New Dengue Vaccine Could Worsen Disease in Some People, Company Stands to Lose $118 Million

LONDON (AP) — Drugmaker Sanofi says that its dengue vaccine, the world's first, should only be given to people who have previously been sickened by the virus, according to new long-term data.

In a statement, Sanofi said it had recently examined six years of patient data. Scientists concluded that while the vaccine protects people against further infection if they've already been infected with dengue, that's not the case for people who haven't previously been sickened by the disease.

"For those not previously infected by dengue virus...the analysis found that in the longer term, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination," Sanofi said. "These findings highlight the complex nature of dengue infection."

People who catch dengue more than once can be at risk of a hemorrhagic version of the disease. The mosquito-spread disease is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide. It causes a flu-like disease that can cause joint pain, nausea, vomiting and a rash. In severe cases, dengue can cause breathing problems, hemorrhaging and organ failure.

The World Health Organization says that about half the world's population is at risk of dengue and estimates that about 96 million people are sickened by the viral infection every year.

Sanofi is proposing that national authorities update their prescribing information. It also said doctors should assess the likelihood of prior dengue infection in people before choosing whether they should get the vaccine.

"For individuals who have not been previously infected by dengue virus, vaccination should not be recommended," Sanofi said. The vaccine is currently recommended in most dengue-endemic countries for people over age nine.

The company expects to take a 100 million euro ($118 million) loss based on the news.

There is no specific treatment for dengue and there are no other licensed vaccines on the market.

Boy with rare disease gets brand new skin with gene therapy

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer

LONDON (AP) — Doctors treating a critically ill boy with a devastating skin disease used experimental gene therapy to create an entirely new skin for most of his body in a desperate attempt to save his life.

Two years later, the doctors report the boy is doing so well that he doesn't need any medication, is back in school and even playing soccer.

"We were forced to do something dramatic because this kid was dying," said Dr. Michele De Luca of the University of Modena in Italy, who got a call for help from the German doctors treating the boy.

The boy, then 7, was hospitalized in June 2015 with blisters on his limbs, back and elsewhere. He quickly lost about 60 percent of the outer layer of his skin and was put into an induced coma to spare him further suffering. Doctors at Children's Hospital at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, tried skin grafts from his father and donor skin, but all failed.

"He was in severe pain and asking a lot of questions," the boy's father said in a video provided by the hospital "'Why do I suffer from this disease? Why do I have to live this life? All children can run around and play, why am I not allowed to play soccer?' I couldn't answer these questions."

The boy's parents asked about experimental treatments, and De Luca and his colleagues were contacted. They had previously used gene therapy to produce a small piece of skin in a similar case. They told the family that the boy's precarious state meant that he might not survive the complicated surgeries needed to save him.

"It was a tough decision for us, but we wanted to try for (our son)," the boy's father said. The family asked that their names not be used to protect the boy's privacy.

The boy had a rare, incurable skin disease called junctional epidermolysis bullosa, caused by genetic mutations. People with the disease lack critical proteins that attach the outer layer of the skin to the inner layer, resulting in fragile skin with almost constant blisters and open sores.

To fix that, the doctors took a small piece of the boy's skin from an area that was OK. In the lab, they added a normal version of his bad gene to his skin cells. They grew sheets of the boy's skin, in much the same way skin grafts are grown for burn victims.

In total, they grew close to a square meter of skin (3 square feet.) The lab-grown skin was then transplanted onto the boy in three operations, ultimately covering 80 percent of his body. Ten days later, the new skin was already beginning to grow, De Luca said. After eight months, the doctors said that nearly all of the boy's skin had been generated by the modified stem cells.

So far, no problems have been detected. De Luca said the boy will be monitored closely for skin cancer and other potential issues.

"This kid is back to his normal life again," one of the German doctors, Dr. Tobias Rothoeft, said Wednesday. "That's what we dreamed of doing and it was possible."

Details of the case were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"This takes us a huge step forward," said Dr. Peter Marinkovich of Stanford University School of Medicine, who has done related work. He said it was impressive that De Luca and colleagues were able to make such large amounts of viable skin after correcting the genetic defect.

But he noted the approach might not help in more serious cases, which often have tricky complications, like skin blistering in the lungs. Marinkovich said many patients don't survive beyond age 2 and that using the treatment for babies could be even riskier.

Dr. Holm Schneider warned that some severely ill patients might have an extreme reaction to skin transplants with an added gene.

"The immune system might recognize this new gene as something foreign to be attacked and destroyed," said Schneider, of the University Hospital Erlangen in Germany. Still, he said the approach was worth trying in dying patients.

The boy and his family later visited De Luca and the other Italian doctors involved in his treatment.

"The parents are very grateful and say their life has completely changed," De Luca said, recalling how the boy spontaneously began taking off his clothes. "The boy was so happy with his new skin that he wanted to show off."

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This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

10 Well-known Health Tips that Are Completely Bogus

Gluten-free, “Farm-to-table,” Non-GMO, Juice cleanse, Paleo; these are just a few of the words we hear on an almost daily basis from people around us who are really into health, fitness, and such and such. We have heard many health enthusiasts argue that the best food to put in our bodies is the organic kind. Many would also argue that eating meat does more harm than good to our health.

The health and fitness movement is like a religion that branches out into different branches with a set of core beliefs – and while some of these beliefs do not agree with one another, the point is that people go to great lengths to stay healthy and be fir (at least for the next few months after making that New Year’s Resolution).

It is because of so much information on health and fitness flooding the internet, many of us are led to believe that all of them work without even finding out if any of them are true, to begin with. So, in this list, we are busting those myths and showing you 10 well-known health tips that are complete hoopla.

#10 - Dark Chocolate is a Healthier Alternative to Sweets

We have all heard of the so-called benefits of Dark Chocolate. Over the internet and in different advertising media, people have made convincing testimonies that dark chocolate has a variety of great things for our health such as improved skin complexion, benefits to our heart, as well as improved brain and memory function.

While there is some truth to it because part of chocolate’s composition is a chemical called flavanol which does improve blood circulation to the brain and, incidentally, gives dark chocolate that sharp, bitter taste; the downside to this is that most chocolate bars that are readily available commercially have little to none of this beneficial chemical at all. Because of the process of how commercial chocolate bars – dark or regular – are prepared, flavanol is practically obliterated to up the levels of taste and flavor. A bar of Hershey’s would have flavanol in it but not enough to even kick start your blood circulation.

#9 - A Thoroughly Washed Chicken is Bacteria Free

Logically, washing raw food before putting it on the stove is an absolutely sound idea. After all, you would not want that raw meat gunk on your plate once you serve it for dinner and among the many meat products in the market, chicken is the most popular animal to be washed before serving.

It has been common practice in many households to give poultry a thorough cleaning before preparing it. While, indeed, you do get to wash off all the bacteria from the carcass, however, this does not mean that you are safe from microbial bacteria.

A splash and a spritz of water can effectively transfer bacteria such as salmonella onto kitchen counters, cutting boards, and even our arms through the water droplets that splash back from the wash.

In truth, washing off bacteria from chicken or any other meat product is an exercise in failure and the best way to kill disease-causing germs and bacteria is to thoroughly and properly cook your food. A good and sufficient blast of heat from cooking can instantly eliminate microbes and germs.

#8 - Antioxidant Supplements are your Frontline Defense against Cancer Cells

We are all guilty of spending hundreds of dollars on dietary supplements and vitamins that promise to keep us in peak condition, but most of us have been duped by supplements claiming that they have antioxidants that can help prevent some cancers and diseases.

While antioxidants are essential to our body chemistry, having an excess of it can be much more harmful. Antioxidants occur naturally and can be easily found in certain fruits such as tomatoes and drinks like different kinds of tea, but the most popular kind of antioxidants come in the form of processed pills and supplements.

The fact of the matter is that the body has both Oxidants and Antioxidants, each keeping the other one in check. But the commercial health supplement market has overplayed the role of antioxidants and has been widely claimed as the one thing that can prevent cancer. Unfortunately, as our bodies consume these supplements on a regular basis, our body chemistry receives an imbalance as these supplements also attack the “good” oxidants in our body, making us much more susceptible to deadly diseases and cancers.

Antioxidant supplements are not entirely evil or harmful. As with anything else concerning diet and our health, everything is a matter of moderation and, if you can opt for more natural sources of antioxidants from the food you consume rather than buying it from a shelf.

#7 - Always Wash Your Hands to Keep Germs at Bay

The first line of defense against diseases is keeping your hands clean, literally. The benefits of washing your hands with soap and water are numerous and have been proven by science to deter illnesses such as the flu.

While it is, indeed, a good practice sometimes we can get a little overboard without even knowing it. Constant hand washing, especially with antibacterial soap, can strip away moisture from our hands and leave them sterile. The chemicals in the soap can eliminate bacteria indiscriminately leaving our palms even more vulnerable to the elements.

There are naturally occurring bacteria in the human body, and this is a by-product of millions of years of evolution. These bacteria actually help prevent diseases and germs from clinging to us and potentially infecting us with disease; the same bacteria that antibacterial soap and chemicals eliminate with constant washing.

Washing your hands should be a practice, but it is much more prudent to keep it at a maximum of two times a day or after doing a really messy job like gardening or picking up after your dog in the park.

#6 - Your Muscles Instantly Turn to Fat if You Don’t Workout

The general myth is that when you decide to quit the gym or give up on working out because of your schedule or because it’s just too hard, the muscle that you have gained will turn into flab.

The truth is that muscle and fat are two different sets of tissue and comparing them is like comparing apples to oranges.

You have to imagine your body as a machine, and each part of it has a role to play, and there are different ways to keep each part of the body in top condition. People who have stopped working out will indeed see a significant change in their bodies and notice that they are gaining an excessive amount of fat. The thing is, muscle mass is lost when it is not constantly exercised. You don’t gain fat when you stop working out. It is quite the reverse. You lose muscle mass when you stop your exercise regimen.

#5 - Juices Can Be A Healthy Alternative to Soda

True and false. A dietician or your doctor may recommend you to consume a glass of fresh fruit juice each day to keep up with your daily vitamin intake, but it is not a healthy alternative to, let’s say Diet Soda.

Fruits are, without a doubt, packed with vitamins and minerals enough to last you an entire day but it is also packed with sugar. Whether it is natural sugar or processed sugar, whatever form it comes in, it is still harmful in large doses, and juices count as one of the culprits.

People swear by juice cleanse and, admittedly, there are positive results from detoxifying by drinking juice for a specific amount of time but without proper information and education, going overboard on juicing can lead to obesity or diabetes.

Another point is that it is a known fact that fruits  - as well as vegetables – lose a considerable amount of their nutritional value when they are put in a blender. So, you’re getting less of the nutrients but still the same amount of sugar. Your best option is still to keep your consumption in moderation.

#4 - Sweat is the Best Way to Know that You Are Burning Fat

Sorry guys, but sweating buckets do not count as losing calories and shedding a few pounds.

Sweating is the body’s natural response to cool down in a hot climate or after an intense activity like running or working out. What triggers this is our metabolism that, to put it plainly, boosts our energy and excites our metabolism.

In fact, weight loss and calorie burning are attributed to our metabolism. Naturally, as we get older, the less energy we need to burn and our metabolism slows down to suit our needs, but to avoid packing on some pounds as we age, a good workout or exercise regimen will keep our body burning through energy as well as unwanted flaws.

While you may think that sitting in a sauna is good for weight loss, the only benefit you are actually getting out of it is opening up your pores and sweating out toxins from the body.

#3 - The Best Way to Get a Six Pack is by Doing Crunches and Sit-ups

Here is an eye-opener. We all have that six-pack we dream of. We do. The human anatomy is designed in such a way that our muscles have a definition no matter our body shape.

The problem with not getting the abdominal muscles we so ever thirst for is not because we don’t take time to develop them; it’s mostly because of our diet.

It has been pointed out by experts that doing crunches or spot training specific points in our bodies – especially the abs – can only do so much. Crunches and sit-ups actually do not shape and sculpt our abdominals. What they do is they strengthen the muscles in that area. Having a proper diet by lessening sugar and sodium from what we eat – coupled with a good workout routine – is a much, much more effective way of getting that beach-ready body.

#2 - Going Gluten Free is the healthiest diet choice you will ever make

This is a trend that has been making waves in the healthy living and diet communities around the world. To them, gluten is some kind of evil substance that ruins your body and invited some diseases. In truth, a gluten-free diet is only necessary for people who have celiac disease.

While many people have claimed of the wonders of a gluten-free diet because they were able to effectively shed pounds, the main reason behind it is because they have eliminated various food items from their table and ended up with a much lower caloric intake and not because they went gluten-free. Having to reduce food portions or eliminating junk from your diet will actually have the same result without needing to go on a trendy gluten-free life choice.

#1 - Carbs Make You Gain Weight

Ask a doctor or a nutrition expert about carbs, and they will most probably say that it is an essential part of any diet.

It is a mystery how this myth came to be and how it continues to catch on without any signs of letting up.

Carbohydrates are a primary source of our body’s energy. Without it, we will simply slow down and be lethargic. The myth that it makes you gain insane amounts of weight it, to be fair, a little bit baseless. While there is a variety of carbohydrates that we can get from different kinds of food, the “good” kind of carbohydrates come from crops like sweet potatoes and fruits. It is the “bad” kind of carbohydrates that give carbs a terrible reputation in the dieting community. Bad carbohydrates essentially give you a quick boost of energy and instantly dips and crash once you’ve used it all up. They are mainly partnered with sugar and starch and have little to no nutritional value like white bread and processed food.

Essentially, carbohydrates aren’t the bad guys. It’s just that we’ve come to love sugar so much that many of us fail to notice that this sinister ingredient is to blame for our widening waistlines.

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And there you have it. 10 completely bogus health facts! Let us know what you think and share your ideas with us in the comments section!

Sources:

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20765578,00.html#myth-crunches-are-the-key-to-flat-abs--0
http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/health-myths-debunked/
http://www.cracked.com/article_22606_6-well-known-health-tips-that-dont-work-at-all.html

10 Nightmarish Diseases in History We Have Forgotten

Throughout human history, we have battled over a myriad of diseases that has threatened to wipe us off the face of the planet more than once.

In the days before modern science and medicine, diseases have been treated haphazardly that usually end up with disastrous results such as death or a pandemic.

Thankfully, as our understanding of the human body and medicine grew so too did our understanding of diseases that we were able to eliminate them to the point that many of history’s deadliest pandemics are now just a footnote in everyone’s memories.

However, that does not discount the fact that many of these historical pathogens are extinct. Many of them are lying dormant, patiently waiting for the right conditions to resurface. It also does not help that there is still a vast majority of regions around the world that does not have access to proper healthcare and medical assistance due to a variety of reasons that include poverty and conflict.

In this list, we are revisiting the 10 historical diseases that were the stuff of nightmares. Diseases that we have forgotten but may potentially return with a score to settle with humanity.

#10 — Smallpox

Making a debut to the world stage in the 16th Century, smallpox was an international epidemic that almost had the same scale as the Black Plague that preceded it.

A product of the variola virus, smallpox claimed the lives of more than 90 million Native Americans when the Europeans came to the shores of the Americas. It spread like wildfire in Europe, killing at least 400,000 people by the end of the 18th Century. Though a vaccine was finally formulated in 1796, the disease still spread and was only eliminated in the early years between the 19th and 20th Centuries.

However, while it may seem that smallpox is finally extinct, there have been recorded cases as recent as the 1960s when an outbreak swept the world, killing millions. The disease can easily be spotted by hallmark symptoms of body aches, high fever, and fluid-filled bumps that appear on the skin.

#9 — Polio

It was the disease that crippled Franklin D Roosevelt and placed him in a wheelchair throughout the Second World War until his death in 1945.

Polio was a disease that persists today in many countries, but it hit fever pitch in 1952 when it infected and paralyzed more than 57,000 people in the United States alone though the disease may have existed a thousand years beforehand.

Characterized by paralysis and the crippling of the lower extremities, polio is a disease targeting the human nervous system, and infection is by way of consuming contaminated food and water. Though a vaccine was developed in the 1950s, there is no cure for it. However, since polio only affects human beings, widespread vaccinations since the 50s has almost driven the disease to the point of extinction despite the fact that poverty-stricken countries are still plagued by it.

#8 — Cholera

Cholera was a disease that hovered over India for hundreds of years until it was introduced to the entire world in the 19th Century by way of European ships traveling to the country and back home. Mainly, infection is passed in through contaminated water and food. It exhibits flu-like symptoms that are accompanied by diarrhea and vomiting. Ultimately, a cholera patient dies due to severe dehydration.

Though diligent steps have been taken over the centuries to stop the disease from spreading, many countries still suffer from it to this day with the last recorded outbreak happening in Haiti after a deadly earthquake struck in 2010.

It has yet to be eliminated, and many health experts caution people on consuming food and water from unfamiliar places.

#7 — Leprosy

One of the oldest diseases, it has been referenced multiple times in history and the Bible as a punishment from the heavens.

This was a disease that attacks the skin and eats its way into a patient’s nerve cells. Caused by bacteria similar to that of tuberculosis, it is a disease that persists to this day across the globe. The United States, for one, has not been able to completely eradicate leprosy and many people struck by it usually get infected through armadillos – animals known to be infected with the disease – whether through eating it or keeping them on a farm where they are in constant contact.

The problem with eliminating the disease is that people most often get treatment during its later stages when it is much more difficult to manage. Though treatments are widely available, chances are, the extinction of leprosy is still too far off.

#6 — Typhus or Camp Fever

Practically non-existent today, Typhus or Camp Fever became an epidemic in the 17th Century and took the lives of 10 million soldiers during Europe’s Thirty Years War. Not only did it infect and kill many soldiers, but Typhus also spread in cramp and poverty-stricken areas in the continent.

The infection is caused by microbes and bacteria carried by lice thus making camps and overcrowded housings ground zero for the disease. Symptoms may be similar to the flu with fever and nausea at the top of the list. However, if left untreated, the disease can cause heat exhaustion in patients and, ultimately, complications that trigger organ failure.

The disease died out later on but saw a resurgence during the First World War causing millions of deaths in countries like Romania, Poland, and Russia.

#5 — Chlorosis

In the 18th Century, physicians and doctors were notorious for not being able to properly identify a disease which led to mistreatment and even the death of patients.

Such is the case with a bizarre disease called “chlorosis,” a sickness that targets women and affects their menstrual cycles, leaving them looking haggard and exhausted. Since doctors have little experience in treating women at that time, the 18th Century Medical Community was left baffled and at a loss for words.

Chlorosis persisted for two centuries until it died out. What is interesting to note about the disease, however, was that it was only an affliction that women in high society seemed to contract; no record of blue-collar women could be found infected with the mysterious illness.

Apart from exhaustion, patients would also fall into melancholy and their periods would completely stop. On top of that, the disease was easily detectable because it turned women, literally, a shade of green.

#4 — Spanish Flu

Also known as the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918, the Spanish Flu was short-lived, but in the year that it spread, it was able to claim the lives of about 100 million people worldwide.

This strain of the flu virus was brought home by troops at the end of the First World War, and it quickly became a global epidemic.

With symptoms similar to the common flu, it was the build-up of excessive amounts of fluid in the lungs that brought people to their deaths due to untreated complications.

#3 — Phossy Jaw

The Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century brought marvels to the civilized world as well as a collection of strange diseases.

One of them was a condition called Phossy Jaw; a condition that is caused by a specific line of profession.

Sufferers of the disease are mainly workers who spend long hours in a matchstick factory. Back then, matches were dipped in white phosphorus which allowed them to burn longer than their modern-day counterparts. The problem with white phosphorus is that it produces extremely toxic fumes.

Workers exposed to the chemical complained about chronic toothaches that eventually became infected and develop abscess.

In non-terminal cases, patients would just simply have the infected jaw amputated and allow the area to heal naturally. Unfortunately for people in the 19th Century, they would continue to work in the factories and repeatedly acquire the disease that potentially killed many of them in the end.
The condition was first identified in 1858, but despite this, the use of white phosphorus was not banned until 1906, about 50 years after hundreds of people have lost parts of their faces or their lives to the effects of the toxic chemical.

#2 — The Black Plague

Call it what you want: the Bubonic Plague, Black Death, or Black Plague. It is one of the most devastating epidemics the world has ever seen and has earned its chapter in many history books.

Known as the first true pandemic on earth, the Black Plague cleaned out half of the world’s population across Europe and Asia in the 14th Century.

While many point to the poor living conditions and rising pest population in Europe as the main cause of the disease, the strain of the plague is still being researched by experts today. However, thanks to developments and strides in modern medicine, what happened in the 14th Century is unlikely to happen again since treatments are readily available.

#1 — Plague of Athens

If we are to be worried about the next deadly pandemic, chances are it is going to be the Zika virus. However, the virus only equates to the common cold compared to the mysterious plague that decimated Athens, Greece during the early centuries of its civilization.

The unknown pestilence hit Athens in the early years of the first Olympic Games and reduced a great number of its population into a messy puddle of sweat, poop, and blood. A historian called Thucydides courageously described the victims of the plague as they suffered from inflammation in the eyes, convulsions, diarrhea, and the vomiting of blood. It was a terrible scene to behold and to imagine. The plague was so terrible that, during the Spartans’ siege of Athens, their armies turned and fled at the sight of the diseased citizens.

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Sources:
http://www.cracked.com/article_24245_exploding-teeth-6-scary-diseases-that-were-lost-to-history.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/story?id=8321392&page=1
http://www.healthcarebusinesstech.com/the-10-deadliest-epidemics-in-history/