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Indian American launches stem cell treatment of heart disease
New York, An Indian American cardiologist in Wisconsin is running a pioneering trial of using stem cells to treat heart diseases, the initial results of which have been “encouraging”. Amish Raval, of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his team of cardiologists began their trial on March 7. “If it (using stem cells for cardiac disease) works, it could revolutionize cardiology,” said Raval. Stem cells are primal cells common to all multi-cellular organisms that retain the ability to renew themselves through cell division and can differentiate into a wide range of specialised cell types. “The initial results from phase I of the trial were encouraging. Subjects reported feeling better with reductions in chest pain and improved exercise capacity during the early stage of the trial. That’s encouraging to us,” Raval said. Injecting stem cells isolated from a person’s own blood into an ailing heart can repair years of accumulated decay.
India Inc all set to combat HIV/AIDS
New Delhi, Captains of the Indian industry have geared up to combat HIV/AIDS by implementing proper corporate governance. Corporate conglomerates such as Ballarpur Industries, ACC Cements and Godrej have joined hands to fight against the disease under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a leading industry body that has been spearheading the cause with its AIDS awareness campaign. “AIDS is already a national crisis and we had in place an ‘AIDS in the workplace’ initiative. However, for a long time, we had been planning different HIV/AIDS initiatives to have a larger impact,” Gautam Thapar, Ballarpur Industries’ chairman, said at a conference here Friday. According to Arvind Pathak, business head (south-west) of ACC, the firm has built its own AIDS awareness centre. The CII, in partnership with the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), has also developed a smart health card. According to the CII, India Inc is now much more aware about the disease and its social consequences.
Sandia Researchers Take New Approach to Studying How Cells Respond to Pathogens
A Sandia National Laboratories research team led by Anup Singh is taking a new approach to studying how immune cells respond to pathogens in the first few minutes and hours of exposure. Their method looks at cells one at a time as they start trying to fight the invading pathogens.Called the Microscale Immune Studies Laboratory (MISL) Grand Challenge, the work is in its second of three years of funding by the internal Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. Sandia is partnering on the project with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratory. Singh says the researchers are interested in studying the early events in immune response when a pathogen invades a body. Understanding the early steps could lead to better ways to diagnose and stop disease before there are symptoms and development of more effective therapeutics.
Testosterone-based cream may help prevent Alzheimer's
London, Using a cream containing the male sex hormone testosterone, which plays a key role in health and well-being, may help prevent Alzheimer’s, a progressive brain disorder. People suffering with Alzheimer’s lack the ability to learn, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities. As the disease progresses, individuals may also experience changes in personality and behaviour, such as anxiety, suspiciousness or agitation, as well as delusions or hallucinations. For some sufferers, drugs can delay the progress of symptoms such as memory loss and the erosion of the ability to do everyday things like washing and dressing. There is no cure for the disease and no way of preventing its onset. Ralph Martins and other researchers at the Sir James McCusker Foundation for Alzheimer’s Research in Australia used the testosterone cream on otherwise healthy men with testosterone deficiency. Preliminary results showed that the cream, applied daily for four months, reduced levels of the destructive beta amyloid protein (found in the brain of people suffering from Alzheimer’s) by around 60 percent in four men out of five, the researchers told a conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. Further research will look at the effect of the cream on women - and whether it can help those who have already developed Alzheimer’s. Martins stressed that his research is still at an early stage, but said it could eventually have huge implications for the treatment of Alzheimer’s. Previous research has shown that testosterone-based medication can improve the quality of life in men suffering from Alzheimer’s. Rubbing a testosterone gel into the skin increased their energy levels and lifted their mood. However the gel did not appear to improve memory or other mental skills. (IANS) events in immune response when a pathogen invades a body. Understanding the early steps could lead to better ways to diagnose and stop disease before there are symptoms and development of more effective therapeutics.
Antioxidant drug may help lower heart diseases
New York,- A novel antioxidant drug known as Succinobucol, targeting the underlying roots of heart disease, can cut the risk of heart attack and strokes, a study suggests. Current drugs used to prevent heart attacks aim at modifying risk factors. For example, Statins lower cholesterol, etc. Succinobucol, on the other hand, has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that target two underlying processes - oxidative stress and inflammation - that can play a role in heart disease, reported online edition of health Magazine WebMD. Oxidative stress is where the body essentially has too many free radicals, which are waste products produced by the chemical reactions in the body. Oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to the formation of artery-clogging plaque and blood clots that can break off, blocking blood flow to the heart and cause a heart attack. The new study by Jean-Claude Tardif director of research and a professor of medicine at the Montreal Heart Institute in Canada and other researchers was aimed at to see if adding Succinobucol to standard drug therapy would reduce heart attacks among patients with heart disease.
WHO warns TB threatening Asia-Pacific region
Manila, Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is threatening to reverse the gains made in the control of the disease in the Asia-Pacific region unless bolder steps are taken, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.In a statement ahead of World Stop TB Day, WHO noted that drug-resistant TB was already widespread in the Asia-Pacific with high levels documented in such countries as China, Mongolia and the Philippines. It warned that unless steps were taken to tackle drug-resistant TB, “It will be 200 times more costly to treat and might even become almost impossible to cure. ” The WHO noted that in some countries, the management of multi-drug resistant TB is not yet available or has failed to meet acceptable standards. “Failure to address this threat will mean more deaths and chronic cases of multidrug-resistant TB and more drug-resistant TB.”
