60-year old gives birth through IV

There is good news for women who think age is a barrier to conception.
A woman said to be 60 has just been delivered of a baby at a Lagos hospital.
For 31 years, Mrs Omolara Irurhe was globetrotting not for pleasure but in search of a child.   She was a guest in the best hospitals.
But in 2010, her journey ended in the most unlikely hospital and country when she began an Invitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment at the St. Ives Hospital in Lagos. On Monday, what began as a seed hope four years ago culminated in the delievery of a bouncing baby girl.
Mrs. Irurhe  becomes the oldest IVF mother in Africa. The global recognition for oldest IVF delivery goes to Rajo Deri Lohan, an Indian who in 2008 was delivered of a baby at 69 years.
The IVF Unit at St. Ives Hospital successfully aided the conception and delivery of the baby and has now equaled the United Kingdom’s record of IVF age delivery.
The team of doctors at the hospital was led by the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Tunde Okewale, who expressed joy at the successful delivery. Okewale said the physical condition of the mother – and not just the age – is a major factor that determines the success of conception and delivery through IVF.
“We treat only after strict medical check of couples. For us, age is not important in our decision to take her on; what was important is the physical condition of the mother. Older women generally make better patients in our experience,” Okewale said.
When The Nation spoke to the new mother, she was full of enthusiasm and joy over her new baby. She said what kept her going after many years of childlessness was faith in God and a belief in herself.
Mrs. Irurhe said she had tried to have a baby for many years and had gone to many hospitals both within and outside the country for a solution to her childlessness. But in 2010, her journey came to an end when she was introduced to St. Ives Hospital and the treatment began.
“I believe we should not limit God and what the doctors can do in this modern age. I believe this is the appointed time. I was very hopeful throughout the years I was childless and I remained focused on God. We went to many hospitals but we didn’t give up,” she said.
The joyful mother said her husband’s Catholic faith prevented him from marrying a second wife as the two of them put their faith in God.
“We didn’t have much pressure, even though our marriage is cross cultural –I am Yoruba; my husband is Edo- but we remained hopeful,” she said.
Desmond Adekunle Irurhe was elated at the birth of his baby. When asked if she supported his wife going for the IVF he replied: “ I supported her throughout because my wife was dogged and she believed in herself. When I saw her faith, I had no choice but to go with her. She kept telling me she would have her child”.
The husband said even though there was some pressures, it wasn’t too much. “I wasn’t thinking of another wife. I came from a monogamous family and I decided she is all I will have. The family was understanding too and we fought together to get this baby.”
Irurhe praised the medical team at the hospital, saying they made everything easy for them. “ The hospital didn’t give us any problem, they were very helpful and we thank them for the successful delivery.”
With the successful delivery, hope rises for older women who may want to go the way of IVF in child conception. In Nigeria, the cost of the IVF treatment varies but from available statistics, the most expensive treatment is under N2million. The Iruhres paid less than N1 million for their successful treatment.
“I will advise couples who are trying to get a baby to try the IVF. My case has rekindled hope for the barren woman. I will say the couple should relax and take it as it comes, they will surely smile,” the mother said.
Having a first child at the age of 60 years may not be the norm but for the mother, it is an experience she does not mind going through again. “ I don’t know if I will have another baby, but if the doctors say I can, I will try it,” she said, smilling.
Mrs. Omolara Irurhe: We have tried for many years to have a baby and after we failed to get a baby naturally we opted for the IVF. We had gone to many hospitals before here but the treatments that we received didn’t work. We came in contact with this hospital in 2010 before we delivered this baby.
“I give glory to God, we kept our faith in God, we believe this is God’s appointed time.

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UK facing 'major' sperm shortage

The UK is facing a major sperm shortage that may be tempting fertility clinics to accept poorer quality sperm, the British Fertility Society (BFS) warns.

Some clinics rely on imported sperm to keep up with demand.
However, the BFS chairman, Dr Allan Pacey, said he was "worried" that some clinics may be setting a lower bar to "get donors through the door".
He said women may be subjected to more invasive and expensive techniques if poor-quality sperm were used.
There are thought to have been fewer sperm donors after the right to anonymity was removed in 2005.
The demand for donors has been falling as advances in fertility treatment let more men father their own children.
However, a shortage of donors has still emerged.
Figures from the fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), show nearly one in four donated sperm samples is from abroad.
The figure was one in 10 in 2005.
Sperm banks in Denmark and the US are the major suppliers.
Dr Pacey warned this was limiting patient choice and increasing waiting times, which led to potential risky practices, including DIY insemination with a friend's sperm or seeking treatment in a country with less fertility regulation.

 

The UK faces a sperm donor shortage

He told the BBC: "We do still have a major sperm shortage in the UK.
"The worry is clinics might decide to change the quality of sperm they are willing to accept in order to get donors through the door and I think that's a very dangerous road to go down."
He said one possible example was sperm being accepted that would be suitable only for injecting into an egg - intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection - rather than for artificial insemination.
"That is putting the woman through more procedures, in terms of eggs being collected, than would be done if sperm of higher quality was collected and she could be treated with a simple insemination.
"My worry is clinics may be tempted to bend the rules, I have no evidence that they are, but I think when we have a national sperm shortage they're the kind of things we need to be looking for and warding against."
'Fully inform patients' Professor Yakoub Khalaf, of the assisted conception unit at Guy's Hospital in London, commented: "We are now more reliant on external sperm banks than ever before.
"I don't think it is an issue as such, but what I have observed is that when people get sperm from abroad they can be given an option of 'suitable for insemination', or 'suitable for IVF or ICSI' [sperm injected to the egg].
"But how can donor sperm be less than adequate for all treatments?"
He said that based on his experience of the quality of imported sperm "the same could be happening here".
A HFEA spokesperson said: "We expect our clinics to use only donor sperm of a quality that will ensure the best outcome for the patient, and under our code of practice clinics are required to fully inform patients of the different treatment options available to them."

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Fake Medicine, a Real Danger for Health

The problem of counterfeit medicine is not a new one but it is a growing worldwide criminal trend that poses a real danger for patient health. Compounding the problem is the fact that it is no longer just about lifestyle products, medicines for treating chronic and serious diseases such as cardiovascular diseases or cancer can now be counterfeited.

In the recent Sanofi Fights Against Counterfeit Medicines Report, Sanofi’s Dr. Caroline Atlani, director, anti-counterfeiting coordination says: “They don’t contain the expected amount of active ingredient and they don’t meet any of the standard requirements for quality, efficiency and safety,” Atlani continues: “So patients run a number of risks: besides the presence of toxic substances, these medicine can be inactive and cause major adverse effects and complications for patients.”

While the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10 to 15 percent of the global drug supply is fake, in Africa fake medicines may account for up to 30% of medicines in circulation. “The general public is not really aware of the existence of counterfeit medicines and the risks they may incur in certain purchasing situations,” says Atlani in the 2014 report.

A newly released Sanofi commissioned European consumer opinion survey of 5,010 people shows that very few of the Europeans surveyed associate the term ‘counterfeiting’ with medicines (20%). While the majority (66%) have heard of medicine counterfeiting, respondents seem to have little information on the issue of counterfeit medicines: 77% of those surveyed feel they do not receive sufficient information about counterfeit medicines. 84% of those surveyed say they have never seen or identified a counterfeit drug although there is a consensus among Europeans about the danger of counterfeit medicines insofar as 96% believe that counterfeit medicine can be and are probably dangerous. These results confirm the need to continue our fight against drug counterfeiting, especially by raising public awareness.

Drug counterfeiting across the globe
In recent years, medicines were the leading counterfeit products seized by European customs, ahead of counterfeit cigarettes (Pharmaceutical Security Institute “2011 situation report”) Other shocking statistics include:
- 1 in 10 medicne sold worldwide is counterfeit; this figure reaches 7 out of 10 in some countries (LEEM 2011) $75 billion in 2010: the profits yielded by counterfeit medicines; greater than those derived from drug trafficking (Institute of Research Against Counterfeit Medicines (IRACM)

- For every $1,000 invested, criminals can generate $20,000 in profits from heroin trafficking and $400,000 by trafficking counterfeit medicines. As of 22 May 2014, Interpol reported that nearly 200 enforcement agencies across 111 countries have collaborated on Operation Pangea VII targeting criminal networks behind the sale of fake medicines via illicit online pharmacies. To date this has resulted in the closure of more than 10,600 websites and the seizure of 9.4 million fake and illicit medicines worth a total of $36 million. (Interpol “Operation Pangea VII”)

Public Health
Atlani warns that counterfeit medicines can also lead to collective risks, especially due to the emergence of drug-resistance in the case of treatments for infectious diseases with antibiotics or antimalarials.

In accordance to the directive issued by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in 2012 to all Market Authorization Holders, Sanofi Nigeria implemented the Mobile Authentication Service (MAS) in 2013, an anti-counterfeit tool deployed with high-security labels to help both the patients and distributors ensure product authenticity verification for its antibiotics or antimalarials products.

According to the American Enterprise Institute 100,000 people worldwide die each year because they take branded and generic counterfeit drugs. In an article in the medical journal The Lancet in mid-2012, it was noted that one third of malaria medicines used in East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are fraudulent.

Raising Awareness

“The general public is not sufficiently informed about the existence of counterfeit drugs and the risks it may be taking in certain purchasing situations. Counterfeit medicines are a real danger to patients’ health. For example, they may not contain the same amount of active ingredient as the genuine drug or not meet the same requirements in terms of quality, efficiency and safety as the genuine treatments”, said Dr Caroline Atlani, anti-counterfeiting coordination director at Sanofi.

According to Mrs. Uzo Amatokwu, Sanofi Nigeria’s Anti-counterfeit Coordinator, “it takes collaboration to really fight the counterfeit battle”. Sanofi recently signed a partnership with Interpol together with 29 major pharmaceutical companies at a total cost of 4.5 million euros, which covers the creation of the Interpol Pharmaceutical Crime Program focusing on fighting counterfeit medicines and combines training with targeted enforcement actions.

Sanofi has created its own laboratory dedicated to analyzing counterfeit Sanofi products in Tours, France manned by a dedicated team of experts. All Sanofi medicines suspected of being counterfeited are sent to the Central Anti-Counterfeit Laboratory (LCAC) to be analyzed.

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Alcohol's Effects on the Body

Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health.  Here’s how alcohol can affect your body:
Brain:
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination. 
Heart:
Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:

• Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle
• Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat
• Stroke
• High blood pressure  

Research also shows that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect healthy adults from developing coronary heart disease.
Liver:
Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:

• Steatosis, or fatty liver
• Alcoholic hepatitis
• Fibrosis
• Cirrhosis

Pancreas:
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.
Cancer:
Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:

• Mouth
• Esophagus
• Throat
• Liver
• Breast

Immune System:
Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease.  Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much.  Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.

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ALCOHOL’S DAMAGING EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN

ALCOHOL’S DAMAGING EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN

Difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory: Clearly, alcohol affects the brain. Some of these impairments are detectable after only one or two drinks and quickly resolve when drinking stops. On the other hand, a person who drinks heavily over a long period of time may have brain deficits that persist well after he or she achieves sobriety. Exactly how alcohol affects the brain and the likelihood of reversing the impact of heavy drinking on the brain remain hot topics in alcohol research today.
We do know that heavy drinking may have extensive and far–reaching effects on the brain, ranging from simple “slips” in memory to permanent and debilitating conditions that require lifetime custodial care. And even moderate drinking leads to short–term impairment, as shown by extensive research on the impact of drinking on driving.
A number of factors influence how and to what extent alcohol affects the brain (1), including

• how much and how often a person drinks;
• the age at which he or she first began drinking, and how long he or she has been drinking;
• the person’s age, level of education, gender, genetic background, and family history of alcoholism;
• whether he or she is at risk as a result of prenatal alcohol exposure; and
• his or her general health status.

This Alcohol Alert reviews some common disorders associated with alcohol–related brain damage and the people at greatest risk for impairment. It looks at traditional as well as emerging therapies for the treatment and prevention of alcohol–related disorders and includes a brief look at the high–tech tools that are helping scientists to better understand the effects of alcohol on the brain.

BLACKOUTS AND MEMORY LAPSES

Alcohol can produce detectable impairments in memory after only a few drinks and, as the amount of alcohol increases, so does the degree of impairment. Large quantities of alcohol, especially when consumed quickly and on an empty stomach, can produce a blackout, or an interval of time for which the intoxicated person cannot recall key details of events, or even entire events.
Blackouts are much more common among social drinkers than previously assumed and should be viewed as a potential consequence of acute intoxication regardless of age or whether the drinker is clinically dependent on alcohol (2). White and colleagues (3) surveyed 772 college undergraduates about their experiences with blackouts and asked, “Have you ever awoken after a night of drinking not able to remember things that you did or places that you went?” Of the students who had ever consumed alcohol, 51 percent reported blacking out at some point in their lives, and 40 percent reported experiencing a blackout in the year before the survey. Of those who reported drinking in the 2 weeks before the survey, 9.4 percent said they blacked out during that time. The students reported learning later that they had participated in a wide range of potentially dangerous events they could not remember, including vandalism, unprotected sex, and driving.

Binge Drinking and Blackouts

• Drinkers who experience blackouts typically drink too much and too quickly, which causes their blood alcohol levels to rise very rapidly. College students may be at particular risk for experiencing a blackout, as an alarming number of college students engage in binge drinking. Binge drinking, for a typical adult, is defined as consuming five or more drinks in about 2 hours for men, or four or more drinks for women.

Equal numbers of men and women reported experiencing blackouts, despite the fact that the men drank significantly more often and more heavily than the women. This outcome suggests that regardless of the amount of alcohol consumption, females—a group infrequently studied in the literature on blackouts—are at greater risk than males for experiencing blackouts. A woman’s tendency to black out more easily probably results from differences in how men and women metabolize alcohol. Females also may be more susceptible than males to milder forms of alcohol–induced memory impairments, even when men and women consume comparable amounts of alcohol (4).

ARE WOMEN MORE VULNERABLE TO ALCOHOL’S EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN?

Women are more vulnerable than men to many of the medical consequences of alcohol use. For example, alcoholic women develop cirrhosis (5), alcohol–induced damage of the heart muscle (i.e., cardiomyopathy) (6), and nerve damage (i.e., peripheral neuropathy) (7) after fewer years of heavy drinking than do alcoholic men. Studies comparing men and women’s sensitivity to alcohol–induced brain damage, however, have not been as conclusive.
Using imaging with computerized tomography, two studies (8,9) compared brain shrinkage, a common indicator of brain damage, in alcoholic men and women and reported that male and female alcoholics both showed significantly greater brain shrinkage than control subjects. Studies also showed that both men and women have similar learning and memory problems as a result of heavy drinking (10). The difference is that alcoholic women reported that they had been drinking excessively for only about half as long as the alcoholic men in these studies. This indicates that women’s brains, like their other organs, are more vulnerable to alcohol–induced damage than men’s (11).
Yet other studies have not shown such definitive findings. In fact, two reports appearing side by side in the American Journal of Psychiatry contradicted each other on the question of gender–related vulnerability to brain shrinkage in alcoholism (12,13). Clearly, more research is needed on this topic, especially because alcoholic women have received less research attention than alcoholic men despite good evidence that women may be particularly vulnerable to alcohol’s effects on many key organ systems.

BRAIN DAMAGE FROM OTHER CAUSES

People who have been drinking large amounts of alcohol for long periods of time run the risk of developing serious and persistent changes in the brain. Damage may be a result of the direct effects of alcohol on the brain or may result indirectly, from a poor general health status or from severe liver disease.
For example, thiamine deficiency is a common occurrence in people with alcoholism and results from poor overall nutrition. Thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, is an essential nutrient required by all tissues, including the brain. Thiamine is found in foods such as meat and poultry; whole grain cereals; nuts; and dried beans, peas, and soybeans. Many foods in the United States commonly are fortified with thiamine, including breads and cereals. As a result, most people consume sufficient amounts of thiamine in their diets. The typical intake for most Americans is 2 mg/day; the Recommended Daily Allowance is 1.2 mg/day for men and 1.1 mg/day for women (14).

Wernicke–Korsakoff Syndrome

Up to 80 percent of alcoholics, however, have a deficiency in thiamine (15), and some of these people will go on to develop serious brain disorders such as Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) (16). WKS is a disease that consists of two separate syndromes, a short–lived and severe condition called Wernicke’s encephalopathy and a long–lasting and debilitating condition known as Korsakoff’s psychosis.
The symptoms of Wernicke’s encephalopathy include mental confusion, paralysis of the nerves that move the eyes (i.e., oculomotor disturbances), and difficulty with muscle coordination. For example, patients with Wernicke’s encephalopathy may be too confused to find their way out of a room or may not even be able to walk. Many Wernicke’s encephalopathy patients, however, do not exhibit all three of these signs and symptoms, and clinicians working with alcoholics must be aware that this disorder may be present even if the patient shows only one or two of them. In fact, studies performed after death indicate that many cases of thiamine deficiency–related encephalopathy may not be diagnosed in life because not all the “classic” signs and symptoms were present or recognized.

Human Brain

Schematic drawing of the human brain, showing regions vulnerable to alcoholism-related abnormalities.

Approximately 80 to 90 percent of alcoholics with Wernicke’s encephalopathy also develop Korsakoff’s psychosis, a chronic and debilitating syndrome characterized by persistent learning and memory problems. Patients with Korsakoff’s psychosis are forgetful and quickly frustrated and have difficulty with walking and coordination (17). Although these patients have problems remembering old information (i.e., retrograde amnesia), it is their difficulty in “laying down” new information (i.e., anterograde amnesia) that is the most striking. For example, these patients can discuss in detail an event in their lives, but an hour later might not remember ever having the conversation.
Treatment

The cerebellum, an area of the brain responsible for coordinating movement and perhaps even some forms of learning, appears to be particularly sensitive to the effects of thiamine deficiency and is the region most frequently damaged in association with chronic alcohol consumption. Administering thiamine helps to improve brain function, especially in patients in the early stages of WKS. When damage to the brain is more severe, the course of care shifts from treatment to providing support to the patient and his or her family (18). Custodial care may be necessary for the 25 percent of patients who have permanent brain damage and significant loss of cognitive skills (19).
Scientists believe that a genetic variation could be one explanation for why only some alcoholics with thiamine deficiency go on to develop severe conditions such as WKS, but additional studies are necessary to clarify how genetic variants might cause some people to be more vulnerable to WKS than others.

LIVER DISEASE

Most people realize that heavy, long–term drinking can damage the liver, the organ chiefly responsible for breaking down alcohol into harmless byproducts and clearing it from the body. But people may not be aware that prolonged liver dysfunction, such as liver cirrhosis resulting from excessive alcohol consumption, can harm the brain, leading to a serious and potentially fatal brain disorder known as hepatic encephalopathy (20).
Hepatic encephalopathy can cause changes in sleep patterns, mood, and personality; psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression; severe cognitive effects such as shortened attention span; and problems with coordination such as a flapping or shaking of the hands (called asterixis). In the most serious cases, patients may slip into a coma (i.e., hepatic coma), which can be fatal.
New imaging techniques have enabled researchers to study specific brain regions in patients with alcoholic liver disease, giving them a better understanding of how hepatic encephalopathy develops. These studies have confirmed that at least two toxic substances, ammonia and manganese, have a role in the development of hepatic encephalopathy. Alcohol–damaged liver cells allow excess amounts of these harmful byproducts to enter the brain, thus harming brain cells.
Treatment

Physicians typically use the following strategies to prevent or treat the development of hepatic encephalopathy.

• Treatment that lowers blood ammonia concentrations, such as administering L–ornithine L–aspartate.
• Techniques such as liver–assist devices, or “artificial livers,” that clear the patients’ blood of harmful toxins. In initial studies, patients using these devices showed lower amounts of ammonia circulating in their blood, and their encephalopathy became less severe (21).
• Liver transplantation, an approach that is widely used in alcoholic cirrhotic patients with severe (i.e., end–stage) chronic liver failure. In general, implantation of a new liver results in significant improvements in cognitive function in these patients (22) and lowers their levels of ammonia and manganese (23).

ALCOHOL AND THE DEVELOPING BRAIN

Drinking during pregnancy can lead to a range of physical, learning, and behavioral effects in the developing brain, the most serious of which is a collection of symptoms known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Children with FAS may have distinct facial features (see illustration). FAS infants also are markedly smaller than average. Their brains may have less volume (i.e., microencephaly). And they may have fewer numbers of brain cells (i.e., neurons) or fewer neurons that are able to function correctly, leading to long–term problems in learning and behavior.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) may have distinct facial features.

Treatment

Scientists are investigating the use of complex motor training and medications to prevent or reverse the alcohol–related brain damage found in people prenatally exposed to alcohol (24). In a study using rats, Klintsova and colleagues (25) used an obstacle course to teach complex motor skills, and this skills training led to a re–organization in the adult rats’ brains (i.e., cerebellum), enabling them to overcome the effects of the prenatal alcohol exposure. These findings have important therapeutic implications, suggesting that complex rehabilitative motor training can improve motor performance of children, or even adults, with FAS.
Scientists also are looking at the possibility of developing medications that can help alleviate or prevent brain damage, such as that associated with FAS. Studies using animals have yielded encouraging results for treatments using antioxidant therapy and vitamin E. Other preventive therapies showing promise in animal studies include 1–octanol, which ironically is an alcohol itself. Treatment with l–octanol significantly reduced the severity of alcohol’s effects on developing mouse embryos (26). Two molecules associated with normal development (i.e., NAP and SAL) have been found to protect nerve cells against a variety of toxins in much the same way that octanol does (27). And a compound (MK–801) that blocks a key brain chemical associated with alcohol withdrawal (i.e., glutamate) also is being studied. MK–801 reversed a specific learning impairment that resulted from early postnatal alcohol exposure (28).
Though these compounds were effective in animals, the positive results cited here may or may not translate to humans. Not drinking during pregnancy is the best form of prevention; FAS remains the leading preventable birth defect in the United States today.

GROWING NEW BRAIN CELLS

For decades scientists believed that the number of nerve cells in the adult brain was fixed early in life. If brain damage occurred, then, the best way to treat it was by strengthening the existing neurons, as new ones could not be added. In the 1960s, however, researchers found that new neurons are indeed generated in adulthood—a process called neurogenesis (29). These new cells originate from stem cells, which are cells that can divide indefinitely, renew themselves, and give rise to a variety of cell types. The discovery of brain stem cells and adult neurogenesis provides a new way of approaching the problem of alcohol–related changes in the brain and may lead to a clearer understanding of how best to treat and cure alcoholism (30).
For example, studies with animals show that high doses of alcohol lead to a disruption in the growth of new brain cells; scientists believe it may be this lack of new growth that results in the long–term deficits found in key areas of the brain (such as hippocampal structure and function) (31,32). Understanding how alcohol interacts with brain stem cells and what happens to these cells in alcoholics is the first step in establishing whether the use of stem cell therapies is an option for treatment (33).

SUMMARY

Alcoholics are not all alike. They experience different degrees of impairment, and the disease has different origins for different people. Consequently, researchers have not found conclusive evidence that any one variable is solely responsible for the brain deficits found in alcoholics. Characterizing what makes some alcoholics vulnerable to brain damage whereas others are not remains the subject of active research (34).
The good news is that most alcoholics with cognitive impairment show at least some improvement in brain structure and functioning within a year of abstinence, though some people take much longer (35–37). Clinicians must consider a variety of treatment methods to help people stop drinking and to recover from alcohol–related brain impairments, and tailor these treatments to the individual patient.
Advanced technology will have an important role in developing these therapies. Clinicians can use brain–imaging techniques to monitor the course and success of treatment, because imaging can reveal structural, functional, and biochemical changes in living patients over time. Promising new medications also are in the early stages of development, as researchers strive to design therapies that can help prevent alcohol’s harmful effects and promote the growth of new brain cells to take the place of those that have been damaged by alcohol.

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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria disarmed with fungus compound

Fungal compound makes superbugs susceptible to conventional antibiotic defence

 

Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton have discovered a way to disarm one of the most frightening weapons bacteria have developed to resist antibiotic drugs. And they discovered this potentially lifesaving compound in an unlikely place: a soil sample from a national park in  Nova Scotia. The discovery is featured today on the cover of the prestigious journal Nature.

 

"Our finding offers the first hope that we might be able to get around this resistance mechanism," said Prof. Gerry Wright, who led the research.

 

The discovery targets antibiotic-resistant "superbugs," which produce an enzyme called NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase), allowing them to fight off almost every antibiotic in the medicine cabinet, including carbepenems — an important class of drugs that doctors keep in reserve as a last resort against multi-resistant bacteria.  The emergence of NDM-1 in pathogens such as E. coli has turned formerly treatable infections into potentially deadly diseases. The only weapons left on the shelf are highly toxic with extreme side-effects, and doctors predict the bugs will soon develop resistance even to those drugs.

 

"It’s an antibiotic resistance enzyme that we didn’t really know about until about five years ago. It has spread around the world and multiple organisms have acquired it, and so it’s become a pretty significant public health threat in a very short period of time," Wright said.

 

"NDM-1 is the pinnacle of antibiotic resistance," said Dr. John Conly, director of the Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance at the University of Calgary. NDM-1 has spread to every continent except Antarctica, and there have been NDM-1 outbreaks in Canada, including in B.C.’s Fraser Valley.  

 

With so much concern in the medical community, Wright went looking for something that could tackle NDM-1. What he found was sitting in a refrigerator in his laboratory. That’s where he keeps his collection of soil bacteria, harvested from random samples of Canadian dirt that he has asked students and friends to collect as they travel around the country.

 

Those bacteria produce hundreds of chemical compounds, which they use to defend themselves against other bacteria — chemicals that might ultimately become the basis of future drugs for humans.

 

"We screened that collection for molecules that would reverse this resistance, that would block this NDM-1 protein," Wright said, "and lo and behold, we found one."

 

The compound they discovered is produced by the Aspergillus fungus. It was harvested from a forest soil sample collected by one of Wright’s students who was hiking in Kejimkuijik National Park near Caledonia, N.S.

 

The molecule is called AMA (aspergillomarasmine A). Once it was isolated, the researchers checked the chemical structure on a computer database and realized they had rediscovered a long-discarded compound, first identified in the 1960s as a cause of leaf wilt in plants.

 

"It had been catalogued," Wright said, "and then no one ever thought of it again as being useful until we repurified it one more time 50 years later."

 

AMA works not by killing the bacteria, but by turning off the resistance mechanism, making the bacteria vulnerable to an existing drug again.

 

The goal is to develop AMA into a compound that could be used along with older antibiotics, a combination approach that, if it works in humans, could reverse antibiotic resistance, and breathe new life into the antibiotic arsenal.

 

"The drugs that we have are fantastic. We’ve used them for years, we know how to treat patients with them. Clinicians are familiar with their side-effects, they’re familiar with how to dose them," Wright said. "If we can stop the resistance, then we get to use the drugs again."

 

The World Health Organization has called antibiotic resistance an international public health threat. In April, it warned that the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era where common infections and minor injuries could become fatal if bacteria can fight off all of the existing drugs. Already, Canadian doctors report that up to 25 per cent of formerly routine urinary tract infections are resistant to common antibiotics.

 

As resistance grows, the supply of new drugs dwindles. Many of the large pharmaceutical companies have gotten out of the antibiotics business, partly because the challenges in finding effective new compounds, along with regulatory hurdles, mean the antibiotic business is no longer profitable.  

 

All of that means there are few new antibiotics in the drug development pipeline. That’s why researchers are now exploring the idea of using a combination approach to disarm resistant bacteria and make them vulnerable to the old drugs.

 

"We need to look at synergistic ways to attack bacteria, rather than one drug," said Dr. David Patrick, medical epidemiology lead for antimicrobial resistance at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. "It’s a wonderful discovery, if it can bridge the gap from test tube to people."

 

"This may rank as a very significant discovery, provided this agent is non-toxic in humans," said Conly.

 

So far, the McMaster researchers have shown that the compound is effective against bacteria carrying NDM-1. They’ve also shown that it fights infection in mice and rats.

 

But it still must be extensively tested in humans to see if it works and to discover possible side-effects. And at this point, the biggest hurdle is convincing a drug company to make the multimillion dollar investment to begin the long process of moving the discovery from the lab to the pharmacy shelf.$

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Antibody That Protects Against Hendra Virus Proves Effective Against Deadly Nipah "Contagion" Virus

The human monoclonal antibody known as m102.4, which has proven effective in protecting against the frequently fatal Hendra virus, has now been shown in studies to protect against the closely related Nipah virus -- the basis of the 2011 movie "Contagion" -- a highly infectious and deadly agent that results in acute respiratory distress syndrome and encephalitis, person-to-person transmission, and greater than 90 percent case fatality rates among humans. The results of the study, conducted by a team of Federal and university scientists, will appear in Science Translational Medicine online: “Therapeutic Treatment of Nipah Virus Infection in Nonhuman Primates with a Neutralizing Human Monoclonal Antibody." The full study will be available following the release of the embargo at 2 p.m. June 25, 2014.

 

The collaborative research team members are from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and Galveston National Laboratory (GNL), the National Institutes of Health (NIH’s) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH.

 

Nipah virus and the closely related Hendra virus are naturally found in Pteropid fruit bats (flying foxes). They are considered emerging viruses and are capable of causing severe illness and death in a variety of domestic animals and humans.

 

In experiments carried out in non-human primates at the GNL in Galveston, Texas, where there is a high-containment facility for working with live Nipah virus, the team of researchers, under the direction of Thomas W. Geisbert, Ph.D., professor, in the Department of Microbiology, UTMB and study corresponding author, demonstrated that administering a human monoclonal antibody therapy after exposure to Nipah virus protected the animals from disease.

 

“Previously, our team showed that this same antibody therapy could protect nonhuman primates from a deadly Hendra virus infection, but here we have shown for the very first time, that not only does this antibody protect against Nipah virus infection, but remarkably can do so even when given the therapy much later after infection and when the animals show clinical signs of disease. What this means is that as far as people are concerned these latest findings strongly suggest that a real potential treatment for Nipah virus infection is at hand,” said Christopher C. Broder, Ph.D., professor of Microbiology at USU and also study corresponding author.

 

It was earlier work at USU and NCI, supported by NIAID that isolated and characterized the monoclonal antibody known as m102.4. The antibody attacks a critical component of Nipah and Hendra viruses and blocks their ability to infect cells. Antibodies – proteins found in blood or other bodily fluids of vertebrates – are used by the immune system to identify and neutralize viruses and bacteria.

 

“This recent success of the antibody therapy against Nipah virus disease in a nonhuman primate is a key step towards its development as a therapeutic for use in people,” according to Dr. Geisbert.

 

“There are no other effective therapeutic options for Nipah virus infection,” according to Dr. Broder. “Indeed, because of data now reported here, and from our previous work with this antibody in Hendra virus experiments, there was sufficient interest for the Queensland government in Australia to initiate a phase I clinical safety trial with m102.4 that is set to commence later this year.”

 

Nipah virus and Hendra virus, members of the paramyxovirus family, are highly infectious agents that emerged from flying foxes in the 1990s to cause serious disease outbreaks in humans and livestock in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh and India.

 

“There are currently no licensed and approved vaccines or therapeutics for prevention and treatment of disease caused by these viruses for humans or livestock,” said Dr. Geisbert. “This human monoclonal antibody is the first effective antiviral drug against Nipah virus and Hendra virus that has a real potential for human therapeutic applications.”

 

The human monoclonal antibody, m102.4, is protected under issued and pending patents in many countries around the world.

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A Bright, New Future for Prostate Cancer

 

New tests and methods take on the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men

 

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in males, with about 240,000 diagnoses expected this year. And there are 2.5 million people currently living with this disease. Recently there have been some dramatic changes in the way prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated. Wayne Waltzer, MD, Chairman, Department of Urology, Stony Brook Medicine explains these major medical advances and what they mean for men across the nation.

 

“With prostate cancer being the number one solid organ cancers in most country, it is important for all men to be vigilant about getting screened,” says Dr. Waltzer. “And a newly developed series of genetic tests is now offering a more accurate and individualized approach in identifying and treating prostate cancer.”

 

Currently there are various blood tests in use. One is called the Prostate Health Index (PHI) and the other is called the 4K test. Both measure the variance of the PSA in the blood and are designed to reduce the number of unnecessary negative biopsies that detect only low-grade cancer. “This means that not all men with elevated PSA levels will require a biopsy, with its potential for complications and side effects,” says Dr. Waltzer.

 

There are also new tests available that help to further individualize biopsies, if one is required. “If the biopsy is positive for cancer, two tests — the Polaris and the Genomic Prostate Score — help doctors distinguish between aggressive cancers that need treatment and those that are slow growing and may need only the “watch and wait” approach,” says Dr. Waltzer. “These tests work by measuring a series of genomic patterns to reveal how the cancer cells are wired to behave.”

 

If the biopsy is negative but you still have elevated PSA levels, there is now a test called Confirm MDX that helps ensure that cancer cells were not missed during the biopsy. “The biopsy may have sampled tissue that was in an area where there were no cancer cells,” says Dr. Waltzer. “This could give you a false negative. This new test looks for hyper methylation, which indicates the presence of individual prostate cancer tissue near the site of the biopsy.”

 

If no hyper methylation is detected, the biopsy is considered negative. If some is detected, additional testing will be needed. Another test, the PCA3 test is also available in case of negative biopsy. This gene-based urine test offers additional information on the probability of finding prostate cancer in the biopsy.

 

In addition, if you have had prostate cancer surgery, there are genetic tests post-surgery that help determine whether additional treatment is needed based on the genetic composition of the cancer cells and the risks associated with it.

 

“These new tests, which are available at Stony Brook Medicine, are absolutely the future for cancer diagnostics — and not just for prostate cancer,” says Dr. Waltzer. “These innovations are happening for almost every form of cancer, with more on the horizon.” 

 

Dr. Waltzer says, gene analysis of tissue, the study of genetic markers, patterns, sequencing and abnormalities, is providing physicians with unprecedented information on who to treat and how to treat them. “Not only is it helping us to find the most appropriate approach and treatment for people with cancer, but it also keeping many people with the less aggressive forms of the disease from undergoing the rigors of treatment unnecessarily. This is both a health issue and a quality of life issue. 

 

The fact that we can take such a highly individualized approach for very specific forms of cancer also means that we can look forward to better and more predictable outcomes.”

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Why do tobacco firms thrive in developing countries despite the industrys health concerns?

The tobacco industry is seen in two dimensions; as a big income earner for developing countries like Uganda (where British American Tobacco Uganda is now the fifth leading tax payer) and as a major public health concern whose effects negate the profits producing nations make from it. According to the World Health Organization, for every 8 seconds that pass, someone dies from tobacco use. The WHO warns that by 2015, tobacco related deaths will be 50 percent higher than HIV/AIDS deaths, accounting for 10 percent of deaths worldwide. Yet, apart from Europe, the highest number of smokers are found in poor nations like Uganda.

WHO statistics for 2007 indicate that by the year 2030, about 80 percent of the 8.3 million annual tobacco-related deaths will occur in developing countries. The tobacco industry continues to expand into Africa, hooking many people to its products. According to a fact sheet released by the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control in Kampala on September 12, despite the regulations issued under Statutory Instruments 2004 No. 12 by the Minister of Water, Land and Environment, more youths in Uganda are using tobacco at an early age than before.

The fact sheet shows that at least 67 percent of adolescents between 13 and 15 years have smoked cigarettes or attempted to use tobacco products. "20.4% of the students had ever smoked cigarettes, 21% currently use any tobacco product, 8.5% currently smoke cigarettes, 17 % currently use other tobacco products, while 7.2% of never smokers are likely to initiate smoking next year," reads the fact sheet on the Uganda-National Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) 2007.

The highlights of this report (yet to be made public) also show that in addition to those who willingly take the tobacco products, many more are passive smokers, who are equally at risk of being affected by tobacco as those who actively smoke. According to the survey, 20 percent of the children surveyed said that they lived in homes where others smoke in their (children's) presence, while 48.5 percent often find themselves around others who smoke in places outside their homes (e.g. restaurants and taxis).

Experts warn that this is a time bomb waiting to explode on poor countries like Uganda, which may not have enough resources to counter cases of lung cancer and heart disease that are brought on by inhaling tobacco products. Other effects include a weakened immune system that leaves the body more vulnerable to diseases that can cause hair loss, ulcerations in the mouth and rashes on the face, scalp and hands. Others include hearing loss, skin cancer, tooth decay, wrinkling skin, stomach ulcers, discoloured fingers, uterine cancer, miscarriages in women and deformed sperms in men.

Anti-tobacco experts say that multinational tobacco corporations are very much aware of the side effects of their products but keep changing tactics by calling some of their products 'light' and influencing the creation/effectiveness anti-tobacco laws, especially in the developing world. "We have been taking note of public health concerns by developing 'lighter' products, but we cannot promote these products as 'safe' cigarettes because we simply don't have sufficient understanding of all the chemical processes to do so," says a report attributed to BAT by Tobacco Reporter in 1997.

Although they have not yet been quantified in Uganda, the health costs of tobacco are real and significant. However, the tobacco industry in Uganda is largely viewed as a major source of revenue for the nation, one that offers employment to a big number of Ugandans, especially in the West Nile region. However, anti-tobacco crusaders argue that billions of Uganda shillings of tobacco profits are not worth a single life lost from a tobacco related illness. That is why the World Health Organization woke up and called tobacco smoking a public health concern. It went ahead to come up with the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC), a public health treaty which aims to use various approaches such as price, tax and non-price measures on the tobacco industry to end smoking.

Although Uganda slapped a ban on tobacco smoking in public places in 2004 and increased taxes on cigarettes before ratifying the FCTC in June 2007, Ugandan activists say little has been seen on the ground in terms of complete elimination of this public health problem. Jackie Tumwine, the Executive Director of the Health & Environmental Rights Organization (HERO-UGANDA) says that despite the law banning tobacco advertising and promotion, British American Tobacco Uganda (BATU) is sponsoring and chairing the Commonwealth Business Forum, 2007. "BATU's sponsorship of the upcoming Commonwealth Business Forum shows one of the ways the tobacco industry thrives. By continuing to aggressively market its lethal and addictive products through direct and indirect advertising, the industry increases tobacco consumption and diverts the attention of the public and governments from the devastating health effects of tobacco. It also protects the industry from unwanted criticism and regulations," she says.

Tumwine notes that the lack of strong tobacco industry regulation means that the industry will continue to thrive despite health concerns. "For instance, contrary to FCTC requirements, the almost invisible health warnings on cigarette packets in Uganda are inadequate in informing and protecting smokers from the devastating health effects of their habit."

Large health warnings on cigarette packets are exactly what Uganda's Ministry of Health has been advocating for. However, this has not been enforced by other government agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, because of fear that the government could lose huge sums of money in the form of taxes paid by tobacco firms.

Tumwine, who participated as an observer at the second conference of the parties to the WHO FCTC in Bangkok last July, says that over-taxing tobacco firms is an option that should be adopted because it means more wealth for the nation and better health for the citizens. "Tobacco tax increases are a win-win option because it means more money for the government coffers and improved health for the people. Raising tobacco taxes will reduce smoking rates."

This observation is supported by a recent World Bank report: Curbing the Epidemic- Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control. According to the report, a ten percent increase in tobacco prices reduces smoking by 8% in developing countries. It says that in South Africa, between 1993 and 2003, tobacco prices doubled due to tax increases and in effect, consumption fell by about 40%, while revenues from the industry increased by 115%.

Tumwine advises the Ugandan government to increase cigarette taxes in the next budget reading - just like Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and many parties to the FCTC have already done. She notes that previous attempts by the Ugandan government to increase tobacco taxes have been met with stiff resistance from BATU, which is proud of its position as the fifth biggest taxpayer in the country, contributing 50 billion Uganda shillings annually.

Other health and anti-tobacco experts say that although tobacco companies pay huge sums of money to governments in the form of taxes, these governments, especially those in the third world, fund a much bigger budget to finance public health programmes where illnesses related to tobacco use (including cancer and tuberculosis) consume a big part of such budgets. They add that there is a health cost these countries bear in terms of reduced production, brought about by the poor health of the labour force that is employed in agriculture and other sectors.

Researchers say that areas where tobacco is grown extensively are at a high risk of suffering from food scarcity. This is because, unlike other crops, tobacco cannot be planted together with other crops at the same time and it is a one-season crop. They say that this is the reason why tobacco-growing communities are among the poorest, particularly in Uganda. Dr. Sheila Ndyanabangi, the Tobacco Health Control focal person in Uganda's Ministry of Health, says that this is because these farmers are exploited by the tobacco companies and because they fail to grow other crops. "These farmers are given loans by BATU and then BATU determines the prices of the tobacco leaves they produce. After BATU deducts loan repayments from their wages, the tobacco farmers have very little left to cater for their other financial needs.

"These people, after receiving the loans (which often amount to between 350,000 and 500,000 Uganda shillings), buy radios and bicycles. They dance and cerebrate, only to sell these items a few months later out of poverty. These people feel rich only for a short time. This is how BATU takes advantage of the poor farmers."

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Cervical Cancer Kills 26 Women In Nigeria Daily — WHO

At least 26 women die of cervical cancer daily in Nigeria, a new World Health Organisation, WHO study has revealed.

Cervical cancer, regarded as the most common female cancer in developing countries with approximately 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths occurring each year, if not detected early, could be fatal according to further findings by the WHO.

As a way of tackling the menace, Professor Ifeoma Okoye, a Radiologist at the College of Medicine Nsukka, Enugu, explained that vaccination of young girls at a tender age could reduce the chances of one getting the infection before it grows into full-blown cancer.
cervical cancer

cervical cancer

Speaking during a programme titled, “School-Based Cervical Cancer Vaccination Awareness Initiative” at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Prof. Okoye who doubles as the founder of ‘Breast Without Spot Initiative’, BWS, noted that “risk factors that increase the chances of HPV infection to full cancer include multiple sexual partners, a partner who has other sexual partners, early age at first sex, early child birth earlier than 18, sexually  transmitted infections like herpes, HIV/AIDS and herpes, smoking and the use of tobacco, low immune system, history of many births and poor personal and genital hygiene.”

She added that “there are two main stages of cervical cancer; the pre-cancer and full cancer stages. It takes between 10-20 years for a woman to move from infection with HPV to full cancer. There are no signs or symptoms at pre-cancer stage, that is why vaccination of young girls stand the chance of prevention of cervical cancer because cervical cancer is 99 per cent preventable and prevention is necessary for the reduction and control of cancer burden in the country.”

The National Coordinator of BWS, Funmilayo James, submitted that the school-based vaccination initiative was adopted to prevent cervical cancer in countries.

 The initiative involved parents and school owners or administrators to consent and sponsor the vaccination of girls between the age of nine and 13 as a primary prevention.

“The programme will start off in Lagos schools and as time goes on, we will spread it across other states,”  she said.

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Cholera Outbreak: 7 Dead, 306 Infected In Jigawa

Seven people were confirmed dead while over 306 are infected following the cholera outbreak in the ancient city of Hadejia, Jigawa State.

Reports from the city revealed that the sign of the outbreak started over the weekend and the situation became aggravated on Monday and Tuesday.

However, visiting the city yesterday, LEADERSHIP observe that the situation had now subsided and not more than 30 victims of the outbreak remain at Hadejia General Hospital for treatment.

The state governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, had also visited the city yesterday to observe the situation, sympathize with victims and the families of those who lost their loved ones.

At the palace of the emir of Hadejia, Governor Lamido stated that poor environmental and personal hygiene had been identified as the major causes of the epidemic.

Lamido also told the journalist that the situation was under control due to the quick government intervention which included sending reinforcement of health workers and providing free treatment to all the victims.

Confirming the figure of the victims, the state commissioner for health Dr Tafida Abubakar told LEADERSHIP that out of the 306 cases reported to the hospital, seven people died, 22 remained hospitalized while all the rest had been discharged.

Dr Tafida added that effective measures had been taken to contain the disease and stop it from spreading to other places.

“The situation is under control, and the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Ministry of Environment are set to embark on enlightment and senstisation campaign for the need of people to take care of their environment and personal hygiene for their safety and that of their children.”

Commenting on the outbreak, the emir of Hadejia His Highness Dr Adamu Abubakar Maje commended the efforts of the state government for its timely intervention which now brought the situation under control.

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Nutritionist warns: Don’t eat suya without onion, cabbage

REGULAR consumers of grilled and  barbecued beef and chicken popularly called  suya, have been advised to always eat the delicacy with generous portions of the slices of onions, cabbage, tomatoes and other vegetables usually served along with the meat.

Giving the advise in Lagos, a Professor of Nutrition and Director of Academic Planning at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo,  said research has shown that while there is a strong link between consumption of suya and increased risk of cancer,  consumption of suya garnished with onions and other vegetables, has a strong cancer-lowering effect.

Cancer risk increasing

Onimawo, who is Immediate past President, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, and Dean, College of Food Processing & Storage Technology ,Michael Opkara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, recalled a warning by the World Health Organisation, WHO, that except there is deliberate effort to imbibe healthier  dietary and lifestyle habits over the next 10 years, cancer and other Non Communicable Diseases, NCDs, will increase by more than 27 percent in developing countries like Nigeria, compared to 17 percent in the developed world.

Speaking during the nutrition workshop organised by Coca-Cola Nigeria for health writers, the nutrition expert remarked that dietary habits play a major role in outcome of our health and one of this is the issue of cancer.
Breast cancer: “Take breast cancer. Its incidence used to be very low among our women in  those days and it was even tagged oyinbo disease because it was very rare in Nigeria or in Africa for that matter.

But today, this is no longer the case. Breast cancer is everywhere. It is even killing people in the village. When we carried out studies to try to look at the aetiology of the disease, to find out where it all started, what we discovered was that we could trace the origin to suya consumption.

Suya-suya

Suya preparation: “During preparation of suya, the  meat is cooked over an open fire, and oils from the meat undergo complex chemical reactions that produce toxins that are carcinogenic (cancer-causing) in nature.
Meat cooked over open flame often causes the formation of toxic compounds known as Heterocyclic Amines, HCAs, which are carcinogenic compounds. The more well-done a meat is cooked, the higher concentration of carcinogenic HCA’s can form.

Explaining that cancer is due to  oxidative processes in the body, He said onions are powerful antioxidants  that  effectively stop the oxidative process triggerred by consumption of suya from  taking place,
Further, Onimawo said one of the outcomes of the findings was that women who consume suya, are more prone to cancer (breast cancer) than men because they (women) tend to consume just the suya and ignore the vegetables.

Men eat onions, women eat suya: “This is practically proven. Many young men, take girls out and buy suya to entertain them. Normally, apart from the spices sprinkled on the meat, the suya is served with slices of onions, cabbage and tomatoes in some cases.

“The onion and other vegetables are actually added to act as antidote to the effect of the oil from the suya. Onions neutralise the oxidative effect of the chemicals in the oil and help prevent cancer,  but because the young man wants to impress the girl, he will be eating the onions, while the girl eats the suya. At the end of the day he is preventing cancer, unknowingly, while the girl is eating the cancer.

Much of this information needs to be made more available. I’m not saying suya is bad, on the contrary, it is a great delicacy, but beneficial only when eaten in moderation and along with the onion and cabbage, he stated.

More concerns

A number  of  studies support the use of local spices such as ginger, clove, red pepper, black pepper, onion, thyme, oregano and garlic in a meat marinade before grilling also drastically reduce any carcinogens that normally would form on grilled meat.

The suya sauce, a.k.a. Yaji, comprising most of these spices is believed to help ameliorate possible negative effects of the roasted red meat.  However, findings link excessive consumption to  possible kidney damage.
When meat is cooked in a water base as opposed to grilling, HCAs are eliminated. Meat cooked in a soup or  pot will not have carcinogenic HCAs and is a healthier way to cook meat.

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NMA Vows Total Nationwide Strike From July 1

The Nigerian Medical Association has threatened to a total shut down of the health care system in the country if the Federal Government does not accede to its 23-point demands by July 1.

The Lagos NMA Chairman, Dr. Francis Faduyile, who gave the warning at a press briefing in Lagos on Sunday, stated that the association would embark on a total nationwide strike in the next 14 days if the Federal Government fails to resolve issues related to the appointment of Chief Medical Directors and other federal appointments in the health sector.
Faduyile stated, “The position of the Chief Medical Director or Medical Director must continue to be occupied by a medical doctor as contained in the Act establishing tertiary hospitals. This position remains sacrosanct and untouchable.
“Why did they not ask that the post of vice chancellor be open to everyone in the university since members of the Academic Senior Staff Union of Universities and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities are graduates?
“Can you be a judge of the High Court or Court of Appeal if you are not a lawyer? Why do they think the hospitals where lives are saved everyday should sacrifice the established leadership, the position of a chief medical director?
“In this light, the NMA hereby gives government 14 days to meet all her demands as stated above or have her members called out for a resumption of the total and indefinite withdrawal of service suspended on 5th January 2014”.
The body stated that it took the painful decision to save the health care system of the country from imminent collapse.
Faduyile, said the NMA was particularly displeased with a new directive of the Federal Government abolishing the post of Deputy Chairman Medical Advisory Committee in teaching hospitals.
It also faulted the appointment of directors in hospitals, saying such appointments could distort the chain of command in health institutions and also lead to poor management of patients.
Other demands include an increase in doctors hazard allowance from N5,000 to N100,000 from July, skipping of grade level 12 (CONMESS 2) for medical and dental practitioners and the reversal of the title of consultants for other professionals in the health care system apart from doctors.

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Nigeria's Medical Laboratory Scientists Accuse NMA, MDCAN of Contempt of Court

The last words may not have been heard on the current hiatus in the Nigerian health sector with the National President of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) accusing the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) of contempt of court.

In a statement made available to HealthNewsNG.com, Dr. Godswill C. Okpara, National President, AMLSN, said both organizations erred by going to press on an issue that is currently before the industrial court.

“The Association of Medical laboratory Scientists of Nigeria wishes to bring to the attention of the general public, especially stakeholders in the Health sector, the pendency of the above case at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja (Court 21). The said case has readied advanced stage.

“In view of the above, various comments and inferences expressed in numerous newspaper publications and others listed hereunder are therefore subjudice. They are the issues presently pending before the Honourable Court for judicial pronouncement,” he said in the statement.

The statement was a response to the under-listed publications:

Press statement ~ the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) as contained in the Guardian Newspaper of Tuesday, April 30; 2013 (page 89)

Press statement by the Nigerian Medical Association) University College Chapter by Professor Adelolann Malomo as contained in ThisDay, April, 2013.

Advertorial Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria [MDCAN), University College Hospital, lbadan as contained in The Guardian newspaper of Wednesday, May 8,2013 (page 44) and Punch newspaper of Wednesday,.May 82013 (page 621 signed by Professor J.T. Arotiba.

He advised against using the publication to deceive members of the public and expressed his association’s confidence in the judiciary.

“As a stickler to the Rule of law, we have absolute confidence in the judiciary and firmly believe in the due process,” he said.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian health sector has been engulfed in an unending inter-professional conflicts and various attempts by past administrations had met stiff opposition. The latest effort was the proposed National Health Bill which was rejected by the president and returned to the National Assembly for resolution and harmonization of grey areas.

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Sales Representative, Pharmaceutical at Shalina Healthcare

Shalina Healthcare (SHL) is a privately held pharmaceutical company that is engaged in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of consumer, personal care, prescription and over the counter medicines. The product portfolio of the company consists of branded generics, over-the-counter drugs, and personal care products. SHL markets over two hundred products including analgesics, antiseptics, anti-malarials, antibiotics, female hygiene, vitamins and minerals, skincare, oral care and babycare products. The company has production facilities in India and China as well as operating offices in London, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Nigeria, Ghana,Central African Republic and Zambia. SHL is headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Job Purpose : 
The primary function of the position is to execute all sales & marketing activities within assigned territory to significantly grow the current levels of business and increase top-line.

•  Identifying and following up on all potential leads for prospective business.

• Adhere to the route schedules & regular visits to Retail pharmacies and patent market dealers.

• Promote products to increase top-line.

• Must build relationships with the retail pharmacists and  internal departments such as sales and marketing to ensure the highest quality of work is achieved.

• Monitor competition by gathering current market place information on pricing, products, new products, merchandizing techniques etc.

• Adhere to daily/weekly/monthly sales reports.

• Maintain confidentiality at all times.

• Working in line with the company’s values and goals.

Minimum Qualification:Graduate in (BSc.) in Science – Life Sciences.
Minimum Experience:  Proven track record with relevant experience (2 years) in Pharma sectors. Preferably in MNC setup. Exposure in an African environment.
Job Specific Skills:

• Fluency in English would be preferred.
• Computer operating skills required like MS Office.
• An aggressive and creative Sales & Marketing individual.

 Nationality: Nigerian nationality required.

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Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal formula shown to help prevent diabetes

A recent study to be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) has revealed that a particular Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal formula helped to slow the progression from pre-diabetes to a full-blown diagnosis of diabetes.

Pre-diabetes is a condition whereby a person has elevated blood sugar levels but not yet to the point of developing type 2 diabetes. Individuals with pre-diabetes have a higher risk of not only type 2 diabetes, but also stroke and cardiovascular disease.

The study encompassed a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial which involved 420 subjects (of which 389 completed the trial) at 11 different sites in China. For a 12-month period, they consumed either capsules of Tianqi or a placebo thrice per day before each meal. The study subjects were also given a month of lifestyle education at the start of the study while meeting nutritionists numerous times during the year. Glucose tolerance was measured every three months.

Tianqi is a TCM formula containing 10 herbal medicines which is used in China to treat type 2 diabetes. Some of those herbs had been previously shown to help lower blood sugar levels and boost the control of post-meal blood glucose levels.

At the end of the study, 56 in the placebo group developed diabetes, while only 36 of those taking Tianqi developed the condition. After adjusting for age and gender, the study team found that Tianqi lowered the risk of developing diabetes by 32.1 percent as compared to the placebo. This was comparable to the figures obtained in studies of diabetes drugs acarbose and metformin.

Further, more subjects in the Tianqi group than in the placebo group had normal glucose tolerance when the study ended - 63.13 percent versus only 46.60 percent.

Significantly, the study subjects who took Tianqi did not experience any severe side effects. Thus, not only was the herbal formula effective in preventing diabetes and improving blood sugar control, it was also safe to consume.

"Few controlled clinical trials have examined Traditional Chinese Medicine's impact on diabetes, and the findings from our study showed this approach can be very useful in slowing the disease's progression," said Xiaolin Tong, MD, PhD, from Guang'anmen Hospital in Beijing, China, one of the leaders of the study.

"With diabetes evolving into a serious public health burden worldwide, it is crucial to take steps to stem the flood of cases. Patients often struggle to make the necessary lifestyle changes to control blood sugar levels, and current medications have limitations and can have adverse gastrointestinal side effects. Traditional Chinese herbs may offer a new option for managing blood sugar levels, either alone or in combination with other treatments," said Chun-Su Yuan, MD, PhD, from the University of Chicago, another of the study's authors.

How TCM can help diabetics

TCM practitioners typically treat diabetes with a combination of acupuncture and herbs, for example astragalus, wild yam and rehmannia. TCM could help stabilize blood sugar levels by improving the health of the endocrine system. It could also help improve circulatory issues and also slow down the process of neuropathy

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Diabetes risk: Understanding the unique nature of children's bodies and brains

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With the increase in childhood obesity and the associated increase in type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents, there is growing interest in how children's bodies process the foods they eat and how obesity and diabetes begin to develop at early ages. Two studies presented at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions® help to shed light on this topic.

One study, by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine, compared how the brains of adolescents and adults differed in their response to ingestion of a glucose drink. It found that in adolescents, glucose increased the blood flow in the regions of the brain implicated in reward-motivation and decision-making, whereas in adults, it decreased the blood flow in these regions.
"While we cannot speculate directly about how glucose ingestion may influence behavior, certainly we have shown that there are differences in how adults and adolescents respond to glucose," said lead researcher Ania Jastreboff, MD, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine. "This is important because adolescents are the highest consumers of dietary added sugars. This is just the first step in understanding what is happening in the adolescent brain in response to consumption of sugary drinks. Ultimately, it will be important to investigate whether such exposure to sugar during adolescence impacts food and drink consumption, and whether it relates to the development of obesity."
Another study, by researchers in Germany at the University Children's Hospital in Leipzig, compared fat cell composition and biology in lean and obese children and adolescents. They found that when children become obese, beginning as early as age six, there was an increase in the number of adipose cells, and that they are larger in size than the cells found in the bodies of lean children. The researchers also found evidence of dysfunction of the fat cells of obese children, including signs of inflammation, which can lead to insulin resistance, diabetes and other problems, such as high blood pressure.
"Our research shows that obese children start to have not only more but also larger adipocytes, or fat cells, at a very young age and that this is associated with increased inflammation and is linked to impaired metabolic function," said lead researcher Antje Körner, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Researcher at the Pediatric Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Leipzig. "What we were interested in was seeing whether something was already going on with the adipose tissue itself if the children become obese at an early age, and it appears that there is. It's important because this can contribute to the development of comorbidities of obesity in children, such as diabetes."

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Study reveals molecular mechanism behind alcohol-related brain damage

It has been well documented that heavy alcohol use can cause damage to the brain. But for the first time, researchers from the University of the Basque Country in Spain and the University of Nottingham in the UK reveal the structural brain damage alcohol abuse can cause at a molecular level.
In the US, approximately 17 million individuals have an alcohol use disorder. Past research has established that excessive alcohol use can cause problems with cognitive abilities, such as learning and memory impairments and problems with motor skills.
According to the researchers of this latest study, such impairments among alcohol abusers have been attributed to regional brain atrophy - the loss or damage of brain cells in certain areas. But they note that until now, the molecular mechanisms behind cognitive impairments have been unclear.
To investigate, the team analyzed the postmortem brains of 20 individuals who were diagnosed with alcohol dependence, alongside the postmortem brains of 20 non-alcoholic individuals.
The researchers analyzed the prefrontal cortex of each brain - the front region of the brain that is responsible for regulating behavior, abstract thinking and thought analysis.

Protein alterations 'may explain cognitive impairments in alcoholics'

The team's findings, recently published in the journal PLOS One, revealed that the prefrontal cortex of alcoholic patients demonstrated alterations in the proteins α- and β-tubulin and β II spectrin. The researchers explain that tubulins make up the cytoskeletal structure, or architecture of neurons in the brain, while spectrins are responsible for the shape of neurons.
The researchers say that such changes in neuronal structure can influence organization and how the neuronal network of the brain functions, adding:

"Thus collectively, we propose that a reduction of the cytoskeletal architecture provides a rationale for the profound differences in the prefrontal cortex neuronal histology of alcoholics, and likely contributes to the cognitive and learning impairments experienced by alcoholics."

These findings, the team says, pave the way for further research into how excessive alcohol use impacts the brain.
In particular, the researchers want to determine exactly how alcohol leads to such structural alteration and see what changes occur in the enzymes that are responsible for the α- and β-tubulin and β II spectrin proteins.

The researchers say their molecular findings among the brains of alcoholics may explain why alcohol abuse leads to cognitive impairments.

They would like to see whether such changes occur in any other areas of the brain, including those responsible for motor function.
Such information, the researchers say, could lead to the development of new drugs and treatment options that may reverse the brain-damaging effects induced by excessive alcohol use, which could improve overall quality of life and reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths.
Last year, Medical News Today reported on a study published in the journal Cortex, suggesting that excessive alcohol use has long-term negative effects on the brain.
More recent research, by investigators at the University of Utah, analyzed the area of the brain that regulates how sensitive we are to the negative effects of alcohol - the lateral habenula.
Results of the study, which was conducted in rats, found that those with an inactivated lateral habenula drank more alcohol at a faster rate than control rats.

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FDA approve Lymphoseek to evaluate head and neck cancer

The US Food and Drug Administration have given the OK for doctors to use Lymphoseek - a radioactive diagnostic imaging agent - to evaluate the spread of squamous cell carcinoma in the body's head and neck region.
Lymphoseek (technetium 99m tilmanocept) Injection was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2013 to help doctors identify lymph nodes closest to primary tumors in patients with breast cancer and melanoma.
The receptor-targeted lymphatic mapping agent is marketed by Navidea, a biopharma company based in Dublin, OH.
Identification of lymph nodes in cancer is important because they filter fluid that drains from tissue. If this tissue is cancerous then the fluid will contain cancer cells, and testing lymph nodes - via biopsy - for presence of cancer cells helps determine if the cancer has spread.
The approval of Lymphoseek for use in head and neck cancer patients means doctors will be able to use the agent to guide testing of sentinel nodes - lymph nodes closest to a primary tumor - allowing for the "option of more limited lymph node surgery in patients with sentinel nodes negative for cancer," say the FDA.
Dr. Libero Marzella, director of the Division of Medical Imaging Products in the federal agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, says:

In a clinical trial, researchers found that "Lymphoseek-guided sentinel lymph node biopsy accurately determined if the cancer had spread through the lymphatic system."

"For some patients with head and neck cancer, removal and pathological examination of lymph nodes draining a primary tumor is an important diagnostic evaluation."
Lymphoseek contains tiny radioactive molecules that are designed to bind to receptors found in high concentrations on the surface of cells located in lymph nodes.
To use Lymphoseek, the doctor injects it into the tumor area and uses a handheld gamma counter to find the sentinel lymph nodes that have taken up the radioactive molecules.
For this new approval, the FDA reviewed a clinical trial that tested Lymphoseek's safety and effectiveness in 85 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lip, oral cavity and skin.
The trial - which compared Lymphoseek against conventional tumor location and surgical practice - found that "Lymphoseek-guided sentinel lymph node biopsy accurately determined if the cancer had spread through the lymphatic system," notes the FDA announcement.
The trial found that the most common side effects were pain or irritation at the injection site.

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Study provides new insight into the formation of the nervous system

New research from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has revealed some interesting new findings about the formation of part of the nervous system, which they say could lead to new treatments for nervous system disorders that are present from birth.
The research team, including Igor Adameyko, of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, and Patrik Ernfors, of the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, recently published their findings in the journal Science.
The nervous system consists of two parts - the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system - made up of the brain and spinal cord - is the core processing center that controls the body's activities. The peripheral nervous system - made up of nerves leading to and from the central nervous system - connects the central nervous system to limbs and organs.
In this latest study, the researchers say their findings may change the current understanding of how the peripheral nervous system is formed.
Through creating 3D reconstructions of mouse embryos, they identified how the parasympathetic nervous system develops. This is a part of the autonomic nervous system (in the peripheral nervous system) that is responsible for conserving energy as it slows the heart rate, increases glandular and intestinal activity and relaxes sphincter muscles.

Researchers say their findings may change the current understanding of how the peripheral nervous system is formed.

According to the investigators, current belief holds that in various organs, parasympathetic nerve cells first arise in early progenitor cells - early descendants of stem cells that can turn into different cell types - that travel short distances when an embryo is small.
However, the team says this belief fails to explain why many organs that develop when an embryo is larger contain cells that create parasympathetic neurons.
From close analysis of the 3D mouse embryos, they found that progenitor cells - called Schwann cell precursors - create parasympathetic neurons. These progenitor cells travel through the peripheral nerves to tissue and organs in the body.
The researchers say they were surprised to find that these Schwann cell precursors create the entire parasympathetic nervous system.
Commenting on the findings, Adameyko and Ernfors say:

"Our study focuses on a new principal of developmental biology, a targeted recruitment of cells that are probably also used in the reconstruction of tissue.
Despite the elegance, simplicity and beauty of this principal, it is still unclear how the number of parasympathetic neurons is controlled and why only some of the cells transported by nerves are transformed into that which becomes an important part of the nervous system."

The researchers note, however, that they hope their discovery will open the doors to new drug treatment for congenital disorders of the nervous system.

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