Latest News and Reviews

Women Are More Susceptible To Migraines

According to a recent study, approximately 75% of people who are suffering from migraine are women. As per the US Department of Health & Human Services, more than half of migraine incidences in women occur just before, after or during a woman’s menstrual period.

Sometimes, migraines take place when the brain’s constricting blood vessels becomes the cause of recurring and intense vascular headaches. While some of the female migraine sufferers experience pain throughout their cycles, migraines related to menstrual cycles can be one of the triggers of the painful condition.

Researchers have also cited the hormones which are responsible for such a condition. Before the beginning of a woman’s menstrual cycle, the progesterone and estrogen levels sharply drop and this initiates migraine attacks. After all, estrogen is responsible for controlling chemicals in the brain which affect sensation of pain in women.

Environment as well as genetics plays an important role in the condition, as in all other neurological diseases. One of the environmental factors is estrogen but genetic predisposition can also be firmly established. While the role of hormones is not perfectly clear, recent studies have revealed that females suffering from migraines have less chances of developing breast cancer.

Because breast cancer has been linked to a higher exposure to the estrogen through lifetime, it makes sense that migraines occur when estrogen levels drop.

Protein Research Brings New Hope In Allergy-Induced Asthma Treatment

US researchers have identified a protein which is found to be a major link for asthma induced due to allergy. This finding could result into an introduction of innovative drugs for treatment of this disease.

The study conducted by lead researchers at Yale School of Medicine has reported that mice lacking the TRPA1, an ion channel protein, have shown few asthmatic symptoms.  Sven-Eric Jordt, assistance professor and lead author of the report, have pointed out in a new release that those mice without TRPA1 protein have reduced inflammation, bronchoconstriction and airway mucus.

Previous studies shown that the protein TRPA1 is likes a sensor for asthma-triggering irritants such as cigarette smoke or chemicals. This protein is actually present in airway nerve cells which triggers coughing, sneezing, irritation and controls pain.

HC-030031 drug is found to be the one which prevents pain in relation to TRPA1, thereby reducing the symptoms of asthma in mice. Jordt viewed that by blocking TRPA1 can result into prevention of lung infiltration by so called inflammatory cells which are responsible for Asthma.

The above researchers are a part of HC-030031 drug making biosciences firm which is focusing on production of new drugs for asthma.

Alzheimer’s Breakthrough – MIT Researchers Identified Genes Involved In Reversing Signs of Alzheimer

A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have recently identified the specific gene that is involved with the process of reversing the signs of the Alzheimer disease.

This gene known as the HDAC2, is a division of the family of various genes that are identified to control the gene expressions by altering the chromatin which is a structure present inside the cell’s nucleus within our bodies. When this particular gene HDAC is being repressed, the chromatin is loosened up, as a result the other vital genes get to express themselves.

When the team of researchers from the MIT injected the HDAC2 gene repressing drugs into the mice’s body that were regulated in a manner so as to have a state comparable to the Alzheimer’s disease in human beings, then the mice recovered back the capacity to perform formerly learned tasks, and on top of that were capable in learning different new tasks. On the other hand the mice that were regulated to not produce HDAC2 all showed great enhanced memories.

The team of researchers on noticing the high ability of the HDAC2 inhibitors in reversing the various symptoms of the Alzheimer’s in the mice are speculating and hoping that the memories that appear to be lost in various people may not have been completely lost, they might have just become inaccessible as a consequence of the various effects from the HDAC2.

Study Author Hui Tsai Li commented that the new results are similar to the phenomenon called the ‘fluctuating memories’ due to which certain demented persons experienced transient loss of clarity in their minds.

Now the researches are planning to see whether the drugs that were used on the mice would be successful in humans too. They added that in the next step forward they plan to develop and invent a new form of HDAC2 inhibitors and test them on humans for treating various brain related degenerative diseases.

Although various forms of these HDAC inhibiting drugs are already in use and are being tested for the treatment of Huntington’s disease, many researchers are also probing their role as anticancer agents.

Lawsuit for Mesothelioma Afflicted Death Brings $1 Million Verdict

Widow of the power plant worker who passed away following Mesothelioma won about $1 million compensation from a Florida Jury last Tuesday. The worker was known to die of cancer resulting from asbestos exposure. It is significant to note that Gulf Power was attributed a large chunk of blame for the misfortune but the company was not indicted on the grounds of the immoral death.

On August 10, 2006, a month before his death, Woodrow McBride along with his wife, filed a lawsuit pertaining to asbestos induced Mesothelioma. Bailiffs comprised of a list of companies of Pensacola and Southport where he worked in the capacity of power plant worker between the year 1968 and 1996. It is believed that the cause of malignant cells was his tenure at these places. Asbestos inhalation might have resulted from insulation of boilers where he worked.

Woodrow McBride was suggested to be carrying malignant cells in 2005. Mesothelioma generally impacts the lining of chest and the lungs but is also known to create malignancy in the abdominal lining. Asbestos exposure is the only know cause for Mesothelioma, the disease normally remains undiagnosed for some 20 - 40 years after affliction and this results in difficulty in treatment once the symptoms are manifest.

Jury bestowed a sum of $995,600 to the widow of McBride. The sum included two hundred and forty five thousand for medical expenses made on his husband, two hundred and twenty five thousand for the pain that the disease inflicted on him and five hundred and twenty five thousand for the agony of bereavement that she had to undergo. Jury put down 60 percent of the fault on Gulf Power though the company was not involved in the lawsuit and hence $597,360 that seems to have evolved out of their negligence can’t be forced on them.

Fifteen more companies got arraigned with a blame of one percent each. The names include General Electric, Johns Manville,  Ingersoll Rand, Owens-Corning Corp., Riley Stoker, Pacific Pump Corp., Shook and Fletcher, Allis-Chalmers, Babcock and Wilcox Corp., Westinghouse and Yarway Valve, Eagle Picher Industries, Combustion Engineering,Fibrebrand Corp., and Garlock Gasket Co.

For the uninitiated, asbestos litigation is a mass tort that stretches back deepest into the history of US. In fact, the first lawsuit was filed way back in the year 1929. Nearly 6,00,000 people have been plaintiffs against some 6000 defendants and cases have more or less pertained to Mesothelioma deaths.

Leukemia Link to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Drug - Higher than Conceived

Reports that linked Leukamia with Multiple Sclerosis drugs had been understated according to a study put up at Late-breaking Science Program at American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.

Mitoxantrone is a FDA approved drug, the immunosuppresant drug is used to fight the later stages of Multiple Sclerosis. It is one of the 2 drugs that have been able to combat the implications of advanced MS attacks. Because the drug is known to cause heart damage, the entire dosages administered over a lifetime is kept near 8 to 12 doses over a period of 2 to 3 years.

Studies in the past have brought to the surface the extended risk of developing Leukemia for patients who have MS. Earlier studies had shown that patients taking Mitoxantrone for MS manifest acute leukemia about 7 to 25 out of every 10000 cases. Present-day retrospective study conducted on Italian people suggested the same number to be 74.

All the 2,854 Italian patients who enrolled for the study underwent a minimum of one cycle of Mitaxantrone treatment and were put under observation for a period of one year. 21 among them developed leukemia and 8 of them passed away. Leukemia was found to develop an average of 3 years post the initial drug use and 1.5 years after the culmination of treatment. It is important for all mitoxantrone treated MS patients to undergo extended and circumspect hematological follow-up for examining any possibility of acute Leukemia.

The American Cancer Society has put forward some 44270 fresh cases of Leukemia among the general US population last year.