Evidently many people dont, but the veterinarians who spoke to AlterNet tell us theyre seeing more animals coming in with hypoglycemia after eating as little as a stick. And even if the animals blood sugar returns to normal, theres quite a bit of concern that liver damage, and possibly death, may follow. Its not just dogs, its cats as well, says Maureen Saunders, owner/director of the Spring Valley Animal Hospital and Cat Care Clinic of the Nyacks. And its important to get the word out there, so people know to watch for this. Many of us tend to think that dogs and cats can eat what humans eat. We often dont think twice about giving them a bite of our cookie or worry too much when they scavenge for food. But dogs and cats dont metabolize foods the same way we do, and many of the foods we eat without problems can hurt, and even kill them. Here are eight of the most harmful foods to keep away from your pets. 1. Xylitol.One of the more ubiquitous sweeteners in sugar-free products, xylitol is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol found in thefibersof manyfruits,vegetablesand mushrooms. Its typically extracted from hardwoods and corn … Continue reading →

By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Many American doctors may not support genetic testing in patients without a major family history of certain illnesses, suggests a new survey of physicians. When presented with the hypothetical case of a middle-aged man with a family history of cancer in an aunt and uncle, more than a third of 180 U.S. doctors surveyed said they wouldn't recommend any genetic testing. Almost half would only recommend testing for cancer genes, and fewer than one in five would recommend whole-genome testing, according to the survey. The genome is the complete genetic "blueprint" for an individual. So what's going on? "Most doctors still feel uncomfortable with genetic testing," said Dr. Robert Klitzman, who studies genetic testing and is a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University's Joseph Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. "Most doctors feel uncomfortable with knowing how to order genetic information, interpret it and counsel patients," explained Klitzman, who was not part of the study. And even when genetic testing is done, the results may provide plenty of frustrating uncertainty about a patient's future health, he said. In some cases where potential treatment options are … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 14-Nov-2014 Contact: Michael Kennedy m.kennedy@utoronto.ca 416-946-5025 University of Toronto @UofTNews Researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T) report that personalized dietary advice based on a person's genetic makeup improves eating habits compared to current "one-size-fits-all" dietary recommendations. The findings were published online today in the journal PLoS One. "We conducted the first randomized controlled trial to determine the impact of disclosing DNA-based dietary advice on eating habits," says Ahmed El-Sohemy, an Associate Professor in Nutritional Sciences at U of T and Canada Research Chair in Nutrigenomics. "We found that people who receive DNA-based advice improve their diet to a greater extent than those who receive the standard dietary advice. They're also the ones who need to change it the most." Nutrigenomics is a field of research that aims to understand why some people respond differently than others to the same foods. Personalized nutrition, a branch of personalized medicine, is an application of nutrigenomics that helps tailor dietary recommendations to a person's DNA. The researchers collected data on the intake of caffeine, sodium, vitamin C and sugar from 138 healthy young adults. The subjects were then randomized into two different study groups--one was given DNA-based dietary … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 14-Nov-2014 Contact: Crystal Mackay crystal.mackay@schulich.uwo.ca 519-661-2111 x80387 University of Western Ontario @mediawesternu Researchers at Western University are using cutting-edge genetic mutation-analysis software developed in their lab to interpret mutations in tumour genome that may provide insight into determining which breast cancer tumours are more likely spread to other parts of the body and which ones won't. Their findings are published today in the journal, Nature Scientific Reports. "We are using a unique software program in our lab that looks at a type of mutation called a splicing mutation that is typically overlooked using current methods," said lead author on the study, Stephanie Dorman, a PhD student in the department of biochemistry at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. She said that where previous genetic studies of 445 tumours detected 429 of these splicing mutations, the Western-developed analysis software was able to find more than 5000. Using this software and human tumour tissue sample genetic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, the research team pinpointed that mutations in the Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule (NCAM) and other related genes in NCAM biology were present at a much higher rate in tumours which had metastasized to the lymph … Continue reading →

TORONTO - Canadian researchers have developed a genetic test to identify which men are at highest risk for recurrence of prostate cancer following localized treatment with surgery or radiation therapy. The genetic test provides a quick and highly accurate tool to determine which men with prostate cancer would do well with only surgery or radiation, and those who would need additional treatment chemotherapy and hormone therapy, say the researchers, whose findings are described in Wednesday's online edition of the journal Lancet Oncology. "Our findings set the stage to tackle the ongoing clinical problem of under-treating men with aggressive disease that will recur in 30 per cent to 50 per cent of patients due to hidden, microscopic disease that is already outside the prostate gland during initial treatment," said Dr. Robert Bristow, a clinician-scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. "This genetic test could increase cure rates in intermediate- to high-risk men by preventing progression to this metastatic spread of prostate cancer," said Bristow, who co-led the study with Dr. Paul Boutros, a scientist at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. The predictive test analyzes biopsy tissue taken before treatment even starts to identify abnormal genetic characteristics in the tumour … Continue reading →

November 14, 2014 Provided by Michael McCarthy, University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine New technology closes many gaps in mapping that have long resisted sequencing Thousands of never-before-seen genetic variants in the human genome have been uncovered using a new sequencing technology. These discoveries close many human genome mapping gaps that have long resisted sequencing. The technique, called single-molecule, real-time DNA sequencing (SMRT), may now make it possible for researchers to identify potential genetic mutations behind many conditions whose genetic causes have long eluded scientists, said Evan Eichler, professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington, who led the team that conducted the study. We now have access to a whole new realm of genetic variation that was opaque to us before, Eichler said. He and his colleagues reported their findings Nov. 10 in the journal Nature. To date, scientists have been able to identify the genetic causes of only about half of inherited conditions. This puzzle has been called the missing heritability problem. One reason for this problem may be that standard genome sequencing technologies cannot map many parts of the genome precisely. These approaches map genomes by aligning hundreds of millions of small, overlapping snippets of DNA, … Continue reading →

Why Stem Cells Aren't Being Tested in the US Stem cell treatment is restricted in the United States, and we discuss the reasons the FDA has been so restrictive about the game-changing research and thera... By: TheLipTV … Continue reading →