Latest News and Reviews

Magnetic Stimulation Therapy: A New Alternative To Non-Drug Treatment of Migraine

A new research done by the UCFS investigating the method of an upcoming and promising therapy using magnetic pulses to treat chronic migraine has proven to be a great alternative for medication. This new therapy is known as the Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

This method was earlier used in a study at the OSU (Ohio State University) in which it was used to cure and diagnose individuals suffering from a migraine condition called aura, a condition in which a patient suffers from different visual sensations, and this stimulation technique was found to be far better than some of its preceding techniques used for curing migraine.

In the recent study, UCSF scientists used this technique on rats to understand the mechanism how TMS actually interacts with the brain that lead to the removal of pain due to migraine. The team concluded that the times of stimulus as well as the intensity of stimulus are the most important factors towards the brain’s response to the treatment technique.

“The statistics thus demonstrated a biological justification for making use of the TMS technique to treat migraine,” said Mr. Goadsby, the lead researcher of this particular research. He added that the cortical spreading depression (CSD) and the animal correlate migraine were found to be susceptible to this promising therapy. The research conclusions explained the fact that the aura due to migraine reacts to the magnetic stimulus of the therapy due to the fact that the TMS obstructs the neuronal excitement waves, a biological method by which the nerve cells get stimulated because of fire. TMS therapy generates a fixed magnetic pulse that invades through the brain, there by inducing an electric current that disrupts the unusual waves from the brain allegedly related with migraine.

American Academy of Neurological has estimated that more than thirty millions of people in American are suffering from migraine, a syndrome categorized by persistent, frequently unbearable headaches. It is estimated that due to migraine around one hundred and fifty seven million workdays are lost thus leading to losses around thirteen billion. Despite the fact that additional study is needed, the scientists added that these results give the neurosurgeons an opportunity of a great new treatment option available for people suffering from migraine and for those who are not able to bear the side effects due to migraine’s medication such as intolerable stomach bleeding.

Swine Flu: Current Vaccines Cannot Protect Against H1N1 Virus but May Reduce Severity of Symptoms

Current flu vaccines may not be proved effective over the swine virus but it is believed that people who have taken these vaccines on time are likely to show less symptoms of the diseases, said a vaccine specialist. The virus which has already killed 149 people so far in Mexico has spread to other parts of US, Canada and Europe. Expert fear that it may turn out to trigger the pandemic.

Swine flu is a type of H1N1 form of influenza virus. Present vaccines can only protect against H1N1, test show that it does not protect against the new strain that has developed, although it may be a little bit of helpful.

Most of the people may show some signs of immunity against the H1N1 that may be helpful to certain level as said by Dr. John McConnell who is an editor at the Journal called Lancet Infectious Diseases. The virus which is spreading rapidly among humans leave the health officials with fear that it could turn out into a flu pandemic that is expected by most of the scientists.

More than 20 companies around the world are known to make flu vaccines including the GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis AG  and Australia’s CSL Ltd. But the process of vaccine preparation is clumsy and very much out dated, and development in some new technology is still not expected.

Karl Nicholson, a vaccine expert from the Leicester University said that if the virus turns into an uncontrolled pandemic than it could hit even before we develop a vaccine. The fact is that the vaccine can not be made in time so it is very important to prime the population. One of the major problems is that most people do not take yearly flu vaccines. According to health officials, at least 85 percent of the people in America are expected to have got the vaccine but a survey conducted by Rand Corp in December proved that only one third of the expected people had actually taken their regular flu vaccine.

Experts further explain that that the swine flu is only related to human strains to a certain level, so the present vaccine could not be proved much effective in producing the antibodies. According to Ian Jones, a researcher at the University of Reading, it is a possibility that the current vaccine may only reduce the severity of the symptoms but may not succeed in stopping the infection completely.

Swine Flu Outbreak: What You Need To Know To Protect Yourself

With the recent outbreak of the deadly swine flu people are worried about protecting themselves from the infection as there is still no vaccine available against the disease. According to Dr. Richard Besser, acting director at the Centers for Disease Controls(CDC), the best precautionary measure against swine flu would be to keep your mouth covered and wash your hands regularly.

In order to stop the disease from spreading Dr. Besser advised people to wash their hands often, avoid going out if they are suffering from fever and try to cover their mouth while coughing. The virus would spread from person to person by means of sneezing or coughing by people who are suffering from this influenza. Most of the people are also likely to catch the disease by coming in contact with certain things that may be infected by the flu virus and then accidentally touching their nose or mouth.

The symptoms of swine flue may include fever, sore throat, cough, headache, body ache, fatigue and chills which are also common symptoms of a typical flu infection. In certain cases it is also observed that people suffer from vomiting and diarrhea. According to CDC severe illnesses including respiratory failure and pneumonia resulting to death have also been noticed with people infected from swine flu.

Diagnosis of swine flu would require collection of respiratory specimen from patient within the first  four to five days. During this stage the person is expected to be shedding virus. In certain cases, even in children it is observed that they may shed virus even after 10 days or longer. The collected specimen should be tested at the CDC laboratory for a positive identification.

According to CDC antiviral drugs like rimantadine, amantadine, zanamivir and oseltamivir are licensed to be used in US for treating this influenza. The recent swine flu viruses infecting human are resistant to rimantadine and amantadine, so CDC recommends zanamivir or oseltamivir for the prevention and cure of swine influenza virus. There is a vaccine that prevents the swine flu in pigs but no such vaccine has been developed for humans yet.

Breast Cancer Breakthrough - A Potential Cure For Breast Cancer

A group of researchers at Auckland University’s Liggins Institute in New Zealand, which is headed by Professor Peter Lobie has discovered a potential cure for breast cancer. In their research, the group has found three molecules that are present in about 65 to 90 percent of breast cancers. The group is hoping for this discovery to be a revolutionary treatment.

The researchers show that these molecules cause poor survival within breast cancer patients because they are strong agent that allow cancer cell to survive in a patient’s body. Lobie said that they are currently working out with some methods in order to slower down the growth of these three molecules and eventually stopping the tumor growth.

In order for these molecules to stop from spreading breast cancer, Lobie’s group has inventied a liquid that is more powerful that Heceptin. If Herceptin can only saves 20 percent of breast cancer patients, the developed liquid of Lobie’s group is aiming for more. Lobie said that they have already tried this liquid to animals and seen tumors slowed down. Few more steps to go and the liquid is ready to heal humans.

The result of Lobie’s team’s research has been publicized by the Breast Cancer Research Trust and has invested millions for it. The researchers are very optimistic about their discovery. However, they also pointed out that it will still take a little longer before it can actually cure breast cancer patients. If every things go well, they are hoping that the human clinical trials will start in around two to three years time.

Alcohol Can Increase The Risk Of Cancer To 1 In 1,000

Cancer has been a major source of worry and anxiety among our society for many years. According to a recent experiment conducted by scientists in Toronto, Alcohol has been found to be one of the causes for cancer. Scientists revealed a chemical known as acetaldehyde found in alcoholic drinks that can augment the threat of getting cancer to 1 in 1000 individuals.

“Although the fact that alcohol can lead to cancer was widely known, however it was never apparent as to what component in the drink was actually causing cancer until we rcently recognized a particular substance, acetaldehyde, to be one of the main contributing agent towards cancer in human beings”, said Dr. Rehm, working at the Centre for Addiction. This agent plays an important role in growth of certain varieties of cancers, primarily in the superior digestive tract. A recently risk evaluation research concluded that the average contact to acetaldehyde from alcohol results in a life span cancer threat of 7.6 in every 10,000 individuals.

One glass of Sherry has 5 times of acetaldehyde as compared with a tin can of beer, and more than 4 times as compared to wine, on the other hand Vodka contains 100 times less quantity of acetaldehyde compared to Sherry.

Threat of acetaldehyde in alcoholic beverages is a hazard that people could not accept. It may appear to be little threat of only 1 in every 1,000 individuals, but the reality is that it’s pretty high. Thus scientists are calling upon the government to take actions on the particular study so that the quantity of acetaldehyde present in alcoholic drinks can be reduced.