Depression tied to poor asthma therapy adherence
Depressive symptoms are common among inner-city adults hospitalized for asthma flare-ups, according to a new study in the medical journal Chest.
Furthermore, such symptoms identify individuals who are unlikely to stick to their asthma medication regimen when they go home.
“Typically, when someone comes into the hospital and we treat their asthma, we don’t necessarily look at whether they are depressed,” Dr. Susan J. Bartlett commented. “But maybe we need to, because these individuals are really at very high risk of being poorly adherent to their asthma therapy once they get out of the hospital.”
Strength training won’t harm older arteries
Despite some concerns to the contrary, strengthening exercises appear to help, not harm, older adults’ artery function, a small study suggests.
In general, experts advise that young and old alike include both aerobic activities and strength training in their exercise routines. For older adults, the benefits may include stronger muscles and bones, fewer physical limitations and a lower risk of falls and fractures.
However, research in young adults has found that strength-building resistance exercises seem to increase “stiffness” in the arteries—effects that would be concerning in older adults, whose risk of heart disease and stroke is already elevated.
Decaf coffee may still pack a mini-caffeine punch
Decaf coffee is often not totally caffeine-free, a new study shows. In fact, while these beverages have far less caffeine than a cup of regular coffee, they still may have enough of the stimulant to cause physical dependence on them.
As Dr. Bruce A. Goldberger of the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville told Reuters Health, “The concentration of caffeine in these brewed decaf coffees does have physiological and behavioral effects on a person.”
Goldberger and his colleagues tested the caffeine content of decaf from 10 different coffee establishments. Only one—Folger’s Instant—contained no caffeine. The rest contained anywhere from 8.6 milligrams (mg) to 13.9 mg for a 16-ounce cup, the team reports in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology.
Personalized Cancer Vaccine Improves Disease Free Survival
The search for effective anti-cancer therapies increasingly leads medical scientists to immune-based agents like anti-vaccines, or a “personalized” approach based on a patient’s unique disease status. A new study reported by Tampa-based Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, achieves promising treatment objectives by exploiting both therapeutic approaches simultaneously.
Results from an ongoing clinical trial suggest that patients with non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL), a cancer of the lymphatic system, can benefit from treatment with a novel anti-cancer vaccine based on the patient’s specific tumor. The study results, published September 20 in the prestigious Journal of the National Cancer Institute, demonstrated that administration of the BiovaxID™ anti-cancer vaccine formulation resulted in long-lasting remission in NHL patients.
Important first step towards designing new therapies for shingles
A team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has identified a human protein that helps varicella-zoster virus, the cause of chickenpox and shingles, spread from cell to cell within the body.
NIAID virologist Jeffrey I. Cohen, M.D., and NIAID research fellow Qingxue Li, M.D., Ph.D., discovered that a surface protein of varicella-zoster virus attaches to a cellular protein called insulin-degrading enzyme, using it as a receptor to enter and infect cells. In the October 20, 2006 issue of the journal Cell, they also describe how interfering with this interaction inhibits the spread of virus among cells in the test tube. The discovery of this receptor is important in understanding varicella-zoster virus, say Drs. Cohen and Li.
