EXTENSION OF THE VALIDITY PERIOD OF THE SOCSO’S HEALTH SCREENING VOUCHERS

Dear Panels,

We are please to announce that the validity period of the 2013 HSP Vouchers, which are due to expired on the 30th June 2014 is now extended until the 31st December 2014. 

Cancer Vaccine

source from Cervarix Vaccine, GSK

There's more to vitamin D than meet the eye

Given the important role of vitamin D in bone health, in general, people with low levels of vitamin D in their blood have lower bone density and higher risk of fractures. One way to get vitamin D is from the sun; but because darker skin absorbs less UVB rays, the levels of vitamin D are often lower among blacks and other ethnicities with dark skin stones compared to whites.
However, a puzzling observation is that although more blacks than whites are diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency, blacks have higher bone mineral density scores and a lower risk of fractures compared to whites. Researchers from Boston interested in further exploring this phenomenon decided to test whether Vitamin-D Binding Protein had a part to play in solving the puzzle.
Vitamin D does not normally float around freely in our blood. It is bound to proteins, the most common being Vitamin-D Binding Protein (DBP). Less than 1% of vitamin D is present in a free, unbound form. What effect does being bound to proteins have on vitamin D? Research suggests that vitamin D cannot function fully when it is bound and needs to be free of any binding proteins in order to get into cells and perform its functions. However, the tests researchers and clinicians use to measure vitamin D levels do not differentiate between the bound and unbound forms of vitamin D.
Another important point to keep in mind is that the structure of DBP can differ based on one’s genetic makeup. Each form of DBP protein varies slightly in terms of how strongly it can bind to vitamin D. Researchers have also noted that certain variants of DBP show up more frequently in certain racial groups compared to others.
Given all of this information, Dr. Powe and her colleagues wanted to find out whether black and white Americans differ in terms of the types and amounts of DBPs present in their bodies, and whether these differences affect vitamin D levels. They conducted a study including 1,181 black participants and 904 white participants with an average age of 48 years.
Two results from their study were similar to results from many other studies: on average, blacks had lower total vitamin D levels compared to whites and blacks also had higher bone mineral density compared to whites. But black participants, on average, also had lower levels of DBP. Genetic analysis indicated that blacks in the study more commonly had a variant type of DBP gene, which was associated with lower DBP levels, i.e. people who carried this DBP gene also tended to have lower levels of the DBP protein in their body.
It seems that low levels of both vitamin D and vitamin D-binding protein in blacks essentially result in similar amounts of estimated free unbound vitamin D as in whites. This is a crucial point as it would mean that a vitamin D test result in blacks showing low vitamin D levels may not necessarily indicate deficiency in vitamin D. The study authors suggest that low blood levels of total vitamin D do not indicate vitamin D deficiency if the levels of DBP are also low, as may be the case in many blacks.
This study, published late last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, is important because it challenges us to reconsider how we define vitamin D deficiency. More follow-up studies need to be done to confirm these results and also to test whether vitamin D-binding protein levels affect fracture and osteoporosis risk.

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Reference: Powe CE, Evans MK, Wenger J, et al. Vitamin D-Binding Protein and Vitamin D Status of Black Americans and White Americans. N Engl J Med 2013;369:1991-2000. doi:10.1056/NEJMoal306357.
Taken from http://osteoconnections.com/ 

Lower body exercises for osteoporosis and bone health 

Source from http://osteoconnections.com.

Can stem cells treat hypertension?

Can stem cells treat hypertension?

Apr 2014 , Dr. Nicolo Cabrera

With prominent personalities swearing by stem cells, physicians must keep a close eye on this novel treatment modality. During the 10th Asia-Pacific Congress of Hypertension, Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-dela Paz of the Philippine Genome Center and the Institute of Human Genetics at the National Institutes of Health brought physicians up to speed on the basic science on stem cells and how it may be applied to hypertension.

Stem cells are distinct non-specialized cells that can replicate and create multiple identical copies of themselves. They also retain the ability to develop into various specialized cell types.

Embryos and fetuses are obvious sources of stem cells but are hounded by ethical concerns. Alternatively, stem cells may be sourced from amniotic fluid, placenta or umbilical cord. Most recently, adult somatic cells may be induced to become pluripotent stem cells (ie, induced PSCs or iPSCs), making them among the least ethically controversial manner of harvesting pluripotent stem cells.

Despite all the excitement, Cutiongco-dela Paz advocates a cautious approach to stem cell therapy. “[W]e should all recognize that at the present time... [stem cell therapy] has been established as a clinical standard of care for some conditions such as hematopoietic stem cell transplants for leukemia, epithelial stem cell-based treatments for burns and corneal disorders and some rare immune deficiencies. Published clinical evidence has been unable to support the use of these therapies for routine disease treatment.”

With respect to cardiovascular disease in general, Cutiongco-dela Paz determined that there are many ongoing clinical trials for the use of stem cells for heart failure, angina and cardiomyopathy. However, as some are not randomized, findings must be received with a ‘grain of salt’.

The potential use of stem cells to treat hypertension is also being studied since damaged endothelial cells are usually replaced by stem cells mobilized from the marrow that convert into endothelial progenitor cells. In early hypertension, an increase in circulating endothelial progenitor cells has been documented even with good blood pressure control.

Angiotensin has also been shown to reduce telomerase activity and accelerate senescence. Consequently, giving hypertensive cats candesartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, restored the number and function of progenitor cells. Humans given angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors showed improved function and increased number as well.

The exact role of these progenitor cells in hypertension has not been sufficiently elucidated, but in the future these may be targets of future treatment options for the disease. Cutiongco-dela Paz, while eagerly awaiting the development of the research, also puts the excitement into perspective, “We should all keep in mind, however, that the use of stem cells in hypertension is still in its infancy.”