1 colonoscopy and done? Maybe for some

NEW YORK — People who've had a colonoscopy with no signs of cancer may be able to delay the next one or not have it at all, German researchers suggest.

Guidelineshttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44444672/ns/health-cancer/ from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federally supported expert panel, currently recommend that people at average risk of colon cancer start screening for the disease at age 50, using one of a number of tests that have all been found to cut the risk of dying from colon cancer.

The advantage of colonoscopy, which costs around $3,000, is that it only has to be repeated once every ten years, as opposed to every year for the much cheaper stool test.

Although the German study isn't definitive, it does suggest that doing even fewer colonoscopies might be reasonable in some cases.

Dr. Hermann Brenner at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and colleagues asked nearly 2,000 colon cancer patients and 2,400 healthy people whether and when they'd had colonoscopies.

Compared with people who'd never undergone the procedure, those whose test came back negative -- meaning they had no trace of colon tumors -- had five times lower odds of developing cancer down the road.

Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the German researchers say their results challenge current guidelines.

"The finding of sustained low risk for 20 years and beyond after a negative colonoscopy suggests that a screening colonoscopy might not need to be repeated after 10 years as was previously recommended," they note.

For those who light up, however, that might not be the case. Ten years from a negative test, current smokers had the same colon cancer risk as non-smokers who'd never had a colonoscopy.

According to the American Cancer Society, about one in 20 people get colon cancer, and the disease causes nearly 50,000 U.S. deaths every year.

Longer screening intervals could have a significant impact on the overall cost-effectiveness of colonoscopy as well as lower the rate of colonoscopy-related complications, according to the German team.

Dr. John Inadomi of the University of Washington in Seattle said the new findings are not surprising, because a negative colonoscopy sorts people at low risk of colon cancer from those at higher risk.

He added that the first intervention to prevent a disease is always the most effective because of diminishing returns on any subsequent interventions that cost the same.

Still, he told Reuters Health, "perhaps lengthening the interval between screening colonoscopies is a reasonable proposal" for patients with a negative colonoscopy.

Woman Dead After Breathing Toxic Fumes at .Georgia McDonald's

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/09/woman-dead-after-breathing-toxic-fumes-at-georgia-mcdonalds/#content

An elderly woman died and eight other people were hospitalized after breathing in toxic fumes at a McDonald's restaurant in Georgia, the Savannah Morning News reported Thursday.

Investigators said a toxic mix of chemicals used to clean bathrooms was to blame for sickening customers Wednesday at the McDonald's in Pooler, Ga., 10 miles west of Savannah.

One McDonald's employee,

customers and three firefighters were hospitalized with breathing problems, according to the Morning News.

 Anne Felton, an 81-year-old woman from Ponte Verde, Fla., was found unconscious in the restaurant's bathroom. She died early Thursday, the paper said.

Firefighters were alerted to the fumes after a restaurant patron stayed in the bathroom for more than 10 minutes, Pooler Fire Chief Wade Simmons said.

Pooler firefighters and Savannah Fire Department's hazardous materials team decontaminated all patrons and employees of the restaurant, according to the Morning News.

The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration has opened an investigation into the incident.

Click here to read more.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/09/woman-dead-after-breathing-toxic-fumes-at-georgia-mcdonalds/#ixzz1XTXSREQN

Cancer-fighting virus shown to target tumors alone.

Cancer-fighting virus shown to target tumors alone.LOS ANGELES — Researchers have shown for the first time that a single intravenous infusion of a genetically engineered virus can home in on cancer, killing tumor cells in patients without harming healthScientists have been intrigued for decades with the idea of using viruses to alert theimmune system to seek and destroy cancerous cells. That interest has taken off in 

recent years as advances in genetic engineering allow them to customize viruses that target tumors.

The field received a boost in January when biotech giant Amgen Inc agreed to pay up to $1 billion for BioVex, the developer of experimental cancer-fighting virus OncoVex. But the only "oncolytic virus" so far approved by a regulatory agency is for treatment of head and neck cancer in China.

In a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, scientists at institutions including the University of Ottawa and privately held biotech company Jennerex Inc said a small, early-stage trial of experimental viral therapy JX-594 found that it consistently infected tumors with only minimal and temporary side effects.

The experimental virus will next be tested in a mid-stage trial of patients with liver cancer.

"With chemotherapy you get drastic side effects," said Dr. John Bell, chief scientific officer at Jennerex and senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. "Patients on this treatment only had 24-hour flu symptoms, and nothing after that."

The trial, which involved 23 patients with various types of advanced cancer, was designed to assess the safety of JX-594. It also found that six of the eight patients given the two highest doses saw their tumors stabilize or shrink.

Seven patients in that group, or 87 percent, had evidence of viral replication in their tumors, but not in normal tissues.

Dr. Bell said the next step is a Phase 2b trial of the viral therapy in 120 patients with primary liver cancer, known as hepatocellular carcinoma.

He said earlier trials of JX-594 showed really strong activity in liver cancer. Since some kinds of liver cancer are caused by viruses -- like hepatitis B -- the theory is that those tumor cells may be more susceptible to a second virus.

JX-594 is derived from a strain of the virus once commonly used to vaccinate children against smallpox.

"We know it is pretty safe," Dr. Bell said, noting that genetic information needed for the virus to mutate has been deleted from JX-594.

He also said that because the Jennerex virus can be given intravenously, spreading throughout the body, it may hold promise for limiting the ability of cancer cells to metastasize and spread.

Other viral cancer therapies are also progressing in clinical trials, but they either require direct injection into the tumor or accompany chemotherapy. Results from a Phase 3 melanoma trial of Amgen's OncoVex, which is directly injected into tumors, are expected next year.

Oncolytics Biotech Inc is conducting a pivotal trial of its experimental virus, Reolysin, in combination with chemotherapy for patients with head and neck cancer.

"We are all competing against standard of care," said Matt Coffey, chief operating officer at Oncolytics Biotech.

Jennerex is primarily funded by investors from Canada and South Korea. European rights to JX-594 have been licensed to Transgene. Other regional licenses are held by Lee's Pharmaceutical Ltd for China and Green Cross Corp for South Korea. Jennerex has not licensed rights in the United States r Japan Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.y tissue.

How to Break Negative Thinking Patterns

• How to Break Negative Thinking Patterns  Are you a negaholic? A negaholic is 
  someone who, consciously or not, consistently chooses to be negative. Negativity can become a habit that is difficult—but not impossible—to break.
  And what if it's not your intention to be pessimistic? Being contrary, doubtful and wary might be ingrained in your character or you could be suffering from a neurological chemical imbalance.
  brain strain. 
  In a 2002 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a condition called "negative affect" was defined as a "predisposition to anxiety, irrationality, anger, and a range of other unpleasant moods." Negative affect was said to be identified physiologically by increased brain activity in the prefrontal cortex. It's purported to be a permanent condition, but one that can be controlled.
  
  When negativity is the direct consequence of the loss of a job, a failed relationship or the death of a loved one, it is considered a reactive mood disturbance and is generally a temporary condition.
  Whether your negative thinking pattern is ingrained in your personality or stems from a specific event, it's characterized by physiological changes in your brain. The brain is composed of millions of neurons—nerve cells that send and receive messages from the body using neurotransmitter chemicals. Such messages can be disrupted by a chemical imbalance.
  There's no shame in seeking counseling or medical treatment to remedy a chemical imbalance and improve your quality of life. If pervasive feelings of hopelessness, a lack of energy and an inability to function well persist for more than two weeks, they are considered to be symptomatic of clinical depression. Medication can help the brain regain control.
  If your negative thinking patterns are the result of habit rather than a diagnosable medical condition, there are ways to counter them. Here are some tips on how to adopt a positive attitude.
  Identify your triggersBecome aware of when negative thoughts occur. Your thinking may become distorted when you're tired or hungry or when work pressures pile up. Monitoring your negative thinking patterns will help you identify what triggers them, enabling you to regain control.
  Don't sabotage yourselfExpect and accept bumps in the road. Eliminate negative thoughts, recriminations and self-criticism. Don't dwell on past incidents, learn from them and move on. Changing the way you view your world will allow you to see opportunities in obstacles.
  Adopt coping strategiesRemember past slumps that inspired negative thoughts and remind yourself of how you got out of them. Some men find it helpful to keep a journal to navigate them through a rough patch until they regain their equilibrium. Even for a chronic negaholic or someone coping with depression, there's always hope. Focus on improving your self-esteem and confidence, and your attitude will become more positive.
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  Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/06/how-to-break-negative-thinking-patterns/#ixzz1XICztnZGerns

Common Painkillers Tied to Miscarriage Risk

Women who use common painkillers like

ibuprofen and naproxen early in pregnancy may have an increased risk of miscarriage, a study published Tuesday suggests.

Researchers found that of nearly 52,000 Quebec women who had been pregnant, those who'd used a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) after conceiving were more than twice as likely to suffer a miscarriage.

The researchers looked at NSAIDs other than aspirin — which includes such common drugs as ibuprofen (brands like Advil and Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn) and the arthritis drug celecoxib (Celebrex).

They found that of 4,705 women who'd had a miscarriage, 7.5 percent had filled a prescription for an NSAID at some point during pregnancy. That compared with less than three percent of the 47,000 women who had not suffered a miscarriage.

Overall, NSAID use was tied to a 2.4-times higher risk of miscarriage.

In Quebec, ibuprofen is the only non-aspirin NSAID available over-the-counter. And people there commonly get a prescription for it anyway, to have its cost paid by health insurance.

So the findings suggest that both prescription and over-the-counter NSAIDs may be linked to miscarriage, according to senior researcher Anick Berard, of the University of Montreal's CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center.

The study, reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, does not prove that NSAIDs themselves caused some women's miscarriages.

"I cannot say, 100 percent, that this is cause-and-effect," Berard said in an interview. "But this could very well be a pharmacological effect."

Some past research, though not all, has also linked NSAIDs to a higher miscarriage risk.

And Berard said the link seen in this study held up even after the researchers accounted for a number of other factors that might explain it — including underlying medical conditions like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and lupus, and the women's use of other medications.

The idea is also plausible from the standpoint of biology, according to Berard.

Levels of hormone-like substances called prostaglandins decline in the uterus during early pregnancy and NSAIDs are known to affect prostaglandin production. The theory is that NSAIDs might affect miscarriage risk by interfering with the normal prostaglandin changes that occur early in pregnancy.

In general, pregnant women are already advised to avoid using any medication, if possible.
Berard said her advice to women who are using NSAIDs for a chronic condition like RA or lupus is to talk with their doctors. They may be able to go off the medications, especially since those diseases often improve during pregnancy.

For women who feel they need a painkiller for a short-term problem, like a headache, acetaminophen (Tylenol) is considered the safest choice, Berard said.

That advice, according to the researcher, also goes for women who are planning a pregnancy, since miscarriages so often occur before a woman even knows she is pregnant.

In general, Berard said, pregnant women have a 15 percent chance of a "clinically detected" miscarriage — one that occurs after a woman knows she is pregnant.

But it's estimated that up to half of all fertilized eggs are miscarried, usually in the first seven weeks of pregnancy.

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Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/06/common-painkillers-tied-to-miscarriage-risk/#ixzz1XHut3wS3                                                         

Sleep Drug May Aid Menopausal Sleep Problems, Study Says

    

The popular herbal sleep aid valerian could help ease some of the sleep problems that can come with menopause, a small study suggests.

Valerian root has been used since ancient Greek and Roman times for various health problems, including insomnia. Modern science is split on whether the herb works: some studies have indicated that it can ease insomnia, but few rigorous clinical trials have put valerian to the test postmenopausal women with insomnia to take either two valerian capsules or inactive placebo capsules every day for a month.

That type of clinical trial, in which neither researchers nor participants know who is taking the real treatment or the placebo, is considered the "gold standard" of medical evidence.

Overall, the study found, 30 percent of the women assigned to valerian reported an improvement in their sleep quality, which includes factors like how long it takes to fall asleep at night and how often a person wakes up overnight.-says

In contrast, only four percent of women taking the placebo reported better sleep.

Simin Taavoni and colleagues at Tehran University report the findings in the journal Menopause.
Sleep problems tend to become more common as people age, with studies suggesting that about half of older adults have insomnia symptoms, such as trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.

For women, menopausal hot flashes and night sweats can add to sleep problems.

The current findings are "encouraging," according to Dr. Jerome Sarris of the University of Melbourne in Australia, who was not involved in the study but has researched herbal approaches to treating insomnia, anxiety and depression.

And for women with sleep problems who are interested in valerian, "there is no harm in trying it," Sarris told Reuters Health in an email.

Women in this study reported no side effects, according to Taavoni's team. And in general studies suggest that any side effects from the herb are mild, like headache or upset stomach.

Valerian is also fairly cheap, with 100 capsules generally costing less than $10.

On the other hand, there's no research on the safety of long-term use, according to the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

And despite the positive findings in the current study, there are still questions about valerian's effectiveness. In a recent review of clinical trials on alternative remedies for insomnia, Sarris and his colleagues found only weak evidence that valerian, or other herbs, work.

There was better evidence in support of yoga, tai chi and acupressure.

Lifestyle changes like cutting down on caffeine and getting regular exercise (but not too close to bedtime) are often recommended for insomnia. When those don't work, the mainstream medical fixes include prescription medications and cognitive behavioral therapy.

According to Sarris, future studies should look at valerian's effects on other measures of sleep, like the total amount of time that people taking the herb are able to stay asleep and their daytime functioning.

Women in the current study took two valerian capsules a day, each containing 530 milligrams of valerian root extract. Both the valerian and placebo capsules they used were made specifically for the study.

One question that arises when taking valerian is whether you are actually getting the amount listed on the product label.

A recent report by ConsumerLab.com, an independent testing company, found that of nine valerian supplements sold in the U.S., five had lower amounts of the herb than indicated on the packaging. That included one product with no valerian in it at all.

In the U.S., valerian and other medicinal herbs are considered dietary supplements, and not regulated in the same way as drugs.

The popular herbal sleep aid valerian could help ease some of the sleep problems that can come with menopause, a small study suggests.

Valerian root has been used since ancient Greek and Roman times for various health problems, including insomnia. Modern science is split on whether the herb works: some studies have indicated that it can ease insomnia, but few rigorous clinical trials have put valerian to the tes

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/30/popular-sleep-aid-may-aid-menopausal-sleep-problems-study-says/#ixzz1XDGGXEqr

Tiny Strokes May Cause The Shuffling Gait of Old Age

Oldhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/09/02/140146620/tiny-strokes-may-cause-the-shuffling-gait-of-old-age people who don't have signs of cardiovascular disease still may have suffered microscopic

 part of the Religious Orders Study. "They came in for tests for 15 years, and then they donate their brains at death. They deserve our special thanks."

The results were published online in the journal Stroke.

strokes that don't show up on conventional tests. The small strokes may impair their ability to walk, balance and function just the same.

Scientists examined the brains of 418 priests and nuns after they died. The researchers found that one-third of the brains that had seemed normal using conventional tests while the people were alive actually had damage to tiny blood vessels. The damage was so slight it was impossible to see without a microscope.

The people whose brains had these tiny signs of hardened arteries and stroke were most likely to have had shuffling gait and other movement problems while they were still alive.

This means that problems with walking, rigidity, tremors, and other movement issues that are often considered a normal part of aging may not be normal at all. Many old people considered healthy may actually have considerable damage to the tissue and blood vessels in their brains.

"There's a limit to what you can see in brain imaging using current technologies," says neurologist Aron Buchman, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and lead author of the study. "These are not people who had a diagnosis of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. These are people who had mild motor findings that otherwise would be written off as normal aging."

Though that may sound like yet another grim prognosis associated with aging, Buchman says it opens the possibility that what seems like an inevitable result of old age could be treated or prevented.

"Loss of mobility, mobility disability, slowing of gait is something that's ubiquitous in older people," Buchman told Shots. But this study didn't show that the brain damage caused the movement problems, because it only compared the state of the people's brains at death with examinations of their health while still alive. "I wish that we had something like carbon-14 dating like they have at archeological sites, so we can figure out when problems arise in the brain," he added.

One way to figure that out may be to use conventional brain imaging techniques like MRI over time, then compare the changes over time with the state of the person's brain at death. But that work has yet to be done.

Buchman praised the priests and nuns who volunteered for the research, which was

Can Potatoes Give Your Health A Boost? A Chemist Thinks So

htmajor contributors to obesity and diabetes. But Joe Vinson, a chemistry professor at the University of Sctp://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/08/31/140066279/can-potatoes-give-yo

Potatoes have gotten a lot of bad press as major contributors to obesity and diabetes. But Joe Vinson, a chemistry professor at the University of Scranton, aims to rehabilitate the humble tuber. When he had overweight people eat potatoes daily for a month, their blood pressure dropped, and they didn't gain weight.

That's far different than the current line on potatoes. In June, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health reported that potatoes were a key culprit in weight gain, more so than red meat or sugary drinks. That study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But Vinson thinks the Harvard unfairly lumped together fries with healthier baked and steamed potatoes. He thinks that beneficial antioxidants in potatoes are destroyed by frying, that that the microwaved potatoes his test subjects consumed should still retain contain those good vitamins and polyphenols.

His study was small, with just 18 subjects eating 6 to 8 microwaved potatoes twice daily for one month, then going potato-free. After eating potatoes for a month, their diastolic blood pressure dropped an average of 4 millimeters of mercury, or 4.3 percent.

Vinson had his subjects eat fancy purple potatoes because they have higher levels of compounds like clorogenic acid. Vinson had done earlier research on beneficial compounds in coffee, and was surprised to find that chlorogenic acid, a major bioactive compound in coffee, was abundant in potatoes, too. That sparked this study. He hopes to repeat it with regular potatoes.

"The big question in my mind is whether white potatoes would work," Vinson told Shots. He hasn't found earlier research on potatoes of any color and blood pressure. "How come somebody didn't do this before?" the chemist wonders. "You ask yourself this question in science."

Potatoes of all hues contain vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and iron. In the old days sailors ate potatoes to stave off scurvy, and potatoes remain a major source of nutrition for millions of people around the world.

But potatoes also have been blamed for expanding American waistlines. For instance,Walter Willett, an epidemiologist at Harvard who was one of the authors of the New England Journal of Medicine article, puts potatoes in the "really unhealthy" category on his Healthy Eating Pyramid, along with red meat, soft drinks, and chips. (All Things Considered host Michele Norris recently interviewed Willett on potatoes and healthy foods.)

So potato fans have a choice: Experiment with Vinson's "potatoes can be good for you" theory, and start nibbling microwaved tubers. Or stick with the mainstream view espoused by Willett, and presume that there's no such thing as a healthful spud.

Vinson's findings, which haven't been published yet, were presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver. Funding for the work came from the U.S. 

FDA questions studies of breast implant safety

http://yourlie.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-08-31/FDA-questions-studies-of-breast-implant-safety/50203062/1?csp=34news

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay

A U.Son silicone breast implants to consider ways to improve the effectiveness of post-approval safety studies. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel began a two-day meeting Tuesday

After being banned for 14 years, the FDA in 2006 approved Allergan and Mentor silicone gel-filled breast implants for breast reconstructive surgery and for breast enlargement in women aged 22 and older.

Such implants had been banned because of concerns about possible links to several diseases, including cancer and lupus.

However, when the FDA lifted its ban on silicone implants, it noted that there was not a lot of data on adverse effects, including what the agency calls "rare events" and "long-term performance." In light of this, the agency required manufacturers to do studies on the implants' safety and performance after their approval.

Study findings announced earlier this year did not show an increased risk of breast cancer or connective tissue disease, although FDA officials noted that longer studies were needed. Although the FDA has also recently cautioned that breast implants might be linked to a higher risk of a rare form of lymphoma called anaplastic large cell lymphoma, officials called those chances slim.

The safety findings were based on preliminary data from six ongoing post-approval studies conducted by Allergan and Mentor, the only two companies that make silicone implants available in the United States.

FDA officials said in a June report that silicone breast implants don't last forever, with as many as half of women with such implants requiring removal within 10 years of the initial surgery.

"The longer a woman has the implants, the more likely she is to experience complications," Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said in June.

According to the agency's report, one in five women who receives silicone implants to increase the size of their breasts will need to have these devices removed within 10 years due to complications. And as many as half of women who receive implants for reconstruction after breast surgery will need them removed within the same time frame.

Common complications include: hardening of the area around the implant; the need for additional surgeries; and implant removal. Other frequent problems include implant rupture, wrinkling, breast asymmetry, scarring, pain and infection, the FDA said.

These are basically the same complications noted when the two silicone implants available in the United States were allowed back on the market in 2006, the FDA said.

But Allergan and Mentor acknowledged problems with poor patient follow-up, to monitor their health. The situation is "improving," Shuren said in June, but wouldn't say what the rate of follow-up was at that point.

Presently, the FDA recommends that women: follow-up regularly with their doctor, which includes occasional MRIs to detect potential ruptures; pay attention to any changes and notify their health-care provider if they notice any unusual symptoms such as pain, asymmetry or swelling; and educate themselves on the signs and symptoms of complications.

According to FDA estimates, 5 million to 10 million women worldwide have breast implants.

The goal the FDA has set for the next two days for its General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel is to find ways to better assess the overall performance of silicone implants in "real-world" use.