Gut worms protect against allergy

Parasitic gut worms, such as hookworm, might aid the development of new treatments for asthma and other allergies, a study in Vietnam suggests.

Infection with hookworm and other parasitic worms is endemic in Vietnam, but rates of asthma and other allergies are low.

British and Vietnamese scientists gave local children treatment to clear their body of worms.

They found this led to an increase in dust mite allergy among the children.

Thanks to improved hygiene, practices parasitic worms have been mostly eradicated among human populations living in developed countries.

However, experts believe that over millions of years of co-evolution worms have found methods to dampen down host immune responses to prolong their own survival inside humans.

This relationship seems to have become so intertwined that without gut worms or other parasites, our immune system can become unbalanced, which, in turn, could contribute to the development of asthma and other allergies.

The latest study was conducted in a rural area of central Vietnam where two in every three children have hookworm and other gut parasite infections, and where allergies are extremely rare.

More than 1,500 schoolchildren aged six to 17 took part.

Regular tablets

Some of the children were given repeated tablet treatments to clear their body of gut worms.

The treatment did not produce any conclusive effect on rates of asthma or eczema.

However, those children who received the tablets did have a significantly increased risk of developing allergies to the house-dust mite.

Up to 80% of people with asthma also have allergies to house-dust mites and other environmental allergens.

The researchers said this strongly suggests that gut worms have the potential to tone down human immune responses.

Researcher Dr Carsten Flohr, of the University of Nottingham, said: "The next step is to understand exactly how and when gut parasites programme the human immune system in a way that protects against allergies, and for such studies, follow-up from birth will be essential."

The hope is that the work could aid the development of new treatments which work in the same way as gut parasites, by dampening down or rebalancing the immune system so that the body does not respond to allergens and trigger asthma attacks.

Dr Elaine Vickers, Research Relations Manager at the charity Asthma UK, which funded the research, said: "The prospects of further studies in this area are very exciting as we could see groundbreaking treatments for asthma and other allergies developed as a result."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8268584.stm

Radiation: 5 Best and Worst phones

• Researchers have been divided over the effects of cellphone radiation on human beings. While some studies suggest a link between long-term (10 years or more) cellphone use and cancer, many maintain that there is not conclusive or demonstrated evidence that cell phones cause adverse health effects in humans.

• US-based Environmental Working Group (EWG) is among the organisations who believe that there is compelling evidence to prove the link between cancer and cellphone radiation. The group recently came out with five safest and five worst mobile phones in terms of cellphone radiation. The study is based on SAR or Specific Absorption Rate. SAR according to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association is “a way of measuring the quantity of radio frequency (RF) energy that is absorbed by the body.” For a mobile phone to get FCC certification in the United States, the maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6 watts per kilogram. In Europe, the level is capped at 2 watts per kilogram while Canada allows a maximum of 1.6 watts per kilogram.

• Here’s looking into the EWG’s 5 Best and Worst mobile devices for radiation.
• http://infotech.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/5037579.cms

Virus linked to prostate tumours

The researchers from the University of Utah and Columbia University medical schools found the virus in 27% of the 200 cancerous prostates they looked at.

They say it was associated with more aggressive tumours and found in only 6% of non-cancerous prostates.

This is the first report to link XMRV (Xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus) to human cancers

Retrovirus

XMRV is a retrovirus like HIV which works by inserting a copy of its own DNA into the chromosomes of a cell they infect.

Where this occurs next to a gene that regulates cell growth it can disrupt the normal development of the cell.

XMRV is known to cause leukaemia and other tumours in animalsOne of the things peculiar about this virus is that it has an androgen response element - it grows better in the presence of testosterone and possibly other steroid hormones.

Explosions trigger unique damage to brain tissue.

As a growing number of troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan with signs of brain injury--post-deployment surveys suggest that 10 to 20 percent of all deployed troops have experienced concussions--the military has been under increasing pressure to understand how this pressure wave affects the brain, as well as how best to diagnose and treat the resulting injuries.

Typically, damage from concussions does not show up on traditional medical imaging tests, such as CT scans or MRIs. But scientists have recently begun using a variation of MRI known as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to detect damage to the brain's white matter--the neural wiring that connects cells--after mild traumatic brain injury.

They found that those with blast-linked trauma had a more diffuse pattern of damage to the white matter, described as a "pepper-spray pattern," than those whose concussions were caused by direct impact or acceleration. The research was presented at the World Congress for Brain Mapping and Image Guided Therapy conference in Boston last month. Team also found signs of inflammation in those people's brains several months after they experienced the blast, when most symptoms of concussion have typically faded away. "We see evidence of prolonged subacute to chronic inflammatory effects [in these patients]," says Moore. "It indicates something unique about the blast itself."

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/23368/?nlid=2330