by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

When some say a disease doesn’t exist and others have no test to prove it does, those suffering have problems.

So it’s gone with fibromyalgia, a syndrome that causes ongoing muscle pain and fatigue, along with various other symptoms like decreased concentration and sleep disturbance. There is no objective test for diagnosis.

Some doctors think fibromyalgia is a variation of physical symptoms of depression; others don’t think it exists at all, as a disease.  But people suffer, mostly women.

Now, a new study gives hope. What if fibromyalgia really is all in your head?

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

The New England Journal of Medicine published a study last week that found virtual colonoscopy is almost as accurate as the standard one in detecting polyps that can lead to colorectal cancer.

A virtual colonoscopy, called a computerized tomographic (CT) colonography in medicalese, is a fancy CAT scan that uses X-rays to look for polyps in your colon.  A regular colonoscopy (the gold standard of colorectal cancer screening) requires a long tube, with a camera on the end, inserted in the rectum, and snaked through your entire colon to look directly for abnormalities.  You remember Katie Couric’s live colonoscopy on Today, don’t you? (See video below.)

A polyp is a small stalk, usually less than 1/2 inch in diameter, growing from the lining of your intestine, that can progress to a cancerous polyp (usually takes five to 10 years for the progression).  Removing the polyps can prevent as many as 75 percent of colorectal cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The problem is that people are not getting their screening colonoscopies.  What good is a test you if don’t get it? Physicians have been trying to find an alternative.  Will the virtual colonoscopy be it?

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James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

Scientists have now succeeded in manipulating the DNA in mouse cells to make them become different cells altogether, according to a Nature study, published online on August 27, 2008. They called it reprogramming.

There are two types of cells in the pancreas (which is where these came from).

• Exocrine cells produce digestive enzymes.
• Islet beta-cells produce insulin.

They are totally different, never performing the other ones’ function. When the islet beta-cells don’t work correctly, there is no insulin production, hence diabetes. Scientists have transplanted beta cells from another source into a pancreas before. It can work, but the body tries to get rid of (reject) these foreign cells so that’s a big problem. You have to take strong medication to weaken your immune system so your antibodies won’t reject a transplant.

But this is different. Consider the implications.

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

A piece of rare, good news for Alzheimer patients. A recent study showed that the drug, Dimebon, significantly stabilized the decline of the major debilitation problems of Alzheimer’s, including memory, cognition (awareness, processing information), activities of daily living (grooming, hygiene, dressing and feeding oneself) and behavior. In fact, some patients actually improved. Published in the July 19, Lancet, a prestigious British medical journal, the patients were studied for 1 year, with half taking placebo (no active ingredients) and the others taking the active drug.

Then, last month at an Alzheimer’s conference, the investigators reported that they had extended the study for 6 months for those who chose to continue.

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