Archive for October, 2008
A Canadian study finds that a drug that is used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder may prove helpful to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that valproic acid stopped the development of Alzheimer’s –related brain plaques in mice.
The researchers from the University Of British Columbia And Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have already found that If VPA is used in the early stages of the disease, it can reverse memory decline.
The study has been published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Weihong Song, who led the study, said: “We found that the drug helped to block plaque formation and prevented brain cell and axon death when it was used at the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease in model mice. Similarly, it also improved performance in memory tests.”
LONDON – People who eat hastily till feel full, have more chances to be overweight, a problem added by the penetration of fast food, Japanese researchers said.
Eating styles, alone, can contribute to an obesity epidemic fueled by the spread of Western-style, spreading all over the world. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal.
According to the WHO, around 400 million people are obese, among them 20 million are under the age of five. The condition raises the risk of diseases, like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
For study purpose, Hiroyasu Iso at Osaka University asked 3,000 Japanese volunteers aged 30 – 69 about their eating habit. Half of the men and almost half of the women said they ate until full. About 45 percent men and 36 percent women ate quickly.
The European Medicines Agency has recommended doctors not to prescribe rimonabant (also known as Acomplia), a well known anti-obesity drug.
According to EMEA, the drug can alarmingly increase the risk of serious psychiatric problems and even suicides.
As the patients who are at risk cannot be identified that’s why marketing of the drug must be suspended, the EMEA says.
Those patients who are using the drug must consult their doctor; however, they need not to stop using the drug instantly.
According to an estimate, almost 97,000 obese or overweight people in the UK have been prescribed rimonabant in conjunction with diet and exercise and around 20,000 are currently using the drug.
A new study says that you can avoid the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s disease on memory if you go to university and then choose a mentally demanding job for yourself, as the researchers find that less intellectual stimulation often causes to quick tissue damage that leads to memory loss.
The researchers suggest that tough mental work or genes that make people have such careers may prove helpful for the brain to compensate for disease.
This Italian study has been published in the journal Neurology.
There are many other studies (based on age and symptoms) that suggest mental activities can help to avoid Alzheimer’s.
The researchers from the San Raffaele University, Milan used brain scan tests to examine the distinctive ‘tangles’ and protein deposits characteristic of Alzheimer’s in 242 old people. In these people 144 had no memory problems, while 72 had mild cognitive impairment.
High doses of vitamin KI map prove helpful to avoid fractures and cancer in postmenopausal women with osteopenia, but it doesn’t seem to prevent a decline in age-related bone mineral density, a new study suggests.
The study has been published in Journal of PLOS Medicine, weekly issue and it was the project of the University of Toronto. The researchers included 440 postmenopausal women with osteopenia that is a mild condition that occurs before osteoporisis. These women were given either 5 mg of vitamin KI or a placebo daily for two years.
