Repeated exposure to dental X-rays ups thyroid cancer risk

London, June 4 (ANI): Repeated exposure to dental X-rays increases thyroid cancer risk, a new study has revealed.

Analysing 313 cancer patients, scientists from Brighton, Cambridge and Kuwait found the chances of developing cancer rose with increasing numbers of dental X-rays.

“The public health and clinical implications of these findings are particularly relevant in the light of increases in the incidence of thyroid cancer in many countries over the past 30 years,” the Telegraph quoted Dr Anjum Memon, of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, as saying.

However, Dr Memon was quick to add that the increasing use of sensitive diagnostic techniques does not necessarily account for the entire increase and that other causes warrant investigation. (ANI)

Statins may help treat ‘female sexual dysfunction’

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)

How to make a lung

Washington, Aug 18 (ANI): Scientists from University of Pennsylvania have shed light on how lungs are developed in the body.

They have identified a tissue-repair-and-regeneration pathway in the human body, including wound healing that is essential for the early lung to develop properly.

The researchers have also discovered two molecules in this pathway, Wnt2 and Wnt2b that play a key role in early lung development.

“We wanted to know the answer to a seemingly simple question: What is required to generate the lung in mammals?” said senior author Dr Edward Morrisey, Associate Professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

“Wnt molecules are important for lung growth and we think that some of the molecules in the Wnt pathway are needed to specify lung progenitor cells and if not enough cells are ‘told’ to make a lung, an animal develops a faulty, smaller organ or even no lung,” he added.

Understanding how a lung develops is important in treating or preventing a host of lung and pulmonary diseases in children.

In the developing embryo, the lung, pancreas, liver, thyroid, and stomach all come from the foregut region, which starts out looking like a long tube.

“These organs bud from this undifferentiated tube and go on to develop into specific tissue types. The lung is one of the last to bud off the foregut during development,” said Morrisey.

The team focused on the Wnt pathway to see where and when Wnt molecules were expressed along the foregut tube, even before the lung starts to become a recognizable organ.

They found that the Wnt proteins Wnt2 and Wnt2b are expressed in the cells surrounding the foregut, right where the lung will eventually form. When they are knocked out, the animals completely lacked lungs.

Morrisey surmised that Wnt2 and Wnt2b were required to specify the early progenitors for the lung in the foregut.

The Morrisey lab showed that activation of the Wnt pathway resulted in formation of lung progenitors in both the esophagus and stomach where they are normally excluded.

“The ability of Wnt to program esophagus and stomach endoderm to a lung fate points to the critical role this pathway plays in lung development and suggests the possible use of Wnt in generating lung epithelium from non-lung sources,” said Morrisey.

The findings are described this week in Developmental Cell. (ANI)

Low thyroid activity may actually be a sign of longevity

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)

Rod Stewart, Suggs urge musicians to busk for charity

London, May 26 (ANI): Rod Stewart and Madness frontman Suggs have urged fellow musicians to take to the streets and start busking to help raise funds for charity.

The duo is initiating “Busking Cancer”, a “concert” to encourage artists across Britain to perform in public and gather money from audience to help Cancer Research UK.

Suggs and his fellow band members are due to play their tunes on HMS Belfast, secured on the banks of the River Thames for an exclusive one-night busking show.

Meanwhile, Stewart, who battled thyroid cancer, is asking musicians to come out and play.

“Busking is how I started, in the early 60s, on the streets of Paris. It is what music is all about – just getting out there and singing or playing for the sheer joy of it,” The Scotsman quoted him as saying. (ANI)

Oprah Winfrey headed for ‘early grave’?

Washington, May 5 (ANI): Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is reportedly suffering from a severe thyroid problem and is headed for an “early grave.”

According to National Enquirer’s cover story, the talk show queen might have just a few years to live.

The reports claim that the magazine brought in “experts” to review Winfrey’s medical history, reports The Hollywood Gossip.

And the anonymous sources have said that the star’s battle with her weight is due to a faulty thyroid that will send her to an “early grave.”

Oprah is now considering to go for surgery to have the thyroid removed.(ANI)

Rod Stewart’s busking charity drive

London, Apr 20 (ANI): Brit singer songwriter Rod Stewart has started a new campaign to get musicians to busk on the streets for charity.

Stewart, 64, who beat thyroid cancer, became a patron of Busking Cancer 2009.

The weeklong event aims to raise cash for Cancer Research UK through busking.

“When it comes to busking, I’m your man. That’s how I started in the early 1960s on the streets of Paris,” the Sun quoted him as saying.

“It’s what music is all about – just getting out there and singing or playing for the sheer joy of it,” he added.

Busking Cancer week runs from June 20 to 27. (ANI)

Hirsute women have no reason to feel helpless

London, Apr 17 (ANI): Excessive hairiness can be more than just a cosmetic problem, but women shouldn’t feel helpless because of it.

British doctors have warned that hirsutism is likely to be a sign of an underlying medical condition. But, worry not, for help is at hand.

The docs said that five to 15 percent of women have excess hair, and a hormone disorder the most likely cause in many cases.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the cause in 70 percent to 80 percent of cases.

Report author, Dr Rebecca Swingler, a specialist registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol, said the condition can be particularly upsetting for young women.

In addition to PCOS, rarer causes of excessive hairiness include certain tumours and thyroid dysfunction, as well as the use of certain drugs.

According to Swingler, mild cases can be treated cosmetically, but in moderate to severe cases, hormone therapy, such as the oral contraceptive pill and other treatments are present.

Weight loss may also help reduce high levels of the male hormone testosterone which can be an underlying factor in cases of excess hair.

“Often women have spent many years trying to cope with their hirsutism before they seek professional help,” The BBC quoted Swingler, as saying.

“Women need to look at themselves in the context of their family and ethnicity and what is ‘normal’ for them.

“If they notice a change in the pattern of hair growth or they notice they having to wax more often then they should seek help,” she said. (ANI)

Drinkers Warned About Risk Of ‘Shakes’

People who consume three alcoholic drinks every day double their risk of getting the “shakes” in later life, researchers have found. Skip related content
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* Cheap drink ‘fuels alcohol abuse’
* Related Hot Topic: Binge Drinking

Have your say: Binge Drinking

Essential tremor, a common neurological disorder, affects an estimated 650,000 people in the UK.

Although there are a number of factors which can cause the condition including an overactive thyroid and Parkinson’s disease, alcoholics frequently develop symptons.

According to new research, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, alcohol consumption could increase the risks of developing the disorder.

The study, conducted in central Spain, looked at the drinking patterns of a group of 3,285 patients aged 65 and over.

Seventy-six out of the 3,285 participants developed essential tremor, which causes involuntary movement, in a three-year follow-up period.

Of the group, 1,838 were classed as alcohol drinkers while 1,447 were non-drinkers.

When the two groups were compared, those who had drunk regularly for a long period were far more likely to develop essential tremor.

The study found that those who drank three or more units of alcohol per day doubled the risk of developing the condition compared with non-drinkers.

Even those who had just one or two drinks a day had a 30% increased risk of getting the “shakes”.

In England, ten million people are thought to drink more than the Government’s recommended limits of two to three units a day for women and three to four for men.

More than 420,000 people are admitted to hospital each year because of excessive drinking.

In England, almost 1.6 million men are considered to be “high risk” drinkers, downing more than 50 units a week, while over one million women admitted to consuming 35 units every week.

Professor Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “Mental disorders account for the largest number of alcohol-related hospital admissions.

“However, insufficient attention is paid to the link between alcohol misuse and neurological illness.

“Equally, healthcare professionals must also be trained to more accurately identify cases where patients are at risk of long-term damage due to their drinking habits.”

Drinkers Warned About ‘Shakes’ Risk

People who consume three alcoholic drinks every day double their risk of getting the ‘shakes’ in later life, researchers have found. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
Drinkers Warned About ‘Shakes’ Risk
Related content

* Drinkers Warned About Risk Of ‘Shakes’
* Doctors Call For Action On Cut-Price Booze
* Cheap drink ‘fuels alcohol abuse’
* Related Hot Topic: Binge Drinking

Have your say: Binge Drinking

Essential tremor, a common neurological disorder, affects an estimated 650,000 people in the UK.

Although there are a number of factors which can cause the condition including an overactive thyroid and Parkinson’s disease, alcoholics frequently develop symptons.

According to new research, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, alcohol consumption could increase the risks of developing the disorder

The study, conducted in central Spain looked at the drinking patterns of a group of 3,285 patients aged 65 and over.

76 out of the 3,285 participants developed essential tremor, which causes involuntary movement, in a three-year follow-up period.

Of the group, 1,838 were classed as alcohol drinkers while 1,447 were non-drinkers.

When the two groups were compared, those who had drunk regularly for a long period were far more likely to develop essential tremor.

The study found that those who drank three or more units of alcohol per day doubled the risk of developing the condition compared with non-drinkers.

Even those who had just one or two drinks a day had a 30% increased risk of getting the ‘shakes’

In England, ten million people are thought to drink more than the Government’s recommended limits of two to three units a day for women and three to four for men.

More than 420,000 people are admitted to hospital each year because of excessive drinking.

In England, almost 1.6 million men are considered to be “high risk” drinkers, downing more than 50 units a week.

Whilst over one million women admitted to consuming 35 units every week.

Professor Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “Mental disorders account for the largest number of alcohol-related hospital admissions.

“However, insufficient attention is paid to the link between alcohol misuse and neurological illness.

“Equally, healthcare professionals must also be trained to more accurately identify cases where patients are at risk of long-term damage due to their drinking habits.”

Three pegs a day double risk of getting ‘shakes’ in later life

London, Apr 9 (ANI): People who drink an average of three units of alcohol a day double their risk of involuntary “shakes” in later life, say researchers.

Essential tremor is a common neurological disorder. Although there are a number of factors that can cause the condition including an overactive thyroid and Parkinson’s disease, alcoholics frequently develop symptoms.

Now, the new research, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, has shown that alcohol consumption could increase the risks of developing the disorder, reports Sky News.

The study, conducted in central Spain, consisted of a group of 3,285 patients aged 65 and over. Seventy-six out of the 3,285 participants developed essential tremor, which causes involuntary movement, in a three-year follow-up period.

Of the group, 1,838 were classed as alcohol drinkers while 1,447 were non-drinkers. When the two groups were compared, those who had drunk regularly for a long period were far more likely to develop essential tremor.

From analyses, the researchers found that those who drank three or more units of alcohol per day doubled the risk of developing the condition compared with non-drinkers.

Even those who had just one or two drinks a day had a 30 percent increased risk of getting the “shakes”. (ANI)

Barbara Bush recovering after successful heart surgery

Washington, Mar 5 (ANI): The former first lady of the United States was recovering after undergoing valve replacement surgery on Wednesday at The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

Former President George H.W. Bush, who was at her side, said the surgery went well.

In November, the former first lady had emergency surgery for a perforated ulcer at the same hospital, FOX News reported.

She had been admitted that time with abdominal pains and underwent routine, laparoscopic surgery.

Daughter of the publisher of McCall’s magazine, Barbara Pierce, married George H.W. Bush in January 1945 when he returned a hero from World War II.

Barbara Bush and her husband spent four years in the White House, from 1989 to 1993. During that time, she disclosed she was suffering from an overactive thyroid ailment known as Graves’ disease, which causes teary eyes and double vision. (ANI)

Molecular imaging may alter management of over one-third thyroid cancer patients

Washington, January 3 (ANI): German researchers have for the first time been able to accurately distinguish between cancerous cells in regional lymph nodes and normal residual thyroid tissue directly after surgery.

Researchers at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg have revealed that they achieved this breakthrough while studying the diagnostic value of molecular imaging in nodal staging of patients with thyroid cancer.

Describing their work in an article in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, the researchers said that they used a hybrid single photon emission computed tomography-computed tomography (SPECT-CT) camera to determine and locate the spread of cancer cells to nearby lymph nodes.

According to them, the demonstration or exclusion of cancer spread (metastasis) in regional lymph nodes plays a major role in treating the disease since all patients with lymph node metastases are considered to be at high risk for recurrence.

During the study, the researchers administered radioiodine therapy to 57 patients, and, afterwards, a SPECT-CT camera was rotated around the patients at a variety of angles to capture where the radioactivity was occurring.

SPECT imaging can locate cells in the body that are not behaving normally, but does not provide the detailed, X-ray-like images that CT imaging can.

However, the hybrid camera used in the study was able to reveal both the malignant cell activity and the exact anatomical location.

“With SPECT-CT imaging, we were able to determine tumour spread much earlier than before. Earlier detection will lead to earlier individualized treatment of this potentially deadly cancer,” said Dr. Daniela Schmidt, a co-author of the article.

According to the research team, this information led to a revision of the original diagnosis in 35 percent of the study participants. The images reclassified as benign six of 11 lesions that had been considered lymph node metastases and 11 of 15 lesions considered to be indeterminate.

“Our data suggest that SPECT-CT should be used as a routine procedure in DTC patients at the first radioiodine treatment. By upstaging or downstaging disease, this hybrid imaging tool may alter the management of more than one-third of patients with the disease,” said Dr. Torsten Kuwert, another co-author. (ANI)