Look Again

FDA Slammed for Calling BPA Safe

Hakeem Alexander — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:40:17 GMT

In a highly critical report, a panel of scientists from government and academia said when the FDA completed a draft risk assessment of bisphenol A (BPA) last month, they did not take into consideration numerous studies that have linked the chemical to prostate cancer, diabetes and other health problems.

The scientists took the FDA to task for basing its safety decision on three industry-funded studies.

The report was written by a subcommittee panel of the FDA's outside science board, experts who advise the FDA on complex issues. The panel concluded that the FDA’s margin of safety is “inadequate.”

The panel said the FDA also didn’t use enough infant formula samples and didn’t adequately account for variations among the samples.

Studies the FDA did not consider when making their assessment suggest that BPA could pose harm to children at levels at least 10 times lower than the amount the agency called safe. Another government agency, the National Toxicology Program, concluded that there is "some concern" that BPA alters development of the brain, prostate and behavior in children and fetuses.

Sources:

USA Today October 29, 2008

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

BPA has been detected in the urine of 95 percent of people tested, probably because it’s used so pervasively in everything from canned goods to plastic water bottles.

It is one of the world’s highest production-volume chemicals, which is alarming when you consider the problems it’s been linked to, including:

• Structural damage to your brain
• Hyperactivity, increased aggressiveness, and impaired learning
• Increased fat formation and risk of obesity
• Altered immune function
• Early puberty, stimulation of mammary gland development, disrupted reproductive cycles, and ovarian dysfunction

• Changes in gender-specific behavior, and abnormal sexual behavior
• Stimulation of prostate cancer cells
• Increased prostate size, and decreased sperm production
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Liver damage

Yet, according to the FDA, the agency put into place to supposedly PROTECT you from toxic chemicals just like BPA, it’s perfectly safe.

How did they reach such an inane conclusion?

To the FDA, Ignorance is Bliss

To start, they ignored evidence, including studies that showed BPA harms children at levels up to 10 times lower than the FDA claims is safe. While turning their backs on these studies that showed evidence of harm, they put their full attention on three industry-funded studies.

The FDA based their decision of BPA safety on these three industry funded studies.

Why would they do this?

Isn’t it common knowledge, certainly among scientists, that industry-funded studies are much more likely to yield results that favor industry than studies by independent sources? Well, of course they know that, they just don’t care, because the FDA is being quite literally paid off by those very industries.

Perhaps you haven’t yet heard of Martin Philbert, but if you’re wondering why more steps aren’t being taken to get BPA off the market, then you should remember this name.

Martin Philbert is the acting director of the University of Michigan’s Risk Science Center, and also the chair of the FDA’s subcommittee that called BPA safe. According to the Washington Post:

“[Dr. Philbert] received a $5 million donation in July from Charles Gelman, the retired head of a medical device manufacturing company and an ardent defender of BPA. Mr. Gelman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which reported the story, that he discussed his views with Dr. Philbert. Dr. Philbert told us that he put the kibosh on any discussion of BPA with Mr. Gelman once the context of his interest became clear.”

Hmmm.

Yet he still accepted the $5 million, then signed his name on an FDA report that claimed BPA is safe, based only on three industry-funded studies.

Let’s Review the Real Research

Even a quick review of some independent studies on BPA reveals its dangers.

It’s known, for instance, that BPA mimics the hormone estrogen, which can impact the development of fetuses and infants. The chemical has been linked not only to developmental and brain effects in infants, but also to other chronic health problems in adults.

In September, for instance, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study that found higher urinary BPA concentrations were associated with heart disease, liver problems and diabetes in adults.

Another study, published in the journal Endocrinology, found that pregnant mice exposed to levels of BPA similar to what a human would typically be exposed to had alterations to the development of their mammary glands.

Specifically:

• The mammary glands of their female offspring grew in a way that made them more susceptible to breast cancer development.

• The mammary glands responded unusually to estrogen, which promotes breast cancer in humans.

• Due to the bisphenol-A exposure, the mice were less able to get rid of damaged cells that could be cancerous than mice that were not exposed.

Meanwhile, there are no government safety standards limiting the amount of BPA in canned food, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safety standard is 25 times the dose NOW KNOWN to cause birth defects in lab studies. Their safety standard for BPA has not been updated for 20 years.

What’s Next? And How Can You Stay Safe in the Meantime?

At the end of October the FDA’s Science Board met to discuss the original risk assessment, the review that found its conclusions flawed, and to hear public comments about whether or not to ban BPA from food and beverage containers.

The board has forwarded their review to FDA chief Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, who has until February 2009 to respond.

In the meantime, you have the option to steer clear of this chemical right now, and I particularly urge you to do so if you are pregnant or have small children. Personally, I too am doing everything I can to avoid this menacing chemical. Glass is the safest and most inert way to store your water, and far better than ANY plastic.

To reduce your BPA exposure:

1.    Only use glass baby bottles and dishes for your baby

2.    Get rid of your plastic dishes and cups, and replace them with glass varieties

3.    Give your baby natural fabric toys instead of plastic ones

4.    Store your food and beverages in glass -- NOT plastic -- containers

5.    IF you choose to use a microwave, don’t microwave food in a plastic container

6.    Use glass, ceramic, or stainless steel travel coffee mugs rather than plastic or Styrofoam coffee cups

7.    Avoid using plastic wrap (and never microwave anything covered in it)

8.    If you opt to use plastic kitchenware, at least get rid of the older, scratched-up varieties, avoid putting them in the dishwasher, and don’t wash them with harsh detergents, as these things can cause more chemicals to leach into your food

9.    Avoid using bottled water; filter your own using a reverse osmosis filter instead

10. Before allowing a dental sealant to be applied to your, or your children’s, teeth, ask your dentist to verify that it does not contain BPA

Please be aware that plastic containers marked with the recycling label No. 7 may contain BPA. Containers marked with the recycling labels No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 do not contain BPA (however they may contain other unsavory chemicals that you’re best off avoiding by using glass instead).

For even more tips on how to minimize BPA in your life, read the first Related Article below, “Where to Find BPA-Free Products.”
Related Articles:

Where to Find BPA-Free Products

5 Ways to Keep BPA Out of Your Food

What the Chemical Industry Doesn't Want You to Know about Everyday Products

RECOGNITIONS: Baylor neuroscientist receives Eppendorf & Science Prize (BioTechniques)

Hakeem Alexander — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:15:51 GMT

Published: November 16, 2008

Neuroscience Prize winner Mauro Costa-Mattioli. Source: Eppendorf

Neuroscience 2008, Washington, DC, Nov. 16—Mauro Costa-Mattioli has won the 2008 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology. The Baylor College of Medicine researcher studies long-term synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. His winning essay, “Switching memories ON and OFF” (reprised in his award lecture, which was delivered in the auditorium of AAAS headquarters), describes how control of protein synthesis influences memory formation.

In particular, Costa-Mattioli demonstrated that phosphorylation of the translation-initiation factor eIF2α acts as a memory switch in mice; reducing eIF2α phosphorylation enhances long-lasting synaptic changes and memory. Increasing phosphorylation in the hippocampus, on the other hand, depresses memory formation.

Costa-Mattioli received his bachelor’s degree from the Uruguayan University of the Republic in Montevideo, his masters from Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, and his Ph.D. from the University of Nantes, followed by a post-doc at McGill University in Montreal before moving to his current post earlier this year.

There was a distinctly international flavor to this year’s awards, as Science deputy editor Katrina Kelner remarked on during the presentations. Claudio Hetz (University of Chile, Santiago) wrote on “Protein misfolding disorders and endoplasmic reticulum stress signals,” and Hendrikje Nienborg (National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD) presented “Visual perception: Interactions between sensory and decision processes.” Nienborg earned her masters degree from Oxford University and her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Munich. Hetz received his A.B. from the University of Chile, his Ph.D. from the Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute in Geneva, and completed a post-doc at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard.

Keywords: recognitions, eppendorf, mauro costa-mattioli, neuroscience 2008

NYTimes: NPR kicks off psychiatrist host for drug money corruption

Hakeem Alexander — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:55:57 GMT

21 November 2008

The New York Times just reported that National Public Radio will
finally kick psychiatrist Fred Goodwin off the air after more than a
decade of his shows promoting the mental health system.

Why?

Because Congress discovered that Dr. Goodwin was one of many well
known psychiatrists who took huge pay offs from psychiatric drug
companies without disclosing it.

By coincidence, Dr. Goodwin was reassuring radio listeners of low
side effects of a drug on the very same day he received one of his
pay-offs from the drug's manufacturer.

To read more go to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/media-issues/fred-goodwin-infinite-mind

If that link does not work use this one:
http://tinyurl.com/fred-goodwin

MindFreedom David Oaks commented, "We're proud that MindFreedom
International has been speaking out about Dr. Fred Goodwin's
misbehavior since 1992 in Washington, D.C. during one of our many
national peaceful protests of the American Psychiatric Association.
Critics of Dr. Goodwin like courageous psychiatrist Peter Breggin,
who is seldom heard on NPR, have been vindicated."

In other coincidences:

* MindFreedom is re-starting its own popular Internet radio show.
Watch MindFreedom News for more details. E-mail guest suggestions to
radio@mindfreedom.org.

* MindFreedom International Board of Directors unanimously voted to
support another of its peaceful protests of the American Psychiatric
Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco in May 2009.

With leadership from MFI's Youth Committee, this peaceful protest
will include 21st century media coverage: YouTube of protesters
bringing enormous replicas of psychiatric pills to the APA. Some
individuals are planning nonviolent civil disobedience. MFI is
encouraging people to plan peaceful protests and Mad Pride skits
wherever they are from May to July.

By the way, NPR had a red flag about the Goodwin scandal six months
ago, but did little.

NPR Ombudsperson Alicia C. Shepard claimed on 20 May 2008 that
disclosing that "The Infinite Mind" was independently produced from
NPR would be enough to address emerging questions about conflicts of
interest.

* ACTION * ACTION * ACTION *

Please thank NPR for finally kicking off Fred Goodwin, and encourage
NPR to provide more coverage to critics of the mental health system.

Comment to NPR via a web form here:

http://www.npr.org/contact

~~~~~~~~~~~~

MindFreedom International breaks the silence!

Join, renew early or donate to MindFreedom International during the
Fall Support Drive!

http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please forward this news to all appropriate places on and off Internet.

Austrian Government Study Confirms Genetically Modified (GM) Crops Threaten Human Fertility and Health Safety

Hakeem Alexander — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:18:33 GMT

IMMEDIATE RELEASE (November 13, 2008)

(Los Angeles, CA.) - A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, managed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, and carried out by Veterinary University Vienna, confirms genetically modified (GM) corn seriously affects reproductive health in mice. Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the world.

Feeding mice with genetically modified corn developed by the US-based Monsanto Corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to the study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Lead author of the study Professor Zentek said, there was a direct link between the decrease in fertility and the GM diet, and that mice fed with non-GE corn reproduced more efficiently.

In the study, Austrian scientists performed several long-term feeding trials over 20 weeks with laboratory mice fed a diet containing 33% of a GM variety (NK 603 x MON 810), or a closely related non-GE variety used in many countries. Statistically significant litter size and pup weight decreases were found in the third and fourth litters in the GM-fed mice, compared to the control group.

The corn is genetically modified with genes that produce a pesticidal toxin, as well as genes that allow it to survive applications of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.

A book by author Jeffrey M. Smith, Genetic Roulette, distributed to members of congress last year, documents 65 serious health risks of GM products, including similar fertility problems with GM soy and GM corn: Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce. Male mice fed GM soy had damaged young sperm cells. The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice had altered DNA functioning. Several US farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties. Additionally, over the last two months, investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products.

The principle GM crops are soy, corn, cottonseed and canola. GM sugar from sugar beets will also be introduced before year’s end.

Mr. Smith, who is also the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology says, “GM foods are likely responsible for several negative health trends in the US. The government must impose an immediate ban on these dangerous crops.” He says, “Consumers don’t need to wait for governmental action. They can download a free Non-GMO Shopping Guide at www.HealthierEating.org www.HealthierEating.org.”

Monsanto press offices in the UK and USA were unable to provide a comment on the findings for journalists yesterday.

The Institute for Responsible Technology’s Campaign for Healthier Eating in America mobilizes citizens, organizations, businesses, and the media, to achieve the tipping point of consumer rejection of genetically modified foods.

The Institute educates people about the documented health risks of GMOs and provides them with healthier non-GMO product choices.

The Institute also informs policy makers and the public around the world about the impacts of GMOs on health, environment, the economy, and agriculture, and the problems associated with current research, regulation, corporate practices, and reporting.

###

Institute For Responsible Technology
Media Contact: NJ Jaeger
Expert Contact: Jeffrey M. Smith
Email: njmail@cox.net
Phone: +1-310-377-0915

Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety
Corporate Communication: Univ.-Doz. Ingrid Kiefer
Tel: +43 50 555-25000; E-Mail: ingrid.kiefer@ages.at

Links

Austrian Study: http://www.ages.at/ueber-uns/presse/pressemeldungen/klarstellung-zu-neuen-er
Institute for Responsible Technology: http://responsibletechnology.org
Non-GMO Shopping Guide: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/DocumentFiles/144.pdf
Genetic Roulette: http://www.geneticroulette.com

PhRMA poised to fight Obama plans

Hakeem Alexander — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:13:06 GMT

November 14, 2008 — 11:24am ET |
By Tracy Staton

Look out, Barack Obama. Big Pharma is preparing to launch its first blitz against your healthcare plans.

The country's biggest pharma lobbying group--PhRMA--is readying a major public relations campaign supporting "free market health care." The multimillion-dollar campaign includes national television advertising, scheduled to air for the first time next week. It's all designed to head off President-elect Obama's expected campaign for Medicare to negotiate prices for drugs used by its beneficiaries.

Lots of companies stand to lose if the new administration really does reform healthcare. But drugmakers may be closest to the line of fire. According to the Washington Times, pharma could see a $30 billion reduction in revenues if the government starts to negotiate drug prices as many other countries do.

PhRMA's push won't directly attack Obama's plans; with such a popular president-elect, such an attack could backfire. Instead, the association's ads will take a more oblique approach: "We're going to do an ad campaign designed to make people aware of the importance of preserving your free-market health care system," PhRMA's Ken Johnson told the Times. Coming soon to a TV screen near you.

- read the Washington Times article

Study looks at chronic medication use in children ages 5 to 19 (FierceBiotech)

Hakeem Alexander — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:58:44 GMT

America's tweens and teens more than doubled their use of type 2 diabetes medications between 2002 and 2005, with girls between 10 and 14 years of age showing a 166 percent increase.
One likely cause: Obesity, which is closely associated with type 2 diabetes.

The finding is included in a study of chronic medication use in children ages 5 to 19 released today in the journal Pediatrics by researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts (Nasdaq: ESRX) and the Kansas Health Institute.

In addition to diabetes, the study found that utilization patterns for blood pressure, cholesterol, attention-deficit disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD), asthma and depression medications increased at varying levels during the four year period.

"Our study findings indicate that these increased levels of chronic medication use are symptoms of broader underlying issues affecting children today," said Emily R. Cox, Ph.D., RPh, senior director of research at Express Scripts. "These trends are worrisome given that many of these therapies are treating conditions with modifiable risk factors and if not addressed, many of these children will carry these chronic conditions into adulthood."

For example, the use of asthma medications increased 46.5 percent and ADD/ADHD medication use increased 40.4 percent. Cholesterol and blood pressure medications saw a more moderate growth of 15 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

Except for asthma medication, older teens age 15-19 years old account for the largest percentage of children taking these medications.

The bad news, according to Donna R. Halloran, M.D., MSPH, assistant professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, is that there is more disease, due in large part to the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity.

"Our findings show that childhood obesity not only has long-term health implications, but also impacts children's immediate health," Halloran said.

However, she says, the rise of prescription use also indicates that more children are being diagnosed and doctors are increasingly using medication to treat these conditions.

"Our findings indicate that we, the doctors, are doing a better job of screening children and diagnosing chronic conditions," Halloran said. "A great example of this is blood pressure, where there has been a big push to identify and treat children in need."

In several cases, the rates of growth were dramatically higher among girls than boys. While boys still take more medications for chronic conditions, the gap has become narrower due to these increases.

The huge increase in type 2 diabetes medication use was driven largely by girls who saw a 147 percent increase over the four year period, compared to boys who saw a 39 percent increase in medicine use. Researchers say they cannot explain this pattern, which is not consistent with the patterns of obesity among boys and girls. However, increased physician office visits and therefore screening rates - particularly for females - could be one contributing factor.

Researchers say the greater increase of girls prescribed ADD/ADHD medication (63 percent versus 33 percent) may be attributed to increased efforts by physicians to identify ADHD in females following studies that suggested that inattentive ADHD, which is much less likely to be identified and treated, was more common in girls than boys.

Another example of a higher increase among females was seen in antidepressants where the number of females between 15 and 19 taking the medicine increased by 6.8 percent, while for males in the same age group, utilization declined slightly. This increase in antidepressant use among older teen girls was a striking exception to decreases for boys and girls ages 5 to 9 and boys ages 10 to 14. It also occurred despite a public health advisory released by the Food and Drug Administration in October 2003 regarding antidepressant use by children. Among all children, the prevalence of antidepressant use had been increasing prior to the advisory, after which it decreased.

Unlike the other medications studied, children ages 5 to 9 accounted for the largest increase in the use of asthma controller medication among the three age groups at 67.3 percent as compared to 38.8 percent for the 10 to 14 age group and 34.7 percent for the 15 to 19 age group.

The researchers noted that this exception could be explained by concerns over the long-term side effects of these medications in children and/or greater physician office visits, and therefore greater likelihood of prescribing.

Memos show FDAers fought preemption

Hakeem Alexander — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:58:44 GMT

October 30, 2008 — 10:39am ET |
By Tracy Staton

Is Rep. Henry Waxman looking to preempt preemption? Just as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the big pharma preemption case--Wyeth v. Levine--next week, the Congressman released internal memos that show FDA officials fighting the Bush Administration's move to make the agency's stand on drugs legally unassailable.

As you know, FDA brass and the Bush Administration have been advancing a new doctrine: that agency approval ought to shield drugmakers from legal challenges in state court. But longtime agency officials opposed that view in the memos Waxman released. They said that it's wrong to assume FDA-approved drug labels are always up-to-date, reliable, and based on a drugmaker's full disclosure of safety risks.

"[M]uch of the argument for why we are proposing to invoke preemption seems to be based on a false assumption that the FDA approved labeling is fully accurate and up-to-date in a real time basis," wrote John Jenkins, a top official in the drug approval section, according to the Wall Street Journal. And Jane Axelrad, FDA's associate director of CDER at the time, wrote that, "we usually find ourselves dealing with situations where sponsors want to minimize the risk information." According to Axelrad, preemption wouldn't be "consistent with the agency's role in protecting the public health."

The memos appear to be fuel for a Congressional bid to reverse Bush's anti-lawsuit policy, which has extended not only to the FDA and drugmakers, but through other regulatory agencies as well. So no matter what the Supremes decide on the Wyeth v. Levine case, the preemption argument won't be over.

- read the WSJ story

Team uses molecular switch to erase memories

Hakeem Alexander — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:25:09 GMT

October 27, 2008 — 1:46pm ET |
By John Carroll

Scientists have used a molecular switch on a protein that is found only in the brain to selectively erase certain memories. And the same approach may one day be used to delete memories that people no longer want to recall.

The "work reveals a molecular mechanism of how [memory deletion] can be done quickly and without doing damage to brain cells," said Joe Z. Tsien, co-author of the study and co-director of the Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta.

The team developed a chemical-genetic approach to manipulate the CaMKII protein in mice bred to overproduce the enzyme. They were then exposed to shocks and watched to see if the switch could eliminate a particularly painful memory. They concluded that the switch appeared to erase specific memories while leaving the rest of their recollections intact.

- read the article from HealthDay

Related Articles:
Enzyme inhibitor wipes out unhappy memories (Aug 2007)
Heart drug may help memories fade away (July 2007)

NEWS: New public genome database to spark research, unease (BioTechniques Int.)

Hakeem Alexander — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:17:05 GMT

By Lauren E. Wool
Published: October 19, 2008

Eight of the ten volunteers. Back row (left to right): James Sherley, Misha Angrist, John Halamka, Keith Batchelder, Rosalynn Gill.
Front row (left to right): Esther Dyson, George Church, Kirk Maxey. Source: Personal Genome Project

Boston, MA, Oct. 19—Ten volunteers are preparing to share with the world what is arguably their most personal possession: their decoded DNA, along with medical history, ethnic background, and other traits. These pioneers are participating in the Personal Genome Project (PGP), a Harvard University–based research group whose initiative is to provide more openly available genetic information in order to further genetic and medical research.

Because the common issues surrounding privacy have been sidestepped by gaining complete consent from the “PGP 10,” as they call themselves, the database—which the project hopes to expand to include 100,000 participants—will include phenotypic information, which has typically been avoided in other databases due to privacy concerns. Complete, open access to this type of data is expected to help researchers better understand how outward traits and genes are linked.

In allowing the partial genomes of the 10 volunteers to remain openly accessible, the PGP hopes to also confront the stigma surrounding the concept of a public genome. It is, as the New York Times aptly described, “[a]s much a social experiment as it is a scientific one.” Dr. George M. Church, a human geneticist at Harvard, who is the leader of the PGP and also a participant, concedes that it is unknown how the availability of this information will affect its participants. “We don’t yet know the consequences of having one’s genome out in the open, but it’s worth exploring,” he told the Times.

Others are not so swift to agree. “There will be new uses of this data that people can’t anticipate,” said Kathy Hudson, director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University, “and they can’t do anything to get it back.” Stephen Mercer, a Rockville, MD–based lawyer specializing in the intersection of DNA and civil liberties, told the Washington Post that he fears publicizing people’s genomes will cause others to make gene-trait associations that are not scientifically sound. “That’s the real unstated danger here,” he said, “that it will be a launching pad for behavioral human genetics, in the search for genes that dictate personality traits, coyness, anxiety, family conflict, sexual orientation.”

Church asserts that with this information, more people will be able to respond appropriately to diseases for which they are at risk, and doctors can use disease-gene associations to provide better, more personalized treatment. “We’re treating people like one size fits all, like anybody can work in an asbestos factory, anybody can eat peanuts, anybody can take this new antibiotic. It’s just not true,” said Church to the Post. However, though a recently passed federal law prohibits insurance companies and employers from discriminating on the basis of genetic information, analogous laws do not yet exist for long-term health, disability or life insurance policies, leading many to be concerned about how publicized genetic information will influence future insurability.

Though dissenting opinions on the appropriateness of a person’s complete, public genome are widespread in response to PGP’s approach, the 10 volunteers’ full genomes are far from being completely sequenced: the privately-funded project is focusing on only a handful of genes that seem to have the most influence over disease, behavior, and physical traits. Sequencing an entire genome costs about $5,000, down from about $1 million two years ago, making consensus on the virtue of genetic privacy an increasingly pressing goal as the cost continues to fall.

But the argument surrounding privacy may prove to be moot, after all. In a paper published August 29, 2008, researchers from the Translational Genomic Research Institute and the University of California-Los Angeles determined a method for identifying a single individual’s DNA from within a complex mixture of anonymized genomic data. This finding, as reported by BioTechniques in September, prompted the National Institutes of Health to block access to two formerly public databases.

Keywords: news, personal genome project, genome database

Harvard researchers use chemical to transform human skin cells into pluripotent cells

Hakeem Alexander — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:07:38 GMT

2008-10-20

by Amy Swinderman

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have successfully used valproic acid to transform human skin cells into pluripotent cells, a finding which could lead to the use of chemicals to reprogram cells instead of genes and viruses, according to a recent study.

The study, published Oct. 12 in the Nature Publishing Group journal Nature Biotechnology, presents the possibility of reprogramming through purely chemical means, “which would make therapeutic use of reprogrammed cells safer and more practical.” Eliminating the use of genes—and the viruses being used to insert them into target cells—is a goal of scientists doing reprogramming work, because the genes become integrated into the genome of the target cells and may change them in ways not yet understood or anticipated.

Using valproic acid, a chemical often used as a medication to treat seizure disorders, the scientists loosened the chromatin—the packaging of the cellular chromosome—making it easier to alter the cell’s DNA to transform ordinary human skin cells into more powerful induced pluripotent cells, or iPS cells.

The researchers used retroviruses to carry two of the four genes routinely used in reprogramming experiments. Because the two genes—c-Myc and Klf4—are cancer genes, this method of creating stem cells could be used to treat the disease, says Dr. Danwei Huangfu, lead author of the study. Previously, Huangfu used a chemical to improve the efficiency of the gene-induced reprogramming process in mice cells.

The study’s findings have other far-reaching implications. For example, this method could be used to regenerate the pancreatic cells destroyed in type 1 diabetes and perhaps cure that disease, according to the researchers.

The researchers will now probe whether chemicals can replace all of the genes used in reprogramming, because genes instruct the cell to reprogram itself back to a stem cell state.

“We may need two types of chemicals, one to loosen the chromatin structure, and another to activate a genetic program for the stem cell state,” Huangfu says. “We are looking for that reprogramming chemical, and it should be possible to find.”

The study, Induction of pluripotent stem cells from primary human fibroblasts with only Oct4 and Sox2, was co-authored by Kenji Osafune, René Maehr, Wenjun Guo, Astrid Eijkelenboom, Shuibing Chen, Whitney Muhlestein and Douglas A. Melton, a group of researchers from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute; the Japan Science and Technology Agency’s ICORP Organ Regeneration Project; the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass.; and the Biomedical Sciences department of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. DDN

Adverse event reports hit record high

Hakeem Alexander — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:03:25 GMT

October 23, 2008 — 11:04am ET |
By Tracy Staton

Prescription drugs posted a new record during the first quarter of this year, but it's a milestone drugmakers would probably rather forget. The number of deaths and serious injuries associated with prescription drug use rose to new highs, with 4,825 deaths and nearly 21,000 injuries, a watchdog group said. That's nearly a threefold rise from the previous quarter and 38 percent more than last year's quarterly average.

According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, the Pfizer stop-smoking drug Chantix tallied the most adverse reports, with 1,001 injuries and 50 deaths. As you know, Chantix has attracted widespread media attention for the psychiatric effects--even suicide attempts--seen in some of its users. (That attention probably boosted the number of reports, too.)

Second on the list was the blood thinner heparin--subject of a much-publicized recall and an international investigation--which was associated with 779 injuries and 102 deaths. These adverse reactions were traced back to contamination of raw heparin used to make the drug.

The Institute took its stats from the FDA's adverse events reporting system, which can be problematic for a couple of reasons. One, adverse events often go unreported, so the numbers can understate the problem. But--and this is the second reason--the individual reports don't prove that the drug caused the problem.

- read the story in the Los Angeles Times
- check out the WSJ Health Blog post

Deprived Of A Sense Of Smell, Worms Live Longer

Hakeem Alexander — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:00:19 GMT

ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2008) — Many animals live longer when raised on low calorie diets. But now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that they can extend the life spans of roundworms even when the worms are well fed — it just takes a chemical that blocks their sense of smell.

Three years ago, the researchers, led by Kerry Kornfeld, M.D., Ph.D., reported they found that a class of anticonvulsant medications made the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans live longer. But until now, they didn't quite know what the drugs did to give the worms their longevity. They report their latest findings in the Oct. 24 issue of the Public Library of Science Genetics.

"We've learned that the drugs inhibit neurons in the worm's head that sense chemicals in their surroundings — the neurons are like the worm's nose," says Kornfeld, professor of developmental biology. "Like roundworms that are grown in a food-scarce environment, the worms exposed to the anticonvulsant ethosuximide lived longer. But these worms ate plenty of food. That suggests that the worms' sensation of food is critical to controlling their metabolism and life span."

If roundworms sense that food is abundant, their metabolism adjusts accordingly. Their bodies respond to promote rapid ingestion, rapid growth and rapid aging, Kornfeld explains. In contrast, when the worms sense a shortage of food, they make "metabolic decisions" to delay growth, delay energy use and extend lifespan.

In the long term, Kornfeld's goal is to identify compounds that could potentially delay human aging. The research group for this project also included James Collins, Ph.D., Kim Evason, M.D., Ph.D., Chris Pickett, Ph.D., and Daniel Schneider.

Kornfeld's lab studies C. elegans because they live only about two to three weeks, so experimental results can be obtained quickly. In addition, the worms' genome has been sequenced and extensively studied.

The scientists' strategy has been to expose the roundworms to libraries of chemicals to identify compounds that delay aging and extend their lives. That approach led to the unexpected result that some human anticonvulsants slow aging in C. elegans.

Now, further investigating the effect of one of those compounds, ethosuximide, the researchers found that it had the same life-extending effect as some well-studied genetic mutations in C. elegans. These mutations inhibit the activity of some sensory neurons in the worm, and that helped the researchers conclude that ethosuximide also directly affected these neurons. Roundworms treated with ethosuximide lived up to 29 percent longer than normal.

"Now we know what cells ethosuximide targets in C. elegans," Kornfeld says. "It's likely that the drug prevents the nerve cells from being electrically active, but precisely how it does that is something we need to study further. We also want to find out how the effect on the neurons is translated into an effect on the worms' bodies to delay aging."

Ethosuximide is used to treat seizure disorders in people. Interestingly, a common side effect of the drug is the loss of the sense of taste. Does that mean the ability to taste or smell food affects aging in people? It's probably not that simple, but it does hint at some sort of connection, Kornfeld says. He says it's possible that sensory perception cues have important metabolic consequences independent of what we actually eat.

"Emerging evidence suggests that core metabolic pathways that modulate lifespan in worms also modulate lifespan in vertebrates such as mice and perhaps humans," Kornfeld says. "Sensory pathways might also be fairly universal. In an ancient common ancestor, these pathways might have caused metabolic adjustments that affect lifespan. That could be reflected in our own biology."

Funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Longer Life Foundation and the Ellison Medical Foundation supported this research.

Study: Half of doctors use placebo

Hakeem Alexander — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:52:06 GMT

October 24, 2008 — 10:26am ET |
By Tracy Staton

Take a couple of sugar pills and call me in the morning? Apparently, many doctors aren't bothering with aspirin anymore; instead, they're using placebo treatments on some patients. And the very nature of a placebo means that the patient often isn't in the know.

According to a new study published today in the online version of BMJ, about half of American doctors say they regularly give patients placebo treatments, usually drugs or vitamins that won't really help their condition. The researchers targeted 1,200 internists and rheumatologists; 679 responded, and of those, 62 percent said they believed using placebo is ethically acceptable. They said they used placebo treatments several times a month, and usually described the pill or injection as "a potentially beneficial medicine not typically used for your condition."

Most used actual medications; 41 percent used painkillers, 13 percent used antibiotics, and 13 percent used sedatives. Others used vitamins, saline injections and actual sugar pills. If a new drugmaker gets its way, these docs could have the opportunity to prescribe Obecalp, a drug candidate that's actually just an official placebo.

Some ethicists, however, say using placebo as a "shortcut" isn't acceptable. And the American Medical Association says that docs have to explain treatment to patients. So maybe that aspirin ploy wasn't so bad after all.

- read the story in the Washington Post

Reading the Entire Genetic Code

Hakeem Alexander — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:30:48 GMT

Pioneers such as 23andMe and Navigenics use snips of genes to make medical predictions. Now new tools from more startups are on the horizon

By John Carey
Online Extra October 23, 2008, 5:00PM EST text size: T T

The first wave of personal genomics companies, such as Navigenics and 23andMe, may face an uphill battle turning gene analysis into a business. There are simply too many limitations on their ability to make accurate predictions about a customer's health. But other promising business opportunities are coming in this field. Some analysts see a multibillion-dollar market forming around the craft of gene sequencing. The spoils, they say, will go to the companies that figure out how to read genes at the fastest speeds and for the lowest price.

Some of the most intriguing technology comes from Pacific Biosciences in Menlo Park, Calif. Building on innovations from academic researchers at Cornell University, the company is harnessing biology's natural ability to copy DNA in order to read its code. Every cell contains an enzyme, called DNA polymerase, that makes long pieces of double-stranded DNA, one "letter" at a time, using an existing strand of DNA as a template. In the Pac Biosciences approach, a DNA strand to be decoded is given to the polymerase enzyme. As the enzyme copies the strand, a sequencing machine is reading each letter as it is added.

Speed Reading

"I was blown away by the sophistication and elegance of their approach," says Dr. Tim Harris, director of the Advanced Technology Program and corporate vice-president for technology at SAIC (SAI), which is working with the National Cancer Institute on sequencing cancer cells. Adds J. Craig Venter, who sequenced the first human genome: "It's pretty damn exciting, if they can live up to anywhere near the data they are claiming now." Theoretically, says Hugh Martin, Pac Biosciences' chief executive, the method could read an entire human genome in a few hours. Plus, the system is able to sequence parts of the genome that contain many repeated letters, which are virtually impossible to read now. By next year, the company hopes to be selling sequencing machines.

Other companies, such as Helicos BioSciences(HLCS), are chasing the same prize. One that made a splash recently is Compete Genomics in Mountain View, Calif. It announced in early October that, by the middle of next year, it will read the entire human genetic code at a price of $5,000 per genome. "That would be a dramatic drop in price in human genome sequencing," says geneticist George Church of Harvard Medical School, who founded a company, Knome, that offers genome sequencing to individuals.

Such advances could transform the gene-testing business and force companies such as 23andMe and Navigenics, which rely on bits of genes as disease "markers" to switch to whole-genome sequencing Ultimately, says geneticist Greg Lennon, co-founder of gene startup SNPedia, information about the genome is "a commodity." And the information is finite, he adds. "Whoever can provide it accurately with the best and cheapest technology will win here."

Carey is a senior correspondent for BusinessWeek in Washington.

Lilly: $1.4B ding in profits for Zyprexa charge

Hakeem Alexander — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:45:51 GMT

October 22, 2008 — 5:43am ET |
By Christe Bruderlin-Nelson

Earlier this month, Eli Lilly came to a settlement regarding consumer protection laws with 32 different states over inappropriate marketing of Zyprexa. Now, the company says it is in "advanced discussions" regarding a criminal investigation, in addition to a class-action lawsuit it might face.

Lilly's senior vice president and general counsel, Robert Armitage, released a statement saying that, because of the ongoing investigation, "We now have a heightened sense of responsibility to all our stakeholders to intensify efforts to resolve these issues."

Big pharma companies paying fines is now so commonplace, it's almost unsurprising. In fact, Lilly is just another on the long list of fined drug companies that includes Pfizer, Merck and Schering-Plough, to name a few. Accountability rests with the corporation (and fines with its shareholders), thereby protecting the individuals within the company who made the choices that got it into hot water. Some critics say the setup is very convenient.

Eleven states that were not part of the initial 32-state probe have also filed lawsuits over the atypical antipsychotic medication, which the company launched in 1996. Lilly said yesterday that will record in the third quarter of 2008 a charge of $1.415 billion, or $1.29 per share, as a result of its Zyprexa problems, and that the company is in "advanced discussions" to resolve the ongoing investigations.

- check out Lilly's release
- read the story in the Wall Street Journal
- see more at Forbes
- here's the Wall Street Journal blog post

Scientists develop drug delivery system for brain cancers, other diseases (FierceBiotech)

Hakeem Alexander — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:39:16 GMT

October 22, 2008

Geneva, Switzerland: Scientists have developed a new drug delivery system that is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier to reach and kill cancer cells in the brain, according to research presented at the 20th EORTC-NCI-AACR [1] Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Geneva today (Wednesday 22 October). Following successful preclinical studies, the technology is being evaluated in two phase I clinical trials in patients with malignant glioma and brain metastases.

The blood-brain barrier is formed by a network of closely sealed endothelial cells in the brain's capillaries, and it expresses a high level of proteins that pump foreign molecules away from the brain, while allowing others (such as glucose and insulin) that are necessary to the functioning of the brain cells to cross the barrier. This makes it very difficult for molecules, including anti-cancer drugs, to cross the blood-brain barrier and reach tumour cells in the brain. Currently, less than five per cent of drugs (made up of very small molecules) are able to cross the barrier; one example is temozolomide, which is the only chemotherapy available for treating brain tumours such as glioblastoma multiforme and progressive anaplastic astrocytoma. These tumours have a poor prognosis and continue to grow, even after treatment with temozolomide. Therefore, new therapies for these hard-to-treat brain tumours are needed urgently.

In four related presentations to the symposium, scientists from Canada, the USA and France described how they are investigating a new drug delivery technology that provides a non-invasive and flexible way of transporting different drugs (for example, antibodies, proteins, peptides, siRNA, small molecules, etc.) across the blood-brain barrier and into the central nervous system.

The drug being evaluated in the four abstracts is called ANG1005. It is made up of one molecule of a peptide called Angiopep-2 joined together with three molecules of paclitaxel, a taxane chemotherapy drug.

Dr Reinhard Gabathuler, author of one of the abstracts and chief scientific officer at Angiochem Inc (Montreal, Canada) - the company that is developing the Angiopep technology and ANG1005 - explained: "Unlike invasive or pharmacological approaches to deliver drugs to the brain, the Angiopep technology utilises the physiological approach by making use of the receptors on the surface of the blood-brain barrier that are responsible for actively transporting necessary molecules across the barrier to the brain. The family of Angiopeps (including Angiopep-2) has been designed to interact with a specific receptor, Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor Related Protein-1 (LRP-1). This receptor has many functions, binds over 30 ligands [molecules] of various sizes, and is highly expressed at the blood-brain barrier."

In laboratory-based tests of ANG1005 on mice and rats, Dr Gabathuler, other scientists in the company and collaborators in the US and Canada found that the drug was transported rapidly across the blood-brain barrier and into the functional part of the brain, the parenchyma.

"In contrast to free paclitaxel, which is normally prevented from reaching the brain by the P-glycoprotein efflux pump, ANG1005 is efficiently transported across the blood-brain barrier, with approximately 100-fold higher transport rate compared to free paclitaxel and 10-fold higher transport rate than temozolomide," he said.

In addition, the drug resulted in a significant, 27% increase of survival of mice with glioblastoma tumours and a shrinking of glioblastoma tumours in rats.

A second study, led by Dr Francis Bichat, head of the scientific platform at Oncodesign (Dijon, France), evaluated the anti-cancer properties of the drug in cancer cell lines and mice, as well as investigating its toxicity and what happened to the drug in mice.

He found that ANG1005 had the same anti-cancer properties as did free paclitaxel (paclitaxel on its own) in cancer cell lines. Speaking before the conference, he said: "The anti-tumour activity of paclitaxel was maintained with ANG1005 compared with free paclitaxel. There was no loss of activity." He also found a significant inhibition of brain tumour growth in rats when they were treated with ANG1005, whereas tumours in rats that were treated with paclitaxel did not have their growth inhibited. "This is probably because free paclitaxel is not able to enter the brain," he said.

"The most interesting finding from this study is the potency of ANG1005 to bypass the blood-brain barrier and to allow paclitaxel into the brain where it shows anti-tumour activity," said Dr Bichat.

The success of these pre-clinical studies enabled Angiochem Inc to start two phase I clinical trials at cancer centres in the US: one in patients with advanced cancer and brain metastases, and the second in patients with recurrent malignant glioma.

These trials are still being conducted, but, as of 23 September 2008, 22 patients with advanced solid tumours (including breast cancer, melanoma, liver cancer and 15 patients with brain metastases) have been treated with ANG1005 in the first trial. The drug is given by intravenous infusion for one hour, every 21 days. At doses up to 500 mg/m2 the drug appears to be safe and well tolerated and no patient has discontinued due to adverse side-effects. The researchers are continuing to increase the dose.

Dr Jean-Paul Castaigne, president and chief executive officer of Angiochem Inc, who presented the clinical trials results, said: "To date, the safety and tolerability of ANG1005 has been excellent in patients with advanced solid tumours and brain metastases."

In the second trial in patients with recurrent malignant glioma, 12 patients had been treated by 23 September 2008 - eight with glioblastoma multiforme, one with anaplastic astrocytoma and three with anaplastic oligondendrocytoma.

Dr Castaigne said: "We have demonstrated that the drug is safe and tolerable up to and including doses of 75 mg/m2 and we are currently evaluating doses of 105 mg/m2. No patient has discontinued due to drug-related adverse side-effects. So far, all patients (with the exception of one) dosed up to 50 mg/m2 have had their disease progress following two cycles of treatment at six weeks. However, it should be noted that 50 mg/m2 of ANG1005 has an equivalent paclitaxel dose of only about 25 mg/m2, which is still quite low for appreciable cytotoxic effects."

He continued: "To date, treatment options for patients with recurrent malignant glioma are limited and prognosis is bleak because of the brain's highly evolved physiological structure. Results from both these trials show that Angiopep conjugates may provide a potentially safe and effective way to treat gliomas and other currently unmanageable diseases of the central nervous system. The Angiopep technology is well tolerated, since most of the side-effects observed to date with ANG1005 are caused by paclitaxel, the active drug component."

Both trials will be reporting their most important results by the end of 2008, and researchers are planning a continuation of the trial in patients with brain cancer in 2009.

Dr Castaigne said: "Angiochem's intention is to continue the early development of ANG1005 until proof-of-efficacy is obtained in either progressive malignant gliomas or brain metastases. We will seek to find a partner with significant oncology experience to carry forward the later development stages and marketing of ANG1005.

"Although other technologies have demonstrated abilities to cross the blood-brain barrier, we believe that the Angiopep technology is the furthest developed of the physiological approach and has significant advantages. ANG1005 is the company's first compound in clinical development using the Angiopep technology. We have been successful in conjugating other chemotherapeutics (e.g. doxorubicin and etoposide) to our technology; preclinical data have demonstrated success in delivering these compounds into the brain and retaining cytotoxic activities. Angiochem is also focusing considerable effort on the conjugation and delivery of other drug classes (including monoclonal antibodies, proteins, peptides, siRNA, etc.) to treat other CNS disorders."

Wisconsin Medical Society Bans Pharma Gifts

Hakeem Alexander — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:41:08 GMT

By Ed Silverman // October 18th, 2008 // 10:21 pm

The doctors’ group, which boasts 12,000 members, has joined a growing number of academic medical centers, professional societies and legislators that have decided gifts from the pharmaceutical industry are questionable, if not unacceptable forms of influence.

The Wisconsin Medical Society adopted a policy on October 11 that says: “Physicians shall accept no gifts from any provider of products that they prescribe to their patients such as personal items, office supplies, food, travel and time costs, or payment for participation in online continuing medical education. A complete ban eases the burdens of compliance, biased decision making, and patient distrust.” This is the complete policy, which was disclosed this past Thursday.

In a statement, WMS president Steven Bergin says: “This policy is strong and clear. It leaves no doubt that the society’s physicians want to prevent even the impression that a gift–no matter how small–could get in the way of a physician’s decision-making.

“This policy simply puts the Wisconsin Medical Society on record that individual physicians should take a bright line approach to accepting items from companies that make products or drugs that the physician might end up prescribing or recommending to his or her patients. There’s nothing more sacred than the physician-patient relationship, and we physicians have the responsibility to make sure nothing gets in the way of that relationship–or even appears to get in the way.”

As promised, FDA misses deadlines

Hakeem Alexander — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:23:58 GMT

October 20, 2008 — 10:01am ET |
By Tracy Staton

Is the FDA dragging its feet these days? Well, it's certainly missing lots of deadlines. We all know by now that the agency didn't decide the fate of prasugrel, the Eli Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo blood thinner, by Sept. 26 as promised; in fact, FDA still hasn't decided almost a month later. Today, the news is that the drug watchdog won't meet its October target date on TAK-390MR, a Takeda candidate for treating gastric reflux. The company announced that the delay will last at least three months.

And those are just a couple of the latest examples. Here's a list of the rest of FDA's delays this year:

Promacta, a GlaxoSmithKline treatment for a clotting disorder; FDA missed the Sept. 19 deadline and has not yet made a decision
Nplate, Amgen's clotting disorder med, was supposed to get the agency's yea or nay July 23, but the approval didn't come until Aug. 22.
Telavancin, a Theravance antibiotic, was scheduled for a decision by July 21; now, it's scheduled for an FDA advisory panel hearing Nov. 19.
Entereg, a GSK/Adolor drug for complications from bowel surgery, was approved May 20, 10 days after the deadline.
Cimzia, a Crohn's disease treatment from UCB, was supposed to get FDA's ruling March 30, but the drug was finally approved April 22.
Lexiscan, a heart-imaging candidate from CV Therapeutics and Astellas Pharma, was due for a decision March 14; it was approved April 10.
Kynapid, an atrial fibrillation med from Cardiome Pharma and Astellas, was scheduled for a yea or nay by January 19. The companies announced in August that the FDA had requested more info for the application.
And finally, another recent example: The FDA has said it will miss the Oct. 27 deadline on Takeda's diabetes treatment alogliptin.

You'll recall that earlier this year, the FDA warned that it would probably start missing deadlines because of a staffing crunch. And observers have commented that the agency seems to be hesitant at the approval trigger, perhaps because it's gun-shy after a variety of high-profile drug safety problems. Meanwhile, the agency has been scrambling to fill vacant positions and bring on additional help. Only time will tell whether the additional workers can speed up the process.

- read Takeda's release
- see the post at Pharmalot

Synthetic biology attracts VC attention

Hakeem Alexander — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:17:31 GMT

October 17, 2008 — 11:35am ET |
By Maureen Martino

Synthetic biology--a relatively new field which joins biology and engineering to create or change life forms--is catching the attention of venture capitalists looking for the next big thing. The potential upsides of such technology seem limitless. Synthetic biology could be used to create new drugs and medical devices, solve ecological problems and even create new organisms. Some of these possibilities are years away, of course, but the wide range of potential applications is a VC's dream come true.

"Synthetic biology is just biotechnology done better, faster and cheaper,"Talli Somekh of Musea Ventures tells CNN. "There's an element of irrational speculation about synthetic biology, because people seem to think that it's something entirely new and revolutionary. But the truth is that it's really just applying principles of disciplined construction to something that has for too long been a lab science."

In the near future, synthetic biology could greatly simplify some of the processes used in the biotech industry. Amyris Biotechnologies, for instance, is developing an anti-malaria treatment derived from a rare African tree. Rather than trying to cultivate the tree, Amyris is using synthetic biology to produce the derivative in the lab. That will make the drug more affordable and easier to produce--a combo that both drug developers and VCs love.

- check out this article for more

Featured News » Vitamin D Deficiency Among Parkinson’s (PsychCentral)

Hakeem Alexander — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:31:21 GMT

By Rick Nauert, Ph.D.
Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 15, 2008

Wednesday, Oct 15 (Psych Central) -- Individuals with Parkinson’s disease appear more likely to be vitamin D deficient than healthy adults of the same age or patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

“Vitamin D is important for maintaining many physiologic functions, and vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased risk of disease,” according to background information in the article.

“Patients with chronic neurodegenerative diseases frequently have many risk factors for vitamin D insufficiency,” including advancing age, obesity, avoidance of sun exposure, residence in northerly latitudes and having darker skin.

Marian L. Evatt, M.D., M.S., and colleagues at the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, compared vitamin D levels of 100 patients with Parkinson’s disease to vitamin D levels of 97 Alzheimer’s disease patients and 99 healthy individuals matched for age, sex, race, genotype and geographic location.

“Significantly more patients with Parkinson’s disease (55 percent) had insufficient vitamin D than did controls (36 percent) or patients with Alzheimer’s disease (41 percent),” the authors write.

The average vitamin D concentration in the group with Parkinson’s disease was considerably lower than the Alzheimer’s disease and healthy groups (31.9 nanograms per milliliter vs. 34.8 nanograms per milliliter and 37 nanograms per milliliter, respectively).

“These findings support the previously suggested need for further studies to assess what contribution a low 25(OH)D [a measure of blood vitamin D levels] concentration adds to the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (vs. other neurodegenerative disorders) and to determine whether correction of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency will improve motor or non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease,” the authors conclude.

“Finally, the finding of a high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in the Parkinson’s disease and other cohorts highlights the importance of routinely checking the level of 25(OH)D, particularly in elderly patients, since deficiency is strongly correlated with a higher incidence of osteoporosis, falls and hip fractures and has been associated with a higher incidence of several forms of cancer and autoimmune disorders.”

The report is published in the October issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Source: JAMA and Archives Journals

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