Study suggests feasibility of treating encephalopathy with gene therapy

A new study has highlighted that it is feasible to use gene therapy for treating chronic traumatic encephalopathy ( CTE) which is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder.

Researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of the direct delivery of gene therapy by delivering it into the brain of a mouse.

CTE is much more prevalent than was initially realised, and there is currently no therapy available. This new work is potentially ground-breaking as a means to remove the offending Tau phoshoprotein, said the lead researcher.

The disease which is caused by recurrent trauma in the central nervous system, such as those suffered by soldiers, atheletes in contact sports and in accidents, is currently incurable.

Inflammation results in the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated forms of Tau protein (pTau). 

Researchers developed an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector to deliver an anti-p-Tau antibody to the CNS. They showed that direct delivery of the AAVrh,10anti-p_tau directly into the hippocampus of brain-injured mice was associated with a significant reduction in p-Tau levels across the CNS.

They propose that doses could be scaled up and this strategy could be effective in humans as well.

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Is your baby suffering from recurrent diarrhea?

The joy of welcoming a new born baby into the world is incomparable. While the first few weeks are magical, the transition from a delicate new born infant to a bouncing cheerful baby can be a trying period for many new parents. Often the cooing and gurgling is interspersed with bouts of crying and irritability, may be indicative of digestive problems like constipation, diarrhea or colic.

New born babies, usually pass stool 3-4 times a day, being more frequent in breast fed babies. However, the frequency of passing stools varies among babies. World Health Organization defines diarrhea as passage of 3 or more loose or liquid stools per day.

Diarrhea in infants are mainly due to infection of digestive system caused by virus, bacteria or parasite. However, it can also be due to, change in the mother’s diet while breastfeeding, use of antibiotics by baby or the breastfeeding mother, allergy to milk protein or lactose intolerance etc.

Research supports the fact that healthy gut bacteria composition, enhances both gut health and digestion. To reduce instances of diarrhea due to infections, improving gut health through baby’s diet is crucial.

Breast milk is an important source of nutrition and bioactive compounds like prebiotic oligosaccharides, that help to establish balance of bacteria in gut. These, enhance growth of good bacteria and reduce the growth of bad bacteria.

What to give during diarrhea?

With dehydration being one of the biggest concerns associated with diarrhea, it is advisable to continue breastfeeding as it contains the fluids and nutrients that a baby is losing during diarrhea.

Research indicate that prebiotics in breast milk helps in reduction of incidences of diarrhea by promoting good gut health and digestion.

Other examples of prebiotics are galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), inulin which have also proven beneficial in reducing incidences of diarrhea.

However, if your baby is 3 months or younger, has fever, is vomiting, is irritable, doesn’t want to feed, is showing signs of dehydration like a dry mouth and has not wet the diaper for 3 or more hours, contact your health care professional immediately.

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Prebiotics–Their Effects On Immune System And Recurrent Infections

It’s a widely accepted fact that nutrition during early life can significantly impact growth as well as the immediate and future health of the infant. Breastfeeding and nutritional intervention during this critical window can help avert both infectious and non-communicable disease risk during childhood and later life. A lesser-known fact about breast milk is - it is a living substance and its composition does not remain constant. Prebiotic oligosaccharides are an abundant bioactive component present in breast milk. This component is naturally effective in protecting and promoting the health of infants.

Breast Milk – Benefits & Characteristics:

Breast milk adapts closely to match the changing needs of the infants. As the baby grows older, the mother’s breast milk produces more antibodies and lymphocytes to help the baby resist infections caused by pathogens & viruses present in the environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continue up to 2 years of life along with complementary feed.

The composition of human milk is extremely complex. It consists of 88% water and major compounds such as lactose, lipids, and proteins in appropriate proportions. However, the lesser known fact is that prebiotic Oligosaccharides are the 3rd largest component of breast milk. They are important for enhancing immunity and gut health.

What are Prebiotics?

If you have been conscious about keeping your gut healthy, then you might have heard about beneficial probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics refer to the actual bacteria that help to improve intestinal health where as prebiotics are the non-digestible components of food that are needed for the probiotics to ferment and remain alive in the gut. This creates a healthy gut flora there by making the immune system stronger. Prebiotics are far more than a list of ingredients and much more than nutrition.

Several studies have shown that prebiotics selectively stimulates the growth and activity of good bacteria present in the human gut, while it also potentially reduces the risk of certain bad bacteria causing recurrent infections.

Low immunity typically manifests as recurrent infections. Recurrent Infections are typically defined as more frequently occurring, more severe and long-lasting infections in the human body in a year. Examples are cold, cough, fever, gastrointestinal infections, allergies, etc.

It has been discovered that prebiotics has a profound influence on these recurrent infections as they naturally strengthen the baby’s immune system. According to available scientific data, supplementation of short chain GOS/long chain FOS (scGOS/lcGOS) offers benefits such as:

    Promotes frequent and softer stools
    Decreases usage of antibiotics
    Reduces incidences of diarrhoea
    Decreases incidence of cold and fever
    Reduces allergic illnesses
    Improves gut health

With so many notable and unrivaled health benefits– ‘Be certain about the safety  and efficacy of prebiotics’.

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Why is there a rise of kidney stones in women

An estimated 12 per cent of the Indian population has been found to suffer from kidney stones, and clinical evaluations over the past decade have revealed an increasing number of women complaining about the problem. Such statistics are proving contrary to the popular medical belief according to which men were regarded as more likely to suffer from kidney stones owing to their diet and long working hours, thereby indicating a reduction in the gender gap, remarked senior consultant urologist. 

Q) What could be causing this rise in the number of women suffering from kidney stones?

More woman than men between 18 and 39 years of age have been found to suffer from kidney stones. This steady increase in the diagnosis of kidney stones in women is facilitated by the advanced diagnostic tools that we have available today.

Obesity, recurrent urinary tract infections, high sodium diet, dehydration, and diabetes have been noted to be the most common risk factors. Dietary changes — switching to high protein, low carbohydrates diets in order to lose weight — can also increase the risk of kidney stones.

Q) Is it also true that calcium supplements can cause kidney stones?

Calcium supplements taken within the recommended allowance are not just safe but also quite beneficial. Further, when taken with meals, calcium binds with the oxalate from the food, thereby reducing the prospect of stone formation. It is, however, highly advisable to take calcium supplements only as prescribed by a physician.

Q) Can the hormonal changes in women post menopause affect their kidneys?

Post-menopausal women on estrogen therapy are at an increased risk of stone formation.

Q) Do women suffering from kidney stones experience a different kind of pain as compared to men?

No. Pain is the most common symptom of kidney stones, and its severity varies from person to person. However, it has nothing to do with one’s gender.
One may feel pain in one’s sides or back, below the ribs, in the groin or lower abdomen. Pain is also quite apparent when passing urine, and one may have to go more often than usual. Lastly, the pain may vary in its frequency of occurrence, intensity, and can get really intense if not addressed in time.

Q)Do the symptoms of kidney stones in women differ from those in men?

Not at all. As described earlier, pain is the primary indicator of kidney stones, in addition to which, burning during urination and frequent and urgent urination have also been noted among a large number of patients. Some patients report bloody, cloudy, or smelly urination. In more serious cases, large kidney stones can get stuck in the ureter, thereby blocking passage, and that can slow down and sometimes even stop the flow of urine. In a lesser number of cases, patients have reported experiencing nausea accompanied by fever and chills.  

Q) Do the symptoms show very clearly in the early stages of the disease?

Most patients in urban areas manage to identify their symptoms and seek treatment as required. However, a considerable delay in the identification of symptoms and treatment has been noted in rural areas. This can be attributed to the lack of awareness and poor access to health care in such areas.

Q) Can kidney stones recur?

Studies have shown a 50-50 chance of recurrence within five-seven years. Most doctors recommend an ultrasound scan once every year in the follow-up post recovery. In addition to medication, a healthy modification in diet and lifestyle has been noted to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

Q) What specific precautions can women take to reduce the risk of developing kidney stones?

There’s no certain way to prevent kidney stones but modifications in diet and lifestyle can help reduce the risk. Drinking adequate water — three to four litres a day — helps dissolve urine salts that can otherwise lead to stones. Eating less salt can further help by keeping urine calcium levels in check. Processed food, canned goods, and cold cuts must be avoided. Meat consumption is alright in moderation, but high-protein diets must be avoided — foods high in animal protein are acidic and may increase uric acid levels in the blood and, in consequence, cause kidney stones. However, if typical symptoms begin to show, it is advisable to seek medical advice (and treatment, if required) at the earliest. 

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New drug combination shows promise for common pediatric brain tumor

A new combination treatment aimed at resistant and recurrent low-grade gliomas slowed tumor growth and killed tumor cells in laboratory and mouse models. 

Researchers combined carboplatin, a standard chemotherapy drug that works well against these brain tumours, and everolimus, which blocks an enzyme called mTOR that was shown in earlier research to fuel the growth of these tumors. The combination increased DNA damage and cell death in laboratory models. 

Pediatric low-grade glioma is the most common brain tumour in children and can often be treated with surgery alone. However, some patients have tumors in locations that make surgery too risky, such as near optic nerves or in the mid-brain area, or have their tumors grow back after surgery.

An associate professor of oncology and pediatric brain tumor expert, says tumors recur in about 50 percent of patients treated for low-grade glioma and require additional treatment with chemotherapy. Recurring tumors are often resistant to chemotherapy. The researchers wondered whether combining carboplatin and everolimus would be more effective.

When treated with carboplatin alone, four different human cell lines of low grade glioma cancer cells did not respond to the drug or kept growing. Similarly, some cell lines were resistant to everolimus alone.

When they treated the same cell lines with a combination of carboplatin and everolimus, the cells died or grew slower, and the researchers saw similar results in mouse models with no added toxicity.
"We saw dramatic growth inhibition after only a low concentration of everolimus was combined with the carboplatin," says the Prof. "We found that everolimus disrupted a key mechanism the cancer cells use to detoxify carboplatin. The ability of everolimus to increase the power of carboplatin suggests this combination could be used effectively in patients."

In a previous clinical study in 2014, the researchers were able to confirm the safety of the mTOR-blocking drug everolimus in patients with pediatric low-grade glioma and found some patients responded to the medicine. However, they never tested tumor tissue from those patients to understand the molecular role of mTOR.

"The current nationwide clinical study of everolimus in pediatric low-grade glioma requires that some tumor tissue from each patient be evaluated for expression of mTOR markers that might predict response to everolimus," the Prof. says. "In this way, we hope to figure out who is most likely to respond to the drug, so that we can move closer to our goal of giving the right medicine to the right patient at the right time. In the future, we may be able to give everolimus along with carboplatin to patients with high-level mTOR expression. Based on our research, we predict that these tumors will likely be resistant to carboplatin unless we simultaneously block mTOR."

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                         FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/           

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