Dogs capable of sniffing out prostate cancer

They're known as man's best
friend; but dogs could soon also
be their greatest ally in the fight
against prostate cancer. Britain's
National Health Service recently
approved a trial for dogs capable
of sniffing out prostate cancer in
the hope that it could show up
inaccuracies in the current PSA
(prostate specific antigen) test.
Fantastic sense of smell
It's long been known that a
dog's remarkable sense of smell
can detect minute odours known
to be associated with many
cancers which are understood to
be linked to volatile organic
compounds produced by
malignant cells.
"Dogs have got this fantastic
sense of smell – three-hundred
million sensory receptors, while
humans have only five million. So
they're very, very good at finding
minute odours. What we now
know is that cancer cells that are
dividing differently have different
volatile organic compounds –
smelly compounds – that are
associated with the cells.
And dogs with their incredible
sense of small can find these in
things like breath and urine,"
said Dr Claire Guest who co-
founded charity Medical
Detection Dogs in 2008 to train
specialist dogs to detect human
diseases.
She added that the dogs' ability
to sense chemical changes has
been known throughout history
but overlooked by modern
medicine: "What dogs are doing
is actually revisiting a way in
which diagnosis has been done
centuries ago. It was understood
then that different volatiles – or
smelly compounds – could be
involved with changes in our
body and may in fact enable
someone to make an accurate
diagnosis.
Almost instant detection
But this has been very much
forgotten. What the dogs are
doing is finding the odours from
bio-chemical changes in our
body and this is opening a new
way of diagnosing diseases and
conditions in the future."
Medical Detection Dogs gained
approval from Milton Keynes
University Hospital for further
trials, after initial testing showed
trained dogs can detect prostate
tumours in urine in 93 percent of
cases. The charity says dogs
undergo training for a period of
about six months, after which
they can reliably identify urine
with traces of cancer cells in it. At
the charity's facility the dogs do
the rounds, sniffing a machine
that holds eight urine samples.
When they detect the sample that
contains cancer cells, they either
stop and sit down by it, bark or
lick the bottle to indicate they can
smell the cancer. Dogs are initially
rewarded when they detect any
urine scent, and then later only
rewarded when they successfully
identify cancer cells in urine
samples.
Dr Guest says dogs can detect the
scent of cancer almost instantly,
meaning they could potentially
check many more samples than a
human could possibly do.
A hunt game
"These dogs have the ability to
screen hundreds of samples in a
day; it's something they find very
easy, they enjoy their work. To
them it's a hunt game – they find
the cancer," she said.
For Dr Guest, it was this "game"
that potentially saved her life. In
2009 her Labrador Daisy made
her aware that she was suffering
from the early stages of breast
cancer when she began to
nudge Dr Guest's chest. Daisy,
now 11 years old, is one of the
dogs taking part in the trials in
Milton Keynes.
According to the charity, there
are strong reasons for such a
study. Prostate cancer is the most
common cancer in men in the UK,
and the second most common
cause of cancer death.
The current PSA test involves
analysing a blood sample for a
specific protein produced by the
prostate gland, an elevated level
of which could indicate prostate
cancer and require a biopsy to
be carried out. But the test has a
high "false positive" rate
meaning many men may
undergo the invasive procedure
unnecessarily, and many general
practitioners are reluctant to use
it.
The scientists hope that dogs
could provide a second line
cancer screening service that
demonstrated a low false
positive rate and higher
accuracy. And if dogs can be
proved to be a reliable screening
tool, a test could eventually be
developed that is far superior to
the PSA test.
An electronic nose
While the current trials are
focused on training dogs to
accurately detect prostate cancer
in urine samples, Rowena
Fletcher from Milton Keynes
University Hospital says dogs'
unique skill could make them a
valuable resource for doctors in
detecting many more diseases.
"A lot of different diseases could
carry a chemical signature, and
then really the dogs could be
used potentially to look at any
other diseases which also had a
chemical signature," she said.
While many dog-lovers may think
it would be nice to have a dog in
every doctor's surgery to screen
for cancer, ultimately that is not
practical. Instead the scientists
hope their research will lead to
the invention of an electronic
nose that will mimic that of a
dog's.
"Ultimately we hope to use the
information that the dogs
produce to actually develop an
electronic nose. So eventually you
could have a machine that sits on
your consultant's desk, you'd put
the urine sample in it and it
would tell you if it was positive
or negative. That would be the
ultimate aim," added Fletcher.
However, a viable "electronic
nose" is still many years away,
with no technology able to get
close to the sniffing power of
man's four-legged friend.
"The problem the electronic nose
scientist has is that currently
their sensitivity is well below the
dog. A dog can find parts per
trillion; we had an electronic
nose working alongside the
dogs recently and they were
unable to find anything below
parts per million," said Dr Guest.
- Reuters

Genetic differences may affect lung cancer in smokers

According to a medical research (an MRC funded
study) by UK medical scientists, smokers who survive into old age may
hold key to lung health.

UK researchers have
identified genetic differences
which affect smoking behaviour,
and the predisposition of both
heavy smokers and non-smokers
to suffer poor lung health.

The research found that people with health or good gene may have
healthy lung even if they smole till old age but their lung will be
healthier if they were non-smoker.

3 health benefits of blueberries

3 health usefulness of Blueberries


Blueberries are delicious little berries with dim blue skin. The following are the three health benefits of blueberries.

Group commended President Jonathan for signing the National Tobacco Control Bill

Auwal Rafsanjani, CISLAC
Executive Director of The National Tobacco Control Bill
Coalition has commended
President Goodluck Jonathan on behalf of the group ( comprising the
Civil Society
Legislative Advocacy Centre,
Environmental Rights Action/
Friends of the Earth Nigeria, and
the Nigeria Tobacco Control
Coalition) for
signing the National Tobacco
Control Bill, labelling it an
extraordinary public health
legacy.

"We salute the courage of
President Jonathan in signing
this bill into law, ignoring
overtures by the tobacco
industry to frustrate every effort
to enact a comprehensive
tobacco control legislation in
Nigeria," he said.

Meanwhile, Akinbode Oluwafemi, Director
Corporate Accountability
Campaigns, noted that more
work needs to be done in
ensuring that every Nigerian is
protected from the harmful
effects of tobacco.

"This bill is however providing
Nigeria the necessary framework
for action both at the local, state
and national levels," Mr.
Oluwafemi said.
"Tobacco is major public health
challenge and it is a welcome
relief that Nigeria has finally join
the league of nations that have
taken proactive steps to protect
their citizens."

Also, Gbenga Adejuwon, Project
Manager, NTCA, urged
government to immediately
provide mechanisms that will ensure smooth
implementation of the
Tobacco
Control Law which include ban of
smoking in public places, ban of sale of
cigarette in single sticks, ban of
sale of tobacco products to
minors, ban of
tobacco advertising sponsorship
and promotion, mandatory warning
messages on cigarette packs
among others.

"We want to thank Mr. President
for signing the bill into law," Mr.
Adejuwon said.
"The immediate action should be
on implementation. We want to
see the Ministry of Health rising
up to the occasion by leading all
stakeholders for effective
implementation of the law.
"The National Tobacco Control
Law is aimed at regulating the
production, sale, marketing and
consumption of tobacco
products in Nigeria."

Obesity in adolescence have been linked to bowel cancer risk

Obesity in adolescence have been linked to
bowel cancer risk.

According to a study,
being overweight in
adolescence can lead to a
greater risk of bowel cancer
later in life.

The research was conducted using nearly
240,000 Swedish men whom are followed for 35
years.

The analysis, which was published in the
journal Gut, revealed that teenagers that are overweight later in life
have twice
the risk of bowel cancer and this is even more riskier in
obese teens.

Read the full report as published by BBC health after the cut...

The World Cancer Research Fund
said the link between obesity
and cancer was "strong".
Bowel cancer is the third most
common cancer in the world,
with nearly 1.4 million new cases
each year.
Processed red meat and
abdominal fat have been linked
to the disease.
'Accelerated growth'
The participants in the study
were aged between 16 and 20 at
the start.
The overwhelming majority were
a normal weight, but 6.5% were
overweight and 1% were obese.
There were 855 cases of
colorectal cancer in the study.
However, the results showed not
all weights were affected equally.
Those who were obese were
2.38 times more likely to have
developed a bowel tumour.
The study, led by Orebro
University Hospital in Sweden
and Harvard University, said:
"Late adolescence marks the
transition from childhood to
adulthood and is a period of
accelerated growth, especially
among men, thus this period
may represent a critical window."
"It is important that we
understand the role of exposures
in childhood and adolescence in
the development of colorectal
cancer.
"In fact, the strong association
observed between adolescent
obesity and early-to-mid-life
colorectal cancer, coupled with
the increasing prevalence of
adolescent obesity, may shed
light on the increase in colorectal
cancer incidence among young
adults," he added.
'Strong evidence'
Rachel Thompson, from the
World Cancer Research Fund, said
the evidence suggested that
obesity was a risk factor for
bowel cancer.
"This finding is interesting
because it gives an indication
that bowel cancer risk might be
affected by our lifestyle habits
throughout the life course," she
said.
"In some ways, research into the
relationship between factors like
obesity and cancer risk is still in
its infancy.
"It will be interesting to see if
further research emerges in the
future to back up the apparent
relationship between body
fatness in youth and later-life
cancer risk."

Fruit snacks are saturated with more sugar than sweets

Fruit snacks 'contain more
sugar than sweets'

Many supposedly "healthy" fruit
snacks aimed at children
contain more sugar than
sweets, says a campaign group.
Action on Sugar looked at 94
products on UK sale, such as
coated dried fruit, and found a
third contained three or four
teaspoons of sugar and 85%
were more sugary than Haribo
Starmix sweets.
Child health experts said the
findings were frightening.
The industry pointed out that
most of the snacks had no added
sugars, and those that did were
clearly labelled.
Action on Sugar said that parents
should give their children fresh
fruit and vegetables instead of
processed fruit snacks.
And it called on food
manufacturers to stop adding
unnecessary sugars to fruit-
based snacks while labelling
them as contributing to "one of
your five a day".
Katharine Jenner, campaign
director at Action on Sugar, said:
"Parents find it hard enough to
know what 'healthy' is without
food manufacturers confusing
matters with misleading claims.
"Whole, unprocessed fruit is
healthier than processed fruit
snacks and fruit juice drinks, as it
contains vitamins, minerals,
water and fibre, and does not
cause the devastating tooth
decay we see in young children
today."
A child would have to eat an
entire punnet (240g) of
strawberries to take in the same
number of grams of sugar as in
some processed fruit snacks.
Colin Michie, chairman of the
nutrition committee at the Royal
College of Paediatrics and Child
Health, said the findings were
"stunning" and "frightful".
"None of us needs sugar in our
diets at all. It is all completely
unnecessary.
"Fruit contains fibre, which we all
need to function properly, but in
these snacks the benefits of fruit
have been sacrificed by covering
them in yogurt and other sugary
coatings."
How much sugar in processed
fruit snacks?
The Fruit Factory Sports Mix-
Ups (5x18g) - 81g of sugar
per 100g* or 3.6 teaspoons**
of sugar per serving
Tesco Yogurt Coated
Strawberry Fruit Bites (25g) -
70.1g of sugar per 100g or
4.4 teaspoons of sugar per
serving
Fruit Bowl Fruit Flakes
Raspberry Rush (25g) - 69g of
sugar per 100g or 4.3
teaspoons of sugar per
serving
Whitworths Sunny Raising
Coated Custard Raisins (25g) -
68.6g of sugar per 100g or
4.3 teaspoons of sugar per
serving
Organix Goodies Organic Fruit
Gummies strawberry and
apple (12g) - 67.2g of sugar
per 100g of the snack or 2
teaspoons of sugar per
serving
*Haribo Starmix contains 47g of
sugar per 100g
**One teaspoon of sugar is equal
to four grams of granulated
sugar

For full article visit www.bbc.com/news/health-32914999

Betel Nut And Your Health

                                 

                                                      Betel nuts


The name betel comes from the betel-pepper plant. Though the nut and the betel – pepper plant are unrelated but the name was derived from the betel –pepper plant because betel chewers usually wrap a piece of areca fruit in betel – pepper leaf, together with a little mineral lime.

Therefore, betel nut is actually the tropical, fleshly fruit of the areca palm (betel palm), usually found in the Southeast Asia and the pacific.

Health hazards of chewing betel nut

The lime promotes the release of alkaloid stimulant which can make chewers  wanting to chew more and more of the nuts thus making chewing of betel nuts their second nature.

Many chewers spit repeatedly because spices, tobacco or sweetness are usually added in the preparation to make the taste better. This makes the color to be blood –red, stimulates the production of saliva and this result to frequent spitting.

Consistent chewing of betel nut can give the teeth a brownish – red staining. It can also result to various mouth disease such as oral submucous fibrosis and gum disease.

                                           

                            Betel nut chewer with stained tooth                      Betel nuts

                                                                Image from Google search

Chronic betel nut chewing can lead to serious medication complications such mouth cancer known as oral squamous cell carcinoma and cardiovascular disease.

Chewing betel nut can disrupt or damage the DNA of an unborn baby. Therefore, pregnant women should avoid the chewing of betel nut so as not to disrupt the development of the fetus.

Chronic chewer of betel nut usually exhibit such cholinergic (altering of the state and function of the central nervous system and the neurotransmitters) symptoms such as sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, frequent salivation, excessive tearing etc.

Habitual chewing of betel nut can result to side effects such as excessive heart beat, anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia etc.

Since those fond of chewing betel nut do so because of one reason or the other, betel nut definitely have it own benefits, health wise or not.

The habitual chewer will give one or more health benefits for the reason why they are chewing it. But the fact is that such claim by chewers cannot be scientifically or medically proved. Research also shows that the health hazards of chewing betel nut far outweigh any associated benefits.

What the news says about betel nut

“World wide, betel nut sales bring in billions of dollars”.

“The highest population of betel nut chewer is found in the East Africa, Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia, Papua new Guinea and Micronesia and they are about 10% of the world’s population.”

“Users often consider it harmless and report a sense of well – being and a warm sensation of the body …. Evidence has shown, however, that it is far from harmless“. – Oral Health 

“Papua New Guinea’s favorite chew, the betel nut, is killing at least 2000 people a year and is responsible for many health problems, according to the PNG Medical Society”. – Papua New Guinea’s post – courier.

“Taiwan’s rate of oral cancer – one of the Island’s top 10 causes of death – has nearly quadrupled in the past 40 years”. – The China post


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