30 Eylül 2012 Pazar

The Stages of Pregnancy

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What Everyone Needs to Know About The Various Stages of Pregnancy

Pregnancy is such a critical state that keeping a careful markings on what is happening in your body is important in order to ensure that safety is at the top of one's priority during such condition.

Pregnancy

For pregnant women, it is important to note on the various stages of pregnancy so that you will be able to anticipate what changes to occur and tailor the care you are doing for your body, and for the loved ones, coordinate the support needed by the pregnant woman.

The Stages of Pregnancy

At such stage, it is advisable to keep a journal of yourself so that you will be able to note and track on every event that is happening in your body. Your doctor and yourself can use journals for the purpose of making sure that everything is all right and no needed medical support should be extended for you.

Stages of Pregnancy

While pregnancy is basically a matter of concern among women who are pregnant, it is also helpful for partners and loved ones to be aware on everything that is happening on the woman's body so that proper and specific support would be extended on each semester of pregnancy.

The various stages of pregnancy including the unique characteristics and changes that may happen are listed in detail in the next section.

A. First Trimester - The first semester of pregnancy is characterized by many symptoms a host of changes. This may be difficult for first timers for they would be experiencing the many symptoms and telltale pregnancy horrors typical for such condition.

Symptoms may include tiredness (typical morning sickness), changes on the size of breast and the body mass, vomiting and nausea among other things. Excessive urination may be experienced during this time due to the hormones circulating in the blood which is also brought about by the developing fetus is the uterus of a pregnant woman.

Moreover, before the first semester of pregnancy concludes, the fetus may grow to a size of a hazelnut and starts showing signs life such as heartbeat, and locomotive abilities (moving). This critical stage is also a sign of intensive and regular medical checkup ensuring the health of the fetus and the mother and keeping any more-than-usual pregnancy-related symptoms that may occur.

Nutritious diet is advised at this stage and all throughout the course of pregnancy while advising on keeping a regular and light physical exercise.

B. Second Trimester. The second semester is marked by more aggressive changes. Body figure dramatically changes in the 6th weeks and more pronounced contractions, known as Braxton Hicks contractions, would be experienced. It is also in this stage that your belly will start to become more prominent and you may feel the fetus growing inside you.

On week 20-22, uterus will start growing all the way down to your navel and several changes including the production of colostrum (most nutritious first milk) in your breast, and color on nipples and areolas and overall skin tone may bring discomfort to your appearance.

Also, blood vessels in several parts of your body where the fetus develops the most experiences severe pressure and may result to characteristic hemorrhoids or varicose veins. Pigmentations and other discolorations, called chloasma, may also become apparent during this period and may disappear after giving birth.

Ultimately, the end of the second semester shows more signs of the body development of the fetus as it grows the size of 22 to 25 cm (11 to 14 inches) and may weight around one and a half pounds and may do the usual "kicking".

C. Third Trimester. The third semester is usually called the "preparation time" for childbirth. It is in this stage that your body will become less tolerable for pain and changes. You may start complaining on your lower back and your breast feeling "loaded" to the max.

This stage is also an opportunity for would-be moms to start taking those breastfeeding and childbirth exercises in order to better prepare them for that "big day". This preparation scheme would eliminate some possible delivery spoof which occurs among parents who normally are not better prepared on such circumstances.

Theoretically, this stage is the most uncomfortable semester of pregnancy as you may experience leg cramps, lowerback ache, frequent urination or uncontrolled bladder activity, and more pronounced Braxton Hicks contractions.

The Stages of Pregnancy

Monica Nelson is a health editor who writes about pregnancy week by week in addition to many other health issues for women at the site Women's Health Questions.

24 Hour Urine Test - Pregnancy

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The moment any pregnancy early signs are noticed, the urine protein must be tested. A test that checks the Urine Protein to Creatinine Ratio, also known as UPCR, UP/CR, protein to creatinine ratio, tells you about the protein in the urine. Prior to this test one must be familiar with the Signs of pregnancy.

• Morning sickness
• Fatigue
• Missed period
• Implantation cramping
• Frequent urination
• Tender swollen breasts or Darkening of areolas
• Headache
• Indigestion
• Food cravings (in later stage)

Pregnancy

Urine Protein Test

24 Hour Urine Test - Pregnancy

Expecting pregnant women are normally recommended to go for a urine pregnancy test right after the appearance of first pregnancy symptoms. The protein/creatinine test is very simple and it calculates a hormone in the urine related with pregnancy - beta human chorionic gonadotropin or beta-HCG.
Creatinine is a byproduct of muscle metabolism; it is produced constantly and is excreted through the urine from the body. Since, creatinine is constantly produced in the body its count in the urine, indirectly, determines the measurement of kidney function which is also known as glomerular filtration rate. A significant rise in the serum creatinine in the urine may also show kidney damage.

Although, urine protein can be measured from any urine sample but a 24-hour urine test is the most accurate way to assess the pregnancy signs with creatinine.

Throughout pregnancy, some other protein may be excreted in the urine, due to the increase in the renal blood flow. Normal, quantity of this added protein loss should not be more than 300 mg in 24 hours.

24 hour urine pregnancy tests are advised after 10 days of ovulation and fertilization. However, the doctors' advice waiting till the missed periods as the pregnancy test taken before this may indicate a false pregnancy result. Vigorous physical activity or muscular trauma during or prior to the test will cause an increased amount of creatinine and may lead to false results as well.

24 Hour Urine Test - Pregnancy

Cain Smith is expert in writing articles on pregnancy and other related issues. She is working in famous hospital in USA. She is also work for women's Health & USA Medicine Researcher. Read her more articles on signs of pregnancy, symptoms of pregnancy.

Pregnancy - Tips and Tricks For Conception

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Now that the facts are on the table and the myths have been dispelled, it's time to learn what the birds and bees already know: Getting pregnant can take a little effort. There are some tips and tricks that can help a healthy, fertile couple's chances for conception increase. Trying them can, in some cases, help speed along the process or at least hedge the bets in favor of a healthy pregnancy once the goal has been achieved.

Stop birth control. If the desire is to get pregnant, this is a must. To clean out the system from hormonal medications before trying to conceive, consider using an alternative means of control during the first one to three cycles.

Pregnancy

Treat yourself like you are pregnant. While it might take a little time to conceive, one of the best ways to ensure a healthy start is to begin early. This means cutting out smoking, drinking and caffeine in advance of conception and even starting on folic acid early to lessen the chances of birth defects down the road.

Pregnancy - Tips and Tricks For Conception

Prepare your body by getting into shape. While there's no guarantee for conception and no way to determine the outcome once it has happened, healthy women tend to have healthy babies. With this in mind, it's not a bad idea to get weight into check and other health issues addressed beforehand. There are some studies that show women who are under or overweight have a harder time conceiving.

Time ovulation. Getting pregnant absolutely requires good timing. To ensure having sex during the right time of the month, there are ovulation calendars, ovulation predictor kits and more to help. In general, the egg is released on the 12th to 16th day of a cycle, but this isn't always the right window in every woman. Learning to track ovulation can greatly increase chances for having sex on the right days and actually successfully fertilizing an egg.

Positions can help. This sometimes falls in the myth category, but there are experts who believe positions that offer the deepest penetration during sex can help ensure sperm is deposited as close to the cervix as possible. The suggested positions here include man on top, or missionary, and the man behind with both facing in the same direction.

In brief. Men can help in the process by getting rid of constricting pants and underwear. Boxers tend to be better for allowing sperm counts to rise, which can increase chances for conception.

Pregnancy - Tips and Tricks For Conception

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Pregnancy - How to Get Ready

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Planning your pregnancy is very important to ensure that you and your baby will be in good health all throughout this exciting and amazing journey. Although some women tend to let nature take its course, still it would be best if you first learn the top ten things that you should know before getting pregnant. Knowing these important pieces of information can help your baby get off to the best start in life.

Are you ready to get pregnant and be a mother?

Pregnancy

The thought of having a child is the easy part for most women. However, knowing and deciding when is the right time could be difficult. Before getting pregnant, first you need to ask yourself if you are ready to go through pregnancy and be a mother. To answer this, you need to consider lots of factors including your health, financial capacity, impact on career, and the most important, your willingness to accept the big responsibility of being a mother and give up a great deal of your personal freedom.

Pregnancy - How to Get Ready

When should you talk to your doctor about pregnancy?

Once you come up with a decision that you are ready to get pregnant, you can schedule an appointment with your doctor and ask the things that you need to know about pregnancy. You can talk about your habits, diet, lifestyle, and other concerns that you have prior to getting pregnant. It is also important that you discuss your medical conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, if you have, so that you can prevent possible pregnancy complications.

Why give up alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs during pregnancy?

Alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs are bad for developing babies. Alcohol, for one, can cause your baby to have learning disabilities and behavior problems. Smoking, on the other hand, can result to miscarriage and low birth weight. And drugs can cause brain problems, premature birth, and worst fetal death. Once you decide to get pregnant, you should be ready to give up all these for the sake of your baby.

Why fitness is good?

Keeping yourself fit before getting pregnant is very important. Doing exercises regularly can help promote a healthy pregnancy and may result to shorter labor and leaner baby. If you have not started any exercise regimen, then now is the best time to have one and talk to your practitioner about what kind of exercise would be best for you.

What should you include in your diet?

Prior to getting pregnant, you need to know the right diet for pregnant women. Junk foods, sweets, salty foods, oily foods, soda, too much coffee, and other types of foods which include preservatives are not good for the baby. If you are used to this kind of diet, then you might as well start making some changes as early as now. You can talk to your doctor about this and ask for healthy diet suggestions.

Why is folate important?

Women who do not get enough folate or folic acid prior and during pregnancy are more likely to have a baby with birth defects. So, once you decide to get pregnant, you should start taking folic acid because birth defects can develop very early in pregnancy. Try taking a multivitamin which is rich in folate or eat foods like oranges, bananas, organ meats, and green, leafy vegetables.

Why consider your weight?

If you are underweight or overweight, your risk during pregnancy is higher for conditions like high blood pressure. You are likely to experience more pregnancy discomforts especially during the onset of labor. That is why prior to getting pregnant, you need to gain weight or lose weight if you need to. Check with your doctor if what is the right exercise and diet program that will be healthy for you.

Are you around things at work or home that could be harmful to pregnant woman?

Carbon disulfide, anesthetic gases, heavy metals like lead, radiation, acids, copper, and mercury are some of the things that can be harmful to pregnant woman. If your home or workplace is exposed to these things, then you should talk to your doctor if what are the possible effects of these when you get pregnant. Ask about the dangers and seek for suggestions to protect you and your baby's health.

What tests you need before getting pregnant?

It is important that you take some tests so you will find out if you have problems which could harm your baby during pregnancy. Tests to determine rubella, STDs, and other problems like anemia or hepatitis should be done to help prevent problems for you and your baby.

Why good prenatal care should start prior to pregnancy?

Good prenatal care can provide the best possible environment for you and your baby, from the moment of conception through birth and beyond. Set a preconception consultation with your midwife or doctor so that you will know the best steps to keep you healthy before getting pregnant.

These are the top ten things that you need to know before getting pregnant. With all these in mind, you are on your way to an exciting and healthy pregnancy.

Pregnancy - How to Get Ready

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Second Pregnancy - What to Expect

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Congratulations on your second pregnancy! So you are going to be a mother again! Motherhood is a wonderful feeling indeed. You must be wondering, in what ways your experience is going to differ from your first one. Also, since your body is older than the first time around, you might also be anxious about possible complications. Here are a few things to expect during your second pregnancy period, and some cautions that you need to take, to ensure that everything is smooth sailing.

Changes In Your Body Different From Your First Pregnancy:

Pregnancy

Emotional Adjustments For Yourself And Your Family:

Second Pregnancy - What to Expect

Complications That Might Arise

So all you second-time moms, hope your first experience makes you less anxious than before. You are now better aware of the diets you need to follow, the exercises you need to do in order to ensure that you experience a risk-free second pregnancy. Consult your OB, try and stay updated about any new tests or medications that may have been introduced. Consider joining a Lamaze class again, now that you may have forgotten much of the exercise routine. Discussing your experiences with other second-time mothers in your friend circle will further ease your tensions. So sit back, relax, enjoy your motherhood, and welcome the new baby in this earth cheerfully.

Second Pregnancy - What to Expect

Apurva Shree is an expert who writes on issues related to pregnancy, types of pregnancy and niche subjects such as second pregnancy. Read more articles by this author on pregnancy-period

29 Eylül 2012 Cumartesi

BLOOD GENETICALLY MODIFIED TO CREATE RARE BLOOD

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Blood Genetically Modified To Create Rare Blood
France - Researchers from the French Blood Alps-Mediterranean could change one blood group through gene transfer. A breakthrough that will perhaps eventually to produce samples of rare blood.

Their work used the blood group system Kidd / JK as a model, a blood group among the 30 known, particularly critical in the field of blood transfusion.

While for certain blood groups as ABO, it is possible to obtain blood samples with any combination of antigens, the total lack of group antigens Kidd / JK on the surface of red blood cells particularly rare.

The strategy combines the technology of gene transfer, RNA interference and in vitro generation of red blood cells. Using vectors for gene transfer derived from HIV, the work of this French team showed it is possible to genetically modify stem cells from umbilical cord blood by inducing suppression of the expression of a gene (SLC14A1) that encodes the protein Kidd / JK.

These genetically modified cells are grown in the laboratory to generate red blood cells are tested using techniques routine laboratory blood. These tests show that these red cells have the same characteristics as those of a donor rare Jk null.

This type of blood sample "artificial" could be used in diagnostic laboratories of blood groups as reference sample. Many developments are still needed to devise an industrial development that could lead to regular use. These works still represent a first step towards the creation of rare blood samples used in diagnostic tests conducted in the field of blood safety.

NANOTECHNOLOGY TO TREAT CANCER

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Nanotechnology To Treat Cancer
U.S. - A team of researchers from Harvard University and the Institute of Technology Massachusetts (MIT) has developed a new way of treating cancer by administering the treatment only to diseased cells without killing cells.

Current treatments against cancer certainly target the diseased cells but also reach those in good health. This new treatment will prevent the growth of cancer cells with cytotoxic agents, while preserving tissue not involved.

This team of researchers led by Dr Basu has made chemically modified nanoparticles to target and prevent signaling pathway proteins providing cellular proliferation. By blocking these signaling pathways, cancer cells were not able to multiply.

Nanoparticles target cancer cells while and allow chemotherapy agents act directly on them. Targeting only those cells and predispose them to receive treatment would use doses of medication weaker and more tailored to the patient. Side effects are less evident and treatment easier to live for the patient.

Tests performed in the laboratory, combining nanoparticles and a drug cisplatin (which is used to treat several types of cancer) have demonstrated the effectiveness of this process to inhibit the development of cancerous cells and even kill them. Tests on mice with melanoma have also proved inconclusive. In the group of mice treated with the combination of nanoparticles and the drug, 50% of mice had their tumors regress, no cons in the group treated with medication alone.

THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY 2009 : RIBOSOMES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 : Ribosomes In The Spotlight
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to two Americans and one Israeli for their work on ribosomes. This research promises advances in the treatment of diseases through the improvement of antibiotics.

The Nobel chemistry prize three researchers for their studies of ribosomes: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom), Thomas A. Steitz (Yale University, USA) and Ada E. Yonath (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel).

These components of the cell, real manufacturing proteins via translation of DNA, are major targets for antibiotic action of many of them being to prevent bacterial ribosomes to function, said the academy Royal Swedish Society of Sciences.

Together, they conducted a three-dimensional mapping at the scale of the atom in this complex enzyme. Ribosomes, real biochemical plants, read the genetic code to produce proteins necessary for the establishment and functioning of organisms. Hemoglobin, hormone, enzyme digestion, consisting of cells, antibodies ... all that is synthesized by ribosomes. This is true for humans, but also for disease-causing bacteria.

In blocking the functioning of the ribosomes that antibiotics fight against bacteria. Better understanding is therefore better to fight against the disease.

The three distinguished scientists have used the X-ray crystallography to detail the atomic structure of ribosomes and develop models to explain their association with various antibiotics. These models are now used for the development of new drugs.

With the 10 million kronor (980,000 euros), the Nobel chemistry prize investment of all the teams of these three researchers, whose work is used since 2000 to develop new antibiotics.

MOTHER'S CANCER CAN PASS TO FETUS

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A Mother Sends Cancer To Her Baby During Pregnancy
England - A mother of 28 years, died of leukemia, a cancer cell transmitted to her daughter, while it was still in her uterus.

This event is rare and researchers proves that cancer can be passed from mother to child. Seventeen cases were identified earlier when the mother and baby share the same cancer often leukemia or melanoma. However, scientists now have evidence of genetic transmission of cancer.

Normally, the immune system of a baby recognizes and destroys any cancer cell from the mother. But this time, the leukemic cells have avoided the baby's natural defenses.

The scientists began their research in 2006 when a Japanese father brought his baby to 11 months in the hospital in Tokyo. He then explained that the mother had died three months ago. Samples taken from the infant compared to those of the mother showed that they contained the same cancer cells. These cases are still extremely rare according to scientists.

AVAIN FLU: IT's TOO COLD IN THE HUMAN NOSE THAT H5N1 CAN SPREAD

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Avian flu: It's too cold in the human nose that H5N1 can spread
While all the media attention at the moment is focused towards the H1N1 influenza A (also known as swine flu), researchers continue to try to understand how the H5N1 avian influenza. In an article published in the journal free online access PLoS Pathogens (reference below), an Anglo-American study reveals that a likely reason why the H5N1 avian influenza infects human with difficulty is the relatively low temperature (32 ° C) environment of the proximal human airway. It is possible that the epidemic of avian influenza (H5N1) in Southeast Asia was in 2007, which inter-species transmission has remained sporadic, never ever be transformed into a human pandemic because the mutations that might have made virus infection in humans have not occurred.

Temperature difference between distal and proximal human airway
Because previous studies showing that the H5N1 virus infecting the more distal (bronchi) that the proximal side (nose, throat) of the human airway, scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (U.S.) and Imperial College London (United Kingdom) have hypothesized that the temperature difference between the two areas have been crucial to prevent zoonosis (transmission of animal disease to humans and vice versa). To provide some answers to their hypothesis, the U.S. and British researchers have used an in vitro model of human ciliated cells from the airways, they were seeded at temperatures of 37 ° C or 32 ° C ( to mimic the existing conditions of distal or proximal). In the first case, the two types of human and avian viruses infecting cell cultures efficiently, while at 32 ° C, only the human virus demonstrated efficiency of infection of cells in culture. These results are consistent with the fact that the infection in birds takes place in the intestine, and then at 40 ° C.

The important role of glycoproteins in the adjustment to room temperature
It is furthermore known that the influenza virus present at position 627 in the PB2 polymerase (element responsible for the replication of influenza virus genome in the host cell), an amino acid plays a crucial role in Adaptation of virus to the environmental temperature within the same host. The replacement of this residue of the human virus by that of avian virus but did not explain the difference between the infectious properties of both viruses at different temperatures. The researchers then used two types of human viruses, the H3N2 and H1N1, and replaced some of their surface proteins (glycoproteins, see box) by surface proteins of influenza virus. The human viruses as amended showed reduced ability to infect human cells ciliated cells cultured at 32 ° C, suggesting an important role of these glycoproteins in the adjustment to room temperature, and therefore a crucial role in limited transmission of H5N1 influenza viruses in humans and in the inter-human contagion.

The study, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC Council for Medical Research) in the United Kingdom and by the NIH in the United States is important because in the words of Professor Wendy Barclay, Imperial College London,

"It is impossible to develop vaccines against the 16 subtypes of avian viruses [...]. By studying a range of viruses, we can nevertheless determine what changes come to significantly increase the risk of zoonoses and contagion in the human species. "

The Influenza Virus
The influenza virus belongs to the family Orthomyxoviridae, enveloped viruses with single-stranded RNA and having a spherical shape 80 to 100 nm in diameter. There are three types of influenza viruses named A, B and C. Their surface is studded with surface proteins or glycoproteins, also known as surface antigens. Viruses A and B have two types, the hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). The hemagglutinin is responsible for virus attachment on a sialic acid residue on the surface of cells of the ciliated epithelium of the respiratory tract, and the fusion of viral and cellular membranes during the penetration phase virus. Neuraminidase, in turn, allows the release into the host cell virions pre-formed, and the posting of the hemagglutinin (and therefore the virus particle) of the cell membrane of the host.

Reference:
Article: Avian Influenza Virus Glycoproteins Restrict Virus Replication and Spread Through Human Airway Epithelium at Temperatures of the Proximal Airways
Authors: Margaret A. Scull, Laura Gillim-Ross, Celia Santos, Kim L. Roberts, Elena Bordonali, Kanta Subbarao, Wendy S. Barclay, Raymond J. Pickles
Published Journal: PLoS Pathogens
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000424

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Source: BE UK number 97
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28 Eylül 2012 Cuma

WOMEN HAVE A MORE POWERFUL IMMUNE SYSTEM THAN MEN ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY

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Women Have A More Powerful Immune System Than Men According To A New Study.
Men and women are not equal before biology: the latest study by Dr. Maya Saleh, of the Research Institute of the University Health Center McGill and the McGill University (Canada), shows that women have a more powerful immune systems than men. Indeed, the production of estrogen in females would have a positive effect on the innate inflammatory response against bacterial pathogens. These surprising results were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today.

More specifically, estrogen produced naturally by women could block the secretion of the enzyme Caspase-12 that blocks the inflammatory process. Thus the presence of estrogen would have a positive effect on innate immunity, which represents the body's first defense against pathogens.

"These results demonstrate that the inflammatory response in women is more powerful than men,"
According to Dr. Saleh.

This study was conducted on mice with the gene for caspase-12 was inactivated, ie mice highly resistant to infection. The human gene for caspase-12 has been implanted in some of them, male and female .... or only males have become more susceptible to infections.

"We were very surprised by this result, and we determined that the estrogen produced by female mice blocked the actions of the human gene for caspase-12 gene",

says Dr. Saleh.

"We could also show which part of the gene binds estrogen to block, which calls for direct action."

Since these experiments were made with a human gene, researchers believe that these results are also applicable to men. This characteristic of female innate immune system could have developed during evolution to better protect individuals which breed.


The positive effect of estrogen on our natural resistance to infection is also with synthetic hormones such as 17-beta estradiol. This finding may open the door to new therapeutic applications for enhancing the immune system. A question remains: men will accept they take an exclusively female hormone to treat?
--
Source: McGill University

NEW THERAPIES AGAINST HIV-AIDS : COMBINATION ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY WITH CHEMOTHERAPY TARGETED

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New Therapies Against HIV-AIDS : Combination Antiretroviral Therapy With Chemotherapy Targeted
The discovery opens the way for new therapies against HIV-AIDS. Now, it might be possible to treat HIV / AIDS adding chemotherapy targeted to current treatment called HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral). This new solution would destroy all the viruses circulating in the body than those hidden in immune cells.

The work was led by Dr. Sekaly of the University of Montreal (Canada) and were published in the journal Nature Medicine.

So far the treatment against AIDS is still hampered by the elimination of "reservoirs of HIV" of immune system cells where the virus is hiding and where the current HAART regimens can not achieve. The researchers were able to identify cells where HIV hides and mechanisms that allow the virus to evade current treatments. They thus paved the way for new therapies completely different from what is currently used.

"Our results support a strategy similar to that used against leukemia: chemotherapy, combined with targeted immune therapy,"
said Dr. Sekaly, professor at the University of Montreal, a researcher at the Research Center of Hospital of the University of Montreal, Director INSERM 743 and Scientific Director of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in Florida.

"This would destroy the cells containing a virus, while giving the immune system time to regenerate itself with healthy cells."

"For the first time, this study shows that the reservoirs of HIV are not due to insufficient power antiretrovirals but the persistence of the virus in two types of immune CD4 cells for life long memories"

said Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy, hematologist at the MUHC researcher Infection and Immunity Research Institute of the MUHC, and Professor of Hematology at McGill University.

"There are so many types of reservoirs of HIV, each requiring different treatment to be eliminated. "

Indeed, once the virus is hidden in these reservoir cells it becomes dependent: if the cell lives, but the virus lives when the cell dies, the virus dies too. Destroying these immune cells is therefore to eliminate the party best hidden virus. The current HAART regimens effectively destroy viruses circulating in the body but can not reach those hidden in the cell reservoir.

"We now have all new options to explore in the coming years to combat HIV,"

concludes Nicolas Chomont, post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Montreal and one of the co-authors of this study.

"The combination of basic and clinical approaches has led to surprising results that allow us to solve another of the mysteries of this virus with a thousand faces."

These new therapeutic options require many years of research before being validated and to become a reality for patients. However, this study represents an invaluable work plan that will guide many laboratories around the world.
--
Reference:
Article: HIV reservoir size and persistence are driven by T cell survival and homeostatic proliferation
Authors: Nicolas Chomont, Mohamed El-Far, Petronela Ancuta, Lydie Trautmann, Francesco A Procopio, Bader Yassine-Diab, Genevieve Boucher, Mohamed-Rachid Boulassel, Georges Ghattas, Jason M Brenchley, Timothy W Schacker, Brenna J Hill, Daniel C Douek, Jean-Pierre Routy, Elias K Haddad & Sekaly
Journal publication: Nature Medicine
DOI: 10.1038/nm.1972
--
Source: Eurekalert

THE LONGEST SOLAR ECLIPSE OF THE CENTURY IN PICTURES

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The Longest Solar Eclipse Of The Century In Pictures

The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century plunged Wednesday, July 22 in the dark much of Asia, in western India to Polynesia. an exceptional phenomenon, with a period of total eclipse maximum of 6 minutes 36 seconds (less than 3 minutes on average).

Potentially, two billion earthlings were able to observe the eclipse of the Sun "monster", according to astrophysicists, which represents a record in the history of mankind.

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MOTHER'S CANCER CAN PASS TO FETUS

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A Mother Sends Cancer To Her Baby During Pregnancy
England - A mother of 28 years, died of leukemia, a cancer cell transmitted to her daughter, while it was still in her uterus.

This event is rare and researchers proves that cancer can be passed from mother to child. Seventeen cases were identified earlier when the mother and baby share the same cancer often leukemia or melanoma. However, scientists now have evidence of genetic transmission of cancer.

Normally, the immune system of a baby recognizes and destroys any cancer cell from the mother. But this time, the leukemic cells have avoided the baby's natural defenses.

The scientists began their research in 2006 when a Japanese father brought his baby to 11 months in the hospital in Tokyo. He then explained that the mother had died three months ago. Samples taken from the infant compared to those of the mother showed that they contained the same cancer cells. These cases are still extremely rare according to scientists.

AVAIN FLU: IT's TOO COLD IN THE HUMAN NOSE THAT H5N1 CAN SPREAD

To contact us Click HERE
Avian flu: It's too cold in the human nose that H5N1 can spread
While all the media attention at the moment is focused towards the H1N1 influenza A (also known as swine flu), researchers continue to try to understand how the H5N1 avian influenza. In an article published in the journal free online access PLoS Pathogens (reference below), an Anglo-American study reveals that a likely reason why the H5N1 avian influenza infects human with difficulty is the relatively low temperature (32 ° C) environment of the proximal human airway. It is possible that the epidemic of avian influenza (H5N1) in Southeast Asia was in 2007, which inter-species transmission has remained sporadic, never ever be transformed into a human pandemic because the mutations that might have made virus infection in humans have not occurred.

Temperature difference between distal and proximal human airway
Because previous studies showing that the H5N1 virus infecting the more distal (bronchi) that the proximal side (nose, throat) of the human airway, scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (U.S.) and Imperial College London (United Kingdom) have hypothesized that the temperature difference between the two areas have been crucial to prevent zoonosis (transmission of animal disease to humans and vice versa). To provide some answers to their hypothesis, the U.S. and British researchers have used an in vitro model of human ciliated cells from the airways, they were seeded at temperatures of 37 ° C or 32 ° C ( to mimic the existing conditions of distal or proximal). In the first case, the two types of human and avian viruses infecting cell cultures efficiently, while at 32 ° C, only the human virus demonstrated efficiency of infection of cells in culture. These results are consistent with the fact that the infection in birds takes place in the intestine, and then at 40 ° C.

The important role of glycoproteins in the adjustment to room temperature
It is furthermore known that the influenza virus present at position 627 in the PB2 polymerase (element responsible for the replication of influenza virus genome in the host cell), an amino acid plays a crucial role in Adaptation of virus to the environmental temperature within the same host. The replacement of this residue of the human virus by that of avian virus but did not explain the difference between the infectious properties of both viruses at different temperatures. The researchers then used two types of human viruses, the H3N2 and H1N1, and replaced some of their surface proteins (glycoproteins, see box) by surface proteins of influenza virus. The human viruses as amended showed reduced ability to infect human cells ciliated cells cultured at 32 ° C, suggesting an important role of these glycoproteins in the adjustment to room temperature, and therefore a crucial role in limited transmission of H5N1 influenza viruses in humans and in the inter-human contagion.

The study, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC Council for Medical Research) in the United Kingdom and by the NIH in the United States is important because in the words of Professor Wendy Barclay, Imperial College London,

"It is impossible to develop vaccines against the 16 subtypes of avian viruses [...]. By studying a range of viruses, we can nevertheless determine what changes come to significantly increase the risk of zoonoses and contagion in the human species. "

The Influenza Virus
The influenza virus belongs to the family Orthomyxoviridae, enveloped viruses with single-stranded RNA and having a spherical shape 80 to 100 nm in diameter. There are three types of influenza viruses named A, B and C. Their surface is studded with surface proteins or glycoproteins, also known as surface antigens. Viruses A and B have two types, the hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). The hemagglutinin is responsible for virus attachment on a sialic acid residue on the surface of cells of the ciliated epithelium of the respiratory tract, and the fusion of viral and cellular membranes during the penetration phase virus. Neuraminidase, in turn, allows the release into the host cell virions pre-formed, and the posting of the hemagglutinin (and therefore the virus particle) of the cell membrane of the host.

Reference:
Article: Avian Influenza Virus Glycoproteins Restrict Virus Replication and Spread Through Human Airway Epithelium at Temperatures of the Proximal Airways
Authors: Margaret A. Scull, Laura Gillim-Ross, Celia Santos, Kim L. Roberts, Elena Bordonali, Kanta Subbarao, Wendy S. Barclay, Raymond J. Pickles
Published Journal: PLoS Pathogens
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000424

--
Source: BE UK number 97
http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/59855.htm

27 Eylül 2012 Perşembe

A VERY PROMISING NEW DRUG AGAINST CANCER

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A Very Promising New Drug Against Cancer
British researchers (from The Institute of Cancer Research) announce that they have obtained through a new drug against certain cancers, genetic, very promising results in preliminary clinical trials. The results were published in the medical journal The New England Journal of Medicine dated June 24, 2009 (Reference below).

A drug that targets cancer cells and leave normal cells intact
This new drug Olaparib was given to patients with advanced forms of cancer (breast, ovarian or prostate) inherited a mutation in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 (this genes were thought to be responsible for about 5% of breast and ovarian cancers, and about 1-2% of early onset prostate cancers). The Olaparib blocks the action of enzymes called PARP [Poly(ADP-Ribose)polymerase] involved in the mechanisms reparatinon DNA. Thanks to this drug in more than half of patients, the tumor had either stabilized or decreased in size. These patients had not responded favorably to standard treatment against cancer. The study shows that patients remained in remission two years after receiving treatment.

The Olaparib target cancer cells but leave normal cells intact. This medication has also very few side effects and some patients have reported that treatment was more bearable than chemotherapy.

Dr Johann de Bono, a researcher of the Institute of Cancer Research who led the clinical trials Phase I with the assistance of AstraZeneca / KuDOS said that positive results should permit completion of ESSI greater extent .

"This drug has shown very impressive to reduce the size of tumors in patients. It gives patients who have already tried many conventional treatments for long periods of remission, free of any symptoms or side effects " said the researcher.

Synthetic Lethality
Olaparib is the first successful example of a new type of personalized medicine using the principle of "synthetic lethality" (synthetic lethality in English), the medicine works effectively with molecular defect of the patient. This treatment is based on experiments conducted in this institute have shown that some cancers had Achilles' heels: if drugs - as olaparib - are used to block an enzyme called PARP in the body, DNA the tumor cell is broken and the cell dies.

Cancers with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations were first discovered as being sensitive to inhibition of PARP but there are evidences which suggest that olaparib will be effective in other cancers with defects in machinery repair of DNA. This could apply to certain cancers of non-inherited breast or prostate cancers and up to half of the most common forms of ovarian cancer.

"It is a very important drug for the treatment of cancers associated with BRCA1 / 2. The next step is to test the drug on a more common form of cancer of the ovaries or breast or we hope that this drug will be equally effective." said Professor Stan Kaye who co-led the study.

Professor Alan Ashworth who now runs the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Center participates in the financing of this research is the source of the work of targeting mechanisms réapration DNA in cancer.

"We are extremely pleased that the work that we conducted in the laboratory are translated as quickly as benefits to patients. This concept is now tested in clinical trials deifferents worldwide." said the professor.

The mode of action of this drug
The concept behind this new approach is called "synthetic lethality". Normal cells have different ways of repairing damage to their DNA. In the case of BRCA tumors, a means of compensation is absent. Olaparib the drug blocks a different path involving the enzyme PARP, normal cells are not affected by this medication because they can use the BRCA genes. When the drug is used on the BRCA tumors, they have no means to repair their DNA when they die. Therefore, this drug is so effective at killing cancer cells and do not affect normal cells.
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Reference:
Article: Inhibition of Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase in Tumors from BRCA Mutation Carriers
Authors: Peter C. Fong, David S. Boss, Timothy A. Yap, Andrew Tutt, Peijun Wu, Mergui-Marja Roelvink, Peter Mortimer, Helen Swaisland, Alan Lau, Mark J. O'Connor, Alan Ashworth, James Carmichael, Stan B. Kaye, Mr. Jan H. Schellens, and Johann S. Bono
Journal Publication:
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0900212
--
Source : BBC Health

MOTHER'S CANCER CAN PASS TO FETUS

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A Mother Sends Cancer To Her Baby During Pregnancy
England - A mother of 28 years, died of leukemia, a cancer cell transmitted to her daughter, while it was still in her uterus.

This event is rare and researchers proves that cancer can be passed from mother to child. Seventeen cases were identified earlier when the mother and baby share the same cancer often leukemia or melanoma. However, scientists now have evidence of genetic transmission of cancer.

Normally, the immune system of a baby recognizes and destroys any cancer cell from the mother. But this time, the leukemic cells have avoided the baby's natural defenses.

The scientists began their research in 2006 when a Japanese father brought his baby to 11 months in the hospital in Tokyo. He then explained that the mother had died three months ago. Samples taken from the infant compared to those of the mother showed that they contained the same cancer cells. These cases are still extremely rare according to scientists.

DAILY SEX "HELPS IMPROVE SPERM QUALITY"

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Daily Sex "Helps Improve Sperm Quality"
Australian study - Having sex daily increase sperm quality and thus assist men who have fertility problems.

The study was conducted on 118 Australians
whose semen showed alterations, the researchers found that daily ejaculation for a week increased significantly reduce the number of DNA damage sperm of patients.

Dr David Greening and colleagues at the private clinic Sydney IVF (Australia), specializes in fertility problems, participants were asked to have sex every day for a week. After seven days, doctors have observed in 81% of subjects a decrease of 12% of the amount of damaged sperm. Sperm quality can also be improved if men do not smoke, do not abuse alcohol, do exercise and ingest more antioxidants.

Although the sperm count has dropped to 180 million per ml to 70 million per ml, men were still in the "range of fertility."

Since he led the study, Dr Greening said now recommend to all couples seeking advice to improve their fertility to begin to love more. One suggestion that seems to contradict the older men but delight the youngest, said the doctor.

Sex frequent help to improve sperm quality by preventing it from staying too long in the body. The sperm DNA was indeed more likely to be damaged when staying long in the body. Also heat can also make sperm less mobile.

Some experts welcomed the study but added that it does not prove that sex daily allows men with fertility problems to have a better chance of producing babies. Dr Greening and colleagues are still analyzing the results of the study to determine how many companions of participants became pregnant.

If confirmed, the discovery could have implications for in vitro fertilization (IVF) as was previously recommended for couples to abstain for two days just to increase sperm count.

"Studying the DNA of sperm is only part of the puzzle" said his side Bill Ledger, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Sheffield, Great Britain, who has not participated in the study.

"This may improve pregnancy rates, but we still need to study further" Mr. Ledger also believes that apply to couples with fertility problems to have greater love could harm their relationship.

"This could add to the anxiety and do more harm than good." Couples should not feel obliged to change their sexual life to have a baby, he said.
--
This work was presented Tuesday, June 30, 2009 in Amsterdam at the Congress of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. (Website: http://www.eshre.com)
--
Sources: BBC News, AP

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS : HOPE WITH AUTOLOGOUS STEM CELLS

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Multiple Sclerosis : Hope With Autologous Stem Cell
A U.S. team has achieved encouraging results in the fight against multiple sclerosis (MS) using a new technique of autotransplantation of stem cells extracted from bone marrow of the patient. The results of this clinical trial was conducted on 21 patients in the first phase of the disease have been published in the online version of Lancet Neurology.

This technique of transplantation of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant is the patient's own bone marrow cells. The cells are harvested from bone marrow and the patient receives a cocktail of immunosuppressive drugs' anti-rejection". The infusion of these stem cells is then performed intravenously. The latter will somehow "reset" the immune system.

In this study, 37 months after transplantation, 21 patients have experienced no worsening of their condition, and 17 of them have seen a significant reduction in their handicaps.

Approximately 80,000 people in France suffer from multiple sclerosis whose forms and trends vary greatly from one patient to another. Multiple sclerosis is characterized by destruction of myelin, the protective layer around nerve fibers that carries nerve impulses (see illustration below). Problems with coordination, vision problems, dizziness, motor problems are some of the symptoms of the disease.


It is an autoimmune disease, ie an immune attack via cell become aggressive, which attack the body itself (in this case myelin). Therefore, researchers try to "reset" the immune system by transplanting hematopoietic stem cells, derived from bone marrow precursors of red blood cells and white blood cells (which include the lymphocytes).

AVAIN FLU: IT's TOO COLD IN THE HUMAN NOSE THAT H5N1 CAN SPREAD

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Avian flu: It's too cold in the human nose that H5N1 can spread
While all the media attention at the moment is focused towards the H1N1 influenza A (also known as swine flu), researchers continue to try to understand how the H5N1 avian influenza. In an article published in the journal free online access PLoS Pathogens (reference below), an Anglo-American study reveals that a likely reason why the H5N1 avian influenza infects human with difficulty is the relatively low temperature (32 ° C) environment of the proximal human airway. It is possible that the epidemic of avian influenza (H5N1) in Southeast Asia was in 2007, which inter-species transmission has remained sporadic, never ever be transformed into a human pandemic because the mutations that might have made virus infection in humans have not occurred.

Temperature difference between distal and proximal human airway
Because previous studies showing that the H5N1 virus infecting the more distal (bronchi) that the proximal side (nose, throat) of the human airway, scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (U.S.) and Imperial College London (United Kingdom) have hypothesized that the temperature difference between the two areas have been crucial to prevent zoonosis (transmission of animal disease to humans and vice versa). To provide some answers to their hypothesis, the U.S. and British researchers have used an in vitro model of human ciliated cells from the airways, they were seeded at temperatures of 37 ° C or 32 ° C ( to mimic the existing conditions of distal or proximal). In the first case, the two types of human and avian viruses infecting cell cultures efficiently, while at 32 ° C, only the human virus demonstrated efficiency of infection of cells in culture. These results are consistent with the fact that the infection in birds takes place in the intestine, and then at 40 ° C.

The important role of glycoproteins in the adjustment to room temperature
It is furthermore known that the influenza virus present at position 627 in the PB2 polymerase (element responsible for the replication of influenza virus genome in the host cell), an amino acid plays a crucial role in Adaptation of virus to the environmental temperature within the same host. The replacement of this residue of the human virus by that of avian virus but did not explain the difference between the infectious properties of both viruses at different temperatures. The researchers then used two types of human viruses, the H3N2 and H1N1, and replaced some of their surface proteins (glycoproteins, see box) by surface proteins of influenza virus. The human viruses as amended showed reduced ability to infect human cells ciliated cells cultured at 32 ° C, suggesting an important role of these glycoproteins in the adjustment to room temperature, and therefore a crucial role in limited transmission of H5N1 influenza viruses in humans and in the inter-human contagion.

The study, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC Council for Medical Research) in the United Kingdom and by the NIH in the United States is important because in the words of Professor Wendy Barclay, Imperial College London,

"It is impossible to develop vaccines against the 16 subtypes of avian viruses [...]. By studying a range of viruses, we can nevertheless determine what changes come to significantly increase the risk of zoonoses and contagion in the human species. "

The Influenza Virus
The influenza virus belongs to the family Orthomyxoviridae, enveloped viruses with single-stranded RNA and having a spherical shape 80 to 100 nm in diameter. There are three types of influenza viruses named A, B and C. Their surface is studded with surface proteins or glycoproteins, also known as surface antigens. Viruses A and B have two types, the hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). The hemagglutinin is responsible for virus attachment on a sialic acid residue on the surface of cells of the ciliated epithelium of the respiratory tract, and the fusion of viral and cellular membranes during the penetration phase virus. Neuraminidase, in turn, allows the release into the host cell virions pre-formed, and the posting of the hemagglutinin (and therefore the virus particle) of the cell membrane of the host.

Reference:
Article: Avian Influenza Virus Glycoproteins Restrict Virus Replication and Spread Through Human Airway Epithelium at Temperatures of the Proximal Airways
Authors: Margaret A. Scull, Laura Gillim-Ross, Celia Santos, Kim L. Roberts, Elena Bordonali, Kanta Subbarao, Wendy S. Barclay, Raymond J. Pickles
Published Journal: PLoS Pathogens
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000424

--
Source: BE UK number 97
http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/59855.htm