.

"Also, doing recommended levels of physical activity may reduce the chance of dying from the disease. It may also help reduce the risk of the cancer coming back."

Previous research shows that exercising to the recommended levels can reduce the risk of breast cancer recurring by 40%. For prostate cancer the risk of dying from the disease is reduced by up to 30%.

Bowel cancer patients' risk of dying from the disease can be cut by around 50% by doing around six hours of moderate physical activity a week.

Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said physical activity was very important to the survival and recovery process.

Keeping active after treatment for cancer is now recommended by cancer experts

"Cancer patients would be shocked if they knew just how much of a benefit physical activity could have on their recovery and long term health, in some cases reducing their chances of having to go through the gruelling ordeal of treatment all over again.

"It doesn't need to be anything too strenuous, doing the gardening, going for a brisk walk or a swim, all count."

Traditionally cancer patients were told to rest after their cancer treatment, but the report says this approach could put cancer patients at risk.

Jane Maher, chief medical officer of Macmillan Cancer Support and a leading clinical oncologist said: "The advice that I would have previously given to one of my patients would have been to 'take it easy'.

"This has now changed significantly because of the recognition that if physical exercise were a drug, it would be hitting the headlines."

Martin Ledwick, head information nurse at Cancer Research UK, was a little more cautious.

"Anything that improves wellbeing and reduces treatment side effects for cancer survivors has to be a good thing.

"But the evidence that exercise has a bearing on survival is not conclusive. It is important to remember that no two cancer patients are the same, so rehabilitation programmes that include physical activity will need to be tailored to the individual."

A spokesperson from the Department of Health said it was vital that people with cancer are given the support to lead an active life.

"Physical activity and a healthy lifestyle can impact very positively on cancer outcomes and, as part of the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative, we are working with Macmillan to integrate physical activity services into cancer care pilot sites.

"Locally led initiatives such as Let's Get Moving are also well placed to signpost cancer patients to community-based physical activity opportunities."

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Swine flu jab 'narcolepsy risk'

2011-07-24T20:31:00.001+07:00

BBC News
A swine flu jab has been linked to rare cases of a sleeping disorder and should be the last line of protection for young people, European regulators say.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Pandemrix should only be given to children and teenagers at risk of H1N1 flu if other jabs are unavailable.

More than 30 million doses of swine flu vaccine have been given in Europe

More than six million doses of the vaccine have been given in the UK.

Ten suspected cases of narcolepsy linked to the vaccine have been reported to the UK's drug regulator.

Pandemrix, made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), was the most widely used in the UK during the 2009/10 flu pandemic.

However, the vaccine is no longer in use and the remaining stocks will be destroyed this autumn.

The EMA's investigation followed reports, mainly from Finland and Sweden but also from Iceland and the UK, of children and adolescents suffering the sleep disorder narcolepsy, which causes people to fall asleep suddenly and unexpectedly.

It said studies had shown a six to 13-fold increased risk of narcolepsy in children and adolescents vaccinated with Pandemrix compared with unvaccinated children.

In a statement, the EMA said it had "noted that the vaccine is likely to have interacted with genetic or environmental factors which might raise the risk of narcolepsy, and that other factors may have contributed to the results."

Unknown factors

Overall, Pandemrix has been given to more than 31m people worldwide.

In a statement, GSK said it had received reports of 335 cases of narcolepsy in people vaccinated with Pandemrix by the start of July.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a rare illness, with around 10 new cases per million people every year
The main symptom is falling asleep suddenly
The cause of narcolepsy remains unclear
Some people may be predisposed to the condition by their genetics
Suggested initial triggers include infections such as measles or mumps, accidents and the hormonal changes that take place in puberty
It most often begins between the ages of 15 and 30

The company added: "GSK is committed to patient safety and will continue to work closely with the EMA and other national regulatory organisations in the best interest of patients."

A spokesperson for the UK's drug regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said: "The annual seasonal flu vaccines have not been associated with the development of narcolepsy, and there are no new safety concerns associated with these vaccines.

"These vaccines remain recommended for protection against seasonal influenza."

She added: "The MHRA has been fully involved in the European safety review of Pandemrix vaccine.

"It is possible that other geographical factors in Sweden and Finland, at the time of the pandemic, have contributed to the cases of narcolepsy seen after vaccination with Pandemrix.

"These factors remain unknown, and further studies are ongoing to explore this.

"The regulatory action for Pandemrix vaccines recognises the potential seriousness of H1N1 infection and ensures that the vaccine remains a licensed alternative to protect children and adolescents in need of protection against H1N1, if seasonal vaccines are not available."

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Obesity 'is higher among non-smoking women'

2011-07-05T22:09:00.001+07:00

BBC News
Non-smoking woman are more likely to be obese and die of associated illnesses than those who smoke, according to research.

About 8,000 women were recruited to the Renfrew and Paisley study from 1972 to 1976. Of these, 40% had never smoked.

The study claimed non-smokers were more likely to be obese

The authors, led by Dr Laurence Gruer from NHS Health Scotland, found 60% of non-smokers were overweight or obese compared with 40% of those who smoked.

The study claimed extra weight acted as a major contributor to premature death.

However, experts stressed that smoking was a "much stronger" risk factor than obesity.

The study of women aged 45 to 64, published in the British Medical Journal, said the highest rate of obesity among non-smokers was found in low income groups.

Almost 70% of women in this category were overweight or obese, according to the research.

Dr Gruer said: "You can certainly assume that if you are obese, you are more likely to die of things like diabetes, heart attacks and strokes."

“It goes against the idea that if you live in a poor neighbourhood or came from a working class background, then your health will be worse, regardless”

End Quote Dr Laurence Gruer NHS Health Scotland

Researchers also suggested declining numbers of female smokers over the past few decades may have had a direct impact on obesity levels - with fewer people using cigarettes in an attempt to suppress their appetites.

The study also found that non-smokers from a lower occupational group were no more likely to die early if they lived a healthy lifestyle.

Dr Gruer said: "If you never smoke and you keep your weight within the reasonable limit then even if you earn below average income and live in a more disadvantaged area, you can still expect to live a long and healthy life.

"You are not doomed to die early just because you happen not to have a high income or good job or live in a leafy suburb.

"It goes against the idea that if you live in a poor neighbourhood or came from a working class background, then your health will be worse, regardless."

Prof Johan Mackenbach from the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam welcomed the study but added: "It is important not to forget that smoking is a much stronger risk factor for mortality than most other risk factors, including obesity."

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Diabetes rate 'doubles' - Imperial College and Harvard research suggests

2011-06-26T12:44:00.001+07:00

BBC News
The number of adults with diabetes in the world has more than doubled since 1980, according to a new study.

Researchers from Imperial College London and Harvard University analysed data from 2.7m people across every continent, using statistical techniques to project a worldwide figure.

Obesity is a major risk factor for Type 2 diabetes

They claim the total number of people with diabetes - which can be fatal - has risen from 153m to 347m.

The authors called for better detection and treatment to combat the rise.

The study was published in The Lancet medical journal.

Its authors said 70% of the rise was down to people living longer.

The rise has been most pronounced in the Pacific Islands. In the Marshall Islands a third of all women have the condition.

Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College London, said: "Diabetes is becoming more common almost everywhere in the world.

"Unless we develop better programs for detecting people with elevated blood sugar and helping them to control their weight, diabetes will continue to impose a major burden on health systems around the world."

Diabetes leads to inadequate blood sugar control, which can damage the kidneys and cause blindness. It can also cause heart disease and strokes.

The condition is closely linked with obesity. Patients have to inject themselves with insulin.

Of developed nations, the US had the highest prevalence. The diabetes rate was relatively low in western Europe.

Drug market booming

The study, carried out in conjunction with the World Health Organisation, found that the diabetes rate had either risen or stayed the same in virtually every country.

Spending on diabetes medicines - already worth £22bn annually - could hit £30bn by 2015, according to drug research firm IMS Health.

Dennis Urbaniak, of pharmaceutical firm Sanofi, said: "This is a chronic, progressive condition.

"What we are most worried about is the number of people out there with diabetes that is not optimally controlled."

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Olive oil 'helps prevent stroke'

2011-06-17T20:38:00.001+07:00

BBC News
Olive oil can help prevent strokes in people over 65, a study suggests.

Researchers followed around 7,000 people aged 65 and over living in three French cities, for at least five years.

They found those who used a lot of olive oil in cooking or as a dressing or dip had a lower risk of stroke than those who never used it.

Olive oil has benefits for the heart

The researchers say older people should be given new dietary advice regarding olive oil, based on the findings, which are published in the journal Neurology.

Lead author, Dr Cecilia Samieri, of the University of Bordeaux, said: "Our research suggests that a new set of dietary recommendations should be issued to prevent stroke in people 65 and older.

"Stroke is so common in older people, and olive oil would be an inexpensive and easy way to help prevent it."

“A lot more research needs to be carried out to scientifically test the effectiveness of olive oil as an ingredient that can protect against stroke”

Sharlin Ahmed The Stroke Association

The researchers studied the medical records of 7,625 people aged 65 and older living in Bordeaux, Dijon and Montpelier.

They were asked whether they used olive oil in cooking, on salads or with bread intensively, moderately or never.

Most used extra virgin olive oil, which is common in France.

After around five years, 148 of the men and women had had a stroke.

The study found the stroke risk was 41% lower in those who regularly used olive oil compared with those who abstained, once other factors such as diet, exercise and weight were taken into account.

This works out as a 1.5% risk over six years, compared with 2.6%.

Protective function

Commenting on the study, published in Neurology, Sharlin Ahmed of the Stroke Association, said: "Olive oil has long been known to have potential health benefits.

"It is believed that it could protect against conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease and so it's promising to see that it could have a similar protective function against stroke.

"However, it's important to note that a person's risk of stroke would only be reduced through consuming olive oil as an alternative to other cooking fats and as part of a healthy balanced diet that is low in saturated fat and salt.

"This is also a study based on responses from the public and not a clinical trial. A lot more research therefore needs to be carried out to scientifically test the effectiveness of olive oil as an ingredient that can protect against stroke."

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New strain of MRSA superbug found in cows

2011-06-03T22:00:00.002+07:00

By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

A new strain of the MRSA "superbug" has been found in British cows and is believed to be infecting humans.

Environmental campaigners say the new strain has emerged because of the over-use of antibiotics by dairy farmers.

Dr Garcia-Alvarez said finding a new strain in both in humans and cows is 'very worrying'

Dr Mark Holmes of Cambridge University, who led the research, said this was a "credible hypothesis".

The researchers, writing in the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal, say there is no additional health risk from eating milk and dairy products.

'Financial pressure'

MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a drug-resistant form of a usually harmless bacterium which can be deadly when it infects wounds.

The 35 or so strains of antibiotic-resistant superbugs are genetically fairly similar. However, this new variety is very different and it is thought that it might have first emerged from cows.

Its discoverers have dubbed it "New MRSA"

Antibiotics are widely used by dairy farmers to treat cows with mastitis. However over-use means some bacteria become resistant and difficult to treat if humans become infected.

Dr Holmes said the problem might be exacerbated by financial pressures on diary farmers.

"If you drive your cows harder to produce more milk you get more mastitis," he told reporters at a news conference.

The Soil Association has called for a complete ban on routine use of antibiotics in farming.

Soil Association director Helen Browning said: "Dairy systems are becoming ever more antibiotic-dependent. We need to get farmers off this treadmill, even if that means that milk has to cost a few pennies more".

“It does appear that the numbers are rising”

Dr Mark Holmes Cambridge University

National Farmers' Union chief dairy adviser Rob Newberry said the health and welfare of cows were of "paramount importance" to British dairy farmers.

"In the interests of human and animal health, and animal welfare, it is important that veterinary medicines are administered as little as possible but as much as necessary," he said.

"Any antibiotic or veterinary medicine being administered to a food producing animal has strict conditions of use, including milk and meat withdrawal times, and in general, under European law, would only be available under prescription."

Dr Holmes and his colleague Dr Laura Garcia-Alvarez discovered the new strain while studying a bacterium known to cause mastitis in cows.

They found that, like other MRSA strains, it was resistant to the most commonly used antibiotics. However, the bug was found to be genetically very different.

Subsequent research showed that the strain was also present in humans.

Dr Garcia-Alvarez says that finding a new strain in both in humans and cows is "very worrying".

"Workers on dairy farms are at higher risk of carrying MRSA but we don't yet know if this translates to a higher risk [of them becoming ill]," she said.

'Very low risk'

Dr Holmes said very few people had been infected with the new strain, probably fewer than 100 a year in the UK. "But it does appear that the numbers are rising," he says.

The Health Protection Agency said the risk of becoming infected with the new strain was "very low".

Dr Holmes and Dr Garcia-Alvarez will now investigate the prevalence of the new strain and whether it is more or less harmful than current strains.

They also plan to conduct studies on farms to look for more MRSA strains of this type and explore any potential risks to farm workers.

MRSA is often found in hospitals and was linked to 1,593 deaths in 2007.

Since then the number of suspected fatal cases has fallen dramatically. There were 1,290 in 2008 and 781 in 2009.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "From the available evidence, we understand this new form of MRSA is rare in the UK and is not causing infections in humans.

"However, our expert committee, ARHAI, will be reviewing this issue at their next meeting and will consider potential medical, veterinary and food safety issues."

A Food Standards Agency spokesman said the study did not provide direct evidence that humans were being infected with MRSA from cattle.

"The risk of contracting this new strain of MRSA through drinking milk is extremely low because the vast majority of cows' milk is pasteurised and the pasteurisation process destroys all types of MRSA," he added.

How to control blood sugar

Stem cell method put to the test in Parkinson's study

2011-05-26T17:34:00.001+07:00

By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News
UK researchers are launching a study into the potential of using a person's stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease.

A Oxford University team will use adult stem cells, which have the ability to become any cell in the human body - to examine the neurological condition.

Scientists hope to better understand how Parkinson's develops

Skin cells will be used to grow the brain neurons that die in Parkinson's, a conference will hear.

The research will not involve the destruction of human embryos.

Induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells were developed in 2007.

At the time, scientists said it had the potential to offer many of the advantages of embryonic stem cells without any of the ethical downsides.

Three years on, it seems to be living up to that claim.

Compare and contrast

The team at Oxford University is among the first in the world to use IPS to carry out a large scale clinical investigation of Parkinson's, which is currently poorly understood.

Researchers will be taking skin cells from 1,000 patients with early stage Parkinson's and turning them into nerve cells carrying the disease to learn more about the brain disorder, the UK National Stem Cell Network annual science meeting will hear.

The technique is useful because it is difficult to obtain samples of diseased nerve tissue from patient biopsies.

IPS enables the researchers to create limitless quantities of nerve cells to use in experiments and to test new drugs.

"Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the UK and is set to become increasingly common as we live longer," said Dr Richard Wade-Martins, head of the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre.

"Once we have neurons from patients we can compare the functioning of cells taken from patients with the disease and those without to better understand why dopamine neurons die in patients with Parkinson's."

The research is being funded by Parkinson's UK.

The charity's director of research, Kieran Breen, described it as "vital research that will help us better understand the causes of this devastating condition and how it develops and progresses.

"We hope the work will pave the way for new and better treatments for people with Parkinson's in the future."

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Big hips 'impair' women's memory, a study finds

2011-05-18T10:24:00.001+07:00

BBC News
A woman's body shape may influence how good her memory is, according to US researchers.

Although carrying excess weight anywhere appears to impair older women's brains, carrying it on the hips may make matters worse, they say.

Being pear-shaped may hamper brain function, the researchers believe

The Northwestern Medicine team found "apple-shaped" women fared better than "pears" on cognitive tests.

But depositing fat around the waist increases the risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, experts warn.

They said the findings, in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, highlighted the importance of maintaining a healthy weight for both body and mind.

“With so much evidence of the dangers of obesity, we could all do well to consider sensible lifestyle changes to keep our weight in check”

Rebecca Wood Chief executive of The Alzheimer's Research Trust

Some of the health risks associated with obesity, such as vascular disease and inflammation, may explain why people who are overweight appear to be at higher risk of dementia.

However, the latest study suggests a bit of extra fat around the waist may actually protect brain functioning.

Spare tyre

The researchers believe belly fat makes more of the female hormone oestrogen that naturally dips after the menopause.

Oestrogen is thought to help protect the brain from cognitive decline.

The study involved 8,745 post-menopausal women aged 65 to 79.

These women were asked to complete a memory test that doctors use to judge brain function. They were also weighed and measured, then scored on an obesity scale known as Body Mass Index or BMI. Over two-thirds of the women were overweight or obese.

The researchers found that for every one point increase in a woman's BMI, her memory score dropped by one point.

And pear-shaped women - those with smaller waists but bigger hips - scored particularly poorly.

The researchers say this is likely to be related to the type of fat deposited around the hips versus the waist.

Scientists already know different kinds of fat release different hormones and have varying effects on insulin resistance, lipids and blood pressure.

Lead researcher Dr Diana Kerwin said: "We need to find out if one kind of fat is more detrimental than the other, and how it affects brain function.

"The fat may contribute to the formation of plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease or a restricted blood flow to the brain."

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "The pear-shape is incredibly common, and while this study doesn't explain fully the link between body shape and brain function, it surely makes the case for watching the scales.

"There is little we can do about our natural body shape, but a lot we can do about our weight.

"With so much evidence of the dangers of obesity, we could all do well to consider sensible lifestyle changes to keep our weight in check."

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Scientists turn 'bad fat' into 'good fat'

2011-05-04T17:05:00.001+07:00

By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News
Scientists say they have found a way to turn body fat into a better type of fat that burns off calories and weight.

The US Johns Hopkins team made the breakthrough in rats but believe the same could be done in humans, offering the hope of a new way to treat obesity.

Brown fat burns calories while white fat stores them

Modifying the expression of a protein linked to appetite not only reduced the animals' calorie intake and weight, but also transformed their fat composition.

"Bad" white fat became "good" brown fat, Cell Metabolism journal reports.

Brown fat is abundant in babies, which they use as a power source to generate body heat, expending calories at the same time.

But as we age our brown fat largely disappears and gets replaced by "bad" white fat, which typically sits as a spare tyre around the waist.

“We will need a lot more work to tease this out, but it could offer a feasible way to develop new treatments for obesity”

End Quote UK obesity expert Dr Jeremy Tomlinson

Experts have reasoned that stimulating the body to make more brown fat rather than white fat could be a helpful way to control weight and prevent obesity and its related health problems like type 2 diabetes.

Novel approach

Various teams have been searching for a way to do this, and Dr Sheng Bi and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine believe they may have cracked it.

They designed an experiment to see if suppressing an appetite-stimulating protein called NPY would decrease body weight in rats.

When they silenced NPY in the brains of the rodents they found their appetite and food intake decreased.

Even when the rats were fed a very rich, high-fat diet they still managed to keep more weight off than rats who had fully functioning NPY.

The scientists then checked the fat composition of the rats and found an interesting change had occurred.

In the rats with silenced NPY expression, some of the bad white fat had been replaced with good brown fat.

The researchers are hopeful that it may be possible to achieve the same effect in people by injecting brown fat stem cells under the skin to burn white fat and stimulate weight loss.

Dr Bi said: "If we could get the human body to turn bad fat into good fat that burns calories instead of storing them, we could add a serious new tool to tackle the obesity epidemic.

"Only future research will tell us if that is possible."

Dr Jeremy Tomlinson, an expert at the University of Birmingham's Centre for Obesity Research, said: "This is exciting, novel and interesting.

"We will need a lot more work to tease this out, but it could offer a feasible way to develop new treatments for obesity."

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Police probe over Leicestershire drink illness

2011-04-27T11:38:00.001+07:00

BBC News
Police have begun an investigation into the possible contamination of a soft drink in Leicestershire which left two people in hospital, officers have said.

Two women fell seriously ill earlier this week after drinking Gayatri brand aloe vera juice.

No new cases connected with the drink have been reported

Leicestershire police confirmed they were working with the Health Protection Agency but were keeping an open mind as to the circumstances of the incident.

The agency said any further bottles should be handed to police.

Samples of the drink have been sent for analysis, the Health Protection Agency added.

The tonic is believed to be made in India,

No new cases connected to the drink have been reported.

Healthy blood pressure

TeloVac pancreatic cancer vaccine trial launched in UK

2011-04-18T21:20:00.001+07:00

By Fergus Walsh
Medical correspondent, BBC News

A trial has begun on a vaccine treating pancreatic cancer, which has the lowest survival rate of all common cancers.

More than 1,000 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer have joined the TeloVac trial at 53 UK hospitals.

Vaccines are usually associated with preventing infections, but this is part of a new approach to try to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer.

The trial involves regular doses of vaccine together with chemotherapy and compares this with chemotherapy alone.

The vaccine contains small sections of a protein, telomerase, which is over-produced by cancer cells. The aim is to stimulate the immune system to recognise the telomerase which sits on the surface of the cancer cells and to target the tumour.

“For someone who's never smoked and hardly ever drank, it was a big shock”

End Quote Rhona Longworth Patient

Professor John Neoptolemos from Royal Liverpool University Hospital, who is helping to co-ordinate the trial, said: "The problem is tumours are clever and are able to turn the immune cells into traitors which help to guard the tumour.

"The vaccine takes away the masking effect of the tumour."

Pancreatic cancer has the worst survival rate of all common cancers. Just three in 100 patients survive the disease for five years or more.

Rhona Longworth, 43, who was diagnosed with the cancer in February, said: "For someone who's never smoked and hardly ever drank, it was a big shock.

"I just hope the vaccine works and I'm one person who goes on to live a happy, healthy life after this."

Joan Roberts, 69, said the vaccine appeared to have few side effects and she is keeping her fingers crossed about the impact on her cancer.

"I'm pleased that it's stable and it hasn't got any bigger. You've got to remain positive," she said.

“There is rarely positive news about pancreatic cancer. It has the worst survival rate of all common cancers - worse even than lung cancer”

End Quote

The TeloVac trial is being funded by Cancer Research UK. The charity is supporting trials against a range of cancers, using vaccines or antibody treatments to stimulate the immune system.

Cancer Research UK's chief clinician Professor Peter Johnson said: "One of big problems with cancer treatment is you are almost always left with a few malignant cells and it is from those few cells that the cancer can regrow.

"If you can programme the immune system to recognise those cells and get rid of them altogether or keep them in check then you can effectively stop the cancer from growing back lifelong."

The South Korean manufacturer of the vaccine, KAEL-GemVax, is planning a lung cancer trial later this year using the same technology.

Last year the first therapeutic cancer vaccine was licensed in the US as a treatment against prostate cancer.

The Phase III or final stage TeloVac trial should produce results in just over a year which will show whether the vaccine has a positive effect.

Cancer Research UK is keen to stress that the vaccine is not a cure, but if it works, might prolong life.

Prostate cancer

Drinking over recommended limit 'raises cancer risk'

2011-04-11T19:01:00.001+07:00

BBC News
Drinking more than a pint of beer a day can substantially increase the risk of some cancers, research suggests.

The Europe-wide study of 363,988 people reported in the British Medical Journal found one in 10 of all cancers in men and one in 33 in women were caused by past or current alcohol intake.

Many people do not know that drinking alcohol can increase their cancer risk.

More than 18% of alcohol-related cancers in men and about 4% in women were linked to excessive drinking.

The Department of Health said it was taking action to reduce drinking.

Cancer charities say people should limit their drinking to lower the risk.

The study calculated that in 2008 current and past drinking habits were responsible for about 13,000 cancer cases in the UK, out of a total of 304,000 cases.

Previous research has shown a link between alcohol consumption and cancers of the oesophagus, liver, bowel and female breast.

When alcohol is broken down by the body it produces a chemical which can damage DNA, increasing the chance of developing cancer.

Glass too far

The latest research found that individuals who drank more than two standard drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women were particularly at risk of alcohol-related cancers.

A standard drink contains about 12g of alcohol, which is equivalent to a 125ml glass of wine or a half pint of beer.

Yet NHS guidelines are a little more relaxed, saying that men should drink no more than three to four units a day while women should not go above two to three units a day.

Of the cancers known to be linked to alcohol, the researchers suggest that 40% to 98% occurred in people who drank more than the recommended maximum.

The results were gathered as part of a study following 363,988 men and women in eight European countries aged between 35 and 70.

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer study tracked their levels of drinking and how this affected their risk of cancer.

Researchers then looked at figures on how much people drank in each country, including the UK, taken from the World Health Organization.

The study focused on France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Denmark and the UK.

Madlen Schutze, lead researcher and study author, from the German Institute of Human Nutrition, said that many cancer cases could be avoided if alcohol consumption was limited.

"And even more cancer cases would be prevented if people reduced their alcohol intake to below recommended guidelines or stopped drinking alcohol at all," she said.

'Best data'

Cancer Research UK director of health information Sara Hiom said that many people did not know that drinking alcohol could increase their cancer risk.

“I think there will have to be some form of tougher regulation by government”

End Quote Professor Sir Ian Gilmore UK Alcohol Health Alliance

"In the last 10 years, mouth cancer has become much more common and one reason for this could be because of higher levels of drinking - as this study reflects.

"Along with being a non-smoker and keeping a healthy bodyweight, cutting back on alcohol is one of the most important ways of lowering your cancer risk."

Cancer Partners UK medical director Prof Karol Sikora said the message had to be "drink occasionally, but not regularly".

"This is the best data we've got and we're ever likely to get.

"The take-home message is that the more alcohol you drink, some of the common cancers - the four cancers that have been identified - do increase, and that's worrying. So the message has to be 'look at drinking habits, and reduce.'"

The Department of Health is set to publish an alcohol strategy in the summer.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, former president of the Royal College of Physicians and chairman of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance, called for tougher regulation to curb alcohol consumption.

He told the BBC: "It is yet another piece of evidence that really leads us to conclude that sitting back and waiting for people to change their habits, perhaps with voluntary partnerships with the drinks industry included in policies, will not bring about results.

"If we really want to see preventable deaths coming down in the next decade or so, I think there will have to be some form of tougher regulation by government."

It is expected to include plans to stop supermarkets selling cheap alcohol and tighten up licensing laws which were relaxed under the previous government.

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Chemical found which 'makes bone marrow repair skin'

2011-04-05T10:48:00.001+07:00

BBC News
The chemical which summons stem cells from bone marrow to the site of a wound has been discovered by scientists in the UK and Japan.

The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, identified the distress signal - HMGB1.

Skin grafts trigger repair by bone marrow cells

The authors believe it can be used to put "a megaphone in the system" to improve the treatment of injuries such as burns and leg ulcers.

Another UK expert said the research had potential.

Bone marrow was thought to play a role in repairing damaged skin, but the exact process was unknown.

Scientists at Osaka University and King's College London gave mice bone marrow cells that glow green - which can be tracked while moving round the body.

They then wounded the mice and some were given skin grafts.

Megaphone medicine

In mice without grafts, very few stem cells travelled to the wound. Those with grafts had many stem cells travelling to the wound.

Professor John McGrath, from King's College London, says grafted skin tissue has no blood vessels and therefore no oxygen. He says this environment leads to the release of HMGB1 - or what he called a 'Save Our Skin signal' - which results in stem cells moving to the wound.

He said: "It could have a very big impact on regenerative medicine for treating people with rare genetic illnesses and more common problems such as burns and ulcers.

"It could potentially revolutionise the management of wound healing."

He envisaged treatments in which a drug similar to HMGB1 would be injected near to a wound.

He said: "It would be like putting a megaphone in the system" bringing stem cells to the injury.

Researchers in Osaka are developing a drug to mimic HMGB1. They hope to begin animal testing by the end of the year and human clinical trials shortly afterwards.

Phil Stephens, professor of Cell Biology at Cardiff University, said: "I think it has potentially big clinical implications, but the key is potential if you can control it. You can't just chuck it on, you need the right amounts at the right time."

"Identifying the mechanism is a really important first step."

Joint Mender for Joint Care

Mobiles may increase risk of tinnitus, study suggests

2011-03-26T15:45:00.001+07:00

BBC News
Regularly using a mobile phone may increase the risk of tinnitus, which involves constant ringing or buzzing in the ear, a small study suggests.

Austrian researchers recruited 100 people with the condition and 100 without, and compared mobile phone use.

Studies indicate about one in ten has some form of tinnitus

They found tinnitus was over 70% more likely in those averaging 10 minutes' daily phone use, reported Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal.

But the British Tinnitus Association said a link was unproven.

While intense noise, head trauma and certain drugs are all known to increase the risk of the ear condition, in many cases the reasons are unknown.

Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna said the evidence so far linking mobiles with tinnitus was anecdotal, but that their small study suggested at the very least it warranted further investigation.

Because of the widespread use of the devices, even a slightly increased risk would be of "public health importance", they wrote, particularly given that the condition can in some cases profoundly interfere with daily life.

It is thought about 10% of the population have some form of tinnitus, but it is unclear whether the condition is becoming more prevalent.

Ear energy

As well as the 70% increased risk from using a phone for more than 10 minutes a day, they found that having used a phone for more than 160 hours cumulatively was associated with a 60% increased risk.

But their study did throw up statistical anomalies, finding a lower risk among those who had made 4,000 calls or more than those who had made fewer.

The team acknowledged that asking people to recall their use was problematic, leading to both over-estimation and underestimation.

But lead author Dr Hans Peter Hutter said there were biological mechanisms by which mobiles could cause ear problems.

The cochlea, the spiral-shaped organ that translates sounds into electrical impulses the brain can understand, and the auditory pathway "are located in an anatomical region where a considerable amount of the power emitted by mobile phones are absorbed".

It is also possible that prolonged, constrained posture using a phone while walking and talking could affect blood flow in that side of the head.

These reasons are more likely than simply the sound of speech on the other end of the line.

Veronica Kennedy, a consultant and adviser to the British Tinnitus Association, said: "The association between tinnitus and electromagnetic fields is not a new idea with electromagnetic fields being put forward both as a cause and treatment for tinnitus.

"Some people have attributed their tinnitus to the sounds generated by electromagnetic fields within modern electrical wiring or power plants. Electromagnetic therapy has also been used to treat tinnitus. This is an interesting study but there are a number of complex factors underlying tinnitus which have not been addressed in the study.

"The link between mobile phone use remains unproven with further work still needed."

Cholesterol drugs could cut clots

2011-03-18T11:11:00.001+07:00

BBC News
Drugs which can regulate levels of cholesterol in the blood may also reduce the risk of dangerous clots, say scientists.

Blood clots can result in stroke or heart attack.

Blood clots stop bleeding, but can also be deadly

Researchers, writing in the journal Blood, reduced the size and stability of blood clots in mice and said the discovery could lead to new drugs.

The British Heart Foundation said it was an exciting discovery which could result in more effective treatments.

Around 32,000 people in the UK die after developing a blood clot.

The team at the University of Reading was investigating how clots form and say they were surprised to find that protein, LXR, was involved.

LXR is already known to control levels of cholesterol and drug companies have been targeting it for new treatments.

The researchers found that drugs which affect LXR reduced the size and stability of growing clots in experiments on mice.

Professor Jon Gibbins, from the University of Reading, said: "It's really quite exciting really, it could be quite an important discovery."

"While blood clotting is essential to prevent bleeding, inappropriate clotting within the circulation, known as thrombosis, is the trigger for heart attacks and strokes - which kill more people in the UK each year than any other disease.

"This study paves the way for new and more effective medicines to prevent thrombosis."

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Both anti-clotting and cholesterol lowering drugs are vital in reducing the chance of a heart attack or stroke in high-risk patients, but are not always effective and don't suit all patients because of the risk of side-effects.

"This exciting discovery shows that drugs which lower cholesterol through targeting LXR protein can also reduce harmful blood clotting - potentially opening up paths towards new, more effective treatments."

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