Brain Chemical Reduces anxiety, increases survival of new cells

New research on a brain chemical involved in development sheds light on why some individuals may be predisposed to anxiety. It also strengthens understanding of cellular processes that may be common to anxiety and depression, and suggests how lifestyle changes may help overcome both.

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US declares public health emergency for swine flu

The precautionary step doesn't signal a greater threat to Americans. But it allows the federal and state governments easier access to flu tests and medications.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napilotano says roughly 12 million doses of the drug Tamiflu are being released from a federal stockpile so that states can get it if needed.

Napilotano said at a White House news conference Sunday that the emergency declaration is standard operating procedure — one was recently declare for the inauguration and for flooding.

The World Health Organization advised all countries to be on the lookout for "unusual" outbreaks of flu, after an emergency meeting Saturday as the seriousness of the outbreak became clear.

By Sunday, 81 deaths in Mexico had been deemed "likely linked" to swine flu. Viral testing has confirmed 20 cases, said Dr. Jose A. Cordova Villalobos, Mexico's health secretary.

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Swine "Flu" pandemic - mixed DNA means NOT JUST FLU

It turns out this virus is highly unusual, a quadruple reassortant. The genes of a flu virus are packaged in eight discrete segments. When two flu viruses infect the same host cell, the segments of each are copied and repackaged, 8 at a time, in new viral particles which then bud off from the infected cell. They then may infect a new host cell. In this repackaging process the segments of the two different viruses may mix and match, so that new virus particle will have segments from two different viruses. The new virus is, in a sense, not just a swine flu virus. It does have viral segments characteristic of two different families of swine flu, one typical of North America, where swine flu is endemic, and one typical of pig flu viruses from Europe and Asia. But we learned today that it also has viral segments seen in North American birds and in human seasonal influenza. Which of the segments is a bird segment and which is humans wasn't discussed in today's briefing, but the fact that the genetic sources comprise widely different geographies and species is highly unusual -- unusual at least as far as we know. We have little systematic information on swine viruses, so how common this really is we don't know for sure, nor do we know how recent. The virus is resistant to the older adamantane antivirals but sensitive to both oseltamivir (Tamilfu) and zanamivir (Relenza).

Whatever this is, it isn't seasonal influenza. The reported cases range from 9 years old to 54 years old, 3 females, 4 males. All have recovered and only one required hospitalization. The earliest case is from late March, the most recent just days ago. Symptoms are typical for influenza-like illness except that there seems to be a greater prominence of gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) along with the respiratory symptoms and fever. CDC emphasized they were in an active investigation mode and will keep sharing information as it develops. Clearly there is a lot more to learn about this.

Could this be the harbinger of an influenza pandemic? A pandemic is a global sized outbreak from a single strain of influenza. We believe that there are several necessary conditions for this to happen with influenza. One is the ability of the viral strain to infect humans (there are many influenza viruses but most don't infect humans). Another is the ability to be transmitted from person to person. While bird flu can infect humans, it still has not acquired the ability to spread easily from person to person. Yet another is an influenza virus which is sufficiently different that there is little natural immunity in the human population. As far as I can tell, this virus seems to have all of these characteristics.

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Swine Flu in America: 8 Cases in NYC, 2 in Kansas

Two cases of the human swine influenza have been confirmed in Kansas and one more in California, bringing the U.S. total to 11.

Kansas health officials said Saturday they had confirmed swine flu in a married couple living in the central part of the state after the husband visited Mexico. The couple, who live in Dickinson County, were not hospitalized, and the state described their illnesses as mild.

Dr. Jason Eberhart-Phillips, the state health officer, said, "Fortunately, the man and woman understand the gravity of the situation and are very willing to isolate themselves."

The man traveled to Mexico last week for a professional conference and became ill after returning home. His wife became ill later. Their doctor suspected swine flu, but it wasn't confirmed until flu specimens were flown to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A flu viruses, the CDC's Web site says. Human cases of swine flu are uncommon but can happen in people who are around pigs and can be spread from person to person. Symptoms of the flu include a fever of more than 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.

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Experts Debate Pandemic Potential of Swine Flu

A top federal health official said the government's concern over the swine flu outbreaks in the United States and Mexico has grown since Thursday -- and a handful of influenza experts worry the deadly, never-before-seen hybrid strain may spur a pandemic.

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Heroin Cough Syrup: A Brand Name Gone Wrong

Some Heroin Will Fix You Right Up

"In 1874, German scientists developed a formula for a painkiller that they thought would be less addictive than morphine. They simply added two acetyls to morphine to synthesize diacetylmorphine. Heinrich Dreser, the head of Bayer drug development tried it on animals and humans. He, also, tried it on himself, which may have been the problem. He was very pleased with the results and decided it was a good treatment for many ailments especially respiratory ones like bronchitis, asthma and tuberculosis.

"The Bayer company started marketing Heroin in 1898. They derived the name from the German word heroisch. Often, they would place it in ads along with their Bayer aspirin advertising the merits of their new cough syrup, "Heroin- the sedative for coughs."

"Bayer gave out free samples of Heroin to doctors. The doctors prescribed it to their patients. Heroin quickly gained widespread acceptance in the medical community unaware of its addictive qualities. Bayer was soon enthusiastically selling it in dozens of countries.

"Something odd happened. The doctors began noticing an inordinate demand by their patients, who did not really seem to be in respiratory distress, for Heroin cough syrup.

"The scientists thought that Heroin was not as addictive as morphine, but it turned out to be two to three times more addictive. It was already metabolized and would go straight into the blood stream and immediately cross the blood-brain barrier causing immediate euphoria.

"Bayer stopped producing and selling Heroin in 1913 and deleted mention of it in their official company history. Heroin was outlawed in 1924."

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4 million lost health insurance since recession began

An estimated 4 million Americans have lost their health insurance since the recession began, and as many as 14,000 people could be losing their health coverage every day, according to a report by the Center for American Progress' Action Fund...also claims at least half of the 4 million who lost their insurance coverage still are uninsured...

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21st Century Plague Discovered By Scientists

A new disease that is passed from rats to humans via fleas, much like the Black Death, has been discovered by scientists. The bacteria can cause serious heart disease in humans are being spread by rat fleas, sparking concern that the infections could become a bigger problem in humans.

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In New Theory of Mental Illness, Parents Genes are Competing

By BENEDICT CAREY, New York Times

"A new theory of brain development would change the way mental disorders like autism and schizophrenia are understood...

"Their idea is, in broad outline, straightforward. Dr. Crespi and Dr. Badcock propose that an evolutionary tug of war between genes from the father’s sperm and the mother’s egg can, in effect, tip brain development in one of two ways. A strong bias toward the father pushes a developing brain along the autistic spectrum, toward a fascination with objects, patterns, mechanical systems, at the expense of social development. A bias toward the mother moves the growing brain along what the researchers call the psychotic spectrum, toward hypersensitivity to mood, their own and others’. This, according to the theory, increases a child’s risk of developing schizophrenia later on, as well as mood problems like bipolar disorder and depression.

"In short: autism and schizophrenia represent opposite ends of a spectrum that includes most, if not all, psychiatric and developmental brain disorders. The theory has no use for psychiatry’s many separate categories for disorders, and it would give genetic findings an entirely new dimension..."

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Carbwire::Joan Ifland: Sugars And Flours Have Made Us Crazy

We all know how detrimental refined carbohydrates–specifically sugars and flours–are to your weight and health. In fact, it can be so bad for some people that they need to treat their carbohydrate addiction like an alcoholic, smoker, or drug user would implement to overcome their addiction.

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