UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Compound controls fungal infections

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Scientists in New York say they're seeking a patent for a compound that could control fungal infections afflicting nearly 25,000 U.S. residents a year.

The compounds known as brominated furanones have exhibited powerful anti-fungal properties, said university researcher Dacheng Ren.

"In our tests, they reduced fungal growth by more than 80 percent, and we hope to improve on that going forward," Ren and his team said this week in the Journal of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

Nearly 25,000 U.S. residents develop severe fungal infections annually and 10,000 die despite the use of anti-fungal drugs, Ren said, noting treatment costs the healthcare system about $1 billion a year.

The brominated furanones have proved effective against pathogenic fungus that has become increasingly resistant to anti-fungal drugs during the last two decades, Ren said.

The furanones have different genetic targets and may avoid drug resistance, said Ren, whose team is seeking a provisional patent for the compound.

Chinese herbal product linked to cancer

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Researchers in Taiwan recommend closely monitoring patients who have used a Chinese herbal product that may increase urinary tract cancer risk.

The National Taiwan University researchers made this recommendation after their study found a dose-dependent association between having been prescribed Mu Tong and urinary tract cancer.

Dr. Jung-Der Wang of the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, said products such as MuTong may contain aristolochic acid and were banned in Taiwan in 2003 after clinical cases of urothelial cancer were associated with aristolochic acid use.

"In addition to a ban on products that contain any amount of aristolochic acid, we also recommend continued surveillance of herbs or Chinese herbal products that might be adulterated with aristolochic acid-containing herbs," the study authors said in statement. "Finally, patients with a history of aristolochic acid nephropathy or consumption of MuTong or Fangchi before they were banned should be monitored regularly for urinary cancer."

The study findings, published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, were based on 4,594 patients who had been diagnosed with urinary tract cancer between in 2001-2002 and on a random sample of all insured patients made up of 174,701 people.

Up to 15 percent may have eating disorder

MONTREAL, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Ten percent to 15 percent of women may have maladaptive eating behaviors, researchers in Canada found.

Researchers at the University of Montreal and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute did a telephone survey of 1,501 women -- average age 31 -- on eating disorders. None of the participants were classified as anorexic. The majority were non-smokers and university graduates, and lived in an urban area.

The study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, found 13.7 percent of the women interviewed reported binge eating up to seven times per month, while 2.5 percent of women reported forcing themselves to vomit, use laxatives, or use diuretics to maintain their weight or shape.

In addition, 28 percent of women report intense exercise twice a month with the sole objective of losing weight or influencing.

"We practice a sport for the pleasure it provides, to feel good, but when the activity is done to gain control over one's weight and figure, it is indicative of someone who could be excessively concerned about their weight," Dr. Lise Gauvin said in a statement. "Our data suggests that a proportion of the female population displays maladaptive eating patterns."

Female ducks able to thwart forced sex

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Female ducks likely developed vaginas with clockwise spirals to prevent fertilization from aggressive males, scientists in Connecticut said.

Male ducks are endowed with corkscrew penises shaped opposite that of the females, researchers at Yale said this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"In species where forced copulation is common, males have evolved longer penises, but females have co-evolved convoluted vaginas with dead-end cul-de-sacs and spirals," researcher Patricia Brennan said. "This co-evolution results from conflict between the sexes over who is going to control fertilization."

While most birds have no phalluses, male ducks have flexible penises -- up to 8 inches long -- that can be thrust from within their bodies in less than half a second, Brennan said, describing the process as "explosive."

"Ducks are providing us with an incredible opportunity to understand the evolutionary consequences of conflict," Brennan said.