What Is Alopecia Areata?

One of the many diseases that can strike people in this world is referred to as alopecia areata. This disease is not well known as the overall diagnosis of this condition was sketchy at best for the past twenty or so years. Thankfully, several research companies have finally found a way to point doctors in the right direction and enable them to give the proper diagnosis when it comes to alopecia areata. However one must take into consideration that alopecia areata is just one of the many alopecia diseases that can affect a person, which is the reason why the doctors have had such a difficult time nailing down the specifics.

Alopecia areata is actually a disease of the immune system and is commonly referred to as an autoimmune syndrome. This puts this disease into a class that also includes Crohn's disease as well as IBD and so on. The most common symptoms of alopecia areata is the hair loss on the head as well as the other parts of the body. The reason this occurs is the fact that the immune system starts to attack the hair follicles and stops them from growing hair or maintaining the root structure. When this happens the hair is no longer healthy and will fall out. With this particular form of alopecia you will normally have quarter sized patches of hair loss on the scalp and men can suffer from the same on the chest and so on.

Auto-immune diseases such as alopecia areata are so called because the immune system is actually designed to protect the body from such problems. Our immune system is the defense mechanism that prevents serious virus and bacteria infections from taking hold. When our immune system is diminished it allows attackers from outside to take residence in our body and cause health problems. However, with the auto-immune issue there is something all together different going on. The immune system itself is attacking healthy cells in the body and killing them which is counteractive to the way things should be. This is why the hair on the patients with alopecia areata will fall out, as the immune system has attack the otherwise healthy areas and caused them to fail.

Alopecia areata is one of the most mild forms of alopecia that has currently been identified. While there is hair loss it has also been proven that the hair will most likely grow back. The problem is that if the auto-immune issue is not resolved the hair will once again fall out, causing the same issue over again. But the most important point about alopecia areata is the fact that it is not life threatening at all. The only real issue with this disease is the hair loss and it is not a symptom of a more serious issue underlying.

Doctors will normally treat the hair loss at its center because there is no known sure for the auto-immune issue that is the cause of alopecia areata. Patients who under go the treatments will once again find a normal life because hair growth is stimulated for the bare patches on the scalp.

From : medicalnewstoday.com

Outcomes Of Patients Dismissed From The Hospital With Noncardiac Chest Pain

The growing number of Americans with cardiovascular disease has caused a heightened sensitivity in the evaluation of chest pain. In a study published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings researchers reported that patients dismissed from the hospital with noncardiac chest pain continue to experience cardiac events, which may highlight a need for more aggressive cardiovascular risk factor management in this population.

Noncardiac chest pain is defined as a substernal chest pain in the absence of significant epicardial coronary artery stenoses. Noncardiac chest pain is attributed to a variety of disorders, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD ) and esophageal hypersensitivity, panic attack, musculoskeletal pain and microvascular disease (cardiac syndrome).

Researchers identified 320 patients with a diagnosis of noncardiac chest pain to determine the frequency of gastrointestinal (GI) consultations and testing, and to identify the frequency of cardiac death. All patients had a hospital admission diagnosis of unstable angina, subsequent inpatient cardiac evaluation and a dismissal diagnosis of noncardiac chest pain.

The first aim of this study was to determine the frequency of GI consultation and testing. After the initial diagnosis of noncardiac chest pain, 49 percent of patients were re-evaluated in the Emergency Department and 42 percent underwent repeated cardiology evaluations; only 15 percent had GI consultations. In regards to GI testing, 38 percent underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, 4 percent underwent manometry (13 tests), and 2 percent had pH probes (six probes).

"Patients in this study received few GI consultations and underwent even fewer GI tests. Further study is needed to determine whether patients with noncardiac chest pain would benefit from more frequent GI consultations and more diverse use of GI testing modalities," says Michael Leise, M.D., co-investigator in the Department of Gastroenterology , Mayo Clinic.

The study's second aim was to report on overall mortality, specifically, cardiac death in patients with noncardiac chest pain. Although prognosis for patients with noncardiac chest pain is thought to be favorable, researchers found that previous data to support this view were limited. The total sample in this study did not display a significantly increased frequency of death compared with what would be expected in this community, but a substantial number of cardiac deaths occurred in an noncardiac chest pain population. "We speculate that cardiac death in patients with noncardiac chest pain may relate to overlapping risk factors for GERD and coronary artery disease, including obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus and smoking," says Dr. Leise. Until cardiac death in this population is better understood, it is important to screen for cardiac risk factors such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus and aggressively manage these comorbid conditions.

Stomach-Friendly Coffee

With stomach irritation preventing almost 2 out of every 10 people from enjoying coffee, scientists reported discovery of several substances that may be among the culprits responsible for brewing up heartburn and stomach pain in every cup.

Their report, presented here at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, included the counter-intuitive finding that espresso, French roast, and other dark-roasted coffee may be easier on the tummy because these roasts contain a substance that tells the stomach to reduce production of acid.

The research could lead to a new generation of stomach-friendly brews with the rich taste and aroma of regular coffee, the scientists said.

"This discovery is going to help a lot of people who suffer from coffee sensitivity," say Veronika Somoza, Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in Austria, and Thomas Hofmann, Ph.D. from the Technische Universität München in Germany, who conducted the study. "As coffee-lovers, we're very excited about this research."

Estimates suggest that up to 40 million people in the United States alone either avoid coffee, or cannot drink as much as they like, due to stomach irritation. Doctors think that chemicals in coffee cause the stomach to overproduce acid. Some coffee drinkers take antacids or drink decaffeinated coffee in an effort to reduce this effect. Others turn to a small but growing number of specialty coffee brews marketed as stomach friendly.

"The problem is that studies have not verified the stomach irritating potential of coffee or its components, until now," Somoza said. "Manufacturers currently make 'stomach friendly' coffees by processing raw coffee beans with steam or solvents intended to reduce levels of the irritants. But their effectiveness is unclear."

The processes used to produce stomach-friendly coffee also can reduce the amount of healthful substances in the coffee, including some that scientists have linked to benefits such as protection against diabetes and heart disease, Somoza said. In addition, the processing can affect the robust taste and smell of coffee.

To study the irritants in coffee, the scientists exposed cultures of human stomach cells to a variety of different coffee preparations, including regular, dark-roast, mild, decaffeinated, and stomach-friendly. They identified several substances that appeared to trigger chemical changes associated with increased acid production. These substances include caffeine, catechols, and other ingredients.

"Our data show, for the first time, that caffeine, catechols and N-alkanoly-5-hydroxytryptamides are those coffee components that stimulate molecular mechanisms of stomach acid secretion in human stomach cells," Somoza said. Most of them are indeed removed by steam or solvent treatment of the raw coffee bean. We found out there's no single, key irritant. It is a mixture of compounds that seem to cause the irritant effect of coffee."

The scientists unexpectedly found that one of the coffee components, N-methylpyridium (NMP), seems to block the ability of the stomach cells to produce hydrochloric acid and could provide a way to reduce or avoid stomach irritation. Since NMP is generated only upon roasting and not found in raw coffee beans, darker-roasted coffees contain higher amounts of this stomach-friendly coffee ingredient. Dark- roasted coffee can potentially contain up to twice as much of the ingredient as light-roasted coffees, but its levels can vary widely depending on the variety of coffee bean and the roasting method, Somoza noted.

"Since NMP is generated upon roasting, dark-roast coffees contain high amounts of this stomach friendly coffee ingredient," Hofmann and Somoza said. "Now, there is hope for a good morning start with a freshly brewed cup of optimized stomach friendly coffee."

The scientists are testing different varieties of raw coffee beans and different roasting methods in an effort to boost NMP levels to make a better stomach-friendly coffee. They hope to test the new brew in human volunteers later in 2010.

Torax Medical Receives CE Mark For Its LINX(R) Anti-Reflux Treatment

Torax Medical Inc., a medical device company focused on the minimally invasive treatment of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), has received CE Mark for its LINX® Anti-Reflux treatment.. The company has started commercial launch of the LINX device at select centers in Europe.

Patients with GERD typically experience burning pain and tissue damage, the result of stomach juices refluxing into the esophagus. This is due to a defective esophageal sphincter muscle between the esophagus and the stomach. These juices, which include acid and bile, are harmful to the lining of the esophagus and are prevented from entering the esophagus when the sphincter muscle is normal. The LINX device is designed to augment an abnormal sphincter and restore its barrier function.

"The LINX device has been implanted in over 150 patients in Europe and the U.S. as part of clinical trials. With CE Mark, our focus is commercial release in Europe with centers which are known thought leaders in the treatment of the disease. We will continue our collaboration with these select centers as they start providing this new treatment option for their patients," said Todd Berg, CEO of Torax Medical.

Luigi Bonavina, Professor of Surgery at University of Milano and Chief of Surgery at Policlinico San Donato University Hospital, who has completed nearly 50 LINX procedures, said, "we are pleased that Torax has received CE Mark and are eager to continue our experience with LINX through a newly formed clinical Registry. The Registry data will be critical as we expand this needed treatment option for GERD patients."

Detection Of Precancerous Condition Improved By New Form Of Endoscopic Scanning

Cancer of the lower esophagus develops almost exclusively in patients with Barrett's esophagus, an otherwise benign complication of esophageal reflux that affects approximately 3 million Americans. Although the prognosis of patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer is poor, the chances of successful treatment increase significantly if the disease is detected at an early dysplastic stage.

Now, a new endoscopic scanning technique developed by scientists in the Biomedical Imaging and Spectroscopy Laboratory (BISL) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has proven successful in the early detection of dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus. The results of the study, which appear in the April 11 on-line issue of the journal Nature Medicine, could help clinicians to diagnose esophageal cancer at an earlier stage, when the condition is still treatable.

"We have established that this multispectral scanning technique, which we have named endoscopic polarized scanning spectroscopy [EPSS] offers great promise for the early detection of dysplasia in patients with Barrett's esophagus," explains inventor and senior author Lev Perelman, PhD, Director of the BISL at BIDMC and Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. "When used to guide the endoscopist, EPSS appears to not only help to avoid unnecessary biopsies, but also to help the endoscopist to locate suspicious dysplastic areas that might otherwise be missed."

The esophagus is the muscular tube that connects the throat to the stomach, allowing food to enter the stomach for digestion. Although cancer of the esophagus remains relatively rare, it is currently the fastest increasing cancer in the U.S., possibly due to an increased incidence of obesity. Furthermore, the symptoms of esophageal cancer - including difficulty swallowing, chest pain, or choking - generally do not appear until advanced stages of the disease.

"Barrett's esophagus often develops in individuals who suffer from heartburn and gastrointestinal reflux disease [GERD] which occurs when stomach acid flows backward into the esophagus," explains Ram Chuttani, MD, Director of Interventional Gastroenterology and Endoscopy at BIDMC and a coauthor of the study. "Over time, repeated exposure to stomach contents can result in further progression of the precancerous nature of Barrett's. Known as dysplasia, these precancerous changes occur on a cellular scale, and can currently only be diagnosed by staining numerous cell samples taken from multiple biopsies of different parts of the esophagus," he adds, noting that in spite of multiple biopsies, dysplasia and even cancer may be missed due to inherent sampling errors that can occur when tiny samples are obtained from large surface areas.

The new EPSS instrument, developed by Perelman, enables the endoscopist to more thoroughly search for these dysplastic changes on a subcellular scale. EPSS works by using light-scattering spectroscopy, an optical method that relates color of reflected light to the size, shape and refractive index of the illuminated particle.

"The idea behind light scattering spectroscopy is rooted in the same principles as the formation of a rainbow," explains Perelman. "In a rainbow, white light from the sun is refracted and reflected by tiny water droplets in the atmosphere, which form a colorful spectrum which you see with your eyes. Light scattering spectroscopy employs a bright arc lamp in place of the sun, targets epithelial cells and cell nuclei instead of water droplets, and is viewed through a spectrometer rather than just the human eye. In the case of EPSS, instead of viewing a beautiful arc, the information obtained from these spectra tells us whether or not the esophageal cells we are viewing are dysplastic.

A clinically useful technique in the detection of dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus must rapidly survey a comparatively large area while simultaneously detecting changes on a cellular scale, explains Perelman, and by combining polarized light scattering spectroscopy with an endoscopically compatible scanning approach, he and his scientific team were able to achieve both goals.

In its first pilot clinical test, conducted at the BIDMC Interventional Endoscopy Center, the EPSS instrument successfully guided the endoscopist in performing biopsies of the esophagus, detecting and mapping sites of numerous invisible dysplasia - which would have been missed by the currently used biopsy standards.

"The detection of the signal related to precancerous epithelial cellular changes is made possible through the use of polarized light," explains Perelman. "Since light reflected from sub-epithelial tissue will become 'depolarized,' while light that is backscattered from epithelial cells will preserve its polarization, the technique of polarization subtraction -or polarized light scattering spectroscopy - retains and conveys only the diagnostically important information."

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health. BIDMC has filed a patent application covering this technology.

Examines Potential Impact Of Utah Bill To Prosecute Women For Illegal Abortions

A bill (HB 12) recently approved by the Utah Legislature that would permit criminal charges against women who seek an illegal abortion "may have opened a loophole" allowing women to be charged with murder if they experience a miscarriage because of "reckless behavior," ABC News reports. The bill was drafted in response to a case of a pregnant teenager who paid a man to beat her, hoping to induce a miscarriage. Charges against the teen were dropped after a judge ruled that her actions were not considered criminal under Utah law.

Critics of the bill argue that it could give prosecutors the ability to file charges against women who miscarry after not wearing seatbelts or not fleeing a domestic violence situation, ABC News reports. Jordan Goldberg, state advocacy counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said, "One of the biggest problems of the law is that it's criminalizing women's behavior during pregnancy." He added, "When you start down that path, it's very difficult to draw the line." State Sen. Ross Romero (D), one of only four state senators who voted against the bill, said it "could be misconstrued or construed too aggressively," adding, "We all make bad choices in our lives, and most of them don't come with criminal burdens. This one does, or may, I should say."

The bill also would change the definition of abortion to apply "only to a medical procedure carried out by a physician, or through a substance used under the direction of a physician." Romero said, "This type of attention on the woman, I think, may be part of this whole general assault on a woman's right to choose."



Gov. Undecided on Signing Bill

The bill is awaiting action by Gov. Gary Herbert (R), who has not publicly indicated his position. Herbert has until March 8 to either sign or veto the bill before it automatically becomes law. Angie Welling, Herbert's spokesperson, said in an e-mail that the governor "understands that the intent of the bill is not to criminalize miscarriage, nor to restrict a woman's ability to seek a legal abortion." Herbert "is also aware that concerns exist about possible unintended consequences of the legislation," Welling wrote, adding, "That will be key to his analysis of this legislation, as it is with all other bills with which he is presented" (Netter, ABC News, 3/1).

CNN Discussion

CNN's "Campbell Brown" on Monday included a discussion with state Rep. Carl Wimmer (R), the bill's sponsor, and CNN legal analyst Lisa Bloom about the bill. Bloom said she believes the bill is unconstitutional because it would criminalize abortion at all stages of pregnancy. In addition, she said it would give prosecutors broad leeway to charge women who experience miscarriages, a notion Wimmer denied (Brown, "Campbell Bill,"

From : medicalnewstoday.com

Loyola Study Finds The Hormone Estrogen Inhibits A Protein That Causes Normal Cell Death In Breast Tumors

A new study is providing insight into how estrogen fuels many breast cancers, and researchers say the findings could lead to new cancer-fighting drugs.

Researchers found that estrogen inhibits a protein called MLK3 that causes normal cell death. Blocking MLK3 leads to uncontrolled growth of cancer cells and resistance to chemotherapy.

Researchers from Loyola University Health System and three other centers reported the findings in the journal Cancer Research.

"This could give us a new angle to treating breast cancer," said senior author Ajay Rana, PhD, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

About 60 percent of all breast cancers are estrogen-positive or progesterone-positive. This means the cancer cells have receptors for the female hormones estrogen and progesterone. Consequently, the hormones fuel the tumor's growth.

In laboratory experiments, researchers found that in estrogen-positive and progesterone-positive cancer cells, there is a reduction in the activity of MLK3. Consequently, cells can continue growing, changing and developing resistance to chemotherapy. "Cancer cells are very smart," Dr. Rana said.

By contrast, Dr. Rana's team found that MLK3 activity was much higher in estrogen-negative and progesterone-negative cancer cells.

The next step, Dr. Rana said, is to look for a drug that would overcome the inhibitory effect of estrogen on MLK3. Such a drug would be taken in combination with chemotherapy drugs.

Loyola co-authors are Velusamy Rangasamy, PhD (first author); Rajakishore Mishra, PhD; Suneet Mehrotra, PhD; Gautam Sondarva, PhD, Rajarshi S.Ray, PhD and Basabi Rana, PhD. Other co-authors are Arundhati Rao, MD, of Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Tx and Malay Chatterjee, PhD of Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India. Basabi Rana and Ajay Rana also are affiliated with Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital.

TAG : estrogen fuels , breast cancers , breast tumors

From : medicalnewstoday.com

What is Atrial Fibrillation?

The human heart has two upper chambers and two lower chambers. The upper chambers are called the left atrium and the right atrium - the plural of atrium is atria. The two lower chambers are the the left ventricle and the right ventricle. When the two upper chambers - the atria - contract at an excessively high rate, and in an irregular way, the patient has atrial fibrillation.

The term atrial fibrillation comes from the Latin words atrium, meaning "hall", fibrilla, meaning "small fiber", and atio, meaning "process".

According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary, atrial fibrillation is "fibrillation in which the normal rhythmic contractions of the cardiac atria are replaced by rapid irregular twitchings of the muscular wall; the ventricles respond irregularly to the dysrhythmic bombardment from the atria."
The most common type of arrhythmia

Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia - problems with the speed or rhythm of the heartbeat. Arrhythmias are caused by a disorder in the heart's electrical system.
How does arrhythmia occur?

The walls of the atria and ventricles are made of virtually 100% pure muscle. A heartbeat is caused by the tightening of these muscles. When the muscles tighten the chambers squeeze closed and push out the blood which is inside them.

Heartbeat control begins with the sinoatrial node - a small clump of muscle cells located in the right atrium. This is the heart's natural pacemaker; it sends electrical impulses to the atrioventricular node which exists between the atria and ventricles. The atrioventricular node determines how much the ventricles contract. Our pulse rate is caused by the contraction of the left ventricle.

When the atrioventricular node receives too many impulses - more than it is able to conduct - atrial fibrillation occurs. The result is irregular contractions of the ventricles. That is why a patient with atrial fibrillation has an irregular and high pulse rate.

Put simply - during atrial fibrillation the contractions of the two upper chambers of the heart are not synchronized with the contractions of the two lower chambers. Atrial fibrillation is a rapid and irregular heart rate. It frequently causes poor blood flow to the body.

From : medicalnewstoday.com