Mosquitoes Can Become Desensitized to DEET

By Mary Elizabeth Dallas

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Mosquitoes can become desensitized to the insect repellent DEET, according to a new study.

Although most bugs are strongly deterred by DEET, the researchers had previously found that some mosquitoes and flies carry a genetic change in the odor receptors on their antennae that allows them to ignore the smell.

In their new study on a particular type of mosquito, the researchers found that a short-term change rather than a genetic adaptation makes them immune to the repellent's smell for at least a few hours after exposure.

The findings were published Feb. 20 in the journal PLoS ONE.

"Our study shows that the effects of this exposure last up to three hours. We will be doing further research to determine how long the effect lasts," James Logan, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said in a journal news release.

The study involved Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit dengue fever and bite in the daytime. The researchers found that even brief exposure to DEET was enough to desensitize the mosquitoes to the repellent's smell.

Up to three hours after being exposed to DEET, the mosquitoes were not deterred by the product and were still attracted to heat and human skin.

"We think that the mosquitoes are habituating to the repellent, similar to a phenomenon seen with the human sense of smell. However, the human olfactory system is very different from a mosquito's, so the mechanism involved in this case is likely to be very different," Logan said. "This doesn't mean that we should stop using repellents -- on the contrary, DEET is a very good repellent and is still recommended for use in high-risk areas. However, we are keeping a close eye on how mosquitoes can overcome the repellent and ways in which we can combat this."

More information

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more about DEET.

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1 in 8 Americans Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes: Poll

By Amanda Gardner

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- A staggering one in eight Americans has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll suggests.

And more than one third of those polled have been diagnosed with diabetes or have a parent, sibling, spouse or child with the condition.

"Type 2 diabetes has become one of the most common and fastest growing diseases. Fully one in eight adults -- approximately 29 million people -- now report that they have been diagnosed with this dangerous condition," said Harris Poll Chairman Humphrey Taylor.

Added Dr. Ronald Tamler, clinical director of the Mount Sinai Diabetes Center in New York City: "Diabetes is very insidious. You don't know you're in trouble until the complications hit or until it's so out of control you have uncontrolled urination and thirst" -- two of the common symptoms of diabetes.

While type 2 diabetes is occurring in epic proportions, the new poll also found that awareness of the disease is still surprisingly low, with only 21 percent of those surveyed considering themselves well-versed on the disease. That means the remaining 79 percent may not know they're at risk or may already have the disease, which is known as the "silent" killer.

But people already diagnosed with diabetes tend to be much more aware of the health risks, with slightly more than two-thirds considering themselves either "extremely" or "very" knowledgeable about the disease, the poll found.

Still, 35 percent of respondents with diabetes said their diabetes was only "somewhat" controlled and 5 percent said it was "not at all" well controlled.

"Because diabetes is a chronic condition, the treatment of which is critically dependent on patient behavior and self-care, this may be the most alarming finding," Taylor said.

On a more encouraging note, many people polled do understand that a number of factors can contribute to type 2 diabetes, including being overweight (79 percent of respondents realize this is a risk factor), diet (74 percent) and physical inactivity (62 percent).

These numbers were greater among people who had been diagnosed with diabetes.

Interestingly, 60 percent of respondents know that genetics can be a component of type 2 diabetes.

"We have a public perception that type 2 diabetes is entirely a disease of lifestyle and that is not true," said Dr. Robert Ratner, chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association. "There is no question that lifestyle contributes to it, but the problem is one of biology . . . Environment really does play a role but the biology sets them up."

Indeed, certain ethnic groups, including many Native American tribes, bear a disproportionate diabetes burden, Ratner added.

Most adults, whether they actually have diabetes or not, seem fairly knowledgeable about the long-term consequences of the disease, which can include amputation of limbs, blindness, kidney disease and heart disease, the poll found.

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Taylor Swift spotted on pub date with Tom Odell

Has Taylor Swift already moved on from Harry Styles? The singer was spotted by GLAMOUR.com in East London pub, The Florist, last night with none other than the BRITs Critics’ Choice Award winner Tom Odell.

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Health Tip: Encourage Kids to Help in the Kitchen

Title: Health Tip: Encourage Kids to Help in the Kitchen
Category: Health News
Created: 2/21/2013 8:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/21/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Fast Food Makes Up 11 Percent of Calories in U.S. Diet: CDC

Title: Fast Food Makes Up 11 Percent of Calories in U.S. Diet: CDC
Category: Health News
Created: 2/21/2013 10:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/21/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Gene Therapy Shows Early Promise for Heart Failure

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to treating heart failure, the ultimate hope is to develop a therapy that repairs the damaged heart muscle.

Now, an early study hints at a way to do that by harnessing the body's natural capacity for repair.

Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition where the heart cannot pump blood efficiently enough to meet the body's needs, which leads to problems like fatigue, breathlessness and swelling in the legs and feet. Most often, it arises after a heart attack leaves heart muscle damaged and scarred.

In the new study, researchers were able to use gene therapy to modestly improve symptoms in 17 patients with stage III heart failure -- where the disease is advanced enough that even routine daily tasks become difficult.

What is novel about the tactic, the researchers said, is that the gene therapy is designed to attract the body's own stem cells to the part of the heart muscle that's damaged. The hope is that the stem cells will then get some repair work done.

The findings, published Feb. 21 in the journal Circulation Research, are preliminary, and much more research needs to be done.

"This is a proof-of-concept study," explained lead researcher Dr. Marc Penn, a professor at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown, and director of research at Summa Cardiovascular Institute in Akron. But Penn and other heart failure experts said they were cautiously optimistic about the therapy's potential for at least some patients.

Stem cells are primitive cells that can develop into different types of body tissue. Adults have the cells in their bone marrow, and they give rise to blood cells. Researchers have also found that individual organs in the body, including the heart, have their own pools of stem cells.

Those stem cells may try to repair damaged tissue, but they are not all that successful, Penn said. So his team sought to give the stem cells a helping hand. They infused patients' heart muscle with three different doses of a drug that carried a gene for SDF-1, a natural protein in the body believed to recruit stem cells to sites of tissue damage.

Lab research has suggested that after a heart attack, SDF-1 activity in the heart goes up -- but only for a short time, Penn said. The goal of the experimental therapy is to enhance SDF-1 and draw more stem cells to where they are needed.

The initial results are promising, Penn said. The approach seemed safe, with no major side effects linked to the treatment. Two of the study patients died within a year, but the deaths were deemed not to be connected to the treatment.

Among the 15 patients who were alive one year later, there were improvements in their symptoms and walking ability.

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Miranda Kerr at Global Green USA's Pre-Oscar party

Miranda Kerr wears a printed dress by Peter Pilotto at Global Green USA’s Pre-Oscar party - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’ts

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Naomie Harris at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon

Naomie Harris wears a patterned white dress to the Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’ts

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Injected 'Hydrogel' May Help Repair Failing Hearts

Title: Injected 'Hydrogel' May Help Repair Failing Hearts
Category: Health News
Created: 2/20/2013 2:35:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 2/21/2013 12:00:00 AM

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