Study: Aging Is Result Of Genes Not Wear Or Tear Of Body

According to the common perception, old age is the result of wear and tear of the body, but a recent study by the researchers at Stanford University showed that aging in the result of the in-activeness of a worm gene called elt-3. The researchers found that when elt-3 becomes inactive, other genes too react in a similar fashion, resulting in aging. The researchers studied various animals that have long life span.

Stuart Kim, a professor of developmental biology and genetics at Stanford University, gave the example of animals like tortoises that lay eggs at 100 and whales that live to 200 years. The study found that those species use the same building blocks for their DNA, proteins and fats as humans, mice and nematode worms. But there is a difference in the life spans due to difference in the chemistry of the wear-and-tear process, including damage from free radicals.

The study of the nematode worm by the researchers showed the differences between young and old worms did not match the conventional picture of ageing. The researchers studied nematode worm which has life span of two weeks. These worms were subjected to various circumstances which result in the wear or tear of the body. The researchers found out that old age is not due to physical factors affecting body but it is due to inactiveness of a gene. The report presented by the researchers said that the results showed that key genetic mechanisms designed for youth had drifted off track in older animals.

The researchers said, “When the elt-3 slowed down, aging picked up its pace.”

The researchers added that if the scientists could find a way to reverse this genetic process than people could stay young forever. This research has offered a slight hope to the people who don’t want their youthful spirit to be burdened by the number of years.

Marc Tatar, from Brown University in Rhode Island said that this research gave a message to the scientists that ageing can be slowed and managed by manipulating signaling circuits within cells.

Hepatitis C Infection Is Result Of The Negligence Of Vegas Clinic Staff

Health officials have traced two patients linked with hepatitis C outbreak . These patients were treated at Vegas clinic at a Las Vegas endoscopy clinic in 2007. Hepatitis C is a deadly disease. This disease leads to the swelling of the liver. It can also cause stomach pain, fatigue and jaundice. It can slowly damage the liver without showing any symptoms. This disease is transmitted from one person to other.

Brian Labus, a senior Southern Nevada Health District epidemiologist said that the reuse of the syringes and vials by the clinic staff members has spread the blood-borne liver disease from patient to patient. The staff was aware that one patient suffered from hepatitis C. He added that individual patients' identities and information would not be revealed due to health privacy reasons. The officials added that the patients suffering from hepatitis C are not involved in its communication. This disease has spread due to the negligence of the hospital staff.

District officials have traced the connection of eighth case of hepatitis C to the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. A ninth case in the outbreak has been traced to an affiliated clinic, the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center in Las Vegas.

Health district officials have found that 77 more people contracted hepatitis while being treated at the Endoscopy Center from March 2004 to last Jan.11. The officials added that it is not yet certain that all infected people got infection during treatment in hospital. According to data, 400 former patients of the center who were tested positive for hepatitis C could have contracted the virus through other means. The other factors responsible for spread of this deadly disease could be intravenous drug use, blood transfusions, organ transplants, kidney dialysis, receiving blood clotting agents before 1987, or sexual contact with a person with hepatitis C.

Wild Orangutans treat pain with naturally occurring anti-inflammatory drugs

London, July 29 : Scientists have spotted wild orangutans in Indonesia using naturally occurring anti-inflammatory drugs.
The apes were disocvered by Primatologist Helen Morrogh-Bernard, of the University of Cambridge, UK, while studying Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Sabangau Peat Swamp Forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
In 2005, she witnessed an adult female pick a handful of leaves from a plant and then chew them, mixing the leaves with her saliva to produce a green-white lather.
The female then scooped up some of the lather with her right hand and applied it up and down the back of her left arm, from the base of the shoulder to the wrist, just as a person would apply sunscreen.
“She was concentrating on her arm only and was methodical in the way she was applying the soapy foam,” said Morrogh-Bernard. “I knew this must be some form of self-medication,” she added.
After using the leaves, the orangutan dropped them, allowing Morrogh-Bernard and her assistant to find out what they were.
The leaves belong to a genus called Commelina, a group of plants that orangutans do not eat as part of their normal diet.
However, local indigenous people know the plant well, grinding it into a balm and applying it to their skin to treat muscular pain, sore bones and swellings.
Chimpanzees and gorillas are thought to self medicate, mainly by swallowing rough leaves or chewed plant pith to help flush out intestinal parasites.
A few monkey species and one species of lemur are known to rub concoctions, such as tobacco, onion or garlic onto their fur to repel insects or parasites. But, wild great apes have never before been seen rubbing ointments onto their fur.
Morrogh-Bernard, who has since seen three other orangutans using the plant in the same way, said that the finding “links apes and humans directly”.
According to her, the apes may not have learnt how to apply the anti-inflammatory ointment from local people, but perhaps ancestors of the indigenous population learnt about the drug from the apes. (ANI)

Frequent Mobile Phone Usage May Cause Mouth Cancer

A recent Israeli study has revealed that frequent use of cell phones for long time-periods may give rise to mouth cancer.The results shown by previous studies, conducted in regard to mobile phone usage and its hazardous effects, were inconsistent. At the same time as a few scientists told that they had discovered a relation between cancer and excess mobile phone usage but some researchers had disapproved the claim.With a control group of 1,266 people, scientists judged against the lifestyle of 402 people with benign mouth tumors and 56 having malignant ones. The researchers viewed the lifestyles of 402 people having benignant mouth tumors and 56 with malevolent ones. They were compared with a control group of 1,266 people.In the new study, scientists looked at the lifestyles of 402 people with benign mouth tumors and 56 with malignant ones. They were compared to a control group of 1,266 people.The study discovered that using mobile phones frequently for five years may increase the chances of getting mouth tumor by about 50 percent as compared with people who had never used the mobile phone.The scientists said that the majority of people who used mobile phones were more expected to get parotid gland tumors.The parotid is largest salivary glands located in front of the ear. Lasting mobile phone users have a tendency to grow tumors on the similar side of the head as the phone was normally held, they said.People who used mobile phones in rustic regions were found to be at greater risk although the cause of the heightened risk was not established.