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Pituitary tumour caused world’s tallest man’s gigantism

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 18 (ANI): The Turkish man crowned as the world’s tallest man suffers from a pituitary tumour which has resulted in his gigantic height.

Sultan Kosen stands eight-foot-one-inch tall and was unveiled as the tallest man in the world by the Guinness World Records.osen’s height is a result of a tumour in his pituitary gland, which has led to an over production of growth hormones, reports the National Geographic News.

The condition called pituitary gigantism has also led his feet to grow to almost 15 inches, while his hands are larger than 10 inches.t was only after the tumour was removed last year, that Kosen stopped growing.

The 27-year old is forced to use crutches as his height has weakened his knee joints.

The now-famous Kosen wants to travel around the world and meet a woman who would like to marry him. (ANI)

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Statins may help treat ‘female sexual dysfunction’

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 9 (ANI): Cholesterol-lowering wonder drugs known as statins may help treat female sexual dysfunction (FSD), according to a new study.

Raised cholesterol levels, or hyperlipidemia, have been linked to erectile dysfunction in men, as the build-up of fats in blood vessel walls can reduce blood flow to erectile tissue.

Since some aspects of female sexual arousal also rely on increased blood flow to the genitals, Katherine Esposito and her colleagues at the Second University of Naples in Italy compared sexual function in premenopausal women with and without hyperlipidemia, reports New Scientist.

In the study, researchers found that females with hyperlipidemia reported significantly lower arousal, orgasm, lubrication, and sexual satisfaction scores than women with normal blood lipid profiles.

And 32 per cent of the women with abnormal profiles scored low enough on a scale of female sexual function to be diagnosed with FDS, compared with 9 per cent of women without normal levels. However, women’s sexual desire was not affected by hyperlipidemia.

In another research, Annamaria Veronelli at the University of Milan, Italy, and her colleagues found that female sexual dysfunction was also associated with diabetes, obesity and an underactive thyroid gland.

“These two papers suggest that there are strong connections between women’s sexual arousal and organic diseases in the same way that men’s sexual problems arise,” says Geoffrey Hackett, a urologist at the Holly Cottage Clinic in Fisherwick, UK.

“This is currently not even considered in women,” the expert added.

The study has been published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. (ANI)

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Hormone therapy ups death risk for prostate cancer patients with heart disease

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 26 (ANI): Prostate cancer patients, who also suffer from heart conditions, have increased death risk if they undergo hormone therapy, revealed a study led by an Indian-origin scientist.

Dr. Akash Nanda, from Boston, has found that when men with coronary artery disease-induced congestive heart failure or heart attack receive hormone therapy before or along with radiation therapy for treatment of prostate cancer, they have an associated increased risk of death.

His study report says that patients with localized prostate cancer have several options available for treatment, including the use of brachytherapy (treatment in which radioactive seeds are implanted in the prostate), both as monotherapy and in conjunction with external beam radiation therapy.

Neoadjuvant (treatment that is given before or with the primary treatment) hormonal therapy (HT) is used as a means for prostate gland cytoreduction (decrease in number of cells, as in a tumor) in order to eliminate pubic arch (an arch formed by the pubic bones) interference and improve the ability to perform brachytherapy.

Previous research has suggested that “hormonal therapy, when added to radiation therapy (RT) for treating unfavorable-risk prostate cancer, leads to an increase in survival except possibly in men with moderate to severe comorbidity [co-existing illnesses]. However, it is unknown which comorbid conditions eliminate this survival benefit,” the authors write.

Dr. Nanda his colleagues assessed whether neoadjuvant HT use in men with prostate cancer treated with brachytherapy affects the risk of all-cause death of men with known coronary artery disease-induced conditions, including congestive heart failure and heart attack.

The researchers conducted the study on 5,077 men (median [midpoint] age, 69.5 years) with localized or locally advanced prostate cancer who were treated with or without a median of 4 months of neoadjuvant HT followed by RT between 1997 and 2006 and were followed up until July 2008.

They found that during the study period, 419 men died, out of which, 200 had no underlying comorbidity, 176 had one coronary artery disease risk factor, and 43 had a history of known coronary artery disease resulting in congestive heart failure or heart attack.

The researchers said that the analyses of the data indicated that “when considering comorbidity groups separately, neoadjuvant HT use was not associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in men with no comorbidity or a single coronary artery disease risk factor after median follow-ups of 5.0 years and 4.4 years, respectively.”

But, for men with coronary artery disease-induced congestive heart failure or heart attack, after a median follow-up of 5.1 years, neoadjuvant HT use was associated with nearly twice the risk of all-cause mortality.

“The clinical significance of this finding is that for men with favorable-risk prostate cancer and a history of congestive heart failure or myocardial infarction who require neoadjuvant HT solely to eliminate pubic arch interference, alternative strategies such as active surveillance or treatment with external beam radiation therapy or prostatectomy should be considered.

“However, for men with unfavourable-risk prostate cancer who require HT in addition to radiation therapy to take advantage of its survival benefit, appropriate medical evaluation prior to initiation should facilitate clinicians in balancing the relative risks against the benefits of HT use,” said the researchers

The study has been published in the latest issue of JAMA. (ANI)

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Clues to gigantism provided by family in Borneo Mountains

August 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 22 (ANI): An indigenous family living in a mountainous area of Malaysian Borneo has helped Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) scientists to discover information about genetic mutations associated with acromegaly, a form of gigantism that often results in enlarged hands, feet, and facial features.

The information could lead to better screening for the disease, which most often results from a benign pituitary gland tumor that can be deadly if left untreated, but which is difficult to detect until later stages when features become pronounced.

Researchers located a 31-member aboriginal family that included individuals with acromegaly living in a mountainous region of Borneo, Malaysia, when the effects of the family patriarch’s growing pituitary tumor necessitated medical treatment.

A medical team including VARI Distinguished Scientific Investigator Bin Tean Teh, and staff from the Department of Medicine at the University of Malaya Medical Centre and the Department of Medicine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Malaysia subsequently traveled to the family’s village several times to collect blood samples for testing.

“Researchers had recently found a mutation in the AIP gene associated with acromegaly, but we found that several family members who didn’t have visible symptoms of acromegaly had this mutation as well,” said Dr. The.

“This increases the importance of screening for families with cases of acromegaly since anyone could be a carrier. On one side of the family, at least two generations carried the gene before someone showed any symptoms,” he added.

The later stages of acromegaly often produce enlarged hands and feet, protruding brows and lower jaws, thick voice and slowed speech from swelling of vocal cords, and other symptoms.

When diagnosed, the tumor and entire pituitary gland are usually removed, followed by hormone therapy for the rest of the patient’s life. owever, because the progression of the disease is so gradual, it is difficult to detect. If left unchecked, patients can die from complications such as heart or kidney failure.

Sok Kean Khoo, VARI Research Scientist and lead author of the study, led researchers in scanning DNA in the family’s blood to find other factors that might explain why only some family members with the genetic mutation had visible symptoms of the disease.

They found regions on a few chromosomes that might lead to further insight.The sooner we know how and why people are affected differently by this disease, the sooner we can help families who have it,” said Dr. Teh. (ANI)

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Low thyroid activity may actually be a sign of longevity

June 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, June 19 (ANI): Gaining weight and losing hair? Well, chances are that you will live longer, say researchers.

According to Dr Martin Surks and colleagues at the Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, low thyroid activity may hold the key to a long life.

Located in the neck, thyroid is a kind of master gland, secreting hormones that affect metabolism. Its activity is usually checked by an indirect measure – looking at levels of TSH, or thyroid stimulating hormone.

High TSH levels suggest the thyroid is underactive, a condition known as hypothyroidism. Low levels suggest it is overactive, known as hyperthyroidism.

People with low thyroid function may lose hair, gain weight and feel sluggish, while those with overactive thyroids may lose weight, feel their hearts race and have trembling hands.

To reach the conclusion, researchers studied hundreds of people who had lived to be 100, and found evidence that people with low thyroid activity were more likely to be in that group, reports The China Daily.

“We studied a large group of Ashkenazi Jews with exceptional longevity,” Surks told a news conference at a meeting of the Endocrine Society, specialists in human hormones.

Surks and colleagues found 15 to 20 percent of people over the age of 60 had TSH levels that suggest an underactive thyroid gland. (ANI)

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Targets to preserve world’s forests will not be met by 2010: Study

May 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 23 (ANI): A new analysis has revealed that the attempts to preserve 10 per cent of the world’s forests are falling short, and targets set under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will not be met by 2010.

The study shows that only 7.7 percent of the globe’s 20 major types of forests are currently protected, according to categories established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), headquartered in Gland, Switzerland.

The study is primarily based on the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s definition of a forest-that is, an area of land more than 0.5 hectares in size with more than 10 per cent canopy cover.

“According to our analysis, the CBD targets will not be met,” Nature magazine quoted Neil Burgess, a conservation scientist at the University of Cambridge, UK, and one of the study’s authors, as saying.

In 2004, a total of 191 countries, excluding the United States, agreed to the CBD target of 10 percent.

Burgess said that although 7.7 percent is “reasonably good”, CBD signatories agreed to 10 percent “because it was thought this level of protection was necessary for biodiversity conservation”.

According to him, it is now recognized that protecting forests is also important for efforts to stabilize climate change, “so if we are failing to meet the target it could be even worse for climate stabilization than for biodiversity.”

The study found that 65 percent of the ecoregions have less than 10 percent of their forests protected.

In fact, the highest level of protection-with more than 50 per cent of forest protected-was found in ecoregions in parts of the Amazon, southeast Asia and Alaska.

According to Burgess, it is “good news” that many of the most important areas for biodiversity are being protected at a level above the 10 percent target.

The group used data from an existing map, published in 2000, of global forest cover from the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, UK. The researchers updated this map using satellite data collected in 2005.

John Healy, a forest ecologist at the University of Wales, Bangor, said that the study was important because it looked at forest protection in ecoregions and by forest type, rather than just total forest cover.

However, he added: “The reality is we don’t know whether the protection status is being enforced on the ground.” (ANI)

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Tooth-venom combo key to Komodo dragon’s vicious bite

May 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 19 (ANI): A new study has shown that the effectiveness of the Komodo Dragon’s bite, which is lethal to its prey, is a combination of highly specialized serrated teeth and venom.

Using sophisticated medical imaging techniques, an international team led by Dr Bryan Fry from the University of Melbourne have revealed that the Komodo Dragon has the most complex venom glands yet described for any reptile.

“These large carnivorous reptiles are known to bite prey and release them, leaving the prey to bleed to death from the horrific wounds inflicted. We have now shown that it is the combined arsenal of the Komodo Dragon’s tooth and venom that account for their hunting prowess,” said Dr Fry.

“The combination of this specialized bite and venom seem to minimise the Dragon’s contact with its prey and this allows it to take large animals,” he added.

Komodo Dragons are native to the islands of Indonesia, with adult males weighing over 100kg, and exceeding 3 metres in length.

They have around 60 highly serrated teeth which are frequently replaced during their lifetime.

The researchers conducted a comprehensive study of the Komodo Dragon bite, employing computer techniques to analyze stress in a dragon’s jaws and compare them to those of a crocodile.

The dragons were found to have much weaker bites than crocodiles, but magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a preserved dragon head revealed complex venom glands and specialized serrated teeth which create deep lacerations for entry of the venom.

“We believe that the dragon is able to weaken and immobilize their prey with a venomous bite that increases the damage done by their long serrated teeth,” said Dr Fry.

The researchers located and surgically excised the glands from a terminally ill dragon at the Singapore Zoo, and used mass spectrometry to obtain a profile of the venom molecules.

The team also analyzed which toxin genes were expressed in the dragon’s venom gland.

These findings may explain the observations by Dr Fry and others that Komodo Dragon prey become still and unusually quiet soon after being bitten.

Bitten prey also bleed profusely, consistent with the team’s discovery that the venom was also rich in toxins that prolong bleeding. (ANI)

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Key proteins linked to ovulation identified

May 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 15 (ANI): Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have identified two proteins that play a vital role in ovulation process.

The discovery, researchers hope, would help in treating infertility resulting from a failure of ovulation. It will also aid in developing new means to prevent pregnancy by preventing the release of the egg.

The proteins, called ERK1 and ERK2, appear to bring about the maturation and release of the egg.

“Ovulation results from a complex interplay of chemical sequences,” said Dr Duane Alexander, director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

“The researchers have identified a crucial biochemical intermediary controlling the release of the egg.

“The finding advances our understanding and may one day contribute to new treatments for infertility as well as new ways to prevent pregnancy from occurring,” Alexander added.

ERK1 and ERK2 are a critical nexus between the surge in luteinizing hormone and ovulation, said Dr Louis V. De Paolo chief of the NICHD Reproductive Sciences Branch.

“This is a key chemical pathway that affects not only ovulation, but egg cell maturation and granulosa cell differentiation into luteal cells,” Dr. De Paolo added.

Luteinizing hormone is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland.

Previously, researchers did not know how luteinizing hormone triggered the ovary’s release of the egg and the production of progesterone by the granulosa cells.

In the current study, the researchers discerned that luteinizing hormone appears to signal the release of the ERK 1 and ERK 2 proteins.

“We’re still at the tip of the iceberg. We need to understand it all,” said De Paolo said. (ANI)

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Novel exploding bubble technique can trim the prostate

April 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 25 (ANI): Scientists at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, are developing a new technology, called histotripsy, to trim the interiors of aging prostates in the body.

Traditionally, researchers treated prostate growths by inserting a rigid instrument through the penis and scraping away cells lining the walnut-sized gland.

But, the new technology being developed by urologist William Roberts and a team at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is a less invasive way to remove tissue using focused pulses of ultrasound.

Unlike other therapeutic ultrasound technologies in development, which create heat to boil pathogenic tissue, histotripsy mechanically breaks apart tissue with shorter, strong pulses of ultrasound.

These pulses create tiny bubbles out of dissolved gas in prostate tissue.

As the bubbles violently collapse, they release tiny shock waves, a phenomenon called acoustic cavitation.

Over tens of thousands of pulses, the combined force of these cavitations liquefies nearby tissue into slurry that is eliminated through the urine.

One can monitor the tissue excavation and target it in real time with acoustic imaging.

“Historically, no one believed that cavitation could be controlled like this. We’re the only group doing this kind of work,” said Roberts.

The researchers used the technique to dissolve marble-sized chunks of cells in the walls of prostates.

After histotripsy treatment, side effects common in traditional prostrate treatments — bleeding and inflammation — were minimal, and the same was observed for signs of discomfort.

Roberts hopes to develop histotripsy into a clinical treatment for early-stage cancer and enlarged prostate (BPH).

The talk “Histotripsy: Urologic applications” (3pBB3) by William Roberts is just a few of the topics that will be covered at the 157th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). (ANI)

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Aurobindo Pharma secures first nod for Finasteride APL Tablets

April 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Aurobindo Pharma, one of the largest API manufacturers in Asia, on Wednesday received its first approval from Swissmedic, Government of Switzerland for the license of Finasteride APL Tablets 5mg.

The drug is generic equivalent of MERCK and CO., Inc’s Proscar Tablet.

Finasteride APL Tablet 5mg is used alone or in combination with another medication to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH, enlargement of the prostate gland). The drug is seen very effective in symptoms of BPH such as frequent and difficult urination. In addition, it also may decrease the chance of needing prostate surgery.

Further, the drug is also used to treat male pattern hair loss (a common condition in which men have gradual thinning of the hair on the scalp, leading to a receding hairline or balding on the top of the head.)

Earlier this month, Aurobindo Pharma has secured a tentative approval from the U. S. Food and Drug Administration to sell its emtricitabine and tenofovir disproxil fumarate combination drug in tablet form. The anti-HIV drug is the generic version of Gilead Sciences Inc’s branded drug Truvada.

On the same day, the company got another nod for its Topiramate tablets in 25mg, 50mg, 100mg and 200mg strengths from the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).

The drug is generic equivalent of Ortho McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ Topamax tablets and indicated for the treatment of epilepsy in both children and adults.

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Stress of waiting for breast biopsy results may adversely affect women’s health

February 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 24 (ANI): The anxiety of waiting for breast biopsy results may put women at increased risk of adverse health effects, according to a new study.

The study led by Elvira V. Lang, M.D., associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, revealed that women experience considerable stress while waiting to undergo breast biopsy and while waiting for the results.When women express how taxing it is to have to wait for results, the medical establishment may dismiss their feelings as psychological. We were able to show that this state of not knowing the diagnosis goes along with biochemical changes which can have adverse effects on wound healing and the immune system,” said Lang.

The researchers aimed to establish a biochemical marker to assess the physical effects associated with the stress of extended waiting for a final diagnosis after breast biopsy.

For the study, they used cortisol samples collected from the saliva of 126 women during an earlier clinical trial on patient stress during biopsy.

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal gland and is often referred to as the “stress hormone.”

“Cortisol helps us fight acute stress by adjusting blood pressure, blood sugar and immune response in a good way when needed. But when stress becomes chronic, cortisol secretion either goes into continuous overdrive or dries up, leaving the immune system vulnerable and other body functions less well adapted,’ said Lang.

The women participants in the study had to undergo large-core breast biopsy and their diagnosis was disclosed one to six days after the procedure.

Salivary cortisol samples were collected on cotton swabs on the day of biopsy and each of the four days following biopsy.

During the period in which the samples were taken, the women learned whether their biopsy results were benign (non-cancerous), malignant (cancerous) or uncertain.

By the fourth day after biopsy, 16 patients had learned they had cancer, 37 patients had benign findings and 73 patients had an uncertain diagnosis, because their results had not been communicated yet or they required further diagnostic procedures.

It was found that cortisol secretion for the women with uncertain results was significantly different than that of the women with benign results and highly similar to secretion levels in the women with malignant results.

Scientists believe that the findings will encourage faster analysis and communication of biopsy results.

They have recommended that women should speak to their doctors about communication procedures before undergoing breast biopsy.

Lang said: “Women should ask who will communicate their results to them and how long it will take to receive them. Then they should schedule the biopsy accordingly, taking into account delays over weekends and holidays.”

The study has been published in the journal Radiology. (ANI)

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Fat synthesizing enzyme is key to healthy skin and hair

February 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 15 (ANI): A team of researchers at the Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) has discovered that an enzyme linked to the synthesis of fat in the body is also an element in healthy skin and hair.

The enzyme is DGAT1. Mice that lack DGAT1 have many interesting characteristics. For example, they are lean, resistant to diet-induced obesity, are more sensitive to insulin and leptin, and have abnormalities in mammary gland development and skin.

When researchers used genetic engineering to delete the enzyme in mice, they found that lack of DGAT1 caused levels of retinoic acid (RA) to be greatly increased in skin and resulted in the loss of hair.

“For some time, we have been studying the enzymes that make triglycerides. We found that one of these enzymes is a major regulator of retinoic acid actions in the skin.” said Robert V. Farese, Jr., senior investigator and senior author on the study.

RA, which comes from vitamin A (retinol), has been used to treat skin disorders, such as acne and psoriasis, and certain cancers, but it is fairly toxic and must be carefully controlled.

In mice without DGAT1, the skin was very sensitive to retinol. The loss of DGAT1 also caused alopecia, or hair loss. Both of these effects could be prevented by depriving the mice of a source of retinol in their diet. It turns out that DGAT1 can convert retinol to a relatively inert storage form.

Without DGAT1, this ability is lost, and any excess retinol in the skin can be converted to RA.

Michelle Shih, the lead author on the study, said: “Our results show that DGAT1 is an important component for controlling retinoic acid levels in the skin of mice. These findings may have implications for the treatment of human skin or hair disorders.”

Their findings were reported in The Journal of Biological Chemistry. (ANI)

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Protein that control hormones critical to women’s health found in pituitary gland

January 12, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

London, Jan 12 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have uncovered the location of a protein, called on Syt IV, which regulates hormones critical to women’s health- the pituitary gland.

Scientists found that the “rogue protein,” whose main location and function were unknown until now, is located in a specific area of the pituitary gland.

The puzzling protein acts as control knob and may adjust the release of the two hormones that come almost exclusively from the posterior pituitary: oxytocin, which controls many reproductive functions, and vasopressin, which controls fluid balance.

“The findings raise very interesting possibilities for women’s health, in which rising and falling hormone levels play a key role in many biological processes,” Nature magazine quoted senior author Meyer Jackson, a professor of physiology at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH), as saying.

The research focused on Syt IV, which is a member of the synaptotagmin family of 17 proteins, present in both mice and humans.

Synaptotagmins are usually embedded in the membranes of small sacs, or vesicles, filled with neurotransmitters and hormones within nerve terminals.

At the time when an electrical impulse from one cell reaches a nerve terminal, Syt IV triggers the release of calcium.

Calcium, in its turn triggers the spilling out of the vesicle’s contents – neurotransmitters and hormones – so they can act on other cells.

“Most synaptotagmins are triggering molecules that drive a vesicle’s membrane into the membrane that surrounds a neighboring cell so that chemicals inside the vesicle can come out,” said Jackson.

However, Syt IV is different as it doesn’t bind to calcium and is found only sparsely in most parts of the brain.

But the researchers were shocked a few years ago after they discovered large amounts of it in the posterior pituitary, one of the three primary parts of the gland.
For the study, the researchers conducted high-powered biophysical measurements, and then compared the pituitaries from normal mice and mice in which Syt IV had been knocked out.

It was found that like other members of the synaptotagmin family, Syt IV resides on vesicles. But unlike the others, Syt IV doesn’t trigger neurotransmitter or hormone release.

“It does not simply translate a calcium signal into a command for hormone release. Unlike other synaptotagmins, Syt IV tunes the triggering command and determines whether the same electrical impulse will let a large or small amount of hormone out of the nerve terminal,” said Jackson

This ability to modulate hormone release may have important implications for pregnancy, birth, lactation and the menstrual cycle, all of which are linked to fluctuations in oxytocin levels.

“Any change in the body that entails releasing more or less of this hormone into the bloodstream could well be a result of the brain’s making more or less of this protein,” said Jackson.

He further added that more studies will be needed to better understand the protein.

The study appeared in the recent issue of Nature Neuroscience. (ANI)

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