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Obesity Virus Discovered !
Common Adenovirus Turns Stem Cell Into Fat Cells And Provokes Obesity
New research suggests that obesity can be caused by a common virus that helps to create and grow new fat cells. Laboratory tests show that exposure to adenovirus-36 (Ad-36) caused stem cells to regenerate and turn to pre-fat cells that eventually started storing more fat. Adenovirus-36 causes conjunctivitis and common cold in human. Previous studies demonstrated that nearly 30% of obese individual were infected with Ad-36 in comparison to 11% of lean and thin persons. However ethical issues forbade investigators to expose human being to Ad-36 to evaluate the findings. So they extracted stem cells from fat tissues after liposuction and exposed the cells to the virus in laboratory conditions. More than half the stem cells exposed to the virus turned into fat cells and accumulated fats but only a small fraction of non-exposed stem cells did the same. Researchers also found that a specific Ad-36 gene called E4Orfl is responsible for the growth of fat cells. As a target is found, future development of anti-obesity therapies will be possible. Scientists are even hopeful that vaccines against adenovirus may some day prevent obesity. However there are many other causes than Ad-36 those are responsible for obesity. Nevertheless Ad-36 will add up as a viral cause of obesity.
SOURCE: HealthDay, August 21, 2007	Return to top

Tiny Intraocular Telescopes !
Miniature Optical Prosthetic Device Provide Hope For End Stage Macular Degeneration
Patients those who are suffering from advanced stages of macular degeneration may someday be able to reverse the vision loss with the help of a tiny optical prosthetics. The device was already tried on 206 patients and about two-thirds had dramatically improved their vision after a 24-month clinical trial. About 90 percent of them had improved their vision to some extent. Macular degeneration produces dark spot in the central field of vision impairing the visual ability. The implantable mini-scope reduces the area of diminished vision by rendering an enlarged retinal image working in collaboration with the cornea. The device protrudes 0.1 to 0.5 mm beyond the surface of pupil after implantation but never touches the corneal endothelium. The compound telescope system is made up of a glass cylinder, 4.4 mm long and 3.6 mm in diameter. A polymethylmetacrylate case containing the cylinder with two tiny rigid arms hold the device in position behind the lens. However the procedure is not easy and surgeons are developing special techniques to properly and swiftly implant the device without causing harm to the eye. With no known treatment to correct macular degeneration this new technique obviously will be a huge leap in treating the disease.
SOURCE: HealthDay, August 14, 2007	Return to top

Gestational DM Causes Cancer !
Mothers Those Who Developed Gestational Diabetes Are In Risk Of Pancreatic Cancer
A new research has demonstrated a link between gestational diabetes and pancreatic cancer while researchers were evaluating 37,926 Israeli mothers, who gave birth between 1964 and 1976, incorporated in a 28-40 year follow-up cohort study. Records revealed 410 women developed gestational diabetes in one or more of their pregnancies and eventually 5 of them developed pancreatic cancer ranging from 14 to 35 years after pregnancy. There were in total 54 cancer cases in the study and surprisingly none of the mothers with type 1 diabetes at the time of pregnancy developed pancreatic cancer. Previous studies have shown that patients with type 2 diabetes are in increased risk to develop pancreatic cancer. It is known that mothers, those who develop gestational diabetes, often develop type 2 diabetes mellitus. Pancreatic cancer is particularly lethal because diagnosis is often done late in its development and more than 95% patient dies in the first five years. Although the risk of pancreatic cancer after gestational diabetes is evident, researchers said it is too early to confirm the link and insist on further studies in other populations.
SOURCE: Reuters Health, August 16, 2007	Return to top

Muscles In Seniors !
Aging Does Not Hamper Muscle Building In Old Age With Protein Rich Meal
A newly published study suggests that older adults are as capable as younger people in building muscles while protein supplement is adequate. People tend to lose muscle mass as they grow old and eventually become more susceptible to diseases. Debilitating conditions such as sarcopenia may be facilitated by insufficient dietary protein in the elderly. However, aging does not impair the ability to synthesize muscle protein after common protein-rich food ingestion. Researcher included 20 men and women, half of them older than 65 years and the rest between 30s and 40s. Both groups were fed with lean ground beef followed by venous blood samples and vastus lateralis muscle biopsies. Mixed-muscle fractional synthesis rates (FSR) and plasma amino acid concentrations were evaluated before having meal and 5 hour after food ingestion. Surprisingly, FSR was equal in both age groups and peak plasma concentrations of amino acids were substantially higher in elderly than young adults. Despite, equal ability of building muscles, aged people tends to eat less protein in daily diet and probably it is the sole cause of muscle loss due to aging. The result of the study infers elderly people can prevent muscle loss simply by taking protein rich diet and thus live healthy.
SOURCE: Reuters Health, August 14, 2007	Return to top

Whole Grain Reduces BP !
Odds Of Hypertension Can Be Lowered By Whole Grain Intakes In Women
Researchers have revealed that increased whole grain intake has been linked to reduced hypertension found in a prospective cohort study of middle-aged and older women. The team studied 28,926 women aged 45 years or older and free from cardiovascular diseases. At the end of 10 years of follow up, 8722 of the women developed high blood pressure. It was evident that, those who consumed four or more servings of whole grain food were 11% less likely to develop hypertension than those who ate less that one serving daily. On the other hand, refined grain eaters had no effect on lowering blood pressure. Refined grains are stripped off the fibers and nutrient rich bran and germ component of the plant. These fibers, bran and germ in whole grains are believed to lower cholesterol, blood sugar and insulin levels, improved blood vessel functions and reduce inflammation in the circulatory system. Common sources of whole grain are brown bread, oatmeal and whole grain breakfast cereals while white bread and food made out of white flour mostly consists of refined grains. Researchers suggest that people should replace refined grain diet with whole grain products in order to help prevent hypertension and its consequential complications.
SOURCE: Reuters Health, August 17, 2007	Return to top

Olive Oil Prevents Clot !
Phenol Rich Virgin Olive Oil Intake Improves Hemostatic Profile
By consuming food prepared with virgin olive oil may help ward off harmful blood clots in people having high cholesterol levels. Spanish researchers included 21 hypercholesterolemic individuals in a randomized, sequential crossover study where they received breakfast rich in olive oil with different phenolic contents. For one week they consumed either virgin olive oil containing 400 parts per millions of phenol or refined olive oil having only 80 ppm phenol content. After one week the participants were switched to the opposite meal. Blood lipid profile and clotting factors including factor VII, activated factor VII and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 were measured at baseline and two hours after meal. Compared with low phenol meal group, participants of high phenol group showed lower concentration of factor VII antigen which is responsible for blood clotting. There was also a drop in the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 activity in the high phenol group. Previously beneficial effect of phenol in olive oil on blood was not clearly understood because of inconsistent results from studies without variations of phenol content. But the resent study results undoubtedly dictates that the high concentration phenol in virgin olive oil has changed the postprandial hemostatic profile of blood to a less thrombogenic state.
SOURCE: Reuters Health, August 20, 2007	Return to top

New Products of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

	Product	Bicozin-I^® 100 ml & 200 ml Syrup
	Generic Name	Vitamin B-Complex, Zinc & Iron
	Strength	Each 5 ml syrup contains Elemental Iron (as Ferric Hydroxide Polymaltose Complex) 50 mg, Thiamine Hydrochloride 5 mg, Riboflavin (as Riboflavin-5-Phosphate Sodium) 2 mg, Nicotinamide 20 mg, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride 2 mg and Elemental Zinc (as Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate) 10 mg
	Dosage form	Syrup
	Therapeutic Category	Haematinics, Iron & Combination
	Product	Loratin^®Plus
	Generic Name	Loratadine USP and Pseudoephedrine Sulfate USP
	Strength	Loratadine USP 10 mg and Pseudoephedrine Sulfate USP 240 mg
	Dosage form	Bi-layer Tablet
	Therapeutic Category	Anti-Histamine and Systemic nasal decongestant combination
	Product	Vanprox^® Forte Powder For Suspension
	Generic Name	Cefpodoxime Proxetil
	Strength	80 mg/5 ml
	Dosage form	Powder for suspension
	Therapeutic Category	Cephalosporins and Combinations
	Product	Carbizol^®
	Generic Name	Carbimazole
	Strength	5 mg Tablet
	Dosage form	Tablet
	Therapeutic Category	Anti-thyroid preparation

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Healthcare online	Keeping you up-to-date
VOL. 5 ISSUE: 8 August 28, 2007	Medical Services Department **SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.**