U.S. government expands list of diseases resulting from the 9/11

New York (AP). - As part of the commemorations of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. government added 50 types of cancer in the list of diseases related to the collapse of the World Trade Center, contained in Zadroga Act.

The authorities added 14 types of cancer to reach a list of 50, including respiratory and digestive system, as a result of substances and conditions to which people were exposed after the collapse of the Twin Towers.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health accepted the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Science and Technology to add certain types of cancer to the list of conditions covered for Health Program of the World Trade Center.

With the measure, rescuers and area residents suffering from lung cancer, leukemia and dozens of types of cancer can now receive federal aid.

The Zadroga Act, passed in December 2010, established a fund of four thousand 300 million dollars for the medical care of rescuers who responded to the emergency and care to residents of the city.

Experts in diseases related to September 11 indicated that at that time there was insufficient evidence linking the toxic smoke from the World Trade Center with the development of different types of cancer.

"Include these cancers reinforce what you already know, our heroes are sick and some are dying of cancer that developed from inhaling toxins from ground zero," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, linked to the bill.

Can you live without sex?

Asexuality, which many consider a new sexual orientation, is gaining ground in the world. They are the people who choose to live without having sex. A 26 year old woman tells how to live without the pleasures of sex.

According to a British study on the subject, it is estimated that between 1% and 5% of people worldwide not having sex. They are sick, or do so on moral or religious reasons: they are defined as asexual and say that they feel no sexual attraction to other individuals or the same sex or to the opposite gender.

Asexual people, when they partner, create a different emotional tie to the other and this does not mean having sex. The asexual romantically involved with others through romantic relationships that do not differ much from the friendship, because the physical component is absent.

According to a British study on the subject, it is estimated that between 1% and 5% of people worldwide not having sex. They are sick, or do so on moral or religious reasons: they are defined as asexual and say that they feel no sexual attraction to other individuals or the same sex or to the opposite gender.

Asexual people, when they partner, create a different emotional tie to the other and this does not mean having sex. The asexual romantically involved with others through romantic relationships that do not differ much from the friendship, because the physical component is absent.

Johanna Villamil is a young Colombian woman who works as an artist and cultural manager. Declared asexual and says: "I think the options relate to the time are very limited, can only be friends or have a romantic relationship, which is not the same as a link with sex," he told the newspaper El Mundo.

He says that this feeling of asexuality originated in it at age 20, "When I was reading the book 'The Philosophy of Andy Warhol" for an art class. I identified with the reflections that was about sex and love , I realized there was someone who thought and felt as I do, and this prompted me to look for more people. So I came to asexuality "he said.
The official site of the asexual
The asexual want to be heard and defend their rights, so have created a website: Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) a virtual community that is expanding worldwide.

"The web has several objectives. On the one hand, we have a meeting place for us where we can meet more people and grow as a community. The second is to have an education area for us and for those interested. Currently in Hispanic version we have 2,000 people and have affiliated with 300 hits a day, "said Villamil, one of the promoters of the site.

"We are in a society where love, sex and intimacy are inseparable from each other. If you have sex is hard to imagine how to access and love, let alone be intimate with someone. In our community, indicates , we believe that privacy is an important factor in a relationship, and fortunately, there are more ways to create intimacy than sex. "

The asexual community believes that in a world increasingly sexualized, the number of people who enjoy more than a non-sexual intimacy is increasing.

Create stem cell eggs

A new study claims to have found that older women are stem cells that can produce new eggs. Thus, fall one of the main myths of biology: that women are born with a fixed number of eggs.

The possibility of one day with unlimited quantities of human eggs for use in fertility treatments is real, according to research published in Nature by Jonathan Tilly of the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Tilly's team identified and isolated stem cells responsible for production of eggs in the ovaries during the reproductive years of women: it is DDX4 protein unique to the surface of stem cells.

Scientists identify cells grown in laboratory-generated spontaneously, immature eggs (oocytes) similar to those present in the human body, and also behave like them.

They also observed that the cells matured when they were between the tissues of a living human ovary grafted into mice. And they showed that they can be fertilized with sperm to produce embryos.

New horizons in fertility

In the U.S., approximately 10% of women (6.1 million) between 15 and 44 years of age have difficulty conceiving or maintaining pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) .

For Tilly, head of research, "the primary objective of the study was to prove that stem cells exist and oocytes in ovaries of women during their reproductive lives. This opens the door to development of techniques to overcome unprecedented the infertility in women, "he said.

The researcher explains that "outside the body, these cells are more likely to multiply its generating function." He added: "If we can guide the process, I think given the possibility that in the future we will have an unlimited supply of eggs."

What number of eggs produced by a woman?

As early fetal life, are owned by 6 to 7 million eggs. From that moment, no longer produced. The vast majority of eggs that are within the ovaries steadily die, until they are exhausted at menopause.

The Cleveland Clinic reports that at birth, there are approximately 1 million eggs and at the time of puberty, only be 300,000. Of these, only between 300 and 400 will be ovulated during the reproductive life course of women.

In the phase of the study of human samples, cultured stem cells in vitro and found that they differed from others that showed genetic patterns such as oocytes and had half the genetic load (23 chromosomes instead of 46) , exactly as gametes.

Furthermore, some marked stem cells implanted under the skin of rodents and these gave rise to immature human follicles.

According to Tilly, these results constitute the "proof of concept that stem cells ovocíticas, reintroduced in the adult human ovarian tissue, play the role expected to generate new oocytes are surrounded by host cells to form new hair follicles."

Could potentially lead to eggs and these form viable embryos, which have many applications in the field of assisted reproduction .

Vitamin D deficiency associated with heart disease and death

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After analyzing data from more than 10,000 patients, a team the U.S. found that 70 percent had vitamin D deficiency, with a much higher risk of heart disease than the rest of the population and twice as likely to die.

But the use of supplements to correct this deficiency decreased by 60 percent the risk of dying, the researchers at the University of Kansas .

"We expected to observe a relationship between heart disease and deficiency of vitamin D, but we were surprised with how strong," said Dr. James L. Vacek's Hospital and Medical Center of the University of Kansas. "It was much deeper than we expected," he said.

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with many diseases , but few studies have shown that supplements could prevent them.

Vacek's team reviewed data from 10,899 adults, which they had measured vitamin D levels in blood at the hospital of the university. In over 70 percent, the levels were below 30 ng / ml, which is the value considered healthy.

After considering the medical history of patients, drug treatments and other factors, cardiologists found that people deficient in vitamin D were twice as likely to have diabetes, 40 percent more likely to have hypertension and 30 percent more likely to develop cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease) than those without nutrient deficiency.

Moreover, this group had three times the risk of dying from any cause than those without vitamin D, as published in the American Journal of Cardiology.

By focusing on users of supplemental vitamin D, the team found that the risk of dying from any cause was 60 percent lower than in the rest of the participants, although the effect was even greater in those with vitamin deficiency at the time of evaluation.

The study does not prove that vitamin D is responsible for the observed effects, other factors such as disease, could explain the differences associated with the state of health and vitamin D levels recorded.

The latest national survey on health and nutrition of the population (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) estimated that between 25 and 57 percent of U.S. adults have insufficient levels of vitamin D.

Vacek attributed it to how to obtain the nutrient, said it should be 90 percent through the sun and just 10 percent through food.

The human body produces vitamin D when skin is exposed to sunlight. Certain foods, like fatty fish, eggs and fortified milk, also provide the nutrient.

To absorb enough vitamin D in the sun, which expose the entire body for at least 20 minutes daily in the warmer seasons, but Vacek said most of the population spends enough time outdoors.

Injury prevention programs in athletes take time

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A program of stretching and endurance of three months had only a temporary effect on the prevention of injuries of the knee in soccer players, compared with a nine months' duration.

"Most injury prevention programs last between 10 and 12 weeks. We think that from then, if nothing is done, the player will return to the starting point," said Darin Padua, a professor at the University of North Carolina .

With his team prepared Padua 15 coaches youth soccer leagues for their athletes performed three or nine months for an injury prevention program of warm-up sessions for 15 minutes before each practice.

At the beginning and end of training, the team evaluated the mobility of players with tests such as jumping from a box, down on the floor and jump back. These movements reveal the risk of injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee.

At the end of training, all athletes performed better on these tests at baseline.

In general, players committed between five and six errors in the motion test before the program and between three and four after the program. Five or more errors indicate a risk of ACL injury.

"The types of errors are very obvious, so that we can change one or two shows that athletes could change much of their biomechanics," said Padua told Reuters Health.

Three months after completing the program, only players who had completed nine months kept the changes.

The team did not determine whether the improvement in performance on tests of movement actually decreased the number of ACL injuries.

But a recent study of youth soccer players and basketball revealed that participants in a prevention program were 44 percent fewer injuries (without contact with another player) players who had not received the same training.

For Gregory Myer, Professor of Medical Center of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, training to prevent injury should be extended, especially in the preseason. "The injury rate increase at the beginning of the season," he said.

Female athletes are more likely to injure the ACL than men, said Myer, who was not involved in the study. The ACL injury increases the likelihood of developing osteoarthritis.

SOURCE: The American Journal of Sports Medicine, online November 7, 2011

What is the MCT8 defect?

It is a disease that only affects children and is caused by an alteration in a gene on chromosome X. This condition leads to neurological abnormalities, resulting in minor delays in the development of intelligence , stiff muscles, and so on.
The first time this disease was described in the early 40's and was known as Allan-Herndon Syndrome, Dudley , as its discoverers mention William Allan, Florence C. Dudley and C. Nash Herndon. Later, in 2004, seven years ago, they knew what it produced: a deficiency in a transporter of thyroid hormone , MCT8 transporter, which made ​​these substances did not reach the brain in neuronal development of the child.

It is a disease that only affects boys because it is an altered gene on chromosome X. This means that mothers, although carriers, never develop the disease but can pass the defective gene to their offspring male with a probability of 50 percent.

Recently a group of researchers led by Dr. Juan Bernal, the Biomedical Research Institute Alberto Sols and the Biomedical Research Centre Network for Rare Diseases , has gone a step further to learn more about the disease. According to their study, the hormone deficiency is that the same can not cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) ​​or whatever it is, the barrier that protects the brain from harmful substances. And this defect is due to the specific carrier of the same, the MCT8. But research has also shown that this defect results in an alteration of thyroid hormones T4 and T3 which has led them to create clinical guidelines for diagnosing these cases in young children.

Dental cleaning reduces the risk of heart attack

The importance of maintaining good oral health goes beyond the obvious. And everything in the human body is interconnected. So scientists have shown in Taiwan, which have found that dental cleaning reduces the risk of a heart attack . Specifically, good oral cleaning by 24% reduces the chances of suffering a heart attack and a 13% risk of stroke. According to a study by scientists from Taiwan, a professional dental cleaning reduces bacterial growth that causes inflammation and can lead to heart disease.

Dental cleaning once a year

The work has analyzed more than 100,000 people since 2007 , focusing on secured databases of Taiwan's National Health Service. None of the cases had a history of heart attack or stroke. However, research has not adjusted risk factors such as smoking or obesity. It concluded that the protection against heart disease and stroke was most pronounced in people undergoing dental cleaning at least once a year. The results of this study were presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando (Florida).

Oral health and quality of life

Recently, the 'White Paper on Oral Health in Spain 2010' highlighted the close relationship between oral health and quality of life , which include social and psychological aspects. That is, there is evidence that poor oral health can have a major impact on our relationship with the environment. According to this 'white paper', the women brush their teeth more than men. 51% of women said brushing three times a day, compared with 39% of men.

It is not asthma, COPD affects 10% of Spanish

It's a little known disease with a cryptic name and some of its symptoms can be confused with asthma . The COPD , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, primarily affects smokers. And so begins to threaten especially women. According to the study 'ConocEPOC', conducted by the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), 8 out of 10 Spanish (83%) know what is COPD, a percentage that has improved from 2002 (when 93% of respondents admitted not knowing anything about this disease). But it remains a very high percentage, to be a disease that affects 2.19 million people in Spain (10, 2% of the population) and kills about 18,000 patients every year, about 50 a day.

COPD: underdiagnosed and funny name

For experts, ignorance about the disease, which is maintained over time, could be due to its difficult name , an issue that has been debated for a long time among the experts.

WHO calls tobaccosis although 20% of individuals do not smoke , however, the president of SEPAR, Pilar de Lucas, ruled renaming of COPD by tobaccosis (used by the WHO) because, although Smoking is the main factor causing this disease, there is a 20% non-smoking patients with COPD who have the same
symptoms.

COPD is underdiagnosed disease that is often confused with asthma. Diagnosed soon and is diagnosed late, because subjects who suffer do not pay attention to your symptoms. Detecting COPD in time can, in many patients, make it go away. Also, could prevent progression to more severe stages, where the patient is worsening their quality of life (you may have to enter the hospital between 5 and 7 times a year).

Women smokers, increased risk of COPD

Smoking is the leading cause of COPD. The 80% of patients with this disease have been smokers , although only between 15 and 20% of smokers develop the disease. Therefore, a pulmonologist at the Hospital Virgen del Rocio in Seville Jose Luis Lopez-Campos, warns that in 15 to 20 years, an "epidemic of female smokers" who will be affected by COPD. The doctor notes that women are still "the collective in which the consumption of snuff is maintained and even increases among the young. "

Living with ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a little known disease, with an annual incidence of 0.4 to 1.76 per 100,000 inhabitants, despite the image of a famous patient, Stephen Hawking, has been around the world and has been in the limelight of today since, in 1973, developed his theory of black holes in space. Men are more affected than women. Most patients are in their fifties at the start of symptoms and the incidence increases with each decade of life. In about 5% of cases the disease is familial, inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Family cases do not differ in their clinical course of sporadic, but usually start a little earlier, with equal distribution of men and women, a slightly shorter survival, a greater tendency to weakness in the legs begin.

Early symptoms of ALS often include: progressive loss of strength in upper limbs, seen in normal activities, like lifting a weight or open and close a valve, reduction in size of muscle mass in arms and hands, and speech disorders: nasal voice, difficulty moving the tongue) are due to the loss of strength in the muscles of the larynx and tongue.

Living the day

His diagnosis is not difficult, but sometimes it takes and, as in the case of Jose Lillo, is generally a pilgrimage to the orthopedist, the neurologist, and so on. and ends up throwing away diagnosed at other disease. Unfortunately there are no treatments for ALS. Patients will need advice and support because it is often the incidence of depressive disorders. Palliative drugs are used, which reduce the stiffness and muscle cramps. In the early stages of the disease that affected the muscles of respiration, we must consider the possibility of using ventilation devices (so-called iron lung). If you experience problems swallowing food, food is necessary to employ ground, or even support through a tube.
And in any case, says Joseph Lillo, "be very strong. I always I have faith that I will recover. I Live the day. "