TuftScope Health, Ethics, and Policy Blog

US HIV baby "cured" by early drug treatment

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:56:00 +0000

News Brief by Prachi Sharma

A two-and-a-half year old girl from Mississippi born with HIV, appears to have been cured of the disease. After being free of medication for nearly one year, the infant has shown no sign of infection, indicating that HIV may be curable in infants. The child was placed on antiretroviral therapy, which is an established method of treating HIV that utilizes a assortment of a variety of available drugs. Within 30 hours of her birth, three different drug combinations were implemented for 18 months. Five months after stopping the treatment, doctors were surprised to find that the child had not relapsed. The child's health is being carefully monitored, and more tests must still be done to determine whether the treatment will be effective in other infants. There is currently no cure for HIV, though if the child remains healthy, she will be the second cured case of HIV. While the results seem promising, researchers stress that this treatment would likely only be effective in infants, thus prevention is still the most efficient method of battling HIV.

Reference:Roberts, Michelle. "US HIV baby "cured"by early drug treatment." BBC News (2013).BBC. Web. 11 Mar 2013. .

Medical organizations release list of 90 tests and procedures that often are not needed

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 02:57:00 +0000

News Brief by Alice Chan

If you have had an electrocardiogram, CT scan for low back pain or a chest X-ray before surgery in the past year, you may want to consider talking to your doctor about the necessity of the test. These procedures made last year’s list of 45 unneeded medical tests and procedures, as compiled by seventeen leading medical specialty societies. This year, 90 more unneeded tests were identified and added to the list. This measure to combat unneeded tests is critical, since recent estimates suggest that approximately 30 percent of money spent on health care in the United States is wasted. The American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, a non-profit organization that oversees the “Choosing Wisely” campaign, says that the cost of unneeded tests adds up and can harm patients by their exposure to radiation.
Included on this year’s list of unneeded exams are: the induction of labor or schedule of cesarean deliveries before 39 weeks of pregnancy, unless medically necessary; placement of feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia; and the performance of routine annual Pap tests in women between ages 30-65. By promoting this list, the “Choosing Wisely” campaign seeks to encourage patients to discuss with their physicians about the appropriate approaches to patient care.

Reference: Kowalczyk, Liz. "Medical organizations release list of 90 tests and procedures that often are not needed."Boston Globe 21 Feb 2013, online ed. Web. 5 Mar. 2013. .

Five Disorders Share Genetic Risk Factors, Study Finds

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 02:50:00 +0000

News Brief by Evan Balmuth

Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) all share some common genetic aberrations, according to a new study published online in Lancet this February. The study compared genetic tests of over 60,000 people worldwide, in what the authors describe as the largest study of psychiatric disorders to date. The meta-analysis uncovered four genetic abnormalities in common between the disorders. Although two of the related genes' functions are unknown, two of the aberrations involve genes that are important for calcium channels necessary for neuron signaling in the brain. The authors of this study note that these four genetic abnormalities are only the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of genetic risk factors, and that together they only contribute to a fraction of the overall genetic risk for these psychiatric disorders. In addition, when an individual has these genetic risk factors, which of the five mental disorders develops also depends on environmental factors. This may be observed in cases where one identical twin has schizophrenia while the other twin has bipolar disorder. Ultimately, this study contributes to the essential medical advancements of diagnosing psychiatric disorders based on genetic evidence rather than symptoms alone and treating these disorders' biological causes rather than their symptoms. Specifically, it may open doors for new studies of calcium channels' role in psychiatric disorders and clinical drug trials of calcium channel blockers.

Reference: Kolata, Gina. "5 Disorders Share Genetic Risk Factors, Study Finds." New York Times 1 Mar 2013, New York Ed. A11. Print.

"Wrong" Immune Response Aids TB

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 02:44:00 +0000

News Brief by Enshu Chawla

Tuberculosis can be especially dangerous in some individuals due to an immune response which defends against viruses. Through the study of leprosy, researchers have linked a protein named interferon-gamma with immune responses related to bacterial infections. On the other hand, a protein named interferon-beta has been connected with immune responses to viruses. When interferon-beta is used by the immune system, patients exhibit much more severe effects of leprosy. In some ways, this could demonstrate why patients with viruses are more likely to be severely affected by bacterial infections. While interferon-beta is being used by the immune system, the bacteria causing the infection is unharmed. Moreover, the use of the interferon-beta protein may interfere with interferon-gamma. Professor Robert Moldin at the University of California, Los Angeles believes that altering interferon responses in the correct directions could be a possible solution. Due to living conditions, viruses, and lower levels of vitamin D, homeless people in shelters could be especially vulnerable to tuberculosis. With lower levels of vitamin D already leading to higher TB rates in the spring, Professor Ajit Lalvani of Imperial College London also speculates that viruses in the winter could lead to the severe effects of Tuberculosis building up in the spring.

Reference: "'Wrong' Immune Response Aids TB." BBC News. BBC, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.

Thriving Cancer's "Chaos" Explained

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 02:42:00 +0000

News Brief by Kathryn Gibb

Scientists from the UK have discovered that diversity in tumors may be linked to a cancer making copies of its genetic code. Previously, it was thought that when cancer cells replicate, the number of chromosomes would not be split evenly between the two new cells. It was thought that this difference in chromosomes would lead to cancer diversity. However, scientists at the UK London Research Institute and at the University College London Cancer Institute have found that cancers can develop DNA replication stress. When cancers do not have the sufficient building blocks of DNA, there are errors in the DNA replication process. These errors lead to diversity within cancer. The scientists found that the most errors were located on a specific region of chromosome 18. This new evidence may allow scientists to prevent cancer diversity, therefore making it easier to treat.

Gallagher, James. "Thriving Cancer's 'chaos' Explained." BBC News. BBC, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21603235

Research Highlights: Preliminary Study Shows Increased Rates of Experimentally Induced Viral Infections Associated with Short Telomere Length

noreply@blogger.com (Research Highlights Editor) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 22:05:00 +0000

Preliminary Study Shows Increased Rates of Experimentally Induced Viral Infections Associated with Shorter Telomere Length in Healthy Adult Populations

By: Joseph St. Pierre

According to an article recently published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, shorter telomere length in healthy immune-response cells was found was found to be associated with higher rates of upper respitory infection via experimentally introduced doses of the common cold virus, rhinovirus type 39 (RV39). Telomeres, structures of DNA and protein capping the ends of each chromosome in humans, shorten with each subsequent cell division, ultimately limiting cell growth and metabolism. Consistently found to be associated with the onset of age-related morbidity, telomere length has long been considered to be a large contributor to functional issues in aging populations. However, at the time of this article's release, no other research examining the effect of decreased telomere length in younger, healthy adult populations had been published.

The study enrolled 152 participants aged between 18 and 55 years. Blood was drawn for telomere length assessment. Subsequently, all patients received doses of RV39 via nasal drips and were quarantined for six days during which nasal lavage was collected and evaluations for signs of illness were performed. Blood samples were collected 28 days following exposure to gauge antibody response to RV39. Finally, the association between telomere length of various peripheral blood mononuclear cells (T-cell subsets CD4, CD8CD28+, and CD8CD28-) and the rate of infection and clinical illness was examined via statistical analysis. Overall, shorter telomere length was found to be associated with increased infection rate. However, telomere length was shown to have an association with the rate of clinical illness in only one of the various cell types studied (CD8CD28-).

It should be noted that CD8CD28- cells lack the CD28 protein, long shown to be associated with the regulation and maintenance of telomeres in T-cell populations, rendering the aforementioned point to be of particular interest. However, due to a small study population and the preliminary nature of the study, more research must be conducted to further examine the discussed phenomena.

JAMA. 2013;309(7):699-705

Joseph St. Pierre is the 2012-2013 Tuftscope Research Highlights Editor

Research Highlights: New Model for Lung Cancer Screening More Effective, Study Shows

noreply@blogger.com (Research Highlights Editor) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 05:28:00 +0000

New Model for Lung Cancer Screening Selection Criteria Shown to Be More Effective

by: Joseph St. Pierre

Recommending lung cancer screening on patients deemed to be high-risk according to the current model developed by National Lung Cancer Trial (NLCT) has been shown to lower the overall mortality rate of the disease by 20%.The applied criteria include being between 55 and 74 years of age, having a history of smoking of at least 30 pack-years, a period of less than 15 years since cessation of smoking, or a modified set of requirements based on the former criteria. However, according to an article published by the New England Journal of Medecine, researchers have developed a modified model based off of risk factors used in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. The new model, which analyzes additional risk-based factors like BMI, family history, and smoking status, has be shown to be significantly more efficient at marking patients as high-risk and increasing diagnosis yield.

The study was performed by analyzing the intervention and control group data of the two aforementioned studies, NLCT and PLCO, which encompassed 53,202 and 80,375 smokers, respectively. An additional group composed of 15,099 PLCO intervention group members who met the NLST criteria was also included. Statistical analysis compared the effectiveness of the new, modified PLCO risk-based model, named PLCO_M2012 , with the unmodified NLCT criteria. Compared to NLCT criteria, PLCO_M2012 had significantly increased sensitivity and positive predictive value, allowing it to miss 41.3% less lung cancer diagnoses.

While this data may imply that PLCO_M2012 is an obvious improvement over current lung cancer screening methods, it should be noted that PLCO_M2012 is far more difficult to apply than its predecessor, as it hinges on complex modeling and the use of multivariate statistics. Furthermore, PLCO_M2012 occasionally uses parameters, such as follow-up time, that differ from its older counterpart, rendering certain comparisons inaccurate. However, in dealing with an affliction whose early detection is key to successful treatment, such findings and research are, at the very least, yet another step towards more a more efficient means of recognizing at-risk individuals.

NEJM. 2013. 368:728-736

Joseph St. Pierre is the 2012-2013 Tuftscope Research Highlights Editor

Pollution’s Link to Birth Weight

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:24:00 +0000

News Brief by Kelsey Davenport

Researchers have found a correlation between pollution and birth weight. According to studies spanning nine countries and over three million births, exposure to pollution is dangerous for expecting mothers. The odds of having a baby born at a below average weight increases with exposure to air pollution. Particulate matter with a diameter of less than ten micrometers could be a risk factor for pregnant women. The risk of a low birth weight increased ten to fifteen percent in locations with more polluted air, signifying a noteworthy correlation.

Although a low birth weight does not necessarily cause lasting damage, it can be an indicator for future health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. Additionally, low birth weight is a leading cause of premature mortality. These findings have serious public health implications, and will need to be thoroughly verified.

Reference: Bakalar , Nicholas. "Pollution's Link to Birth Weight." New York Times 11 Feb 2013, D4. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. .

Zinc 'keeps immune system in check'

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:19:00 +0000

News Brief by Julianna Ko

Zinc is commonly used as household remedy to treat the onset of colds, and researchers at Ohio State University recently pinpointed the role of zinc to immune system regulation. The immune system typically responds to infection through inflammation, but the body runs the risk of adversely impacting its own processes if the inflammatory response goes unchecked. In diseases such as sepsis, for instance, the immune system responds excessively to a bacterial infection, leading to fatal symptoms linked to whole body inflammation.

After discovering that zinc-deficiency is correlated with overinflammation, the researchers at Ohio State discovered that zinc could play a role in controlling the immune system response by negatively regulating the Nf-kB inflammatory pathway. When the pathway is activated during infection, the protein Nf-kB recruits zinc to immune cells where the mineral can keep the immune response under control by slowing down the inflammatory response.

Researchers at University of Aberdeen have also discovered similar interactions between zinc and the Nf-kB pathway in other diseases such as atherosclerosis, providing a possible explanatory mechanism for zinc’s ability to treat colds.

Reference: "Zinc 'keeps immune system in check'." BBC News 08 Feb 2013, Health. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. . .

Study: Gift bans in medical school affect doctors’ later prescribing patterns

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:14:00 +0000

News Brief by Prachi Sharma

In a recent study published in BMJ, Yale researchers found that doctors who studied at medical schools that limited the amount of gifts given by pharmaceutical companies to students (such as sponsored lunches, new devices, and other similar benefits) were less susceptible to drug marketing after graduation. The researchers studied the prescribing practices of doctors who had attended medical schools that utilized a gift ban policy (as of 2004) to those who attended the same school before the policy was implemented. Comparing the number of prescriptions for Vyvanse and Invega, heavily marketed drugs for attention deficit disorder and schizophrenia, to the number of prescriptions for similar, but older drugs, researchers found that those doctors who attended school with the gift ban were less likely to prescribe Vyvanse and Invega compared to doctors who attended the same school before the ban. While the prescription rate of a third drug, Pristiq, was also studied, researchers did not find a significant effect, possibly because the drug is generally less commonly prescribed than Vyvanse and Invega.

This study comes out in light of a rising trend among medical schools in tightening policies to prevent drug marketing on campuses, in an attempt to reduce the influence these gifts may have on physicians' prescribing practices.

Reference: Conaboy, Chelsea. "Study: Gift bans in medical school affect doctors’ later prescribing patterns." White Coat Notes 06 Feb 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. .

Gatorade to Remove Controversial Ingredient

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:42:00 +0000

News Brief by Denali Rao

PepsiCo will soon stop including an ingredient called brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, in their product Gatorade. BVO can be used as an emulsifier, helping to spread a solute or flavoring throughout the drink. However, other uses of BVO include flame retardation, and the chemical has been “banned in Japan and the European Union”. PepsiCo uses it in Mountain Dew as well as Gatorade, and Coca-Cola uses it in Fanta.

PepsiCo says that the change was a response to concerns from the public. Although the company didn't give out any specifics, there was a recent petition on Change.org that urged soft drink companies, specifically Gatorade, to stop using brominated vegetable oil. The December petition accrued more than 200,000 supporters. Now that that petition succeeded, another has sprung up to convince Gatorade's competitor Powerade to stop using BVO.

"Gatorade to Remove Controversial Ingredient." Wall Street Journal (2013): n. pag. 6 Jan. 2013. Web.

Research Highlights: Inclusion of Antibiotics in Nutritional Therapy for Children Afflicted with Acute Malnutrition Associated with Improved Recovery and Decreased Mortality Rates

noreply@blogger.com (Research Highlights Editor) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:29:00 +0000

Inclusion of Antibiotics in Nutritional Therapy for Children Afflicted with Acute Malnutrition Associated with Improved Recovery and Decreased Mortality Rates

By: Joseph St. Pierre

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article detailing the association of antibiotic regimen implementation in nutritional therapies for malnourished children of 6 to 59 years of age with improved recovery time, weight gain, and reduced mortality rates. In the study described, Pediatric researchers found that acutely malnourished children whose nutritional therapies were supplemented with a regimen of either of the antibiotics amoxicillin or cefdinir experienced significantly lower rates of treatment failure, as well as significantly lower mortality rates, over children whose nutritional therapies were supplemented with only a placebo.

The study saw the participation of 2767 malnourished children spread across 18 feeding centers throughout Malawi. Children taking part in the study were stated to possess similiar baseline characteristics and were subject to outpatient care. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, each of which were supplemented the usual routine of counseling and a daily dose of RUTF (Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food) with either amoxicillin, the cefdinir, or a placebo during the first seven days of therapy. Over the course of the study, recovery rate, mortality rates, and weight and length gain were documented and compared amongst groups via stastical analysis. Children receiving the placebo suffered significantly higher occurances of treatment failure and death. Furthermore, the groups receiving amoxicillin or cefdinir experienced significantly shorter recovery times than those observed in the placebo group, with the amoxicillin group exhibiting the stastically shortest recovery times of the three.

Researchers admit that there are factors that may limit the applicability of the data collected. For example, the study was performed in Malawi, where HIV is a prevalent affliction. Only 31.6% of the study's participants were tested for HIV, and those confirmed to have disease were described to be at most risk for treatment failure. Furthermore, factors like age also had a significant effect on treatment outcome, with younger participants exhibiting increased rates of treatment failure. However, the data does support the possibility that even when subject to nutritional therapy, malnourished children possess increased vulnerability to bacterial infection, and that more research should be performed to assess whether supplementing RUTF nutritional therapy with an antibiotic regimen could be of significant benefit to high-risk populations.

NEJM. 2013. 368: 425-435.

Joseph St. Pierre is an affiliated staff writer for Tuftscope (2012-2013)

FDA Approves Recombinant Flu Vaccine

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:51:00 +0000

News Brief by Kathryn Gibb

Flu season is now in full swing with a limited supply of vaccines and major cities like Boston declaring public health emergencies. However next flu season, there will be a new vaccine on the market. Flublok, a vaccine developed by the Protein Sciences Corporation, differentiates itself from previous vaccines in a few different ways. For one, it is the first flu vaccine that was developed from recombinant proteins to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Other available vaccines are comprised of an inactivated or weakened form of the virus. The proteins within the Flublok vaccine come from insect cells, compared to the vaccines that are currently on the market that come from chicken eggs. This will enable Flublok to be produced quickly. While Flublok is the first vaccine composed of recombinant proteins to be approved by the FDA, it is not the first to be produced without the use of chicken eggs. A different egg-free vaccine, Flucelvax, was approved by the FDA in November.

Reference: Ledford, Heidi. "FDA Approves Recombinant Flu Vaccine ." Nature News Blog. Scientific American, 22 Jan 2013. Web. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. .

People in US have poorer health and die younger than those in other rich countries

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:47:00 +0000

News Brief by Alice Chan

The medical accomplishments and breakthroughs made over the last decade have made positive differences in the U.S. health care system; however healthier living styles and longer lifespan are not among those differences. According to the January 9^th report released by a panel assembled by the U.S. National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, the U.S. performed poorly in health outcomes rankings at every age from birth to 75 years. In comparison to the inhabitants of the sixteen other high income “peer” countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, featured in the report, Americans are less healthy, have more chronic disease and disability, and die relatively younger than their international counterparts. The report demonstrated the specific nine health outcomes in which Americans performed the worst: infant mortality and low birth weight; injuries and homicide; adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; HIV and AIDS; drug related deaths; obesity and diabetes; heart disease; chronic lung disease; and disability. The report suggests that the U.S. health care system’s weaknesses, which include shortage of primary care and public health services, may have contributed to the poor rankings; however the report also suggests that the health care system is not likely to be solely responsible, as social, environmental, and policy factors are also considered. Nevertheless, the panel recommends a number of solutions: a “strengthened national commitment” to resolve the aforementioned issues, a “robust outreach effort” to raise public awareness to “stimulate a national discussion” and an “examination of the policies and approaches” of other countries that may be successfully adapted and applied in the United States.

Reference: McCarthy , Michael. "People in US have poorer health and die younger than those in other rich countries." BMJ. 346.f215 (2013): n. page. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. .

An Unexpected Road Hazard: Obesity

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:41:00 +0000

News Brief by Evan Balmuth

A new study reports that obese drivers are more likely than drivers of average weight to

die in a car crash. The findings, published in January's issue of the Emergency Medicine Journal, were based on data collected from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System and driver's licenses, from which BMIs were calculated. (A BMI of 30 or greater indicates obesity.) From comparison of 3,403 fatal accidents and 6,806 drivers, researchers concluded that when compared to drivers of average BMI, those with a BMI of 30 to 34.9 faced a 21 percent increased risk of death; those with a BMI of 35 to 39.9 faced a 51 percent increased risk; and those with a BMI greater than 40 faced an 81 percent increased risk.

Although the causes of this increased risk remain undetermined, they may include factors like driver health and vehicle design. As evidence, one study cited by the study's authors found that when compared to normal cadavers, obese cadavers had more forward movement before seat belt engagement during collisions. Other data considered in this study such as air bag efficiency, type of vehicle, use of seat belt, driver's age and sex and alcohol did not account for the difference between average weight and obese drivers' fatalities. As lead author Thomas M. Rice said of his study, “This adds one more item to the long list of negative consequences of obesity… It's one more reason to lose weight.”

Reference: Bakalar, Nicholas. "An Unexpected Road Hazard: Obesity." New York Times 21 Jan 2013, online Well. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. .

Who Can Outgrow or Recover From Autism

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:37:00 +0000

News Brief by Enshu Chawla

Researchers at the University of Connecticut have discovered that it is possible for a child to outgrow autism. Some children who were diagnosed with autism are being found to have recovered from the disorder, though there is a chance that some of these individuals may have been misdiagnosed at an early age as the number of autism diagnoses has been increasing. In one study, 18% of the toddlers that were screened no longer were considered to be autistic by the age of 4. Still, there currently is not a method to determine which group of individuals will outgrow or recover from autism. Some believe that the recovery could be attributed to proper therapy along with biological and genetic factors. Dr. Deborah Fein, one of the researchers at the University of Connecticut, is looking to see what can lead to what is known as the "optimal outcome," as she believes that many of the children diagnosed with autism can reach this end goal. However, it has been noted by Dr. Fred Volkmar of the Yale University School of Medicine that some individuals who do not meet the criteria for the disorder, and have therefore "recovered," may still show behaviors which could be considered abnormal. In one example, an individual is said to have recovered from autism but as an adult eats the same meal every night, goes through the exact same routine, and shows awkwardness in some social settings.

Reference:

Wang, Shirley S. "Who Can Outgrow or Recover From Autism." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.

Talking Machine Reminds You To Take Meds

noreply@blogger.com (TuftScope Journal) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:22:00 +0000

News Brief by Kelsey Davenport

A new advancement in medical technology just made life a whole lot easier for forgetful seniors. The Philips Medication Dispenser is the newest in a line of gadgetry aimed at the elderly. It monitors the sick outside of the hospital and gives them reminders to take their medication. It is different than an alarm clock because it also prepares the medication for the patient, and does not stop ringing until the medication has been taken. Some of these features may seem irritating, but for many of the country’s seniors, forgetting to take medication can be a matter of life and death. Reports estimate that skipping doses is responsible for up to 120,000 U.S. deaths and racks up medical costs of 300 billion dollars a year. This costly problem causes trouble that can be easily avoided. Now, the Philips Medication Dispenser presents an easy solution. Caregivers and patients both agree that the machine allows for more independence in the home and prevents return visits to the hospital. Although the Philips Medication Dispenser is expensive to buy, many healthcare facilities are allowing their patients to rent them out for much lower costs.

The goal of this machine is to make seniors self-sufficient and to lower costs of health insurance. Any device that lowers costs and keeps the country’s elderly out of the hospital is beneficial and should be supported.

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/15514785-423/talking-machine-reminds-you-to-take-meds.html

Creativity 'closely entwined with mental illness'

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:46:00 +0000

News Brief by Jesse Starger

The Journal of Psychiatric Research reports, researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have begun to uncover the link between mental illness and creativity. Writers, being the most at risk for these mental illnesses, were almost twice as likely to kill themselves with other problems stemming from afflictions such as schizophrenia, unipolar depression, and substance abuse. Famous examples include Virginia Woolf who had depression and drowned herself and Ernest Hemingway who was affected by depression and later killed himself with a shotgun. Dr. Simon Kyaga, the lead researcher, suggests disorders be viewed in a new light so certain traits can be considered beneficial or desirable. Such as the concept of ‘originality’ proceeding from the disordered thoughts of a schizophrenic or ‘genius’ originating from the intense focus provided by autism. Dr. Kyaga states, "In psychiatry and medicine generally there has been a tradition to see the disease in black-and-white terms and to endeavor to treat the patient by removing everything regarded as morbid." Yet, “If one takes the view that certain phenomena associated with the patient's illness are beneficial, it opens the way for a new approach to treatment.” Although, Beth Murphy, the head of information at Mind warns, "It is important that we do not romanticize people with mental health problems, who are too often portrayed as struggling creative geniuses.”

Reference:Roberts, Michelle. "Creativity 'closely entwined with mental illness'." BBC World News. BBC, 17 2012. Web. 24 Oct 2012. .

Hospitals Ditch Formula Samples to Promote Breast-Feeding

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:42:00 +0000

News Brief by Enshu Chawla

More hospitals are banning the distribution of formula samples, as about half of the hospitals surveyed by the CDC have done so. In contrast, only about a quarter of these hospitals had a ban on formula samples in 2007. States including Oklahoma, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are seeing these changes in policy, and Mayor Bloomberg's "Latch on NYC" initiative has grown in popularity among hospitals. Breast-feeding is widely known to be much healthier than formula, as the companies who sell formula agree to this. Individuals in favor of breast-feeding argue that the samples should not be given out to all mothers and marketed, but instead to those mothers who choose to use formula. On the other hand, formula companies claim that the formula can give an option due to the difficulty and pain involved with breast-feeding. Some mothers felt that they used formula at times only because it was available to them, while others saw it as a valuable resource for certain situations. At Cooper University Hospital, seventy percent of mothers were using formula to feed their babies before formula was documented by nurses and stored away. Following these actions, seventy percent of mothers were breast-feeding. However, at Virtua Hospital, breast-feeding rates continue to increase with formula readily available to mothers. The argument over breast-feeding versus the allowance of formula giveaways has been seen in both lights throughout the politics of states such as Massachusetts and hospitals such as UMass Memorial. Formula companies are making it difficult for hospitals to distance themselves from the groups, because of free samples and gifts to hospital staff members. In general, the move that hospitals have made to ban formula samples has been very controversial due to opposing viewpoints among staff members, mothers, and formula companies.

Reference:Belluck, Pam. "Hospitals Ditch Formula Samples to Promote Breast-Feeding." The New York Times Health. The New York Times, 15 Oct. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. .

Millennium goal on hunger is within reach, but food instability threatens progress

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:41:00 +0000

News Brief by Alice Chan

According to the U.N’s State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 report, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization and affiliated organizations, there is an estimated 870 million people who are starving or undernourished in the world. Data compiled and compared from the last twenty years show signs of decline in the number of malnourished people, as that number has dropped by 132 million people between 1990-2 and 2010-12. Although these results seem to hint success for the U.N. in accomplishing its millennium development goal of reducing the number of hungry people in the world by half by the year 2015, some critics remain alarmed and doubtful. Aid agencies argue that progress on reducing the number of malnourished people has decelerated, which may be influenced by the recent rise in food prices in September, after months of stability. As a result, according to the Global Hunger Index for 2012 report, twenty out of the 120 countries studied in the report face hunger at “alarming” or “extremely alarming” levels. Most of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, however the report also addresses the entire world in its recommendation for immediate action: “To feed nine billion people – the projected world population in 2050 – it is clear that more food must be produced with fewer resources, and wasteful practices and policies must be eliminated.” Reference:Arie, Sophie. "BMJ." BMJ. 345.e6961 (2012): n. page. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. .

Small Study Reveals How Poor Sleep Might Be Linked to Obesity, Diabetes

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:36:00 +0000

News Brief by Evan Balmuth

A small-scale study has discovered that lack of sleep may be linked to obesity and diabetes. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on October 15, compared the fat cells of participants who slept for four and a half hours per night to those of participants who slept for eight and a half hours per night during a four day period. The results, calculated by measuring the levels of phosphorylated enzyme Akt, revealed that the cells from sleep-deprived participants were 30 percent less responsive to insulin than the other participants' cells. Such a drop in efficiency is equivalent to that seen with ten to 20 years of aging, according to study co-author Matthew Brady. This inadequate insulin response in fat cells, also known as insulin resistance, causes lipids to spill into the bloodstream or surrounding tissue and is a known precursor to Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes.
Sleep deprivation is already recognized as a prevalent issue in the United States; the 2011 Sleep in America poll reported that a quarter of Americans ages 19 to 64 get less than seven hours of sleep on weeknights, while the National Sleep Foundation recommends seven to nine hours. However, until now many of the reasons for its recognition have been difficult to prove due to subjectivity of symptoms and confounding variables. Provided that this was a small study that compared just two sleep durations and included only one female participant, it still deserves praise; since this study has brought attention to a novel, metabolic consequence of sleep deprivation at the objective cellular level, the medical research and public health communities may begin to focus more of their resources on this widespread dilemma. And in the process, they may find keys to solving the parallel dilemmas of obesity and diabetes in the United States.

Reference:
Petersen, Andrea. "Small Study Reveals How Poor Sleep Might Be Linked to Obesity, Diabetes." Wall Street Journal 15 Oct 2012, Personal Journal D2. Print. .

UN Says "One Billion Undernourished" Figure is Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:32:00 +0000

News Brief by Patricia Solleveld

In 2009, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) issued a report stating that nearly one billion people worldwide suffered from hunger on an annual basis. However, FAO’s most recent annual report has retracted these initial findings, citing “flawed methodology and poor data” as the primary reason for improper data collection. Currently, the UN estimates that approximately 870 million people are hungry or malnourished. A spokesperson for the UN claimed that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving worldwide hunger by the year 2015 was “still within reach”.
While the UN’s data oversight has certainly provided positive news in regard to reducing world hunger, a more thorough analysis of the revised figures suggests that the UN’s progress is not as remarkable as it may appear. According to FAO representative, Graziano da Silva, the most significant reduction in the “global number of chronically hungry” occurred prior to 2007-2008. Recent reports have even suggested that the number of unnourished individuals has significantly grown in the African region, indicating that efforts to combat hunger must be maintained. Given the effects of the global recession, climate change and escalating food prices, world hunger is certain to remain a prevalent issue for years to come.

Reference:"UN says 'one billion undernourished' figure is wrong."BBC World News. BBC, 09 2012. Web. 24 Oct 2012. .

US Supreme Court is asked to rule on validity of patents on BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:25:00 +0000

News Brief by Denali Rao

The University of Utah Research Foundation and a Utah company, Myriad Genetics, hold contentious patents on two human genes: BRCA1 and BRCA2. The fact that these genes are associated with breast and ovarian cancer is just one point used to argue that the patents must be overturned: open research on these genes could save lives. Another argument deals with the legal aspect: under US law, patents cannot be made on “'laws of nature' [or] 'products of nature'”. The ACLU and Public Patent Foundation argue that the human genome, whether certain genes are isolated or not, is a product of nature.

The same groups, the ACLU and the Public Patent Foundation, are among groups asking the Supreme Court to review these patents. So far, the lower courts have gone back and forth about this issue. The patents have appeared in various courts three times. The Supreme Court “is expected to allow Myriad to respond” before deciding to take the case on.

Reference:

Dyer, C. 2012. US Supreme Court is asked to rule on validity of patents on BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e6624

What Your Breath Reveals About Your Health

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:41:00 +0000

News Brief by Kristiina Yang

Breath testing, while not quite ready to be used in doctors’ offices yet, presents a new and exciting frontier in preventative and diagnostic medicine. Researchers have found that each individual has a unique breath content consisting of volatile and nonvolatile materials, which can be analyzed for the presence and progression of various health problems. They hope to use individuals’ unique breath content to develop noninvasive medical tests for diagnostic and monitoring purposes, amongst other possibilities. Studies, for example, have already shown that breath analysis can be used to indicate whether one has lung cancer.

Researchers’ and scientists’ efforts to develop breath analysis technologies are rooted in the many benefits that this noninvasive form of medical testing may present. Breath analysis, researchers hope, will enhance the efficiency of the medical field by taking a small sample with no pain to the patient, which can be processed quicker than blood tests or biopsies for a wide variety of inflictions, and at a potentially lesser cost. What remains to be done is for scientists to identify and catalogue thousands of chemicals in the breath, and to understand how their presence and changes indicate disease. While trials and studies still need to be undertaken to standardize and validate the process, the field of breath testing is expected to see great development and progress in the coming years.

Reference:

Beck, Melinda. "What Your Breath Reveals About Your Health." WSJ.com. The Wall Street Journal, 8 Oct. 2012. Web.

New Emergency Medicine Programs to Enhance Quality of Life

noreply@blogger.com (News and Analysis Editor) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 04:19:00 +0000

Submitted by Kelsey Davenport

Emergency medicine is a medical specialty in which physicians provide short-term care to individuals requiring immediate medical attention. The goal of the emergency practitioner is to stabilize a patient with acute trauma and prepare him or her for definitive care. Emergency medicine is a strenuous field and programs are rare across the world. That is why it is such an accomplishment for the United Arab Emirates to have established their first emergency medicine professional association, along with a trauma registry in Abu Dhabi. These advancements will help to spread awareness about emergency medicine and attract newcomers to specialize in the field. Fifty emergency medicine specialists are expected to graduate in the upcoming year, and numbers should only go up as the field gains more attention.

Progress in Abu Dhabi will hopefully influence the creation of additional emergency programs such as programs to train emergency department nurses and any other staff members who could work in critical care departments. These advancements make Abu Dhabi a leader in the field, especially in the Middle East. There is an ever present need for emergency medicine specialists, but the Emirates Medical Association (EMA) is taking leaps and bounds in securing themselves a strong future in emergency medicine. As the number of physicians trained in emergency medicine specialties increase, the quality of medical services in their area should only continue to improve.

Reference:

Zaman, Samihah. "New Association to Enhance Emergency Medicine." Gulf News 14 Oct 2012, n. pag. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. .