Yoga can reduce chronic pain, study finds

A small Canadian study announced July 27 found that practicing yoga twice weekly for eight weeks reduced the symptoms of chronic pain and mental stress in women with fibromyalgia.

The study is the first to look at the effects of yoga on levels of the hormone cortisol in women suffering with fibromyalgia. The condition, which predominantly affects women, is associated with chronic pain and fatigue, and symptoms such as muscle stiffness, sleep disturbances, and depression.

Previous research has found that women with fibromyalgia have lower-than-average cortisol levels, which can contribute to pain, fatigue, and stress sensitivity, according to the researchers. In the new study, participants' saliva revealed enhanced cortisol levels following a program of 75 minutes of hatha yoga twice weekly over the course of eight weeks. Also patients reported significant reductions in their pain levels, as well as a mental boost from the yoga practice.

"Ideally, our cortisol levels peak about 30-40 minutes after we get up in the morning and decline throughout the day until we're ready to go to sleep," said the study's lead author, Kathryn Curtis, a PhD student at York University in Canada. "The secretion of the hormone, cortisol, is dysregulated in women with fibromyalgia."
The study, published in the Journal of Pain Research, and follows another published earlier this year that found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis who practiced yoga showed significant improvements in their symptoms.
Earlier this year, a study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience that found that meditation also delivered powerful pain-relieving effects to the brain with even just 80 minutes' training for a beginner in an exercise called focused attention. In the study, the subjects each took four 20-minute sessions to learn how to control their breathing and put aside their emotions and thoughts.

Getting A Good Night's Sleep

A good night's sleep is something we all value. Scientists tell us, and we know from experience, that it refreshes us, helps us perform better, and contributes significantly to health and happiness, especially in children. And yet, there are millions of us suffering from ongoing shortage of sleep.

According to the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM), sleep problems add up to a global epidemic that affects 45% of the world's population.

"Insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), restless legs syndrome (RLS), and sleep deprivation significantly impact physical, mental and emotional health, in addition to affecting work performance and personal relationships," they said, on the fourth annual World Sleep Day on Friday 18th March 2011, when health professionals from WASM and other organizations worldwide came together to deliver the message that sleep is a "human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life".

Dr R Michael Seyffert of the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center in Edison, sees two or three teenagers a month with severe night-time cell phone problems, which he defines as spending two or more hours of texting and phoning each night. He says he has seen more of this in the last five years than ever before, and predicts it is only going to get worse.

Few would disagree with him: as we drift on this tide of technology toward a total 24/7, globally connected society, with an increasing number of gadgets to inform, stimulate and entertain us, the traditional boundaries between activity and sleep are being eroded, and we are likely to see a rise in the number of people experiencing health problems from lack of sleep.

How Much Sleep Do We Need?

Expert opinion varies as to the exact number of hours of sleep we need for optimum health, and some suggest it also depends on individual needs and age. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says most adults need about seven to eight hours of sleep a night to feel alert and well rested. The National Sleep Foundation also recommends between 7 and 9 hours.

One recent study suggests it could be as little as 6 hours, but more than 9 hours could be just as bad as not enough. Dr Charles Bae, a neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Ohio, and colleagues examined data on 10,654 patients who had competed questionnaires about quality of life, depression and average hours sleep per night.

They were surprised to find that sleeping more than 9 hours a night was linked to a similar reduction in quality of life and increase in symptoms of depression as sleeping less than 6, they said at the SLEEP 2011 conference in Minneapolis.

Children and teenagers need more sleep than adults. Teenagers need at least 9 hours, says the National Sleep Foundation in the US.

Many people do not realize that sleep is far from being a "passive" process where the brain just switches off at night. It is an "active" process involving the whole body and the brain.

Neurotransmitters, chemicals that brain cells use to signal to each other, control whether we are asleep or awake by action on different parts of the brain. In the brainstem, which joins the brain to the spinal cord, brain cells produce serotonin and norepinephrine that keep some parts of the brain active while we are awake, while other brain cells at the base of the brain control signals that lead to sleepiness and falling asleep by "switching off" the ones that keep us awake.

When we sleep we go through several stages of sleep from light to deep sleep, and then the cycle starts over. One of the stages is REM (rapid eye movement), which stimulates the brain regions used in learning. Infants spend much more time in REM sleep than adults. REM is also linked to increased production of proteins and learning of mental skills.

Research also suggests that a chemical called adenosine, which causes drowsiness, gradually accumulates in the bloodstream while we are awake and gradually breaks down during sleep.

Insufficient sleep is linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression, and other chronic diseases.

Lack of sleep is also responsible for accidents on roads and involving machinery, causing substantial injury and disability every year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who warn that "drowsy driving can be as dangerous --and preventable -- as driving while intoxicated".

Top Tips for Getting a Good Night's Sleep

Against this backdrop of the encroaching 24/7 technological society eroding our sleep boundaries, we also have the usual stresses and strains of everyday life and work, the responsibilities of running a home, and taking care of family. Add to this financial worries, threat and reality of job loss, relationship problems, and coping with illness, it is no wonder that getting a good night's sleep is even more elusive. One thing we can do is to shift our perception of sleep as a luxury and treat it as necessity for good health, as important as keeping to a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and taking plenty of exercise: we need to regard sleep as a "vital sign" of good health, say the CDC.

Here are some tips that might help:

Tip 1: Keep a Sleep Journal

A good place to start if you think you are not getting enough hours or quality of sleep at night, is to keep a sleep journal noting things like hours of sleep, ease or difficulty of falling asleep, when you exercise, when you drink alcohol and caffeine, how refreshed you feel, and then look for patterns between quality and length of sleep and what you do during the day and when you go to bed. This is often the first thing that a clinician will ask you to do.

For instance, after two weeks, you might find a pattern between exercise and sleep quality, or between caffeinated drink consumption late at night and the number of times you get up to go to the bathroom or difficulty falling asleep.

Tip 2: Stick to a Routine

Try to go to bed and get up at around the same time every day. Even at the weekend.

Keeping to a routine reinforces the body's sleep-wake cycle and helps you fall asleep more easily at night, say experts at the Mayo Clinic in the US.

If you need an alarm clock to wake you up on time, you should consider going to bed earlier.

Tip 3: Control Napping and Drowsiness

A cat-nap during the day can be a great refresher, especially for older people. But be careful about sleeping during the day: a refreshing nap may be useful occasionally for paying off your sleep debt, and is better than sleeping late because this disrupts your sleep-wake rhythm, but if you have insomnia and nap regularly, consider eliminating the daytime nap.

If you must have a nap, restrict it to 20 minutes and do it early afternoon and not later.

Drowsiness often happens after big meals. Avoid the temptation to let this drift into sleep. Get off the couch and get active: do the dishes, go for a walk, do some chores, or call a friend. The killer is the TV dinner: eat, fall asleep on the couch, wake up hours later, and then you can't get to sleep when you go to bed properly. We've all been there.

Tip 4: Avoid Lots of Drink and Food Before Bedtime

Keep in mind the saying: "breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dine like a pauper". Eating or drinking large amounts before bedtime can result in indigestion, and night-time toilet visits to empty a bursting bladder. Try to eat a light meal at least two hours before bedtime, and if fatty or spicy foods give you heartburn, try to avoid them in your evening meal.

Be careful with coffee and tea, and other caffeinated drinks. Caffeine is a well-known stimulant that lingers in the body and if you drink it in the evening, it will not help you sleep. Try replacing that after-dinner coffee with chamomile tea, a traditional sleep inducing remedy that soothes.

Tip 5: Avoid Alcohol in the Evening

Although it is often thought of as a sedative, alcohol actually disrupts sleep. Even in small doses, it can impair quality of sleep, especially in the second half of the night.

Alcohol disrupts chemical messengers in the brain and the balance between REM sleep and non-REM sleep. The right balance in sleep patterns and brain waves, what scientists call "sleep architecture", helps us feel refreshed in the morning, as Jessica Alexander, of the UK's Sleep Council told the Times newspaper in an interview:

"Alcohol can mean that sleep is no longer refreshing, because the brain can't perform the normal restorative job it does during the night."

Tip 6: Make Your Bedroom Sleep-Friendly

Keep your bedroom dark, cool, quiet and comfortable. This is the ideal environment for sleeping. Consider carefully each item in your bedroom, especially gadgets. If you have to keep them there, then be strict about switching them off, or even put them away in a cupboard. Switch off the cell phone or turn it to silent mode.

Many people watch TV in bed and claim it helps them get to sleep. Try doing without it for two weeks, and see what effect it has on your quality of sleep. It could be that the light from the screen disturbs the natural sleep-wake rhythm, and stimulating content like violence, advertisements, sudden loudness, raises your adrenaline and has the opposite effect from that which eases your body into sleep.

If you can't lessen disturbing noises such as dogs barking, sirens, birds singing in the morning, then consider masking the sound with a fan or white noise generator, or wearing earplugs.

An eye mask that blocks out the light can also help if you wake up easily when a light goes on, or the early sun comes through the curtains.

Tip 7: Exercise in the Morning

Exercise is a great way to help us relax and consolidate sleep. However, when we exercise can affect our quality of sleep.

Researchers say that morning exercise is best, and that exercising too close to bedtime delays the time the body starts to unwind because it increases chemicals that are associated with wakefulness.

In a study published earlier this year, Dr Scott Collier, assistant professor at Appalachian State University, found that aerobic exercise at 7 am was linked to higher improvements in sleep quality than exercising at 1 pm and 7 pm.

Child Mobile Phone Users And Non Users Run Same Brain Cancer Risk

A person aged from 7 to 19 who regularly uses a mobile phone does not have a statistically significantly higher risk of developing brain tumors compared to children of the same age who have no cell phones, researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basle, Switzerland reported in theJournal of the National Cancer Institute.

Over the last few years, the proportion of children who have mobile phones has increased considerably all over the world. Parents, scientists and health care professionals have become increasingly concerned about potentially unknown health risks for kids, such as the risk of developing brain cancer. A child, unlike an adult, has a developing nervous system. As children have smaller heads than adults, there is also concern that radio frequency electromagnetic fields might penetrate further into their brains.

To date, no study has investigated whether mobile phone use among children is linked to brain tumor risk.

Martin Röösli, Ph.D. and team set out to find out whether there might be a relationship between mobile phone usage and brain tumor risk among children and teenagers. They gathered data from the medical records of brain tumor patients aged 7 to 19 years. Details regarding their mobile phone usage were sought during face-to-face interviews. They also collected information from providers of phone networks.

The study participants came from Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, and involved 352 with brain cancer and 646 healthy controls. The likelihood of developing a brain cancer was "not statistically significantly more" among the mobile phone users, compared to those who did not have one.

• 73% (265) of those with brain cancer reported having used a mobile phone at least 20 times before their diagnosis.
• 72.1% of the healthy control subjects reported having used a mobile phone least 20 times during the same average period.
• 55% (194) of those with brain tumors said they were regular mobile phone users.
• 51% of the healthy control subjects said they were regular mobile phone users.
• Even among the highest mobile phone users, no association with a greater risk of developing brain cancer could be found.

The authors wrote:

"Because we did not find a clear exposure-response relationship in most of these analyses, the available evidence does not support a causal association between the use of mobile phones and brain tumors."

Even so, the researchers advise careful monitoring - mobile phone usage among this age group has increased significantly over the last few years.

John D Boice, Jr., ScD. and Robert E. Tarone, PhD., of the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Maryland and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee wrote:

"(Röösli and team) . . . "have filled an important gap in knowledge by showing no increased risk of brain tumors among children and adolescents who are regular cell phone users"

Brain cancer rates in the USA and several other industrialized nations have not changed over the last two decades among adults, children or teenagers, the authors explained. This is reassuring, despite a huge increase in mobile phone usage.

They agree with the study researchers that incidence rates should continue to be monitored closely. They point out at that individuals who are concerned about exposure have the option of using the device's speakerphone, or using an earpiece. They add that proven hazards of mobile phone usage should be heeded, such as driving while talking or texting, which is known to raise the risk of having an automobile accident or running a pedestrian over.

"Mobile Phone Use and Brain Tumors in Children and Adolescents: A Multicenter Case-Control Study"

Denis Aydin, Maria Feychting, Joachim Schüz, Tore Tynes, Tina Veje Andersen, Lisbeth Samsø Schmidt, Aslak Harbo Poulsen, Christoffer Johansen, Michaela Prochazka, Birgitta Lannering, Lars Klæboe, Tone Eggen, Daniela Jenni, Michael Grotzer, Nicolas Von der Weid, Claudia E. Kuehni and Martin Röösli
J Natl Cancer Inst (2011) doi: 10.1093/jnci/djr244

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today 

Researchers Find 3 Genes Linked to Esophagus Disorders

TUESDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) — Mutations in three genes have been found to be more common among people with disorders of the esophagus, including esophageal cancer and Barrett esophagus (a complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease), a new study shows.

The findings could help identify those at greater risk for these conditions and lead to improved treatments, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic said in the report published in the July 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Finding predisposition genes may improve premorbid risk assessment, genetic counseling and management,” Dr. Charis Eng and colleagues wrote.

The developments are significant because in the United States and Europe, cases of esophageal cancer have surged 350 percent over the past 40 years and Barrett esophagus (which is believed to precede the cancer) affects 10 percent of the population, the authors explained in a journal news release.

In conducting the study, the investigators pinpointed three major genes — known as MSR1, ASCC1 and CTHRC1 — associated with both esophageal cancer and Barrett esophagus.

Out of 116 patients analyzed, mutations in these three genes were found in 13 people. “These three genes together accounted for 11 percent of our cases, reflecting what is normally considered a moderate- to high-penetrance genetic load for a disease,” Eng’s team wrote.

The study authors pointed out, however, that further research is needed to support the findings. They added that larger studies might also be needed to explore how these genes can be used to diagnose or assess patients’ risk for disorders of the esophagus.

The esophagus is the tube that carries food, liquids and saliva from your mouth to the stomach. You may not be aware of your esophagus until you swallow something too large, too hot or too cold. You may also become aware of it when something is wrong.

The most common problem with the esophagus is gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD). It happens when a band of muscle at the end of your esophagus does not close properly. This allows stomach contents to leak back, or reflux into, into the esophagus and irritate it. Over time, GERD can cause damage to the esophagus. Other problems include heartburn and cancer.

Treatment depends on the problem. Some get better with over-the-counter medicines or changes in diet. Others may need prescription medicines or surgery.

Smoking After Heart Attack Raises Risk of Dying

"cigarrette smoking is really dangerous to our health"

MONDAY, July 25 -- People who resume smoking after hospitalization for a heart attack are more likely to die than those who quit for good, a new Italian study confirms.

The findings -- that patients who relapsed were three to five times more likely to die than those who stop -- suggest that doctors and hospitals need to do more to support long-term smoking-cessation efforts after discharge, the researchers said.

For the study, recently published in the American Journal of Cardiology, researchers followed 1,294 smokers hospitalized with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome, characterized by severe chest pain suggestive of a heart blockage or heart attack. The patients had stopped smoking while in the hospital.

The study team, from San Filippo Neri Hospital in Rome and La Colletta Hospital in Genoa, wanted to assess the smoking relapse rate and determine to what extent relapse might affect the patient's survival.

Cigarette smoking is a known cause of heart disease. By quitting, people who already have heart disease will reduce their risk of sudden cardiac death or a second heart attack, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The chemicals in cigarette, cigar and secondhand smoke impede heart function and damage blood vessels.The men and women in the study, whose average age was 59.7, were followed for 12 months after discharge. While in the hospital, all had received some counseling about the effects of smoking and tips for quitting.Within a year, 97 patients died. Eighty-one of those deaths were from cardiovascular disease, the researchers found.

The researchers found that nearly two-thirds (62.8 percent) had resumed smoking, half of them within 19 days. Women and older people were most likely to relapse, the researchers said. Diabetics and patients who had participated in cardiac rehabilitation were the most likely to have quit. "In conclusion, smoking relapse after acute coronary syndromes is associated with increased mortality, and counseling interventions should be integrated into the post-discharge support to reduce the negative effects of smoking resumption," the authors wrote in the study abstract.

Some experts believe a successful stop-smoking strategy should include pharmaceuticals, such as nicotine patches, in addition to behavioral management tools.

Antibiotics Beat Cranberries at Fighting Urinary Tract Infections in Study

MONDAY, July 25 -- Many women swear by cranberry juice or capsules for the treatment and prevention of urinary tract infections, but new Dutch research indicates that antibiotics may be more effective even if they contribute to a greater risk for antibiotic resistance.

"Cranberries are less effective in the prevention, but do not result in resistant microorganisms," said study author Dr. Suzanne Geerlings, an infectious diseases expert at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. "Women with recurrent UTIs [urinary tract infections] do not like taking antibiotics for a long period because they know [about] the resistance problem. I think that doctors have to discuss the results of this study with the individual patients to make the best choice."

About half of all women will experience a UTI at some point in their lives, and 30 percent of women will develop recurrent UTIs. Escherichia coli is one of the most common causes of UTIs.

In the study, 221 women who had at least three recurrent UTIs in the previous year were randomly selected for a 12-month course of the antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) (Bactrim, Bethaprim, Cotrim, Septra), taken once daily with two placebo pills, or one cranberry capsule with 500 milligrams of cranberry extract taken twice a day with one placebo pill.

Women who took cranberry capsules were more likely to develop at least one symptomatic UTI compared with their counterparts who received the antibiotic, 4 versus 1.8, respectively. On average, women in the cranberry group developed a new UTI after four months, while recurrence occurred within eight months among those who received the antibiotic, the study showed.

Rates of antibiotic resistance tripled among women in the antibiotics group, but these did return to baseline three months after they stopped talking the medication.

After one month, antibiotic resistance to E. coli was higher than 85 percent in the antibiotic group and less than 30 percent among women who took the cranberry extract.

"Cranberry has long been touted as a natural preventative for UTIs, and numerous clinical studies using either juice or dry extracts have lent credence to this premise," Bill J. Gurley, of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

Exactly how cranberries may prevent or treat UTIs is not fully understood, but cranberries contain fructose (fruit sugar) and type A proanthocyanidins, which can prevent E. coli from sticking to the bladder walls. The cranberry extract may not have been as bioavailable as the antibiotic, which could have skewed the findings in favor of the antibiotic in this study, Gurley wrote.

"We have been using cranberry juice extract and capsules for a long time," said Dr. Carolyn Dean, a naturopathic physician in Maui, Hawaii. "It stops adhesion of bacteria to the bladder wall."

Antibiotics kill bacteria, while the cranberry extract provides more of a mechanical solution, she explained.

Dean said there is still a role for cranberry juice and/or extract in preventing UTIs. "Sexually active women whose bladder feels irritated after sex should take cranberry capsules after intercourse as a preventative," she said. "If you do develop a UTI, you can increase the amount of cranberry extract you are taking or consider antibiotics."

Prostate Cancer Treatment

Untitled Document

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men. Though the five year survival rate is relatively high, prostate cancer is still the second cause of cancer related death after lung cancer for men in many western countries.

The treatment plan is developed from one’s age, general health condition, stage, and grade of cancer and side effects with treatment. Expectant management or watchful waiting is recommended if the patient is old or has other serious health condition and if the tumor is localized and has no symptoms since prostate cancer often grows very slowly. If the prostate tumor grows more quickly or causes symptoms, active treatments will be suggested.

Traditional Treatments include Surgery, Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, and Hormone Therapy

Cutting-edge therapies available in Cancer Therapy China (CTC) for prostate cancer may consist some of:

For early stage prostate cancer,

• Surgery
• Hormone therapy
• CIK-DC immunotherapy

Features:

• Efficient prevention of recurrence and metastasis
• Good quality of life

For advanced prostate cancer,

• Cryoablation
• Gentle chemotherapy
• Gene therapy
• Antiangionesis therapy
• Hormone therapy
• CIK-DC cell immunotherapy

 Features:

• Low toxicity or side effects to human body.
• Minimally invasive cryoablation, with little harm to normal function and little pains to patients, small incision and quick recovery.
• Significantly extends survival time with a good quality of life