Brain Can't Empathize And Analyze At Same Time, New Study

Scientists have discovered that the brain circuits we engage when we think about social matters, such as considering other people's views, or moral issues, inhibit the circuits that we use when we think about inanimate, analytical things, such as working on a physics problem or making sure the numbers add up when we balance our budget. And they say, the same happens the other way around: the analytic brain network inhibits the social network.
Perhaps the study, led by researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in the US, and reported early online on 27 October in the journal NeuroImage, explains why some business leaders sometimes overlook the public relations consequences of their cost-cutting exercises.
The authors suggest their findings help increase understanding of disorders like autism, ADHD and schizophrenia.

Empathic and Analytic Thinking are Mutually Exclusive

The study is believed to be the first to show that humans have a built in neural constraint that stops us thinking empathically and analytically at the same time.

Researchers say that the human brain can't empathize and analyze at the same time.

When not doing anything in particular, our brains switch between social and analytic networks. But, when working on a goal-directed task, healthy adults engage the appropriate neural pathways, say the researchers.
Lead author Anthony Jack, an assistant professor of cognitive science at Case Western Reserve, says in a news blog on the university's website, that "this is the cognitive structure we've evolved":
"Empathetic and analytic thinking are, at least to some extent, mutually exclusive in the brain," says Jack.

Two Networks in Tension

Before this study, from previous research, scientists already thought there were two large networks in the brain that were in tension, one called the default mode network and the other called the task positive network. However, there are different views on what drives them.
One view proposes that one network is deployed in goal-directed tasks, and when this happens, the other one allows the mind to wander.
Another view proposes that one network engages in external attention, while the other is for internal attention.
The new study suggests a new explanation: both networks focus on external stimuli, but one is for social problems and the other is for analytical problems, and when the one concerned with one type of problem is engaged, the neural pathways for the other type are repressed.

The Study

For their study, Jack and colleagues recruited 45 healthy volunteers, all college students.
The participants each spent 10 minutes at a time inside a f MRI brain scanner while a screen in front of them presented them with random selections of 20 written and 20 video problems where they had to think about how other people might feel, and another random selection of 20 written and 20 video problems where they had to use knowledge of physics to solve.
After reading a written problem or viewing a video one, each participant then had to give a yes or no answer to a question within 7 seconds.
During each session in the scanner, the participants also underwent rest periods lasting 27 seconds, and there were also various timed delays between each test, some lasting 1 second, others lasting 3 or 5 seconds. During the rest breaks the participants were asked to relax and look at a red cross on the screen.

The Results

When they examined the results of the fMRI brain scans, the researchers found that when the participants were presented with social problems, the brain regions associated with analytical thinking were deactivated and the regions associated with empathy and social thinking were active.
And this was also the same the other way around: when presented with physics questions, the analytic regions were active and the empathy regions were inactivated.
These findings were the same for written and video versions of problems.
But when the participants were in the resting state, that is not challenged to solve any problems, the activity cycled naturally between the two networks.
"This tells us that it's the structure of the adult brain that is driving this, that it's a physiological constraint on cognition," says Jack.

The Explanatory Gap

Jack says the study was inspired by one of the eternal philosophical questions surrounding the nature of consciousness:
"Why can we describe the workings of a brain, but that doesn't tell us what it's like to be that person?"
Something that intrigues scientists interested in this field is what they call the "explanatory gap", which Jack describes as the "disconnect between experiential understanding and scientific understanding".
He explains how in 2006 he and Philip Robbins, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Missouri, boldly proposed that the explanatory gap is driven by our neural structure.
Looking back on that time after completing this new study, Jack says, "I was genuinely surprised to see how powerfully these findings fit that theory".

Perceptual Rivalry

The results from this latest study appear to suggest that the same brain mechanisms drive the explanatory gap as that which become engaged when we look at a visual illusion known as the "duck-rabbit", a drawing that can be seen in one of two ways. When you look at it you either see a duck facing one way or a rabbit facing the other way, but you never see both at the same time.
Jack says that phenomenon is known as "perceptual rivalry", which occurs because of neural inhibition between the two representations.
"What we see in this study is similar, but much more wide-scale. We see neural inhibition between the entire brain network we use to socially, emotionally and morally engage with others, and the entire network we use for scientific, mathematical and logical reasoning," he explains.
He suggests this means scientific explanations "really do leave something out - the human touch".
Jack says a major challenge for scientists of the mind is how better to translate between the "cold and distant mechanical descriptions that neuroscience produces, and the emotionally engaged intuitive understanding which allows us to relate to one another as people".

Implications

The researchers suggest their findings have implications for a number of disorders that have a social dysfunction component, from anxiety, depression and ADHD to schizophrenia.
They propose their ideas are particularly relevant to development disabilities such as autism and Williams syndrome. For instance autistic people tend to be very good at solving visuospatial problems, but have poor social skills. And people with Williams syndrome are the other way around: they come across as warm and friendly, but don't do well on visuospatial tests.
"Treatment needs to target a balance between these two networks," suggests Jack.
Current methods, including rehabilitation and education, appear to work mostly on strengthening the analytic network.
"Yet, we found more cortex dedicated to the social network," says Jack.

Love Syndrome

Etiology: Unknown.

Age of Onset:
Mostly teenage. Recent studies have shown that it may affect people of any age group.

Risk Factors:
The age itself is the major risk factor. Others include…
(a) Co-education
(b) Cell Phones
(c) Movies
(d) Internet
of these the part played by the cell phones is noteworthy.

Pathology:
Multi-organ System Failure.

Clinical Features

Symptoms:
A) The most common presenting feature is throbbing pain in the heart often described by the patient as sweet pain.
B) Loss of appetite.
C) Sleeplessness.
D) Daydreaming
E) Disinterest in any type of work. There is a danger of patient being transformed into a poet.

Signs:
A) Very much dilated pupil (In search of his sweet heart).
B) Blushing of cheeks (mainly seen in girls).
C) On Auscultation: The First Heart Sound is heard as LOVE instead of LUB.
D) Smiling to self.

Pathogenesis and Clinical Course:
The Disease is gradual in onset. The patient presents with vague symptoms like loss of appetite, sleeplessness, etc., As time progress multi-organ system involvement occurs with varied symptoms. The symptoms are aggravated at the sight of patients sweetheart  The sight of patients love causes the contraction of the radial fibres of the iris muscle leading to the dilation of the pupil. The eyes remain wide open and cease to blink. The Zygomaticus major muscle automatically contracts and the patient smiles (Smile at Sight Phenomenon). As the patient approaches his sweetheart  action potentials are generated at an irregular rate in the heart and the normal rhythm of the heart is lost. Microscopic examination of the cardiac muscle reveals the presence of abnormal pacemaker tissue at certain areas called the ROMANTIC SPOTS that are responsible for the lost rhythm of the Heart. The patient feels agitated, and a throbbing pain develops in the heart. The characteristic feature of the pain that patient wants to feel it more and more. In advanced stages, the brain is affected. If not treated properly, the patient may go bad.

Treatment:
Marriage Therapy holds promise of 100% cure rates. If is effective only after 22 years of age. If performed early, it may lead to adverse reactions.

Preventive Measures:
Several attempts have been made to prevent the disease. The WLO (World Love Organization) expert committee has finally declared that the disease is inevitable during the age group and its prevention is literally impossible. Any attempts to interrupt the normal course of the disease may lead to more severe from of disease. So interventional measures are highly contraindicated for this disease.

Complication:

Complication of love syndrome is euphoria, financial crisis, idiotic look, loss of appetite and sleep. Acute romantic failure lead to suicidal tendency. Survival may have life long immunity.

Sexual Behavior Influenced By Religious Affiliation And Residence In Muslim-Majority Nations

Hindus and Muslims are less likely than Christians and Jews to have premarital sex, and Muslims are the least likely among people of these religious groups to have extramarital sex, according to a new study that analyzed data on premarital and extramarital sexual behaviors in over 30 developing countries around the world.

Co-authored by Amy Adamczyk, an Associate Professor of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Brittany Hayes, a Ph.D. student in John Jay's Criminal Justice program, the study, "Religion and Sexual Behaviors: Understanding the Influence of Islamic Cultures and Religious Affiliation for Explaining Sex Outside of Marriage," appears in the October issue of theAmerican Sociological Review.
According to the researchers, Muslims' lower likelihood of premarital and extramarital sex is related to their commitment to, and community support for, strict religious tenants that only permit sex within marriage. Adamczyk and Hayes also found that national Islamic cultures influence the sexual behaviors of all residents, even people who do not identify themselves as Muslim. The authors posit that religion tends to have a more powerful effect than restrictions on women's movement in many Muslim countries.
"One of the most surprising findings was that religious affiliations have a real influence on people's sexual behaviors,"said Adamczyk. "Specifically, Muslim and Hindus are significantly less likely to report having had premarital sex than Christians and Jews. One of the novelties of our study is our analysis of behaviors, rather than attitudes. While a lot of research attention has been given to understanding differences between the major world religions in adherents' attitudes, much less attention has been given to understanding differences based on behaviors."
The study was inspired by Adamczyk's earlier work where she observed the differences in HIV/AIDS infection rates between Christian- and Muslim-majority nations in which residents in Muslim-majority nations had lower infection rates than residents of Christian nations. Adamczyk and Hayes speculate that differences in sexual behaviors may help explain why people in Muslim-majority nations tend to have lower prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS than residents of other countries.

Protecting Your Brain: 'Use It or Lose It'

The findings of a new study suggest that the protective effects of an active cognitive lifestyle arise through multiple biological pathways. For some time researchers have been aware of a link between what we do with our brains and the long term risk for dementia. In general, those who are more mentally active or maintain an active cognitive lifestyle throughout their lives are at lower risk.

"The ideas of a 'brain reserve' or 'cognitive reserve' have been suggested to explain this, but were basically a black box. This research throws some light on what may be happening at the biological level," said Associate Professor Michael J. Valenzuela, a brain aging expert at the Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney, Australia, who led this new study.

Researchers used data from the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study, a large population-based study in the United Kingdom that has been following over 13,000 elderly individuals prospectively since 1991.
At the time of this study, 329 brains had been donated and were available for analysis. Brains were compared based on the individual's dementia status at death (yes or no) and cognitive lifestyle score, or CLS (low, middle, or high).
The three CLS groups did not differ among multiple Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology measures, including plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and atrophy. This means that cognitive lifestyle seems to have no effect on the brain changes typically seen in those with Alzheimer's disease.
However, an active cognitive lifestyle in men was associated with less cerebrovascular disease, in particular disease of the brain's microscopic blood vessels. An active cognitive lifestyle in women was associated with greater brain weight. In both men and women, high CLS was associated with greater neuronal density and cortical thickness in the frontal lobe.
"These findings suggest that increased engagement in stimulating activities are part of a lifestyle that is, overall, more healthy," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. "Rather than specifically protecting the health of activated circuits, it seems that a more active lifestyle has general effects on brain health reflected in greater neuronal density and preservation of the blood supply to the brain."
"Overall, our research suggests that multiple complex brain changes may be responsible for the 'use it or lose it' effect," Valenzuela added.
With a globally aging society and the risk of dementia increasing significantly with age, dementia-prevention strategies are of rising importance. Understanding the mechanisms of cognitive enhancement through research such as this can help support and inform the development of effective strategies to enrich cognitive lifestyle and potentially reduce dementia risk.

Brain-eating amoeba Rising

Naegleria fowleri So called Brain Eating Amoeba was found  in Australia in 1965

Naegleria fowleri  is  typically found in warm bodies of fresh water, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is also found in soil, near warm-water discharges of industrial plants, and unchlorinated swimming pools in an amoeboid or temporary flagellate stage.There is no evidence of this organism living in ocean water

Recently News on this was on Pakistan at 9 October 2012

A brain-eating amoeba has killed at least 10 people in Pakistan’s most populous city since May, a World Health Organization official says.

Naegleria fowleri, which has a fatality rate of more than 98%, is transmitted when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. It cannot be passed from person to person.

It exist in Fresh water and Improper Chlorinated Water for swimming it is very rare yet because from 1965 there is 144+ cases found , but still very dangerous.

Symptoms

Onset symptoms of infection start about five days (range is from one to seven days) after exposure. The initial symptoms include, but are not limited to, changes in taste and smell, headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and stiff neck. Secondary symptoms include confusion, hallucinations, lack of attention, ataxia, and seizures. After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly over three to seven days, with death occurring from seven to 14 days after exposure

Smiling Reduces Stress And Helps The Heart

A new study suggests that holding a smile on one's face during periods of stress may help the heart. The study, due to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, lends support to the old adage "grin and bear it", suggesting it may also make us feel better.
The study is the work of psychological scientists Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman of the University of Kansas. They looked at how different types of smiling, and people being aware of smiling, affected their ability to recover from stressful episodes.
Kraft told the press they wanted to explore whether old adages like "grin and bear it" had any scientific merit.
The age-old saying suggests smiling not only signals happiness to others, but could also be a way to help cope with life stresses.
Previous studies have shown that smiling affects emotion, and that positive emotions have an effect on stress. But Kraft and Pressman are the first to experiment with types of smile to see what effect they have on stress.
Researchers often class smiles as being of two types: standard smiles, where only the mouth shapes the smile, and genuine or Duchenne smiles, where the muscles around the mouth and the eyes shape the smile. (The latter was named after Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne, who used electrophysiology to show how truly happy smiles also use the muscles around the eyes).

Kraft and Pressman experimented with types of smile to see what effect they had on stress

For their latest study, Kraft and Pressman invited 169 volunteers from a Midwestern university to undergo an experiment in two stages: training and testing.
In the training stage, the researchers taught the volunteers how to either hold their faces in a neutral expression, hold a standard smile, or hold a Duchenne smile.
They also got some of the volunteers to hold their face in a forced smile by holding chopsticks in their mouths.
In the testing phase, the volunteers performed some multi-tasking activities, during which they held their faces in the manner instructed.
The activities were designed to increase stress levels, but the volunteers didn't know this. One test for instance, asks the participant to use their non-dominant hand to follow the path of a moving star that they observe in a mirror. The other test involves plunging a hand into a bucket of ice water.
The researchers monitored the participants' heart rates as they performed their various tasks.
They found the participants who were instructed to smile, and in particular those whose faces expressed genuine or Duchenne smiles, had lower heart rates after recovery from the stress activities than the ones who held their faces in neutral expressions.
Even the volunteers who held chopsticks in their mouths, that forced the muscles to express a smile (but they had not explicitly been instructed to smile), had lower recovery heart rates compared to the ones who held neutral facial expressions.
The researchers say their findings suggest smiling during brief periods of stress may help reduce the body's stress response, regardless of whether the person actually feels happy or not.
Pressman said this could be useful to know, for instance if you find yourself stuck in a traffic jam, try to hold your face in a smile for a few moments: it may do more than just help you "grin and bear it", it may actually help your heart health too.

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Male infertility

Approximately 15 percent of couples are infertile. This means they aren't able to conceive a child even though they've had frequent, unprotected sexual intercourse for a year or longer — or for at least six months if the woman is age 35 or older. In about half of these cases, male infertility plays a role.
Male infertility is due to low sperm production, misshapen or immobile sperm, or blockages that prevent the delivery of sperm. Illnesses, injuries, chronic health problems, lifestyle choices and other factors can play a role in causing male infertility.
Not being able to conceive a child can be stressful and frustrating, but a number of male infertility treatments are available. Approaches can include treatment for the male partner, the female partner, or both.

Treatments of male Infertility

Treatment of male infertility depends on the cause, how long you've been infertile, your age and personal preferences. In all cases of infertility, the female partner also will need to be checked and may need treatment. In some cases, treatment of the female partner can compensate for male fertility problems. Your doctor may try to improve your fertility by either correcting an underlying problem (if one is found) or trying treatments that seem like they may be helpful. Often, an exact cause of infertility can't be identified. Even if an exact cause isn't clear, your doctor may be able to recommend treatments that work.
Treatments for male infertility include:
Surgery. For example, a varicocele can often be surgically corrected or an obstructed vas deferens can be repaired.
Treating infections. If a blood test reveals high numbers of white blood cells, you may have an infection of the reproductive tract. Antibiotic treatment may cure the infection, but doesn't always restore fertility.
Treatments for sexual intercourse problems. Treating conditions such as erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation can improve fertility. Approaches can include medication or counseling.
Hormone treatments and medications. In cases where infertility is caused by high or low levels of certain hormones or problems with the way the body uses hormones, your doctor may recommend treatment with hormone replacement or medications that change hormone levels.
Assisted reproductive technology (ART). For blockage of the vas deferens, retrograde ejaculation or other problems with sperm delivery, sperm can be taken directly from the testicle or recovered from the bladder and injected into an egg. The most common ART treatment is in vitro fertilization (IVF). This procedure involves surgically removing an egg from a woman's ovary, combining it with sperm in the lab, and then placing the fertilized egg into the uterus.

When treatment doesn't work
Sometimes male fertility problems can't be treated, and it's impossible for a man to father a child. If this is the case, your doctor may suggest that you and your partner consider either using sperm from a donor or adopting a child
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Scientists classify bananas as natural alternative to sleeping drugs

Revealed a new vision of scientists from the "National Foundation for sleeping" in the United States that can use simple methods and normal way to change the sleep environment for the best person to enjoy the night of sleep, where it leads to enjoy better health and longer life.
While most people get enough sleep also showed a survey conducted by this institution, while the percentage of those who suffer from sleep problems about 57% of the total 26,451 people were surveyed and are forced to wake up at least three times a night because of Tergahm health problems, financial or work.
According to the newspaper "Al-Riyadh" Saudi Arabia is classified some scientists bananas as a natural alternative to drugs hypnotic medical because it contains amino acids needed to produce serotonin soothing and stimulating to sleep with the alert to avoid certain foods containing antioxidants to such as dairy products, peanut butter and some types of meat.
As advised to put perfume of lavender "vanilla" on the pillow, where research has demonstrated that the smell of perfume lavender soothe the nerves and reducing the severity of depression and tension, Vda drops it on the pillow helps to treat insomnia and avoid anxiety and bring comfort to lead to a night of sleep Pacific.
In addition to that evening to do some light exercises make the body feel a little tired of what light prepares the request of rest and sleep because it helps to relax the muscles and the dismantling, but it should be noted that this should be three hours before bedtime, at least.
While help taking a bath of cold water or lukewarm making the body temperature drops and muscles relax resulting signals to be sent normal to the brain for preparing the body wants eternity to rest and that bedtime had come and would prefer to add a few drops of perfume of lavender or vanilla to the water to get the smell For more soothing relaxation.
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FDA Approves Swallowable Sensor That Tracks Health From The Inside

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved an ingestible digital sensor that can be swallowed in a pill to track health data from inside the body. The idea is that the data can be used not only by patients themselves, but also by caregivers and doctors to individualize their care.
The ingestible sensor, formerly known as the Ingestion Event Marker or IEM, is already approved for use in Europe.
It is the first "digital pill" to receive FDA approval, in a move that its maker Proteus Digital Health, whose headquarters are in Redwood City, California, sees as the start of a era where digital medicine "shifts the care paradigm".
On Monday, George Savage, co-founder and chief medical officer at Proteus Digital Health, told the press:
"We are thrilled to have achieved this important milestone to market our ingestible sensor in the United States now, as well as in Europe."
"We are very much looking forward to bringing the benefits of our ingestible sensor to the American public in the form of innovative product offerings," he added.
The ingestible sensor, which is about the size of a grain of sand and made mostly of silicon, is part of an integrated system designed to give patients and their doctors "end-to-end personal health management".
Embedded in a pill or tablet, the device can help keep an eye on whether patients are taking their medications at the prescribed time and rate.
This is important, because although the effectiveness and safety of drugs are established in clinical trials, those tend to follow well-controlled conditions, with patients taking their drugs at the prescribed rates in the right quantities.
But at home, adherence to prescribed regimens may not be so easy to monitor, and without information about precisely when patients are taking their medication, doctors can't see if that is the problem, should the drug not work as it should.
The sensor does not contain a battery, it works like a "potato battery" that children make in science lessons at school. It has two conductive materials, one on either side. When these get wet in the stomach, they power the sensor for a short amount of time.
So once it comes into contact with stomach fluid, the sensor powers up, and "communicates a unique signal that determines identity and timing of ingestion", says Proteus.
The ingestible sensor passes through the body in much the same way as high-fiber food, according to information on the company's website.
The signal that it sends from the stomach travels through the patient's body to a patch worn on the skin. The patch contains technology that senses the signal and records the exact time the ingestible sensor was swallowed.
The patch can then send this information to a mobile phone application, and with the consent of the patient, be passed on to doctors and caregivers, so they can provide better quality care.
Proteus says its integrated "feedback" system is also designed to collect a range of other measurements, such as for heart rate, body position and activity.
Eric Topol, geneticist and cardiologist, is a professor of genomics at The Scripps Research Institute and wrote a book called "The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Healthcare" where, among other things, he says technology that gives doctors a continuously updated picture of what is happening with each patient, will help them provide better, individualized care.
Topol told the press:
"The FDA validation represents a major milestone in digital medicine. Directly digitizing pills, for the first time, in conjunction with our wireless infrastructure, may prove to be the new standard for influencing medication adherence and significantly aid chronic disease management."

Ultrasound Triggers Bone Cell Mobility

Research led by Yi-Xian Qin, PhD, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Director of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory at Stony Brook University, demonstrated that the use of medium-intensity focused ultrasound on osteoblasts, known as bone-forming cells, stimulates the mobility of the cells and triggers calcium release, a process that promotes growth. The technique could provide a foundation for a method to develop non-pharmacologic treatments of osteoporosis, fractures, and other conditions involving bone loss.
Musculoskeletal tissues have a robust state of dynamic equilibrium in response to mechanical loading and respond to significant stimuli, such as exercise. Dr. Qin and Stony Brook colleagues Drs. Shu Zhang and Jiqi Cheng are investigating how osteoblasts (a bone-forming cell) respond to mechanical signals, such as ultrasound.
>>> In laboratory models of murine cells, the research team created a unique method to apply an ultrasound form called acoustic radiation force (ARF) for only one minute on a single osteoblastic cell and groups of cells. They consistently found that ARF through focused ultrasound beam induced cellular cytoskeletal rearrangement, the motility and mobility of the cells, and accelerated intracellular calcium transportations and concentrations.
Dr. Qin's previous findings with ultrasound include the creation of an ultrasound bone scanning device that is more advanced than existing ultrasound technology and assesses bone parameters beyond mineral density. The device is being developed as a diagnostic tool to predict early bone loss. Dr. Qin and his research team is investigating ways to combine this potential diagnostic tool with the ARF technology in the laboratory to identify bone loss and fracture within a bone region, then provide treatment via ARF to promote growth and healing.
The research projects are supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute through a NASA Cooperative Agreement.

Nectarines, Plums And Peaches May Fight Obesity And Diabetes

Stone fruits, also known as drupes, such as nectarines, plums and peaches, may contain useful compounds that help fight-off metabolic syndrome, which can lead to diabetes, heart attack and stroke, say researchers from Texas AgriLife Research, a member of Texas A & M University System.
Food scientist, Luis Cisneros-Zevallos and team showed that compounds that exist in stone fruits could be useful in the fight against metabolic syndrome, in which inflammation and obesity eventually lead to serious illnesses and health problems.
The scientists will present their findings at the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia in August, 2012.
Cisneros-Zevallos said:
"In recent years obesity has become a major concern in society due to the health problems associated to it. In the U.S., statistics show that around 30% of the population is overweight or obese, and these cases are increasing every year in alarming numbers."
Everyone now knows that diet, genetics, lack of sleep, and physical inactivity play a major role in the obesity epidemic. The main concern is obesity's association with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of conditions, including high blood sugar levels, hypertension (high blood pressure), too much fat around the waist, and excessively highcholesterol levels - together, they considerably raise the risk of developing diabetes, having astroke, or a heart attack.
Cisneros-Zevallos said:
"Our studies have shown that stone fruits - peaches, plums and nectarines - have bioactive compounds that can potentially fight the syndrome.
Our work indicates that phenolic compounds present in these fruits have anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties in different cell lines and may also reduce the oxidation of bad cholesterol LDL which is associated to cardiovascular disease."

Stone fruits (drupes) have a mixture of bioactive compounds that work together and attack different components of metabolic syndrome.
Cisneros-Zevallos explained:

"Our work shows that the four major phenolic groups - anthocyanins, clorogenic acids, quercetin derivatives and catechins - work on different cells - fat cells, macrophages and vascular endothelial cells. They modulate different expressions of genes and proteins depending on the type of compound.
However, at the same time, all of them are working simultaneously in different fronts against the components of the disease, including obesity, inflammation, diabetes and cardiovascular disease."

The researchers say that this is the first time bioactive compounds from a fruit have been demonstrated to have the potential to attack a disease from several different fronts.
Zevallos said "Each of these stone fruits contain similar phenolic groups but in differing proportions so all of them are a good source of health promoting compounds and may complement each other."
The scientists now plan to determine what the role each type of compound has, at a molecular level. They also wish to confirm their animal studies.
Written by Christian Nordqvist

Virus Hitches Ride On Blood Cells To Kill Cancer

Scientists have discovered when a cancer-killing virus is injected in the bloodstream it hitches a ride on blood cells and evades attack from the immune system, allowing it to reach cancer tumors, and start destroying cancer cells. They suggest this means it may be possible to use promising "viral therapy" during routine outpatient sessions, like chemotherapy, to treat a wide range ofcancers.
Certain viruses, like the reovirus, that causes colds and mild stomach upsets, prefer to attack cancer cells. They also stimulate the immune system to attack tumors.
Using these "oncolytic" viruses to kill cancer is a fairly new approach that is currently being tested. Trials are currently under way to test "viral therapy" as an approach to treat cancer in human patients.
But the challenge is how to get the viruses into tumors without alerting the immune system to destroy them. One way is to inject them into the tumors, but this is technically difficult and particularly so for tumors that are deep inside the body, such as in the lungs, stomach, liver and pancreas.
Another way could be to inject the virus into the bloodstream; however, scientists have assumed this would not be feasible because the virus would likely be spotted and destroyed by the immune system before it could reach the tumor.
But when a group of scientists decided to test this by injecting the virus into the bloodstream of patients with advanced colorectal cancer, they found the virus was able to evade the immune system by "going under cover" and hitching a ride on red blood cells.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Leeds and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in the UK, reveals how the "hitch-hiking" virus is shielded from antibodies in the bloodstream that might otherwise neutralize its anti-cancer properties.
The team writes about its work in a paper published online in Science Translational Medicineon 13 June.
The study participants were 10 patients with advanced colorectal cancer that had spread to the liver and who were scheduled to undergo surgery on the secondary tumors in their livers.
In the weeks leading up to their surgery, all patients received up to five doses of the reovirus as outpatients.
From blood samples taken shortly after treatment, the researchers found that the active virus associated with blood cells. Later samples showed the virus was no longer in the blood cells and had quickly cleared from the system.
When the researchers examined samples of liver tissue removed during surgery up to four weeks later, they found "viral factories" and active virus in the tumor samples but not in normal tissue samples. This confirmed the virus had travelled specifically to the tumor after being injected into the bloodstream.
Professor Alan Melcher of the University of Leeds, and Dr Kevin Harrington from The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, jointly led the study.
Melcher told the press:
"It seems that reovirus is even cleverer than we had thought. By piggybacking on blood cells, the virus is managing to hide from the body's natural immune response and reach its target intact. This could be hugely significant for the uptake of viral therapies like this in clinical practice."
Harrington commented that:
"Viral treatments like reovirus are showing real promise in patient trials. This study gives us the very good news that it should be possible to deliver these treatments with a simple injection into the bloodstream," he added.
He said if these treatments could only be delivered by injecting into the tumor, they would have limited use, but discovering that the virus "can hitch a ride on blood cells will potentially make them relevant to a broad range of cancers".
"We also confirmed that reovirus was specifically targeting cancer cells and leaving normal cells alone, which we hope should mean fewer side-effects for patients," said Harrington.
Funds from Cancer Research UK, Leeds Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, University of Leeds, The Institute of Cancer Research, Leeds Cancer Vaccine Appeal, and the Rays of Hope Appeal, paid for the study.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

From Infection To Inflammation To Cancer: Scientists Offer New Clues

Article Date: 14 Jun 2012 - 0:00 PDT

Chronic inflammation of the liver, stomach or colon, often as a result of infection by viruses and bacteria, is one of the biggest risk factors for cancer of these organs. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have been researching this for over three decades, and now in a new paper published online this week they offer the most comprehensive clues so far about the potential underlying molecular mechanisms.
A bacterium called Helicobacter pyloricauses stomach ulcers and cancer in humans. Helicobacter hepaticus has a similar effect in mice, so the researchers used it as a model to study how such a bacterial infection alters genes and chemicals in the liver and colon.
They write about their findings in a paper that appeared online in the 11 June issue of theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS.
One of the four senior authors of the paper is Peter Dedon, a professor of biological engineering at MIT. Biological engineering is where molecular life scientists work with engineers to discover how biological systems function; the resulting knowledge can be used to develop new medical technologies.
Dedon and his co-authors hope their findings will help other researchers develop ways to predict the health problems caused by chronic inflammation and design drugs to stop it.
"If you understand the mechanism, then you can design interventions," he said in a statement. "For example, what if we develop ways to block or interrupt the toxic effects of the chronic inflammation?"
Inflammation is a natural body reaction to an infection or wound, but if the inflammation persists too long, it can damage healthy tissue.
A study published recently in The Lancet found that inflammation caused by infections account for around 16% of new cancer cases worldwide.
Inflammation begins when the immune system detects cell damage or pathogens: both of these are potential threats to health. This triggers a surge of immune cells called macrophages and neutrophils that come along to clean up and remove the threat. They engulf the invading organisms, dead cells, debris and materials released by dead or damaged cells, such as proteins, nucleic acids and other molecules.
As well as removing these materials, the immune cells produce highly reactive chemicals to break down the bacteria. And it appears that it is this part of the process that is linked to cancer risk, because, as Dedon explained, "in engulfing the bacteria and dumping these reactive chemicals on them, the chemicals also diffuse out into the tissue".
If the inflammation persists, the tissue is constantly bathed in the reactive chemicals.
For the new study, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute, Dedon and colleagues studied mice infected with H. hepaticus for 20 weeks. After 10 weeks, the mice developed severe colitis and hepatitis, and at 20 weeks, some had also developed colon cancer.
Over the 20 weeks they examined the tissue damage in the mice, and assessed damage to DNA, RNA and proteins. They also identified which genes were switched on and off.
They found that levels of one of the damaged products in DNA and RNA, chlorocytosine, correlated well with the severity of the inflammation. This could serve as a marker to predict the risk chronic inflammation in patients with infections in the colon, liver or stomach, said the researchers.
But Dedon said this does not necessarily mean you could use such a marker to predict the risk for cancer from these damaged molecules.
The researchers also noticed that the liver responded differently to the colon.
When DNA of healthy tissue comes under attack, it triggers a mechanism that attempts to repair the DNA. The researchers found that DNA repair was more active in the liver than in the colon, even though both experienced DNA damage.
Another difference was that in the colon, but not the liver, neutrophils released hypochlorous acid (a constituent of household bleach). This acid causes significant damage to molecules like DNA, RNA and proteins by attaching a chlorine atom. It is an effective way to kill bacteria, but if the acid leaks into surrounding tissue, it can cause similar damage to the epithelial cells in the lining of the colon.
Dedon said:
"It's possible that we have kind of a double whammy [in the colon]. You have this bacterium that suppresses DNA repair, at the same time that you have all this DNA damage happening in the tissue as a result of the immune response to the bacterium."
The team also identified two other unknown types of DNA damage, the molecules spiroiminodihydantoin and guanidinohydanotoin, which result from oxidation of guanine, a building block of DNA.
They now plan to look at the mechanisms more closely, for instance to find out why some types of DNA damage are more frequent than others.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Lack of Sleep Is Linked to Obesity, " New Evidence Shows "

Q - Can lack of sleep make you fat ?
A new paper which reviews the evidence from sleep restriction studies reveals that inadequate sleep is linked to obesity. The research, published in a special issue of the The American Journal of Human Biology, explores how lack of sleep can impact appetite regulation, impair glucose metabolism and increase blood pressure.
Obesity develops when energy intake is greater than expenditure. Diet and physical activity play an important part in this, but an additional factor may be inadequate sleep," said Dr Kristen Knutson, from the University of Chicago. "A review of the evidence shows how short or poor quality sleep is linked to increased risk of obesity by de-regulating appetite, leading to increased energy consumption."
>> The studies revealed how signals from the brain which control appetite regulation are impacted by experimental sleep restriction. Inadequate sleep impacts secretion of the signal hormones ghrelin, which increases appetite, and leptin, which indicates when the body is satiated. This can lead to increased food intake without the compensating energy expenditure.

Sperm Gene Discovery May Lead To Non-Hormonal Male Contraceptive

 

The discovery of a gene that enables sperm to mature may lead to the development of a non-hormonal male contraceptive, according to new research in mice, led by the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, that was published in the journalPLoS Genetics on 24 May.
Currently, the only male contraceptives available rely on disrupting the production of hormones like testosterone, which can cause unpleasant side effects such as acne, irritability and mood swings.
First author Dr Lee Smith is Reader in Genetic Endocrinology at the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Reproductive Health. He told the media:
"If we can find a way to target this gene in the testes, we could potentially develop a non-hormonal contraceptive."
The gene, called Katnal1, is critical to enabling sperm to mature in the testes.
Finding a way to regulate the gene could potentially stop the sperm maturing and render them ineffective.
Not only could this form the basis of a new type of male contraceptive that does not involve disrupting hormone levels, it could also lead to new treatments for male infertility caused by a faulty Katnal1 gene.
"The important thing is that the effects of such a drug would be reversible because Katnal1 only affects sperm cells in the later stages of development, so it would not hinder the early stages of sperm production and the overall ability to produce sperm," explained Smith.
"Although other research is being carried out into non-hormonal male contraceptives, identification of a gene that controls sperm production in the way Katnal1 does is a unique and significant step forward in our understanding of testis biology," he added.
The production and maturation of sperm cells is a complex process that relies on key interactions between germ cells and supporting mechanisms, including a "scaffolding" structure made of microtubules that allows nutrients and other compounds essential to sperm health and growth to travel to the germ cells.
The authors write that it is well established that an essential component of male fertility is a process that breaks down and rebuilds the microtubules, which allows the sperm cells to move within the testes as they mature.
But until now, nobody knew which gene was responsible for this process.
In their study, Smith and colleagues discovered that when they knocked out the Katnal1 gene in male mice it rendered them infertile.
They found that Katnal1 is expressed in the testicular Sertoli cells (SC) that support germ cell maturation and that "consistent with chemical disruption models, loss of function of KATNAL1 leads to male-specific infertility through disruption of SC microtubule dynamics and premature exfoliation of spermatids from the seminiferous epithelium".
Thus they established that Katnal1 is the essential controller of the process that regulates the microtubule scaffolding structure.
In their discussion, Smith and colleagues describe Katnal1 as an essential promoter of male fertility, and discovering how it behaves within the testicular Sertoli cells "represents an important first step towards understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying SC microtubule remodelling".
"Such information will be of utility both for increasing our understanding of male infertility and the development of treatments and non-hormonal male contraceptives," they conclude.
Grants from the UK Medical Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia helped finance the study.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Jet Device Injects Drugs Without Needles

The prospect of less painful medicine shots without needles came a step closer this month, as US researchers revealed how they have developed a device that delivers a controlled, tiny, high-pressure jet into the skin without using a hyperdermic needle.
While there are already several jet-devices on the market, they tend to be of an "all or nothing" design that delivers the same amount of drug to the same depth each time.
However the new jet-injection device that researchers at MIT have engineered can be programmed to deliver medicine into the skin in a range of doses to variable depths in a controlled manner.
A statement released earlier this week gives details of the new technology, with comments from study leader Ian Hunter, the George N. Hatsopoulos Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and some members of his team. Earlier this year, the journal Medical Engineering & Physics also published a paper where they describe the progress of their development.
Hunter and colleagues see a number of advantages to the technology.
One advantage is a reduction in needle-stick injuries. For instance, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are around 385,000 cases a year in the US of health workers in hospitals accidentally pricking themselves with needles.
Another advantage of a needle-less device is it may help improve compliance, for instance among diabetes patients who are reluctant to use hyperdermic needles to inject themselves with insulin.
Team member Catherine Hogan is a research scientist in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering. She said:
"If you are afraid of needles and have to frequently self-inject, compliance can be an issue."
"We think this kind of technology ... gets around some of the phobias that people may have about needles," she added.
Scientists have been working for some time to find alternatives to the hypodermic needle. For instance, nicotine patches are one example of how to release drugs through the skin. But there is a limit to the size of the molecule you can use in a patch: it has to be small enough to pass through the pores of the skin, which rules out larger protein-based drugs, for instance, which are increasing in use.
A jet injector device delivers a high-velocity jet that penetrates the skin. But while these are commercially available, many have spring-loaded designs, they are all limited by the fact they deliver the same amount of drug each time to the same depth of skin.
But thanks partly to a "custom high-stroke linear Lorentz-force motor that is feed-back controlled during the time-course of an injection", the MIT jet injector can deliver a range of doses to variable depth in a highly controlled manner.
The feed-back control aspect of it allows the device to react in "real time" and adjust itself accordingly to meet the programmed instruction.
The Lorentz-force motor is essentially a small, powerful magnet surrounded by a wire coil attached to a piston located inside a drug ampoule.
When an electric current passes through the coil it produces a magnetic field that forces the piston forward, ejecting the drug at very high pressure and speed (nearly as fast as the speed of sound) through the nozzle of the ampoule, which is about the same thickness as the proboscis of a mosquito.
The researchers have shown how using this device, they can monitor and modulate continuously the speed of the drug jet, and "regulate precisely the volume of drug delivered during the injection process", as they write in their paper.
They also report being able to control injection depth up to 16 mm, and "repeatably and precisely inject volumes of up to 250 μL into transparent gels and post-mortem animal tissue".
By controlling the amount of current, the researchers control the speed and pressure. They have generated pressure profiles that modulate the current.
There is a high-pressure phase that ejects drug at a speed sufficient to "breach" the skin and reach the desired depth, and there is a lower-pressure phase that delivers drug in a slower stream that can easily be absorbed by the surrounding tissue.
From tests, the team established that different skin types may require different pressures to deliver the right volume to the right depth in the skin, as Hogan explained:
"If I'm breaching a baby's skin to deliver vaccine, I won't need as much pressure as I would need to breach my skin."
"We can tailor the pressure profile to be able to do that, and that's the beauty of this device," she added.
The team is also developing a version of the device that delivers drugs normally dispensed in powdered form: by programming the device to vibrate, the powder becomes "fluidized" and can penetrate the skin like a liquid.
This version would be very useful in situations where there is risk of a "cold chain" problem. This problem is not uncommon in developing countries, where whole batches of drugs and vaccines have to be destroyed if they can't continuously be kept refrigerated in liquid form.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Calcium Supplements May Increase Heart Attack Risk

Article Date: 24 May 2012 - 12:00 PDT

An analysis of data on nearly 24,000 people followed for over a decade suggests taking calcium supplements may increase the risk of having a heart attack. This is the main finding of a study published online this week in the journal Heart that also concludes boosting overall calcium intake through dietary sources brings no significant benefit in terms of reducing risk of heart disease or stroke.
The researchers say calcium supplements, which are often recommended to the elderly and women after the menopause to protect against bone thinning, should be "taken with caution". Some experts are saying we should wait for further research to corroborate these findings before acting on this advice, and people who take supplements who are concerned should talk to their doctor.
The findings also appear to go against previous studies that have shown a higher calcium intake is linked to a lower risk of a number of conditions that predispose to heart disease and stoke, namely high blood pressure, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
The study is based on data collected on participants who were aged 35 to 64 years old between 1994 and 1998 when they joined one of the German arms of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study in Heidelberg.
At the start of the study the participants filled in questionnaires that assessed their diet for the previous 12 months, and they also answered questions about regular intake of vitamin and mineral supplements.
Their health was followed for an average of 11 years afterwards. During this time, the group experienced 354 heart attacks and 260 strokes, and 267 participants died of related causes.
When they analyzed the results, the researchers ranked them according to levels of calcium intake, and examined them from various points of view, such as calcium intake including supplements, and the effect of supplements alone. They also adjusted them to remove as far as possible effects from other known influencing factors.
They found participants with a moderate intake of calcium from all sources (820mg a day, including supplements) had a 31% lower risk of heart attack than the ones in the bottom 25% of calcium intake.
But those who calcium intake from all sources, including supplements, was higher than 1,100mg a day did not have a significantly lower risk of heart attack than the bottom intake group.

Plus, the researchers found no link between raised or lowered risk of stroke for any level of calcium intake from all sources, which they say reflects the findings of other studies.
However, when they looked at the results for supplements only, they found the participants who took calcium supplements on a regular basis had an 86% higher risk of having a heart attack than those who did not take any supplements at all.
And for participants who only took calcium supplements (that is no other vitamins or mineral supplements), this figure shot up: they had more than double the risk of having a heart attack compared with those who took no supplements at all.
The researchers conclude that their findings suggest:
"... increasing calcium intake from diet might not confer significant cardiovascular benefits, while calcium supplements, which might raise [heart attack] risk, should be taken with caution."
The study has drawn a mixed response, with some saying it adds to those that are questioning the safety of calcium supplements, and others pointing to the study's limitations and calling for further studies to corroborate the findings.
In an editorial in the same issue of the journal, Professors Ian Reid and Mark Bolland from the Faculty of Medical and Health Science at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, write that calcium supplements are "now coming under increasing scrutiny".
They refer to studies that link them to kidney stones and problems with the gut and abdominal symptoms. They also point out that while there is evidence that they reduce levels of cardiovascular risk factors, this does not actually translate into reduction in heart attacks and strokes.
Another point they make is that women who take calcium supplements to protect against bone thinning are already healthier than the women who do not, and the effect is modest anyway, around 10% only.
They say dietary calcium is helpful because it is taken in small amounts that are absorbed throughout the day, whereas supplements tend to be taken all in one go, causing blood calcium levels to spike above normal, and it is this that causes harm, they suggest.
"It is now becoming clear that taking this micronutrient in one or two daily [doses] is not natural, in that it does not reproduce the same metabolic effects as calcium in food," they write, suggesting we should discourage taking supplements to boost calcium intake.
"We should return to seeing calcium as an important component of a balanced diet, and not as a low cost panacea to the universal problem of postmenopausal bone loss," they conclude.
Natasha Stewart, Senior Cardiac Nurse with the British Heart Foundation, said while this study suggests there may be an increased risk of having a heart attack for people who take calcium supplements, it doesn't mean the supplements cause heart attacks. She told the press:
"Further research is needed to shed light on the relationship between calcium supplements and heart health. We need to determine whether potential risks of the supplements outweigh the benefits calcium can give sufferers of conditions such as osteoporosis."
"If you've been prescribed calcium supplements, you should still keep taking your medication, but speak to your doctor if you have any concerns," she added.
This study was published in the journal Heart.
The supplement industry expresses a similar view. Dr Taylor C. Wallace is Senior Director for Scientific & Regulatory Affairs at The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) in the US. He said in a statement issued from Washington on Wednesday that "the study itself is not reason enough to discount the important benefits of calcium".
He urges consumers with questions, and their doctors, to consider some of the study's limitations, for instance the fact it was not originally designed to measure cardiovascular events, so confounding factors were not distributed equally through the groups. As an example he points to the fact the calcium supplement group had more people with high cholesterol and more long-term smokers.
Wallace said consumers like the elderly who are at greater risk of falls and fractures due to weak bones, need calcium, and removing it from their diet could increase their risk of these problems.
"Our advice is for consumers to be aware of how much calcium they get from their diet, supplement with calcium if needed, and check with their doctor or other healthcare practitioner to determine their own personal needs," he urged.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Characteristics of Major " Serum Proteins "

- Prealbumin,transthyretin
Transport of the thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine; useful as a measurement of nutritional status
- Albumin
Transport of bilirubin, drugs; maintenance of colloid oncotic pressure
- IgG
Produced in response to specific infections to destroy toxins and foreign invaders of the body
- IgA
Secretory immunoglobulin protecting the mucosal surfaces
- IgM
First antibody produced in response to an infection
- C3
Complement protein that plays a role in immune defense; an acute-phase protein
- C4
Complement protein involved in antibody-antigen response and in the destruction of bacteria and viruses; an acute-phase protein
- C-reactive protein
Acute-phase protein that appears in the blood following infection or tissue damage
- Beta2-microglobulin
Light chain of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecule
- Beta lipoprotein
Transports lipids, primarily cholesterol (e.g., low density lipoprotein)
- Haptoglobin
Transports free hemoglobin through the blood to the liver for degradation; an acute-phase protein
- Transferrin
Transport protein for iron
- Ceruloplasmin
Acute-phase protein; has enzymatic activity and transports copper
- Alpha1-antitrypsin
Serine protease inhibitor; an acute-phase protein
- Alpha1 acid glycoprotein
Inactivates lipophilic hormones; an acute-phase protein
- Alpha-fetoprotein
Predominant plasma protein of the fetus; a fetal albumin analog
- Alpha2-macroglobulin
Protease inhibitor and acute-phase reactant

Early Pregnancy Symptoms

• Missed Period

  There are certain cases where the missed period can be caused due to some other reasons like stress, weight fluctuation, illness or the use of some other contraceptive pills. A woman can miss her period if she is suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome. In this the menstrual periods comes after several months. If you miss your period and do not have any of the above stated condition proceed further to know other pregnancy symptoms.

• Nausea

  Another classic pregnancy symptom is the nausea morning sickness. It is one of the most scary pregnancy symptoms. It can occur any time in the day. The pregnant woman complaints of feeling sick, this feeling of being sick starts usually in the 5-6 weeks of pregnancy. Sometimes morning sickness can be felt as early as two weeks after conception. Normally morning sickness is one of the pregnancy symptoms that fade away at the end of third trimester.

• Tender breasts

  Some women claim that the breast becomes very sensitive and have a tingling feeling. Some experience an increase in the size of the breasts soon after conception. Like the breasts are ready for breast feeding. It is the earliest pregnancy symptoms and it disappears few weeks after conception.

• Darkness of areola

  This is considered as one of the first pregnancy symptoms and remains there throughout the pregnancy. If any women notice the darkness in her areolas she may rightly consider her pregnant.

• Fatigue

  Though it is a common pregnancy symptoms but tiredness can take place due to many other reasons as well.

• Frequent urination

  This pregnancy symptom is caused due to the increase in the size of the uterus usually after two weeks of conception. The expanding uterus puts some pressure on the bladder which makes the pregnant women to urinate frequently. The rising levels of progesterone hormone stimulates the muscles of bladder, and the bladder feels full, the women feels to urinate even if actually she don’t have the need to do it.

• Constipation

  This constipation is never good for the growing fetus. So should be immediately taken care of

• Change in taste and smell

  Some favorite foods of the women may suddenly become quenching soon after the conception. Likewise she may feel craving for many other foods. Another most common pregnancy symptom is the metallic taste.

What does a Medical Representative Do?

A medical representative is employed by a pharmaceutical company to maximize the prescribing of that pharmaceutical company's products in a geographical area.
There are no strict formulae for how to maximize product prescribing - hard work is only part of the story and often working smarter is the key to success. This is why pharmaceutical companies are constantly looking for candidates who have the ability to think (and then put into practice) new ways of approaching sales opportunities.
As an experienced representative you will know your territory, know your customers and have a clear idea which part of your territory offers the highest potential for sales. You set yourself clear objectives for every day that you work and will know exactly what you want to achieve from each customer visit.

 

Interview Tips

Preparation, communication, enthusiasm and understanding the interviewer's requirements are the 4 key ingredients to success at interview.

Companies want to feel that they are exceptional. If you haven't thoroughly researched a position or company you will find it very difficult to persuade the interviewer that their particular position or company is the one you are looking for.
If you want to break into medical sales then you will need to have spent at least 1 day work-shadowing an experienced medical representative. This can be difficult to arrange but - if you can't persuade someone to take you out on a day's work-shadow what chance do you have of persuading a doctor to change his or her prescribing habits?
You must also understand some of the issues facing a medical representative and have developed some ideas of your own on how to tackle these challenges:
How are you going to get to see more doctors than other applicants?
How are you going to plan your territory?
What initiatives can you think of that might help you develop good working relationships with your customers?

You must be able to communicate, succinctly, why you are the best person for the position. Demonstrating a sound understanding of what the position requires and what transferable skills you already have will give you a distinct advantage. Don't expect to be taken at face value, you must be prepared to back up any claims with specific evidence from your previous experience.

Enthusiasm is probably the single most important ingredient that most pharmaceutical companies look for in their sales recruitment. You can train representatives in most things but you can't train people to be enthusiastic - you either have it or you don't!
Enthusiasm can be demonstrated in many ways.

Body language

By the amount of preparation you have done.

The vitality with which you discuss the subject of medical sales

You're overall determination to get a position with this particular company.

Remember to sell yourself for the medical sales position that is being interviewed for. You can demonstrate ambition by telling the interviewer that you are looking for a career but reinforce that you have a realistic expectation of the timescales involved. Remember, they will be trying to fill this sales territory for at least the next 2 - 3 years.

Training

Training is an essential ingredient to becoming successful in any field. Pharmaceutical sales is no exception and you will receive a comprehensive initial training program. This comprises 3 areas:

Basic anatomy and physiology

How your particular drug works

How to become a more effective salesperson

10 Amazing Life Lessons You Can Learn From " Albert Einstein "

1- Follow Your Curiosity.
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."

2- Perseverance is Priceless.
"It's not that I'm so smart; it's just that I stay with problems longer."

3- Focus on the Present.
"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."

4- The Imagination is Powerful.
"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge."

5- Make Mistakes.
"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."

6- Live in the Moment.
"I never think of the future - it comes soon enough."

7- Create Value.
"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."

8- Don't Expect Different Results.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

9- Knowledge Comes From Experience.
"Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience."

10- Learn the Rules and Then Play Better.
"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."

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Contaminated TCM products cause liver damage

Contaminated TCM products cause liver damage

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FDA Approves New Erectile Dysfunction Drug Stendra

Stendra Works Like Cialis, Levitra, Staxyn, Viagra

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

April 27, 2012 -- The FDA has approved Stendra (avanafil) for men with erectile dysfunction (ED).

Stendra, from Vivus Inc., is in the same drug class as the four oral ED drugs now on the U.S. market: Cialis, Levitra, Staxyn (an orally dissolving version of Levitra), and Viagra. An estimated 30 million U.S. men have ED, according to the FDA.

"This approval expands the available treatment options to men experiencing erectile dysfunction, and enables patients, in consultation with their doctor, to choose the most appropriate treatment for their needs," Victoria Kusiak, MD, deputy director of the Office of Drug Evaluation III in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, states in a news release.

In some participants in clinical trials, the drug was effective in as little as 15 minutes. Some men in clinical trials reported improved erections more than six hours after taking the drug.

In clinical trials, 77% of men with general ED were able to get erections after taking Stendra, compared to 54% of men taking an inactive placebo pill. Among men with diabetes-related ED, 63% were able to get erections after taking the drug, compared to 42% of men taking placebo.

Stendra resulted in successful intercourse for 57% of men with general ED (vs. 27% of men taking placebo) and for 40% of men with diabetes-related ED (vs. 20% of men taking placebo).

The main side effects of avanafil are similar to those of its sister drugs:headache, flushing, stuffy nose, and back pain. Rarely, an erection lasting for four or more hours may occur, which would need immediate medical attention. Other side effects occurring rarely include color vision changes, sudden loss of vision, and sudden loss of hearing. If sudden loss of vision or hearing occurs, it is recommended to call a doctor immediately.

Men who take nitrate medications should not take Stendra because the combination of these two medications can lead to a sudden drop in blood pressure.

SOURCES: Alwaal, A. Drug Design, Development and Therapy, 2011.Goldstein, I. Journal of Sexual Medicine, April 2012.Zhao, C. BJU International, March 27, 2012.