"It is estimated that people who have first-degree relatives with Alzheimer's disease are four to 10 times more likely to develop the disease themselves compared to people with no family history," said study author Robyn Honea, DPhil, of the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City.

Researchers looked at 53 people ages 60 and older without dementia for a period of two years. Eleven of them said their mothers had Alzheimer's, 10 reported a father with the memory-loss illness and 32 said they had no family history of the condition. The groups were given brain scans and cognitive tests throughout the study.

The researchers found that people whose mothers had Alzheimer's disease had about one-and-a-half times more whole brain shrinkage per year than those who had a father with the disease, the study said. Shrinking of these brain regions, or brain atrophy, occurs in Alzheimer's disease.

"Using 3-D mapping methods, we were able to look at the different regions of the brain affected in people with maternal or paternal ties to Alzheimer's disease. In people with a maternal family history of the disease, we found differences in the break-down processes in specific areas of the brain that are also affected by Alzheimer's disease, leading to shrinkage. Understanding how the disease may be inherited could lead to better prevention and treatment strategies," said Honea.

Honea also said her findings are in line with other previous research suggesting that Alzheimer's may be inherited by immediate family members.

The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Alzheimer's Disease may be Inherited from Mother’s

HPV vaccination of boys and young men has generated a whole controversy among researchers and authorities on the grounds that all the vaccine costs would be higher than the benefits.

HPV infection is best known as the primary cause of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women worldwide. But various strains of HPV also cause anal, penile, head and neck cancers. Vaccinating men and boys would prevent some of these cancers.

The prospective HPV in Men (HIM) study involved 1,427 men in Tampa, 1,443 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and 1,429 in Cuernavaca, Mexico, who were examined for HPV infection at 6-month intervals for a median of 27.5 months. The men were aged 18-70 years at baseline, with a median age of 32 years. All subjects were HIV negative and had no history of cancer.

At each visit, three specimens of penile and scrotal cells were obtained from the coronal sulcus, glans penis, penile shaft, and scrotum for the detection of HPV DNA and for HPV genotyping. Sociodemographic and sexual behavior data were obtained using a questionnaire.

"We found that there is a high proportion of men who have genital HPV infections. At enrollment, it was 50 percent," Dr. Anna Giuliano of the H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, whose study appears online in the journal Lancet.

Researchers also found that the rate at which men acquire new HPV infections is very similar to women, founding that about 6 percent of men per year will get a new HPV 16 infection, the strain that is known for causing cervical cancer in women and other cancers in men.

"The biology seems to be very similar (to women). What is different is men seem to have high prevalence of genital HPV infections throughout their life spans," Dr. Giuliano said in a telephone interview.

Vaccine experts said the study builds momentum for widespread HPV vaccination among boys.

"This study highlights the high incidence of HPV infection in men, which emphasizes their role in transmission of HPV to women. It must surely strengthen the argument for vaccination of men, both for their own protection, and that of their partners," Dr. Anne Szarewski of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London said in a statement.

The National Cancer Institute supported the study. Dr. Giuliano reported ties to Merck, the manufacturer of the HPV vaccine.

Half of Men may be Infected with Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

"There are more tanning facilities in the U.S. than there are Starbucks or McDonald's. More than a million visits are made every day," said Dr. Sophie J. Balk, who helped write the new statement for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In one large Scandinavian study, 24 out of every 10,000 young women who tanned regularly developed melanoma compared to 17 out of every 10,000 who had never or only rarely used a tanning bed. About one in 50 white people get melanoma at some point in their life, and the number has been climbing for the past three decades. Each year, about 8,700 Americans die from the disease.

A University of Minnesota study said no tanning is safe, regardless of age, gender or type of device. The study concluded anyone who has used a tanning bed is 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma and frequent users are 2.5 to three times more likely to get the cancer than those who never use tanning devices.

"I see it as a very important public health issue. We're coming out very strongly for legislation that supports banning minors' access to tanning salons," said Balk, a pediatrician at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in Bronx, New York.

Surveys have found that nearly a quarter of white teenagers in the U.S. have tried indoor tanning at least once. And many do it regularly.

"Mothers and daughters tend to go tan together. It's like going to the beauty parlor," said Dr. June K. Robinson, a dermatologist at Northwestern University in Chicago, who is not affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

"It's banning things we know have health downsides for people who are not able to make an informed choice at this point in their life," said Robinson, a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, which also supports a ban for minors and compares tanning to cigarettes and alcohol.

American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org

Tanning Salons Should Close Their Door to Teenagers

Much similar to HIV virus, hepatitis C virus straightaway affects liver, causing cirrhosis and lung cancer. Since the virus mutates strongly, there is no traditional vaccine to protect against it.

"The hepatitis C virus (HCV) has the same infection pathways as HIV. Approximately one newly infected patient in five has an immune system capable of defeating an acute HCV infection in the first six months. But most cases do not present any symptoms at all and the virus becomes a chronic infection of the liver," said Jan Pravsgaard Christensen, Associate Professor of Infection Immunology at the University.

Scientists have been working for years to eradicate the disease by engineering a vaccine. However, the virus mutates rapidly, making it difficult to pin down. As soon as a vaccine can be developed, the microorganism has changed, making it immune to drugs.

"We took a dead common cold virus, an adenovirus that is completely harmless and which many of us have met in childhood. We hid the gene for one of the HCV’s internal molecules inside it. At the same time we attached a special molecule on the internal molecule so that when the cells of the mouse body tried to take a sample, they would extract a more extensive section,” Professor Christensen said.

"The immune defences would then be presented with a larger section of the molecule concerned. You may say that the immune defences were given an entire palm print of the internal genes instead of just a single fingerprint," he said.

Given the high prevalence of the disease and the fact that it is so difficult to fight once it has reached a chronic stage, the researchers said that their vaccine has the possibility to save millions of lives.

The University of Copenhagen is also currently negotiating the sale of the patent for the process so that the technology can be developed for use in human vaccines.

The finding has been published in the Journal of Immunology.

A New Vaccine Technology Against Hepatitis C Virus

They removed large chunks of heart out of mice that were only a day old, only to find that their hearts were restored within three weeks.

Previous research has demonstrated that some fish and amphibians can re-grow portions of their hearts after injury. However, this is the first time the process has been seen in mammals. Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center conducted the study and published their findings in the journal Science.

In the study, scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, showed that one-day-old mice could regenerate 15 percent of their heart tissue within three weeks, an ability that was lost if the procedure had been done when the mice were a week old. Also, heart scans showed that parts of the organ that had been surgically removed had not only grown back, but were functioning normally.

“Now that we know this process exists in mammals, which wasn’t recognized previously, we can try to find drugs, small molecules, or genes that can promote the process in humans. It’s been known for years that amphibians and fish have this regenerative ability, even in adulthood, but it was generally thought that this was lost in mammals. I was completely blown away by this result” said Eric Olson, a genetics and molecular biology professor at the University of Texas and an author of the study.

Olson thinks future research will show humans have a similar capacity, although no experiments involving human heart tissue are currently planned.

“There's no reason to believe that the same window would not exist in the human heart. Everything we know about development and early function of the mouse heart is comparable to the human heart so we're quite confident that this process does exist in humans, although that of course still has to be shown,” said Olson.

The team is now focusing on this brief window when the heart is still capable of regeneration, and to find out how, and why, the heart "turns off" this remarkable ability to regenerate as it grows older.

Newborn Mice can Regenerate their Own Hearts

In its simplest sense magnotherapy uses magnets to relieve the body of pain and cure for a variety of diseases. It is an alternative form of treatment that is more popular in China, India, Japan and in some countries in Europe.

Basically what the magnet does is realign or correct the electromagnetic impulses of the body which had been put into disarray the moment the body gets sick. As the theory of magnotherapy goes, each individual cell of the body generates this electromagnetic field. By applying magnets on the surface of the affected area, the magnetic field relaxes the capillary walls of the body’s cells resulting to increase blood flow to that part of the body and at the same time prevents the flow of liquids outside the cells which help control the pain. Some also claims that the same magnetic field disrupts muscle contractions preventing muscle spasms to occur.

The magnets also seem to block or the very least interfere the flow of sodium and calcium inside the body’s cells. These two elements are responsible for sending pain signals to the brain. By blocking their movements, the magnets are stopping the cells to tell your brain that you are in pain.

Usually, the magnets used in magnotherapy are thin metal magnets strategically placed on the body. They are placed often times in groups and with fixed spacing. The size of the magnet is essential because you want something that is not that noticeable and can be worn comfortably on a daily basis. Using magnets that are more than 1/8" thick is already quite a bother to wear. As a general rule, the more magnets used the stronger the effect and the better the results. But be sure to use magnets that are pretty good and strong enough to pass though 4 to 5 inches of human tissue and bones.

Also make certain that when arranging the magnets they should maintain a minimum distance of ¼ inch from each other. This arrangement maximizes the electromagnetic field generated by each magnet. Just as the quantity of magnets matters, the strength is very important as well. And finally, for added comfort it would be best to have a piece of cloth or fabric that is wrapped around the area where you will be placing the magnet onto.

There are still a lot to be learned about magnet therapy. Its application to practical medicine still receives frowns and smirks from some members of the medical community. But today more and more studies are pointing to the positive effects of magnotherapy in alleviating pain and treating different medical conditions. As more details are obtained from researches, people will get a more thorough understanding of the possible effects of magnets on the human body.

Alternative Treatment: Finding the Truth in Magnotherapy

We are often riddled with the question if truffles and fungi, in general, would have any nutritional value.  In the early Eastern civilizations, mushrooms and fungi are not only considered as food, they are also noted for the medicinal value. Until now, there are cultures which would still use mushroom extracts as a component for soups and teas in order to boost the immune system.  They are also said to reduce the risks of cancer and heart diseases.

Mushrooms are healthy food.  They are low in calories but contain high amount of vegetable protein, chitin, iron, zinc, fiber, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.  Calcium, minerals, vitamins B and C are commonly found in several mushrooms.

Truffles are different from other mushrooms since it is a hypogean or an underground mushroom.  What is harvested is the fruit, the roots are white filaments called as hyphas, and there is not stem.  Truffles would suck sap from the host plant or trees. Those truffles that grow under the roots of oak trees are the most pungent, while those that grow in the roots of lime trees are the most aromatic.

The flavours found on a truffle is complex, which is why they are best combined with bland food in order to draw out its flavour.  They are highly perishable, which is why it is important for truffles to be consumed immediately after harvesting.  Often times, truffles are sold in containers filled with rice.  This rice has definitely absorbed parts of the flavour and aroma of the fungi and could be used for cooking.

Given this condition, they are often described as “vegetable meat.”  Truffles contain high protein content.  They are made up 73% water, and several substances and minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium.

They are also low in fat.  Just like any other vegetables, they are free of cholesterol.  In fact, there are several studies citing mushrooms and fungi to have to ability to lower down serum cholesterol.

However, it should be taken into consideration that although mushroom and truffles have no cholesterol and low in fat, the method of cooking them would usually require them to be infused with butter or oil.  Thus, adding to the fatty value of the dish.   It would then be safe to say, that although vegetables, mushrooms and fungi are healthy, the method of cooking and preparing it would have a huge impact on the nutritional value of the dish.

Truffles and mushrooms are different from other vegetables because of their unique flavour.  Although, truffles can cause a huge dent on the budget, it is safe to say that not only are you getting flavour from your money. It would also provide an important contribution to your health.

The Health Benefits of Truffles And Fungi

In the perspective of the practitioners of reflexology, they see the hands and the feet as representations for the many body parts and glands. Simply put, for them the feet and the hands are the mirror images for the body glands and organs. And what connects the organs to the hands and the feet are the zones and the reflexes.

Here's how reflexology works. The moment the reflexes are stimulated, the electrical energy of the body will work in complement with the nervous system and this will in effect clear any hurdles on the zones. So you can expect that for every reflexology session, possible blockages in the zones are broken down, so the person gets to restore the natural flow of the energy in the body.

The moment some of these reflexes are addressed and manipulated, then stress is removed and in the process the parasympathetic response in the person's body is activated that in turn releases in the imbalances in the person's body. And the moment the stress is removed and that the circulation of the energy has been restored to its normal level, then the person who is subjected to reflexology returns to that stage called homeostasis. In the practice of reflexology and medicine, homeostasis is that automatic process in which the body of the person reverts back to that normal stage.

So where exactly is the pressure applied in the body of the person?

In reflexology, the focus is on the feet and the hands. Pressure is applied to these two body parts in order to bring relaxation and health to the person. But there is one segment in this practice that also calls for reflexology on the ear. This kind of practice is believed by practitioners as not part of traditional reflexology. For them, this is just modified from auricular therapy which is more related to acupuncture.

So what can be expected from reflexology?

As mentioned, this is all about the reduction of stress. This is often the go-to procedure that is looking for an immediate relief from stress and aches of the body. On the assertion that reflexology can also help arrest and counter some health conditions and illnesses, it is believed that the effects are not clear. There are still some studies and verifications that need to be done in order to establish the efficacy of reflexology in addressing diseases and other health concerns.

What is clear is that this form of procedure should not be used as an answer; rather this should be used just as a complement to traditional medical care.

Breaking Down The Basics Of Reflexology

Normally, the carbohydrates in food are converted into glucose. The glucose is then transported through the body and is particularly important in fuelling the brain. However, if there are very little carbs in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy source. Thus, the body produces ketone bodies—a state known as ketosis.

Low Carb diets take advantage of this state of ketosis.  Since cells in the body can use ketones for energy instead of glucose, and since ketones are easier to produce, only a small amount of glucose is created.  In other words, ketosis is the more significant process in this case. Diets low in starches and sugars do not directly affect blood sugar levels significantly, meals tend to have little direct effect on insulin levels.  These diets tend to discourage insulin production in general.

Additionally, many experts argue that a ketosis diet is more like the diet our bodies have evolved to use.  Prior to the advent of agriculture just a few thousand years ago, the human body had millions of years of evolution which selected for a hunter gather lifestyle.  Hunter gatherers had very few carbs in their diets.  They may have had the original ketosis diet.

Dr. Robert Adkins first published the Adkins Diet Revolution in 1972 which set off the modern round of low carb dieting.  At the time, its appeal was limited because so many scientists and doctors condemned it.  Over time, though, it gained credibility and when he republished the book as Dr. Adkins New Diet Revolution, it set off frenzy.

Soon other ketosis diet books appeared.  These included the popular South Beach diet, Zone diet, and Protein Power.

While the scientific community still hasn’t acknowledged the value of the ketosis diet, they have started to make recommendations that people reduce the amount of carbohydrates in their diets.  The medical community has stressed the importance of fiber in diets and recommended that children not drink juice on a regular basis.

While the popularity of ketosis diets has waned since its height in 2004, there are still many adherents.  That’s because, for many people, low carb diets work when nothing else has before.

There has been much scientific research on low carb diets.  There are many studies which show it works and many studies which show that it is dangerous.  Because of these competing studies, advocates on both sides can pull up evidence that they are right.

Once you do your due diligence, you will be better able to decide whether to pursue a ketosis diet.

The Theory Behind a Ketosis Diet Plan

Let us have the courage to ask why and, along the way, try our best to understand everybody’s culpability or innocence. If you keep tabs on Broadway, just so you’ll know if, by some surprising concatenation of events, a drama you might actually be interested in seeing comes along, you know that the usual fare this past season was once again a series of enthusiastically promoted trifles.

But the financial realities on Broadway make it exceedingly chancy for producers to put up anything that isn’t already proven at the box office and, even more importantly, with the critics, who can even disable a previous box-office success. All very understandable. The producers are not in the business of nourishing unproven works, no matter how worthy they may suspect or be advised they are. Not understandable.

The small and regional theaters are seldom managed by people who have any sense of what mainstream appeal might be or they very likely wouldn’t be working in a little or regional theater. Perfectly understandable.

Even if a small or regional theater puts up a work that might attract a wider audience than the reliable coterie whose interests are decidedly offbeat, the likelihood that a well-known critic or even a second-string critic will show up is discouraging. Understandable. During the theater season, little theaters put up shows with withering frequency in New York and all over the country. The critics whose names people might known do not flock to any production that doesn’t have some kind of major preproduction cache. Their primary job is to review the little shows in the big venues, not the remotely possible big show in a little venue, and their secondary job, should they occasionally be inspired to assume its obligations, is to cherry pick smaller productions that present some precondition of influential interest. Also understandable.

The current crop of critics, when confronted by a work in any theatrical venue that smacks of being mainstream, are unlikely to find it suits their own offbeat temperaments. Not understandable. It is such temperamental selectivity that prevented, among countless lesser knows, a relatively mainstream playwright like Arthur Miller from getting a rave review during the last two or three decades of his life, and even a popular confectioner like Neil Simon from getting one for many years.

The inescapable fact is, offbeat people usually prefer offbeat works. Very understandable. We’re all human.

But what would be really refreshing is for a major critic or two to surface whose tastes would incline them to help nourish intelligent theater that deals with the major text and subtext of contemporary mainstream American life. Once we were fortunate enough to have them, like the legendary Brooks Atkinson and the more recent Walter Kerr, we could be far more hopeful that mainstream works would have a chance of surfacing. After all, critics are the first significant audience for any work, and so they are necessary partners in the attempt to rejuvenate intelligent and widely relevant American theater.

As for the playwrights, we must understand their plight, too. Simply put, comes the hopeful new playwright with a mainstream sensibility, where can he hope to find an outlet? And, if he does, can he hope to have a critic show up, let alone one who is on the same page with his sensibility? Quite a rare – and, year after year, an apparently impossible – combination.

Even Actors Equity is aligned against the poor talented soul. Should the playwright somehow find a theater that will put us his or her work, he or she will get what is known as a showcase presentation, which provides for four weeks of rehearsal and a four-week run, possibly extended to five weeks. Since the rehearsals must be conducted with actors who have to participate in their spare time, due to the meager honorariums showcase appearances provide, it’s difficult to get a production that does the work justice. And a four-week run simply is not long enough to build word of mouth.

Between the scarcity of venues that have a predisposition toward a playwright who has a sensibility that might reach mainstream America, the difficulty of getting a production that showcases the work in a way that renders whatever excellence it may hold, the brevity of the run, and the scarcity of critics who might arrive, compounded by the unlikely prospect that any who do might appreciate it, can we blame the playwright who finally decides that he’s involved in a hopeless puzzle that, at best, is merely babysitting him as an intellectual. Is it any wonder that he may sulk between disappointing efforts and finally walk away into a writing career where there is some hope of getting somewhere. Understandable, at least.

So there you have, as best as we can explain it, why no Pulitzer was awarded for drama.

But we could never leave you without whatever hope there might be.

The one factor that hasn’t yet entered contemporary theater that has influenced, for better or worse, film and television, is the advent of the self-funded writer-producer. Considering the gauntlet that faces the mainstream playwright without his or her own resources, such a writer-producer, maligned as he may initially be as self-aggrandizing by the theatrical establishment, may be the only hope left.

Meanwhile, we must reluctantly admit, better not to award the Pulitzer at all than to award it to a trifle, masquerading as a piece of consequence. At least, some sort of standard has been indicated.

No Pulitzer For Drama - No Wonder