Daily Health and Medicine News

Acne and Skin Care News

Better acne treatment inside and out

Most of us have experienced acne. For some it is merely an occasional nuisance while others find it to be a seriously embarrassing and frustrating issue that seems to defy all logical treatment. And for a few with really bad acne, it can leave emotional scars that are more than just skin deep.

Successful acne treatment requires getting to the root cause of the acne and fixing it at the source. We need to address issues with skin turnover, bacteria and fungal infections, inflammation in the body and hormone imbalances. And, yes, diet, stress, and sleep also play a role.

Acne is the result of clogging of the skin’s oil glands, with or without inflammation and infection. We know that acne is caused by hormones and bacteria. The oil glands secrete a waxy oil called sebum, and become whiteheads (closed and plugged oil glands), blackheads (open and plugged oil glands), and pustules (red and inflamed, often infected). At a basic level the simplest form of acne is when the oil glands are plugged by the normal outer layer of dead skin, called keratin.

Good skin care involves twice daily washing, moisturizing, and sun protection. We recommend cleansers that gently and effectively rejuvenate the skin by dissolving surface oil, bacteria and impurities without harmful over-drying, leaving your skin feeling fresh and clean. A good moisturizer should be oil-free and provide nutrients that encourage healthy skin. By combining a sunscreen with moisturizer it makes for a very simple step in your daily regimen. We recommend the ABI product line for basic skin care with outstanding results.

When it comes to make-up, avoid heavy pore-clogging, high-fragrance foundations such as Revlon, Loreal, Maybelline, Mary Kay, Lancome, Elizabeth Arden, etc. We suggest mineral make-up which does not clog pores. Our favorite brand is YoungBlood, which is full of nutrients and antioxidants and includes sunscreen.

Control of acne requires an effective and convenient way to control sebum production and gently exfoliate dead skin cells. This can be done with daily topical treatments, such as glycolic and salicylic acid topicals, retinoids, and fruit peels. Microdermabrasion can be very helpful in preventing keratin build up but can worsen acne during a flare up.

A crucial part of successful acne treatment is to understand the role of infection. P. Acnes is a common bacteria that inhabits oil glands, causing a worsening of the size and inflammation of plugged glands. Once acne moves beyond whiteheads or blackheads into pustules or boils then additional treatment is indicated. For milder cases, prescription topical antibiotics often work well. For more intensive infections systemic antibiotics are helpful. The Blu-U light therapy effectively kills the P. Acnes bacteria. Adding the photosensitizing agent Levulan to the Blu-U is great for the most resistant cases.

For many people acne is a sign of underlying inflammation or problems with the immune system as a whole. Everything from diet, stress, poor sleep, infections and allergies might be playing a role in acne due to inflammation.

Certain foods cause acne due to the effects on various hormones in the body that deal with inflammation. High sugar and high glycemic diets will cause spikes in insulin and with it our stress hormone cortisol will rise. Cortisol will directly stimulate the sebum glands and cause acne. Too much saturated fat in the diet will cause inflammation and high cortisol. Stress and lack of sleep will both cause high cortisol, and again, this can lead to more acne.

Sneaky underlying infections in the gut or bloodstream, such as the yeast Candida, can cause inflammation and acne. Interestingly, the “good” bacteria in the body, especially in the gut, play a big role in keeping the immune system strong and help to keep “bad” microbes and inflammation under control. When the immune system is weakened it allows the otherwise harmless microbes to take over — and this can happen in the skin. The beneficial bacteria in the gut also plays a role in removing toxins and excess hormones from the body, both of which may help acne. We often treat for infections such as Candida and include a probiotic (our body’s beneficial bacteria) supplement as part of our acne treatment plan.

Believe or not, delayed food allergies can cause acne due to the resulting inflammation and increased cortisol hormone production. We see numerous cases where acne just disappears as patients eliminate certain foods they are allergic to such as gluten or dairy products.

The skin is often a tell-tale sign of an underlying hormone imbalance. Similar to cortisol, the androgens or “male hormones” such as DHEA, testosterone, and its byproduct DHT, all increase oil production in the skin and stimulate hair growth. When the androgens are in excess relative to the “female hormones” such as estrogen and progesterone then the skin can become oily, hairy or both.

Pre-menopausal women commonly have estrogen dominant cycles due to a lack of sufficient progesterone, causing premenstrual breakouts. During and after menopause many women experience a flare up of acne not seen since their teens or at all due to the falling levels of estrogen and progesterone. Other hormone conditions such as low thyroid and polycystic ovarian syndrome can affect the skin. A hormone analysis is a very important step in acne treatment and correction of hormone imbalances will improve skin and overall health. In some cases we prescribe medications that block hormone receptors in the skin.

Our acne treatment protocol typically involves treating the skin directly while evaluating the whole person beneath. Certainly proper skin care and aesthetic procedures will do wonders for reducing acne and improving skin health but we also help with lifestyle issues such as dietary changes, stress management, and improving sleep — all of which can build the immune system and reduce acne promoting inflammation.

An integrated medical-aesthetic approach looking for underlying causes is often the “cure” for difficult to treat acne. We’ve seen many cases where years of acne frustration ended simply and quickly with proper treatment of immune system or hormone imbalances. For better acne treatment, consider an approach that works inside and out.

Erin Larson is a certified laser specialist, aesthetician, and co-owner of Bellezza Laser Aesthetics. She has worked with many different brands of laser equipment and is experienced with every aesthetic laser procedure as well as the Levulan procedure for precancerous lesions, microdermabrasion and numerous skin care product lines. Bellezza is located in the Integrative Medicine Center of Western Colorado (www.imcwc.com). Call 254-1195 for a complimentary consultation.

Scott Rollins, M.D., is board certified with the American Board of Family Practice and the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine. He specializes in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement, thyroid and adrenal disorders, fibromyalgia and other complex medical conditions. He is founder and medical director of the Integrative Medicine Center of Western Colorado (www.imcwc.com). Call 245-6911 for an appointment or more information.

Herborium Provides Editorial on Natural Acne Treatment for U.K.’s National Primary Care Review

Herborium Group, Inc., (PINKSHEETS: HBRM | PowerRating), a Botanical Therapeutics(TM) company (www.herborium.com), today announced that it has been selected to provide the editorial on alternative acne treatment for National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) Review, Spring 2011 edition.

“Exposure in such a prestigious medical review to tens-of-thousands of U.K. general practitioners and dermatologists is a significant boost in Herborium’s European brand building efforts, as well as promising acceleration of sales; it also advances the company’s goal to become the worldwide leader in natural medicine,” commented Dr. Agnes P. Olszewski, Herborium’s president and chief executive officer. “The Review is distributed to 36,000 general practitioners and almost 2,000 dermatologists and dermatological groups.”

The high-profile exposure comes at a most advantageous time, as AcnEase, (www.acnease.com) Herborium’s all botanical, clinically tested acne and Rosacea treatment continues to grow as the treatment of choice in the U.K. and EU. Since general practitioners and dermatologists can operate their own pharmacies on premises and sell both prescriptive drugs as well as supplements, and natural medicines Herborium expects a further growth in sales as a result of the Editorial.

Currently, the only class of FDA approved drug to treat the cause of acne is isotretinoin. Manufactured by Hoffman La-Roche and marketed under the trade name Accutane in the U.S., and Roaccutane in Europe, this drug class was recently taken off the market due to the high number of severe side effects and the pending class-action lawsuits.

AcnEase represents a safe, effective, and natural alternative for treatment and prevention of acne.

The Spring 2011 edition of The NAPC Review is solely devoted to Acne etiology and treatments and is co-sponsored by the British Skin Foundation and the British Association of Dermatologists. The NAPC Review is sent to every General Practitioner and every Dermatologist in Great Britain effectively covering all doctors who treat patients with acne and Rosacea. Herborium’s clinically tested botanical acne medicine, AcnEase, currently being sold in the U.K. since 2004, was cited as a reason for Herborium’s selection.

About Herborium Group, Inc. Herborium Group, Inc., a Botanical Therapeutics(R) company, focuses on developing, licensing, and marketing proprietary, botanically based medicinal products to consumers and healthcare professionals. The Company’s business model focuses on emerging market opportunities spearheaded by the growth of a new market sector located between high-cost, high-risk, ethical pharmaceuticals and commoditized classic nutraceuticals (supplements). The Company uses clinical validation and a proactive regulatory strategy based on the FDA Guidance for Industry: Botanical Drug Products (FDA Guidance 2004) to establish and maintain a differential advantage. For more information, please visit www.herborium.com and www.acnease.com.

One of our most important responsibilities is to communicate with shareholders in an open and direct manner. Comments are based on current management expectations, and are considered “forward-looking statements,” generally preceded by words such as “plans,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” or “intends.” We cannot promise future returns. Our statements reflect our best judgment at the time they are issued, and we disclaim any obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements as the result of new information or future events. The Company urges investors to review the risks and uncertainties contained within its filings with the OTC Markets and/or Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cancer News and Treatment

Tanning beds still draw fans despite skin cancer risk, new study finds

Are tanning beds still popular? Apparently so. A new study finds 18% of women and 6.5% of men in America say they use tanning beds, even though indoor tanning has been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota based their findings on surveys of 2,869 white people between age 18 and 64 who were asked about their recent indoor tanning habits. In addition, the study says, most didn’t know that using tanning beds could increase their chances of getting skin cancer. Check out this abstract of the study published Monday in the Archives of Dermatology.

Warnings about indoor tanning are hardly news. This American Cancer Society report explains why tanning beds are linked to higher rates of melanoma.

And teens are particularly at risk. “Young people tend to think they’re not vulnerable to skin cancer,” dermatologist Hanspaul Makkar says in this Hartford Courant story. “Most of the damage that leads to skin cancer happens before the age of 18.”

How much exposure is too much? College students posing as teens set out to assess how well tanning businesses complied with laws and federal guidelines regarding exposure to UV radiation. This Los Angeles Times story reports on the findings.

Flexible Fitness: Exercise may decrease breast cancer risk

According the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in American women, affecting more than 250,000 women a year.

Multiple studies have examined what steps individuals can take to lower the risk of both diagnosis and recurrence. One common theme in these studies is exercise.

Numerous studies have found a link between exercise and decreased cancer recurrence and mortality. The main conclusion of these studies is that moderate intensity exercise lowers the risk of new cancer development, progression of current tumors and recurrence once in remission.

In fact, some studies have shown a decrease in recurrence of up to 30 to 40 percent for those who exercise moderately for three to four hours per week. Both moderate- and high-intensity exercise have been correlated with decreased breast cancer death, though high-intensity exercise does not confer the same preventive benefits as moderate exercise. It was also found that women with hormone-responsive tumors especially benefited from regular exercise, as exercise tends to lower estrogen levels in the body.

Why does exercise lower breast cancer risks? The answer to this question is not fully known, but two current hypotheses look at the body’s estrogen and insulin levels. Research has shown that obesity increases the risk for developing breast cancer, especially in post-menopausal women. It is also known that obesity and weight gain increase the body’s estrogen levels after menopause.

Conversely, estrogen levels are lowered by physical activity and are further kept in check by reducing body fat, a byproduct of exercise. Therefore, one plausible answer to this question is that exercise and weight loss may have a protective effect by lowering a woman’s blood-estrogen level.

The second hypothesis centers around insulin levels, which are increased by obesity and weight gain. Some studies have suggested that an increase in circulating insulin may lead to decreased survival rates with breast cancer. Therefore, exercising moderately is an important step for women to take in order to reduce their cancer risk or decrease the risk of cancer recurrence.

This is also significant because weight and exercise are influencing factors that women can control, unlike other risk factors like the environment or genetics. Exercise guidelines include moderate exercise totaling three to four hours per week. The American Cancer Society recommends walking at a moderate pace for 30 minutes daily, which would fulfill these guidelines.

Other forms of aerobic exercise are also acceptable, but moderate intensity appears to be an important factor. Housework and general occupational activity, on the other hand, have not been shown to confer protective benefits against cancer. It is suggested that these activities are not of sufficient intensity to confer protective benefits, unlike moderate recreational activities.

There can be some roadblocks to achieving these exercise goals –– chiefly the fatigue and de-conditioning that can result from cancer treatment. Lifestyle changes can also be difficult to make, and motivation level and depression can influence success.

If these are issues you are dealing with, find support from medical practitioners, friends or community groups to help you achieve your goals. Take your health into your own hands and strive for an active, healthy lifestyle while reducing your cancer risk.

Diabetes Treatment and Prevention News

How drinking milk could protect you from diabetes

Drinking milk may help prevent type 2 diabetes – the disease linked to obesity.

Contrary to the popular perception of dairy products as unhealthy, regular consumption could actually reduce the risk of developing the condition by up to 60 per cent, according to a study.

The ingredient responsible is trans-palmitoleic acid, a fatty acid found in the dairy fat of milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States say it can combat type 2 diabetes, which affects more than 2.3million Britons.

In the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, more than 3,700 participants were followed for 20 years by researchers.

They took measurements including blood glucose, insulin and levels of fatty acids.
They found that higher levels of trans-palmitoleic acid were associated with healthier levels of blood cholesterol and insulin.

Overall, those with the highest levels of trans-palmitoleic acid had about a 60 per cent reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Lead researcher Dariush Mozaffarian said: ‘The magnitude of this association is striking.

‘This represents an almost three-fold difference in risk of developing diabetes among individuals with the highest blood levels of this fatty acid.’

The study also appears to confirm previous research showing that a diet rich in dairy foods is linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes and related metabolic abnormalities.

A review of 324 studies of milk consumption and effects on health last year suggested the health benefits of milk outweigh any dangers that lie in its consumption, cutting deaths from common diseases by 15-20 per cent.

As little as one-third of a pint a day shows benefits in some studies while others involve regular consumption of almost a pint a day.

Dr Mozaffarian said: ‘There has been no clear biologic explanation for the lower risk of diabetes seen with higher dairy consumption in prior studies. This is the first time that the relationship of trans-palmitoleic acid with diabetes risk has been evaluated.

‘We wonder whether this naturally occurring trans fatty acid in dairy fats may partly mimic the normal biologic role of its cis counterpart, cis-palmitoleic acid, a fatty acid that is produced in the body.

‘In animal experiments, cis-palmitoleic acid protects against diabetes.’

Professor Gokhan Hotamisligil, senior author on the study, said this latest research had strong findings, but needed to be confirmed by a trial which set out to prove how it worked.

He said: ‘This is an extremely strong protective effect, stronger than other things we know can be beneficial against diabetes.

‘The next step is to move forward with an intervention trial to see if there is therapeutic value in people.’

Death Toll Estimate from French Diabetes Drug Climbs Over 2,000

The French Health Ministry has launched an investigation into the deaths of possibly more than 2,000 people who took the type 2 diabetes drug and appetite suppressant Mediator, and developed heart valve problems. When the French daily Le Figaro broke the story last month, 500 people were thought to have died. Mediator had been on the market since 1976, and was only pulled off in 2009. More than 5 million French people took the drug during that time. The privately-owned Servier, which makes it, is France’s second largest pharmaceutical company after Sanofi-aventis. It reported “consolidated” revenues of $5 billion in 2009-2010.

The case is reminiscent of GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia. This past September, the FDA significantly restricted its use and the European Medicines Agency suspended it altogether, after cardiologist Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic pointed the heightened risk of heart attack and stroke. From 1999 to 2009, more than 47,000 people on Avandia suffered heart attack, stroke, heart failure or death. The New York Times noted the often conflicting advice FDA staffers gave on its safety.

It is still unclear as to who knew what and when in Mediator’s case. But Le Figaro got hold of a letter which reveals that in 1998, three doctors with France’s Securite Sociale—which oversees health insurance, warned the French drug regulatory agency that Mediator could damage heart valves. Their warning was apparently ignored. They pointed that the medication was chemically similar to another Servier appetite suppressant that had been banned in 1997. Remember Fen Phen? In 1997, the FDA forced then American Home Products to withdraw its appetite suppressants Redux and Pondimin, after those drugs combined with another diet pill phentermine, cause heart valve lesions in overweight patients. Looks like those drugs might be related to Mediator, and if so, the health risks are well documented.

The French hope to find out what happened by January 15. Meanwhile Servier’s 88-year-old founder, Jacques Servier, told Le Monde that he is “shocked and stunned.” He would like to know “where these 500 dead people are”.

MOH clears way for pig cell diabetes research

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 6:37p.m.

By Rachel Morton

The Ministry of Health has cleared the way for more research to be done on how pig-cells affect type one diabetes sufferers.

Russia has just registered the New Zealand drug diabecell which was first tested on a patient here 14 years ago.

Researchers hope it won’t be long until it’s registered here too.

Fourteen years ago Michael Helyer put himself forward as a guinea pig for a treatment for type 1 diabetes; he was injected in the abdomen with pig cells.

Fourteen years on and he’s still experiencing the benefits.

The cells have mimicked his natural insulin production, meaning he doesn’t need to inject himself as often.

“This is a world first therapy and New Zealand is the first to have a product that has phased through trials and we’re certainly on the map around the world,” says Susanne Clay of Living Cell Technologies.

On the map because finally there have been two significant developments; the drug diabecell has been registered for use in Russia and the New Zealand phase of testing has progressed, the Ministry of Health has approved two more patients.

That means within a year the drug could be registered here too.

“The final trials that will allow us to apply for approval in New Zealand,” Susanne Clay says.

The drug is currently only being tested on people with unstable type 1 diabetes, meaning they have unexpected extreme highs and lows of blood sugar.

But if the drug successfully treats those patients, it could eventually become available for all sufferers of type 1 diabetes like Mr Helyer.

Mr Helyer says he is disappointed New Zealand wasn’t the first to register the drug, the testing was halted here for 10 years after fears pig viruses could be transmitted to people.

But Mr Helyer says the results speak for themselves and it will be a major medical breakthrough when diabecell is available for all type 1 diabetes sufferers here.

Anxiety News and Treatment

Anxiety increasing due to cancer treatment waiting times

Anxiety among patients who wait for treatment of cancer is on a rise as the Cancer Society says that waiting times for treatment are increasing that adds to their stress.

According to the society, more specialists are needed for treating patients at most cancer treatment centres but at the moment there are fewer specialists than is needed.

A complaint has been received by the Wellington region’s Capital and Coast District Health Board about patients waiting for seeing a medical oncologist.

There are no reports of people waiting to see a specialist and getting his appointment but there are reports of about 43 people considered semi-urgent being on the waiting list, and five being overdue for an appointment.

According to Fiona Pearson, the Cancer Society’s Wellington manager of support and information, due to the waiting time added to a patient’s list, he gets more stressed.

Pearson said, “I understands a number of specialists have retired or moved into the private sector in the past few years, which has left a gap in public health.”

According to a spokesman for Ryall, due to the lack of specific details, he was unable to say anything about the situation.

Brain Anomaly Leaves Woman Without Fear

THURSDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) — Researchers who have studied a woman with a missing amygdala — the part of the brain believed to generate fear — report that their findings may help improve treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders.

In perhaps the first human study confirming that the almond-shaped structure is crucial for triggering fear, researchers at the University of Iowa monitored a 44-year-old woman’s response to typically frightening stimuli such as snakes, spiders, horror films and a haunted house, and asked about traumatic experiences in her past.

The woman, identified as S.M., does not seem to fear a wide range of stimuli that would normally frighten most people. Scientists have been studying her for the past 20 years, and their prior research had already determined that the woman cannot recognize fear in others’ facial expressions.

S.M. suffers from an extremely rare disease that destroyed her amygdala. Future observations will determine if her condition affects anxiety levels for everyday stressors such as finance or health issues, said study author Justin Feinstein, a University of Iowa doctoral student studying clinical neuropsychology.

“Certainly, when it comes to fear, she’s missing it,” Feinstein said. “She’s so unique in her presentation.”

Researchers said the study, reported in the Dec. 16 issue of the journal Current Biology, could lead to new treatment strategies for PTSD and anxiety disorders. According to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, more than 7.7 million Americans are affected by the condition, and a 2008 analysis predicted that 300,000 soldiers returning from combat in the Middle East would experience PTSD.

“Because of her brain damage, [the patient] appears to be immune to PTSD,” Feinstein said, noting that she is otherwise cognitively typical and experiences other emotions such as happiness and sadness.

In addition to recording her responses to spiders, snakes and other scary stimuli, the researchers measured her experience of fear using many standardized questionnaires that probed various aspects of the emotion, such as fear of death or fear of public speaking. She also carried a computerized emotion diary for three months that randomly asked her to rate her fear level throughout the day.

Perhaps most notable, Feinstein said, are her many near-misses with peril because of her inability to avoid dangerous circumstances. In one case, when she was 30, she approached a drugged out-looking man late one night who pulled a knife and threatened to kill her.

Because of her complete absence of fear, the woman — who heard a choir singing in a nearby church — responded, “If you’re going to kill me, you’re going to have to go through my God’s angels first.” The man abruptly let her go.

The mother of three was also seen by her children approaching and picking up a large snake near their home with no seeming regard for its ability to harm her, Feinstein said.

“Its a perfect example of the sort of situation she gets herself in that anyone without brain damage would be able to avoid,” Feinstein said. “With her brain damage, she’s so trusting, so approachable to everything. In hindsight, [her response to the man with the knife] may have saved her life because the guy got freaked out.”

Alicia Izquierdo, an assistant professor of psychology at California State University in Los Angeles, said the study results add to existing evidence that the amygdala should be targeted in developing therapies for phobias, anxiety disorders and PTSD, “where too much fear is a bad thing.”

“In small doses, fear is a good thing — it keeps us alive,” Izquierdo said. “For many years, we have known from studies in rodents and monkeys that the amygdala is necessary for the normal expression of fear. Those who study the amygdala in animals are limited, however . . . and can only speculate about what this brain region does for the experience of fear.”

“This is one reason why the study . . . is so meaningful: We can now say that the amygdala is important for the expression and the subjective experience of fear,” she added.

Feinstein said PTSD treatment tactics targeting the amygdala would not involve surgically removing or altering it. Rather, it is thought that the amygdala’s hyperactive response in frightening situations can be modified over time through repetitively doing things a patient considers scary.

“This prolonged exposure therapy involves approaching the things causing them distress and fear the most,” Feinstein said. “We don’t ever want to surgically alter this area.”

Pain Management News

Boston Scientific takes pain management unit off the auction block

Boston Scientific Corp.’s neuromodulation business, in which Stryker Corp. was rumored to be interested, is reportedly no longer for sale.

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) is still stuck with its pain management business.

The Natick, Mass.-based medical device giant was rumored to be looking to offload its neuromodulation unit for about $1.5 billion over the summer, with Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) said to be a leading suitor.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) also looked into buying the business, but not for much more than $1 billion, according to Bloomberg. Stryker reached “advanced talks” for a transaction in August, according to various news reports, but the companies reportedly couldn’t agree on the value of business.

Boston Scientific spent most of 2010 trying to drum up interest in its neuromodulation and neurovascular businesses. Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker agreed to pay $1.5 billion in cash for the neurovascular unit on Oct. 28, surprising some analysts.

Cochlear developer’s new pain management breakthrough

by Gillian Samuel Monday 13 December 2010 10:55 am

Cochlear former chief technical officer Dr John Parker is leading development of a world-first smartchip to treat chronic pain.

NICTA, Australia’s ICT Research Centre of Excellence, is preparing to run medical trials on the miniature implant device in human patients next year.

The INS2, which stands for Implantable Neuro Sensing and Stimulation, comprises a smartchip embedded in a biocompatible device smaller than a match head, which is sewn into a 1.2mm wide lead made of polymer yarn integrated with electronic wires.

This is implanted in the spine or another suitable location and connected to a central battery-powered intelligent computer processor, around the size of a mobile phone SIM card, which is also implanted in the body. Previous designs involved cumbersome external components and leads.

The INS2 measures nerve impulses and uses electric pulses to block their signals to the brain. “There is real potential for this device to not only be used to treat things like chronic back pain, lower limb pain and pain from nerve damage, but also conditions like migraine headaches and even help ease Parkinson’s disease tremors or epileptic seizures,” Dr Parker said.

NICTA, which is funded by the NSW and Commonwealth governments, plans to manufacture the pain management technology through a commercial spin-out company, Saluda Medical.

Precision Pain & Rehab cuts ribbon

The Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Precision Pain & Rehabilitation Specialists Dec. 2.

Members of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Meet & Greet Committee were present to help Precision Pain & Rehabilitation Specialists celebrate its new location in the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach resort area.

Located in the Summit Office Suites at 18958 Coastal Highway in Rehoboth, Precision Pain & Rehabilitation Specialists was opened by Dr. Jeffrey Conly. Conly specializes in pain management, and has special training in the use of x-ray guided injections, EMG/Nerve testing, medication management and rehabilitative techniques.

He is also one of the first physicians in the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach area trained in the use of spinal cord stimulation in the treatment of chronic pain.

Conly is fellowship trained and double-board certified in pain medicine as well as physical medicine and rehabilitation. Most forms of insurance are accepted and the office is currently accepting new patients.

For more information, or for an appointment, call 827-2323.

Weight Loss News

Taxing Sodas Won’t Spur Much Weight Loss, Study Says

MONDAY, Dec. 13 (HealthDay News) — Taxing sodas and other sweetened drinks would result in only minimal weight loss, although the revenues generated could be used to promote obesity control programs, new research suggests.

Adding to a spate of recent studies examining the impact of soda taxes on obesity, researchers from Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School looked at the impact of 20 percent and 40 percent taxes on sales of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, which also included sports and fruit drinks, among different income groups.

Because these taxes would simply cause many consumers to switch to other calorie-laden drinks, however, even a 40 percent tax would cut only 12.5 daily calories out of the average diet and result in a 1.3 pound weight loss per person per year, researchers said.

A 20 percent tax would equate to a daily 6.9 calorie intake reduction, adding up to no more than 0.7 pounds lost per person per year, according to the statistical model developed by the researchers.

“The taxes proposed as a remedy are largely on the grounds of preventing obesity, and we wanted to see if this would hold true,” said study author Eric Finkelstein, an associate professor of health services at Duke-NUS. “It’s certainly a salient issue. I assumed the effects would be modest in weight loss, and they were.”

“I believe that any single measure aimed at reducing weight is going [to be small],” Finkelstein added. “But combined with other measures, it’s going to add up. If higher taxes get people to lose weight, then good.”

As part of a growing movement to treat unhealthy foods as vices such as tobacco and liquor, several states in recent years have pushed to extend sales taxes to the purchase of soda and other sweetened beverages, which, like other groceries, are usually exempt from state sales taxes.

Other motions have seemed to target the poor, such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal earlier this year to ban sugared drinks from groceries that could be purchased by residents on food stamps.

Finkelstein’s study, reported online Dec. 13 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that high soda taxes wouldn’t impact weight among consumers in the highest and lowest income groups. Using in-home scanners that tracked households’ store-bought food and beverage purchases over the course of a year, the data included information on the cost and number of items purchased by brand and UPC code among different population groups.

Researchers estimated that a 20 percent soda tax would generate about $1.5 billion in annual revenue in the United States, while a 40 percent tax would generate about $2.5 billion. The average household cost would be $28.

Finkelstein explained that wealthier households seemed impervious to the tax because they can afford to pay it, while poorer income groups weren’t as affected because they tend to buy lower-priced generic products or buy in bulk.

“It’s largely very cheap calories for them,” he said, adding that store brands such as Wal-Mart cola also contain more calories than the name-brand Coke.

Dr. Stephen Cook, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), said the study is valuable because it echoes the results of others similar to it.

“It’s good to see an amount of replication in the findings,” said Cook, also an assistant professor of URMC’s Center for Community Health. “It brings up an important point of how we should address obesity, as a disease or a public health threat.”

Despite the modest weight loss resulting from the soda taxes, both Finkelstein and Cook support such a measure as one of many possible ways to attack obesity, which affects one-third of Americans.

As for the revenue generated, it can also tackle obesity if it’s funneled toward weight-control programs and not other government initiatives, Cook said.

“The other side of the taxing coin is what we do with the money,” Cook said. “We need to take the revenue and use it for interventional programs instead of it being used as a money grab. I think it’s good when it’s properly done and the money is used for those strategies.”

Cook added that future measures could include taxing foods with added sugars as well as lowering the prices of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and skim milk.

Imagining Eating Sweets Helps With Weight Loss

If you’re trying to lose weight, satisfying your sweet tooth — at least in your mind — could help.

Imagining that you’re eating a sugary snack or other specific food you love could actually help you stick to your diet and stop consuming the treat you’re picturing, say researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.

The study, published in the journal Science, debunks the common wisdom that thinking about a particular food will fuel your craving for it even more and ultimately drive you to eat it.

“These findings suggest that trying to suppress one’s thoughts of desired foods in order to curb cravings for those foods is a fundamentally flawed strategy,” lead author Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor of social and decision sciences, said in a statement.

University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Dr. Christos Ballas said the research demonstrates the power of visualization.

“It is counterintuitive, but when you dig a little deeper, it does make sense,” he told AOL Health. “You have to imagine the process of eating M&Ms. It’s similar to other studies where people practice visualizing.”

One such study found that people who play violin and didn’t practice but did picture practicing were better off than those who didn’t visualize playing or practicing at all. Another study found that people suffering from psychological pain felt better after taking a Tylenol, according to Ballas.

“Your mind takes the word and whatever associations go with that word — i.e. pain — and puts them together,” he told AOL Health. “The mind makes unconscious associations.”

Morewedge’s team tested the impact of repeatedly picturing eating a certain food on the consumption of that food. They learned that imagining eating the food seemed to lower the person’s appetite for it.

“People who repeatedly imagined the consumption of a morsel of food — such as an M&M or cube of cheese — subsequently consumed less of that food than did people who imagined consuming the food a few times or performed a different but similarly engaging task,” he said.

The researchers did five experiments designed to gauge the link between thinking about eating something and actually eating it.

In the first, participants were asked to imagine doing 33 repetitive tasks one at a time. One group was told to picture putting 33 quarters into a washing machine, another imagined inserting 30 quarters into the machine and then eating 3 M&Ms and a third group pictured feeding 3 quarters into the machine and then eating 30 M&Ms.

After the mental imagery exercise, the subjects were given access to a bowl of M&Ms. Those who had pictured eating 30 of them ate significantly fewer than those in the other two groups who imagined eating only three or none at all.

Another variation of the same test was performed, with similar results. The other three experiments were designed to measure whether imagining eating the specific food — not just thinking a lot about the food or thinking about eating a different snack — was what caused people to subsequently consume less of it. The researchers found that it was only the act of picturing the consumption of a certain food that led to a reduction in the actual consumption of it.

“To some extent, merely imagining an experience is a substitute for actual experience,” another study author, assistant professor of marketing Joachim Vosgerau, said in a statement. “The difference between imagining and experiencing may be smaller than previously assumed.”

The research teams says it hopes the study will help in the creation of products that stop unhealthy cravings, like those for cigarettes, junk food or drugs.

“We think these findings will help develop future interventions to reduce cravings for things such as unhealthy food, drugs and cigarettes, and hope they will help us learn how to help people make healthier food choices,” said Morewedge.

Avoid Depression for Successful Weight Loss, Omega-3 Fats Can Help

Clinical depression rates are rising in America almost as quickly as the number of overweight and obese individuals. It makes sense that people who may be depressed are less likely to be concerned over weight issues as they become less involved with physical health issues and their external environment.

While researchers are unable to say whether depression leads to excess weight or if the extra pounds contribute as an underlying cause of depression, those individuals who fall into the obese classification (BMI above 30) are 50 to 150% more likely to suffer from depression than normal weight individuals. Clearly there is a close relationship between the physical and psychological manifestations that contribute to excess weight and clinical depression.

Depression Closely Linked to Body Weight
Depression is a devastating condition that can have a detrimental effect on many aspects of a person’s life. Depressed people are more likely to eat a poor diet of processed junk foods and become less physically active. The results of a study conducted at the University of Washington and reported in the journal General Hospital Psychology demonstrates that treating obese individuals for depression can have a significant impact on their weight loss efforts.

Study Confirms That Treating Depression Leads to Weight Loss
The study involved 203 obese women for a period of 12 months who had been diagnosed with clinical depression. All participants were placed on a reduced calorie diet and broken into 2 groups. Both groups were monitored for caloric intake with food questionnaires and physical activity. Half of the participants were also treated for their depression and their progress was marked using a traditional symptom checklist.

Women who demonstrated the most marked improvement of their depression symptoms were able to lose the most weight. Researchers found that 38% of the women who experienced improved mood lost 5% of their body weight, compared with only 21% in the non-treated group. The study found that depression is closely linked to decreased physical activity, and most of the weight loss was due to an increased level of exercise.

Arthritis Treatment Today

Starfish Slime Could Hold Key To New Treatment For Asthma, Arthritis

A non-stick slime made by starfish may lead to new treatments for asthma, arthritis, hay fever and other inflammatory conditions, say marine biologists in Scotland.

The scientists, from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban, Argyll, have been studying the slime produced by the spiny starfish, Marthasterias glacialis, commonly found in the waters around Scotland and other parts of the British Isles, and say it could be vital for treating human infections.

Lead researcher Dr Charlie Bavington, founder and managing director of Glycomar, a marine biotechnology company based at SAMS, has been talking to the media about their work.

In an interview with the BBC aired on Thursday 9 December, he demonstrated how the starfish produced the slime: he took a starfish with a span of about 30 cm or 12 in out of a tank, held it, after a few seconds the slime began visibly to ooze from the creature’s spiny body.

The slime is a defence mechanism and also prevents debris from sticking to the starfish.

Bavington said the compound they were interested in was only part of the starfish’s “goo”; he showed BBC reporter Rebecca Morelle the purified compound, which looks like a white powder, and explained that they are planning to work with chemists to produce a man-made version.

They are hoping that the compound can do for blood vessels what it does for the starfish: stop things sticking to them.

Inflammatory conditions like asthma and arthritis are what happens when the body’s natural immune response to infection overreacts and white blood cells stick to and build up on the inside walls of blood vessels, damaging tissue.

Starfish are continually bathed in micro-organisms, bacteria, larvae, and viruses looking to set up camp on their spiny skin. But the slime that they secrete protects them from this continual onslaught by making their skin too slippery:

“… starfish are better than Teflon: they have a very efficient anti-fouling surface that prevents things from sticking,” said Bavington, according to a report in The Scotsman.

He said they want to see if the compounds they have isolated from the starfish slime could be developed into a drug that coats blood vessels to create the same effect and allow white blood cells to flow through without sticking to the sides.

“In humans cells stick from a flowing medium to a blood vessel wall, so we thought we could learn something from how starfish prevent this so we could find a way to prevent it in humans,” explained Bavington.

Clive Page, professor of pharmacology at King’s College London, is working with Bavington on this. He said discovering this substance in the starfish slime has dramatically shortened the usual timescale for developing a new treatment:

“The starfish have effectively done a lot of the hard work for us,” said Page, explaining that normally scientists have to screen hundreds of compounds before they find such a lead.

The starfish has had “billions of years in evolution to come up with molecules that do specific things,” he added.

The field of research that this kind of discovery belongs to is called glycobiology, a branch of biology that studies the structure, biosynthesis and function of sugar chains or saccharides, for which there is increasing interest because of the important role they play in cells.

Saccharides exist on cell surfaces, they mediate interaction between cells, and also between cells and the extracellular matrix and effector molecules.

Studies in this field are opening up possibilities for the discovery of new drugs made from saccharides or other molecules that target the biosynthesis and function of saccharides.

Managing inflammatory arthritis treatment for adults and children

Dr David Kane provides an update from the Irish Society for Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting, where delegates heard about advances in biological therapy and other care developments

The Irish Society for Rheumatology Winter Meeting was held at Killiney Castle on September 23-24 last. The theme of the meeting was ‘The Management of Inflammatory Arthritis in Adults and Children’. The meeting highlighted the major advances that have been made in the care of adults and children with inflammatory arthritis, particularly as a result of novel developments in biological therapy.

Importance of early treatment
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is estimated to affect 45,000 people in Ireland, with 2,250 new cases diagnosed each year. Some 75 per cent of these patients are of working age; 30 per cent of patients stop work within one year due to the effects of rheumatoid arthritis, with this increasing to 50 per cent at three years.

Dr Patrick Kiely of St George’s Hospital in London outlined the new paradigm of early, aggressive therapy in RA. Two pivotal studies published by Lard and Nell confirmed that there is an early window of opportunity to treat patients within the first three months of symptoms.

These patients should be commenced at the earliest opportunity on immunomodulatory therapy (disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs) and/or steroids to obtain control of joint inflammation.

The benefits of early control of joint inflammation in preventing joint damage will persist for many years. However, in patients who have a delay in obtaining treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, there is clear evidence that they will have worse outcomes in terms of function, disability and radiological damage. There are three factors in the delay in obtaining treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

In the early rheumatoid arthritis network in the United Kingdom, patients waited an average of four months before they sought a GP opinion for their joint pains. There was a second delay from the initial consultation with their GP before a referral to a rheumatologist was made. There was a third delay from referral to achieving the appointment with a rheumatologist.

Clearly, if strategies can be implemented to make patients aware to consult their GPs earlier, and if GPs can access the early arthritis referral pathways present in most Irish hospitals, then the possibility of treating people within the first three months of symptoms could be attainable. Most Irish hospitals now have early inflammatory arthritis referral criteria and designated rapid-access clinics or appointments.

The Fin-RACo study showed the treatment of RA within the first four months of diagnosis led to remission of 40 per cent, but treatment after four months led to remission of just 10 per cent. With remission, the new target of rheumatoid arthritis therapy, the consensus was that more work must be focused not just on earlier rheumatology appointments, but also on patient education.

The choice of treatment is also critical. Immunomodulatory treatment with disease-modifying, anti-rheumatic drugs should be started immediately on making the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

EULAR guidelines suggest the use of methotrexate, while recent NICE guidelines recommend a combination of methotrexate and sulfasalazine or another DMARDs.
Both EULAR and NICE guidelines recommend initial use of corticosteroids, either oral or intramuscular, to obtain rapid symptom control and to maintain patients at their usual level of social function.

Treat to target: remission
In addition to early treatment with immunomodulatory drugs, there is clear evidence that patients should be seen very frequently at the early stages of the disease and treated according to standardised protocols to obtain remission of joint symptoms. This requires practice change, whereby formal disease activity scores are recorded in patients at each visit, with therapy escalated until the disease activity score is less than 2.6 in early disease and 3.2 in established disease.

The optimal frequency in the TICORA study was one-monthly review of patients until they had obtained remission. Recent data from the RAISE study in Ireland suggest that most patients get an appointment on average of every six months, probably due to issues of capacity within the current system. The consensus was that any service reconfiguration in the future must accommodate frequent visits for patients with new or unstable rheumatoid arthritis until therapeutic target has been obtained.

The gains highlighted were clear, with a change from previous remission rates of approximately 10 per cent to a potential remission rate of 70 per cent using these. Dr Andrew Oster of Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, reviewed the data on anti-TNF therapy. There are now five licensed anti-TNF therapies: adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, golimumab and certolizumab.

All have proven efficacy in not just rheumatoid arthritis but also in psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and other inflammatory conditions. Dr Oster reviewed data from the ATTRACT, PREMIER and ARMADA studies, all of which demonstrate superiority to traditional disease-modifying, anti-rheumatic drugs. The Quinn study also suggests that the earlier these are introduced, the greater the potential to induce remission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Further data from the Irish RAISE study demonstrated the beneficial effects of these drugs in Irish patients.

In addition to the anti-TNF therapies, rheumatologists have the option to use anti-IL6 therapy (tocilizumab), anti-B cell therapy (rituximab) and anti-T cell therapy (abatacept).

Dr Oster reviewed the data from the REFLEX, ATTAIN and RADIATE studies demonstrating that all of these agents were effective when used in rheumatoid arthritis, with equivalent efficacies. Selection of optimal therapy for the patient depends on specific features of their disease activity and co-morbidities. There has been a revolutionary change in the management of RA now that eight novel, extremely efficacious biologic agents exist.

Managing co-morbidity and preventing premature mortality
Rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation and damage of the joints. Most doctors, however, are unaware that most patients with RA will have a reduced life expectancy if the disease is inadequately controlled. It is expected that with the newer therapeutic approaches that the standard of treatment will improve and the frequency of co-morbidities of osteoporosis and coronary disease will diminish. At present, however, established rheumatoid arthritis patients must be viewed as being at significantly increased risk of coronary artery disease and osteoporotic fractures.

Advances in osteoporosis therapy
Prof Eugene McCloskey of the University of Sheffield reviewed the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis-related osteoporosis fractures. It is essential that doctors now recognised that patients with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk for osteoporotic fractures. The FRAX score has been developed for clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis within a primary care setting. It is available from www.shef.ac.uk/frax. By entering clinical data, the 10-year risk of all fractures and the 10-year risk of hip fracture can be calculated, allowing a decision on osteoporosis treatment.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an independent risk in the FRAX model, highlighting the strong association between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporotic fractures.

Treatment for rheumatoid
arthritis-related osteoporosis
1. Antiresorptive: Oestrogen/SERMS; Bisphosphonate; Calcitonin
2. Calcium/vitamin D/calcitriol
3. RANK ligand targeted therapy
4. Anabolic therapy: Parathyroid hormone
5. Novel action: Strontium ranelate

Prof McCloskey outlined all of the available therapies for osteoporosis, particularly in the setting of rheumatoid arthritis. Currently, bisphosphonates, calcium and vitamin D are the mainstay of therapy. However, he presented data on a novel agent denosumab, which acts by inhibiting osteoclast formation.

Data in the FREEDOM trial demonstrated that three years of denosumab therapy produced a reduced risk of vertebral fracture (68 per cent), non-vertebral fracture (20 per cent) and hip fracture (40 per cent). The therapy is administered by two six-monthly subcutaneous injections, which were felt to improve patients’ compliance.
Added benefits may exist in rheumatoid arthritis where inhibition of osteoclast function has been shown to reduce the development of bone erosion, a key feature of rheumatoid joint damage.

Managing cardiovascular disease
Dr Vincent Maher of the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin, reviewed the increased risk of coronary heart disease and sudden death that exists in rheumatoid arthritis. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have had a threefold increase in the incidence of acute myocardial infarction and a twofold increase in the incidence of sudden death. This appears to be related to therapy in the pre-biologic age and there is much hope from initial studies that more effective biological therapy may reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. This remains to be proven.

At present, rheumatoid arthritis patients must be viewed at a high risk for coronary artery disease and should have regular cardiovascular assessment, including lipid profile and blood pressure. Dr Maher pointed out that the patient with rheumatoid arthritis may not present with the usual angina pectoris symptoms due to their reduced capacity for exercise.

Thus, traditional tests such as stress ECG may be limited, while newer modalities – such as CT coronary angiography – are likely to become more widely available, given the combination of high accuracy and the non-invasive nature of the test.

Economic and social impact
Prof Carol Black, the National Director for Health and Work in the UK, presented an overview of work and musculoskeletal diseases. Musculoskeletal disease is the second-leading cause of sickness absence and long-term incapacity in Ireland, with an estimated 14,000,000 working days lost last year due to ill health overall.
It is estimated that the direct cost of musculoskeletal disease due to sickness absence and disability is € 750,000,000 per annum in Ireland.

Rheumatoid arthritis in particular is a serious concern to rheumatologists, as only 22 per cent of rheumatoid arthritis patients in Ireland remain in full-time employment. There is now clear evidence that intervention in the first few months of disease has a major impact on maintaining rheumatoid arthritis patients in the workforce.

While there are obvious economic benefits to this, it is important to realise that work is also a strong social determinant of health. It is imperative that the patients with all musculoskeletal disorders have early intervention to maintain them in the workforce.

Replacing the sick note
In the UK, the ‘sick note’ is being replaced with the ‘fit note’. This has resulted in the Fit for Work Services, which provide early interventions to actively manage the return of patients with musculoskeletal disorders back to work. The fit note was designed to create a management plan for a return to work, rather than an all-or-nothing scenario practised under the old sick note system.

The fit note outlines directions for a graded return to work, in addition to guidance on hours of work, change of duties and adaptations in which the employer needs to engage. The roll-out of this new scheme has been underpinned with planned changes within undergraduate and postgraduate training so that GPs can play a more active role in managing work disabilities.

Prof Black advocated a fit-for-work programme for Ireland that would involve a national plan for musculoskeletal disorders led by a national clinical director. She recommended a change from our current sick-note system to a fit note, with early diagnosis and management of sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders.

Arthritis in children
Prof Helen Foster outlined the current state of managing inflammatory arthritis in children. The commonest condition is juvenile inflammatory arthritis which, like many adult diseases, was previously thought to be relatively benign. It is estimated that there are 1,000 juvenile inflammatory arthritis patients in paediatric services in Ireland and 700 adult patients with juvenile inflammatory arthritis.

It is now clear that juvenile inflammatory arthritis is a chronic disorder that is not benign. Joint damage occurs early and it is recognised that early aggressive treatment provides a window of opportunity to obtain tight control and better outcome in terms of overall health and functioning for children with inflammatory arthritis. Methotrexate is the drug of choice in juvenile inflammatory arthritis, but all of the biologic agents used in adults are currently being used in juvenile inflammatory arthritis with good results.

There are many challenges for these children as they grow up, with 1/3 continuing to have active disease and 1/3 having disability problems, despite eventually going into remission of inflammation. Adult patients with JRA are best managed by a transition model run by paediatric and adult rheumatologists. It was highlighted that there is only one paediatric rheumatologist through the whole of Ireland, which makes provision of these services extremely difficult.

The lack of services for children prevents implementation of modern standards of therapy, thus exposing paediatric patients to irreversible loss of joint damage and function, with consequent high risk of permanent disability.

Joint replacement might be best arthritis treatment

December 8, 2010 — Arthritis is a group of conditions involving damage to the joints of the body. There are more than 100 different forms of arthritis.

The most common form, osteoarthritis, is a result of trauma to the joint, infection of the joint – or age. Other arthritis forms are rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and autoimmune disease.

Arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the United States. More than 20 million people with arthritis have severe limitations that affect their function on a daily basis. Each year, arthritis results in nearly 1,000,000 hospitalizations and close to 45,000,000 outpatient visits to health care centers.

Causes of arthritis include injury metabolic abnormalities, hereditary factors, the direct and indirect effect of infections and a misdirected immune system with autoimmunity. Symptoms of arthritis include pain, limited function of joints, and inflammation of the joints, which is characterized by joint stiffness, swelling, redness, and warmth. (SOURCE: The Arthritis Foundation)

MYTHS: How much do you really know about arthritis? Did you know it’s a two billion dollar a year business?

Many medications promise miracle cures, but doctors say a quick fix with unproven pills, devices, and minimally invasive surgery may be a waste of money if you have an advanced form of arthritis.

The best option: joint replacement surgery.

When joint replacement surgery occurs, the artificial surfaces of the joint replacement are shaped in such a way as to allow joint movement similar to that of a healthy natural joint.

MYTH # 1: ARTHRITIS ONLY AFFECTS OLDER PEOPLE!

The truth: Some forms of arthritis do mainly affect elderly people, including the most common, osteoarthritis. Yet many types can affect younger people, and joint injuries at any age can lead to osteoarthritis. Currently more than half of the population with arthritis is under 65.

MYTH # 2: WEATHER AFFECTS ARTHRITIS SYMPTOMS!

The truth: Many people with arthritis believe that cold and dampness can set off joint symptoms. Indeed, according to the Arthritis Foundation, nearly half of arthritis patients think their flare up happens when they have to take their sweaters out off the closet.

MYTH # 3: EXERCISE BOOSTS ARTHRITIS PAIN!

The truth: Regular moderate exercise can help prevent and treat arthritis. Exercise promotes function and mobility, controls weight and strengthens the muscles that support the joints. Though you may want to avoid high-impact exercises if your knees bother you, low-impact exercises such as walking, tai chi or aquatics are all beneficial. Talk to your physician about the best exercise regimen for you. Pool therapy has been shown to cause improvement in mobility in arthritic joints.

Mental Health News

Nova Scotia to factor Hyde inquiry report into new mental health strategy

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s health minister says she will direct her department’s mental health policy working group to look at recommendations from a fatality inquiry into the jail cell death of Howard Hyde.

Maureen MacDonald says provincial court Judge Anne Derrick used some very specific language regarding mental health issues in her report on Howard Hyde’s death.

Hyde, a 45-year-old musician diagnosed with schizophrenia, died while in custody in a Halifax jail in November 2007 after he was restrained by guards.

MacDonald says she will review the directions she has already given department officials to make sure the parameters outlined by Derrick are covered.

She says a direct response to the concerns raised by Hyde’s death will follow shortly.
Mexican online pharmacy
MacDonald expects to deliver government’s new mental health strategy next year.

Secondhand smoke tied to childrens’ poor mental health

(Reuters Life!) – The evidence is piling up that parents who smoke really should quit — or at least not smoke at home, a study said.

Children who breathe secondhand smoke are more likely to struggle with mental health problems, especially hyperactivity and “bad” behavior, according to the study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

While the findings add urgency to the push for parents to quit smoking or at least smoke outside the home, it remains unclear whether tobacco fumes actually take a toll on childrens’ brains or if something else is at play, said researchers led by Mark Hamer of University College London.

“We know that exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with a lot of physical health problems in children, although the mental health side has not been explored,” Hamer told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

In the United States, two of every three children between the ages of three and 11 are exposed to secondhand smoke. Meanwhile, one in five children aged nine to 17 have been diagnosed with some kind of mental or addictive disorder, according to the U.S. department of Health and Human Services.

Hamer and his colleagues studied 901 nonsmoking British children between the ages of 4 to 8, measuring levels of a byproduct of cigarette fumes in the childrens’ saliva to gauge smoke exposure and having parents fill out a questionnaire about the childrens’ emotional, behavioral and social problems.

The more secondhand smoke a child took in, on average, the poorer their mental health — particularly for hyperactivity and conduct disorder, or so-called “bad” behavior, the study said.

Overall, about three percent of all children received “abnormal” scores of 20 or more on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, a 40-point scale with the highest scores representing the poorest mental health.

Compared to the 101 children who breathed in the least secondhand smoke, the 361 with the most exposure scored an average of 44 percent higher on the questionnaire — 9.2 versus 6.4. Children were most likely to breathe secondhand smoke in their own homes.

The gap remained after researchers accounted for other factors that could affect mental health such as asthma, physical activity and the families’ income and housing situations, although they noted that some unmeasured factor also couldn’t be ruled out.

It also isn’t yet clear how secondhand smoke might trigger mental troubles, though researchers suggested it could be due to genetics or possibly related to smoke’s effects on chemicals in the brain such as dopamine, and Hamer noted further research is needed.

But Michael Weitzman at New York University Medical Center, who was not involved in the study, said the results strengthen the evidence that secondhand smoke, and possibly prenatal exposure to tobacco, causes mental health problems in children.

“Many people now recognize that childrens’ secondhand smoke exposure increases their risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, ear infections and asthma,” he told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

“But secondhand smoke also poses a huge burden on the quality of life of children, their families and the larger society due to increased child mental health problems.”

SOURCE: http:/link.reuters.com/xev29q

(Reporting by Lynne Peeples at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies)

Report: Growing mental health problems in military

Washington (CNN) — Mental problems send more men in the U.S. military to the hospital than any other cause, according to a new Pentagon report.

And they are the second highest reason for hospitalization of women military personnel, behind conditions related to pregnancy.

The Defense Department’s Medical Surveillance report from November examines “a large, widespread, and growing mental health problem among U.S. military members.”

The 31-page report says mental disorders are a problem for the entire U.S. population, but that sharp increases for active duty military reflect the psychological toll of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Most notably in this regard, the rate of incident diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increased nearly six-fold from 2003 to 2008,” the report says.

And new outreach and screening, as well as the military’s efforts to reduce the stigma attached to seeking treatment also contributed to higher numbers, according to the report.

The Army was hit hardest by the most common and long-lasting problems — post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol dependence and substance dependence, according to the report.

“The Army was relatively most affected (based on lost duty time) by mental disorder-related hospitalizations overall; and in 2009, the loss of manpower to the Army was more than twice that to the Marine Corps and more than three times that to the other Services,” the report says.

“The Army has had many more deployers to Afghanistan and Iraq and many more combat-specific casualties; it is not surprising, therefore, that the Army has endured more mental disorder-related casualties and larger manpower losses than the other services.”

While most new diagnoses of mental illness were in the Army, the fewest were in the Air Force.

“The only exceptions to this observation were in 2007, 2008, and the first two quarters of 2010 when the incidence rates of new diagnoses of alcohol dependence in the Marine Corps were the highest of all the Services,” the report said.

But overall, the Marines were found to have fewer overall mental problems than the Army, Air Force and Navy with 4.3 percent of Marines versus 6.4-percent of the overall pool of active duty military.

Researchers call for additional study, and admit that tracking mental problems can be a moving target, as treatment and attitudes change.

“There are real and perceived barriers to seeking and accessing care for mental health disorders among military members. These barriers include shortages of mental health professionals in some areas and the social and military stigmas associated with seeking or receiving mental health care,” the report says. “The nature and effects of these barriers to care have likely changed.”

Sleep Disorders News

Graymark Healthcare to Focus on Treatment of Sleep Disorders with Completed Sale of Independent Pharmacy Business Assets to Walgreens

OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Graymark Healthcare, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRMH) has closed the previously announced sale of substantially all the assets of its ApothecaryRx’s retail pharmacy business to Walgreens Co. (NYSE: WAG, Nasdaq: WAG). ApothecaryRx operated 18 pharmacies across five states.

The transaction allows Graymark to focus on its core business of providing comprehensive care for sleep disorders, primarily obstructive sleep apnea, including diagnosis, therapy, and ongoing clinical and product support.

“Millions of Americans suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, and many aren’t aware they have a problem or that treatment is available in their communities,” said Stanton Nelson, chairman and CEO of Graymark Healthcare. “As a pure-play sleep disorders company focused primarily on obstructive sleep apnea, we believe Graymark is better able to help people sleep better.”

Graymark launched the nation’s first comprehensive care model for patients with obstructive sleep apnea in 2009 and has grown into one of the nation’s largest aggregators of sleep therapy providers.

“Given our substantially improved balance sheet as a result of this sale, we are ideally positioned to execute on our plans to grow through the acquisition of treatment centers, as well as through developing alliances with hospitals and other health care providers,” added Nelson. “The rapidly growing sleep apnea marketplace offers us an opportunity for significant growth and margin expansion.”

The sale to Walgreens was comprised of substantially all of the assets of ApothecaryRx for $25.5 million, plus approximately $3.8 million for inventory. Graymark expects to realize net proceeds of approximately $33 million from the completed divestiture, including collection of retained accounts receivable, and proceeds from the liquidation of remaining ApothecaryRx assets.

The Healthcare Investment Banking Group of Morgan Joseph LLC served as the financial advisor to Graymark in this transaction, with Greenberg Traurig LLP and Commercial Law Group, P.C. serving as Graymark’s legal advisors.

About Graymark Healthcare

Graymark Healthcare, Inc. is the nation’s second largest provider of sleep medicine diagnosis and treatment. Graymark owns and operates diagnostic sleep centers that treat a wide range of sleep disorders, and operates a medical equipment supply company that provides disposable and durable medical equipment. For more information, please visit www.graymarkhealthcare.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on the company’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from the company’s expectations, forecasts and assumptions. These risks and uncertainties include risks and uncertainties not in the control of the company, including, without limitation, the current economic climate and other risks and uncertainties, including those enumerated and described in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on the SEC’s Web site (www.sec.gov). Unless otherwise required by law, the company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Weird Things That Happen When We Fall Asleep: REM Behavior Disorder

Recently, on the NPR show “This American Life,” comedian Mike Birbiglia talked about how he nearly killed himself while he slept—more than once. It seems that he has a disorder called REM Behavior Disorder, which makes a person act out his dreams. Normally the body is paralyzed (or nearly so) during sleep so this sort of thing doesn’t happen. But, in people with REM Behavior Disorder, the “sleep paralysis” mechanism fails.

As a comedian, Birbiglia makes jokes about climbing high onto a bookcase in his sleep——in his dream he was on a podium receiving an Olympic medal for vacuuming—and then falling off of it. Another time, he jumped through a second-story hotel window in his underwear “to escape a missile.” Since he survived, we can marvel (and, perhaps, laugh) at this escapade, but I’m guessing these events weren’t funny at the time—he ended up bruised and needing emergency medical attention.

REM Behavior Disorder is one of several uncommon sleep disorders–it affects about half of 1% of the population. Maybe it’s the rareness of these “extreme” sleep behaviors that makes them so interesting. Or maybe it’s just that these sleep-related experiences are so bizarre. They’re certainly not the usual series of events we anticipate when lying down for a good night’s sleep. In any case, here’s a brief roundup of some interesting—and, often, frightening—sleep disorders.

REM Behavior Disorder

The name REM Behavior Disorder comes from the stage of sleep when the eyes move rapidly (Rapid Eye Movement), and dreaming occurs. In most people, the brain is extremely active during REM sleep, but the body is paralyzed, except for some occasional muscle twitches. And, of course, the muscles needed to keep you alive—the breathing muscles and the heart – are still active and so are your eyes. While the body is quiet, the brain is racing along. Although most of us are blissfully unaware, deep sleep is actually a time of active brain activity.

REM Behavior Disorder was first described in cats and was only recently reported in humans—the first human case was described in 1986. Scientists don’t know why the bodies of people with REM Behavior Disorder aren’t paralyzed as they should be during REM sleep. Experts believe the acting out of dreams is a problem with neurotransmitters (chemicals in the brain), but different studies point to different neurotransmitters. It may be that different neurotransmitters are to blame in different people.

REM Behavior Disorder may be accompanied by a number of brain diseases including Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and multiple system atrophy (a degenerative brain disease). In nearly half of cases, REM Behavior Disorder may be related to alcohol withdrawal or withdrawal from a sedative or antidepressant medication. But it can occur for no apparent reason in otherwise healthy people.

There are many medications that can help people with REM Behavior Disorder. However, since so few people are affected by the disorder, we don’t have large, high quality studies to tell us which medications are best. As a result, it can take some trial and error to find a medication that’s right for an individual with this condition. A sleep specialist can help.

It’s important to make the bedroom of people with REM Behavior Disorder as safe as possible until they can get their nighttime behavior under control. It may be a good idea to put the mattress directly on the floor, pad the corners of furniture in the room, remove anything fragile or dangerous from the room, and have bed partners sleep in another room.

Sleep paralysis

In a way, sleep paralysis is the opposite problem of REM Behavior Disorder: instead of acting out dreams while asleep, a person with sleep paralysis is awake but cannot move. It’s common, affecting up to 40% of the population. It can be associated with sleep deprivation, other sleep disorders, psychological stress, or certain medications. Fortunately, it lasts only a few seconds or minutes and usually requires no treatment. Still, it can be scary.

The teenager who sleeps for 10 days

Trying to wake Louisa during one of her episodes is difficult
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While most teenagers struggle to get out of bed in a morning, Louisa Ball might take 10 days to fully wake from her slumber, due to a very rare neurological disorder. So what’s it like living with Kleine-Levin Syndrome?

Louisa has slept through holidays, friends’ birthdays and half of her GCSEs.

In 2008, aged 14, she had been suffering from flu-like symptoms. She was at her school in Sussex when she started nodding off in class and behaving strangely.

“I didn’t know what I was doing, what I was saying, everyone thought ‘hey this isn’t right,'” she recalls.

“I was hallucinating and after that I don’t remember anything. All of a sudden it just went blank and I just slept for 10 days. I woke up and I was fine again.”

Her parents Rick and Lottie watched their daughter becoming fidgety and with unusual facial expressions as she sank into sleep. The first time was a frightening experience for them, although Louisa herself says she wasn’t scared by the episode, more puzzled.

“It was really weird, no one knew what was wrong, we just thought it wasn’t going to happen again. And then four weeks later it happened again.”

She was finally diagnosed with Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS). There is no known cause or cure but Louisa says it was good to know what it was and that it wasn’t life threatening.

The average time it takes to diagnose the condition is four years, because there is no test and so it requires a process of elimination of other disorders.

The disease was named after Willi Kleine, a neurologist from Frankfurt, and Max Levin, a psychiatrist from New York, who identified patients with similar symptoms in 1925 and 1936.

Louisa is unusual as KLS usually affects teenage boys, who can also exhibit hypersexuality and inappropriate behaviour.

As well as excessive sleeping, symptoms include behaviour changes, irritability, feeling in a dream-like state and binge eating, symptoms that can be mistaken for normal teenage behaviour. There are no drugs that have conclusively shown to alleviate symptoms.

‘No dreams’

People with the sleep disorder narcolepsy fall asleep immediately, but people with KLS might sleep more and more over a number of days before falling into sleep mode.

Louisa says she remembers very little when she wakes up from an episode: “It’s just blank – no dreams. Now I’ll remember a lot more that’s gone on. Before I wouldn’t remember anything at all. My dad thinks my brain is learning to cope with it more.”

So how do you deal with a disorder that takes over your life so much?

It nearly ruined Louisa’s career ambitions, because she slept through most of her GCSEs but her college allowed her to enrol and she is studying sport performance and excellence, with dreams of being a dancer.

At first, her school teachers didn’t understand, she says. “They’d give work to my brother for me to do and when I went back to school they expected me to have done it but I’d have slept for 10 days.”

Some people with KLS have complained they have lost their friends because they suddenly disappear for weeks on end but Louisa has a close knit group of girlfriends. Some even visit her when she’s sleeping, just to check she’s ok.

When she wakes up, it takes her a few days to fully come round, and her body is quite stiff so her dancing is affected for while.

“I’ve never really got upset about it but I sometimes do think ‘why me’, because I’ve always been a normal healthy person. But all of a sudden it happened and there’s no reason why it happened and that sometimes frustrates me.

“But I’ve got used to it now and learnt to live with it. I’m a special kid.”

The change in behaviour before and during a sleep episode is one of the most upsetting things for Louisa’s parents, who take it in turns to remain with her. Doctors have told the family it’s crucial to wake Louisa once a day to feed her and get her to the bathroom.

But Lottie admits it can take a while to get her to come round. “I’ve tried before to literally force her to wake up but she just starts swearing and gets so agitated and aggressive.”

After watching a video the family made of her while sleeping, Louisa says: “I look scary, it doesn’t look like me, it’s like I’m on drugs.”

Frustrated by the lack of information in the UK, Louisa was taken by her parents to the Hospital Pitié-Salpétrière in Paris, where researchers are looking into whether it is caused by a defective gene.

Many sufferers have abnormalities in their temporal lobe, the area of the brain involved in behaviour and memory. A scan of Louisa’s brain function revealed she does have abnormalities in her frontal lobe but there are no signs that this has affected her behaviour or memory.

The good news is the disease can also disappear just as suddenly as it came on. This normally happens after 10 to 15 years.

But Louisa is currently going through a good period. She was out doing Christmas shopping with her best friend this week and has not had an episode in 13 weeks. A few weeks ago she won yet another dance competition.

“It’s almost as if I’ve forgotten about it because I haven’t had one in so long.”

Louisa’s parents, however, are still watching her constantly for signs she could be heading into a sleep state.

“It’s weird – now I’ve left school I haven’t actually had an episode, they probably think I was faking it,” she jokes.

Acne Treatment News

Simpler Treatments Often Mean Better End Results

Having trouble sticking to your acne treatment regimen? Maybe a simpler routine is needed.

A recent study published in the medical journal Cutis found that people were more likely to stick with, and consistently, use a simpler acne treatment routine. This consistency lead to better clearing clearing of the skin.

Maybe instead of buying and using a bunch of different acne treatments, we’d be better off streamlining our treatment routine into a regimen that’s quick and simple to use. Some ideas:
Instead of buying several cleansers (or toners, creams, etc.) buy one and use it consistently. If you see results, no need to spend more money on another product.
Ask your doctor about combination treatments that contain more two acne medications in one tube (this may be a more expensive option, though, and some may not be covered by your insurance.)
Cut the guesswork and buy a complete acne treatment skin care system like Proactiv, AcneFree, or The Pimple Clinic. This is a good option if walking into the skin care aisle makes your head spin with too many choices.

Remember, anything that makes it easier for your to use your acne treatments correctly and consistently will ultimately help you get clearer skin.

Natural ways help clear up acne

(NaturalNews) Acne is a problem that doesn’t just affect teenagers, but also affects millions of adults as well. Drugs used to be the preferred method to clear up acne, but there are many natural methods that work very well. Natural methods are preferred, since the most common drugs prescribed to fight acne are antibiotics.

Long term antibiotic exposure can have serious consequences for your entire digestive system. It has also been linked to breast cancer in some studies. For this reason, it is strongly preferable that natural methods are used to attain clear, blemish free skin.

The first and most important aspect of naturally healing and clearing acne is your diet. This is no shock, since the phrase “you are what you eat” applies to just about every facet of your life. The food you put in your mouth has a direct impact on the appearance of your skin.

Diets that are high in saturated fats, salt, and sugar are especially harmful to your hormonal balance. Since almost all cases of acne are strongly linked to hormonal imbalances, it is vital that you eat a balanced diet.

Some of the best foods to eat for acne free skin are deeply colored fruits such as berries, citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges, fish, almonds, walnuts, and leafy green vegetables.

Avoid deep fried foods, all fast food, candy, cake and other sugary baked goods, and processed foods, and your skin will respond by clearing up over time.

Supplements, which help to maintain clear skin, can also be taken in addition to a hormone-balancing diet. Some of the supplements which are useful for maintaining clear, acne free skin are fish oil, vitamin B5, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

These vitamins and nutrients all have either anti-inflammatory or antioxidant properties. Both antioxidants and anti-inflammatory foods and vitamins are beneficial to acne prone skin. Antioxidants help to eliminate free radicals. Free radicals can damage the skin cells and hinder healthy new tissue growth, resulting in longer recovery after breakouts.

Anti-inflammatory foods and supplements help the inflammation caused by excess sebum production. By addressing both hormonal imbalance and inflammation through diet, you deal a powerful blow to this embarrassing skin condition.

Unfortunately for those that look forward to a caffeine pickup in the morning or throughout the day, coffee and other heavily caffeinated beverages can make acne worse. It is best to avoid any stimulants which stimulate the central nervous system. These types of stimulants often throw the hormones off balance and lead to more severe acne.

There are some excellent topical products that are all natural and can be used to help treat acne externally. One of the best and most effective is tea tree oil. Tea tree oil has a distinct scent to it, and that is because it is a very potent antibacterial agent.

It is very helpful in the treatment of acne because acne lesions are partly caused by bacteria, which causes infection underneath the skin. When you take away the bacterial component, you have a much better chance at not breaking out and getting large, infected and painful acne lesions.

There are also some excellent natural acne soaps and cleansers that use pine tar and sulfur, both of which are excellent deep cleansing and astringent agents. Naturally derived topical acne care products are preferable to chemical products since they do not irritate and dry the skin.