TheWellnessLiving Health Tips

Herceptin, or Trastuzumab is employed to treat certain types of breast cancer with high efficiency. The drug consists of a monoclonal antibody raised against a protein called Her2, which is highly abundant in some tumours with high probability of migrating and becoming metastatic. Tumours found to have high levels of her2 are called “Her2 positive“.  When injected the drug binds to the surface of the tumour cells that have Her2 and make them an easy target for the immune system. Herceptin is used with increasing frequency but the costs associated to its use are very high. The high costs make it difficult to sustain long-term administration and thus the efficiency of the treatment may become compromised. Now, Canadian scientists have developed a method to produce Herceptin in tobacco plants. They inserted the genes encoding the antibody into special tobacco plants and let them grow. After a while, they crushed the leaves and purified active Herceptin in large amounts. They have tested their product and showed that is seems to work as well as the normal Herceptin.  This exciting study brings big hopes as it will help bring down the costs of the expensive Herceptin treatments.

Am I predisposed to breast cancer? Order a DNA test for genetic predisposition and find out

Read the original article

Read more on Her2

Read more on Herceptin/trastuzumab

Read more on monoclonal antibodies

Syncope and fainting syncope is a clinical syndrome characterized by sudden loss of consciousness and vital functions due to transient and reversible cessation of cerebral circulation.

Lipotimia or fainting is a slight loss of knowledge, appears to emotional person with mental lability, emotional highs after having favored pathogenic background: aortic stenosis, hypotension, myocardial infarction, the rapid pace, congenital heart disease.

Syncope symptoms – patient is inert, immobile, pale, not react to excitation, no breathing, no pulse, hear no heartbeat, blood pressure is low, pupils are mydriatic. Patient is in a state of clinical death, which ends either by returning consciousness, either by biological death.

The first step in treatment is to put the patient with feet slightly elevated location. Production mechanism is controlled – hypotension, decreased rate, standing. Do not give fluids by mouth. Treatment consists of applying resuscitation of violent punches, cardiac massage, breath “mouth to mouth.”

Treatment of hypothension consists of the following means:

• Psychotherapy
• Gymnastics to improve neuro-vegetative disorders and insignificant increases voltage.
• Pressor drugs

Patient needs to know the point: how to take medicines, drug overdose preliminary signs, medical examination.

Prevention of hypotension aims primarily to educate the patient, knowledge of symptoms related to hypotension and strategies to prevent complications. For example, those with orthostatic hypotension should know and observe techniques of high calorie diet, oxygenation and avoiding toxic substances.

Hypotension can be treated successfully, and many people who suffer from this disease lead a normal and healthy life. If you are one of the people with hypotension is important in preventing and minimizing the symptoms.

Home care tips to prevent hypotension

• Get up and sit down slowly in case of orthostatic hypotension
• Not stand very long if you suffer from symptomatic hypotension;
• Eat slowly and consume low amounts of carbohydrates if you suffer from postoprandial hypotension (is triggered only after eating);
• Alcohol consumption should be reduced or eliminated
• Increase consumption of salt;
• Exercise.

Do I have genetic predisposition to heart disease? Find out with a DNA test for genetic predisposition – Click here to learn more

Benign prostatic hyperplasia, or more commonly, emnlarged prostate, is a frequent affection in males older than 50, although earlier manifestation (at 40) is also frequent.The most prevalent symptom of benign prostatic hyperplasia is difficult urination: the flow of urine is not continuous, it takes longer to start, need to urinate appears more frequently and sometimes causes pain.

Tamsulosin is a popular choice to relieve the symptoms of prostatic hyperplasia. This drug is an alpha-adrenergic blocker that functions by relaxing the muscles that surround the prostate and the area of the bladder neck. This reduces the pressure on the urethra, making it urination easier.

Tamsulosin was originally developed by the Japanese company Yamanouchi Pharmaceuticals and distributed and sold by other companies under licence, including Boehringer-Ingelheim. The extended-release capsules of tamsulosin are marketed under the commercial names Flomax, Flomaxtra and Urimax, but since the expiration of the U.S. patent in 2009 generic capsules were approved and marketed in many countries, such as Canada. In the U.S., the FDA approved generic Flomax in March 2010. Generic Flomax is a safe and affordable alternative to branded Flomax and is readily available at online stores for less than one dollar each pill (click here for more details and buy generic Flomax)

Do not use Flomax if you are allergic to tamsulosin. Avoid Flomax if you are taking similar drugs such as alfuzosin (Uroxatral), doxazosin (Cardura), prazosin (Minipress), silodosin (Rapaflo), or terazosin (Hytrin). Side effects may include dizziness or fainting, especially when you first start taking it or when you start taking it again. Caution must be taken when driving or operating machines. Standing for long periods of time and heat exposure should also be avoided when taking Flomax. Avoid getting up too fast from a sitting or lying position. Call your doctor if you discontinued the treatment before you start taking it again. A dose adjustment may be indicated. If you need cataract surgery inform your eye doctor  ahead of time that you are using Flomax. Ask your doctor about othermedications that can interact with Flomax.You may need a different dose if you had a history of prostate cancer.  Flomax is not for use in children.

To Test or Not to Test? The Role of Attitudes, Knowledge, and Religious Involvement Among U.S. Adults on Intent-to-Obtain Adult Genetic Testing. Health Educ Behav. 2011 Apr 11; Authors: Botoseneanu A, Alexander JA, Banaszak-Holl J Genetic testing can advance cancer prevention if current screening behaviors improve. Increased prevalence of high-risk genotypes within specific religious groups, use of religious venues for recruiting to genetic screening, and ethical-religious considerations argue for exploring the role of religiosity in forming genetic testing decisions. This study uses the theory of reasoned action and structural equation modeling to test the effects of religious involvement, attitudes, knowledge, and previous experience on intent-to-obtain genetic testing within a representative sample of 1,824 U.S. adults. A majority of respondents indicate willingness to test, especially for curable disorders. Attitudes, knowledge, and previous experience have significant direct effects, and religious involvement has an indirect effect, through its negative effect on attitudes, on intent-to-test. High religious involvement is associated with more negative attitudes toward genetic testing. The findings underscore the need to refine genetic testing outreach efforts to account for multiple influences on consumer intent-to-test. PMID: 21482703 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]  

The sense and nonsense of direct-to-consumer genetic testing for cardiovascular disease. Neth Heart J. 2011 Feb;19(2):85-88 Authors: Janssens AC, Wilde AA, van Langen IM Expectations are high that increasing knowledge of the genetic basis of cardiovascular disease will eventually lead to personalised medicine-to preventive and therapeutic interventions that are targeted to at-risk individuals on the basis of their genetic profiles. Most cardiovascular diseases are caused by a complex interplay of many genetic variants interacting with many non-genetic risk factors such as diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption. Since several years, genetic susceptibility testing for cardiovascular diseases is being offered via the internet directly to consumers. We discuss five reasons why these tests are not useful, namely: (1) the predictive ability is still limited; (2) the risk models used by the companies are based on assumptions that have not been verified; (3) the predicted risks keep changing when new variants are discovered and added to the test; (4) the tests do not consider non-genetic factors in the prediction of cardiovascular disease risk; and (5) the test results will not change recommendations of preventive interventions. Predictive genetic testing for multifactorial forms of cardiovascular disease clearly lacks benefits for the public. Prevention of disease should therefore remain focused on family history and on non-genetic risk factors as diet and physical activity that can have the strongest impact on disease risk, regardless of genetic susceptibility. PMID: 21461037 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]