A Report finds that Colon Cleansing Has No Health Benefit, May Harm.

Review of 20 studies finds the popular procedure "Colon Cleansing" -- also called colonic irrigation or colonic hydrotherapy -- often involves the use of chemicals followed by flushing the colon with water through a tube inserted in the rectum, can come with serious side effects.

Source: Dick Hoenninger, spokesman, International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy, San Antonio, Texas; Georgetown University Medical Center, news release, Aug. 1, 2011.

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Higher Risk Of Mortality In Younger Black Dialysis Patients Than White Patients

Researchers found that black patients younger than 50 years old who receive the blood-filtering process actually fare worse than whites.

Source:  Dorry L. Segev, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore; Ajay Singh, M.D., clinical chief, renal division, director, dialysis, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and associate professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Aug. 10, 2011, Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Increased Muscle Mass May Lower Risk of Pre-Diabetes: Study Shows Building Muscle Can Lower Person's Risk of Insulin Resistance

A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that the greater an individual's total muscle mass, the lower the person's risk of having insulin resistance, the major precursor of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers analyzed data from 13,644 adults who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III between 1988 and 1994. They found that for each 10 percent increase in the skeletal muscle index (SMI) -- the ratio of muscle mass to total body weight -- there was an 11 percent reduction in insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.

Source: University of California, Los Angeles, news release, July 28, 2011

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Genes, Not Healthy Living, Get Most to Age 100!

New research suggests that your life choices might not be the crucial factor in determining whether you make it to 95 or beyond; it finds that many extremely old people appear to have been as bad as everyone else at indulging in poor health habits during their younger years.

Olshansky said the findings underscore the importance of genetics to life span. "The only way anyone has any chance at all of living an exceptionally long life is if they won the genetic lottery at birth," he said.

Sources: Jill P. Crandall, M.D., professor, clinical medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City; S. Jay Olshansky, Ph.D., professor, epidemiology, University of Illinois at Chicago; 2011 Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

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FDA approves First Scorpion Sting Antidote!

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved the first treatment specifically for the sting of the Centruroides scorpion, the most common type in the United States. The new biologic treatment—called Anascorp—was given a priority review because adequate treatment did not exist in the United States, says Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

“This product provides a new treatment for children and adults and is designed specifically for scorpion stings,” Midthun says. “Scorpion stings can be life-threatening, especially in infants and children.”

Source: FDA Consumer Updates page

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Gene Mutation Can Leave People Without Fingerprints (adermatoglyphia)

Study published in the Aug. 4 online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics,  of a Swiss family with skin-specific version of gene sheds light on rare condition. Fingerprints are fully formed by 24 weeks after fertilization and do not undergo any modification throughout life. Skin-specific version of the gene SMARCAD1 is implicated in the regulation of fingerprint development and also sweat gland development.

 

Source: Cell Press, news release, Aug. 4, 2011

 

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Early Morning Smoking Riskier For Cancer

The online version of journal Cancer Those who have a cigarette as soon as they wake may be more addicted than others.

The findings suggest the desire to have a cigarette immediately after waking up may increase smokers' risk for cancer, the researchers concluded. As a result, these smokers would benefit from smoking cessation programs that specifically target this early morning behavior and the greater risks involved, they added.

Source: Cancer, news release, Aug. 8, 2011

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Maternal Blood Test Can Determine Sex of Fetus at 7 Weeks

Noninvasive Fetal Sex Determination Using Cell-Free Fetal DNA.

The study concluded that "Despite interstudy variability, performance was high using maternal blood. Sensitivity and specificity for detection of Y chromosome sequences was greatest using RTQ-PCR after 20 weeks' gestation. Tests using urine and tests performed before 7 weeks' gestation were unreliable. "

Source: Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., executive director, Mother Infant Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston; Susannah Baruch, J.D., policy consultant, Generations Ahead; August 10, 2011 Journal of the American Medical Association

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Intelligence largely rooted in GENES!

Journal Molecular Psychiatry reports that there's no one 'smart' gene, but many genes that play a role in high IQs.

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Source: Ian Deary, Ph.D., MBChB, professor, differential psychology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland; Peter Visscher, Ph.D., professor, statistical genetics, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia; Aug. 12, 2011, Molecular Psychiatry

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Taller people at greater risk of cancer!

A study done in UK and published in the journal Lancet Oncology found that for every 10 cm increase in height over 5 feet in women raises their risk of  developing cancer by 16%. Somehow, smoking was inversely related to height. taller women who were smokers actually had a slightly lower risk of cancer than shorter women who smoked cigarettes.

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