Patients with heart disease who practiced transcendental meditation to reduce stress have a higher rate of deaths, heart attacks and stroke by 50 percent lower than those who do not meditate, but continued health education programs.

So says a study by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin, United States, in collaboration with the Institute of Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management (MUM). Their results were published Monday in the edit ‘on line’ from ‘Archives of Internal Medicine.

This trial, which ran for nine years, followed the evolution of a total of 201 black patients with a mean age of 59 years of age and whose arteries had narrowed.

These participants were divided into two groups: one who practiced transcendental meditation techniques and one that received health education classes on traditional risk factors to suffer cardiac events, such as diet or exercise.

According to the director of the Institute of Natural Medicine and Prevention of MUM, Robert Schneider, these results are the strongest effects occurring documented a mind-body intervention in relation to cardiovascular disease.

“The effect has proven to be as large or larger than that of drug therapies for cardiovascular diseases. However, these patients continue even after taking standard treatments, although this effect is beyond him,” said Schneider.

For Professor of Medicine Theodore Kotchen, co-author of the study, “in black men and women with heart disease, transcendental meditation – a technique for stress reduction – reduces the probability of dying, suffering non-fatal myocardial infarctions and nonfatal stroke by 47 percent. ”

“At the same time, participants in this study maintained their normal medication to control cardiovascular risk factors, including antihypertensive agents and lipid-lowering medication,” says Kotchen.

“Therefore – points – the meditation should be seen as complementary, not as a substitute for normal medication. Although provocative, these findings must be confirmed with another population of patients.”
The authors of this paper conducted further analysis into two groups: one group of patients who had a high compliance with medication and other programs with the highest levels of stress. They found that patients who continued their treatment showed better reduction in the rate of death, myocardial infarction and stroke even higher (66%), while the subgroup of people with higher rates of stress showed a reduction of 64 percent.

As reflected an experiment with mice, the results are published in the journal Science, there are four groups of neurons in the region of the insular cortex are activated when the tongue taste senses. These areas are stimulated, respectively, tastes sweet, salty, bitter and umami (taste that can be found in foods such as cured ham or pickled bonito).

It is strange, however, have not appeared in the experiment related neurons acidic taste, which has the evolutionary function of warning against a possible food bad and is related to nerve impulses that transmit pain sensation. Charles Zucker, a neurologist at Columbia University (USA) and lead author of the study, attributed to the taste may be located in another region of the brain.

The work is important, and promises to raise controversy, because until now it was thought that neurons do not respond in a highly specialized to different flavors. Indeed, previous research had shown different results electrodes, which were activated many brain cells at once.

The new brain map, with specific areas and localized, responding to what they had observed Zucker and his team on the tongue, where he also revolutionized the dominant paradigm so far to identify specific neurons to respond to each of the flavors. As the scientists themselves explain it is as if different groups of neurons and cells of the tongue were “tuned” to receive a certain flavor, and only that.

The researchers used laboratory mice and gave them various substances to test everyone. Using an imaging technique called two-photon, tracked the activity of calcium in the neurons that are activated in response to the flavors. “This work is really impressive, both for its technical virtuosity as for their theoretical significance,” says neuroscientist Alan Spector, Florida State University in Tallahassee (USA).

However, other experts say research in the journal Science have shown more reservations about their results. A major criticism is that the mice had to be anesthetized to undergo the experiment, which could have altered neuronal activity.

“Returning to work does not necessarily mean the end of breastfeeding,” says Esperanza Martin, nurse and coordinator of the breastfeeding committee of the Hospital La Paz in Madrid. “The mother can express milk, freeze it and continue with the best food you can get small,” said the specialist, who remarks that, just follow some simple guidelines to ensure an adequate storage:

* Extraction

It is essential that the mother thoroughly wash hands and utensils to be used for extracting and storing milk. The process can be done manually or using a breast pump. Anyway, Martin recommends consulting a professional or a support group for breastfeeding, where they can learn different techniques effective and safe.

* Storage

The best practice is to use suitable containers for food, especially if they are hard plastic, or special bags to store breast milk can be purchased at pharmacies. “Consider saving small amounts, between 60 and 100 cubic centimeters and date each container properly,” says Martin.

* Cooling

“The shelf life of milk depends on the temperature to reach the refrigerator or freezer and if it varies more or less,” says a La Leche League. In general, human milk can be kept several days in the refrigerator. In a combi freezer can be kept for about four months, a period that can stretch a little more if the device is the latest generation.

* Use

The preferred method for thawing frozen milk “is to place the container under running cold water and letting the water go out progressively warmer until the milk and thaw it to room temperature,” explained from the La Leche League . You can also put the pot in a pan of hot water, but “we must never boil milk in the microwave and heat it,” recalls Martin. “The milk has to be at room temperature, tibia, which is what comes naturally in the body of the mother” he concludes.

The researchers, led by Dr. Raj Padwal, University of Alberta (Canada), reviewed data from more than 8,000 patients, collected between 1988 and 2004 in the U.S., and have given each of these case reports a score as the new method, called Obesity Classification System Edmonton (EOSS, for its acronym in English). The study results are published in the journal PLoS One.

Rated Comparing the evolution followed by these patients, researchers have found that the EOSS is an effective tool for predicting severe illness or death in obese individuals, without considering other factors used to predict far the consequences of overweight, such as body mass index, presence of metabolic syndrome (a combination of several diseases linked to obesity) or hip hypertriglyceridemic (another measure of risk associated with obesity with similar results were obtained).

“We wanted to determine if there is a better way to classify the risk associated with obesity,” he told In Canada, there are long waiting lists for surgery and we plan to use the EOSS system to prioritize patients. That is, those patients who have a high risk of dying in a future, but also present an acceptable risk to have surgery, should undergo bariatric surgery before patients who have no health problems due to their obesity ” .

Padwal and his team remember that BMI is the most used today to determine the degree of overweight, although this system has some drawbacks: “It’s an indirect way to measure obesity. It does not reflect whether a patient has problems like high blood pressure, cholesterol and others, “says the researcher.

The method EOSS, meanwhile, considers various measures of each patient as glucose, lipids, psychopathology, levels of enzymes in the liver, presence of sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and others. Of the patients studied, we could not classify any of them at the maximum level (4) of the scale, due to lack of more precise data. Among those classified as type 0, 1, 2 and 3, it was found that the fourth group had a significantly higher risk of complications than the 1 or 2.

To be in group 3 according to the Edmonton system (the name refers to the capital of Alberta, Canada), ie, that require immediate intervention if this tool was established, patients must have suffered severe damage an organ, psychiatric and heart problems, such as a heart attack, or stroke.

The research describes an area of ​​the FTO gene on chromosome 16 – which is “heritable and transferable risk” of developing the disease.
Genetics Unit of the Hospital Universitario de Badajoz (Chub) has just published in the journal Obesity Journal the results of a study on obesity, which identified a genetic region “is inherited as a block and can create an obvious risk of developing this disease. ”
The researchers conducted a hospital complex pacense massive analysis of genetic variants in over 200 patients suffering from obesity higher before age 14, who reported at least three other family members suffering from severe obesity, with at least one first degree.
Patients had been previously identified by the multidisciplinary group of professionals working in Extremadura Obesity Observatory (OBEX.O), according to the regional government in the press release.
Thus, explains that after the massive analysis of genetic variants of the test subjects, compared with a representative control population, the conclusions of the paper describe the existence of a genetic region-an area of ​​the FTO gene on chromosome 16 – which is a “heritable and transferable risk” of developing obesity.
According to the authors, the research “demonstrates the significant heritability of obesity and its relationship with childhood onset severe” and estimate the risk attributable to this gene reaches 34% in individuals who have inherited the combination of risk of both parents, and has a greater and more damaging for women.

Ruth Castillo, Faculty of Psychology at the University of Malaga, is the lead author of the research that has had the participation of experts from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza.

“The cognitive skills or intelligence in adolescence significantly predict physical and psychological health of a child in the future … In addition, academic achievement are related to positive variables from the psychological point of view, as have a better self-esteem. However, to enjoy a lower intellect in childhood is associated with anxiety disorders in adulthood, “the researchers documented their work.

Published in the latest issue of ‘Psicothema’, the trial was conducted in order to “explore the relationship between parental education and profession, the type of school and cognitive abilities of participants in the study AVENA (Food and assessment of nutritional status of Spanish adolescents), “stresses the article.

A total of 2,162 adolescents between 13 and 18 have participated in the investigation. All of them underwent intelligence tests that assessed their verbal, numerical and reasoning. Also analyzed the educational and professional level of parents. In this final section examined three categories (management, skilled worker or not, unemployed or housewives) who were classified as high, medium and low. He had in mind, too, if the training of students is carried out in public or private schools.

Low professional status for mothers

The data reveal that the educational level of mothers and fathers were classified as university at 46% and 51% of cases, respectively. Where there were more differences were in the labor category. Thus, this was classified as ‘low’ in 53% of mothers, although only 4% of the parents.

The scientists conclude: “the probability that adolescents have a high cognitive performance and their parents had high educational level was between 1.6 to 1.7 times higher than those with parents with low educational level. Similarly, the chances were 1.8 to 2.4 times higher for parents of adolescents with high professional level. ”

In relation to the type of school, the test reveals that “the likelihood of greater intellectual capacity was 1.5 times higher in those attending private schools compared with those who teach in public”, stated the scientists. However, caution in their conclusions that “data should be viewed with caution, because when you take into account other parameters, this difference did not persist,” he says.

They argue that their findings “are consistent with the available scientific literature.” In fact, “In general, socioeconomic factors seem to have an influence on brain development, especially in language and memory … It has been found that higher parental education is associated with increased child care and with better language acquisition and memory. ”

In short, the new findings confirm the role parents play in creating a stimulating intellectual environment.

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“Our country is the biggest spender in the world and such drugs, however, is not the most broken records,” said Santiago Munoz, president-elect of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology (SER). In order to “prevent and goodwill,” adds, “have been treated with bisphosphonates to women from the onset of menopause [circumstance that accelerates bone destruction], who were healthy and had not had any fractures.”

In recent years, this system is changing. Given the potential adverse effects that may result from this treatment five years, “indicated only in risk groups.”

As explained by this specialist densitometry (test to determine bone mineral density) should not be the sole criterion for prescribing bisphosphonates. There are other risk factors: if the patient has had a previous fracture, age (increases the chance of osteoporosis), family history of hip fractures, low bone mass, if too thin, if you have diseases that cause osteoporosis ( such as rheumatoid arthritis) or if you take drugs that increase the likelihood (such as corticosteroids).

“Combining all these aspects, we can get an idea of ​​the risk of fractures, there are scales that help decide who can benefit most from preventive treatment,” said Dr. Munoz, also head of Rheumatology, Hospital Infanta Sofia of Madrid.

A review of the adverse effects

According to a review published in ‘Cleveland Clinic Journal, appeared several years ago cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw (death of bone caused by insufficient blood supply) and the FDA asked the manufacturer to include in their labeling information on the risk of this condition.

At first, related to the treatment with bisphosphonates for several years. Then, as the authors remind the University of Washington (Seattle, USA), found that this adverse effect was only present in cancer patients taking these drugs to build bone mass, which was considered an acceptable risk given the benefits potential. “Among those who only had osteoporosis, the disease is manifested in fewer than one in 10,000 people treated.”

Other scientific papers, as published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma ‘, reveal that taking long-term bisphosphonates can cause fractures of the femur, a problem that often occurs in car accidents in elderly or very weak, not in patients as they walked or stood. Of the 20 participants of this study, 19 were women treated with alendronate (one of the most popular bisphosphonates, approved since 1995) had been an average of 6.2 years.

How is it possible that a drug that improves the quality of bone can cause a fracture? The review of ‘Cleveland Clinic Journal’ argues that the bone tissue such as skin. When a small alteration in normal conditions, it is repaired, but treatment with bisphosphonates suppresses this natural turnover of bone (their destruction and lifelong learning) and these lesions were not only repaired but accumulate.

In fact, this medicine “prevents bone loss, but the bone becomes weaker and more brittle with time,” said Santiago Munoz rheumatologist.

The problem of the studies conducted so far is that “include a few patients (between 15 and 30) and the results therefore are not very significant. Ideally, to analyze thousands of people treated for enough years and through biopsies, “says the doctor. “But this is very complicated to make and difficult from the ethical point of view,” he adds.

There are jobs that have even linked treatment with bisphosphonates for 10 years with esophageal cancer, but are very small and its findings are not conclusive.

Warning and regular monitoring

Under the circumstances, the decision of the FDA adheres to a principle of prudence. In 2010, U.S. health authorities recommended doctors periodic review of treatments for women who take more than five years taking bisphosphonates. A few months later, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) indicates that all bisphosphonate drugs in its prospectus should include a warning about the risk of fractures. Also invited “to regularly review the need for continued treatment, especially after five or more years.”

And here are now doctors. When a woman before them who have taken bisphosphonates for some time, “we value your risk factors. If minimal interrupt treatment and monitor its evolution. If, however, the patient is at high risk of fractures, we shuffle other alternative therapies, drugs without bisphosphonates, “said Santiago Munoz.

The review of ‘Cleveland Clinic Journal’ recalls a study investigating the physiological basis of bisphosphonates and stated that after five years with this treatment, the benefit among women who continued taking was no higher than in those who quit. An argument therefore supports the discontinuation of the medication or switching to other drugs.

Researchers at Stanford University (California) have conducted a study using data from China. Have studied 906 patients who had narcolepsy after the outbreak two years ago of H1N1. And the conclusion is that they have obtained about seven months after the occurrence of a flu appears another peak of narcolepsy. This disease is a weakening in severe cases leads to stay in a sleep-like state, with loss of consciousness. Suffer from some three million people a year. For now, the relationship is purely statistical. In the work have not been able to determine what the cause of the relationship. Only this appears.

“These results suggest that respiratory tract infections in winter by influenza A (H1N1 included) or sreptococcus pyogenes, are the triggers of narcolepsy,” says the expert on narcolepsy and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Emmanuel Mignot .

“The discovery of the association with infection, not vaccination is important because it suggests that limiting vaccination for fear of narcolepsy may increase the overall risk,” say the authors.

Approximately three million people worldwide sufrennarcolepsia, a neurological disease characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, irregular sleep at night and cataplexy, loss repentinadel muscle tone and strength. In 2009, Mignot and his fellow scientists confirmed the suspicion that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease, caused when the immune systems of patients destroys neurons that produce hypocretin protein.

Experts believe that a person who has a genetic predisposition to disease, may be led to by some environmental factor narcolepasia come into action in the immune system.

Previous studies have shown that Streptococcus pyogenes infections, like strep throat, preceded the onset of narcolepsy in Caucasians, “suggesting a role for infections of the upper airway in triggering the disease,” says Mignot.

Narcolepsy infections

Only a small amount – 5.6 percent – of patients recalled receiving entrevstados a vaccine against H1N1. Therefore, “it is unlikely that the onset of the disease is explained by vaccines,” the researchers conclude. Instead, these infections seem Winter “to initiate or reactivate an immune response that leads to the loss of hypocretin cells and narcolepsy in genetically susceptible individuals.”

Mignot says the work is very important because it gives an idea of ​​what triggers the disease. “We are much closer to understanding what is happening in the autoimmune destruction of hypocretin cells.”

From a standpoint of public health, Mignot explains that “the work suggests that to avoid the flu vaccine and may provide a protective benefit to patients,” adding that “it is quite possible to be vaccinated with a mild, one without adjuvants in question can increase the risk of this disease. ”

As for the differences between the results of the study and what has been observed in Europe, Mignot says “it is possible that the immune response elicited by the vaccine ‘Pandemrix’ increased risk of narcolepsy”, and emphasizes that ” Further research and people should not avoid receiving the vaccine because they run a higher risk of dying from an infection, “he concludes.