Health
Monthly dose of new antibody may halve migraine attacks
In a breakthrough, scientists have found an antibody, a monthly dose of which could halve the number of debilitating attacks of migraine on patients who have exhausted all other treatments.
The findings showed that people treated with erenumab were nearly three times more likely to have reduced their migraine days by 50 percent or more than those treated with placebo.
Those treated with erenumab also had a greater average reduction in the number of days they had headaches and the number of days they needed to take drugs to stop the migraines.
“Our study found that erenumab reduced the average number of monthly migraine headaches by more than 50 percent for nearly a third of study participants. That reduction in migraine headache frequency can greatly improve a person’s quality of life,” said Uwe Reuter from The Charite – University Medicine Berlin in Germany.
Erenumab is a monoclonal antibody that blocks pain signals by targeting a receptor for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).
This peptide transmits migraine pain signals. Erenumab occupies the nerves to which CGRP would usually bind.
“Our results show that people who thought their migraines were difficult to prevent may actually have hope of finding pain relief,” Reuter added.
The preliminary results will be presented at the forthcoming American Academy of Neurology’s 70th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.
For the study, 246 people who had episodic migraine were given injections of either 140 milligrams of erenumab or a placebo once a month for three months.
Of the participants, 39 per cent had been treated unsuccessfully with two other medications, 38 per cent with three medications and 23 per cent with four medications.
A total of 30 per cent of the people treated with erenumab had half the number of headaches compared to 14 per cent on placebo.
For those on erenumab, there was an average 1.6 times greater reduction in migraine days and a 1.7 times greater reduction in acute medication days compared to those on placebo.
In addition, the safety and tolerability of erenumab was similar to placebo. However, more research is now needed to understand who is most likely to benefit from this new treatment, Reuter said.
Protein is a macronutrient which is extremely important for the overall development of the body. It is essential for the growth and repair of muscle tissue, cellular health and function. But whenever we talk of protein foods, some common foods that come to our mind are chicken, eggs, dairy products, nuts and cheese. In the following article, let us introduce to a new plant-source of protein. An excellent source of protein which can be easily included in your diet is soya protein.
Soya is high in protein and is derived naturally from soya beans. It is a great option for vegetarians and lactose intolerant people. Soy generally contains fibre and isoflavones. Vegetarians can easily include them in their diet to increase the consumption of proteins. Soya has transcended its Asian origins to become the most widely cultivated legume all across the globe. Soy protein can said to be the best source of plant protein as it contains all the essential amino acids in right quantities which are required in order to place the body into an anabolic state.
Delhi-based nutritionist Monisha Ashokan said, “Soya protein is a complete protein with all the nine essential amino acids. This is the reason why it is easily utilised by the body for growth and repair. It is high in fiber and low in calories which makes it an essential food item for those looking to shed a few kilos.
Furthermore, it also helps to prevent ageing. The phytoestrogen present in soyabean helps the body to produce more estrogen which reduces fine lines and wrinkles.So add this to your diet and reap its benefits!
Foods that contain high amounts of soya are naturally low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Whereas animal sources of protein like chicken, fatty fish, beef, pork and lamb are high in saturated fat and cholesterol. This may increase your risk of developing several cardiovascular diseases. However, substituting them with soya could help cut saturated fats and reduce your overall risk for disease.
Also, soya based foods are a great way to boost your fiber intake. They are rich in dietary fiber. Fiber promotes a healthy gastrointestinal system, reduces cholesterol, is associated with a reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease and aids in quick weight loss. You could try including green soya beans, black beans, soya nuts and soya flour into your diet. Moreover, soya foods have high amounts of polyunsaturated fats. These fats can be beneficial for your heart as they help in lowering the cholesterol. As an added benefit, soya foods are a great source of essential vitamins and minerals. Vitamin B, B12, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin E, iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and antioxidants add the nutritional benefits of soya. These vital vitamins and minerals help boost the immunity of the body.
Top 5 foods rich in soya protein:
Tofu
Soya milk and yoghurt
Soya nuts
Tempeh
Edamame
(Monisha Ashokan is a nutritionist at Nourish Me)
Regular exercise before and after a cancer diagnosis significantly improves odds of survival, a new study finds.
According to HealthDay News, among more than 5,800 US patients with a range of early- to late-stage cancers, those who exercised three or four times a week before and after their diagnosis had a 40 percent lower risk of death than inactive patients, researchers reported.
But survival gains were strong even for patients who began exercising only after their cancer diagnosis.
“Patients who reported never doing any type of exercise until they were faced with a cancer diagnosis cut their risk of death by 25 percent to 28 percent compared to those who remained inactive,” said first author Rikki Cannioto. She’s an assistant professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY.
Patients who exercised once or twice a week also had a much lower risk of death than inactive patients, suggesting that any amount of regular, weekly activity is better than no activity, according to the researchers.
Study participants had blood or head and neck cancers, as well as breast, prostate, lung, colon, kidney, esophageal, bladder, ovarian, endometrial, pancreatic, liver or stomach cancers. Others had sarcoma or cervical, thyroid, testicular, brain or skin cancers.
The strongest link between exercise and reduced risk of death was seen with eight types: breast, colon, prostate, ovarian, bladder, endometrial, esophageal and skin cancer, the research team said.
The results “solidify the importance of the message that when it comes to exercise, some weekly activity is better than inactivity,” Cannioto said in a Roswell news release.
The finding that low-to-moderate weekly exercise is associated with improved survival is particularly encouraging, Cannioto said, given that cancer patients and survivors can be overwhelmed by the current recommendations of at least 30 minutes of daily moderate-to-intense physical activity.
The study was published recently in the journal Cancer Causes and Control.
Not many people would have thought that obesity and the ability to smell are related. But in an interesting study, a surprising link has been discovered by a team of researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand. A sample of around 1,500 individuals were gathered for the purpose of the study.
“After compiling our evidence, we found there is, in fact, a strong link between a person’s body weight and their smell ability – the better a person can smell, the more likely the person is to be slim, or vice versa,” says Dr Mei Peng, lead author of the study, according to a report in the Medical News Daily.
Adding that smell plays a vital role when it comes to choosing our flavours and our foods, Dr Peng said, “For example, they might choose, or be more attracted to, saltier and tastier foods such as bacon and maple syrup instead of blander foods, such as low-fat cereal with less sugar.”
The researchers concluded from the study that people who have obesity or were closer to it had a reduced ability to smell flavours. Based on these findings, as per Medical News Daily, it was induced that obesity “alters a person’s metabolism, which affects communication pathways between the gut and brain”.
To connect the link between the gut and brain, researchers considered the effects of two surgical obesity treatments – stomach removal and gastric bypass. “Cutting the stomach could change nerves in the stomach that affect the gut-brain pathway, so smell changes could be the key to the difference between the two surgeries — essentially, the smaller size of the stomach might not be the factor that leads to weight loss, it is more likely due to the gut-brain pathway being reset,” Dr Peng concludes.