Avocados naturally treat leukemia, but FDA and officials deny existence of 'anticancer' foods

(NaturalNews) A new study has found that a lipid found naturally in avocados can be used to fight acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, but to hear the federal Food and Drug Administration tell it, there is no such thing as an "anti-cancer" food.

While avocados have widely been credited with providing a number of health benefits – they are packed with vitamins and are great for the skin – now, according to research conducted by Prof. Paul Spagnuolo of Canada's University of Waterloo, they appear to shatter the FDA's claim.

As reported by the UK's Independent:

AML is a rare form of blood cancer which is most common in people over the age of 65. According to Cancer Research, around 8,600 people are diagnosed with leukaemia each year, 2,600 of which are diagnosed with AML. Around 90 per cent of people diagnosed with AML over the age of 65 die within the first five years.

Dr Spagnuolo has developed a drug derived from the lipid, using a compound called Avocatin B, which targets leukaemia stem cells, which "drive the disease," and therefore attack the root cause of the cancer. His findings have been published in the oncology journal Cancer Research.

"The stem cell is really the cell that drives the disease," Spagnuolo said, according to a University of Waterloo press release. "The stem cell is largely responsible for the disease developing and it's the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse."

FDA denial

"We've performed many rounds of testing to determine how this new drug works at a molecular level and confirmed that it targets stem cells selectively, leaving healthy cells unharmed," he continued.


The researcher said that avocatin B "eliminates" the source of AML, and because of its targeted nature, it is less toxic to the rest of the body.

While the lipid is years away from being harnessed in a useable clinical form, Spagnuolo is nonetheless preparing for clinical trials.

As noted by the university's press release:

There are multiple potential applications for Avocatin B beyond oncology, and the drug is just one of several promising compounds that Spagnuolo and his team have isolated from a library of nutraceuticals. Most labs would use food or plant extracts, but Spagnuolo prefers the precision of using nutraceuticals with defined structures.

"Extracts are less refined. The contents of an extract can vary from plant to plant and year to year, depending on lots of factors – on the soil, the location, the amount of sunlight, the rain," said Spagnuolo.

"Evaluating a nutraceutical as a potential clinical drug requires in-depth evaluation at the molecular level," he added. "This approach provides a clearer understanding of how the nutraceutical works, and it means we can reproduce the effects more accurately and consistently. This is critical to safely translating our lab work into a reliable drug that could be used in oncology clinics."

What about these other anticancer foods and spices?

And yet, the FDA and other science "experts" won't admit that there indeed are "functional foods" that have anticancer properties.

Avemar,^[PDF] which is extracted from wheat germ via a patented process, is considered to be one such functional food. The compound has been shown to be an effective anticancer agent in clinical trials in cell, animal and human studies.

In addition, as Natural News has reported, watercress can reduce the incidence of breast cancer, as can arugula, which originates from the Mediterranean but has made its way to North American shores in the last few decades, cocoa, because it's loaded with powerful phytochemicals found naturally in the cacao plant -- the source of cocoa and just one of many medicinal Amazon herbs -- and turmeric, a common spice that has been used in Indian cooking for thousands of years.
source-naturalnews

Hepatitis C Therapy May Reduce Need for Liver Transplants

Treatment with antiviral drugs may reduce the need for a liver transplant for people with severe liver damage and hepatitis C, a new study suggests.
This study included 103 liver transplant candidates in Europe with severe liver damage and hepatitis C. They were treated with direct-acting antiviral drug combinations used to treat and cure people with hepatitis C.
Thirty-five percent of the patients improved to the point where they were no longer in urgent need of a liver transplant. And 20 percent got so much better that they no longer needed a transplant, researchers found.
Currently, more than 15,000 people in the United States are on the liver transplant waiting list. About 16 percent will die before receiving a new liver. And roughly 30 percent of adults on the liver transplant waiting list have severe liver damage and hepatitis C, the researchers said.
The study was to be presented Thursday at the International Liver Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Findings presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
"The results of the study are very encouraging, but a word of caution is to be mentioned since it is presently unknown how long the clinical improvement will last," study author Dr. Luca Belli said in an International Liver Congress news release. Belli is from the gastroenterology and hepatology liver unit at Niguarda Hospital in Milan, Italy.
Belli said international studies need to be done to see how patients taken off the transplant list fare. He said it's critical to assess the long-term risk of death, development of liver cancer and further deterioration of the liver.
"These results show notable improvements in the outlook for some of these patients," Laurent Castera, secretary general of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, said in the news release.
"Treating these patients with direct-acting antiviral therapy could result in those with a more pressing need for a liver transplant receiving the donation they need, potentially reducing the number of deaths that occur in patients on the waiting list," Castera added.
source- health.usnews

No Drop in Teen Use of Tobacco Products, CDC Says, and E-Cigs May Be Why

Use of tobacco products by U.S. teens hasn't fallen since 2011, and federal officials say electronic cigarettes may be to blame.
One in four high school students now uses what officials define as a tobacco product. And e-cigarettes have eclipsed traditional cigarettes as the most widely used tobacco product among teens, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, and use continues to climb," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Thursday in an agency news release. "No form of youth tobacco use is safe. Nicotine is an addictive drug, and use during adolescence may cause lasting harm to brain development."
Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat nicotine and flavorings to create a vapor that is inhaled by the user.
Last year, 4.7 million middle and high school students said they used a tobacco product at least once in the previous 30 days, and more than 2.3 million used two or more tobacco products.
Three million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in 2015, up from 2.5 million in 2014, according to data from the 2015 U.S. National Youth Tobacco Survey.
Last year, 16 percent of high school and 5.3 percent of middle school students were users of e-cigarettes, making the devices the most widely used tobacco product among young people for the second straight year, federal officials said.
From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use rose from 1.5 to 16 percent among high school students and from 0.6 percent to 5.3 percent among middle school students, according to the study.
While there was a significant drop in cigarette smoking between 2011 and 2015, there was no change between 2014 and 2015, the report found. Last year, just over 9 percent of high school students and slightly over 2 percent of middle school students smoked cigarettes, making them the second most widely used tobacco product among youth.
Other tobacco products used by high school students in 2015 included: cigars, 8.6 percent; hookahs, just over 7 percent; smokeless tobacco, 6 percent; and bidis, 0.6 percent. Other tobacco products used by middle school students included: hookahs, 2 percent; smokeless tobacco, 1.8 percent; cigars, 1.6 percent; pipe tobacco, 0.4 percent; and bidis, 0.2 percent.
The new study appears in the April 14 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
"We're very concerned that one in four high school students use tobacco, and that almost half of those use more than one product," Corinne Graffunder, director of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, said in the news release.
"We know about 90 percent of all adult smokers first try cigarettes as teens. Fully implementing proven tobacco control strategies could prevent another generation of Americans from suffering from tobacco-related diseases and premature deaths," she added.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is finalizing a rule to bring "tobacco products" such as e-cigarettes, hookahs (water pipes) and some or all cigars under its regulatory control. The agency already regulates cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco.
"The FDA remains deeply concerned about the overall high rate at which children and adolescents use tobacco products, including novel products such as e-cigarettes and hookah," said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products.
"Finalizing the rule to bring additional products under the agency's tobacco authority is one of our highest priorities, and we look forward to a day in the near future when novel tobacco products like e-cigarettes and hookah are properly regulated and responsibly marketed," he said in the news release.
source--health.usnews

Antibiotics in Animal Feed Contribute to Drug-Resistant Germs: Study

Use of antibiotics in farm animal feed is helping drive the worldwide increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, researchers report.
"In the fight against the rise of antibiotic resistance, we need to understand that the use of one antibiotic or, in some cases, antibacterial disinfectants may increase the abundance of multidrug-resistant bacteria," said study leader James Tiedje. He is a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University.
The research team studied large-scale swine farms in China and a population of pigs in the United States. The findings showed that multidrug-resistant bacteria were the norm, not the exception, on farms where antibiotics are used continuously in feed to promote growth and prevent disease in animals.
"Tracking the source of antibiotic resistance is quite complicated because antibiotic use, which increases the occurrence of resistance, is widespread, and antibiotic resistance can spread between bacteria," Tiedje added in a university news release.
The Chinese farms in the study were close to large cities, so controlling antibiotic resistance in the pigs is important to minimize the risk to people, Tiedje explained.
This is a global issue, not an isolated Chinese issue, Tiedje said. "Multidrug resistance is just a plane ride away. This is why our work in China is definitely as relevant as in the United States," he said.
The findings were published online April 12 in the journal mBio.
Antibiotics have been used so extensively that the bacteria they are intended to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective, health experts say.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2 million Americans a year become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and at least 23,000 people die each year as a result of these infections.
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Diabetes Steals Years, Adds Disabilities

 Adults with diabetes die earlier and suffer longer with disabilities than men and women without the blood-sugar disease, researchers are reporting. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes will shorten the lives of 50-year-old men and women by more than three years. And only about 13 of their remaining years will be disability-free, the new study found.
"People with diabetes are spending a significant proportion of life with disability," said lead researcher Dianna Magliano. She is head of the diabetes and population health laboratory at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
Elevated blood sugar levels associated with diabetes lead to blood vessel complications that can cause vision loss, movement problems and amputations. Other disabilities not usually tied to diabetes include a decline in brain functioning, Magliano said.
"We need to undertake research to understand the mechanisms by which diabetes leads to disability," she added. "This will then help with the development of strategies to prevent disability in diabetes, which in turn may lead to more years lived disability-free."
The researchers estimated life expectancy and years lived with disability using data from Australian diabetes and death registries.
At age 50, a diabetic man can expect to live another 30 years, on average -- about 17 of them with disability. A woman that age with diabetes will likely live about 34 years, but she will be burdened with disabilities for roughly 21 of those years, the study authors estimated.
Compared to their healthy peers, diabetic men will lose 8.2 years of living without disability and women 9.1 years, the researchers said.
Another diabetes expert who wasn't involved in the research welcomed the study.
"The worldwide epidemic of diabetes continues, so the findings from Australia are not surprising," said Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
In the United States, one-third of patients with diabetes are not even aware they have the disease, he said, and one-third who are aware of having the disease are not treated.
"The sad news is that the ones that are treated are not treated at goal, and less than half have their blood sugar controlled, and 80 to 90 percent are not treated for high blood pressure or high cholesterol," Zonszein said.
Nonetheless, the survival and disability-free survival of patients with diabetes have improved significantly, he pointed out.
"This study is another wake-up call to revise our current practice," Zonszein said. He noted that the United States doesn't do enough to prevent diabetes.
"We have the tools to provide an earlier and more aggressive treatment for this common disease," he said.
Type 2 diabetes is linked to an unhealthy lifestyle and obesity. The study did not distinguish between people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. But because type 2 is far more common, the findings mostly pertain to people with that form of the disease. However, the authors noted that because the onset of type 1 diabetes usually occurs early in life, people with type 1 may have more complications and possibly a higher risk of disability.
Prevention measures for type 2 diabetes generally include lifestyle changes, such as weight loss, exercise, a healthy diet and not smoking.
More than 400 million people worldwide have diabetes, with most nations reporting sharp increases in recent decades, due to rising rates of obesity, according to background notes in the report. And, approximately one-third of people 25 or younger are likely to eventually develop diabetes, the study authors said.
source--usnews

Here’s How Many Miles You’d Have to Run to Burn Off a Pizza

Photo: Getty Images

Would you gorge on a couple slices of hot, cheesy pizza if you knew how bad it was for you? Of course you would. Past research has shown that people mostly ignore calorie counts when they’re posted on a menu.
But maybe you’d think twice if you knew how much exercise it would take to burn it off: 3.5 miles, or 43 minutes, of running.
There’s now a movement to label foods with their equivalent amount of the exercise in minutes it would take to expend the number of calories you take in from that food. According to a new viewpoint published in the BMJ, it’s one way to help fight skyrocketing rates of obesity and other weight-related diseases. (Rates of diabetes across the world have nearly doubled since 1980, according to a World Health Organization report released this week.)
“This is what we’re up against,” says viewpoint author Shirley Cramer, chief executive at the Royal Society of Public Health in the U.K. “We need to think of different, more imaginative ways of giving people information and nudging behavior.”
The icons, which are just an idea for now, would show a stick figure walking, running, swimming or biking next to the number of minutes required to cancel out calories consumed. A mocha coffee drink would take 53 minutes to walk off, while a blueberry muffin would require almost half an hour of running, according to the Royal Society of Public Health’s policy paper.
“We want to think of ways of making it easier for people to make a healthier choice, or at least to understand the choice they’re making,” Cramer says. “By putting it together with physical activity, you’re giving people a positive option as well. People prefer that to being told not to eat something.”
Cramer acknowledges that the icons could pose problems for people with eating disorders, who need no reminder that it takes far more energy and effort to burn off a doughnut than it takes to eat one. “But in the big picture, we have many, many more overweight and obese people than people with eating disorders,” she says. The Royal Society for Public Health is currently lobbying the U.K. government and food-and-beverage industry to try the idea on some food products.
The goal is to shrink the gap between food and exercise and to help people understand how calories fit into their everyday life, and Cramer is betting that the labels have staying power. Knowing that it takes 77 minutes to walk off a sticky cinnamon bun is a hard fact to forget.
source-news.health

Predicting Longevity May Be Simpler Than Thought

Photo: Getty Images

THURSDAY, April 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Testing the length of the ends of your DNA strands may not be the best predictor of how long you will live, a new study suggests.
Instead, simpler measures that include your age and your ability to climb stairs or walk a short distance may more accurately pinpoint longevity, researchers report.
The study team analyzed death rates over five years among older people in the United States (60 and older), Costa Rica (61 and older) and Taiwan (53 and older).
The aim was to find out how a broad set of basic measures—such as age, mobility, and smoking habits—compared with gauging the length of telomeres in predicting death over a five-year period. Telomeres are the ends of DNA that shrink with age, the researchers said.
Since the discovery that telomeres act as a “molecular clock” in people, there has been great interest in finding out if telomere length can be used to accurately predict when someone will die, the scientists explained.
But this new study found that using telomere length was just slightly better than a “coin toss,” the researchers said. Actual age was, by far, the single best predictor of death, according to the findings published online April 6 in the journal PLoS One.
“Scientific evidence on telomere length has been sensationalized and, in some cases, exaggerated by the media and by companies that have capitalized on the research to market products that may promise more than they can deliver,” said study author Dana Glei. She is a senior research investigator at Georgetown University’s Center for Population and Health, in Washington, D.C.
Study co-author Noreen Goldman is a professor of demography and public affairs at Princeton University. She said in a Princeton news release, “We were surprised that most indicators outperformed telomere length, including self-reported measures of health and mobility, an assessment of cognitive [mental] function, smoking, exercise, an inflammatory marker and a measure of kidney function.”
The findings show there is no evidence to suggest that doctors should test telomere length to determine how long patients will live, the study authors said.
“It is much easier and less expensive to ask someone’s age than to collect blood, extract DNA and measure telomere length,” Glei said in the news release.
The study results are also important for consumers, the researchers said.
“On the Internet, they sell test-your-own-telomere-length kits and supplements that are touted to help people maintain their telomeres. We caution buyers to beware,” Glei added.
source-news.health

Doctors Weigh in on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Bee Sting Therapy

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Photo: Getty Images

As if living like Gwyneth Paltrow wasn’t already hard enough. You can now add “getting stung by actual bees on purpose” to your list of ways to channel the goop founder, right below vitamin IV infusions, $700 leggings, and sex dust.
Paltrow recently spoke with the New York Times about her beauty regimen, which includes products from Drunk Elephant, Tata Harper, Shu Uemura, and her new line with Juice Beauty. Oh, and also the occasional dose of bee venom.
“I’ve been stung by bees. It’s a thousands of years old treatment called apitherapy,” Paltrow told the Times. “People use it to get rid of inflammation and scarring. It’s actually pretty incredible if you research it. But, man, it’s painful.”
RELATED: I Took Gwyneth Paltrow’s Healthy Living Advice for a Week

So… what is apitherapy, exactly?

“Apitherapy, while not exactly mainstream, does have its followers, which will no doubt grow considerably after Gwyneth Paltrow said she has experienced benefits from the ancient practice,” says Christopher Hobbs, PhD, an herbal medicine expert and consultant in Oakland, California.
Although Paltrow was referring to bee venom, apitherapy includes the use of any bee product for therapeutic purposes—including honey, beeswax, bee pollen (which is pollen that’s been packed by worker bees), and a bee secretion used to feed larvae called royal jelly.
During a bee sting therapy session, the practitioner picks up honey bees with tweezers and places them on your skin, at which point the bees do exactly what you’d expect them to do. People receiving apitherapy treatment may be stung as many as 80 times(!) in one day.
RELATED: Skip Gwyneth Paltrow’s Sex Bark and Try This Recipe Instead

Are there any risks or side effects?

The American Apitherapy Society claims that apitherapy can help ease symptoms of multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, wounds, bacterial diseases, and more. But research on the practice is limited.
While some studies have suggested that bee venom may lessen symptoms of inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, a 2015 review concluded that adverse reactions to bee venom therapy are “frequent” and warned practitioners to use caution when administering the treatment.
“I do not recommend bee stings as anti-inflammatory agents to patients,” says Gary Goldenberg, MD, a dermatologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. “Many patients are severely allergic to bee stings and may not know it.”
In addition to a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction, other possible side effects include swelling and infection, says David Stoll, MD, a dermatologist in Beverly Hills.
“Bee stings should be avoided, not used as treatment,” as Dr. Goldenberg put it.
So yeah, no thanks, Gwyneth. We’ll pass on the venom.
source-news.health

Here’s How I Made an Instagram-Worthy Fruit Pizza

You know your fruit obsession has gotten out of hand when you decide to make a fruit pizza (aka what I did last Saturday night). But hey, it was delicious, and I highly recommend you give it a try.
Crafting a fruity rendition of this classic comfort food is super simple. There are zero culinary skills required. All you need to do is get creative with ingredients inspired by dough, cheese, and toppings.
For my “dough” I bought a petite whole watermelon and sliced two flat disks from the middle to form the base of two personal size “pizzas.” I figured the rind would serve as a handy “crust” once I sliced up the pies. Then I spread a thick layer of vanilla Greek yogurt on top of each for my “cheese.”
RELATED: How to Make Energizing Banana Bread with Avocados
Next, it was time for the fun part—the eye-catching toppings. I chose to use blueberries, strawberries, a plum, a banana, an apple, and a kiwi. Each fruit added a new pop of color. (Hello, beautiful Instagram pic!)
One word of warning: Things can get finger-lickin’ messy if you’re constantly rearranging the fruit, so it’s helpful to have a mental image of your pizzas before you start decorating.
RELATED: 4 Healthy Tips from a Woman Who Eats for a Living
For a finishing touch, I drizzled melted peanut butter on the plates (because peanut butter is life) and garnished with leftover slices of apple, pear, and plum. And voilà! Two deliciously healthy desserts.

If you make your own fruit pizza, share it with us on Instagram (@healthmagazine) with #HealthCleanEating! We’ll regram our favorites.
Source--news.health

Fentanyl: What you need to know about the deadly opioid

The powerful synthetic opiate fentanyl is making headlines, as California health officials recently attributed it to 42 overdoses and 10 deaths in the Sacramento area over just 12 days.
But Sacramento isn't the only area being hit hard by the drug. Over the past few years, cities across the country have experienced similar outbreaks, prompting the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to issue a nationwide alert about the dangers of fentanyl in 2015.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, which include fentanyl, increased by 80 percent from 2013 to 2014, and roughly 5,500 people died from overdoses involving these drugs in 2014.
What is fentanyl?
Typically used to treat or manage severe pain in patients, fentanyl is a prescription drug similar to but more powerful than morphine. When prescribed by a doctor, it is administered via injection, patch, or pill.
The outbreak in California has been linked to counterfeit hydrocodone tablets found to contain fentanyl, the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services reported.
"This is not bathroom biochemistry. It's going to be very sophisticated," Dr. Timothy Albertson, a toxicologist at UC Davis Medical Center, told CBS News.
Overdoses in other cities have been tied to illegally made fentanyl produced in laboratories and mixed with or substituted for heroin in powder form.
The drug goes by several street names, including Apache, China girl, China white, dance fever, friend, goodfella, jackpot, murder 8, TNT, and Tango and Cash.
How fentanyl works
Like morphine, heroin, and other opioids, fentanyl binds to the body's opiate receptors, which are highly concentrated in areas of the brain associated with pain and emotions. This drives up dopamine levels and produces a state of euphoria and relaxation.
But when taken at large doses, or when laced in other narcotics, it can cause severe side effects and death.
An extremely powerful drug
Fentanyl is the most potent opioid available for use in medical treatment. Doctors say it is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the DEA.
When mixed with street-sold heroin and cocaine, fentanyl markedly amplifies not only their potency but also potential dangers. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, effects include euphoria, drowsiness/respiratory depression and arrest, nausea, confusion, constipation, sedation, unconsciousness, coma, tolerance, and addiction.
Doctors say overdoses should be treated immediately with medications called opiate receptor antagonists -- like Naloxone -- which acts by blocking the effects of opiate drugs.
Illegal fentanyl's route to the United States
DEA special agent John Martin said illegal fentanyl has made a long journey to get here.
"We believe it is manufactured in China, it is being distributed to Mexico, it is brought up through the normal drug smuggling routes of the southwest border," he told CBS News.
The DEA reports fentanyl outbreaks in recent years have spanned across the country and involve both new and experienced abusers. In 2014, for example, New Jersey reported as many as 80 fentanyl deaths in six months, while Pennsylvania reported about 200 deaths related to the drug in a 15-month period.
Last year, the agency seized enough illegal fentanyl in just six months to make 166 million doses of the drug.
source--cbsnews

Adults Don't Need Tetanus Shot Every Decade: Study

Adults can get tetanus and diphtheria vaccine boosters every 30 years instead of the recommended 10 years, a new study suggests.
"We have always been told to get a tetanus shot every 10 years, but actually, there is very little data to prove or disprove that timeline," said researcher Mark Slifka. He is a professor at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University.
Revising that vaccination schedule could also save the U.S. health care system hundreds of millions of dollars a year, the researchers added in a university news release.
For the study, the investigators examined immunity levels in over 500 adults. The researchers found that after completing the standard five-dose childhood vaccine series, adults remain protected against tetanus and diphtheria for at least 30 years without the need for further booster shots.
Slifka and his colleagues said a simplified age-based vaccination schedule for adults could involve a single booster vaccination at age 30 and another one at age 60.
"If you ask around, you often find that it is hard for people to remember if they had their last tetanus shot eight years ago or even 11 years ago," Slifka said. "If we were to use a simple age-based system, people would only have to remember to get their shots when they turn 30 and again when they turn 60."
The researchers also estimated that changing from a 10-year to a 30-year schedule could save about $280 million in health care costs a year, and about $1 billion over four years.
The study authors noted that the World Health Organization recommends only a single adult booster vaccination during military service or when a woman becomes pregnant for the first time. The United Kingdom and some other countries recommend no adult booster shots at all.
The new study was published online March 21 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tetanus and diphtheria are infections caused by bacteria. Tetanus-causing bacteria can enter the body through cuts, scratches or wounds. Diphtheria can spread from person to person through coughing or sneezing. Both infections are rare in the United States, but can cause severe complications.source-healthnnews

U.S. Rates of COPD Stabilize While Women Show Higher Occurrence

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), an organizational component of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has just released its latest report on the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among American adults. The report includes details on rates of hospitalization and death, as well as recent estimates for various subgroups among the nation’s population.
Both COPD and asthma are forms of chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD), the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2008. During the period from 2007 through 2009, 11.8 million adults were diagnosed with COPD.
While asthma  has been excluded from the report, as it is a reversible condition, both chronic bronchitis and emphysema are included in the diagnosis of COPD, as these conditions cause progressive difficulty emptying air from the lungs, and can also be associated with cough, mucus production, wheezing, and breathlessness.
Key findings in the report include the stabilization of prevalence of COPD from 1998 through 2009. Prior to this time, the prevalence of COPD increased among women but not in men, as did COPD-related hospitalizations and deaths. In fact, for every three-year period from 1998 through 2009, there were more occurrences among women than men.
From 2007 through 2009, 7.4 million women (6.1 percent) had COPD in comparison to 4.4 million (4.1 percent) men. The increase is believed to be due to an increase in rates of smoking among women that began in the 1940s. Although the number of smokers among men remains to be higher than among women, the report indicates that gap between men and women smokers narrowed through the 1980s.source-healthnews

Zika 'World Cup theory' dismissed

The Zika virus arrived in South America a year before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, say British and Brazilian scientists.

Their study effectively dismisses one of the most popular theories about the outbreak's origins - that it was brought over by football fans.
The findings, published in the journal Science, suggest the virus arrived between May and December 2013.
That is long before any cases were first detected in 2015.
The other popular idea - that it was brought over during the World Sprint Championship canoe race in 2014 - has also been dismissed.

Case zero

Tracing the origins of a virus takes a feat of genetic genealogy.
The researchers analysed the genetic code of seven Zika samples from across Brazil.
First, they discovered all of the viruses were closely related, suggesting the infection was brought to Brazil by just one person.
The virus has since spread to 34 countries or territories.
But Zika is still a virus that mutates rapidly. The small differences between each sample allowed the scientists to construct Zika's family tree and estimate when their common ancestor arrived in Brazil.
They conclude that the virus was brought over in mid-to-late 2013.
Prof Oliver Pybus, from the University of Oxford, told the BBC News website: "We can't be sure exactly how the virus got into the Americas, but it certainly seems that the virus was already in the continent before the start of the World Cup in 2014.
"We also looked at the numbers of passengers embarking from countries that have recorded Zika transmission in the last few years and who disembarked in Brazil and we found a 50% rise in the number of passengers along those routes. That could be a reason why it appeared when it did."
The virus spreading in the Americas is closely related to the one detected in an outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013.
While this is a possible source of the latest outbreak, the researchers say a lack of samples from other countries - particularly in south East Asia - mean they cannot be sure.

Microcephaly

Image copyright Getty Images

One of the most disturbing aspects of the outbreak has been the strongly suspected link with a surge in cases of microcephaly - babies being born with small brains.
Dr Nuno Faria, a fellow researchers at the Evandro Chagas Institute, said their data was "consistent" with suggestions that Zika could be causing brain defects.
But he cautioned there was still more research to be done to confirm the link and "we will have a much better picture of the virus later this year".
Their analysis did not discover any major mutations in the virus that could make it more dangerous to developing brains.
The scientists suggest co-infection with other diseases such as Chikungunya, previous infections with Dengue or a lack of immunity could explain the spike in birth defects.
Commenting on the findings, Prof Martin Hibberd from the London School Of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "The introduction of one Zika virus leading to a widespread outbreak may seem surprising.
"However the modelling of other Zika outbreaks, and also the highly-related Dengue outbreaks, suggests that this is not unusual.
"In the right conditions, with sufficient mosquitoes and closely packed humans, the virus can spread rapidly."source-bbc

Cefuroxime axetil - Drug Information

Latest prescription information about Cefuroxime axetil. Learn how to pronounce the drug's name, its indications, dosage, how to take, when to take, when not to take, side effects, special precautions, its storage instructions and warnings if any when taken during pregnancy. Also listed are the International and Indian trade name(s) of the drug and its price list.

ICD Code : Y40.1 | Therapeutic Classification : Antibiotics

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Trade Name(s): 

India- 3a-Cef Dispertab, Aaxim Tab, Actum Tab, Adexim Tab, Altacef Inj Vial, Altacef Susp, Altacef Tab, Altacef-Od Tab, Altum Film-Coated Tab, Anorex Vial, Anorex-D Tab, Anorex-S Tab, Arixime Dry Syr, Arixime Tab, Arixime Vial, Atom Tab, Aucee Tab, Axacef Tab, Axeptil Film-Coated Tab, Axeris Tab, Axetim Tab, Axtl Tab, Bacticef Tab, Bacticef Vial, Bactocef Vial, Barocef Tab, Bencef Inj, Bigcef Dispertab, Bigcef Tab, Bigcef Vial, Biocef Tab, Bullcef Tab, Cascef Tab, Ceax Tab, Cebox Tab, Cefakind Tab, Cefam Tab, Cefam Vial, Cefar Tab, Cefasyn Inj, Cefasyn Tab, Cefexl Tab, Cefies Tab, Cefking Tab, Cefking Vial, Ceflet Inj, Cefob Cap, Cefogen Vial, Cefoprim Inj, Cefoprim Tab, Cefoprit Tab, Cefoprit Vial, Ceforim Tab, Ceforim Vial, Ceforox Tab, Cefos Inj, Cefos Tab, Cefos-S Inj, Cefoxim Dry Syr, Cefoxim Tab, Cefoxim Vial, Cefpil Film-Coated Tab, Cefrace Tab, Cefta Vial, Ceftab Tab, Ceftal Dispertab, Ceftal Dry Syr, Ceftal Tab, Ceftal Vial, Ceftaz Inj, Ceftra Tab, Ceftum Tab, Cefu Vial, Cefuact Tab, Cefuact Vial, Cefubir Vial, Cefucin Tab, Cefucos Tab, Cefumax Tab, Cefunis Tab, Cefunis Vial, Cefupet Tab, Cefurica Film-Coated Tab, Cefurica Vial, Cefurin Dispertab, Cefurin Tab, Cefusym Tab, Cefutab-O Dry Syr, Cefutab-O Tab, Cefuvik Tab, Cefuvik Vial, Cef-Vepan Ds Susp, Cef-Vepan Film-Coated Tab, Cefyrex Tab, Cefyrex Vial, Cefzim Dry Syr, Cefzim Tab, Cefzim-750 Inj, Ceplex Dry Syr, Ceplex Inj, Ceplex Tab, Cepokem Inj, Cepokem Susp, Cepokem Tab, Cerom Dry Syr, Cerom Tab, Ceroxim-Xp Tab, Ceroxitum Tab, Cesai Dry Syr, Cetil Film-Coated Tab, Cetil Vial, Ceurox Fc-Tab, C-Furo Film-Coated Tab, C-Furo-Cv Film-Coated Tab, Cilixem Tab, C-Mee Tab, C-Mee Vial, Covatil-Cv Film-Coated Tab, C-Tri Em Cap, C-Tri-T Film-Coated Tab, C-Tri-T Vial, Ctrox Dry Syr, Ctrox Inj, Ctrox Tab, Curoxim Tab, Curoxim Vial, Cutil Vial, Cuxim Tab, Daltum Inj, Daltum Syr, Daltum Tab, Dericef Dispertab, Difu Vial, Doxzim Tab, Duxim Tab, Duxim Vial, Edrucef Tab, Edrucef-Cv Tab, Ethicef Tab, Evercef Tab, Exeption Tab, Exeption Vial, Exime Vial, Flamicef Vial, Forcef Tab, Forcef Vial, Forcez Dispertab, Forcez Tab, Forex Tab, Forkem Tab, Fucef Inj, Fucef Tab, Furion Tab, Furobid Tab, Furomax Inj, Furomax Tab, Furome Dry Syr, Furome Tab, Furox Tab, Furoxil Vial, Fydoroxim Tab, Glyph-Zm Tab, Gocef Tab, Iflacef Dry Syr, Iflacef Tab, I-M-Sure Tab, Insifu Inj, Insifu Tab, Intracef Dispertab, Intracef Inj, Intracef Tab, Intracef-Cv Tab, Iviroxime Vial, Jaxe Dispertab, Jaxe Tab, Joxcy Inj, Kaircef Tab, Kaxitel Tab, Kefstar Tab, Kefstar Vial, Kefuel Tab, Kem Vial, Kincef Tab, Klime Tab, Lazocin Tab, L-Tum Tab, Luroxime Tab, Magna Dispertab, Magna Tab, Magnacef Tab, Martec Tab, Maxim Tab, Maxtum Tab, Metump Vial, Milcef Tab, Milcef Vial, Neftum-Axt Tab, Neroxim Film-Coated Tab, Neroxim Vial, Nifoxime Dry Syr, Nifoxime Tab, Nifoxime Vial, Novaroxim Film-Coated Tab, Novaroxim Vial, Ocef 250 Vial, Ocef 750 Vial, Ocef Tab Tab, Ocef-Cv Tab, Omnixim Tab, Oruf Tab, Polosef Dispertab, Pulmocef Inj Inj, Pulmocef Tab, Relicef Dispertab, Relicef Inj Vial, Relicef Tab, Rixime Inj, Rixime Tab, Roxime D-Syr, Roxtil Tab, Safon Tab, Salcef Tab, Sayfur Dispertab, Scotil Inj, Scotil Tab, Seazox Tab, Sifuroxim Vial, Sozifur Tab, Spectraxime Susp, Spectraxime Tab, Spectraxime Vial, Spizef Tab, Spizef Vial, Stacey Tab, Starox Dry Syr, Supacef Cap, Supacef Vial, Svcef Tab, Swecef Vial, Swecef-Lb Tab, Sycef Tab, Topxime Inj, Topxime Tab, Travexel Tab, Traxocef-O Tab, Tufbact Tab, Ultroxime Tab, Umpire Tab, Urex Tab, Urox Vial, Widcef Susp, Widcef Tab, Widcef Vial, Xe Tab, Xe Vial, Xibid Tab, Ximbel Tab, Xtil Tab, X-Til Tab, Zaxi Tab, Zefu Dispertab, Zefu Dry Syr, Zefu Film-Coated Tab, Zefu-Cv Dry Syr, Zefu-Cv Tab, Zefur Tab, Zenoxim Tab, Zitum Tab, Zocef Syr Dry Syr, Zocef Tab, Zocef Vial, Zoxtil Tab, Zymocef Vial, Zytil Tab, Zytum Tab.
International- Ceftin.

Why it is prescribed : 

This medication is a semi synthetic cephalosporin antibiotic, prescribed for different types of infections such as lung, ear, throat, urinary tract and skin.  

When it is not to be taken (Contraindications): 

Hypersensitivity.

Pregnancy Category :

A B C D X

Category B :

Animal reproduction studies have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus and there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women OR Animal studies have shown an adverse effect, but adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus in any trimester.

Dosage & When it is to be taken (Indications): 

Adult- Po- The recommended dose range is 125mg to 3gms/day, in divided doses.
IV/IM- Surgical prophylaxis- 1.5 g IV per-op, then 750 mg IM 8 hourly for up to 24-48 hours.

How it should be taken : 

It comes as a tablet, syrup and suspension to take by mouth, with food. It also comes as solution for injection to be administered by a healthcare provider into the vein or large muscle.

Warnings and Precautions : 

Caution should be exercised in patients with history of kidney or liver disease, colitis, or stomach problems, any allergy, who are taking other medications, elderly, children, during pregnancy and breast-feeding.
Patient may experience with diarrhea, blood in stool or stomach pain; if it so consult with your doctor.
Avoid long-term use of this medication; otherwise it may cause secondary infection.
Monitor kidney function, sugar level regularly while taking this medication.

Side Effects : 

   Most Common - Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness and abdominal pain.

Other Precautions : 

Take full course of treatment as directed by your physician.

Storage Conditions : 

Store the tablets between 15° and 30°C.
Injection: Store it in refrigerator (between 2° and 30°C). Normally handled and stored by healthcare providers.

Schedule : H

Prescription drugs - Drugs to be sold only under the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner.