Viagra may aggravate severe apnea

NEW YORK, Oct 4: Viagra (sildenafil) taken at bedtime may worsen breathing problems in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea, results of a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggest.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common problem that occurs when the soft tissues at the back of the throat collapse and close off the airway during sleep, resulting in brief moments in which breathing stops.

Impotence, also known as erectile dysfunction, is highly prevalent in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, note Dr Suely Roizenblatt, of Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues. However, sildenafil prolongs the action of nitric oxide, which promotes upper airway congestion.

The researchers therefore examined the effects of a single 50-mg dose of sildenafil on the sleep of 14 men (average age, 53.1 years) with severe obstructive sleep apnea.

The subjects were randomly assigned to receive sildenafil or a placebo (''sugar pill'') before they participated in an all-night sleep study, which included at least 7 hours of recording time). The subjects switched treatments and process was repeated the next night.

Compared with placebo, sildenafil led to a significantly increased desaturation index, the number of episodes of oxygen reduction per hour of recording time (30.3 events per hour versus 18.5 events per hour). There was also a significant increase in the percentage of total sleep time with an oxygen saturation of less than 90 percent (15.6 per cent versus 7.9 per cent) and a significant increase in the maximal duration of a desaturation event (72.5 s versus 48.1 seconds).

Sleep structure was also altered by sildenafil use, with in increase in stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep compared with placebo and a decrease in deep sleep compared with the start of the study and placebo, Dr. Roizenblatt's team reports.

Because of the small sample size, the results should not be extrapolated to all obstructive sleep apnea patients. ''Nevertheless,'' they say, ''sildenafil should be used with caution for treating erectile dysfunction in individuals with a sleep-related breathing disorder.''(AGENCIES)

Brain-stomach connection mapped

NEW YORK, Oct 4: Scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York have identified brain-stomach connections that motivate the desire to over indulge in food. Specifically, the research suggests an important role for the hippocampus -- the part of the brain associated with motivation, emotion, and memory formation -- in controlling ''emotional eating.'' The work may one day lead to new ways to prevent or treat obesity.

''This study opens new territory in understanding how the body and brain connect to each other, and how this connection is tied to obesity,'' said Dr. Gene-Jack Wang in a Brookhaven-issued statement accompanying the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

''We were able to simulate the process that takes place when the stomach is full and for the first time we could see the pathway from the stomach to the brain that turns 'off' the brain's desire to continue eating,'' Wang explained.

To look at how the human brain responds to ''fullness'' cues, the scientists implanted a gastric stimulator in seven obese individuals for one to two years. The investigational device provides low levels of electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve, causing the stomach to expand and send ''fullness'' messages to the brain. The device has been shown to curb the desire to eat.

The subjects underwent brain scans with the stomach stimulator in the on and off mode. Prior to the scans, the volunteers were injected with a radioactive molecule that would light up on the scan so the researchers could track brain metabolism.

''We found that implantable gastric stimulators induced significant changes in metabolism in brain regions associated with controlling emotions, effectively shutting down these obese subjects' desire to eat,'' said Wang.

The changes were most pronounced in the hippocampus, where metabolism was 18-per cent higher with the stomach stimulator turned on.

The stomach stimulator also sent messages of fullness to brain circuits in the frontal cortex and striatum, brain regions linked to craving and desire for drugs in addicts.

With the gastric stimulator on, the subjects self-reported ''emotional eating'' scores were 21-per cent lower than when the stimulator was off.

''This provides further evidence of the connection between the hippocampus, the emotions, and the desire to eat, and gives us new insight into the mechanisms by which obese people use food to soothe their emotions,'' Wang said. ''This new pathway should be explored in further studies to determine if there are any implications for treating or preventing obesity.'' (AGENCIES)

Jury out on impact of sugary juice on kid's weight

NEW YORK, Oct 4: Results of a new study do not support current thinking that a high consumption of 100 percent fruit juice and sweetened fruit drinks contributes to the rising number of overweight and obese children.

''More prospective studies are needed before any conclusive statement is made about beverage consumption and overweight,'' Dr Theresa A Nicklas from the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston told Reuters Health.

Nicklas and two colleagues investigated ties between the types and amounts of beverages consumed and weight status in 1160 preschool-aged children in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 1999-2002.

They report in the journal Pediatrics that, on average, the 2- to 5-year-olds drank less than the two servings of milk each day recommended for this age group by the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

''Only 8.6 per cent drank low-fat or skim milk, as recommended for children who are older than 2 years,'' they also report.

''Children consumed a mean amount of 4.7 ounces of 100 per cent fruit juice per day, which meets the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of no more than 4 to 6 ounces per day,'' Nicklas told Reuters Health.

A key finding, she said, was that increased beverage consumption, regardless of type of beverage consumed (i.E. Milk, 100 per cent fruit juice, fruit drinks, soda), was associated with an increase in total caloric (energy) intake but not with body mass index.

That is, ''despite the increase in total caloric intake, beverage consumption was not associated with overweight,'' Nicklas explained.

Summing up, Nicklas said ''dietary factors associated with childhood obesity are poorly understood and identifying single foods/beverages as the sole contributor to the obesity problem is unfounded.''

''What makes intuitive sense,'' she said, ''is that the obesity problem may reflect a combination of eating patterns that vary considerably among children, and their cumulative effect on overweight over time.''

''There is no simple answer to a rather complex problem. If there were, we would have solved it.''

Dr Nicklas is a member of the speaker's bureau for the National Dairy Council, the National Cattlemen's and Beef Association, and a member of the advisory board for Cadbury Schweppes, Grain Food Foundation, and holds additional positions in the food and beverage industry.(AGENCIES)

Many diabetics risk health by not taking meds

NEW YORK, Oct 4: About 21 per cent of individuals with diabetes do not regularly take their blood-sugar lowering, blood-pressure lowering or cholesterol-lowering pills, researchers found in study of 11,532 diabetes patients.

The study patients who were nonadherent to treatment had higher blood pressure, higher levels of artery-clogging LDL cholesterol and higher blood sugar levels, indicating poor diabetes control.

Importantly, Dr P Michael Ho of the Denver VA Medical Center and colleagues report, patients who did not adhere to their medications had a 58-per cent higher odds of being hospitalized and an 81-per cent higher odds of dying than those who took their medications as prescribed. This was true even after the researchers accounted for factors that may also have contributed to these outcomes.

''Incremental increases in medication adherence were associated with improved outcomes,'' Ho and colleagues report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

''The lower risk of being hospitalized or dying among patients who took their medications is likely due to the benefit of the medications as well as the fact that patients who take their medications on a regular basis are likely to practice other healthy behaviors that lead to their lower risk,'' Ho noted in an email to Reuters Health.

This study, Ho said, highlights just how important it is for diabetic patients to take their medications as directed. ''It may be helpful to incorporate medication taking into the daily routine,'' Ho said.

Patients who have trouble taking their mediations on a regular basis, should discuss this with their physician ''so that together the patient and physician can address the problem.'' Patients who were nonadherent were younger than adherent patients and had fewer other illnesses.(AGENCIES)

Italian PM's rap video ruffles allies

ROME, Oct 4: A pseudo-rap video starring Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi -- without his consent -- is infuriating allies who say the song degrades the Government and should be stripped from state airwaves.

The video steals awkward moments from an embattled speech by Prodi before parliament last week, which had to be suspended after heckling from opponents interrupted him nine times.

''For me, for me, for me,'' Prodi stutters in the looped broadcast, with howls and booing audible in the background.

The video, crafted by a still anonymous DJ, has become a smash hit on the Internet, rebroadcast on Web sites like YouTube and circulated in Italy by left-leaning Repubblica's Web site http://espresso.Repubblica.It/multimedia/italia/431171.

But it has also been broadcast on more staid TV stations like state-run RAI, prompting some centre-left lawmakers -- including members of RAI's parliamentary oversight committee -- to question whether it was breaking the rules by showing it.

In a letter to RAI's board, the lawmakers asked RAI to ''verify whether defamation of the institutions has taken place'' since the video was shown in ''an official and esteemed space''.

''RAI isn't a place for satire. Period,'' Giorgio Merlo, an MP for the Daisy party in Prodi's coalition, told Reuters. (AGENCIES)

Tibet welcomes first non-stop foreign charter flight

BEIJING, Oct 4: Picturesque Tibet has received its first non-stop foreign charter flight, opening a new chapter in its booming tourism sector.

An airplane with 109 tourists from Singapore arrived yesterday in Lhasa, Tibet's capital, becoming the first non-stop overseas charter flight for tourists to southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

A Singaporean travel agency rented the flight by Air China for the tour.

The non-stop flight signified that Lhasa, the regional capital, has become the direct destination of overseas tourists, director of the Tibet Tourism Bureau, Bazho said.

Foreign tourists usually have to stop at Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, or Beijing before they fly to Tibet.

The flight will spur a new trend for overseas tourists who want to visit Tibet, Bazho was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The 109 tourists will stay in Tibet for nine days and then go to Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai Province, by train on the Qinghai-Tibet railway that began operation on July 1.

Tibet has seen an increasing number of overseas tourists in the past decade. In 2005, the region received 121,000 foreign tourists, a 26.6 per cent increase from 2004. (PTI)

Computer programme finds 10 most common Chinese names

BEIJING, Oct 4: A computer software programme has found the ten most common Chinese names of men as authorities are gearing up to handle the problem of issuing identity cards to people having the same names.

According to the findings, "Liu Bo", "Li Gang", "Li Hai", "Zhang Yong" "Wang Jun", "Wang Yong", "Zhang Wei", "Liu Wei", "Wang Wei" and "Li Wei" are the most popular common Chinese names.

An article about the top ten, first published by Youth Digest magazine, was carried by many Chinese websites which were viewed by over four lakh netizens.

The article said the findings come from a computer programme developed by Lu Liang, Deputy President of BlogChina Website.

"We worked with real names registered by netizens at BlogChina," Lu said.

"Our findings show that many Chinese have the same names, and the bottleneck has become more pronounced in recent years," Lu said.

But he acknowledged that the results were only partial.

Having the same name as other people is an annoying fact of life for many people in China, causing lots of problems in household registration and daily life.

A girl named "Wang Jianping" working in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, has the same name as three boys in her office. (PTI)

Prince William takes a gamble on bingo night out

LONDON, Oct 4: Bingo is more usually associated with pensioners than royalty, but Britain's Prince William decided to try his luck at the game with a group of friends last week, the Sun newspaper reported today.

A royal spokeswoman confirmed that the second-in-line to the British throne visited a bingo club in Reading, near Sandhurst military academy where he is an officer cadet.

''He was there,'' she said told Reuters, declining to give further details.

The tabloid newspaper splashed the prince's bingo night out on its front page.

William, 24, visited the club last Friday, where he signed up to become a member before paying 5 pounds ($9) for a book of five tickets, it said.

He spent nearly an hour playing the game with 10 friends from Sandhurst but failed to win any of the 20-pound prizes.

The Sun quoted one regular as saying: ''If he had won, we were wondering if he would have shouted 'palace' instead of 'house'.'' (AGENCIES)

Scientific riddle of self-repairing bacteria explained

ZAGREB, Oct 4: Croatian scientists have worked out how a radiation-resistant bacterium that can exist in extreme conditions repairs damage to itself, a discovery which could provide clues about diseases such as cancer.

The organism called Deinococcus radiodurans is so hardy it can survive ionizing radiation 5,000 times stronger than the level lethal to humans.

''Through evolution, the bacteria have developed a mechanism to precisely reconstruct its DNA. Until now this has been a scientific riddle,'' Ksenija Zahradka, a leading researcher in the study, told a news conference.

''It is an extremely fascinating phenomenon to see how a cell itself can repair its fairly destroyed DNA. We will use this knowledge to try to find ways how cells that are not so resistant could do the same.''

The scientists, whose findings were reported online by the journal Nature, described the two-stage method in which the bacterium rebuilds its genome.

Many diseases including cancer involve alterations to DNA and an inability to recover from the damage.

''Therefore, any understanding of self-repair mechanisms could elp in that regard. Now we'll focus to see if there are other organisms which can do the same,'' Zahradka said.

The study was completed in cooperation between the Croatian research institute Rudjer Boskovic and the Paris-based Necker Institute where Croat scientist Miroslav Radman supervised the experimental part of the study.

Deinococcus radiodurans, which means strange berry that withstands radiation, was discovered 50 years ago in a can of spoiled meat.

It can survive in deserts or on other surfaces exposed to strong heat where all other organisms perish because of dehydration and ultraviolet rays that shatter the cellular DNA into fragments. (AGENCIES)

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