Scott Simpson had a dream: he planned
to cycle across the continent of Africa, a distance of 13,000km. As an HIV
positive Canadian, Scott recognized that those infected with HIV in
developing countries do not have the same access to life-saving HIV/AIDS
medications that have kept him alive.

In preparation for this immense challenge, Scott participated in a
series of endurance events, but the accumulation of gruelling training
began to take its toll on his body. He collapsed during an Ironman
Triathlon and was rushed from the course by ambulance. Scott’s dream of
cycling across Africa to help other, less fortunate HIV positive people
ended that day. While speaking publicly at the University of Toronto about
his ordeal, a university student was inspired and knew immediately that he
could harness the energy of the university community to continue Scott’s
Race for Dignity. On World AIDS Day, December 1st, 2005, 220 university
students at three campuses rode stationary bikes in support of Scott and
Dignitas International, accumulating 1,300km and raising over $9,200.

For the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto this August, the
Race for Dignity will morph into a 65-hour stationary bike-athon in the
heart of downtown Toronto – one hour for every million people who have been
infected with HIV to date (of which 25 million have died). From Monday,
August 14th to Thursday, August 17th, conference delegates, the general
public, members of Dingitas International’s student organization (Dignitas
Youth), and special guests will bike in solidarity to raise awareness of
and funds for Dignitas International’s groundbreaking work. The event will
take place at Dundas Square at the corner of Yonge & Dundas. The emotional
climax of the event will be Scott Simpson cycling for the last 25 hours of
the bike-athon in recognition of the 25 years since the first warnings were
issued about the illness that came to be known as AIDS.

The Race for Dignity will kick-off with a public event at Dundas Square
on Monday, August 14th at 6:30pm featuring Toronto Mayor David Miller, Dr.
James Orbinski, Jim Creeggan of the Barenaked Ladies, Hon. Dr. Carolyn
Bennett and Scott Simpson, who will arrive in the Square following a 65km
journey that will honour the 65 million people infected with HIV to date,
and will include riding by AIDS organizations and memorials in the Greater
Toronto Area.

The Race for Dignity will wrap-up with a public celebration at Dundas
Square on Thursday, August 17th at 11:00am featuring Minister George
Smitherman. Scott Simpson’s 25 hours will come to an end when the 65-hour
bike-athon ends at noon.

Dignitas International will be a prominent participant throughout the
International AIDS Conference. Dignitas has been awarded a booth in the
Global Village at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for each of the six
days of the Conference, and will be interacting with the scientific
community by presenting two abstracts in the poster exhibition. THE
BICYCLE: FIGHTING AIDS WITH COMMUNITY MEDICINE, a National Film Board of
Canada short film following a Dignitas International home-based care
volunteer in Zomba District, Malawi, will screen as part of the Cultural
Programme. Dignitas International kicked off its Conference initiatives
with a special event last night, hosted by The Canadian Club of Toronto.
Please visit dignitasinternational for more information.

Dignitas International is a Canadian medical humanitarian organization
working with communities to dramatically increase access to life-saving
treatment and prevention in areas overwhelmed by HIV/AIDS. Founded by a
group of international health and research experts, Dignitas is led by Dr.
James Orbinski, who accepted the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize as International
President of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF/Doctors Without Borders).
Dignitas International is saving lives with a groundbreaking, sustainable
community-based HIV/AIDS treatment delivery and prevention model to be
replicated throughout the developing world.

Dignitas International welcomes media to the Race for Dignity site at
Dundas Square, both as observers and participants.

Dignitas Internacional
dignitasinternational Continue reading →

Researchers from New England report in a new study that using a tumor marker, serum CA 19-9, combined with an endoscopic ultrasound if the tumor marker is elevated, is more likely to detect stage 1 pancreatic cancer in a high-risk population than by using the standard means of detection. The study appears in the July issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Advanced disease at diagnosis correlates directly with worse overall survival. Symptoms of abdominal pain, jaundice, and/or weight loss often do not appear until the tumor is locally advanced or metastatic, at which point effective treatment options are very limited. By contrast, detection and resection of pancreatic cancer, when it is confined to the pancreas (stage 1 disease), improves overall survival. An effective screening protocol is urgently needed to detect earlier stage tumors. Imaging methods that have been used for pancreatic cancer screening include endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), CT, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and magnetic resonance imaging/MRCP.

There has been limited success in screening younger populations using the tumor marker CA19-9, so more recent pancreatic cancer screening protocols have focused on high-risk populations. It is estimated that 10 percent of patients in whom pancreatic cancer develops have at least one first-degree relative with the disease. Multiple cohort and case-control studies have demonstrated that a family history of a first-degree relative with pancreatic cancer significantly increases a patient’s risk of the development of pancreatic cancer, approximately two to five-fold. The risk of the development of pancreatic cancer increases significantly as the number of affected family members increases. Advanced age is also a significant risk factor, and 93 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer present after the age of 50.

“Our hypothesis was that a high-risk population identified by age and at least one first-degree relative with pancreatic cancer can be successfully screened. Our objective was to determine whether early pancreatic neoplasia can be detected in a high-risk population by using tumor marker CA 19-9 followed by targeted endoscopic ultrasound. We also sought to determine whether this protocol was more likely to detect early stage pancreatic cancer than standard means of detection,” said study lead author Richard Zubarik, MD, Fletcher Allen Health Care, University of Vermont. “Our results showed that potentially curative pancreatic adenocarcinoma can be identified with this screening protocol. Stage 1 pancreatic cancer is more likely to be detected by using this screening protocol than by using standard means of detection.”

Methods

This prospective cohort study was conducted at the University of Vermont (UVM) and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC). Patients were enrolled from September 2006 to July 2009. Patients included were between the ages of 50 and 80 and had at least one first-degree relative (parent, sibling, or child) with pancreatic cancer. Enrollment was initiated at age 45 if a patient had two first-degree relatives with pancreatic cancer and at age 40 if the person had a BRCA2 mutation or Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.

Serum CA 19-9 testing was performed on all patients. It was chosen as the initial screening method because it is acceptable to patients, easily obtainable, widely available, inexpensive, and relatively sensitive for the disease. Endoscopic ultrasound was performed only in patients with an elevated CA 19-9 level (a CA 19-9 value greater than 37 U/mL was considered elevated) regardless of whether only one or more than one family member was affected with pancreatic cancer.

Patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at UVM (but were not enrolled in the CA 19-9/EUS study) during the same period were prospectively identified and used as the comparison group. These patients were identified by the Cancer Data Registry at the University of Vermont. Charts were then reviewed to verify tumor type, staging data and survival.

Results

A total of 546 patients were enrolled in the study. CA 19-9 was elevated in 27 patients (4.9 percent). Neoplastic or malignant findings were detected in five patients (0.9 percent), and pancreatic cancer in one patient (0.2 percent). The patient with pancreatic cancer detected as part of this study was one of two patients presenting to the University of Vermont with stage 1 cancer. One-year follow-up contact was performed by telephone in 519 patients (95 percent), by chart review in 24 patients (four percent), and by review of the social security death index in three patients (less than one percent). Pancreatic cancer was not detected at the one-year follow-up in any additional patients.

In the comparison group, a total of 124 patients received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer between September 2006 and July 2009. Staging of the comparison group at the time of presentation was as follows: stage 1, one patient (0.9 percent); stage 2, 52 patients (45.6 percent); stage 3, 20 patients (17.5 percent); stage 4, 41 patients (36 percent). The patient detected in the CA 19-9/EUS study had stage 1 disease, whereas only 0.9 percent of patients in the comparison group presented with stage 1 disease. This difference was statistically significant despite only having one patient with pancreatic cancer detected in the study group because the detection of stage 1 cancer in the comparison group was so rare. Median survival for the 122 subjects in the comparison group was seven months, with a 2-year survival rate of 10 percent.

The results conclude that potentially curative pancreatic cancer can be identified with CA 19-9 and targeted EUS. Stage 1 pancreatic cancer is more likely to be detected by using this screening protocol than by using standard means of detection. Potential advantages include acceptable rates of disease diagnosis and exclusion as well as acceptable costs (cost to detect 1 pancreatic neoplasia was $8,431, while the cost to detect 1 pancreatic cancer was $41,133). In particular, the patient with pancreatic cancer detected with this screening protocol is alive without evidence of recurrence three years after surgical resection and is the longest survivor of pancreatic cancer detected in a published screening protocol. Also, evidence of pancreatic cancer did not develop in subjects with negative screening studies, at least in short-term follow-up.

The researchers note that the sample size is adequate only to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, but summarized that this trial successfully screened a high-risk patient population for pancreatic cancer based on age and genetic predisposition. Early pancreatic cancer, associated with prolonged disease-free survival, can be detected as part of this pancreatic screening protocol. Stage 1 pancreatic cancer was more likely to be detected with CA 19-9 and targeted EUS, and it appears to be superior to the standard means of pancreatic cancer detection.

Source:
Anne Brownsey

American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Continue reading →

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) on Thursday signed into law a bill that will prohibit health care facilities from requiring mandatory overtime of staff, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The law, set to take effect in July 2009, seeks to protect health care facilities from forcing nurses, technicians, technologists, certified nursing assistants and phlebotomists, and other caregivers from being disciplined or discriminated against for refusing to work overtime.

Mandatory overtime would be allowed in some cases, such as a natural disaster, but it could be used only as a last resort and employees would have to be given one hour to arrange for family care. Employers also are prohibited from using on-call time in place of mandatory overtime. Violators can be fined from $100 to $1,000 per violation. The state Department of Labor & Industry will enforce the law.

Supporters say the new rule will ensure patient safety. Rendell said, “There was a problem with nurses’ being overworked and overtired and potentially error-prone in their jobs” (Couloumbis, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/19).

Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Continue reading →

Researchers have identified a new area of the brain that responds to the fat hormone leptin in regulating body weight and energy expenditure. They said that the region seems to be particularly important in enabling the body to resist weight gain from a high-fat diet. Their discovery, they said, indicates that leptin acts on more brain areas than previously believed, to regulate body weight.

Leptin is secreted by fat tissue into the bloodstream, where it travels to the brain and other tissues. It acts on leptin receptors in areas of the hypothalamus to trigger fat loss and decreased appetite.

Bradford Lowell and his colleagues published their findings in mice in the January 19, 2006, issue of Neuron. They reported that an area called the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is also important in leptin response, in addition to the area called the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus, which is already known to be a target of leptin signaling.

Even though leptin was known to act on the neurons of the ARC, wrote the researchers, knocking out leptin receptors in those neurons caused only mild obesity in mice, compared to the effects of knocking out such receptors throughout the brain. Such findings, they said, hinted at the role of another region of the hypothalamus as a leptin target. The VMH constituted a good candidate for such a leptin target region because neurons there express leptin receptors, said the researchers. Also, they noted, destroying the VMH produces massive obesity in mice.

To explore the role of the VMH in leptin signaling, Lowell and his colleagues generated mice lacking leptin receptors only in specific neurons in the VMH. Electrophysiological studies of the VMH neurons in these altered mice showed that they were not triggered by leptin to fire, as were such neurons in normal mice.

The researchers found that the mice lacking VMH leptin receptors showed the same degree of body weight gain as those engineered to lack leptin receptors in the ARC. What’s more, the researchers found that knocking out both types of neurons showed an additive effect on weight gain in the animals. Their measurements in the mice revealed that such weight gain was due to an increase in fat stores.

Importantly, when the researchers fed the mice deficient in VMH leptin receptors a high-fat, high-sugar diet, they found that the animals rapidly gained weight throughout the feeding period. In contrast, normal mice gained some weight, but leveled off during the feeding period. The knockout mice continued to gain weight, found the researchers, because they did not suppress their food intake, as did normal mice.

The researchers noted that the combined effects on obesity of the deficiency of VMH leptin receptors and high-fat feeding “were greater than expected from the individual components added together.

“This synergistic interaction strongly suggests that leptin action on [the VMH neurons] plays a particularly important role in resisting high-fat-diet-induced obesity.”

Lowell and his colleagues concluded that “In total, these findings suggest that the ability of leptin to restrain body weight is distributed to a number of different sites in the brain.”

The researchers include Harveen Dhillon, Jeffrey M. Zigman, Chianping Ye, Charlotte E. Lee, Robert A. McGovern, Vinsee Tang, Christopher D. Kenny, Lauryn M. Christiansen, Ryan D. White, Elisabeth A. Edelstein, Roberto Coppari, Nina Balthasar, Joel K. Elmquist, and Bradford B. Lowell of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA; Michael A. Cowley of Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR; Streamson Chua Jr. of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (PO1 DK56116 to B.B.L. and J.K.E., MH61583 and DK53301 to J.K.E., and R01 DK53301-07S2 to B.B.L, J.K.E., and M.A.C.) and by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd.,Japan. H.D. was supported by an American Heart Association fellowship and a Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center Pilot Project Award; N.B. was supported by The Wellcome Trust, UK, an EASD-ADA, and a Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center award. J.M.Z. was supported grants from the National Institutes of Health (1F32DK64564-01 and 5T32DK07516).

Dhillon et al.: “Leptin Directly Activates SF1 Neurons in the Ventromedial Hypothalamus and this Action by Leptin is Required for Normal Body Weight Homeostasis.” Publishing in Neuron Vol. 49, pages 191-203, January 19, 2006, DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2005.12.021 neuron

Heidi Hardman
hhardmancell
Cell Press
cellpress Continue reading →

Baywood International, Inc. (OTCBB:BAYW) (“Company”) announced that resveratrol, the antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine, can cripple the function of pancreatic cancer cells while sensitizing them to chemotherapy, says new research. This study, published in March 2008 in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, looked at the way the antioxidant may aid pancreatic cancer treatment and how it also contributes to the growing knowledge on the health benefits arising from ingredients of red wine.

While disabling the function of the cancer cells by reaching and reacting with the mitochondria (the cell’s energy source), researchers found that when they were pre-treated with resveratrol before being irradiated, it resulted in a type of cell death called apoptosis. This is an important goal of cancer therapy.

According to Paul Okunieff, chief of radiation oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Centre, “Antioxidant research is very active and very seductive right now [and] the challenge lies in finding the right concentration and how it works inside the cell. Resveratrol seems to have a therapeutic gain by making tumor cells more sensitive to radiation and making normal tissue less sensitive.”

Okunieff began studying resveratrol as a tumor sensitizer, which is when the link to the mitochondria was uncovered. Researchers divided pancreatic cancer cells into two groups: cells treated without resveratrol then iodized, and ones treated with resveratrol at a relatively high dose of 50mg per ml before being iodized. The amount of resveratrol in red wine can vary between types of grapes and growing seasons, and ranges can be as high as 30 mg per ml. But the researchers said higher doses are expected to be safe as long as a physician monitors the patient. The study found that resveratrol reduced the function of proteins in the pancreatic cancer cell membranes responsible for pumping chemotherapy out of the cell, therefore making them more sensitive to the treatment. Additionally, the antioxidant triggered the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), causing apoptosis, and depolarized the mitochondrial membranes, indicating a decrease in the cell’s potential to function. The researchers said the discovery is important because the mitochondria contains its own DNA and can continuously supply the cell with energy when functioning fully. Stopping the energy flow can therefore help stop cancer.

Okunieff further stated that, “While additional studies are needed, this research indicated that resveratrol has a promising future as part of the treatment for cancer.”

The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Nutritional Specialties, Inc./dba LifeTime®, launched Resveratrol Life Tonic™ in liquid form for enhanced bioavailability. The product’s powerful antioxidant properties include 300 mg of resveratrol extract in each one ounce serving, which is equivalent to 1,300 glasses of red wine.(a)

About Baywood

Baywood International, Inc. (OTC BB: BYWD) (“Baywood”) is a nutritional science company that develops, markets and sells nutraceutical and nutritionally enhanced products and new age beverages under its own brands. Baywood merges its expertise in nutritional formulation with its leverage in sales and distribution to deliver the most effective and progressive products to market. Currently, Baywood’s products are sold under three brands that are distributed into retail markets nationwide and internationally as follows:

- LifeTime® – Available in independent and chain health food stores, natural grocery stores, and other direct-to-consumer channels both internationally and domestically (lifetimevitamins)

- Baywood PURECHOICE®, Baywood SOLUTIONS® and Complete La Femme® – Available in independent and chain health food stores, natural grocery stores, and other direct-to-consumer channels both internationally and domestically (baywoodproducts)

- Mamajuana Energy™ – Available in select convenience stores and chain stores nationwide (mamajuanaenergy)

For more information, call (888) 350-0799, or for more information, visit Baywood’s corporate website at bywd.

(a) These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The contents of this press release are not meant to be incorporated into the Company’s website.

SOURCES: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 2008;614:179-86 “Anti-cancer effect of resveratrol is associated with induction of apoptosis via a mitochondrial pathway alignment” Authors: Paul Okunieff, Weimin Sun, Wei Wang, Jung Kim, Shanmin Yang

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, made in reliance upon Section 21D of the Exchange Act of 1934, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results, performance, or expectations implied by these forward-looking statements. The Company’s expectations, among other things, are dependent upon general economic conditions, continued demand for its products, the availability of raw materials, retention of its key management and operating personnel, its ability to operate its subsidiary companies effectively, need for and availability of additional capital as well as other uncontrollable or unknown factors which are more fully disclosed in the Company’s Form 10-KSBs and 10-QSBs on file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Baywood International, Inc. Continue reading →

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it has scheduled a public meeting on Feb. 18, 2010, to discuss key challenges related to the premarket notification, or 510(k) process, used to review and clear certain medical devices marketed in the United States. The FDA receives more than 3,000 510(k) submissions each year.

The public notice for the meeting will appear in the Jan. 27, 2010 Federal Register.

In September 2009, the agency announced it had asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to conduct a comprehensive study of the process. The IOM study is not expected to conclude until March 2011.

In the meantime, the FDA has convened its own internal working group to evaluate and improve the quality and consistency of the agency’s decision-making in the 510(k) process as well as its administration of the program. The February meeting will support the efforts of the agency’s internal working group.

“It’s been more than 30 years since the establishment of the premarket notification process for medical devices,” said Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., J.D., director of FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “We are looking forward to hearing from the public on issues related to this program to help us improve it.”

At the meeting, FDA staff will present a brief overview of the challenges the agency has faced, organized in four categories: issues related to predicate devices, which are previously cleared devices that may support a manufacturer’s claim of substantial equivalence; issues related to new technologies and scientific evidence; issues related to practices the FDA has adopted in response to a high volume of submissions; and issues related to postmarket surveillance and new information about marketed devices.

Each of the four overview presentations will be followed by an open comment session. The meeting will close with a public roundtable discussion between FDA staff and selected participants representing a range of constituencies.

The Feb. 18 meeting will run from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Hilton Washington, D.C./North Gaithersburg, in Gaithersburg, Md. Those interested in attending or participating in the meeting must register by 5 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2010. The agency is accepting written or electronic comments by March 5, 2010.

The meeting will be Webcast live at ConnectLive/events/fda021810.

The 510(k) process was established under the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 to achieve two goals:

- Make safe and effective devices available to consumers; and
- Promote innovation in the medical device industry.

During the past three decades, technology and the medical device industry have changed dramatically, making it an appropriate time for the FDA to review the adequacy of the premarket notification program in meeting these two goals.
The FDA classifies medical devices into three categories according to their level of risk. Class III devices represent the highest level of risk and generally require premarket approval to support their safety and effectiveness before they may be marketed. Class III devices include heart valves and intraocular lenses.

Class I and Class II devices pose lower risks and include devices such as adhesive bandages and wheelchairs. Most Class II devices and some Class I devices can only be marketed after the FDA has found them to be substantially equivalent to legally marketed devices that do not require premarket approval, based on FDA’s review of submitted premarket notifications-also called 510(k) applications.

Devices that are not found by the FDA to be substantially equivalent to a legally marketed device, such as those with a new intended use or that have different technological characteristics that raise different questions of safety and effectiveness, require premarket approval.

For more information

FDA’s Website on Premarket Notification (510k)

Institute of Medicine to Study Premarket Clearance Process for Medical Devices
FDA News Release: Sept. 23, 2009

Source
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Continue reading →

Leading radiology experts from China, Korea, Japan and the UK convened as a steering committee group in London to draw up plans for the first ever pan-Asia CTC Congress. Congresses and workshops specialising in CTC already take place annually in Europe and in North America. The rising prevalence of colorectal cancer in Asia, necessitates a meeting in Asia to ensure the exchange of scientific and professional information about colorectal cancer screening, and to encourage increased adoption of CTC by Asian radiologists. Medicsight PLC, a UK-headquartered, research driven, leading developer of computer-aided detection (CAD) and image analysis software for the medical imaging market will provide an educational grant to facilitate logistical support for the inaugural meeting.

According to Professor Steve Halligan, University College Hospital, London, and Chair of the steering committee: “There are a great number of healthcare professionals in Asia who are not being given the training opportunities that are available in Europe and the USA. Their involvement in these educational initiatives could ultimately provide patients with better access to cutting edge diagnostic technologies.”

The Asia-Pacific region contributes almost half of the world’s cancer deaths. Colorectal cancer is the world’s second most prevalent cancer and is the cause of approximately 75,000 deaths annually in Eastern Asia1 (China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia) and this figure is rising. Among individuals diagnosed with colorectal cancer, survival is highly dependent on how advanced the disease is at diagnosis. Five-year survival is 90% if the disease is diagnosed while confined by the bowel wall but only 65% once it has spread to the lymph nodes and 9% if it has spread throughout the body2. Most colorectal cancers arise from precursor lesions in the large intestine called ‘adenomatous polyps’. Screening is important because it means that adenomatous polyps can be removed before they become cancerous. Screening also detects asymptomatic cancer, which has a better prognosis than symptomatic disease2.

There are a number of colorectal cancer screening tools available, each with advantages and disadvantages. Colonoscopy is considered the gold standard for screening for colon cancer, however data presented at the recent American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) meeting showed that CTC is at least as sensitive as conventional colonoscopy in detecting adenomas of 1 cm diameter or larger3. CTC is a less invasive option and unlike conventional colonoscopy, there is no need for the patient to undergo sedation and the risk of symptomatic colon perforation is much less. According to Dr Stuart Taylor of University College Hospital, London and faculty member of the steering committee “In Asia, a broad Multi-Detector Computerised Tomography (MDCT) infrastructure exists that could support colorectal cancer screening by CTC. This pan-Asia CTC Congress will certainly provide radiologists with the opportunity to be trained in CTC by some of the world’s finest specialists and raise awareness of the importance of colorectal cancer screening.”

The steering committee, comprising Professor Steve Halligan, UK, Dr Stuart Taylor, Uk, Dr Noriyuki Moriyama, Japan, Dr Gen Iinuma, Japan, Dr Qi Ji, China, Dr Zhou Cheng, China and Dr Se Hyung Kim, Korea, intends that the CTC Asia Congress will promote and showcase state-of-the art CTC practice and research, informing and educating delegates on interpretation and best clinical practice. As well as offering high quality “hands on” training workshops, the congress will encourage research collaboration amongst delegates and help to foster and cement relationships within the Asian radiology and gastroenterology community.

References:

1. Globocan 2002, Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence, Eastern Asia. www-dep.iarc.fr/

2. Smith RA, Mettlin CJ, Eyre H. 31. Cancer Screening and Early Detection. In: D. W. Kufe et al., eds. Cancer Medicine. 6 ed. Hamilton, London: BC Decker Inc, 2003

3. Pickhardt PJ, Choi JR, Hwang I, et al. Computed tomographic virtual colonoscopy to screen for colorectal neoplasia in asymptomatic adults. N Engl J Med 2003;349(23):2191-200

Notes

Medicsight PLC is a UK-headquartered, research driven, leading developer of computer-aided detection (CAD) and image analysis software for the medical imaging market. The CAD software automatically highlights suspicious areas on computerised tomography (CT) scans of the colon and lung, helping radiologists to identify, measure and analyse potential disease and early indicators of disease. Medicsight’s computer-aided detection (CAD) software has been validated using one of the worlds largest and most population diverse databases of verified patient CT scan data. Medicsight’s ColonCAD™ and LungCAD™ software products are seamlessly integrated with the advanced 3D visualisation workstations of several industry-leading imaging equipment partners. For more information on Medicsight and/or the company’s line of products, visit the Company’s Web site at medicsight.

About Computer-Aided Detection

With increasingly sophisticated radiological imaging hardware such as Multi-Detector CT scanners, radiologists are facing a growing challenge in the amount of detailed patient image data that they must review for each patient examination. Some CT scan examinations generate as many as 1000 images per patient. Review of this data by the radiologist is not only time-consuming but also prone to error due to reader fatigue. CAD software can help the reviewing radiologist by analysing the image data and automatically highlighting suspicious regions of interest for closer inspection. Without CAD software some potential abnormalities or areas of disease may be overlooked. This is critical for diagnosis and the management of patient outcomes as early detection of disease greatly increases the probability of successful treatment and a positive therapeutic outcome.

About Medicsight’s CAD software

Medicsight’s ColonCAD™ and LungCAD™ software use an advanced CAD algorithm to analyse CT scans of the colon and lung and automatically highlight suspicious areas that may be indicators of disease. CAD may highlight areas easily overlooked by the reviewing radiologist, such as small lesions or regions that are hidden from view behind folds in the colon or normal structures and surrounding tissue in the lung.

Both CAD products seamlessly integrate with the advanced 3D visualisation platforms of industry-leading imaging equipment partners. The integrated systems provide sophisticated image viewing capabilities, including 3D reconstructed image data, with the added advantage of demonstrating automatic CAD findings to assist clinical end users in the detection and analysis of disease. This allows clinical end users to perform either a ‘second read’, where CAD findings are displayed to the user after completion of an initial review of the CT scan data, or a ‘concurrent read’ where CAD findings are displayed during the user’s initial review of the original CT scan images.

Since inception, Medicsight has developed close and lasting relationships with some of the world’s foremost clinicians in product related areas. This provides the Company with a wealth of clinical expertise and dedicated clinical research to support ongoing product development. Medicsight also collaborates with a number of leading academic institutions and clinical research programmes worldwide to develop the Company’s comprehensive database of population diverse verified patient CT scan data, thus allowing Medicsight’s products to be validated to the highest possible standards.

About adenomas

An adenoma (sometimes known as a polyp) is a slow-growing benign tumour. This is the most common type of early-stage tumour found in the colon and typically projects into the colon from the wall. Adenomas are routinely removed on identification because of their tendency to become malignant.

[1] World Health Organization: Global cancer rates could increase by 50% to 15 million by 2020 [Internet]. Geneva (Switzerland). Colon cancer. [cited 2007 Dec 13]. Available here.

[2] Globocan 2002, Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence, Eastern Asia. www-dep.iarc.fr/

[3] Smith RA, Mettlin CJ, Eyre H. 31. Cancer Screening and Early Detection. In: D. W. Kufe et al., eds. Cancer Medicine. 6 ed. Hamilton, London: BC Decker Inc, 2003

medicsight Continue reading →

University of Liverpool scientists claim that the degeneration of sight, caused by a common eye disease, could be reduced by up to 20% by increasing the amount of fruit, vegetables and nuts in the diet.

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the UK, with 45% of those registered as blind suffering from the disease. The condition results in a gradual loss of central vision, due to the failure of cells in the macular – the light sensitive membrane at the centre of the retina. There is currently no cure for the more common ‘dry’ form of the disease, which is suffered by 90% of AMD patients.

Professor Ian Grierson, Head of Ophthalmology at the University, has produced a comprehensive cooking guide called ‘Fruit for Vision’, designed to add fruit and vegetables into everyday meals. The recipes will help AMD sufferers slow down the degeneration process by increasing micronutrient, vitamin and antioxidant intake in the diet. Non-sufferers can also use the book to add fruit, nuts and vegetables into each meal to protect against the disease.

Professor Grierson said: “Poor eating habits have a huge impact on health in general and the health of your eyes is no exception. Eye problems such as AMD, cataract and even glaucoma can all be affected by what we eat. But a relatively minor change in diet – adding a little more fruit into our meals – can make a profound difference and can keep eye diseases like AMD at bay for up to 20% longer.

“There are of course other risk factors related to AMD such as age, light exposure, smoking and being overweight. But if we can improve the kind of food that we eat, we could dramatically reduce the number of people who may suffer from eye diseases in the future.”

Fruit for Vision is published by Indigo Creative Marketing and the Macular Disease Society. It provides easy recipes that incorporate fruit and nuts in to the diet without having to change lifestyle. The recipes suggest minor additions to what we already eat, such as peaches with ham or ginger with melon, rather than major dietary changes.

###

Notes:

1. AMD occurs in two forms: – ‘Wet’ AMD, which is more severe, occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow within the eye. Bleeding and leaking from these vessels can cause rapid loss of vision. It is curable if caught soon enough, although treatment is extremely expensive. Dry AMD occurs as cells within the macular begin to die, leading to a build-up of waste products in a layer of cells below the retina. There is currently no cure for Dry AMD.

2. Professor Grierson has also written a book on behalf of the International Glaucoma Association. Home Cooking with the IGA includes recipes contributed by glaucoma sufferers from across the world.

3. Fruit for Vision has now been published by Indigo Creative Marketing and the Macular Disease Society. The book, which costs ??12, is available from the Macular Disease Society.

4. The University of Liverpool is a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive institutions in the UK. It attracts collaborative and contract research commissions from a wide range of national and international organisations valued at more than ??93 million annually.

Source: Laura Johnson

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International researchers and academics with an interest in preventing childhood obesity will visit QUT later this month for a training course which will showcase some key technologies in measuring body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity.

Professor Andrew Hills and his Energy Metabolism Group will host a week-long training course with around 20 attendees from a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

During the week, attendees will tour around QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) and gain further knowledge and techniques to assist them in the battle against childhood obesity.

“The International Atomic Energy Agency has funded a regional technical co-operation project based around the prevention of childhood obesity, with research groups from China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and Lebanon,” said Professor Hills.

“We at QUT were invited to host the course, which was held in Japan last year, because of our expertise in the area of measuring body composition and energy expenditure of children, and the fact we have one of the few labs in the Southern Hemisphere which solely undertakes this sort of work. ”

Professor Hills said the main goal of the group was to help research and capacity-building in developing countries, and that QUT was approached by the Australian Government to host the training course.

“The technologies used in measuring physical activity, body composition, and energy expenditure will be employed in projects and additional research in these countries,” he said.

“In a short and medium term sense, those who are trained and participate directly in this program will be able to transfer their knowledge to research colleagues and students in their home countries.

“As well as that, it helps with the internationalisation of the university, and helps us to establish good relationships with key people and organisations in this region, which is very important for us.”

The training course will be held from October 26 to October 31.

Queensland University of Technology Continue reading →

The term vegetarian generally means a person who does not consume animal products; this includes land and sea animals. Most vegetarians generally do consume eggs and dairy products (milk products). Somebody who does not consume any animal protein at all, not even eggs, dairy, or honey, is a vegan. Some people call themselves vegetarians, but they consume fish. According to Medilexicon`s medical dictionary a vegetarian is “One whose diet is restricted to foods of vegetable origin, excluding primarily animal meats”. The dictionary also has the following terms:

Lacto vegetarian
Fruitarian vegetarian
Lacto-ovo-vegetarian
Living food diet vegetarian
Ovo-vegetarian
Pescovegetarian

Semi-vegetarian

This article is part of a series called What Are The Eight Most Popular Diets Today?.
The four main types of vegetarians are:

Lacto-vegetarians – they consume dairy products, but no eggs. Most do consume honey.
Ovo-vegetarians – they consume eggs, but no dairy. Most do consume honey.
Lacto-ovovegetarians – they consume eggs and dairy. Most do consume honey.
Vegans – only consume plant-based foods (no dairy, eggs or honey)

In this article, vegetarian refers only to people who do not consume protein of animal origin (not even fish or seafood), with the exception of eggs, dairy and honey – Lacto-ovovegetarians.

Virtually all vegetarian and/or vegan societies and associations do not accept the term “semi-vegetarian”, in the same way a doctor will not accept the term “a bit pregnant”.

Interesting related article

What is The Atkins Diet?

What is The Zone Diet?

What is a Vegan Diet?

What is Weight Watchers?

What is the South Beach Diet?

What is The Raw Food Diet?

What is the Mediterranean Diet?

What is fiber? What is dietary fiber? Fiber rich foods

What is Fat? How much fat should I eat?

What is salt? How much salt should I eat?

A short history of vegetarianism
According to Wikipedia, the earliest records of vegetarianism come from the 6th century B.C., in India, Greece and the Greek civilization in Southern Italy. In all these cases vegetarianism was closely linked to a desire not to harm animals. In India this peace towards animals was called ahimsa and was a common lifestyle among religious people and philosophers. The conversion to Christianity of the Roman Empire virtually eliminated all traces of vegetarianism from Europe. Many orders of monks in medieval Europe either banned or limited meat consumption as a gesture of personal sacrifice or abstinence – however, none of them shunned fish. It was not until the 19th and 20th centuries that vegetarianism started to get a foothold again in Western society.

The Vegetarian Society was formed in England in 1847; equivalent societies soon followed in Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries. During the 20th century vegetarianism caught on swiftly throughout Western society. People??s motivations were for ethical, environmental, or economic reasons – and sometimes a combination or two or three reasons. Approximately 70% of the world??s lacto-vegetarians are in India, it is estimated. Approximately 20% to 42% of India??s population is vegetarian.
What are the benefits of being a vegetarian?
Until a few years ago, the benefits of vegetarianism were more anecdotal than clinically proven. However, over the last couple of decades several studies have indicated that a person who adopts a vegetarian diet will:

Have a lower body weight – one study carried out by Cancer Research UK, found that those who continue eating meat will carry on putting on more weight over a five year period, compared to those who switched over to vegetarianism. The study found that vegans put on even less weight as they get older, compared to vegetarians and meat eaters. The study looked at 22,000 meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians, and vegans.
Have better cholesterol levels – scientists at the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital demonstrated that a vegetarian diet made up of specific plant foods can lower cholesterol as effectively as a drug treatment. The study, published in the July 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, compared a diet of known cholesterol-lowering, vegetarian foods to a standard cholesterol-reducing drug called lovastatin. The diet reduced levels of LDL – the ‘bad’ cholesterol known to cause clogging in coronary arteries – in participants by almost 29%, compared to a 30.9% decrease in the lovastatin participants. The diet consisted of a combination of nuts (almonds), soy proteins, viscous fiber (high-fiber) foods such as oats and barley and a special margarine with plant sterols (found in leafy green vegetables and vegetable oils).
Live longer – several studies have shown that vegetarians have a much lower risk of becoming obese, developing diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. All these conditions and diseases reduce one??s life expectancy (see the list of related articles below).
Have a lower risk of developing cancer – several studies have shown a reduced risk of developing many different types of cancer among vegetarians, compared to meat eaters. A recent study carried out by UK researchers, working on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Oxford (EPIC-Oxford) found that vegetarians had a significantly lower overall risk of developing cancer, compared to meat eaters. The study also found, however, that vegetarians have a higher risk of developing cancer of the colon.
Have a lower risk of developing several diseases – see the list of related articles below. In them are mentioned several diseases and conditions that a meat eater is more likely to develop, compared to a vegetarian.

Vegetarian food is generally lower in fat, especially saturated fats, and much higher in fiber, than animal based foods. However, a vegetarian, like a meat eater, has to watch his/her intake of calories, snack foods, refined carbohydrates, whole milk dairy products, and non-meat junk foods.
How do I become a vegetarian?
It is possible to make the jump in one go; to go into it cold turkey. Most people find that a gradual change into vegetarianism works better for two reasons. 1. Any change that is gradually introduced tends to become more of a lifestyle and long term move. 2. Some people find that sudden changes to their eating patterns may have unpleasant consequences for their digestive systems, such as irritable bowel, diarrhea, etc.

A gradual change could include increasing your intake of vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans, lentils), and whole grains, while cutting down on your intake on meats.

The American Dietetic Association has these tips for people who want to adopt vegetarianism:

Select whole grain products – whole wheat bread, wild/brown rice, whole grain cereals
Make sure your diet is varied
Choose low or non fat dairy products (if you wish to continue consuming dairy)
Do not eat more than three or four egg yolks per week (some studies are disputing this, suggesting there should be no limit)
Plan ahead when you go shopping
Read the food labels carefully when you are out shopping
Find out where your specialist stores are

News on Nutrition / Diet
For the latest news and research on Nutrition / Diet, please visit our Nutrition / Diet news section.
Video – The Art of Being Vegetarian – Defining Vegetarian

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Vegetarians Face Increased Risk Of Eating Disorders
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Raw food vegetarians have low bone mass, but may be healthy
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