New Immune Reserves To Fight Against HIV

New Immune Reserves To Fight Against HIV.
Scientists boom they've discovered admissible new weapons in the war against HIV: antibody "soldiers" in the inoculated system that might prevent the AIDS virus from invading human cells. According to the researchers, these newly found antibodies couple with and neutralize more than 90 percent of a group of HIV-1 strains, involving all bigger genetic subtypes of the virus. That breadth of activity could potentially move research closer toward growth of an HIV vaccine, although that goal still remains years away, at best, experts say.

The findings "show that the insusceptible system can make very potent antibodies against HIV," said Dr John Mascola, a vaccine researcher and co-author of two young studies published online July 8 in the album Science. "We are trying to understand why they exist in some patients and not others. That will daily us in the vaccine design process".

Antibodies are warriors in the body's immune system that effectuate to prevent infection. "Neutralizing" antibodies bind to germs and try to disable them, explained Ralph Pantophlet, an immunologist and helper professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

Chemotherapy Is One Of The Main Ways To Treat Cancer

Chemotherapy Is One Of The Main Ways To Treat Cancer.
Women fighting an belligerent procedure of breast cancer may benefit from adding non-specified drugs to their chemotherapy regimen, and taking them prior to surgery, new research finds. This pre-surgical cure therapy boosts the likelihood that no cancer cells will be found in breast tissue removed during either mastectomy or lumpectomy, according to two remodelled studies. The approach, called "neoadjuvant" chemotherapy, is being given to an increasing troop of women with what's known as triple-negative breast cancer.

Currently, the approach results in no identifiable cancer cells at mastectomy or lumpectomy in about-one third of patients, experts estimate. In such cases, the endanger of a tumor recurrence becomes lower. "Chemotherapy before surgery does put to in triple-negative bosom cancer. What we want to do is make it work better," said study researcher Dr Hope Rugo.

Rugo is boss of breast oncology and clinical trials education at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco. Triple-negative cancers have cells that inadequacy receptors for the hormones estrogen and progesterone. In addition, they don't have an residual of the protein known as HER2 on the stall surfaces.

So, treatments that work on the receptors and drugs that butt HER2 don't work in these cancers. In two new studies, researchers got better results by adding drugs to the burgee chemo regimen prior to surgery. However, both studies are time 2 trials, so more research is needed. Both studies are due to be presented Friday at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Nutritional Supplements Affect The Body In Different Ways

Nutritional Supplements Affect The Body In Different Ways.
With three restored studies judgement that a daily multivitamin won't help boost the unexceptional American's health, the experts behind the research are urging people to abandon use of the supplements. The studies found that popping a routine multivitamin didn't ward off heart problems or memory loss, and wasn't tied to a longer story span. The studies, published in the Dec 17, 2013 circulation of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that multivitamin and mineral supplements did not work any better in these respects than placebo pills. Dietary supplements are a multibillion-dollar trade in the United States, and multivitamins tale for nearly half of all vitamin sales, according to the US Office of Dietary Supplements.

But a growing body of evidence suggests that multivitamins volunteer little or nothing in the way of health benefits, and some studies suggest that high doses of non-specified vitamins might cause harm. As a result, the authors behind the new research said, it's spell for most people to stop taking them. "We believe that it's clear that vitamins are not working," said Dr Eliseo Guallar, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In a strongly worded think-piece on the three studies, Guallar and his co-authors urged mobile vulgus to blockage spending money on multivitamins. Even a representatives of the vitamin industry asked commoners to temper their hopes about dietary supplements. "We all need to manage our expectations about why we're taking multivitamins," Duffy MacKay, degeneracy president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a employment group that represents supplement manufacturers, said in a prepared statement.

So "Research shows that the two duct reasons people take multivitamins are for overall health and wellness and to fill in nutrient gaps. Science still demonstrates that multivitamins master-work for those purposes, and that alone provides reason for kith and kin to take a multivitamin". However it's not clear that taking supplements to fill gaps in a less-than-perfect regime really translates into any kind of health boost.

Some Pills For Heartburn Increased The Risk Of Pneumonia

Some Pills For Heartburn Increased The Risk Of Pneumonia.
Popular heartburn drugs, including proton examine inhibitors and histamine-2 receptor antagonists, may broach the jeopardy of pneumonia, new research finds. Researchers in Korea analyzed the results of 31 studies on heartburn drugs published between 1985 and 2009. "Our results suggest that the use of acid suppressive drugs is associated with an increased peril of pneumonia," said Dr Sang Min Park of the concern of folks medicine at Seoul National University Hospital in Korea. "Patients should be wary at overuse of acid-suppressive drugs, both high-dose and long duration".

Sales of these enormously popular drugs - the substitute best-selling category of medications worldwide - reached nearly $27 billion in the United States in 2005, according to distance information in the study, published Dec 20, 2010 in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Proton give inhibitors (PPIs) decrease acid production in the stomach and are used to treat heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and gastric ulcers. They allow for omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and esomeprazole (Nexium).

Histamine-2 receptor antagonists, often called H2 blockers, use a divergent mechanism to reduce stomach acid and comprehend cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid), nizatidine (Axid) and ranitidine (Zantac). According to Consumer Reports, sales of a Nexium unique hit $4,8 billion in 2008. Yet recently, studies have raised concerns about the drugs. Several studies have linked PPIs to a higher jeopardize of fractures and an infection with a bacterium called Clostridium difficile.

Some anterior studies also linked heartburn drugs to a higher imperil of pneumonia, but the research has been mixed, according to the study authors. Their meta-analysis combined the results of eight observational studies that found that taking PPIs increased the chances of developing pneumonia by 27 percent, while taking H2 blockers resulted in a 22 percent increased unexpected of pneumonia.

An division of 23 randomized clinical trials found commoners taking H2 blockers had a 22 percent increased unintentional of getting hospital-acquired pneumonia. "Gastroenterologists in general have become more cognizant of the fact that these drugs can have some interest effects," said Dr Michael Brown, a gastroenterologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "For a fancy time, we were very happy to suppress people's acid without thinking about the consequences. Now we are starting to espy some issues".

Poor Diet And Lack Of Physical Activity Remains The Number One Killer Of Both Men And Women In The USA

Poor Diet And Lack Of Physical Activity Remains The Number One Killer Of Both Men And Women In The USA.
There's no be of precise manifest proving that staying in shape and eating put are critical to a long and healthy life, but the fact that over 8 million Americans have histories of kindness attack, stroke or heart failure suggests that too few are taking the message seriously. That's the theme of a strange scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA), which reviewed 74 previously published studies and developed clear-cut behavioral-health strategies to help people stay heart-healthy.

The AHA finds that common-sense steps - things as inferior as writing down how much you exercise each day - can commemorate people on track to stay heart-healthy. "If the patient works with the doctors and writes it down, similarly to keeping diaries of either food or activities, that that small bit of information can at the end of the day help translate into the patient keeping motivated to follow the healthier lifestyle," noted Dr Mary Ann McLaughlin, president of the AHA's New York City Board of Directors.

And "This is a well-ordered examination of multiple studies that have addressed lifestyle changes as they relate to physical motion and diet," added Dr Ralph Sacco, AHA president and a professor of neurology, epidemiology and benign genetics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "It's a very rigorous methodical process that grades and reviews all the existing literature that is out there on behavioral change. This paper indeed talks about the scientific evidence supporting approaches of how to change".

The new statement was released online Monday and will appear in the July 27 children of Circulation. Heart disease remains the number one triggerman of both men and women in United States. Lifestyle factors, namely a poor diet and deficit of physical activity, are major culprits in the twin epidemics of obesity and heart disease. According to history information in the study, improving such lifestyle factors to eradicate major cardiovascular virus would boost Americans' average life expectancy by close to 7 years.

Having a good in one's bones of your current cardiovascular condition is a good start, the experts said. "'Life's Simple 7' is one means people can understand what the risks are and then begin to take control of their own health". The AHA program asks Americans to follow seven guidelines for a trim life, including monitoring their blood arm and staying active.

Importance Of Vitamin D For Humans

Importance Of Vitamin D For Humans.
Low levels of vitamin D have been implicated as a implied cause of diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes. Now an large re-examine suggests it's really the other way around: Low levels of the "sunshine vitamin" are more liable a consequence - not a cause - of illness. In their review of almost 500 studies, the researchers found conflicting results. Observational studies, which looked back at what citizenry ate or the kinds of supplements they took, showed a tie-up between higher vitamin D levels in the body and better health.

But, in studies where vitamin D was given as an intervention (treatment) to ease prevent a particular ailment, it had no effect. The one exception was a decreased death chance in older adults, particularly older women, who were given vitamin D supplements. "The divergence between observational and intervention studies suggests that low vitamin D is a marker of ill health," wrote judgement authors led by Philippe Autier, at the International Prevention Research Institute, in Lyon, France.

Vitamin D is known to have a good time a key role in bone health. Low levels of vitamin D have been found in a tally of conditions, including heart disease, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, cancer and Parkinson's disease. These findings may clarify why so many Americans are currently taking vitamin D supplements. It's nicknamed the sunshine vitamin because the body produces vitamin D when exposed to the Sunna (if someone isn't wearing sunscreen).

It's also found in some foods, such as egg yolks and fatty fish, and in foods that have been fortified with vitamin D, such as milk. The flow review, published online Dec 6, 2013 in The Lancet Diabetes andamp; Endocrinology, looked at 290 observational studies. In these studies, blood samples to size vitamin D levels were infatuated many years before the wake of the sanctum occurred. The review also included results of 172 randomized clinical trials of vitamin D In randomized trials, some ancestors undergo a therapy while others do not.

Stem Cells From A New Source For The Treatment Of The Heart

Stem Cells From A New Source For The Treatment Of The Heart.
Stem cells from the amniotic sac that surrounds a fetus may someday be hand-me-down to renew ruin caused by a heart attack, Japanese researchers report. The work, so far only conducted in animals, raises the admissibility of a non-controversial source of stem cells to care for not only heart disease but also many other conditions, said Dr Shunichiro Miyoshi, an assistant professor in the cardiology section at the Keio University School of Medicine, and co-author of a report in the May 28 online subject of Circulation Research. "I believe these cells may be utilized in the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as SLA systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis," Miyoshi said.

The amniotic sac is typically discarded after childbirth. SLA is an autoimmune cancer in which the body's unaffected system cells mistakenly revile healthy tissue. The cells that Miyoshi and his colleagues have used in mouse studies can undeniably be obtained in large numbers and offer another major advantage: they bypass the emergency to match donor-recipient cell typing, Miyoshi explained.

So "At the present time there is no obstruction for clinical utilization," he said. "We can obtain amniotic membrane from every delivery. We do not miss to match donor-recipient matching of complicated HLA typing". HLA refers to the protein markers that are found on most of the body's cells. Transplanted cells that conflict from the recipient's HLA type will be attacked and destroyed by the unsusceptible system.

The Keio researchers have begun a series of studies aimed at the human use of the amniotic slow cells. "Now we are performing the experiment on a swine model," Miyoshi said. "Immediately after we get a valid result, we are planning to perform clinical trials. I believe it will go on within a few years. But it may depend on the strength of our government regulation".

The journal report describes laboratory work in which check cells obtained from amniotic membranes were transformed into heart cells, 33 percent of which worst spontaneously and which improved rat heart function by more than 34 percent when injected two weeks after a pity attack. The injected cells decreased the area of heart damage by 13 percent to 18 percent and survived for more than four weeks in the rats without the use of drugs to discord protected rejection. The amniotic cells are much easier to convert into heart cells than stem cells from other sources, such as bone marrow or fat, Miyoshi said.