Photodynamic therapy can help preserve the voice for patients with early stage laryngeal cancer

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• Photodynamic therapy can help preserve the voice for patients with early stage laryngeal cancer
• Interaction between fatty acid synthase and nitric oxide synthase key to vascular complications in diabetes mellitus
• Prevent misuse of technique in female foeticide: President
• Students' strike hits medical college hospitals
• Muslim clerics join hands for polio eradication in Uttar Pradesh
• Learn more quickly by transcranial magnetic brain stimulation
• DNA caught rock 'n rollin'
• City Tech research team casts light on asteroid deflection
• Study: African-American men say doctor visits are often a bad experience
• Powerful 3-D X-rays for kids in braces should be the exception, not the rule

Photodynamic therapy can help preserve the voice for patients with early stage laryngeal cancer Posted: 29 Jan 2011 10:05 PM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Light, or photodynamic, therapy can help preserve the voice and vocal cord function for patients with early stage laryngeal (voice box) cancer, according to a study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. "Photodynamic therapy is an effective treatment for early laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas, offering patients a less invasive option with fewer side effects than other therapies, while preserving the voice," says study co-author Vanessa G. Schweitzer, FACS, M.D., a senior staff physician in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford. Each year in the United States, more than 10,000 people are diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. Those who smoke and drink alcohol are at a greater risk, according to the National Cancer Institute. Laryngeal cancer is most commonly treated with radiation therapy alone or in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. But photodynamic therapy offers some patients another option. "It is a good alternative to radiation and surgery for early staged lesions. It can preserve function and allow us to reserve use of radiation therapy and surgery – both known to have more functional impairment on vocal cord function – should the cancer recur following photodynamic therapy," says study lead author Melissa L. Somers, M.D., with the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford. Having already performed more than 200 procedures – more than any other hospital in Michigan – Henry Ford physicians are center stage in the application and research for this procedure. Photodynamic therapy works by destroying deadly cancer cells without harming surrounding healthy tissue. It uses a powerful laser and a nontoxic, light-activated drug called PHOTOFRIN. The laser activates the drug, causing a reaction in the cancer cells and destroying them. Since photodynamic therapy does not damage the underlying tissue, it not only allows for multiple treatments but also for it... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Interaction between fatty acid synthase and nitric oxide synthase key to vascular complications in diabetes mellitus Posted: 29 Jan 2011 09:46 PM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A key mechanism that appears to contribute to blood vessel damage in people with diabetes has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Microvascular and macrovascular complications are common in Diabetes mellitus. Many of the nearly 26 million Americans with the disease face the prospect of amputations, heart attack, stroke and vision loss because of damaged vessels. Reporting in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Washington University researchers say studies in mice show that the damage appears to involve two enzymes, fatty acid synthase (FAS) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS), that interact in the cells that line blood vessel walls. "We already knew that in diabetes there's a defect in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels," says first author Xiaochao Wei, PhD. "People with diabetes also have depressed levels of fatty acid synthase. But this is the first time we've been able to link those observations together." Wei is a postdoctoral research scholar in the lab of Clay F. Semenkovich, MD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine, professor of cell biology and physiology and chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research. Wei studied mice that had been genetically engineered to make FAS in all of their tissues except the endothelial cells that line blood vessels. These so-called FASTie mice experienced problems in the vessels that were similar to those seen in animals with diabetes. "It turns out that there are strong parallels between the complete absence of FAS and the deficiencies in FAS induced by lack of insulin and by insulin resistance," Semenkovich says. Comparing FASTie mice to normal animals, as well as to mice with diabetes, Wei and Semenkovich determined that mice without FAS, and with low levels of FAS, could not make the substance that anchors nitric oxide synthase to the endothelial cells in blood... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Prevent misuse of technique in female foeticide: President Posted: 28 Jan 2011 06:57 PM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Jan 28 - President Pratibha Devisingh Patil Friday stressed the need to prevent misuse of diagnostic technology in female foeticide calling it detrimental to the society. 'An aspect that needs attention is the prevention of diagnostic tests conducted for pre-natal detection of abnormalities of a baby, from being misused for the purpose of pre-natal gender determination, which can lead to female foeticide,' the president said after inaugurating the National Conference of the Indian Radiologist and Imaging Association. 'We have laws and legal provisions that specially prohibit medical practitioners from disclosing the gender of the foetus. It is very important that all medical facilities, Doctors and Radiologists, adhere to this, so as to prevent incidents of female foeticide, a phenomenon that is a disgrace to society and is a social evil,' she added. Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi meanwhile, stressed on caution in utilization of medical imaging examinations and not expose patients to unnecessary radiation. 'Imaging professionals must work to reduce the radiation dose as much as reasonably achievable, to seek accreditation of imaging facilities with careful attention to radiation dose monitoring and control, and to participate in dose registries that will allow imaging practitioners to benchmark their dose levels with peer institutions,' he said. http://www.rxpgnews.com

Students' strike hits medical college hospitals Posted: 28 Jan 2011 03:37 PM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 28 - Normal functioning at the five medical college hospitals in Kerala continued to be hit for the fourth day Friday as post-graduate students have struck work, demanding a stipend hike and fee reduction. The strike called by Kerala Medical Post Graduates' Association turned more serious after the house surgeons also joined it Thursday. In all, more than 2,000 professionals are on strike. Barring emergency operations and casualty functions, the normal functioning of various departments in the five medical colleges' hospitals has been affected since Tuesday, with patients having no other option but to go back or seek medical help from private hospitals. 'In the past one year, we have been assured many times by the health minister - that a raise would be given, but nothing has happened,' said an angry student, requesting anonymity. 'We were Wednesday told that a final decision would be taken after consulting Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, but as he is busy preparing the state budget, and the meeting with him is yet to happen,' the student said. Said a patient at the Medical College Hospital here who did not wish to be named: 'I have come for a review in the orthopaedics department and we have been waiting for the past three hours. There is none in sight and nor are we told what we should do.' 'Medical colleges are for poor patients like us and we get no solace when we come here. It is surprising that the state government is silent,' he added. Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy asked Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan to intervene to end the impasse. 'It will take only half an hour for the health, finance and chief minister to end this if they decide to sit down to tackle the issue. Those on strike can do it, but they should also see that the patients are not left high and dry,' Chandy said. Former chief of the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association, Varghese Thomas, blamed both the... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Muslim clerics join hands for polio eradication in Uttar Pradesh Posted: 28 Jan 2011 01:58 PM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Meerut, Jan 28 - From sending greeting cards to issuing printed appeals and making announcements from the mosque loudspeaker - Muslim clerics in western Uttar Pradesh are doing everything, and with much success, to motivate their community to get children immunised against polio. Their cajoling has had a good effect - as from 1,700 houses in the city resisting giving their kids polio drops in 2006, the number has come down to 126 last year. Ahead of the National Immunisation Day - on Jan 23, the head cleric 'shahr qazi' of Meerut and Muzaffarnagar district issued over 50,000 personalised written appeals to the community to bring their children below the age of five to polio booths for vaccination. During the Eid last year, the head cleric of Meerut distributed greeting cards carrying messages like 'Good health is the key to true happiness' appealing to people to get their children vaccinated against all diseases. Before every polio Sunday - the vaccination day - all the mosques in the city after regular prayers make announcements asking people to get their children vaccinated as it is for the betterment of their family. At many places booths are inaugurated by head clerics and hajis - people who have made a trip to Mecca, the holiest pilgrimage for Muslims. 'We make people from the community converse with hajis where they tell them that it is compulsory for those going to Mecca - Indians and Pakistanis - to take polio vaccination. This has an influence on them,' Meerut shahr qazi Zainus Sajidin told IANS. According to Sajidin, the situation has changed a lot in the city compared to a few years back when people used to resist saying the vaccine will make their children impotent. 'We decided to organise polio booths in our houses and used to first vaccinate children from our families to set an example before the society. People have now realised that vaccination is for their benefit but still some people do resist,' said... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Learn more quickly by transcranial magnetic brain stimulation Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) What sounds like science fiction is actually possible: thanks to magnetic stimulation, the activity of certain brain nerve cells can be deliberately influenced. What happens in the brain in this context has been unclear up to now. Medical experts from Bochum under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Klaus Funke (Department of Neurophysiology) have now shown that various stimulus patterns changed the activity of distinct neuronal cell types. In addition, certain stimulus patterns led to rats learning more easily. The knowledge obtained could contribute to cerebral stimulation being used more purposefully in future to treat functional disorders of the brain. The researchers have published their studies in the Journal of Neuroscience and in the European Journal of Neuroscience. Magnetic pulses stimulate the brain Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a relatively new method of pain-free stimulation of cerebral nerve cells. The method, which was presented by Anthony Barker for the first time in 1985, is based on the fact that the cortex, the rind of the brain located directly underneath the skull bone, can be stimulated by means of a magnetic field. TMS is applied in diagnostics, in fundamental research and also as a potential therapeutic instrument. Used in diagnostics, one single magnetic pulse serves to test the activability of nerve cells in an area of the cortex, in order to assess changes in diseases or after consumption of medications or also following a prior artificial stimulation of the brain. One single magnetic pulse can also serve to test the involvement of a certain area of the cortex in a sensorial, motoric or cognitive task, as it disturbs its natural activity for a short period, i.e. switches off the area on a temporary basis. Repeated stimuli change cerebral activity Since the mid-1990's, repetitive TMS has been used to make purposeful changes to the activability of nerve cells in the human cortex: In general, the... http://www.rxpgnews.com

DNA caught rock 'n rollin' Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) ANN ARBOR, Mich.---DNA, that marvelous, twisty molecule of life, has an alter ego, research at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Irvine reveals. On rare occasions, its building blocks rock and roll, deforming the familiar double helix into a different shape. We show that the simple DNA double helix exists in an alternative form---for one percent of the time---and that this alternative form is functional, said Hashim M. Al-Hashimi, who is the Robert L. Kuczkowski Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Biophysics at U-M. Together, these data suggest that there are multiple layers of information stored in the genetic code. The findings were published online Jan. 26 in the journal Nature. It's been known for some time that the DNA molecule can bend and flex, something like a rope ladder, but throughout these gyrations its building blocks---called bases---remain paired up just the way they were originally described by James Watson and Francis Crick, who proposed the spiral-staircase structure in 1953. By adapting nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology, Al-Hashimi's group was able to observe transient, alternative forms in which some steps on the stairway come apart and reassemble into stable structures other than the typical Watson-Crick base pairs. The question was, what were these alternative stable structures? Using NMR, we were able to access the chemical shifts of this alternative form, said graduate student Evgenia Nikolova. These chemical shifts are like fingerprints that tell us something about the structure. Through careful analysis, Nikolova realized the fingerprints were typical of an orientation in which certain bases are flipped 180 degrees. It's like taking half of the stairway step and flipping it upside down so that the other face now points up, said Al-Hashimi. If you do this, you can still put the two halves of the step back together, but now what you have is no longer a... http://www.rxpgnews.com

City Tech research team casts light on asteroid deflection Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) So you think global warming is a big problem? What could happen if a 25-million-ton chunk of rock slammed into Earth? When something similar happened 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs and other forms of life were wiped out. A collision with an object of this size traveling at an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 mile per hour would be catastrophic, according to NASA researcher and New York City College of Technology (City Tech) Associate Professor of Physics Gregory L. Matloff. What does he recommend? Either destroy the object or alter its trajectory. Dr. Matloff, whose research includes the best means to avert such a disaster, believes that diverting such objects is the wisest course of action. In 2029 and 2036, the asteroid Apophis (named after the Egyptian god of darkness and the void), at least 1,100 feet in diameter, 90 stories tall, and weighing an estimated 25 million tons, will make two close passes by Earth at a distance of about 22,600 miles. We don't always know this far ahead of time that they're coming, Dr. Matloff says, but an Apophis impact is very unlikely. If the asteroid did hit Earth, NASA estimates, it would strike with 68,000 times the force of the atom bomb that leveled Hiroshima. A possibility also exists that when Apophis passes in 2029, heating as it approaches the sun, it could fragment or emit a tail, which would act like a rocket, unpredictably changing its course. If Apophis or its remnants enter one of two keyholes in space, impact might happen when it returns in 2036. Large chunks of space debris whizzing by the planet, called Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), are of real concern. NASA defines NEOs as comets and asteroids that enter Earth's neighborhood because the gravitational attraction of nearby planets affects their orbits. Dr. Matloff favors diverting rather than exploding them because the latter could create another problem -- debris might bathe Earth in a radioactive shower. Dr. Matloff's research... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Study: African-American men say doctor visits are often a bad experience Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A majority of African American men said they do not go to the doctor because visits are stressful and physicians don't give adequate information on how to make prescribed behavior or lifestyle changes, a new University of Michigan study shows. When they did go, the majority of the 105 men questioned said they disliked the tone physicians used with them. When those men did visit the doctor, they said it was because they were seeking test results or their family encouraged them to go. Men often said they knew they needed to lose weight, change eating habits or become more physically active before visiting the doctor. They hoped the doctor would help them figure out how to make those behavioral and lifestyle changes without sacrificing time with spouses and children. The men in the focus groups explained that adopting healthy behaviors was more complex than simple motivation and that doctors didn't understand that a healthier lifestyle meant the men had to give up other meaningful activities. That's usually not the story that's told, said Derek Griffith, assistant professor in the U-M School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study. Julie Ober Allen and Katie Gunter of U-M SPH are co-authors. Too much emphasis is on the things that African American men don't do, rather than exploring why they don't do them. The reality is that many men want to adopt healthier lifestyles but face significant challenges beyond health insurance and the cost of care. They are concerned about their health and are more knowledgeable about the changes they need to make than they are often given credit for, Griffith said. African American men die an average of seven years earlier than men in other ethnic groups, and are more likely to suffer from undiagnosed chronic illnesses. Overall, African American men have shorter lives than whites and men of other ethnic groups, said Griffith. In an attempt to understand why... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Powerful 3-D X-rays for kids in braces should be the exception, not the rule Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Some orthodontists may be exposing young patients to unnecessary radiation when they order 3-D X-ray imaging for simple orthodontic cases before considering traditional 2-D imaging, suggests a paper published by University of Michigan faculty. There is ongoing debate in the orthodontic community over if and when to use cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning, said Dr. Sunil Kapila, lead author of the paper and chair of the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry at the U-M School of Dentistry. A very small number of orthodontists utilize the 3-D imaging on a routine basis when developing a treatment plan, and this raises concerns of unnecessary radiation exposure. In contrast, the evidence summarized in Kapila's paper suggests that 2-D imaging would suffice in most routine orthodontic cases. One of the tradeoffs for the superb 3-D images is higher radiation exposure, Kapila said. The amount of radiation produced by 3D CBCT imaging varies substantially depending on the machine used and the field of view exposed, and some clinicians may not realize how much higher that radiation is compared to conventional radiographs. One CBCT image can emit 87 to 200 microsieverts or more compared to 4 to 40 microsieverts for an entire series of 2-D X-rays required for orthodontic diagnosis, Kapila said. Considering that the average US population is exposed to approximately 8 microsieverts of background radiation a day, 200 microsieverts equates to about 25 days worth of cosmic and terrestrial radiation. Most of the patients who need orthodontic treatment are young adults and pediatric patients,said Dr. Erika Benavides, clinical assistant professor in U-M's Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine. Benavides is the board certified oral and maxillofacial radiologist who reads the CBCT scans taken at the U-M School of Dentistry. Keeping in mind that the radiation... http://www.rxpgnews.com

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