Studies done at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston show that Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical often found in baby bottles and the lining of aluminum cans, may lead to allergy related asthma. Production of the chemical started about 40 years ago, a timing that scientists note coincides with increasing asthma rates.
Tests on BPA have been done on lab mice. The researchers found the mice born to mothers exposed to 10 micrograms of BPA developed airway problems while mice born to mothers exposed to low or no BPA did not develop the problem. These tests show a significant enough increase in allergy related asthma that some states have begun banning the chemical in containers that could be used by children under the age of four.
Scientist believe that this study is a good example of what could happen to humans, but they admit that mice studies are not always accurate in people.
The next step in this study will be to determine how much BPA and how often it is given before these problems are prevalent. Since there are other contributing factors in what causes asthma, scientist are planning on extracting cord blood in humans for their research. These subjects will be watched for a period of time to see if they develop Asthma. Groups will be based on their level of BPA exposure. This type of study will take years, but will certainly be more conclusive than the mice experiment.
The FDA recently recommended steps to reduce BPA exposure that include discarding worn or damaged baby bottles and feeding cups, heating food and drink in BPA-free containers, and checking labels to ensure containers are dishwasher and microwave-safe.
The Food and Drug Administration is now recommending steps to stop or at least lower BPA exposure that include throwing away old or damaged baby bottles and feeding cups, heating food and drink in BPA-free containers, and checking labels to ensure containers are dishwasher and microwave-safe.
Research has been done on BPA and it was proven that BPA may raise the risk of asthma in kids. BPA is a chemical that is found in polycarbonate plastic bottles and in food and drink containers that have an aluminum lining. Asthma rates have increased and since BPA has been produced within the last 40 years, this timing coincides with the time that asthma rates in kids have increased.
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have done experiments on pregnant mice and have produced evidence that if a mother is exposed to BPA, then there is a good possibility that her offspring will develop asthma. Mice that were not exposed to BPA showed no signs of asthma. BPA was given in drinking water a week before pregnancy at certain levels and these were calculated to have the same type of body concentration that a human mother has, and continued on through the pregnancy and lactation periods.
Some states have passed laws to ban BPA in cups and bottles used by children younger than age 4. Maryland, Minnesota, Connecticut and now Maryland have all forced bans on the use of BPA in drinking implements and bottles that could be or are being used for children. Since the research has ramifications for very young children, it has been suggested that kids under 4 are kept well away from BPA.
Interval Training Can Save You A Lot Of Gym Hours
People may no longer have excuses not to exercise. Many people claim that there are just not enough hours in their day to exercise correctly. Interval training, experts say, can take an entire week’s worth of exercising and shrink it down to one hour.
Interval training is a technique that was designed for Olympic athletes, and it has been thought that the routine would be too difficult for most people. However, new studies show that older people and people with health problems have used the technique successfully. Experts say that this technique could revolutionize workouts everywhere.
Intense interval training requires working hard for a period of time, with a short rest and then repeating it. Experts say that a four set series of four minute sets including three minutes of rest is enough. It has been tested for running and biking and is expected to work with rowing and swimming as well.
Interval training is said to be twice as efficient as normal exercise. It can double a person’s endurance, and increase strength and oxygen by 10 percent. A person’s speed can also be increased by at least 5 percent.
A medical panel has concluded that gestational diabetes has been severely under diagnosed and is proposing new guidelines that could triple the cases.
A seven year study has shown that even low increases in blood sugar, when pregnant, can increase the odds of having unhealthy babies. Many of these low risk women are having overweight babies which later in life have an increased risk of developing diabetes and becoming obese.. Besides the risk to the babies later in life, these oversized babies are a risk to the diabetic mother during delivery.
The new proposed guidelines would recommend fasting blood sugar to be 92, the one-hour and two-hour glucose tolerance test to be 180 and 153 respectively to qualify for the gestational diabetes diagnosis. Today, the diagnosis of gestational diabetes is around five percent and with the new guidelines the diagnostic rate will rise to fifteen percent. Experts fear that if this new guideline is not recognized, we will be looking at the next epidemic of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is very often successfully treated with dietary changes and increased exercise, so it is not a great burden on society, if diagnosed early. No drugs or insulin are needed if an early diagnosis is found.
It is not know if the ADA will endorse this recommendation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for the treatment of Gaucher Type I Disease. Shire HGT, Inc has been approved to release the drug at a time when the only other manufacturer of a treatment for this disease is having manufacturing problems.
Gaucher Type I disease is an enzyme problem that causes lipid buildup throughout a persons body. The disease can be deadly if not treated. While this is a very rare disorder, people of a specific Jewish descent seem to be the largest affected people to get the disease.
Treatment for Gaucher Type I is very expensive. On average, a person being treated with these injectable drugs will pay nearly 200k a year for treatment. Shire has stated that they will offer the drug at a discounted rate and offer incentives to patients who do not have full coverage insurance. This comes at a time when doctors are leery to change to a new medication for treatment, but patients need all the financial discounts they can get.
Two additional drug companies are trying to have their own version of a treatment available for the market within the year. The most common side effects of this new drug are allergic reactions, delayed blood clotting and headaches. A few other adverse reactions have been noted.
One Eastern Caribbean cruise that will not be forgotten for any passengers was aboard the Mercury ship for Celebrity Cruise line.
The eleven day trip began February 15 leaving Charleston, South Carolina returning to the docking point at 1:30 am February 26. The harrowing experience began on Sunday, the 21st, when the first of many passengers had fallen ill with a gastrointestinal illness; by Monday hundreds of other passengers began to have the same symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Passengers were being treated with over the counter medications and asked to stay confined within their rooms. Out of the 1838 passengers aboard, 435 reported being ill as well as 32 crew members. Passengers and crew members were nervous about everyone becoming ill and were relieved to have this experience behind them.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Atlanta has reported this outbreak as the norovirus after medical samples had been tested in a lab. This is not the first incident for the Celebrity Mercury ship, there have been two cases reported just last winter. In 2009 there are a total of fifteen gastrointestinal outbreaks that were investigated by the CDC for cruise lines calling at American ports.
Bloom Energy has been quietly revolutionizing the power industry. The company, headquartered in Sunnyvale California, has announced a fuel cell technology that will allow homes and businesses to generate their electricity without the need to be tied to the grid.
Bloom claims the technology was derived from spinoffs from NASA’s Mars program. Individual Bloom cells only generate about 25 watts, but after stacking thousands together they form an energy block capable of providing clean energy sufficient to run any business. Bloom boxes use a solid oxide fuel cell. The fuel cell at the heart of a Bloom box is a small wafer composed of purified silicon dioxide (sand). The wafer acts as the electrolyte. The wafers are painted on both sides with an ink whose composition is a closely guarded secret. The ink on one side acts as the anode and another ink is used as the cathode. The main box is composed of hundreds of these individual cells. Each cell is an electrochemical device that produces electricity directly from the chemical reaction of it’s fuel with oxygen.
Most fuel cell technologies of the past were based on hydrogen and oxygen as the primary fuels. Hydrogen fuel cells are expensive to make and maintain. Bloom’s revolution is its ability to use many different fuels to generate electricity.
This flex fuel approach allows a much cheaper and more efficient power plant to be built. The Bloom cell can use natural gas and bio-fuels to generate electricity on site banishing the need for distribution on power lines. 
At a medical meeting in San Antonio this past week, the results of a nine year study on using stents in the carotid arteries to prevent strokes were released and indicated that stents were effective. Called “Crest” for Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial, the study was conducted in North America.
In the Crest trial, 2502 patients in 100 different hospitals in the United States and Canada were randomly selected to receive either carotid artery surgery or stenting over a nine year period. In most cases the patient’s carotid arteries were more than 70% blocked. Some of the patients had had strokes or mini strokes, and some were asymptomatic. The long term follow-up of these patients which lasted two and a half years and is still on-going showed little difference in the group that had surgery and the group that had stents relative to strokes that should have been prevented.
A European study released just a day earlier had vastly different results with the surgery group doing remarkably better than the stent group. Possible explanations offered for this disparity were that the European study was for symptomatic patients only so they may have had a more advanced artery disease. Also the North American study carefully screened the physicians doing the stenting procedure and included only those who were highly skilled and had a lot of experience. 
One of Silicon Valley’s most secretive start up companies has finally unveiled what they have been developing. This past Wednesday Bloom Energy Corp unveiled a new fuel cell technology which has many people very excited over its possibilities of creating a new source of energy. Bloom Energy’s newest creation, which has been called a power plant in a box, can reportedly produce enough clean energy to power office buildings and entire residential communities.
The product, which has been called both the “Bloom Box” and “Bloom Energy Server” looks like a smooth metal box that is roughly the size of a pickup truck. The box uses a unique chemical process and fuel cell technology to create electricity. The production of electricity is both very environmentally friendly as well as efficient. With various government subsidies, the power that is produced from one of these boxes is actually more affordable than receiving electricity from the cities power grid.
While many technologies have been used to create cleaner energy, the Bloom Energy Server seems to be the most advanced and least reliant so far. Many other fuel cell technologies have had to rely on platinum and other precious metals to act as a combustion catalyst. The Bloom Box on the other hand requires sand. Also, the Bloom Box is preferred over wind turbines and solar panels because it can create energy regardless of time or weather conditions.
The Bloom Box already appears to be a hit with many of the nation’s largest companies. Some of Bloom’s customers are Coca Cola, Google, and Federal Express.
If you can’t decide whether you need a flu shot or not, the government says you do. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends yearly flu shots for everyone.
The CDC always recommended that people that were high risk, such as the elderly, health care workers and people with weakened immune systems were to get the flu shot. One of the problems with this recommendation was that many people did not know if they were high risk. Now the government advises everyone to get a flu shot. The only people that are excluded from the advised flu shots are children under 6 months who’s immune systems has not developed yet. Also anyone allergic to eggs will be advised not to get the shot.
The vaccine that is approved has four times more antibodies than a standard dose. It is called the Sanofi vaccine or Fluzone High-dose. It’s price is approximately $25 for a shot. This new vaccine for 2010-2011 will combine protection form H1N1 and the “Perth” H3N2 type A and B influenzas
When only certain groups were advised to get the flu shot in past years, it seems that only 33% would do so. Now that the recommendation is for everyone to receive this flu shot, maybe we can improve on the number of people willing to receive these possible life-saving shots.
