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Korma brings good karma
WASHINGTON
— Turmeric, a common ingredient in curry,
is known to be protective against neurodegenerative
diseases, including Alzheimer's — but the reasons
were mysterious. Recent research shows that the yellow
powder induces the enzyme hemeoxygenase (HO-1), which
protects neurons from oxidation. The study was presented
at the American Physiological Society's annual meeting
in April. This may explain the lower rate of Alzheimer's
among the elderly in India compared to Western countries.
My, grandma, what a young voice you
have
PHILADELPHIA
— Patients looking to sound as young as
they feel (and look) might be turning to a new form
of plastic surgery that can plump up their vocal cords.
The surgical technique removes the wobbles and tremors
in the voice by bringing the vocal cords closer together.
Collagen or a similar substance is injected into the
vocals cords either through the mouth or by making an
incision in the neck and implanting a little piece of
gortex.
Come on, baby
ORLANDO
— Add sick infants to the list of those
helped by sildenafil (Viagra), which seems to help babies
with chronic pulmonary hypertension. Current treatment
uses nitric oxide gas. Researchers say that sildenafil
may target the same pathways as the gas to soothe muscles.
Doctors put two infants on sildenafil; the drug was
given in a small dose while the infants were weaned
off nitric oxide; one baby showed significant, the other
slight, improvement. Larger studies are now underway.
My boys are swimming
faster
TYGERBERG,
SOUTH AFRICA — More news on the 'miracle
pill' — seems sildenafil can help fertility too,
according to
a study in the April Fertility
and Sterility. Apparently the drug enhances sperm
motility and binding to oocytes. Investigators collected
semen samples from 20 men before treatment and again
after one hour. Half were given 50mg of sildenafil and
the other half received placebo. The sperm of those
who'd taken the drug had increased oocyte binding capabilities
by a whopping 148.75%.
The idiot box, indeed
SEATTLE
— Children who watch the boob tube at age
one and three suffer attention problems by age seven,
according to research published in the April issue of
Pediatrics. Every hour spent daily in front of
the TV increased their risk of attention problems by
10%. A large number of kids participated in the study
— 1,278 one-year-olds and 1,345 three-year-olds.
The symptoms seen in the kids are similar to those with
ADHD —obsessiveness, restlessness, confusion.
Pill popping validated
TORONTO
— A higher stroke risk has been traditionally
associated with low-dose oral contraceptive (OC) use.
A new review of the literature, published in the April
12 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, may
dispel this theory. Researchers looked at data from
some 20 populations, including cohort studies with more
than a million subjects and 16 case-control studies
with more than 4,000 cases and 11,000 controls. They
conclude that "the association is tenuous at best and
perhaps nonexistent."
Hey, I can feel that!
MELBOURNE
— The Bispectral Index (BIS) monitor, a
device used during surgery to work out depth of anaesthesia,
may be used to monitor patient awareness, which can
leave disturbing memories. Researchers looked at 2,500
patients divided into two groups — one received
the BIS monitoring, the other routine care. They found
that a BIS monitor can cut awareness by 80%. The results
will be published in The Lancet later this year.
Beating-heart liberals
ATLANTA
— A new study sheds light on difficult but
cost-effective heart surgery technique. Off-pump coronary
artery bypass (OPCAB), or beating heart surgery, shows
comparable results to traditional bypass surgery, according
to a study in the April 21 issue of the Journal of
the American Medical Association. One of the major
pluses of OPCAB is that it could save up to $2,000 per
procedure and many patients recover more quickly. Unfortunately,
in Canada, few surgeons are able (or willing) to do
the procedure.
First tennis elbow, now guitar nipple?
ROMFORD,
UK — Patients with an inkling for music
might want to watch their form. Researchers conducted
a systematic review of the literature available on musicians
and skin diseases, and found certain skin conditions
like eczema, skin allergies, and herpes labialis are
more common among musicians. The study, published in
the April issue of BMC Dermatology, found that
string, woodwind and brass instrumentalists are all
at risk. The good news is the infections can be avoided
by making adjustments to the instruments.
Lowering the Epstein-Barr
TORONTO
— Research published in the April 21 issue
of the Journal of the American Medical Association
makes a link between the common Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)
and multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers looked at 30
pediatric MS patients, 90 ER patients and 53 healthy
children and found that 83% of MS patients had EBV present,
compared to 42% in the healthy children. The MS group
was less likely to have been exposed to herpes simplex,
suggesting that grappling with the virus makes one better
equipped to fight EBV.
Straight flush for
SARS
HONG
KONG — Investigators think they may have
found the source of at least one outbreak of SARS. The
'index patient' who introduced the virus to an apartment
complex in Hong Kong used the toilet in his apartment
the day of the outbreak, and researchers think that
after he flushed the virus was spread as contaminated
air through the drainage system. These findings, published
in the April 22 issue of The New England Journal
of Medicine, suggest that the virus may be airborne,
as well as transmitted person to person.
Putting the brakes
on the shakes
ROCHESTER,
NY — There may be hope on the horizon for
people who suffer from Parkinson's. Early treatment
with the experimental drug, rasagiline, can considerably
slow the functional progression of the disease. Results
from a study published in the April issue of the Archives
of Neurology show that the drug may modify the course
of the disease. Of the 404 early Parkinson's participants
in the study, those treated with rasagiline for one
year showed less functional decline than those treated
for only six months.
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