'Glue ear' treatment could see 'end to grommet surgery' (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Scientists have identified a potential new treatment for "glue ear" - a common hearing disorder in children - that uses existing cancer drugs.

Writing in PLoS Genetics, researchers from the Medical Research Council found that these drugs relieved the symptoms of persistent ear inflammation in mice.

They say the discovery could lead to an alternative to grommet surgery for many children.

A hearing loss charity said it was an important step towards a new treatment.

The study says that several existing drugs currently used in cancer treatment, known as VEGF inhibitors, can tackle the root causes of 'glue ear'.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15386049

[MADem]

1. Ain't this something...."grommets" are, in US parlance, "tubes." nt

[trotsky]

3. LOL, thanks for that.

All I could think of was Wallace's dog. :)

[MADem]

12. I think of those hard metal things in denim clothing!

Separated by a common language, we are!

This is a cool thing, though--nothing worse for a kid than to have those ear issues. It's not just painful, it impacts early learning because they can't hear. It's the source of more than a few "speech impediments." The kid is not "impeded" at all in terms of speaking, he/she is just repeating what is heard (or mis-heard, owing to blocked ears).

[Liberal Veteran]

13. So we are putting the internet in their ears?

Or does it have to be a series of tubes to be an internet?

[MADem]

15. Series, I think! These are just two separate ones! nt

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Then there is the snake oil, you know how well that works....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18713796

Arch Dis Child. 2009 Feb;94(2):92-8. Epub 2008 Aug 19.
Spray bacteriotherapy decreases middle ear fluid in children with secretory otitis media.
Skovbjerg S, Roos K, Holm SE, Grahn Håkansson E, Nowrouzian F, Ivarsson M, Adlerberth I, Wold AE.
Source

Department of Clinical Bacteriology, University of Gothenburg, Guldhedsgatan 10A, SE-413 46 Gothenburg, Sweden. [e-mail]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:

Secretory otitis media (SOM) is characterised by persistent fluid in the middle ear cavity, but the cause is unknown. We investigated the clinical, bacteriological and immunological effects of treatment with probiotic bacteria on SOM.
DESIGN:

In this double-blind pilot/preliminary study, 60 children with long-standing SOM (median 6 months) who were scheduled for insertion of tympanostomy tubes were randomised to nasal spray treatment with Streptococcus sanguinis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus or placebo for 10 days before surgery. Clinical evaluation was carried out after 10 days of treatment. Middle ear fluid (MEF) was collected during surgery for quantification of cytokines and detection of bacteria by culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained before treatment and at surgery.
RESULTS:

Complete or significant clinical recovery occurred in 7/19 patients treated with S sanguinis compared to 1/17 patients in the placebo group (p<0.05). In the L rhamnosus treatment group, 3/18 patients were cured or much better (p = 0.60 compared with placebo). Spray treatment did not alter the composition of the nasopharyngeal flora or the cytokine pattern observed in the nasopharynx or MEF, except for a higher level of IL-8 found in the nasopharynx of L rhamnosus treated children.
CONCLUSIONS:

This study shows that spray treatment with S sanguinis may be effective against SOM. The mechanism for the effect remains to be investigated.

[MineralMan]

4. That's not snake oil. It's medical research.

I haven't seen anyone selling anything with those two bacteria in it. The word "probiotic" does not necessarily imply alternative healthcare.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. Hi MM, good morning to you. Thank you for your input on this, true this is real medical

research and I am wondering if sooner than later it will be presented as an option along with the tube thingy. One can only hope if it is a clear and effective fix. I do wonder how the pharmcos will "own" it though, or not. One other thing and this is not to be obtuse or offensive in any way whatsoever. I did post a response that was "I beg to differ" that describes 22 patent uses for I think it was "Kemin's" highly purified lutein.... I hope you didn't miss it and I hope you realize that the patent is perhaps for the process as well as the product itself. I know it seems strange but this isn't the first time someone has "improved" upon nature.

[MineralMan]

6. If the research continues to show the benefit of this

therapy, it will begin to be used by physicians in their clinics and offices. Like much research, additional trials will have to be conducted before the treatment is in wide use. Journal articles like this one are calls to others to continue the research, after finding a benefit in a small study group. Articles like this one are saying, "Here. Look at the interesting things we found in our research. We tested our idea on a small group of informed patients, and here's what we found. If this interests you, perhaps you'd like to do another study." That's what the journals are for. They communicate with other people doing research in similar areas. Sometimes, this kind of study leads to new treatments. Sometimes it does not. An article like this isn't a call for someone to go into production of a remedy that will be used outside of the medical community. It's information for other researchers.

As for your other question, that's from a different thread. I declined to comment in that thread, and will continue to decline to comment. Please don't carry around issues from other threads into new ones. That isn't something that's allowed, as I understand it.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. This isn't the first natural substance that has been found to ameliorate serious illness, and

it certainly won't be the last.... which begs the question, how in god's name can this be true? When this stuff becomes "real" how will the FDA maintain ownership of the truth? I see some serious legislation coming down the pipe that will keep the keys in the hands of the rich and famous.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x111112

[MineralMan]

8. And many natural substances have been approved by the FDA

for use. As for this particular research, one of the bacteria use is a species of streptococcus. Possible a beneficial species in this condition. If the treatment becomes widely used, then that species will have to be grown by someone who takes very special care to assure that only that species is present in the preparation. Why? Because other streptococcus species can cause serious or even fatal illnesses. Used in the ear, they could cause infections that could destroy hearing or even worse.

This is why we have the FDA and a process for approving medical treatments, including treatments using live bacteria. Before this treatment could be approved for anything but clinical trial use, some company would have to demonstrate that they could culture just that species without any risk of disease-causing species accompanying the one desired for the treatment. That could be a bit complicated, and would require considerable care in producing the material used in the treatment.

It's not something that would ever be offered over the counter, since it would need to be tightly regulated to prevent very serious issues.

This small study that you have quoted indicates that there may be a use for this treatment. That is all it indicates. During the trial, small cultures of the bacteria in question were very carefully prepared by people whose profession is lab work. Expanding beyond this trial phase is another matter altogether, and more trials will be needed before the treatment can be used outside of carefully-controlled trials.

It would be great if that happened. It is, however, probably unlikely that any commercial outfit will be interested in supplying live cultures of this exact species of streptococcus. It sounds like a very expensive proposition to me. However, perhaps the investigations will reveal other organisms that have similar effects, but without the risks of using any streptococcus bacterium.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Ok, let's look at it this way. It is legal for a physician to prescribe zocor or lipitor to a

patient in order to lower his alarmingly high cholesterol.

http://www.amazon.com/Cholesterol-Myths-Exposing-Fallacy-Saturated/dp/0967089719/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319215416&sr=8-1

It is legal for a person to develop cardiomyopathy or muscle and joint pain from that medicine.

It is legal for that medication to diminish a person's coenzyme Q10 levels to the point where the cardiomyopathy and joint/muscle pain develops....

HOWEVER: It is illegal for a supplement maker to declare that his Coenzyme Q10 can treat cardiomyopathy and or muscle/joint pain caused by a statin.

Is it just me or is the hypocrisy a little extreme in this one example of a drug induced nutrient deficiency??

Tell me what you think. Tell me if you think the law is fair in this regard. Only recently have physicians been educated as to these facts, and it certainly would never have happened without the help of the information superhighway.

[MineralMan]

11. When Coenzyme Q10 has met the standards of proof for

efficacy in treating those things, then it will be FDA approved and a doctor can prescribe it. Right now, the doctor can recommend it to his patients, if he believes it would be a good thing, or a patient can decided to take it on his or her own. There's no prohibition to taking that particular supplement. Further, it is being studied and tested in trials. Such trials are needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of it.

The supplement maker cannot declare that it is effective, but has plenty of leeway to suggest it may be. And many are doing exactly that. The supplement industry is very lightly overseen, and has found a multitude of ways around the FDA's limitations on the language they use. So, people are completely free to use whatever supplements they believe will be of use to them, and can buy them from a multitude of suppliers.

As you point out with your link, anyone can write anything about anything. Our 1st amendment guarantees that. So, you read the book to which you linked, decided that a particular supplement will be useful to you. Then you buy it from any supplier you wish. The supplier doesn't get to tell you that it will diagnose, treat, or cure anything, because the supplier doesn't necessarily have the information needed to do so. The FDA's rules are designed to prevent unscrupulous people from making extravagant claims that may not be supported by evidence. That's why so many people write books about these things, and why so many people buy the stuff.

Nobody's stopping anyone from using supplements. Nothing prevents doctors from recommending them, along with all those alternative health care folks. I don't really see the problem, to be quite frank.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

14. Well howdy..... Dr. Sinatra would dicker as to whether or not there are key specific

nutrients that can have an extremely positive effect on cardiomyopathy.. and he asserts that this solution has eluded mainstream medicine for decades. He wrote an entire book on CoQ10 don't you know. The reference to D-Ribose and L-Carnitine is just as noteworthy. From what I know, this stuff has not entered into the accepted medical treatment protocol for CHF or even patients who are at risk of developing it. I find this to be somewhat disappointing. His book is several years old. I have had it for several years. It's a good read. That is all.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19472864
Altern Ther Health Med. 2009 May-Jun;15(3):44-52.
Metabolic cardiology: an integrative strategy in the treatment of congestive heart failure.
Sinatra ST.
Source

University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, USA.
Abstract

Congestive heart failure (CHF) and dilated cardiomyopathy are life-threatening conditions in which the heart muscle is so weak that effective pulsatile action is compromised. Pulmonary vascular congestion and swelling in the lower extremities as well as in the liver and lining of the gastrointestinal tract frequently cause overwhelming symptoms and disability. Millions of

Americans suffer from CHF, and more than 500,000 cases are diagnosed annually. Cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension with left ventricular hypertrophy, valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, myocarditis, and various cardiomyopathies can lead to the progressive onset of CHF.

The purpose of this communication article is to introduce metabolic cardiology as a vital therapeutic strategy utilizing nutritional biochemical interventions that preserve and promote adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. Treatment options that incorporate metabolic interventions targeted to preserve energy substrates (D-ribose) or accelerate ATP turnover (L-carnitine and coenzyme Q10) are indicated for at-risk populations or patients at any stage of CHF. The integration of these metabolic supports provides the missing link in CHF treatment that has been eluding physicians for decades.

PMID:
19472864

[MineralMan]

16. Medical treatments are slow to be adopted. A book on the subject

is not how it gets done. There are all sorts of books that recommend one treatment or another for one health problem or another. Before a new treatment gets widespread adoption by the medical profession, it has to be widely accepted as effective through multiple studies. Doctors tend to be conservative in prescribing treatments. The journal where your abstract originates is not a major journal that is widely read by most cardiologists. And there's the problem. I don't know what its credibility is among cardiologists, to tell the truth. I'm just not that familiar with the journals in that field.

So, it's probably something that has gone unread by most in the field. There are many, many journals dealing with cardiology, and not enough time for every cardiologist to read every journal. That's why it takes time. In the meantime, people hear about this stuff, and decide to take that supplement on their own, since it's widely available and widely discussed. It requires no prescription, so anyone who wishes can take it.

Edit to Add: The journal cited is Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Not only is it not one likely to be read by cardiologists, since it's not directly aimed at that specialty, it's also one not likely to be read by primary care physicians, either. Looking at its editorial board, there's not a lot of prominent names or research institutes in the listings of the board. In fact, there are a number of non-traditional practitioners, etc. on the board. What that tells me is that it is probably not a highly-respected journal in the regular medical community. So, an article that appears in it is very unlikely to be known by any given physician. The journal is cataloged by the NIH, and abstracts are published, with articles available. But, that does not say anything about the validity of the articles, which cover a very wide range of alternative therapies and theories. It even includes articles on homeopathy, an alternative which has zero acceptance by physicians. It's fine that you link to these abstracts, but it's unlikely that many physicians will see your links or look at the articles.

There are many such minor journals, usually funded via advertising from alternative medical businesses, etc., just as major medical journals are funded by advertising from pharmaceutical or other companies. That a journal exists does not indicate its reputation in the medical community, nor its readership among that community. Each journal has to be looked at in its entirety to get an idea of its relevance to the medical community. From my look at this journal, I can pretty much guarantee that not many MDs have ever seen it. I do imagine that sellers of CoQ10 supplements, however, quote from this article on their websites. And there it is.

[MineralMan]

17. A close look at the Author and Subject Index for the

2010 Volume of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine is interesting. It explains why the journal would not be of interest to many typical MDs. Expecting MDs to subscribe to and read this journal is expecting the implausible. There is little in it of interest to allopathic healthcare professionals. Frankly, there's little in it of interest to me, and I like medical journals.

Here's a link to that Index, for those who might be interested:

http://www.alternative-therapies.com/resources/web_pdfs/at_index/AT_2010_index.pdf

[HysteryDiagnosis]

18. >>I do imagine that sellers of CoQ10 supplements, however, quote from this article on their websites

AND HERE IT IS:

What I want to know is when the hell are they going to stop effing around and make this a regular prescription for the elderly who will damn well benefit from it.

http://faculty.washington.edu/ely/coenzq10.html
Internationally, there have been at least nine placebo controlled studies on the treatment of heart disease with CoQ10:two in Japan,two in the United States, two in Italy, two in Germany, and one in Sweden (17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25). All nine of these studies have confirmed the effectiveness of CoQ10 as well as its remarkable safety. There have now been eight international symposia on the biomedical and clinical aspects of CoQ10 (from 1976 through 1993 (26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33)). These eight symposia comprised over 300 papers presented by approximately 200 different physicians and scientists from 18 different countries. The majority of these scientific papers were Japanese (34%), with American (26%), Italian (20%) and the remaining 20% from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, Austria, France, India, Korea, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, USSR, and Finland. The majority of the clinical studies concerned the treatment of heart disease and were remarkably consistent in their conclusions: that treatment with CoQ10 significantly improved heart muscle function while producing no adverse effects or drug interactions.

It should be mentioned that a slight decrease in the effectiveness of the blood thinner, coumadin, was noted in a case by a Norwegian clinician (34). This possible drug - CoQ10 interaction has not been observed by other investigators even when using much higher doses of CoQ10 for up to seven years and involving 25 patients treated with coumadin concomitantly with CoQ10 (this is still, as of this date, unpublished data).

The efficacy and safety of CoQ10 in the treatment of congestive heart failure, whether related to primary cardiomyopathies or secondary forms of heart failure, appears to be well established (35,36,37,38,39, 40,41,42). The largest study to date is the Italian multicenter trial, by Baggio et al., involving 2664 patients with heart failure (43).

The most recent work in heart failure examined the effect of CoQ10 on diastolic dysfunction, one of the earliest identifiable signs of myocardial failure that is often found in mitral valve prolapse, hypertensive heart disease and certain fatigue syndromes (44,45). Diastolic dysfunction might be considered the common denominator and a basic cause of symptoms in these three diagnostic groups of disease. Diastole is the filling phase of the cardiac cycle. Diastolic function has a larger cellular energy requirement than the systolic contraction and, therefore, the process of diastolic relaxation is more highly energy dependent and thus more highly dependent on CoQ10. In simplier terms, it takes more energy to fill the heart than to empty it. Diastolic dysfunction is a stiffening' of the heart muscle which interferes with the heart's ability to function as an effective pump. It is seen early in the course of many common cardiac disorders and is demonstrable by echocardiography. This stiffening returns towards normal with supplemental CoQ10 in tempo with clinical improvement.

[MineralMan]

19. I'm afraid I can't answer that question.

I have no idea. However, it's certainly widely available here in the US, so nothing stops anyone from taking it. What is it, exactly that you want? You want doctors to prescribe it? I imagine that some cardiologists are suggesting it to their patients, but I don't believe it's available in an FDA-approved, prescription only form. So, they wouldn't prescribe it, although they might suggest it to their patients.

It's available over the counter, and from dozens of online vendors. What more do you wish to see? Any company could being their own trials of their particular version of it and submit it for approval to the FDA. If one did, then it could be prescribed. I haven't seen anyone stepping up to do that though. They're already selling it without a prescription. Do you want to make it prescription-only?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

20. Nope. I want the pharmcos to be convicted of promoting malpractice by allowing people

to suffer. I want them to send a newsletter to all physicians with the previous article I quoted from. I want them to admit that the forms readily available, especially Q-Sorb are effective and safe. I want the needless suffering to end and the quality of life for those who pay their health ins. premiums to increase if this is what it would take to do that.

People are DYING because this isn't common knowledge, because it is essentially hidden from the public cuz as my mother says, if it were any good my doctor would have recommended it. Well that simply is not the case here in America. When the pharmcos own the med schools, ignorance of natural treatments will prevail. I'll bet there isn't one single course in med school that expounds the details I quoted above.

CoQ10 works just as it is. It doesn't need FDA approval for any reason other than the reason that the pharmcos don't own it. It has been proven perhaps more than a goodly percentage of the questionable drugs in the wild.

What I want is for the people who know to occupy the information highway and make this stuff common knowledge. I want health inscos to PAY FOR IT where needed for the elderly and or people on fixed incomes whose quality of life could be greatly enhanced by it.

Call me old fashioned but I want change I can believe in, change that will help and heal without providing me with a list of side effects that would choke a horse.

PS: It's pretty well researched, isn't it... If I were a CoQ10 manufacturer I would have a hard time choosing which research to quote.

[MineralMan]

21. I'm afraid you're not going to get what you want, but you can

take that supplement if you wish. It's available. The information is available. You can't force doctors to prescribe anything. What can I tell you?

See ya.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

22. Not to worry... the house of cards will fall of its own weight. Perhaps then the cost of

healthcare will shrink and people will get the results that they pay for.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

10. I'm sure his owner will rejoice!!

[Warpy]

23. The root cause of glue ear in most kids is parents who smoke in the home

Setting fire to those things outside would also clear the kiddies up.