Taste sensing brain areas mapped for first time |  |
- Taste sensing brain areas mapped for first time
- Gen Now mantra is ticking bomb for heart attacks!
- A chaperone for the 'guardian of the genome'
- Expert calls for change in trans fat labelling
- UCSF, UC Merced to study effectiveness of anti-tobacco programs
- Azad mourns slow work on drug-resistant microbes
- Delhi poor to get funds for treatment
- Southeast Asian countries to combat drug resistance: WHO
- Suspected brain disease kills nine kids in Bihar
- Study finds crop performance matters when evaluating greenhouse gas emissions
| Taste sensing brain areas mapped for first time Posted: 08 Sep 2011 05:05 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Each taste, from sweet to salty, is sensed by a set of neurons in the brain. Now scientists have mapped for the first time how taste is represented in the mammalian brain. The sweetness of a ripe peach or the saltiness of a potato chip is unmistakable, partly due to highly specialised tongue cells that detect each unique taste, the journal Science reports. Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have showed that four of our basic tastes -- sweet, bitter, salty, and 'umami' or savoury -- are also processed by distinct areas of the brain, according to an institute statement. 'This work further reveals coding in the taste system,' said Howard Hughes investigator Charles S. Zuker. 'The way that we perceive the sensory world has been something that's fascinated humanity throughout our whole existence,' said Nicholas J.P. Ryba of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research who collaborated with Zuker. 'What is a taste, really? It's the firing of a set of neurons in the brain, and that's what we want to understand,' Ryba added. http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| Gen Now mantra is ticking bomb for heart attacks! Posted: 08 Sep 2011 11:17 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Sep 8 - Working 16 hours a day to climb the corporate ladder, puffing away at 20 cigarettes, life condensed in a laptop, Gen Now that lives by the mantra 'work hard, party harder' is now the ticking bomb for cardiovascular diseases, experts say, noting that the age for heart attacks has reduced. Researchers point to the 'increasingly high risk of heart diseases in the urban youth' who are not aware of their risk status despite improvement in awareness levels. 'The causes for heart diseases are the same - tobacco use, physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet. 'The major change has been in the age pattern that is coming down to the 30s, especially targeting those with a corporate lifestyle,' R.R. Kasliwal, chairman of the clinical and preventive ideology division at Medanta heart institute, told IANS. 'In the Indian situation, people are getting vulnerable to the risk factors in their 20s, while the age of heart attack could fall in the late 30s,' he added. According to a study, among 4,900 office executives, nearly half were found to be suffering from hypertension, around 40 percent were diabetic and an alarming 43 percent were suffering from metabolic disorders and obesity. 'We were shocked to observe that half of the individuals with hypertension were not aware of the fact that they had high blood pressure. The proportion is growing among this strata that has lost control of its life,' said Kasliwal, the author of the study that observed the risk factors of participants. The prevalence of risk factors for heart diseases increased in a span of five years - in the urban north Indian population that was sampled, the study noted. The study considered the section to have greater access to healthcare and belonging to a relatively affluent section. The World Health Organisation - adds to the worrying trends depicted by Indian researchers, saying eight out of every 10 deaths in urban India are caused by... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| A chaperone for the 'guardian of the genome' Posted: 07 Sep 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Every cell has thousands of proteins whose activity and lifetime must be regulated to control the cellular life cycle from cell division to cell death. The heat shock protein Hsp90 plays a key role in this process. It is a so-called chaperone, a quality controller, as it were. It monitors and controls the quality and activity of many important signal proteins and helps them take on the right form. When the cell is exposed to high stress levels from heat or a lack of oxygen, Hsp90 is produced in larger quantities to shield its partner proteins from damage. One of the most important partner proteins of Hsp90 is the tumor suppressor protein p53. It prevents the development of cancer at a number of points in the cell and is thus aptly referred to as the guardian of the genome. When a cell's DNA becomes damaged, p53 ensures that the cell no longer divides and activates repair mechanisms. When too much genetic damage accumulates, the protein initiates a controlled cellular suicide. When p53 is inactive, the cell continues to divide in spite of the damage and a tumor develops. In over half of all tumors the p53 protein is damaged or inactivated, meaning the control function cannot be carried out. Hsp90, on the other had, binds to p53 and keeps it in a functional state until it can fulfill its actual purpose: Binding to specific DNA elements. However, exactly how and where the binding of p53 to Hsp90 takes place was hitherto neither clear nor had it been structurally characterized. At the Department of Chemistry of the TU Muenchen, a team of biochemists headed by Professor Horst Kessler, in collaboration with the group of Professor Johannes Bucher, Chair of the Department of Biotechnology, has now succeeded in working out the details of how p53 binds to Hsp90. Horst Kessler was Chair of the Department of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the TU Muenchen from 1989 to 2008 and has been Carl von Linde Professor at the Institute for... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Expert calls for change in trans fat labelling Posted: 07 Sep 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Not all trans fats are created equal and it's time for nutritional labels to reflect that reality, says a University of Alberta nutrition expert. According to a scientific review conducted by Spencer Proctor, along with Canadian and international colleagues, natural trans fats produced by ruminant animals such as dairy and beef cattle are not detrimental to health. In fact, they show significant positive health effects and some evidence even links these natural trans fats to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. According to the review, naturally occurring trans fat has a different fatty acid profile than industrial trans fat, which contributes to its different physiological effects. Ruminant trans fat is naturally occurring and found in meat and dairy foods, while industrial produced trans fat is a component of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which have been strongly associated with cholesterol and coronary heart disease. Consumers are bombarded on a regular basis about what they should and shouldn't eat. Quite often fat is the primary target of what to avoid and trans fats in particular have a negative reputation. A change in how trans fat information is presented on nutrition labels would be a huge step forward, says Proctor, a researcher in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science who is director of the Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases Laboratory at the U of A. Right now, in Canada and the U.S., a substantial portion of natural trans fats content is included in the nutrition label trans fats calculation, which is misleading for the consumer. We need a reset in our approach to reflect what the new science is telling us. Spencer adds that in some European countries, natural trans fat is not included in the nutrition label calculation. Another approach may be to have separate listings for industrial trans fats and natural trans fats. Researchers evaluated an evidence base from... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| UCSF, UC Merced to study effectiveness of anti-tobacco programs Posted: 07 Sep 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Researchers with the University of California, San Francisco and the University of California, Merced will examine the effectiveness of state and local anti-smoking programs across the United States to ensure that health authorities are able to use their increasingly limited resources to support and defend the most effective approaches. Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, UCSF professor of medicine; James Lightwood, PhD, UCSF assistant professor of clinical pharmacy; and Anna V. Song, PhD, UC Merced professor of psychology, have been awarded a five-year, $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study which anti-smoking programs are working best and how the tobacco industry tries to prevent states from pursuing the most effective tobacco control policies and programs. Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in California and the nation. Not all programs are equally effective in reducing smoking or bringing down health costs. Understanding which programs are best can help inform government policy decisions and make sure money is spent on effective programs, the researchers say. California's tobacco control program has already saved California taxpayers and businesses well over $86 billion in direct health costs, Glantz said. With this research, we hope to inform policy makers and public health professionals how we can essentially eliminate tobacco as a public health problem in California in the next few years. Glantz and Song will use qualitative and quantitative methods to accomplish three specific goals: Document and analyze the variations in tobacco control policymaking and in how programs are run. The results will serve as the basis for recommendations to create the most effective and efficient tobacco control strategies and policies. Define the relationships between spending on state tobacco control programs, smoking, and health care expenditures, and then use these relationships to... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Azad mourns slow work on drug-resistant microbes Posted: 06 Sep 2011 10:08 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Jaipur, Sep 6 - Even as 11 nations of the Southeast Asian Region have committed to strengthen policies on microbial agents resistant to drugs, union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Tuesday said that the country has seen 'negligible development in the field of new anti-microbial agents'. 'Despite technological advancements in the field of health, there has been negligible development in the field of new anti-microbial agents. Lack of attention to this problem can hinder us from attaining the Millennium Development Goals -,' Azad said at the inauguration of the 64th Regional Committee Session of the South-East Asian Region of the World Health Organisation - here. The MDGs adopted by world leaders in 2000 are a set of targets to reduce poverty and improve living standards by 2015. Anti-microbial resistance - helps disease-causing micro-organism to fight the effects of antibiotic or antiviral medicine. The microbes include bacteria, viruses and some parasites. 'The most important driver of anti-microbial resistance is irrational use of anti-microbial agents,' Azad said. According to WHO, AMR is a consequence of the misuse of anti-microbial medicines and develops when a micro-organism acquires a resistance gene. Delegations from countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh among others will participate in deliberations here Sep 7-9 for the WHO committee session. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Delhi poor to get funds for treatment Posted: 06 Sep 2011 10:02 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Sep 6 - The Delhi government Tuesday said it will set up a fund to provide financial assistance to economically weak suffering from life threatening diseases. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. 'The government will release an amount of Rs.100 crore as corpus fund to make DAK - functional,' she said. Initially, the government will release Rs.10 crore to enable DAK to grant assistance in its first year of existence, Dikshit told reporters here. From the second year, financial assistance will be given from the interest on the corpus fund, which will be deposited in a nationalised bank. People below poverty line or those on Antodya ration card will be eligible for the scheme. Patients whose annual family income is upto Rs.1 lakh are also eligible. A patient can get maximum assistance of upto Rs.1.5 lakh per year. However, in case of treatments like bone-marrow transplantation, kidney transplantation and liver transplantation, the maximum assistance can be increased to Rs.2.5 lakh. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Southeast Asian countries to combat drug resistance: WHO Posted: 06 Sep 2011 07:32 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Jaipur, Sep 6 - Health ministers from 11 Southeast Asian countries Tuesday adopted the Jaipur Declaration on Antimicrobial Resistance committing to preserving the efficacy of antibiotics through rational use and regulation. 'This is the stark reality the world faces. We have taken antibiotics and other antimicrobials for granted, failing to realise that these precious, yet fragile medicines need appropriate care,' said WHO director general Margaret Chan. The health ministers met to review key health issues in WHO's South-East Asia Region focusing on the prevention and control of non communicable diseases. The declaration called for urgent measures to control further development of antimicrobial resistance even as it continues to tell member nations of the irrational use of the agents. 'More needs to be done to control resistance to antibiotics and to ensure the rational use of antibiotics in order not to allow development of 'superbugs' in the region,' said Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO's regional director for southeast Asia region. The declaration lays emphasis on developing national antibiotic policies, to regulate the use of antimicrobial agents and increase vigilance about further resistance. Delegations from countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh among others will be meeting here Sep 7-9 for the 64th session of the WHO Regional Committee, the premier health body's governing wing in the region. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Suspected brain disease kills nine kids in Bihar Posted: 06 Sep 2011 07:27 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Patna, Sep 6 - Nine children have died of suspected encephalitis, an acute brain infection, in Bihar's Gaya district during the last two weeks, a health official said Tuesday. The district health official said that in the last 72 hours four children died of suspected encephalitis, an infection that causes inflammation of the brain, at Anugrah Narain Medical College and Hospital in Gaya, about 100 km from here. 'Three children are battling for life,' he said. Ajay Kishor Ravi, who heads the hospital's children's department, said that till date 36 children with suspected encephalitis were admitted for treatment. Nine of them died. The children reported high fever, followed by bouts of unconsciousness and convulsions. Local people termed the mysterious disease as 'chamki ki bimari' and claimed that the symptoms were similar to encephalitis. Bihar Health Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said he was not aware of any death due to encephalitis in Gaya. 'I am not aware...till now I have not been informed about any such thing,' he said. Two months ago 51 children died in Muzaffarpur district but the state government is yet to confirm these as encephalitis deaths. Last month, union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Rajya Sabha that clinical and epidemiological data suggested that it was an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome, resulting in 150 cases and 55 deaths, mostly among children. In a written reply, the minister said these cases were reported from early June to mid-July from Muzaffarpur and its bordering areas in Bihar. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Study finds crop performance matters when evaluating greenhouse gas emissions Posted: 06 Sep 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) MADISON, WI, SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 -- Measuring the emission of greenhouse gases from croplands should take into account the crops themselves. That's the conclusion of a study in the Sept.-Oct. issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality, which examined the impact of farm practices such as tillage on the greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide. Expressing emissions per unit of crop yield rather than on a more conventional per area basis produced very different results, says the study's leader, Rod Venterea, research soil scientist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. In particular, his team found that total nitrous oxide emissions were not significantly affected by tillage practices when expressed on an area basis. When they were calculated per unit yield of grain, however, emissions were significantly greater under no-tillage compared with conventional tillage. A byproduct of many agricultural systems, nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) with a heat-trapping potential more than 300 times that of carbon dioxide. The findings have important implications for how the greenhouse gases generated by agriculture are reported, evaluated, and potentially mitigated. Nitrous oxide emissions were slighter higher under no-till on a per area basis in the study, Venterea explains, but not high enough to differ statistically from those under conventional tillage. But when we added in the fact that no-tillage also reduced yields, the effect of tillage did become significant, he says. The point is that you need to look at both nitrous oxide emissions and yield together. While previous studies have shown that practices like fertilizer and tillage management can affect nitrous oxide emissions, relatively few have reported the effects of these practices on crop performance at the same time. In addition, GHG emissions are commonly expressed with respect to area of field: for example, kilogram nitrous oxide... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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