Hay dos tipos de células clave en el cerebro que son fundamentales para la regulación de las conductas de alimentación, las neuronas que expresan el péptido relacionado con agouti (AgRP) y las que expresan el proopiomelancortin (POMC). Un estudio, publicado en 'Neuron', ha descubierto una vía neural que vincula el ayuno con la activación de las neuronas de AgRP; proporcionando información valiosa sobre los complejos mecanismos que controlan el comportamiento de búsqueda de alimentos.
Investigaciones previas han demostrado que las neuronas de AgRP promueven la alimentación y el aumento de peso, mientras que las células POMC se han relacionado con la supresión del apetito y la pérdida de peso.
"Teniendo en cuenta sus papeles críticos en el comportamiento respecto a la alimentación, existe un gran interés en la comprensión de los factores que regulan la actividad de las neuronas de POMC y AgRP", afirma el autor principal del estudio, el doctor Bradford B. Lowell, del Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center y la Harvard Medical School, "sin embargo, aunque ambos tipos de neuronas reciben abundantes estímulos excitadores e inhibidores, la influencia de sus señales no había recibido, hasta ahora, suficiente atención".
Lowell y sus colaboradores analizaron el impacto de los estímulos excitadores en las neuronas de AgRP y POMC, mediante la manipulación de los receptores NMDA en cada tipo de célula -estos receptores reciben estímulos del principal neurotransmisor excitador en el cerebro.
Curiosamente, sólo los ratones que carecen de NMDA en sus neuronas de AgRP, y no los que carecen de NMDA en sus neuronas de POMC, mostraron alteraciones en el peso y la ingesta de alimentos. Así, este tipo de información excitatoria, sólo se muestra crítica para la función de las neuronas de AgRP.
Es importante destacar que los investigadores también descubrieron que el ayuno, al que se le atribuye la capacidad de activar las neuronas de AgRP, y de promover tanto la búsqueda de alimento, como la conservación de la energía, se asoció con un aumento de las entradas excitadoras y un aumento en el número de espinas dendríticas en las neuronas de AgRP -las espinas dendríticas son protuberancias físicas de la neurona que recibe las señales entrantes. Estos cambios inducidos por el ayuno en las neuronas de AgRP se vieron, también, afectados por la presencia de NMDA.
En conjunto, los resultados sugieren que la información excitadora recibida por NMDA juega un papel crítico en la regulación de la conectividad de las neuronas de AgRP, la respuesta celular y el comportamiento durante el ayuno.
"El próximo paso será la identificación de los neurotransmisores y hormonas que modulan las entradas excitadoras de las neuronas de AgRP, y los mecanismos por los cuales esta modulación se produce", concluye el doctor Lowell, quien añade que "es probable que esto proporcione una mejor comprensión sobre los diversos factores de control de la conducta alimentaria.
**EUROPA PRESS
10 February 2012
Financial burden of prescription drugs is dropping
The financial burden Americans face paying out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs has declined, although prescription costs remain a significant challenge for people with lower incomes and those with public insurance, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Despite the improvement, more than 8 million nonelderly Americans lived in families with high drug-cost burden in 2008 and one in four devoted more than half of their total out-of-pocket medical spending to prescription drugs, according to findings published in the February edition of the journal Health Affairs.
"Our findings are evidence of the success of strategies already in place to help lower the cost of medications for consumers, even during a period when medication use was increasing," said Dr. Walid Gellad, the study's lead author and a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "But the burden of drug costs remains high for many Americans, which is an important issue for policymakers to consider as health reform extends insurance coverage to more people."
The primary reason for the drop in consumers' prescription drug costs is an increased use of generic medications, according to researchers. Over the last decade, changes in health care benefits encouraged consumers to use generics and many high-demand medications became available in generic form.
While prescription drug spending accounts for 10 percent of all health care spending in the United States, out-of-pocket costs for prescription medication make up a much larger percentage of individual health spending, particularly among low-income people with public insurance and those with chronic conditions such as diabetes.
"Because medications are a large part of the household health budget, they are obvious targets for households when they need to decrease their health expenses, which can have adverse consequences down the road," said Gellad, who also is an assistant professor of medicine and health policy at the University of Pittsburgh, a staff physician at the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, and a researcher with the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion.
The researchers examined information about individual drug spending from 1999 to 2008 among people tracked by the federal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
The study found that the percentage of people with high financial burden for prescription drugs increased from 1999 to 2003, decreased from 2003 to 2007, and had a slight increase in 2008. The study defined "high financial burden" as living in a family that spends more than 10 percent of its income on out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs.
The study found that in 1999 about 3 percent of nonelderly Americans (7 million people) lived in families that spent more than 10 percent of their income on prescription drugs and nearly 27 percent of nonelderly Americans (64.5 million) belonged to families where out-of-pocket drug costs accounted for more than half of all out-of-pocket health care costs.
By 2003, out-of-pocket drug costs had climbed higher. More than 4 percent of nonelderly Americans (10.8 million) had high drug-cost burden and 33.6 percent (85.2 million) lived in families where drug costs accounted for more than half of all out-of-pocket health care expenses. But by 2008, these numbers had decreased to 3.1 percent for families with a high drug-cost burden (8.3 million) and 25.4 percent for families with drug costs accounting for more than half of all out-of-pocket health care costs (67.1 million).
The drug cost burden differed substantially based on family income and types of insurance. In 2008, the percentage of people living in families with a high drug cost burden was 7.5 percent among those with public insurance, 4.5 percent among those with privately purchased individual health plans and only 1.2 percent for those with group or employer-related insurance.
"These differences are important as the Affordable Care Act will expand coverage to 24 million people through new health insurance exchanges that build on the nongroup insurance market," Gellad said."There is the expectation that future nongroup policies will provide better, more-generous drug coverage than existing policies, but the level of generosity remains to be seen."
The study also found that people with chronic health conditions were more likely to face a high financial burden because of drug costs. In 2008, more than one in eight people with diabetes faced a high financial burden because of drug costs and a majority of people with the illness lived in families where drug costs accounted for more than half of all out-of-pocket health care spending. Similar trends were seen for patients with high blood pressure and mental disorders.
**Source: RAND Corporation
"Our findings are evidence of the success of strategies already in place to help lower the cost of medications for consumers, even during a period when medication use was increasing," said Dr. Walid Gellad, the study's lead author and a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "But the burden of drug costs remains high for many Americans, which is an important issue for policymakers to consider as health reform extends insurance coverage to more people."
The primary reason for the drop in consumers' prescription drug costs is an increased use of generic medications, according to researchers. Over the last decade, changes in health care benefits encouraged consumers to use generics and many high-demand medications became available in generic form.
While prescription drug spending accounts for 10 percent of all health care spending in the United States, out-of-pocket costs for prescription medication make up a much larger percentage of individual health spending, particularly among low-income people with public insurance and those with chronic conditions such as diabetes.
"Because medications are a large part of the household health budget, they are obvious targets for households when they need to decrease their health expenses, which can have adverse consequences down the road," said Gellad, who also is an assistant professor of medicine and health policy at the University of Pittsburgh, a staff physician at the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, and a researcher with the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion.
The researchers examined information about individual drug spending from 1999 to 2008 among people tracked by the federal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
The study found that the percentage of people with high financial burden for prescription drugs increased from 1999 to 2003, decreased from 2003 to 2007, and had a slight increase in 2008. The study defined "high financial burden" as living in a family that spends more than 10 percent of its income on out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs.
The study found that in 1999 about 3 percent of nonelderly Americans (7 million people) lived in families that spent more than 10 percent of their income on prescription drugs and nearly 27 percent of nonelderly Americans (64.5 million) belonged to families where out-of-pocket drug costs accounted for more than half of all out-of-pocket health care costs.
By 2003, out-of-pocket drug costs had climbed higher. More than 4 percent of nonelderly Americans (10.8 million) had high drug-cost burden and 33.6 percent (85.2 million) lived in families where drug costs accounted for more than half of all out-of-pocket health care expenses. But by 2008, these numbers had decreased to 3.1 percent for families with a high drug-cost burden (8.3 million) and 25.4 percent for families with drug costs accounting for more than half of all out-of-pocket health care costs (67.1 million).
The drug cost burden differed substantially based on family income and types of insurance. In 2008, the percentage of people living in families with a high drug cost burden was 7.5 percent among those with public insurance, 4.5 percent among those with privately purchased individual health plans and only 1.2 percent for those with group or employer-related insurance.
"These differences are important as the Affordable Care Act will expand coverage to 24 million people through new health insurance exchanges that build on the nongroup insurance market," Gellad said."There is the expectation that future nongroup policies will provide better, more-generous drug coverage than existing policies, but the level of generosity remains to be seen."
The study also found that people with chronic health conditions were more likely to face a high financial burden because of drug costs. In 2008, more than one in eight people with diabetes faced a high financial burden because of drug costs and a majority of people with the illness lived in families where drug costs accounted for more than half of all out-of-pocket health care spending. Similar trends were seen for patients with high blood pressure and mental disorders.
**Source: RAND Corporation
Catalunya comenzará a aplicar el copago farmacéutico en mayo
Los usuarios de la sanidad pública no tendrán que pagar un euro por cada receta farmacéutica hasta mediados de mayo. El Govern ha aceptado una moratoria de tres meses en la aplicación de esta nueva tasa para poder blindar el apoyo del PPC a los presupuestos del 2012. Una enmienda pactada entre CiU y los populares establece que el impuesto se implantará a los tres meses de la entrada en vigor de las cuentas, que se votarán el próximo 15 de febrero.
Ambos partidos ya habían acordado el pasado martes algunas exenciones en el pago del euro por receta, que el Ejecutivo catalán pretendía aplicar de forma universal. Los beneficiarios de la renta mínima de inserción (RMI) y de pensiones no contributivas estarán excluidos del copago. En total, unas 75.000 personas en toda Catalunya.
Tampoco estarán sujetos al pago de la tasa los medicamentos o productos sanitarios con un precio inferior a 1,67 euros (IVA incluido). Y pensando en los enfermos crónicos, la medida tendrá un límite máximo de 61 euros anuales. Es decir, a partir de la receta número 62, no se tendrá que abonar el euro
Ambos partidos ya habían acordado el pasado martes algunas exenciones en el pago del euro por receta, que el Ejecutivo catalán pretendía aplicar de forma universal. Los beneficiarios de la renta mínima de inserción (RMI) y de pensiones no contributivas estarán excluidos del copago. En total, unas 75.000 personas en toda Catalunya.
Tampoco estarán sujetos al pago de la tasa los medicamentos o productos sanitarios con un precio inferior a 1,67 euros (IVA incluido). Y pensando en los enfermos crónicos, la medida tendrá un límite máximo de 61 euros anuales. Es decir, a partir de la receta número 62, no se tendrá que abonar el euro
Caltech researchers develop gene therapy to boost brain repair for demyelinating diseases
Our bodies are full of tiny superheroes -- antibodies that fight foreign invaders, cells that regenerate, and structures that ensure our systems run smoothly. One such structure is myelin -- a material that forms a protective, insulating cape around the axons of our nerve cells so that they can send signals quickly and efficiently. But myelin, and the specialized cells called oligodendrocytes that make it, become damaged in demyelinating diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), leaving neurons without their myelin sheaths. As a consequence, the affected neurons can no longer communicate correctly and are prone to damage. Researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) now believe they have found a way to help the brain replace damaged oligodendrocytes and myelin. The therapy, which has been successful in promoting remyelination in a mouse model of MS, is outlined in a paper published February 8 in The Journal of Neuroscience.
"We've developed a gene therapy to stimulate production of new oligodendrocytes from stem and progenitor cells -- both of which can become more specialized cell types -- that are resident in the adult central nervous system," says Benjamin Deverman, a postdoctoral fellow in biology at Caltech and lead author of the paper. "In other words, we're using the brain's own progenitor cells as a way to boost repair."
The therapy uses leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a naturally occurring protein that was known to promote the self-renewal of neural stem cells and to reduce immune-cell attacks to myelin in other MS mouse models.
"What hadn't been done before our study was to use gene therapy in the brain to stimulate these cells to remyelinate," says Paul Patterson, the Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences at Caltech and senior author of the study.
According to the researchers, LIF enables remyelination by stimulating oligodendrocyte progenitor cells to proliferate and make new oligodendrocytes. The brain has the capacity to produce oligodendrocytes, but often fails to prompt a high enough repair response after demyelination.
"Researchers had been skeptical that a single factor could lead to remyelination of damaged cells," says Deverman. "It was thought that you could use factors to stimulate the division and expansion of the progenitor population, and then add additional factors to direct those progenitors to turn into the mature myelin-forming cells. But in our mouse model, when we give our LIF therapy, it both stimulates the proliferation of the progenitor cells and allows them to differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes."
In other words, once the researchers stimulated the proliferation of the progenitor cells, it appeared that the progenitors knew just what was needed -- the team did not have to instruct the cells at each stage of development. And they found that LIF elicited such a strong response that the treated brain's levels of myelin-producing oligodendrocytes were restored to those found in healthy populations.
The researchers note, too, that by placing LIF directly in the brain, one avoids potential side effects of the treatment that may arise when the therapy is infused into the bloodstream.
"This new application of LIF is an avenue of therapy that has not been explored in human patients with MS," says Deverman, who points out that LIF's benefits might also be good for spinal-cord injury patients since the demyelination of spared neurons may contribute to disability in that disorder.
To move the research closer to human clinical trials, the team will work to build better viral vectors for the delivery of LIF. "The way this gene therapy works is to use a virus that can deliver the genetic material -- LIF -- into cells," explains Patterson. "This kind of delivery has been used before in humans, but the worry is that you can't control the virus. You can't necessarily target the right place, and you can't control how much of the protein is being made."
Which is why he and Deverman are developing viruses that can target LIF production to specific cell types and can turn it on and off externally, providing a means to regulate LIF levels. They also plan to test the therapy in additional MS mouse models.
"For MS, the current therapies all work by modulating or suppressing the immune system, because it's thought to be a disease in which inflammation leads to immune-associated loss of oligodendrocytes and damage to the neurons," says Deverman. "Those therapies can reduce the relapse rate in patients, but they haven't shown much of an effect on the long-term progression of the disease. What are needed are therapies that promote repair. We hope this may one day be such a therapy."
The work done in this study, "Exogenous Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Stimulates Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Proliferation and Enhances Hippocampal Remyelination," was funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the McGrath Foundation.
"We've developed a gene therapy to stimulate production of new oligodendrocytes from stem and progenitor cells -- both of which can become more specialized cell types -- that are resident in the adult central nervous system," says Benjamin Deverman, a postdoctoral fellow in biology at Caltech and lead author of the paper. "In other words, we're using the brain's own progenitor cells as a way to boost repair."
The therapy uses leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a naturally occurring protein that was known to promote the self-renewal of neural stem cells and to reduce immune-cell attacks to myelin in other MS mouse models.
"What hadn't been done before our study was to use gene therapy in the brain to stimulate these cells to remyelinate," says Paul Patterson, the Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences at Caltech and senior author of the study.
According to the researchers, LIF enables remyelination by stimulating oligodendrocyte progenitor cells to proliferate and make new oligodendrocytes. The brain has the capacity to produce oligodendrocytes, but often fails to prompt a high enough repair response after demyelination.
"Researchers had been skeptical that a single factor could lead to remyelination of damaged cells," says Deverman. "It was thought that you could use factors to stimulate the division and expansion of the progenitor population, and then add additional factors to direct those progenitors to turn into the mature myelin-forming cells. But in our mouse model, when we give our LIF therapy, it both stimulates the proliferation of the progenitor cells and allows them to differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes."
In other words, once the researchers stimulated the proliferation of the progenitor cells, it appeared that the progenitors knew just what was needed -- the team did not have to instruct the cells at each stage of development. And they found that LIF elicited such a strong response that the treated brain's levels of myelin-producing oligodendrocytes were restored to those found in healthy populations.
The researchers note, too, that by placing LIF directly in the brain, one avoids potential side effects of the treatment that may arise when the therapy is infused into the bloodstream.
"This new application of LIF is an avenue of therapy that has not been explored in human patients with MS," says Deverman, who points out that LIF's benefits might also be good for spinal-cord injury patients since the demyelination of spared neurons may contribute to disability in that disorder.
To move the research closer to human clinical trials, the team will work to build better viral vectors for the delivery of LIF. "The way this gene therapy works is to use a virus that can deliver the genetic material -- LIF -- into cells," explains Patterson. "This kind of delivery has been used before in humans, but the worry is that you can't control the virus. You can't necessarily target the right place, and you can't control how much of the protein is being made."
Which is why he and Deverman are developing viruses that can target LIF production to specific cell types and can turn it on and off externally, providing a means to regulate LIF levels. They also plan to test the therapy in additional MS mouse models.
"For MS, the current therapies all work by modulating or suppressing the immune system, because it's thought to be a disease in which inflammation leads to immune-associated loss of oligodendrocytes and damage to the neurons," says Deverman. "Those therapies can reduce the relapse rate in patients, but they haven't shown much of an effect on the long-term progression of the disease. What are needed are therapies that promote repair. We hope this may one day be such a therapy."
The work done in this study, "Exogenous Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Stimulates Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Proliferation and Enhances Hippocampal Remyelination," was funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the McGrath Foundation.
**Source: California Institute of Technology
Scientists sound alarm over threat of untreatable gonorrhea in United States
Researchers are continuing to sound the alarm on the growing threat of multi-drug resistant gonorrhea in the United States, according to a perspective in the Feb. 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. In July of 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released "Cephalosporin Susceptibility Among Neisseria gonorrhoeae Isolates -- United States, 2000-2010," which signaled the potential for resistance to the cephalosporins, the last line of defense for treating gonorrhea.
The New England Journal of Medicine piece, "The Emerging Threat of Untreatable Gonococcal Infection," byGail A. Bolan, director of the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, P. Frederick Sparling, professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Judith N. Wasserheit, professor and vice chair of the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington in Seattle, issues an urgent call to action to halt the continued increases in drug-resistant gonorrhea.
"It is time to sound the alarm," said co-author Wasserheit. "Though there is no evidence yet of treatment failures in the United States, trends in decreased susceptibility coupled with a history of emerging resistance and reported treatment failures in other countries point to a likelihood of failures on the horizon and a need for urgent action."
According to the article, gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported communicable disease in the United States, with an estimated incidence of more than 600,000 cases annually. It disproportionately affects some populations such as minorities who are marginalized because of race, ethnic group or sexual orientation.
Scientists note that Neisseria gonorrhoeae has always readily developed resistance to antimicrobial agents: it became resistant to sulfanilamide in the 1940s, penicillins and tetracyclines in the 1980s, and fluoroquinolones by 2007. The treatment options recommended by the CDC are now limited to third-generation cephalosporins.
But the effectiveness ofcephalosporins for treating gonorrhea has been decreasing rapidly. Through CDC's Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project , researchers are seeing a 17-fold increase in elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) -- a measure of drug susceptibility. MICs for oral cefixime went from 0.1 percent in 2006 to 1.7 percent in the first six months of 2011.
In the past, when the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project exceeded 5 percent, national treatment recommendations were changed to focus on other effective drugs. But currently, there are no other drugs.
The most prominent increases in drug susceptibility to gonorrhea continue to be among men who have sex with men, and in the West, according to the authors. They wrote that these geographic and demographic patterns are worrisome because they mirror those observed during the emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant N. gonorrhoeae.
Scientists are calling on a collective effort from physicians, drug companies, and health care providers to help stop the emergence and spread of resistant gonorrhea.
"Investing in rebuilding our defenses against gonococcal infections now, with involvement of the health care, public health, and research communities, is paramount if we are to control the spread and reduce the consequences of cephalosporin-resistant strains," the scientists wrote.
**Source: University of Washington
The New England Journal of Medicine piece, "The Emerging Threat of Untreatable Gonococcal Infection," byGail A. Bolan, director of the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, P. Frederick Sparling, professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Judith N. Wasserheit, professor and vice chair of the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington in Seattle, issues an urgent call to action to halt the continued increases in drug-resistant gonorrhea.
"It is time to sound the alarm," said co-author Wasserheit. "Though there is no evidence yet of treatment failures in the United States, trends in decreased susceptibility coupled with a history of emerging resistance and reported treatment failures in other countries point to a likelihood of failures on the horizon and a need for urgent action."
According to the article, gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported communicable disease in the United States, with an estimated incidence of more than 600,000 cases annually. It disproportionately affects some populations such as minorities who are marginalized because of race, ethnic group or sexual orientation.
Scientists note that Neisseria gonorrhoeae has always readily developed resistance to antimicrobial agents: it became resistant to sulfanilamide in the 1940s, penicillins and tetracyclines in the 1980s, and fluoroquinolones by 2007. The treatment options recommended by the CDC are now limited to third-generation cephalosporins.
But the effectiveness ofcephalosporins for treating gonorrhea has been decreasing rapidly. Through CDC's Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project , researchers are seeing a 17-fold increase in elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) -- a measure of drug susceptibility. MICs for oral cefixime went from 0.1 percent in 2006 to 1.7 percent in the first six months of 2011.
In the past, when the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project exceeded 5 percent, national treatment recommendations were changed to focus on other effective drugs. But currently, there are no other drugs.
The most prominent increases in drug susceptibility to gonorrhea continue to be among men who have sex with men, and in the West, according to the authors. They wrote that these geographic and demographic patterns are worrisome because they mirror those observed during the emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant N. gonorrhoeae.
Scientists are calling on a collective effort from physicians, drug companies, and health care providers to help stop the emergence and spread of resistant gonorrhea.
"Investing in rebuilding our defenses against gonococcal infections now, with involvement of the health care, public health, and research communities, is paramount if we are to control the spread and reduce the consequences of cephalosporin-resistant strains," the scientists wrote.
**Source: University of Washington
La Asociación Americana de Medicina lanza una aplicación para adelgazar
¿Se propuso este año controlar su dieta y hacer ejercicio para eliminar los kilos de más? A estas alturas, ¿lo está consiguiendo? Miles de personas se proponen adelgazar cada año... y muchos de ellos terminan abandonando.
Para todos aquellos que se toman en serio bajar de peso de forma saludable, la Asociación Médica Americana (AMA) ha lanzado la aplicación 'Weigh What Matters' para las plataformas de iPhone y Android. El objetivo es animar a los pacientes a trabajar junto a sus médicos para comer mejor, aumentar poco a poco la actividad física y aprender a mantener el peso saludable.
Este programa forma parte de la iniciativa 'Pasos para una Vida Saludable' de la AMA, un proyecto más amplio que se centra en erradicar cuatro conductas clave: la mala alimentación, la inactividad física y el consumo de tabaco y de alcohol, todas relacionadas con las enfermedades con mayor incidencia en la población, como los trastornos cardiovasculares, la diabetes o el cáncer.
"Cada mes de enero, miles de estadounidenses se proponen bajar de peso, algo que tiene que incluir el control y variedad de la dieta y un aumento de la actividad física, pero todo esto requiere un gran esfuerzo: ¿Cómo se puede evitar el abandono si no se ven resultados rápidos o intentar adelgazar con métodos peligrosos?", se pregunta Peter W. Carmel, presidente del AMA. "El objetivo del proyecto 'Pasos para una Vida Saludable' es ofrecer herramientas de información que ayuden a médicos y pacientes a trabajar juntos para conseguir una vida más larga y saludable. Y por ello nace esta aplicación. La idea es tener un recurso más para que los pacientes puedan hacer frente, con ayuda especializada, a los difíciles cambios de comportamiento que adelgazar supone".
-Quemar calorías y objetivos con ayuda
A pesar de que ya existen diversas aplicaciones de móvil para adelgazar, la AMA insiste en que la suya, además de haber sido desarrollada por una asociación médica reconocida, es de las primeras que anima a sus usuarios a consultar con sus médicos sobre el establecimiento de metas personales saludables en tres categorías: peso, alimentación y actividad física.
Una vez que estos objetivos se crean, los pacientes pueden realizar un seguimiento de su peso, actividad física y nutrición diariamente. Otra característica es que es capaz de calcular el Índice de Masa Corporal (IMC) y que dispone de un mecanismo que envía al correo electrónico los informes del progreso del usuario redactados por el médico.
*AGENCIAS
Para todos aquellos que se toman en serio bajar de peso de forma saludable, la Asociación Médica Americana (AMA) ha lanzado la aplicación 'Weigh What Matters' para las plataformas de iPhone y Android. El objetivo es animar a los pacientes a trabajar junto a sus médicos para comer mejor, aumentar poco a poco la actividad física y aprender a mantener el peso saludable.
Este programa forma parte de la iniciativa 'Pasos para una Vida Saludable' de la AMA, un proyecto más amplio que se centra en erradicar cuatro conductas clave: la mala alimentación, la inactividad física y el consumo de tabaco y de alcohol, todas relacionadas con las enfermedades con mayor incidencia en la población, como los trastornos cardiovasculares, la diabetes o el cáncer.
"Cada mes de enero, miles de estadounidenses se proponen bajar de peso, algo que tiene que incluir el control y variedad de la dieta y un aumento de la actividad física, pero todo esto requiere un gran esfuerzo: ¿Cómo se puede evitar el abandono si no se ven resultados rápidos o intentar adelgazar con métodos peligrosos?", se pregunta Peter W. Carmel, presidente del AMA. "El objetivo del proyecto 'Pasos para una Vida Saludable' es ofrecer herramientas de información que ayuden a médicos y pacientes a trabajar juntos para conseguir una vida más larga y saludable. Y por ello nace esta aplicación. La idea es tener un recurso más para que los pacientes puedan hacer frente, con ayuda especializada, a los difíciles cambios de comportamiento que adelgazar supone".
-Quemar calorías y objetivos con ayuda
A pesar de que ya existen diversas aplicaciones de móvil para adelgazar, la AMA insiste en que la suya, además de haber sido desarrollada por una asociación médica reconocida, es de las primeras que anima a sus usuarios a consultar con sus médicos sobre el establecimiento de metas personales saludables en tres categorías: peso, alimentación y actividad física.
Una vez que estos objetivos se crean, los pacientes pueden realizar un seguimiento de su peso, actividad física y nutrición diariamente. Otra característica es que es capaz de calcular el Índice de Masa Corporal (IMC) y que dispone de un mecanismo que envía al correo electrónico los informes del progreso del usuario redactados por el médico.
*AGENCIAS
UF report: 2011 shark attacks remain steady, deaths highest since 1993
Shark attacks in the U.S. declined in 2011, but worldwide fatalities reached a two-decade high, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File report. While the U.S. and Florida saw a five-year downturn in the number of reported unprovoked attacks, the 12 fatalities -- which all occurred outside the U.S. -- may show tourists are venturing to more remote places, said ichthyologist George Burgess, director of the file housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus.
"We had a number of fatalities in essentially out-of the way places, where there's not the same quantity and quality of medical attention readily available," Burgess said. "They also don't have histories of shark attacks in these regions, so there are not contingency plans in effect like there are in places such as Florida."
Seventy-five attacks occurred worldwide, close to the decade average, but the number of fatalities doubled compared with 2010. Fatalities occurred in Australia (3), Reunion (2), the Seychelles (2) and South Africa (2), with one each in Costa Rica, Kenya and New Caledonia. The average global fatality rate for the last decade was just under 7 percent, and it rose to 16 percent last year. Excluding the U.S., which had 29 shark attacks but no deaths, the international fatality rate averaged 25 percent in 2011, Burgess said.
"We've had a decade-long decline in the number of attacks and a continued decline in the fatality rate in the U.S.," Burgess said. "But last year's slight increase in non-U.S. attacks resulted in a higher death rate. One in four people who were attacked outside the U.S. died."
Florida led the U.S. with 11 of its 29 attacks. Other countries with multiple attacks include Australia (11), South Africa (5), Reunion (4), Indonesia (3) Mexico (3), Russia (3), Seychelles (2) and Brazil (2). While the higher number of fatalities worldwide came as a surprise, the drop in the number of U.S. attacks follows a 10-year decline, Burgess said.
"It's more than coincidence that we've had this drop over this last decade," Burgess said. "The fact is, that's a downward trend, and there has to be a cause for that. People might argue there's less sharks, but since the late 1990s, populations have begun a slow recovery. By contrast, the number of attacks in the United States and Florida suggests there's been a reduced use of these waters."
Florida's attacks historically lead the U.S., and as a high aquatic recreation area, especially for surfers, Volusia County leads the state. In 2011, Volusia County again led the state with six attacks, but it was the lowest since 2004 (3).
"It's a good news/bad news situation," Burgess said. "From the U.S. perspective, things have never been better, our attack and fatality rates continue to decline. But if it's a reflection of the downturn in the economy, it might suggest that other areas have made a real push to get into the tourism market."
The next step to reducing the number of fatalities is creating emergency plans for these alternative areas in the future, said Burgess, who has been invited to work on developing a response plan in Reunion Island this spring.
"Ironically, in this very foreign environment that has animals and plants that can do us harm, we often don't seem to exhibit any concern at all, we just jump in," Burgess said.
Surfers were the most affected group, accounting for about 60 percent of unprovoked attacks, largely due to the provocative nature of the activity. Swimmers experienced 35 percent of attacks, followed by divers, with about 5 percent.
"When you're inside the water, there's much less chance of sharks making a mistake because both parties can see each other," Burgess said. "Surfing involves a lot of swimming, kicking and splashing."
Despite the number of deaths being higher than other years, people should remember how much of a threat humans are to sharks, Burgess said. With worldwide over-fishing, especially to meet demands for flesh and fins used in shark fin soup, an expensive Asian delicacy, humans pose a greater threat to elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) than sharks do to humans.
"We're killing 30 to 70 million sharks per year in fisheries -- who's killing who?" Burgess said. "The reality is that the sea is actually a pretty benign environment, or else we'd be measuring injuries in the thousands or millions per year."
The 2011 Worldwide Shark Attack Summary may be viewed online at www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/isaf.htm.
*Source: University of Florida
"We had a number of fatalities in essentially out-of the way places, where there's not the same quantity and quality of medical attention readily available," Burgess said. "They also don't have histories of shark attacks in these regions, so there are not contingency plans in effect like there are in places such as Florida."
Seventy-five attacks occurred worldwide, close to the decade average, but the number of fatalities doubled compared with 2010. Fatalities occurred in Australia (3), Reunion (2), the Seychelles (2) and South Africa (2), with one each in Costa Rica, Kenya and New Caledonia. The average global fatality rate for the last decade was just under 7 percent, and it rose to 16 percent last year. Excluding the U.S., which had 29 shark attacks but no deaths, the international fatality rate averaged 25 percent in 2011, Burgess said.
"We've had a decade-long decline in the number of attacks and a continued decline in the fatality rate in the U.S.," Burgess said. "But last year's slight increase in non-U.S. attacks resulted in a higher death rate. One in four people who were attacked outside the U.S. died."
Florida led the U.S. with 11 of its 29 attacks. Other countries with multiple attacks include Australia (11), South Africa (5), Reunion (4), Indonesia (3) Mexico (3), Russia (3), Seychelles (2) and Brazil (2). While the higher number of fatalities worldwide came as a surprise, the drop in the number of U.S. attacks follows a 10-year decline, Burgess said.
"It's more than coincidence that we've had this drop over this last decade," Burgess said. "The fact is, that's a downward trend, and there has to be a cause for that. People might argue there's less sharks, but since the late 1990s, populations have begun a slow recovery. By contrast, the number of attacks in the United States and Florida suggests there's been a reduced use of these waters."
Florida's attacks historically lead the U.S., and as a high aquatic recreation area, especially for surfers, Volusia County leads the state. In 2011, Volusia County again led the state with six attacks, but it was the lowest since 2004 (3).
"It's a good news/bad news situation," Burgess said. "From the U.S. perspective, things have never been better, our attack and fatality rates continue to decline. But if it's a reflection of the downturn in the economy, it might suggest that other areas have made a real push to get into the tourism market."
The next step to reducing the number of fatalities is creating emergency plans for these alternative areas in the future, said Burgess, who has been invited to work on developing a response plan in Reunion Island this spring.
"Ironically, in this very foreign environment that has animals and plants that can do us harm, we often don't seem to exhibit any concern at all, we just jump in," Burgess said.
Surfers were the most affected group, accounting for about 60 percent of unprovoked attacks, largely due to the provocative nature of the activity. Swimmers experienced 35 percent of attacks, followed by divers, with about 5 percent.
"When you're inside the water, there's much less chance of sharks making a mistake because both parties can see each other," Burgess said. "Surfing involves a lot of swimming, kicking and splashing."
Despite the number of deaths being higher than other years, people should remember how much of a threat humans are to sharks, Burgess said. With worldwide over-fishing, especially to meet demands for flesh and fins used in shark fin soup, an expensive Asian delicacy, humans pose a greater threat to elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) than sharks do to humans.
"We're killing 30 to 70 million sharks per year in fisheries -- who's killing who?" Burgess said. "The reality is that the sea is actually a pretty benign environment, or else we'd be measuring injuries in the thousands or millions per year."
The 2011 Worldwide Shark Attack Summary may be viewed online at www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/isaf.htm.
*Source: University of Florida
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