Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009

Restless legs are linked to bacteria

They often say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

It also may be a new way of treating restless leg syndrome (RLS), says Dr. Leonard Weinstock, a gastroenterologist at Washington University in St. Louis.

In a new, small study, Weinstock found that bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, a factor in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), also may play a role in RLS and that antibiotics can help both conditions.

In 13 patients suffering from both conditions, all saw improvement in IBS symptoms and 10 found marked relief from the leg condition after a 10-day course of the drug rifaximin.

Weinstock hypothesized a connection between IBS and restless legs when his cousin developed both conditions after a case of travelers' diarrhea. He said he also has heard reports of IBS being linked with fibromyalgia, which, in turn, has been connected to RLS.

Rifaximin is an antibiotic that is not absorbed by the bloodstream. Patients in the study also were given long-term tegaserod and a one-month course of zinc and probiotic therapy. Weinstock, who is a consultant and speaker for Salix pharmaceuticals, marketer of rifaximin, is now starting a multicenter trial that will involve 600 patients.

Restless leg syndrome, once referred to as "the Jimmy legs" by Kramer on "Seinfeld," is a disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations of the legs, which produces an urge to move them for relief.

DNA evidence questioned

Scientists in Israel say they have shown that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, which could undermine what is now considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.

The scientists say they produced blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they could access a DNA profile, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.

"You can just engineer a crime scene," said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper, which has been published in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. "Any biology undergraduate could perform this."

Frumkin is a founder of Nucleix, a company based in Tel Aviv that says it has developed a test to distinguish real DNA samples from fake ones.

Tania Simoncelli, science adviser to the American Civil Liberties Union, said she was troubled by the report.

"DNA is a lot easier to plant at a crime scene than fingerprints," she said. "We're creating a criminal justice system that is increasingly relying on this technology."

Others said most criminals would not have the expertise to fabricate such evidence, although it could call testimony from police and prosecutors into question.

Additives may harm kidneys

Additives used to "enhance" uncooked meat and poultry can pose serious health risks for people with kidney disease, a new study finds.

Many fresh meat and poultry products are injected with water, sodium, potassium salts, and flavorings that are not required to be listed on their labels, according to the report in the July 23 online edition of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

But dialysis patients must limit their intake of dietary phosphate, which can boost levels in the blood and cause premature death. Kidney disease patients also need to limit potassium intake.

In the study, researchers at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School found that enhanced products had an average of 28 percent more phosphates than additive-free products. Of the 25 products with additives, one in five had nearly double the level of potassium.

Making the situation more dangerous, eight of the 25 products did not report the additives on their labels.

Breast milk advantage

University of London scientists say they have discovered an ingredient in human breast milk that can protect and repair the delicate intestines of newborn babies.

The ingredient -- called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor, or PSTI -- is found at its highest levels in colostrum, the milk produced in the first few days after birth. That's the same period of time that a newborn's gut is particularly vulnerable to damage because it has never been exposed to food or drink.

After damaging human intestinal cells in the lab, the researchers found that PSTI stimulated the cells to form a protective "plaster" over the damaged area. The also found that PSTI could stop such cells from self-destructing.

In all, PSTI could reduce damage by 75 percent and helps the baby prepare for the "onslaught of all the food and drink to come," the scientists said. PSTI was not found in formula milk.

Obesity, diabetes linked

In a finding that could lead to new treatments, researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, say they have proven a critical link between obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The scientists found that fat cells release a novel protein called PEDF, which triggers a chain of events that spark the development of diabetes.

"When PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor) is released into the bloodstream, it causes the muscle and liver to become desensitized to insulin," said Matthew Wait, who led the study. "The pancreas then produces more insulin to counteract these negative effects."

Like a runner on a treadmill, the pancreas eventually tires, causing it to slow or stop its insulin production and leading to type 2 diabetes. And, the more fat tissue a person has, the less sensitive they become to insulin.

The good news is that by blocking the PEDF, the effects can be reversed, Wait said.

"We already know that weight-loss generally improves the management of blood glucose levels in diabetes patients, said Watt, whose study was published in a recent issue of Cell Metabolism. "Researchers can now ... begin to design new drugs to improve the treatment of Type 2 diabetes."

Twitter babble

Here's a finding that may not surprise many people: More than 40 percent of the messages on Twitter are "pointless babble" according to a study by a market research firm.

Pear Analytics, based in San Antonio, randomly sampled 2,000 Twitter messages, separating them into six categories: news, spam, self-promotion, pointless babble, conversational and pass-along value.

The company said 811 of the short "tweets" -- 40.6 percent -- were pointless babble along the lines of "I am eating a sandwich now." Conversational messages -- those that tend to spark a discourse between users -- accounted for about 38 percent.