New Breast Cancer Screening Method Could Make Mammography Obsolete

A team of reseachers at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Measurement Institute, working with the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust is trying to implement a new screening method for breast cancer with the aid of ultrasonography. Tests conducted by researchers so far are very promising.

The screening method most widely used for breast cancer currently is mammography. Mammography uses ionizing radiation, X-rays to examine and assess the presence of mammary gland tumors. This type of investigation is not performed in women under 40 years firstly due to the fact that glandular breast tissue is not visible, and on the other hand due to the higher iradiation risk of still functional ovaries. Ionizing radiation can also lead to cancer onset, which limits this method to screening only older women. Each year, 46,000 UK women are diagnosed with breast cancer using mammography. On average only 30% of women with suspicious lesions observed after an mamography were indeed diagnosed with breast cancer (confirmed through biopsy).

Mamography

All these facts lead to the necessity of developing other breast cancer screening methods ideally non invasive and non-ionizing. In addition, improving the diagnostic method of breast cancer would reduce unnecessary biopsies and also reduce possible trauma caused by wrong diagnosis.

Ultrasonography is non-invasive method used to visualize tissues and organs. Ultrasonography has several advantages: it is safe, non-invasive, very fast, allows guidance of maneuvers such as puncture-biopsy and it is very cheap compared with other tests. However, ultrasonography provides tissue immages that are not very accurate and does not provide a very reliable diagnosis.

Currently, the main problem encountered is represented by detectors. Different types of tissues that have different sound speed and different tissues reflect the sound waves at different speeds. This phenomenon can give birth to artifacts on ultrasound images thus leading to false positive results.

The new method works by detecting sound wave intensity. Afterwards, this particular intensity is converted into heat which will be sensed by a pyroelectric membrane, which will generate a voltage output proportional to the temperature rise. Used in a Computed Tomography  (CT) configuration, the new method could provide accurate images of abnormal lesions of the mammary gland. Tomography produces a cross section map of the tissue, which describes how the acoustic properties of tissue vary.

Having so far only positive results, NPL team seeks funding for further research. They plan to produce a demonstrator that provide faster scanning and also to create a system to be used clinically. Moreover, they intend to collaborate with a manufacturer in order to market the technology.

Dr Bajram Zeqiri, who leads the project at the National Physical Laboratory, points out that outcomes are very promising and can have a huge impact in terms of cancer diagnosis.

Cocoa May Improve Heart Muscle Function, According To New Study

According to a new clinical trial conducted by scientists from UC San Diego School of Medicine and VA San Diego Healthcare System, administration of epicatechin-enriched cocoa for a period of three months, a flavonoid substance that is normally found in dark chocolate, may enhance the structure of mitochondria found in muscle cells of patients with advanced forms of heart failure and type 2 diabetes.  The study was published in the journal Clinical and Translational Science.

The initial findings have important clinical applications because an improved structure of mitochondria, which is the most important energetic structure of the cell, determines a better function of skeletal muscles, improving this way exercise tolerance and physical capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes and heart failure. These results also led to the implementation of a placebo-control clinical trial in order to evaluate if patients with this diseases present an increased  physical capacity when treated with epicatechin.

Mitochondria represent cellular components that are responsible for providing cells the needed energy for methabolic purposes. Type 2 diabetes and heart failure are conditions that destroy the structural architecture of mitochondria leading to a loss of energy substrate in cells with a high metabolic rate, like muscle cells. This is the reason why patients with heart failure and type 2 diabetes present an impairment of both heart and skeletal muscle, leading to symptoms like dyspnoea, difficulty in walking, muscular fatigue and lack of energy.

Cacao

Subjects that participated in this clinical trial were asked to consume dark chocolate and beverages that provided a daily intake of epicatechin-enriched coca of 100 mg. Before and after beginning this diet, skeletal muscle biopsies were performed.  It was observed that after a three month diet with epicatechin the volume of muscular mitochondria has changed based on mitochondrial cristae (internal foldings of mitochondria that ensure a good function of these organelles) and became more abundant. Mitochondrial cristae were evaluated using electron microscopy.

“The cristae had been severely damaged and decreased in quantity in these patients. After three months, we saw recovery “ cristae numbers back toward normal levels, and increases in several molecular indicators involved in new mitochondria production.”, said researcher team leader.

The study was performed on animal models and due to the very promising results, researchers inferred that they could obtain similar results on human models, fact that has been successfully confirmed.

Student Creates State Of The Art Device For Parkinson’s Disease

We all know the extremely high prices that large companies producing medical equipment demand for their products thus limiting access of countries with relatively small health budgets to quality health-care. Development of cheap technology that can diagnose, treat or help patients care for their disease is a strategy embraced by more and more scientists, medical engineers and small companies looking for profit today. It is the case of Di Pan, a doctoral student at ASU Department of Biomedical Informatics that has developed in partnership with Rohit Dhall of the Institute's Deep Brain Stimulation Clinic, a smartphone application that can evaluate tremors in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

The device actually provides a communication pathway between Parkinson’s disease patients and their doctors. The app measures, stores then transmits tremors to a physician when they exceed a set value betraying disease progression or treatment interruption.

Medical App

Pan began working on the project since 2011 as a research assistant. The idea of creating a such device popped up in his mind while playing a game on his smartphone that uses the phone’s accelerometer and immediately made a connection with Parkinson’s disease.

The only thing a patient suffering from Parkinson’s disease must do is to stick his smartphone on his ankle, tap the screen and wait 30 second for the accelerometer to record tremors. The device then updates the patient’s electronic medical records allowing physicians analyze the received data.

Although the application is not available for purchase in the popular online applications stores such as App Store or Android Market and still in the test phase (Pan still has to validate the app’s accuracy and usability of his device), its creator announced that it will be compatible with virtually any smartphone that runs on Apple or Android operating system.

For example, Levodopa is a drug currently used to treat Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Although patients generally notice a disappearance of symptoms during treatment, Parkinson’s disease symptoms can reappear and go unoticed with time. In this case the use of such device can help patients evaluate their response to treatment on a daily basis.

New Study Finds Method To Inhibit Pain-Sensitive Neurons

A team consisting of researchers based in Berkeley, Bordeaux and Munich has discovered a method to command the inhibition of pain-sensitive neurons. In order to achieve this, researchers targeted a chemical sensor.

With the use of a chemical sensor that acts as a photosensitive switch, the team of chemists from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, along with their colleagues from Berkeley and Bordeaux, reveal the possibility to suppress the pain-sensitive neurons. This method could represent a new tool for researching the neurobiology of pain.

The new method created by the research team from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, led by professor Dirk Trauner involves the use of a chemical composite called QAQ. This composite has two functional parts made of a quaternary ammonium joined by a double nitrogen bond (N=N). This connection can be influenced by the action of direct light. Using light with a distinct wavelength changes the conformation of the molecule, whilst exposing it to light of a different wavelength reverses the effect.

Neuron Network

One of the two functional parts of the QAQ molecule is similar to an active analog of lidocaine. Lidocaine is used by dentists as a local anesthetic due to its inhibiting action on specific nerves found in the skin. Lidocaine and the QAQ molecule target neuroreceptors found on the outer membrane of neurons. These neuroreceptors allow electrically charged ions to pass through, thus leading to the transmission of electrical impulses. Scientists have managed to use the ability of the QAQ molecule to gradually infiltrate through the ion channels that form the neuroreceptors in order to reach the target area, situated on the inner face of the ion channels.

Additionally, the end of the QAQ molecule that is similar to the active analog of lidocaine can only bind to the respective site if the molecule is in an extended conformation. The effect of exposing it to light with a wavelength of 500 nm inhibits the reaction of pain-sensitive neurons, whilst exposing it to light of a wavelength of 380 nm stops the inhibiting action. This effect was tested and proven on an animal test subject.

The idea of using light impulses in order to control molecular systems such as neuroreceptors is being studied by professor Trauner’s research team for several years. Scientists say that the current study will allow further research, especially in the area of neurobiology, regarding pain. Being in the first stages of development, Timm Fehrentz says that a therapeutic application of the new discovery is not yet available. One of the main problems is that the monochromatic light used for the research cannot penetrate human skin, and thus cannot activate the QAQ molecule. In order to solve this problem, scientists will conduct further research and will try to use an alternative, longer wavelength, red light. The red light can penetrate human skin more easily.

Chronic Hepatitis B

Chronic hepatitis  B is caused by infection with hepatitis B virus and represents a process of inflammation and necrosis of the liver, which an evolution of over six months.

• From mother to fetus.

The main serological markers of chronic hepatitis B are:

1. HBs antigen, a marker of infectivity and appears both in the acute phase of disease, and in patients with persistent chronic hepatitis B. More than six months of this antigen after acute hepatitis, means that the disease is chronic. The disappearance of this antigen and the appearance of HBs antibodies, means that the patient is immunized, either by vaccination, either by infection.
2. HBc antibodies, means that the disease has become chronic. These antibodies are also markers that show a replication of the virus in the body.
3. HBe antigen, means that the virus is during the replication period. These antigens are positive in 25% of cases of chronic hepatitis B.
4. HBe antibodies appear when the body is immunized against the virus and show that the virus is in a period of low replication. These antibodies if are positive in patients with chronic hepatitis B, means an improvement in prognosis of the disease.
5. HBV DNA is the most sensitive marker of virus replication. Measurement of this marker permit the assessment of progression of chronic hepatitis B and patient response to treatment.
6. HBs antibodies, means that chronic hepatitis B has healed or the patient is vaccinated.

Chronic Hepatitis B Symptoms

Symptoms of chronic hepatitis B are often nonspecific. In most chronic patients, the disease is discovered accidentally, when, during routine investigations is revealed elevated transaminases. Eventually a clinical examination occasionally may reveal hepatomegaly or splenomegaly. Most patients suffering from chronic hepatitis B are completely asymptomatic or may experience fatigue, drowsiness, decreased muscle strength. Episodes of jaundice occur rarely, usually in advanced stages of disease.

Chronic Hepatitis B Diagnosis

Chronic Hepatitis B Treatment

Herniated Disc Pain

Disc hernias are neurological disorders (or neurosurgical) resulted by the external compression executed from the slipped intervertebral disc towards the spinal cord canal elements. Frequently this type of disease appears in the lumbar region, but cervical locations are at least or more painful. Cervical disc herniation is one of the most common sources of pain felt in the cervical and neck area, and in most cases is caused by degenerative processes (more than 95%) or in smaller percentage the herniated dic pain is caused by trauma. The symptoms of the herniation are different depending on its localization, but in the most cases we can talk about a Cervical Brachial syndrome with diffuse pain in the neck area caused by the muscle spasm or inflammation.

Herniated Disc

The treatment, although it isn’t a specific or complicated one, helps relieve the pain and implies the administration of NSAIDs (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), or other efficient pain killers, physiotherapy (for 2-3 weeks) and only as a last resort the surgical cure(only after 3 months of correct treatment and the pain does not disappear or the neurological signs are aggravating).

However other therapeutic measures exist, that patients can “take home” and favor the healing process and relieve heriated disc pain.

Herniated Cervical Disc Pain

• Reducing physical activity. Patients who are suffering from cervical herniated discs and have very nosy symptoms (muscular pain, pain in the cervical area, paresthesia of the superior limb) should temporally reduce their activities and spend more time in bed. They should find an antalgic postition ( a random position in which the pain decreases or at its minimal level), place a towel or a pillow under the neck. The bed rest does not mean in this situation necessarily a prolonged immobilization with the avoidance of any movement type, many other problems can occur not to mention the worsening of the herniation due to neck weakness. You should not stay in bed more than 2 consecutive days, and try do move your legs as often as you can.

• Hot or warm compresses. The local application of ice compresses in the first 24-48 hours from trauma are very useful for decreasing the inflammatory reaction that appears very fast as a response to body injury, and will inflict a series of oedematous complications, functional impotence, pain at rest and in mobilization. From the cervical herniated disc point of view the patient can apply any sort of compresses , cold or warm without any noticeable effect.

Cervical Pillow

• Physical exercises specific for the cervical region (stretches, different movements in miscellaneous directions) are recommended in hernited disc disease as soon as the patient is capable of performing them and only if the doctor approves it. With these sort pf exercises the patient improves the flexibility and mobility of the affected area, as well as the muscle tone. Exercises should be performed with a previous warming of the affected zone done with a hot towel or shower.

1. The head turns slowly left, with the left hand minimal pressure is applied to the chin, so that the head turns another 2-3cm to the left. The position is maintained 20 seconds and then the head should be rotated to normal. Repeat the movement for the right side.
2. The head turns slowly left, and with slow and careful moves it is tried to touch the shoulder with the left ear. With the left hand pressure is applied to the temple. maintain the position for 20 seconds. Repeat it for the right side.
3. The head leans forward and the patient tyres to touch the chest with the chin. Shoulders must be relaxed. Maintain the position for 20 seconds.
4. The patient stretches back with the knees stretched, with a pillow under the head for support. The head is flexed. Maintain the position for 10 seconds then relax. Repeat 10 times.

Lumbar And Cervical Pain

If pain or discomfort is felt, it is a sign that exercises should be stopped.

Maintain a correct posture, inadequate or vicious postures while standing of most back problems patients represent risk factors for maintaining and for the appearance of pain.