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Studies of the safety, effectiveness, and biological action of botanical products are major focuses for the five dietary supplement research centers selected to be jointly funded by the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), two components of the National Institutes of Health. The NIH’s National Cancer Institute is co-supporting two of the five centers.

The competitive awards, approximately $1.5 million each per year for five years, were made to Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, La.; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Missouri, Columbia; and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, N.C.

These five interdisciplinary and collaborative dietary supplement centers, known as the Botanical Research Centers (BRC) Program (http://ods.od.nih.gov/Research/BRCProgram), are expected to advance understanding of how botanicals may affect human health. “Eventually, the program may provide data that translates to new ways to reduce disease risk,” explained Paul M. Coates, Ph.D., director of ODS. “Until then, the research from these centers will help the public make informed decisions about botanical dietary supplements.”

“Botanicals are usually complex mixtures of many active constituents,” said Josephine P. Briggs, M.D., director of NCCAM. “This complexity poses some unique research challenges that these centers are well positioned to address.”

The 2007 National Health Interview Survey shows that about 18 percent of adults reported taking a non-vitamin, non-mineral, natural product, spending about $15 billion on the purchase of these products. These products contain a dietary ingredient intended to supplement the diet other than vitamins and minerals, such as single herbs or mixtures.

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Technorati Tags: Botanical Medicine, Dietary Supplements, NIH

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Report by Morgan Fogarty of Fox News

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. - 23-year-old SouthPark resident Cameron Crye says remembering to take her birth control pill every day at the same time is a pain. Crye says, “Personally, my friends have to set an alarm on their phone to remind them to take it!”

The UNC Charlotte student says she’d like a more convenient form of birth control, like the patch, but she’s wary of the estrogen levels found in patches already on the market. “One of my friends that used the patch that was a regular dose found that she had a lot of acne and was nauseated,” says Crye.

The “regular” dose patches expose the women who use them to 60% more estrogen than the pill. That increase can also mean an increase in serious health issues, like blood clots, strokes or heart attacks.

A new, low dose birth control patch will be tested here, at Metrolina Medical Research Center in SouthPark, on about 15 patients over the course of 1 year. It’s part of a nation-wide study that will include 1,500 women.

“I think they’re looking for convenience and safety and we think this offers both,” says Dr. George Raad. Raad’s patients will be required to visit the clinic often so he can check on how the low dose patch is working for them. “These are all visits that are mandated by the FDA to assess safety, which is number one.”

The company making the new patch, Agile Therapeutics, did a study in 2008 and found more than 30% of women are not happy with their current contraceptive methods, citing cost, side effects and convenience as their most common concerns. That assessment rings true with co-ed Crye. “It’s definitely a pain,” she says.

Again, the study will last one year. After that, Dr. Raad says there will be a few more trials. He expects the low-dose patch to be on the market in about three years.

Technorati Tags: Birth Control, Charlotte_NC, Low-Estrogen

Do you know why school kids get sick so often? The best ways to prevent illness in the classroom? Get the answers to these school health questions and more.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Does it seem as if your child is sick all the time? In the early school years, your child’s immune system is put to the test. After all, young children in large groups are breeding grounds for the organisms that cause illness. Here’s why infectious illness is so common — and what your child can do to stay healthy in the classroom.

How infections spread

Many childhood illnesses are caused by viruses. All it takes is a single child to bring a virus to school for the spread to begin. Consider this common scenario — a child who has a cold coughs or sneezes in the classroom. The children sitting nearby inhale the infected respiratory droplets and the cold spreads. Or perhaps a child who has diarrhea uses the toilet and returns to the classroom without washing his or her hands. Illness-causing germs might spread from anything the sick child touches to other children who touch the same object and then put their fingers in their mouths.

Click here to read the rest of this article!

(Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Technorati Tags: Health, School_Healthcare

Technorati Tags: Autism, CDC, Safety, Vaccines

NIH Funded Study Deciphers Chemical Sequence of Nerve Regeneration in Rats

The vitamin folate appears to promote healing in damaged rat spinal cord tissue by triggering a change in DNA, according to a laboratory study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers showed that the healing effects of the vitamin increased with the dosage, until regrowth of the damaged tissue reached a maximum level. After this threshold was reached, regrowth declined progressively with increasing doses until it reached the level seen in the absence of the vitamin.

Specifically, folate stimulated a process known as DNA methylation, a natural biochemical process in which chemical compounds known as methyl groups are attached to DNA. The study results suggest that a greater understanding of the chemical sequences associated with folate metabolism and DNA methylation may lead to new techniques to promote healing of damaged spinal cords and other nervous system injuries.

The research is at an early stage and additional studies are needed to determine what role folate might play in the treatment of human beings with spinal cord injury. Information about folate in human nutrition, including dietary sources of the vitamin and appropriate daily intake is available from the folate fact sheet(http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/folate.asp) of the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/folate.asp).

The research was supported by the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

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Technorati Tags: Folate, Folic Acid, Spina Bifida, Spinal Cord Injury

In February, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine guidance, made a landmark decision establishing a universal influenza vaccine recommendation, starting with the 2010–11 influenza season. This means that all people in the United States—excluding babies younger than age six months and people with certain medical conditions—are now recommended to receive influenza vaccine every year.

The new recommendation is simple, straightforward, and easy to communicate. It eliminates the complexities of the prior recommendations, which said people should be vaccinated if they fell into any of 15 different targeted groups (a lengthy list to commit to memory). Going forward, healthcare professionals will have a very easy time deciding which of their patients are recommended for influenza vaccine. And patients will eventually come to recognize that influenza vaccine is routinely recommended for them. Now, the message is simple: everyone, every year, unless specifically contraindicated.

Here at the Immunization Action Coalition, we welcome this change. We think it will erase any uncertainties healthcare professionals and their patients may have had about who should be vaccinated, and will lead to more people than ever protecting themselves, their families, and their communities by getting immunized.

Best regards,

Deborah L. Wexler, MD

Executive Director

Immunization Action Coalition

deborah@immunize.org

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For more information about flu and flu shots click on this link to Flu.gov

Technorati Tags: flu shots, influenza

Technorati Tags: body-image, girls, healthy, healthy_body

MMR doctor struck off register

By Nick Triggle Health reporter, BBC News Dr Wakefield still stands by his research The doctor who first suggested a link between MMR vaccinations and autism has been struck off the medical register. The General Medical Council found Dr Andrew Wakefield guilty of serious professional misconduct over the way he carried out his controversial research. It follows a GMC ruling earlier this year that he had acted unethically. Dr Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet study caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles - but the findings were later discredited. The GMC ruled in January he had acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” in conducting his research, but under its procedures the sanctions are made at a later date. The case did not investigate whether Dr Wakefield’s findings were right or wrong, instead it focused on the methods of research. The panel concluded that it is the only sanction that is appropriate to protect patients and is in the wider public interest… Chairman of the hearing During the two-and-a-half-year case, the longest in GMC history, he was accused of carrying out invasive tests on vulnerable children which were against their best interests. The GMC also said Dr Wakefield, who was working at London’s Royal Free Hospital as a gastroenterologist at the time, did not have the ethical approval or relevant qualifications for such tests. And the panel hearing the case took exception with the way he gathered blood samples. Dr Wakefield paid children £5 for the samples at his son’s birthday party. It also said Dr Wakefield should have disclosed the fact that he had been paid to advise solicitors acting for parents who believed their children had been harmed by the MMR. Serious misconduct In making the verdict on the sanctions, Dr Surendra Kumar, the panel’s chairman, said Dr Wakefield had “brought the medical professional into disrepute” and his behaviour constituted “multiple separate instances of serious professional misconduct”. In total, there were more than 30 charges he was found guilty of. Dr Kumar also explained the reasoning for striking Dr Wakefield off. Efforts to discredit and silence me through the GMC process have provided a screen to shield the government from exposure on the MMR vaccine scandal Dr Wakefield “The panel concluded that it is the only sanction that is appropriate to protect patients and is in the wider public interest, including the maintenance of public trust and confidence in the profession, and is proportionate to the serious and wide-ranging findings made against him.” Dr Wakefield, who is now based in the US, has 28 days to appeal the verdict. He has consistently claimed the allegations against him were “unfounded and unjust”. As the GMC announced its sanctions, Dr Wakefield said: “Efforts to discredit and silence me through the GMC process have provided a screen to shield the government from exposure on the MMR vaccine scandal.” Two of his former colleagues at the Royal Free were also ruled to have broken guidelines. Professor John Walker-Smith and Professor Simon Murch both helped Dr Wakefield carry out the research. Professor Walker-Smith, who is 73 and has been retired for the past 10 years, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and struck off the register. Professor Murch was found not guilty. Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the scare over the vaccine had done “untold damage to the UK vaccination programme”. “We cannot stress too strongly that all children and young people should have the MMR vaccine.” The Department of Health reiterated this. A spokesman said: “The safety of MMR has been endorsed through numerous studies in many countries.”

Technorati Tags: Autism, MMR, MMR and Autism, MMR Vaccination

Persons aged ≥65 years are at greater risk for hospitalization and death from seasonal influenza compared with other age groups (1,2).

They respond to vaccination with lower antibody titers to influenza hemagglutinin (an established correlate of protection against influenza) compared with younger adults (3).

On December 23, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed an injectable inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine (Fluzone High-Dose, Sanofi-Pasteur) that contains an increased amount of influenza virus hemagglutinin antigen compared with other inactivated influenza vaccines such as Fluzone.

Fluzone High-Dose is licensed as a single dose for use among persons aged ≥65 years and will be available beginning with the 2010–11 influenza season.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) reviewed data from prelicensure clinical trials on the safety and immunogenicity of Fluzone High-Dose and expressed no preference for the new vaccine over other inactivated trivalent influenza vaccines (4).

This report summarizes the FDA-approved indications for Fluzone High-Dose and provides guidance from ACIP for its use.

Click here to read all of the article about the new Flu vaccine for older people.

Technorati Tags: flu vaccine, Senior