Links between gum disease and cancer

Data collected during a long-term health study provides additional evidence for a link between increased risk of cancer in individuals with advanced gum disease, according to a new collaborative study led by epidemiologists Dominique Michaud at Tufts University School of Medicine and Elizabeth Platz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Kimmel Cancer Center.

Researchers used data from comprehensive dental exams performed on many participants from Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, and North Carolina, as part of their participation in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study who were then followed from the late 1990s until 2012.

 During the follow-up period, 1,648 new cancer cases were diagnosed. The research team found a 24 percent increase in the risk of developing cancer among participants with severe periodontitis, compared to those with mild to no periodontitis at baseline.

Among patients who had no teeth-which can be a sign of severe periodontitis, the increase in risk was 28 percent. The highest risk was observed in cases of lung cancer, followed by colorectal cancer. When the researchers did sub-group analyses, they found that participants with severe periodontal disease had more than double the risk of developing lung cancer, compared with no periodontitis.

An 80 percent increase in risk of colon cancer observed for participants who were edentulous at baseline, which is consistent with prior findings, and among never smokers, a two-fold higher risk was noted for participants with severe periodontitis, compared to those who had no periodontitis.

The research team accounted for the impact of smoking among the participants, since people who smoke are more likely to get periodontal disease, and smoking raises the risk of lung and colon cancers. Looking at data for the people who had never smoked, they also found evidence that having severe periodontal disease was related to an increased risk of lung cancer and colorectal cancer.

The researchers found no links between increased risk of breast, prostate or blood/lymphatic cancer and periodontitis. The link between periodontitis and increased cancer risk was weaker or not apparent in African-American participants from the ARIC study, except in cases of lung and colorectal cancer. Advanced gum disease-periodontitis, is caused by bacterial infection that damages the soft tissue and bone that support the teeth.
           haleplushearty.blogspot.com

Mould in lungs causes asthma

A team at The University of Manchester have found that in a minority of patients they studied, a standard treatment for asthma-oral steroids was associated with increased levels of the treatable mould Aspergillus in the lung.

The findings could be of valuable help to asthmatics who endure severe and difficult to treat symptoms, by giving doctors the information they need to plan their care more effectively. The team stress there is no danger to asthmatics from steroid therapy and that patients should continue taking their steroid inhalers or tablets as prescribed.

About 40 percent of people with severe asthma have allergies to Aspergillus in their lungs. The research showed that severe asthmatics with allergies were ten times more likely to carry higher levels of mould when on corticosteroid treatment. Individuals in the study receiving antifungal therapy had lower quantities of the mould in the lung; the fungal load was much higher if the therapy had been stopped.

Aspergillus infection is usually treatable, but might be able to explain why some asthmatic patients are having persistent symptoms on steroids. There is no danger to any individuals taking steroids to alleviate their asthma. But nevertheless this data is important because it may help doctors to consider additional treatments to individuals with allergies to this mould associated with steroids, so they may be helped more effectively.

Dr. Bowyer and Dr. Livingstone Chisimba, also from The University of Manchester and colleagues from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust examined the airways of 48 people with mild to severe asthma and 10 volunteers with no symptoms. With higher Aspergillus loads seen in those on oral steroids.

Though different fungi were found with variation between individuals, the most common was Aspergillus. Multiple different isolated spores of the mould were detected in the same lung, Excess mucus is a characteristic feature of asthma. Excess mucus is able to protect Aspergillus from the body's normal defences.
            haleplushearty.blogspot.com

SHARPIN aids cancer progression

Researchers have found a new role for the SHARPIN protein. In addition to being one of three proteins in the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC), regulating NFκB and other inflammatory molecules, SHARPIN modulates PRMT5, an epigenetic master switch that controls several proteins linked to melanoma.

SHARPIN, is best known for its role in LUBAC, which plays a direct role in inflammatory signaling. However, SHARPIN has a second life, regulating PRMT5, which methylates individual genes and the histones that package DNA, controlling a wide range of gene expression. PRMT5 has been linked to prostate, breast, lung and other cancers.

Using human melanoma cell lines, the researchers found that SHARPIN (but not fellow LUBAC proteins HOIP and HOIL-1L) increases PRMT5 activity, which boosts transcription factors SOX10, PAX3 and MITF, all of which contribute to melanoma growth. The researchers believe SHARPIN fine-tunes PRMT5, affecting how the enzyme methylates certain proteins, but not histones.

SHARPIN serves as a navigator, showing PRMT5 where to go and thus which proteins to methylate.
SHARPIN becomes important in tumors that have lost proteins CDKN2A and MTAP, which are co-deleted in around 15 percent of all cancers. When MTAP is deleted, PRMT5 activity is reduced. However, in those cases SHARPIN acts as a counterbalance, boosting PRMT5. Epidemiological data show that patients whose tumors lack MTAP, and have elevated levels of SHARPIN, have poorer prognosis.
         haleplushearty.blogspot.com

HIV positive women with cytomegalovirus may infect their babies with the virus

HIV-positive women with cytomegalovirus CMV, in their urine at the time of delivery may pass the virus to their babies.

Women who had gonorrhea when they gave birth may also infect their babies with CMV. Babies infected through their mothers and those with weakened immune systems will experience serious health problems.

CMV can impair fetal growth, cause birth defects and babies born with the virus can have damage to their brain, liver, lung and spleen.

 Researchers examined 260 pairs of mothers and 222 babies from who were enrolled in a perinatal study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

After testing the mothers' and infants' urine for detectable CMV, the researchers discovered that- 2 percent of the women had detectable CMV and 3.8 percent of babies had the virus.

Eight percent of women with detectable CMV had babies with the virus, as opposed to 2.1 percent of women who did not have CMV.

Two percent of women with detectable CMV transmitted the virus to their babies compared with 8.1 of those who did not have CMV.

        haleplushearty.blogspot.com

Vitamin B may protect against air pollution

B vitamins are water-soluble vitamins that aid cell metabolism, these vitamins are found in whole unprocessed foods but low quantity in processed food.

Researchers found that high doses of vitamin B may destroy the damage caused by air pollution.

Pollutants like smoke and chemical by- product can stay in human lungs and cause lungs and heart diseases.

Air pollutants alter the function of immune system. Foods rich in vitamin B can control the effects of these pollutants in the body.

Lung cancer can cause shoulder pain

Lung cancer can cause pain in the shoulder, when lung cancer spread to bones, lymph nodes and other parts of the body shoulder pain will occur.

People suffering from lung cancer may also have pain on their arms and hands, the pain may also include tingling and numbness.

Common symptoms of lung cancer are:
• coughing up blood
• unexplained weight loss
• chest infections
• wheezing
• fatigue

Treatment for lung cancer depends on the types of cancer and the stage of the cancer. Common treatments are: surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy.