The public is increasingly being drawn to the practice of obtaining various medications over the internet.  Prices are lower and even controlled drugs can easily be obtained from certain sources.  But, a recent online survey of this practice reveals significant risks, including obtaining tainted or bogus compounds being sold as "brand name" medication.  Furthermore, deaths are being reported following the use of controlled substances that have been obtained from online sources.   

One patient died after using online pharmaceuticals and, in addition to having a variety of drugs in her system, was also noted to have toxic levels of several chemicals including aluminum, phosphorus, arsenic, strontium, and others.  The point here is that unregulated companies may add chemicals to the drugs they are shipping that the buyer may have no idea they are taking.

The internet outfits offering these products typically offer what seems like incredibly good deals, but the reason may be that the drugs are either stolen or are fake.  What is that old saying:  "If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn't"?   

Virginia and Kentucky require that all pharmacies, including online companies that ship drugs into their states must be certified. Other states that are considering online pharmacy regulation include Idaho, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Texas.  

So you, the consumer, must be very careful when buying any type of medication online!  Unless the company can prove they are regulated and state certified, it is probably best to avoid the temptation to obtain a cheaper drug and just pass on the opportunity altogether.

(www.wnbc.com)

Labels: company, controlled drugs, healthy, pharmacies

(news.bbc.co.uk)We humans possess some ugly instincts, hardwired into us over evolutionary time. The ape inside is not a pleasant fellow; he'd rather tear down pillars of success into a rubble of equal poverty for all than than use those pillars to raise up the areas between to a higher level of living. He's ever ready to believe the worst, to choose mysticism over science, hold the irrational beliefs of peers over demonstrated reality, and live in lazy ignorance rather than work to be educated. All instincts can be mastered, and we are the masters of the ape inside - if we choose to be. Not a lot of mastering going on in the majority of the comments at AlterNet to a reprint on longevity science, however. I am always amazed at those people who stand convinced that new medical technologies and capabilities will be restricted to the "elites" - this flies so much in the face of even a cursory examination of the present day and recent history that it rises to the level of myth. It is a defining belief held as a part of tribal membership, divorced from any need to conform to reality. From this errant belief,...

Labels: healthy life, hgh, hot now, result

H5N1 influenza, also known as avian influenza, is considered a major global threat to human health, with high fatality rates. Studies of human H5N1 victims shed light on the anatomic distribution of the avian flu virus and its pathogenesis. Scientists found that the avian influenza H5N1 virus affects much more than respiratory system: disseminates to gastrointestinal tract, immune and central nervous systems, and can be transmitted mother to fetus through the placenta.

Alcohol Amount, Not Type -- Wine, Beer, Liquor -- Triggers Breast Cancer
One of the largest individual studies of the effects of alcohol on the risk of breast cancer has concluded that it makes no difference whether a woman drinks wine, beer or spirits -- it is the alcohol itself and the quantity consumed that is likely to trigger the onset of cancer.

Sense Of Taste Different In Women With Anorexia Nervosa
Although anorexia nervosa is categorized as an eating disorder, it is not known whether there are alterations of the portions of the brain that regulates appetite. Now, a new study finds that women with anorexia have distinct differences in the insulta -- the specific part of the brain that is important for recognizing taste.

Alcohol And Cancer: Is Drinking The New Smoking?
Researchers have clarified the link between alcohol consumption and the risk of head and neck cancers, showing that people who stop drinking can significantly reduce their cancer risk. These results have important implications for tailoring alcohol policies and prevention strategies, especially for people with a family risk of cancer.

Radiologists Identify Early Brain Marker Of Alzheimer's Disease
Researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging have found a new marker which may aid in early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder characterized by memory loss, confusion, personality or behavioral changes and other symptoms. According to the Alzheimer's Association, more than five million Americans currently have Alzheimer's disease. While there is still no cure for the disorder, early diagnosis is crucial so that the patient receives proper treatment.
(Pharmaceutical Releases)

Labels: alcohol, appetite, cancer risk, early diagnosis, genetic, influenza, placenta

Miscarriage is loss of a pregnancy during the first 20 weeks of gestation.  About 25% of women experience one at some point and about 15 or 20% of all pregnancies result in miscarriage.  It is usually thought of as a genetically abnormal fetus that occurs due to chance.  But, it is understandable that women often wonder if they have done something that could have caused the problem and often bear a significant burden of guilt and worry that they may have been the reason for the loss of their baby. 

Information from a Danish study, in which they interviewed 92,000 women, suggests that vigorous exercise during the first trimester greatly increases the risk of miscarriage.  Their study reported that women who exercised vigorously during the early weeks of pregnancy, especially those who participated in "high impact" activities such as jogging, were 3.7 times more likely to have a miscarriage.  They noted that women who swam were not at all at increased risk.  These risks disappeared completely, though, after the 18th week.

Does this study suggest that pregnant women should stop all exercise activity and become couch potatoes throughout their pregnancy?  No, but it does suggest that you should discuss your own exercise program with your doctor and consider whether the activities should be modified to less vigorous or lower impact exercise. 

I believe it does make sense that jogging and similar activities could jar the delicate, newly-forming embryo and result in loss of it.   But, up til now, we have had no scientific data on which to base a recommendation.  Now, it makes more sense than ever to advise pregnant women to modify their activities during the first trimester.  Daily walks, swimming, and use of exercise bikes, stairmasters, and elliptical trainers are all probably safe when used in moderation; but, to be on the safe side, I suggest giving running a rest.

As always, your comments are welcome...

(www.wnbc.com)

Labels: healthy, human growth hormone, miscarriage, pregnancy, problems

(www.americanheart.org)More than 60 percent of American women are overweight, with nearly a third falling into the category of obese and at greater risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Until now, there has been no safe, long-term medical remedy that tackles unwanted weight gain. Now, a well-known drug used to treat vertigo has been adapted for a new purpose: to treat obesity. The vertigo drug has been in use for 30 years and has an excellent safety profile, according to the researchers.
Brain's Messengers Could Be Regulated, Study Suggests
Tiny, spontaneous releases of the brain's primary chemical messengers can be regulated, potentially giving scientists unprecedented control over how the brain is wired. The work could lead to a better understanding of neurological diseases like schizophrenia. Sputtering electrical activity -- like a firecracker's leftover sparks after a big bang -- was long considered inconsequential background noise compared with the main cell-to-cell interactions underlying thought and memory. But researchers found that the miniscule events that follow a burst of electrical and chemical activity among neurons are far more important that previously thought.
Eat Less To Live Longer: Calorie Restriction Linked To Long Healthy
For nearly 70 years scientists have known that caloric restriction prolongs life. In everything from yeast to primates, a significant decrease in calories can extend lifespan by as much as one-third. But getting under the hood of the molecular machinery that drives this longevity has remained elusive. Researchers have now discovered two genes in mammalian cells that act as gatekeepers for cellular longevity. When cells experience certain kinds of stress, such as caloric restriction, these genes rev up and help protect cells from diseases of aging.

Labels: brain, calorie, healthy

(www.americanheart.org)Breath-analysis testing may prove to be an effective, noninvasive method for monitoring blood sugar levels in diabetes. By using a chemical analysis method developed for air-pollution testing, chemists and pediatricians have found that children with type-1 diabetes exhale significantly higher concentrations of methyl nitrates when they are hyperglycemic.
Sudden Loss Of T Cells Is Not Trigger For AIDS, New Study Suggests
A sudden loss of T cells -- white blood cells crucial to the immune system -- is not the trigger for the onset of AIDS, according to a new study. The study challenges current thinking regarding AIDS, namely that a sudden, acute loss of T-cells is considered to be sufficient to predict progression to the disease's last stages -- final collapse of the immune system and death.
Controlling For Size May Also Prevent Cancer
Scientists discovered that a chemical chain reaction that controls organ size in animals ranging from insects to humans could mean the difference between normal growth and cancer. The study describes how organs can grow uncontrollably huge and become cancerous when this chain reaction is perturbed.
Discovery Of Widespread Tumor Growth Gene Holds Promise For Effective Anti-cancer Treatment
Scientists have found a widespread mechanism for the stimulation of tumor growth in humans, and that this is leading to the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. This research may be key to the identification of signalling molecules that promote or inhibit the formation of metastases.

Labels: AIDS, analysis, research, tumor

Researchers have examined close to 100,000 genetic markers for low bone mass and aging to help determine which genes are responsible for the development of osteoporosis and longevity.
Lack Of Sleep Doubles Risk Of Death, But So Can Too Much Sleep
Researchers have found that lack of sleep can more than double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. However they have also found that point comes when too much sleep can also more than double the risk of death.
Gene Chip Data Improved Therapy In Some Patients With Incurable Cancer
Like many oncologists, Eric P. Lester, M.D., was faced with a dilemma: seven patients with advanced, incurable cancer; an arsenal of drugs that may or may not help them; and not enough solid proof about treatment efficacy to guide him. So, Dr. Lester devised what he called a "simple-minded experiment" that illustrates the promise of personalized medicine.
(www.cnn.com)

Labels: genes, medicine, sleep

Teens exposed to secondhand smoke at home are at increased risk of test failure in school, suggests a new study. Taking other known risk factors into account — for example, socioeconomic status, gender, prenatal exposure to smoking and active smoking during adolescence — researchers found that exposure to secondhand smoke at home decreased the odds of passing standardized achievement tests by 30 percent in 16- and 18-year-olds.
Cell Growth Technology Promises More Successful Drug Development
Scientists have developed unique technology to grow stem cells and other tissue in the laboratory in conditions similar to the way they grow in the human body. The technology, developed and patented, is a plastic scaffold which allows cells to be grown in a more realistic three-dimensional form compared to the traditional flat surface of a Petri dish.
Bouncing Breasts Spark New Bra Challenge
Breasts move far more than ordinary bras are designed to cope with, according to a new study. And they also bounce more during exercise -- up to 21cm rather than the maximum 16cm bounce measured in past studies. Bras are designed to stop breasts bouncing but this study shows that breasts also move side to side and in and out. It is estimated that more than 50 percent of women experience breast pain when exercising.
(www.doctor.org)

Labels: breasts bouncing, increased risk, unique technology

A system in the brain already known to regulate food intake also serves as a direct "remote control" for the way fat is stored and metabolized in the body, according to researchers. What is known as the melanocortin system, the researchers say, controls fat metabolism and the way it accumulates in the body completely independently of food intake.
The Petri Dish Is Taken To New Dimensions
Biomedical engineers have created a new method for growing cells in three dimensions rather than the traditional two. This 3-D petri dish allows cells to self-assemble, creating cell clusters that can be transplanted in the body or used to test drugs in the lab. This simple new technique is part of a growing body of research that shows that 3-D culture techniques can create cells that behave more like cells in the body.
(healthecologies.blogspot.com)

Labels: food intake, new technique

(www.americanheart.org)Giving a daily antiretroviral pill to people could profoundly slow the spread of the infection in sub-Saharan Africa by potentially preventing 3.2 million cases of HIV in 10 years. The findings are based on a mathematical model developed to predict the public-health impact of pre-exposure chemoprophylaxis -- an HIV prevention strategy that uses antiretroviral drugs to stop the infection from occurring in the first place.

Labels: genetic, health, symptoms