The 'good' cholesterol may protect against Alzheimer's

The relationship between blood cholesterol levels and Alzheimer's disease seems obvious. What is less clear is how these lipids affect their onset and development and at what stage of life are important. A new work developed at Columbia University (New York, USA) states that have high good cholesterol can reduce the risk of dementia.
Alzheimer's is the protagonist of one of the most prolific areas of research in recent years. This form of dementia, the most common one is present in 1% of people between 65 and 69 years and its prevalence increases to 60% in adults over 95 years. Despite its frequency and the numerous studies, many aspects of the disease remain unknown.

Protect against Alzheimer's

The influence of fats, especially cholesterol, on Alzheimer's has been demonstrated on numerous occasions. Christiane Reitz and colleagues at the Taub Institute at Columbia University have conducted several studies in this regard. The last one, in which 1,130 adults took part over 65 years, appears in the journal Archives of Neurology.

For 18 months, the authors did a follow up of participants, including 101 new cases were detected in Alzheimer (89 probable and 12 possible), and measured their levels of total cholesterol, 'good' (HDL) and 'bad' ( LDL). The results confirmed the researchers' hypothesis by showing a relationship between higher HDL levels (55 milligrams per deciliter or greater) and a lower risk of developing dementia and the Cure the Alzheimer's.

Cure the Alzheimer's

This conclusion is consistent with previous findings indicating that low levels of HDL are a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Either by a stroke pathway or through other mechanisms (alteration of insulin, the degradation of the amyloid protein, etc.) Cholesterol 'good' seems to influence the onset of this disease.
Despite modest progress, Alzheimer's remains one of the most difficult to study for several reasons. First, only a few primates naturally suffer. In addition, beta-amyloid protein (which forms clumps or plaques typical of this condition) is not human like that of other animals. Finally, you can not study the process in vivo in humans, only in the body.

Asiatic cholera in Haiti

Although Haitians have no doubts, and many experts already secured so far, irrefutable scientific evidence was lacking. And this week the magazine features 'The New England Journal of Medicine': the strain of cholera that has claimed more than 2,000 dead in Haiti comes from Southeast Asia and probably introduced in the Caribbean island for some kind of human activity and the Cholera in Haiti..
The report presents a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Hospital and the Howard Hughes Institute refined enough to point to the Nepalese UN soldiers as the source of the cholera epidemic, and those Haitians already adjudged 'guilty' for weeks. However, it states that the bacterium Vibrio cholerae 'has its origin in the outbreaks that have hit the Southeast Asia since the nineteenth century and the Cholera in Haiti.

Cholera in Haiti

Says Dr. Matthew Waldor, the strain that has sickened and more than 80,000 Haitians are not the same that has circulated in recent years in Latin America, but is similar to samples taken in countries like India or Pakistan. "Our data suggest that the introduction in Haiti as a geographically distant strain stems from human activity," he says.
Until this outbreak, the researchers remind, Haiti had no recorded cases of cholera since a hundred years, although other weather phenomena like El Niño or La Niña, a phenomenon attributed more than likely, "the country's geographic isolation in The Spanish island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic and the Cholera in Haiti.. "
Indeed, reading the internal key situation, the authors of this paper recommend the U.S. to stockpile vaccines do to be prepared in case the country had faced a similar situation, or even to help nearby countries where new outbreaks.

Asiatic cholera in Haiti

Cholera is caused by consuming food or water contaminated by fecal bacteria by 'V. cholerae. " It is characterized by severe diarrhea can cause dehydration of the patient in a few hours if it is rehydrated in time with clean water. It is estimated that worldwide are diagnosed each year between three and five million cases, causing between 100,000 and 120,000 deaths annually.
"While clean water and adequate hygiene and sanitation and antibiotics may be sufficient to tackle the disease, this is not always feasible in high-risk, natural disasters and overpopulation," recognized. "Clearly it is time to consider additional preventive measures to complement the existing channels and the Cholera in Haiti.."

And in that sense remember that there are at least three licensed oral vaccines, safe and effective (and very cheap, less than two dollars of the dose), against cholera. "Even though there is no imminent threat of cholera in the U.S.. We believe that our country should take stock of reserves to mobilize quickly in case of need," they conclude. "And although so far the Caribbean and Latin America were considered low risk areas, what happened in Haiti forces us to reconsider this belief and the Cholera in Haiti.."
In his view, to have those strategic reserves would help accelerate the recovery of countries like Haiti after natural tragedies, we help restore political stability (as tense now because of the recently held elections), and would save thousands of lives in time and the Cholera in Haiti..

Twenty approve the ban on the European Union mefedrona

The Twenty-seven today approved the ban on mefedrona, a legal drug similar to ecstasy was not so far pursued in twelve EU countries, including Spain.
The Ministers of Justice of the European Union have decided to ban the manufacture, distribution and import of this substance, which could be purchased in Spain, both on the street or online.
The mefedrona is a synthetic drug whose effects are similar to those of ecstasy or cocaine, and how are you substance, it takes both powder and tablet.A study by the European reference center on Drugs (EMCDDA) which echoes the European Commission, the mefedrona "cause dependence and its consumption can lead to serious health problems."

Mefedrona

Only in the United Kingdom and Ireland mefedrona consumption has been linked directly to the deaths of 37 people.The countries that had already taken steps to pursue their sales are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the UK.
Today's decision of the Ministers of Justice contains the proposal on 20 October the European Commission.

Mefedrona is banned in UE

"This is good news to see how the EU governments take quick decision on the banning of dangerous drugs," said in a statement the European justice commissioner, Viviane Reding.The commissioner has warned that the drug "is on the Internet, often in seemingly innocent products as 'fertilizer and bath salts', for example."

Oxytocin strengthens links

It is produced in abundance during childbirth to ease the contractions, it is the hormone that allows women to produce milk to feed her offspring, and without it there would be no strong mother-child bond that allows us to survive at birth. The key to this is in oxytocin, the so-called love hormone ', whose properties are known a little more because now a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "
The role of oxytocin in the way humans create strong bonds of affection with others is something well known. However, a new study conducted with adult male for several weeks, shows that rather than creating these links, this substance reinforces the previous sentiments and the Oxytocin strengthens links.

Oxytocin strengthens links

To test this, a team from the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York (U.S.) a dose of intranasal oxytocin several men who had previously been asked about the emotional relationships with their mothers during childhood.

Interestingly, the 'love hormone' did not have a homogeneous effect on all participants. Those who had stronger ties with their mothers, these feelings were reinforced by endogenous oxytocin. By contrast, among those who had maintained more distant relations the drug also strengthened existing relationships and the Oxytocin strengthens links..

Oxytocin

As recognized in his study, although this hormone is essential for survival until now little was known about the biological mechanisms that enable a human to bond for life. However, they add, their observations show that its effects are not only positive, but can somehow be mediated by sensations and feelings prior. Even as they recognize, will have to see if their conclusions are repeated in an experiment with women rather than men and the Oxytocin strengthens links..

Passive smoking kills 1% of world population

Now that the January 2 sounds like the most likely date for Spain debuts new smoking ban and the background noise against the hotel owners, the numbers of cigarettes hit harder than ever: 600,000 people die each year around the world who are victims of passive smoking. Women and children are most affected, as denounced by the World Health Organization in the largest study conducted to date Passive smoking kills people..

One of every 100 deaths worldwide is related to high exposure to cigarettes of others, WHO warns in a paper now published in the journal 'The Lancet'. In total, 600,000 people of which 47% are male, followed by children, who represent 28% of victims and women (26%). By province, Eastern Europe, Western Pacific and Southeast Asia are the areas with the greatest number of passive smokers.

Passive smoking

For this bleak scenario (which must be added the other 5.1 million deaths caused by smoking first hand), a team led by Annette Prüss-Üstün and Spanish Armando Peruga reviewed data from passive smoking in 192 countries around the world (including Spain) in 2004, the latest for which statistics are available.
'No' smoking at home Passive smoking kills people.

The problem, say the authors, is that home is the main venue for secondhand smoke exposure, which in the case of children also "have the ability to avoid pollution sources, which are usually close relatives ". No less than 88% of smoking parents do at home, and 80% by their children, reported in a commentary in the same publication and Jonathan Samet Heather Wipfli, Institute for Global Health of California (Los Angeles, USA) Passive smoking kills people..

"We are not supporters of the law to regulate smoking at home, but should strengthen public health campaigns to ban it in public spaces," explains Armando Peruga, coordinator of Smoke Free Initiative WHO. He adds, "is now shown that encourages smokers to give up their habit in bars or at work, this will also be transferred home. About 60% -70% want to quit smoking and banning it in places also affects public not to smoke at home Passive smoking kills people.. "

Passive smoking kills people

In the case of children, smoking 'second hand' has lower mortality rate than women, in exchange robbed many years of quality of life. And as Dr. Peruga added, when added to the childhood respiratory infection is a deadly cocktail in Africa or Southeast Asia Passive smoking kills people.
In fact, passive smoking kills 165,000 children a respiratory tract infection each year, nearly 37,000 adults with asthma and other 380,000 for coronary heart disease (ischemic disease).

The HIV epidemic is stabilizing in the world

Good news, one regular and one bad. All from the same data, which reveals the new UNAIDS report on the status of the epidemic in the world. In 2009, 2.6 million people became infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The good news is that are 19% less than those recorded in 1999, the regular is that, although infections down, do so at a slow pace. And the bad, the figure is still too high and the HIV epidemic.
In all live in the world 33.3 million people with HIV, a number almost identical, except for some adjustments, to the previous report, indicating that the epidemic is stabilizing. But within this dynamic stabilization we observed some changes. For example, in Central and Western Europe, North America and Central Asia there are signs that the virus is a resurgence among men who have sex with men, something that experts have long warned. On the positive side, in some African countries are seen less risky sexual practices that some years ago and the HIV epidemic.

HIV epidemic in the World

The data highlighted in the report given that 52% of people with HIV are women, a 'feminization' of the epidemic is also seen for years. And 68% of those infected live in sub-Saharan Africa, which continues to suffer more than any other region of the ravages of the virus, with more than 1.8 million new infections, more women than men last year and the HIV epidemic..
With regard to HIV transmission from mother to child can see that everyone involved in the fight against AIDS have begun to take this issue seriously. In 2009, the virus infected 370,000 children under five years, a high number but it represents 24% less than just five years ago. The extension of antiretroviral therapy has also reduced the number of AIDS-related deaths, which rose from 2.1 million in 2004 to 1.8 million in 2009. Along with the increased distribution of drugs, has also been a greater distribution of condoms, 10 million more than last year and the HIV epidemic..

HIV epidemic is stabilizing in the world

-22 In 33 countries are in Africa, HIV prevalence has declined by 25% in a decade. However, the same percentage which has increased the incidence of the virus in seven places: Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines and Tajikistan and the HIV epidemic..

But although there are more people receiving treatment and more countries are facing the epidemic successfully, we must not forget that in some places the virus continues to spread unchecked. This is the case in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where the number of people with HIV has tripled in just a decade, reaching 1.4 million infected in 2009. Of this, 90% comes from Russia and Ukraine, the epicenter of AIDS in Europe. Injecting drug use and paid sex are the two mainstream pathways by which HIV enters the bodies of the inhabitants of these two countries, which have a high prevalence of AIDS in prisons and the HIV epidemic..

A robot surgeon to intervene in the pancreas

Laparoscopic surgery can be performed in the pancreas and with the help of a robot in a safe and effective, expanding the surgeon's freedom of movement without the need for open intervention.
This emerges from a study published in the Archives of Surgery ', which has reviewed the cases of 30 patients undergoing this procedure. Laparoscopic interventions have the advantage of being less invasive than open surgery, but reduce the potential return of the surgeon in a body that requires special skill and the Robos in the surgery .

According to the authors of the report, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh (http://www.medschool.pitt.edu/) (U.S.), laparoscopy has some problems: "It limits the range of motion of instruments, impoverishes the ergonomics of surgeon, depends on two-dimensional images and reduces the skill. " However, the use of the robot can overcome these barriers without resorting to more invasive forms of surgery, according to study results and the Robos in the surgery ..

Robos in the surgery

The pancreas was an organ that traditionally resisted minimally invasive interventions, because it has two major complications: bleeding from blood vessels and reconstruction of the ducts of the liver and pancreas and the Robos in the surgery .

The new data relate to patients who are partially removed the pancreas between October 2008 and February 2010, and the results of mortality and serious complications are consistent with what would be expected if they had been involved with open surgery. The difference is that the patients gained quality of life and postoperative time was shortened, as expected of a less invasive procedure and the Robos in the surgery .

Robot 'Da Vinci'

In exchange, the use of robot, a model of the company Da Vinci Intuitive Surgical, has two disadvantages: it takes longer to perform the procedure and is more expensive. It is hoped, in any case, future studies with more patients to confirm the advantages of using the robot associated with laparoscopy, while the technology could evolve and reduce the time needed to assemble the robot in the operating room now is among the half-hour and 45 minutes.
Robot-assisted surgery is becoming increasingly popular for U.S. patients and even advertised on local television, as he recalled in a commentary accompanying the report, Dr. Martin A. Makary, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Its benefits include "less postoperative pain, lower infection rates, reduced physiological stress" and others, as this author, but he insists on remembering that "technology does not compensate for the lack of practice of a surgeon and the Robos in the surgery .."

Although it began being used especially in urological and gynecological disorders, is increasingly common to use robots in other types of operations. Emilio Vicente, Head of Service of General and Digestive Surgery, University Hospital Madrid Sanchinarro, highlights of this technique "the accuracy of the procedure, excellent vision with which we work and the possibility of using fully articulated surgical material." It also allows the surgeon to "movements that take place just as in open surgery."

Coping with diabetes

On 14 November is an important date for diabetics. World Day against metabolic disease is celebrated on this day since 1991, when the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Diabetes Federation recognized the need to speak out against the dangers of disorder that people are increasingly being .
The celebration commemorates the birthday of Frederick Banting, whose investigations were, along with Charles Best, key to the discovery of insulin, since 1922, has saved the lives of millions of diabetics.
The silent epidemic of diabetes already affects some 250 million people worldwide and forecasts for the future are not very hopeful: if the trend is not reversed and obesity and overweight are still rampant on the planet, less than a generation the number of cases, especially type 2 diabetes, what is related to unhealthy habits, could be much higher Coping with diabetes .

Coping with diabetes

The problem, according to the WHO, is particularly worrying in developing countries where the disease spreads rapidly. Almost 80% of deaths because of this disorder occur in these countries.

In Spain, according to the Diabetes Foundation, the number of affected about 2.5 million and a half, but could have a significant number of undiagnosed individuals unfamiliar with the disease Coping with diabetes .
'Take control of diabetes, now' is the slogan of this year, which emphasizes the need to get to know better manage the disease and prevent complications in the future.

Diabetes

In this sense, the experts stress the importance of regular checkups to prevent the onset of the disease and should develop, consult endocrinologists and diabetes educators on how best to cope.

Probiotics for diarrhea

Add probiotics to standard therapy for diarrhea can be effective in reducing symptoms, according to a recent review of studies. Published in The Cochrane Library ', the paper says that, when combined with oral rehydration, these products are rich in' friendly bacteria 'to the digestive tract can decrease the duration of the disease when they have an infectious origin."They have a clear beneficial effect," say the authors of this study, which reviewed data from a total of 63 previous trials in which they had involved more than 8,000 patients, almost all minors."There were large differences between studies, both the dose and the type of microorganism used or the method of administration," these scientists. But "despite this heterogeneity, the effectiveness of probiotics was demonstrated constant and the Probiotics for diarrhea.

Probiotics for diarrhea

"The administration in combination with rehydration therapy showed a clear reduction in the duration and severity of diarrhea," the researchers emphasize.Their analysis also showed that the products were safe, as there were no adverse effects.Specific groups"Our review supports the use of probiotics in the treatment of acute infectious diarrhea, researchers who emphasize, however, call for more research on the subject before establishing" special regimes for specific groups of patients and the Probiotics for diarrhea.. ""Most studies have recruited people who, before the diarrhea had no health problems, so we need to evaluate the safety of these products in more vulnerable individuals such as children with malnutrition or people with HIV" added.

Cure the diarrhea

Each year, diarrheal disease kills about two million people, mainly children, in underdeveloped countries.More than 20 types of viruses, bacteria and parasites associated with the development of acute diarrhea, although in practice the vast majority of cases are treated without reaching to identify the causative agent and the Probiotics for diarrhea..

Schizophrenia because of sexual abuse

Anxiety, depression, substance abuse, posttraumatic stress ... Some of the documented mental illness in children who suffer sexual abuse. Unfortunately, this long list should be more disorders: psychosis or schizophrenia. We just confirmed a new research conducted by Australian scientists. Margaret Cutajar, Monash University, is lead author of the essay in 2759 which involved child victims of sexual abuse when they were under 16 years and have been compared with 4,938 other individuals Schizophrenia causes.
.

In all examined the rate of psychiatric illness. Over a period of 30 years, those who had experienced abuse in childhood had a higher prevalence of psychotic disorders (2.8%) and schizophrenia (1.9%) than the control group (1.4% and 0, 7% repectivamente).
A relevant work, published in the latest Archives of General Psychiatry, is referred to the risk of developing these disorders was even higher in children who suffered penetration, whether with an object or the penis, for such abuses and the Schizophrenia causes.


Schizophrenia because of sexual abuse

Moreover, "the child rape in adolescence (between 12 and 16 years) have a 15 times higher risk of developing psychosis compared with the general population," the researchers said. They argue that, according to these data, "the victims should receive medical and social care supported by the knowledge that they have a higher risk of developing psychotic illness Schizophrenia causes.
. This treatment should focus on improving its current performance and adaptation to requirements of the transition from adolescence to adulthood, "they say. This approach should benefit all victims, regardless of whether or not they more likely to have schizophrenia. "

Schizophrenia causes


This finding adds to other research, published in the latest American Journal of Preventive Medicine ', with 70,000 women who suffered physical or sexual abuse before 18 years, finds a clear association between the abuse and increased risk of diabetes type 2 in adults Schizophrenia causes.
.

The effects of alcohol are more harmful than crack and heroin

Alcohol is more harmful than heroin and crack if it is considered in a combined manner that causes injury to consumers and the people around him, according to a study published today in the medical journal The Lancet.
The report, written by two former British government advisers, David Nutt and Leslie King, aims to develop more effective state policies to mitigate the social impact of addictive substances, including snuff was also included.
The task is not easy given the wide range of harmful effects that drugs can have on consumers and their environment, as the authors explain in the preface of the investigation. A previous study led by Nutt in 2007 caused controversy by establishing nine main criteria of harm, since the intrinsic evil of drugs to health care costs it generates, each with an equal weight in the final evaluation evaluative and the effects of alcohol.

For best results, this study used the so-called Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), a technique that has been used successfully to advise the authorities on issues with many edges as the storage of nuclear waste.

Alcohol Effects

Nine of the criteria used in this study had to do with the harm that drugs cause in the individual and seven to the damage caused to others, all of which were divided into five subgroups related to the physical, psychological and social and the effects of alcohol..
The substances were rated from 0 to 100, with 100 being the maximum level of damage in each specific criterion. The nine categories of harm to the individual were mortality due to direct consumption, consumption-related mortality, direct damage due to consumption, damage from consumption, dependency, mental disability because of consumption, loss of skills of perception, damage personal relationships and injuries.

Alcohol, crack and heroin

The seven categories of injury to others were: crime, family conflict, damage to the surrounding environment, damage to society as a whole, low cost and deterioration of community cohesion and the effects of alcohol..
Taking all these matters into account, alcohol scored 72, followed by heroin (55) and crack (54).
The other drugs were crystal methamphetamine (33), cocaine (27), snuff (26), amphetamines (23), cannabis (20), gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (18), benzodiazepines (15), ketamine (15) , methadone (14), mefedrona (13), butane (10), khat (9), ecstasy (9), anabolic steroids (9), LSD (7), buprenorphine (6) and fungi (5).
With these results, the study's authors emphasized that the alcohol, besides being the most harmful drugs in general, is almost three times more harmful than cocaine and snuff and the effects of alcohol..

The authors noted that heroin, crack and crystal methamphetamine were the most harmful substances for the individual who takes them, while alcohol, heroin and crack led the list of the most damaging to the immediate environment.
Professor Nutt, who resigned a few months ago from his position as adviser to the British Government on drug issues after saying that ecstasy was less dangerous than horseback riding, defended the classification model, recalling that is the most accurate known to now to these issues and the effects of alcohol.
"Finding the necessary counterweight is crucial in influencing the overall results. This process must necessarily be based on estimates and opinions, so that the best way of doing this is based on the consensus of a group of experts working in a together, "she said.

Approve the use of Botox for chronic migraines

Botulinum toxin or Botox is popular for its skin rejuvenating results, just received approval from U.S. authorities as a treatment for chronic migraines. Two studies sponsored by Allergan, the California company that sells the product, have convinced experts that some people with asthma can see significantly reduced the number of days they suffered severe headaches.

The results of studies in any case, also indicate that other patients will not benefit at all from the toxin, and even a small possibility that it is counterproductive. However, experts believe that the botox is beneficial as a treatment within the range of options that neurologists often combine to try to help these people use Botox for headache..
"It seems reasonable that has been approved for chronic migraine," he stated to Dr. Jesús Porta, Hospital Clinico San Carlos in Madrid. This neurologist reports that some patients experience a "dramatic improvement" after trying the treatment, while others "does virtually nothing." In any case, it applies only in Spain today through special protocols, a limitation that "should change", according to Porta.

Use of Botox for chronic migraines
Chronic migraine, according to the definition that has been fed American account of the drug agency (FDA), is one that produces at least 15 days a month for four or more hours a day use Botox for headache.. In this regard, although the beneficial results of the study are discrete, it has been considered that the drug could represent for many people the difference between going to school or work normally, or simply be unable to do so.Botox therapy for chronic migraines is applied every few months (three to six), with a total of between 21 and 31 punctures around the head with fine needles for each treatment. "It hurts a little," Porta says, "but not much." Of course, it has to do always a doctor, in this case a neurologist use Botox for headache.

Botox for headache
The studies submitted to the FDA, one conducted in the U.S. and one in Europe, received more than 1,300 volunteers for six months. After this time, patients who had used Botox had been reported that, on average, between 7.8 and 9.2 fewer days of headache per month. Those who had taken placebo (a sugar pill with no medical effects) also showed a profit, but lower: between 6.4 and 6.9 days les use Botox for headache.s.

U.S. judge cancer risk of hormone therapy

The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted the claims of 123 women against Pfizer alleging that they used hormone therapy to relieve symptoms of menopause was supposedly the cause of breast cancer sufferers.

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Pfizer and has given the green light for women with breast cancer and the families of those who died sue the company and other manufacturers of these drugs to the Minnesota state court and the cancer and the hormone theraphy.

The plaintiffs and their families allege that the victims developed breast cancer as a result of hormonal replacement therapy is widely prescribed in the nineties to combat the symptoms of menopause.

Cancer and the hormone therapy

A federal judge had dismissed the claims of 116 of the 123 plaintiffs, alleging that it improperly joined claims. However, the federal appeals court reversed this decision, arguing that the drug maker has not shown that plaintiffs were improperly joined and the cancer and the hormone theraphy..
The high court rejected without comment the appeal of Pfizer on behalf of U.S. drugmaker Wyeth, manufacturer of the drug and pharmaceutical merged with last year.
In 2002, the prestigious firm of Women's Health Initiative (WHI) showed that hormonal treatment with estrogen and progestin was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

Cancer Hormone Cure

In this essay on the effects of hormone replacement therapy involving 16,000 postmenopausal women who had to discontinue treatment when detected an increased risk of invasive breast cancer among those taking a cocktail of hormones.
In fact, U.S. health officials attribute the drop in breast cancer cases that the U.S. has in recent years to the discontinuation of hormone replacement therapy.

The 'red mud' burns the skin and affects the eyes

Hungary is in a "state of emergency" after a spate of toxic red mud have swept across the country, on Monday night. The reason: the failure of a waste pond with a manufacturer of aluminum situated 165 kilometers west of the capital, Budapest. As a result, four people have died, there are 120 injured and rescuers are still working on finding people who remain missing and the Red Mud in Hungary.

It seems that they have been killed by drowning. The spill has affected an area of 40 square miles from three counties (Veszprém, Győr-Moson-Sopron and Vas), with an estimated flood of 700,000 cubic meters. The other has been concerned mainly skin burns and irritation to the eyes, caused by contact with lead and other corrosive elements present in this mud.

The 'red mud' in Hungary is not very toxic by aluminum, a metal that, as vain Sergio Galvan, a dermatologist at the Hospital Ramón y Cajal de Madrid, "is in fact used in the treatment of certain dermatological disorders such as hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). "

Red Mud in Hungary

The really harmful component of the discharge "is sodium hydroxide (better known as caustic soda), which is used as a base chemical for aluminum. They can also be harmful heavy metals that could be important in the development of chronic changes neurological or kidney depends on the composition ..... will have to analyze the mud, "sources point to National Institute of Toxicology and the Red Mud in Hungar.

Agrees with this view Ruth Saavedra Jiménez, Technical Chemical Risk Area of the Institute of Work, Environment and Health (ISTAS) of Labor Committees, who emphasizes that "to establish the effects on health and the environment arising the discharge is to characterize the red clay and accurately determine each of the components and the Red Mud in Hungar. "

Toxic Red Mud

In principle, this expert continues, "the major components of this type of sludge are the bauxite ore, iron oxides, aluminum, silicon, sodium, calcium, titanium and other trace elements (chromium, nickel, lead, manganese among others), plus the soda used. "

Spanish according to experts, from the point of view right away, "caustic soda (NaOH) produces burns of varying severity, depending on concentration, exposure time and the contact surface and the Red Mud in Hungar."

In this case, given the circumstances, probably many of the wounded suffered severe burns. "This compound is so corrosive if not cleaned well from the surface continues to penetrate the skin into the body, causing maximum degree burns." Depending on the severity, treatment ranges from a saline wash to skin grafts or death in severe cases and the Red Mud in Hungary.

The flu shot protects pregnant women and their babies

If you are pregnant and get the flu shot, it not only protects you, your baby also, at least during its first six months of life. So reveals a study published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
According to the results that flow from that article and reduce the risk of influenza in the small 41%, also decreased by 39% the odds of having respiratory illness that carries a possible hospital admission.
As explained by experts from the School of Public Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg (in Baltimore, USA), the smaller are more likely to suffer complications from influenza virus (responsible for the flu). "What happens to the newborn is that you still have an immune system (defense) immature, which gradually growing stronger," said María Jesús Gascón, service Prevention of influenza in the general direction of Primary Care Madrid Health Service bout the flue shot..

Flu shot protects at pregnant and their babies

However, the authors of the investigation, "not vaccinated until six months, since influenza is more common in the second half after birth bout the flue shot.." Do not forget, they add that "at this time of year the rates of morbidity and mortality among infants who fail to six months of life were more frequent than those who exceed this age."

In order to assess the effect of vaccination of a pregnant woman about her baby, a group of scientists, led by Angelia Eick, worked with 1,169 females belonging to the reservation Apaches and Navajos, and that in this population, "the rate of respiratory infections in infants is particularly high. "
The mothers of 573 infants received the flu shot and the rest were not vaccinated. After conducting several surveys and analyzing blood samples (to measure the level of antibodies produced by the body against the aggressor), the researchers found that 17% (193) of small was hospitalized for influenza, 36% ( 412) went to medical consultation for respiratory problems and 48% (555) had no such episodes about the flue shot..

Flu Shot

Of these, those with lower risk of this virus and its complications were those whose mothers were vaccinated during pregnancy. As the study's lead author, "blood samples had higher antibody levels than the other ones."
"This is a new study that confirms a hypothesis that also occurs with other vaccines. Thanks to the antibodies (to 'paralyze' the virus) they receive from their mother, are protected. These maternal antibodies are lost over time. Protect until six months after which time they begin to have their own, "says Spanish specialist  about the flue shot.

U.S. gives up its patent on AIDS drug

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have announced that U.S. shared intellectual property rights of some drugs for HIV / AIDS with a patent pool that treatments designed to be accessible to the poorest.
The NIH is the first institution dedicated to research that joins this group of patents of drugs for HIV launched by UNITAID, a health financing system funded through a levy imposed on air tickets founded by Brazil, United Kingdom, Chiles , France and Norway in 2006 and the Patent on AIDS drugs..
UNITAID An official told Reuters in July that several pharmaceutical companies including Merck, Tibotec and Gilead were in advanced talks to join the pool.But others, among which is ViiV Healthcare-joint venture between GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer to develop drugs for HIV, have said they would prefer to carry out their own agreements with generic manufacturers in developing countries.
The NIH has several patents on medicines and treatments related to HIV / AIDS. The agreement announced refers to a class of drugs known as protease inhibitors, used primarily to treat resistant infections and the Patent on AIDS drugs.
"This license is evidenced by the U.S. government's commitment to the Common Fund for Drug Patents and aims to increase the availability of HIV drugs in emerging countries," said Francis Collins, director of the NIH. "We are now discussing other patents assigned to the Fund that could have a positive impact on the treatment of HIV / AIDS"

Patent on AIDS drugs

Philippe Douste-Blazy, chairman of UNITAID, has welcomed the gesture of the NIH and has urged other patent holders to follow suit. Other institutions, such as Doctors Without Borders, have also expressed their satisfaction with the U.S. decision.

"This demonstrates a serious political support patent pool to help developing countries and the fact that the NIH has announced its decision to review its entire archive of antiretroviral drugs with the intention of introducing other patents in the background is promising, "said Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of the Campaign for Access to Essential Drugs NGOs and the Patent on AIDS drugs..
"But this gesture is not sufficient to allow production of a cheaper version of the drug. We need to add more. The responsibility lies with the pharmaceutical companies that own patents on these and other key drugs for AIDS," he added and the Patent on AIDS drugs..
About 33.4 million people worldwide living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. The vast majority live in poor regions like Africa and Asia, where the drugs should be very cheap to allow those who need to acquireand the Patent on AIDS drugs..
UNITAID announced a plan to create a patent pool in December. The idea is to allow generic manufacturers to develop low-cost versions of new drugs by creating a system for holders of these rights can yield if technology in exchange for certain rights and the Patent on AIDS drugs.. Initiative is expected to save these countries U.S. $ 1,000 million annually.

Creativity and Madness "two sides of the same coin?

The power or ability to create ideas, works or new and unique situations is closely related to certain disorders or mental illnesses like schizophrenia, characterized by the deprivation of the trial or the right.
Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash, whose life inspired the movie "A Beautiful Mind", the great musician Ludwig van Beethoven, Edgar Allan Poe writer, the painter Vincent Van Gogh, the scientist Isaac Newton.
Some of the greatest geniuses of mankind have been classified as "crazy". Also, some scientific studies suggest that poets, painters, musicians, writers and general creative character, are more affected by bipolar disorder in a much higher percentage than the general population and creativity and madness.
Attest to this phenomenon where some of the most prolific artistic minds and famous writers such as Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway, the composer Sergey Rachmaninoff, and the painters Paul Gauguin and Jackson Pollock, who have suffered, with certainty or high probability, also called manic-depressive.

Creativity and Madness

An investigation by the University of Toronto (Canada) has found that creative people have little or no "latent inhibition", ie the unconscious ability to reject unimportant or irrelevant stimuli creativity and madness..
Normally, an ordinary person classifies an object and then forgets it, although it might be more complex and interesting than you think. In contrast, creative individuals remain in contact with the additional information that comes to the environment constantly and are always open to new possibilities, according to Canadian experts creativity and madness.
Other studies have pointed to a possible link between certain mental disorders such as psychosis or schizophrenia, with increased activity and creative and artistic predisposition creativity and madness..

Do artistic or creative personalities are closer to the genius or alienation? According to a recent European research is probably a false dilemma, and that creativity and madness seem to go together "by the hand.
According to a group of researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, who has been studying the functioning of the human mind with the help of different brain imaging, the processes of neurons in highly creative people who are saved "striking similarities" with those of individuals who suffer from some form of schizophrenia. 

Shadows of dementia and madness

According to the Swedish study, led by Professor Frederik Ullén, both groups of people, both the creative as suffering from a mental illness, lack of important receptors (brain structures that interact with some substances also brain called neurotransmitters) involved in the filtering and channeling of thought creativity and madness..
Professor Ullén believed that the presence of fewer dopamine receptors in the brain's thalamus, likely to result in a lower degree of filtering of signals and stimuli from abroad and, therefore, a greater flow of information.
Apparently, this glut of unfiltered information that could favor the occurrence of unexpected connections of different ideas that are at the base of creative and artistic processes. Although this same phenomenon also plays an important role in some mental disorders such as schizophrenia, according to Swedish researchers.
According Ullén and his group, free of inhibitions "processing" of information is what enables some people to turn the spark of creativity, discovering unexpected connections between very different elements, trying to solve problems.
People with schizophrenia share the creative, that remarkable ability to make novel associations, but in case of patients the result is strange and disturbing ideas.

19% of gay men and bisexuals in the U.S. have HIV

One in five gay men and bisexuals in the 21 major U.S. cities are infected with HIV, and half of them do not know, said the country's health officials said Thursday.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that young men, especially blacks, are the least know if they have contracted the virus."For young men who have sex with others, including blacks who are the least aware they are infected, the future is truly at stake," he said in a statement Jonathan Mermin, director of the division of HIV prevention / CDC AIDS, gays and HIV.

Mermin said that "it is important to reach this group with early prevention services and HIV testing, and continue offering these vital services as they grow older."The study was the evidence of this disease in 8,153 men who had sex with other men in 21 cities as part of National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System 2008,gays and HIV. which examined the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus and its spread awareness among this group of men.

HIV in U.S.

The results found that 28% of black men who have sex with men were infected with HIV, compared with 18% of Hispanics and 26% of whites.The rate of HIV among this group of men is strongly affected by reason of education and income gays and HIV., which, according to the authors, the lower socio-economic status of the person most likely is that they have HIV.Age is also an important factor in whether men know they are infected with HIV. Among infected men aged 18 to 29 years, 63% did not know, compared with 37% of men over 30 years.This is particularly disturbing because the CDC estimated that STIs are transmitted mostly by people who are unaware they are infected gays and HIV..Mermin said the results show that HIV remains a serious problem in the United States and called for a commitment on the part of national efforts to protect the health of gay men.

The dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes

Pharmacies, herbalists, shopping and, of course, internet. More and more people who join the fashion of the electronic cigarette. In a manner similar to that of conventional cigarettes, it hides a battery and recharge with or without nicotine, seasoned with various flavorings (vanilla, mint snuff ...) and other ingredients. But is it a safe alternative? Need help to quit smoking? Well, for now, it seems that neither the one nor the other and the Dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes.
In 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Agency (FDA, for its acronym in English) analyzed several brands of these e-cigarettes and warned of the presence of carcinogenic substances (nitrosamines, for example) and toxic (such as diethylene glycol, an antifreeze ). All this, not to mention nicotine, according to Juan Antonio Riesco Miranda, vice president of the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), not always is reflected in the composition of the charges and the Dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes.
Indeed, just over a week, the FDA took a step further and warned five companies that manufacture these devices, it accuses of breaking the law: "They make unsubstantiated claims and rely on inadequate manufacturing practices." And the calls to "cooperate with the agency to ensure that these devices are safe and effective in their use they are trying to give and the Dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes."

Dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes

The World Health Organization (WHO) also seems to go with the fly behind the ear, since two years ago warned that there is still no evidence to prove the safety or effectiveness of these e-cigarettes. In fact, barred claim are used as an aid to stop smoking. They would have to be supported by scientific and comply with legislation governing the rest of approved products for this purpose (gum, patches, tablets nicotine and drugs).
In Spain, explains Dr. Riesco, a specialist in smoking, "the manufacturers of these products are benefiting from a loophole that the Administration should take into account." In fact, are not regulated as drugs or as medical devices and the Dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes.

In a similar vein to that of the FDA and WHO, the pulmonologist emphasizes that "the data are very contradictory, do not know the substances they contain and therefore can not predict its effects." In fact, at present, there are few scientific papers that evaluate the pros and cons of these electronic cigarettes. One of the most recent, published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, points out that when smoking them, users need to suck harder. But there are not enough data to clarify if this action is or is not harmful and the Dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes.
In addition to ignorance about their safety, smoking cessation specialists to help emphasize its ineffectiveness against tobacco. "They have a negative impact on prevención.No only closely resemble cigarettes but maintain the same gesture is done by smoking, which did not help at all," said the member of the SEPAR. And claims that are not regulated as an aid in quitting and the Dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes. "For that there are treatments that have low price-the e-cigarette range from 40 to 60 euros, and that have a scientific endorsement," he adds.

Electronic cigarettes

Although there may be marketed under this claim, the fact is that most users often buy so, if not to abandon it, to reduce the consumption of tabaco.Una intention translates into a marked increase in sales.  and the Dangers of smoking electronic cigarettes Or so it recognizes a pharmaceutical Madrid highlights the success of the product that is exposed on the counter.
Smoke-free spaces are another potential use of these fake cigarettes. Manufacturers stress that can be used where it is not allowed light up a cigarette and, with it, cope better with the monkey. But how that is accomplished if some say they do not contain nicotine? "We do not know what real power is back. But it is clear that it is confusing to the public, "Riesco complaint Electronic cigarettes.

Restless sleep to dementia

REM sleep in which rapid eye movements occur, characterized in that the brain is very active but the muscles are partially paralyzed, by the action of the brainstem. Therefore, although suffering nightmares or vivid dreams, the body remains comfortably lying down. But patients with conduct disorder of REM sleep are not so fortunate: scream, cry, hit, kicked and sometimes fall out of bed. This condition also may be associated with future development of Parkinson's or other neurodegenerative diseases and
REM sleep and Dementia.
A team of researchers at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona has just presented a method to determine, through a combination of two neuroimaging techniques, which of these people with sleep disorders are more likely to have Parkinson's, Lewy body dementia (a bad that produces paranoid delusions) or multiple system atrophy (a rare condition that affects mobility and bodily functions) the REM sleep and Dementia.. These degenerative diseases like himself REM sleep disorder, usually affecting men older than 60 years.

REM sleep and Dementia

The researchers, led by Dr. Alex Iranzo, Neurology Service Clinic, have continued for two and a half years a group of 43 patients with REM disorder, with an average of 70 years of age. Eight of them (ie about 30%) have developed at this time a neurodegenerative disease. And all these, according to results published by the Lancet Neurology (http://www.thelancet.com/) had shown in testing at baseline, low levels of dopamine, a hormone that functions as a neurotransmitter in the brain and whose absence is the main cause of Parkinson's.

The importance of this hormone is that scarcity can be detected years before showing the first symptoms of dementia. The researchers therefore hope that this can help in the future to detect the disease early and study their development during the early stages, before clinical manifestation the REM sleep and Dementia.. "This paper will matter in five or 10 years," predicts  Iranzo, "when neuroprotective drugs."
Wait for new therapies.

Restless sleep to dementia

The hope of this researcher is that, from here to that time, have developed new treatments that can control the disease since its first manifestations. But "for now, and unfortunately, the only thing we can do is to follow patients with more mime, watch rather than a microscope lens, and begin treatment sooner," says the researcher the REM sleep and Dementia..
The test consists of an ultrasound [transcranial sonography TCS] and CT [photon emission, or SPECT], seeking weaknesses of dopamine in two brain regions: the 'estratium' and 'black substance'. Up to 27 patients with sleep disorders (63%) showed alterations in some of these tests, that would be part of group at risk the REM sleep and Dementia.. Some of them, according to the study's authors fear, may join in the coming years to the eight that have already developed a neurodegenerative disease: five with Parkinson's disease, dementia and a two multiple system atrophy.
Other neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, are not related to REM disorder and are beyond the scope of this investigation. Despite the low number of people studied, the authors believe their results are about the possibility of detecting patients at risk, "definitive." "What we do now," says Iranzo, "this group is to follow long term the REM sleep and Dementia.."