The Launch of BEST USMLE TUTOR Revolutionizes United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Preparation Globally and Locally in Washington DC and Baltimore Metro Region

United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Series of Exams are designed to assess the Medical Knowledge and Clinical Skills of Medical students and Residents including American Medical Graduates (AMGs) as well as International Medical Graduates (IMGs) to Satisfy the Requirements of various State Medical Boards in order to Obtain Full Unrestricted License to practice Medicine and Surgery in the United States of America.

The USMLE series of Exams consists of a three exams, namely USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK, USMLE Step 2 CS, and the final USMLE Step 3. The recent launch of BEST USMLE TUTOR website by Online Health Expert Dr. Harish Malik is changing the way many Medical Students and Residents are preparing for these USMLE Exams.

BEST USMLE TUTOR uses a series of Highy Effective and Adaptive One-on-One NOVEL USMLE Focused Individualized Diagnostic and Remedial (FIDR) Sessions and utilizes Real Life Analogy (RLA) approach to provide real time adaptive, focused and individualized USMLE Preparation unlike any other competitors like Kaplan, USMLEWORLD, and many others who provide Class Room Style preparation and emphasize Practice Question Based approach.

Please visit BEST USMLE TUTOR for All your USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK, USMLE Step 2 CS, and USMLE Step 3 needs. Whether you are preparing for any of the USMLE Exams for the Very First time or are need of newer NOVEL proven method of preparation for USMLE because the traditional methods of Individual Self Study, Group Study, Kaplan and USMLEWORLD have failed to meet your expectations, please schedule your First Free USMLE FIDR session which uses RLA approach to guide your USMLE preparation efforts to OPTIMIZE your USMLE Preparation experience and make you succeed in USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK, USMLE Step 2 CS, and USMLE Step 3.

Further Reading and Sources:

BEST USMLE TUTOR

BEST USMLE TUTOR is not affiliated with USMLE, FSMB or NBME.

Online Health Expert's Global, Online and Free "Move Movement" Updated to Include the Role of "Sirtuins" That Have Been Shown to Play a Pivotal Role in Regulation of Lifespan.

An excerpt from Online Health Expert Dr. Harish Malik's Global, Online and Free "Move Movement" showing the Role of "Sirtuins" and their connection with Calorie Restriction (CR) and Physical Activity (PA) that play a Pivotal Role in Anti-aging and have been shown to Promote Longevity.


Cutting calories/ Calorie Restriction (CR) and Physical Activity (PA) (CR has been shown to promote longevity) - promotes mobility (as the body retains the drive to do things after a lighter meal as opposed to a heavy meal) , moves lymph (which is 3 times the amount of total blood in our body and is dependent on body movement to keep it flowing - lymph is the policeman, garbage man and the immigration system of our body) better by negating the effects of gravity (Taller people are at greater risk of developing Cancer), and helps prevent/fight infections and cancer.

The Biochemical basis of Calorie Restriction (CR) and Physical Activity (PA) leading to its Anti-Aging effects has been recently linked to Sirtuins which have been shown to play a pivotal role in regulation of Lifespan. Dr. Franklin H. Epstein's (June 9, 2011) Lecture "Sirtuins, Aging, and Medicine" accessible at The New England Journal of Medicine details the role and pathways of Sirtuins in the pathways of aging. In an article "Role of Sirtuins, calorie restriction and physical activity in aging" [Frontiers in Bioscience (Elite Edn.) Jan 01, 2012], a team of Italian researchers point out the clear-cut relationship between Sirt-1 and Calorie Restriction (CR) and in rats they showed that the levels of SIRT1 activity were raised in aged rats who performed moderately prolonged Physical Activity (PA). They found that in mammals, CR causes physiological and behavioral changes that lead to decreases in reactive oxygen species, thereby reducing oxidative stress and damage and thus leads to the hypothesis that CR by reducing oxidative stress extends lifespan by counteraction of aging.


To Read more and Join for Free! Click on the Link Below:
Online Health Expert Dr. Harish Malik's Global, Online and Free "Move Movement"


Thank you for learning about the Roles of PA, CR and Sirtuins in promoting meaningful Longevity.


Sincerely,


Dr. Harish Malik

Study Shows that Obesity Induced Brain Changes May be The Reason Why Weight Control is So Hard.

Online Health Expert Medical News Report: Weight Control in Obese Individuals Linked to Brain Changes due to Obesity.

Previously, an Australian study had shown that Rebound weight gain after dieting results from a homeostatic interplay of changes in weight regulating hormones.

Now, a new study reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation,  Dr. Michael W. Schwartz, professor of medicine at the University of Washington are reporting how rodents and humans with diet-induced obesity have structural changes in their hypothalamus, an area in the brain, which controls body weight among many other functions. Body weight is regulated by a rather complex set of interactions between hormones and brain cells (neurons). There is a growing belief among researchers that these interactions, in most obese people, "conspire" to prevent long-term weight loss, and the underlying mechanisms are increasingly investigated by neuroendocrinologists.

Dr. Schwartz told the press:

"To explain a biologically elevated body weight 'set-point', investigators in the field have speculated about the existence of fundamental changes to brain neurocircuits that control energy balance. Our findings are the first to offer direct evidence of such a structural change, and they include evidence in humans as well as in mice and rats."

In a second study published in the same issue of the journal, another team of researchers, led by Dr. Jeffrey Flier, of  Harvard Medical School, Boston,  reported that turnover of nerve cells in the hypothalamus of mice is inhibited by obesity, adding further weight to the argument that physiology, rather than lapsing back to old eating habits, could be the reason for weight regain following a period of successful weight loss in obese people.

Further Reading and Sources:

Link 1

Link 2

Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Harish Malik

Virtual Exercise (Exergames like Wii Fit or PlayStation Move) May Improve Higher Mental (Brain) Functions Better Than Traditional Exercise in over 50 year old.

Online Health Expert News Report: According to the results of a 2 year study done on 101 volunteers 58 -99 years old, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (January, 2012), Dr. Cay Anderson-Hanley, Assistant Professor at Union College, New York, found that Virtual reality enhanced interactive exercise (Cybercyclists)  yielded greater cognitive benefit and perhaps added greater protection (23% reduction in progression to MCI) against mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared to traditional exercise.

Exercise could be linked to cognitive function via the increase in the blood levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Growth Factor (BDNF).

References and Further Reading:  

Link 1

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Link 3

Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert's Top Medical News section.

Sincerely,

Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert Medical News Flash: Analysis of 14 Studies Involving Children Between Ages of 6 and 18 Found Strong and Positive Relationship Between Physical Activity and Academic Performance.

Online Health Expert Medical News Report: A review of 14 studies published in the January, 2012  issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine involving children between Ages of six and eighteen found Strong and Positive Relationship between Physical Activity and Academic Performance.


The researchers noted that the increased oxygen and blood flow to the brain that accompanies exercise might be the reason behind their improved classroom performance.


Further Reading and Sources:


Link 1


Link 2  


Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert. 


Sincerely, 


Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert Medical News Flash: Consuming Excess Calories May Lead to Fat Gain Regardless of Source.

Online Health Expert Medical News Report: In a study published in the Jan. 4, 2012 issue of JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association), involving 25 healthy participants which were divided into 3 groups getting a low-protein, high-protein, and a normal-protein diet with equal calories (all of them received extra 1000 calories), the researchers found that the total calorie intake, regardless of the nutritional source of calories, determines the amount of fat accumulation in their bodies.  


These findings suggest that the current Obesity epidemic may be worse than is currently understood as those with lower body weight may have undetected layers of fat that can harm their health.


Further Reading and Sources:


Link 1

Link 2


Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert. 


Sincerely,


Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert Dr. Harish Malik Launches a Free and Revolutionary Global "Move Movement" as a means to prevent/fight disease as opposed to traditional dieting, weight loss and exercise programs which often fail in the long run through his Medical Blog "Online Health Expert".

Online Health Expert Dr. Harish Malik launches a Revolutionary and Absolutely Free Global and Online "Move Movement" which explains the failure of traditional dieting, weight loss and exercise programs in prevention and management of disease. It emphasizes the importance of continual life long importance of Bodily Movement (that is why the movement is called "Move Movement") in preventing and fighting disease as opposed to any intensive short term dieting, weight loss, and exercise programs which are plagued by the rebound phenomena and don't benefit in the long run and can result in injury and disease.

Please join Online Health Expert Dr. Harish Malik's Free, Global and Online "Move Movement" today to learn more.

Source and Further Reading:


Link

Link

Thank you for updating your Medical Knowledge at Online Health Expert's Top Medical News section.

Sincerely,


Dr. Harish Malik 

Weight Regain after Successful Dieting Linked to Hormones!

Online Health Expert Obesity and Dieting News Flash: An Interesting study done by Australian Doctors involving 50 overweight or obese patients without diabetes in a 10-week weight loss dieting program and published in the New England Journal of Medicine (October, 2011) showed elevated levels of hormones linked with hunger and obesity (ghrelin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, and pancreatic polypeptide) and decreased levels of appetite suppressing hormones (leptin, peptide YY, cholecystokinin, insulin and amylin) compared to baseline levels over a period of one year after weight loss resulting from Dieting, suggesting that hormones result in the quick and high weight regain after dieting induced weight loss.


Anyone who has tried dieting and successfully lost weight as a result of it knows it is usually followed by a rebound weigh regain. This study shows that this weight regain is not merely a result of lack of willpower on their part, but is a result of several changes in the levels of homeostatic hormones linked with obesity. It clearly shows that the human body fights the lowering in body weight by quickly bringing the weight back with a rebound!


This understanding and long term means and strategies to counteract these homeostatic changes may hold the key to sustained weight loss by preventing rebound weight gain after a successful dieting program.


Online Health Expert urges "You" to share this story to help fight the rapidly growing Obesity epidemic.


Sources and References:


Link 1

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Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert. 


Sincerely, 


Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert Reports: First Lab. Brewed Blood Successfully Injected in a Human in France.

Online Health Expert Medical News Report: According to an article published in the journal Blood, November 10, 2011 issue, for the very first time in the history of Blood Transfusion Medicine, when the American Red Cross had declared a nationwide shortage of Blood, scientists in France have been able to successfully transfuse 10 homogenized fully functional and mature Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) derived in-vitro cultured Red Blood Cells (cRBCs) in a Human subject and showed them to be at par in quality and functionality with the natural RBCs.


Although, we are not yet technologically advanced enough to go for full scale quick and mass production of cRBCs for clinical use, this advancement promises a life saving leap in our capabilities very soon!


Sources and References:


Link 1

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Link 3


Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert. 


Sincerely, 


Dr. Harish Malik

Learning more from Failures better than learning from Successes alone: Functional MRI Brain Scans Yield Clues to Physician Decision Making.

Online Health Expert Medical News Flash: According to an Interesting study published in the journal PLoS One done on 35 experienced Physicians using 64 virtual case studies during training and 64 virtual patients in the testing phase and Functional MRI scans of their brains to elucidate their decision making process, the research team led by Dr. Jonathan Downar, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in Ontario, Canada showed that Doctors who learned mainly from their successes showed low performance and a tended to make sub-optimal decision making compared to their high performing colleagues who learned equally from their mistakes (failures) and successes (positive outcomes). 

High performing Doctors' brains achieve better outcomes by attending to informative failures during training rather than chasing the reward value of successes.

This finding, labelled as confirmation bias and success chasing was shown to hinder associative learning which together produced or solidified the false beliefs in low performing physicians in this study. 

This leads us to believe that disconfirmation learning might be more beneficial in teaching Medical students and Residents so that they will not become success chasers and would be able to learn from their mistakes in the simulated clinical case scenarios and would be worthwhile to incorporate as a part of their training to improve patient outcomes. Further testing needs to be done to find direct evidence to support this type of training and its benefits.

Online Health Expert recommends learning more from one's failures rather than successes alone is the key to avoid spurious learning and is true for everyone and not only Doctors.

Further Reading and Sources:

Link 1

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Link 3

Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert's Top Medical News. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert Medical News Flash! Diseased Hearts to Heal Themselves in the Future! Thanks to the discovery of Oncostatin M which Helps in the Dedifferentiation of the Healthy Heart Cells into Precursor Cells that Regenerate the Damaged Heart Tisssue.

Online Health Expert's Top Medical News reports that Scientists have figured out how the diseased hearts heal and are now getting ready to to use this piece of information to enhance this natural healing process after Heart attack.

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim and the Schüchtermann Klinik in Bad Rothenfelde have identified the protein Oncostatin M which fulfils a central task in the dedifferentiation (reversal) process by stimulating the regression of individual heart muscle cells into their precursor cells after Myocardial Infarction and Cardiomyopathy that limits the fatal consequences.

They now plan to improve the self-healing powers of the heart with the help of this protein and are looking for the correct time frame to use it in humans after such insults so as to minimize its adverse effects.

Further Reading and References:

Link1
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Link3

Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert's Top Medical News.

Sincerely,

Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert Dr. Harish Malik explains human brain, reality, sense of time & memory types.

Online Health Expert Explains Reality:

As many humans there are, as many realities. In fact just like the finger prints, DNA prints (exception of identical twins), each of us have a unique Brain print with no exceptions as no two humans can be present at one place simultaneously and experience the same reality.

Our Brain along with the spinal cord (CNS -Central Nervous System) and nerves (PNS -Peripheral Nervous System which includes the ANS ie., Autonomic Nervous System and SNS ie., Somatic Nervous System) with the help of various sensory organs (special ones - Eyes for 3D color sight/vision, Nose for Olfaction/smell, Ears - Audition/Hearing and Equilibrium/Balance and acceleration, Tongue - Gustation/Taste  and General ones - like the Touch (skin and viscera), Pressure, Vibration, Proprioception, Pain, and Temperature (hot and cold) senses the presence of energy and matter(within the human capability/limitations) and based on prior and real time knowledge base generates a sense of self and the surroundings - which we call our reality.

As the design is almost the same for all of us the our knowledge and experiences are the main confounding factors in the creation of our realities. That being said knowledge and experience are very powerful tools that can change our reality.

Our Brain does a marvelous job at Capturing and Deleting information/data almost simultaneously to keep us aware of our surroundings and self, and that is what we perceive to be "Real" and gives us a sense of "Present" time or "Real" time.


More Details at Online Health Expert available at  http://onlinehealthexpert.blogspot.com


Reference and Source:


Link

Online Health Expert Medical News for Easy Weight Loss! Chew Gum - Lose Weight - Coming Soon: Scientist Uses Vitamin B12 To Deliver Appetite-Suppressing Hormone PYY (Peptide YY) Via Chewing Gum or Oral Tablets.

Online Health Expert reports Weight loss to become as easy as chewing gum!


Soon, losing weight might mean chewing a stick of gum after eating a well balanced meal to suppress your appetite.

In an exciting new study, a chemist at Syracuse University, Robert Doyle and his team, demonstrated, for the first time, that a critical hormone PYY (Peptide YY) which is a short (36-amino acid) protein released by cells in the ileum and colon in response to feeding.that helps people feel "full" after eating can be delivered into the bloodstream orally.

Doyle's team is working on  incorporating B12-PYY in chewing gum or oral tablets in trials and hoping to deliver PYY without being degraded in the GI system to cause appetite suppression in obese individuals.

If they will be successful, PYY-laced gum would be a natural way to help people lose weight in the near future.

Robert Doyle's study was published online in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. He collaborated on the study with researchers from Murdoch University in Australia.

Further Reading and Sources:

Link 1
Link 2


Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert's Top Medical News.

Sincerely,

Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert Medical News Report! Inexpensive Diabetes Drug Metformin Shows Promise in Reducing Risk of Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer and Possibly Other Cancers.

Online Health Expert reports Cancer fighting properties of Metformin (Glucophage), a cheap and inexpensive drug used to treat type 2 Diabetes.

Previous epidemiological association of decreased Breast cancer in women on long term Metformin therapy for type 2 Diabetes Mellitus was experimentally shown to be true by researchers from Michigan State University and their colleagues from Seoul University.

Using culture dishes (Link 1), these researchers grew miniature human breast tumors, or mammospheres, that activated a certain stem cell gene (Oct4A). Then the mammospheres were exposed to natural estrogen - a known growth factor and potential breast tumor promoter - and man-made chemicals that are known to promote tumors or disrupt the endocrine system. 

They found that estrogen and the chemicals caused the mammospheres to increase in numbers and size. However, when metformin was added, the numbers and size of the mammospheres were dramatically reduced. While each of the chemicals enhanced growth by different means, metformin seemed to be able to inhibit their stimulated growth in all cases.

In another study done last year at the National Cancer Institute regarding metformin and Lung cancer prevention in mice (Link 2) when the researchers administered metformin to mice by injection, the drug levels were higher and the anticancer effects were even stronger—the drug reduced lung tumors by 72 percent compared with no treatment. Although this method of administration is not feasible for cancer prevention in humans, analogs of metformin that are more potent may well be more effective than the drug itself, Dr. Dennis noted. With any chemopreventive agent, however, minimal toxicity is critical, and metformin was well tolerated in the mice. In fact, the livers of the treated mice not only showed no signs of toxicity, but they actually appeared healthier than those of untreated mice.

Further research will be done to see if metformin can reduce the risk of Pancreatic and Liver cancers as well.

Further Reading and References:

Link 1

Link 2

Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert's Top Medical News.

Sincerely,

Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert Medical News Flash! What’s New in Chemotherapy? Johns Hopkins Professor Marc Ostermeier and His Team Has Devised Protein “Switches” That Could Turn Human Cancer Cells into Tiny Chemotherapy Factories Causing Them to Self-destruct While Sparing Healthy Tissue.

Online Health Expert explains how Chemotherapy delivery is about to be revolutionized!
This novel cancer-fighting strategy and promising early lab test results from Johns Hopkins Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering were reported in the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Abstract).

Marc Ostermeier’s team made this novel weapon, cancer-fighting protein “switch”, by fusing together two different proteins and successfully tested it on human colon and breast cancer cells. One protein detects a marker that cancer cells produce. The other protein, derived from yeast, can turn an inactive prodrug (drug that is in its inactive form) into a cancer-cell killer (active chemotherapy drug). “When the first part of the switch detects cancer, it tells its partner to activate the chemotherapy drug, destroying the cell,” Ostermeier said.

Normal healthy cells will also receive the prodrug but would not be able to convert it to active chemotherapy drug and thus would be spared.

Animal testing is expected to start within a year.

Source and further reading:

Johns Hopkins University (2011, September 23). Protein 'switches' could turn cancer cells into tiny chemotherapy factories.

Wright, C., Wright, R., Eshleman, J., and Ostermeier, M. (2011) A protein therapeutic modality founded on molecular regulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved on November 27, 2011 from http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/09/12/1102803108.abstract

This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1102803108/-/DCSupplemental.

Thank you for updating your medical knowledge at Online Health Expert's Top Medical News.

Sincerely,

Dr. Harish Malik

Online Health Expert launches Free Global Move Movement to bring Doctors Closer to their Patients and Promote Health awareness to Fight Disease.

I am Dr. Harish Malik and the Author of Online Health Expert. I am a Medical Doctor from India with over 10 years of Medicine, Medical Education, Teaching, Research and Public Speaking experience. Please Click here to view my complete profile. I have recently started a Global "Move Movement".

My Revolutionary Global "Move Movement" to help prevent/fight disease and promote positive health is a testimony to my dedication to improve Global Health and cut Global Medical and Health costs.

The addition of "Free Membership" to Online Health Expert provides a platform where Medical professionals as well as people can exchange ideas, knowledge and skills to improve their health and spread Health awareness and come together as a Global Family of Health Protectors and Promoters.

My launch of the "Top Medical News" section about the technologies and discoveries that are reshaping our Health care such as Nanotechnology, 3D Organ Printing for transplantation, use of Stem Cells in healing hearts, brains and many other organs.

Above all the creation of "Synthetic Life" has changed my definition of Life - Life forms are software (genes) driven dynamic organic machines (body) - and our ability to literally edit this software on a computer and to create "New Life forms" is amazing new promising technology that has already started revolutionizing our world at all levels.

My Free Links for "Clinical Skills Videos", "Allied Health care Clinical Skills Videos" and "Symptom Checkers" when properly utilized will make Medical and Health care Safer and More Cost Effective in the time of "Global Economic Crisis" and growing disconnect between Health care Providers and Patients due to our increasing reliance on technology in diagnosing and treating patients and the diminishing and declining utilization of Clinical Skills.

“To teach is to touch a life forever”. Keeping this in mind, I believe that every Medical Educator must be highly motivated, must be knowledgeable, skilled and a thorough professional who must strive for perfection.

Please Join Online Health Expert today for FREE! to Learn and to Teach and Improve Global Health and Medical Education through your contribution today. .

 "It's Never Too Late to improve and nobody is perfect and Health care needs Major Changes NOW!" Let’s Start This Change by Joining Online Health Expert and Sharing our Wealth of knowledge.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Dr. Harish Malik

Weight Loss May Boost Sex Life of Obese, Diabetic Men.

Australian researchers found weight loss improves the sexual health of obese men with type 2 diabetes. Cutting calories can also have positive effects on urinary tract function, researchers say.

The study showed that a modest weight loss of 5 percent led to an easing of erectile dysfunction and improved sexual desire within eight weeks, and these improvements continued for 12 months.

Source: The Journal of Sexual Medicine, news release, Aug. 5, 2011

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Coffee drinking benefits in the NEWS!

Regular Coffee Drinking Has Been Linked To Many Health Benefits.

Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug used worldwide [1]. Regular Coffee Drinking has been recently in the NEWS several times and has been linked with the following Health Benefits:

1) Regular Coffee Drinkers are less likely to have Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

2) They are less likely to suffer from Parkinson Disease.

3) They are less likely to suffer from Dementia and Alzheimer's

4) They are less likely to suffer from the following Cancers:

• Reduced risk of Skin Cancer (Basal Cell Carcinoma-especially in women).
• Reduced risk of developing Prostate Cancer among men.
• Reduced risk of Estrogen negative Breast Cancer among women.
• Reduced risk of Colon Cancer.
• Reduced risk of Liver Cancer (damage).

5) They have a reduced risk of Heart Disease.

6) They (women) have a reduced risk of Stroke.

7) They (women) have a reduced risk of Depression.

8) They have a reduced risk of Gallstones.

9) They (esp. elderly women) have improved cognitive function.

10) They have an improved endurance performance in long-duration physical activities.

11) Hot Coffee drinkers are less likely to carry MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).

[1]James, J. E. (1991). Caffeine and Health (pp. 430). London: Academic Press.

Please click on each link enjoy reading it with a hot cup of Coffee!!

Thank you for reading Health benefits of coffee at Top Medical News.

Sincerely,

Harish Malik, M.D.

Support for Breast-Feeding Found Lacking in Many U.S. Hospitals.

The U.S. CDC study found that only 4% of U.S. Hospitals offered full range of services for new moms and found that only 14% of hospitals have a written breast-feeding policy.

Breast-feeding helps babies grow up healthy and reduces health-care costs. Low rates of breast-feeding in the United States result in $2.2 billion in additional medical costs per year.

According to CDC, babies who are fed formula and stop breast-feeding early have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, respiratory and ear infections. They also require more doctor visits, hospitalizations and prescriptions.

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, news release, Aug. 2, 2011

References:

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Hypertension linked to increased Cancer Risk in men and increased mortality in Cancer patients of both sexes.

According to a study released on September 27, 2011 (Stockholm, Sweden), hypertension is associated with an increased risk for cancer death, and that hypertension increases the risk of developing cancer — although the latter effect reached statistical significant only in men, not women.

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High Protein diet raises risk of Type 2 Diabetes

According to the abstract, presented at Lisbon, Portugal, at European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 47th Annual Meeting, Swedish researchers found a 37% increased risk for type 2 diabetes associated with high protein intake (hazard ratio [HR], 1.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17 to 1.61; P for trend < .001]. High intake of processed meat was also associated with an elevated risk for diabetes (HR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.36; P for trend = .005). Even after controlling for the intake of processed meat, the positive association between protein intake and diabetes remained statistically significant.

High-protein diets have been shown to be effective for short-term weight loss and glycemic control. However, the results of this trial suggest caution when considering this approach for weight loss or better control of diabetes which might be counterproductive in the long run.

The researchers suggested that replacing protein with carbohydrates, especially breads and cereals rich in fiber, might be preferable.

Reference: Medscape medical news, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/749500 accessed on Sep. 13, 2011

Thorough Chewing Raises Hormones Regulating Food Intake

(Lisbon, Portugal) Thorough chewing of food stimulates the release of 2 intestinal peptides that reduce appetite and food intake in obese individuals, according to the results of a study presented here at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 47th Annual Meeting.
Research was done in Japan, led by M. Saito from the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Medicine at Ohu University in Fukushima, Japan. They reported that their study is the first to show that thorough chewing stimulates postprandial increases of glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 and peptide YY (PYY), both of which are secreted by intestinal L cells.

Reference: Medscape medical news, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/749504 accessed on Sep. 13, 2011
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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.

References:

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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

References:

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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

 

References:

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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.

References:

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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