Cosmetics and fitness exercise: the combination may not work

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Cosmetics and fitness training - do they belong together ? Apparently no. There is a certain common sense logic to it - having foundation on the skin while exercising prevents skin pores from opening and releasing sebum. Sebum is a waxy. oily substance produced by the sebaceous glands that protects the health of skin.

A research study from Texas A & M University - San Antonio using a cohort of 43 college students (20 men and 23 women) monitored pore size and sebum production after the use of a skin cleanser and then application of foundation in a single layer on the participants faces.  The participants then ran for 20 minutes on a treadmill after which skin measurements were taken and the level of sebum assessed. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was found that the size of skin pores increased in areas of skin where there was no foundation applied in comparison to where it had been applied. It was concluded that the foundation cosmetic restricted pores from "..naturally enlarging during exercise, prevcenting the release of sebum and sweat, which moisturises and cools the skin" [Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology].

This research is probably not earth shattering in any measure as similar findings have been found for film/television production make-up, large body ink tattooes and body paint which prevents the skin "from breathing". It does however provide a measure of actual evidence to support the perspective that natural appearance is best.

So be safe, be sweaty !

9,000 to 10,000 steps a day - does it really help with health ?

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Taking long walks amounting to 10,000 steps has long been cited in the media and in various health related publications as beneficial for reducing heart disease and improving general health, however the origin of this claim and the evidence behind it, has long been a mystery. One suggestion is that the source of this claim comes from a marketing campaign promoting pedometers - which seems very plausible. Specific evidence of the health benefits has been minimal.

One study has now been released by the University of Sydney and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. This study involved 72,000 participants with an average age of 61 whom wore a movement tracking accelerometer on their wrists for one week. Over an average of 7 years, these participants were tracked and adjusting for factors relating to illness and death (diet, smoking, other forms of exercise), the optimal number of steps per day for a health benefit were between 9,000 and 10,000. This number of steps was calculated to provide a 39 % lower risk of dying duirng the follow-up period (the 7 years) and a 21 % lower risk of a heart-related incident. Happy walking !

Link to the article: British Journal of Sport Medicine

CRISPR - genetic engineering has arrived

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The ability to precisely alter, delete and rearrange the DNA of any living organism, including humans - once the realm of science fiction or futurists it has become a reality with the development of the biotechnology known as CRISPR or in its extended form, CRISPR-Cas9. The non abbreviated version is 'clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats' with the Cas9 part referring to a particular enzyme. CRISPR has a number of existing and potential applications such as:

• disease control and discovering the DNA sequences for viruses, thus opening the way for new treatments.
• influencing ecology by introducing disease-resistant genes into wild populations of parasitic insects reducing pathogen transmission to humans.
• adding climate and pest resistant characteristics into food crops.
• editing hereditary disease susceptible genes in humans.

CRISPR operates by using a cellular scalpel, an enzyme Cas9, to cut DNA. The enzyme is guided to its destination by a RNA guide that ensures that Cas9 cuts out the target nucleotides of DNA allowing the insertion of a different chain of nucleotides which were included in the CRISPR package. The potential changes as a result of this biotechnology are profound and in many cases hard to accurately foresee. Vectors for diseases could be genetically altered and rendered harmless (such as mosquitoes), food crops could be made climate change and pest resistant, threatened species of animals could be made hardier to survive and human hereditary health conditions prevented.

There are also dangers with this biotechnology - the risk of the unknown: for example, inadvertently shifting viruses and other pathogens from one species to another thus creating diseases for which there is no known protection or treatment. But will the advantages gained outweigh the risks ?

Half a minute past midnight - The threat of antibiotic-resistant superbug bacteria

The threat posed to public health by antibiotic resistant bacteria has been well known since the early 1990s however recent reports in the media of potential discoveries of new drugs has given hope that the threat is being mitigated, if not resolved. This is an unduly optimistic and premature belief.

The recent report on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) to the UK Prime Minister in December 2014 highlighted that antimicrobial resistant infections currently claim over 50,000 lives each year across Europe and the United States alone. In 15 European countries more than 10% of bloodstream Staphylococcus aureas infections are now caused by methicillin-resistant strains (or MRSA) with some countries now approaching 50%. Drug-resistant tuberculosis prevalence amounted to 480,000 new cases in 2013 worldwide and reported cases of drug resistant malaria have started increasing in South East Asia particularly in Myanmar and Thailand. The death toll from drug resistant malaria is only available as a vague estimate of between 10,000 and 200,000 people worldwide, mainly children. The tough gut-bacteria known as Enterobacteriaceae of which the best known is Escherichia coli (or E-coli) have also been found to have drug-resistant strains. In the United States, currently 4% of Enterobacteriaceae are drug resistant and in Greece it has reached 68% for the strain of Klebsiella.

Research from the United States has found that drug resistant bacteria from cattle has been able to become airborne and move distances for further contamination.

Without effective prophylactic antibiotics to reduce infections, many surgical procedures would become too risky to undertake. Four areas of high-volume medical intervention would particularly be affected: caesarean sections for births; joint replacements; cancer surgical treatment; and organ transplants. In effect modern medicine would be plunged backwards into the pre-antibiotic period.

In early 2015, the discovery of Teixobactin, a small molecule antibiotic was announced in the journal Nature. Teixobactin was found to effectively kill both Staphylococcus aureas and Mycobacterium tuberculosis without the bacteria developing resistance. However this drug has not yet undergone clinical trials involving humans and is at best 5 to 6 years away from this stage of testing. A newer class of drugs termed carbapenems have been in use but a significant number of these remain suspended from development due to economic and regulatory hurdles. Even so carabapenem-resistant bacteria are on the rise.

And what are the causes of this growing health crisis ? Drug development is less than half the problem with over-prescribing/misuse of antimicrobials, and counterfeit/sub-standard drugs being sold over the counter without a prescription being major culprits, particularly in developing countries such as parts of Africa, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Researchers have found drug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in street puddles in Delhi, India and in water samples taken in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Although infection control in hospitals can provide short term solutions, the fundamental need for new discoveries, faster pathways for antibiotics to be available and stricter management of drug access and use remains the pivotal changes needed.

The link to the research findings for Teixobactin is at the link below:

Nature: Teixobactin

The link to the UK report can be accessed at the link below:

Review Paper: Tackling acrisis for the health and wealth of nations