Opioid abuse linked to mood and anxiety disorders |  |
- Opioid abuse linked to mood and anxiety disorders
- A colonial heritage in scholarly interpretations of Mark's gospel
- Preparing for future human exploration, RAD measures radiation on journey to Mars
- 'Pep talk' can revive immune cells exhausted by chronic viral infection
- GSK and Dundee University collaboration to develop treatment for Huntington's disease
- Bhopal hospital staff seek pay hike, government gets notice
- Researcher studies the globalization of sex trafficking and the organizations that work to stop it
- NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia surgeons perform first 'ex vivo' lung transplants in New York
- Independence Blue Cross teams with American College of Physicians to improve primary care
- Circulating tumor cells not linked to survival in newly diagnosed inflammatory breast cancer
| Opioid abuse linked to mood and anxiety disorders Posted: 13 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Individuals suffering from mood and anxiety disorders such as bipolar, panic disorder and major depressive disorder may be more likely to abuse opioids, according to a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. They found that mood and anxiety disorders are highly associated with non-medical prescription opioid use. The results are featured in a recent issue of the Journal of Psychological Medicine. Prescription opioids such as oxycontin are a common and effective treatment for chronic and acute pain. Non-medical use of prescription opioids has increased dramatically and, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, prescription opioids are the second most frequently used illegal drug in the U.S. after marijuana. Prescription opioids are highly addictive and prolonged use can produce neurological changes and physiological dependence. For the study, researchers examined the association between individuals with mood and anxiety disorders with non-medical prescription opioid use and opioid disorder. Lifetime non-medical prescription opioid use was associated with the incidence of any mood disorder, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and all anxiety disorders. Non-medical opioid-use disorder due to non-medical prescription opioid use was associated with any mood disorder, any anxiety disorder, as well as with several incident mood disorders and anxiety disorders, said Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and an associate scientist with the Bloomberg School's Department of Mental Health. However, there is also evidence that the association works the other way too. Increased risk of incident opioid disorder due to non-medical use occurred among study participants with baseline mood disorders, major depressive disorder, dysthymia and panic disorder, reinforcing our finding that participants with mood disorders might use opioids... http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| A colonial heritage in scholarly interpretations of Mark's gospel Posted: 13 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) When the story of Jesus known as The Gospel of Mark began to circulate as a written text in the ancient Mediterranean cities, it became engaged in a form of negotiation with the Roman imperial culture. A newly published dissertation from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) shows, however, that a European colonial heritage probably has caused biblical scholars to neglect the earliest Gospel's primary act of negotiation with its imperial context. Biblical scholar Hans Leander has investigated how Mark's Gospel was related to Rome's Empire when it began to circulate among the early Christians during the first century C.E. He has approached the question from the supposition that the Bible is connected to a colonial heritage and that biblical interpretation, including the academic kind, is always affected by the interpreter's location and perspective. In order to verify the existence of a colonial heritage, he has studied how nineteenth century biblical commentaries on Mark were influenced by that epoch's colonial mindset. I found that ideas about 'Greek' and 'Semitic' within biblical scholarship interacted with an elevated European colonial identity. The 'Greek' often represented the metaphysical, the progressive and the Christian, while the 'Semite' (or the 'Jew') represented the theocratic and stagnant, often represented as 'the other'. There was also an established view of the 'heathen' that was central to the colonial expansion and that continued to be prevalent in biblical scholarship during the period, says Hans Leander. Hans Leander then applied a postcolonial perspective to the Gospel of Mark in order to study how the Gospel related to the Roman imperial power. Various concepts have been developed within postcolonial theory that enables a more complex understanding of unequal relationships than a clear-cut for or against the dominating party. The dissertation applies these concepts to the Gospel of Mark, which it reads... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Preparing for future human exploration, RAD measures radiation on journey to Mars Posted: 13 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The Radiation Assessment Detector, the first instrument on NASA's next rover mission to Mars to begin science operations, was powered up and began collecting data Dec. 6, almost two weeks ahead of schedule. RAD is the only instrument scheduled to collect science data on the journey to Mars. The instrument is measuring the energetic particles inside the spacecraft to characterize the radiation environment an astronaut would experience on a future human mission to the Red Planet. The first data packets from RAD look great, said RAD principal investigator Don Hassler, science program director in the Space Studies Department at Southwest Research Institute. We are seeing a strong flux in space, even inside the spacecraft, about four times higher doses of radiation than the baseline we measured on the launch pad from the RTG, or radioisotope thermoelectric generator, used to power the rover. It's very exciting to begin the science mission. The Mars Science Laboratory, launched Nov. 26, will land a sophisticated car-sized rover called Curiosity on the surface of the planet in August 2012. Loaded with 10 instruments including RAD, Curiosity will traverse the landing site looking for the building blocks of life and characterizing factors that may influence life, such as the harsh radiation environment expected on Mars. RAD was designed for the science mission to characterize radiation levels on the surface of Mars, but an important secondary objective is measuring the radiation on the almost nine-month journey through interplanetary space, to prepare for future human exploration, said Hassler. RAD is an important bridge between the science and exploration sides of NASA. RAD will measure the relevant energetic particle species originating from galactic cosmic rays, the Sun and other sources. Of particular interest are the particles accelerated by coronal mass ejections on the surface of the Sun, which spew fast-moving clouds of... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| 'Pep talk' can revive immune cells exhausted by chronic viral infection Posted: 13 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chronic infections by viruses such as HIV or hepatitis C eventually take hold because they wear the immune system out, a phenomenon immunologists describe as exhaustion. Yet exhausted immune cells can be revived after the introduction of fresh cells that act like coaches giving a pep talk, researchers at Emory Vaccine Center have found. Their findings provide support for an emerging strategy for treating chronic infections: infusing immune cells back into patients after a period of conditioning. The results are published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. The first author of the paper is Rachael Aubert, a student in Emory's Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis program who completed her doctorate in 2009. Senior author Rafi Ahmed, PhD, is director of the Emory Vaccine Center and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. Ahmed's laboratory has extensive experience studying mice infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Immune responses against LCMV are driven by CD8 or killer T cells, which destroy virus-infected cells in the body. But a few weeks after exposure to LCMV, the mice develop a chronic infection that their immune systems cannot shake off, similar to when humans are infected by viruses like HIV and hepatitis C. Aubert and her co-workers examined what happened to mice chronically infected with LCMV when they infused CD4 or helper T cells from uninfected mice. After the infusion, the CD8 cells in the infected mice revived and the levels of virus in their bodies decreased by a factor of four after a month. Like coaches encouraging a tired athlete, the helper cells drove the killer cells that were already in the infected mice to emerge from exhaustion and re-engage. The cell-based treatment was especially effective when combined with an antibody that blocks the molecule PD-1, which appears on exhausted T cells and inhibits their functioning. The antibody against... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| GSK and Dundee University collaboration to develop treatment for Huntington's disease Posted: 13 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The University of Dundee and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have entered into a joint research project to tackle Huntington's disease, an inherited brain disorder. The project looks to build on the findings of Professor Susann Schweiger, of the University of Dundee, who has discovered a mechanism that controls production of the disease-causing protein involved in Huntington's Disease. If we can inhibit this process then we may prevent the build up of this toxic protein in the brain and hopefully provide a treatment for Huntington's Disease said Professor Schweiger. The research project will be led by Professor Schweiger and her research team, along with Dr Ros Langston and Professor Jeremy Lambert from the Division of Neuroscience, located within the new Medical Research Institute at the University of Dundee, and by Dr David Gray from the University's Drug Discovery Unit. The project brings together expertise in molecular genetics, behaviour, brain physiology and drug development in an exciting synergistic collaboration with researchers at GSK. Professor Jeremy Lambert said, This is a truly interdisciplinary effort and one which we are uniquely placed to tackle in Dundee. It is extremely heartening to see GSK, a global pharmaceutical company, focusing on an `orphan disease' like Huntington's. Their involvement greatly increases the chance of developing a treatment for this devastating disease. Huntington's Disease is a devastating condition with symptoms typically beginning between 30 to 50 years of age. Patients may suffer from memory problems, anxiety and depression but all will eventually develop severe movement problems, leaving them unable to walk and care for themselves. There is currently no cure and patients die within 10-15 years of onset. The disease is caused by a single gene defect. Anyone with a parent who has Huntington's Disease has a 50% chance of inheriting this fatal disease. However, as Huntington's Disease is... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Bhopal hospital staff seek pay hike, government gets notice Posted: 12 Dec 2011 07:22 PM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Dec 12 - The Supreme Court Monday asked the central government for its response to the demand by a Bhopal hospital's staff for wage hike and parity with employees of other federal government hospitals. Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre's workers are demanding pay scales as per the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for the central government employees. The apex court bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justice Swatanter Kumar said: 'An important aspect has been brought to our notice that the staff of the hospital had demanded pay scales of the Sixth Pay Commission and the government had agreed in principle.' In another direction, the court asked the Madhya Pradesh government to file its response on the recommendations of a court-appointed monitoring committee. The panel was set up for monitoring the treatment of victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy in state hospitals other than BMHRC. The Madhya Pradesh government's senior counsel Vijay Hansaria was rebuked by the court when he said: 'We don't have the recommendations given by the monitoring committee.' 'You can collect it from the court registry. It is not in a sealed cover. Go to registry and get it,' the court said. As petitioner Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan handed over the copy of the panel's eight recommendations to senior counsel, the court told him that 'this will not be an excuse for adjournment'. The recommendations seek the empowerment of the monitoring committee so that it could take up the matter on the basis of complaints made by individual gas victims or representatives of the organisations of gas victims against officials of the department of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation. The recommendations also include vesting in the committee powers to direct the department concerned of the government to ensure facilities of well-equipped office space along with the required manpower. The panel also suggested... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Researcher studies the globalization of sex trafficking and the organizations that work to stop it Posted: 12 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) MANHATTAN, KAN. -- In today's world, human trafficking is not an isolated problem, but a growing global issue. A Kansas State University professor is studying ways that anti-trafficking groups are fighting back. The focus of my research is not just to say how much sex trafficking is occurring, but how forms of it are changing, said Nadia Shapkina, assistant professor of sociology, who is looking at the geography, history and economic impact of trafficking. The sex trade has been a global industry for a long time. But now, with the globalization of technology and transportation, it is becoming even more transnationalized. One form of the sex trade that has evolved in recent years is sex tourism, which combines aspects of tourism with the purchase of sexual services, particularly of young women. About 95 percent of sex tourists are men from wealthy countries who come to tourist destinations -- such as Greece, Thailand or Australia -- for both entertainment and sex. Sex trafficking delivers women to customers, but sex tourism delivers customers to the place of consumption, Shapkina said. Sex tourism becomes a very lucrative business. Technology, communication and transportation all allow that and they enable the trafficking of women as well. Sex tourism operations are often led by skilled businessmen who know how to appeal and advertise to middle- and upper-class men with money and resources to travel and consume sexual services. Their messages have spread worldwide, Shapkina said, pointing to the United States, where multiple cases of labor and sex trafficking have been investigated. It doesn't necessarily mean that the market has increased, but it might mean that authorities have started detecting this criminal practice, Shapkina said. It is hard to estimate the size of the sex trade because it is so underground. But what we can say is that it is very transnationalized and even the U.S. is affected by this negative aspect of... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia surgeons perform first 'ex vivo' lung transplants in New York Posted: 12 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) NEW YORK (Dec. 12, 2011) -- A 59-year-old woman from upstate New York and a 60-year-old woman from the New York metro area were the first patients in New York state and among the first in the United States to receive transplanted lungs that were assessed and reconditioned in the operating room -- a technique that has the potential to dramatically increase the availability of lungs for transplant. The experimental procedure was performed by Dr. Frank D'Ovidio at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. The ex vivo or outside-the-body approach involved removing lungs from a deceased donor, then enclosing them inside a transparent dome and connecting them to a cardiopulmonary pump and a ventilator. For four hours, the lungs were infused with nutrients and antibiotics. They were gradually warmed to body temperature, ventilated and oxygenated -- a process that resembles breathing, with the lungs inflating and deflating. Once determined to be viable, the lungs were immediately transplanted into the patients. Assessing lungs this way gives us a much more precise picture of how they should perform after transplant, and the reconditioning process may actually improve the chances of success, says Dr. D'Ovidio, associate surgical director of the lung transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and assistant professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Traditionally, transplant surgeons have relied on a less sophisticated assessment. Now with the ex vivo method, not only can we see the lungs inflate and deflate, but we also get hard data on how they function by monitoring multiple parameters and ultimately making sure that the gas exchange is happening at the level it needs to, continues Dr. D'Ovidio. Going forward, the ex vivo procedure could significantly increase the availability of donor lungs, says Dr. D'Ovidio. This has the... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Independence Blue Cross teams with American College of Physicians to improve primary care Posted: 12 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Philadelphia - Independence Blue Cross (IBC) today announced a new collaboration with the American College of Physicians (ACP) to improve primary care. IBC is offering up to 100 practices free, one-year access to a new on-line tool that will help identify ways to better serve their patients. The tool, known as the Medical Home Builder 2.0, is the most recent example of how IBC is working with area physicians and respected professional organizations to promote patient-centered care. Since the beginning of 2011, IBC has more than tripled the number of recognized practices to nearly 200 in southeastern Pennsylvania. The ACP Medical Home Builder 2.0 (MHB) helps practices analyze how they currently deliver patient care and identify ways to be more efficient. Physicians and their office staff can use the tool to improve scheduling, patient education, and coordination of care. Practices recognized as a Patient Centered Medical Home function as a physician led team making sure patients, particularly those with chronic illnesses, receive key tests, take medication as directed, and are actively engaged in their own care with resources to stay well. Modules of this on-line program help the practice meet the medical home standards established by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and other accrediting agencies. Practices must satisfy these criteria to be recognized and to receive enhanced payments from health plans. The ACP introduced the first version of MHB in 2009 and it has been successfully used by more than 1,500 practices nationwide. Many practices are interested in becoming a medical home, but are struggling to know where to begin, said Richard Snyder, MD, chief medical officer for Independence Blue Cross. Medical Home Builder 2.0 is a great roadmap for practices. ACP understands how physicians think and organize their practice. They built a strong, practical resource intended for small and medium size offices.... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Circulating tumor cells not linked to survival in newly diagnosed inflammatory breast cancer Posted: 09 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) SAN ANTONIO, TX -- The presence of circulating tumor cells in the blood appears to have no relationship to survival in women who have just been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, according to new research from Fox Chase Cancer Center. However, the research shows that these stray tumor cells may signal that the disease has spread to other parts of the body, even before imaging reveals any metastases. The results will be presented on Friday, December 9 at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. If a woman is diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, a particularly fast-growing form of the disease, doctors should consider close imaging to monitor and possibly continue aggressive treatment if she also has circulating tumor cells (CTCs), regardless of what imaging shows, recommends study author Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., F.A.C.P., chair of the department of medical oncology at Fox Chase. You should be carful before stopping treatment in someone who has evidence of circulating cells, particularly when dealing with a disease like inflammatory breast cancer, which can progress rapidly. Previous research by Cristofanilli and his colleagues found that the number of stray cancer cells circulating in the blood is the best predictor of both how long a woman with metastatic breast cancer will live and the amount of time until her cancer progresses. But the researchers have also found that the presence or lack of CTCs has little to say about prognosis in women with metastatic inflammatory breast cancer, an aggressive disease with extremely poor outcomes in spite of multidisciplinary modality treatment. During the current study, Cristofanilli and his team reviewed the records of 84 women who had just learned they have inflammatory breast cancer, either in stage III or stage IV. A total of 64 (76.2%) women had at least 1 CTC and 29 (34.5%) had at least 5. The researchers found that women with no CTCs had... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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