Testing It Up

A study recently released in the Archives of Internal Medicine shared that drinking three cups of black tea a day may help lower blood pressure.

The research effort tested black tea against a placebo, in order to determine the effect of drinking the beverage over time on lowering the blood pressure of the study participants.

The study analyzed data from 95 study participants, who consisted of male and female subjects aged 35 to 75. The participants had systolic blood pressure readings that range from 115 to 150, and were randomly assigned to one of two groups.

One of the groups was asked to drink three cups of regular leaf tea containing 1,493 mg of powdered black tea solids, with 429 mg of polyphenols and 96 mg of caffeine. The participants in the second group were asked to drink a placebo, which had the same flavor and caffeine content, but did not contain tea solids.

The results of the study indicated that the group who drank tea with black tea solids experienced a drop of systolic and diastolic blood pressure over a period of six months. When compared against the placebo group, it was observed that the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of those who drank black tea dropped by two to three points.

According to the study authors, this drop translated to a 10 percent drop in the prevalence of high blood pressure, as well as a 7% to 10% decrease in the risk of cardiovascular disease.

A former professional wrestler from Ohio received a 32-year prison sentence on Monday, after being accused of hiding the fact that he had tested positive for HIV from women that he had sexual relations with.

Andre Davis, 29, who wrestled under the stage names Gangsta of Love and Sweet Sexy Sensation, had been convicted in November. He was sentenced in a court in Hamilton County on 14 counts of felonious assault.

Davis confessed to being a “sex addict” before the judge on Monday. He said further that is addiction worsened after he lost his dream of becoming a professional wrestler when he tested positive for HIV.

He also said that it was never his intention to hurt anyone; he did not reveal that he was HIV positive, he said, as he did not want his family to learn about his condition.

He described his sex addiction as “the worse addiction anyone could have. He said: “Drugs and alcohol are terrible, but sex is something everybody wants.”

Prosecutors said, however, that Davis was in violation of state law when he did not disclose his HIV status to a dozen sex partners, or lied to them.

During Davis’ trial, assistant prosecutor Amy Tranter argued that Davis should be imprisoned for a long time, as it was his responsibility to tell the women about his test results. Tranter described Davis on Monday as “a manipulative man and a liar.”

Greg Cohen, attorney for Andre Davis, revealed that they will file an appeal, saying that the constitutionality of the law “is probably going to be raised, and there are some legal issues regarding the admission of certain types of evidence.”

A study published online in the medical journal The Lancet indicated that the drug dutasteride could delay the progression of prostate cancer over a three-year period, among those who have been diagnosed with low-risk, localized prostate cancer.

The study, which received funding from GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturer of the brand-name version of dutasteride Avodart, consisted of a three-year clinical trial involving 302 men between the ages of 48 and 82.

The study participants have been diagnosed with low-risk, localized prostate cancer, and were undergoing a treatment option called “active surveillance,” which includes regular monitoring for clinical changes in their condition.

All of the study participants underwent biopsies at 18 months and three years, while half of them received placebo.  The results of the study indicated that the disease progressed for 48 percent of those who received placebo, compared against 38 percent to those who were given dutasteride.

In addition, biopsies conducted at the end of the study showed that study participants who received dutasteride were less likely to have cancer detected. Lead study author Dr. Neil Fleshner, head of the urology division at Toronto’s University Health Nework (UHN), shared that while this does not mean that the cancer has been cured completely, the fact that cancer is not detected means that it has “shrunk so small we can’t find it.”

Dr. Fleshner was also quoted as saying that the results of the study is good news for men who have been diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer, as such aggressive treatment as surgery and radiation “can have a major impact on their quality of life, with risks of impotence and incontinence.”

A new marijuana-based drug called Sativex may soon be sold at store shelves. GW Pharma, a British company, is now in advanced clinical trials for the drug, being touted as the first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana – as opposed to synthetic equivalents – in the world.

Sativex is a mouth spray that GW Pharma hopes to market in the United States as treatment for cancer pain. It contains delta 9-THC and cannabidiol, two of the best known components of marijuana.

The drug has received approval in Canada, New Zealand, and eight European countries for the relief of muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

Aron Lichtman, a Virginia Commonwealth University pharmacology professor and president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society, shared: “There is a real disconnect between what the public seems to be demanding and what the states have pushed for and what the market is providing… It seems to me a company with a great deal of vision would say, ‘If there is demand and need, we could develop a drug that will help people and we will make a lot of money.”

In addition to looking into new applications for Sativex, GW Pharma is developing drugs with various cannabis formulations. Mark Rogerson, spokesman for the company, shared: “We were the first ones to charge forward and a lot of people were watching to see what happened to us… I think we are clearly past that stage.”

Timothy Coetzee, chief research officer of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, shared: “The cannabinoids and marijuana will, eventually, likely be part of the clinician’s armamentarium, if they are shown to be clinically beneficial… The big unknown in my mind is whether they are clearly beneficial.”

Early disease detection is one of the things that may end up saving a patient’s life, especially for such life-threatening health conditions as cancer. With early detection, there is more time for a patient to undergo the appropriate treatment necessary to beat the disease.

Unfortunately, while early detection is an ideal, spending countless hours waiting at doctor’s lounges and hospitals to undergo screenings and get results is something that many people would rather not have to deal with. A team of researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has conducted work that just might do away with all that hassle.

The scientists, whose work was published in the German science journal Angewandte Chemie, found that touch screen technology may be used to detect biomolecular matter. Hyun-gyu Park, who led the study along with Byong-yeon Won, said: “It began from the idea that touch screens work by recognizing the electronic signs from the touch of the finger, and so the presence of specific proteins and DNA should be recognizable as well.”

The results of the study indicated that touch screens had the ability to recognize the presence and concentration of DNA molecules that are placed on them. This finding may be the first step towards utilizing touch screens for medical tests.

Park shared further: “We have confirmed that (touch screens) are able to recognize DNA molecules with nearly 100 percent accuracy just as large, conventional medical equipment can and we believe equal results are possible for proteins… There are proteins known in the medical world like the ones used to diagnose liver cancer, and we would be able to see the liver condition of the patient.”

The results of a study seem to confirm how addictive smoking can be, so much so that even patients suffering from cancer cannot give them up despite knowing that it is not good for them.

According to new data published in the online version of the journal Cancer, a large number of patients who have been diagnosed with colon cancer and lung cancer carry on with their cigarette smoking habit, even if they know that it has an adverse effect on their condition.

Doctors say, however, that quitting smoking is imperative after being diagnosed with cancer, as it can hinder the results of treatment.

The study involved an investigation into the smoking rates of approximately 5,300 lung and colorectal cancer patients. At the time of diagnosis, 39 percent of patients suffering from lung cancer and 14 percent of patients suffering from colon cancer smoked. Five months after diagnosis, it was determined that 14 percent of lung cancer patients and 9 percent of colon cancer patients continue to smoke.

Dr. Elyse R. Park of the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, lead researcher for the study, shared: “These findings can help cancer clinicians identify patients who are at risk for smoking and guide tobacco counseling treatment development for cancer patients.”

The researchers determined that lung cancer patients who continued to smoke after diagnosis were usually heavy smokers prior to diagnosis, were usually on Medicare, and had very little treatment for their condition. Colon cancer patients who continue to smoke, on the other hand, were also usually heavy smokers prior to diagnosis; they were usually uninsured and undereducated males.

Joe Paterno, former football coach for Penn State, passed away on January 22 at the age of 85. News reports from the days leading up to his death indicated that his health condition had taken a turn for the worse.

Paterno succumbed to lung cancer, as indicated in a statement released by Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania.

A statement released by Mr. Paterno’s family reads: “He died as he lived… He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been.”

Mr. Paterno’s passing has plunged the Penn State campus community in State College in to mourning. The base of a statue of the former football coach was decorated with candles, flowers, T-shirts, and blue and white pompoms. A moment of silence in his memory was observed prior to the basketball game between Penn State and Indiana University at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.

The late JoePa, as he is affectionately called, was born Joseph Vincent Paterno on December 21, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York, to a family of Italian ancestry. He graduated from Brooklyn Preparatory School in 1944, and attended Brown University after serving in the Army for a year.

While at Brown, he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and played quarterback and cornerback. He graduated from Brown in 1950, and joined his college football coach Rip Engle as an assistant coach at Penn State in the same year. When Engle retired after the 1965 season, Paterno succeeded him.

Paterno is survived by his wife, Susan; children Jay, David, Scott, Mary Kathryn, and Diana; and seventeen grandchildren.

January is National Blood Donor Month, and the American Red Cross continues to encourage people to donate blood, especially in the winter months when it is in short supply.

Susie Stages, an American Red Cross phlebotomist, shared: “There’s always a shortage… For some reason during the winter months, the number of donors drops off.”

Only one of every 100 people in the United States donates blood, while the average red blood cell transfusion is three pints.

According to Stages, people are sometimes scared at the thought of donating blood, and the needles that are necessary to accomplish that donation. But 66-year-old blood donor Char Smith, who has been donating blood for around two decades, shared that it is not a big deal. A blood type O positive, Smith’s blood type is the most common type in the United States, and is the type needed the most by hospitals across the country.

On a daily basis, there is a need for more than 38,000 blood donations; someone, somewhere in the country needs blood every two seconds. Blood drives, like the one organized at the Burleson’s Senior Center where Smith donated blood, help meet that demand.

Those who are interested in donating blood may visit the Red Cross website, or a Red Cross chapter in your area. Blood donors should at least be 17 years old and 110 pounds; they should present a photo I.D. and answer a list of personal history questions.

A young California mother of two who is involved in a suspected murder-suicide reportedly took a video of herself smoking methamphetamine, hours before she shot her boyfriend, her boyfriend’s cousin, her two children, and herself.

Aide Mendez, 23, and her boyfriend Eduardo Lopez ,33, had an argument before the attack started on January 15. According to Lt. Mark Salazar, homicide commander for the Fresno Police Department, police found Lopez outside the Silver Lakes Apartment in Fresno, with knife and gunshot wounds.

The responding police officers then heard a muffled shot from inside the apartment. When they went in, they found Mendez and Lopez’ two children, 17-month-old Aliyah Echeverria and 3-year-old Isaiah Echeverria, Lopez’ cousin 27 year-old Paul Medina, and Mendez dead.

Lopez is the only survivor in the incident; he is currently hospitalized and in serious condition, according to Mary Lisa Russel, spokeswoman for Community Regional Medical Center.

Salazar said that drugs played a role in the killings, and that drugs other than meth may also be involved. Investigators are still trying to determine, however, to what extent that involvement was. Coroner David Hadden shared that a toxicology report will not be available for several days.

The police found 10 grams of meth, scales, nearly $8,000 cash and three handguns at the apartment. They also found an iPad, which contained a video that showed Medina and Mendez in the kitchen, smoking what seemed to be meth, hours before the 911 calls.

A study published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that while the survival rates for breast cancer have improved over the past two decades, the cancer treatments that these survivors had to go through in order to win their fight against the disease have also taken a toll on their quality of life.

Breast cancer survivor Nicole Vazquez was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34. She shared: “Within two weeks, I went from being able to plan my life to having no control. It really hit me… I had been physically active in sports, running and playing soccer and I had to quit all that… And after the chemo, I really looked sick. Self image is a really big deal… And I couldn’t share it with that many people.”

Chemotherapy and surgery helped her survive the disease, and she just celebrated five years of being cancer-free. She, however, now has questions about her future fertility, among other things.

The study indicated that women under the age of 50, like Vazquez, who survive breast cancer, face various quality of life challenges, including psychological stress, weight gain, and decline in physical activity, as well as such reproductive health issues as infertility and early-onset menopause.

Researchers at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Care Center at the University of California-Los Angeles found that based on studies published between January 1990 and July 2010, overall quality of life of younger survivors, who had both physical and mental health problems, was compromised. Younger women were found to be more depressed, mainly due to fertility issues.