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Infections may speed Alzheimer’s memory loss

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Infections may speed Alzheimer’s memory loss

Catching a cold or the flu could speed memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease, researchers reported Tuesday.

In a study of patients with mild to severe Alzheimer’s disease, they found that people who suffered acute or chronic infections, or even bumps and bruises from a fall, were much more likely to have high blood levels of a protein involved in inflammation and also experienced faster memory loss than people who did not have infections and who had low levels of this protein.

It’s possible that finding a way to reduce inflammation in the body “could be beneficial for people with Alzheimer’s disease,” study chief Dr. Clive Holmes, from the University of Southampton, UK, said in a prepared statement.

Over about 6 months, Holmes and colleagues measured the cognitive abilities and blood levels the inflammatory protein TNF-alpha of 222 people with Alzheimer’s disease. They also interviewed each subject’s main caregiver several times during the study.

During follow up, roughly half of the study subjects experienced a sudden infection or injury that led to inflammation, and a spike in TNF-alpha levels. These people, the researchers found, experienced memory loss that was at twice the rate of those who did not have infections or injuries.

People who had high levels of TNF-alpha in their blood at the beginning of the study, a sign of chronic, ongoing inflammation, had memory loss at four times the rate of those with low levels of the protein at the start of the study.

By contrast, subjects with low levels of TNF-alpha throughout the study showed no decline in brain function, the report indicates.

“One might guess that people with a more rapid rate of cognitive decline are more susceptible to infections or injury, but we found no evidence to suggest that people with more severe dementia were more likely to have infections or injuries at the beginning of the study,” Holmes noted in a prepared statement.

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Most diabetics falling short on healthy eating

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Most diabetics falling short on healthy eating

Diabetes mellitus is a disease characterized by persistent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels), resulting either from inadequate secretion of the hormone insulin, an inadequate response of target cells to insulin, or a combination of these factors. Diabetes is a metabolic disease requiring medical diagnosis, treatment and lifestyle changes.

There are many causes and forms of diabetes known. The three most common patterns of diabetes have been recognized over the last thirty years as type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes (or type 3)[1], although these three “types” of diabetes are more accurately considered patterns of pancreatic failure rather than single diseases. Each type can be produced by a variety of identifiable or yet-to-be-identified causes. There are some patients whose diabetes cannot be easily fit into one of these types, and some who display characteristics of more than one type at the same time.

Most Americans with diabetes are eating too much fat and sodium, and not enough fruits, vegetables, grains and low-fat dairy, a new study suggests.

The results, say researchers, indicate that many people with diabetes may need more education about the importance of nutrition in managing their condition.

Excess weight is one of the major risk factors for type 2 diabetes, a disorder in which the body can no longer properly use the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin. Diet, exercise and weight loss are key to managing the disorder, and in some cases, weight loss can reverse the condition.

Yet in the new study, researchers found that of nearly 2,800 middle- aged and older U.S. adults with type 2 diabetes, nearly all were exceeding the daily recommended fat intake. When it came to artery-clogging saturated fat, 85 percent were consuming too much.

Similarly, 92 percent of study participants were consuming too much sodium, which can raise blood pressure and contribute to diabetics’ already elevated risks of heart disease and kidney disease. (See related Reuters Health story today.)

The researchers used a number of nutritional yardsticks, including the Food Guide Pyramid and recommendations by the Institute of Medicine. For example, experts recommend that adults get no more than 20 percent to 35 percent of their daily calories from fat, with less than 10 percent coming from saturated fat.

And if most study participants were getting too much of those nutrients, many were also not getting enough of certain healthy foods, the researchers report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Less than half were getting the minimum recommended servings of fruits, vegetables, dairy and grains each day.

“I thought we were going to find people who, because they have a chronic disease, were more educated about and more motivated than the average American to eat healthy, but that’s not the case,” lead researcher Dr. Mara C. Vitolins, of Wake-Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said in a written statement.

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Experts hope H1N1 will spur effort on universal jab

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Experts hope H1N1 will spur effort on universal jab

The H1N1 swine flu pandemic should spur pharmaceutical researchers to renew efforts to develop a universal flu vaccine and rethink ways of dealing with future pandemics, scientists said on Friday.

Flu experts from the World Health Organization, Swiss drug giant Novartis AG, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and others noted that the arrival of H1N1 had prompted a jump in the potential output of vaccine manufacturing to 900 million doses from 400 million.

But in a letter to the journal Science, they urged drug and health industries to be more proactive in developing and distributing vaccines — and in particular to speed up the search for a universal flu vaccine.

“Although the H1N1 pandemic has the potential to cause a social and economic emergency, it also provides an opportunity to rethink our approach to influenza virus disease and to develop more effective vaccines and economically sustainable solutions for developing and developed countries,” they wrote. “Research toward development of a universal vaccine should be accelerated.”

A universal flu vaccine which would combat all strains of the virus has so far eluded pharmaceutical firms and scientists.

Inovio Biomedical Corp, which is working on such a vaccine, said this week that it expects initial evidence early next year on whether the technology it is using can help to fight diseases.

Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest diversified health care company, recently bought a stake in Dutch biotech firm Crucell partly to get hold of flu-mAb, a universal antibody engineered to prevent and treat infections from various influenza A strains.

The swine flu outbreak was declared a pandemic in June and has already infected millions of people around the world. Drugmakers and governments have been scrambling to make and supply vaccines targeting the new H1N1 strain before a feared second wave of infection hits as the northern hemisphere heads into winter.

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