Molecule May Aid Diabetes Treatment
Chinese scientists say they have identified a molecule that may hold the key to developing new pills to treat diabetes, a growing health concern affecting almost 21 million Americans.
The compound, called Boc5, helped mice reduce food intake when given orally or through needles, according to findings published online Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say more potent doses may be used to develop a new class of pills that can treat adult-onset diabetes more easily than injectable drugs now used.
Boc5 mimicked the body’s own glucose-regulating hormones in the mice in a way similar to the treatment mechanism of Byetta, an injection sold by Eli Lilly & Co. and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. Byetta, used to control blood sugar, must be injected because it would be broken down too quickly in the stomach if taken orally.
“The considerable promise” of drugs such as Byetta “may be diminished by their need for injection,” researchers from China’s National Center for Drug Screening in Shanghai wrote in their study.
About 20.8 million Americans had diabetes as of 2005, or 7 percent of the population, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
– bloomberg news
Report flags acute homesickness
Almost everyone experiences occasional homesickness, but many young people suffer an intense form that interferes with normal activities, according to a new study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The report in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics offers tips to physicians for recognizing risk fa?tors among patients leaving home for the first time.”Leaving home is a universal developmental milestone,” said Dr. Edward Walton, co-author of the report and an assistant professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Michigan. “Our goal is for them not to lose time and experience in the adjusting,” he said.
Walton co-wrote the study with Christopher Thurber, staff psychologist at Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in New Hampshire.
About 95 percent of young people say they miss something about home the first time they are away, Thurber said. But a smaller percentage — about 1 in 14 — suffer from what Thurber calls “intense homesickness.”
“They’re not eating or sleeping right, not playing with others,” Thurber said. “Or they have an intense preoccupation with home; they’re not thinking about anything else.”
That can “seriously impair” experiences at camp, boarding school, college or the hospital, he said. – Associated Press
Coral reefs may mitigate tsunamis
Healthy coral reefs may be able to reduce tsunamis’ run-up on land by half, according to a study published in December in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Using computer models, three scientists calculated that broad and shallow reefs are especially effective at curbing the impact of tsunamis on volcanic islands.
The authors — former Princeton student Catherine Kunkel, NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory scientist Robert Hallberg and Princeton geosciences and public policy professor Michael Oppenheimer — note that reefs could not have significantly softened the blow from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on Banda Aceh, Indonesia, because the waves were so large and the reefs so close to shore. But they added, “for many islands, the reef is significantly far offshore to allow significant dissipation of tsunami energy over the reef” in a computer-generated scenario.
Oppenheimer said the healthier a reef, the better it can limit a tsunami’s reach when it hits land. According to the paper, about 30 percent of the world’s reefs are seriously damaged and nearly 60 percent may die by 2030 because of factors including climate change.
“Coral reefs aren’t just a matter of aesthetics,” Oppenheimer said. “Saving coral reefs can be a matter of saving lives.” – washington post
Caution urged with OTC painkillers
A recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal to add stronger warning labels to several popular types of over-the-counter painkillers — noting they pose a risk of liver and stomach damage — shouldn’t scare most consumers into avoiding the products entirely, experts say.
But the news should remind patients to take the lowest dose needed for the shortest possible time and to be aware of the ingredients contained in all of their medications, particularly when taking more than one medicine.
Under the proposal, warnings would be added to the labels of all OTC medicines with acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) — including aspirin, naproxen and ibuprofen — which are used to treat headaches, pain, fever, menstrual cramps and muscle aches. Affected products include such popular brands as Tylenol, Aleve, Motrin and Advil.
The warnings would “include important safety information regarding the potential for stomach bleeding and liver damage and when to consult a doctor,” the FDA reports. – WASHINGTON post
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