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Latest Health Research

Dying from tooth hygiene
Elaine Nelson ageis@ix.netcom.com Perhaps of interest: My daughter is both an RN and RDH (dental hygienist) and a few months ago she attended a terminal patient in the hospital who was dying because of bacterial infection due to extremely poor dental hygiene. Yes, good dental health improves more than keeping your teeth! Elaine
Entered Elaine Nelson ageis@ix.netcom.com March 31, 1999

Growth hormone problems
A natural protein that helps kids grow may cause headaches, muscle problems, diabetes and carpel tunnel syndrome. "Human Growth Hormone" has been available in a synthetic, genetically engineered form since the 1980s. Given before puberty, the supplement can help kids with a deficiency to sprout inches. It is also given to adults whose pituitary glands have been removed to build muscle mass. The pituitary gland controls the release of growth hormone. However, it can affect blood sugar levels, predisposing one to diabetes. It has been linked to carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches, muscle aches and fluid retention, a sign of high blood pressure.
SDAhealth email from Rose Bowen, bowenten@swva.net Entered on Dec 14, 1998

Attention deficient disorder
Once viewed as simple inattentiveness or overactivity, ADHD now appears to result from neurological abnormalities that may have a genetic basis. Behavioral modification training, along with stimulant drugs, could help children and adults with ADHD learn to exercise more self-control. There is an excellent technical overview by Russell A. Barkley, Pg. 66, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, September 1998.
SDAhealth email From: Ken Goodridge, kennyg@efn.org. Entered on Dec 14, 1998

Brain rewires itself
Two university studies on deaf and blind people show that brains "rewire" themselves to find uses for areas that would have been devoted to hearing or sight. Researchers at two U.S. universities measured blood flow in the brains of deaf and blind people to show that areas associated with processing sounds and images remained active. "This shows the brain does, essentially, rewire itself," Victoria Morgan from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn, said in a report to the Radiological Society of North America. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557409449-b54
SDAhealth email from Rose Bowen, bowenten@swva.net Entered on Dec 14, 1998

US pennies cause ulcers
Money problems have always caused ulcers, but Reuters now reports that the humble US penny is a direct cause of ulcers. Its report says: Children or pets who swallow a penny minted after 1981 should be monitored to see if they pass the coin, because newer pennies are predominantly made from zinc, which can cause ulcers or other problems, a researcher said Monday. "Most pennies will pass through the body quickly and harmlessly, and it would take more than one penny to cause serious damage," said Sara O'Hara, a pediatric radiologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. "But as in the case of one toddler we X- rayed, a penny that stays in the stomach can cause an ulcer and discomfort within a matter of days. In animals, the problem can be more serious," she said in a report. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557408692-b0e
SDAhealth email from Rose Bowen, bowenten@swva.net Entered on Dec 14, 1998

Plant antibodies work well
Reuters reports: Antibodies produced by genetically engineered plants seem to work just as well as those naturally produced by the body. The antibodies, nicknamed "plantibodies," worked against the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), which causes genital herpes, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Dr. Kevin Whaley and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University used soybeans, genetically engineered to produce the human antibody against HSV-2. The monoclonal antibody they purified from the soybeans was just as effective as one made by mammals for protecting mice against genital herpes, they reported.
SDAhealth email from Rose Bowen, bowenten@swva.net Entered on Dec 14, 1998

Fixing faulty genes
Reuters reports: U.S. researchers say they may have found a way to bypass the need for gene therapy by actually "fixing" a faulty gene. Gene therapy is a young science, which calls for fixing genetic diseases by replacing the "bad" gene with a good one. It has been tried on many diseases from cystic fibrosis, which results from a single mutated gene, to cancer. So far no one has been cured using gene therapy, mostly because the process is hit-and-miss. Sometimes the new gene is taken up by the body, but most of the time it is not. Or the gene may work for a while and then stop functioning. See www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557398484-13a
SDAhealth email from Rose Bowen, bowenten@swva.net Entered on Dec 14, 1998

Improving babies' intelligence
Reuters reports: Feeding premature infants an enriched formula can improve their intelligence. During a 16-year study, scientists from Britain's Medical Research Council found premature babies who had been fed an enriched formula outperformed other children in intelligence tests. They had higher IQ scores at 7.5 to 8 years old compared to other premature babies who had been fed a standard formula for the first month of their lives. More than 400 premature babies were involved in the study published in the British Medical Journal. The infants were randomly selected for either of the two feeding groups.
SDAhealth email from Rose Bowen, bowenten@swva.net Entered on Dec 14, 1998

Cure for colds and flu
Researchers have developed new drugs that stop flu and the common cold dead in their tracks. The drugs block an enzyme that is necessary for the cold or flu virus to multiply. Test-tube experiments using human respiratory tract cells suggest the drugs will both prevent and treat cold or flu. This is because the viruses need the enzyme at every stage of their lifecycles. So blocking it at any stage prevents the work of the virus. (Source: Paper presented to Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 1998.)
Entered by Phil Ward - Oct 26, 1998

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Entered by Phil Ward - Oct 26, 1998

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