December 2008

Doctors may start running genetic tests before writing prescriptions
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Submitted by erika on 12/30/08 5:45am

The New York Times has an interesting article on the genetic component behind how useful (or not) several popular prescriptions are. The main focus of the article is tamoxifen, a cancer drug which is a (relatively) inexpensive and effective alternative to a newer class of cancer drugs called "aromatase inhibitors."

Tamoxifen itself isn't what kills the cancer cells. It is converted by the body into endoxifen, which is the substance that actually fights cancer. However, researchers recently showed that not everyone has the genetic component which is required to make the conversion. The conversion is done by an enzyme called 2D6, and "up to 7 percent of people" do not produce this enzyme. Another 20 to 40 percent of people produce a low level of the enzyme, which may not be enough to convert tamoxifen at an effective rate.

Genetic testing can determine whether a person is producing enough 2D6 to make tamoxifen treatment useful. Read more
Effects of MDMA (Ecstacy)
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Submitted by hellenwyeth on 12/25/08 6:11pm

MDMA or methylenedioxymethamphetamine is a synthetic, psychoactive drug that is chemically similar to methamphetamine as well as the hallucinogen known as mescaline. People who take MDMA, also known to party kids as ecstasy, feel energized and feelings of euphoria, emotional warmth. This is also accompanied with distortions in time perception and it provides tactile experiences for the consumer.

Ecstasy is made in to a capsule or pill and is taken orally. In it's early stages, it was mainly popular with teens and young adults in nightclubs and very popular in raves. Those taking Ecstasy while at raves or nightclubs thrive on the effects of being able to dance all night and feel great doing it. The extra sensory input that the drug provides as well as the feelings of euphoria made this drug explode in popularity.

Now according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the profile of the typical MDMA user has changed. The drug now affects a broader range of ethnic groups. Ecstasy is also popular among urban gay males.
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Radiation Plus Hormone Therapy Cuts Prostate Cancer Deaths
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Submitted by hellenwyeth on 12/25/08 5:11pm

Swiss researchers continuing their studies in cancer have found a way to give men diagnosed with prostate cancer to cut their chances of death in half. Those with locally advanced prostate cancer or cancer that has spread beyond the wall of the prostate gland were placed under radiation therapy in combination with hormone treatment therapy and the results were very promising.

The prostate is a walnut-sized gland located in front of the rectum and underneath the urinary bladder. It is found only in men. The prostate's job is to make some of the fluid that protects and nourishes sperm cells in semen. Just behind the prostate gland are the seminal vesicles that make most of the fluid for semen. The urethra, which is the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body through the penis, runs through the prostate. Several types of cells are found in the prostate, but over 99% of prostate cancers develop from the gland cells. Gland cells make the prostate fluid that is added to the semen.
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history of depression
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Submitted by erika on 12/24/08 12:53pm

I'm writing a research paper on "Teens and Depression" for and English final, and I would like to get some background information to include in it as well. I would like to know how long depression has been around, how long it took before people knew how to treat it, and how long before people realized teens could become depressed as well. If anyone could help, I would be so greatful, this surfing the web isn't helping much.
Medicare Offers Incentives for E-Prescriptions
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Submitted by hellenwyeth on 12/22/08 6:41pm

Those of you out there that are on Medicare may be getting your prescriptions for medications in a different manner. Starting next month, Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, will offer financial bonuses to doctors who prescribe drugs electronically rather than on paper. Doctors who opt out of the e-prescribing will face penalties from Medicare starting in 2012. Putting the electronic prescribing in place next month, Medicare hopes to get doctors in the swing of things early on before they will suffer penalties. Medicare is putting e-prescriptions in place to both improve efficiency and lower medical errors.

Incentives for doctors to switch over to the e-prescriptions will begin January 1st of the upcoming year. Though Medicare does not expect all doctors to jump on board right away but they do expect it to be more and more of a common practice about 6 months or so down the road. Only weeks before Barack Obama takes office with plans to overhaul the U.S.
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Those Who Snore Burn More Calories
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Submitted by hellenwyeth on 12/22/08 5:40pm

Does your partner snore and keep you up through the night? With all the numerous ways to make attempts to put a stop to snoring, researchers have done a study on snorers and your partner may have another benefit from it aside from getting sleep. People who snore have been found to burn more calories when they are resting during the day than those who sleep quietly through the night.

Though the new studies have shown the extra calorie burning in our beloved snorers, the calories that are burned during the daily rest periods doesn't amount to be enough to balance the extra weight that usually goes along with the condition sleep apnea. The study published in the December issue of the Archives of Otorlaryngology may give insight into the basic biological underpinnings of such disorders.

"There are a lot of other factors that are going on that lead to a net increase in body weight," said Dr. Read more
New Study Finds that Some Breast Cancers Disappear
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Submitted by hellenwyeth on 12/17/08 10:59pm

It appears that some breast cancers that are found by a mammogram screening may not be detected again raising the possibility that the natural course of some screen-detected invasive breast cancers is to spontaneously regress or simply disappear according to a team of researchers from Norway and Dartmouth Medical School.

"Some breast cancers will not continue to behave as cancers, even though they look like cancer under the microscope, and they grow and reach a size where they can be detected on mammograms," Jan Maehlen, MD, PhD, a study co-author, tells WebMD.
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Benefits of Colonoscopy Seen More Limited?
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Submitted by hellenwyeth on 12/17/08 8:10pm

Cancer of the colon is one of the most common causes of deathfrom cancer, coming in just behind lung cancer, among the many types ofcancer that affect men and women. Most cancers of the colonbegin as polyps which are small, slow-growing, mushroom-like growthson the inner surface of the colon. The purposeof colon cancer screening is to detect and remove growths beforethey invade and spread.

A colonoscopy screening is performed to inspect the entire colon througha flexible tube. Becausecolonoscopy is also the most expensive, inconvenient, and riskiesttest, it is important to know whether colonoscopy reduces thechance of dying of colon cancer. Researchers performed studies to find out whether the colon cancer death rate is lower in people who had a colonoscopy performed.

Previously believed that screening for colorectal cancer through a colonoscopy prevents up to 90 percent of deaths studies now indicate that the number is closer to only two-thirds.
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New Study: HIV Attacks Healthy Genital Tissue in Women
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Submitted by hellenwyeth on 12/17/08 7:10pm

The belief that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) looked for breaks in the skin like a herpes sore to enter the body to acquire access to immune system cells deeper in the tissue and that the normal lining of the vaginal tract offered a barrier to invasion by the virus during sexual intercourse has been disproved by researchers. Instead, HIV appears to attack normal and healthy genital tissue in women.

On Tuesday, researchers in the United States completed a study that offers new insight on how the AIDS virus spreads. Before these studies, scientists had little understanding of all the details pertaining to how HIV is sexually transmitted in women.

"Normal skin is vulnerable," Thomas Hope of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine said in a telephone interview.
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RNA Therapy Soon an Option for Ovarian Cancer Patients?
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Submitted by hellenwyeth on 12/17/08 6:28pm

In the December 18th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, information from studies could not only help predict survival of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer but it might also lead to treatments for the disease. Ovarian cancer is the second most lethal cancer in women in terms of cases diagnosed.

Researchers found two enzymes that are key in ovarian cancer. Dicer and Drosha are involved in two types of RNA interference. The enzyme Dicer gets its name because it dices up RNA. During the study, researchers measured messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of Dicer and Drosha in tissue samples derived from 111 patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer and then compared their findings with information on survival of the disease. RNA interference molecules help regulate gene expression. They can shut down genes and can represent an avenue for treatment.

Nearly 60 percent of cancer cells had low levels of the Dicer gene and about half had low levels of Drosha. Close to 39 percent of cancer cells in the study had low levels of both genes. Low levels of either or both genes was associated with poorer survival.
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