How Chemical And Genetic Changes That Occur As Inflammation Progress To Cancer

The Human Body — Cancer (Photo credit: n0cturbulous)

From the 12 June 2012 article at Medical News Today

One of the biggest risk factors for liver, colon or stomach cancer is chronic inflammation of those organs, often caused by viral or bacterial infections. A new study from MIT offers the most comprehensive look yet at how such infections provoke tissues into becoming cancerous.

The study, which is in the online edition ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of June 11, tracked a variety of genetic and chemical changes in the livers and colons of mice infected with Helicobacter hepaticus, a bacterium similar to Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach ulcers and cancer in humans.

The findings could help researchers develop ways to predict the health consequences of chronic inflammation, and design drugs to halt such inflammation.

“If you understand the mechanism, then you can design interventions,” says Peter Dedon, an MIT professor of biological engineering. “For example, what if we develop ways to block or interrupt the toxic effects of the chronic inflammation?” …

Related articles

• How Infection Can Lead to Cancer (sott.net)
• How Chemical And Genetic Changes That Occur As Inflammation Progress To Cancer (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Why Chronic Infections Cause Cancer (futurepundit.com)
• How infection can lead to cancer (eurekalert.org)
• Stomach Cancer Risk Factors (cancercenter.com)
• Chronic Inflammation: The Rich Guy Disease (eveloce.scienceblog.com)
• Key Gene Found Responsible For Chronic Inflammation, Accelerated Aging And Cancer (medicalnewstoday.com)
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Integrative Body-Mind Training Prompts Double Positive Punch In Brain White Matter

From the 12 June 2012 Medical News Today article

Scientists studying the Chinese mindfulness meditation known as

brains! (Photo credit: cloois)

say they’ve confirmed and expanded their findings on changes in structural efficiency of white matter in the brain that can be related to positive behavioral changes in subjects practicing the technique regularly for a month.

In a paper appearing this week in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists Yi-Yuan Tang and Michael Posner report improved mood changes coincided with increased axonal density – more brain-signaling connections – and an expansion of myelin, the protective fatty tissue that surrounds the axons, in the brain’s anterior cingulate region.

Deficits in activation of the anterior cingulate cortex have been associated with attention deficit disorder, dementia, depression,schizophrenia and many other disorders.

IBMT was adapted from traditional Chinese medicine in the 1990s in China, where it is practiced by thousands of people. It differs from other forms of meditation because it depends heavily on the inducement of a high degree of awareness and balance of the body, mind and environment. The meditative state is facilitated through training and trainer-group dynamics, harmony and resonance. …

Related articles

• Chinese meditation IBMT prompts double positive punch in brain white matter (medicalxpress.com)
• Why meditation helps you focus: Mindfulness improves brain wiring in just a month (sott.net)
• MRI shows Chinese meditation changes brain (futurity.org)
• Integrative Body-Mind Training Prompts Double Positive Punch In Brain White Matter (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Chinese meditation IBMT prompts double positive punch in brain white matter (eurekalert.org)
• Meditation enhances brain function, study finds (cbc.ca)
• Chinese meditation enhances brain function (news.bioscholar.com)
• ‘Mindful’ Meditation Tied to Healthy Brain Changes: Study (news.health.com)
• ‘Mindfulness’ grows in popularity _ and profits (sacbee.com)

Government in action – Quick Health Data Online (Free telephone training today, June 14)

Can’t make the training? Guided help at the Web site (Look for the “Get Started Now” Box

From the Website

About Quick Health Data Online

The Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health has developed an important online tool: Quick Health Data Online. Quick Health Data Online contains extensive health data for the years 1998-2004 for the entire United States, and it will be updated on a yearly basis. National, regional, state, and county data are available and the data can be stratified by gender, race/ethnicity, and age concurrently.

The database includes statistics on:

• Demographics
• Mortality
• Access to care
• Infections and chronic disease
• Reproductive health
• Maternal health
• Mental health
• Prevention
• Violence and abuse

Free training available

Quick Health Data Online 101
QHDO 101 will provide an overview on health indicators available, preparing custom queries, and generating tables, graphs, and basic maps.

• Monday, April 16: 3-4 p.m. (EST)
• Monday, May 14: 2-3 p.m. (EST)
• Tuesday, June 12: 1-2 p.m. (EST)

Quick Health Data Online 201
QHDO 201 will detail the comprehensive mapping features.

• Wednesday, April 18: 1-2 p.m. (EST)
• Wednesday, May 16: 2-3 p.m. (EST)
• Thursday, June 14: 3-4 p.m. (EST

Register today! (for the training)  The toll-free conference call number and other details are provided at the registration site. You need to be at a computer with Internet access and a telephone.

Haz-Map (occupational health database) redesigned for web and mobile versions

 

From a recent email from NLM (US National Library of Medicine)

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Division of Specialized Information Services (SIS) has released redesigned web and mobile versions of Haz-Map (http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/ ). The new design adapts to web browsers on desktop computers, laptops, and tablets, as well as mobile browsers on smart phones, such as iPhones, Android and Blackberry phones.

Haz-Map is an occupational health database designed for health and safety professionals and for consumers seeking information about the health effects of exposure to chemicals and biologicals at work.  Haz-Map links jobs and hazardous tasks with occupational diseases and their symptoms. It currently covers over 5997 chemical and biological agents and 235 occupational diseases.

More information can be found at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/hazmap.html

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It’s Men’s Health Week

From a recent USA.gov email I rec’d

It’s Men’s Health Week! If you haven’t been for a physical exam in awhile, it’s probably time to:

• Find out what screenings you need.
• Get more information about your top health concerns.
• Check out some tips to help you stay healthy.

Great additional information at the US CDC National Men’s Health Week

What Men Can Do

• Lead by example. Be smoke-free, prevent injuries, and eat healthy.
• Wear Blue: Choose a day that works for you, your group or team and wear blue to raise awareness about men’s health. Encourage others to wear blue.
• Wear Blue to remind men of the importance of staying healthy.
• Wear Blue and become part of a national health movement.
• Find health providers which have weekend and evening appointments or have offices conveniently located close to home or work.
• Stay up on the latest about men’s health at CDC by signing up for email updates in the top right corner of the Men’s Health website.

What Women Can Do

• Point out the connection between good health, physical, and mental performance in sports, work stamina, etc.
• Encourage the men in your life to live a healthy lifestyle and get medical attention when needed.
• Recruit male friends or relatives with good health habits to help reinforce lifestyle messages.
• Point out the connection between good health and good physical, and mental performance in sports, work stamina, etc.
• Remind him that his children will be influenced by the example he sets when forming life-long health habits.
• Agree on an exercise routine that involves, and is enjoyable to, the both of you. If necessary, make the exercise out to be something for you that you need his support for even if it’s primarily for his own benefit.

Send a men’s health e-card!

 

Related articles

• This is Men’s Health Week … usa.gov (point4counterpoint.wordpress.com)
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• Men’s Health Week Hits the International Stage (prnewswire.com)
• ‘Heart attack’ dads urged to get healthy in Men’s Health Week (theepochtimes.com)
• What the Mad Men Could Learn About Men’s Health (usnews.com)
• Men’s health: What you don’t eat may hurt you (boston.com)
• Men’s Health Check-up List (gosanangelo.com)
• Stiff Resistance to Penis Talk Softens During National Men’s Health Week (prweb.com)