Potential treatment for Ebola and other deadly viruses revealed

Illnesses caused by many of the world’s most deadly viruses cannot be effectively treated with existing drugs or vaccines. But this may all be about to change. Scientists have discovered several compounds that can inhibit the highly lethal Ebola virus, as well as the pathogens responsible for rabies, mumps, measles and other pathogenic viruses.

This finding, published in the journal Chemistry & Biology potentially opens up new therapeutic avenues for combating these diseases.

Such treatments are desperately needed. Ebola virus, for example, can be transmitted through direct contact with blood or other body fluids of infected persons or animals, and even close contact with a deceased Ebola-infected body. And mortality rates from ebola can be as high as 90%.

“The medical field currently does not have ideal antiviral therapies, often no therapeutics at all, and the development of broad-spectrum antivirals is a great way to provide treatment in the future,” says study author Claire Marie Filone PhD of Boston University School of Medicine. “Toward that end, we have identified a drug that targets multiple viruses – and may be developed into an antiviral treatment for known and emerging viruses.”

In contrast to the many antibiotics that work against a wide range of bacteria, there are currently no highly effective or safe broad-spectrum drug treatments for viral diseases.

To address this need, researchers screened thousands of diverse compounds for small molecules that showed strong antiviral activity against viruses.  They identified several that inhibited infection in cells exposed to either Ebola or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). These molecules, which are related to a class of plant-derived compounds called indoline alkaloids, share a common chemical structure that can be modified to enhance antiviral activity.

The most potent of these compounds demonstrated a consistent mechanism of action against genetically distinct viruses. It works by blocking viral transcription. Because it targets such a critical step in virus replication, in theory, scientists should be able to develop it into a therapeutic that could be used against many different types of viral infections.

As always, SRxA’s Word on Health will bring you further news as it develops.

The Scoop on Poop

What are your bowel movements telling you?

Whether you love or hate the Quilted Northern TP ads on TV,now’s the  time to get real about what happens in the bathroom. Before March morphs into April we need to spread the scoop about poop in recognition of colorectal cancer awareness month.

Bottom line, (excuse the pun), we all poop. So now it’s time to stand up, or sit down, and take notice of what our bowel movements are telling us.

Signs of everything from disease to stress may show up in your bathroom bowl. The key is knowing what to look for — and what the signs may mean.

First off, there is no normal. People are different. So are bowel movements. The size, shape and consistency of feces will change greatly from person to person.

So instead of looking for “normal,” look for change. Are you going less, or more often? Has the consistency altered? Have you gone from runny to solid? If you experience a noticeable change that lasts, it’s time to see your doctor.

Are you seeing red?

If there is blood in your feces on a recurring basis, you need to see a doctor, stat. Blood can be a sign of polyps or colorectal cancer. It also can be caused by benign conditions such as hemorrhoids and anal fissures. In any case, it’s worth getting checked out.

Also, keep an eye out for other symptoms: weight loss, fever, chills. When they come together, those are “high-alert” symptoms of bowel disorders.

Size does matter!

If you used to have sizeable stools but now they are always pencil thin and hard to pass, consult your doctor. In certain types of colorectal cancer, the bowel gets narrow, and so can your bowel movements. And while thin stools do not automatically mean cancer you should still see your doctor and have a  colonoscopy just to be on the safe side.

Consistency, consistency, consistency

We all have bouts of diarrhea from time to time, usually as a result of food poisoning or an infection. But if you have frequent diarrhea it could be a sign of an inflammatory bowel condition such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

The scoop on stress

Your body as well as your brain reacts to things that go on around us. The impact of stress and unresolved issues may show up in your bathroom.

So next time you go to the bathroom instead of simply wiping and flushing take a moment or two to look and learn what your bowel movements are telling you.

No s**t!

 

Tee-Total but Drinking Yourself to Death?

According to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism meeting last week, sugar-sweetened sodas, sports drinks and fruit drinks may be associated with a staggering 180,000 deaths around the world each year,

Researchers calculated the quantities of sugar-sweetened beverage intake around the world by age and sex.  They also looked at the effects of this on obesity and diabetes. Using data from the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases Study, they linked intake of sweetened beverages to 133,000 diabetes deaths, 44,000 cardiovascular disease deaths and 6,000 cancer deaths.

78% of these deaths were in low and middle-income countries.  But that doesn’t mean America is off the hook.

“In the U.S., our research shows that about 25,000 deaths in 2010 were linked to drinking sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Gitanjali M. Singh, PhD, co-author of the study.

Of nine world regions in 2010:

• Latin America/Caribbean had the most diabetes deaths (38,000) related to sugar-sweetened beverages
• East/Central Eurasia had the largest numbers of cardiovascular deaths (11,000) related to sugary beverage consumption

Among the world’s 15 most populous countries, Mexico had the highest death rate due to these beverages, with 318 deaths per million adults.

Japan, one of the countries with lowest per-capita consumption of sugary beverages in the world, had the lowest death rate associated with the consumption of sugary beverages, at about 10 deaths per million adults.

“Because we were focused on deaths due to chronic diseases, our study focused on adults. Future research should assess the amount of sugary beverage consumption in children across the world and how this affects their current and future health,” Singh said.

In the meantime, the American Heart Association recommends adults consume no more than 450 calories per week, from sugar-sweetened beverages.

And don’t assume you’re OK just because you drink diet, rather than regular soda. According to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in  2011, drinking diet soda daily is linked to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and vascular-related deaths, compared to those who don’t drink soda.  Even though you are avoiding the sugar calories, the high salt content may double the risk of ischemic stroke, independent of sodium’s role in hypertension.

Here at SRxA’s Word on Health we’re canning the cans and from now on it will be water all the way!

Parkinson’s Disease Therapy May Cause More Harm Than Good

In a surprise finding, a study by researchers from NorthShore University HealthSystem and the Mayo Clinic provides genetic and clinical evidence that some new Parkinson’s disease therapies may actually accelerate disease progression and increase the risk of becoming physically incapacitated and demented.

Specifically problematic are those therapies that target the expression of alpha-synuclein – a protein whose function in the healthy brain is unknown, but is a major constituent of Lewy bodies, protein clumps that are the pathological hallmark of Parkinson’s disease.

Since its discovery as a cause of familial Parkinson’s disease nearly 20 years ago, alpha-synuclein has been the focus of intensive efforts by researchers working to definitively characterize the protein’s role in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease and its potential as a target for neuroprotective therapies.

This news is particularly concerning given that a vaccine targeting alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s patients is currently undergoing clinical testing in Parkinson’s patients and a number of molecules that target the protein for reduction are in advanced stages of preclinical development.  The vaccine candidate, from Austrian biotech AFFiRiS, works by binding to alpha-synuclein and subsequently clearing it from the brain.

As of January 2012, The Michael J. Fox Foundation had invested over $47 million in projects targeting alpha-synuclein.

“Our research suggests that therapies that seek to suppress alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease may actually accelerate the disease process and increase the risk for developing severe physical disability and dementia,” said lead author Demetrius M. Maraganore, MD. “We believe it is our responsibility to release these data because this type of treatment may have long-term harmful effects.”

“For the first time, we observed that, while over-expression of alpha-synuclein increases the risk for developing Parkinson’s disease, conversely, under-expression is associated with worse motor and cognitive outcomes after the disease starts,” adds study author Katerina Markopoulou, MD, PhD, a neurologist at NorthShore.

The researchers followed 1,098 Mayo Clinic patients for nearly 15 years  and sequenced the patients’ DNA to determine the presence of gene variants that regulate how much alpha-synuclein protein is made. They also studied the association of these gene variants with patients’ survival free of severe motor and cognitive disabilities.

Patients who had reduced expression of alpha-synuclein had a 23% greater risk of becoming wheelchair-dependent or developing dementia.

If replicated, the findings, presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology will have profound implications regarding therapies under development for Parkinson’s disease.

Interestingly, this is not the first time alpha-synuclein has been challenged. SRxA’s Word on Health has discovered literature from 2008 showing that there are people with Parkinson’s Disease that have no accumulation of alpha-synuclein, and people who have accumulated alph-synuclein who do not have Parkinson’s Disease. In autopsy studies, 30%-55% of elderly subjects with widespread alpha-synuclein pathology were found to have no definite neuropsychiatric symptoms; yet when large amounts of alpha-synuclein had fewer patients were found to have Parkinson’s Disease.  These authors concluded that much of the Parkinson’s Disease research was being done without having any scientific or factual basis.

Looks like  people should have listened!

The Skinny on Childhood MS

As we’ve previously reported, childhood obesity is on the increase. Cases have more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. The percentage of children and adolescents aged 6–18 years in the United States who are obese is now estimated to be >18%.

Childhood obesity can cause a number of health complications including diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma  and emotional problems.  This is deeply troubling in and of itself, but now there’s a new cause for concern.

A new study has found that obese children and teenage girls may be more at risk for developing the chronic, debilitating central nervous system disorder – multiple sclerosis (MS).

Kaiser Permanente researchers studied 75 children aged 2 to 18 with pediatric MS, and compared them to more than 900,000 kids without the disease. Fifty percent of the kids with MS were overweight or obese, compared to 36% of the children who didn’t have the disease.

The study also found that the risk of developing multiple sclerosis was one-and-a-half times higher for overweight girls, almost two times higher for moderately obese girls and four times higher for extremely obese girls.

Mary Rensel, MD, who treats pediatric MS patients at Cleveland Clinic offers an explanation for the increased risk. “Fat increases the inflammation in the body. Multiple sclerosis is an auto-immune condition where the immune system is set too high. If there’s too much inflammation, it can increase the risk of having a disorder associated with inflammation – like MS.”

Lead author, Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD, with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena  “Even though pediatric MS remains rare, our study suggests that parents or caregivers of obese teenagers should pay attention to symptoms such as tingling and numbness or limb weakness, and bring them to a doctor’s attention,”

The researchers also stress that parents of overweight or obese children should play an active role in controlling their kids’ weight by getting them into the habits of eating healthy and getting enough exercise.

Dr. Rensel agrees, saying, “The good news is now we know. We can educate parents and patients of the importance of maintaining a healthy weight to decrease the chance of having consequences of being overweight.”

Jumping For Joy? Gene Therapy shows promise in Osteoarthritis

As regular readers of SRxA’s Word on Health know, your blogger is one of the estimated 34 million US adults who suffer from osteoarthritis.  The disease, the most common form of arthritis, is characterized by degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint as well as bony overgrowth. The breakdown of these tissues eventually leads to pain and joint stiffness. Disease onset is gradual and usually begins after the age of 40, although in some people, myself included, signs and symptoms can appear in your teens or twenties, usually as a result of the wear and tear of repeated sports injuries.

The joints most commonly affected are the knees, hips, hands and spine.

The specific causes of osteoarthritis are unknown, but are believed to be a result of both mechanical and molecular events in the affected joint. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms and improving function, and can include a combination physical therapy, weight control, medications and joint replacement surgery. But there is currently no cure.

So we were very interested to hear of a new study in mice in which researchers used gene therapy to reduce the risk of osteoarthritis.

And while there’s no way to know if the gene therapy treatment will help humans, or what the treatment’s side effects and costs might be, the findings are more than just good news for mice with creaky joints.

“This work identifies an approach that can make a difference,” explained study co-author Brendan Lee MD, PhD, director of the Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Bone Disease Program of Texas. “There’s a great need for treating and preventing osteoarthritis.”

His study examined a protein that appears to be crucial to the lubrication of joints.  Researchers injected a gene related to the protein into mice and found that not only did the rodents begin producing it themselves, they also appeared to be resistant to joint and cartilage damage resulting from injury and aging.

Still, before our creaky knees start jumping for joy, as with all early research, there are caveats.

The research was in mice, not humans; the next step is to test the approach in horses, whose joints are similar to those of people. And the gene therapy doesn’t seem to do anything for damage that’s already occurred.

“This kind of therapy would probably not be very useful in patients who have advanced disease,” Lee said, adding that the treatment would likely have to be used with other strategies.

Dr. Joanne Jordan, director of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the findings “would be really very exciting if this translates up into humans.” The study, she said, appears to be reasonable and especially strong because it looks at osteoarthritis in the mice from different angles.

We agree. Any research that provides insight into the mechanisms of osteoarthritis development and a potential protective approach to its treatment are very exciting indeed.  A future with no more horse pills sounds good!

Life without a Lung and other Vital Organs

Listening to the new Pope Francis address the crowds on a cold, wet and emotional night  in St Peter’s Square you’d never have known he had only one lung.

We all know now of course. Thanks to intense press speculation and the power of the internet there’s barely a detail of his pre-pontiff life that has not been published in the 24 hours since the cardinals signaled their decision with plumes of white smoke emanating from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.

And while no one is saying exactly why he underwent a pneumonectomy (surgical removal of a lung) back in the 1950s, there’s been plenty of speculation.  Back then, before antibiotics, removal of a lung wasn’t that uncommon in cases of severe pneumonia, whooping cough or TB.

Whatever the reason, living with one lung is not entirely uncommon. In America alone, it’s estimated that more than 40,000 people have only one lung. And most of them do just fine because the body tends to compensate by making the other lung grow larger.

Which got us to thinking, which other organs can you live without?

Top of the list would be the kidney.  Most humans have two kidneys, but need only one to survive. However some people may be born with only one, while others agree to part with one for donation. Generally, people can live with one kidney with few or no health problems. People can even live with no kidneys, but they of course require frequent renal dialysis.

Then there’s the appendix. Nobody is exactly sure what the appendix is for and no one is really ever aware that they have an appendix until it becomes inflamed or ruptures and has to be removed. Once gone, after a brief period of recovery, life goes on as before.

And, as one in three women over the age of 60, who have undergone hysterectomy know you can live quite comfortably without a uterus. For younger women, there may be some wrench over the loss of fertility, but for others the cessation of monthly periods may be the cause of celebration.

Men can also survive without their reproductive organs – should cancer necessitate removal of either the testes or penis.

Humans can also live without their spleen should it have to be removed because of trauma or medical conditions such as thrombocytopenia. However because the spleen is part of the immune system, those who have undergone splenectomy are more prone to infections.

We can also survive without most of our gastrointestinal tract too. The stomach, gallbladder, pancreas and colon can be removed and although each is associated with it’s own challenges and problems, loss of these organs is not incompatible with life.

And the list goes on…  Today thanks to advances in biomedical engineering, people can even live without a heart.

While we wouldn’t wish the loss of an organ on anyone, it’s good to know just how dispensable most of them are! Turns out our vital organs may not be so vital after all.

When’s Your Time to Die?

What are your chances of dying in the next 10 years?

Obviously there are some activities that may increase your risk  such as driving drunk and active military duty in a war zone, but how about getting winded after walking several blocks or having trouble pushing a chair across the room

Turns out the latter might be just as dangerous as the former.

Researchers at the University of San Francisco VA Medical Center have recently come up with a “mortality index” to predict when a person may die.  Marisa Cruz and her colleagues have developed a list of 12 questions that can help predict chances of dying within 10 years for patients aged 50 and older.  The researchers created the index by analyzing data on almost 20,000 Americans over 50 who took part in a national health survey in 1998. They tracked the participants for 10 years. Nearly 6,000 participants died during that time.

While the test scores may satisfy people’s morbid curiosity, the researchers say their index wasn’t meant as guidance about how to alter your lifestyle.  Instead, it is mostly for use by doctors, to help them discuss the pros and cons of costly health screenings or medical procedures in patients who are unlikely to live 10 more years.

That said, we know that many of our readers are “simply dying” to take the test themselves – right now.

So without further ado…here’s how it works.

The 12 items on the mortality index are assigned points.  The fewer your total points the better odds of living.

• Men automatically get 2 points. In addition, men and women ages 60 to 64 get 1 point; ages 70 to 74 get 3 points; and 85 or over get 7 points.

• Two points each for: a current or previous cancer diagnosis, excluding minor skin cancers; lung disease limiting activity or requiring oxygen; congestive cardiac failure; smoking within the past 2 weeks; difficulty bathing; difficulty managing money because of health or memory problem; difficulty walking several blocks.

• One point each for: diabetes or high blood sugar; difficulty pushing large objects, such as a heavy chair; being thin or normal weight.

The highest, or worst, score is  26, which equates to  a 95% chance of dying within 10 years. To get that, you’d have to be a man at least 85 years old with all the above conditions.
For a score of zero, which correlates to a 3% chance of dying within 10 years, you’d have to be a woman of “normal weight” younger than 60 without any of those infirmities.

While it’s hardly surprising that a sick, older person would have a much higher chance of dying than someone younger why would being overweight be less risky than being of normal weight or slim?  One possible reason is that thinness in older age could be a sign of illness.

Dr. Stephan Fihn, a health quality measurement specialist with Veterans Affairs health services in Seattle, said the index seems valid and “methodologically sound.”
However, he adds that it is probably most accurate for the oldest patients, who don’t need a scientific crystal ball to figure out their days are numbered.

For fans of SRxA’s Word on Health, I’m pleased to report that my 10-year mortality index is zero. Let the blogging continue!

Don’t Lose Sleep Over Daylight Savings Time

Did you have trouble getting up this morning?  Did Sunday’s ‘spring forward’ fail to put a spring in your step? You are not alone.  Daylight saving time wreaks havoc on the millions of people because it affects our circadian rhythms, Losing that precious hour doesn’t just cause pain the next day, but temporarily causes or internal body clocks to become out of sync with the day-night cycle.

Approximately 70 million people in the United States are affected by a sleep problem. Sleep disorders cause more than just sleepiness. The lack of quality sleep can have a negative impact on your energy, emotional balance, and health.  Sleeping well is essential to your physical health and emotional well-being. Unfortunately, even minimal sleep loss can take a toll on your mood, energy, efficiency, and ability to handle stress. Ignoring sleep problems and disorders can lead to poor health, accidents, impaired job performance, and relationship stress. If you want to feel your best, stay healthy, and perform up to your potential, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury

Dr. Aparajitha Verma, a neurologist with the Sleep Disorders Center at the Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas;  recommends that people make sure they are well rested going in to the time change.

“One way to do that is to start changing your hours before the time change. Get up an hour earlier. Retire an hour earlier.”

Great advice but how many of us take it…and of course it’s too little, too late for this year.

To whether, like me, you’re one of the 70 million with a sleep disorder or whether you’re just having trouble adjusting to the time change, here’s some tips for a good night’s sleep:

• Keep a regular sleep schedule, going to sleep and getting up at the same time each day, including the weekends.
• Set aside enough time for sleep. Most people need at least seven to eight hours each night in order to feel good and be productive.
• Sleep in a quiet and dark environment and set the thermostat at a slightly cooler temperature
• Don’t allow pets in the bed
• Turn off your TV, smartphone, iPad, and computer a few hours before your bedtime. The type of light these screens emit can stimulate your brain, suppress the production of melatonin, and interfere with your body’s internal clock.
• No reading, eating or watching TV in bed
• Don’t watch the clock
• Set a “wind down” time prior to going to bed
• Try drinking warms teas or milk to increase your body temperature, which helps induce and sustain sleep
• Exercise is good for sleep, but not within two hours of going to sleep

And remember, while some sleep disorders may require a visit to the doctor, you can improve many sleeping problems on your own. The first step to overcoming a sleep problem is identifying and carefully tracking your symptoms and sleep patterns using a sleep diary.

This can be a useful tool for identifying sleep disorders and sleeping problems and pinpointing both day and nighttime habits that may be contributing to your difficulties.  Your sleep diary should include:

• what time you went to bed and woke up
• total sleep hours and perceived quality of your sleep
• a record of time you spent awake and what you did (“stayed in bed with eyes closed,” for example, or “got up, had a glass of milk, and meditated”)
• types and amount of food, liquids, caffeine, or alcohol you consumed before bed, and times of consumption
• your feelings and moods before bed ­(e.g. happiness, sadness, stress, anxiety)
• any drugs or medications taken, including dose and time of consumption

And if none of that works, just remember we’ll all get that hour back on November 3^rd.

Does Belly Fat cause tumors to go Belly Up?

People store fat in two ways – one you can see and one you can’t. The fat you can see is just under the skin in the thighs, hips, buttocks, and abdomen. That’s called subcutaneous fat. The fat you can’t see is deeper inside, around the vital organs – heart, lungs, digestive tract, liver as well as in the chest, abdomen, and pelvis. That’s called visceral fat.

Many people are self-conscious about the fat they can see. But actually, it’s the hidden visceral fat that may be a bigger problem, even for thin people.  Having too much of it is linked to a greater chance of developing high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and certain cancers.

According to a new study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, visceral fat is directly linked to an increased risk for colon cancer.

“There has been some skepticism as to whether obesity per se is a bona fide cancer risk factor, rather than the habits that fuel it, including a poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle,” said Derek M. Huffman, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y. “Although those other lifestyle choices play a role, this study unequivocally demonstrates that visceral adiposity is causally linked to intestinal cancer.

Prior research has shown that obesity markedly increases the likelihood of being diagnosed with, and dying from, many cancers. In this animal study, Huffman and his colleagues wanted to see if removing visceral fat in mice genetically prone to developing colon cancer might prevent or lessen the development of these tumors.

To do this they randomly assigned the mice to one of three groups. Mice in the first group underwent a sham surgery and were allowed to eat an unrestricted “buffet style” diet, which resulted in them becoming obese. Those in the second group were also provided an unrestricted diet and became obese, but they had their visceral fat surgically removed at the outset of the study. Mice in the third group underwent a sham surgery, but were then put on a calorie restricted diet causing them to lose visceral fat.

“Our sham-operated obese mice had the most visceral fat, developed the greatest number of intestinal tumors, and had the worst overall survival,” Huffman said. “However, mice that had less visceral fat, either by surgical removal or a calorie-restricted diet, had a reduction in the number of intestinal tumors. This was particularly remarkable in the case of our group where visceral fat was surgically removed, because these mice were still obese, they just had very little abdominal fat.”

The researchers then subdivided the groups by gender. In female mice, the removal of visceral fat was significantly related to a reduction in intestinal tumors, but calorie restriction was not. In male mice, calorie restriction had a significant effect on intestinal tumors, but removal of visceral fat did not.

These finding suggest what most women have known for years i.e., that there are important gender differences when it comes to weight. But it also provided an explanation for how belly fat, diet and cancer risk are linked.  In addition, the study emphasizes the need to promote strategies that reduce abdominal fat in obese individuals.

So how can you get rid of this dangerous deep belly fat?  According to experts, there are four: exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management.

Exercise: Vigorous exercise trims fat, including visceral fat. It can also slow down the build-up of visceral fat that tends to happen over the years. But forget spot-reducing. There aren’t any moves you can do that specifically target visceral fat. Half an hour of vigorous aerobic exercise, done four times a week is ideal.  Jog, if you’re already fit, or walk briskly at an incline on a treadmill if you’re not yet ready for jogging. Vigorous workouts on stationary bikes and elliptical or rowing machines are also effective.

Diet: There is no magic diet for belly fat. But when you lose weight on any diet, belly fat usually goes first.  A fiber-rich diet may help. Research shows that people who eat 10 grams of soluble fiber per day, without any other diet changes, build up less visceral fat over time than others. That’s as easy as eating two small apples or a cup of green peas.

Sleep: Getting the right amount of shut eye helps. In one study, people who got six to seven hours of sleep per night gained less visceral fat over 5 years compared to those who slept five or fewer hours per night or eight or more hours per night.

Stress: It’s unavoidable, but what you do with your stress matters. When you’re stressed you  tend not to make the best food choices when they’re stressed. Getting social support from friends and family, meditating, and exercising can all help to tame stress.

Short on time? If you could only afford the time to do one of these things, exercise probably has the most immediate benefits, because it tackles both obesity and stress.