Toxins News and Research

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Toxins in K2: Saint Louis University professor warns parents to lookout for warning signs

In the last month, Anthony Scalzo, M.D., professor of toxicology at Saint Louis University, has seen nearly 30 cases involving teenagers who were experiencing hallucinations, severe agitation, elevated heart rate and blood pressure, vomiting and, in some cases, tremors and seizures. All of these teens had smoked a dangerous, yet legal substance known as K2 or "fake weed."

3 Mar 2010

Tampa hospital allows use of electronic cigarettes

As special interest groups and politicians continue to make weak claims against the electric cigarette, another hospital in Tampa, Florida made the decision last week to allow the use of electronic cigarettes within their facility. Smoking is a recreational privilege that while banned in most public places, can be done with the alternative E-cigarette without offending others. This new invention allows the smoker to get their nicotine fix just like the coffee or soda drinkers get their caffeine fix.

2 Mar 2010

Consumption of animal products contaminated with mycotoxins affects human health

EUREKA project E! 3025 MONALISA has developed a new, completely natural alternative to using antibiotics in animal feed. Formerly used as growth promoters and to prevent the damaging effects of the fungal toxins which are often present in feed, antibiotics have been prohibited for use in animal feed in the EU since 2006 - creating a need for a new, effective antimycotoxic agent.

1 Mar 2010

New strategy against Botulinum toxin

A study involving the world's deadliest substance has yielded a new strategy to clear toxins from the body-which may lead to more efficient strategies against toxins that may be used in a bioterrorist event, as well as snake bites, scorpion stings, and even some important chronic diseases.

26 Feb 2010

Manduka announces the debut of eQua Hot Yoga Towel

Manduka (www.manduka.com), the world's leader in high performance yoga gear, announced today the debut of the eQua Hot Yoga Towel—the newest addition to the Manduka eQua Towel Collection. For those that prefer their yoga hot, the eQua Hot Yoga Towel is the ultimate solution to sweat management—allowing the user to perfect their poses instead of dealing with a perspiring distraction from their practice.

24 Feb 2010

Enrollment complete in Ocera Therapeutics' ASTUTE Phase 2B trial for mild hepatic encephalopathy

Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the ASTUTE Study (AST-120 Used to Treat Hepatic Encephalopathy) has completed enrollment for its Phase 2B study ahead of schedule, with data expected mid 2010.

24 Feb 2010

SRI International establishes new Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Program

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development institute, announced today that a new Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Program has been established within its Center for Health Sciences. This new SRI group of neuroscientists and researchers working at the cutting edge of science brings $6.2 million of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

19 Feb 2010

Walker's book focuses on deaths, genetic deformities and other health issues resulting from environmental pollution

Since the brain-injuring virus needs mosquitoes and pigs to spread, government officials should ban standing water in cemetery cisterns and urban drainage ditches. They should keep industrial "piggeries" away from cities and their populations.

19 Feb 2010

Rituxan, intended for patients with CLL receives FDA approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Rituxan (rituximab) to treat certain patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a slowly progressing blood and bone marrow cancer.

18 Feb 2010

Research suggests scorpion venom could be an alternative to morphine painkiller

Scorpion venom is notoriously poisonous ― but it might be used as an alternative to dangerous and addictive painkillers like morphine, a Tel Aviv University researcher claims.

17 Feb 2010

Effects of eco-toxicology on Zebra fish

Rasoul Nourizadeh-Lillabadi has shown that zebra fish can be used as models in order to study the effects of eco-toxicology on fish indigenous to Norway. The toxic substances used in the research project come from water effluent from the offshore industry and from organic material that had accumulated in the liver of burbot fish in the lakes of Mjøsa and Losna.

16 Feb 2010

Researchers discover new mechanism within human cells that constantly protects against disease

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered a new mechanism within human cells that constantly protects us against disease. P. Michael Conn, Ph.D., a researcher at the OHSU Oregon National Primate Research Center directed the work. The findings are reported in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

16 Feb 2010

Mayo Clinic Health Letter features comprehensive coverage of the liver

The liver, the largest internal organ, is the body's ultimate multitasker. While the liver is not glamorous or sentimental -- there are no love songs about a broken liver -- it simultaneously plays a key role in the body's metabolic, digestive and regulatory systems.

12 Feb 2010

Neurotoxin study may help find new therapies to block hyperactive ion channels

There are approximately 500 species of cone snails, each producing 50 - 200 different conotoxins. A similar number of peptide toxins are produced by snakes, spiders, sea anemones, scorpions and other venomous animals. The animals use the neurotoxins to paralyze their prey.

11 Feb 2010

Glissandra Skincare signs first distribution agreement with Enchanted Meadow

Glissandra Skincare™ Inc., dedicated to the research, development, and manufacturing of anti-aging skincare products, announced it has signed its first distributorship agreement granting Enchanted Meadow the rights to distribute Glissandra to its more than 2000 spa and gift industry retailers throughout the US and Canada.

10 Feb 2010

Rating of risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease: Low IQ follows cigarette smoking

While lower intelligence scores - as reflected by low results on written or oral tests of IQ - have been associated with a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, no study has so far compared the relative strength of this association with other established risk factors such as obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Now, a large study funded by Britain's Medical Research Council, which set out to gauge the relative importance of IQ alongside other risk factors, has found that lower intelligence scores were associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and total mortality at a greater level of magnitude than found with any other risk factor except smoking.

10 Feb 2010

LDDI releases biomonitoring report on environmental neurotoxins in health affected community

The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) today released the first-ever biomonitoring report identifying toxic chemical pollution in people from the learning and developmental disability community.

5 Feb 2010

Research could help in developing more effective treatments for wound infections

Bacteria that infect chronic wounds can be deadly to maggot 'biosurgeons' used to treat the lesions, show researchers writing in the journal Microbiology. The findings could lead to more effective treatment of wounds and the development of novel antibiotics.

5 Feb 2010

Study evaluates hepatocyte transplantation as an alternative to liver transplantation

A research team from the National Taiwan University Hospital has evaluated the efficiency of transplanted hepatocyte (liver) cells in animal models severely damaged by two kinds of chemical toxicity to see whether and how transplanted hepatocytes were able to efficiently repopulate the toxin-induced, severely damaged livers.

2 Feb 2010

Global market for oncology drugs is forecast to reach $80 billion by 2050

New Medicine's Oncology KnowledgeBASE (nm/OK) residing at http://nmok.net became available on the Internet 10 years ago and, since then, the oncology field has evolved into one of the most challenging, complex and promising drug development sectors, both in terms of its potential contribution to medicine and to its market opportunities.

29 Jan 2010