Vitamin E has many health benefits when taken as a nutritional supplement, but recent research by Anuj Chauhan, Ph. D., presented at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco, the use of vitamin E on contact contact lenses deliver more medication for glaucoma and maybe other diseases to the eye.  Eye drops that treat the pressure build up in glaucoma, are the typical treatment. However, medication delivered by eye drops does not usually meet the targeted tissue. He stated, “Only about one to five percent of drugs in eye drops actually reach the cornea of the eye.” In the following health news article that appeared on Science Daily.com about Vitamin E in contact lenses that may treat glaucoma.  Clinical trials could begin in as little as a year to two years.

Chauhan and colleagues have developed a new extended-release delivery approach incorporating vitamin E into contact lenses. The invisible clusters, or aggregates, of vitamin E molecules form what Chauhan describes as “transport barriers.” that slow down the elusion of the glaucoma medication from the lens into the eye. The drug released from the lens into the eye stays in the tears far longer than the 2-5 minutes with eye drops, leading to more effective therapy.

“These vitamin structures are like ‘nano-bricks’,” Chauhan said. “The drug molecules can’t go through the vitamin E. They must go around it. Because the nanobricks are so much bigger than the drug molecules — we believe about a few hundred times bigger — the molecules get diverted and must travel a longer path. This increases the duration of the drug release from the lenses.”

In research with laboratory animals, the lenses containing vitamin E nanobricks administered drugs up to 100 times longer than most commercial lenses. The lenses could be designed for continuous wear for up to a month, Chauhan said. In addition to treating glaucoma, the contacts could help other eye conditions, such as cataract and dry eye. Cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye, and dry eye involves decreased production of tears. It affects about 2 in 10 people and can lead to more severe eye problems.

“Vitamin E is a proven nutraceutical that in small amounts is good for the eye because of its ant-oxidant properties. Also Vitamin E presence in the contact lenses blocks UV radiation, leading to increased protection against the UV light. Our research has shown that the vitamin can be loaded into the lenses without any reduction in transparency. We believe it could be helpful in disease treatment and in prevention as well,” he said.

“We have developed a novel approach of extending the duration of drug release from contact lenses by including nanosized aggregates of Vitamin E in the lenses. The Vitamin E nano-aggregates force the drug molecules to travel in a tortuous path leading to increased drug release durations. Another benefit of Vitamin E incorporation is that Vitamin E is known to be an anti-oxidant, whose slow release from lenses could also help in prevention of ophthalmic diseases like cataract and glaucoma.

Furthermore, Vitamin E blocks UV radiation, leading to reduced ocular damage from the UV light. Our research has shown that Vitamin E can be loaded into the lenses without any reduction in transparency. The drug release durations from Vitamin E loaded lenses are about 100 times longer than from commercial lenses for several ophthalmic drugs including glaucoma drug timolol, anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone, and anti-viral drug flucanozole. Thus, Vitamin E loaded lenses could be highly effective in synergistic prevention and treatment of ophthalmic diseases through extended delivery of the desired drugs and the nutraceutical Vitamin E. Animal studies in beagle dogs are ongoing to explore glaucoma treatment through Vitamin E laden contact lenses.”

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According to a recent article in the BBC, the latest medical research has finally been able to answer the questions as to why some women do not respond to the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen.  This discovery will lead to hope in the women who have breast cancer and are not successfully responding to treatment.  This medical research was recently published in the Cancer Research Journal.

Scientists find why tamoxifen fails some breast cancers

“UK scientists say they have discovered why some women fail respond to breast cancer treatment, and it is a gene error they believe they can fix. Tamoxifen is given to most women diagnosed with breast cancer to prevent the cancer returning.

But not all women respond to the drug – experts estimate a third get no benefit. The work in the journal Cancer Research suggests the problem is too much of a gene called FGFR1.  This discovery could lead to new treatments for these women as scientists “switch off” the action of FGFR1, enabling Tamoxifen to work.

The team of scientists in the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research have already shown this is possible in the lab.
They introduced a drug which “switched off” the action of FGFR1.
Once FGFR1 was stopped, hormone-based treatments like Tamoxifen could get back to work in destroying cancer cells, they found.
The researchers believe this could ultimately help thousands of women each year.

They say one in 10 breast cancer patients has too much of the FGFR1 gene.
Dr Nick Turner, who led the research, said: “Understanding how this gene can cause Tamoxifen resistance reveals a new drug target for treating breast cancers in patients who would otherwise have a poor outcome.
“There are a number of drugs in development that stop FGFR1 working, and clinical studies are investigating whether these drugs work against cancers with too many copies of this gene.

“The next step is to set up a clinical trial to see whether a drug that blocks the action of this gene can counteract hormone therapy resistance in breast cancer patients.

“If these trials confirm our lab work we could be on the verge of a potentially exciting new treatment for breast cancer.”   Dr Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK, the charity which helped fund the work, said: “Cracking the problem of resistance to treatments such as Tamoxifen would be a major advance in treating breast cancer.”   Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK affecting more than 45,500 women each year.

Tamoxifen blocks the female sex hormone estrogen that fuels the growth of some breast tumours. ”

Source:  BBC News

If you are a lover of fast food, but still want to lose or keep off the pounds, you are going to love this next diet, available at your local fast food restaurant, Taco Bell:  This article is from SmallbitesAndybellatti.com.

Taco Bell’s latest advertising project? The Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet®.

Their spokesperson, a real-life dieter identified as Christine, claims to have lost 54 pounds over the course of two years “by choosing Fresco items from the Drive-Thru Diet® menu and making other sensible choices.”

As if the “other sensible choices” part wasn’t enough of a hint that there’s more to this than meets the eye, we then learn that Christine simply reduced her total caloric intake by 500 calories for a total of 1,250 calories a day.

It seems that even the folks at Taco Bell are aware this campaign is a bit of a stretch.

Not only does Christine herself share that “these results aren’t typical” and that “as you know,” (?) “the Drive-Thru Diet® menu is not a weight-loss program”, the Taco Bell website makes this statement:

“For a healthier lifestyle, pay attention to total calorie and fat intake and regular exercise. Fresco can help with calorie reductions of 20 to 100 per item compared to corresponding products on our regular menu. Not a low calorie food.”

This comes back to a point I often make on this blog — actual weight-loss can be done with almost any food.

In fact, this campaign reminds me of a similar one by Special K cereal a few years ago.  The gist was that Special K helped you lose weight, provided — of course — that you had a bowl of it as your lunch.

Christine could have consumed 1,250 calories worth of ice cream, french fries, and pizza and still have lost the weight.

The added challenge comes from achieving weight loss while meeting nutrient needs and providing the body with sufficient energy and care.

A 1,250-calorie diet of junk food will result in weight loss, but also in completely inadequate nutrient intakes.

It’s also worth pointing out that one can consume 320 calories in a half cup of premium ice cream or a salad chock-full of vegetables, dressed with one tablespoon of olive oil and generous amounts of lemon juice.

In that sense, all calories are most certainly NOT created equal!

Furthermore, while I understand what Taco Bell is trying to do here (reminding customers that their menu offers lower-calorie items), two things bother me:

1. This campaign is completely carried by a woman, once again reiterating the stereotype that only women care about managing their weight and seeking healthier options
2. All this talk of healthier options is a little silly when you consider that some Fresco items contain half a day’s worth of sodium

Rather than create this gimmick, why didn’t Taco Bell simply advertise their lower-calorie items with a “At Taco Bell, low calories are no problem”-ish campaign?

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