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Yes, skin cancer 'stinks'
September 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Chemists identified the odor from skin cancer, and hope this will advance diagnosis/treatment of the deadly disease, they told a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
The creation of a "profile" of the odors linked to skin cancer may lead to diagnoses made by waving a scanner over the skin.
Doctors know skin cancer has a particular odor, and studies show dogs can detect tumors because they smell differently than normal skin.
"Researchers have speculated tumors give off different odors, but we're the first to identify and quantify the compounds involved in skin cancer odors," said chemist Michelle Gallagher, who did the study at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.
Gallagher and her team analyzed the air above tumors in 11 patients with basal cell carcinoma, and found "a different profile of chemicals above tumor sites (versus) healthy skin; the same chemicals are present, but at skin cancer sites some are higher, while others are lower versus healthy individuals."
BELFAST - Irish scientists hope to prove a dog's keen sense of smell gives it the ability to guard blood sugar levels of diabetics, HealthDay News reported. Canines are capable of leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and helping the physically disabled with daily tasks. Scientists at Queen's University are gathering scientific evidence that could verify dogs can detect dangerous blood sugar level drops in diabetics reliably. "Anecdotal reports suggest some dogs can perform early warning of hypoglycemia by using their sense of smell to 'sniff out' if their owner's blood sugar levels are dropping," said lead researcher and psychology professor Deborah Wells. Wells hopes to find out what cues dogs pick up so they can be recognized officially and trained as early-warning systems for diabetics. At least two organizations in the U.S. train dogs to detect low glucose levels, but exactly what the canines notice when a person experiences a blood sugar low is still a mystery, said Mark Ruefenacht, founder of Dogs for Diabetics, in Concord, Calif.
WASHINGTON - A care-giving broadcast sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services New Freedom Initiative Subcommittee (NFI) is slated for Sept. 17, 1-2 p.m. (EDT). It will focus on Innovative Employer Care-giving Programs, with presentations from employers and other organizations, including Aging Network providers who have developed and conducted successful programs for employed caregivers. Presenters will discuss their experience with these programs and how they can be replicated by others to help employed caregivers. To learn more or to register as an individual viewer or as a host viewing site, go to: www.blsmeetings.net/caregivers.
NEWARK, NJ - Americans are likely to be exposed to unacceptable side effects of FDA-approved drugs such as Vioxx due to fatal flaws in the way new drugs are tested and marketed, stated research at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. "Drug disasters are literally built into the current system of drug testing and approvals in the U.S.," said Donald Light, the sociologist author of the study and professor of comparative health policy, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. "Recent changes in the system have increased the proportion of new drugs with serious risks." According to a 1999 report for the Institute of Medicine, adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., and more than two million serious reactions occur every year. Light’s analysis identifies foundations of patient risk from prescription drugs and suggests reforms.
WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, D.C. disclosed the U.S. Census Bureau released the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Facts for Features, with facts to be used for publications for the anniversary of the ADA. Categories include population distribution, specific disabilities, on the job, income and poverty, and education. These facts were drawn from the Americans with Disabilities: 2002 Census Bureau report. For a PDF copy, go to http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb08ff-11.pdf.
CHICAGO - Yahoo! News disclosed circumcision appears to offer men even greater protection against the AIDS virus than thought and partially shield them against a common sexually-transmitted disease, two studies presented at the world AIDS conference show. Researcher Robert Bailey, of the University of Illinois, put forward long-term data from a trial in Kisumu, Kenya, that in its initial phase enrolled 2,784 uncircumcised uninfected men. Half of the group was circumcised; others were circumcised at a later date and they were later tested for HIV. Previously-published research from this trial found that, after two years, circumcised men were 59% less likely to contract the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than uncircumcised counterparts. The benefit was so astonishing that at the 24-month mark, the uncircumcised men were offered circumcision, as it would have been unethical not to have done so. In a presentation at the 17th International AIDS Conference, Bailey said the estimate of protectiveness at 24 months had been adjusted to 60% in light of refined lab tests from blood specimens. He reported that at the 42-month mark, circumcision offered a protectiveness of 65%.
SAN DIEGO - Most fatal medication errors occur in the home, not in the hospital, with such deaths undergoing a startling increase in the past two decades, researchers say. Mismanagement at home of prescription drugs - which led to the death of actor Heath Ledger ("The Joker" in Batman) - led to a six-fold increase in the death rate from Jan. 1, 1983-Dec. 31, 2004, found Dr. David Phillips, and colleagues at the University of California. That paled next to the toll of legal medications mixed with street drugs or alcohol, Dr. Phillips and colleagues reported in Archives of Internal Medicine. Those rates rose more than 31-fold. The findings, from nearly 50 million U.S. death certificates, suggest concentrating on fatal medication errors in hospitals misses a majority of cases, researchers say. "The decades-long shift in the location of medication consumption from clinical to domestic settings is linked to a dramatic increase in fatal medication errors," they say. Ledger died with the cause given as a combination of pain killers, sleeping pills, and anti-anxiety medications. There was no evidence of street drugs or alcohol.
BETHESDA, MD - The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) stated 12 investigators received grants totaling $5 million over two years for studies of food allergy, a significant public health concern. Exploratory Investigations in Food Allergy is funded by NIAID, plus the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and Food Allergy Project. Grants will support research on factors that contribute to food allergy, tie to other immune system disorders, and epidemiology and genetics of food allergy. In the U.S., about 6-8% of children under four, and 4% of persons five and older have an allergy to one or more foods. The 12 doctors and/or investigators are: Steven Ackerman, University of Illinois; Carine Blanchard, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; Talal Amine Chatila, University of California; Fred Finkelman, University of Cincinnati; Glenn Furuta, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Mitchell Grayson, Medical College of Wisconsin; Lynn Puddington, University of Connecticut School of Medicine; John Schroeder, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Sun-Sang Sung, University of Virginia; Xiaobin Wang, Children's Memorial Hospital; Xiao-ping Zhong, Duke University School of Medicine, and Steven Ziegler, Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason.
TORONTO - People with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who smoke marijuana are more likely to have emotional and memory problems, states research online at Neurology. "This is the first study to show smoking marijuana can have a harmful effect on cognitive skills of people with MS," said study author Dr. Anthony Feinstein, of the University of Toronto. "This is important because a significant minority of people with MS smoke marijuana as a treatment for (MS), even though there are no scientific studies demonstrating that it is an effective treatment for emotional difficulties." He noted MS itself can cause cognitive problems. "In addition, cognitive problems can greatly affect the quality of life for both patients and their caregivers," he said. For the study, scientists interviewed 140 Canadian people with MS. The study found marijuana smokers performed 50% slower on tests of information processing speed versus MS patients who didn’t smoke marijuana. There was a significant tie between smoking marijuana and emotional problems such as depression and anxiety.
WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, D.C. disclosed Invisible Care Gap: Caregivers without Health Coverage offers 10 key facts on the economic and health insecurity of the direct care workforce. It can be used to advocate for improved public policies and increase public awareness of the needs and importance of caregivers. Its figures illustrate the link between quality of care available to the growing population of older Americans, recruitment and retention of workers, and wage and benefits levels. Source: Public Health Institute.
BOSTON - When HIV-positive mothers or caregivers pre-chew an infant's food, they may transmits the virus to the child, scientists told MedPage Today. In three previously unreported cases of pediatric infection, dating back to 1993, the common thread was caregivers pre-chewed food to give to infants, said Dr. Kenneth Dominguez, of the CDC. The cases came to light when local doctors - unable to find other modes of HIV transmission - reported them to the CDC, Dr. Dominguez said at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. With authorities in Memphis and Miami, CDC scientists did an intensive investigation before concluding food, pre-chewed by a caregiver, had been the way the three children contracted the virus. In two cases, the mother was HIV-positive and transmitted the virus to her child, while in the third case - with an HIV-negative mother – the virus was passed from an infected great aunt who had been caring for the infant. Scientists said in two cases, the caregiver was known to have had bleeding gums or sores in the mouth at the time she was pre-chewing food for the baby.
BASEL, SWITZERLAND - People taking drugs known as calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure also appear to be cutting Parkinson’s disease risk, states a study online at Neurology. The study had 7,374 men and women over 40; half had Parkinson’s; half didn’t. In both groups, nearly half used high blood pressure medications, such as calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, AT II antagonists, and beta blockers. The study found people who were long-term users of calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure lowered their risk of Parkinson’s by 23% versus people who didn’t take the drugs. There was no such effect among people taking ACE inhibitors, AT II antagonists, and beta blockers. "Long-term use of calcium channel blockers was associated with a reduced risk of developing Parkinson’s while no such association was seen for other high blood pressure medicines," said study author Dr. Christoph R. Meier, of the University Hospital Basel. He says more research is needed to determine why calcium channel blockers appear to protect against Parkinson’s, and why the other high blood pressure medications don’t offer a reduced risk.
BOSTON - HealthDay News noted eye drops with alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) significantly reduced symptoms of dry eye syndrome in mice, a study shows. ALA is an omega-3 fatty acid that's not made by the body and has to be obtained through diet. Dry eye, which affects about 10 million Americans, causes symptoms such as stinging, burning, irritation or a feeling of scratchiness. It can lead to problems with day-to-day activities such as driving and reading. In the Archives of Ophthalmology. Dr. Reza Dana, a Harvard Medical School professor and Cornea Service Director at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and colleagues at the Schepens Eye Research Institute tested three formulations of fatty acids: 0.2% ALA; 0.2% linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid); and 0.01% ALA combined with 0.1% linoleic acid. Some mice received once-a-day treatment with these eye drops, other mice didn’t receive eye drops. The eyes of mice treated with ALA showed a significant reversal in epithelial damage to the cornea, which is the transparent dome that covers the pupil.
BELFAST - Irish scientists hope to prove a dog's keen sense of smell gives it the ability to guard blood sugar levels of diabetics, HealthDay News reported. Canines are capable of leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and helping the physically disabled with daily tasks. Scientists at Queen's University are gathering scientific evidence that could verify dogs can detect dangerous blood sugar level drops in diabetics reliably. "Anecdotal reports suggest some dogs can perform early warning of hypoglycemia by using their sense of smell to 'sniff out' if their owner's blood sugar levels are dropping," said lead researcher and psychology professor Deborah Wells. Wells hopes to find out what cues dogs pick up so they can be recognized officially and trained as early-warning systems for diabetics. At least two organizations in the U.S. train dogs to detect low glucose levels, but exactly what the canines notice when a person experiences a blood sugar low is still a mystery, said Mark Ruefenacht, founder of Dogs for Diabetics, in Concord, Calif.
WASHINGTON - A care-giving broadcast sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services New Freedom Initiative Subcommittee (NFI) is slated for Sept. 17, 1-2 p.m. (EDT). It will focus on Innovative Employer Care-giving Programs, with presentations from employers and other organizations, including Aging Network providers who have developed and conducted successful programs for employed caregivers. Presenters will discuss their experience with these programs and how they can be replicated by others to help employed caregivers. To learn more or to register as an individual viewer or as a host viewing site, go to: www.blsmeetings.net/caregivers.
NEWARK, NJ - Americans are likely to be exposed to unacceptable side effects of FDA-approved drugs such as Vioxx due to fatal flaws in the way new drugs are tested and marketed, stated research at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. "Drug disasters are literally built into the current system of drug testing and approvals in the U.S.," said Donald Light, the sociologist author of the study and professor of comparative health policy, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. "Recent changes in the system have increased the proportion of new drugs with serious risks." According to a 1999 report for the Institute of Medicine, adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., and more than two million serious reactions occur every year. Light’s analysis identifies foundations of patient risk from prescription drugs and suggests reforms.
WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, D.C. disclosed the U.S. Census Bureau released the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Facts for Features, with facts to be used for publications for the anniversary of the ADA. Categories include population distribution, specific disabilities, on the job, income and poverty, and education. These facts were drawn from the Americans with Disabilities: 2002 Census Bureau report. For a PDF copy, go to http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb08ff-11.pdf.
CHICAGO - Yahoo! News disclosed circumcision appears to offer men even greater protection against the AIDS virus than thought and partially shield them against a common sexually-transmitted disease, two studies presented at the world AIDS conference show. Researcher Robert Bailey, of the University of Illinois, put forward long-term data from a trial in Kisumu, Kenya, that in its initial phase enrolled 2,784 uncircumcised uninfected men. Half of the group was circumcised; others were circumcised at a later date and they were later tested for HIV. Previously-published research from this trial found that, after two years, circumcised men were 59% less likely to contract the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than uncircumcised counterparts. The benefit was so astonishing that at the 24-month mark, the uncircumcised men were offered circumcision, as it would have been unethical not to have done so. In a presentation at the 17th International AIDS Conference, Bailey said the estimate of protectiveness at 24 months had been adjusted to 60% in light of refined lab tests from blood specimens. He reported that at the 42-month mark, circumcision offered a protectiveness of 65%.
SAN DIEGO - Most fatal medication errors occur in the home, not in the hospital, with such deaths undergoing a startling increase in the past two decades, researchers say. Mismanagement at home of prescription drugs - which led to the death of actor Heath Ledger ("The Joker" in Batman) - led to a six-fold increase in the death rate from Jan. 1, 1983-Dec. 31, 2004, found Dr. David Phillips, and colleagues at the University of California. That paled next to the toll of legal medications mixed with street drugs or alcohol, Dr. Phillips and colleagues reported in Archives of Internal Medicine. Those rates rose more than 31-fold. The findings, from nearly 50 million U.S. death certificates, suggest concentrating on fatal medication errors in hospitals misses a majority of cases, researchers say. "The decades-long shift in the location of medication consumption from clinical to domestic settings is linked to a dramatic increase in fatal medication errors," they say. Ledger died with the cause given as a combination of pain killers, sleeping pills, and anti-anxiety medications. There was no evidence of street drugs or alcohol.
BETHESDA, MD - The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) stated 12 investigators received grants totaling $5 million over two years for studies of food allergy, a significant public health concern. Exploratory Investigations in Food Allergy is funded by NIAID, plus the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and Food Allergy Project. Grants will support research on factors that contribute to food allergy, tie to other immune system disorders, and epidemiology and genetics of food allergy. In the U.S., about 6-8% of children under four, and 4% of persons five and older have an allergy to one or more foods. The 12 doctors and/or investigators are: Steven Ackerman, University of Illinois; Carine Blanchard, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; Talal Amine Chatila, University of California; Fred Finkelman, University of Cincinnati; Glenn Furuta, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Mitchell Grayson, Medical College of Wisconsin; Lynn Puddington, University of Connecticut School of Medicine; John Schroeder, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Sun-Sang Sung, University of Virginia; Xiaobin Wang, Children's Memorial Hospital; Xiao-ping Zhong, Duke University School of Medicine, and Steven Ziegler, Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason.
TORONTO - People with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who smoke marijuana are more likely to have emotional and memory problems, states research online at Neurology. "This is the first study to show smoking marijuana can have a harmful effect on cognitive skills of people with MS," said study author Dr. Anthony Feinstein, of the University of Toronto. "This is important because a significant minority of people with MS smoke marijuana as a treatment for (MS), even though there are no scientific studies demonstrating that it is an effective treatment for emotional difficulties." He noted MS itself can cause cognitive problems. "In addition, cognitive problems can greatly affect the quality of life for both patients and their caregivers," he said. For the study, scientists interviewed 140 Canadian people with MS. The study found marijuana smokers performed 50% slower on tests of information processing speed versus MS patients who didn’t smoke marijuana. There was a significant tie between smoking marijuana and emotional problems such as depression and anxiety.
WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, D.C. disclosed Invisible Care Gap: Caregivers without Health Coverage offers 10 key facts on the economic and health insecurity of the direct care workforce. It can be used to advocate for improved public policies and increase public awareness of the needs and importance of caregivers. Its figures illustrate the link between quality of care available to the growing population of older Americans, recruitment and retention of workers, and wage and benefits levels. Source: Public Health Institute.
BOSTON - When HIV-positive mothers or caregivers pre-chew an infant's food, they may transmits the virus to the child, scientists told MedPage Today. In three previously unreported cases of pediatric infection, dating back to 1993, the common thread was caregivers pre-chewed food to give to infants, said Dr. Kenneth Dominguez, of the CDC. The cases came to light when local doctors - unable to find other modes of HIV transmission - reported them to the CDC, Dr. Dominguez said at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. With authorities in Memphis and Miami, CDC scientists did an intensive investigation before concluding food, pre-chewed by a caregiver, had been the way the three children contracted the virus. In two cases, the mother was HIV-positive and transmitted the virus to her child, while in the third case - with an HIV-negative mother – the virus was passed from an infected great aunt who had been caring for the infant. Scientists said in two cases, the caregiver was known to have had bleeding gums or sores in the mouth at the time she was pre-chewing food for the baby.
BASEL, SWITZERLAND - People taking drugs known as calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure also appear to be cutting Parkinson’s disease risk, states a study online at Neurology. The study had 7,374 men and women over 40; half had Parkinson’s; half didn’t. In both groups, nearly half used high blood pressure medications, such as calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, AT II antagonists, and beta blockers. The study found people who were long-term users of calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure lowered their risk of Parkinson’s by 23% versus people who didn’t take the drugs. There was no such effect among people taking ACE inhibitors, AT II antagonists, and beta blockers. "Long-term use of calcium channel blockers was associated with a reduced risk of developing Parkinson’s while no such association was seen for other high blood pressure medicines," said study author Dr. Christoph R. Meier, of the University Hospital Basel. He says more research is needed to determine why calcium channel blockers appear to protect against Parkinson’s, and why the other high blood pressure medications don’t offer a reduced risk.
BOSTON - HealthDay News noted eye drops with alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) significantly reduced symptoms of dry eye syndrome in mice, a study shows. ALA is an omega-3 fatty acid that's not made by the body and has to be obtained through diet. Dry eye, which affects about 10 million Americans, causes symptoms such as stinging, burning, irritation or a feeling of scratchiness. It can lead to problems with day-to-day activities such as driving and reading. In the Archives of Ophthalmology. Dr. Reza Dana, a Harvard Medical School professor and Cornea Service Director at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and colleagues at the Schepens Eye Research Institute tested three formulations of fatty acids: 0.2% ALA; 0.2% linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid); and 0.01% ALA combined with 0.1% linoleic acid. Some mice received once-a-day treatment with these eye drops, other mice didn’t receive eye drops. The eyes of mice treated with ALA showed a significant reversal in epithelial damage to the cornea, which is the transparent dome that covers the pupil.