Day: 09/22/2013

Clinical trial hints at Crohn’s treatment success.

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INITIAL clinical trial results are indicating mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) infusion is a viable treatment for patients suffering moderate to severe Crohn’s disease who are unresponsive to conventional therapy.

One-third of patients with Crohn’s disease are unresponsive, or develop resistance to, conventional biological treatment, resulting in a need for surgical removal of the bowel.

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A phase II clinical trial aimed at establishing preliminary data for the alternative MSC infusion treatment, is being undertaken between several Australian medical institutes including the Cell and Tissue Therapies WA (CTTWA) and the Department of Gastroenterology at the Royal Perth Hospital.

The trial results show a high response rate with a decrease in the symptoms and manifestations of Crohn’s disease.

Out of 15 patients (aged 21–55 years) that completed the trial, 12 demonstrated a response to the alternative treatment and disease remission occurred in eight.

Clinical Professor Richard Herrmann from CTTWA at Royal Perth Hospital says so far 21 patients have been recruited with a goal to reach 30 in total.

In this study, MSCs were isolated from the bone marrow of volunteer donors and prepared for transplantation within a government-funded facility at Royal Perth Hospital.

Cells were injected into the veins of patients weekly for four weeks via infusions of two million cells per kilogram of bodyweight.

Following on from the phase II trial, the group has planned a phase III clinical trial comparing MSC treatment with standard therapy (anti-TNF) in patients with advanced Crohn’s disease.

Long-term efficacy and safety will then need to be addressed in a similar patient group and in those with early-stage disease.

Prof Herrmann says currently research groups do not have the capacity to manufacture stem cells for large-scale commercial use.

“There is still a need to overcome the technical and commercial challenges of manufacturing MSC preparations, including standardisation and quality control,” he says.

Previously, bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation was used to treat active Crohn’s disease and was successful in some patients, but unpleasant chemotherapy (myeloconditioning) was required prior to cell transplantation.

Prof Herrmann says the benefit of using MSCs is that they home to sites of inflammation and have a regulating effect on the immune system.

In addition, they escape immune recognition and therefore transplant rejection; precluding the need for chemotherapeutic marrow conditioning.

The potential use of MSCs in regenerative medicine has been extensively studied over the last 10 years to treat various conditions including graft versus host disease, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes.

Source: http://www.sciencewa.net.au

Ginger may protect the brain from MSG toxicity, says fascinating research.

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For thousands of years, ginger has been hailed as a superfood for its healing properties that aid every system of the body. The oils that ginger contains are antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal, and ginger has even been found to inhibit cancer growth. Now a study has actually proven that ginger can reverse the damage done by monosodium glutamate, or MSG, a known harmful excitotoxin.

Comforting Hand

After injecting pure MSG into rats for 30 days, researchers found subsequent withdrawal caused adverse effects including significant epinephrine, norepinephine, dopamine and serotonin depletion. Low levels of these important neurotransmitters can be detrimental to health.

MSG is widely used as a cheap flavor enhancer in many processed foods. While MSG may seem tasty for the scant time that its on your tongue, every bite comes with a potential kitchen sink of negative side effects, including headaches, migraines, eye damage, fatigue, drowsiness, depression, numbness, muscle spasms, nausea, rashes, rapid heartbeat, chest pain, difficulty breathing, anaphylaxis and seizures, just to name a few.

Subsequent to injecting lab rats with MSG, researchers injected ginger root extract for 30 more days and were able to completely reverse the neurotransmitter depletion and brain damage that MSG caused. Not only that, but the positive effects of ginger were maintained even after scientists stopped administering it!

A wealth of independent studies show that MSG should be avoided at all costs. Also popularly printed on food labels as hydrolyzed protein, torula or autolyzed yeast, soy or yeast extract and soy protein isolate among some 40 other names, scientists have found that consuming MSG even in low doses can cause blood glutamate levels to fluctuate abnormally high and then stay there. Anyone suffering from a disease or immunity issue that would contribute to a weakened blood-brain barrier is then much more susceptible to the chemical seeping into his or her brain and doing damage. Studies have effectively linked MSG consumption to several neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

In a 2008 study published in the Journal of Autoimmunity, researchers actually concluded, “we suggest that MSG should have its safety profile re-examined and be potentially withdrawn from the food chain”.

As a cheap flavor enhancer, MSG holds more benefits for food companies than for consumers.

Despite overwhelming evidence of MSG’s detrimental health effects, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to claim the substance is “generally recognized as safe.” The FDA admits that it has received reports from people who have suffered the adverse effects from MSG, but the organization claims, “However, we were never able to confirm that the MSG caused the reported effects.”

Truth in Labeling Campaign co-founder Jack Samuels has commented that “the staff at the FDA are unbelievably fantastic in their ability to write in a way that deceives the public, but loosely based on fact. We refer to such writing as half truths. Read the FDA points carefully and you will see how MSG can be hidden in foods.”

On the other hand, ginger’s neuroprotective role can be added to a basket of healthful properties. With an oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) score of 28,811, ginger has an extraordinarily high ability to quench oxygen free radicals. After exposing breast cancer cells directly to crude ginger extract in a laboratory for example, researchers found the cells were rendered unable to reproduce. This treatment had the added benefit of leaving the healthy cells unaffected, something allopathic medicine with its chemotherapy treatments that indiscriminately target all cells, even healthy ones, cannot claim. Ginger is also a natural pain reliever, digestive aid and detoxifier. In short, it’s amazing.

The list of ginger’s health benefits – not just as a brain protector but as a full-body protector – cannot be overstated.

Confirmed by science: You really can change your DNA – and here’s how.

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If you believe that you are at the mercy of your genetic code, great news, you’re not. According to the science of epigenetics (the study of how environmental factors outside of DNA influence changes in gene expression), stem cells and even DNA can be altered through magnetic fields, heart coherence, positive mental states and intention. Top scientists around the world agree: genetic determinism is a flawed theory.

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Curbing the genetic victim mentality

The DNA we are born with is not the sole determinant for our health and well-being. Stem cell biologist Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., discusses the important difference between genetic determinism and epigenetics in an interview with SuperConsciousness magazine:

“The difference between these two is significant because this fundamental belief called genetic determinism literally means that our lives, which are defined as our physical, physiological and emotional behavioral traits, are controlled by the genetic code. This kind of belief system provides a visual picture of people being victims: If the genes control our life function, then our lives are being controlled by things outside of our ability to change them. This leads to victimization that the illnesses and diseases that run in families are propagated through the passing of genes associated with those attributes. Laboratory evidence shows this is not true.”

Lipton’s theory is confirmed by Carlo Ventura, M.D., Ph.D., professor and researcher at the University of Bologna in Italy. Dr. Ventura has shown through lab testing that the DNA of stem cells can be altered using magnetic field frequencies.

“It’s like a time machine. You’re reprogramming somehow backward with these cells to an uncertain state in which any kind of decision is somehow possible; even the decision to become virtually any kind of cell of the organism. And just think about the tremendous potential of this discovery.”

He adds that two Nobel Prize-winning scientists discovered even “nonstem adult cells can be epigenetically reprogrammed backward to a state where they can eventually give rise to neural cells, cardiac cells, skeletal muscle cells or insulin-producing cells.”

Changing DNA through intention

According to the Institute of HeartMath in Boulder Creek, California, epigenetics encompasses far more than just DNA, our environment and life experience. After two decades of study, the researchers discovered factors like love and appreciation or anxiety and anger also influence a person’s blueprint. In one experiment, select participants were able to change DNA with positive mental states.

“An individual holding three DNA samples was directed to generate heart coherence – a beneficial state of mental, emotional and physical balance and harmony – with the aid of a HeartMath technique that utilizes heart breathing and intentional positive emotions. The individual succeeded, as instructed, to intentionally and simultaneously unwind two of the DNA samples to different extents and leave the third unchanged.”

Control group volunteers who had low heart coherence were unable to alter the DNA.

Healthy cell expression and a quantum nutrient diet

If we want to nourish our bodies at a cellular level (and not promote disease), the institute recommends an abundant diet of quantum nutrients. When we are stressed or negative, our biological energy reserves are diverted from the important task of regenerating and repairing the body. We can counteract this cellular starvation by focusing on genuine states of care, appreciation and love. These positive emotions enhance our energy system and feed the body, even down to the level of DNA. HeartMath calls such positive feelings “quantum nutrients.”

The institute offers several free tools that assist in creating a coherent state quickly and easily. Two examples can be found here and here.

Sources:

http://www.heartmath.org

http://www.superconsciousness.com

http://www.heartmath.org

http://www.heartmath.org

http://item-bioenergy.com

New test enables early diagnosis of liver cancer.

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Scientists, including Indian-origin researchers, have developed a new test that can distinguish early liver cancer cells from nearly identical normal liver cells by giving them a distinctive red-brown hue.

The inability to definitively tell the difference between them often means the disease is detected late when treatment options are less effective, said Dr Ravindra Kolhe, pathologist and Medical Director of the Georgia Esoteric, Molecular Labs at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

“There is no definitive test for early diagnosis of liver cancer. Our test adds a level of comfort for making the diagnosis,” said Kolhe, lead author of the study. Early liver cancer is mostly silent. By the time it’s large enough to cause classic symptoms such as abdominal pain and weight loss, the cancer cells look distinctive but the liver is failing.

The myriad of treatment options – from removing the diseased portion of the liver to liver transplants to freezing or heating cancer cells – have a high chance of failing as well, Kolhe said.

Kolhe began collaborating with BioGenex laboratories, a California company with expertise in cell and tissue testing, to develop a probe that gives cancer cells the distinctive red-brown hue.

The probe detects and stains a microRNA called mir-21, which is found in liver cancer but not healthy liver cells, Kolhe said. Unlike RNA, microRNA doesn’t make proteins rather helps control proteins that are expressed by RNA. That means it’s more stable and can survive harsh chemicals normally used to prepare the biopsy for microscopic evaluation.

For the study, they used their probe on biopsies of 10 healthy livers and 10 livers with early cancers. In every case of liver cancer, the biopsy took on the red-brown hue. The probe was not detected in normal cells. The studies were done retrospectively, so they already knew which patients ultimately were diagnosed with cancer. They are now using the test on 200 similar cases of liver cancer.

Colonoscopies Could Prevent 40% of Colorectal Cancers.

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Katie Couric was right about colonoscopies. They aren’t fun, but they lower cancer risk and save lives.

After the popular talk-show host underwent a colonoscopy on live TV to raise awareness about the disease that claimed her husband’s life, more Americans underwent the uncomfortable procedure to screen for colorectal tumors. But studies raised questions about how effective the process was in reducing incidence of disease and lowering deaths from the cancer, particular for people with growths in the upper intestines that are generally less accessible by the colonoscopy scope.

But according to the latest results from a Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study, 40% of colorectal cancers might be prevented if more people get regular colonoscopy screening, which existing guidelines recommend for those over 50, every 10 years.

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In the study, which appears in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers looked at data from close to 89,000 participants who were a part of either the Nurses’ Health Study or the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, both long-term trials that followed men and women over several decades and recorded a number of health measures. The participants filled out data about their colon cancer screenings with either colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, which screens for lesions only in the lower part of the colon, every two years from 1988 to 2008. Overall, there were 1,815 cases of colorectal cancer and 474 deaths.

Those getting either procedure had a lower risk of developing cancer or dying from it compared to those were weren’t screened, but only people who had colonoscopies also benefited from fewer cancers in the upper part of the colon, which sigmoidoscopies generally can’t reach. If all of the participants had been screened, the study authors say, they would have developed 40% fewer colon cancers.

The findings are reassuring, since, as TIME reported last year, experts have been debating which type of screening procedure is more accurate and predictive.

 “Each year, more than 1.2 million people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer worldwide. Our findings could help improve and strengthen the current guidelines for colorectal cancer screening,” said lead study author Reiko Nishihara, a research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH in a statement.

Earlier studies have documented that colonoscopies can reduce the number of colon cancers, but only recently have studies confirmed that the screening, which also involves removal of suspicious growths or tumors, can actually save lives. Now the data supporting the life-saving benefits of colonoscopy looks even stronger.


Source: http://healthland.time.com

Morbidly obese two-year-old from Saudi Arabia youngest person to have gastric bypass surgery.

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The child had a Body Mass Index of 41 had continued to gain weight despite efforts to control his diet

A morbidly obese two-year-old in Saudi Arabia is the youngest person in the world to have gastric bypass surgery.

The boy, who weighed 72.2lb – five stone – suffered from sleep apnoea and bow legs as a result of being massively overweight.

Sleep apnoea is a condition which causes people to stop breathing while asleep.

The child had a Body Mass Index of 41 and had continued to gain weight despite efforts to control his diet.

The procedure, a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), involves the removal of a section of the stomach and is irreversible. According to theInternational Journal of Surgery Case Reports the LSG proceedure was ‘well tolerated and without complications’.

The report notes that at the age of just 14 months the child weighed 46lbs and already had a Body Mass Index of 29.

On seeing an endocrinologist the child was put on a doctor-prescribed diet, but over the next four months gained 17 more pounds.

“Although the parents were informed about the importance of a strict dietary regimen a full compliance cannot be ascertained mainly due to the different socio cultural habits and the absence of the practice of calculating the calorific value of the diet,” the report said.

The severe weight gain led to the severe sleep apnoea as well as “bowing of the legs”, after which the child was referred to an obesity clinic.

Despite the dietary advice of the clinic he gained a further 18 pounds.

When he hit 72 lbs at 30-months-old the doctors decided to perform the Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy. Following the surgery the child’s weight dropped to 52.9 lbs.

Despite the success of the operation the report notes that after the surgery the parents missed follow-up appointments: “The parents of the child did not comply with the provided instruction/s and more often showed a tendency to miss appointments and hence a regular time bound follow up was not possible.”

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk