Fast Ricin Detection – Is it Now Possible?

Ricin, a poison found in Castor beans is so potent that even if a small quantity, the size of a grain of salt, gets into your system can kill you. Now, if new research is to be believed, then scientists may have developed a new assay system that detects ricin fast and easy.

Perhaps the most popular incident of ricin poisoning is the 1978 assassination of the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in London. He was reportedly stabbed with an umbrella that lodged a small ricin-coated pellet into his leg that later killed him. With no known antidote available, ricin today, is also feared as a potential bio-terrorism agent.

Till now, scientists had a hard time detecting the toxin. Because it involved multi-step procedures that assessed whether certain compounds were stopping ricin from working or not. But now that may not be necessary.

The New Ricin Detection Assay System

The working of the assay is simple. To check the presence of ricin in suspect samples, they need to be put into a few drops of a mixture of reagents. If the mixture emits light, then ricin is present, else it isn't. Further, the brighter the light emitted or the greater is the luminescence, higher is the concentration of the toxin within the sample. This technique has been developed by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (AECOM).

It may appear that ricin being a poison only has nefarious applications, but no, just like nuclear energy, which can be used to generate electricity or A-bombs. Ricin too can either be used to kill humans or potentially save them. Because it has been used an cancer drug to kill and destroy cancer cells, however, this research is still in its early stages.

Nevertheless, the new ricin detection assay system should be able arm scientists with the tools that can detect ricin in a jiffy and save lives.

7 Foods That Affect Weight Loss

According to NIH statistics about 133.6 million or two-third of Americans were overweight or obese in 2006. Being overweight is linked to several health maladies such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers and high blood pressure to name a few.

Foods, while not the only reason contributing to excess weight gain do have a significant role to play. Other means used achieve weight change include whole food supplements, weight loss pills, physical exercise, dieting etc.

The following is a run-through of how some edibles affect weight loss or weight gain.

1. Calcium – Increasing the intake of calcium can set-off weight loss. This is the conclusion of a study that included a 15-week weight loss program, at the end of which the obese participants who consumed calcium tablets lost about 6 kg, while those who didn't lost just 1 kg. However, this worked only in people whose diets were deficient in calcium (British Journal of Nutrition, April 2009).

2. Chewing Gums – Sorbitol is the main ingredient in many sugar-free chewing gums, and it is also associated with dangerous weight loss. This was discovered after studying two patients who suffered chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain and too much weight loss, which was pinned down to eating too many chewing gums with sorbitol (British Medical Journal 'BMJ', January 2008).

But in another study, chewing gums reduced weight in a seemingly harmless way. Eating a chewing gum before an afternoon snack led to reduced food cravings via promoting fullness, and an overall reduced calorie intake, up to 25 calories. (A research presentation, 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting of The Obesity Society)

3. Grapefruit Diet – Simply supplementing your diet with grapefruit and grapefruit juice can lead to weight loss. The participants in the study who ate just half a grapefruit with a meal lost 3.6 pounds. Further, drinking grapefruit juice had a similar effect, with the participants losing 3.3 pounds ('Grapefruit Diet' study, Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic, 2004).

4. Fructose – A reduced intake of fructose can aid weight loss. Fructose is a kind of sugar that can be quickly turned into body fat. Fruits are a good source of fructose, but so are many processed foods and the sweetener high-fructose corn syrup or HFCS, which is used in many processed foods. (Journal of Nutrition, July 2008).

5. Beverages – There's a stronger link between liquid calorie intake (e.g. beverages) and weight change than is between solid calorie intake (e.g. bread) and weight change. And that a reduction in liquid calorie intake is positively associated with weight loss (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 'AJCN', April, 2009).

6. Dairy Products - Dairy products don't help people lose weight. This was the conclusion of evidence collected from 49 clinical trials from 1966 to 2007 that tested whether milk, and dairy products had an effect on body weight and BMI (Nutrition Reviews, May 2008).

7. Eggs - When two eggs were consumed for breakfast, as part of a reduced-calorie diet, the weight loss in overweight adults more, compared to those who ate a bagel breakfast containing an equal number of calories (International Journal of Obesity, August 2008).

Since, it's well-known that excess body weight is associated with many diseases, it appears profitable to invest time and money in weight loss, at least it's better than spending money on medical drugs used to treat excess weight related disorders.

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Herbal Supplements: 5 Promising Benefits

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Herbal Supplements: 5 Promising Benefits

Results from a national survey in 2007 showed that, 17.7 percent of American adults had used "natural products" in the past 12 months. These natural or herbal supplements didn't include vitamins and minerals.

Of late there have been a slew of discussions, debates, and studies that have questioned the efficacy and safety of herbal supplements, e.g. herbal supplements viz. Echinacea, Glucosamine, Kava, etc. could lead to dangerous side effects during plastic surgery. And an NIH supported study found that the herbal supplement black cohosh used alone or with other herbal dietary supplements, wasn't effective in relieving hot flashes in postmenopausal women.

Nevertheless, the following are 5 promising health benefits of several herbal supplements.

1. Prostate Cancer Prevention - An increased consumption of dietary isoflavones is linked with reduced risk of prostate cancer. One source of the compound is Red clover (Trifolium pretense). However, there's little information about these supplements' safety. These results were reported in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

2. Prostate Cancer Treatment - According to a report published in the October 2005 edition of Nutrition and Cancer, Zyflamend - a unique herbal extract preparation, suppresses the growth of prostate cancer cells and causes them to self-destruct.

3. Managing Cocaine Cravings - A study presented at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology's (ACNP) annual conference 2005, showed that the compound N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could modulate the effects of cocaine addiction. NAC is an herbal supplement known for its antioxidant properties and is sold over-the-counter.

4. Fertility Boost in women - Chasteberry was the herb that showed an improved ovulation and restoration of progesterone balance in women. These results published in the April 2004 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine were an outcome of a small pilot study in by Stanford researchers. Btw, fertility is affected by a bad economy too, see: Does Bad Economy Equal Low Fertility Rate?

5. Combating Liver Cancer – The aqueous leaf extract (ALE) from the plant Acanthus ilicifolius – found across India, increased the survival of cancer ridden animals (mice) to a significant extent. Suggesting that the plant extract may be used to guard against liver cancer. The study appeared in the World Journal of Gastroenterology (volume 13, issue 48).

It's exciting to see that effective cures and treatments could very well lie outside the purview of conventional medicine. And that researches only help separate the wheat from chaff.

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The US Generic Drugs Market Overview

The total US generic pharmaceutical manufacturer sales for the year 2007 was$58.5 billion, whereas the sales of branded pharmaceuticals during the same year amounted to $228 billion. In 2009, a number of blockbuster drugs are losing patent protections, some of them include Prevacid, Imigran, Arimidex, Keppra, Cellcept, Flomox, AmbienCR, Valtrex, and Topamax. According to IMS Health, the generic drugs industry is expanding at a growth rate of 7.8%, which faster than the world's market for pharmaceuticals.

Read More at: Themedica

Top 6 Skin Care Tips

Caring for the skin has a two-fold benefit, one, your skin looks young and beautiful and two, it keeps your skin healthy and protects you from many skin problems.

Even though your busy life may not afford you the luxury to pamper your skin, you can positively take some simple yet effective steps for good skin care.

The following are some general tips to care for you skin

1. Eat well for good skin: While topically applied skin care products provide protection and some supply nutrition, it's only part of the job done. For the overall well-being of your skin eat a balanced diet that's rich in vitamins and antioxidants, because it has the potential to make a real difference in your skin's appearance.

2. Clean your skin with care: The key to cleaning the skin is to do it gently. If you don't, you run the risk of taking away too much oil from the skin leaving it dry. You can be gentle to your skin by using warm water as against hot water, patting your skin dry rather than rubbing it with a towel, not spending too much time bathing, and preferring softer soaps.

3. Hair styling products and procedures may harm: Experts advise that overuse of either hair care products or unnecessarily subjecting hair to treatments such as straightening, coloring, perms, waving, etc can lead to hair damage & breakage, and make them look unhealthy in the longer duration of time.

4. Restoring moisture back to the skin: Moisturizers are skin care products, which work by many means to maintain the correct moisture levels for your skin. Since there are many skin types, many factors to consider, and many types of moisturizers, it makes sense to consult your skin doctor for more information.

5. Guarding the skin from sun: Because overexposure to sunlight can lead to skin damage, wrinkles, dry skin and possibly cancers its important to protect yourself form the sun. You can do that by minimizing staying outdoors between 10 am. to 4 pm, when the sun's at its best. Use clothing with sleeves, using hats, wearing ankle length pants etc. And using sunscreen - your dermatologist can help you choose an apt product.

6. Smoking is bad for skin too: Wrinkles are what cigarettes offer you in return for puffing them. They're pretty effective in ruining your skin and generously aid not only damage to the skin, but also in making you look older than you really are. And besides, by now I believe there's hardly anyone who is ignorant about the dangers of smoking. You may want to seek help in trying to quit smoking, it's tough, but not impossible if you really decide to help yourself.

Sometimes small investments can lead to bigger returns, perhaps simple skin care measures too can lead to a better looking healthy skin for you for a long time.

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Urinary Tract Infection – 4 Alternative Treatments

According to a National Institute of Health publication, about 14.8 million women and men experienced a UTI in 1995, and with the infections' propensity to recur, especially in women, can some alternative medicine treatments be helpful too?

Urinary tract infections being the second most common type of infections affecting people, accompanies symptoms such as pain/burning while passing water, fever, tiredness/shakiness, urge to use the toilet often, etc. Doctors usually prescribe genitourinary drugs to kill the infection and a relief can be experienced, usually in a day or two.

Following are some natural remedies used on UTI sufferers.

1. Forskolin: This is an extract from the Indian coleus plant. And researchers at the Duke University Medical Center experimenting on mice found that it helps by flushing out hiding colonies of bacteria from the urinary tract. As a result make bacteria susceptible to antibiotic medications. The study appeared in the April 8, 2007 issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

2. Cranberry: According to a study from the Journal of Medicinal Food - a peer-reviewed journal, it's the chemicals present in cranberries rather than the acidity of cranberry juice that prevent infectious bacteria from attaching to urinary tract's cell lining. Further, a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) article suggests that some studies testing the efficacy of cranberry products in forestalling UTIs have shown promise. At the same time the results can't be considered conclusive.

3. Echinacea Purpurea: Often known as the purple coneflower, this herb has been used on urinary tract infection sufferers, either based on tradition or scientific theories. However, a National Library of Medicine article informs that this use hasn't been thoroughly tested in humans. Also, the safety and effectiveness too hasn't been proven for such use, always.

4. Probiotics: Also known as "friendly bacteria" or "good bacteria," these refer to live microorganisms that don't generally harm people. According to a conference report released in November 2005, an assessment of the use of probiotics to prevent and treat infections of the urinary tract or the female genital tract had turned out promising evidence. The conference was cofunded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and convened by the American Society for Microbiology.

With the UTI's burdening the healthcare system with over $2 billion in treatment costs (annual), if alternative medications can complement conventional treatments in fighting it, then they should be more than welcome.

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Does Bad Economy Equal Low Fertility Rate?

The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), 1995, revealed that the number of women using infertility services in the U.S. was 9.3 million, and today if the forecast of some economists is to be believed, the economic crisis could cause the U.S. birth rate to decline.

Aside from the usual infertility problems treated with fertility drugs, the strained economy has its own way of affecting fertility.

Here are some hows and whys?

• According to a story in the LA Times, historical data over the past 75 years suggests that the U.S. fertility rate has declined following economic recessions. Not surprisingly, it was the worst after the Great Depression. Though not as bad as the Great Depression, the recession this time is big enough to be compared head on with its grandpa.

• Further, as a consequence of economic hardships, many couples might decide to either postpone or not have children at all. And it already appears to be happening, as reports from all across the country suggest that the number of men wanting to undergo vasectomy – a medical procedure leading to permanent sterilization, have doubled according to a Web MD article. This seems pretty extreme considering the availability of many other contraceptive methods such as the use of birth control pharma drugs.

• At the same time, some sociologists opine that recession could even lead to more births than less. The reasoning is that job loss will present women with more time and an opportunity to have children and raise them.

• A rather different kind of a baby boom also seems to be occurring and that is of many women opting to donate eggs to fertility clinics, to financially support themselves, an MSNBC report suggests that.

While it will take a couple of months before the actual effect on fertility rate can be assessed, it's seems unmistakable that state of the economy can have some significant repercussions on human fertility.