Doctors Health Press Reports on Study: Combination of Vitamin D and Corticosteroids Most Effective in Treatment of Psoriasis

Boston, MA (PRWEB) April 11, 2013

Doctors Health Press, a division of Lombardi Publishing Corporation and publisher of various natural health newsletters, books, and reports, including the popular online Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin, is reporting on a new study finding that combining vitamin D and corticosteroids may be the most effective treatment for psoriasis.

As Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin (http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/womens-health/skin-care/vitamin-d-vs-corticosteroids-for-this-skin-problem) notes, psoriasis is one of those tricky conditions to treat. Often, the cause of psoriasis isnt clear, which can make finding an effective remedy more of a challenge. And while psoriasis does have some unpleasant symptoms, mainly in the form of skin irritations, most people treat the condition because they want to have smooth, healthy, glowing skin.

As the article Vitamin D vs. Corticosteroids for This Skin Problem reports, topical creams that contain corticosteroids are commonly prescribed to treat psoriasis. Corticosteroids are synthetic steroids that mimic natural hormones and are supposed to reduce inflammation and help stop allergic reactions. However, corticosteroids, while effective, can cause a number of prescription drug side effects in certain people. The more potent they are, the more likely a person is to suffer from side effects.

The Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin article states that an alternative treatment for psoriasis involves using topical creams with added vitamin D, which is thought to lessen the severity and length of a psoriasis outbreak, as well as reduce scaling and inflammation. Vitamin D also helps to slow the growth of skin cells, which is a good thing when it comes to psoriasis; the fewer skin cells that grow and become inflamedforming dry, scaly patchesthe better.

According to the Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin article, researchers recently reviewed the performance of these two psoriasis treatments. In all, 177 trials were included in the researchers study. They found that vitamin D and corticosteroids worked better as a combined treatment than either treatment on its own. The researchers also noted that vitamin D was significantly less effective than potent corticosteroids when used to treat scalp psoriasis. However, they cautioned that most of the trials failed to report if long-term use of corticosteroids increases the risk for permanent skin dermal atrophy, a condition where the skin thins.

(SOURCE: Mason, A.R., et al., Topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis, Cochrane Database Syst Rev. March 28, 2013; 3: CD005028.)

Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin is a daily e-letter providing natural health news with a focus on natural healing through foods, herbs, and other breakthrough alternative health treatments. For more information on Doctors Health Press, visit http://www.doctorshealthpress.com.

Doctors Health Press believes in the healing properties of various alternative remedies, including traditional Chinese medicine. To see a video outlining the Doctors Health Press views on traditional Chinese medicine, visit http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/chinesemedicine.

Financial Press: Miraculins Leads Future of Global Health Tech Innovation

Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) April 18, 2013

Diabetes rates in Canada have doubled over the past decade, with one in every three Canadians projected to have either diabetes or pre-diabetes by 2020. The shocking statistics were published this month by the Canadian Diabetes Association, which advised all health care professionals to screen wisely and diagnose precisely to help doctors identify the disease quicker.

The latest figures from the International Diabetes Federation reveal that currently 366 million people have diabetes worldwide, and 4.6 million deaths are due to diabetes. A staggering US$ 465 billion is spent on care for diabetes across the globe. This disease is one of the centurys greatest health challenges and remains on a relentlessly upwards trajectory. Both organizations agree that early and reliable diabetes testing is one measure that could potentially save more lives.

Enter Miraculins Inc., a Canadian medical diagnostic company focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing diagnostic tests and risk assessment technologies for unmet clinical needs, which has just announced it has signed a Term Sheet to acquire an innovative non-invasive screening test for diabetes that is already approved for sale in Canada and Europe.

The SCOUT system is the first non-invasive diabetes screening system designed to provide a highly sensitive and convenient method for screening for pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes based on the presence of diabetes-related biomarkers found in skin. Unlike current screening methods, a SCOUT test requires no blood draw, no fasting, and no waiting for a lab result.

The SCOUT represents an exceptional opportunity for Miraculins, says Christopher J. Moreau, Miraculins CEO and president. It adds to our story and builds on our value equation of offering non-invasive screening technology. We have been in negotiations for some time with the owners to acquire the SCOUT - which is US based.

Miraculins currently works with products that already have worldwide potential. The company already has two technology programs that have captured the attention of the global healthcare industry because of their unique value.

The first is a skin cholesterol test called PreVu, and the second technology is for a disease called preeclampsia, a devastating and growing disease of pregnancy affecting 5 to 8 percent of women worldwide regardless of ethnicity.

The PreVu Non-Invasive Skin Cholesterol Point of Care Test is a completely painless and non-invasive test, which involves no blood draw or needles, requires no overnight fasting and involves no handling of potentially hazardous biomaterials. The test is conducted on the palm of the hand in less than five minutes with results being immediately available, facilitating point of care consultation and a next steps discussion.

Skin cholesterol is an important new biomarker in assessing risk of coronary artery disease, Moreau says. As such, the PreVu test can serve as a convenient first step in the global risk assessment process, reaching those who have not been assessed, or who avoid blood testing, and providing them with a tipping point for greater personal action and resolve in looking after their heart health.

Coronary artery disease is a leading cause of death in Canada and a difficult condition to detect. There are more than 7.2 million heart attacks globally every year and growing, and 540 million blood cholesterol tests performed annually worldwide.

Miraculins closed on the PreVu transaction in the fall of 2010. It took the company about two years to get the product ready for market.

For Miraculins to manufacture and sell a diagnostic device, we needed to become International Standards Organization (ISO) certified, and that took us about a year, explains Moreau. Our company had to undergo tremendous change. We were basically a research and development company prior to acquiring the PreVu, and then we had to go through all these significant changes to become certified. It was a great exercise because it forced us a company to make sure that all of our systems and processes were consistent with the international standard.

The second lead technology Miraculins has developed is for a serious disease of pregnancy called preeclampsia. The disease affects more than 6.4 million pregnancies per year in the US and 134 million worldwide, with a cost of more than $ 3 billion annually to the global healthcare system.

Preeclampsias rapidly progressive condition, characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine, can quickly accelerate and result in seizure, coma, kidney failure and death for both mother and child. The technology was being advanced through a collaborative research and option agreement with Alere, Inc.; one of the worlds largest diagnostic companies with professional and consumer offerings in over 100 disease categories, and a market capitalization of $ 2 billion. Alere recently licensed from Miraculins the lead marker in the companys preeclampsia program.

We were excited to have partnered a key part of our preeclampsia technology with a major international diagnostics company and they are responsible for advancing a test through regulatory approval and on to commercial sales. says Moreau.

Miraculins business model is to license and acquire business technology that can either be acquired from a research institution or a university, or another company.

We are one of a handful of Canadian diagnostic companies that have been able to get a product through the regulatory approval process required so that we can begin to start selling, Moreau says.

The way we found out about the SCOUT opportunity was through one of our distribution partners in Canada called Pear Healthcare, which represents us in the retail pharmacy market. There are striking similarities with the SCOUT and PreVu. It's non-invasive and it involves taking a reading of the skin, and even though the two tests are different what I found interesting was that we are looking for a risk marker for heart disease, and the SCOUT is identifying people who are pre-diabetic, since diabetes is also a risk factor for heart disease.

In today's technologically advanced world, tests that are non-invasive will be the future, so it was interesting that PreVu was being represented by Pear Healthcare while they were simultaneously representing the SCOUT, Moreau says.

Miraculins partnered with Pear Healthcare last year and initially launched a PreVu pilot program with London Drugs, one of western Canadas leading pharmacy chains, in the fall of 2012. Based on the success of that pilot, London agreed to offer the PreVu test at one day rotating clinics at all of its 76 locations. Miraculins then secured a launch agreement with the 350 store PharmaChoice pharmacy network earlier this year to introduce the PreVu test in Ontario and Atlantic Canada in the spring of 2013, through a Phase One launch in up to 50 of its stores, with the hope of expanding the program to all of the stores in the fall.

About three months ago we heard that a private US based company called Veralight, the owners and developers of the SCOUT, were having financial difficulty, Moreau says.

We reached out to them and we emerged as the lead potential merger and acquisition partner for this technology. A significant factor in having Miraculins considered as a potential acquirer of the Scout is that many of the markets we envision selling the PreVu test into would be identical for the SCOUT. From that context, we think it's a good fit because we can assume the operational aspects of the SCOUT by only adding incremental costs to our overhead and without dramatically adding to our sales and marketing budget.

Miraculins is designed to have more than one product. As a medical diagnostic development company, Miraculins has

Seal Press Author Offers Ways to Give Back Beyond the 26 Acts of Kindness Movement

Berkeley, CA (PRWEB) January 10, 2013

After heartbreak occurs, feelings of grief and despair can be profound. As a nation, many felt those difficult emotions in the days after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Inspired by Ann Curry, thousands committed to performing 26 Acts of Kindnessone for each of the twenty children and six adults who were lost on December 14, 2012. Linda Cohen, author of the Seal Press book 1,000 Mitzvahs: How Small Acts of Kindness Can Heal, Inspire, and Change Your Life, suggests that the kindness doesn't have to stop there.

Multiple research studies suggest that people who regularly engage in acts of kindness or volunteerism report higher levels of happiness, self esteem, and purpose, as well as lower levels of depression. There is no doubt that those who participated in the 26 Acts of Kindness movement have already discovered an improved sense of well-being knowing that they honored the victims in a proactive way.

A resident of Portland, Oregon, Cohen personally knows the benefits of using kindness to help ease grief. After her own father died in 2006, she committed to performing 1,000 mitzvahs (or good deeds) to honor his memory. During the two and a half years it took to perform these acts of kindness, Cohen discovered the transformational benefits of giving. Sonja Lyubomirskya psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside and the author of The How of Happinessfound that people with a tendency towards grief and depression could benefit from a daily dose of helping others. Even if it's only a few minutes each day, the increase to their positive emotions are tremendous.

For those who would like to continue the 26 Acts of Kindness movement by honoring the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School through 2013, Cohen offers 13 child-friendly ideas for small actions that can have meaningful results:

1. Cook a meal. Plan and prepare a meal for someone in the community who has lost a loved one recently. This could be organized through a church, synagogue, school, or community group. Mealtrain.org is an excellent resource for organizing meal deliveries.

2. Express appreciation with a note. Write and send a gratitude letter to a coach, teacher, mentor, or relative.

3. Collect coins. Have family members collect all the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters lying around in the house and give the money to a non-profit organization or charity.

4. Volunteer time. Visit a local senior center or nursing home and spend time with the residents. Volunteer at a local school and bring kids along to give out fundraising material, set up for a school-related event, or even stuff mailers. Another way to volunteer is to bring gifts like art supplies, magazines, and books to children who are in the hospital.

5. Visit. Drop by a friend, neighbor, or elders home unexpectedly with flowers and have a visit. It will brighten up their winter day.

6. Start an imagination station. Help an elementary school start an imagination station program where they use recyclable items like cereal boxes, paper towel tubes, and tissue boxes for fun and inexpensive art projects. Collect and donate these kinds of items to the school.

7. Help a local food bank. Are there food pantries that need donations or volunteers? Investigate how to help the hungry.

8. Clean up. Pick up litter at the beach or a park.

9. Get a haircut. Donate a ponytail of hair to Locks of Love.

10. Spend a moment in silence. Encourage children to have a silent moment of healing when an ambulance passes or when thinking about the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School.

11. Collect first aid supplies. Bring extra first aid supplies for other players on childrens sports teams.

12. Set up a lemonade stand. Organize a lemonade stand or bake sale and give the proceeds to a non-profit that kids might know, like the Humane Society. If donating locally, children can help deliver the money in person and get a tour of the non-profit.

13. Adopt a soldier. Send a care package and letter to a soldier overseas.

To learn about all of the 1,000 ways Cohen chose to make a difference in the lives of others, readers can purchase a copy of 1,000 Mitzvahs at a local bookstore, or by visiting the Seal Press website and viewing a complete list of online booksellers.

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Doctors Health Press Issues a Statement on Study: Community Gardening May be an Effective Weight Loss Method

Boston, MA (PRWEB) May 02, 2013

Doctors Health Press, a division of Lombardi Publishing Corporation and publisher of various natural health newsletters, books, and reports, including the popular online Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin, recently issued a statement commenting on a new study finding that community gardening may be an effective method for weight loss.

As Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin notes, in recent years, community gardening has become increasingly popular in urban areas. Basically, members of a community start their own vegetable garden on a rooftop or an available plot of land. Whats interesting about this trend is that its participants tend to have lower body mass indices (BMIs) and are far less likely to be obese than the rest of the community. BMI is a measure that represents the relationship between a persons height and weight; a BMI of 25 or over indicates an overweight individual, while 18.524.9 indicates normal weight.

As the e-newsletter article This Springtime Activity Could Bring Your Weight Down reports, community gardeners in Salt Lake City, Utah, took part in a study examining how ones hobby impacted his or her weight. A total of 200 participants were studied and compared to neighbors, spouses, and siblings. This cross-section is important to consider for a few reasons:

People who live in the same community have access to the same things, particularly food