In a paper presented at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAOHNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in San Diego, researchers studied the electronic records of 1,970,695 patients to determine whether there was a relationship between CRS and other chronic conditions. Chronic rhinosinusitis is an inflammatory condition involving one or more of the paranasal sinuses. The condition usually follows an allergic reaction or viral upper respiratory infection.

The analysis showed a higher incidence of CRS in trustedtablets.com patients with other chronic diseases, especially asthma patients, who are more likely to also have nasal polyps. Patients with other chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and arthritis also have higher incidence of chronic sinusitis but not nasal polyps.

The results of the study suggest that some of these chronic diseases may share common mechanisms of how they arise or progress.

Title CRS in the setting of other chronic illnesses
Presenters Rakesh Chandra, MD; David Conley, MD; Robert Kern, MD; Robert Schleimer, PhD; Sana Sweis, MD; David Lin

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Jessica Mikulski

Aconite has recently been portrayed in the media as herbal valium, however, it is actually an extremely poisonous plant that is toxic to the heart.

It is also known as monkshood and herbal products containing this ingredient could be fatal or cause serious illness if consumed.

The MHRA has received two reports of suspected adverse reactions to aconite, one where a patient suffered kidney problems and another where the person was hospitalised after suffering dizziness and paresthesia.

MHRA Head of Herbal Policy, Richard Woodfield, said it was vital people did not confuse herbal medicines and homeopathic ones.

“Registered homeopathic products that contain aconite are considered acceptably safe as the active ingredient, aconite, is sufficiently diluted,” he said.

“Herbal medicines are made from plants and so can have a very significant effect on the body. In certain cases, such as with aconite, the medicine can be extremely potent.

“This is a classic case where natural does not mean safe.”

Mr Woodfield said recent media attention focused on a celebrity who allegedly took a product containing aconite to calm wedding day nerves.

“With unlicensed herbal medicines, people need to be aware that the standards vary widely and can be poor.

“However, an increasing range of herbal medicines made to assured standards are available on the UK market.”

Registered and licensed herbal medicines can be identified by the traditional herbal registration (THR) or the product licence (PL) number on the label.

Registered homeopathic products can also be identified by checking the label which should say Homeopathic medicinal product without approved therapeutic indications, as well as a homeopathic registration number prefixed with the letters HR.

Any side effects to herbal and homeopathic products can be reported to the MHRA via the Yellow Card Scheme yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/

Food insecurity is defined as the lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life, which results from limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe foods in socially acceptable ways. In 2004, 11% of households in the United States reported household food insecurity, and households with children younger than 6 years old and black and Hispanic households experienced higher rates of household food insecurity and hunger. Prevalence of household food insecurity and overweight has increased over time and are more prevalent in lowincome families.

This crosssectional study is based on demographic, anthropometric, food security and other healthrelated data collected from November 1998 through December 1999, on a sample of children and mothers from low income families participating in the Massachusetts Department of Public Healths WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for the Women, Infants, and Children) Program. Data on the childrens age, sex, parental/caretaker report of child race/ethnicity and maternal education were also collected.

Of the 8,493 children with complete data, 31% of the children were from foodinsecure households (8.3% with hunger), and 18.4% of the sample was overweight. Prevalence of HFInsec did not differ significantly by age, sex or maternal education.

Because significant interactions were found between HFInsec and agegroup and sex, the researchers separated the subjects into four groups, boys < 2 years old, girls < 2 years old, boys 25 years old and girls 25 years old. In girls < 2 years old, HFInsec was associated with a lower likelihood of being overweight. No correlation was found for boys < 2 years. In contrast, 2 to 5year old girls from households reporting HFInsec with hunger had a 47% higher odds of overweight than those from food secure households. No association was found for HFInsec without hunger among 25 year old girls, and again, no association was found among 25 year old boys.

Writing in the article, Elizabeth MetallinosKatsaras, Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition, School for Health Sciences, Simmons College, Boston, states, “The findings of this study suggest that HFInsec is associated with overweight prevalence in low income ethnically and racially diverse girls. Age and sex, however, appear to modify both the magnitude and the directionality of the association. Future research should examine these associations using a longitudinal research design. Moreover, qualitative research is needed to establish the underlying behaviors that may affect the development of childhood overweight among families with uncertain and limited food availability and how these behaviors may vary by sex.”

The article is “Food Insecurity Is Associated with Overweight in Children < 5 Years" by Elizabeth MetallinosKatsaras, PhD, RD, Bettylou Sherry, PhD, RD, Jan Kallio, MS, RD, LDN. It appears in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 109 Issue 10 (October 2009), published by Elsevier.

Source
Lynelle Korte

The oral presentation will take place on Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 10151145 in session FC 2 Lasertherapy, room 43.

In the clinical study, seventeen females with stretch marks underwent six weekly treatments with the apollo(TM) device Pollogens latest aesthetic solution based on TriPollar(TM) technology. Results showed that at one week after the final (sixth) treatment, 38.2% and 11.8% of the patients were assessed to have 2550% and 5175% improvement in the appearance of their stretch marks, respectively. The long term effect of the treatment was confirmed during the 6 weeks follow up which showed that a higher percentage of the patients were rated to have improvement of their stretch marks, including 26.5% and 5.9% showing 5175% and >75% improvement, respectively None of the participants were rated as having no improvement in their clinical appearance of stretch marks. Patient satisfaction was also measured and 65% of patients reported that they were very satisfied with the treatment, 23% were satisfied and 12% were slightly satisfied.

Full study results have recently been published in the online edition of the Journal of Dermatological Treatment.

Dr. Manuskiatti commented “Stretch marks are a skin condition that has been traditionally very challenging to treat. The study confirms that collagen remodeling induced by RF heating is an effective mechanism for improving the surface appearance of stretch marks. I am delighted that TriPollar(R) technology delivered significant measurable results that were maintained during the long term followup examination and that patients reported a pain free and pleasant experience”.

Company Founder and CEO, Dr. Zion Azar stated “Pollogen is delighted to have results of its study presented at the upcoming EADV congress. TriPollar offers a proven alternative to invasive treatments and it is important that dermatologists are exposed to leading technologies and solutions that they can offer their patients. A primary audience for this treatment is postpregnancy women who would like to eliminate abdominal stretch marks safely, effectively and in a completely painless and fast procedure.

About Pollogen

Pollogen Ltd. develops, manufactures and markets professional medical aesthetic devices, powered by the TriPollar(TM) 3rd generation Radio Frequency (RF) technology. Invented and perfected by Pollogen, proprietary TriPollar(TM) technology powers a full line of clinicallyproven, noninvasive and nonsurgical treatment platforms for wrinkles, cellulite, circumference reduction and skin tightening. The flagship aesthetic devices, apollo(TM) and regen(TM) offer customers clinicallyproven, safe and effective antiaging beauty treatments that deliver immediate and longlasting results

Source Pollogen Ltd

VeriChip previously announced in November 2008 that RECEPTORS completed Phase I of the project and successfully prepared prototype examples for both the glucoseselective binding environment and the glucosecompetitive signaling component. These critical components were used to demonstrate the benchtop format application of the glucosesensing system to the detection of glucose levels. This demonstration is the proofofconcept foundation of the glucosesensing system.

Also in November 2008, VeriChips Chairman and CEO, Scott R. Silverman, purchased 5.4 million shares of VeriChip common stock from former controlling stockholder Digital Angel Corporation. Simultaneously, in a separate transaction, VeriChip purchased from Digital Angel all patents related to an embedded biosensor system for use in humans and the assignment of any rights of Digital Angel under a development agreement associated with the development of the implantable glucosesensing microchip. These two events positioned the Company to move forward with the development of the in vivo glucosesensing RFID microchip.

The goal of Phase II is to optimize the sensing system for its glucose response in the presence of blood and interstitial fluid matrix components and demonstrate the integration of the components into a stable and reproducible glucose sensor.

Robert E. Carlson, Ph.D., President and Chief Science Officer at RECEPTORS LLC, said, “The development of a viable in vivo glucosesensing device has been hampered by both the instability of the component reagents and the difficulty of integrating the diverse system requirements of longterm stability, simplicity, biocompatibility, etc. into a millimeter scale device. Phase II will build on the proofofconcept success of Phase I to produce the foundation upon which we will build the implantable glucose sensor.”

The partners published a white paper in December 2007 entitled, “Development of an Implantable Glucose Sensor,” which is available at verichipcorp.com.

About RECEPTORS LLC

RECEPTORS LLC develops SMART MATERIALS products for laboratory, clinical, industrial hygiene and healthcare use that selectively capture and measure chemical, biochemical and cellular targets from complex biological, environmental or industrial samples. The Companys patented AFFINITY by DESIGN™ platform has broad applicability, ranging from the isolation of disease pathway proteins for drug discovery and production of therapeutic antibodies, to the capture of bacteria and viruses for disinfection and diagnostic purposes. RECEPTORS LLC is a private company based in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota. For further information please visit receptorsllc.com.

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Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers have developed an integrated treatment program for veterans with comorbid chronic pain and PTSD. This study appeared in the October issue of Pain Medicine.

BUSM researchers found in this pilot study that soldiers have shown great benefit from receiving the integrated treatment for pain and PTSD. BUSM researchers used components of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for PTSD and cognitivebehavioral therapy (CBT) for chronic pain management. A 12session integrated treatment for veterans was developed including a therapist manual and patient workbook for weekly readings and homework assignments. Participants received pre and posttreatment evaluations using measures of pain, PTSD, physical disability and psychological distress.

The CBT approach has been shown to be highly effective in treating a range of disorders, from PTSD to chronic pain in children and adults. Using CBT for chronic pain involves challenging maladaptive beliefs and teaching patients ways of safely reintroducing enjoyable activities into their lives. BUSM researchers used different methods for treating chronic pain and PTSD, including teaching veterans cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, timebased activity pacing so that veterans become more active without overdoing it, and lastly graded homework assignments designed to decrease patients avoidance of activity and reintroduce a healthy active lifestyle.

“Several themes emerged over the course of implementing the treatment, including the importance of establishing participant trust, regular therapy attendance and addressing participant avoidance,” explained lead researcher John D. Otis, PhD an assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology at Boston University School of Medicine and clinical psychologist in the Research Services at the VA Boston Healthcare System. “Participants reported that they liked the format of treatment, appreciated learning about the ways that chronic pain and PTSD share common symptoms and how the two disorders interact with one another,” said Otis.

Upon completing the 12week integrated treatment, several participants no longer met diagnostic criteria for PTSD and reported reductions in symptoms of chronic pain, and disability.

This study was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Rehabilitation, Research and Development Service, and supported by the Research Service of the VA Boston Healthcare System.

Source
Allison Rubin

The study was the work of researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and the University of Warwick in the UK, and is published online in the 29 September issue of the BMJ.

For the study the researchers used data from over 17,000 participants of the Nurses Health Study, United States, one of the largest and longest running investigations of factors that influence womens health.

All the participants lived at least until the age of 70 and were free from major chronic diseases at midlife (their mean age was 50 in 1976, the baseline date of the study). They continued to give information on physical function, chronic diseases, cognitive function, and mental health as they approached 70 and over.

The researchers defined “healthy survival” as living to 70 and beyond while at the same time having (1) no history of 11 major chronic diseases, and (2) having “no substantial cognitive, physical, or mental limitations”. Thus not only being free of disease, but also having all ones faculties and enough physical and mental ability to go shopping, go up and down stairs and take care of oneself.

“Usual survival” was living to 70 and over but with no particular health status.

After analysing the data the researchers found that9.9 per cent of the women who lived to the age of 70 and over met the criteria for “healthy survival”.
After taking into account lifestyle and diet, the higher a womans BMI at baseline, the lower her odds of healthy survival, compared to “usual survival” (this was a linear relationship with P

Many of the previous studies on socioeconomic status (SES) and prostate cancer mortality are from North America, particularly from the United States. Researchers wanted to know how disparities affected prostate cancer mortality in Switzerland, a country with an extremely well developed health care system and where healthcare costs, medical coverage, and life expectancy are among the highest in the world, Elisabetta Rapiti, M.D., MPH, of the University of Geneva and her colleagues conducted a populationbased study that included all residents of the region who were diagnosed with invasive prostate cancer between 1995 and 2005.

The analysis included 2,738 patients identified through the Geneva Cancer Registry. A patient with prostate cancer was classified as having high, medium, or low socioeconomic status on the basis of his occupation at the time of diagnosis. The investigators compared patient and tumor characteristics, as well as treatments among the different socioeconomic groups.

Compared with patients of high socioeconomic status, those of low socioeconomic status were less likely to have their cancer detected by screening, had more advanced stages of cancer at diagnosis, and underwent fewer tests to characterize their cancer. These patients were less likely to have their prostates removed and were more likely to be managed with watchful waiting, or careful monitoring.

Patients with low socioeconomic status also had a 2fold increased risk of dying from prostate cancer compared with patients of high socioeconomic status. “The increased mortality risk of patients of low socioeconomic status is almost completely explained by delayed diagnosis, poor workup, and less complete treatment, indicating inequitable use of the health care system,” said Rapiti. The authors say lead time and length time biases linked to early detection through PSA screening may partially explain the survival advantage observed among high SES patients. However, they found that the differences by SES in prostate cancer mortality were limited to patients with advanced disease, for whom the impact of such biases is not as strong, and that treatment choice probably played a more important role. The authors say reducing health inequalities linked to socioeconomic status should receive high priority in public health policies, and that improving patients access to prevention and early diagnostic tests and ensuring that they receive standard treatments could help reduce the socioeconomic differences seen in this study.

Article “Impact of socioeconomic status on prostate cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.” Elisabetta Rapiti, Gerald Fioretta, Robin Schaffar, Isabel NeyroudCaspar, Helena M Verkooijen, Franz Schmidlin, Raymond Miralbell, Roberto Zanetti, Christine Bouchardy. Cancer; Published Online September 28, 2009 (DOI 10.1002/cncr.24607); Print Issue Date December 1, 2009.

Source
David Sampson

The study, conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center, found that poor kidney function was linked specifically with cognition related to memory functions. Damage to one of these functions, episodic memory, which retrieves memories of time, place, associated emotions and other contextual knowledge, is often the earliest sign of Alzheimers disease.

“Given the dearth of modifiable risk factors for agerelated cognitive decline, these results have important public health implications,” said Dr. Aron Buchman, a neuroscientist in the Rush Alzheimers Disease Center. “Further work to understand the link between kidney function and the brain may provide new strategies for preventing memory loss in elders.”

Buchman said the findings suggest that there are common disease processes that affect both the brain and the kidneys in the elderly, and hypothesized that underlying vascular problems, such as diabetes and hypertension, may account for the association between kidney problems and cognitive decline.

The study analyzed data for 886 older adults who participated in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a group of communitydwelling seniors with a mean age of 81, all of them initially free of dementia. The participants were examined annually for up to six years to track changes in cognition over time. Cognitive assessments included multiple tests that were summarized as a composite measure of overall cognition and of five individual cognitive abilities.

The individual cognitive systems assessed were visuospatial ability; perceptual speed, or the ability to quickly and accurately compare letters, numbers, objects, pictures or patterns; semantic memory, related to meaning, understanding and other conceptbased knowledge; working memory, which temporarily stores and manipulates information; and episodic memory.

Ruling out the influence of factors like aging and medications, which can affect cognition, the researchers found that poor kidney function, assessed at the beginning of the study, was linked with a more rapid rate of decline in cognition over the next several years not in visuospatial ability or perceptual speed, but in three specific areas episodic, semantic and working memory.

The rate of decline in cognition was equivalent to that of a person seven years older at baseline, Buchman said.

The study was supported by funds from the National Institute on Aging, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Robert C. Borwell Endowment Fund.

About Rush

Rush University Medical Center includes a 674bed (staffed) hospital; the Johnston R. Bowman Health Center; and Rush University (Rush Medical College, College of Nursing, College of Health Sciences and the Graduate College).

Rush is currently constructing a 14floor, 806,000squarefoot hospital building at the corner of Ashland Avenue and Congress Parkway. The new hospital, scheduled to open in 2012, is the centerpiece of a $1billion, 10year campus redevelopment plan called the Rush Transformation, which also includes a new orthopedics building (to open in Fall 2009), a new parking garage and central power plant completed in June 2009, renovations of selected existing buildings and demolition of obsolete buildings. The new hospital is being designed and built to conserve energy and water, reduce waste and use sustainable building materials. Rush is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It will be the first fullservice “green” hospital in Chicago.

Rushs mission is to provide the best possible care for our patients. Educating tomorrows health care professional, researching new and more advanced treatment options, transforming our facilities and investing in new technologies all are undertaken with the drive to improve patient care now, and for the future.

It is interesting that there may be a link between sleep and the build up of the protein associated with the development of Alzheimers disease. However, there are many other biological factors that may have an impact on the proteins production, so further research in this area would be needed.

Dementia research is desperately underfunded, with the government investing eight times less in dementia research than cancer research. One million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. We must act now.

Professor Clive Ballard
Director of Research
Alzheimers Society

JaeEun Kang, Miranda M. Lim, Randall J. Bateman et al, Amyloidbeta dynamics are regulated by Orexin and the SleepWake Cycle, 24 September 2009