The Next Generation in Bilevel Therapy Now Available on ResMed's Award-Winning S9(TM) Platform

ResMed , a leading developer, manufacturer, and distributor of sleep and respiratory medical equipment, announced the launch of its next generation bilevel therapy devices. "We are proud to announce the launch of the bilevel range of products on the S9(TM) platform, our latest and most innovative flow generator system for treating respiratory disorders including sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Now, for the first time in our history, patients have one platform that can treat obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea and Cheyne-Stokes respiration as well as provide noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for patients requiring ventilatory support," said Michael Farrell, SVP of the Global Sleep Business Unit at ResMed. "Our goal is to increase patients' quality of life by providing comfortable, quiet, easy-to-use, and highly effective treatment. A critical element of successful treatment is long-term adherence to therapy. Since its launch just over a year ago, the S9 Series has been able to help physicians and respiratory therapists achieve that goal - driving therapeutic compliance by patients around the globe." Historically, patients' ability to comply with sleep or respiratory therapies was negatively affected by noisy devices, nasal dryness/congestion and breathing discomfort. To combat these negative effects and increase patients' ability to adhere to respiratory therapy, ResMed's next generation bilevel devices build on features that are crucial to maintaining and increasing overall patient compliance. ResMed's enhanced Easy-Breathe(TM) motor technology reduces noise transferred through the mask to the patient by 78%, compared to the S8(TM) Series II. The improved ClimateControl(TM) system ensures consistent therapeutic air temperature and humidification, working to prevent rain-out and dryness, independent of external ambient conditions. With the integration of ResMed's Vsync(TM), TiControl(TM), and Easy-Breath waveform technologies, each device can now be fine-tuned to synchronise to the specific needs of each individual patient. Finally, patient data can now be accessed via the easy-to-use color screen or can be downloaded in high resolution and viewed in ResMed's ResScan(TM) software. "We remain focused on providing best in class NIV solutions; now delivering NIV therapy by way of a smaller, lighter, and quieter platform. The VPAP ST offers unmatched therapy performance to a broader range of patients through the enhancements of our clinically proven synchronisation algorithms, Vsync and TiControl alongside Climate Control and a higher backup rate," said Geoff Neilson, Vice President - Ventilation Strategic Business Unit. ResMed's new pressure support bilevel devices include the VPAP(TM) S, a bilevel pressure support therapy device; the Auto 25, an auto-adjusting bilevel therapy device; the AutoSet CS(TM), the adaptive servo-ventilation therapy device; and the VPAP(TM) ST, a noninvasive pressure support ventilator. All four devices are built to meet the highest standard of effective therapy, comfortable treatment, and ease of use. **For additional product information visit http://www.resmed.com

European Survey Reveals Wide-Reaching Impact of eczema on Quality of Life and Emotional Wellbeing of Children

New survey data released today demonstrate that childhood eczema can have a detrimental effect on quality of life not only for the children who live with the disease, but also for their families. The survey, which was carried out in eight countries across Europe, examines the impact of eczema on European children through the eyes of the parents who care for them. The survey findings show that childhood eczema can negatively affect all aspects of life, from participation in education to self esteem, in particular for children with moderate or severe form of the disease.1a Children with moderate and severe eczema miss out on school or nursery as well as sport and play - over a quarter (27%) of children miss up to five days of school a year due to their disease.[1b] Furthermore, nearly one fifth (18%) miss out on sport and play due to their eczema. This has an impact on parents too: over a quarter (26%) of parents caring for a child with moderate and severe eczema have to miss time at work due to their child's illness. Worryingly, 50% of parents of children with moderate and severe eczema feel that the condition has a negative effect on their child's self esteem. Almost one third of parents report that children living with moderate and severe eczema experience frustration (32%) and feeling different to other children (30%) and parents also believe that their child feels 'self-conscious' and 'sad' some of the time because of their condition. Significant pain and discomfort, sleeping problems and mood swings are all problems experienced by one in four children with moderate and severe eczema. "While parents of children living with eczema know the impact that the disease can have on children and families, it isn't always easy for other people to understand," said Margaret Cox, Chief Executive, National Eczema Society (UK). "We welcome the findings of this survey in the hope that they will help everyone involved in the care of children with eczema to understand the challenges they face. Recognising the emotional toll that eczema can take is an important step towards helping to identify how we can better help these children to live and enjoy their childhoods to the full." Eczema (atopic dermatitis) is an incurable skin disease which affects between 5% and 20% of children in developed countries. In children, 60% of eczema is diagnosed under the age of one year. Once the disease has emerged, a child will usually experience a cycle of 'flare ups' followed by periods of remission when the disease will appear to have gone away and the skin looks as if it has returned to normal. Commonly, 2 out of 3 children with eczema 'grow out of it' by their mid-teens. Eczema can cause disruptions to family daily routine, a child suffering from moderate and severe eczema can be affected for a significant proportion of time each month and each year. Almost two thirds (65%) of children with moderate and severe eczema are affected for up to 10 days per month1 and a quarter experience between five and 10 flares per year. Almost one third (32%) of children with moderate and severe eczema experience flares that last for up to two weeks at a time. The survey revealed that flare prevention or reduction is a priority for parents. Parents of children with moderate and severe eczema feel that all aspects of family life would be improved and that their child's quality of life would be improved if he or she experienced fewer flares. Over one third believe that this would transform their child's quality of life for the better. Parents stated pain relief as the most important treatment outcome and approximately a quarter (24%) of parents of children with moderate and severe eczema identified failure to prevent flares as the biggest problem with their current treatment. "Eczema has a far more debilitating impact on a child's life than most people understand. We manage my son's itching by constantly moisturising his skin - which only serves to make him feel even more different from his friends." said Suzanne Johns from Bradford, England, whose 7-year old son was diagnosed with eczema at birth. "Eczema is far more than dry skin or a bit of an itch. Eczema can demand an all consuming lifestyle and coping techniques which need to be embraced by not only the sufferer, but their family as well. Only when people fully understand the far reaching impact of this relentlessly itchy, intolerable skin condition can we hope for better treatment and acceptance." Eczema is a complicated disease for which, at present, there is no cure. There are a range of treatments available to help to minimise the impact of eczema. Some patients may need treatments that are designed to be used regularly to prevent flare ups from happening. Other treatments are used for a shorter period of time to treat a flare up and help the skin to heal.

Blueberries may inhibit development of fat cells

The benefits of blueberry consumption have been demonstrated in several nutrition studies, more specifically the cardio-protective benefits derived from their high polyphenol content. Blueberries have shown potential to have a positive effect on everything from aging to metabolic syndrome. Recently, a researcher from Texas Woman's University (TWU) in Denton, TX, examined whether blueberries could play a role in reducing one of the world's greatest health challenges: obesity. Shiwani Moghe, MS, a graduate student at TWU, decided to evaluate whether blueberry polyphenols play a role in adipocyte differentiation, the process in which a relatively unspecialized cell acquires specialized features of an adipocyte, an animal connective tissue cell specialized for the synthesis and storage of fat. Plant polyphenols have been shown to fight adipogenesis, which is the development of fat cells, and induce lipolysis, which is the breakdown of lipids/fat. Moghe will present her research at the Experimental Biology 2011 meeting for the American Society for Nutrition on Sunday, April 10, at 12:45 pm. "I wanted to see if using blueberry polyphenols could inhibit obesity at a molecular stage," said Moghe. The study was performed in tissue cultures taken from mice. The polyphenols showed a dose-dependent suppression of adipocyte differentiation. The lipid content in the control group was significantly higher than the content of the tissue given three doses of blueberry polyphenols. The highest dose of blueberry polyphenols yielded a 73% decrease in lipids; the lowest dose showed a 27% decrease. "We still need to test this dose in humans, to make sure there are no adverse effects, and to see if the doses are as effective. This is a burgeoning area of research. Determining the best dose for humans will be important," said Moghe. "The promise is there for blueberries to help reduce adipose tissue from forming in the body." These preliminary results contribute more items to the laundry list of benefits related to blueberries, which have already been shown to mitigate health conditions like cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. **Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Insights gained from growing cold-causing virus on sinus tissue

Using sinus tissue removed during surgery at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have managed to grow a recently discovered species of human rhinovirus (HRV), the most frequent cause of the common cold, in culture. The researchers found that the virus, which is associated with up to half of all HRV infections in children, has reproductive properties that differ from those of other members of the HRV family. The accomplishments, reported in Nature Medicine on April 11, should allow antiviral compounds to be screened to see if they stop the virus from growing. The report sheds light on HRV-C, a new member of the HRV family that also includes the well-known HRV-A and HRV-B. Discovered five years ago, HRV-C has been notoriously difficult to grow in standard cell cultures and, therefore, impossible to study. "We now have evidence that there may be new approaches to treating or preventing HRV-C infections," says senior author James Gern, professor of medicine at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and an asthma expert at American Family Children's Hospital. Future drugs could be especially useful for children and adults who have asthma and other lung problems, Gern says.

Recent studies have shown that in addition to its major role in the common cold, HRV-C is responsible for between 50 percent and 80 percent of asthma attacks. HRV-C is a frequent cause of wheezing illnesses in infants and may be especially likely to cause asthma attacks in children. HRV infections of all kinds also can greatly worsen chronic lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Like other scientists, Yury Bochkov, a virologist in Gern's lab, was unable to grow HRV-C in standard cell lines. So he turned to nasal tissue he collected following sinus surgery—and was surprised to find success. He grew significant amounts of two forms of HRV-C, then sequenced the complete virus genome and engineered an identical copy of it in a plasmid vector. Studying the reproduction of the living, growing virus, he found that HRV-C replication appeared to occur in specific kinds of cells localized in nasal epithelium tissue. "We also found that HRV-C does not attach to the two receptors that HRV-A and HRV-B use," Bochkov says. "HRV-C uses a distinct, yet unknown, receptor that is absent or under-expressed in many cell lines."

HRV-C also responded differently to antibodies that block receptor binding. "Antibodies that normally keep HRV-A and HRV-B from binding to their receptors did not prevent HRV-C from binding to them," Bochkov says. The findings suggest that new approaches are needed to treat HRV-C, says Gern. "Previous drug candidates for the common cold were tested only against HRV-A and HRV-B," he says. "For more effective medications, we need to also target HRV-C." Bochkov will continue to use the organ culture system to study details of HRV-C biology. "It's now clear that these viruses have unique growth requirements," he says.

**Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Contra los estigmas de la esclerosis múltiple

En cuanto aprobé la oposición y tomé posesión de mi plaza de maestra y tuve un nuevo brote y fui capaz de presentarme en el colegio con mis muletas, lo tuve claro. Pedí todas las adaptaciones a las que tenía derecho, por ejemplo una entrada sin barreras, una llave para el ascensor y prioridad para tener las aulas en la planta baja. Tengo esclerosis múltiple”. Es el grito de guerra enérgico y animoso de una joven de 37 años, maestra de educación especial en un colegio de Badalona que reclama poder mostrarse sin miedo al estigma. “Porque yo soy esto con esto. Tengo, no soy esclerosis múltiple. He dejado de identificarme con ella”. Para Araceli Ruano ha sido “como salir del armario, un proceso lento”, explica. El primer brote –esta enfermedad aparece así, con un brote, y a menudo es difícil de catalogar– fue a los 18 años y ya ha perdido la cuenta de cuántos ha tenido. “Me muevo sin problema aunque tengo algún desequilibrio. Cuando estoy en brote, según lo que meafecte, no puedo ir a trabajar. Si es un problema motor en la pierna izquierda, se me dobla la rodilla, tengo como debilidad, me falta fuerza”. otras veces son vértigos, pérdida de visión. “Los vértigos rotatorios son especialmente impactantes”. A veces dura un mes. A veces, más. “Todos los meses voy a inyectarme la medicación al hospital de día. Dura una hora y el rato de observación. Desde que la tomo, hace tres años, no he vuelto a tener brotes. Ahora están investigando la posibilidad de hacer descansos de la medicina, porque provoca alergias y con el tiempo puede ir a más”. La vida, normal. “Lo llevo bien. Antes, no. Lo ocultaba y mentir te provoca una presión enorme. Me he inventado tantos esguinces del pie”. Su trabajo en la escuela incluye excursiones, “y yo no puedo caminar tanto tiempo como antes, pero ya no lo oculto. Ahora voy la primera y marco el ritmo y no me canso. Me costó pasar esa vergüenza, pero una vez has dado el primer paso, es como dejar de fumar”. La vida, normal. Tiene pareja y tres perros ¿Hijos? “No quiero jugármela, porque a muchas mujeres no les va nada bien. Quizá adopte”. A B.R., una mujer de cuarenta años que no quiere verse identificada por la calle como una afectada de esclerosis múltiple, el primer brote le apareció precisamente tras tener a su hijo, “a los 21 días”. Hace diez años y medio. Su esclerosis le provoca rigidez, espasticidad, como a la mitad de los que la tienen. A ella, en una pierna. “Lo que me permite una vida relativamente normal. Me cuesta subir y bajar escaleras o del coche, doblo la pierna ayudándola y estoy pendiente siempre de mi equilibrio”. En la calle hay que ver con antelación adoquines, humedad, agujeros, el fin de la pasarela en la playa, las rendijas entre los tablones y las barandillas a las que sujetarse en caso de peligro. “Mi hijo procura ir a mi paso. Siempre me ha visto así, aunque, no sé, quizás un día le dé vergüenza”. Sus ánimos van por delante, aunque la enfermedad da un pasito más cada seis meses. “La suerte es que es una progresión lenta y puedo ir poniendo patachos (remiendos)”. Sabe que caminaría más segura con una muleta, “pero sé que voy abocada a ello y me espero”. Llega la primavera y el cambio de hora y “siento el sol, fabuloso. Me da un subidón”. Es una de las pacientes que usan el cannabis para su espasticidad. “Uso el aerosol me va muy bien, pero no lo había probado, ¡mi juventud ha sido muy aburrida!”. No se ve con otros pacientes, ni habla mucho del asunto. Va cada seis meses a revisión y “hay días que coincido con gente muy afectada y me agobia, es muy descorazonador, estás viendo tu futuro”. Y se sacude la idea. “Llegará el día que decaeré, pero hoy no puedo venirme abajo, porque arrastraría a un hijo y un marido de 44 años”. Cuando le comunicaron el diagnóstico reconoce que su hijo fue un contrapunto fortísimo, un estímulo constante. “De momento estoy acomodada, pero la cabeza es muy traicionera y un día de humedad te hace sentir tan torpe...”. . “En la Fira de Santa Llúcia me agarro del brazo de mi marido y me meto entre la gente cual duquesa de Alba”. **Publicado en "LA VANGUARDIA"

Big picture of how interferon-induced genes launch antiviral defenses revealed

When viruses attack, one molecule more than any other fights back. Interferon triggers the activation of more than 350 genes, and despite the obvious connection, the vast majority have never been tested for antiviral properties. A team of researchers, led by scientists from Rockefeller University, for the first time has carried out a comprehensive, systematic evaluation of the antiviral activity of interferon-induced factors. The findings, published online today in the journal Nature, are a first step toward unraveling how these naturally occurring molecules work to inhibit viruses. "We hope this study will open the door to future work on the mechanisms of antiviral molecules," says first author John Schoggins, a postdoctoral associate in Charles M. Rice's Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease at Rockefeller. "Such mechanistic studies may set the stage for the development of new and much needed drugs to combat a diverse array of viruses that pose significant health threats to people worldwide." The researchers were interested in type I interferon, a cellular molecule that is made when a person becomes infected with certain viruses. Type I Interferon is used clinically in the treatment of some viral diseases, such as hepatitis C, and its presence has been shown to significantly limit the severity of certain viral infections. Schoggins and his colleagues, including researchers from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, systematically evaluated the majority of common interferon-induced genes, one by one, to determine which of them had antiviral activity against a panel of disease-causing viruses, including the hepatitis C virus, HIV, West Nile virus, the yellow fever virus and chikungunya virus. The scientists used a cell-based "screen" to measure the ability of each gene to halt the growth of the viruses: One by one, genes were delivered into the cells that were then infected with virus. In cells that had no interferon-induced genes delivered, Schoggins and his team observed normal levels of virus replication. In cells that had interferon-induced genes delivered, they occasionally found "hits" that could significantly impair virus replication. Overall, Schoggins and his colleagues found that each virus tested was susceptible to inhibition by a unique subset of these interferon-induced genes, with some genes having specific effects on only one virus, and other genes having more broad effects on multiple viruses. The researchers also showed that two genes in combination were more potent than either gene alone, supporting the long-standing hypothesis that many interferon-induced factors work in a combinatorial fashion. A number of the factors, the researchers found, work by interfering with the process by which viral RNA is translated in protein. "It's fascinating that evolution has provided us with an array of hundreds of molecules that can be summoned by the host upon viral infection," says Schoggins. "Even more interesting is that none of these factors on their own are 'magic bullets' that can eradicate the virus. Instead, the cell relies on the cooperative action of numerous factors to effectively shut down the virus." Schoggins and his colleagues hope their work will ultimately help inform the design of new antiviral drugs. "This study is a first step toward unraveling how these previously uncharacterized, naturally occurring interferon-induced factors inhibit viruses," says Rice, who is the Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor at Rockefeller and scientific director of the Center for the Study of Hepatitis C. "In future studies, we hope to reveal the exact mechanisms by which these molecules suppress viral replication. If this can be done, then we will have a platform for the development of novel drugs that may be beneficial for combating viral infections." **Source: Rockefeller University

La ley de dependencia apenas llega a un 4% de los enfermos mentales

La ley de dependencia no se pensó para los enfermos mentales, por eso, aunque en última instancia se les incluyó bajo el paraguas que daría cobertura a todas las discapacidades, el sistema está acusando deficiencias en la protección de estas personas. No hay un solo escalón para acceder a las ayudas en el que no tropiece la enfermedad mental. Quizá por eso apenas están en el sistema de dependencia entre un 1% y un 4% (dependiendo del tipo y gravedad de enfermedad mental que se considere) del total de las personas que padecen estas enfermedades en España. No llegan al sistema, no reciben las prestaciones, y lo que es más grave: no las solicitan. Las reclamaciones de ayuda de estos enfermos solo representan el 1% del total de las recibidas por dependencia, según los datos que conoce Feafes, (confederación de familiares y personas con enfermedad mental), y que aún no se han publicado oficialmente. Efectivamente, la solicitud es el primer (y quizá el más grave) obstáculo para estas personas. Los enfermos mentales (esquizofrenia, bipolares, patologías duales, entre otros) "no acceden al sistema de dependencia por desconocimiento o por estigma", reconoce José María Sánchez Monge, presidente de Feafes. Por eso, Feafes-Andalucía tiene en marcha una campaña para formar y comunicar a las familias y los técnicos de las asociaciones cómo sortear este primer obstáculo. Una vez pasado ese trámite llega la valoración del solicitante, su diagnóstico. El baremo que se usa actualmente no calibra con corrección la dependencia de estas personas. Se diseñó para medir la discapacidad física, si un anciano, por ejemplo, puede comer sin ayuda, levantarse de la cama, ir al baño. "Con los enfermos mentales esto no sirve, porque ellos no tienen carencias anatómicas, pero sí ejecutivas, que les impiden desempeñar funciones básicas para la vida diaria a pesar de estar dotados físicamente para ello", explica Julio Boves, catedrático de Psiquiatría de la Universidad de Oviedo y miembro del consorcio de investigación Cibersam, del Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología. Boves está convencido de que esto se solucionará con el nuevo baremo que se está diseñando y que estará listo, dice, para 2012. "Determinantes serán también los cursos de 60 horas que recibirán los evaluadores y el manual que se está redactando para mejorar y unificar los criterios de diagnóstico", a juicio de Boves, que coincide con el presidente de Feafes en este extremo. Pero, por ahora, solo hay 17.000 enfermos mentales en el sistema de la dependencia (de un total de 720.000) y, a decir de los expertos, nada garantiza que estén bien valorados. "También hay enormes diferencias por comunidades a la hora de evaluarlos", añade Boves. "La realidad, por ahora, es que hay una insuficiente captación del grado de dependencia", dice este psiquiatra. Los datos que conocen en Feafes indican que a unos 6.000 se les habría otorgado el grado máximo de dependencia mientras que 5.600 quedan un escalón por debajo, en dependencia severa. Otros 4.000 solo han sido calificados como dependientes moderados. "El grado II (dependencia severa) puede ser adecuado, pero no creemos que estén siendo bien valorados estos enfermos", insiste Sánchez Monge. "El trastorno mental grave siempre necesita apoyo, unas veces más y otras menos, pero siempre necesita apoyo", dice. "Estos enfermos son dependientes, si no salen en la foto es por el foco de la cámara", ejemplifica Boves. La prueba irrefutable de que el baremo actual no es eficaz con estas personas es que se está reformando, entre otras cosas, como reconoció el Gobierno en su día, para ajustar la cobertura que merecen estos usuarios. Pasado el (mal) trago de la valoración, siguen los problemas. "No hay muchos recursos para estas personas, y cuando los hay tampoco son siempre los adecuados. Muchas veces necesitan periodos de internamiento, pero los recursos existentes y la ley no facilitan la entrada y salida de las residencias. Esa es la razón de que algunos de ellos acaben, en ocasiones, abandonados en la calle, o en la cárcel, cuando tienen conductas violentas", explica José Manuel Ramírez, presidente de la Asociación Estatal de Directoras y Gerentes de Servicios Sociales. Los responsables políticos de la dependencia y los expertos están debatiendo métodos de coordinación sociosanitaria que pudieran ajustarse a las necesidades de estos usuarios. "Se precisa además, un seguimiento de la situación de estas personas, que no se está haciendo, precisamente para evitar que puedan abandonar las ayudas recibidas y perderlas", señala Ramírez. Desde Feafes solicitan también que los valoradores de la dependencia "tengan en cuenta las declaraciones de los familiares respecto a estas personas, porque ellos dirán lo que el dependiente no quiere o no puede decir", explica Sánchez Monge. La presidenta de Feafes-Andalucía, Concha Cuevas, critica que los enfermos mentales "son los excluidos de la ley de dependencia". **Publicado en "EL PAIS"