Health and Fitness

A new drug that is used to treat the Ebola virus has moved one step further after American scientists were granted permission to proceed with human trials.

Clinical trials have been approved after the new drug was found to be effective on monkeys.

Ebola is fatal in 90% of human cases, but is 100% fatal in all ape cases.

About 1,200 people have died of the disease since 1976, but there are fears that it could be used as a biological weapon by terrorists.

Ebola is transferred through body fluids. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding and organ failure eventually leading to death.

The newest tests showed that the new drug cured the virus in 60% of rhesus monkeys.

It was 100% effective in treating the related Marburg virus found in cynomolgus monkeys.

The FDA has now granted permission for trials involving a small group of volunteering humans.

The high mortality rate of the disease has fueled fears that it could be used for bio terrorism and funding into reasearch for a treatment was increased in the US after the 9/11 attacks.

The new treatment is being developed jointly by the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and private company AVI BioPharma.

Scientists caution, however, that despite the apparent progress, a full vaccine will take time to develop with extensive trials an assessments needed.

A US egg company has made a nationwide recall to 380 million eggs, after a salmonella poisoning outbreak in several states.

Wright County Egg, based in Iowa, recalled about 228 million eggs last week that were distributed under over a dozen different brand names.

The firm is part of DeCoster Farms, a family-run agricultural business.

The Food and Drug Administration says that salmonella outbreaks have increased fourfold since this May. They are looking into the illnesses in the 13 states.

Wright County Egg eggs were linked to illness in three states.

The eggs were sent around the country and packed under Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp brands.

The egg maker is cooperating fully with the FDA investigation and was diverting its eggs to a breaker to pasteurize them to kill any harmful bacteria.

Salmonella poisoning can be deadly to those with weaker immune systems, but no deaths have been reported so far.

Baceria can be passed on from apparently healthy chickens and grows both on the inside and on the outside shell.

Fully cooking the eggs can kill the bacteria, but authorities are recommending throwing away or returning any potentially infected eggs.

Stress and adversity early in life may lead to long-term health problems and early death, a group of psychologists warn.

New studies suggest that childhood stress caused by poverty or abusive childhoods can lead to heart disease, inflammation and speed up cell aging.

The American psychological Association meeting heard that early experiences “cast a long shadow” on health.

One expert in the UK said that more evidence was suggesting a physical impact of stress in childhood.

In one specific study, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh looked at living in poverty and its relationship to early signs of heart disease in 200 healthy teenagers.

They discovered that the subjects from the families that were worst-off had stiffer arteries and higher blood pressure.

Another piece of research by the same team showed that kids from poorer homes were more likely to interpret a series of mock social situations as a threat.

They found higher blood pressure and heart rates and higher hostility and anger scores during the laboratory stress tests.

The new findings back other research that shows a causal link between a stressful childhood and future cardiovascular disease, said study leader Professor Karen Matthews.

She said that unpredictable an stressful environments lead children to be “hyper vigilant” to threats.

"Interactions with others then become a source of stress, which can increase arousal, blood pressure, inflammation levels and deplete the body's reserves.

"This sets up risk for cardiovascular disease."

Another study said that childhood events like the death of a parent or abuse can make people more vulnerable to the effects of stress in later life and shorten lifespans.

Ohio State University looked at older adults, some of whom were carers for people with dimensia.

They measured several markers of inflammation in the blood which can show stress, as well as length of telomeres, protective caps in the ends of chromosomes which have been linked to age related disease.

The 132 subjects then answered a questionnaire on depression and past child abuse and neglect.

A third study showed some sort of physical, emotional or sexual abuse during childhood.

Those who did face adversity as kids had shorter telomeres and increased levels of inflammation even after controlling for age, care-giving status, gender, body mass index, exercise and sleep.

Study leader Professor Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, said, "Our latest research shows that childhood adversity casts a long shadow on one's health and can lead to inflammation and cell ageing much earlier than for those who haven't experienced these events.

"Those reporting multiple adversities could shorten their lifespan by seven to 15 years," she added.

Dr Andrea Danese, who is a clinical lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, said that such studies had to be viewed carefully because there is a chance that people do not recall their childhoods as accurately as some and you can only show an association not prove causality.

"But that doesn't mean I don't believe these results.

"The evidence is quite consistent.

"It's already been established that childhood stress has an effect on mental health and it now seems like it has an enduring effect on physical health."

He said that stress causes an increase in inflammatory proteins which could underpin the physical consequences suggested by the research.

UK researchers think that fast food restaurants should start handing out cholesterol-lowering drugs to counter the effects of the fatty food.

Taking a statin pill daily could offset harm caused by a daily dose of cheeseburger and milkshake, the Imperial College London team said.

It would cost around 5 centers per customer, about as much as a packet of ketchup.

An unhealthy diet does a lot more damage than just raising cholesterol, warned the British Heart Foundation.

Dr Darrell Francis with his colleagues, writing in the American Journal of Cardiology, said that it was about reducing harm in the way that people who smoke are encouraged to use filters and drivers are told to wear safety belts.

The data was taken from around 43,000 people to calculate whether the statins could override the negative effects of having a junk food diet.

A dose of statin a day can neutralize a lot of the cardiovascular disease linked to a daily in take of a 7oz cheeseburger and a small milkshake, they thought.

The team thinks that there is no substitute for living a healthy lifestyle, like eating a good diet, but the complimentary statin could be at least one good choice among a lot of poor ones.

For those who eat junk food once a year, and annual one-off statin dose will have very little effect, but for those who eat it on a more regular basis, it could have a greater advantage to neutralize the risk, they said.

Statins are already popular in Britain to reduce the risk of falling victim to heart attack or stroke by lowering bad cholesterol levels in the their blood.

They are thought to be safe, though some raised concerns about side-effects.

One dose of statin, simcastatin, is available in low doses to get from a pharmacist in Britain.

"Importantly, even partial adherence to statin therapy conveys a mortality benefit, suggesting that statins do not need to be taken daily to have some protective effect," said Dr Francis.

But he pointed out that statins would not affect all the negative effects of an unhealthy diet.

"It's ironic that people are free to take as many unhealthy condiments in fast food outlets as they like, but statins, which are beneficial to heart health, have to be prescribed," he said.

"It makes sense to make risk-reducing supplements available just as easily as the unhealthy condiments that are provided free of charge."

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said that this should not be taken literally.

"A junk food diet has a wealth of unhealthy consequences beyond raising cholesterol.

"It can cause high blood pressure through too much salt, or obesity through eating meals loaded with calories.

Adding, "Statins are a vital medicine for people with - or at high risk of developing heart disease.

"They are not a magic bullet."