Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

Image source: Cynthia Goldsmith/Maureen Metcalfe/Azaibi Tamin. MERS-CoV particles as seen by negative stain electron microscopy. Virions contain characteristic club-like projections emanating from the viral membrane. [Source: http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/photos.html]

Respiratory viral infections with severe fatal consequences have been reported since old ages, the most recent ones included SARS, Avian flu and influenza pandemics. The most recent such syndrome is known as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that is caused by the Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS –CoV). The first case infected with this virus was reported back in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, since then the infection has been reported in multiple countries including Jordan, Qatar, UAE, Germany, France, UK and Tunisia in addition to KSA where most of the cases were reported. According to the WHO all cases reported out the Middle East had some connection whether direct or indirect with the Middle East. In France, Tunisia, and the UK, limited local transmission has occurred in people who had not been to the Middle East but who had been in close contact with a sick traveller recently returned from the Middle East region. The symptoms of the disease include acute, serious respiratory illness with fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. Most patients have had pneumonia. Some of the patients may also experience gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea and some have had kidney failure. About half of people infected with the viruses did not survive. The method of transmission of infection is not yet identified, but a direct contact with the infected could lead to transmission.

The WHO does not warn against travelling to the Middle East; few recommendations were issued nonetheless.

• Avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections.
• Frequent hand-washing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment.
• Adhering to food safety and hygiene rules such as avoiding undercooked meats, raw fruits and vegetables unless they have been peeled or unsafe water.
• Avoiding close contact with live farm or wild animals.

Updated on the outbreak can be found at the WHO website. 

Suorces:

WHO -Global Alert and Response (GAR): Coronavirus infections

CDC - Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

Future food… insects?

 lollipop with ants grown on the special farm - Wikipedia

In most of the Sci-Fi books or movies the future food is depicted as colorful, shiny geometrical tablets. A report by the FAO came recently to challenge this picture. The future food source is insects!.

Number of edible insects per country in the world. The total number of insects species in the world amounts to 1959. The data (updated April 2013) has been compiled by Yde Jongema from literature. Realization: GRS group Wageningen University. Remark: countries not showing recorded edible insects species only indicates that it is not mentioned in literature.

 

In an interesting report by the FAO, it was predicted that some insects might be the future source for protein instead of the currently used meat or in addition to it. According to the FAO report the insects form part of the traditional diets of at least 2 billion people around the world. More than 1 900 species have reportedly been used as food. The most commonly consumed insects are beetles, caterpillars and bees, wasps and ants. Following these are grasshoppers, locusts and crickets, cicadas, leafhoppers, plant hoppers, scale insects and true bugs, termites, dragonflies, flies and other insects. The practice of eating insects is known as Entomophagy (from Greek ἔντομον éntomon, "insect", and φᾰγεῖν phagein, "to eat"). According to the report, the insects may provide a rich source for proteins, in addition to micronutrients such as copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, selenium and zinc, as well as riboflavin, pantothenic acid, biotin and, in some cases, folic acid. Of course the nutritional value depends on the type of insect and on the method of preparation (raw, boiled, broiled, etc.).

The report also mention other benefits of consuming insects: they can be also used as a food source for the livestock, and they have economical value through stablishing“edible insects’ farms”.

After crossing the emotional barrier and terror to those of us whom the idea of consuming insects is totally new, we might be able to glimpse the benefits the FAO report mentioned. It is also worth mentioning that it brings with it a whole set of unanswered questions: is it healthy? Should we expect a new set of diseases through consuming different kinds of insects? What are the risks in general? Studies can search for some of the answers in the communities already consuming insects as part of their normal diet. 

Sources:

• Edible insects Future prospects for food and feed security
• Edible forest insects
• List of edible insects of the world (April 4, 2012)
• Entomophagy - Wikipdia

Smoking kills! As does secondhand smoke!

Secondhand smoke or passive smoking is when the person sitting near the smoker inhales the smoke. Secondhand smoking can affect the smoker himself as well as the people around him. It is widely known that secondhand smoking is not without risks; cigarette smoke can affect those who inhale it from the environment with nearly as much destructive effects to their health as does the smoke to the smoker him- or herself.

In a recent study by Iversen and colleagues published in the European Journal of Epidemiology the effect of smoking and secondhand smoking on myocardial infarction (heart attack) was investigated in a cohort study in Norway. In that study the risk incidence of myocardial infarction was increased in smokers and secondhand smokers, both males and females. The effect of secondhand smoking in males in this Norwegian study could be explained according to the researchers by the subject’s own smoking. In females, however, the effect was consistent even for those who never smoked but had lived with smokers, especially for over 30 years after the age of 20. Another important find in this study is that the risk of myocardial infarction in both smokers and secondhand smokers was higher in females than males, the exact cause behind this observation is not known yet but it could be females are more sensitive to smoke or smoking (active or passive) can interact with other physiological or hormonal processes in the women’s body.

The paper by Iversen and colleague is an interesting read, and it carry the message that smoking is not only bad for the smoker but for those who are nearby as well. Smokers should think about other people around them as well as about themselves and reconsider is all the risk they expose themselves, family and friends to worth it?

Reference:

Iversen B, Jacobsen BK, Løchen ML. 2013. Active and passive smoking and the risk of myocardial infarction in 24,968 men and women during 11 year of follow-up: the Tromsø Study. Eur J Epidemiol: DOI 10.1007/s10654-013-9785-z

Blood type and Diabetes and the risk of pancreatic cancer

 Estimated age-standard mortality of pancreatic cancer per 100.000 both sexes (GLOBICAN 2009. IARC)

Pancreatic cancer is a rare disease; however, it’s the eighth malignant leading cause of death worldwide according to GLOBOCAN 2008. Pancreatic cancer is noteworthy as it is hard to diagnose because of the unspecific symptoms associated with it especially in the early stages of cancer including vague abdominal or back pain, abdominal bloating, nausea or diarrhea, change in the color of stool;  fatigue, weight loss and loss of appetite. So far there is no specific screening test to identify the earlier presence of pancreatic cancer like the breast mammography or PSA blood test for prostate cancer. Therefore, it is important to identify the risk factors for pancreatic cancer to identify the high risk population. In a study done in Japan by Egawa and colleagues this year some of the risk factors were investigated on a group of patients. Blood type B patients had a higher risk for pancreatic cancer, patients with diabetes were found as well to have a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. In this group, longstanding type-2 diabetes (the type occurring most commonly in adults) especially in older men was associated with higher risk of pancreatic cancer. These are interesting findings, for many disease have been associated with different blood types (e.g. higher risk for stomach cancer in patients with blood type A), an explanation for these findings might help us understand the genetics or immunological and physiological features associated with different blood types and their effects on different body organs. Regarding type-2 diabetes the issue is more complicated as we do not yet know if the cancer is a result of diabetes and the gradual degeneration of the pancreatic cells or if both diseases are manifestations of the same process that takes place over a long period of time. More research will surely shed more light on these questions and help us understand and fight pancreatic cancer. 

Sources:

• Egawa N, Lin Y, Tabata T, Kuruma S, Hara S, Kubota K, Kamisawa T. ABO blood type, long-standing diabetes, and the risk of pancreatic cancer. World J Gastroenterol 2013; 19(16): 2537-2542
• The GLOBOCAN project
• WebMd -Pancreatic Cancer Health Center