New Drug Set To End Age Related Blindness

An experimental drug may one day make treatment simpler for patients suffering from vision-threatening age-related macula degeneration. These are contained in a report published in the journal ‘Science Translational Medicine’.

 The drug — called AXT107 — has been only tested on mice and rabbits, but it requires far fewer injections than current therapy to prevent vision loss.

Current treatment requires frequent injections directly into the eye, the report stated. Age-related mascular degeneration — also called macula degeneration, AMD or ARMD — is the deterioration of the mascula, which is the small central area of the retina of the eye that controls visual acuity. According to the United States, U.S. National Institutes of Health, NIH, age-related macular degeneration is a common eye condition and a leading cause of vision loss among people age 60 and older.

 The condition causes damage to the macula, a small spot near the centre of the retina and the part of the eye needed for sharp vision. In some people, age-related macular degeneration advances so slowly that vision loss doesn’t occur for a long time. In others, the disease progresses faster and may lead to a loss of vision in one or both eyes, according to the NIH.

 Mascular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss among ageing population and the number of people affected by AMD is expected to increase significantly in the years ahead. As age-related macular degeneration progresses, a blurred area near the centre of vision is a common symptom.

 Over time, the blurred area may grow larger and blank spots may develop in central vision. Objects also may not appear as bright as they used to. Age-related macular degeneration by itself doesn’t lead to complete blindness, the NIH says. The loss of central vision can, however, interfere with simple activities, such as the ability to see faces, drive, cook, read and write.

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Cannabis Can Be Used To Treat Multiple Sclerosis - Experts

Patients suffering multiple sclerosis (MS) may now turn to alternative therapy to address the condition. Going by findings of a new study, there is evidence that cannabis may be useful in the treatment of MS.
The American Association of Neurology, AAN, which disclosed this development, based it on the position of several studies, which claim that cannabis is effective for the treatment of pain and spasticity.
Although there are many anecdotal reports indicating cannabis’ beneficial effects for treatment of MS symptoms such as fatigue, muscle weakness, anxiety and sleep deprivation, they have not been scientifically verified.
This is because clinical trials – where patients are given cannabis – are difficult to do because of how the substance is regulated in America.
Cannabis or marijuana has long been used for hemp fibre, hemp oils, medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug. Industrial hemp products are made from cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber.
MS is a demyelinating disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to communicate, resulting in a range of signs and symptoms, including physical, mental, and sometimes psychiatric problems.
Specific symptoms can include double vision, blindness in one eye, muscle weakness, trouble with sensation, or trouble with coordination. Cannabis, which is now being used to help MS patients, contains over 100 compounds, but THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (Cannabidiol) are believed to have the most medical relevance.
To satisfy the United Nations, UN, Narcotics Convention, some cannabis strains have been bred to produce minimal levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive constituent.
It was reported that reported that researchers at Integrative Neurophysiology Laboratory at Colorado State University are studying people with MS in the state who are already using medical cannabis as a treatment to investigate what MS symptoms the drug can effectively treat.
The long-term goal of the trial is to determine whether cannabis can safely and effectively treat MS symptoms. According to the report, the results which have not yet been published, found that 91 respondents (66 per cent) reported that they currently use cannabis, and 56 per cent of the cannabis users reported using either smoked or edible products.
Seventy-eight per cent of the cannabis users also indicated that they reduced or even stopped other medications as a result of their cannabis use.

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Malta Guiness Herbs Eating Deeper And Deeper Into The Nigerian Market

Barely 4 months of being launched into the Nigerian market, Malta Guiness Herbs Lite, the new brand extention of Malta Guiness from Guiness Nigeria Plc, is gearing up to take a leadership position in the Nigerian Malt market. A survey carried out By Nigeria Natural Health Online www.kimekwu.blogspot.com showed that most consumers of malt drinks are gradually abandoning their old brands in favor of the new herbal malt drink, which happens to be the first herbal malt drink in the Nigeria market.
Distributors and retailers who spoke to our correspondent, said the herbal nature of the drink is endearing it to the heart of malt lovers, especially those who take issues of their health seriously.
"as you know, Malta Guiness Herbs Lite is low in sugar and contains fruit and vegetable herbs that is good for the body. even the taste of the drink alone is enough to tell you that this is a herbal drink," one of these who owns a shop in the yaba area of Lagos, simply called Iya Tunji, told our correspondent.
Malta Guinness Herbs Lite not only gives the goodness of Malta Guinness, it also gives the benefits of Herbal extracts and gives you all of these in a low sugar preparation which is more than you would expect from a normal Malt drink.
It will be recalled that the launch of Malta Guiness Herbs Lite took place on the 4th of October 2016 at the prestigious Golden Royale Hotel in Enugu and the launch was graced by Guinness Nigeria Plc top management, industry regulators and entertainers from all across Enugu state.
At that event, the Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Peter Ndegwa had explained that Guinness Nigeria Plc chose to introduce this new addition to the Malt category to give Nigerians not only a wider selection of malt drinks to choose from but also help in maintaining a healthier lifestyle by virtue of its low sugar formulation. He also stated that with the new classifications by industry regulators on sugar content for malt drinks, Malta Guinness Herbs Lite is the first truly Light sugar malt in Nigeria delivering even less sugar than most other malt drinks.
Mrs Jody Samuel Ike, Innovations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, while unveiling Malta Herbs Lite said “We also are committed to ensuring that we comply with regulations, in all our activities. So in response to the recent NAFDAC/SON statute prescribing new guidelines for low, light and regular malt drinks, we are introducing a perfectly balanced Malt drink that gives you much more than you expect from a regular malt drink. Malta Herbs is a brand that is positioned to redefine the experience in the Malt beverage market as it is masterfully crafted with 100% natural herb and fruit extracts".
Industry analysts say that, with the force at which the new brand is eating deeper into the Nigerian market, it may soon end up taking customers away from not just other malt drinks in the market but also from its own parent brand, Malta Guiness.

 

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Chilli Peppers Could Prolong Your Life - New Study

Scientists have come to the conclusion that chilli peppers could help its consumers live longer. These are the findings of a new study published in the journal ‘PLoS ONE’.
Researchers from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont in the United States, U.S, used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) III, to look at 16,179 participants at least 18 years of age, who were followed for up to 23 years.
The ‘Sunday Times’ reported that the researchers used the information to assess the characteristics of the participants according to their consumption of hot red chilli peppers. The chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae.
The substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin and several related chemicals, collectively called capsaicinoids. Although peppers and spices have been thought to be beneficial for health for centuries, studies on the ingredients are limited.
As only one other study—which was conducted in China and published in 2015 —has previously looked at a possible association between chili pepper consumption and mortality, the researchers wanted to find further evidence to support the link in their own study.
The study found that those who ate more of the spicy ingredient tended to be “younger, male, white, Mexican-American, married, and to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and consume more vegetables and meats . . . had lower HDL-cholesterol, lower income, and less education,” in comparison to participants who did not consume red chilli peppers.
Similarly, they found that the participants who consumed hot red chilli peppers benefited from a 13 per cent reduction in risk of death, mainly thanks to a reduction in deaths related to heart disease or stroke.
It is as yet unclear what is causing the positive association between chili peppers and life expectancy. However, the researchers put forward the suggestion that it could be the principal component in chilli peppers, capsicum.
Capsicum is believed to play a role in the mechanisms that prevent obesity, modulate coronary blood flow, and also has antimicrobial properties that “may indirectly affect the host by altering the gut microbiota” with changes in bacterial composition linked to cardiovascular disease amongst other conditions.
Furthermore, the study found that the nutrients in hot red chilli peppers such as B-vitamins, vitamin C and pro-A vitamin could also partly account for its protective effect.
The team now suggest that red chilli peppers “may be a beneficial component of the diet” and that further research in the form of clinical trials should be carried out.
It must be noted that chilli peppers are predominantly used in Africa, especially in Nigeria as spices for most staple foods. "Red pepper", as it is commonly known, is consumed in almost every home in Nigerian villages on a daily basis. Experts say this could explain why people in the villages live longer than those in the cities where several other kinds of pepper (most of which are adulterated when ground) are sold.

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How Vitamin C Injestion Cures Cancer Cells - New Study

Scientists have disclosed that high dose of Vitamin C can fight cancer cells. This are the findings of a new study published in the journal ‘Redox Biology’.
According to the researchers from the University of Iowa, UI, giving vitamin C intravenously and bypassing normal gut metabolism and excretion pathways — creates blood levels that are 100 to 500 times higher than levels seen with oral ingestion.
This super-high concentration in the blood is crucial to vitamin C’s ability to attack cancer cells, they added. It is estimated that over 100,000 new cancer cases are recorded annually in Nigeria but majority of cases however, are presented very late when nothing could be done by health care providers to save the lives of affected persons.
However, Physicians at UI Hospitals and Clinics are now testing the positive impact of the Vitamin C approach in clinical trials for pancreatic and lung cancers that combine highdose, intravenous vitamin C with standard chemotherapy or radiation.
Earlier phase 1 trials indicated this treatment was safe and well-tolerated and hinted that the therapy improves patient outcomes.
The current, larger trials aim to determine if the treatment improves survival. According to a ‘sciencedaily’ report, the study shows that Vitamin C breaks down easily, generating hydrogen peroxide, a so-called reactive oxygen species that can damage tissue and DNA.
The study also shows that tumour cells are much less capable of removing the damaging hydrogen peroxide than normal cells. Normal cells have several ways to remove hydrogen peroxide, keeping it at very low levels, so it does not cause damage.
The new study shows that an enzyme called catalase is the central route for removing hydrogen peroxide generated by decomposing vitamin C.
The researchers discovered that cells with lower amounts of catalase activity were more susceptible to damage and death when they were exposed to high amounts of vitamin C.

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"Why We Are Offering An Opportunity To 50,000 Nigerians This Year" - Dr Harry Benjamen, International Consultant, Organo Health Product

In this interview with Nigeria Natural Health Online's Editor, Dumbiri Frank Eboh, a Diamond Consultant for Organo Health Product, Dr Harry Benjamen speaks on the extraordinary health benefits of using Organo product as well as the opportunities they are offering 50,000 Nigerian distributors in 2017.  

What’s Organo all about?

Oragano is a healthy living products company. So essentially, we have products that enhance healthy living. It all started with a unique, special herb called Ganoderma. That herb has very rich nutritional values and it was used by the emperors and kings in China in ancient times. Our CEO, decided to package it into products so that the rest of the world can enjoy what the Chinese people have been enjoying over the centuries. The result has been astounding. We have turn the herb into tea, coffee and chocolate that is so delicious you won’t know you are taking in something medicinal.

Are these products hundred percent natural or do they contain preservative additives?

Our products do not contain additives. They are organic in nature. Most of the products out there are not completely organic even though they are hundred percent natural. What do I mean by this? If you go to the farms where those coffees are grown, you would find out that they use pesticides in the process of producing them. So, you cannot say it is hundred percent organic. But for us in Organo, we have some coffees and teas that are completely organic. And as for preservative additives, we don’t have any of those in our products. We don’t use pesticides in farming the teas, we don’t use pesticides in farming the coffees. Everything is natural.

How are these products positioned in the market – for the rich, middle or low income earners?

Am so grateful that the leadership has put the products into sachet so that it can be easily affordable. They are sold in packs that the distributors can buy, but these distributors can break the parts into sachet and sell to consumers. This way, the products get right into the grassroots. A sachet goes for N200 which the average man along the street can afford.

How can somebody get these products?

That is why we are developing the market in Nigeria. We are looking for consumers and we are also looking for distributors. Distributors can earn significant income from our company because we pay bonuses for getting distributors in the company. To become a distributor or get the products for consumption, you may call our contact person on 07031040178.

What incentive are you giving to distributors?

 The incentives are amazing. First, you earn money directly by selling the products for instance, one of our distributors called me yesterday saying that she has sold N50, 000 worth of products on a single day thereby making a profit of N24, 000 just on that day. Everyday, she sells an average of three or four packs. And this was somebody who used to earn N14, 000 a month at Shop Rite selling skin care products. Now she has created a business for herself and does no longer work for anybody. She is currently two years in the business and has recruited over 30 people working under her as a team. We have others in Nigeria who have earned close to N10, million a month by selling these products. Some of these people have moved from rented apartment into their own homes.

So, as a business person under us, you earn much money by building your customers and the number of distributors you get into your team. The more you do this, the more money you make from our company. We are working on a massive project for this year, it is called Project 50,000. Our goal is to create jobs for 50,000 Nigerian distributors in 2017. An average distributor buys a products with 100,000 when they start the business. And the good thing there is that our company pays back some of its profit as bonuses into the team for bringing distributors on board. So if you help us to bring one thousand people or two thousand people or five thousand people, you are going to get a great chunk of the profit that the company will be making and paying to these fifty thousand distributors.

Now let’s do a comparison here. Suppose we say let’s get fifty thousand people who will help distribute Nescafe, Bournvita or Milo. Would that be easy to do? Yes, but would they pay part of the profit they make back apart from the commission and the profit you make from the sales? The answer is No. You do not get anything from the profit made by those companies. But our company pays back part of their profit to their distributors, because our marketing strategy does not rely on those big advert on radio, TV and billboards like Nestle does. We use relationship marketing because we trust the efficacy of our products. For instance, Mr. Richard met Mr. Soni Irabor are you in turn get to know about the products through Mr. Soni Irabor and the readers of your blog get to know through you and so on. So we create awareness through the building of relationships amongst distributors and consumers.

So in this year, readers of your blog have an opportunity to be among these 50,000 people we are engaging in our distribution chain...(TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW)

Prospective distributors should call or SMS 07031040178.

 

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