Identifying and Treating Inflammation

There are three types of inflammation: acute, chronic and life-threatening.

When basketball star Steph Curry slipped and injured his knee in late April, he reacted by tearing up on the sideline, while fans and media reacted by wondering how many games he would miss. His body? It reacted by inflaming around the outside of the knee, protecting the area as it recovered from a medial collateral ligament sprain.

The word inflammation can conjure up visuals of a swollen, red and throbbing knee or, thanks to some TV ads, a lit match doused by a medicated pad. Conventional public wisdom frames inflammation as being adverse, painful and harmful – something most people want to resolve quickly with medication.

Read more: Identifying and Treating Inflammation

Treat acute inflammation by managing it, not trying to cure it.

Source: Getty Images

Dad's Poor Lifestyle Choices Affect His Sperm, Child's Health

Although we may put a lot of emphasis on how a mother’s lifestyle choices can affect the health of her future children, a recent review has shown that a father’s age and lifestyle may be just as important.

The study, now published online in the American Journal of Stem Cells, has identified the effect that male lifestyle can have on the health of his future offspring. The team reviewed past research that focused on how a man’s lifestyle could cause epigenetic changes in his sperm’s DNA that could eventually affect his offspring’s genome. Among its findings, the study revealed that fathers who are alcoholics could unknowingly influence the organ structure and gene expression in their offspring, causing significant health problems such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

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Children can suffer from fathers' poor judgement

Source: Pixabay, Public Domain

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Risk of Death From Heart Attack

Eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids may lower the risk of death from heart attack. This is the finding of new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Each year, around 735,000 people in the United States have a heart attack, which occurs when a section of the heart fails to receive enough oxygen-rich blood.

Adopting a healthy diet is considered a key factor in reducing the risk of heart attack, and many studies have suggested that including omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids as part of such a diet is particularly beneficial for heart health.

Other studies, however, have questioned the heart benefits of omega-3s, with some suggesting that fish oil supplements - a major source of the fatty acids - do not lower the risk of heart-related events.

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Eating foods rich in omega-3 may reduce the risk of death from heart attack, say researchers.

Source: medicalnewstoday

How Red Meat Can Affect Cancer Risk

You may have heard the news recently that researchers have found links between eating red meat and increased risk of certain cancers. But what does this mean for you? Should you say good-bye forever to burgers, steaks and bacon?

These latest concerns are based on an October 2015 report from the World Health Organization (WHO), which had 22 experts in 10 countries review about 800 epidemiological studies to look for a connection between red meat and processed meats and cancer. It found heightened risk between these meats—especially processed meats—and some cancers, particularly colorectal cancer.

WHO didn’t say you should ban red meat or processed meats from your diet completely, but it did advise limiting the amount you eat. Here are some of the key findings from the WHO study.

Read more: How Red Meat Can Affect Cancer Risk

Source: healthgrades

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Could Altered Gut Bacteria be a Cause?

What causes chronic fatigue syndrome? The answer to this question continues to baffle researchers, so much so that some have even questioned whether the condition exists. Now, a new study by researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, may have shed light on a biological cause, after finding that patients with chronic fatigue have an altered gut microbiome.

Senior author Maureen Hanson, of the Departments of Molecular Biology and Genetics and Microbiology at Cornell, and colleagues publish their findings in the journal Microbiome.

Also referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a condition characterized by extreme fatigue that does not improve with rest.

Read more: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Could Altered Gut Bacteria be a Cause?

Researchers found that people with CFS have abnormalities in their gut microbiome.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Do You Know All The Chemicals In Cigarette Smoke? Most People Don’t

Cigarette smoke is packed with thousands of chemicals, but most people aren’t even aware of them.

There are some 4,800 chemicals in cigarette smoke, many of which are carcinogens — yet the majority of people who smoke don’t realize what they’re inhaling. A new study published in the journal BMC Public Health argues that making information about cigarette smoke more available to consumers could improve public health and awareness about the dangers of smoking.

“The majority of the [United States] public wants easy access to information about chemicals in cigarettes and other tobacco products,” said Marcella Boynton, lead author of the study, in a press release. “Surprisingly, our results reveal that groups one might presume to be the least psychologically motivated to look for this information, young adults and smokers, were more likely to say that they had previously looked for this information.”

Read more: Do You Know All The Chemicals In Cigarette Smoke? Most People Don’t

Source: healthguru

Borderline Diabetes: What You Need to Know

The term borderline diabetes refers to a condition called prediabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classed as type 2 diabetes.

Prediabetes is to be considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that 10 to 23 percent of people with prediabetes will go on to develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.

Prediabetes can be accompanied by other risk factors. It is associated with conditions such as obesity, especially abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood fat levels and low levels of "good" cholesterol.

When these risk factors "cluster" together in a person, there is a higher risk of not just type 2 diabetes but heart disease and stroke as well.

Read more: Borderline Diabetes: What You Need to Know

Source: medicalnewstoday

Automated Analyzers Add Efficiency to Laboratory Testing

Automation, broadly defined, is the mechanization of the steps in a procedure. Through mechanization of analyses there is increased reproducibility of results. Automation allows a reduction of human error and laboratory expenses, which is important in these economic times, as laboratories are challenged with budgetary constraints.

In 1957 the first completely automatic method for colorimetric analysis was reported,1 and then the analytical system used was brought to the market as the AutoAnalyzer by the company Technicon. Since then, continuous scientific and technological advances as well as developments in robotics and information technology have led to the introduction of the wide range of automated analyzers currently in the market, which can be applied to different working laboratory environments. Though automation reduces the hands-on intervention and the time needed to set up, run, and analyze results, human intervention is still required for loading/unloading, operation, and instrument maintenance, as well as for the interpretation of results.

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Source: RocheDiagnosticsUSA

The Current State of Diagnostics for Meningitis and Encephalitis

Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) such as meningitis or encephalitis can be caused by myriad microorganisms and may be life-threatening. Patients with acute CNS infections generally present with similar findings of fever, headache, and neurological changes. Given the similarity in symptomology, it is often difficult to distinguish bacterial and viral infection based on clinical presentation alone. As a result, obtaining a rapid and accurate diagnosis is important for proper patient management. Indeed, rapid identification of CNS pathogens is critical for antimicrobial treatment in cases of bacterial or herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. Any delays in appropriate therapy can lead to poor patient outcomes, including death.

The aim of this Continuing Education article is to review the current landscape for diagnostic testing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in acute CNS infections, present the potential impact of rapid identification, and discuss methods to increase the diagnostic yield in uncertain cases. It is anticipated that new technologies will aid in providing rapid and accurate pathogen identification, potentially leading to better patient outcomes, improved antimicrobial stewardship, and decreased hospital costs.

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Source: pbs.twimg

Scientists Offer New View on Origins of Parkinson's Disease

The death of brain cells in Parkinson's disease is likely a result of stress in their endoplasmic reticulum or protein-folding machinery rather than just a general failure of their mitochondria or powerhouses.

So conclude researchers from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, who report their findings, based on research conducted in fruit flies, in the journal Cell Death and Disease.

Dr. Miguel Martins, who heads a group in the MRC Toxicology Unit at Leicester, says:

"This research challenges the current held belief the Parkinson's disease is a result of malfunctioning mitochondria."

Read more: Scientists Offer New View on Origins of Parkinson's Disease

Source: medicalnewstoday