Prostate cancer urine test nears

British scientists have moved a step closer to developing a simple urine test to identify men at risk of getting prostate cancer.

They have discovered that a protein found in urine is affected by a genetic change linked to the cancer.

More research was needed, but their work could lead to the development of a reliable test costing £5.50 ($8.82).

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, killing about 10,000 men in Britain every year.

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There is currently no routine screening programme in the UK, although men with a family history of the disease can have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test to detect signs of the disease.

But this is notoriously inaccurate and although 10-15% of men will have high enough PSA levels to warrant carrying out a prostate biopsy, only 2-3% will require any treatment.

Research published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE showed that the protein, called MSMB, is present at reduced levels in men diagnosed with the disease.

Levels also appear to be affected by tumour aggressiveness.

Potentially 'powerful'

Study leader Dr Hayley Whitaker, from Cancer Research UK charity's Cambridge Research Institute, said: "We looked in tissue and urine from over 350 men with and without prostate cancer to find out how much MSMB they had.

"We then looked to see who had the genetic change. It was really exciting to find out that the genetic change and the amount of protein were linked.

"The protein is easy to detect because it is found in urine and would potentially be a very simple test to carry out on men to identify those most at risk of developing the disease."

Dr Kate Holmes, research manager at The Prostate Cancer Charity, described the test as "potentially... a powerful way to predict how likely a man is to develop prostate cancer".

Reference;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11538881

Researchers Studying Plant That Boosts Mood, Relieves Hunger

JOHANNESBURG – For hundreds of years, indigenous South Africans have chewed a plant they say reduces stress, relieves hunger, sedates and elevates moods. Now they have a license to study and market it, and plan to sell it over-the-counter worldwide.

Researchers say the plant, called sceletium tortuosum, has great potential and could also help boost the local economy. Still, the American pharmaceutical company working on the project says it doesn't know whether the plant has been approved by U.S. regulators or how soon it may be available to consumers.

On Friday, South Africa's environmental minister traveled to the country's arid southwest where the plant is found to celebrate the issuing of the first license of an indigenous plant to the South African company HGH Pharmaceuticals.

HGH has not registered the product, which they will market as a dietary supplement, in any country, as the company is still compiling scientific and technical data, said Nigel Gericke, director of research at HGH.

"We're positioning (the product) for everyday people who are having a stressful time in the office, feeling a bit of social anxiety, tension or in a low mood," Gericke said.

The plant - known within South Africa as Kanna, Channa or Kougoed - has been used by the San people to reduce hunger, thirst and fatigue and is said to have sedative, hypnotic and mood-elevating effects. It is commonly chewed, but also can be made into tea or smoked.

Ben-Erik Van Wyk, a professor of botany and plant biotechnology at the University of Johannesburg, said he's extensively researched the plant and found no ill effects or evidence of dependency.

Van Wyk, who has worked with a researcher at the company that will be marketing it but is not involved in the project, said he hopes the plant may draw attention to the wisdom of the ancient San people, sometimes referred to as Bushmen.

When chewed, the plant gives a slight head rush, which is similar to the effect of smoking a cigarette, Van Wyk said.

"It's a product with huge potential," he said. "Anyone who has chewed it and has experienced the sensation of the plant definitely knows there's something happening."

"So often traditional remedies are looked down upon as old-fashioned and outdated," Van Wyk added. "If this product becomes a huge success, the culture will become more respected and better known."

Gericke first read about the plant in 1985 while paging through a botanical book in a public library in Australia. When he returned home to South Africa, he and a psychiatrist visited regions of the San people to research doses and side effects.

HGH has an agreement with Morristown, New Jersey-based P.L. Thomas & Co, which plans to launch the product in 2011, said spokeswoman Paula Nurnberger.

It may be some time before consumers get a chance to try a pill containing the plant's extracts, which they hope to market over-the-counter as Zembrin. Nurnberger said she does not know whether the product has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Reference:

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/10/01/researchers-studying-plant-boosts-mood-relieves-hunger/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+foxnews/health+(Internal+-+Health+-+Text)

Too Much Selenium Could Increase Cholesterol Levels

Taking too much selenium, an essential mineral touted for immune boosting and anti-cancer benefits, could increase cholesterol levels by 10 percent and, as a result, raise the risk of heart disease, a new study suggests.

The findings, published online November 10 in the Journal of Nutrition, a publication of the American Society for Nutrition, warns consumers against taking too much selenium until more research is done to gain a better understanding of the risks and benefits of selenium supplementation.

Study co-author, Dr. Saverio Stranges of the Warwick Medical School in Warwick, England, said the findings of this observational study are "consistent with the findings of earlier clinical work," which have suggested an association between elevated blood levels of selenium and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.

Selenium is a mineral found in grains, nuts, fish and meats. Foods grown and raised in selenium rich environments like the United States have higher natural selenium content than those grown in selenium poor areas, like China.

Not getting enough selenium can contribute to heart disease, an underactive thyroid gland, and a weakened immune system. But, selenium deficiency is rare in healthy populations like the United States where a greater threat may be posed by getting too much.

"If you get more selenium than what you need ... there are no additional benefits and actually there is the potential for adverse effects," such as an increased risk of diabetes or high cholesterol, Stranges noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health.

As in the U.S., dietary supplement use is on the rise in the U.K. Stranges and colleagues wanted to know if the findings of previous selenium studies in the U.S. held true for Britain, where people are exposed to less selenium in their environment.

The research team analyzed the 2000 and 2001 diets and health records of more than a thousand British adults. Participants gave blood and answered questions about smoking, drinking, exercise at work and at play, prescription drug use, supplement use, income, and education. Information about physical characteristics such as weight and height was also gathered.

The researchers stopped short of claiming too much selenium causes a boost in cholesterol but wrote that the association between selenium levels in the blood and total cholesterol "was strong," and consistent with earlier studies.

Cholesterol levels, the researchers found, rose in tandem with blood selenium concentrations.

The researchers caution that the benefits of antioxidants, like selenium, have been aggressively marketed, despite "a lack of definitive evidence on their efficacy for cancer and other chronic disease prevention."

"We believe that the widespread use of selenium supplements or of any other strategy that artificially increases selenium status above the level required is unwarranted at the present time," Stranges said in a prepared statement.

Green tea 'may block lung cancer'

Drinking green tea may offer some protection against lung cancer, say experts who studied the disease at a medical university in Taiwan.

The latest work in more than 500 people adds to growing evidence suggesting the beverage has anti-cancer powers.

In the study, smokers and non-smokers who drank at least a cup a day cut their lung cancer risk significantly, a US cancer research conference heard.

The protection was greatest for people carrying certain genes.

But cancer experts said the findings did not change the fact that smoking is bad for health.

Daily cuppa

Green tea is made from the dried leaves of the Asian plant Camellia sinesis and is drunk widely across Asia.

The rates of many cancers are much lower in Asia than other parts of the world, which has led some to link the two.

Laboratory studies have shown that extracts from green tea, called polyphenols, can stop cancer cells from growing.

The best thing a smoker can do to reduce their risk of lung cancer, and more than a dozen other cancer types, is to quit. Yinka Ebo of Cancer Research UK

But results from human studies have been mixed. Some have shown a protective effect while others have failed to find any evidence of protection.

In July 2009, the Oxford-based research group Cochrane published a review of 51 studies on green tea and cancer which included over 1.5 million people.

They concluded that while green tea is safe to drink in moderation, the research so far is conflicting about whether or not it can prevent certain cancers.

Reduced risk

Dr I-Hsin Lin, of Shan Medical University, found that among smokers and non-smokers, people who did not drink green tea were more than five times as likely to get lung cancer than those who drank at least one cup of green tea a day.

Among smokers, those who did not drink green tea at all were more than 12 times as likely to develop lung cancer than those who drank at least a cup a day.

Researchers then analysed the DNA of people in the study and found certain genes appeared to play a role in the risk reduction.

Green tea drinkers, whether smokers or non smokers, with certain types of a gene called IGF1, were far less likely to develop lung cancer than other green tea drinkers with different types of this gene.

Yinka Ebo, of Cancer Research UK, said the findings should not be used as an excuse to keep smoking.

"Smoking tobacco fills your lungs with around 80 cancer-causing chemicals. Drinking green tea is not going to compensate for that.

"Unfortunately, it's not possible to make up for the harm caused by smoking by doing other things right like eating a healthy, balanced diet.

"The best thing a smoker can do to reduce their risk of lung cancer, and more than a dozen other cancer types, is to quit."

Reference:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8453628.stm

Having a big bum, hips and thighs 'is healthy'

Carrying extra weight on your hips, bum and thighs is good for your health, protecting against heart and metabolic problems, UK experts have said.

Hip fat mops up harmful fatty acids and contains an anti-inflammatory agent that stops arteries clogging, they say.

Big behinds are preferable to extra fat around the waistline, which gives no such protection, the Oxford team said.

Science could look to deliberately increase hip fat, they told the International Journal of Obesity.

And in the future, doctors might prescribe ways to redistribute body fat to the hips to protect against cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

They said having too little fat around the hips can lead to serious metabolic problems, as occurs in Cushing's syndrome.

Shape not weight

Evidence shows that fat around the thighs and backside is harder to shift than fat around the waist.

Although this may sound undesirable, it is actually beneficial because when fat is broken down quickly it releases a lot of cytokines which trigger inflammation in the body, say experts.

These cytokines have been linked to cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and diabetes.

Fat around the hips and thighs is good for you but around the tummy is bad Lead researcher Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos

The slower burning hip fat also makes more of the hormone adiponectin that protects the arteries and promotes better blood sugar control and fat burning.

In comparison, carrying excess fat around the stomach, being "apple shaped", raises the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Lead researcher Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos, of Oxford University, said: "It is shape that matters and where the fat gathers.

"Fat around the hips and thighs is good for you but around the tummy is bad."

He said in an ideal world, the more fat around the thighs the better - as long as the tummy stays slim.

"Unfortunately, you tend not to get one without the other," he said.

Fotini Rozakeas of the British Heart Foundation said: "This research helps us better to understand how fat acts in the body in order to develop new approaches in reducing heart and circulatory disease.

"If you are overweight, obese, or if you have a waist size that is increased, it is important to make changes to your lifestyle, such as eating a healthy diet and doing regular physical activity, to reduce your risk of heart health problems."

Reference:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8451674.stm

Custom-Made Muscle

Modify any exercise to suit your fitness level with these simple adjustments.

Easier: squat

Band-assisted squat: Place a stretchable band around a chinup bar and stand just behind the bar. Hold the band with both hands as you squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Stand back up.

Why it works: The band lends stability as you squat, and assists your legs as you press back up to the starting position.

Easier: deadlift

Elevated straight-leg deadlift: Stand between two 6- to 12-inch-high boxes with your knees slightly bent, holding a barbell with an overhand grip. Bend at your hips and lower your torso until the barbell touches the boxes. Pause, and return to an upright position.

Why it works: The boxes limits your range of motion, helping you master the deadlift. Discover five other smart shortcuts to bigger muscles.

Easier: chinup/pullup

Negative chinup/pullup: Stand on a box beneath a pullup bar. Grab the bar and jump up, pulling your chest to the bar. Then take 6 to 10 seconds to lower yourself until your feet touch the box. Repeat.

Why it works: Slowly lowering your body can help build your upper-body muscles and increase the pulling power you need for chinups or pullups.

Easier: barbell bench press

Negative pushup: This isn't a bench press, but it provides the same benefit. Perform a pushup, and take 6 to 10 seconds to lower your body as you keep your core tight. Once you're an inch above the ground, explosively push your body back up.

Why it works: When you slowly lower your body, you activate more muscle fibers, increasing your chest, back, and triceps strength. And be sure you don't believe any of the five muscle myths holding you back.

Easier: plank

Kneeling plank: Assume a pushup position, but rest on your forearms and your knees. Your body should form a straight line from shoulders to knees. Brace your core and hold the position as long as you can.

Why it works: Bending your knees reduces the weight your core has to support. Also, if you feel back pain when you do regular planks, this eases tension.

Harder: squat

Box squat: Stand 4 to 6 inches forward of a knee-high bench or box. With a barbell loaded onto your upper back, squat and sit on the bench for a moment. Keeping your heels pressed into the ground, stand back up.

Why it works: When you sit, you kill the weight's momentum; to rise again, you need to use your lower-body muscles more. That teaches your body to move explosively. Learn eight additional weightlifting fixes for more muscle.

Harder: deadlift

Straight-leg deadlift with shrug: Hold a barbell at arm's length in front of your hips, using an overhand grip. Bend at your hips and lower your torso until it's almost parallel to the floor. Pause, and then come back up and shrug your shoulders.

Why it works: You're emphasizing your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back, which are typically weaker than your quads.

Harder: chinup/pullup

Commando pullup: Instead of facing the bar, stand so you're looking down its length. Grab it with one hand in front of the other, your palms facing inward. Now pull up and lean to the left so your right shoulder touches the bar. Then lean to the right and touch the bar with your left shoulder.

Why it works: This kind of pullup causes an imbalance of weight and forces you to work your back and arms more as you pull your body up on each side. Check out 40 more small changes for bigger muscles.

Harder: barbell bench press

Cage bench press: Lie on a bench inside a power rack with the barbell resting on safety bars 3 to 6 inches above your chest. Press the bar off the rack until your arms are straight. Then lower it.

Why it works: You're starting from your weakest position in the bench press, with no momentum to help out. This forces your chest to work harder and improves your ability to bench more weight.

Harder: plank

Plank with opposite arm and leg lift: From the plank position on your elbows, lift your left foot and right arm off the floor for 5 to 10 seconds. Switch sides and repeat.

Why it works: By adding movement and instability, you force your body to work harder to keep your core tight and stable. If you want your six-pack to show, follow these five steps to rock-hard abs.

How to boost your sex drive

Food, music, drugs and even scents can all help fire up flagging desire. Jane Feinmann reports on how to make Valentine's Day go with a swing.

It may be St Valentine's Day this week. But 14 February is also National Impotence Day – highlighting "la différence" in the way men and women can't do it. For men, it seems, the problem is normally "hydraulic" whereas for women, it's mostly in their heads. And the good news is we can all do it better. Here's how both men and women can boost their sex drive.

Food

Artichokes, like wine, are good for ladies when men consume them, according to an old French saying. No surprise that the country that invented champagne also had the idea that food can improve lovemaking: until recently, French bridegrooms were given asparagus on the eve of their weddings. There's no science to suggest it did any good – but is there an evidence base for other favourite aphrodisiacs?

* Pumpkin seeds, along with Brazil nuts and almonds, are rich in the amino acid arginine, boosting levels of blood to the genitals, making them natural Viagra, according to both the nutritionist Patrick Holford and the television pundit Gillian McKeith. in 2005, McKeith caused a stampede on UK supermarkets when she revealed the power of the pumpkin seed on the female libido – though there's no sign of either sex rushing back to buy new supplies.

* Oysters, the richest source of zinc, nourish the prostate gland and boost testosterone production, according to the nutrition consultant Suzannah Olivier (author of Food Medicine, Robinson).

* Chocolate contains phenethylamine, a nutrient that enhances mood and is the chemical we produce in our brains when we fall in love, according to Olivier. "The higher the cocoa content of the chocolate the better the effect, so stick to 60-70 per cent cocoa solid chocolate," she says.

* It's the smell of food rather than its constituent parts that gets men in the mood, says the neurologist Alan Hirsch, the founder of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. He measured the effects of aromas on penile blood flow and found that American men responded best to doughnuts, pizza, popcorn and strawberries. Men, he concluded, are turned on by smells that evoke the security and pleasure of childhood. Vanilla apparently works for the same reason.

* Any dish can be erotic when enjoyed with sensual pleasure, according to Dr Michel Odent. We all need substantial bursts of the "love hormone" oxytocin to get sexually aroused – and that's less likely to happen if his body is fizzing with stress hormones or her rational brain is on overdrive. Physically enjoying food quickens production of this pulsating hormone, as do dim lights and softly playing music, says Odent. His book The Scientification of Love (Free Association) provides the evidence base for the St Valentine's Day dinner date.

* Being wined as well as dined boosts endorphins, the pleasure hormones helping to release tension and inhibitions as well as testosterone, encouraging flirtatious talk. Too much wine, however, reduces men's sex drive and women who drink too much are more likely to have sex but less likely to enjoy it, according to research.

Prescription drugs

It's exactly 10 years since Viagra exploded into the public consciousness. As the first oral treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED), it quickly became one of the biggest success stories in pharmaceutical history – outstripping the "sunshine" antidepressant pill Prozac as the fastest-selling medicinal drug ever.

A consequence of Viagra's success was that it overturned the widespread view that ED was mostly in the mind. While stress and other pressures can disrupt male sexuality, persistent dysfunction usually has a physical cause – most frequently the first signs that the blood vessels are clogging up (atherosclerosis). "The blood vessels to the penis are among the smallest in the body and ED is often an early symptom of atherosclerotic disease, which is also a risk factor for heart disease and stroke," explains Dr David Goldmeier, a consultant in genito-urinary medicine at St Mary's NHS Trust in London.

Anyone suffering from ED should get their health checked for diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol, all of which need to be addressed. In the meantime, medication such as Viagra can be used to improve penile blood flow and therefore erectile function.

One in seven men doesn't respond to Viagra, however, while others have unacceptable side effects. A firmer favourite is newcomer Cialis, known as the first morning-after pill for men: the effects last for at least 24 hours, which means men with ED can have sex at night and again the next morning. "Preference studies have been published showing that on the whole men prefer Cialis because they get a better erection," says Dr Goldmeier – "though the studies were funded by its manufacturers of Cialis and need to be treated with caution."

Hormones

Testosterone is essential to libido in both sexes and supplements in the form of gels, sprays and patches are available for both sexes. However, testosterone patches and gels (Andropatch, Testoderm, Androderm) are only licensed for the one in five 60-plus men who suffers from hypogonadism (very low testosterone levels). And female testosterone patches and sprays that are on the market as "the female equivalent of Viagra", to treat the newly recognised problem of female sexual dysfunction, are highly controversial. The British Society for Sexual Medicine does not recommend testosterone for women unless they are shown to have unusually low levels: "Low female sex drive is a much more complex thing than men not getting an erection," it says, warning of excess facial hair as a common side effect – not necessarily the look you want on St Valentine's Day. As Dr Phil Hammond points out in his new book, Medicine Balls (Black & White Publishing): "If you look at the criteria – not feeling like sex for a few days in the last month – then I've got female sexual dysfunction too."

The impact of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on female libido has been pretty well written out of the equation during the recent repeated health scares that have linked post-menopausal oestrogen to a small increase in the risk of breast cancer. Bear in mind, however, that HRT was first seen as a miracle anti-ageing drug that zapped post-menopausal low libido along with the hot flushes – with a series of older female celebrities expressing their gratitude to the hormone therapy for enabling them to remain a little bit tarty-looking well into middle age and beyond.

The fine print of maintaining surging oestrogen levels was always a bit vague. Perhaps the single most important effect is the role of oestrogen in lubricating the tissues of the vagina – with plenty of evidence that the devastating impact on couples' sex lives following the menopause is particularly due to vaginal symptoms such as dryness and discomfort. For those considering HRT purely as a sex aid, doctors are likely to recommend oestrogen cream or slow-release suppositories that have an impact on the genital area.

One step removed from these sex hormones is another popular anti-ageing hormone, DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone), a natural precursor of both testosterone and oestrogen that, according to enthusiasts, can be taken as an oral supplement. It's widely touted on the internet as boosting libido – though so far without a shred of evidence.

Counselling

Medication is almost never the whole answer to sexual problems: half of men who begin Viagra or Cialis are no longer taking it after a year. It takes two to tango, says Dr Goldmeier, and there isn't a prescription drug to cure relationship problems – and good communication is also needed.

The first step is to confront the problem: "Men so often feel self-conscious about coming to me with their difficulty and don't realise it's my job to talk to men in the same situation," says the urologist Dr Mike Kirby.

But there can still be problems once everything is working properly. Couples counsellor Tricia Barnes says it's common for couples to continue to experience an emotional barrier which prevents them enjoying their love life to the full, once the male partner can obtain and maintain reliable erections again.

"The fear and anxiety about sexual functioning may have been alleviated, but fear of establishing or re-establishing emotional intimacy remains," she says. Marriage guidance or couples counselling can help people communicate more openly and honestly including being able to talk about their likes and dislikes in bed.

Body/Mind connection

The brain is said to be the biggest sex organ – so if you feel good you're more likely to get sexually aroused, and vice versa. A sudden inability to get an erection is most likely to have a psychological background in a man: often caused by anxiety or loss of confidence as a result of divorce, bereavement, redundancy or a similar life event.

More generally, sex becomes less alluring through boredom, incompatibility, low self-esteem, depression and fatigue and, particularly for women, a combination of lifestyle and physical changes that occurs, for instance, with the arrival of children and their departure from the family nest. So sensible guidance encourages a multi-faceted approach to sexuality, including: exercise to improve stamina and body image; improving skills to cope better with work and financial stress; and, for women, pelvic floor exercises to create better awareness of the muscles involved in sexual pleasure, boosting libido and self-esteem at a stroke.

Reference:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/healthy-living/how-to-boost-your-sex-drive-780947.html