NewsPro Archive
February 2003
RISG.ORG Current News Search
The information contained in these articles may or may not reflect the beliefs of RISG.ORG its staff and members.
Enter your email address here to receive our current news search reports in your email box weekly.
To search all our archive files by word or phrase go to our archive search engine and choose Current News Archives.
Please use the find feature on your browser to locate your search term in this file.
Click here to see a list of news archives.
Note: The older the date of the article the less chance it'll still be available.
Click on the underlined link following each synopsis to go to that article.
Posted Friday, February 28, 2003 by Rick
Printed in the Las Vegas SUN February 20, 2003.
Posted to RISG List server by Liz Kilpatrick
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2003/feb/20/022007011.html
Gene Helps Determine How Much You Hurt
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP Medical Writer
February 20, 2003, 6:53 PM EST
WASHINGTON -- When it comes to pain, people can be wimps, stoics or
somewhere in between. Now scientists have found one reason -- a variation in a single gene that shows stoics really can tolerate more pain.
The discovery by University of Michigan neuroscientists emphasizes the need to customize pain treatment -- and might even allow doctors to soon try predicting which patients will respond to a certain kind of medication.
People's perceptions of pain are tremendously variable. A crushing blow to one person can be trivial to another; likewise, pain medication that helps one patient may do nothing for the next.
The new research shows how much you suffer is due at least partly to a gene that helps regulate how many natural painkillers, called endorphins, your body produces.
The gene produces an enzyme called COMT that metabolizes the brain chemical dopamine, which acts as a signal messenger between brain cells.
Everyone has two copies of this gene, one inherited from each parent -- but they can inherit forms that differ by one amino acid. The COMT gene that contains the amino acid methionine, or met, is less active than if it contained the amino acid valine, or val.
Dr. Jon-Kar Zubieta put 29 healthy young adults into brain-imaging PET
scanners. He injected their jaw muscles with enough salt water to make them really ache, simulating a painful condition called temporomandibular joint syndrome, or TMJ. Zubieta measured how their brain cells reacted while the volunteer victims rated, every 15 seconds, how much they hurt during the 20-minute pain cycle.
People who had two copies of the val-COMT gene were stoics. They withstood significantly greater saline doses than other volunteers while rating the resulting pain as less bothersome, Zubieta reports in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
The PET scans verified that response: Painkilling endorphins were much more active in these people's brains.
In contrast, people with two copies of the met-COMT gene suffered the most pain from the smallest saline injections -- and had far less natural painkiller action.
People who inherited both a met and val gene copy tolerated pain at levels between the two extremes.
A quarter of the U.S. population carries the "stoic" gene variation while another quarter has the gene variant that makes them super-sensitive to pain, Zubieta estimates.
Why would a gene that regulates dopamine also affect painkilling endorphins Too much dopamine in the brain reduces endorphin content, Zubieta explained.
People with the double-val gene make a very potent COMT enzyme that clears out dopamine rapidly, triggering more endorphin production, while people with the double-met gene have the opposite reaction.
It's an important discovery, said neurobiologist Adron Harris of the
University of Texas at Austin, who has long studied why men and women
tolerate pain differently.
One reason: When standard pain medications fail, antidepressants that target dopamine sometimes relieve severe, chronic pain. But there has been no way to predict who might benefit. The new research suggests a simple gene test might soon solve that problem, Harris said.
"Certainly the need to individualize pain treatment ... is great, and is now done mostly by trial and error," he said. "This (research) is really getting to molecular medicine or genetic medicine, where you're using the genotype to predict which drug would be best for the person."
Pain response clearly depends on more than a single gene, Zubieta cautioned. For example, in another study, he found women tolerate pain better during the time of the menstrual cycle when estrogen levels are highest.
And Zubieta's ultimate goal isn't just to predict pain tolerance, but to understand what combination of genetics and other factors make certain people more vulnerable to painful diseases, like the joint-afflicting fibromyalgia that tends to strike women.
RISG.ORG Current News Search
The information contained in these articles may or may not reflect the beliefs of RISG.ORG its staff and members.
Enter your email address here to receive our current news search reports in your email box weekly.
To search all our archive files by word or phrase go to our archive search engine and choose Current News Archives.
Please use the find feature on your browser to locate your search term in this file.
Click here to see a list of news archives.
Note: The older the date of the article the less chance it'll still be available.
Click on the underlined link following each synopsis to go to that article.
Posted Wednesday, February 26, 2003 by Rick
****Ankylosing Spondylitis
REMICADE (R)(Infliximab) First Anti-TNF Agent to be Recommended For EU Approval for Treating Ankylosing Spondylitis Schering-Plough Corporation today announced that the European Union's Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products has issued a positive opinion recommending approval of REMICADE for the treat
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030221/nyf068_1.html
Result found by: Yahoo! News
Group says many suffer from undetected spinal disorder
eTaiwanNews.com - Feb 24 2003 4:26AM GMT
http://www.etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/2003/02/24/1046046715.htm
Result found by: Moreover
AAPM: Pamidronate Shows Potential in Chronic Back Pain
Doctors Guide - Feb 21 2003 8:38PM GMT
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/8525697700573E1885256CD400560E90
Result found by: Moreover
****Autoimmune
HHS Announces Contracts to Develop Safer Smallpox Vaccines
... illness from potential agents of bioterrorism, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies. Note: All HHS press releases,...- Feb 25 12:18 PM ET
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030225/180/3cw1t.html
Result found by: Yahoo! News
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
...Research indicates that it is an autoimmune disease....- Feb 24 7:00 PM ET
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030225/233/3csh2.html
Result found by: Yahoo! News
****Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Leading Psychiatry Textbook Reaches Ninth Edition
...-- Added sections on chronic fatigue syndrome, complementary and alternative medicine, prion disorders such as "mad cow...- Feb 20 4:49 PM ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030220/205226_1.html
Result found by: Yahoo! News
Measure Aids Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Assessment
2003/01/24 - Measure Aids Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Assessment A DGReview of : Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism 01/23/2003 By Anne MacLennan A particular and quantifiable abnormality in the cardiovascular react Doctors Guide
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/8525697700573E1885256CB1000CCB4D
Result found by: AltaVista News
****Crohn's
Gadolinium Enhanced MRI with PEG Enhances Crohn's Disease Diagnosis
Doctors Guide - Feb 20 2003 8:43PM GMT
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/8525697700573E1885256CCE003247E4
Result found by: Moreover
Europe regulators reject Biogen drug
European drug regulators dealt Biogen Inc. an unexpected blow, requesting the Cambridge drug company to conduct additional studies on its psoriasis drug Amevive before it could be approved.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/052/business/Europe_regulators_reject_Biogen_drug+.shtml
Result found by: The Boston Globe
****Irritable Bowel Syndrome IBS
Stress likely a factor in irritable bowel syndrome
Dear Dr. Douma: I've had irritable bowel for about 18 years and it's getting worse. My main problem used to be constipation, but now it's mostly diarrhea. Please explain irritable bowel and how to control it. --
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~24635~1203507,00.html
Result found by: FAST Search (alltheweb.com)
****Psoriatic Arthritis / Psoriasis
New drug for psoriasis
2003/02/25 - New drug for psoriasis The news that a revolutionary new drug offers hope of long-term remission from psoriasis was reported in the Daily Mail on 18/2/2003. The article appears to be based... NeLH
http://www.nelh.nhs.uk/hth/psoriasis.asp
Result found by: AltaVista News
Biogen wins U.S. approval of psoriasis drug
2003/01/31 - Cambridge-based Biogen Inc. said Friday it won U.S. approval to sell a treatment for psoriasis that analysts predict may have annual sales of $500 million because it lacks the side effects of older me Boston Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2003/01/27/daily48.html
Result found by: AltaVista News
Enbrel shows promise as psoriasis drug
2003/01/18 - By Bloomberg News THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. Amgen's Enbrel drug helped fight psoriasis in a company-sponsored study that may help the world's biggest biotechnology company expand the medication's use. Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/healthscience/134617806_enbrel18.html
Result found by: AltaVista News
Free And Peptide Bound Collagen Crosslink Excretion Varies in Different Skeletal Disease 2002/12/28 - Free And Peptide Bound Collagen Crosslink Excretion Varies in Different Skeletal Disease A DGReview of : Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (ARD Online) 12/27/2002 By Anne MacLennan The correlation betw Doctors Guide
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/8525697700573E1885256C9000213D44
Result found by: AltaVista News
ABCNEWS.com : New Treatment for Psoriasis: Are We Finally on the Right Track?
There is new hope for over 6 million people in the United States living with psoriasis, a condition that causes an overproduction of skin cells. Once thought of as just a skin condition, doctors now know that psoriasis is a disorder of the immune system.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/Healthology/HO_psoriasisnewtreatment_030220.html
Result found by: FAST Search (alltheweb.com)
****Urethritis
Read the Q&As
2003/02/12 - Dr Stuttafords replies cannot apply to individual cases and should be taken in a general context. Please consult your GP if you suffer from any health or special conditions. Are there any sexually tra The Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,643-575171,00.html
Result found by: AltaVista News
****Other
TopAbstracts in Multiple Sclerosis
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/36B088401FFAFA3185256CCD0010C773?OpenDocument&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5&c=Multiple%20Sclerosis&count=10
Juvenile arthritis often ignored
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune - Feb 23 2003 6:27PM GMT
http://www.wisinfo.com/dailytribune/wrdtlocal/277090698365921.shtml
Result found by: Moreover
Fibromyalgia: Drug-free Relief From Chronic Pain
2003/01/29 - By Dr. Len Saputo The human body is miraculous. Although we have accumulated an enormous encyclopedia of information about it, the bodys remain far too complex for human understanding. Nonetheless, th Red Flags Weekly
http://www.redflagsweekly.com/features/2003_jan29.html
Result found by: AltaVista News
Treating the part of illness `in your head'
Dr. Marc Feldman thought he could help sick people get better -- if he could only get them into his office. But patients often canceled their appointments upon arriving at his Duke University clinic, and Feldman soon figured out why. It was the sign on his
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/health/1786694
Result found by: FAST Search (alltheweb.com)
Single Gene Leap Led to Flea-Borne Transmission of Plague Bacterium
2003/02/20 - By acquiring this gene, the bacterium gradually changed from a germ that causes a mild human stomach illness acquired via contaminated food or water to the flea-borne agent of the 'Black Death,' which National Institutes of Health
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr2002/niaid-25.htm
Result found by: AltaVista News
Drug may fight against lupus
2003/02/17 - Experiments in mice suggest that the drug trichostatin might be beneficial in the treatment of lupus. Around one million Americans, mainly women, have the autoimmune disease known as lupus. The immune HealthandAge.com
http://www.healthandage.com/Home/gm=1!gid1=3303;jsessionid=PlCdu6rHfdS0gx3p222ZBlWBKyo52p59KNA53c9Jz8knNnmb2746!1495537831!174479252!7537!7002
Result found by: AltaVista News
Doctor's Guide Search results.
Search results : Reactive Arthritis, Reiter's Syndrome
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=reiter's%20syndrome%2C%20reactive%20arthritis&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Ankylosing Spondylitis
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=Ankylosing%20Spondylitis&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Psoriatic
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=Psoriatic&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Psoriasis
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=psoriasis&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Inflammatory Bowel Disease
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=Inflammatory%20Bowel%20Disease&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Irritable bowel syndrome
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=irritable%20bowel%20syndrome&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Arthritis
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=arthritis&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Autoimmune
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=Autoimmune&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Prayer
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=Prayer&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Pain
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=pain&so=date&id=3ac47d820742b85085256c6a00655fc5
Search results : Depression
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=depression&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Dermatology
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=dermatology&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Fibromyalgia
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=fibromyalgia&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Immunology
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=immunology&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
Search results : Sjogren's Syndrome
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/SearchResults?openform&Query=Sjogren's%20Syndrome&so=date&id=3AC47D820742B85085256C6A00655FC5
RISG.ORG Current News Search
The information contained in these articles may or may not reflect the beliefs of RISG.ORG its staff and members.
Enter your email address here to receive our current news search reports in your email box weekly.
To search all our archive files by word or phrase go to our archive search engine and choose Current News Archives.
Please use the find feature on your browser to locate your search term in this file.
Click here to see a list of news archives.
Note: The older the date of the article the less chance it'll still be available.