Singing is panacea for snoring

A study carried out by the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has revealed that snoring can be reduced simply by singing.

For three months, the patients in the clinical trial have been doing singing exercises to improve the tone of their throat muscles.

Choir director Alise Ojay is the inventor of Singing for Snorers exercises.

She told Today BBC Radio presenter Evan Davis that she had found that patients who sung the sounds "ung" and "gar" found that their snoring decreased or stopped.

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Drinking cocoa daily improves blood flow

Cocoa has been linked to vascular health and researchers have always thought the flavanol are responsible for the effect. In a study to understand the effect of cocoa on dementia in elderly people, 60 aged people with no history of dementia were monitored and it was discovered that taking at least two cups of cocoa a day improved cerebral blood circulation.

60 people aged 73 on average including 17 diagnosed with impaired blood flow to the brain were asked to drink two cups of cocoa every day. The cocoa taking group was subdivided into two; one group was given high flavanol cocoa and another low flavanol type. They were to consume no other chocolate type.

Results from the journal of Neurology indicated that regardless of which type of cocoa taken, 88% of impaired blood flow cases at the start of the study had significant improvements compared to 37% of those who had normal flow at the start of the experiment. Also those participants whose blood flow had improved also had better memory tests at the end of the study.

Some critics have said that since this study lacked a control group for comparison, it is not possible to tell whether the participants had never drunk cocoa at all. The results are thus, not conclusive and more research will be needed before major inferences could be done.

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Testicular cancer under control in UK and US

According to figures released by charity Cancer Research UK, survival rates of men having testicular cancer was at 96% a 28% increase from the 70s to 2009.  

The organization is now directing attention to the remaining 4% according to sources. The significant reduction in the mortality rates could be explained by changes in treatment and awareness of testicular cancer according to experts. The 4% either report the disease late or present vary malignant cancer type.

The chief executive of Cancer Research UK, Dr Harpal Kumar believes that this is a clear success story in cancer research which she attributes to the drug cisplatin.  Dr Harpal says "This is helping almost all men with testicular cancer to beat the disease and is a shining example of what we can achieve through dedicated research. The treatment for testicular cancer is so effective that only 1 in 5000 cases fail.

"For some types of cancer, the word 'cure' is almost a reality - 96% of men with testicular cancer are now cured. But it's important we recognize the four per cent who aren't surviving the disease, as well as the fact that we still need treatments to be kinder to patients in the future."

In the UK each year around 2,300 people are diagnosed with the cancer while in the US 7,920 new cases are diagnosed. Testicular cancer is however, uncommon with only 1 in 270 chances of a man developing the disease. The disease mainly presents with a swelling on the testicle.

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US overtaken by Mexico and Arab states in having most obese people

The United States has been overtaken by Mexico as nation with most ponderous people according to U.N reports. The U.S dropped few places below Mexico and gulf rich states like Kuwait and Saudi.  

Increase in size is a characteristic of a well to do nation. As countries develop, one unfortunate side effect is that their people also tend grow fatter. Scientists proved that here is a correlation between a country’s income increase and animal protein consumption. This change is responsible for the uncontrolled fattening seen in most wealth countries. The US having the largest economy has been the champion in having obese folks for long till recently. The notion that overweight is a problem of high income countries is changing as now there is a dramatic rise of the problem in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings.

The U.N.’s latest figures have 42.8 percent of Kuwait's adult population obese. 35.2 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 33.1 percent in Qatar. That's compared with 31.8 percent in the U.S. And with Ramadan commencing and the associated fasting that comes with it, amazingly the problem is said to get worse. For instance, Qataris' grocery bills are said to double during Ramadan as people fast but then gorge during breakfast.

Qatar authority has decided to launch a campaign to get its people moving at least 10,000 steps a day in order to assuage the escalating problem. However, this measure is likely not to succeed because of the extremely hot outdoor weather in Qatar.

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation in the body. A crude population measure of obesity is the body mass index (BMI), a person’s weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of his or her height (in metres). A person with a BMI of 30 or more is generally considered obese while a person with a BMI equal to or more than 25 is considered overweight.

Overweight and obesity are linked with a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

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Cancer linked to family history scientists say

A study on 23,000 people in Italy and Switzerland has discovered that having cancer in a family increases the chances of developing not only the same cancer but other types as well. In the study it was found that for each of 13 cancers, close relatives had an increased risk of the same disease.

There was strong evidence that a family history of one cancer could significantly raise the risk of other cancer types. The research, published in the journal Annals of Oncology, monitored 12,000 patients with cancer at different sites in the body. These were compared with 11,000 cancer free people. Information was collected on family history of cancer, notably first degree relatives namely; siblings, parents and children.

Cancer risks are said to depend on genetic makeup, lifestyle and environment.

Having cancer in the family can tremendously increase your chances of developing not only the same cancer but other types too, research findings suggested.

It was discovered that people with a first-degree relative with cancer of the larynx had triple the normal risk of developing oral and pharyngeal cancer while those closely related to someone with oral-pharyngeal cancer had a four time increased chance of oesophageal cancer. Breast cancer doubled the risk of ovarian cancer for female family members.

Men had a 3.4 times increased risk of prostate cancer if a first-degree relative had bladder cancer. Some known cancer risks were confirmed in the due course. They included; a raised risk of women developing breast cancer if they have a family history of bowel cancer.

Principal investigator, Eva Negri (PhD) of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy said "If you have a relative with one type of cancer your risk of the same type of cancer is increased.

"What this study has highlighted is that sometimes if you have a relative with one cancer your risk of another cancer can be increased.

"The relative risk of a different cancer generally tends to be lower than for the same cancer" added Dr Eva.

She also said that in some cases, the links between different cancers may be due to shared lifestyle factors, such as family smoking and drinking habits.

The study also bolstered evidence of genetic factors affecting multiple cancer sites in the body. Eluned Hughes, from the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said some breast cancers do run in the family, however most cases are not hereditary. "In order to fully understand the causes of breast cancer, we need to study more women over a longer period of time," she said.

According to Jessica Harris, Cancer Research UK's senior health information manager, cancer risk is determined by a combination of genes inherited from parents, lifestyles, and our environment.

"Whether or not someone in your family has had cancer, living a healthy life can really help to stack the odds in our favour, and reduce the risk of cancer," she said.

"The main things you can do are to be a non-smoker, cut down on alcohol, and stay in shape by being active and eating a balanced diet."

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Cure for cat allergies discovered

Scientists have unveiled how a cascade of allergic reactions to cats are triggered, raising hopes of preventative medicine. Scientists from University of Cambridge have discovered the pathogenesis of cat related allergies. According to the team, the body’s immune system detects cat allergen, leading to symptoms such as, irritation, coughing and sneezing.

Researchers led by Dr Clare Bryant of the University of Cambridge studied allergenic proteins found in particles of cat skin, known as cat dander, which is the most common cause of cat allergy. They found that cat allergen activates a specific pathway in the body, once in the presence of a common bacterial toxin. The team from Cambridge University discovered the trigger that can cause allergic reactions in one in ten people.

This triggers a large immune response in allergy sufferers, causing symptoms such as rashes, coughing, wheezing, sneezing and a runny nose. They explained.

Researchers say treatment could be on the market within five years. Scientists remained opportunistic that a pill or inhaler could be used to treat the problem.

The only and most reliable treatment currently available for symptoms is to take antihistamines or to have a multiple injections to build up a tolerance to the allergen.

“New treatments to block this pathway raise hopes of developing medicines to protect sufferers”, they said.

Allergy UK a charity said the research, published in Journal of Immunology, “is a big step forward” in understanding how cat allergen causes such severe allergic reactions.

Dr Bryant said, "By understanding the triggering mechanism, there are now drugs that have been designed that are in clinical trials for other conditions, such as sepsis, that could potentially then be used in a different way to treat cat allergy and to prevent cat allergy."

The charity Allergy UK said "Cat allergen is particularly difficult to avoid as it is a 'sticky' molecule that is carried into every building on people's shoes and clothes," said director of clinical services Maureen Jenkins.

"It can also still be found in a home, on the walls and ceiling or fittings, even a few years after a cat has ceased to live there.

"Therefore, this new information identifying the specific receptor interaction in the immune system could pave the way for treatments for those with persistent disease triggered by cat allergen and, in the future, potentially dog and house dust mite allergen."

Allergic reactions happen when the immune system overreacts to a perceived or foreign body or danger. In the due course, a lot of chemicals are produced by the body such as histamines which cause the symptoms.

Meanwhile cats are among the most notorious culprits for pet allergies. Folks with cat allergy are allergic to proteins in the urine, dried flakes of skin (dander) and saliva. Symptoms of cat allergy which may include; a rash, cough, sneezing, a runny nose and asthmatic syndrome may appear in a few minutes after contact with the cat or just smelling the presence of a cat.

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Taking breakfast regularly reduces heart disease

Researcher in the US have carried out a study and recommended folks to always take breakfast for their health. In their study involving 27,000 men, they showed that those missing breakfast were at a significantly greater risk of heart problems. Harvard School of Public health scientists explained that missing the meal put an "extra strain" on the body. The British Heart Foundation also noted that breakfast helped people resist sugary snacks before lunch.

In the study men, aged 45-82, were monitored for 16 years during which time there were more than 1,500 heart attacks or cases of fatal heart failure. The report stated. There was a likelihood of 27% chances of heart problems for people who missed breakfast compared to those who were consistent with daily meals. In the study other risk factors like smoking and exercise were controlled.

According to, Dr Leah Cahill: "The take-home message is eat in the morning when you wake up, preferably within an hour.” “The results show that something is better than nothing, but it's always better to have something healthy and balanced." The timing for breakfast is also very important because waiting until lunch may be straining the body.

The researcher further said this could be increasing the risk of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes which could in turn damage the heart.

"Don't skip breakfast," Dr Cahill concluded.

The quality and quantity of food eaten however have a big role that cannot be underestimated as oily foods may instead escalate heart problems. Little quantities of food may also lead to over secretion of stomach juices which are not used up. The results may lead to peptic ulcers.

“People should know what to feed on”. Said the doctor.

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Multiple-Drug Combination therapies can eliminate cancer

Research conducted by Harvard scientists has revived hopes in modern medicine for a cure for cancer. Scientists recently developed a mathematical model which shows that a combination of two cancer drugs under certain conditions can treat and cure nearly all cancers. Martin Nowak, a professor of mathematics and of biology and director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, and co-author Ivana Bozic, a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics, show that, under certain conditions, using two drugs in a "targeted therapy" -- a treatment approach designed to interrupt cancer's ability to grow and metastasize -- could effectively cure nearly all cancers. This was in a paper recently published in eLife. The finding brings hope in the research and fight against cancers. Though the research is a simulation, Nowak said it does offer hope to researchers and patients alike. In the study, Nowak and Bozic turned to an extensive and robust data set obtained from clinicians at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center that showed how patients respond to single-drug therapy. With data in hand, they were able to extrapolate and create computer models of how multidrug treatments would work. Using the created computer model, they then treated a number of "virtual patients" to determine how the disease would react to the multidrug therapy.

Nowak the lead scientist said "In some sense this is like the mathematics that allows us to calculate how to send a rocket to the moon, but it doesn't tell you how to build a rocket that goes to the moon. What we found is that if you have a single point mutation in the genome that can give rise to resistance to both drugs at the same time, the game is over. We need to have combinations such that there is zero overlap between the drugs." According to Nowak, both drugs must be given simultaneously, for the two-drug combination to work -- an idea that runs counter to the way many clinicians treat cancer today. Both drugs could therefore have a potentiating effect or an interaction which boosts the overall effect on the cancer activity said one of the Medics.

"We actually have to work against the status quo somewhat," he said. "But we can show in our model that if you don't give the drugs simultaneously, it guarantees treatment failure" Said Nowak. The researchers have underscored the importance of multiple drug regimens saying that resistance to single drug use is uncommon.

"For a single-drug therapy, we know there are between 10 and 100 places in the genome that, if mutated, can give rise to resistance," Nowak explained. "So the first parameter we use when we make our calculations is that the first drug can be defeated by those possible mutations. The second drug can also be defeated by 10 to 100 mutations.

"If any of those mutations are the same, then it's a disaster," he continued. "If there's even a single mutation that can defeat both drugs, that is usually good enough for the cancer -- it will become resistant, and treatment will fail. What this means is we have to develop drugs such that the cancer needs to make two independent steps -- if we can do that, we have a good chance to contain it."

However, cancer treating drugs like other chemicals are known to be highly toxic to the body yet such information may not necessarily be given from virtual patients. Therefore for more reliable results, real patients most probably guinea pigs will have to be used. 

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Dogs to sniff out cancers

About 1,660,290 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2013, and about 580,350 Americans are projected to die of cancer, almost 1,600 people a day. In 2010, a total of 157,250 people died in UK due to cancer related diseases. Cancer remains the second most common cause of death, accounting for nearly 25% of all deaths in both countries.

A number of dogs are undergoing training to get skills of detecting cancers. The most recent type of cancer to be detected by sniffer dogs is bladder cancer

In 2001, a Labrador retriever sniffed out bowel cancer in breath and stool samples during a study in Japan. The observation was however taken lightly assuming that it was just an isolated case.

In 2004, the Medical Detection Dogs a charity that works with researchers, NHS Trusts and universities to train specialist dogs to detect the odour of human disease was established. The consortium was formed after a letter from Dr John Church to medical journal. The Lancet claimed dogs could detect bladder cancer. According to Dr Guest the chief executive of the Medical Detection Dogs, stories of dogs finding their owners' cancer had been reported for a while. They started to wonder that if dogs were finding it by chance then perhaps they could actually train dogs to do this reliably.

In 2012, a woman discovered she had a cancerous tumour in her breast after her dog started sniffing and pawing at it. Sharon Rawlinson ignored her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel for months, but went for tests after Penny stepped on her chest, causing pain. Mrs Rawlinson, from Newark, then examined herself and found a lump.

Recently, Medical Detection Dogs chief executive Dr Claire Guest was training dogs to detect other cancers, when she said one of them warned her. She was subsequently found to have an early stage breast tumour. Nowadays, Dr Guest trains dogs to recognise the cancer from a breath sample, hoping that an electronic nose can be developed.

The Medical Detection Dogs charity started to work with dogs and can now accurately pick out cancer samples from control samples, but research has been mainly limited to bladder and prostate cancer.

Other cancers have been brought on board for detection including; breast cancer from a breath tube. This was after the dog Dr Guest was training to detect other cancers started to warn her. "I was a bit bemused as to what she was doing, but I was subsequently found to have a very early stage breast tumour," she said.

"It was very deep and had my dog Daisy not warned me, I was told it could have been very serious and life-threatening because by the time I felt the lump it would have been very advanced."

Now in remission, the scientist has joined forces with her surgeon and other cancer specialists to search for the clinical proof that breast cancer can be "sniffed out". In particular, they are looking to see if dogs can recognise it accurately and reliably from a breath test.

"There is a huge amount of potential for this work, not only in finding out where cancer is present but also in the development of an electronic nose in the future," said Dr Guest.

"A dog is in fact a very, very specialist pattern recognition bi-sensor - but he has got a waggy tail. "He can tell us when something is there and when it's not and how quickly it disappears [when a sample is in contact with the air] and they can tell us how difficult it is to find.

"If we can find out how the dog is doing it then we can make machines in the future that could screen our breath and our urine for cancer volatiles.

This research is at a very early stage and the next step will be a clinical trial with samples from local hospitals. "We need to find out how reliably dogs can indicate this and also if they can reliably indicate early grade and stage, because that would be the key for survival," said Dr Guest.

The hope is this research "has the potential to save thousands of lives".

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