AFTER THE STORM- HELP BELIZE

For the time being the rains have stopped and now we have a cold front over Belize. However, all is not over. Now is the time of recovery. The people in the areas that had the flooding ae still suffering. Many are still not in their homes and many have lost most of their personal properties.

NOW IS THE TIME WHEN WE HAVE TO GIVE A HELPING HAND.
PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY TO THE RELIEF ORGANIZERS WHO ARE GOING TO TAKE FOOD, MEDICINES AND CLOTHING ( AMONG OTHER THINGS) TO THOSE WHO NOW NEED OUR HELP.

In an effort to assist our brothers and sisters who have suffered so much in the past weeks, the YO PUEDO GROUP OF COROZAL and CCC ACE and CJC ACE have initiated a drive to collect non-persishable goods and clothing. THIS IS THE TIME WHEN WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER. LET US GIVE FROM THE HEART.

TO MY READERS ABROAD, YOU TOO CAN HELP. YOUR MONETARY DONATIONS CAN BE SENT TO THE RED CROSS OF BELIZE OR GET IN CONTACT WITH ME AT 501-607-8315 (3pm to 31am Belize time) OR AT 00521-983-131-5669 FROM 7AM TO 11AM (Mexico time).
Thank you and God Bless.

LA CONTAMINACION DEL AIRE AFECTA LA PRESION

Air pollution raises blood pressure
COLUMBUS, Ohio (UPI) -- Ohio State University Medical Center researchers say there is a direct link between air pollution and its impact on high blood pressure, or hypertension. The researchers exposed rats to levels of airborne pollutants humans breathe everyday, noting the levels were still considerably below those found in developing countries such as China and India, and in some parts of the United States. The researchers found that exposure to air pollution, over a 10-week period, elevates blood pressure in those already predisposed to the condition. "We now have even more compelling evidence of the strong relationship between air pollution and cardiovascular disease," or co-author Sanjay Rajagopalan said in a statement. "Recent observational studies in humans suggest that within hours to days following exposure, blood pressure increases." The results are published online ahead of print in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International

MAS PROBLEMAS PARA PATIENTES CON CANCER

Breast cancer patients still face risk
HOUSTON (UPI) -- Breast cancer survivors may still have a substantial risk of disease recurrence five years after treatment, Houston researchers warn. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, said among breast cancer patients who were cancer-free five years after initiating systemic therapy, 89 percent remained recurrence-free at five years -- about 10 years after a woman's initial diagnosis -- and 80 percent remained recurrence free at 10 years -- about 15 years after diagnosis. Dr. Abenaa Brewster of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and colleagues examined the recurrence rate in 2,838 breast cancer patients treated between 1985 and 2001. To determine the magnitude of residual risk following adjuvant therapy, which might include five years of hormone therapy, the researchers looked at what happened to the women five years after the start of treatment. After a median follow-up period of 28 months, 216 women had their cancer return. The five-year risk of relapse for women with Stage I disease was 7 percent, 11 percent for women with Stage II disease, and 13 percent for women with Stage III disease. Tumor grade, hormone receptor status and endocrine therapy were all statistically significantly associated with risk of recurrence.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International

TE VEZ NO ES ASI

Dementia may be greatly underestimated
LONDON (UPI) -- A British researcher says dementia may be greatly underestimated in the developing countries of the world. Martin Prince of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, says it is likely that cultural differences may be partly responsible for researchers missing cases of dementia. "Our evidence suggests that relatives in developing world countries are less likely to perceive or report that their elders are experiencing difficulties, even in the presence of clear evidence of disability and memory impairment," Prince says in a statement. Unacknowledged dementia, he suggests, places a high burden on the caregiver. "Our data suggest that even if it is not recognized as dementia, the illness places a heavy burden on both the elderly patient and their relatives," Price says." Being able to estimate accurately the true population of people living with burden is the first important step towards putting into place appropriate health and social care systems." Prince is part of an international collaboration that recently published a study in Lancet assessing almost 15,000 elderly people in 11 countries. They found the prevalence of dementia in urban settings in Latin America is comparable with rates in Europe and the United States though the prevalence in China and India is lower.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

MAS INFORMACIONES SOBRE EL ALZHEIMER'S

Alzheimer's biomarkers found
LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say measurable molecular indicators, or biomarkers, may predict Alzheimer's disease before symptoms appear. The University of California, Los Angeles, researchers found the amounts of certain proteins change as this brain disease -- marked by memory loss, confusion, mood swings and other problems -- progresses. The researchers looked at Familial Alzheimer's -- a form of the disease marked by certain gene mutations that affects less than 2 percent of Alzheimer's patients. "Since we knew that 50 percent of first-degree relatives will inherit the same rare mutations, we were able to study the biochemical changes occurring in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood as long as 30 years before the subjects were likely to develop the disease themselves," study leader John Ringman says in a statement. Specifically, the study, published in the journal Neurology, found a fibrous beta-amyloid protein called AB42 elevated in the plasma of Familial Alzheimer's mutation carriers -- long before the development of obvious dementia. The level then seems to drop as the disease progresses.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

UNA DROGA CONTRA EL PROGRESO DE ALZHEIMER'S

Drug may halt Alzheimer's disease progress
CHICAGO (UPI) -- Researchers at Scotland's University of Aberdeen say a new drug they've developed holds great promise in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The test patients who took the medication had an 81 percent reduction in cognitive decline in one year, the researchers' Phase 2 clinical trial found. The university's Claude Wischik, working with TauRx Therapeutics of Singapore, developed the novel treatment based on a new approach that targets the tangles -- aggregates of abnormal fibers of tau protein forming inside nerve cells in the brain. They also found the drug had its biggest effect in the memory-critical parts of the brain where the tangle density is highest. "This is an unprecedented result in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease," Wischik said in a statement. "We have demonstrated for the first time that it may possible to arrest the progression of this disease by targeting the tangles which are highly correlated with the disease. This is the most significant development in the treatment of the tangles since Alois Alzheimer discovered them in 1907." Having completed the Phase 2 clinical trial, TauRx plans to begin a Phase 3 trial next year. If that trial confirms the Phase 2 findings, the drug could be available by 2012, the researchers told the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Chicago.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

MICROBICIDA VAGINAL EN FORMA DE GEL AYUDA CONTRA HIV

Vaginal microbicide gels help prevent HIV
NEW ORLEANS (UPI) -- The use of vaginal microbicide gels may help protect women against sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, U.S. researchers said. Ronald S. Veazey of Tulane National Primate Research Center in New Orleans successfully used vaginal gels containing the fusion inhibitory peptide T-1249 to protect rhesus macaque monkeys against vaginal transmission of multiple strains of simian/human HIV, or SHIV. The study, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that vaginal microbicide containing fusion inhibitors remain a potential method for protecting women against infection by HIV type 1 during sexual intercourse. "Here we have shown that the vaginal application of gel-formulated T-1249 can protect rhesus macaques from infection by three different SHIV challenge viruses," the researchers said in a statement. "The protection we observed was dose-dependent and at the higher concentration, robust, in that all the test animals resisted infection." Fusion inhibitors such as T-1249 operate to inhibit infection by preventing glycoprotein molecules on HIV particles from binding to their receptors on the surface of the immune cell. The T-1249 peptide is a fusion inhibitor that targets one of the main cellular receptors that HIV uses to infect cells in the mucosal surface.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International