US tobacco firms to publish anti-smoking ads in dailies

Major American cigarette manufacturers will start publishing anti-smoking ads in 50 dailies to correct the misleading statements. They made over the years of the effects of smoking, a move that complies with a court order filed in 2006.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice declared in a statement that the ads will fill the US media starting from November 30 and in the next year, reports Efe news.

On November 30, 50 of the major US newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post will begin to publish full-page ads that should "clearify" to the public what is true effects of tobacco to the department

In addition, from the beginning of next week, TV channels across the country will start running those ads for a year.

"Smoking kills, average, 1,200 Americans every day", "smoking is highly addictive, nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco" and "cigarette companies purposely designed cigarettes with enough nicotine to create and sustain addiction ".

The legal case dates back to 1999, when former President Bill Clinton's administration (1993-2001) accused tobacco companies of fraudulent the public about the risks of smoking and promoting cigarettes with cartoon ads to attract teenagers.

The accusations were based on a special law called the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupted Organizations Act (RICO), initially promulgated to combat organized crime groups like the Maafia.

As part of that process, in 2006, the District of Columbia Court ordered the companies Altria, its affiliate Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco to place advertisements in the US media to "correct" the misperception the public had had for years about tobacco.

The 2006 court order is set to be enforced from November 30, more than 10 years late, due to a large amount of counter-complaints filed by US tobacco companies.

Read More

Young people 'experimenting more in bed'

sexual practice

Young people are taking part in a wide range of sexual practices, including anal sex, with opposite sex partners, research reveals.

Experts looked at responses to a national sex survey that has been carried out every 10 years since 1990 in the UK.

More than one in 10 millennial teenagers said they had tried anal sex by the age of 18.
By the age of 22 to 24, three in every 10 said they had tried it.

Vaginal and oral sex are still the most common types of sexual activity.

The age that young people start having sex - vaginal, anal or oral - has not changed much in recent decades.

In the latest survey, it was 16

While the study in the Journal of Adolescent Health shows what kind of sex people are having, it does not shed light on why preferences are changing.

Experts can only speculate, but say society has become more accepting and less judicial.

Breaking down taboos

Kaye Wellings, senior author and professor of sexual and reproductive health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "The changes in practices we see here are consistent with the widening of other aspects of young people's sexual experience, and are perhaps not surprising given the rapidly changing social context and the ever-increasing number of influences on sexual behavior."

Prof Cythia Graham is a professor in sexual and reproductive health at the University of Southampton.

She said the internet and media may have played a role in breaking down sexual taboos.

"The internet means people can easily find and see things that they did not have the past"

"Anal sex is still pretty stigmatised, but attitudes appear to be changing. We know society has become more accepting of things like same sex behaviour overall. But there's very little research out there about anal sex and motivation."

She said more studies were needed to inform sex education and equip young people with the information they needed for their sexual health.

Read More

Gut bacteria 'boost' cancer therapy

Bacteria living in the murky depths of the digestive system seem to influence whether tumours shrink during cancer therapy, say French and US researchers.

French and US Researcher (Gut Bacteria)

They tested the microbiome - the collection of microscopic species that live in us - in cancer patients.

Two studies, in the journal Science, linked specific species and the overall diversity of the microbiome to the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs.

Gut Bacteria

Experts said the results were fascinating and held a lot of promise.

Our bodies are home to trillions of micro-organisms and the relationship between "us" and "them" goes far beyond infectious diseases.

Gut Bacteria

The microbiome is involved in digestion, protection from infection and regulating the immune system.

1. Gut bugs 'help prevent allergies'

2. Parkinson's disease 'may start in gut'

Both studies were on patients receiving immunotherapy, which boosts the body's own defences to fight tumours.

It does not work in every patient, but in some cases it can clear even terminal cancer.

Survival

One study, at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus in Paris, looked at 249 patients with lung or kidney cancer.

They showed those who had taken antibiotics, such as for dental infection, damaged their microbiome and were more likely to see tumours grow while on immunotherapy.

One species of bacteria in particular, Akkermansia muciniphila, was in 69% of patients that did respond compared with just a third of those who did not.

Boosting levels of A. muciniphila in mice seemed to also boost their response to immunotherapy.

Meanwhile, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 112 patients with advanced melanoma had their microbiome analysed.

Those that responded to therapy tended to have a richer, more diverse microbiome than those that did not.

And they had different bacteria too. High levels of Faecalibacterium and Clostridiales appeared to be beneficial, while Bacteroidales species were bad news in the study.

'Game-changing'

Tissues samples showed there were more cancer-killing immune cells in the tumour of people with the beneficial bacteria.

The team then performed a trans-poo-sion, a transplant of faecal matter, from people to mice with melanoma.

Mice given bacteria from patients with the "good" mix of bacteria had slower-growing tumours than mice given "bad" bacteria.

Dr Jennifer Wargo, from Texas, told the BBC: "If you disrupt a patient's microbiome you may impair their ability to respond to cancer treatment."

She is planning clinical trials aimed at altering the microbiome in tandem with cancer treatment.

She said: "Our hypothesis is if we change to a more favourable microbiome, you just may be able to make patients respond better.

"The microbiome is game-changing, not just cancer but for overall health, it's definitely going to be a major player."

Promising

Mark Fielder, president of the Society for Applied Microbiology and professor of medical biology at Kingston University, said the study showed the importance of understanding the micro-organisms that call our bodies home.

He told the BBC: "It's really interesting and holds a lot of promise, we need to do more work but there are exciting glimmers here in treating some difficult diseases.

"Some claim the microbiome is the answer to everything, I don't think that's the case.

"But once we understand more, it could be that microbiome manipulation is important in changing people's health."

Dr Emma Smith from Cancer Research UK, said: "It's fascinating.

"One of the big challenges for using immunotherapies to treat cancer is understanding which patients will respond, and this research is a step towards helping doctors to identify these people."

Read More

Peyronie's Disease: Curved Penis Makes Men at Higher Risk of Cancer

byPass: Men with a rare disease that causes curvature of the penis are at higher risk of developing several cancers, a large-scale study has found.

The research, which looked at over 1.5 million men and was presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, turned up a connection between Peyronie’s Disease, a condition that causes men to have curved erections, and cancers of the stomach, skin and testes, The Telegraph reported.

According to Johns Hopkins department of medicine, Peyronie’s affects connective tissue in the penis. A 2016 study in Plos One, estimated that 0.7 percent of Americans have clear-cut cases of Peyronie’s, and 11 percent probably have the disease.
Those with the condition, the new review by Baylor College in the Houston found, have a 40 percent larger risk of testicular cancer, they run a 29 per cent greater risk of melanoma, and they have a 40 percent higher likelihood of stomach cancer.

"We think this is important because these conditions are largely taken for granted,” said Dr Alexander Pastuszak, the leader of the study, according to The Telegraph.

“While they’re significant in the sexual and reproductive life-cycles of these patients, linking them to other disorders suggest that these men should be monitored for development of these disorders disproportionately in contrast to the rest of the population,” the lead author continued.

“Nobody has made these associations before,” Pastuszak concluded.
But Emma Shields, who works for the British charity Cancer Research U.K., told the paper that screening men with Peyronie’s for cancers may not be practical or beneficial.

“It’s not yet fully understood what causes Peyronie’s disease and it’s possible it shares some similar risk factors to cancer,” Shields said.

“Screening for cancer isn’t always beneficial and comes with harms, so it’s essential screening programmes are backed by robust evidence.”

Read More

Five takeaways about Pennsylvania doctors who can prescribe medical marijuana

byPass:
1. Over the summer, experts said the big unknown in Pennsylvania’s bid to launch a medical marijuana industry would be whether doctors would sign on. Poor participation could make it difficult for patients to find a practitioner willing to recommend marijuana. And fewer patients could drive up the cost of the drug.

Marijuana

2. Advocates got their first look at that unknown on Wednesday when the state released a list of 109 approved practitioners statewide. About 200 other doctors statewide have registered and are in the process of completing four hours of required training.

3. The number is tiny considering Pennsylvania has more than 39,000 active physicians, according to the Association of American Medical.Colleges.

4. But it’s not surprising. Medical marijuana was legalized in New Jersey in 2010. Seven years later, fewer than 2 percent of New Jersey’s licensed doctors are participating in the state’s program. In New York, which legalized medical marijuana in 2014, only about 1 percent of doctors are participating, according to the Henry Kaiser Foundation and Marijuana Policy.

5. Still, it’s a start. Philadelphia had the most doctors on the approved list — 27. Bucks County had eight while Allegheny County had 10. Six Lehigh County doctors and one Northampton County doctor were on the list. They are:

Marijuana Plant

Lehigh County
Charles Harris, an emergency medicine doctor whose address was listed as 6724 Kernsville Road, Orefield
David Gordon, a general practice and CT surgery physician listed at 798 Hausman Rd., Suite 170, Allentown
Kimberly Jean, a medical doctor listed at 1101 Hamilton St., Suite 257, Allentown
Mohammad Khan, a doctor of psychiatry listed at 4949 Liberty Lane, Lower Macungie.
Nawabi Naseh, an urgent care doctor listed at 101 S. 14th St., Allentown
Valerie Riley, a gynecology and urogynecology doctor at 3445 High Point Blvd., Suite 100, Bethlehem.

Northampton County
Thomas Yablonski, 215 N. Best Ave., Walnutport

Read More