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Maxonidine, A Second-Generation Drug Used For Hypertension Aids Heart Function Independent Of Blood Pressure

Dapc — Mon, 28 May 2012 11:14:00 +0000

Heart failure is the most common cause of death throughout the world, typically the result of chronic high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. As a result, research efforts have focused on an array of approaches aimed at preventing and treating high blood pressure. Recently, Japanese researchers examined the utility of an anti-hypertensive drug, moxonidine, which acts on the imidazoline receptors in the cardiovascular center of the brainstem. They found, using an animal model, that the drug can improve heart function and survival independent of its effect on blood pressure. They also found the drug had a favorable effect on oxidative stress, which is related to insulin resistance, the underlying abnormality in diabetes, which is common in people with heart failure.
An abstract presentation about the findings was offered at the meeting Experimental Biology 2012, being held April 21-25 at the San Diego Convention Center. The study was conducted by Yoshitaka Hirooka, Nobuhiro Honda, Ryuichi Matsukawa, Koji Itou and Kenji Sunagawa, all of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Fukuoka, Japan. It is entitled, “Central sympathoinibition improves left ventricular function during the transition from hypertrophy to heart failure in Dahl salt-sensitive rats.” The abstract is sponsored by the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP), one of six scientific societies sponsoring the conference which last year attracted some 14,000 attendees.
Heart failure is a chronic disease that takes many forms and a variety of medications are used to treat it. Drugs such as ACE inhibitors and beta blockers target the causes of systolic heart failure. Clonidine, a first-generation central sympathoinhibitory drug, targets brain receptors that reduce cardiac output and lower blood pressure. Moxonidine, a second-generation drug, targets diastolic heart failure and function by reducing the effect of the central nervous system (CNS) receptors to decrease sympathetic activation and thus reduce blood pressure. In the study, salt-sensitive, hypertensive rats either received Moxonidine or were assigned to the control group. Researchers later found that the animals who received the drug had a marked inhibition of the sympathetic activity (an area of the brain) compared to those that did not. The findings suggest that inhibition of the central sympathetic outflow is important in the mechanism of hypertension. According to Dr. Hirooka, “The findings are important because they suggest that moxonidine may be useful in targeting the central receptors in the brain that are known to occur in patients with hypertension.”
Next Steps
The study is the latest in a series conducted by the research team whose focus is on neural control of circulation in hypertension and heart failure. Looking ahead, they will work to identify the precise mechanisms involved in the beneficial effect of moxonidine, Dr. Hirooka said. They will also study other ways to see if the compound is a possible therapeutic tool for hypertensiveheart disease to prevent heart failure. As the drug had beneficial effects on insulin resistance, they would like to further investigate the issue, he added.
Maxonidine is available in select countries in Europe and Asia. It is not currently available in the United States.

Ultra-Long-Acting Insulin Degludec, Two Phase 3 Studies Published

Dapc — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:10:00 +0000

Two Phase III studies, published in The Lancet, reveal that ultra-long-acting insulin degludec considerably reduced rates of nocturnal hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetesby 25%, compared to insulin glargine.
Insulin degludec is an investigational compound developed by Novo Nordisk.
1,635 individuals with diabetes were enrolled to participate in the trials in order to examine insulin degludec, compared to insulin glargine, in a basal-bolus regimen.
In both studies, researchers adjusted patient insulin doses systematically in order to allow them to achieve a targeted fasting glucose level. Due to this, participants in both studies successfully achieved similar improvements in sugar control. This allowed the researchers to closely determine disparity in hypoglycemia rates.
Alan Garber, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA, and lead research of one of the studies, explained:

“Hypoglycemia is a major concern for both people with diabetes and their physicians and can often lead to under- and sub-optimal treatment. Of particular concern are hypoglycemic events that occur in the overnight hours during sleep when patients are unaware and therefore unable to take measures to reverse it. Newer insulins such as insulin degludec may be able to mitigate this concern.”

The studies found that participant with type 2 diabetes who took insulin degludec had a considerably lower rate of overall hypoglycemic events (11.1 episodes/patient-year), compared to individuals assigned to insulin glargine (13.6). This figure was similar between both groups in individuals with type 1 diabetes.
Furthermore, results showed that insulin degludec reduced nocturnal hypoglycemia by 25% in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes (4.4 vs 5.9 episodes/patient-year), compared to participants taking insulin glargine (1.4 vs. 1.8).
Mads Krogsgaard Tomsen, executive vice president and chief science officer at Novo Nordisk, said:

“We are proud that The Lancet has recognized the clinical potential of insulin degludec by publishing these two pivotal studies. Novo Nordisk is very excited about the potential of insulin degludec to lower the rates of hypoglycemia in people with diabetes using basal insulin analogues.”

Improving Mood, Blood Sugar In Diabetes With Naturopathic Care

Dapc — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:05:00 +0000

About 26 million Americans suffer from type 2 diabetes. A study in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine has now revealed that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), in adjunction to conventional medicine, holds various positive benefits for people with type 2diabetes, compared with those who only receive conventional medicine. For instance, better eating and exercise habits lower blood sugar levels, improve moods and give the person a stronger sense of control over their condition.
Ryan Bradley, ND, MPH, director of the Diabetes and Cardiovascular WellnessClinic at Bastyr Center for Natural Health declared:

“The news is encouraging for those fighting the disease. Patients involved in the study cited the benefits of trying different approaches to find the best ways to minimize the effects of type 2 diabetes. In many ways, that strategy mirrors our partnership with Group Health in this research study – working together to discover the best possible solutions.”

The study, a joint collaboration between the Group Health Research Institute and the Bastyr University Research Institute provided 40 type 2 diabetes patients with diet and exercise counseling and glucose monitoring from four naturopathic physicians (NDs).
A large proportion of participants also received stress-management care and dietary supplements, all of which was in addition to the standard diabetes care and prescription drugs they received from their medical doctors. The participants were then compared with 329 patients who only received conventional diabetes care.
The outcome, after 6 months and after around four naturopathic treatments, demonstrated that the 40 patients displayed improved self-care, improved moods and were more consistent in monitoring their glucose levels, with their hemoglobin A1c rates being almost a full percentage point lower, compared with the patients in the conventional care group, whose rates only dropped by 0.5% over the same period of time.
Dr. Bradley said although the findings of this small observational study are very encouraging, they need to be confirmed with larger numbers of participants in a randomized trial. Given that type 2 diabetes is one of the top-10 causes of death in Americans, it is important to find more alternative effective options for treating the disease. The fight against the disease is also very costly at $178 billion annually, which means that 1$ out of every $10 spend on health care in the U.S. goes to treat type 2 diabetes.
Senior researcher Daniel Cherkin, PhD, at the Group Health Research Institute declares:

“Our number-one goal is to help patients. Collaboration with our research colleagues at Bastyr University allows us to explore a broader range of ways to help meet the needs of our patients.”

Guest Post by Malwina a Reader of the Blog

Dapc — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:45:00 +0000

On August 28, 2010, an incident happened at Lake Compounce, in which Krzysztof Jodlowski, a Type I diabetic since the age of 14, was involved. Each year Krzysztof buys tickets to Lake for his entire family, wife Malwina and two sons, Adam and Kevin.

During his last visit to the park in August 2010, his blood sugar level dropped unexpectedly. His wife Malwina gave Krzysztof some candy and a soda drink and after checking the sugar level sugar continue to be same. Malwina decided to leave her husband on a bench .Wile she with Kevin rushed to car to get glucose tablets which he forgot to take with him . Adam wanted to stay with his dad. At some point after that Adam said dad lets go on bumper cars. But, because his height requirement was not met the gatekeeper, Jessica Swift, started to shout at Adam. Adam not knowing the English language didn’t know what she was yelling about. The boy immediately started to cry and scream for his father. When Krzysztof Jodlowski came to his sons side Jessica Swift came and grabbed hold of Krzysztof by his shirt and would not let go. When she finally let go of him security guards were rushing toward Krzysztof to tackle him down and pushed him onto a rock, breaking 4 of his ribs. She then grabbed Adam’s hand and left.

While Krzysztof was being restrained by security guards Malwina was being called on the phone by one of the staff members. She told them that Krzysztof was a diabetic and said to check his blood sugar immediately and give him the glucose tablet; instead they gave Adam some candies. Malwina and Adam were then transferred to another location with large windows through which they could see Krzysztof being padded and handcuffed by the police. Furthermore, Krzysztof’s blood alcohol level was never measured.

Jessica Swift gave a statement to police that was recorded and used in the case. Krzysztof Jodlowski was not given a chance to tell his side of the story. Krzysztof was not allowed in court to testify because he had a lawyer. Jessica on the other hand, in spite of having one, could take a stand and speak on what had happened. Krzysztof’s only choice was to either go to trial or go to jail.

It seems like the employees of Lake Compounce were either not trained properly to handle those types of situations or simply did not follow the procedures. Additionally, Jessica Swift was 17 years old at the time and was not supposed to perform the tasks she did at the time. Being entirely aware of her health condition, she decided to take matters in her own hands and lifted Adam up. As a result, she fell on her buttocks misplacing the device that had been implanted for her spinal condition.

Then 4 months later she go to the television and say that she cannot walk because Krzysztof attack her!!!-she lie about everything, made up story witch any other witness don’t sow.

She work in Lake Compounce for 2 weeks on Halloween after that attack!

In court they check her facebook pictures, when she have a good time on the town with friends a month after she cry in television that she cannot walk!!!!

In April this year she loose in court, and Krzysztof was charge just of bridge of piece,

but now one apologize for a lies that she made up.That is how they treat sick people in Amusement Park ?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fighting Harmful Free Radicals Tied To Aging And Cancer With Avocado Oil: The ‘Olive Oil Of The Americas’?

Dapc — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:01:00 +0000

Atmospheric oxygen facilitated the evolution and complexity of terrestrial organisms, including human beings, because it allowed nutrients to be used more efficiently by those organisms, which in turn were able to generate more energy. However, as we find out more about how oxygen molecules work inside the body, more attention is being paid to their not-so-good effects, and researchers are seeking ways to thwart them.
A number of environmental factors – such as pollution, cigarette smoke and radiation – can turn the oxygen molecules found in mitochondria, the power plants of cells, into free radicals. These unstable molecules destroy virtually all the normal molecules forming cells, such as lipids, proteins and even DNA, by turning them into free radicals, too. This destructive phenomenon is associated with aging and occurs in a variety of diseases, including hypertension and diabetes, which represent major challenges for health systems due to their great social and economic costs. Those costs have motivated scientists worldwide to undertake intensive searches for substances that bolster cell resistance to the harmful effects of free radicals.
Many studies of antioxidants in vegetables and fruits, such as carrots and tomatoes, have been completed with few encouraging results, says Christian Cortés-Rojo, a researcher at Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo in Morelia, Michoacán, México. “The problem is that the antioxidants in those substances are unable to enter mitochondria. So free radicals go on damaging mitochondria, causing energy production to stop and the cell to collapse and die. An analogy would be that, during an oil spill, if we cleaned only the spilled oil instead of fixing the perforation where oil is escaping, then the oil would go on spilling, and fish would die anyway.”
But Cortés-Rojo is prepared to reveal the first research results showing the protective effects of avocado oil against free radicals in mitochondria. Cortés-Rojo presented his group’s work at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, held in conjunction with the Experimental Biology 2012 conference in San Diego.
The research team used yeast cells – those used in wine and beer production – to examine avocado oil’s properties.
“The reason why we have chosen yeast,” explains Cortés-Rojo, “is that (a) this microorganism is easier to study than other biological models due to its relative simplicity and (b) because studies our group published in 2009 and 2011 found that yeast mitochondria are very resistant to free radicals due to the sort of fat that forms its envelope, which is highly resistant to oxidation. The same kind of fat can be found in avocado oil; but, in addition, avocados also contain some plant pigments that inhibit oxidation. That is why we decided to test whether these avocado properties could increase even more the yeast’s resistance to mitochondrial oxidation.”
The results of this research, he says, show that avocado oil allowed the yeast cells to survive exposure to high concentrations of iron, which produces a huge amount of free radicals, “even to higher levels to those found in some human diseases.”
He continues: “These results could be attributed to the fact that avocado oil caused accelerated respiration in mitochondria, which indicate that the use of nutrients for producing energy for cell functions remains effective even in cells attacked by free radicals and that mitochondria itself could produce little amounts of damaging free radicals.”
Cortés-Rojo emphasized that these findings reinforce the good reputation the avocado has when it comes to health maintenance. He points to pioneering research by Mario Alvizouri-Muñoz, a doctor at the Morelia General Hospital, who demonstrated that avocado lowers the blood concentration of cholesterol and certain fats that are increased in diabetic patients and that may lead to stroke or heart attack.
“Our results are promising because they indicate that avocado consumption could improve the health status of diabetic and other patients through an additional mechanism to the improvement of blood lipids,” he says. “We’ll need to confirm that what has been observed in yeasts could occur in higher organisms, such as humans. We hope this will be the case, because there are many vital processes conserved in organisms that seem very dissimilar to humans.”
Moreover, Cortés-Rojo says, the findings, and the fact that México is the largest producer of avocados in the world, could promote the use of avocado oil or some of its components to reduce the socioeconomic impact of chronic degenerative diseases. “In some Mediterranean countries, low or almost no appearance of these kinds of diseases has been associated with the high olive oil consumption,” he explains. “Olive oil has a fat composition similar to that found in avocado oil. Therefore, avocado oil could eventually be referred to as the olive oil of the Americas.”

Quick Question

Dapc — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:14:57 +0000

When Using Oxygen To Regenerate Bone, Timing Is Everything

Dapc — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:56:00 +0000

A research team at Tulane University will report this week that the application of high levels of oxygen to a severed bone facilitates bone regrowth, study results that may one day hold promise for injured soldiers, diabetics and other accident victims.
The results of the Department of Defense-funded study were presented at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology annual meeting, held in conjunction with the Experimental Biology conference in San Diego.
“One out of every 200 Americans is an amputee,” emphasizes Mimi Sammarco, who led the study at Tulane. “This number is expected to double in the next 40 years and is of particular concern given that amputation injuries have increased considerably due to combat casualties and the increasing amputation issues associated with the rise in diabetes and other related diseases.”
The only vertebrate capable of regenerating lost limbs is the salamander, which has been the focus of a number of studies by the laboratory where the work was done. Run by Ken Muneoka, a professor at Tulane’s cell and molecular biology department, the lab has been exploring the molecular underpinnings of limb regeneration under various circumstances. The work spearheaded by Sammarco, meanwhile, uses a mouse model.
“While salamanders are able to regenerate entire limbs, rodents, monkeys and humans are only able to regenerate the digit tip after amputation,” she explains. “The third phalangeal element, the very end bone on your finger, if you amputate one-third back or anywhere toward the tip, it will grow back. If you go just a fraction of a millimeter closer, it won’t. If you amputate in the middle bone, it won’t.”
Multiple research teams have been trying to figure out what makes that huge difference between regrowth here but no regrowth there. The Tulane lab, in particular, has been investigating which genes are turned on, which proteins are expressed and which molecular activities change at the site of amputation over time.
“What it boils down to is genes (that spur regeneration) don’t just turn themselves on. They turn on because something signals them. So I thought, maybe it’s oxygen that’s turning them on,” Sammarco says. “Oxygen is often the primary signal that turns on various genes.”
Sammarco used a special incubator to expose a thin bone sample taken from an amputation site to high levels of oxygen. “What we found is that when you expose regenerating bone to 20 percent oxygen, it’ll respond very favorably but only at a certain time. If you try it too early, like right after amputation, it doesn’t do a whole lot.”
The air we breathe is made of about 20 percent oxygen, but that’s a lot higher than the level in the body, which is closer to around 6 percent, she explains. “In some areas of injury, the oxygen level is going to go down to 1 percent,” because the blood vessels that deliver oxygen to tissue naturally retract after injury. “And maybe we’re only talking millimeters or fractions of millimeters. They’re naturally contractile.”
What to do about the drop in oxygen levels is something of a puzzle for those in the wound-healing field, Sammarco says. Many researchers are trying to figure out how to reinvigorate vasculature and how to oxygenate the wound site.
“There are two opposing fields: We get injured, so we need to drop the oxygen concentration to encourage vasculature. And then there’s the other side that says, no, we need to flood it with oxygen to oxygenate the tissue. And neither works particularly well,” she admits.
The way Sammarco sees it, maybe it’s not an either-or situation: “I think you have to know when to apply each one. It’s all about timing. Obviously, there’s a sequence in growing things back. And oxygen can push the button that has to be applied at a certain time.”
Ultimately, battlefield doctors must be able to assess in what stage a patient is in the spectrum of injury and repair.
“Further on down the line, how do we make that treatable in the field in the middle of the desert? How do you make it portable and usable? There’s general public usable and there’s where it is going to be most useful, and that’s in the field – immediate treatment for a soldier so we can have maximal bone growth down the line.”
Sammarco emphasizes that even just partial regeneration of a limb would make a world of difference to any amputee and that soldiers in particular are excellent candidates for rehabilitation, because they are usually in fantastic physical shape.
“They’re the fittest people out there. They’re not diabetics receiving amputations. They’re not the average American who received an amputation after a car crash. These are the most viable people for rehabilitation, and these are the people who can benefit from getting an extra inch of stump length and be able to ski – to do things they were doing before, because their level of activity is so much higher than everybody else’s,” she says. “Thus, every effort to direct and control the extension of amputation stump length contributes to the rehabilitation of amputees, while keeping in mind the long-term goal of complete regeneration.”

Animal Model For Xenotransplantation As A Therapy For Type 1 Diabetes

Dapc — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:53:00 +0000

Type1 diabetes is caused by autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells. Over 250,000 patients suffer from type 1 diabetes in Germany who are treated with daily insulin injections to maintain glucose metabolism. Replacement of the destroyed beta cells by transplantation of either a complete pancreas organ or isolated human beta cells is the only effective way to cure the disease. However, due to the shortage of organ donors this method can be offered to only few patients.
As an alternative approach researchers are exploring xenotransplantation, i.e. transplantation of the organ from another species. The most obvious barrier in xenotransplantation is the strong immune rejection against the transplant. A research team led by LMU’s Professor Eckhard Wolf and Professor Jochen Seissler has now generated a genetically modified strain of pigs whose beta-cells restores glucose homeostasis and inhibit human-anti-pig immune reaction. So far, the efficacy of this approach has been demonstrated only in an experimental mouse model. “Whether the strategy will work in humans remains to be demonstrated,” says Professor Wolf. “Nevertheless, we consider the approach as very promising and plan to test it further in other settings.”
Type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune reaction which ultimately leads to the destruction of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, and usually becomes manifest during adolescence. Thereafter, insulin must be administered by regular insulin injections. Since insulin therapy cannot reproduce the complex pattern of physiologically controlled insulin secretion, patients are at risk of hypoglycemia and many patients develop severe vascular complications such as myocardial infarction or stroke.
Transplantation of a healthy pancreas or pancreatic beta cells that synthesize insulin may represent the best treatment option. Unfortunately, the availability of donor organs falls far short of requirements. Over the course of the last several years, fewer than 200 pancreas transplantations have been carried out. “Pigs represent a possible alternative source, because glucose metabolism in this species is very similar to that in human beings,” Professor Seissler points out.
Pig insulin differs from its counterpart in humans at only a single amino acid, and has been used successfully in the treatment of diabetic patients for decades. However, pig cells inevitably provoke an immune reaction leading to the destruction of the transplanted tissue. One way of avoiding this difficulty is to encapsulate the foreign tissue in a biologically inert material that is permeable to insulin but not to cells of the immune system. However, the drawback of this approach is the restricted supply of oxygen and essential nutrients to the transplanted cells, thereby reducing its lifespan.
Wolf and his team chose a different route. For the first time they generated genetically modified pigs that express the protein LEA29Y specifically in beta cells. LEA29Y effectively inhibits the activation of a class of immune cells that are required to initiate a rejection reaction. The researchers then transplanted these cells into a diabetic mouse strain that has a humanized immune system. Seissler’s group showed that these mice were able to restore glucose metabolism and were protected form human-anti-pig rejection. As Wolf is quick to point out, “It is not yet clear whether this will also work in humans. However, we will now attempt to validate the effects of this very promising approach using beta-cells expressing immune modulators in other transplantation models.”

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Dapc — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:54:49 +0000

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To Write Love On Her Arms

Dapc — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:12:00 +0000

Well as many of you know, I battle depression and anxiety all the time. I was recently told about To Write Love on Her Arms. TWLOHA is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

How did TWLOHA start?
To Write Love on Her Arms began in Orlando, FL in February 2006 as a (written) story, the true story of five days spent with a friend who was denied entry into a drug treatment center. The story was a look at those five days, and the t-shirts were printed and sold initially as a way to pay for our friend’s treatment.

Where does the money go?
TWLOHA uses the money raised each year in accordance with our Mission Statement. We do this through our programs, events and awareness. In addition we support treatment and recovery through counseling scholarships and the organizations listed below. To date TWLOHA has invested over $1,000,000 in treatment and recovery.

So How Can I Help?
Well the widget found here on the page at the left you can click and help for free.