(HealthDay News) -- A new study adds to evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome doesn't have anything to do with xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV), but the researchers point out that there's a caveat regarding American patients.
"Although our patient group was relatively small and we cannot formally rule out a role of XMRV, our data cast doubt on the claim that this virus is associated with chronic fatigue syndrome in the majority of patients," the researchers report in the Feb. 26 online edition of the BMJ.
No one knows what causes chronic fatigue syndrome, which is thought to affect millions of people around the world. But a recent U.S. study found signs of XMRV in two-thirds of patients with the condition.
However, other studies, including this most recent one, suggest that there's no connection between the virus and chronic fatigue syndrome.
In the new study, researchers from Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands examined DNA from 32 Dutch patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and 43 healthy people.
The researchers found no evidence of the virus in either group. Read more...
Kamis, 04 Maret 2010
Jumat, 26 Februari 2010
Pomegranates for the Prostate?
Q: Is it true that pomegranate juice protects against prostate cancer?
A: Pomegranate juice may turn out to be very useful in the treatment of prostate cancer and, perhaps, its prevention, as well. Here's the story: in 2005, researchers at the University of Wisconsin tested various doses of pomegranate extract on human prostate cancer cells in the lab. The higher the dose of the extract, the more cancer cells died. Then, in tests with mice that were injected with human prostate cancer cells, the animals that received the highest concentration of pomegranate extract had the least progression of prostate cancer and declining levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), a marker for prostate cancer in humans. In a comparison group of mice that received only water instead of pomegranate extract, tumors grew much faster. Read more...
A: Pomegranate juice may turn out to be very useful in the treatment of prostate cancer and, perhaps, its prevention, as well. Here's the story: in 2005, researchers at the University of Wisconsin tested various doses of pomegranate extract on human prostate cancer cells in the lab. The higher the dose of the extract, the more cancer cells died. Then, in tests with mice that were injected with human prostate cancer cells, the animals that received the highest concentration of pomegranate extract had the least progression of prostate cancer and declining levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), a marker for prostate cancer in humans. In a comparison group of mice that received only water instead of pomegranate extract, tumors grew much faster. Read more...
Sabtu, 20 Februari 2010
Prostate Cancer Screening: 50 Percent False Positives
As many as 50 percent of all prostate cancer (http://www.dreddyclinic.com/findinformation/cc/prostatecancer.htm) diagnoses may be cases of over-diagnosis, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.
Over-diagnosis refers to the detection of a cancer that, if left untreated, would never have any negative effects on a person's life. This happens with cancers that grow slowly and do not spread to other organs, so that a patient dies of other causes before ever experiencing any symptoms.
Because prostate cancers tend to be very slow growing, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against screening men over the age of 74 for prostate cancer. Treatments for the disease can have severe side effects, including impotence and incontinence, and may even increase the risk of early death.
Another paper, published in the same issue of the journal, found that the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test commonly used to assess prostate cancer risk cannot reliably predict this risk in most cases.
The PSA is a marker of prostate inflammation, which in turn is believed to be a risk factor for prostate cancer. Yet in a study on 1,540 Swedish men, researchers found that PSA levels were not correlated with prostate cancer risk. The only exception was levels below 1 nanogram per mililiter, which suggest a prostate cancer risk of almost zero. Read more...
Over-diagnosis refers to the detection of a cancer that, if left untreated, would never have any negative effects on a person's life. This happens with cancers that grow slowly and do not spread to other organs, so that a patient dies of other causes before ever experiencing any symptoms.
Because prostate cancers tend to be very slow growing, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against screening men over the age of 74 for prostate cancer. Treatments for the disease can have severe side effects, including impotence and incontinence, and may even increase the risk of early death.
Another paper, published in the same issue of the journal, found that the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test commonly used to assess prostate cancer risk cannot reliably predict this risk in most cases.
The PSA is a marker of prostate inflammation, which in turn is believed to be a risk factor for prostate cancer. Yet in a study on 1,540 Swedish men, researchers found that PSA levels were not correlated with prostate cancer risk. The only exception was levels below 1 nanogram per mililiter, which suggest a prostate cancer risk of almost zero. Read more...
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