Scientists report baldness breakthrough


AFP/File - Wed Aug 30, 10:10 AM ET
In a finding that could help treat an inherited form of baldness, a research team in Manchester claims to have discovered a protein "code" that instructs cells to sprout hair.(AFP/File)

FDA fines American Red Cross $4.2M

Enlarge Photo ReutersAP - 54 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The government said Friday it was fining the American Red Cross a record $4.2 million for violating blood-safety laws. The violations include failing to reject donors who had traveled to malarial areas and allowing blood and related products to be distributed without proper testing, said Margaret Glavin, the Food and Drug Administration's associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.

Number of E. coli spinach cases hits 109

By JUSTIN M. NORTON, Associated Press Writer

19 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO - The number of people sickened by an E. coli outbreak traced to tainted spinach rose to 109 on Sunday, as federal officials announced more brands recalling their products.

"This is unquestionably a significant outbreak in terms of E. coli," said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer with the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Natural Selection Foods LLC, the world's largest producer of organic produce, has been linked to the infected greens, prompting a recall of 34 brands. Those brands include the company's own labels and those of other companies that had contracts with Natural Selection, based in San Juan Bautista, Calif., to produce or package its spinach.

On Sunday, River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, Calif., added to its recall spring mixes containing spinach that were sold under the labels Hy-Vee, Fresh N' Easy, and Farmers Market, FDA officials said. All contain spinach purchased from Natural Selection, they said.

The recalls came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intervened to help in investigate the outbreak, which has killed a 77-year-old Wisconsin woman, officials said.

In Ohio, state health officials said they were investigating the death of a 23-month-old girl who was sickened by E. coli to determine whether the case was related to the outbreak. The girl's mother said she often buys bagged spinach.

CDC officials said Sunday they've started an Atlanta-based emergency operations center to help state health agencies with E. coli testing. Epidemiologists are helping test spinach samples and stool samples of infected people, center spokeswoman Lola Russell said.

The center is helping when state health agencies can't perform the tests or when a second opinion is needed, Russell said.

E. coli cases linked to tainted spinach have been reported in 19 states, with Wisconsin reporting the most.

Other states reporting cases were California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming, according to the CDC. The seven new cases reported Sunday were in states with previous illnesses, Acheson said.

The Food and Drug Administration continued to warn consumers not to eat fresh spinach or products containing fresh spinach until further notice.

The investigation by the FDA and the California Department of Health Services will widen Monday with the aim of tracing the spinach to individual farms, Acheson said.

The inquiry will review irrigation methods, harvest conditions and other practices at farms possibly involved.

The spinach could have been contaminated in the field or during processing. About 74 percent of the fresh market spinach grown in the U.S. comes from California, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation.

There is no indication that the outbreak was deliberate, Acheson said. It was unclear when it would be safe for consumers to start buying fresh spinach, he added.

Natural Selection recalled its packaged spinach throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico as a precaution after federal health officials said some of those hospitalized reported eating brands of prepackaged spinach distributed by the company.

However, some restaurants and retailers may be taking spinach out of bags before selling it, so consumers shouldn't buy it at all, the FDA said.

Boiling contaminated spinach can kill the bacteria, but washing won't eliminate it, the CDC warned.

Federal officials stressed that the bacteria had not been isolated in products sold by Natural Selection, best known for the Earthbound Farm brand. As the investigation continues, other brands may be implicated, officials said.

Natural Selection officials have said they're working with federal and state health inspectors to pinpoint the source of the contamination.

The company was founded in 1984 by Drew and Myra Goodman. Within two years, Earthbound Farm began shipping pre-washed, packaged salad fixings, and the company's "spring mix" became a mainstay of restaurants and supermarkets.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060918/ap_on_he_me/tainted_spinach

Food Sources of Bone-Building and Strengthening Nutrients

Calcium: Dark green leafy vegetables (not spinach), tofu, kelp, blackstrap molasses, corn tortillas, raisins, dates, prunes, oatmeal, unsweetened yogurt, sardines.

Magnesium: Dark green leafy vegetables, kelp, sage, nuts, seeds, whole grains

Vitamin D: Sweet potatoes, yams, egg yolks, whole grains, cereals, alfalfa sprouts and sunlight

Vitamin K: Dark green leafy vegetables, kelp. potatoes, yoyurt, molasses

Boron: Avocado, apples, fresh and dried fruits, nuts and honey

Manganese: Almonds, prunes, raisins, peanutss

Copper: Seafood, nuts and seeds

Silicon: Horsetail (herb) tea, whole grains (wheat, oats), brown rice

Folic acid: Salmon, tuna, cheese, brown rice, beans, barley

Vitamin B6: Bananas, carrot, onions, asparagus, peas, sunflower seeds

Zinc: Eggs, oysters, pumpkin seeks, whoke grain cereals, dried beans, and legumes

Vitamin C: Citrus fruit, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberries, tomatoes, red/green peppers

Beta Carotene: Carrots, winter squash, dark green leafy vegetables

Isoflavones: All legums (e.g., dried beans-pinto beans, lentils, soy products), red clover tea.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Foods that can increase bone loss: soft drinks (soda/pop/seltzer), processed and fast foods, coffee and caffeine, high protein diets, animal protein (especially red meat), excess alcohol, cigarette smoking and stress.


Special Note:
If your bone density test shows increased risk of fracture, talk with your healthcare provider.

Marathon runners face skin cancer risk
 
By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Mon Nov 20, 4:00 PM ET
 

CHICAGO - White marathon runners seem to face an increased risk of skin cancer because of long sun exposure, Austrian researchers report.
 
The research team, all dermatologists at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, grew interested because they had treated eight ultramarathon runners with malignant skin cancer over a 10-year period.[/align]"...We were concerned by this observation because all of us are enthusiastic runners and two of us ... regularly participate in marathons," the authors write in Monday's Archives of Dermatology.
 
ABC News

Genetic Relative of SARS Found in Bats

Sat Sep 10, 7:37 AM ET



WASHINGTON - Scientists in China say they have found a genetic relative of the human SARS virus in a local species of bat, raising the possibility that the bats were a primary source of the disease when it was transmitted to humans.

After SARS first became a threat in 2002, research suggested the virus may have come from the civet, a catlike wild animal eaten by people in southern China. Thousands were seized from Chinese wildlife markets and slaughtered.

The new research raises the possibility that the bats may have given the civets the SARS virus or given it directly to humans. The article suggests two possible means of direct transmission to humans: Bat meat, considered a delicacy in parts of Asia, and bat feces, used in traditional Chinese medicine.

It is unclear where the bats got the virus.

The research, to be published in an article next week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was released early at the request of the author. The research was performed by Kwok-yung Yuen of the University of Hong Kong and his colleagues.

The researchers call for continued surveillance of the bats to "assess their potential threats to human health."

Researchers examined several wild animals in the countryside near Hong Kong and found a virus much like the SARS in civets and humans in 40 percent of the Chinese horseshoe bats they captured. The bats showed no obvious signs of the virus.

SARS, short for severe acute respiratory syndrome, emerged in southern China in late 2002. It has killed 774 people worldwide — 349 of them in mainland China.

More than 8,000 people were sickened around the world before it was brought under control when authorities enforced quarantines, isolated patients and restricted travel. Health officials remain worried it could spread again.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050910/ap_on_sc/sars_bats

Green Tea Compound Stops Alzheimer's in Mice

Wed Sep 21, 7:02 PM ET

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 21 (HealthDay News) -- An ingredient in green tea has prevented Alzheimer's disease-like brain damage in mice, researchers report.

The compound, called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), decreased production of the protein beta-amyloid, which accumulates in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and causes nerve damage and memory loss.

"The findings suggest that a concentrated component of green tea can decrease brain beta-amyloid plaque formation," senior researcher Dr. Jun Tan, director of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory at the the University of South Florida's Silver Child Development Center, said in a prepared statement.

Reporting in the Sept. 21 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, the research team worked with mice genetically programmed to develop a disease mimicking human Alzheimer's.

The mice received daily injections of EGCG for several months and showed as much as a 54 percent reduction in the formation of brain-clogging beta-amyloid plaques. It appears that EGCG prevents the initial process that leads to beta-amyloid formation in brain cells, the researchers said.

"If beta-amyloid pathology in this Alzheimer's mouse model is representative of Alzheimer's disease pathology in humans, EGCG dietary supplementation may be effective in preventing and treating the disease," Tan said.

The researchers will next study whether multiple oral doses of EGCG improve memory loss in mice with Alzheimer's.

"If those studies show clear cognitive benefits, we believe clinical trials of EGCG to treat Alzheimer's disease would be warranted," Tan said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about Alzheimer's disease.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20050921/hl_hsn/greenteacompoundstopsalzheimersinmice