Is it bad to eat ice?

Many people who want to cool down or feel refreshed will eat ice or add it to their drink. Sucking on ice cubes can also help people find relief from dry mouth symptoms.

However, continually craving ice and crunching on ice cubes could be bad for a person's teeth and may be a sign of an underlying condition that requires medical attention.

Read on to discover the possible causes of ice cravings and how to treat them.

Underlying conditions that cause ice cravings

The following conditions can make people want to eat or chew on ice:

Pagophagia

Pagophagia is the term for someone who frequently craves ice.

The cravings can be persistent and often last for more than a month.

Pagophagia is a rare form of an eating disorder called pica. Pica often accompanies other mental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia and gives people compulsive cravings for foods that have no real nutritional value.

While children are generally more likely to develop pica cravings, pagophagia can affect both adults and children.

Iron deficiency anemia

Some researchers believe there is a link between iron deficiency anemia and craving ice, but the reason remains unclear.

People with anemia have an insufficient number of healthy red blood cells, which are essential for carrying oxygen around the body. In iron deficiency anemia, a lack of iron is the cause.

Typical symptoms of anemia include:

fatigue or lack of energy

pale skin (pallor)

feeling dizzy or lightheaded

heart palpitations

breathlessness

chest pain

a swollen tongue

cold hands or feet

A study on people with iron deficiency anemia found that 13 of the 81 participants had symptoms of pagophagia. For some of these individuals, taking iron supplements eliminated their ice cravings.

Additional research suggests that iron supplementation may also provide relief from other pica symptoms.

One theory is that chewing ice makes people with anemia feel more alert. Researchers believe that it triggers an effect that sends more blood up to the brain, which in turn supplies the brain with more oxygen. In addition to improved alertness, this can lead to greater clarity of thinking.

Emotional issues

Some emotional issues can also make people want to chew on ice cubes. For example, a person with stress may find chewing on ice soothing.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) could also be a cause. OCD is a mental health condition that leads to compulsive behaviors or obsessive thoughts.

Nutritional problems

People who constantly crave ice may have underlying dietary issues that exacerbate the cravings.

It is common to add flavored syrups to shaved ice, so cravings for this may, in fact, be sugar cravings. People should limit their consumption of this type of ice as the sugar content is high.

Dehydration

Mild dehydration can also make a person crave ice cubes. Ice cubes are cooling and can soothe a dry mouth and lips in addition to quenching thirst. They can also help to lower body temperature on a warm day.

The symptoms of mild dehydration are thirst and darker-colored urine. Anyone who is experiencing more severe dehydration symptoms, such as a seizure or feeling dizzy, confused, or disorientated will require urgent treatment.

Source: Medical News Today

Causes and treatment of gastrointestinal perforation

The gastrointestinal tract consists of the stomach, small intestine, and large bowel. It is possible for a perforation, or hole, to develop in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. This condition is called gastrointestinal perforation.

Gastrointestinal perforation is a painful condition that can lead to further health complications, so emergency surgery is often necessary.

This article explores the causes and symptoms of gastrointestinal perforation. It also covers complications, diagnosis, treatment, and when to see a doctor.

What is gastrointestinal perforation?

Gastrointestinal perforation is a hole in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. Other names for the condition include:

·         ruptured bowel

·         intestinal perforation

·         perforation of the intestines

Most people who have gastrointestinal perforation will have a hole in their stomach or small intestine.

A hole in the large bowel, also known as the lower intestine, occurs less frequently. Researchers estimate that perforations of the lower intestine only affect 4 in every 100,000 people in the European population.

A perforation can cause the contents of the stomach, small intestine, or large bowel to seep into the abdominal cavity. Bacteria will also be able to enter, potentially leading to a condition called peritonitis, which is life-threatening and requires immediate treatment.

Peritonitis is inflammation of the peritoneum, the thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen. Without treatment, peritonitis can cause blood poisoning, or sepsis. Sepsis may lead to organ failure.

People with a gastrointestinal perforation, therefore, need emergency medical care. Intestinal perforations are the most common surgical emergency that occurs worldwide.

Causes

Many different conditions can cause gastrointestinal perforation, including:

·         volvulus — a bowel obstruction that happens when the large bowel becomes twisted

·         colon cancer

·         diverticulitis — an inflammatory condition that affects the large bowel

·         peptic ulcers in the stomach or small intestine

·         ischemic colitis — inflammation of the large bowel due to an inadequate supply of blood

·         gallstones

·         gallbladder infection

·         inflammatory bowel disease

·         reactions to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen

·         injury or trauma to the abdomen, such as a knife wound or swallowing something sharp

Although rare, accidents during specific medical procedures can also cause gastrointestinal perforation. Examples include:

·         endoscopy — a procedure that uses a small camera to look at the intestine

·         colonoscopy — a medical procedure that can diagnose bowel cancer

Symptoms

The primary symptoms of gastrointestinal perforation are severe abdominal pain and tenderness. The abdomen may also protrude or feel hard to the touch.

If the hole is in a person's stomach or small intestine, the onset of pain is usually sudden, but if the hole is in the large bowel, the pain may come on gradually. In either case, once the pain starts, it is likely to be constant.

The pain may get worse when the person moves or if there is any pressure on the abdomen. However, it may lessen if they lay down.

Other symptoms of gastrointestinal perforation may include:

·         chills

·         fever

·         nausea

·         vomiting

If a person with gastrointestinal perforation develops peritonitis, the following symptoms may occur:

·         fatigue

·         going to the toilet less

·         shortness of breath

·         rapid heartbeat

·         dizziness

If peritonitis leads to sepsis, a person may experience:

·         increased heart rate

·         rapid breathing

·         fever

·         confusion

When to see a doctor

If people experience any of the symptoms of gastrointestinal perforation or peritonitis they should see a doctor immediately.

Most cases of gastrointestinal perforation require emergency treatment. The situation is particularly urgent if a person has symptoms of sepsis, which is life-threatening.

Diagnosis

To diagnose the condition, the doctor may carry out one or more of the following tests:

·         X-ray of the chest and abdomen. This is to check for air in the abdominal cavity, a sign of gastrointestinal perforation.

·         CT scan. This helps the doctor to locate any possible holes.

·         Blood test. This is to check for signs of infection and possible blood loss.

Source: Medical News Today

What happens when calcium levels are high?

The term hypercalcemia refers to having too much calcium in the blood. For some, the cause is an overactive parathyroid gland, certain medications, too much vitamin D, or underlying health conditions, including cancer.

Calcium plays an essential role in the body. It helps to build strong bones and teeth, while also supporting the muscles, nerves, and heart. However, too much calcium can lead to problems.

In this article, we explore the symptoms, causes, and complications of hypercalcemia. We also describe how it can be diagnosed and treated. 

What is hypercalcemia?

Calcium levels in the blood are mostly controlled by the parathyroid glands. These four tiny glands sit behind the thyroid.

When the body needs calcium, the parathyroid glands secrete a hormone. This hormone signals:

·         the bones to release calcium into the blood

·         the kidneys to excrete less calcium into the urine

·         the kidneys to activate vitamin D, which helps the digestive tract to absorb more calcium

Overactive parathyroid glands or an underlying health condition can disrupt the balance of calcium.

If calcium levels become too high, a person may be diagnosed with hypercalcemia. This condition can impede bodily functions, and may specifically be associated with:

·         poor bone health

·         kidney stones

·         abnormal heart and brain function

Extremely high levels of calcium in the blood can become life-threatening.

Symptoms 

Mild hypercalcemia may not result in symptoms, while more serious hypercalcemia can cause: 

 Excessive thirst and frequent urination. Too much calcium means that the kidneys have to work harder. As a result, a person may urinate more often, leading to dehydration and increased thirst. 

 Stomach pain and digestive problems. Too much calcium can cause an upset stomach, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and constipation. 

 Bone pain and muscle weakness. Hypercalcemia can cause the bones to release too much calcium, leaving them deficient. This abnormal bone activity can lead to pain and muscle weakness. 

Confusion, lethargy, and fatigue. Too much calcium in the blood can affect the brain, causing these symptoms. 

Anxiety and depression. Hypercalcemia may also affect mental health.    

High blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms. High levels of calcium can increase blood pressure and lead to electrical abnormalities that change the heart's rhythm, adding strain. 

Causes 

A number of factors and underlying conditions can cause hypercalcemia. These include:

Overactive parathyroid glands

The parathyroid glands control calcium levels. If they work too hard, this can lead to hypercalcemia.

The parathyroid glands may become overactive when one is enlarged or when a noncancerous growth forms on one.

Having overactive parathyroid glands is called hyperparathyroidism. This may be the most common cause of hypercalcemia.

Hyperparathyroidism is usually diagnosed in people aged between 50 and 60. It is also up to three times more common in women than men.

Too much vitamin D

Vitamin D triggers calcium absorption in the gut. Once absorbed, calcium travels into the bloodstream.

Only 10–20 percent of the calcium in the diet is usually absorbed, while the rest is passed in stools. However, excessive amounts of vitamin D cause the body to absorb more calcium, leading to hypercalcemia.

In 2012, some researchers suggested that therapeutic high-dose vitamin D supplementation has the potential to cause hypercalcemia. These supplements can be used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and other conditions.

The Food and Nutrition Board in the United States defines high doses of vitamin D as more than 4,000 international units (IU) per day. The recommended daily dose for adults is 600–800 IU per day.

Cancer

If a person has cancer, this may cause hypercalcemia. Cancers that commonly lead to this condition include:

·         lung cancer

·         breast cancer

·         blood cancers

In 2013, it was estimated that each year hypercalcemia affects more than 2 percent of all cancer patients in the U.S. Also, up to 30 percent of people with cancer will have high levels of calcium over the course of the disease.

If cancer spreads to the bone, this increases the risk of hypercalcemia. 

Source: Medical News Today

Aging may be reversed by smoothing out the wrinkles in our...cells

Why do we age, and why do we tend to become more ill as we do so? Most importantly, what can we do to stop this imminent process? New research might have found the answer to such questions, and it lies in our wrinkles — not the ones lining our faces, but the ones in our cells.

If we find a way to fix the wrinkles in our cells, we may reverse the aging process altogether.

Over recent years, more and more research has been zeroing in on the aging process and what we can do to stop it — and understandably so.

Seniority may come with a range of conditions, including diabetes, fatty liver disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and even some neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's.

But what is the underlying cause of these aging-associated illnesses? Homing in on what occurs during aging on a cellular level may hold the answer.

From rejuvenating existing cells to simply adding fresh stem cells to replace old ones, scientists are trialing a variety of approaches that could extend our lives and keep us disease-free for longer.

Now, a team of researchers — led by Irina M. Bochkis, Ph.D., of the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville — has made a fascinating discovery. The nuclei inside our cells, they show, tend to "wrinkle" as we age.

These wrinkles impair the functioning of our genes, report the scientists. Luckily, however, Bochkis and her team also have a few ideas about how to stop — or maybe even reverse — the aging process by "smoothing out" these wrinkles.

The results of this innovative study were published in the journal Aging Cell.

How cellular wrinkles cause disease

The nucleus of a cell stores our DNA, explain the authors, and the new study shows the location of our DNA within the nucleus to be of crucial importance.

"We have the same DNA in every single cell, but each cell is different," explains Bochkis. "So how does that work?"

"Well, actually, certain genes need to be on in the liver, and they have to be turned off in the brain, for example, and vice versa," she adds. "If they're not turned off appropriately, then you have problems."

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So-called Klotho proteins may help to turn back the hands of time.

Normally, when these genes are turned off, they are then pushed up against the membrane that envelops the nucleus. But, with age, this nuclear membrane becomes lumpy and wrinkly, which stops the genes from switching off as they should.

Turning to the example of fatty liver disease — a condition tied to the aging process, which Bochkis and her colleagues have taken as a model in their study — the senior investigator explains, "When your nuclear membrane is no longer functioning properly, it can release the DNA that's supposed to be turned off."

"So then your little liver cell becomes a little fat cell," she continues, adding that this important organ "can end up looking like Swiss cheese."

Is there a 'face cream' for our cells?

Similarly to how facial wrinkles are due to a lack of collagen, cellular wrinkles are caused by a lack of a substance called lamin. Lamins are a family of proteins that provide the cell with stability and strength.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) say that lamins are "supporting (scaffolding) components of the nuclear envelope." They are located "in the nuclear lamina, a mesh-like layer of intermediate filaments and other proteins that is attached to the inner membrane of the nuclear envelope."

The nuclear envelope, or membrane, controls what molecules go in and out of the nuclear cell; by replacing the lost lamin, say the authors of the new study, we should be able to smooth out the wrinkles of the nuclear membrane.

So how could we "deliver" this vital protein at such a microscopic level to the nuclear membrane of the cell? Bochkis believes that modified viruses could work perfectly as a viable means of "transporting" the lamin "cargo."

In gene therapy, engineered viruses are already being used as "vectors" to deliver new genes by infecting the cells.

If the approach of using viruses proves successful, "You're going to have [...] normal, healthy cells — and they will appropriately express the genes that should be expressed," explains Bochkis.

Such youthful cells would help to keep a range of aging-related cardiometabolic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, at bay.

Source : Medicalnewstoday

Could baking soda improve cancer treatment?

Consuming baking soda may help immunotherapy drugs to fight difficult-to-treat tumors. This cheap and simple intervention may eventually improve current cancer treatments.

Baking soda could help to boost immunotherapy.

Within tumors, large portions are deprived of oxygen. Scientists know that these hypoxic regions tend to be the most resistant to treatment.

If a cell is unable to access adequate oxygen, it slows down and enters what is known as a quiescent state.

The molecular switch mTORC1 is responsible for assessing the situation before telling the cell whether or not it should divide.

If mTORC1 is not present, the cell's internal processes are shut down. Deep within tumors, mTORC1 activity is almost non-existent.

Baking soda, acid, and cancer

New research delves deeper into this mechanism and finds an incredibly simple way to reverse it: baking soda.

The study took place at the Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania, both of which are located in Philadelphia. The scientists published their results this week in the journal Cell.

Lysosomes, the minuscule bags of enzymes that break down proteins and other biomolecules, were found to play a key role.

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The lysosomes of interest are usually situated next to the nucleus. However, when conditions are more acidic — which develops during hypoxia — protein motors transport lysosomes carrying mTOR to other locations.

This movement of mTOR away from the nucleus also transports it away from a protein called RHEB, which is essential for it to function. Without its primary activator, mTOR activity is reduced, the cell's processes slow down, and most metabolic activity stops.

The study was led by Chi Van Dang, and he explains why this occurs, saying, "Cells don't want to make proteins or other biomolecules when they're under stress. They want to slow things down and only awaken when things return to normal."

Boosting immunotherapy

When a cell enters this quiescent state, cancer drugs are much less effective. So, the researchers wanted to see if it could be overturned. They found that, when mice were given baking soda in their drinking water, the acidity of the quiescent regions of tumors was reversed.

Once this had occurred, lysosomes were sent back toward the nucleus, mTOR was activated by RHEB, and cellular processes were switched back on.

Dang explains what the scientists saw after mice had consumed baking soda, saying, "[T]he entire tumor lights up with mTOR activity. The prediction would be that by reawakening these cells, you could make the tumor far more sensitive to therapy."

"The concept is so easy. It's not some $100,000 per year drug. It's literally just baking soda."

Chi Van Dang

Cancer immunotherapy has been demonstrated to be less effective in acidic conditions because T cell activation is reduced, so this finding could have important ramifications.

Acidity's role in cancer progression and treatment is a fledgling area of research, which means that much more work will surely follow. Dang and his team plan to continue their experimentation, focusing on how acidity impacts immunotherapy.

Source : Medicalnewstoday

Exploring the unique genes behind our large brains

A group of genes that is found only in humans and arose in our ancestors 3–4 million years ago may have driven the evolution of our bigger brains.

Why are human brains so comparatively large?

This revelation — and the work that led up to it — is the subject of two studies now reported in the journal Cell.

One study was led by the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz, and the other was led by the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium.

The findings plug a gap in our knowledge about the changes that drove the evolution of our larger brains and gave us the ability to think and solve problems.

The genes — named NOTCH2NL — belong to a very old family called Notch that was first identified in fruit flies; they got their name because they were linked to genetic faults that caused the flies to have notched wings.

How NOTCH2NL increases neuron numbers

Notch genes go back "hundreds of millions of years" and "play important roles in embryonic development," says David Haussler, who is a professor of biomolecular engineering at UC Santa Cruz and co-senior author of the first study paper.

"To find," he continues, "that humans have a new member of this family that is involved in brain development is extremely exciting."

The researchers found that the human-only NOTCH2NL genes appear to have a key role in the development of the human cortex, the seat of advanced cognitive abilities such as reasoning and language.

The genes are strongly expressed in the neural stem cells of the cortex and delay their maturation into specific cell types.

This delay results in the accumulation of a larger pool of stem cells, which, in turn, leads to more neurons being produced over the course of brain development.

Genes boost signaling during development

NOTCH2NL genes are located on an area of the human genome — "the long arm of chromosome 1" — that has been linked to several neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, microcephaly, macrocephaly, and schizophrenia.

Some of the disorders are linked to duplication of large sections of DNA, and some are linked to deletions. They are known by their collective name "1q21.1 deletion/duplication syndromes."

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The proteins coded by the Notch gene family are concerned with signaling inside cells and also between cells.

Many of these signals direct the fate of stem cells — for instance, whether to differentiate into brain cells or heart cells — in many parts of the body.

The researchers found that the NOTCH2NL genes encode proteins that "enhance" Notch signaling.

"Notch signaling," explains co-senior study author Dr. Sofie R. Salama, who is a research scientist in biomolecular engineering at UC Santa Cruz, "was already known to be important in the developing nervous system."

"NOTCH2NL seems to amplify Notch signaling, which leads to increased proliferation of neural stem cells and delayed neural maturation," she adds.

'DNA copying errors'

However, Dr. Salama points out that the genes are just part of a much larger process that controls the development of the human cortex: they do not "act in a vacuum."

They came into play at a "provocative time in human evolution." She and her colleagues also found it interesting that the genes are associated with developmental disorders.

It appears that the "DNA copying errors" that occurred in our ancestors that gave rise to the NOTCH2NL genes are of a similar type to those that give rise to neurological disorders in 1q21.1 deletion/duplication syndrome.

Typically, the errors happen in locations on chromosomes that have long sequences of DNA that are "almost identical."

"These long segments of DNA that are almost identical can confuse the replication machinery and cause instability in the genome," Prof. Haussler explains.

Paradoxically, it would appear that the gene duplication process in the chromosome 1 region that gave us our bigger brains may also be responsible for making us vulnerable to 1q21.1 deletion/duplication syndrome.

Using sequencing tools, the researchers found eight versions of NOTCH2NL in today's humans, and they suspect that there are more to be discovered.

Each NOTCH2NL version varies slightly in the sequencing of its DNA, but to what effect is still a mystery.

The genes showed subtle differences when tested in laboratory-grown cells. However, there is still a "lot more work to do" to find out what these differences mean, says Dr. Salama.

Source : Medicalnewstoday