Daily Archives: October 16, 2012

Rise in number of Pakistanis suffering from psoriasis

Posted: October 16, 2012 at 4:22 pm

Islamabad, Oct 16 (IANS) More than five percent of Pakistanis suffer from a life-long skin disorder called psoriasis and this percentage is increasing each passing year, health experts have said.

The government was, however, neglecting the health sector, and there has been no budgetary allocation for non-communicable diseases in the 2012-13 budget, the Daily Times reported.

Psoriasis is a life-long skin disorder that causes red, scaly patches or lesions on the skin. The lesions can show up on any area of the skin. Psoriasis affects nearly three percent of the world's population.

At a conference titled "Dermato-Expert League 2012", Brig. Zafar Iqbal Sheikh, head of dermatology at the Military Hospital is Rawalpindi, said there was lack of awareness among people about psoriasis.

"The patient suffering from the disease is ignorant of the fact that he would have to continue his treatment for life. This disease is non-communicable but due to lack of knowledge, people avoid being social with psoriasis patients," Sheikh said.

The World Psoriasis Day is observed every year Oct 29.

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Psoriasis nearly doubles diabetes risk

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Washington, October 16 (ANI): Researchers have found a strong correlation between psoriasis and diabetes following an analysis of 27 studies, which link the scaly skin rash and the blood sugar disorder.

UC Davis researchers led the review.

"Our investigation found a clear association between psoriasis and diabetes," said April Armstrong, assistant professor of dermatology at UC Davis and principal investigator of the study.

"Patients with psoriasis and their physicians need to be aware of the increased risk of developing diabetes so that patients can be screened regularly and benefit from early treatment," he noted.

Psoriasis is a common skin problem that tends to run in families. It causes a raised red, flaky and sometimes itchy rash, often on the elbows and knees, although it can appear anywhere. It is believed to be an autoimmune disease, in which the body regards its own skin as foreign and mounts an inflammatory response.

Armstrong and her colleagues combined data from 27 observational studies of patients with psoriasis, in what is known as a meta-analysis. Five of the studies assessed the incidence of diabetes- that is, how many patients with psoriasis developed diabetes during the course of a study, which ranged from 10 to 22 years.

The other studies assessed the prevalence of diabetes - how many patients already had diabetes at the outset of a study. Altogether, the studies evaluated more than 314,000 people with psoriasis and compared them to 3.7 million individuals (controls) without the disease.

Some of the studies classified patients by disease severity. The aggregate data for these studies showed that patients with mild psoriasis are over 1.5 times more likely to have diabetes than the general population while those with severe disease are nearly twice as likely. Among studies that assessed incidence, patients with psoriasis had a 27 percent increased risk of developing diabetes compared with the general population.

All but one study analysing incidence found a link between psoriasis and diabetes. These studies included patient data from outpatient clinics, insurance claims and hospitals. Diabetes rates were similar in patients despite ethnicity or country where the study was conducted.

"The large sample size and consistent association between psoriasis and diabetes make these study findings very strong and suggest an underlying physiological link between the two diseases," said Armstrong, who directs the Dermatology Clinical Research Unit at UC Davis and the teledermatology program.

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Two-gene test predicts which patients with heart failure respond best to beta-blocker drug

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ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2012) A landmark paper identifying genetic signatures that predict which patients will respond to a life-saving drug for treating congestive heart failure has been published by a research team co-led by Stephen B. Liggett, MD, of the University of South Florida.

The study, drawing upon a randomized placebo-controlled trial for the beta blocker bucindolol, appears this month in the international online journal PLoS ONE. In addition to Dr. Liggett, whose laboratory discovered and characterized the two genetic variations, Christopher O'Connor, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, and Michael Bristow, MD, PhD, of ARCA biopharma and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, were leading members of the research team.

Dr. Stephen Liggett, who joined USF just four months ago to lead the University's Center for Personalized Medicine and Genomics, was a senior author of the paper.

The analysis led to a "genetic scorecard" for patients with congestive heart failure, a serious condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs, said Dr. Liggett, the study's co-principal investigator and the new vice dean for research and vice dean for personalized medicine and genomics at the USF Morsani College of Medicine.

"We have been studying the molecular basis of heart failure in the laboratory with a goal of finding genetic variations in a patient's DNA that alter how drugs work," Dr. Liggett said. "We took this knowledge from the lab to patients and found that we can indeed, using a two-gene test, identify individuals with heart failure who will not respond to bucindolol and those who have an especially favorable treatment response. We also identified those who will have an intermediate level of response." The research has implications for clinical practice, because the genetic test could theoretically be used to target the beta blocker to patients the drug is likely to help. Equally important, its use could be avoided in patients with no likelihood of benefit, who could then be spared potential drug side effects. Prospective studies are needed to confirm that bucindolol would be a better treatment than other classes of beta blockers for a subset of patients with health failure.

Dr. Liggett collaborated with medical centers across the United States, including the NASDAq-listed biotech company ARCA biopharma, which he co-founded in Denver, CO. This genetic sub-study involved 1,040 patients who participated in the Beta-Blocker Evaluation of Survival Trial (BEST). The researchers analyzed mortality, hospital admissions for heart failure exacerbations and other clinical outcome indicators of drug performance.

"The results showed that the choice of the best drug for a given patient, made the first time without a trial-and-error period, can be accomplished using this two-gene test," Dr. Liggett said.

The genetic test discovered by the Liggett team requires less than 1/100th of a teaspoon of blood drawn from a patient, from which DNA is isolated. DNA is highly stable when frozen, so a single blood draw will suffice for many decades, Dr. Liggett said. And since a patient's DNA does not change over their lifetime, as new discoveries are made and other tests need to be run, it would not be necessary to give another blood sample, he added.

This is part of the strategy for the USF Center for Personalized Medicine and Genomics. The discovery of genetic variations in diseases can be targeted to predict three new types of information: who will get a disease, how the disease will progress, and the best drug to use for treatment.

"In the not too distant future, such tests will become routine, and patient outcomes, and the efficiency and cost of medical care will be impacted in positive ways. We also will move toward an era where we embrace the fact that one drug does not fit all," Dr. Liggett said. "If we can identify by straightforward tests which drug is best for which patient, drugs that work with certain smaller populations can be brought to the market, filling a somewhat empty pipeline of new drugs."

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2-gene test predicts which patients with heart failure respond best to beta-blocker drug

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Public release date: 16-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anne DeLotto Baier abaier@health.usf.edu 813-974-3303 University of South Florida (USF Health)

Tampa, FL (Oct. 16, 2012) -- A landmark paper identifying genetic signatures that predict which patients will respond to a life-saving drug for treating congestive heart failure has been published by a research team co-led by Stephen B. Liggett, MD, of the University of South Florida.

The study, drawing upon a randomized placebo-controlled trial for the beta blocker bucindolol, apprears this month in the online international journal PLoS ONE. In addition to Dr. Liggett, whose laboratory discovered and characterized the two genetic variations, Christopher O'Connor, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, and Michael Bristow, MD, PhD, of ARCA biopharma and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, were leading members of the research team.

The analysis led to a "genetic scorecard" for patients with congestive heart failure, a serious condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs, said Dr. Liggett, the study's co-principal investigator and the new vice dean for research and vice dean for personalized medicine and genomics at the USF Morsani College of Medicine.

"We have been studying the molecular basis of heart failure in the laboratory with a goal of finding genetic variations in a patient's DNA that alter how drugs work," Dr. Liggett said. "We took this knowledge from the lab to patients and found that we can indeed, using a two-gene test, identify individuals with heart failure who will not respond to bucindolol and those who have an especially favorable treatment response. We also identified those who will have an intermediate level of response."

The research has implications for clinical practice, because the genetic test could theoretically be used to target the beta blocker to patients the drug is likely to help. Equally important, its use could be avoided in patients with no likelihood of benefit, who could then be spared potential drug side effects. Prospective studies are needed to confirm that bucindolol would be a better treatment than other classes of beta blockers for a subset of patients with health failure.

Dr. Liggett collaborated with medical centers across the United States, including the NASDAq-listed biotech company ARCA biopharma, which he co-founded in Denver, CO. This genetic sub-study involved 1,040 patients who participated in the Beta-Blocker Evaluation of Survival Trial (BEST). The researchers analyzed mortality, hospital admissions for heart failure exacerbations and other clinical outcome indicators of drug performance.

"The results showed that the choice of the best drug for a given patient, made the first time without a trial-and-error period, can be accomplished using this two-gene test," Dr. Liggett said.

The genetic test discovered by the Liggett team requires less than 1/100th of a teaspoon of blood drawn from a patient, from which DNA is isolated. DNA is highly stable when frozen, so a single blood draw will suffice for many decades, Dr. Liggett said. And since a patient's DNA does not change over their lifetime, as new discoveries are made and other tests need to be run, it would not be necessary to give another blood sample, he added.

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Cindy Lange-Kubick: A capital time, on the Capitol steps

Posted: at 4:22 pm

Perhaps youve heard of The Capitol Steps, the politically incorrect comedy troupe that came to town Friday night -- no doubt lampooning empty debate chairs and wedging in jokes about Mormon underwear.

Well, those Capitol Steps made us here at Lincoln Life think about our very own Capitol Steps, the steps leading up to the north entrance of the grand Tower of the Plains.

And capital they are. All 48 of them, all carefully constructed of Woodbury light granite shipped from Vermont.

Climbing those steps, and counting them while climbing them, made us think of what all those steps have seen.

Theyve seen Abbott and Costello. (The duo were in town promoting war bonds in the 1940s, said Roxanne Smith, tourism supervisor for the Capitol.)

Theyve seen Jimmy Carter, too. (Rumor has it that on his 1976 campaign stop, the Republican governor wouldnt let him in the building.)

Theyve seen hundreds of protests and press conferences, about one a week, as traffic shuffles by the words carved into the building at the top of the stairs: The salvation of the state is watchfulness in the citizen ... .

Yes, free speech is welcome on the Capitol steps -- after filing for and receiving a permit, of course.

Vietnam War marchers. Civil rights activists. Neo-Nazis.

A man dressed in a dog suit and encased in a fake hot dog bun. (No one remembers if he was protesting hot dogs specifically or meat-eating in general.)

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As 9/11 Pretrial Begins, ACLU Calls Out "Orwellian" Censorship of CIA Torture

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On Monday, a judge will oversee pretrial hearings for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo prisoners who are accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks. One of the key issues Army Col. James Pohl will decide on is whether or not there will be any public testimony by the prisoners regarding their torture and detention in CIA custody.

Guantanamo pretrial hearings this week weigh in on censorship versus state secrets. (Photo by The U.S. Army via Flickr) The defense lawyers are asking to abolish a "presumptive classification" process that treats any discussion of what happened to the defendants their time in secret CIA detention as a top national security secret. Mohammeds defense attorney, David Nevin, called the war court system a "rigged game, reports the Miami Herald. According to Nevin, attorneys and defendents "are forbidden to discuss between themselves anything from what Mohammed says the CIA did to him to his 'historical perspective on jihad.'"

The ACLU is at the hearings this week and will give a statement arguing that the censorship of torture is a constitutional challenge. In a press release, the ACLU cites the government's most recent filing (PDF):

The government has effectively claimed that it owns and controls the defendants memories, 'thoughts and experiences' of government torture. These chillingly Orwellian claims are legally untenable and morally abhorrent.

"The government has effectively claimed that it owns and controls the defendants memories, 'thoughts and experiences' of government torture."ACLU

The chief war crimes prosecutor, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins claims that the defendants' exposure to the CIAs detention and interrogation program is classified to safeguard genuine sources and methods of intelligence gathering that can protect against future attack." In addition to the "presumptive classification," the government is pushing for a related requested of a 40-second delay in the audio feed of the commission proceedings, for censorship purposes.

The ACLU filed their motion (PDF)in May in response to the protective order and proposed audio delay:

The eyes of the world are on this Military Commission, and the public has a substantial interest in and concern about the fairness and transparency of these proceedings. This Commission should rejectand not become complicit withthe governments improper proposals to suppress the defendants personal accounts of government misconduct.

The prisoners were in the custody of the CIA for up to four years before being brought to Guantanamo in 2006. After being captured in Pakistan in 2002-2003 their detention was concealed from the International Red Cross, whose mandate is to monitor treatment of prisoners around the globe. The CIA's own declassified documents disclose that Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in an attempt to get him to give up al Qaida's secrets.

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Ron Paul Speaks His Mind On The Fed, Fiscal Cliff, And Romney – CNBC’s Futures Rundown 10/11/2012 – Video

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11-10-2012 14:16 Click to Tweet: Congressman and former Presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX) discusses the Fed, the fiscal cliff, and his feelings about the Presidential candidates, with CNBC's Jackie DeAngelis and the Futures Now Traders. October 11, 2012 My Channel: Fair Use Disclaimer: This video may contain copyrighted material. This material is made available for educational, research, and news reporting purposes only. This constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 USC section 107 of the US Copyright Law which allows citizens to reproduce, distribute or exhibit portions of copyright motion pictures, video tapes, or video disks under certain circumstances without authorization of the copyright holder.

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Ron Paul to speak Thursday at UVU

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OREM -- Republican congressman and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul will speak Thursday afternoon at Utah Valley University.

According to UVU spokesman Mike Rigert, Paul will speak at the school's UCCU center at 1:30 p.m. as a guest of the Young Presidents Organization. The visit will mark Paul's first visit to Utah since a presidential campaign stop in September 2007. The event is not sponsored by UVU.

Rigert had limited information about the event, but did mention that it was making the rounds on various social networks.

Monday afternoon, Provo resident Jon Ogden confirmed that he found out about the event on Google+. Unlike some other likely attendees, Ogden doesn't describe himself as a libertarian. However, Ogden explained that he still appreciates Paul's serious consideration of issues that other politicians -- including both major party presidential candidates -- tend to ignore.

"He's not pandering when he says he's going to cut a trillion from the budget," Ogden said.

Ogden didn't know what specific topics Paul will cover, but mentioned that the Federal Reserve, government spending, ending wars and drug laws are all common themes in Paul's work.

Brigham Young University student Ryan Johns also said Monday that he plans to attend the event. Johns serves as the president of the BYU Liberty Club and said in 2007 Paul helped transform him from a typical apathetic teenager to a more engaged adult.

"When I heard his message it got me really excited, really interested," Johns recalled.

Johns added that Paul's agenda includes energizing youth and focuses on the Constitution. As a club president, Johns also has been in contact with the event organizers and said as many as 2,000 people may be at the speech.

Representatives from the Young Presidents Organization could not immediately be reached Monday afternoon.

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Friedman on Intolerance: A Critique

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[Libertarian Papers (2010)]

The essence of libertarianism is its nonaggression principle. In order to determine whether some act or concept or institution is compatible with this philosophy, one may use this as a sort of litmus test. If you initiate violence against someone, you must pay the penalty for so doing, and are presumptively acting outside of libertarian law.

However, in the view of some commentators who really should know better, intolerance, not creating an uninvited border crossing, is the be-all and end-all of libertarianism. In this view, tolerance, while it may not be sufficient, is certainly a necessary condition. If you are not tolerant, you cannot be a libertarian. States Milton Friedman (1991, p. 17, material in brackets inserted by present author. See also Friedman and Friedman, 1998, p. 161) in this regard,

I regard the basic human value that underlies my own [political] beliefs as tolerance, based on humility. I have no right to coerce someone else, because I cannot be sure that I am right and he is wrong. Why do I regard tolerance as the foundation of my belief in freedom? How do we justify not initiating coercion? If I asked you what is the basic philosophy of a libertarian, I believe that most of you would say that a libertarian philosophy is based on the premise that you should not initiate force, that you may not initiate coercion. Why not? If we see someone doing something wrong, someone starting to sin [to use a theological term] let alone just make a simple mistake, how do we justify not initiating coercion? Are we not sinning if we don't stop him? How do I justify letting him sin? I believe that the answer is, can I be sure he's sinning? Can I be sure that I am right and he is wrong? That I know what sin is?

This relativistic, know-nothingism of Friedman's has been subjected to a withering rebuke by Kinsella (2009):

He was in favor of liberty and tolerance of differing views and behavior because we cannot know that the behavior we want to outlaw is really bad. In other words, the reason we should not censor dissenting ideas is not the standard libertarian idea that holding or speaking is not aggression, but because we can't be sure the ideas are wrong. This implies that if we could know for sure what is right and wrong, it might be okay to legislate morality, to outlaw immoral or "bad" actions.

And states Hoppe (1997, 23),

To maintain that no such thing as a rational ethic exists does not imply "tolerance" and "pluralism," as champions of positivism such as Milton Friedman falsely claim, and moral absolutism does not imply "intolerance" and "dictatorship." To the contrary, without absolute values "tolerance" and "pluralism" are just other arbitrary ideologies, and there is no reason to accept them rather than any others such as cannibalism and slavery. Only if absolute values, such as a human right of self-ownership exist, that is, only if "pluralism" or "tolerance" are not merely among a multitude of tolerable values, can pluralism and tolerance in fact be safeguarded.

Precisely. The strong implication, here, would appear to be that if we were vouchsafed such knowledge, then we would be justified in imposing our values on others. But this is hardly in keeping with the libertarian ethos.

Further, Friedman is guilty of tolerance, and humility with a vengeance. So much so it amounts to a stultifying skepticism. If it is reminiscent of anything, it is that of multiculturalism's claim that no society can possibly be better than any other. If no one can really know anything about anything, and are as humble as Milton Friedman claims to be, how can we even engage in political philosophy? Yet if there is anyone associated at least in the public mind with taking strong stances on issues, a host of them as it happens, it is Professor Friedman.

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Berlin art show traces desire for freedom

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An exhibition exploring the concept of freedom through post-World War II artworks begins a European tour here Wednesday, a stone's throw from where the Berlin Wall once stood.

With paintings, videos, photos, drawings and art installations, the "Desire for Freedom" exhibition at the German Historical Museum in central Berlin spotlights the work of more than 100 artists from the East and West since 1945.

Featured artists range from German painter Gerhard Richter, Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte and Christo, known for his environmental works of art including the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995.

"It's not in chronological order and national differences are not underlined because basic questions such as 'who am I?', 'to what extent am I free?', 'who are the others?' are always the same," curator Monika Flacke said.

She said that freedom originated from the ideas of the Enlightenment and was much wider than just the division between East and West which resulted from World War II.

Divided into 12 sections, the exhibition, in Berlin until February, seeks to outline the idea of freedom in its different guises, from revolution to utopia via politics and sustainable development.

Visitors are reminded on entering the display of Article One of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights".

The idea of freedom is "deeply anchored in Europe and has moved to America where it has also found expression in all these revolutions of recent years, in the Occupy movement, in student revolutions," Flacke said.

Berlin provides a fitting backdrop, having seen two dictatorships in the last century and been the setting of a peaceful revolution which led to the tearing down of the detested Wall in 1989 at the end of more than four decades of the Cold War.

And one photo by British sisters Jane and Louise Wilson questions repression or the deprivation of freedom with their work depicting a Berlin prison of former East Germany's dreaded Stasi secret police.

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