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Articles from Yeast/Fungus Blog

Muscle Fatigue Drug May Fight Heart Failure 2008-02-13 07:41:00 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug may help fatigued athletes and patients weakened by heart failure regain their energy, say physiologists at Columbia University Medical Center.Tests on mice and humans found that, after extreme exercise regimens, tiny leaks of calcium continuously enter the muscle cells, according to the study published online in the Feb. 11 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The leak weakens the force produced by the muscle and also turns on a protein-digesting enzyme that damages the muscle fibers, leading to the overall feeling of exhaustion for days or weeks afterward.This same leak was previously discovered by Columbia researchers in the muscles of animals with heart failure.The researchers then developed an experimental drug to plug these leaks, and tested it on mice subjected to daily three-hour swims over three weeks. Without the drugs, mice were exhausted. With the drug, the mice were still energetic, had lost less exercise ca ...

Birth Problems Linked to Teenage Fathers 2008-02-08 01:52:00 (HealthDay News) -- In a finding that seems to turn conventional wisdom on its head, researchers report that babies of teenage fathers are more likely to be born with health problems than babies born to men over 40."We found that being a teenage father was associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth, low birth weight and neonatal deaths," said Dr. Shi Wu Wen, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa Department of Epidemiology & Community Medicine.In the study, Wen's team used data from the National Center for Health Statistics to collect information on 2,614,966 births in the United States between 1995 and 2000. To isolate the effects of the teen fathers' age on the outcome of pregnancy, the researchers compensated for the mother's contribution by choosing women 20 to 29 years old.Women in this age group are less likely to be affected by fertility problems, which can have an effect on birth outcomes, Wen noted. "We also excl ...

Stars Don Red to Raise Awareness of Women's Heart Risk 2008-02-03 07:57:00 (HealthDay News) -- "Nothing draws attention like a little red dress," noted First Lady Laura Bush, speaking in the heart of New York City's fashion district Friday.The attention was really focused on a very serious issue -- the threat to American women from the nation's number one killer, heart disease.The event: a star-studded catwalk kickoff to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) annual "Heart Truth" awareness campaign, which featured celebrities strutting their stuff on the catwalk wearing the symbol of the campaign, a red dress.As the campaign's national ambassador, Mrs. Bush got right to the point. "The Heart Truth is this -- heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women," she told attendees, who included stars such as Liza Minnelli and supermodel Heidi Klum. Both later showed off red dresses on the runway.The fashion fun carried a serious message."We tend to think of heart disease as a man's disease," said NHBLI Director Dr. Elizabe ...

Health Tip: Understanding an Aneurysm 2008-01-30 22:03:00 (HealthDay News) - An aneurysm occurs when a weakened portion of a blood vessel balloons or widens abnormally. There may be a throbbing or swelling sensation at the site, or no obvious symptoms.The expanded portion of the vessel could be at risk of bursting, making immediate evaluation and treatment essential.Here is additional information about aneurysms, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:Aneurysms most frequently occur in or near the heart, brain, legs and intestines. It's unclear exactly what causes most aneurysms, but cholesterol buildup in the arteries is thought to play a role. High blood pressure also may contribute to aneurysms. If the blood vessel ruptures, low blood pressure, high heart rate and lightheadedness may result. The likelihood of death after a rupture is high. ...

Health Tip: Coping With Urinary Incontinence 2008-01-28 08:17:00 (HealthDay News) - Urinary incontinence affects millions of women, commonly after childbirth.The National Women's Health Information Center lists these non-surgical options to help control urinary incontinence:Perform Kegel exercises designed to make your pelvic muscles stronger. Set a schedule for emptying your bladder, instead of waiting until you have to go. Slowly increase the amount of time between trips to the bathroom. Maintain a healthy body weight, as excess weight can strain the bladder and surrounding muscles. Limit or avoid beverages that contain caffeine or alcohol. Biofeedback may help you learn to better control the bladder and surrounding muscles. Prescription medication may help control some types of incontinence. Talk with your doctor about whether medication may work for you. ...

Lack of Vitamin E Linked to Physical Decline 2008-01-23 00:39:00 (HealthDay News) -- If you don't get enough vitamin E in your diet, you may have a greater risk of declining physical function as you age, according to the findings of a new study.Yale researchers report that people with the lowest blood levels of vitamin E have about 60 percent greater odds of a decline in physical function when compared to people with the highest levels of vitamin E."Low plasma levels of vitamin E are associated with subsequent decline in physical function," said the study's lead author, Benedetta Bartali, a nutritionist and a Brown-Coxe postdoctoral fellow at Yale University's School of Medicine."As an antioxidant, vitamin E may prevent or reduce the propagation of free radicals in our body, and this may help to reduce muscle or DNA damage and the development, for example, of atherosclerosis and other pathologic conditions," Bartali said, although she added that this study wasn't designed to identify the reasons why vitamin E might be helpful.Results of the stud ...

Mislabeled Supplement Spurred Prostate Cancer: Report 2008-01-20 04:27:00 (HealthDay News) -- A mislabeled over-the-counter product described as a dietary supplement appears to have contributed to the development of aggressive prostate cancer in two men, researchers report."There were things on the label that were not in the product, and components in the product that were not on the label," said study author Dr. Shahrokh Shariat, chief resident in urology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.The men developed rapidly advancing prostate cancer within months of using the dietary supplement, which was advertised as something that would increase stamina and muscle mass, and strengthen the heart, Shariat said. One of the men has died and the other "is in the final stages of the disease and probably will die within months," he said.The findings were published in the current issue of Clinical Cancer Research.The report did not name the product or its manufacturer, at the request of the journal editors who were fearful of "possible legal implicati ...

New Proteins That Help HIV Grow Identified 2008-01-15 22:20:00 (HealthDay News) -- Harvard researchers have identified almost 300 human proteins that help HIV propagate, creating hope for new treatments to combat the virus that causes AIDS.Using a technique called RNA interference to screen thousands of genes, the team identified 273 human proteins, according to the study published online Jan. 10 in Science Express. These proteins could provide a way to help people with HIV when the virus develops resistance to current antiviral drugs."Antiviral drugs are currently doing a good job of keeping people alive, but these therapeutics all suffer from the same problem, which is that you can get resistance, so we decided to take a different approach centered on the human proteins exploited by the virus. The virus would not be able to mutate to overcome drugs that interact with these proteins," senior author Stephen Elledge, a professor in Harvard Medical School's department of genetics, said in a prepared statement.The expanded list of proteins gives fut ...

Fungus Sheds Light on Development of Human Genders 2008-01-13 07:46:00 (HealthDay News) -- One of the oldest known types of fungus seems to contain clues to gender development in humans.Duke University researchers report on the unusual linkage in the Jan. 10 issue of Nature.In research with Phycomyces blakesleeanus, the Duke team isolated two versions of a gene that regulates mating. They named these versions sexM (sex minus) and sexP (sex plus). Both encode for a single protein called a high mobility group (HMG)-domain protein that leads to sex differentiation through an unknown process.This protein is similar to the one encoded by the human Y chromosome, called SRY. When SRY is turned on, a developing fetus develops male characteristics.The similarity suggests HMG-domain proteins may mark the evolutionary beginnings of sex determination in fungi and humans, said research team leader Dr. Joseph Heitman.He and his colleagues propose that sexM and sexP were once the same gene that went through a mutation process, which resulted in the evolution of the two ...

Low Vitamin D Linked to Heart Risk 2008-01-08 05:41:00 (HealthDay News) -- Low blood levels of vitamin D -- sourced through sunlight, some foods and supplements -- are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attack and stroke, U.S. researchers report.Their five years of research with participants in the Framingham Heart Study included 1,739 people, average age 59, living in that Massachusetts city.The research team found that those with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 62 percent greater risk of a cardiovascular event than those with the next highest levels, according to a report published in the Jan. 7 issue of Circulation.It's still too early to recommend routine vitamin D supplementation, however, said study author Dr. Thomas J. Wang, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He believes that there is still not enough evidence to put vitamin D deficiency on the same level as high cholesterol and other known risk factors."It is probably premature to consider vitamin D in the sam ...